Dubious Heroes: a novel Read online

  A lot of people, especially those used to living on planets, couldn’t understand why the containers were necessary at all. Having grown up on an airless world, I understood it all too well. If you took a chunk of ice and set it into a vacuum, as soon as sunlight hit it, it would begin to boil away. The process is called sublimation, and there’s a lot more science involved with it, but the bottom line was pretty simple. You couldn’t just haul ice around in space, without some form of shielding from the solar radiation. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have ice left by the time you got to wherever you were going.

  Incidentally, the sublimation thing is what causes the halo on a comet. Every time they pass anywhere near a star (like the sun), they lose a little ice. Still, comets are pretty big, so it takes a while for the ice to boil away, like a few billion years, give or take. Unless some enterprising engineers manage to catch them, in which case, they don’t last long at all. I heard the last one they chucked at Venus had six billion tons of ice in it, as well as a number of good-sized rocks. The people on Venus didn’t mind, because there aren’t any.

  Not that Venus or comets have much to do with ice freighters, or the one we were about to commandeer. Come to think of it, the knowledge probably won’t improve your odds of getting laid in bar, either. In that case, never mind.

  Imagine the huge ringed target of the ice freighter, then imagine sitting squarely in front of it, as it rushes toward you like some cosmic-sized fly swatter, moving at several thousand miles per second. Our goal was to dock with the center of the target; the crew module. Granted, we were moving at essentially the same speed as the freighter, but if something screwed up, it had more than enough mass and kinetic energy to squash us like a bug.

  With that in mind, it was with keen interest that I watched the Princess on the main vidscreen. Angie was handling the delicate task of maneuvering us closer and closer for the eventual docking. Winifred had already cut her drives, so we were all basically coasting along at the same speed. Once in position, we’d fire the magnetic grapplers, and pull the Enigma in close. At that point, all we’d have to do is extend our walkway, and walk on over. We’d had the thing repaired, either at New London or Babylonia; I wasn’t sure. Cozi said it worked, and that was all I needed to know.

  “How big is that damned thing?” I asked, to no one in particular. We were close enough now, that the external rings wouldn’t fit on our external camera view.

  “I’m showing a diameter of six point eight miles”, Angie said.

  “I hope the New Londoners can disassemble it”, Kyra said, as she sat at her console, watching the tri-d and other sensors.

  “They probably don’t have the special handler ships”, I said, “But I imagine they’ll figure something out. Thirst is a pretty good motivator.”

  “So is two hundred million credits worth of water”, she said. “If you think the UP was annoyed with you before, this ought to take it to a whole new level.”

  “Annoyed with us, you mean”, I said.

  “Don’t remind me”, she said.

  “I could always turn myself in to them”, I said. “Or, run and hide somewhere, and hope they forget about me…”

  “I don’t see you doing either of those”, She said. “One is the safe option, and the other the cowardly option. You just went with the fucking crazy option.”

  I shrugged.

  “If it works, it won’t look all that crazy”, I said.

  “I know”, she said. “That’s the really scary part. It’ll encourage you to keep trying even more crazy shit.”

  “You know, I think that’s the first time I’ve heard you swear in a few days now”, I said. “Turning over a new leaf, or something?”

  “Piss off”, she said. “I’m watching my language on purpose. Otherwise, it bothers Big Mike.”

  “Perish the thought”, I said. “Any sign of the bad guys?”

  “News flash for ya, Doon. We’re the bad guys.”

  “Fine”, I said. “As one of the bad guys, I’d like to know where the hell the cavalry is, or whoever it is that gives us bad guys a hard time.”

  “I’m not finding anyone else in the neighborhood, nor are there any ships hitching a ride on the container rings. That UPDF frigate is too big to pull that off, anyway.”

  “Doesn’t mean someone else in a smaller ship didn’t think of it”, I said.

  “Someone like us”, she said.

  “The question is, will the UP think of it?”

