Ringship Discretion Page 8

  In a frustrated voice, "Dammit! Sorry. I keep doing that. Is there anyway you can make a bunch of noise when we dock, so if Ben and AJ hit hard, they won't be noticed?"

  Amelia thought for a bit. "Well, I could act like I am a crappy pilot and do some adjustments as we lock on and after. That will shake the docking tube all over the place and make a hell of a racket."

  Attie said "Great!. Everyone get ready! Thirty Seconds to impact."

  AJ and Ben did the best they could to secure themselves. Ben thought to AJ "Get ready, she is going to turn the ship fast just before impact. As soon as she's done turning, let go, but not before." AJ, obviously scared, shook his helmet in a quick nod. They both looked at the massive station now taking up their whole field of view. It was a covered in a yellow powder, but looked like it was once white and blue. The docking tube stuck out toward them about a 100 meters and it bent to the right where it merged to the station. Ben squeezed the grab rails as tight as he could and smiled at AJ. The captain thought to them "5..4..3..2..1". The whole universe spun and Jupiter was now straight overhead. AJ slipped a little but pulled himself in tighter using his forearms. Then Ben thought "NOW! Let go!" AJ hesitated and the sudden impact of the ship against the docking tube ripped AJ's hand free from the grab rail. Ben flew first and right over the top of the docking tube, his carabiner brake slowing him down, while AJ, flopping around, flew by before getting control of his. AJ started to slow down, but then ran out of cable and he snapped back. He hit the tube hard and bounced up. Ben snapped his own carabiner to the station and grabbed AJ's slack line. He pulled AJ back in. AJ thought "I hurt my arm, but I think I'm OK." The whole structure was moving back and forth, but once Ben was sure AJ was alright he peeked over the edge into a portal. He saw a man looking back out. He jerked his head back and thought to the captain "They're looking out the windows. AJ hit the deck really hard, so they probably heard us."

  The captain thought back. "I doubt it. Amelia is doing some crappy docking maneuvers and making a hell of a racket. They're probably just looking out to see who the hell is flying this thing."

  Ben, his heart pounding, responded "OK, I hope you're right. I am planting the charges now." He turned and thought to AJ. "See if you can get a scan of the guy right below us through the hull."

  AJ pulled out the scanning device. It was shaking wildly in his hand. Ben grabbed his hand "It's OK. Calm down. The tough part's over!" AJ nodded and started to push buttons.

  Ben thought "I'll be right back." and he pushed off toward the station to get behind where their inner airlock would be. He found where two sections connected and set a charge. He then went to the other side and did the same.

  AJ thought to Ben "I've got something."

  Ben thought back "I'll be there in a second."

  After the docking tube made a hard seal with the ship, the captain opened the ship's outer airlock hatch and he, Doc, and Helen stood there, just inside the now open hatch. They had two loaded M24s and a shotgun just behind the hatch door just in case. The lead man from the station opened the docking tube space-side airlock door and walked the short distance to the ship's hatch. "You must be Captain Elliot. Why don't you come out and let's trade?"

  The captain said "That's OK, we're fine right here."

  The lead man said "Did you lose your real pilot?"

  The captain said "Something like that. You going to show us the cash?"

  The lead man said "You not even going to ask my name?"

  The captain asked "Do I need to?"

  "Well, it is customary you know. It's Duane. Duane Schmidt." He pointed to a box "I have the cash right here, but where's our prize?"

  The captain replied "Well..Duane, there's been a slight hitch. See, we only have three of the plates in here."

  In an angry voice he asked "Where the hell are the other three?! And who said you could open the cargo! We can't take three plates to our buyer, we need all six!. What did you expect, half payment or something?! Well you can.." The captain interrupted "HOLD ON! WE HAVE the plates! We just had to borrow them for a bit to get here. Half the damn galaxy is chasing us you know!"

  Duane freaked. "Borrowed them?! What the Fuck were you...." While Duane rambled on the captain thought to Ben "They just admitted they're middle men. Wonder how much they're going to get paid on their end of the run, and how much you want to bet they make a play for the plates and the money?"

