The Bright Black Sea by C. Litka

  Chapter 57 Explora Minor

  01

  I took my time showering and donning a clean jump suit. I wanted to talk, too.

  I reported to the control bridge.

  'Ah, Captain,' he said greeting me. 'Here, at last. Take over Kin,' he said to the other officer at the control desk.'

  'The tech said I could shower and freshen up before reporting,' I replied, choosing to be dense.

  He gave me a glowering look and showed me into his small, bare office, a desk and two chairs. 'Want a drink? We should have time now.'

  'If you're having one. A small one.'

  He drew out two bulbs of Ram's Rock Rum and tossed one over to me. We unsealed the bulbs and squeezed out a sip.

  'When you're flying one of my boats, you're under my command,' he began straight away.

  'Of course, Captain,' I replied. I'd decided that for both our sakes, I'd stick with my story of a com link failure. 'Did I miss any order? The last I heard was a general chase. I believe my com link went down. Likely a result of getting nicked by an anti-missile or chuck of debris. Not uncommon, I suppose.'

  'I rather doubt that, if you don't mind me saying so.'

  I shrugged. 'I don't mind. Now, if, that's all you have to say, we've more pressing things to discuss.'

  'We do?'

  'I was wondering what you have in mind for your plan B. The way things are looking, we need to make some new plans before we reach the drift stream. We'll be in the blind spot in two watches, and we'll be altering our course and speed. I was wondering if you had any preferences.'

  'Alter our course? Have a plan B?' he said, folding his hands and resting his chin on them. 'You're making unwarranted assumptions.'

  'I hope not. I'm assuming Boscone hired the best, so I'm pretty certain you've a Plan B. And C. And D.'

  He shook his head and sighed. 'Well, the thing with mercenary work is that your client pretty much calls all the shots. They hire you to do a specific job, and then tell you how to do it. Or try, anyway...'

  'Except that it's becoming clear that we may not reach Boscone unless we use the drift stream to make changes that'll disrupt Despar's plan of attack. As I'm sure you realize, we'll soon be in position to make a course change that they'll not be able to detect until it will be too late to respond with the bulk of their forces prior to reaching the general region of Boscone Reef.'

  'So you're now a tactician,' he said sarcastically.

  'No, you are. I can, however, call on two experience Patrol officers for their professional opinion. I've had a chance to talk with them and, like me, they think a slight change of plans and course is called for,' I said carefully.

  'What are Vyn and Tenry suggesting?' he asked mildly.

  'I think professional courtesy prevents them from making direct suggestions, but they told me they'd only stay on our present course with a Marlin class frigate and a flight of jump fighters. But with a nearly exhausted half a flight and an old tramp, they'd imagine you'd be on plan B now.'

  'Despar made their move early, and lost.'

  'Vyn and Ten don't believe the killing blow has been struck yet.'

  He shrugged. 'I think I'm in a better position to judge that.'

  'Not to be too critical, but I'm not absolutely convinced.'

  'This is my profession. With all due respect to Ten and Vyn, their Patrol experience doesn't match mine. I think we've seen the bulk of Despar's forces and have defeated them.'

  'That may be the case, but it does not alter my concern for the safety of my crew and ship. I can't see how any changes of course I make will make our position worse than it is now. So there's no reason not to do something fairly random to minimize surprises on the far side. We'll still be more than six days from the Boscone Reef. I'll not gamble on your instinct.'

  'I'm sorry, but I see no compelling reason to change either our course or our speed. We'll stay with our originally planned course. I paid a large premium for your services. I'm sorry you're getting nervous, but you're being paid very well to endure. You'll just have to tough it out.'

  I shook my head. This was my ship, or Min's, but mine to run.

