Chronicles of a Space Mercenary 3: Vengeance Page 7

  “I don’t like having the cannon turned off anyway.” I told Bren. It was clear what Tanya was doing the moment she started. Never underestimate Tanya’s technical abilities either, I reminded myself, just in case one day she really does flush Bren out the lock, because she’d be taking his place at the engineering station.

  “Now that I’ve had a nice rest without having to think about what the rest of you are getting me into,” I said, “what are you getting me into?”

  “Detecting strange gravity anomalies ahead!” Bren cut me off.

  “Black hole!” I said aloud as I saw the slight curvature of the warp-tunnel ahead of us. Then Last Chance began shrieking her warning. Some things didn’t require sophisticated technology to detect however and I shut off the alarm. “Dump now or ride it out?” I asked calmly as we had a few minutes yet before we would have to decide. The warp-tunnel we were traveling through would not dump us into the black hole. If the warp-tunnel existed it meant it had another end. In other words it kept its coherency and was not affected by the black hole as it traveled around it, but if we stayed in warp and continued on past the event it did not mean that because the black hole maintained its coherency that we would. It was theorized that if the warp-tunnel passed too close to the black hole the stresses would be too much for the ship to withstand and we would be torn to shreds and then ejected from the warp tunnel into the maw of the black hole itself.

  “Now’s your chance to be that crash-dummy.” Tanya said, her blue orbs flinty and her face hard. Tanya knew me too well.

  Chapter 20

  “The odds not quite what you thought they were going to be?” I asked.

  “This was an Alartaw world.” Tanya said. “I may have been hoping for a little help.”

  “I wish you could be this honest all the time.” I told her with a remorseless smile.

  “This is a big one.” Bren said. “There’s no way we’ll...”

  “Do you think the Katons will follow us?” Tanya asked me conversationally in the middle of Bren’s sentence and shutting him off in mid-sentence as he realized we had already made a tacit agreement.

  “Tanya and I vote to ride out the warp-tunnel.” I said over com. “Bren votes to drop out and fight the twenty Katon Destroyers now.”

  “That’s not what I said.” Bren said.

  “You have fifteen seconds to make your decision.” I added. “If we have to fight the Katons I don’t want to have to do it next to the black hole itself.”

  “We vote to ride it out.” Manuel said thirty seconds later. “Melanie votes to fight it out now.”

  “I’d get buckled in boys and girls.” I said. Then to Tanya; “I believe they will.”

  “We’ll never know.” Bren said. “We’ll be dead.”

  “If those Katons follow us they’ll be dead.” I said. Those Katon Destroyers massed many times Last Chance and the stresses would be many times what we felt. On top of that add the cost-cutting nature of Katon military spending and I was fairly sure those ships would come apart at the seams at the apex of this ride. I hadn’t made this decision based on feelings alone and Last Chance had been designed and built for a person who didn’t want to have to worry about such things and who’d had the Credits to pay for it. There was no question this was going to be a bumpy ride however. I had never warped past a black hole showing this much curvature in the warp-tunnel yet this far out from the event itself, but I thought I had ridden several nearly as bad as this one. This would definitely be the closest I would ever come to a black hole. I said seriously; “This is going to be a bad one.”

  “You could have mentioned that to the others.” Bren accused.

  “Just came to me.” I said as we began to notice the steepening curvature of the warp-tunnel. “I’d say we’re just about committed however. Those Katons still behind us?” This I asked Bren because Tanya was buckled into her gunner’s seat and I doubted there was any power in the Universe which could remove her from it at that moment. I knew she’d ridden down the same dangerous warp tunnels I had because she’d ridden them with me, so I knew she knew how bad this one was going to be.

  “Still there.” Bren said with something akin to awe. “They’re in trouble.”

