Outsystem (Aeon 14) Read online

  “That was quite the breach,” Captain Andrews said to Tanis.

  Admiral Sanderson, Terrance Enfield, and the Reddings were gathered in the bridge’s conference room, Tanis’s incident report was up on the table’s holo.

  “I guess that means the dockside security is good; they had to circumvent it.” Terrance chuckled.

  “I’m glad you find it funny,” Sanderson growled.

  Terrance’s smile disappeared instantly. “Finding humor where I please is my prerogative. Don’t think to claim credit for any of her success either.”

  Tanis sighed internally. That wasn’t going to earn her any points, but she bit her tongue. The admiral didn’t want her help defending himself.

  “In two days we’ll have our own fighters and patrol craft in place, which will seal up this hole in our security. Until then we should have the MOS TSF garrison provide us with additional support on our portside docks.” Tanis spoke impassively, hoping to avoid any more comments about blame or credit.

  “I’ve already put in the request,” Sanderson said, not betraying a reaction to Terrance one way or the other. “They’ll be checking every ship before it docks, unless it has a TSF grade 5A security token.”

  “What’s the damage to the corridor?” Captain Andrews asked.

  “It’s a bleeding mess,” Abby said. “I’m sure that plasma slice and dice you did seemed like a good idea at the time, but it burnt through several comm lines, coolant conduit and a fuel line, which was empty, thank god.”

  “We queried the Intrepid before we did our little ‘slice and dice’. It was either that or let them do whatever other unpleasantness they had in mind. I know you love your ship, but I’d feel a lot worse about a dead guest or Marine than I do about melted deck plate,” Tanis replied.

  Abby huffed, but didn’t respond as her husband rested a hand on her arm. Tanis had a suspicion that her ship probably ranked higher that most of the VIP guests in her mind.

  “Have you gotten anything from the boarders yet as to what their objective was?” Terrance asked.

  Tanis addressed Terrance. “We’re letting them stew for a bit, I’ll sit with them tomorrow.”

  “They’ll just have their nano rest them up,” Sanderson said. “Waiting won’t get you anywhere.”

  “They don’t have any nano anymore. We’ve got some nice tools these days for making people a bit more pliable.” Tanis couldn’t help give a small predatory grin.

  “That’s an invasion of personal space.” The expression on Captain Andrews’ face showed his distaste for the act.

  “It is. However, when someone has been convicted of attempted murder, part of the incarceration process is to strip their nano.”

  “Convicted?” Abby asked.

  “Angela, my AI, has judicial authority in InnerSol space.”

  “Convenient,” Earnest murmured.

  “It has proven to be so,” Tanis agreed.

  “I don’t know how comfortable I feel with this. Are you certain there are no legal ramifications?” Terrance stroked his thin beard, his expression uncertain.

  “You are aware that the TSF is an authority cleared by SolGov to try, convict and incarcerate criminals.” It wasn’t so much a question as a confirmation to calm him.

  “I am…I’m just not used to them making decisions that so readily favor me.” Terrance seemed to relax as he identified his own reason for concern.

  Tanis found herself wondering—not for the first time—precisely why Terrance was backing the Intrepid’s mission. He was the head of the TRE Corporation, one of the largest privately owned companies in the Sol system. If he wanted to run a colony mission, why was he doing it through the GSS? The Generation Space Service had many inconvenient rules and guidelines he would be forced to follow.

  On the other hand, the GSS had special access to additional data from the FGT, and it was the official organization for doling out terraformed colony worlds. Non-GSS-sanctioned colonization efforts of worlds terraformed by the FGT seemed to have a high failure rate—often with no explanation. The colonists simply disappeared in some cases.

  “If I’m involved, we’ll always be the wronged party; not only in the right, but the winners. It’s part of my job description.” Regardless of his motives, Tanis had to make sure the man paying the bills was appeased. “With your permission, I need to see a medic for some regen on my knees and get a good night’s sleep before I begin convincing our guests to speak with us tomorrow.”

  “Your report is in order.” Sanderson closed it out on the holo display. “Dismissed.”

  “Sirs, ma’am.” Tanis nodded to the assemblage and headed for her quarters. Intrigue, confrontation and now violent confrontation; the Intrepid was starting to feel like home already.

  CHAPTER 5

  STELLAR DATE: 3227165 / 07.31.4123 (Adjusted Gregorian)

  LOCATION: GSS Intrepid, Mars Outer Shipyards (MOS) REGION: Mars Protectorate, Sol Space Federation

  Tanis looked from the sheets of plas on the table to the man in front of her. He was a mercenary, all of the boarders were. Not a lot of information could be found on him, but he did have ties to the Ardent Stars as well as Morning Glory, both of which were merc outfits.

