The Stars Came Back (33 page)

Helton walks out to the middle of the cargo bay, watching the forklift drivers. They are working carefully and steadily
, but not very fast. He sees the Warehouse Master stomp away. When two forklifts drive by side by side, heading for the ramp, Helton waves them to a stop.

Helton: What percentage of his (tips his head slightly towards retreating Warehouse Master) bribes, I mean, personal service and paperwork handling fees,
do you get?

The forklift drivers snort,
frown disgustedly.

Helton: Hourly?

They shake their heads.

Helton: Salary?

They nod.

Helton: So, fast or slow, your pay is the same?

Another nod.

Helton: Tell you what. As soon as he leaves, you can start to haul ass. Port vs
. starboard. The side that gets loaded first gets eight thousand bonus to split, cash. If it all gets loaded in the next six hours with no injuries and everything in its proper place, an extra four thousand to split however you want for both sides. You figure out how many people you really need to get it done, how fast you can move safely. Not done in eight hours, no bonus. Deal?

The forklift drivers look at each other, grins spreading on their faces. They nod, pull out their personal com units, and start whispering rapidly into them.

DISSOLVE TO

INT - NIGHT - Cargo deck

The place is now a beehive of high-speed forklift activity
with six forklifts on the cargo deck zipping around, and no wasted movement anywhere. Forks are raising and lowering while driving the length of the bay, and there is massive industry with many forklifts running back and forth between the various places in the warehouse and the loading ramp. The mechanical arms are whizzing back and forth, lifting pallets directly off the forklifts before they stop moving, and placing them the same way on the top. On the wall mounted screens, large countdown clocks show how much time they have left. The cargo deck is nearly half full. Clearly, the proper incentive has been applied.

DISSOLVE TO

EXT
- EARLY DAWN - At the base of the cargo ramp

The cargo bay is full enough that the mechanical arms can place the pallets directly into the right stack. The horizon in the background
has a pre-dawn light. There is a whole herd of forklifts queued up, and the loading is nearly done, with pallets stacked nearly to the top all the way to the other end. There is a narrow gap in the stacked pallets on one side to walk to the stairs. The last pallet gets handed off to the mechanical arms, put into place. The one visible bulkhead mounted a screen shows 00:31:22. It stops. The drivers let out a ragged cheer. Drivers not already out of their forklifts hop off and gather around. Helton waves to them to line up in two rows, then walks down the line, handing out envelopes to each one in turn, hurriedly shaking hands and offering thanks.

DISSOLVE TO

INT - DAY -
Tajemnica’s
Bridge

Helton, Bipasha, Lag, Kaushik, Cooper, Allonia

Helton: Well, that went much more smoothly than I feared it might.

Lag: Until we hit transition, don’t celebrate too much.

Allonia: Must you look at the dark side?

Lag: I’ve worked here before. It’s
never
this easy.

Helton: Well, I’m not sure if I’d call spending
twelve thousand in cash
easy
.

Lag: To load a hundred million dollars worth of ammo in a place like this
it is absolutely a miraculous best case scenario. Usually you are looking at more like 5%-10% percent of the cargo value. Twenty if you piss them off.

Allonia:
Twenty
? We couldn’t do
that
!

Bipasha:
You let us come here knowing that, and you didn’t say anything?

Lag: The price was very good, and we needed the ammo. I was ready to put in a sizable chunk to make it go through if required. No point in offering it if it’s not needed. I also wanted to see how you
operate in a shark pool like this. Pressure makes diamonds, after all.

Helton: Gee, that’s nice
of you.

Lag: You did quite well
; at the top of expectations. It looks like we don’t have to find that much cash, so the ammo was a
very
good deal. With no leverage on him, I’d say we leave as soon as we can. I’ve concluded nearly all my business. Everything except finding out some things about a new system interceptor they were supposed to have. (Shrug) Other contracts filled or filed, though, so…

Cooper: We
’re buttoned up and ready to lift. Let’s hope we don’t blow anything hauling the extra mass. We came down on the Sokolov’s, shall we take off on them too?

Helton:
Sure. Try them, up to 99% of whatever Stenson says their max is, just to see if they can do it. If it looks like they can’t then lift on the Harmon drives.

Cooper: Alrighty, here we go.

Coopers hands work the controls and twist the control yoke. The readouts rise slowly through the green up into orange, getting close to the 100% mark.

FADE TO BLACK

Getaway

FADE IN

INT - DAY -
Tajemnica
bridge

Helton, Bipasha, Lag, Kaushik, Cooper, Allonia in their normal spots. Kaushik is i
n a space suit. On the screens the curve of the planet slowly shrinks as they clear the atmosphere.

