The Nova Effect

Wolf 359

Tanker rendezvous: H – 40 hours

With her sensor masts extended in listening mode, the Manchester Star formed a telescope of mammoth proportions. Anti-collision lights strobed red at the tips of each 70 meter boom extended along 4 axis.

“Where’d that wobble on the ULF line come from?” Ajax was in zero G, anchored by hand to the sensor tech’s chair. The trace he’d noticed was nearly imperceptible.

“It’s at the bottom end of the range,” The sensor tech said. “Could be the remains of a signal that’s degraded from bouncing around the system for a few years.”

“You’re serious?”

“It happened before- Old Earth. They used to sail ships across the Atlantic. A passenger ship called the Queen Elizabeth Two. One day their radio-room copied a message for Queen Elizabeth, a ship that had sailed fifty years earlier. All that time the signal was just bouncing around in the atmosphere.”

“We're wasting time here." Ronald complained, loudly, to ensure that he was heard over the ambient noise generated by the bridge systems. Ajax pushed off from where he watched the navigator updating the plot and drifted across the bridge to the sensor station. He was unused to having room to do so.

"This is going to work." Ajax said and watched for returns on the integrated-sensor array as he spun to land feet first on the opposite bulkhead. "You just have to have a little faith. They're here somewhere.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“It’s a busy place,” Ajax said and pointed toward a group of ghostly contacts. “Do you see that? They call it the Midgard asteroid ring,” Another more solid signature appeared at the bottom of the screen. “You’d think there’s nobody here but SOLCorp. That’s their platform skimming the largest gas giant in the system.”

"It's not a matter of faith, it's a matter of percentages. We're too far out for pirates," Devolte said. "At this range, the ships coming into or out of the SOLCorp station are in transit."

"Most of them are. Just because there haven't been any reported pirate attacks doesn't mean that they aren't here." Ajax said. "You don’t want to draw attention to where you live. Half of known space is within reasonable range of this place. How many ships have been declared missing or lost over that time?"

"A few," Ronald said allowed. "The copy of Jane’s Shipping Almanac we downloaded at Horseman says the last one lost in this system was the Danube Duchess. Five years ago almost on the day,” He squinted and scrutinized his datapad display. “Maybe not exactly the day."

"There’s more than one system in easy reach," Ajax said as he examined the sensor trace of the last contact. "It'd be pretty easy to jump in, hit a ship that's accelerating or decelerating to fuel and jump out, if you’ve got no objections all that time in a pirate freezer. You don’t wake up if there’s someone on the crew you crossed before."

"The simplest answer isn't always correct." Ronald said.

"It's the only system within striking range of where there's been pirate activity reported," Ajax said. As smart as he was, Devolte often proved maddeningly blind to the big picture. "Besides, most of the other systems have already been swept. You're an engineer. You do the math."

"I did," Ronald huffed and pushed off towards the bridge hatch. "Now I'm going to go do what I'm paid for. If you need me I’ll be in engineering. I need to be with my people."

“Nothing yet,” The sensor-tech said when he noticed Ajax peering over his shoulder. “There’s some gravitic sources to port plus forty-five degrees. Just asteroids. It looks like the edge the first belt.”

Two contacts had scratched the sensors over the last two hours and the tanker rendezvous was still 40 hours away. The first contact occurred just after their arrival, a jump flare thrown from an underpowered drive, maybe ill-matched enough to be pirate-rigged. The second was a series of low-power broadcasts, encoded, from deeper in the system. The sender was unknown but the receiver had to have been on or near the SOLCorp platform. The tech flipped through other modes to examine readings. "IR and synthetic aperture are clear."

"Bring up the mass detectors." Ajax said.

"What? Why? They're useless past fifty-thousand K and we're doing full range scans with the synthetic aperture."

"Captain, please?" Ajax said calmly as he put a steadying hand on the tech's shoulder and turned to beg indulgence from Glower.

"Bring up the mass detectors, Harper." Glower said.

"Aye, sir." Harper said as he bristled and shook Ajax's hand off his shoulder. When the display cleared and started the trace from a new feed, there they were, four contacts massing a hundred tons each, closing on an approach vector with twenty seconds to intercept. Activity stopped as the proximity alarm went off.

"We didn't get them at long-range because their assault craft are RAM shielded." Ajax said to Glower who scrutinized the feed from his chair.