  'No. I don't. You agreed to a standard Unity charter to carry your contingent to Boscone. Everything else, like using my ship as your operational base over the course of the passage was just an informal understanding between us. The wording of the standard charter gives me the right to make course alterations to avoid hazards. I believe proceeding along the original course presents a very serious hazard, a far greater one than what you want me to believe... So I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist on exercising my right to avoid these additional dangers. I'll consider any suggestions you make, of course, but the decision is mine, Captain D'Lay.'

  'And how do you expect to avoid them?'

  'I'm starting by consulting with you,' I said with a smile. 'I don't want this to divide us.'

  'We damaged or destroyed nine of the fifteen ships they deployed against us. I think we've won. I doubt there are many left on the far side of the drift. We've just about accounted for every ship in my intel report, so there's no need to make any changes at all. We'll have a day or more to recoup and be fresh for whatever they have left to deploy.

  'That being the case, why would you object to a change of course? It wouldn't matter then, would it? I'm considering increasing our speed and altering our course to run along the coast of the reef, decelerating and entering it when we can do so safely. If you're right and we find ourselves free of opposing ships, we can simply decelerate and enter the reef all that much sooner. I don't see why you're objecting.'

  'I have my reasons.'

  Care to state them?'

  'I don't owe you an explanation. It's my bailiwick.'

  'Sorry, that doesn't cut it. I know we took out a fair number ships today. And I suspect you're thinking you job is more than half done and want to finish it on the other side,' I said watching him closely.

  He just stared back at me.

  'Illy reports that we've nearly exhausted the defensive missiles we took off the Striker. Not knowing how many ships we'll face on the far side, I don't care to find out.'

  'You have us.'

  'Yes. But I don't see how a course change can fail to save both of us a great deal of danger.'

  'They'll have considered that possibility and will disperse their forces no matter what course we take. Staying the course will be no more likely than any other course, perhaps even less likely, so there's no reason to deviate.'

  'Besides altering our course, I intend to increase our speed as well. Our present course will take us into the reef in six days. If we're to decelerate enough to navigate the passage in the reef, we'll need to start decel three days after leaving the drift stream, allowing the Despar forces to collect and attack again right up to and into the reef. By altering our course and increasing our speed, I'll run alongside the coast of the reef, which means we can decelerate when it's safe to do so. It gives us options. If things are as rosy as you'd have me believe, the course change would simply allow you to reach Boscone sooner. I'm a cautious fellow by nature, but I don't think I'm being overcautious in my proposal. I'm being practical.'

  'I've a job to do. My hands are tied. I was hired to deliver my crew and boats to Boscone and destroy Despar's fleet about Boscone. I intend to do that as quickly and efficiently as possible, or die trying. That is the code I live by.'

  'And I was hired to deliver you to Boscone, not fight those battles. I'll do my job, you'll do yours,' I shot back. 'I wasn't hired to be your bait or your base of operations.'

  'The risks came with the credits you accepted as payment. I'll make certain that agreement is kept as well.'

  I drew a burning slug of rum and staring off into grey blankness of the office bulkhead, considered what to say next. I needed to tread very carefully. I looked up to find D'Lay watching me warily. I had little option but trust that he was in no more hurry to die than I.

  'You need us, Capta
in, so I'll not take that last remark as a threat. You've more than enough enemies already. I intend to change course in the drift stream when all our shadowing ships will be blinded by the dust and gas. While I'm certain they'll anticipate such a move, they can't anticipate my exact course and so must disperse their forces, both here and what they may have on the far side of the drift. And by increasing our speed, we'll not only have even less, but we'll have more options in dealing with any situation we find ourselves in.'

  He gave me a very dangerous, ram you damn you look. 'You're rather... shy... aren't you Wil?'

  'I'm no Brilliant Pax, if that's what you're implying.'

  He shrugged. 'Listen, Litang, the battle is, for all practical purposes, over. They've only eight or nine ships left to attack us. We can handle them. We've won.'

  'And how many more on the other side of the drift stream?'