  “Well, there are a few basic things we know”, she said. “They should be coming from the general direction of New London, which we’ll call the front of the ship. We’re in front of her now, but we approached from the rear, which allowed me to scan both sides of the ship. The question is, will they go to the same trouble?”

  “Why wouldn’t they?” I asked. “What if they have someone over there who’s just as paranoid as you are?”

  “I’m sure they’re cautious”, she said. “But we have a few things working for us.”

  “Such as?”

  “People who have good instruments tend to trust them”, she said. “Even to the point of becoming overly reliant on them. And the UP ships have very good instruments, which we are going to screw with.”

  “That’s one thing”, I said. “What else?”

  “Hubris”, she said. “They just can’t take the idea that someone would intentionally screw with them seriously. A lot of them don’t believe anyone could screw with them, and that’s their real weakness; ego. And that’s just stupid.”

  “I’ve never thought of them as stupid”, I said. “Arrogant, abrasive, you name it, but never stupid.”

  “Anyone who thinks they’re untouchable is stupid”, she said.

  “I hope you’re right”, I said. “If they spot us hiding out, this is going to get a lot more difficult.”

  “We are at relative stop”, Angie said.

  “Range?” I asked.

  “Two hundred yards”, she said.

  “Security team ready?” I asked.

  “Standing by at the main airlock”, Kyra said.

  “Poon em”, I said.

  “Aye, Captain”, Angie said. “Firing grappler one… we have a connect. Firing two… that’s a hit, too.”

  “That ought to do it”, Kyra said.

  “Sure two will hold?” I asked.

  “It’s not like we’re trying to tow her, not that we could, even if we wanted to”, she said. “If that monster decides to go somewhere, about all we can do is hang on and hope for the best.”

  “Reel us in, then”, I said.

  “Copy”, Angie said.

  I watched on the main vidscreen as the big grappler winches slowly drew us in closer to the Princess. If the freighter were to light her drives, it would be disastrous for us.

  “Secure at twenty yards”, Angie said.

  “Alright”, I said. “Deploy the bridge.”

  “Deploying”, she said.

  “I don’t suppose I can join the boarding party”, I said. “I’d just like to have a look around.”

  “I wish you wouldn’t”, Kyra said. “I can’t stop you, but we’ve already discussed why that would be a bad idea. We can probably get you over there later, though. After we clear it.”

  “I know, I get it”, I said. “Later will be fine.”

  I still didn’t think it would seem very friendly to have a bunch of armed people stomping around in what was supposed to be, at least for the moment, an ally.

  “Open a comm link”, I said.

  “Go ahead”, Angie said.

  “Princess of Arabia“, I said. “We’re here. Requesting permission to come aboard.”

  “Permission granted”, Winifred said. “Will you be coming aboard, Mister Doon?”

  “In a bit”, I said. “And please, just call me Doon.” I paused for a moment, trying to think of a politic way to tell her about the mercs.

  “There’s been some hijacker activity in the area”, I said. “My
personal security team would like to ensure that it’s safe before I come over.”

  “We are secure”, she said. “You’ll be perfectly safe over here.”

  “I’m sure I will be”, I said. “But, you know how security people are. They have their procedures they like to follow, and it’s just easier to let them do their jobs. If you’ll give them access, they can be in and out very quickly.”

  “Very well”, she said. “You’ll come over later?”

  “Absolutely”, I said. “I’ve never been on an ice freighter, and I’m looking forward to it.”

  “I’ve granted access”, she said. “See you soon. Princess of Arabia out.”

  “Thanks”, I said. “Enigma out.”

  I had an idea that if anyone had been lurking on the Princess of Arabia when she came out of transit, they wouldn’t be feeling terribly chipper; not after three days at seven gees. Granted, it was still possible that someone had slipped aboard after the thrust was reduced. If they had, they could also have screwed with Winifred. That, or she might just be lying. Regardless, Kyra would not be happy until she and her band of merry mercs had looked around and tried to find someone to shoot.

