Evolution's Cost: Rise of the Empyrean Empire: Novel 03 Read online

  May smiled, “Understood… sir.”

  They followed me over to the corner where the arms locker was, an actual small room, not a locker.

  “Drake, open up the arms locker please.”

  The door clicked, and I pulled it open.

  There were ballistic firearms, both handguns and rifles, as well as hand lasers, and a pulse laser rifle that would damage even armor. It also had armored suits of various sizes that would shrink or expand enough to make them cover different body types. We all pulled one of those on, grabbed the helmets, and we each took a sidearm. Bill was the only one to grab one of the pulse rifles, which was fine.

  We were good, as long as they didn’t blow us up on the way over, or throw a grenade at us, we were otherwise protected from small arms. The helmets we’d leave off until we got over there, the suit was supposedly able to maintain a certain body temperature for the wearer, but they’d always made me sweat with the helmet sealed. We exited the room, and then shut and locked the door.

  Sara and May took pilot and navigation, I supposed as first officer my job was to just sit there and look confident. That was one of the hardest things I’d had to learn the last year, to not give in to the need to do things myself, not directly anyway.

  May said, “Bridge, are we cleared for launch?”

  Carly replied, “You’re clear.”

  May’s hands flew across the console, and the engines fired up as the landing bay depressurized, and the landing bay doors opened.

  “Course is plotted to the Dreamer, and on your board Sara.”

  I said, “Engage at minimum thrust until you clear the fleet.”

  Sara replied, “Aye sir,” and the shuttle lifted from the deck, and left the ship.

  It’d been over a year since I’d been involved in an interdiction, and never as a senior officer. Last time I’d been in May’s seat. This should be fun, and by fun, I mean I hope I don’t screw it up…

  Chapter Four

  The shuttle flew out of the defense formation, and toward the stopped merchant ship. It looked old, the hull had dings in it, most likely from meteorites, and it badly needed a paint job.

  May watched the scanners closely, watching for the smallest sign of trouble. It would be idiotic for them to try and fight their way out of this, but smugglers and pirates weren’t exactly known to be the sharpest knives in the drawer. Some would even prefer death by defense force, rather than being jailed.

  Sara flipped the shuttle as we approached obliquely, and started a breaking thrust. The ship dwarfed ours. The shuttle stopped just short of the ring, and docked to the port side airlock which should be relatively close to the bridge.

  “Helmet’s on, don’t remove them inside their ship for any reason.”

  I heard acknowledgments as I pulled my own helmet on, and then sealed it.

  May said over the suit radio, “We have a solid dock sir. Pressurizing collar.”

  A moment later we all heard a clank as the outer airlock door opened on the Dreamer.

  The four of us got up and crossed over to the shuttle door and opened it, a small two-foot dock extension led into a dimly lit airlock. It was a bit of a tight fit with four of us, but we all made it into the airlock.

  Sara said, “I’ve got it sir.”

  The outer door slammed shut, and after a short hiss of air, we were equalized with the ship, and the inner airlock door opened. There were three men waiting for us as we walked out. The one in the middle was older, mid-forties, and wore an annoyed look on his face. That must be the captain. The other two were in their late twenties, were alarming large, and looked a little rough around the edges. Unshaven, and their ship suits were old, a little too tight, and stained. I wasn’t getting good vibes from them at all.

  “I’m Lt. Commander Michael Williams. Your records were flagged and I’m here to do an inspection.”

  The man in the center scowled, “I’m Captain Gerald Mensal, we don’t really have time for this, the planet is waiting for its supplies, and I’m already going to be late for my next pickup for a shipment to Sigma Draconis.”

  I nodded, “I understand captain, but the law is the law. I’ll try and clear this up for you as quickly as I can, but next time keep better records in the future, and this won’t happen again. We’ll start on the bridge.”

  The captain looked like he might bluster some more, but thought better of it.

  “This way,” he growled and walked off.