  'My intel suggests that we've faced their entire Boscone force, save the frigate hanging on the fringe directing the operation. There is no need to change anything. Let'em come. It'll make my job all the easier, since they're worn out as well.'

  'That being the case, why would you object to a slight course change...'

  'Because I want to take them on now, before they have time to be rested and resupplied.'

  'So I gathered. However, we agreed to transport your force to Boscone, not to replace the Striker. We've done far more than we agreed to do. But there is a limit, and you're at it.

  He glared at me. 'You'll stay the course. You seem to forget where you are.'

  I drained my globe and waited for the fire to die down. 'I may or may not be shy, but I'm no fool. I've already given the orders. In less than ten minutes we'll be closing the cargo hatch doors sealing your boats in my hold in order to prepare for the drift field. I have an experienced former first mate who'll see to the ship, whatever you do. You see, while I'd hate to be hasty in my judgment, D'Lay, it's been my misfortune to cross orbits with two alumni of Saint Bleyth. One tried, and failed, to kill me, twice, or three times, depending on how you look on it. The other fell prey to an ambush and now seems content to blindly follow a plan conceived of weeks ago that did not anticipate the actual tactics of his opponent. I can't say I'm overly impressed,' I said biting down my anger, not caring that members of the Order of Saint Bleyth were unlikely to take insults graciously, except from customers.

  D'Lay, said nothing. His silence, however, was far from reassuring.

  'Right. Do you want my people here, or would you rather we return to our part of the ship?'

  'Go.'

  I stood. 'There's still time to cooperate on a plan of action, if you choose. Think it over.'

  He said nothing, so I left, gathered Min, Tenry and Vynnia, suited up and returned to our ship. I closed up the ship. We were not in the drift yet, but there seemed no prospect of another attack. Once in the drift, we'd run across the occasional pea sized meteor, which would not damage our hull, but would pierce the containers the mercenaries used as their quarters. Closing the hold hatches was a necessary safety measure.

  02

  The dust on the hull made an audible, almost electric sound – like static – as it brushed against the hull, with the occasional zing! when a pea-sized rock scraped along the ship's hull. Our sensors were hardly able to penetrate the glowing, highly charged field that encircled our ship as we drove through the dust and gas of the drift stream. We'd the three drones in a line ahead, extending our sensor range as far as it'd reach, to give us a chance to avoid any meteor stream in the dust. I was waiting until there was no chance of our maneuvers being detected before ordering the change in course. As I waited, I considered my future.

  Cha growing – that's my life's work. If we reach Boscone, survive this drift war and escaped the drifts with our lives, I'd be pushing up my retirement date as a spaceer up several decades. That was a big dark if, I'll grant you, but I was trying to be optimistic. And oh, yes, only if Nadine – Cin – didn't catch up and killed me. I'd enough credits to buy a small parcel of land high in the misty peaks of Belbania where I could plant a few cha trees. I'd start small. But it'd be peaceful. And safe. I took another sip of cha. I'll have to have Rafe work up a new identity for me before he gets restless and moves on. It's a big nebula. There's a chance I'll live to plant cha, but in reality, I was merely whistling in the dark of my cabin as zing! went the little rocks across the hull.

  'Sensors range down to a bare minimum, Captain,' said Vynnia over my com link. 'No ships in range. I think we can make our move.'

  'Right. I'll be right out. Alert the crew for power and maneuvers.' I sucked up the last of the warm cha, and stepped around to the bridge.

  We made a slight alteration in course and fired the rockets for six hours. I made my rounds late in the 5th watch, as usual. I stopped and told the cats of no. 4 hold my woes. They made a polite effort to appear to care.

  03

  Amazingly enough, we discovered only one ship at the extreme range of our sensors as we cleared the dust of the drift. We left it quickly behind. It was too far to get a very accurate read on the ship, but it appeared to be a small drift trader that, judging by its trajectory, was likely on picket duty rather than one of our attackers. I was quite relieved. Nevertheless, I stayed on our course and if all went well, we'd begin our deceleration along the coast of the reef, and dodge in through one of the smaller passages when we killed enough of our velocity to safely navigate in the reef.