Allonia: They are calling us. Something about having to return to the facility?

Helton: Don’t answer. On screen.

On a side screen, the Warehouse Manager appear
s, looking apoplectic.

Warehouse Manager: (
Yelling, angry) You MUST return to the warehouse IMMEDIATELY! You do NOT have proper clearance to lift! You are in violation of the hazardous material disposal act, and you MUST return this INSTANT to unload until you have the proper forms filled out! You are NOT cleared to LIFT or UNLOAD or DISPOSE of ANY of that Material until proper procedure has been followed! You MUST come back THIS INSTANT!

Helton
motions Allonia to cut the transmission.

Lag: Like I said
,
way
too easy. He didn’t get dumped there. He got set up for life there.

Bipasha: Ah,
that explains the brother who is an environmental law judge, pass summary orders against ships hauling stuff to or away from the facility. Make shaking them down easier. The longer they are stuck there, the more they can take. Likely not the first buyer of that “amazingly good deal” on ammo.

Lag: If we go back, he’ll make us unload by hand, inspect everything, charge us twenty percent plus and overtime, and impound the ship until he gets his ego soothed that we managed to load and lift before he finished his night’s sleep. Or just take the payoff and keep the ammo. He expected to have a
lot
more time.

Bipasha: If they have a
judge’s order, even if it’s not really the most legit thing-

Cooper: (
Skeptically) We could land, but-

Kaushik: Once in their hands, we lose
all control over our lives until they are done messing with us.

Allonia: (
A little scared) No, don’t go back. Not if they are going to lock us up.

Helton: Unanimous enough. Seems there is a lot of atmospheric interference with radio signals. Cooper, make a course that’ll clear the system as soon as possible, any direction.

Lag: You also want to avoid any of the Emirate navy, especially the cruiser
Hussein
. It may not get involved in a local squabble, but-

Bipasha:
That’s the one his uncle is the commander of!

Lag: Ah. In that case, I think we can assume it’s one big happy family, and it
will
get involved. Last known location was near the outside gas giant. That one is supposed to have the new interceptors I was trying to find out about. I’m sure they’d love to get a chance to push an old freighter around.

Helton: Let’s hope we don’t find out too much about them the hard way.
Get an exact fix if you can, plot a fast course to-

Cooper: With an extra four thousand tonnes and only two engines, there
are no fast courses in this bucket!

Helton: Fastest
possible
course that avoids the cruiser and any other Emirate Navy ships they might call and gets us out of the system. Let’s just hope they’re not very efficient at passing orders.

CUT TO

EXT -
NIGHT - Orbital platform above Emirate II

Tajemnica
blows by not far from it, obviously not interested in stopping to say hello, glow of irritated atoms surrounding it as the Sokolov drives grab for extra-dimensional purchase, climbing out of the gravity well of the planet.

CUT TO

INT - DAY
- Engineering

Stenson has the guts of
a hunk of hardware spread out on a work cradle. Four of his recent hires assist.

Helton: (OC,
over PA system) Really? Now?!

Stenson
: Efficiency was dropping fast. They
needed
some major adjustments.

Helton: (OC) How soon?

Stenson: All offline for at least a day before I get the first two up, then another few hours or so each for each of the other two.

Helton: (OC) Shit. Well, at least the Sokolovs are moving us. If there is
anything
anyone can do to help…

Stenson: Coffee, room service, and any spare induction coils you can find that match the specs on number three coil from the Harmons. I may need your hands if you can be spared in a little while. Oh, and if you plan on running
low-profile, you might want to disable the transponder.

CUT TO

INT - DAY -
Tajemnica
bridge

On
the main screen is local a local system diagram, plotting planet and ship locations. On the second planetary orbit ring there are three planets, a gas giant at the 3 o’clock position, a dot labeled
Emirate
at 1 o’clock, and
Geminorum
at 5 o’clock. On the third ring at about 9 o’clock is a dot labeled
Rings
. The fourth ring has another trio of planets at about 11, 2, and 4 o’clock. The fifth ring has one at 6 o’clock. The area to the outside of
Tajemnica
’s green icon shows a near picket line of red Navy or official ships.

Cooper: Crap! They are scattered all over outside. Anything heading directly out of the system runs right into one of them. We are going to have to cut inside, go out
past the ringed planet near where we came in. Anything else… (shakes head)

Helton: Well, if that’s the only path, then that’s the only path, even if it’s deeper into the well. Do it.

