Star Traders (Corporate Marines Book 3) (5 page)

A
thrumming noise comes across the sensor net that the comms officer is listening to. It appears to give the answer that they have all been waiting for.

The comms officer turns and hisses, “Commander.”

“Speak, communication officer.”

“The sensor array that was deployed at the human mining colony has activated. The large Earth ship is entering orbit now.”

“Excellent; the information provided was accurate within acceptable parameters. That increases the odds that the rest of the information was accurate as well. Enough waiting.”

A whirring siren brings the ship to life, and while no lights come to life around the ship, the large overpowered engines fire up and the ship starts rapidly moving out so that it can engage its star drive.

The commander twists his face into what his race uses for a smile as he turns to his assault commander, an impressively large, nasty member of their race. “We will move to the rendezvous point and set up the signal buoy. At the right time we will then lock on, board and enter their ship. It will then become our ship and all the humans will die.”

“Ensure that your boarders are ready to deal with anything that may happen on board this ship. They may have heavy weapons or support that our contacts were not aware of. Do not fail.”

The assault commander simply replies, “Commander, the boarders are prepared for anything. If the humans have support, our second wave has exo-armor with heavy weapons. We will take them down unless they destroy their own ship.”

The commander growls in his race’s version of a laugh. “Our tools will not allow that to happen. To a successful and profitable mission, then.” The commander turns to the navigation station. “Take the best route to where we must drop the signal buoy. When you have the course plotted, engage.”

The commander sits back in his command chair and gives a toothy smile to the image of the large, bulky ship on the screen.

T
he stop at the mining facility is uneventful and more like a stop at port. Small facilities tend to like supply ships; as it is nice for them to see some new faces every few weeks after staring at the same five to twenty-five people and listening to the same jokes and seeing the same shows over and over again for weeks and months. It can start to grate on the nerves, and that would eventually become a problem. Some of the truly large facilities are more like a small town and the attitude can be very different, as the sense of community can be more close-knit, but in a different way.

Perhaps it is better to say that a large facility tends to become rather clannish; outsiders are on the outside looking in and are at least partially unwelcome.

After all, it takes a certain type of personality to really handle deep space along with the beauty and dangers that are out there waiting. Those personalities will tend to stay in the community for years, so long that they start to have a difficult time fitting in with those from their original home, Earth.

This is an ongoing problem for Corporate headquarters and will be for years. But for those personnel who choose the lonely life, their efficiency and the quality of work they put out is above average. Who knows where this will lead in time?

But, back to now. The drop-off of personnel and supplies to the mining facility happens quickly and goes smoothly. The
Pig
is off and running to her next rendezvous an hour early. They are headed to a small research facility that would love to see other humans as there are only five research personnel here evaluating a star and its peculiar characteristics that maybe mean nothing, or perhaps could one day explain the universe.

“Come on, Two, admit it! You were cheating!”

Two watches Derek with a great deal of patience. “No, Derek I did not cheat. You and Snyrl do have a very good understanding of the ship and all the routes you can take, but you have to understand, you have practiced a great number of times before, correct?”

Derek, Snyrl, and Elise, the three youngest crewmembers, nod. Snyrl pipes up, “Derek wants to be as good as his dad and we practice all the time. Sometimes we get in trouble because we practice too much and need to do more schoolwork.” Snyrl continues defensively, “At least that’s what the adults tell us.”

Two smiles at the two boys and nods. “School learning is very important; it will give you more knowledge that you will need later and includes more than just ship life, which is so important to you now. By the way, Snryl, I am an adult as well and I am telling you, education is important.”

It is Elise who pipes up this time, which is rare, as she often is as quiet as a mouse and a recent addition to the duo of Derek and Snryl. “Both of them think you are awesome, Two. And you aren’t really an adult. You’re cool! Of course, I think they both have a crush on you.” She giggles, which sets her bangs flopping over her eyes, like they always do.

Derek and Snyrl are now turning an interesting shade of red, which Two finds even more humorous, but she is able to keep a straight face to preserve the dignity of the two young boys.

Derek splutters but recovers faster than Snyrl. “Two is super cool, but she has to be cheating! You have to be using your sensors or fooling with the AI. Every time we play, you are better than us and getting better. Explain that!” he challenges Two. All three of the young crewmembers stare suspiciously at Two and wait for an explanation.

Two’s smile widens. “Well, crewmembers, the first time we did this, you beat me fast, correct?” The kids nod eagerly. “Then, as we played over and over, you lost more often and now are losing regularly, and I have won twice with no damage, right?”

Again, the young heads nod affirmatively in earnest and now the faces are clearly thinking about how they had been handed defeat time after time.

Two continues on in a calm tone. “You have been practicing this for years. Unfortunately, you are now stuck in habits and tend to use the same tactics over and over, again and again. It sets a pattern and I was able to figure out that pattern quickly. I know when Derek is going to drop from the ceiling, when Snyrl is going to try to draw me into an ambush, and when Elise wants to pop up and shoot me in the back. Remember, the sensors are set, and you also are developing the habit of working together the same way over and over. When you get used to that, then you fall into habits. Habits get you dead.”

