Ever Dark
Space is a glamorous place, at least so spaceship salesmen and travel agents would have you believe. In reality, journeys through the darkness bore one to near-death and usually get exciting when you least expect it.
Or want it to.
My ship’s computer broke the silence with her female voice. “We’re in range.”
“Full stop.”
On my forward viewscreen, a background of dismal black was sprinkled with tiny pinpoints of light. A shiny metal sphere hovered a couple kilpars ahead, its sole purpose to span information throughout the darkness. Identical devices were placed around the galaxy, marked on every space chart one could buy. Even in the dark regions of the galaxy, we still needed to communicate with one other.
I leaned back and folded my hands behind my head. “Hack in, Jeanie.”
“Already done.”
I smiled. It was cheaper than paying for a login subscription.
“Retrieve. Start with the newest.”
“Three new messages. First from Tabor Yurick.”
I was tempted to skip his message, but there was always a slim chance he might say something useful. Tabor’s ragged voice carried over the internal speakers.
“West? You’re still alive? I thought you’d have stumbled across the wrong end of a blast rifle by now.”
I rolled my eyes as he continued.
“Not a lot of takers around here for low-value cargo. Bring me something I can sell or don’t bother.”
It didn’t matter what people were buying, as my four cargo bays were all empty. “Delete.”
“Second message, from an unknown sender.”
I sat up. “Pause and explain.”
“It appears the sender’s identity has been masked.”
Rather odd, but intriguing. “Continue.”
A quiet voice mumbled, to the point I could barely make it out. “Mr. West, I received your name from a mutual acquaintance and would like to hire you for a cargo run. If you’re interested, proceed to Mahs system spacedock.”
I was.
The message continued. “We’ll find you.”
“Save for later.”
“Last message, from...”
A white flash filled every spot on my viewscreen and disrupted the beacon’s signal. A vessel appeared a few kilpars the other side of the beacon.
I cursed and shielded my eyes too late. “Jeanie, report.”
“An Ursulan freighter just dropped out of hyperspeed.”
I blinked, then squinted at the viewscreen as spots danced before my eyes. Six exhaust nozzles at the back of the vessel were dormant against the starfield while the mammoth ship raced along on its own momentum.
The hairs on the back of my neck rose. Cargo freighters didn’t make unscheduled stops, especially in the middle of nowhere.
“Freighter’s status?”
A few moments passed as Jeanie gathered information from the freighter’s computer. “Original destination was the Triton system. The ship is out of fuel.”
“Triton? I’d say the crew is having navigation problems. We’re not on any shipping route to Triton.”
“The crew does not have a navigation problem.”
“How’s that?”
“I find no life signs to indicate a crew.”
Her statement made me pause, though some of my best scavenging efforts had been from crewless ships.
She continued. “They are transmitting on the emergency channel.”
I had to take a golden opportunity for what it was, and quickly.
“Move to intercept.”
I watched the squashed hexagon of a ship as our aft thrusters fired and we closed the distance. Every usable amount of space on the hull was covered with a cargo bay door, five rows down the length and eight bays around the perimeter. A large spherical dome rested on top of the freighter at its front end. A pair of docking stations waited for us, one on each side.
“So, any idea what happened to the crew?”
“There is evidence of video logs, but they can only be accessed from the Captain’s quarters.”
There was a more pressing issue at stake anyway.
“What’s the cargo?”
Jeanie paused a little longer than she probably should have. “According to the manifest, all of the bays are filled with containers of platinum ore.”
I let out a laugh of excitement. “Can you drop the bays remotely?”
Again, she paused. “Negative.”
If not for the fact she was a machine programmed to obey, I would have thought she had just sabotaged my efforts.
“Guess I’ll have to do it myself.” I shook my head and sighed. “Take us in.”
I stood and made my way to the back as we adjusted course toward the port docking station.
# # #
The air inside the Ursulan freighter was stale as I stepped out of the airlock. I licked my lips, then looked up and down a narrow corridor with bland tan walls and floorboards. The stench of burnt flesh lingered in the air.
I pulled my Mark II blaster out of its holster, then gripped the handle of the stubby weapon. My palm was moist as I switched over to a three-shot burst. I raised my other hand and spoke into the cuff transmitter.
“Jeanie, I’m going to need directions.” I’d only seen Ursulan freighters from the outside before.
“Are you still at the airlock?”
“Yes.”
“Go left down a small corridor and the bridge should be around the corner, the first hatch on your right.”
“Thanks.”
I stepped down the hall and the hairs in my nose curled. As I turned the corner, a pile of light gray ash lay on the floor along the left wall. A handheld energy weapon rested next to the debris.
Disintegrator cannon fire was one of the more horrific ways to die and not something a decent person would wish on even their worst enemy. Out of paranoia, I lifted my wrist.
