Suggestions and criticism of all sorts are of course welcome
------------------------
Links to other chapters:
Chapter 10: The Khaak
Chapter 9: New Player
Chapter 8: The Hunt Begins
Chapter 7: Among the rogues
Chapter 6: Anger of the Giants
Chapter 5: Awakening of the storm
Chapter 4: Trade run to Hell
Chapter 3: Old connections
Chapter 2: Means for revenge
Chapter 1: First kill
The glossary of Unknown Heroes
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Demons in Paradise
Despite the best efforts of the pilot to unnerve his passenger by taking rolls and loops with gravity generator turned off, he noticed that his passenger remained calm.
Of course, the pilot did not know that Erich’s implants were the ones keeping the cyberborg calm. Finally, giving up his fantasy on making Erich beg for mercy, the pilot resumed teaching Erich the finer points of space combat.
He had been reassigned from Elysium’s Protectors, station’s own fighter force, to teach this man how to fly. Usually he would have welcomed any change to his routine work, but the man he was supposed to teach flying was a man that killed for no other reason than money.
Here, in the Independent space, this profession led to speedy execution, but this man have somehow obtained docking rights with Elysium, a station that was considered an oasis of order and peace in space ruled by warlords and pirate chiefs. Takers of lives were not tolerated on the station – this man was somehow an exception. To add insult to injury, the higher authorities had even ordered speedy flight training for this man.
No, not man, pilot though. That implied that the assassin was human and he did not deserve to be called that.
Erich was fully aware of misgivings the pilot had against him. Using infrared sight he could see that man was a volcano of feelings.
He was not surprised, used after all these years to such reactions. The inhabitants of the Elysium settled on the station to get peace and a predictable life in highly unpredictable times. Pirates were rarely allowed outside the docks and known assassins were not even allowed to dock with the station. His presence caused unrest in the station and he would not be surprised if some people on the station were fugitives from assassins such as him.
The piloting of a spacecraft came easy to Erich and he learned quickly, storing the lections on audio-recorder he had bought. He would listen to them after each session. He had only been training for two days and he could easily undock and dock a spacecraft. Otto, however, warned him that there was much more to pilot’s life than simply flying from A to B.
“Any decent autopilot can manage that,” Otto said to Erich.
“It is the fighting skills that separate the living from the dead,” the former Navy pilot added.
So after sessions, Erich spent his time in simulators, learning offensive and defensive maneuvers, focusing, after Otto’s advice, on defensive maneuvers and techniques. Often he was joined by Ha’nt who also spent as much time as possible in simulators. Two of them sparred, something that often led to Split victory, despite Split’s injury. Ha’nt would then eagerly discuss the fight, pointing out Erich’s mistakes. Erich noticed that Ha’nt enjoyed being useful for the group.
“Forget that,” Otto commented observing one simulation waving his hand, “you will be flying a Bayamon, a medium fighter.”
The simulator pitched Erich against Scorpion medium fighter that Erich attempted to outmaneuver and get behind.
“The Split will both outmaneuver and outfly you. Use your superior firepower. Tempt him into head to head engagement. Use those PACs to strip his shield and blast him to space dust. Yeah, like that!”
Now in Bayamon fighter with similar specifications to ones produced for Otto and Erich, he had to test his skills against non-moving targets. Erich knew that his teacher was trying to make the session as short as possible.
“Launch the drones,” he told the pilot.
“No way, those things cost money!”
“Launch them. You will be compensated.”
“Sure, it is your money…”
The four drones were launched. They swirled around the ship, their command set on guard mode.
“Order them to attack us,” Erich said.
“As you wish”
The drones began firing on the Bayamon. Shield levels sunk few percent. Erich disengaged the gravitation generator as Otto had advised him to do, trading off pleasure of gravity for a more nimble ship. The targeting radar was turned off and Erich used his instincts to gauge when to fire. He turned and twisted, avoiding the fire of drones. He noticed that drones avoided head on attacks and instead concentrated on ships sides and rear. Erich had often to fire at ninety degrees angle, relative to drones traveling path, a difficult task without targeting radar. Missing few times, he finally got one drone. The shields sunk to 86 percent, but now Erich had learned how to use his own targeting implant. In ten sezuras, remaining three drones were destroyed.
The pilot whistled, “Killing people with laspistols have made a good marksman…”
The Erich gave him a cold stare and his instructor kept his mouth shut rest of the journey back to the station.
Once docked, he checked his weapon, his favorite laspistol, the venerable TG-21 that he and rest of the group had acquired weapons from Teladi traders at the very first chance they got.