  “Okay”, Kyra said. “Let’s get this over with. Keep an eye on things, please. We don’t want any surprises.” She left her station, leaving me alone on the Bridge.

  “Angie”, I said. “Put one of their helmet cams on the main screen. I want to watch when they go over.”

  “Done”, she said, and a view of the corridor outside the main airlock came onscreen. I switched to one of the passageway cams at my console. The soldiers were milling around, looking bored, waiting for Kyra.

  I’d outfitted them in all-black Enigma jumpsuits, and they’d added their own combat gear on top of that; heavy vests, belts, harnesses, and even helmets. They fairly bristled with weapons, a few I recognized, though most were things I’d never seen before. Every part of them seemed to have either a weapon or gadget attached, and all of it was black. I suspected they were just as lethal as they looked.

  I glanced up at the main vidscreen, and experienced a moment of vertigo. The merc was bending over, adjusting a boot. He raised back up, and I had a view of the passageway from his perspective. He turned and looked as Kyra walked up. She was in her tight black suit, holsters and weapons on her hips. She looked as deadly as any of the soldiers, and at the same time, outrageously sexy. I switched to their comm channel, and heard her voice as she spoke to Angie.

  “We’re ready”, she said. “What about the bridge?”

  “In place”, Angie said. “Pressure at one atmosphere and holding.”

  “Alright”, she said, stepping into the airlock. The mercs followed her. “Let’s do this. Try not to blow anything up unless you absolutely have to.”

  “Gee, I thought you said this was gonna be fun”, the female merc, Donner, said.

  “Can it”, Cisco said. I’d learned that he was the nominal leader of the team. The rest of them called him LT, which I assumed was slang for lieutenant.

  They cycled through the airlock, and walked across the space bridge. We were still coasting along at zero gee, the drives of both ships off. Trying to tether two ships, both decelerating at the same time, was the kind of operation that even AIs had nightmares about. They approached the airlock of the Princess, and it irised open to admit them.

  The interior of the Princess of Arabia looked much the same as every other starship I’d ever been on. I watched the helmet cam view for a bit, but soon found all the movement of the camera to be sort of annoying. I finally switched it off, putting the tri-d back on the main screen, and opted to just listen in on their radio traffic. All it took was a few minutes of listening to know that there wasn’t a whole lot of chatting going on, either. The entire thing was turning out to be pretty boring.

  Ten minutes after going in, they were on their way out. The crew module wasn’t very big, and they’d searched it quickly and thoroughly. The channel to the Bridge chimed.

  “Nothing here”, Kyra said. “Come on over whenever you want.”

  “Roger”, I said. “Angie, put me through to Mike and Lola, please.”

  “Both are in MedLab”, she said. “You’re connected.”

  “Doon here”, I said. “You guys meet me at the airlock.”

  They acknowledged, and I left the Bridge, dropping down into the Habitat Module. I reached the airlock just as Kyra and her troops were emerging from it. She had to be back aboard before I could leave the ship, anyway. It’s considered bad form to have the two senior officers of a ship off her at the same time. Sometimes, especially with a small crew, it’s unavoidable, but this wasn’t one of those situations. The mercenaries would also stay on aboard, since there wasn’t anything for them to do on the freighter, and our plan needed them to be on the Enigma.

  “You two”, I said, pointing at Cisco, and another merc, “Grab some of that gear, and take it over to the Princess, please.”

  “Aye, Captain”, Cisco said, and the two did as I’d ordered.

  Mike and Lola walked up a moment later, and the three of us grabbed the remaining gear, and walked across the walkway, into the Princess.

  The Crew Module was divided into two decks. The lower, where we entered, held the crew quarters, the galley, a gymnasium, and a small rec room. The upper deck housed the Bridge, life support, MedLab, and a small generating reactor. Next to the latter was a small space that passed for Engineering. The whole ship was designed nominally for a crew of four, though in reality, one person could probably handle it, even without an AI. Without the sections attached, the Princess of Arabia was a tiny ship.