  A reef is a term given to a thick cluster of asteroids. It is what is commonly pictured as the drift in most people's minds, space filled with rocks of all sizes, from dust to large planets. There are indeed areas in most reefs where there are hundreds of rocks visible to the naked eye – or would be if there was enough light. The vast bulk of the reef is, on the whole, a lot less dense. Of course, in space travel, density is relative to the speed at which you're traveling through it. The more space you traverse each second, the denser it becomes in practice. If a ship was going fast enough to traverse a reef like Boscone's in an hour, the reef would be a solid wall (assuming such a ship could not steer with equal rapidity) but with reliable charts, the fissures in the reefs, the channels or passages can be safely sailed at near interplanetary speeds, and the reef itself can be carefully traversed at a quarter or less interplanetary speed.

  The Boscone Reef is about half an astronomical unit long and half as thick and tall. It appeared as a black wall against the faintly glowing marbled pattern of the nebula off our starboard bow. Our altered course would take us alongside the fairly well defined coast of the drift (as it appeared on the radar screen) and from there we could alter course for one of the well charted passages into the drift proper, or just dodge into the reef and pick our way slowly through the rocks and debris. The drift planet of Boscone lay at the reef's heart, which is where we were contracted to deliver the mercenaries.

  D'Lay kept to himself. We opened the hatch covers after clearing the drift stream and he sent out a single boat as sentry. I informed him that I'd start decelerating two days off the coast and that we should be able to enter the reef three days after that. I'd have him and his crew on Boscone in eight days.

  Things did not turn out that way.

  On the second day after clearing the drift stream, I got a call from Rafe.

  'Would you care to step around to the bridge, Wil?' asked Rafe over my com link, sending a dart of alarm shooting through me.

  'Right down. Anything Captain D'Lay would be interested in?'

  'I believe so,' replied Rafe.

  Damn, I thought. 'Then please alert him too. I'll be right down.

  I dropped down to the bridge where Rafe, our look out on watch, was pouring over the long range scanners.

  'I'll replay it, Willy, watch,' he said pointing to a bogey at the edge of our range.

  I leaned over his shoulder as the blip on the screen appeared on the edge and streaked a finger's length in on a converging line with our course. Nothing else to see
.

  'That's ten minutes,' Rafe said quietly.

  'Ten? Do you have a velocity figure on that?'

  'Aye, he said and brought up the figure, it was close to our max Sanre-tay to Zilantre speed.

  'Well, they're no danger to us then,' I said, relaxing. 'That velocity will take them a week past us before they even kill that velocity. We'll be in the reef by then. Assuming they have anything to do with this business.'

  'What is it Captain,' asked D'Lay, coming on line.

  'Send over the track,' I said to Rafe, adding to D'Lay, 'What do you make of it?'

  There was the longest pause and he said, 'I've got to go and stir up my crew. Please relay this information to my control center.'

  'What? Why?' I stuttered. 'Care to enlighten this poor old tramp skipper?'

  'We've a fight on our hands. Despar seems to have hired some very outlawed firepower.'

  'Then you know who it is.'

  'Not who it is, but what it is. It's a rogue sentient machine, a so called berserker. They don't expend fuel unless they're being paid. I'll have to consult our database to see what its sensor profile tells us. We might have a chance against it, if it's one of the smaller ones.'

  'But we can't be certain it has anything to do with us...' I said, grasping at straws.

  'Come now, Captain, we're not in the interstellar space ways, so the only reason a ship would be traveling at that velocity and on course would be to intercept us. My enemies must have enough ships to relay radio messages to Despar's HQ and with the last attack failing, must have called up reinforcements. I guess we were just too good. They've dispatched the only unit that can intercept us before we reach Boscone. We're in sensor range, so it'll begin its deceleration shortly and be on us within the hour or two...'

