“What’s the news?” I asked the bartender after drinks had been dispensed, in reply he turned the viewer on, and I could have fallen over when the face of Beyl flashed up on the screen.

  The announcer was saying, “A known fugitive, going by the name of Beyl Sonari is believed to be on the run from Callo after a battle at Mee-Ling University resulted in the deaths of several men. Some of the casualties were thought to be members of the Truth Movement, while two Guards and three local politicians were also killed. Ten persons are in hospital. Any sightings of Miss Sonari should be reported to local police or Guards. A reward of one million credits will be paid for information.”

  That was some amount of money, and I wondered what had happened. I had almost forgotten her and that box.

  There was a hand on my shoulder; I turned to look over the head of Commander Miro, at his full height he was not much taller than me sitting down. Next to me, Elana shot me a ‘do you want me to deal with this a**hole’ look, I shook my head.

  “Captain Travise,” said Miro, “fancy seeing you here.”

  It was so improbable that it defied coincidence. He was in civilian clothes but must have been following me. Mind you, my movements had not been a secret, and even though I had removed two trackers, maybe there was a third one somewhere, or maybe he had just waited, knowing I would eventually show up for stores.

  “Interesting piece on the newscast, don’t you think, regarding our mutual friend?”

  “I couldn’t comment.” I had forgotten his pedantic way of speaking, and even after one sentence, it was starting to grate.

  “Come now, Captain, we can dispense with the act, you knew the lady, whatever she called herself, and I wonder if you know where she is now.”

  “Well, if you’ve been following me,” I paused, but his face betrayed no emotion, “you’ll know that I have been taking your advice.”

  “Ah yes,” he replied. “And I see that you have found a new companion.” He gazed at Elana; his head tilted back. “You appear to attract women with a certain, um, reputation. This must be the, let’s see, the third or fourth. I wonder; do you know any more about this one than you did about the rest?” His words hung in the air, I looked at Elana, but she just shrugged and drank.

  “Looks like you’re not getting under her skin either,” I remarked. “And if you have anything specific to tell me, perhaps you’d like to spit it out.”

  “Oh, I have nothing to tell you; you just need to know that I’m watching you.” He turned and walked out.

  “What was all that about?” Elana asked.

  Suddenly I didn’t feel thirsty. “I’ll tell you on the way back.”

  “So that’s about it,” I paused for breath, “now you know as much as I do.” I had given her an edited version of events during our ride back to the ship in her hover-car.

  “What a story, no wonder you want to hide out here for a year. Griff told me you could be trouble waiting to happen, but if there’s any action, I’m with you all the way. I’ve no love for the Federation; I would still be on the transports if it weren’t for them. People like me seem to end up with the crap whilst the privileged few keep their jobs.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “The mate who got me fired, after the so-called irregularities, his father was high up in the Senate, and as soon as he got my job, he started pulling the same scam that I got fired for.” She pulled a face. “They’re all the same, only better connected. He just wanted command and I was in the way, without the right parents to help me out.”

  Same old story, the worlds over. We were heading back to the ship with me balanced on a load of food packs, and some fresh stores we had purchased in the town. I had a small pouch with all the news and sports discs, plus a good selection of action vids for the miners, so we would be popular when we got back. There was a nagging feeling at the back of my mind, mainly to do with Miro’s appearance. Why was he still following me if all the action was on Callo? Something wasn’t quite right, but I couldn’t work out what.

  Mayve or Beyl or whatever her name was half the Federation away, and not my problem. As long as she kept out of Miro’s way, she would be fine. When we got back to the dock, the rest of the stuff had been delivered, and after stowing it, we set off on our return to the Moons.

  On our way back, I decided to take Elana into my confidence and told her more of the story, I was sure that she would have an opinion, and her reaction to my edited version had encouraged me that it would not be negative. Sure enough, she said that she would stick around and suggested that maybe we could try to pick up the trail of the Truth Movement after we had finished on the Moons. I thought that after that amount of time I would be wasting my efforts, but it was nice to know that I had an ally. After so many years alone, it felt good to be able to confide in someone else and to have a sounding board for my plans and schemes. When we returned to orbit the moon, we contacted the miners below; they were finished and started their lift-off sequence. When they had reached orbit, we would collect them and tow them to the next moon, number four on our list. A few hours later they were safely in orbit and were on short tows, ready for the shift.

  The crews came over for a well-deserved wash and change of gear, to be followed by a meal made with real food, which would be a treat to them after days of ration packs and cramped living. When they were clean and full we divided the discs and goodies among them. I also got a few beers out, as they could relax overnight on our crossing. This led to a round of toasting and a party atmosphere, lasting well out of orbit.

  A little too much alcohol may have been consumed, and before I fell asleep, at the mess-room table, I heard a news report on the video player. It was from the discs we had brought back, which nudged a thought in my mind. It must have entered my subconscious where it buzzed about because it kept me awake for half the night.