All three of the kids look depressed at the words of wisdom, but Two is not finished yet. “If a pirate team boards this ship, then you are going to have the drop on them like you did me that first time. If you have to fight them for any length of time, then they or their AIs will likely pick up your habits and you will end up dead. Remember, if pirates ever attack, they will do everything they can to capture this ship. You need to fight smart, always. Try to have several different attack tactics that are different enough that you are not setting yourself up as targets. Better?”

All three nod.

Then another voice chimes in. “Yes, kids, make sure you listen to Two on this. When we meet up with pirates one day and they board us, we are all going to have to give our all to win, or everyone dies.”

Two had seen Patroe come up from the side passage but the kids had missed him. “Also, make sure you are aware of your environment at all times, as I just walked up and could have shot you all down.”

Derek squirms. “Dad! We were done and getting debriefed! We were out of the war by this point anyway! And already dead….” he continues quietly.

Patroe continues. “Well, if Two is done briefing you I recommend that you go and get back to those studies you dislike so much or you
will
be in more trouble!”

The kids laugh, wave good-bye, and run for their class.

Patroe watches them go while standing next to Two. “Thank you for that, Two. I always try to keep the training fresh, but it can get hard after a while. Of course, if we do it enough, then everyone realizes all the tricks and traps and what other people on board are likely going to do. When we are attacked, if it is fast, then we are going to do better than if they board and we end up fighting for days.”

Two nods. “I agree. The faster the combat, the better your people are going to do. Of course, most pirates are not here for long, drawn-out sieges.”

Patroe just stands there. “Thank you for the training programs. If I introduce those slowly and switch them up, that should give us another four or five years of new material for training.”

Two nods, smiles and heads off. Patroe watches for a second and then heads back to Security.

The ship continues onward to the next location, ready to drop off supplies and pick up information.

“
A
ssault commander, all the humans are dead and the device is set. We are ready to deploy back to the ship now.”

“Excellent. Come back over and get ready for the next stage.”

“Affirmative, assault commander.”

The
Mama Pig
comes out on target and earlier than planned for by half a day. Star travel is very precise, yet every ship varies in location when it comes back to ‘normal’ space. In the current age, most ships are quite close to anticipated re-entry. The few that have problems will have had mechanical malfunctions.

This re-entry was right on target. After half an hour verifying this, the ship adjusts course for the anticipated location of the research station. Shortly after setting course for the inner system, the automated distress call is picked up from the station’s omnidirectional transmitter. The call itself is just a stream of data sent by the station computer out to relay points but it includes information on what went wrong and how many survivors were there at the end of the incident. The scene on board the ship is one of focussed preparation.

The metallic voice calls out over the announcement system.
“ETA of Mama Pig to launch point is twelve hours. Shuttle preparations ongoing. All medical personnel, prepare for survivors. Engineering, please ensure that personnel are ready for dangerous environment space work. All command staff not involved with ops, please report to the briefing room.”

As the personnel onboard the
Pig
were preparing for departure and to deal with the emergency, a ship lying dead in space slowly starts moving forward, following behind it under tight emission controls.

In the briefing room, the initial emergency-planning meeting is over and most of the command staff are heading off to carry out preparations for a worst-case scenario. The captain, security chief and the two Marines are the only ones left.

Two starts the conversation. “You do realize, captain, that this is the exact way that a trap is set?” She glances at the security chief sitting solidly next to his captain. His face is expressionless.

The captain nods. “Yes, I do realize that your training tells you this is a perfect scenario for a pirate ambush. Yet we have an omnidirectional signal from the station using Corporation codes which are only good for this station. So we have to treat this as a legitimate emergency and act as such. They were hit with a major meteor strike two days ago, and there are likely going to be survivors who need that help
now,
and we do not have time to worry about the possibility of pirates.”

Eight and Two look at each other. Eight quirks his eyebrows and Two turns back to the captain. “It is not just that this is an ambush scenario from training, captain. This is a
perfect
scenario for that ambush. A recent accident that leaves an automated signal going along with an indication of survivors desperately in need of help, yet no verbal communications.
Nothing
other than that perfect signal. The strength of that signal is too much. If the equipment can push out that much energy for an omnidirectional signal, then there should be other signals with it. That is just how human nature works.”

The captain shakes his head in the negative. “No, Two. This is a rescue mission. If there is anything funny about this, then Patroe, my security chief, will be able to deal with it. No pirate ship is that big or well-crewed.”

Two tries another tact. “Very well, captain. Can we at least activate our armor in case it is something besides just a straight rescue?”

Again, the captain nods in the negative. “The armor is not needed and I will not have personnel worrying about why it is being released. This is a Corporate ship, yes. But I am not going to have loose guns walking around. The armor stays secured. If anything pops up, you will have enough time to armor up before they get to us. No armor. Am I clear?”

Both Two and Eight nod and respond, “Yes Captain.”