Satisfied that the batteries were full, he headed towards the living quarters. Erich was pleased with his progress and wondered why he had not taken up a flight course earlier in his life. If he had been less lazy as younger he would have taken a course at some flying school and perhaps passed that entry test to the Navy. Then he would have been pilot as Otto and not ended up in Army. Thinking along those lines he realized that he also wouldn’t have ended up abounded at a planet with number as name, too long to remember, besieged by Xenon forces. His life would have been entirely different. No dodging of station security, living at dirty rooms at some station wondering the causes for the tiny sounds he kept hearing. Proper food, proper showers, no more killings. Perhaps a woman…
Immersed in his own thought, Erich did not notice two Goner monks following him. They followed him at great distance, taking great care not to be noticed. Then, when sure that Erich was taking the route they had predicted the day before, they said few words into a com-device and parted.
Erich turned into the corridor leading to the rooms he and Otto had rented. He passed another two Goner monks that for a change did not try to greet him with their usual, “Have you heard the good news?”
He started to check his pockets for the keycard he needed to open the door.
Never making a stop in their conversation, two monks turned, watching Erich’s back. They produced two small carbines, used in isolated and primitive worlds without access to factories producing fine lenses necessary for laser beam weapons. The weapons both monks wielded were called pressure carbines, using pressured gas as propellant in projectiles.
Both Goners aimed and fired. Erich was hit and without word or scream, the cyberborg fell on the floor, not moving.
Their target was dead but they still needed a confirmation. Picture of the deceased would serve as evidence. Since pictures could easily be manipulated, they planned on cutting one of the thumbs of their victim, giving their customer also the biological evidence. One of the Goners approached the body, while other still pointing his weapon.
Erich was not breathing or moving. When the approaching monk was within one meter, he suddenly turned and grabbed one feet of the monk, throwing him on the floor using monk’s body as shield. At same time with his left hand he took out his TG-21 laspistol and fired. The other monk screeched as the laser beam burned a hole in his head. He died the very next moment, before even hitting the floor.
Erich brought his laspistol to the temple of the monk he was holding and fired again. The smell of burned flesh and ozone filled the corridor.
Still using the body of the monk as shield he waited for more assailants. None came. He changed through several viewing modes and noticed that surveillance cameras in the corridors were not having any magnetic fields around them.
No magnetic field, no power, Erich thought. They were probably bypassed.
He took out his keycard and carefully unlocked his room. Next moment he stormed the room, ready to shoot anything that moved. Nothing moved; the room was empty.
Erich checked the Ha’nt and Ni Lan’s room. The door was unlocked. Again he opened the door and stormed in, checking for movement.
Ha’nt and Ni Lan looked at him both startled and confused by his behavior.
“You two, help me drag those bodies in the room. Come on, before I die from old age!”
Still confused they followed him out in the corridor. Erich grabbed one of the bodies and started to drag him into the room. Both Ha’nt and Ni Lan stood still, shocked by the dead bodies and smell.
“Come on, you two, don’t just stand there!”
Ha’nt grabbed the dead monk by the robes and started to pull him into the room. After a sezura, Ni Lan too assisted.
“What happened?” Ha’nt asked.
“Assassins”
“They tried to kill you?”
“They failed, I will tell you the rest of the story some other time. Now go and find Communications and ask them to link you to Otto, down at A-Room. Tell Otto that I need two 150x50 cylinders for water. Tell him to buy them and assist me with transport of them ASAP. Got it?”
“Yeah, but I don’t…” Ha’nt said, still confused about what was happening.
“Do it! And take your laspistol with you!”
After the Split had left the room, Ni Lan asked, “Why don’t we call the Security?”
“They,” Erich explained pointing at two corpses, “have disabled the cameras”
“So we shouldn’t call the Security because of that?”
“Listen pal, you have to learn fast in this business. The Security knows that I am an assassin, right?”
Ni Lan twitched his stalks, an Boron expression equivalent to human nod.
“So here we are with two bodies and no witnesses on who fired the first shots. For all they know I just killed two Goners in cold blood”
“I thought Goners were good. We thought that at school…”
“Those are not Goners,” Erich said. He picked up one of the weapons. Boron picked up the other, curiously watching it.
“Those are not laser weapons. Explosive driven?”
“No, pressured gas. They use them on some worlds. Silent and undetectable by most scans.”
He checked the tip of one of the projectiles. When he was hit he had felt an EMP discharge. Urban myths are good things, he thought. It was widespread belief that you could cripple a cyberborg with EMP weapons. That was true in early age of cyberborg designs but not last fifty standard years. Assassins must have believed in the myth too. The tip of the projectile consisted of a battery and small EM field device, adding EMP damage in addition to the kinetic one.
Erich checked their clothes for more evidence. He found nothing except a recipe for docking bay and something that looked like shipdoor key.
“Tell Otto and Ha’nt to put the bodies in cylinders. I am going to hunt for other assassins”
“You think there are others?”
“I am not sure. Lock the door and only open to Otto or Ha’nt. You got a weapon?”
Boron moved to his bunk, struggled to reach it for bit, then pulled his laspistol out.
