The Aftermath gt-16 Read online

  He set up the communications keyboard and checked the transmission he’d heard. No, the vector’s correct, he saw. They must have been farther away than I estimated.

  The comm screen’s yellow message light was blinking. Automatically, Victor tapped the keypad to play it back.

  “This is Syracuse, testing its communications system. Testing, testing, one, two, three.”

  Pauline’s voice!

  Suddenly Victor’s hands were shaking so badly he could hardly manage to work the keyboard. They’ve fixed the antennas! He thought. Theo did it. Or Pauline. They’re alive! She’s alive!

  Sure enough, the strong steady signal of a tracking beacon came through on its normal channel. With tears in his eyes Victor read off the name and registration that appeared on his comm screen: Syracuse.

  ORE SHIP: SYRACUSE

  OUTSIDE

  Even though he half expected it, it happened so fast that Theo didn’t know what to do. At first.

  Nicco suddenly wrapped him in a bear hug, pinning Theo’s arms to his sides. Behind him, he felt Kirk click open his tether and then start banging and yanking on his life support backpack.

  He didn’t have to ask what they were doing. They’re going to kill me, he thought. And then they’ll go back into the ship and rape Mom. And Angie.

  Theo struggled but Nicco was surprisingly strong and held his arms pinned. The scavenger was grimacing with the effort, though, his inflated helmet pressing against Theo’s glassteel bubble. Theo was bigger than he and flooded with adrenaline. The two of them grunted and strained. Theo could see sweat breaking out on Nicco’s face, see his lips pulling back over his mottled teeth in an angry snarl.

  “C’mon,” Nicco grunted to Kirk. “Whatcha doin’ back there?”

  “Got his radio. But the goddamn air hoses are inside the pack,” Kirk growled. “I gotta pull off the whole fuckin’ tank.”

  “Punch a hole in it!” Nicco shouted.

  “Yeah… yeah…”

  Theo felt Kirk hammering on his air tank. They’ll kill me! roared a voice in his head. They’ll kill me!

  The three of them were floating weightlessly away from the ship, twisting and spinning as they struggled. Theo rammed a knee into Nicco’s groin and heard a satisfying screech of pain. He pulled his arms free and punched Nicco in the face as hard as he could. His gloved fist bounced off the inflated helmet but Nicco sailed backward, away from him, as Theo recoiled in the other direction with Kirk still hanging on his back.

  My suit’s like armor, Theo thought gratefully. Kirk was swearing at the top of his lungs, still banging away at the air tank behind him. Theo tried to twist around and get Kirk off his back, but the scavenger had locked his legs around Theo’s middle. Fumbling for the kit buckled to his waist, Theo pulled out the first tool his fingers clutched, a smallish wrench. With all his might he pounded it against Kirk’s knee.

  “Sonofabitch!” Kirk yowled. Theo realized that the nanosuits were too soft to offer much protection against such blows.

  Kirk unwrapped his legs from Theo. “You shitfaced little bastard! I’ve got you now, asshole!”

  Theo felt something click in his backpack and suddenly he was whooshing away from the two other men, jetting madly away from Syracuse, spinning wildly out into dead empty space. He saw the ship whirling insanely with the figures of the two nanosuited scavengers hovering near it.

  “I’m gonna fuck your mother!” Kirk’s voice taunted in his helmet earphones. “And then your sister!”

  “Me too!” Nicco added gleefully.

  Theo knew he was going to die. The oxygen was spurting out of his life support tank and Kirk had disabled his radio. But all he could think was, I’ve failed. I’ve failed to protect Mom and Angie. I’ve failed them. I’ve failed them.

  * * *

  Valker was at Syracuse’s airlock, waiting for them with his fists on his hips and a disgusted sneer on his face.

  “You two sure blew that one,” he grumbled as Kirk and Nicco began to peel off their nanosuits.

  “We got rid of the kid, didn’t we?” Kirk snapped.

  “One kid, and he damn near beat you. And you shot off your stupid mouths good and loud. Now the mother’s locked herself into the command pod and the daughter’s hiding somewhere.”