  The attack on the Intrepid was odd in that respect. Most mercs didn’t go for the big jobs—too much negative impact on life expectancy. Something like yesterday’s assault would only be taken on if the pay was very high or the job was expected to be easy enough to make it attractive.

  Tanis couldn’t imagine anyone billing yesterday’s attempt to capture several high value VIPs as easy, so it had to be the money. Even if she discounted the mercs’ salary, the sums required to get the shuttle, fool the docking AI, and facilitate whatever the getaway plan had been would be in the millions of creds. More than most people made in a lifetime.

  “So let’s go over this again, Mr. Drayson.” Tanis leaned back in her chair. “You were hired by a man you never saw, never talked to, and whose name you never heard. You didn’t broker the deal; that came through your organization. You simply took your cut and did the job.”

  “You got it, lady. That’s how it works. I get paid, then I do the job. I don’t hear names, I don’t want to hear names. Things go a lot smoother that way, you get me?”

  “Yeah,” Tanis sighed. “I get you. Here’s the thing, though. We’ve got a few of you guys, so if you’ve watched any vids where scum like you gets caught, you know that SOP is to offer a deal to the first guy that gives us good info. Everyone else spends a good long time helping in some public works projects on some frosty world.” Tanis smiled. They both knew that frosty meant working on scattered disk objects at the edge of the Sol system.

  “So what makes me so special I get the fancy deal? The other boys wouldn’t play with you?”

  “Nothing. I’ll be offering it to everyone, you just happened to be first.”

  “An’ I tell you what I know I’m off the hook?”

  Tanis snorted. “You stormed a GSS colony ship intending to capture or kill some very important people. No, you will be doing some time for this; you can just choose to do less time.”

  “How much less?”

  ……………………………..

  “So he talked then, did he?” Commander Evans asked.

  “Actually, they all talked.” Tanis leaned against the entrance to her office looking out into the SOC.

  “You offered them all the deal? After what they did?” He leaned on a railing across from her.

  “Yup, and they all took it; every last one of them.”

  “So they all get off with a light slap on the wrist?”

  Tanis locked eyes with him. “I’m the Butcher of Toro. Do you think I’d do that? Angela gave them all minimum sentences.”

  The commander looked away, a slight flush rising on his cheeks. “That still doesn’t sound all that bad.”

  Tanis relaxed her posture, unsure what was bothering him so much. “You didn’t ask where they’d b
e serving it.”

  “OK, I’ll bite, where?”

  “Affixing boosters to comets.” Tanis grinned, a twinkle in her eye.

  “I thought you told them that they weren’t going to be stuck on some ice ball.”

  “Commander Evans! Are you saying that I’m not a woman of my word?” Tanis’s expression was one of mock shock.

  The commander paused, unsure how to respond to Tanis’s informality. “Uh…kinda, sir.”

  “Well, they’ll be working on diverting comets as they approach the sun, so they’ll probably be fairly warm.”

  “Man, those poor schleps would have been better off if they never talked to you.”

  “I’m certain they’ll share that sentiment.”

  Tanis did have a moment of pity regarding where she sent the men, but not that much. They had assaulted a colony ship. Her colony ship. It wasn’t something that she would easily forgive.

  “So then.” Evans ran a hand through his hair. “What did we learn?”

  “Two main things.” Tanis looked down at a sheaf of plas sheets. “Firstly, that they never did meet the person that hired them—not that surprising. Secondly, that his name was mentioned once or twice, and it was Trent.”

  “Your nuke buddy from the Dawn.”

  “It not being him would be the coincidence of the century.”

  “I assume that you’ve tried to find the man in their org that arranged the deal,” Evans said.

  “I’ve got Terry working on it. She has a team looking at each prisoner’s every move for the last year. She’s also got a financial forensics expert trying to trace the money, but he’s hit a bit of a dead end.”

  “How dead?”

  “It appears that the money came from Tau Ceti.” Tanis scowled.

  “They’re what, nearly twelve LY out?”

  “Yeah, and I don’t think anyone planned this little visit twelve years ago.”

  “I can’t imagine that being the case,” Evans agreed.

  It went without saying; the list of corporations or governments with enough liquidity to send large sums to another star system, launder it, and send it back to sit in a slush fund for the day they felt like storming a colony ship was filled with powerful names.

  “Well, it must narrow down the possibilities.”

  “Yeah, from billions to mere millions.”

  “Hey, if your job was easy, then a mere commander could do it.”

  Tanis smiled. “You did OK. At this stage even I’m not going to be enough. I’m going to need to bring in the big guns.”

  INTERLUDE

  STELLAR DATE: 3227165 / 07.31.4123 (Adjusted Gregorian)

  LOCATION: Stellar Comm Hub #10.A.459.B.230.C-934

  Trent sent the message over the private Link.

  Strang’s reply was terse.