  Ben thought back. "Right! Captain, we have a lock on one of his boys next to the umm....fourth window back."

  The captain looked and thought "I see him."

  Ben went on, "Well, according to the scanner, he is ready for a firefight, but he doesn't know if there will be one. He's just waiting for orders. But from his scan, I can tell you that he has 5 more men down the corridor that you can't see. Their ship is located at 44E and there are two guys there, the pilot and the cook."

  The captain thought back. "Great, Ben. See if you can scan someone else...". Then the captain suddenly became aware that Duane had finished his ramble and was calling his name.

  Duane was yelling "Hey Elliot! You not even paying attention to me?! Or are you...you thinking to someone?!" The exact second he was saying that, Ben tried to move, forgetting his carabiner was still attached to the station. It clanged and AJ's extra line flew outward and then down over the window.

  The fourth guy backed up from the window and cocked his rifle "DUANE! There's someone outside! Ambush!" Duane turned to yell "Don't shoot in here!" and when he turned back, he saw Atticus pushing everyone into the ship and going behind the hatch for something. Duane lifted his shotgun and fired. The shot hit the metal hatch and part of the tube. Air started to hiss.

  Atticus thought "BLOW IT!" and Ben pushed the remote detonator.

  Atticus lifted the M24 as he frantically backed away from the hatch and got a round off just as he heard the explosion and felt the air pressure drop. He saw everyone in the rear of the corridor start to fly backward, but the inner two docking tube airlock doors immediately slammed shut into emergency mode, while his own hatch didn't. Duane had fallen backward, but cocked his shotgun for another shot. Atticus took another shot of his own, and with his foot, kicked his hatch shut just as Duane's second blast hit it.

  Ben thought to the captain. "We have cut ourselves free of the station. Floor it and come back for us!"

  The captain yelled "Amelia!! FULL POWER!!"

  She yelled back. "What about Ben and AJ!?"

  "They're OK! Just go goddammit!"

  Two seconds later, the ship threw the captain against the far wall of the airlock. What was left of the connecting tube ripped from the station and wrapped it self around the rear of the Discretion, striking the grav plates. The ship started to spin and this caused the tube to straightened out. The captain pulled himself to his feet and took a look out the portal. Duane was still in the connecting tube against the space-side airlock door that had shut. As Atticus watched, Duane managed to open it, get back into the docking tube and shut it again, then the whole tube ripped free, with Duane now trapped inside. Atticus watched it fly off towards the crescent of Io, while a huge volcano plume erupted in the distant background. He yelled again "Amelia! Stop the ship!...I'm going to puke."

  Atticus stumbled his way to the bridge.

  Amelia, very upset, "What the hell happened?!"

  Attie climbed into the co-pilot seat. "It went bad! We need to go back and pick up Ben and AJ."

  Amelia pushed buttons, engaging and disengaging the engines "Shit, I can't make this thing go in a straight line".

  The captain took a breath, coughed and said "What about the MFG's?"

  She said "Yeah, I'll try that." The ship turned and began to approach the station. "Damn, its working!"

  The captain said "Because of all the ion flux?"

  She said "Well indirectly. I think we are pushing off the station's magnetic field."

  Then Ben's thoughts came in. "Captain, we see you. Looks like that tube smashed all the new p
lates we put on. Everyone OK? Did you get the money?"

  The captain sat up in his chair. "Everyone's fine. What about you two? The money was in the back end of the tube. Should be floating out there somewhere. Look for a metallic box."

  Ben thought "I'm fine, just rattled a bit. AJ hurt his arm again, but he's alright." Ben watched the Discretion's motion. "Captain, you are steering too far toward the station. Here, I will think to you where we are."

  Attie tapped Amelia "Turn on your TC implant and Ben will guide you in."

  She pushed the side of her head above her ear and began receiving Ben's thoughts.

  As they approached Ben and AJ's position, they noticed lights from the station turn and shine on them.

  Ben thought "I see it! The money box! When they turned those lights on, it was right there sparkling. A thing of beauty!"