  We all followed, the magnetic boots giving us all an odd gait. May, Sara, and myself had our side arms holstered but easily available. Crewperson Johns was the only one holding his weapon, and I approved.

  The inside of the ship wasn’t too bad, but it obviously wasn’t cleaned as often as it should be, the walls were closer to a light gray instead of white. This corridor would go all the way to the front and back of the ship, and there was another one on the other side of the ship, with cross ways every hundred yards or so between the separate holds. If I remembered right about this design, the holds themselves had much larger airlock doors in the ceilings for transport shuttle docking for loading and unloading.

  Fortunately, we’d docked right by the ring, so it was a short walk to the bridge, and I was somewhat amused when May stepped in front of me subtly to be the first one on the bridge. She was right of course, regulations stated I wasn’t allowed to be the first one through a door.

  The captain grumbled, “What now?”

  I walked over to the Ops panel, which was locked.

  “Computer, unlock ops panel, authorization defense force.”

  There was a pause, “Williams, Michael identified, unlocking console.”

  I brought up the A.I. logs looking for any discrepancies, it should stand out if the crew modified any data. The A.I. automatically recorded anything that came aboard, so if they did have more aboard than their manifest indicated, they’d have to doctor things a bit.

  I frowned when I found something, “Captain, the A.I. was taken offline three weeks ago?”

  The captain replied, “Not by us, the incompetent mechanic my company sent to us. It’s my thought he flubbed the records and didn’t do a proper job. That’s why our expected reaction mass usage is so far off.”

  I shook my head, that didn’t make sense, but I didn’t call him a liar, yet. Even though I could feel he was lying, the resonance of his words was wrong, but that would hardly be accepted as evidence to impound the ship. Which meant I had to do things the hard way and find the smoking gun so to speak.

  “Take us to engineering.”

  The captain asked, “Why?”

  I replied a little sharply, “Because I asked you to Captain, unless you’re refusing to comply?”

  That would simplify things, I could go back to bed, while he went to a jail cell, and got his ship impounded.

  He looked frustrated for a moment, and clearly wasn’t used to holding back his anger.

  “This way commander. It’s quite a walk,” he turned and exited the bridge, his goons at his side.

  It wasn’t that far of a walk, about six hundred yards. We were already two thirds back in the ship, and engineering was at the stern. The four of us followed.

  I switched off the external speaker, and spoke over our armored suit comms.

  “Johns, do you know how to run a local engine diagnostic.”

  The engines each had their own diagnostic panels on them, which would show any problems with the engine, as well as run deeper diagnostics if requested. I’d already verified that according to the A.I. there was no engine problem, but it would help to get confirmation locally. It seemed clear enough we couldn’t trust any of the information the A.I. had. It was possible the engine was bad, and he was just trying to avoid a citation, though something told me that wasn’t it at all.

  His voice was slightly offended, “Course I do sir.”

  “Good, engine nine is the one in question. Everyone keep alert, I’m sure you’re getting the same vibes I am?”


  May replied, “Yes sir.”

  Engineering was just as… dingy as the rest of the ship. Chief Hanson would be horrified, I was just happy we were in shielded suits, breathing our own air. I didn’t want to know what the ship smelled like.

  Another man walked over, he was sixty if he was a day, “Captain, what’s going on?”

  I answered, “Engineer, please show us to engine nine.”

  He narrowed his eyes at me, and looked at the captain, who nodded.

  The old man rolled his eyes and turned, and led us further into engineering, and down some stairs. A ship this size had twelve ion engines to generate enough thrust to push the mass of the ship plus what was in it. He led us over to nine, and without a word Johns walked over and started typing on the console there.

  Johns said, “Initially it looks to be in perfect order sir, running deeper diagnostics, which will take a few minutes.”

  “Understood Bill.”