Both Two and Eight get up and head out the door while the captain and security chief go over preparations for the coming rescue.

Two and Eight head for their quarters at a brisk walk. On their way they see almost no crewmembers and those they do see are preparing equipment and personnel for the shuttle run to the space station.

When they finally get into their quarters, Eight looks at Two and starts the conversation. “Spit it out, Two, or you’re going to explode.”

Two glares at Eight. “The captain does not like or want anything to do with weapons, military or violence. He just wants to be a long-haul captain and pretend that there are no risks out here in the way of ‘pirates’ or whatever else you want to call them. He is making a huge mistake.”

Eight nods. “Yup, he is. But he is the captain and it is his ship. There is no direct threat right now so he is ignoring that and dealing with what he perceives as the real problem. Maybe he is right and it is just an asteroid strike and the crew is dead. If not, then we should have some advance notice and be able to get our armor up and running fast enough. So we need to follow orders.”

Two nods but continues anyway. “His constant worrying about what we are going to do is getting on my nerves. That, and it takes us so long to get armor up and the
Pig
is a big ship. What if the pirates are able to get close using some sort of plan that we can’t anticipate?”

Eight shrugs. “Then a bunch of them die and we eventually get there to save them. Or, maybe they fend the pirates off on their own and we are free and clear. Why worry about it?”

Two glares at him as the door chime sounds. They both turn and Eight calls out, “Come in.”

The door slides open and the security chief stands there, still looking expressionless. Eight waves for him to come in, which he does. As the door slides shut behind him, he looks at the two Marines and nods before starting. “I want you to know that I realize that this could be a trap. I have had the sensor watch put passive scanners to full three-hundred-sixty-degree search. We should be able to get up to an hour’s notice if there is a ship and it is coming in fast. Twenty-five minutes’ notice if it if coming in under good emission controls.”

Two and Eight stare at Patroe questioningly.

He continues on. “I realize that the captain would prefer to not have pirates operating out here, and in all honesty, there has not been a pirate strike in years. My job, though, is to guarantee the safety of this ship, crew, personnel and cargo against anything. I think you are probably right, but we all have to follow orders until we have something solid to go on. Before you ask, I can’t release your armor unless the captain says so or we have something solid to go on. But I will keep my eyes open.”

Eight looks at Patroe and asks, “We know how well your crew can react if it is a pirate attack. How will the captain react, though? Will he hesitate?”

Patroe looks at them both and nods. “I obey all lawful orders. If pirates attack, I protect the Corporation and all its property and personnel. If the captain is unable to accept that, then my orders override his, and I fight. I hope it won’t come to that.”

Two and Eight both nod together while Two responds, “We hope it doesn’t come to that, either.”

Patroe leaves them and heads back to the security centre.

Both Two and Eight pull out their personal weapons and equipment and go over them.

Preparations are well underway with the rescue party loaded onto the shuttle, while the
Pig
keeps up an active sensor scan of the area toward where the damaged station was, hoping for more information or that the survivors, if are were any, will be able to push out a directional signal if possible. The more information available, the better, and everyone is doing everything they can to get every bit of information.

In deep space, when things go wrong, if all the redundant systems go down, there are rarely survivors as there tends to be nothing left.

In this case, there is something left, and the initial queries that had been sent out by the
Mama Pig
have caused a change in the information being broadcast back. While still an automated reply, this indicates that there are likely survivors who have been able to modify that signal.

Behind them, slowly creeping closer, comes a hostile ship that is like a darker patch of space to the passive sensors that are searching. The crewman watching the sensors is paying more attention to the information coming in from the sensors tracking the space station than trying to coax more information out of passive sensors that are looking for something that everyone knows is not there.

That crewman knows better than to not give his best, but it would not have made any difference if he didn’t as the darker blotch of space was not going to be detected by any current sensors at this range.

There are bigger problems coming that will cause more confusion and render the sensors irrelevant anyway.

The announcement system comes alive with a click.
“All rescue personnel, please conduct final checks and load to shuttle. All other personnel stand by and ensure that all positions are manned. Medical will stand by and damage control as well. Second shuttle will finalize backup preparations and be on standby. Again, all personnel stand by and ensure that all shipboard positions are manned. An unknown number of injured may require assistance. Second shuttle will finalize preparations and stand by with shuttle and emergency crew.”

The click of the announcement system cutting off is final.

Most of the passages are empty of personnel as everyone is helping load the shuttle or standing by at their shipboard stations.

None of those personnel can do anything to speed up the shuttles’ departure or transit, but drills are drills.

The two Marines stand in their quarters preparing personal gear. Two teams of two security guards patrol the halls, the captain is on the bridge, the security chief is in the security centre behind a sealed and locked door, engineering personnel are monitoring all systems, and a computer program counts down the time.

The announcement system comes back on. “
Shuttle is fully loaded and ready to launch; sealing shuttle doors now. Backup shuttle is ready and on ten minutes’ notice to launch. All personnel are to maintain full duty watch until…. Brzzatte!”