Star Traders (Corporate Marines Book 3) Read online

  Two and Eight stare at Patroe questioningly.

  He continues on. “I realize that the captain would prefer to not have pirates operating out here, and in all honesty, there has not been a pirate strike in years. My job, though, is to guarantee the safety of this ship, crew, personnel and cargo against anything. I think you are probably right, but we all have to follow orders until we have something solid to go on. Before you ask, I can’t release your armor unless the captain says so or we have something solid to go on. But I will keep my eyes open.”

  Eight looks at Patroe and asks, “We know how well your crew can react if it is a pirate attack. How will the captain react, though? Will he hesitate?”

  Patroe looks at them both and nods. “I obey all lawful orders. If pirates attack, I protect the Corporation and all its property and personnel. If the captain is unable to accept that, then my orders override his, and I fight. I hope it won’t come to that.”

  Two and Eight both nod together while Two responds, “We hope it doesn’t come to that, either.”

  Patroe leaves them and heads back to the security centre.

  Both Two and Eight pull out their personal weapons and equipment and go over them.

  Preparations are well underway with the rescue party loaded onto the shuttle, while the Pig keeps up an active sensor scan of the area toward where the damaged station was, hoping for more information or that the survivors, if are were any, will be able to push out a directional signal if possible. The more information available, the better, and everyone is doing everything they can to get every bit of information.

  In deep space, when things go wrong, if all the redundant systems go down, there are rarely survivors as there tends to be nothing left.

  In this case, there is something left, and the initial queries that had been sent out by the Mama Pig have caused a change in the information being broadcast back. While still an automated reply, this indicates that there are likely survivors who have been able to modify that signal.

  Behind them, slowly creeping closer, comes a hostile ship that is like a darker patch of space to the passive sensors that are searching. The crewman watching the sensors is paying more attention to the information coming in from the sensors tracking the space station than trying to coax more information out of passive sensors that are looking for something that everyone knows is not there.

  That crewman knows better than to not give his best, but it would not have made any difference if he didn’t as the darker blotch of space was not going to be detected by any current sensors at this range.

  There are bigger problems coming that will cause more confusion and render the sensors irrelevant anyway.

  The announcement system comes alive with a click. “All rescue personnel, please conduct final checks and load to shuttle. All other personnel stand by and ensure that all positions are manned. Medical will stand by and damage control as well. Second shuttle will finalize backup preparations and be on standby. Again, all personnel stand by and ensure that all shipboard positions are manned. An unknown number of injured may require assistance. Second shuttle will finalize preparations and stand by with shuttle and emergency crew.”

  The click of the announcement system cutting off is final.

  Most of the passages are empty of personnel as everyone is helping load the shuttle or standing by at their shipboard stations.

  None of those personnel can do anything to speed up the shuttles’ departure or transit, but drills are drills.

  The two Marines stand in their quarters preparing personal gear. Two teams of two security guards patrol the halls, the captain is on the bridge, the security chief is in the security centre behind a sealed and locked door, engineering personnel are monitoring all systems, and a computer program counts down the time.

  The announcement system comes back on. “Shuttle is fully loaded and ready to launch; sealing shuttle doors now. Backup shuttle is ready and on ten minutes’ notice to launch. All personnel are to maintain full duty watch until…. Brzzatte!”

  THE TRAP SHUTS

  With a snap, the system goes down and then lights across the ship go out, only to be replaced a second later with emergency red backup lighting. A canned message starts playing. “Reactor number three is offline. Reactor number two is offline. Reactor number two is overloading and will overload shielding within ten minutes. Reactor number two will overload and irradiate the ship. All personnel, emergency evacuate this ship to the nearest habitat and await further direction from Corporate. All personnel, emergency evacuate this ship. Fifteen minutes to full overload.”

  Two and Eight look at each other in the red light of their room and both go for their light armor and weapons. Both are already wearing ship suits that will keep them alive in case of decompression. In seconds they have the personal armor on and keep the helmets racked on their off-hip, with carry bags on their backs. They move out into the passage and listen. The ship sounds are still continuing around them but there are no further announcements from the ship-wide system. Eight covers with his laser pistol while Two tries to use the ship suit comms.

  Two looks at Eight and shakes her head no. Eight gestures at their personal comms, but Two again shakes her head no. Eight frowns and then Two points at her ear and then upward. Eight nodded confirmation that someone could be eavesdropping.

  Two gestures down the passage toward the security centre and Eight nods agreement. The Marines head off, covering front and back arcs while moving quickly and quietly forward.

  Two almost cuts the small figures that pop out of a side passage in half with her pistol, but stops when she recognizes Derek and Snyrl. The boys look panicked and shaken up. Eight covers the back while Two gestures the boys closer and quietly grills them. “What’s going on?”

  Derek answers quietly. “We were walking along and found one of the security teams cut down with lasers. Their weapons were gone and they had been shot in the back. They were two passages over and had been heading toward Engineering. We came looking for the other security team or for you, whichever we found first. What should we do next?”