  Strang was growing less pleased by the second.

  Trent replied. Trent didn’t like where this was going. Frustration seemed to fill the time lag.

 

  CHAPTER 6

  STELLAR DATE: 3227170 / 08.05.4123 (Adjusted Gregorian)

  LOCATION: Gustav Expanse, New Africa, Venus

  REGION: Terran Hegemony, Sol Space Federation

  The whine of railguns charging sounded nearby and squad one rushed forward to take cover behind a low concrete embankment in the equipment yard. Moments later bits of rock and dust sprayed up into the air as the pellets from the rails smashed into the cement.

  Staff Sergeant Williams threaded a scope over the barrier and took stock of the situation. The enemy was slowly advancing behind large CFT shields which absorbed and refracted the Marine’s lasers. The enemy’s railguns, on the other hand, would chew the concrete cover apart in just a few minutes.

  “Chang! Where’s those heavies?” he hollered back to squad two, which was moving past several trucks on squad one’s right.

  “Thirty seconds, Staff,” Chang replied.

  Williams reported to Lieutenant Grenwald on the combat net. Grenwald signaled his acknowledgement and updated the objectives on the command net.

  Squad two reached their designated position and the two slug throwers were assembled. Taking sight over the barrier, they readied the weapons with a smooth precision granted through plenty of practice. Once Chang was satisfied squad two slid the weapons into position and let fire. Slugs over twenty centimeters long erupted from the barrels at velocities exceeding ten kilometers per second. CFT shields could stand up to pulses and energy beams without suffering so much as a scratch, but faced with the kinetic energy the slugs carried, the carbon fiber nanotube shields were torn to shreds.

  What was once cover became deadly shrapnel as the shield fragments tore through the men behind them like they were made of paper. In a few short seconds it was over, and the heavies powered down the slug throwers.

  Peering over the barrier, Chang grinned and swore. “Now that’s some messy shit, Sarge.”

  “Just be happy I don’t make you go clean it up for taking so long,” Williams growled as he cast an uneasy eye at the amount of concrete the enemy’s railguns had dug out of the barrier protecting the Marines. “Squads, advance!”

  Their objective was a communications array on the next hilltop. The original plan was to support an airstrike and catch any stragglers, but command had received intel regarding sensitive data on servers within the communications bunker.

  The brass wanted to review it, so the Marines were heading in to do it the old-fashioned way.

  “Man I hate Venus.” PFC Arsen vaulted over the concrete barrier and established cover for his squad from behind a truck. “It feels like it’s spinning too fast. I swear it’s making me dizzy.”

  “That’s just your head reeling from how much your mouth moves,” Sergeant Green said caustically. “Now shut up and keep your eye on that tree line. Scan’s clear, but you never know when someone has left a surprise for you.”

  The two squads moved up; their fireteams advancing in a standard pattern until they reached the remains of the enemy troops. They were definitely a fringe group of radicals, their motley armor being the first sign, but the railguns they had were the latest spec. Several of the Marines were eying them and Williams signaled Lance Corporal Dvorak to wipe the ID systems on the guns. When they were safe to handle he assigned one to each team’s assist.

  “Swap that out with your heavy gunner as the need arises.”

  Chang grinned. “I can definitely see the need to use this bad boy.” He checked the ammunition and the reload action. “Why doesn’t the corps give us weapons like this?”

  “They’re too concerned your ham hands would put a hole in one of their pretty ships,” Dvorak said.

  “They’re the TSF’s ships; don’t see why the corps would care.”

  “Cause we’re all one happy military now,” Williams grunted.

  “Yeah, I’d like to see those vacuum jockeys down here taking on enemy troops.” PFC Perez kicked the twitching body of a fallen foe to make sure he w
as dead.

  “I’d like to see you doing it too.” Corporal Taylor gestured for Perez to move out.

  Williams checked the command net to make sure that squads one and two were in position relative to squad three. The command net showed Lieutenant Grenwald making better time. Williams signaled his men over the combat net to pick up the pace.

  He singled out the lance corporal heading up the first fireteam in squad one.

  Jansen, one/one’s team leader, replied in her trademark calm voice. She never raised it, not even in a firefight. She was on the way to making her corporal rating and Williams expected to see her move to NCO or possibly even OCS after this tour.

  She directed her team to pick up the pace and slipped into the trees ahead.

  Williams ordered.

  Salas sent an acknowledgement over the combat net and led his fireteam off to the left, down the access road; then into the tree line.

  Something felt off to Williams. The enemy had hit them too hard over the last several miles for this last skirmish to be their last hurrah. With the platoon nearly at the comm tower, a last line of defense was only logical.

  He posted his concerns on the command net and waited to see if anyone agreed.

  Sergeant Li with squad three asked. Sergeant Green said.