“Keep it always on yourself! Ok, off I go. Remember – only open to Otto, Ha’nt or me”
Erich put his pilot helmet on. He closed the door and listened for sound of door being locked. Hearing it, he hurriedly walked towards the docks. Walking by a wall mirror, he made sure that nobody could see his face through helmet glass. Then he moved on.
Back in the room, Ni Lan sat shivering with laspistol pointing towards the door, half expecting that assassins and other horrors to storm in.
“Could you put in a mass driver there, instead of the laser hardpoint?” Otto asked the ship engineer.
“No, that would weaken the structure too much, young warrior,” ship engineer answered. The old Split really enjoyed working on this project. He told Otto that looked forward to giving young warrior a tool to achieve even greater glories in battles to come.
“Then I guess a more powerful weapon power plant is only option”
“We got only Volgov 250 power plants here on station. Better than SPW 760 already installed in terms of power output and recharge but the compatible batteries have lower storage capacity”
“I saw some new Valve B power plants just outside…”
Split engineer snorted, “Ha! Those Teladi couldn’t make a reliable power plant if their life was at stake”
“Too unreliable?”
“Life span on those things are shorter than Boron’s in dessert world. The lady in charge told us to reverse engineer them, but if you ask me…”
The Split was interrupted by a mechanic walking in.
“Sorry boss, there is call waiting for our customer,” she said.
“I will be right back,” Otto said running to communication booth.
Split engineer watched him. He remembered his own days, back in DTX, Death To Xenon, movement. There was some good battles back then! Engagements every day, the glorious battles lasting hours with few brave Split warriors fighting off hordes of machines…
But then, all of sudden, the Patriarch declared DTX disturbers of Family Peace and they were branded outcasts…
The human was still speaking on the com-link. After few sezuras, he returned to the office.
“My assistance is required by my friends, I will return when time allows to continue our discussions,” he said quickly.
Then to great surprise and delight to the old Split warrior, Otto gave him the traditional Split salute of younger warriors saluting their honored elder, the seasoned Split warriors, before leaving. The Split watched him go.
“Too bad he is not Split,” the old Split told to himself quietly.
“What was that, boss?” a mechanic asked.
“Back to work, you unworthy maggot!”
Erich, finding the bay the recipe was for, checked inconspicuously his surroundings. Two guards were chatting with a Teladi trader. Few Independents were trading the jokes, leaning on the wall, casting glances on three Argon women repairing the stabilizers on their ship.
Seeing that no one was paying attention to him or the docked Ranger, he walked over to the ship and tested the key. The magnetic reading was successful and pressure door opened. Taking out his laspistol, he went in quickly checking the insides of the ship. The ship was empty.
Erich closed the door and checked and peeked through cockpit glass to see if anyone had seen him enter the ship. Everything looked normal.
He searched the ship again, this time thoroughly. Four toothbrushes among other indicators, told him that there had been four humans aboard. He had taken out two. Two were left, Erich concluded.
“Seems like I have to set up an ambush,” he said aloud. Use of laspistol aboard was out of question – that could easily lead to an explosion and alert the surroundings. He looked around for something he could use as a weapon. Opening ship’s tool box, he took out a knife, a laser cutter and some wire, all of them suitable for silent kills.
He sat down in pilot’s seat, watching the docks. Erich was good at waiting. He would wait as long as necessary.
“This means that we have to bring in heavy artillery into action,” Senator McCarthy Senior said. He was visible agitated by Olav Lie’s call.
Olav had been contacted again by Mr. Blue who told him that his assassins had tracked down Erich Campbell and other escapees from destroyed Trading Station in Presidents End. He had been asked whether he wished all of them killed.
“Only Erich Campbell as agreed. I don’t care about others, they are irrelevant,” Olav told Mr. Blue. After that he called the Senator to inform him that Erich Campbell was still alive.
“What exactly do you mean, Sir?”
“Siege the Elysium with NSM’s pocket cruisers just as we did in Ore Belt. Does Boris know that Campbell is alive?”
“No, I wanted to take up the matter first with you, Sir”
“Understandable. Now what about siege?”
“Not feasible, Sir. We have lost one pocket cruiser when that Sector 21 lunatic collided with one of the cruisers. It wont be repaired this jazura. Most of the fighter are too dispersed and too long away, Sir. Besides, Elysium has formidable defenses, including many fighter ships.”
“I see. What about this Mr. Blue?”
“He should be capable of handling Campbell…But as we have seen, Campbell seem very capable, Sir.”
“My thoughts too. That is why I suggested siege in first place too.”
“Frankly Sir, I doubt Elysium could be overcome with anything less than a Navy taskforce”
“I see…”
“I have to go, Sir. I must inform Mr. Gellar that Erich Campbell is alive before any of the other men do that”
“I understand. What will you say to him?”