  'An hour or two! It'll take days to kill that velocity and make its way back to us.'

  'There are no humans aboard the vessel to worry about, so it'll kill its velocity at 100 gees. I need to scramble my fighters.'

  'Do we have a chance against a machine like that?' I asked before he could sign off.

  'Never faced one. They're rarely employed. No one understands them and few humans are desperate enough to trust them enough to either upgrade their weapons systems, or employ them, so there are likely some limits to its fire power. That said, even armed at modest levels, they're super machines that can process data far faster than even our machines – making them almost physic in their battle responses. Plus, they're built to maneuver without concern for fragile bodies. They've a reputation for almost always winning. Get your crew suited up. We'll be in battle within two hours.'

  04

  Less than two hours later, the rogue sentient ship, still hidden behind the intense flare of its rockets, was within minutes of entering the operational zone of the jump fighters, matching our speed and course just as D'Lay had predicted. He was leading his fighters in person, and had them ready, just laying off our starboard side.

  We were at ready too. Everyone was suited up. I'd them all allocated to the various stations on the bridge deck where everyone would have quick access to our gig, long boat and the Ghost, which we'd brought out of the hold as well. Our livestock had been rounded up and sealed in survival containers and placed aboard the long boat.

  Min and I were standing behind the control consoles. Behind us, Tenry was manning our weapons control section with Rafe next to him at the main sensor post. Before us, Kie had the look out station next to Vynnia at the helm, with Riv at the engine console. Molaye was at the drone control station. We'd brought all of them in close and had them hanging off the ship, with the idea that perhaps they could take a hit, instead of the ship or somehow disrupt the berserker's attack. Lilm was behind me at the extended engineering station. Once more I'd ordered the engine room cleared and sealed.

  'Ever run into a berserker?' I asked Vynnia, quietly as we watched the plot of the approaching rogue machine on the display before us.

  'No. They're very rare and usually stay very deep in the drifts. They don't have to work and can sit idle for a thousand years. They are machines, after all.'

  'We'll be launching our attack as soon as it is in range, Captain,' said D'Lay over my com link. 'Ader Bearth will be in charge of the command control center. I'd advise you to do as he suggests. He knows the score.'

  'Do you know what you're going up against?'

  'The profile falls within the parameters of several known berserkers on the low side of the chart. I'm confident we've a chance. We'll know in a few minutes, he said, hurrying on, 'Right. Now, Captain, don't do anything except defend your ship from direct attack. This is a fight between my forces and the berserker. If we lose, I believe you'll be offered the option to steer for Despar where your ship will be pressed into service for Despar. You may not like it, but you'll be alive. I understand that they levy a fine for operating within their space without a proper license, which you'll have to either pay or work off. The fine is stiff, and even with my credits, you're likely to spend a decade in the drifts until you've earned enough to pay it off and be free. But you won't be dead.

  'On the other hand, if you take an active part in the battle, you'll be considered a combatant and be subject to attack and your ship, or what's left of it, will be forfeited. There's nothing you can do to make any difference in the outcome of the battle, so don't try. Just stay clear and do your duty to keep your crew safe,' he added with what I knew to be grim sarcasm.

  'I'll follow your orders,' I replied, unable to let his sarcasm pass unchallenged. 'Safety first is my motto, as you know. But if there's anything we can do?'

  'Just stay out of it. I've enough things to worry about without worrying about your ship. It should be all over in less than ten minutes. There's nothing you can do against it. Just stay clear.'

  'Right. Stay clear. Good luck,' I said, if only to give him, and me, some peace of mind.

  'We can only hope. You haven't brought me any so far...' he replied and cut the channel.

  He hadn't exactly brought any luck with him either.