CUT TO

INT - DAY - Galley

Kwon and Sar work on lunch
prep. Helton comes in and heads for the range. He pops the top of it open, reaches in, and takes out four round, flat disks, pulling them from flip-up sockets. Kwon and Sar look at him like he’s gone nuts. Helton hefts them; eight inches across, an inch thick, plug in the side.

Helton: Stenson needs ‘em in engineering. We’ll get you new ones later.

CUT TO

Engineering

Stenson continues to work in the background. Helton stands at a console, tapping away.

Helton: I think we should be named
Inigo Montoya
, registered in
You Killed My Father
. Class
Prepare to die
. Or should I just turn it off completely?

Stenson: Better to just blank it to default zero so it doesn’t broadcast
. If they ping us it tells gives them NO DATA for all fields. Shortest possible burst back. If it’s totally disabled, then it stands out like a light to any other ship we pass, screaming “we are trying to not be identified!” NO DATA looks more like a malfunction.

Helton: We could try to be badass, and put in something like
mysterious
, or
if you can read this, we will have to kill you!

Stenson: Do what you like, but my vote is KISS, ordinary factory default.

Helton: Killjoy.

Stenson: Just busy.

FADE TO BLACK

FADE IN

INT - DAY - Bridge of
HMS Hussein

Spacious bridge with a raised command dais and a large comfy chair. More than a dozen stations around it with at least a score of personnel, all men. All wear bright and snappy looking uniforms with a lot of decorations on them. The man sitting in the command chair has a high peaked cap with lots of gold braid and medals. Obviously the big cheese wheel in the dairy.

Crewman1: Sir?

Hussein Capt: What?

Crewman1: Official call from your nephew.

Hussein Capt: I’ll take it in my ready-room.

He smiles
and walks off the bridge. As he passes bridge crew they go to rigid attention, whether sitting or standing, then back at ease after he passes. He exits the bridge through a side door.

CUT TO

HMS
Hussein’s
Captain’s ready room

A large and opulent room
full of cushy seats, settees and decorations. Standing next to the central seat is a boyish young man of 12 or 14 years, slender, sheer form fitting clothes, with a cloth over the crook of one arm like a waiter. As the Captain approaches, the servant hands him a drink. The Captain accepts it, eyes the young man for a moment, then waves him out of the room. As the boy leaves, the Captain sits down in the large central seat and addresses the ship AI.

Hussein Capt: Put the message on
screen.

A large screen on one side clears its decorative image of a
hugely fat nearly nude woman, replaced with the Warehouse Manager’s face, looking angry and flustered.

Warehouse Manager: I’m terribly sorry to bother you on such short notice. A shipper showed up ahead of schedule and managed to load and lift before a judgment against them could be filed! I don’t know what kind of evil magic they performed to load
so fast, but they slipped out at dawn and did not respond to orders to return. It’s a small ship, an old Meridian, the load barely fit. The
Tajmagica
they said. And the
dogs
hacked the computers here as they were leaving! Left no record of their being here. NOTHING. Just a “delivered as required” notice with no personnel, ship transponder data, or company information! NOTHING! They messed with the backup accounting records, too! Hunt them down and GET THEM BACK HERE! The judgment should be official shortly! Please, HURRY!

The transmission ends, replaced by the previous image. The captain sits motionless for a moment, then shakes his head in disappointment.

Hussein Capt: (To himself, disappointedly) He’s got one job.
One
. Keep people from loading too fast, and he can’t even do that. Even manages to have the accounts hacked. Pathetic. Might need to hire a different nephew.

He sighs and hefts himself up out of his seat
, heading for the door. It slides silently open for him, and as he walks through he starts barking orders.

Hussein Capt: Sensors, track ALL ships leaving the DMS! Find a small transport! Navigation, plot for Emirate, shortest time! Wing Commander, prep four interceptors for launch and get the pilots ready! We are going to go rumble some thieves, bring them back for trial and execution!

The bridge explodes into activity, and several of those standing around run for the doors to perform tasks his orders require.

FADE TO BLACK

Not a hockey player

CUT TO

INT - DAY
- Bridge of
HMS Hussein

C
aptain sits in his raised command chair, brooding.

Sensor Tech: Sir, I think I found them!

Hussein Capt: On the main screen!

A diagram
shows the sun, a half dozen planets, an icon for the
HMS Hussein
with a vector arrow attached pointing inward to inner planets from the fourth ring gas giant at 2 o’clock, and an icon for the suspected
Tajemnica
with a shorter vector arrow pointing away from them, inward across the system toward 9 o’clock, with dotted lines showing expected future courses. The
Hussein
is far away, but much faster.

In the lower right of the screen a data box pops up. It reads

Name: NO DATA

Class:
NO DATA

Registered:
NO DATA

Sensor tech: They obviously reset it.
Everything else in the area is known and verified.