  Amelia did her best to precisely control the ship with magnetic flux, but she kept overshooting. "Attie, I think this is as close as I can get. Tell them to use their suit thrusters to come in." Attie climbed up to the window to look down. He could see AJ and Ben coming in. Ben had something big in his arms.

  Attie jumped down, suddenly realizing that they had tried to run the drives with the internal plating still on. It's a wonder it worked at all! He ran over to the hatch and watched through the portal. He waited and finally asked "Come on guys. Whats the problem?"

  Ben came back with "It's the hatch, its still has part of the hard seal attached to it and it's jammed. We are going to go around and use the hatch on the other side."

  Amelia yelled "Ships are powering up on the station!"

  Atticus frantically ran to the other side and thought "Come on guys! We've got to get out of here!"

  As Ben and AJ made it around to the other hatch, Amelia yelled "We have two ships pulling away from the station!"

  Attie looked at Doc and Helen. "Help them, I have to see what's happening" and he ran back to the bridge. He jumped into his usual chair. "What have we got?"

  Amelia pointed. "There. Those two".

  The captain said "Whoa, those are big ships. Can we run?"

  She looked at him white eyed. "There's no way without the drive plates!"

  The captain looked back at the other airlock and slapped his head. "Think. There has to be something we can do!"

  Amelia pointed "Here they come."

  Attie yelled "Everyone suit up! You too Amelia!" and he jumped up to help the others.

  Amelia grabbed his arm as he went by. "Attie! Look!"

  He turned and saw one of the ships fly by them at full throttle and then the other. He stood there for a minute trying to see where they went. "What the hell was that? Where did they go?"

  Amelia hit him again. "Look there go more ships!"

  Attie looked. "What the hell is going on?"

  And then he heard Ben's voice from behind him. "Hey Captain!"

  Attie turned and hugged him. "Damn! You OK?"

  Ben hugged back. "Yeah. Yeah. Hell yeah. That was a hell of thing. But we're all still here! AJ is fine and we got the money!" Ben looked out the window. "Where are all those ships going?!"

  Amelia suddenly said "They're evacuating. I was just listening to the radio chatter and they say the Big Sis ship will be here tomorrow and they're talking about the fleet of them that are going to pass soon." Amelia laughed "Wait! They think what we just did was a prelude to an attack!" She turned and looked at Attie with a huge grin.

  Attie smiled back and shook his head. "It might be! Whew...OK...." He turned to Ben "Did you get a look at the grav plating?"

  Ben nodded. "It looks like the plates are all still there. Just looks like the jury rigging we built got bent to hell."

  Attie sat down "OK, lets sit, calm down for a sec and think. What do we need to do next?"

  Amelia said "Well, we need to get the hell out of Dodge, so we need to fix the plates.." Attie interrupted "But, we need somewhere to go. We certainly can't go home." Just then, AJ came up and asked "How did we do Captain?"

  He looked at AJ with a smile. "You did great kid! You OK?"

  AJ set down the mind scanner and pointed to his wrist "I let go too late and pulled it really bad, but considering what..." The captain interrupted "I have an idea! Sorry AJ. Amelia, where is that tube at?"

  She looked at her displays. "You mean the one that was attached to us?"

  He said "Yeah, that one!"

  She got up and looked out the side of the window "Its down there."

  Attie said "Great. Take us as close to it as you can."

  Ben looked at him puzzled. "What do you have in mind?"

  The captain grabbed the brain scanner. "This! We have a rat in a cage with information we need - and we have the 'cheese of life'."

  Amelia looked at Attie and the scanner and she felt that protective side of him coming through. That "kill anyone or destroy anything to protect his crew" feeling. Just like back when he used that laser to kill the disabled bridge of the BB ship. She felt safe from it, but at the same time feared it. "Captain, you really would do anything to protect us, wouldn't you?"

  Her calling him "Captain" got everyone's attention. Attie looked at her. And then he looked around to the whole crew. "I think we all would.......Now lets get to work. Ben, I need you and AJ to go back out and fix the grav plating. Doc, finish getting suited up and you are with me. Amelia, check the main hatch to see if it's leaking and see if we can get it unjammed. Helen, you have communications. OK, lets go!"