  05

  With that, the eight Omni-V jump fighters, deployed into wide cone and raced towards the still decelerating sentient warship. They were within a few seconds of being in range when it finished matching our velocity and course and extinguished its rockets. Even as the rocket glow faded, it launched six jump fighter-like units that streaked out to engage D'Lay's force of eight jump fighters. There was a moment when everyone on the bridge held their breaths, and then every view-panel exploded into a flickering description of chaos unleashed as each side let fly with their missiles and counter missiles.

  The battle lasted one minute, eleven seconds.

  In the end, there were four units left, the rest a rapidly expanding cloud of debris. None of them were ours. D'Lay's jump fighter force had ceased to exist.

  Even as the last flash explosion faded from our retinas, the radio speaker set to the standard ship to ship channel spat a grating shriek and then, 'This is Explora Minor. By the authority of the Confederacy of Despar, I order any remaining mercenary personnel to surrender immediately. I am sending units on board the outlaw ship, Lost Star, to take control of the ship and deliver it to Despar. Mercenary personnel will be then confined to quarters and treated as prisoners of war until ransomed. Merchant ship personnel will be dealt with by the proper authorities on Despar. Any resistance to these arrangements will strip the ship and personnel of their non-combatant status and make it eligible for destruction. This by the emergency Order Number 3 of the Confederacy of Despar and Explora Minor. Do you agree to the terms?'

  I glanced at Min, for a second, who gave the slightest of shrugs, which I took to be an acceptance. 'We agree to those terms, though I cannot speak for the remaining mercenary personnel, who are not under my command.' I said with all the calmness I could muster.

  'We agree to those terms,' came the terse reply of the remaining mercenaries in their command center.

  Min spoke up loudly,
'We are going to send a boat out to search for survivors.'

  'There are no survivors,' replied Explora Minor.

  'We will conduct our own search.'

  'Any attempt to escape will result in the destruction of your boat.'

  'We will be searching for survivors, not escaping.'

  There was no reply, so Min started out. Molaye stood to go as well, with a glance at me. I nodded and she followed Min out. They picked up Myes up on the way to the boat deck locks, and launched the Ghost several minutes later.

  In the meanwhile, Explora Minor had maneuvered in close alongside. It possessed two large, but shallow cones – scarred meteor shields on either end of the vessel. Six large rocket engines were mounted around the edge of one of the cones. Between the two cones, nestled in the skeleton like intricate open framework of the ship were the fuel tanks and reactor heads of the rockets and the docking stations for its version of jump boats – two were empty. Out of the shadowy depths of this maze, two human shaped avatars emerged, one making its way to the mercenary command center in the hold and the other to our starboard gangplank.

  I went down to let it in. For once the hounds were not present to greet our guest.

  The airlock opened and it stepped onto the gangplank grating.

  'I am here to take control of this ship,' it said, frost forming on its shining white humanoid shaped hull, as the safety door-panel opened.

  Its two large, faintly lit eye-sensors flared briefly, 'I will take my position on the bridge. I am not to be interfered with in any way. I can and will defend myself.'

  I said nothing, just turned and lead the way up to the bridge.

  Everyone moved out of the way as it took a seat at the helm. It rested its robotic arms and hands on the control panel and all the lights in the bridge flickered. It said, 'I have established complete control of the ship. You are to consider yourself my prisoners. I grant you the freedom of the ship with this warning, I control all the resources of this ship. I will remotely monitor all your actions. Any attempt to regain control of this ship will result in death of those involved and the confinement to quarters of everyone else. Survivors will then be treated as combatants and prisoners of war upon our arrival in Despar. I can and will use lethal force. And as a final warning, do not confuse inertness with inattention.'

  Most dispersed silently. Vynnia, Tenry and I waited on the bridge until the Ghost docked without finding survivors.

  Shortly later, our steering rockets flared, swinging us towards Despar. Our main rockets came on line, and we began our three-week journey to captivity. And the shock and sadness of the events began to sink in.