  We were in a lot of trouble, I thought though I didn’t say it aloud, and I wasn’t talking about the black hole warp-tunnel though that was plenty trouble enough. I was talking about the black hole where an Alartaw base was supposed to be hidden. Truth-be-told I had been fairly certain up until this point that Tanya would find these Alartaw and with their returning memories be able to convince them to take us in, but now I wasn’t so sure. Their beacon had brought no response other than the Kievor and now a black hole where we had expected to find hidden Alartaw. I began to wonder if the Alartaw were entirely annihilated and if so what that would mean for us in a Universe where we couldn’t turn around without running into a Kievor Trade Station. In a Universe where there was nowhere to hide.

  Of more pressing concern at the moment however was the increasing velocity of Last Chance as the black hole began to change the physics of the warp-tunnel and increase our velocity despite the physical laws which forbade it- warp velocity was supposed to be constant- but like all laws I had been made to break them. That old conundrum about how if E=mc^2 means that the speed of light is the fastest possible velocity then how was it possible that black holes could swallow all the light around them. By the same means they were going to accelerate us to an unknown velocity and then slingshot us down the warp-tunnel when we reached the black hole’s point of strongest attraction. Whether we would be slingshotted along on our way or torn to shreds under the pressures at the apex was the question which had yet to be answered.

  “I seriously don’t think we’re going to make it.” I said.

  “Why don’t we just warp down the black hole? Tanya says it works.” Bren said. “You took her there before. She said it was a fun ride.”

  “What’s he talking about?” I asked.

  “Just one of your many exploits as an Alartaw.” Tanya replied. “It does work, but I wouldn’t recommend it- unless you like crash landing on lizard worlds. There’s no telling where we’ll come out.” I didn’t bother trying to figure it out. I was watching our velocity as relevant to the sides of the warp-tunnel, sure I had never seen them blurred to such an extent, and we were only three-quarters way to the event.

  “Warp down a black hole?” I asked Tanya. She did not reply.

  Chapter 21

  “I begin to gather such doubts myself.” Tanya said moments later as the velocity continued to mount and knowing it would be double what it was now when we hit the apex.

  “You are not saying what I think you’re saying.” Bren said.

  “I think I am saying that when we hit that apex we are finished.” I said. “Got any other bright ideas?”

  “No.” Bren said reluctantly.

  “Somehow I didn’t think so.” Tanya said.

  “We’re moving pretty fast.” Melanie said over com.

  “Tanya tells me I warped down a black hole before.” I replied. To my reply I received no response though I could imagine their consternation. I doubted however that they questioned my intention. This warp-tunnel was going to take us far too close to the black hole and no longer any confusion about that. It would be a one-way ride for the Katon Destroyers behind us and it was almost enough to give me a twinge of guilt, but not quite. Maybe they would learn their lesson this time, but somehow I doubted it. I turned to Tanya; “When’s the best time to do this?” I asked.

  “Why you asking me?” Tanya asked. “I’m not the Science Engineer.”

  “I would drop out of warp before we get to the apex.” Bren said without having to be asked, which probably had a lot to do with the fact that we were within minutes of that occurrence.

  “Thanks.” I said, not that I had been expecting more. I was just dragging it out until the bitter end, which was my wont when doing things I was fairly certain weren’t
going to work out well. It was always long odds with Marc Deveroux, but I knew what would happen at the apex if I were foolish enough to ride it out that far. Last Chance would come apart at the seams. We would lose thrust and then be dumped into the black hole- so to do nothing was beyond my ability. I would definitely be someone who screamed under torture if for nothing else just for something to do. I dropped us out of warp.

  We entered real space with quite a view and a very noticeable feeling of gravity interfering with environmental controls. The big fusion engine immediately found purchase however so I maneuvered us into an escape altitude and for a few high gee moments thought it might work.

  “We’re going backwards.” Bren said, though that in no way diminished the high gees we were feeling over internal-gravity.

  “Quite rapidly.” Tanya added. I couldn’t give her a look just at that moment, though I wanted to, because turning your head under high gees was a good way to get a crick in your neck that only a trip to a doc would cure.