  Nicco shrugged elaborately. “We’ll find ’em. The ship ain’t that big.”

  “What you’re going to do,” Valker said, with steel in his voice, “is get back to Vogeltod and help the crew when the Hunter gets here.”

  “And what’re you gonna do?” Kirk asked, his voice heavy with suspicion.

  “I’m going to try to sweet-talk the mother into coming out of the pod.”

  “You could blast her out.”

  Valker shook his head. “Two numbskulls. We want this ship as intact as possible when we sell her at Ceres. Don’t you think the rock rats’ inspectors might wonder why the control pod hatch has been blasted open? And where the ship’s original owners might be?”

  “Yeah, well…”

  “I keep telling you dim bulbs: you catch more flies with sugar than with vinegar.”

  Nicco made an obscene gesture.

  “She knows you killed her son. You made that clear enough for anybody this side of Ceres to figure it out. Now I’ve got to sugar that woman until she unlocks the pod hatch.”

  “Come on,” Kirk growled to Nicco. “Let’s go find the daughter.”

  “Get back to our ship,” Valker insisted, “and get ready to take Hunter. The girl will still be here after we’ve taken it.”

  Nicco nodded reluctantly. “Okay. You’re the skipper.”

  Kirk grinned nastily and said to Valker, “Well, after you’ve sweet-talked the mother out of the pod,” he snickered, “save some for us.”

  BOOK IV

  ATONEMENT AND REDEMPTION

  For this alone on Death I wreak

  The wrath that garners in my heart;

  He put our lives so far apart

  We cannot hear each other speak.

  In Memoriam A.H.H.,

  Alfred, Lord Tennyson

  SMELTER SHIP HUNTER:

  BRIDGE

  “There’s something strange here,” Elverda called as she sat in Hunters command chair, eyes riveted on the main screen.

  Dorn replied over the intercom, “Strange? In what way?”

  “I’m getting a radar image of Syracuse” she replied. “It’s rather fuzzy at this range, but it doesn’t look right.”

  “I’ll come to the bridge.”

  He was in the workshop again, she knew. Elverda worried about him; his mechanical systems needed maintenance, a thorough overhaul, much more detailed than the two of them could provide aboard the ship.

  Dorn stepped through the hatch and stood behind her.

  “It looks like a double image,” Elverda said. “Could there be something wrong with the radar’s resolution?”

  He glanced at the console settings, then said, “Perhaps there’s another ship mated to Syracuse.”

  “Another ship? But they didn’t say—”

  The radio speaker came to life. “This is Syracuse, testing its communications system. Testing, testing, one, two, three.”

  “Nothing about another ship,” Elverda said.

  “Why would they be testing their comm system?” Dorn mused. Pointing to the radar image on the screen, “Look. They’re emitting a tracking beacon and telemetry now.”

  “Maybe their comm system was down?”

  “That is a second ship mated to them, but it’s not emitting any signals.”

  “Curious.”

  Dorn turned Elverda’s chair so he could see her face. “It might be dangerous,” he said.

  “Dangerous? How?”

  “Remember that scavenger ship, Vogeltod, and its captain?”

  “Valker,” Elverda murmured.

  “Suppose someone like them is using Syracuse as bait for a trap, to lure us to them. Then they could seize this ship and…”

/>   “And kill us,” Elverda finished for him.

  Dorn nodded solemnly, but then his eye caught a small blip on the radar screen hurtling away from the image of the doubled ship.

  “That’s a body!” Dorn said, with absolute certainty.

  * * *

  Valker was at Syracuse’s backup command pod, frowning unhappily as he talked to Pauline through the locked hatch.

  “It wasn’t my doing,” he said earnestly. “They did it on their own.”

  “You murdered my son,” Pauline said. Her voice was muffled by the hatch, but he could hear the anger and hatred in her voice.

  “They murdered your son. Not me.”

  “They’re part of your crew.”