"Red alert!" Glower bellowed and activity resumed at a more rapid pace. "Prepare to repel boarders.” He turned to Ajax. “How did you know?"

Ajax shook his head with disgust and unsnapped his holster.

"How did I know?" He said as he checked the battery on his Blazer and adjusted the discharge level to stun. "If you don't want to be seen, you minimize your signature and convince your target to dismiss you. That's how. We're going to be having special guests."

The XO opened the weapons locker and was handing out Blazers to the few who did not carry a sidearm already.

"Julio, what’s their status?" Glower called and traversed until he faced the tactical officer. The bridge stations were installed almost in afterthought.

"Captain, all decks have been alerted. Security is moving into position." The TACO said.

"Kinkaid, any idea on where they'll cut in?"

"Any place that they have room to land those shuttles, captain. My guess is two on the forward docking rings and two on the hull magnetically." Ajax said as checked to see that his laser-pistol was still dummy-corded to his belt. It was there. "Double the security around engineering and the bridge. If you want to be sure something's dead, you shoot it in the heart or the head."

"Are you sure they won't try to come in through the holds?" Glower said. Manchester Star carried a pirate’s dream, but also two companies of shotgun-armed TIL security troops to protect it. “We’ve got lots of those.”

"Not if they want to take the cargo intact. I might be wrong, but we'll know in about eight seconds." Ajax pushed away from the sensor station and guided himself along the bridge rail until he hunkered behind the navigation console. He wedged his boot into an empty foot-strap and waited for chaos to erupt. He had time to rifle his pockets and count two spare power-cells before it did.

"Report from deck three, sir. They heard what sounded like magnetic clamps coming down on the hull," Harper said. "Report from deck seven, sir. The hull has been breached!"

Ajax felt the deck shudder and heard a “crumpf” just before the bridge hatch blew in. He fumbled for his Blazer with ringing ears.

***

UM-3/Avalon

“We lost Savage Rift,” Kray said to the already informed members of 1st Company. Authorized for 100 soldiers, 30 stood at unease in front of him, Xeno orbital strikes had seen to the rest. “We don’t have many details but what we do know is that they went off the air seven hours ago. Before that they reported a large Xeno force moving down the Little Springs/Savage Rift Access. The word from command is that they’re going to try to take us before Gale sets in again.”

“Now what?” Harley bickered. “They’ve been saying that since last Gale. The Xeno has nothing without GV support. They can’t climb hills.”

“Oh yes they can. It just takes them longer,” Kray corrected. “Altstadt might be safe from bombardment but they have plenty of drones to send into our bunkers. At the rate they’re moving south, they should be here in seventy-two hours.”

“Do we have any help coming?” Booster said and shot a worried glance at Martinez, who cradled the Rapier tube against her head. “Those relief forces from Pax, they’re supposed to be coming, right?”

Kray fixed Booster with his stare and said, “Yes. Undoubtedly.”

“What about Savage Rift?” Amhatiens said quietly.

“I’ve been told that skimmer troops are looking for survivors,” Kray said. “The garrison there really gave them Hell, boys. Recon has identified the wreckage of several dozen GV’s,” He stumbled over words before changing the subject. “Command is looking for volunteers. Double pay for any soldier willing to participate in the rescue,” He threw his gaze out over the assembled company. “I’m doing it for nothing. Who’s coming with me?”

Hands shot up.

***

Wolf 359

12 of 40 pirate boarders had been taken alive. Although two of the TIL security troops had been burned by pirate lasers, the troopers had come as a rude shock to the unkempt criminals now being held in empty cargo bay 4. Ajax looked down at them and shook his heads in disgust and wonderment. The pirates had come in all types and sizes; men, women, tall, short, black, white, and yellow.

"Who's the head cheese of this mob?" Ajax said to the TIL sergeant leading the guard detail as he gestured towards the group on their knees before him. The pirates wore pressure suits that had seen better days, hasty patches covered areas where a penetrating object had gotten through, sloppy rivulets of adhesive sealant ran from the joints around the cuffs and neck.

“Over here, sir. We’ve been keeping him away from the rest of the group,” The sergeant reported and led him to a brute of a man. The prisoner seemed more Viking than pirate and snarled as the sergeant pulled his head back by his wild hair. "We found a tactical radio on this one, sir. All the rest were just carrying weapons. You know how it is with this rabble, the strong rule the weak. I'd say here's your leader."