  “I noticed.” I said. Just then the warp-entry alarm sounded and Katon ships started dropping out of warp all around us. I was already acting the moment the alarm sounded. I spun Last Chance on her keel and leapt into the eye of the storm as the space we had just occupied lit with the flashing photon beams of the attacking Katon Destroyers. With many times more than our normal acceleration we hit warp velocity almost instantly and directly we were gone.

  A flash of light and we were ejected back into real-space, but where in real-space wasn’t the question of the hour. “How many of those Destroyers dropped out?” I asked. I knew it hadn’t been all of them, but I hadn’t had the time to count.

  “About eight.” Bren said.

  “Seven.” Tanya corrected as I continued to accelerate Last Chance at full thrust, expecting Katon Destroyers any moment- all depending on how quickly they gathered their courage. They had seen Last Chance warp down the black hole and soon they would be following. They would have no other choice, but each ship would have to make its own decision. There were no known ways to communicate through warp and I doubted the Katons had invented one during my absence- nor would any normal means of communication work at such close proximity to the black hole. The Katons weren’t strong in original thinking was my opinion and I had to wonder how many of them were going to ride that warp-tunnel right into oblivion. A good many of them, was my guess. Halfway to warp velocity the warp-entry alarm began ringing its multiple entry alarm.

  “There are over forty ships inbound.” Bren said suddenly just as space began to vomit ships all over my scan, and completely surrounding us, but only some of them were Katons. The staccato buzzing of inconsistent locks as I took evasive maneuvers told of Katon Destroyers targeting Last Chance and then suddenly with another flash of light, this time white/yellow staccato bursts, only some of them coming from Last Chance herself, the buzzing of the Katon photon locks were forever silenced.

  “The Alartaw.” Tanya said. “It’s about time.”

  Chapter 22

  I would call it instantaneous though I’m sure there must have been some lag. I couldn’t detect it however as we were suddenly swallowed whole by an unseen ship. It moved far too rapidly to be tracked by Last Chance’s antiquated scan system and even if Last Chance had been able to catch a real-time scan that didn’t mean we would be able to see it. The ship moved far too quickly for human visual senses to follow it. We were in space and then we were in a dock made of trans-metal. If I had blinked I would have missed the transition. It was clearly obvious through the main screen visual feed as it came back alive because there was no other metal that held quite the same quality of appearance as trans-metal and not for the eightieth or even five hundredth time in my life wondered if I had jumped from the frying pan into the fire. We were in the belly of the beast and it would be up to that beast whether or not it wanted to digest us.

  “Orders?” Tanya demanded. I was only surprised she hadn’t already fired, despite her desire to be reunited with the Alartaw.

  “Do not fire.” I said. “We’re the Emperor and Empress, remember?” What I did know for certain was what would happen if she fired that cannon inside the dock.

  “Funny.” Tanya said as she unharnessed. “This is why I seldom ask your opinion.”

  “Our hosts have arrived.” Bren said drawing both our attention to the forward screen. The aliens were much as had been described though seeing them still triggered no memories.

  “They look dangerous.” I said, watching the way they moved, all sinuous grace and animal confidence as they walked across the dock towards Last Chance. There were several women among the crowd of two dozen or so which approached and I found myself mesmerized by their lithe primordial poise. The women were about twice as muscular as I, and that was just appearance. You could never judge an alien’s strength based purely on appearance. However, their muscularity combined with their poise enhanced their femininity rather than detracted from it and made them utterly desirable. I didn’t let slip what came to mind. “They almost look human.” I said instead.

  “I’m going out to meet them.” Tanya said as she departed. I was still watching the group approach. I wasn’t watching their women now, mesmerizing as they were, I was looking for signs of hostility on the alien faces of our host. Though the Alartaw themselves looked naturally hostile, I was one accustomed to having to read the faces and body language of hostile aliens- it was my craft and trade after all- and took only a moment of further scrutiny to determine with conclusiveness that their business with me wasn’t of a deadly nature. They were all armed, even the women, just like any human ship of war, and I found myself checking the looseness of my blaster in its holster as I rose and departed the Bridge- not that I thought I would ever get the chance to use it, not with the technologies involved here. Bren was waiting for me and together we walked down to the lower lock and joined Tanya who was waiting impatiently for us to arrive. I noticed she was well armed. Tanya was always well armed whether you noticed it or not.