“That I intend to hire assassins to kill Campbell”
A smile appeared on Senator’s face, “As you already have done…”
“As I have already done”
“You should have been politician Mr. Lie…”
“You are too kind, Sir”
The Goner monk looked around, checking the surroundings, just as Erich had done few stazuras ago. Then he proceeded to the Ranger, unlocking the door. He turned around, carefully looking at two guards that had stopped by the Ranger and were chatting with each other.
The monk decided that they posed no threat and he went in. As he half closed the door behind him, he saw a shadow move in corner of his eye. By then it was too late.
A thin wire was wrapped around his throat and he was lifted up, so that his legs were dangling in the air.
Erich felt how the monks body struggled for moment then calmed down. He was not buying into that old trick. The monk was just pretending to be dead, bidding for the right moment to counter attack. Erich waited.
After half mizura, the monk started thrashing again, this time in desperate attempt to get air. Erich looked at his left. The two guards could not see what was happening inside the ship, but the noises made guards stop talking and listen. He held his breath.
The monk stopped moving. This time he was dead for real. Erich waited for few more mizuras. The guards continued their chat, still standing next to the Ranger.
Erich dragged the body to the cargo hold and undressed the monk. He checked his possessions and found a small com-link on his body. The remaining assassin would know the faith of his dead colleague when he did not receive response on his calls.
Well, at least I got three out of four, Erich thought. Moving to cargo hold, he looked for maintenance hatch, leading to the engine room. Finding it, he crawled to engine room. Using the plasma torch he found in the toolbox, he fused two energy wires and then disabled the engine’s warning system. The shorted wires would cause the magnetic shielding around the plasma engine to fail, leading to explosion when ship’s engines were started. The disabled warning system wouldn’t warn the pilot that anything was wrong.
Satisfied with his work, Erich changed into Goner’s robes. The cowl was hiding his head completely. He left the ship, locking the door again.
One of the guards lifted his head to see who was passing and seeing the same Goner leaving the ship, the guard returned to the conversation.
Erich passed by them unhindered. He walked back to his rented room.
The remaining assassin was watching Erich through surveillance cameras. Having hacked into the security network the day before, he was now using his PDA to observe Erich walking away from his family’s ship. With shaking hands, he tried once again to contact his youngest brother that he had observed going aboard the Ranger short time ago. No response.
He tried to reach his older brothers. Again, no response.
“Where should we place the cylinders?”
“I am thinking of dumping them in the space,” Erich suggested watching Ha’nt sealing the last cylinder. The four of them had managed to place the two dead bodies in the cylinders before rigor mortis had set in.
“They are already starting to smell,” Ha’nt said wrinkling his sensitive nose.
“Are there more assassins left?” Ni Lan asked.
“One left, I think. I found evidence of four people in their ship,” Erich answered.
“Of course, the assassins may have arrived with two ships… So it could be easily six more assassins left,” Otto pointed out.
“Too expensive,” Erich pointed out.
“Too expensive what?” Ni Lan asked.
“Hiring an assassin is expensive, hiring large numbers of them is extremely expensive affair”
“Not too expensive for NSM and Boris Gellar…”
“What is NSM and who is this Boris Gellar?” Ni Lan asked, curious to find out what the two Argons were talking about.
“NSM is mining company as far as I can tell. Mr. Gellar is CEO and majority owner of the company…”
“And?” Ha’nt asked.
“Mr. Gellar was my and Otto’s commander, so to say, seven jazuras ago. He commanded the carrier we two were stationed on. Besides that, there is no more links between us and he. Mr. Gellar had been trying to kill us for last two wozuras,” Erich attempted to explain. Not much of explanation, he thought.
“That’s it!?”
“Well, Erich did kill former CEO of NSM, certain Mr. Rudel that was also commander of infantry detachment aboard the very same carrier,” Otto added.
“I still don’t see the reason why they want to kill us. Is there some kind of Argon tradition to kill subordinates after your tour of duty ends?” Ni Lan asked.
“Of course not, fish brain!” Ha’nt roared. The Split couldn’t fathom how Ni Lan couldn’t see that there was something deeper going on. Ni Lan scuttled over to the other end of the room, putting as much space as possible between him and the Split.
“We’ll fill you in more details later,” Erich promised. Not that there was much more to say, he thought. Otto and Erich did not know anything more substantial than already said. If it were not for the fact that the captain he had killed so many jazuras ago was talked about as accomplice of Erich in media, he would dismissed entire thing as a friend trying to revenge his killed friend.
“Right now we have to get rid of two dead bodies,” Erich concluded. Focus at one thing at time.
“Ssso what doesss your Greatnesss thinksss of our generousss proporsssal?”
Elisa was daydreaming. Usually she did not do it, certainly not while negotiating business deals, but the Teladi delegation had just held a 20 mizuras long speech. They were now waiting for her answer, while her mind was hundreds of light-years away.