  Next day, nursing a hangover, I greeted the crews with the news of our arrival at moon four. They were in just as bad a state as me, which made me feel better, especially as I knew they would be performing re-entry in their lifters very shortly. Grinning, I dispensed coffee, motion sickness pills, and good wishes.

  After they had left I was tidying up the mess room when I remembered the news disc from last night – and the report that had got me thinking. I played the disc at fast speed until I found it. ‘New passages discovered in the Alysom Caves,’ was the title, referring to one of the wonders of the Federation, its top tourist attraction on Qister-Alu, miles and miles of twisting caves, tunnels and caverns thousands of feet tall, with spectacular rock formations and underground rivers. There was something about the name, but I couldn’t place it.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Right now we had more important things to think of. The proximity alarm sounded, we both ran to the wheelhouse. I settled into the pilot’s chair and took manual control. Elana took the second chair and set up the weapons control and detector screens on her wristband.

  “It must be pirates,” she reported. “Three of them in speeders, there will be a mother ship around here somewhere.” Her whole attitude had changed; she was completely focused on her job.

  I was pleased now that we had upgraded the ship’s systems, being an ex-navy vessel; it had been easy to refit all the things that had been removed when it was decommissioned. We were now more than a match for speeders, and they wouldn’t be expecting that.

  “Warn the lifters,” I suggested, she shot me a quick look, you do your job, it said.

  “I can’t, they are in re-entry, there will be no contact for a couple of minutes,” replied Elana, her eyes focused on the screen, hands flying over the holopanel that was hovering in mid-air in front of her.

  “There are two more speeders, following them down, these three are going to try and keep us busy.”

  I smiled. “Bet they don’t know about our extra toys.”

  “Well, they’re about to find out, I’m locking on the nearest.” As she spoke there was a succession of bleeps, rising in pitch as the targeting computer worked out ranges and relative motion, on the outside of the hull, our pulse cannon rotated and tracked the nearest speeder. The bleep became a steady note.

  “Locked on,” said Elana, I knew we had to do it, but it still felt wrong. There was a person in the speeder. But life on the rim could be savage. And Urssa had told me to keep their investment secure, they would back me.

  “Okay, Elana, we need to send a message.” I made a command decision. “Let them know we mean business.” She nodded and I gave the order, “Fire when ready.”

  A beam of deep blue light shot out from our cannon, converged on the leading speeder and flashed over the small hull. It glowed cherry red and exploded. Instantly, the other two speeders broke off from us and headed into the moon’s shadow. They were running back to the mother ship. It would be much better defended, probably too much for us, and anyway, I needed to protect the lifters.

  “Elana, get on the comms link to Urssa, tell ’em what’s going on, I’m following the lifters down.” She swiped her holopanel, changing its function, and her fingers tapped.

  “All done,” she called as we entered the moon’s thin atmosphere. “They say that they have dispatched a cruiser, they also said good luck and try to salvage what you can.”

  Pirates were an occupational hazard, they wouldn’t try and shoot down the lifters, just capture them: people, samples or maps were good bargaining tools. A ransom was easier than digging holes. I expect they had been hanging around just out of our scanner range and had overheard our call about leaving the crews to get stores. They probably didn’t know about us being armed, and because of the re-entry blackout the two speeders heading down would not be aware of us yet.

  “Can we jam the pirate’s comms?”

  “Yes, but we can’t be selective, so that will mean that we can’t talk to our lifters either.” There were advantages in keeping the mother ship out of the loop, and if the lifters were following orders they would spot the speeders on their displays. If they then got static they would know that we were on the case. The miners had instruction in procedures in case of an attack. They would try and land in cover, under cliffs or in valleys, go silent and listen out for the call from the victors.

  We came clear of the radio blackout and started jamming. The scanner picture was confused anyway, from the violent atmosphere, so we would not have been able to see the lifters until we got close. That meant that neither could the pirates. I made a decision.

  “We’ll have to get below the cloud layer to get a visual on the speeders.”

  “Then we can be seen.”

  “They won’t be looking behind them, they will think that their friends in orbit have us cornered, and even if they did, they can’t tell anyone.”

  I spotted the two speeders, heading fast and low to the ground. They were clearly in pursuit of our lifters, but we couldn’t see where they were in the atmospheric soup, visibility was patchy, and we kept losing sight of them. The scanner was useless in the charged air, lightning flashed repeatedly, and the smoke and flames from numerous volcanic vents filled the sky.

  We gradually closed on the speeders and could see that they had split up and were trying to block the lifters’ escape, marshalling them towards a piece of flat ground. There was no cover for the lifters and no way for them to break out of the view of the circling speeders. I reduced speed and hung off, in range but hiding in and out of the cloud cover.

  “What are they doing?”

  “They will round them up and call the mother ship. It will clamp the pods on its hull, the same as we do. They’ll strip them of all their gear and then ransom the crews and equipment. The lift bodies will just get dumped or maybe raided for spares.”

  “But the mother ship won’t be coming.”

  “They don’t know that yet.”

  As we closed the range, we saw the lifters land on a flat plateau, one speeder touched down beside them, the other stayed hovering above, to prevent escape.