"Good work, sergeant. Get him on his feet." Ajax said as he let his eyes drift over the rest of the group. Some looked scared, some looked angry. The pirate that caught his eye was bald and stocky. Gems sparkled from mismatched settings on his fingers and the gold ring hanging from the lobe of a torn ear was larger than any of the group. "And those two,” He pointed at the Tidy-clean Man and the beardless, scared looking boy kneeling beside him. Follow me."

The Nord bellowed out at them in what had to be station-speak, a code of tongues describing what he had no words for, he struggled against his guards as they hoisted him to his feet. Tidy-Clean Man kept up his cool facade. The kid whimpered as two guards grabbed him and roughly pulled him up. Ajax led them out of the cargo bay, made a right into the corridor, and followed it until he came to the #7 EVA locker.

"I need you and two other men." Ajax said to the sergeant as the troopers dumped the pirates onto the deck. "Have the others wait outside. Bring your shotguns."

The sergeant barked orders.

“Hey! Whoa! It’s time for the show!” Ajax said put out his hands as the lights in the EVA locker went to red. He danced a jig in front of the sliding pressure door and sung out an impromptu game-show tune. He stopped when the door stopped. A calm, feminine voice began warning, “Inner door is open.” He presented the airlock with a flourish. “Who wants to be our first contestant today?”

The young pirate vomited as Ajax jigged in front of him. He fell to the deck and covered his head. Ajax lifted the boy’s head by greasy hair then let it drop. “We’d never get anything out of this one. He’s too young to know any smleck. He wouldn’t remember his own name.”

Ajax moved next to the silent Nord. He smiled as the pirate glowered up at him. “Speekee Engleesh? No? Soap? Mouthwash? I’d take your cologne back. It smells like sewage flush,” The Nord’s eyes were on the nearest weapon. His TIL minder laughed but kept the business end of his shotgun steadily fixed. After another step, Ajax lifted a hand to Tidy Clean’s head and rolled the stud earing between fingers. “How about you? Speekee Engleesh? No? ComLan? How about brute, thuggish force then?” Ajax pulled a fist back and drove it into the pirate’s face.

“Smleck-monging devilki!” Tidy-Clean man lifted a hand to staunch his bleeding nose.

Ajax nodded and said, “Close enough to English. Put him in.”

Two TIL troops heaved Tidy-Clean into the airlock. The pirate picked himself but not quick enough to stop Ajax from closing the airlock inner door. Ajax smiled as the pirate slammed his fist against the window and activated the inter-com. A stream of non-stop profanity issued forth in pirate lingo. He cut off the link and opened the case of a numeric keypad next to the pressure door.

“Let me ask you something, friend,” Ajax said as Tidy-Clean pressed his face against the observation window. “Do you realize what an amazing invention the airlock is?” He accessed the door control and pressed the green “down” arrow Ajax accessed the manual door control. The pirate gestured frantically as Ajax met his stare with a smile and a thumb’s up. The warning message changed, began repeating, but was delivered in the same calm, feminine tone. “Outer door is open.”

Urgent pounding on the observation window started. A slow, vulgar hiss came from within the airlock as the heavy outer-door lost its seal against the hull. Ajax watched through the observation window as the airlock lost pressure. Tidy-Clean was on the deck, trying to draw in as much air as he could before it all escaped which was the wrong thing to do. Gas in his lungs expanded as pressure dropped. When a sliver of raw space had been showing for eight seconds, he pushed the down-arrow key on the pad and the pressure door sealed again. The warning message changed. “Inner door is open.”

TIL security dragged the barely conscious Tidy-Clean out of the airlock and threw him at Ajax’s feet. Ajax crouched and laid out a hardcopy map of the Delta Pavonis system. The sun, gas giants, SOLCorp station, and numerous asteroid belts were well marked. The guard lifted Tidy-Clean’s head as Ajax used a laser pointer to get the man’s attention. He tapped his chest, then the deck, then touched the pen on the map on the approximate position of the Manchester Star. Tidy-Clean shook his head.

“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet,” Ajax said and stood. Tidy-Clean tried to resist as the guard complied, reaching for holds on the housing of the inner door as he was being pushed through, but his strength was waning. The pirate laid on the deck and cried as Ajax closed the inner door again. “They don’t understand that we have a timetable to keep,” He said to the TIL sergeant. “You just have to communicate with them.”

Tidy-Clean was unconscious after the third trip and crumpled over in pain. Ajax left the outer door open until Tidy-clean was carried out by venting atmosphere. The Nord talked after his first trip “down-and-back.”