  Valker bit back a nasty reply, took a deep breath. “All right,” he said. “All right. They boy’s gone and there’s nothing that either one of us can do about that.”

  “Go away. Leave us alone.”

  “I can’t do that, Pauline. And you’ve got your daughter to think about now.”

  No response from beyond the blank hatch.

  “They know she’s aboard the ship. They’ll turn your ship upside down searching for her. And when they find her…” He let the thought dangle.

  After a few heartbeats, Pauline said, “You can’t let them hurt her.”

  “I might not be able to stop them,” Volker said.

  “We’ve got to protect Angela.”

  “I can try,” he said, “if you’ll cooperate with me.”

  “Cooperate.” Pauline pronounced the word as if it were a death sentence.

  A smile easing across his attractive features, Volker coaxed, “Look, my crew of lowlifes are all back in Vogeltod, getting ready for Hunter’s arrival. You and me and Angela are the only ones here aboard Syracuse. If we’re quick enough we can get Angela out of wherever she’s hiding and bring her to you, here at the command pod.”

  “Then what?” Pauline asked.

  “Then while my crew’s taking over Hunter, you can disengage from my ship and take off for Ceres. You and Angela. You’ll be safe there.”

  Another silence, longer. Valker counted off the seconds. She’s no fool, he told himself, but she might be desperate enough to go for it. After all, what other choice does she have?

  “You’ll let us go to Ceres?”

  “Sure! It’s not that far, you’ll be able to make it there in a few weeks. My guys’ll be busy taking over Hunter. It’s a fine ship, intact. It’ll bring a good price when we take her in to Ceres. They’ll forget about you and your daughter. Once we get to Ceres with Hunter to auction off, they’ll have their pick of the women there.”

  Valker nodded, pleased with his logic. It almost made sense to him. As long as she doesn’t remember that she’s got no propulsion fuel.

  “But we don’t have any time to waste,” he added sternly. “We’ve got to get your daughter out of hiding and set up your command console so you’ll be able to disengage from my ship at the touch of a keypad.”

  * * *

  Pauline was shaking like a palsied woman as she sat in the command chair, listening to Valker’s honeyed words, frantically trying to decide what she should do. She heard Valker’s voice, muffled by the locked hatch, heard the earnestness in his tone, the urgency in his last few words.

  Why would he let us go? she asked herself. His men killed Theo. He knows I’ll report that once we get to Ceres. Why is he so willing to help Angie and me?

  The memory of his naked body pressing against hers sprang into her mind. Don’t be an idiot! she warned herself. He’s not in love with you. He’s not even infatuated with you. He’s nothing but a smooth-talking murderer who’ll end up killing you and Angie both. After he and his crew have had their fun with us.

  She tried to think of some other option, some alternative that she could turn to. There was nothing. Except…

  With an effort of iron will she suppressed her trembling. She rose to her feet and went to the hatch. She touched the keypad on the bulkhead and the hatch slid open.

  Valker stood there, an expectant smile on his face. Handsome face, she thought. Dangerous face.

  “I’ll reconfigure the control console,” she said, without preamble. “You return to Vogeltod and deal with this approaching ship. I’ll bring Angela to me once you’re off this vessel.”

  His brows rose slightly. “You don’t trust me?”

  “Not entirely.”

  Valker shrugged good-naturedly. “Can’t say I blame you.”

  He stepped into the pod and went straight to the command chair.

  “What are you doing?” Pauline demanded.

  “Punching in the command code to disconnect the access tunnel. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” she said.

  “There’s a price, you know,” he said, without looking up at her.

  “I expected there would be.”

  Valker straightened up and turned toward Pauline. “When we all get back to Ceres I’m going to quit this crazy scavenging business. It’s coming to an end anyway; the rock rats are seeing to that.”

  “And what will you do?” Pauline asked mechanically.

  “With my share of what we make from selling off Hunter I can set myself up in business. Nothing grand. Maybe selling jewelry or other luxury items imported from Earth.”

  “And a little smuggling on the side?”