  “Elana, can we hit either one?” I needed to take out one speeder quickly, the one in the sky would be easiest, but I didn’t want to risk damage to the lifters. Added to this, smoke from the volcanic eruptions was billowing around the plateau, obscuring our view of the scene below.

  “No, they are too close to the lifters.” With the buffeting we were taking and the static interference from the storms the targeting couldn’t get a lock.

  “How about if you took manual control of the cannon?” For all I knew she was a lousy shot, but based on the way she did everything else I was ready to give her the benefit of the doubt.

  “If you can move it, I might be able to risk a shot, but I don’t want it to fall on the lifters.” That would be ironic, but her comment had given me an idea.

  “I’m going to try and push the hovering one away, keep it in your sights and wait for my signal.”

  I piled on the power and aimed for a spot just above the hovering speeder. The collision alarm sounded as the speed built up and I raised the nose slightly. The pilot of the speeder must have wondered, in his last seconds of life, what had hit him. I passed about a meter over his craft, and as I did, I hit the reburn. This caused a large displacement in the thin atmosphere, right where he was. The shockwave hit his craft and swung it sideways, clear of the lifters below. “Now!” I shouted and Elana fired. As I had suspected, she wasn’t a bad shot, but this time she had used the projectile cannon with its explosive shells. Her shot hit one of the speeder’s stub wings, blowing it from the frame. The remains of the craft went into a spin and drove into the ground at high speed, well clear of the lifters, but close to the second speeder, showering it with wreckage as the remaining engine exploded.

  Elana cheered. “Stop the jamming,” I said, “and open the lifters’ frequency. Lifter one,” I called, “standby.”

  “What took you, Dave” came the calm voice of Danja, the pilot on Lifter One.

  “Are you all okay and ready to fly?”

  “Yes, Dave, we’re all fine here, I haven’t closed down, and the ground feels unstable.”

  “Nor me.” I recognized Olya, the pilot of Lifter Two. “We are also ready.”

  Now I only had one enemy to deal with and they were on the ground and a sitting target.

  “Calling the speeder, this is Urssa Mining guard ship. Do not operate your craft.”

  There was no reply, just the hiss and crackle of static.

  I tried again, “Speeder, we will not hesitate to fire if you obstruct us.” I turned the transmitter off. “Elana, keep your cannon on him.” I had been flying by instinct, keeping the Sprite level and concentrating on the lifters, Elana’s reply made me glance sideways.

  “Dave, you should see this, by the wreck.” I looked down, the crashed speeder had broken the thin crust of a magma vent, which was widening quickly, and molten rock was flowing toward the three craft. It would reach the silent speeder first. Now we needed to get everyone out of there.

  “Both lifters take off now,” I called. “And stay in formation with me. We’re not going into orbit until I check for the mother ship.” I was pleased to see them both leave the ground and hover, thrusters angling to hold their position in the turbulent atmosphere. The magma was causing updrafts, and the speeder on the ground was tilting as the plateau collapsed.

  “Speeder, take off now, I will not fire unless you make a hostile move.” But it didn’t. “Speeder, are you disabled?”

  A small voice, seeming to come from miles away answered, “I have no computer controls, and my fuel lines are broken.” It sounded like a child’s voice and despite everything I felt a desire to help, this was cold blood now. We had the advantage. As I watched the speeder started sliding across the ground toward the open vent.

  “Stand by,” I called. I swung the ship around and triggered the belly cameras. Flipping switches I lowered the lifting magnet and swung it to land on the speeder’s hull with a clang. Elana looked worried as the Sprite tilted and the engine noise rose as I put the power on. “What the hell are you up too?” she shouted in my ear.

  “I’m saving the pilot's life,” I called out.

  All the ship’s alarms started in a wide variety of noises, drowning out any more conversation. I was exceeding all the limits on this old ship, mentally crossing my fingers I hit the Emergency Run switch on the main control board. This removed all the engine and gear limits and was a get me out of trouble, last-ditch option. The alarms stopped and I could think again. Elana had shut up and was watching me intently. She must have thought my actions were suicidal. At least she wasn’t trying to talk me out of it. And she was sensibly keeping quiet, after all, her future depended on me having no distractions.

  Slowly Freefall took the weight of the speeder as we inched into the air; the cable and the magnet were not designed for this sort of weight, but I just wanted to reduce the friction between the speeder and the surface. As I tilted the controls, the speeder stopped its slide. It slowly started moving away from danger. I was coaxing it across the ground away from the vent and the spreading magma. I moved the speeder sideways to a piece of clear ground and let the cable go slack.

  “Speeder, you will be safe there until your mother ship can get you.”

  “They won’t bother with me,” came that small voice again, definitely female. “You should have left me there, I’m expendable to them.” There was a calm resignation in the voice.

  “Are you suited?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well get out then, I’m coming back for you.” Elana shot me another ‘are you crazy’ look. Maybe I was, but I couldn’t leave them there. I know they had tried to kidnap my customers, but that was different from killing in the heat of the moment.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20