“Huh?...Oh, the trading network! Well, my dear Company emissaries, the thing is that Elysium is already incorporated in InterProfit’s Stock Exchange network…”
“But surely we of CEO’s own Company Rapid Exchange network have a better offer…”
Elisa did sense that there was something she was missing. The stock trade companies never minded operating on same stations as their rivals, yet on her station one of them now tried to establish a monopoly.
Teladi were hiding something, having hidden agenda. Well, Teladi were always having hidden agendas.
She was too tired to deal with this. Better to have Christine or Thk’kt set on this.
Elisa put on her famous smile, “Dear Emissaries, your offer and generosity of it are great and I will immediately set the wheels in the motion!”
“Do we have a deal?”
“Well, of course a preliminary profit expectation analyses must be first in place…”
She did not need a profit expectation analyses, but she needed more time.
“We underssstand, dear Greatnesss”
“May Profit always come your way,” she said signaling that the audience was over. Walking backwards out of the room, never letting their tails pointing towards the esteemed investor, the Teladi left her office.
Elisa stretched in her chair. Having just arrived from Empire’s Edge system, she felt dirty and by reactions of those she passed on her way here, she was probably stinking too. All she wanted was to slip into her hot tub…
“Computer, give me channel to the Security Commander Christine Holm”
“Link established”
On her screen the smiling face of her friend and right hand, Christine Holm, appeared.
“After two days in overcrowded Orinoco, the first thing you do is to head to your office!”
“Trading delegation from CEO’s own…”
“I know. They waited four days. Something fishy is going on…”
“My thoughts exactly”
“Want me to do some spying?”
“Hmm…I let Thk’kt take this one. He goes to his mistress in the Spaceweed Drift anyway”
Both women chuckled. It was well-known fact that the Split had a mistress, something Thk’kt vehemently denied.
“Anyway, anything interesting happened while I was away?”
The face of her security chief got serious again.
“Thk’kt allowed an assassin to dock…Erich Campbell is the name and there should be a datapad with info on him on your desk”
“Why would he do that!? Is someone on the station in danger?”
“No, his mark doesn’t seem to be here, otherwise he would at least hide his identity. The reason they were allowed to dock is that they arrived in new type of the AF Navy’s fighter. Buster class. It is all in the datapad”
“Yeah, I am reading it. Generous deal we are giving them, if I can say so…”
“The top researcher herself approved it. Apparently this is Super-Buster or something”
Elisa knew the women. If she said that info on the new ship was worth that much, then it was.
“Wait a moment, Christine… One of his companions goes around with pilot helmet and refuses to take it of?”
“Yes, we have no id on him. We had installed cameras in his room, but Mr. Erich C. has supernatural capabilities of detecting cameras”
“Supernatural?”
“It is hard to explain. It just seems that way.”
“Hmm… The murderer doesn’t seem to bother about being recognized while his friend goes around masked… What’s worse than an assassin?”
“That’s also what bothered us in Security. We are trying to find out. However, Thk’kt has a theory that they simply did not have enough helmets to go around…”
Elisa smiled. The Split always tended to find the simplest explanation to most complex questions. And often he was right too…
“Ok, Christine, I want them watched every mizura from now on. How about some Selengi Chicken tonight?”
“Sure, they got this new place on third level, where they make them in honey”
“Mmm…Sounds wonderful. See you around eight?”
“Sure”
The screen cleared and Elisa turned it off. Elisa rested on her chair and closed her eyes. Her head felt heavy. The tiredness set in and she dozed off.
She felt presence in the room and felt something approaching. She saw a man wearing helmet with a knife in his hand. Just before he stabbed her, she awoke. The office was empty. Fully awake from the sudden surge of adrenalin, she decided that it was time to take that bath.
“You come back with a friend, masked warrior?”
“That is true, the veteran of many battles”
Erich nodded and tried to hide the fact that he was nervous about being followed by two man entire time while he was carrying two water canisters with dead bodies inside.
“Need help with that?” one mechanic offered.
“No, they are empty,” Erich answered smiling. The canisters, together with dead bodies of the assassins inside, weighted over 160 kg total but his reinforced body handled the task well.
“Just put them here in the back,” Otto said to Erich pointing at nearby grey colored Bayamon.
“Sulk’har, introduce my friend here to his ships specs, I am going to take her out for a spin”
“Of course, masked warrior,” the Split engineer replayed. He walked to the lift controls and pushed a button. The lift started raising taking Otto’s Bayamon up to docks. The Split turned to Erich, seizing up the cyberborg.
“Show me your hands human”
“What?”
“Show me your hands!”
Erich, somewhat confused, showed his hands to old Split.
Sulk’har took Erich hands in his own feeling and examining every millimeter of them.
“Hmmm…The rumors are true then”
“The rumors?”
“Yes. That you are an assassin”
“Just rumors…”
“Enough! Your fingers tell another tale. You are well versed in use of handheld weapons. Ever used a Bi’ktla rifle?”