  Valker laughed. “No, I’d be strictly legitimate. But I’d want you with me, at my side. We’d make a good team, together.”

  This is his price for Angie’s safety, she realized. Aloud, she replied, “I’ll… I’ll have to think about it.”

  “I want your promise, Pauline. Now.”

  “I still have a husband,” she insisted.

  “He’s dead and we both know it.” He looked at her intently, his face totally serious. “I want you, Pauline. For keeps.”

  “I can’t—”

  “I’ll protect your daughter. I’ll protect you both. But I want your promise, right here and now.”

  Pauline closed her eyes and heard herself murmur, “Very well, I promise. As long as you protect my daughter.”

  * * *

  Victor paced restlessly about Pleiades’s bridge, debating inwardly about whether he should send out a call to Pauline or not.

  She’s out there, he told himself. I’ve got a good fix on her tracking beacon and I’m homing in on it. I’ll be with her in two days, max.

  I should call her, tell her I’m coming.

  Yet something made him hesitate. He remembered his brief encounter with that scavenger ship, Vogeltod. What if he’s out there with Pauline and the kids? Theo couldn’t repair the antennas without help, we didn’t have the stores on board to do the job. If he had, he would’ve done it years ago, right after we were first attacked, right after I left them.

  No, Victor said to himself. Theo had to have help from somebody, and whoever that somebody is he’s not emitting a tracking beacon. He’s running silent. Why?

  His train of logic frightened him. Because he’s holding Pauline and the kids prisoners, using them to lure other ships to him so he can capture them and sell them as salvage.

  But what’s he doing with Pauline and the children? Victor’s blood ran cold as he imagined the possible scenarios. He replayed Pauline’s short test broadcast. She sounded all right, he told himself: calm, under control.

  But what if… what if…

  When he finally stretched out on his bunk and closed his eyes to sleep, the “what ifs” filled his mind.

  ALONE

  Theo knew he had less than an hour left to live. Pinwheeling through space, he tried to ignore the stars swirling dizzyingly around him and concentrate on the condition of his suit. The diagnostics displays splashed on the inner surface of his helmet confirmed his worst fears. Kirk had punctured his main oxy tank; the oxygen jetting from the puncture had acted as a miniature rocket, thrusting him away from Syracuse, away from Mom and Angie, away from any possibilit
y of help.

  His radio was gone; there was no way he could call for help. Big spitting deal, he thought: the nearest help is out at Jupiter.

  The suit’s auxiliary oxygen tank held a half-hour supply. In half an hour I’ll die, Theo knew. No, he corrected himself, less time than that. A lot less.

  He tried to look back toward Syracuse but the ship was already too far away from him to see. Besides, his spinning motion made it almost impossible to focus on anything for more than a few seconds. It made his stomach queasy to watch the universe whirling around him.

  They’ve got Mom and Angie, he realized. Valker and his bastard crew have Mom and Angie and there’s no way I can do a thing about it.

  Squeezing his eyes shut, he muttered to himself, “You might as well die. You’re not good for anything else.”

  * * *

  Dorn sat in Hunter’s command chair as tensely as a bird dog that’s spotted a partridge.

  “That’s a body,” he repeated.

  Elverda strained her eyes, but saw only a featureless blip on the radar screen. “How can you be certain…?”

  But Dorn was already tapping on the navigation keyboard, maneuvering Hunter toward the radar contact. Elverda felt the soft nudge of the maneuvering jets. Minutes passed and the radar blip grew larger, sharper, better defined. Sure enough, Elverda could make out arms and legs.

  “Matching velocity vectors,” Dorn muttered, bent over the keyboard as he called up the propulsion program. “Setting up a rendezvous trajectory.”

  Hunter glided after the figure. Elverda could see that it was tumbling, spinning slowly as it coasted through space. She thought she saw the arms moving but knew it must be her imagination.

  “Was there a battle here?” she asked Dorn.

  “None that I know of.”

  “Then what’s a body doing out here?”

  He shook his head slowly. “Maybe we’ll find some evidence on the corpse to tell us what happened to it.”