  The room felt tense, and I wasn’t surprised when Sara turned and watched our backs while May and I kept an eye on the captain, engineer, and two bruisers. Perhaps I did them a disservice, but those two guys flanking the captain were walking clichés, and by the way they carried themselves, they were obviously not loaders or workers, they were hired protection for the ship.

  I didn’t want to let my imagination run away with me, but the only reason the captain would need people like that was if he dealt with other shady people, like pirates.

  Johns said, “It checks out captain, the place is dirty, but the engine is in top shape.”

  I’d expected that, but I’d been hoping I was wrong.

  “Check the lines?”

  Johns looked startled for a moment, but then nodded. He inspected the lines between the engine and the Xenon containment system.

  Bill said, “No leaks sir, pressure is steady.”

  I figured, nothing is ever easy. Only one thing left to do.

  “Captain, we’re going to have to inspect the cargo, the engine is fine. Unless you’d rather just save us all some time?”

  May snickered over our private line.

  The captain looked offended, “What’s that supposed to mean? I run an honest ship.”

  Right, sure he did. He’d already lied about the engine trouble, and about the A.I. discrepancies.

  “Captain, take us to the rear hold first, and we’ll work our way forward.”

  Maybe he thought we wouldn’t be able to find the contraband? It was a big ship after all. A half mile of cavernous cargo holds was rather daunting, but it wasn’t as bad as all that. Each hold should have a console with a sub-manifest on it, showing everything in that hold. Those would align with what we were sent in the total manifest. According to the xenon usage, there were several tons of unaccounted merchandise. Hopefully, it would stand out, one of the holds would have several crates not on the cargo hold sub-manifest.

  We also had portable scanners which would be able to perform an inventory of the hold fairly quickly, for comparison with the sub-manifest. Still, it would be nice if he just admitted it, wouldn’t it? Damn, I really was exhausted, that would never happen.

  The captain swallowed, “Follow me.”

  We left engineering and walked to the access door for the rear hold and went inside. Johns pulled a device out of a satchel. All the crates should have a corresponding transponder, but we couldn’t depend on that, chances were high that they’d be disabled or destroyed on the crates with the smuggled merchandise. So, the device also had a way of counting using various sensors.

  We started to walk up and down the aisles, and I resigned myself to several miles of walking today.

  Sara said privately, “We’ll find them sir.”

  I nodded, “If they’re still here.”

  May said, “Sir?”

  “Well, suppose they had twice as much as we thought they did, and all that extra reaction mass was burned off leaving earth, and they rendezvoused with pirates to unload it. I’m not saying that happened, but it’s a possibility. At the very least, the captain will be arrested for filing false reports, but if the cargo is already gone the first mate will continue on with the ship. Without the proof of smuggling we can’t impound the ship.”

  May asked, “Do you think that really happened?”

  I shook my head, “I doubt it. The captain is very nervous, but he’ll hold his tongue until we find the extra tonnage. Smugglers always do in the vain hope we’ll mess up and miss it.”

  The next two hours we moved from hold to hold while Bill Johns inventoried room after room. We were just past the bridge and entering the eighth hold from the back when the captain made his desperate move. While I went over to the sub-manifest console with May watching my back, and Johns started his manual check with Sara watching his back, the captain slipped out of the room with his thugs and the door closed.

  “Damnit.”

  We should have been paying better attention, but the monotony had gotten to me. But what did Captain Mensal think he was going to accomplish? He was already screwed, and this would just make things worse. The interface panel went dark, which meant we couldn’t open the door.

  “What do you think he’s going to do?” May asked.

  I shrugged, “Not sure, we’re locked in here. He could let the air out, but killing us would only get him the death penalty instead of prison.”

  Johns cleared his throat, “I found them sir.”

  I walked over and down the aisle, and then down to Johns’ location.

  Bill waved at the crates in front of us, “This whole section should be empty.”

  There were at least a hundred crates there, all of them were rather large, and a familiar size. I walked over to one and popped the lid.

  “Missiles.”