  Two looked at the boys and at Eight. Eight nodded at her to take lead on this. “You two are going to the security centre and use whatever secret system you have to let your dad know that there are bad guys on board. The enemy has laser weapons and is not us. We are going to go to Engineering and make sure that the mates are shutting down the reactors and have that under control – otherwise, we are all glowing in the dark in less than half an hour. Then we need to get security together and remove the rest of the enemy forces before the pirates hit.”

  Derek and Snyrl stare at Two like she is insane. Snyrl speaks too loud and then brings the volume down when Derek pokes him in the side with an elbow. “Pirates?! This is an accident, and someone snapped!”

  Two looks at Snyrl and Derek and speaks decisively. “This is a pirate attack. Somehow aliens got to some of the new crew or some of the new personnel going out to the colony. There is no other reason for this to be happening now, unless you think humans can live through massive irradiation. Remember there are two shuttles loaded with personnel now that are no longer available to help, as they have been sealed on board with the loss of power, right? That is a good portion of the crew that could help in the defence of the ship, correct?”

  Both boys nod mutely.

  Two gestures at them. “Get to Security and get the security chief to authorize release of our armor. We can expect boarding soon by a crew that will be heavily armed. Everyone on the satellite is dead; this was all a trap.”

  Two and Eight don’t wait for the boys to start moving but instead take off at a careful shuffle toward Engineering.

  Derek and Snyrl look at each other. Snyrl gulps and nods and both boys take off at a run toward the security centre.

  The canned announcement comes on again. “Eight minutes to shield overload. Please
evacuate the ship and make for the nearest habitat and wait for Corporate assistance. Eight minutes to overload.” Then the message clicks off again.

  Two and Eight find the dead security team, missing their weapons, right where the boys had indicated they would be. There were no other indications of trouble aside from the dead crewmen. They carried on toward Engineering. At the entrance to Engineering they find a dead engineer with his head caved in.

  The door is sealed and the security lock is engaged. There is no way in and the canned announcement comes on again. “Six minutes to shield overload. Please evacuate the ship now. Six minutes to shield overload.”

  Eight looks at Two. “We don’t have the tools or the skills to get through that door, and we would need major explosives to blow it open, which would completely wreck the equipment and cause failure anyway. We are screwed.”

  There is the sound of boots on the metal plating and then the security chief shows up with the other security team and the two boys. All are heavily armed with laser pistols, rifles and some nasty explosive and gas charges.

  Patroe nods at the Marines while the security team spreads out and covers both ends of the passage.

  Two starts speaking. “How is the rest of the ship, and do you know some way to get into Engineering as the door is locked down?”

  The security chief grimaces. “The rest of the ship is locked down and most of the crew should be out in a few minutes. Barely enough time to make it to the escape shuttles. The overloading reactor is the poorly located one that is used to power ship systems, so when its shields fail, most of the ship will be irradiated. Just, not Engineering.”

  Two and Eight frown. Patroe continues on quickly. “Positive side for us is something not advertised to outsiders and not on any of the blueprints. Every primary door on the ship can be security locked. However, there are triggers that, if you hit them in the correct sequence, will pop the door open in case someone snaps or if there were to be boarders. From the footage I was watching, the engineering section was on minimum watch as most of the engineers are on the shuttle or were helping prep the other one and standing by when two of the new crewmen we took on with you entered and killed the engineer on duty with a crowbar. Then they smashed the cameras.”

  Eight asks the next question. “What about the third crewman that came on board with them?”

  Patroe shrugs. “Unknown. She is not with the rest of the crew, or at least not those I checked on before I came. We have no time – we need to get in there and get Terry to shut down the reactor. It will only take her maybe a minute, but we are almost out of time.” Patroe takes some small metal balls out of the bag at his hip and gives them to Derek and Snyrl. “You know what to do with these, boys. I’ll trigger the door. Two, you or Eight need to take the shots and the boys will throw in the dazzlers. We need to kill them fast and move on. Laser pistols only; the rifles will damage the equipment.”

  Both of the boys are already on either side of the door holding the small balls, pressed up against the walls. Patroe is kneeling to the side with one of the many access hatches open and he is sorting through a jumble of wiring that is every color of the rainbow. Two stares at the mess and has to ask, “How do your electrical engineers figure out what is what?”

  Patroe chuckles. “They are the ones who have rewired the ship over and over again. They just know.”

  He leans over the wiring and continues working. Eight stands, weapon loosely held at the ready, waiting for the door to open.

  Two walks to the first T-junction and rolls a sensor ball down it a few feet and then goes to the other junction, where she repeats the action. She puts on a pair of ballistic eyeglasses and clicks a switch on the side. She now has a simple display echoed to her from the sensor balls. Not as effective as what the armor could have done with the data fed to it from the balls, but at least she has an eye on movement down both passages for a little over forty feet. Anything more detailed and the information would overwhelm her ability to coordinate that data using just the glasses.