Hussein Capt: Navigation, any chance they can transition before we get there?

Nav Tech: Not likely, sir. Acceleration barely two.

Sensor tech:
A two drive Sokolov calliope. We have three times their acceleration. The interceptors five.

Hussein Cap
t: (Smiling with evil glee) You can run, but not fast enough.

T
he data displayed in the screen box changes. NO DATA disappears, and in its place:

             
Name:
Irony

             
Class: Nightmare

             
Registered: Once upon a time, somewhere, someone knew me

T
he captain snorts in derision.

Hussein Capt: So, the jokers think they have a sense of humor, eh. Well. Joke’s on them. We know who you are now! Lay an intercept course! Get ready to launch when we are
eight hours away unless it looks like they manage to get a little more acceleration under themselves. You can run, little freighter, but you can’t hide… you can’t hide.

DISSOLVE TO

INT - DAY -
Tajemnica
Bridge

Helton, Bipasha, Kaushik, Allonia, and Cooper
at stations, Lag leaning casually against the command console.

T
he main display screen diagrams their situation. There are icons for
Tajemnica
,
HMS Hussein
, and close to her a small icon with a “4” next to it, and a series of various arcs this way and that, all of which converge at one point or another. Near the edge of the display is a red line labeled “Transition.” Not too far from it is a small moon, and on the top a larger circle labeled
Rings
.

Helton: Damn. Those interceptors will get to us before we can transition.

Bipasha: Can’t we hide behind that moon?

Cooper: Nope. That’s the one that surprised us on the way in.

Helton: Yeah, we should avoid it if we can.

Kaushik: What’s the exclusion zone look like?

On the display a circle appears around the moon. It extends just past the planet.

Helton: Hmmm… Not too bad. Maybe
we could curve around behind it; we’re slower, we can make a sharper turn. They’d have to decelerate to get around it. Then they’d have to rumble us at a much slower speed.

Allonia: Rumble?

Cooper: Pass at high acceleration and set up a drive field interference problem that would make us shake and vibrate. You break engines that way if you’re not careful.

La
g: That wouldn’t be very smart. We have a lot more mass than they do. I’d do a radio threat and missiles, not a rumble. This thing’s drives are set up more like a tug than a racer.

Helton: You said you worked here a while back. Think they are smart enough to know that?

Lag: Good point… Likely not. Give an asshole yokel the best equipment in the system, and he’s still an asshole yokel, regardless of rank and name. They’d want to show off their new toys. I think you are right, they
are
likely to try to rumble us.

Helton: Plot a curve behind that moon, make them slow down a bit, or else they’d overshoot going too fast and have no choice but launch at us
. I’m sure they’d like to get their ammo back cleanly to sell again, and missiles are
so
messy. But not too close. It buys a bit of time.

DISSOLVE TO

Tajemnica
Engineering

Stenson and his crew work frantically
to get the drives operational.

Stenson: Another hour. More for even
basic testing.

Helton:
We don’t
have
that much time.

Stenson: The Sokolovs are moving us. We have to shut them down to spin up the Harmons, and that change is going to take a couple of minutes
minimum
, if everything is perfect on the first try. Synchronizing will take more time.

Helton: We don’t have any guns, missiles, beams,
anything offensive. We only have running and a shitload of extra mass and no time to dump it! We
need
those drives up!

Stenson: Working as fast as I can, but I’m not a miracle worker!

Helton: We only have-

Helton suddenly freezes
with a thoughtful expression.

Helton: You said this thing has tough armor. How tough?

Stenson: Not going to stop a contact hit from a heavy anti-ship missile straight-on, I wouldn’t think.

Helton: How about a collision at moderate speed?

Stenson: WHAT?!

Helton: I think they’re going to rumble us. How fast could you invert and cycle the drive fields?

Stenson: It’d take… wait. (Suddenly incredulous) NO! You CANNOT be SERIOUS! With enough velocity a used bandage would blow a bloody big hole in a ship, and those are sixty-ton interceptors!

Helton: They’ll have to slow down to make the turn around the moon, and move slow enough they don’t break their
own drives rumbling us.

Stenson: Damm
it, Helton! This is a starship, not a hockey player!

Helton: You said it’s the toughest warship hull ever built. Time to find out just what that means. How long?

Stenson: (Tired and frustrated) Aw crap, I don’t know. I’ll let you know what’s possible as soon as I know.

Helton: (
Matter of factly) No guns. No missiles. Can’t run. Nowhere to hide… No other option. Get it ready. We’ll only have one chance.

FADE OUT