***

UM-3/Avalon

"C'mon... c'mon... c'mon!" Kray waved soldiers past him, urging Harley and the rest to greater efforts. The ten men, equipment rustling and clanking despite vigorous efforts to silence it, moved in single file double-time through streets filled with the rubble of demolished buildings, and demolished vehicles. He fell into step behind Amhatiens.

An AS-3 gunship returning to Freeport for rearming and refueling had spotted a zapper column moving through a hug gap blown in the outer wall of Savage Rift. Kray and 1st Platoon were the only unit close enough to set up a blocking position. Crusaders could not navigate through the obstructed streets and so the infantry went in alone, or nearly alone.

The rumble of artillery in the distance was a constant reminder that the battle for Savage Rift was ending on less than equal terms. Orbital bombardments from the zapper platforms had leveled much of the urban core. Shells from the garrison’s 160 and 220 millimeter kinetic howitzers tore up more.

"There’s been intermittent contact with some survivors operating out of this area," Amhatiens said and swept his virtual view from one side of the cluttered street to the other. “We have skims on alert to take out anyone we find.”

“Somebody spell Harley on point.”

They had a kilometer to cover and less than ten minutes to do it. In his haste, Kray missed the whine of turbine engines. An AS-3 Arapaho, drawn by the heat and movement, hovered in wait between two ruined buildings. As Kray passed in front of the gunship, it illuminated them with its powerful searchlight before the gunner opened up. The squad fell prone as one.

“Cease fire you maniac!” Kray shouted and pitched a stone at the spotlight. There was the sound of the stone striking metal and the light went out. The Arapaho drifted back into the shadows to wait for new prey. They had another kilometer still to run through the kill zone.

Eight minutes later they arrived at the grid point that command had directed, an industrial yard filled with broken plants and a worker barracks built to house support personnel.

"All right! HISS guns get set up," Kray said as they arrived ahead of the zapper GV’s. The crew-served HISS guns found positions behind tall piles of rubble or wrecked vehicles. "Rapier team get set up!”

Martinez humped the Rapier tube despite her small frame. Brenner, the assistant gunner, carried two extra rounds and a rifle. Both found cover in a crumbling stairwell and assembled the tripod for their weapon.

"The rest of you spread out!" Kray called out and directed them with his arms toward positions on either side. Harley, Steed, and Elroy find their own positions, line abreast, and wait for the zappers to come. Already they could feel the ground trembling. “Alpha-One-Two to base. We are in position, over.”

“Have you found any survivors?” The reply from the battalion HQ was filled with jamming. The zappers learned quickly. “We had reports of some in your area. Have you had any contact at all? Over.”

“Negative.” Kray said as the rumbling got louder and more intense. “If there was anyone here before, they’re gone now. How far are we from the next search area?”

“Two kilometers,” Came the reply from the rescue coordinator. “How soon can you get there?”

“It’s gonna be a while. We got some business to take care of.” Kray said and hunkered down behind his hasty shield wall. He found Harley crouching nearby. “The residual fires from the last bombardment must be negating their infra-red.”

“That’s the best news I’ve heard all day,” Harley called back. He raised his head for a quick view. “Those GV’s are deploying drones. They’re moving up PDQ.”

“Bravo Company has been redirected to your patrol area.” HQ radioed.

“Everyone take it easy. Noone fire until my signal," Kray said. "Rapier, do you have them in range.” He glanced to his left and watched the thermal profile of Martinez lower her head to the sight.

“Affirmative. Range is three-five-zero meters.” She said. “Flight time on the missile is four seconds to target.”

“Let ‘em have it! Pour it into them!” Kray said and steadied the assault rifle between two pieces of broken masonry. He took a quick aim at the nearest drone and squeezed the trigger until the rifle bucked against his shoulder. The Rapier went off seconds after he gave the order, momentarily overloading his infrared sight. He counted to four and the ground shook as the missile warhead detonated 50 feet away, dropping debris on them jarred loose by the blast.

He checked the magazine in his rifle then popped up above his cover and took aim at the nearest Zapper drone. It was a Beta type and was looking at the one beside with what he could swear was confusion. His M-32 kicked against his shoulder again and the two Xeno drones went down. Drones, he then realized, were helpless once their controlling GV’s had been destroyed. In most situations they were immediately slaughtered.