  Patroe is talking while working. “This is a neat little trick that we came up with fifteen years ago. We have only had to use it twice in that time, but it did help alleviate bad situations.”

  He is interrupted by a click and the announcement. “Four minutes to shield overload. Evacuate the ship now and make for the nearest habitat and wait for Corporate assistance. Four minutes to overload.” Then the message clicked off again.

  Patroe keeps working, with his hands flying over the wiring, and continues. “I would love to know how we missed the six-minute warning. Hopefully the computer doesn’t have it wrong and everything goes kablooey in the next thirty seconds!”

  Eight glances at Patroe and has to ask, “Do you know what you are doing with all the talking? What if you mess it up?”

  Patroe chuckles. “The talking helps me focus; I am really just ignoring everything around me and what I am saying. Focus on the task. Almost there.” His tone changes, sounding more worried. “Where is Terry? I have been married to her for eighteen years and she is never late. She was supposed to join us here in two minutes….”

  As the last few wires are connected and reconnected, overriding the security on the door. Eight starts tensing up as he considers what he knows about the control room ahead. As the primary control overlooking all control systems for the ship, it is surprisingly small, almost a galley instead of a room. If the saboteurs are at the controls, then it’ll be a straight shot. There are heavy modular control panels and no real hidey-holes within. There is an emergency supply of food, water and air inside, and the ability to sleep on some of the consoles – results of long-term planning in the event that there is a catastrophic breach on the ship. Bulkheads would slam shut and the one or two personnel on watch would be able to maintain the ship systems, keeping power going and controlling the reactions so nothing would blow up just because it was ignored.

  All that means is that the work area is still fully functional and institutional, with no hiding spots or places to take cover. When the door opens unless the saboteurs are hiding in the supply locker inside, which would render them unable to defend themselves, it is almost certain that they will be in front of the monitors. Will they be prone or standing, relaxing?

  Eight relaxes. They have no eyes on the passage outside the security door. There is no easy way for the security door to be breached, and no one has even touched it.

  The two saboteurs would be sitting inside, feeling confident and waiting for their plan to be finalized. At this point, with most of the crew locked down, they would know the few personnel not locked up would be running for the escape pods. At least, according to the book. These new idiots probably did not realize how close-knit and professional the crew really was. They had only been with the crew for about a month now, and the serious relationships formed in a crew like this would have taken years to cement.

  Newbies would still be looking from the outside in and using the standard book responses to plan their strategy.

  Right now, available crewmen are freeing other crew, and security members are drawing weapons and preparing for action.

  What would be the point in running for an escape pod when you are in the depths of space like this? If the emergency was real, it would be faster to die onboard the ship with the rest of your crew. Far better than slowly suffocating when the limited air on an escape pod ran out. Run for the space station? That would maybe gain you another day or two of life support if you were lucky. If you even made it there.

  No, it was better by far to try to fix the ship and recover from the emergency.

  Eight hefts his laser pistol and double-checks the extended power cell to ensure it is properly seated and the biometric safety is off. The saboteurs would be standing or sitting staring at the boards, relaxed, with not a care in the world. He takes a knee. He will fire three strafing shots, moving up and from right to left. He
takes a deep breath and pauses. The door slides open and he starts firing.

  Two is looking through the glasses and can make out movement coming slowly toward the intersection in the distance. All she can really make out are forms of people. Then she sees the long braid flip loose and she realizes that it is Terry with a helper. No calling out, as that could warn the saboteurs; one of them is still out in the ship somewhere.

  The door opens and she hears Eight firing his laser pistol, which gives off that ‘shhhsnap!’ sound. At his second shot, the boys throw their dazzlers in and Two looks away as the doorway lights up like a sun has just been born. During the second shot, there are two screams that cut off during the third and fourth shots.

  The action has taken less than two seconds.

  The dazzlers keep burning. They were a shipboard innovation. In the event something like this was necessary, the crew had, over the years, worked up numerous little innovations like this. The dazzlers are incredibly bright to the point of causing severe damage to vision if not protected against, yet the heat is minimal and they cause no blast or explosive damage. The security section has access to several small sets of ‘specialty’ charges that are not in use by other police or military forces.

  No collateral damage whatsoever when used in an enclosed space.

  As the bright glare rapidly starts to die down, the security officer covering the one passage backs up past Two with his weapon up. Two stops focussing on the past action and checks the sensors again. Terry is just at the intersection and the person with her is clear.

  The last saboteur has a laser pistol to Terry’s head and an arm around her throat. She is barely visible and looks insane with rage.

  She speaks. “Everyone, fall back from the door now or the bitch gets it!”

  Patroe is on his knees stuffing wire back into the access panel. The two security personnel are covering the saboteur and Terry with loosely held weapons, ready to react, but unable to do anything now for fear of hitting the engineering officer. The two boys are unarmed except for dazzlers and they aren’t willing to use them, given how tightly held Terry is, with the muzzle jammed into her brow.