The Split was refereeing to ancient Split weapon intended for hunting.
“I am familiar with the weapon, yes”
“Are you capable of hitting a moving target with a Bi’ktla?”
“I am,” Erich stated.
“Excellent! Mira!”
One mechanic lifted her head, “Yes, Sulk’har?”
“We got a marksman here, increase the power per shot ratio for lasers”
“Yes, Sir”
He looked at the Bayamon, grey colored, with dark spots on it.
“Human, it is rather obvious that you and the masked warrior are outcasts,” he finally said.
Erich remained silent. Sulk’har snapped his fingers, the Split equivalent to human blinking of ones eye.
“The camouflage color of your ship is intended for those that tend to hide on asteroids, while deactivating their avionics, forcing their pursuers to use optical means in search of their prey. Only outcasts tend to take such precautions these days,” the Split continued. He opened up the engine compartment of the ship.
“I have taken a liberty to link up your plasma engines with weapon power plants, human”
“What for?” Erich asked.
“It gives you 30 km/h extra for short time although draining your weapon batteries. Remember that you will turn slower at high speeds, since lateral thrusters are unmodified. Now to the missile systems. I kept the standard revolver type reloader. Slower but smaller, it gives you more space for missiles. Objections?”
“No,” Erich said.
“Good. You have 40mm and 50 mm revolver tubes installed on right side and 60 mm tubes on the left. The Beta Particle Accelerators are installed in laser banks, modified as you just heard”
They entered the ship. One mechanic was working on the wiring inside the co-pilot consol.
“As you see there, ” Sulk’har pointed to co- pilot’s consol, “we have installed a screen with control stick instead of secondary flight controls. It controls a 25 mm autocannon installed in the back of the ship. It acts as turret, but if you receive a hit there, you’ll loose the autocannon…”
“Are they costly to replace?”
“Yes, human. They are produced only here and on the Freeport station. But if you shields drop to such levels, you will be dead anyway… The co-pilot also controls an additional scanner, so-called directional scanner with almost twice the range of the triplex omni-directional scanner, the minimal mass is 20 N; however, you have to turn of the triplex scanner off when using this one...”
For the next stazura, Sulk’har filled the Erich on about every aspect of his new ship, until Erich felt that his brain was heading towards a meltdown.
Welcome break came in the form of Ha’nt. The Split was also supposed to be on the briefing, since it was decided that he was to be Erich’s co-pilot until his right arm fully healed.
“A fellow Split! My name is Sulk’har, what is your name young warrior?”
“Ha’nt”
“Of which family?”
“I have no family,” Ha’nt answered.
“I see…” Sulk’har said, understanding the situation. After all, Sulk’har himself was a renegade. He quickly changed subject, beginning to instruct Ha’nt in functions of co-pilots controls.
Erich, having a break, let his mind wander.
A human mechanic arrived, carrying a toolbox. He received a call via his com-link, at least it seemed that way to Erich, seeing the mechanics gesticulations.
That’s odd, Erich thought. His receivers did not pick up any radio waves. Mechanic turned, putting his toolbox next to the Bayamon and then walked over to the lifts. Some inner instinct told Erich to scan the box. Many years as assassin had taught Erich to act on his instincts, no matter how irrational they seemed. He changed his viewing mode, flipping through modes, until finally he could see a magnetic field round the box. Erich looked at the other toolboxes. No magnetic field. He felt a growing sense of unease and fear. Erich changed to normal optic mode and zoomed in on the toolbox.
A recruit sticker for Profit Protection Mercenary Force was in fact some kind of sensor. IF-sensor, Erich guessed. The toolbox may be a bomb, he told himself. After all, one assassin was still on the loose. There was probably a timer in that box too.
“Sulk’har have you transportation device installed here?”
“Sure, we use it all time to beam over spare parts to and from ships. Why do you ask?”
“Can you beam that toolbox over there outside the station?” Erich asked, pointing to the toolbox.
“Why?” Sulk’har wanted to know.
“I have no time for explanations. Could you do it quickly? NOW!”
“Alright, give me a moment,” Split engineer said, speaking few words in the com-link.
“What’s the matter?” Ha’nt asked. Erich ignored him, instead watching Sulk’har talking in the com-link. Whoever was on the other end was equally puzzled as two Splits.
“Yes…Yeah, that one. Just do it! Garbage drone is good!”
Finally, the toolbox de-materialized.
“Satisfied?” Sulk’har asked.
“You beamed it outside the station?”
“Yeah. They couldn’t lock on anything except of outgoing garbage drone”
“I guess, when you say “Drone” you mean unmanned?”
“That is correct. Wait…” Sulk’har pointed to his com-link, indicating that someone wanted to speak with him. His smile disappeared.