  “Not confident of our reception?” I asked innocently.

  “They may not recognize us right away.” Tanya admitted.

  “I do not suggest you attack any of them.” Bren said. “You have no idea what they’re capable of.”

  “I think we do.” Tanya told Bren as the outer lock cycled open. “That’s why we’re here.” Then she stepped forward boldly.

  “Birds of a feather.” I said as I followed her.

  “Maybe not.” Bren said as I simultaneously saw what he was talking about. The Alartaw were staring at us with looks that were now more on the aggressive side than previously, but I shouldn’t have had a worry. Tanya stepped forth boldly and began to harangue them in a guttural language I had never heard her speak before- but obviously must have- and soon we were all friends again.

  “What did you tell them?” I asked Tanya as the crowd surrounded us.

  “That the Kievor turned us into these despicable creatures to torture us.”

  “They believed you?”

  “I remember the Security Clearance Code.” Tanya gave me a stupid look as the Ranking Officer came to stand in front of me. “I also told them about your mind-wipe.”

  “Oh.” I said.

  “No. We didn’t believe her.” The Officer said with an inscrutable hard-faced look though he shouldn’t have been able to hear those words. He was speaking in the Kievor Trade Station pidgin tongue which was the primary trade language all races used when doing their business on the Stations, though we had been speaking human Galacta. This Officer was a combat veteran if I was any judge. All the men had facial scars of one kind or another, most appearing to be shrapnel wounds. I had seen the like plenty. It came with living in space and especially with doing battle in space. I thought about the forces necessary to shatter trans-metal and then the faces of the Alartaw around me. We seemed to have found an ally but we all still had the same enemy. “We don’t have to believe you. You’re the Emperor and Empress. It doesn’
t matter what story you tell us. Commander Harknon at your service. There is much you must be briefed on but first I’m sure you’d much prefer being returned to your natural form.”

  “Let’s do the briefing first.” I said as I heard Tanya snicker.

  “Twenty-seven hundred ships.” I said thoughtfully as we stood on the Bridge and I tried to absorb everything Commander Harknon was showing me- while Tanya and Bren just made themselves right at home at two open stations and the computer systems therein. It seemed a lot on the one hand, but woefully inadequate on the other. “I’m the only one who can’t seem to regain his memories. Anything you can do about that?” I asked when I decided I was going to need those memories back.

  “Oh absolutely,” Commander Harknon said helpfully, “and I’m sure you’ll want to get back into your proper form.”

  “Not just yet.” I said thinking quickly. “I have a plan, but I’ll need this body for a little while longer to pull it off.”

  Chapter 23

  Twenty-seven hundred Capital Class ships meant the Alartaw had been reduced to but a handful in my absence, I realized only moments into my memory restoration procedure. The Alartaw auto-doc was a bit more sophisticated than our human equivalent and the means of its operation entirely undetectable. A comfortable bed which contoured itself to my exact form the moment I laid on it inside a small, nondescript room. No computer terminals or gadgetry- reminding me much of the Kievor- nor was I even certain how it had been programmed. A nurse led me to this room, I made myself comfortable on the contouring bed and suddenly my mind was full of new memories. I knew they were mine- even though the main character of these memories was another incarnation of me- but also knew they were new.

  “Seventy-seven years!” I said. “I was married to Tanya for seventy-seven years!” Of course I knew we had been married, that was not one of the things I had thought made up, but now there was no denying it. I remembered it, though for the time being the memories seemed surreal. I got up off the doc with a real sense of impending doom. Commander Harknon was waiting in the corridor when I departed.