  Doc, Ben, AJ, and the captain all crammed into the functioning airlock along with the cutting and welding equipment. It seemed like they were in there forever. Usually the emergency situations were coming into the airlock and pressurizing, which could be hurried, although its still felt slow. But dropping the pressure to 40 kPa had to be done slow and it felt like an eternity.

  The pressure finally hit 40 kPa and they all donned their helmets and checked the gear. The captain said "Everyone ready?". They all gave the OK signal and he released the remaining pressure in the lock. When it hit zero, he opened the outer door. In front of them was the yellow and orange pizza surface of Io. The volcano he had seen earlier was erupting so high that its plume went into space. The view caught all their attentions for a minute, until the captain said "Come on. It's damn beautiful, but I don't want this to be the last thing I ever see. Let's move!"

  Amelia had done a fairly good job getting close to the floating tube airlock wreckage. The captain said to Doc "OK, I want you to go to the top of the airlock section and see if you can get a reading on that Duane guy inside. Let me know as soon as you do. I am going to go inside the tube and see if I can bargain with him."

  Doc said "Aye Captain." and he thrustered off.

  The captain headed inside of the tube. He floated up to the sealed door's portal and looked in. Duane looked up and jumped. He beat against the door and was yelling, but the captain couldn't hear him. The captain stuck a note up to the window that said "Information for life". Duane calmed down and nodded. Just then Doc came over the headset "I've got a mind lock". He is thinking about how to get out and kill you, but also about delivery to Oberon. It's apparently an Oorter base of some kind. Now, he's thinking about what his crew is doing and his daughter back on.."Doc, relevant details please."

  The captain pointed to his ear and signaled for Duane to put his ear against the glass. He must have understood because he complied. The captain put his helmet against the other side of the glass and yelled "Can you hear me!?". Duane yelled "Yes! What the hell do you..."Shut up Duane! Either listen or I will leave you here, and no one is going pick you up. They are all evacuating. Tell me where to take these plates, what they're for, and why half the damn solar system is hunting us for them! And then I will tow your ass back to the station."

  Duane asked "Are you going to take the plates yourself now?"

  The captain said "Never mind what we are going to do. Tell me what I want or I leave you here"

  Doc came over the comm. "Getting
good information now Captain."

  The captain pulled his helmet away from the glass hoping that Duane didn't hear that. "Great Doc. Radio silence until I say otherwise." He put his helmet back against the glass. "Well?!"

  Duane said "It was a contract for some Oorters. I heard rumors about some kind of stable warp drive and those plates have something to do with it. Whatever they are, you have no idea how important it is that they get them. I was ordered to kill you because they said you lead the Blueballs right to us, and they needed the trail to end. It wasn't anything personal and I usually don't do business this way.." The captain interrupted. "Where are we supposed to take them?"

  He reluctantly replied "New Freedom City on Oberon"

  The captain replied "Oberon!? As in Uranus?! That's like two months flight!"

  Duane said "Well, that's close in for the Oorters. They're building up for some kind of offensive. Look, that's all I know."

  The captain asked "How much?"

  Duane "If I tell you, will you tow me back now?"

  The captain agreed, and Duane said "4 million. Look, take me with you and I will split it."

  The captain replied "Hell no. You were going to kill us. I don't allow anyone I don't trust on my ship. But I will tow you back to the station and I will have your crew pick you up."

  "No wait! My crew probably just took off with the money"

  The captain had pulled his helmet away but he put it back. "Money? Wasn't the money in the airlock?!"

  Duane looked around guiltily. "Well, no. Just a little on the top."

  The captain smacked the airlock. "Dammit! We can't get a fucking break!. Amelia, check the trunk of money and see what's in it. OK Doc, you got what you need?"

  Doc responded "Yes sir!"

  The captain flew out of the wreckage. "OK Doc, help me attach the cable Ben was using to this rat infested garbage pile."

  Amelia came back "Not much. The top is covered in bills, maybe $1500 or so, but the rest is just paper."

  Attie came back on. "Damn!, well as soon as Ben and AJ are done, let's tow this scumbag back to the station. Ben, how are you doing?"