“They say that garbage drone disappeared from sensors. Apparently it had exploded”
“Just who are you,” Elise asked the man standing in front of her. The hidden scanners in her room told her that he was unarmed and human. They also told her that 25 percent of his body consisted of titanium, something that was very un-human like.
“I believe that info about me is in the datapad you are holding,” the man answered.
“My Security Chief, Mr. Campbell, tells me that Erich Campbell was dead few wozuras ago…”
“O.K.”
“You know, if we want we can force you to tell us what we want,” Elise said, getting angry by refusal of the man in front of her to cooperate.
“There is nothing more to tell,” Mr. Campbell responded. He continued, “And quite frankly, I don’t understand why I am interrogated and threatened”
“Well, you came back from dead, are assassin and fugitive in Federation, you have friend that goes around masked which, by the way, is missing and attempt on your life happened stazura ago…”
“I can assure you that I have been alive to this point, that I am accused of murder, something that does not make me a murderer until proven and certainly not an assassin. And the bomb was not an attempt on my life”
“Oh?”
“Well, if someone wanted to kill me they would place a bomb inside my room, not in some random place…”
“How did you know it was a bomb?”
“I heard it tick…”
“Heard it tick…Hmm…I don’t trust you Mr. Campbell. Not at all… You and your friend are to leave the station in six stazura. Your ships will be ready by then, I assure you of that”
“Thank you,” Mr. Campbell nodded, turned and walked away from the office. Elisa followed him on the surveillance cameras. Mr. Campbell behaved just like any trader, doing nothing suspicious.
“So what do you think?” Elisa asked Christine.
“He is cyberborg and assassin. Probably on Federation payroll too,” Christine said, holstering her laspistol and sitting on the table.
“Assassin? Probably… But cyberborg? Don’t let your imagination… ”
“You saw the scars! And what about scans? Those aren’t natural readings.”
“And you think he is on Federation payroll”
“If he is cyberborg then he is certainly agent for Argon Federation. All cyberborgs have implants removed after service. Privately installed implants are illegal, and beside how many doctors with specialization in cybernetics and implants are working on the illegal market. That man is cyberborg and spy, mark my words…”
“You got a point,” Elise admitted. It doesn’t matter, she thought. The assassin and his friends will leave the station in six stazura, hopefully taking his troubles with him.
“Well, Mr. Blue? How is Mr. Campbell’s health?”
Olav Lie was in excellent mood, expecting good news from Mr. Blue. The mysterious Mr. Blue never failed.
“I am sorry to inform you that Mr. Campbell is very much alive and that he and his friends are leaving the station as we speak”
“How…I must admit that I am shocked, Mr. Blue. Never before have you failed…”
“Well, Mr. Lie, it happens from time to time. Especially the risk is high when the mark is someone like Mr. Campbell, an assassin himself”
“So that it? Mission failed?”
“I take pride in attempting to do everything to ensure that a mission succeeds…”
“Meaning what?”
“I cannot divulge my methods, Mr. Lie. I can promise that my organization will try to take Mr. Campbell’s life once again. No extra charge, of course…”
“I trust that you will succeed this time. I am curious - how did Mr. Campbell survive your first attempt?”
“The details are unavailable at this moment, but three of four men sent after him are dead. It is pity that he doesn’t work for us… Apparently he prefers being a freelancer…”
Olav Lie was truly shocked this time. He assumed that Erich Campbell was good, he had known that ever since the cyberborg managed to defeat the mercenaries sent after him, but Lie never suspected that Erich was this good. The assassins available to Mr. Blue were best in the galaxy! And now the cyberborg managed to outwit his hunters once again. Something that Mr. Blue said caught Lie’s attention.
“You said that he prefers to be freelancer. I assume that you did a background check?”
“That is correct”
“Do you mind sending me the info you had managed to gather?”
“Of course. It will cost you nothing. Consider this a compensation for us not being able to deliver as agreed…”
“Thank you. Could you give me a quick briefing on whereabouts and occupation last seven jazuras, if you don’t mind?”
“Yes, of course. Erich Campbell worked as assassin based on “Anarchy Port”*, which I am sure you have already heard of… Anyway he took assignments for the various warlords and pirate clans in Pirate Alley and Independent Systems, assassinating their rivals. Our information is very sketchy – apparently he is well-known face aboard the Anarchy Port, yet nobody can tell anything about him…”
“Difficult mark it seems”
“Indeed he is. I must warn you that if we fail to eliminate Mr. Campbell today, we will cancel the assignment altogether. You will get your money back, of course…”
Olav Lie was confused. Never had Mr. Blue broken a contract before, in fact the man had never before mentioned something like that.