“Jeanie, let me know if you see anything inside or outside the freighter.”
“Acknowledged.”
A hatch in the right wall split apart as I approached. Three more piles of ash lay at various spots around the rectangular bridge. Only one energy weapon was nearby, which told me someone had disintegrated unarmed victims.
I shuddered.
The console stations around the bridge were all functional, so it didn’t take long to find the cargo bay controls at the aft end of the room. Fortunate for me, they weren’t locked down, so I ejected the first four bays and lifted my transmitter.
“Jeanie, pull those containers in.”
“Acknowledged.”
I heard the far-off clunk as Jeanie broke free from the docking station.
With time to kill, curiosity stepped in and I walked toward a small door half-open in the corner. A golden plaque lay at chest level and marked the room as Captain’s quarters.
I pushed the door aside and saw a grey-haired head atop a wooden desk. The attached body was slumped forward in the matching chair. He had a loose grip on a small energy weapon, same as the others I’d seen. I snuck a glance at his left temple where a scorch mark was etched into his leathery skin.
Sad to say, it wasn’t the first dead body I’d ever seen, and wouldn’t be the last. The same could be said for a being who took his own life. Sometimes the darkness of death was preferable to the alternative.
I lifted my sleeve. “How’s it going out there?”
“One container retrieved. I am bringing the second into the ship.”
“Let me know as soon as you have the last one.”
“Acknowledged.”
I ventured behind him and looked at a small monitor sitting on the corner of his desk. A menu of available log videos was on the thin screen, so I reached over and tapped the most recent entry.
He appeared on the screen, with his attention on the camera embedded in the upper edge of the monitor. Pounding echoed in the background of the recording. “This will be my last entry.”
A cold chill ran up my spine.
“We were ambushed. The rest of the crew, massacred.”
The energy weapon in his hand shifted.
“Our computer is back to minimum operation and she has been programmed to engage the hyperspeed engines as soon as she’s able. The ship won’t stop until the fuel tanks run dry. Hopefully these scumbags will be stranded on this ship until they’re caught.”
My guess, they discovered his plan and abandoned ship. It would have been hard giving up forty bays of platinum ore. But all that wealth wouldn’t have helped any if they had no way to take the ship anywhere.
Bad for them, good for me.
Tears fell in crooked lines down his face. “They say a captain must go down with his ship. But I have seen the horror that goes with disintegrator cannons and there is a reason civilized societies outlaw them. I won’t become another victim.”
He raised the weapon to his temple and I flinched as he emptied the discharge chamber. His eyes went wide just after the bright flash, then rolled up into his head before he fell forward.
Death, destruction -- I’d seen so much out here in this vast wasteland. You never really got used to it as much as you became better armed to deal with the emotional baggage. My normal weapon of choice was a bottle of alcohol, but I’d have to wait until I got back to my ship to pull the trigger.
Jeanie’s voice echoed. “All cargo containers have been retrieved.”
“Meet back where you dropped me off.”
“Acknowledged.”
I stepped back around the desk and glanced at the piles of ash on my way through the bridge. If there was one major reason why I stayed in the scavenging business, this was it. I couldn’t attack innocent people, especially if it meant they’d suffer in the process. I steered away from more direct forms of piracy for a reason.
Jeanie’s frantic voice returned as I walked down the main corridor. “Aston, three AP-2s have appeared on long-range sensors.”
Patrol ships. They weren’t out for a stroll.
I ran for the port docking station. “Mask the cargo. I’ll be right there.”
“Acknowledged.”
# # #
I jumped into my chair as we broke free from the docking station and moved away.
“Incoming message.”
I breathed deep and settled myself. “Put it through.”
The left half of my viewscreen switched to a communications view. A man with light skin and jet black curls stood tall in a dark blue uniform. Two crewmen in similar uniforms sat at segregated consoles in front of him, both with their heads down.
“Commander Jameson of the Triton Security Service.”
“Aston West. How can I help you, Commander?”
He snarled. “You can start with what you’re doing to this freighter.”
“I was accessing a communications beacon, when it dropped out of hyperspeed.”
“An automatic emergency beacon was activated on the freighter. We decided to check it out.” He curled one corner of his mouth to make a point.
“It’s out of fuel.”
He turned to one of his crew. “Get a fuel transport out here on the double.”
I moved my hand up to the console on my left and gently shut off the audio portion of the transmission. I moved my other hand up and mimicked a cough.
“Jeanie, where are the other ships?”
“Docking with the freighter.”
Another mock cough. “On the viewscreen.”
I brought the audio back as Jameson noticed I was muted. “Sorry. Must have something caught in my throat.”
On the other half of the viewscreen, I watched the two ships move closer to the freighter. Their bulbous front end tapered to a single engine at the back, all on top of triangular delta wings.