  The Bridge looked a lot like the Enigma’s, but with only two stations and acceleration couches. I hit a button, and spun one of the big chairs around. I sat, and then buckled in, so I wouldn’t float off in the zero gee.

  “Welcome aboard, Doon”, Winifred said. “Or, is it Captain Doon, now?”

  “Whichever you like”, I said. The latter is probably more accurate.”

  “Excellent”, she said. “Are the people below to be my new crew?”

  “Two of them will be staying, until we reach New London”, I said.

  “I’ve spoken to Angela, and she explained the situation.”

  This was news to me. I wondered just how forthcoming Angie had been. Winifred continued.

  “I’m not sure I understand it all, though.”

  “That makes two of us”, I said. “Did she mention that a hostile party may try to board the Princess, and take control of her?”

  “Yes, she did”, Winifred said. “She also said they may identify themselves as United Planets personnel, and I should give no credence to their claims.”

  Angie was being even sneakier than I thought her capable of. Still, even in this case, I had an idea that telling the truth would be the best way to go.

  “Winifred”, I said. “They may in fact be United Planets personnel. I still can’t let them have this ship, no matter what they say.”

  She was silent for a moment, and I wondered if we’d just lost her cooperation.

  “Captain Doon”, she said. “I’m aware of what has happened recently, and what you’re trying to do. I’d heard rumors, even back at Europa, that something like this was happening, but there hasn’t been a lot of public information. The UP is censoring any news of this they can.”

  “Wow”, I said. “I didn’t think anyone outside of Tau Ceti Three would even give a crap.”

  “Everyone does”, she said. “Some for much different reasons that others. I support what you’re doing, and I’m honored to be able to help in any way I can.”

  “Well, thanks”, I said. I’d had no idea that AIs could be that passionate about something, especially when it was essentially a human issue. “Your help is vastly appreciated. Once we move the Enigma to an outer ring, I’ll have to shut down as many of her systems as I can, so we won’t show up on anyone’s sensors. We won’t be able to communicate with you while we
’re out there, and you’ll need to ignore us, too, otherwise, they’ll know we’re there.”

  “I understand”, she said.

  “We’ll work out a code of some sort, so you can let Angela know when we have visitors. Maybe a minor change in your drive output, or something subtle like that. Otherwise, we won’t know what’s going on.”

  “We’ll work something out”, she said.

  “There’s one other thing”, I said, “And this one is a little touchier. You’re probably going to receive new orders from TGS, any day now. They’ll be ordering you to divert to a different destination.”

  “The Princess of Arabia is going to New London”, she said. “Unless you tell me differently, then that is where we will be.”

  “Thanks, Winifred”, I said.

  I didn’t think I could ask for anything better than that.

  Chapter 25

  It took us another few hours to get the Princess of Arabia properly set up. We’d purchased some special electronics while on Babylonia, and it fell to Cozi to get it all wired up and operational, with his usual bitching about needing more time.

  Lola and Mike still weren’t thrilled that I was essentially using them as bait; I couldn’t say I blamed them. There was a possibility, however slim, that when they didn’t surrender, the UP would just back off to a safe distance and start firing missiles at them.

  Mike didn’t want to carry a gun, much less use one, and it took some time to convince him that if he just stood around looking scary, the UP troopers would simply shoot him and move on in, which was definitely not according to plan. We needed to keep as many of them busy for as long as we could, without letting them actually capture the ship. I was pretty sure this would take more than some harsh language.

  We finally compromised; Mike would carry a sidearm, and would even shoot near them, but not at any of them, unless it was a matter of life and death. I quietly hoped that the UPDF troopers- no slouches themselves- didn’t figure out that the huge black guy couldn’t seem to hit anything smaller than an asteroid.