“I am confused…”
“Don’t be Mr. Lie. After all, I have been in this business for 40 of your standard years… I have stayed alive due to one my traits – knowing when to retreat and concede defeat”
“I saw the explosion Erich. The debris was scattered across entire system by the time I understood what had happened,” Otto told Erich via the communication channel. Both Bayamons were flying side by side, using directional burst communication to prevent intercepts. Otto was flying the “Dark Mistress”, while Erich was piloting, somewhat unsteady, the “New Galaxy”. Ha’nt assisted him as co-pilot. Ni Lan was with Otto, more as rear-gunner and scan than co-pilot which Otto had no use for.
Otto continued, “I tell you, that explosion would have obliterated entire level”
“How did you find out?” Ni Lan asked.
“The magnetic field was the first clue. But it was the IR motion sensor that gave it away”
“How?” Ha’nt asked, intrigued by the never ending surprises of the cyberborg.
“It was designed to look like sticker. If anyone approached it, like a bomb-squad, it would have detonated. I myself used such bombs.”
“We are approaching the designated position,” Ni Lan announced. Otto had managed to contact Suad Khan, informing him about assassins, the bomb and consequent expulsion from Elysium. The response he got was to go to specific coordinates in the sector, a dangerous task, since Elena's Fortune, except the 20 km around the Elysium, was a dangerous sector full of passing pirates going on raids to Boron Kingdom and Argon Federation. The sector was also sometimes a battleground for vicious warlords that contested this sector and didn’t particularly care whether they shot each other or neutral bystanders. The Elysium was only oases in this violent part of space.
“What’s the status on the scanners?” Otto asked.
Two ships were running two different types of scans, complementing each other.
“Only a trader 23 km away,” Ni Lan reported.
“Same here,” Ha’nt said.
“Ok, people we are in the position, everybody shut down their engines.”
Now they had to wait.
“We are being hailed, unknown source” Ni Lan said to Otto.
“No source? What about scanner?”
“Nothing”
“Give me a channel to Erich”
Ni Lan, gave quickly commands to the computer, opening a channel to “New Galaxy”.
“We know,” Erich said before Otto could ask, “the source is a commercial satellite at 4500, -15 at your 2”
“Should we answer?” Ni Lan asked.
“It got to be Suad, open the channel,” Otto said.
The voice of Suad Khan could be heard on other end, “Fugitives once again?”
“Isn’t an open channel too risky?” Otto asked, worried that a RDF team would jump in every moment.
“Don’t worry, I recalibrated the commercials packages sent from the shipyard. They can’t trace it back to me and for anyone watching it would appear as if you listened to commercial. EYE’s two listening posts in the sector don’t cover the portion of the space you are in”
“Listening voluntarily to the commercials is suspect in many people’s eyes, if I may point out”
“True, but this is only way to communicate in real time… I am sending now a decryption key list. I will initiate encrypted communication in two mizuras after NOW”
The file was downloaded and Ni Lan barely managed to install the list in communication software, before they were hailed again.
“Hello again, to anyone listening to our conversation now it would seem as you indeed listened to the commercial. The next decryption keys list will be sent on the end of the communication. Now to your problem – you need obviously a “safe house” so to speak, since staying on public station seems an invitation to assassins. There happens to be one such place in the sector”
“Planetside?” Otto asked. He never knew of any populated planets in the system.
“No. An empty and derelict asteroid mine. Go to 32, 40, 1200 relative to your twelve. There you will find a functioning Accelerator Station*. The acceleration station on the other end was never built so program computer to stop the ship after 250K km. That should place you next to the station. The EYE network doesn’t cover that part of space”
“I see two problems, Suad… First is food and water. Heat is good in the space too. The last, but certainly not the least, is lack of that acceleration station on the other end… It would take me well over thousand flight hours, almost two mazuras of travel time back…”
“Yes, well I have answer for that too. A Terracorp freighter carrying supplies for Terracorp and Goners joint new project in Aladna Hill had a jumpdrive malfunction under its jump and is currently limping back to Federation, straight into your arms. With only one engine online and no escorts it is currently in Olmancketslat's Treaty system, 23 km from the gate. A rescue team is sent from Home of Light system, three Busters and three Discoverers. A Centaur is also heading your way, but it is too far away to be considered a threat”
“You haven’t told us what supplies the freighter is carrying…”
“Five jumpdrives, four transportation devices, 467 energy cells and 800 boxes of “Beans and Mahoona”. Just what you people need”
Otto whistled. Indeed it was what they needed. The cargo of that ship was what every cutthroat, warlord, smuggler and entire Teladi race dreamed of. And if Otto’s gut feeling was correct, the all mentioned categories five sectors away were heading for that freighter. And all he got was a Bayamon and half. Erich couldn’t even the fly the ship straight!
“Excuse me for not being polite, but I have to go. Right away,” Otto said to Suad.
“I understand. Good luck”
The transmission ended and Otto instructed Ni Lan to tell Erich to follow him at maximum speed and fill in the cyberborg on details. The Boron did as told. Ni Lan felt nauseas from dread. He realized that this adventure was turning into one big running battle.
Continue to next chapter