He folded his arms across his chest. “We noticed you were docked to the freighter.”
“My ship’s computer informed me there was no crew aboard. I wanted to see for myself.”
Was it really lying if you just omitted facts? Little things, like the fact I’d dumped four bays of precious cargo in the process.
“And did you find anything?”
“Looks like they were massacred in an ambush.”
“Of which I’m sure you’re completely innocent.”
I snorted. “I don’t have the firepower to stop that freighter.”
“So you had help.”
“They weren’t ambushed here. Check the last video log, in the Captain’s quarters.”
“We will.”
One of the crew interrupted a short while later as he turned back to the Commander. “They’re in. Looks like everyone’s dead.”
“Have them check the log.”
“I can tell you what they’ll find. The captain killed himself rather than get disintegrated.”
Jameson passed between the consoles and approached his viewscreen with another snarl. “You’ll understand if I don’t just take your word for it.”
“Suit yourself.”
A few moments passed before the crewman jumped in again. “They’ve checked the log. It’s just like he said.”
I smirked. “You’re welcome.”
“They say there are four bays of ore missing.”
Oops.
The Commander sneered. “Know anything about that?”
I paused a moment to collect my thoughts. Jeanie had the cargo masked, so there would be no evidence for them to connect me to the missing ore. Unless, of course, they boarded my ship.
“Nope, not a thing.”
He knew I was lying, from his raised eyebrow.
I shrugged. “Scan my hold if you don’t believe me.”
“I have a better idea. How about we come over and look for ourselves?”
I muted the audio and mocked another cough. “Jeanie set a course for Iopeia. Get ready to jump to hyperspeed.”
“Acknowledged.”
I rejoined the conversation. “Sorry about that. Guess I must be catching something.”
“Prepare to be boarded.”
I was a moment away from making the jump before my mind kicked in. I held back a smile.
“Not to be a stickler for the rules, Commander, but aren’t you a bit out of your jurisdiction?”
He frowned. “You’re trying to get out of this on a technicality?”
His ship closed on my position.
“If you’d like, we could have the local authorities settle this.”
I watched for a sign of his next move behind the frown on his face. Time was running out, and a hyperspeed jump was looking more and more viable with every moment.
Jameson glared at me. “Get out of here before I blast your ship apart.”
“Glad we could come to an understanding, Commander.” I smiled as he turned and walked back to his chair.
All’s well that ends well, even if I had no idea whether the local authorities would make matters worse or not. With victory now in hand, I nearly terminated the transmission when I caught sight of a disintegrator cannon tucked away on the floor beside his chair. There was no mistaking the long-barreled heavy weapon.
Every nerve ending in my body fired off at the same time.
I tried to keep my mind off the obvious. “If you don’t mind, Commander, I have one last communication to send out, then I’ll be out of your hair.”
“Make it quick.”
The conversation was terminated and the full viewscreen displayed the freighter and two patrol ships already docked on either side of the spherical dome. Jameson’s ship moved toward the freighter.
“Take us back to the beacon, Jeanie.”
I reached down beside my chair as we turned. I pulled a bottle of Vladirian liquor out of the pocket. A large dose of the pale yellow liquid was just the thing to take the edge off.
I didn’t really need to make this transmission. Tabor didn’t really care if he had advance notice of my arrival. Time was what I was after, to process what I’d just seen.
My ship wasn’t capable of taking on three patrol ships, and it looked like this group of sadists was going to get away with mass murder. I felt sorry for the crew. They’d likely trusted these lawmen, and had given their lives in exchange.
Jeanie caught my attention. “We’re in range.”
I sighed and sent out a useless message. “Message to Tabor Yurick. I have some high-value merchandise. See you soon. End message.”
“Message packaged.”
I took another drink. “Send it.”
“Done.”
“Course still layed in for Iopeia?”
“Yes.”
I watched Jameson’s vessel as it drew closer to the two patrol ships docked with the freighter. Anger burned inside me, an intense hatred for murderers who took an innocent crew’s life for their own greed. I took another drink.
“Jeanie, are you still inside the freighter’s computer system?”
“Yes.”
“Does it have a self-destruct system?”
“Yes.”
I guzzled the liquor one more time, then placed the nearly empty bottle back in its pocket. “Set it.”
“Any specific amount of time?”
I watched as Jameson’s patrol ship skimmed the upper surface of the freighter.
I didn’t plan to let them have a chance to get out like the first time. “Just blow it now.”
The Ursulan freighter burst apart in a sequence of huge fiery explosions. Each firestorm collapsed just moments after it escaped the outer hull, but not before the destructive blasts took out all three patrol ships. As debris scattered, I smiled with the knowledge that justice had been dispensed, almost in the way the freighter’s captain had wanted.
Sometimes the darkness of death was preferable to the alternative.
“Hyperspeed.”
*****
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