  May said, “That’s not good.”

  I laughed at the understatement. Missiles wouldn’t get him a few years in jail, smuggling military ordinance would get him a life sentence.

  “Amy, can you do anything to get that door open?”

  Amy replied, “I have no access. The A.I. has no presence in this room, no doubt so she didn’t see the contraband. I recommend restoring power to the door controls.”

  Well, that was helpful. We could also rip the door off with a thought, but that was the absolute last resort. It would be almost impossible to hide the truth after that.

  “Bill, see what you can do about getting that door open.”

  Johns replied, “Yes sir.”

  I tried calling the ship, but the suits didn’t have the range for that. Then the floor started to vibrate and I got a really bad feeling in my gut. Suddenly, the back wall became the floor as the merchant vessel took off at about four gravities, which was unfortunate for us, because the floor, or what used to be the floor in our zero G environment, was now the wall, and we would have fallen over fifty feet to our deaths.

  Except, we all had abilities now, and didn’t move more than ten feet before we stabilized ourselves, opposing the four gravities with our minds. Still, that asshole had just tried to kill us, two weeks ago that would’ve made us all pancakes. And was now he was trying to escape. Hopefully no one in the fleet was trigger happy.

  I said, “We need to get out of this hold and to the bridge.”

  Johns stared at the door really hard, and it opened. Huh, how’d he do that?

  May said, “How are we going to hide this sir?”

  That was a really good question, the last thing we needed was the captain accusing us of violating the laws of physics. We weren’t really, we were countering them, but I didn’t think that would work as a defense.

  I thought hard for a minute, “Anyone bring a non-lethal stunner?”

  Sara said, “I have one.”

  “Good.”

  We were all merged, and we ran up the corridor like we stood in normal gravity, as opposed to falling down the corridor. We stopped at the bridge doors. I reached out and put them all to sleep, like Ginny had done to us at Eta Cassiopeiae
A. Then I opened the door and walked in, no witnesses to our strange feats, outside of the A.I. I mean.

  “Shoot them all Sara, that should cover up things nicely, and people will assume that’s what caused them to lose consciousness in the first place.”

  Mind whammy? I was extremely tired. I also realized I was explaining the obvious.

  May ran over to the pilot’s chair and killed the engines. They’d only been on a minute or so, but she still flipped ship and initiated a breaking maneuver and station keeping.

  “Computer, lock down the ship per my authority.”

  I walked over to the Ops console to contact the Drake, and report what we’d found. Between what I did to them, and Amy’s shots, they’d be unconscious for hours. We didn’t have to wait long, until the planetary authorities sent a shuttle to arrest them, and then a tug to impound the ship. When we all got back to the Drake, I still had two hours or so to sleep before Katy was off shift.

  Drake’s assistance went a long way as well, since she freed the A.I. in the cargo ship and had the A.I. cover up our mental shenanigans. I imagined an A.I. would be a lot better at modifying logs and not getting caught than a person was.

  The next couple of days went by fairly quickly after that incident.

  From the outside, we were just one more ship in a defensive formation around Delta Pavonis. Switching my sleep and relax off time around was a little strange at first, but it had definite advantages. I slept when Katy was on duty, and for at least the last couple of days she’d woken me up by crawling on the bed and snuggling up with me. That first time, she’d let me sleep a few extra hours though, which was good because I’d needed to catch up.

  Regardless, waking up to her face had to be the best way to wake up, ever.

  After that, we spent the rest of time together talking and doing other activities in the R&R room, and then usually shared a meal before I went and relieved the captain for second shift.

  The crew became more familiar with the captain, Katy, and I, which was different. We were an anarchist ship now, but they still showed the respect due to a first officer. Habit and necessity, but done at their choosing and free will. Anarchy did not necessarily mean chaos or disorder, it just meant we all served as we willed. The word anarchy had somewhat of a stigma on it, perhaps self-governed would be a better description.