Crystal Venom (10 page)

‘So that is the famous Andy White,’ mused Harry. ‘The boss always described her as slightly shorter than him. They were a number a long time ago. Must be still sweet on each other. Going to be an interesting trip, guys. We have half the specialist crew arriving at 0800 tomorrow, plus all their equipment, and then the remaining half of the detachment late tomorrow afternoon. The boss wants everything squared away for a 2200 departure. Grab whatever you need from Epsilon. Stephine has sorted the procurements and allowed you each a twenty per cent additional procurement financial buffer should you need it. She says that this could be a difficult mission, so get whatever you deem necessary. Would suggest we do that tonight before the specialists arrive.’

Consequently, they all worked late into the night. Jan pulled additional medical stores to cover the extra personnel and also obtained two small combat medical drones. Fritz secured additional communication systems, prepped them and placed them in combat storage. He then went through all the craft on board, plus the Ranger’s ship, and tied the communications together. Harry and Veg requisitioned spare weapons for everyone, plus two additional Troop Lifters: these were basically a framework, including a hardened cockpit, storage units, four gimballed manoeuvring engines, a good sized AG unit, twin propulsion systems and a series of attachment stations which housed individual drop sleds, and slung down each side of the machine were twin heavy calibre rail guns. They were wild machines with a heavy punch as they could drop and then support a section minus of eight, plus the pilot; military personnel everywhere liked them as they could also work in just about any environment with or without atmosphere or gravity.

Stephine methodically checked everything off, laid in additional preserved rations, and then ramped up the gardens output as well. Marko spent his time checking off the fuel systems on each of their craft, topping up every tank and then looking long and hard at the Intel reports from the colonel as to where they could pick up water fuel on the mission. There were two good-sized ice moons in the target system and also some nice icy comets not far from Lagrange points at four of their jump locations.

They even managed to grab a half decent sleep before the first of the specialists arrived on board at 0800 hours. Jan’s assessment to Marko was that they were an interesting bunch. The Warrant Officer First Class in charge knew Harry well, so that made life a lot easier.

Patrick had set aside one of the engineering hangars for them, so they were initially shown where to stow their suit containers and then assigned cabins. Fritz and Harry then gave the newcomers a quick tour of the ship as Jan and Marko went through the specialist detachment’s gear, laying it out, and then storing it all for prioritised optimum access.

The major and the colonel had left the ship early for a command meeting, taking Stephine as First Mate with them. When they returned at midday they were all business with the major sending the message: ‘Crew, once the second part of the specialist salvage team arrives we will get under way. Briefing will take place after the first jump is complete. External comms will be locked down in one hour.’

~ * ~

Harry gave a briefing to part of the crew. ‘Not sure if this is going to be an easy mission, Marko. Hard security for one thing. Just got the word. Epsilon is sending over two additional long-term ten-man survival pods as well. The hangar deck is going to get a little too crowded. Um, when the pods arrive, site one in the second cargo airlock underneath the barracks deck, and the other in the second airlock above the first engineering deck. Jan, Veg, can you sort those with Marko, please? Check ‘em and then liven them up. OK, they are also deploying three Busters for us ... shit, one of those will take out a Cruiser no problem, so what are they expecting?’

He touched his comms link, saying, ‘Captain Stephine, ma’am, I need authorisation to unlock the primary heavy weapons store as these guys have a deal of explosives with them. Could you also lock the Busters against the hull, please?’

In another part of the ship Stephine smiled. ‘The heavy weapons store will unlock for you when you approach the arms cote, Harry, just as it always has. I have assumed control of it, but not locked you out. Please continue to call me Stephine when on our secure network, and yes, I shall lock on the Busters.’

Marko watched the Busters sliding up beside them, noting that they were almost as long as
Basalt
and tens of metres in diameter: they were designed to be smashers of heavy ships or Orbital stations. He knew that, once deployed, they could operate independently for months on end, physically lock onto anything they were targeted at and if necessary push the target down into a gravity well before destroying it with a focused blast of gamma rays. Very good pieces of equipment for cleaning up messes, he thought. ‘Thanks. Fritz, suit up, you’re with me. Bring your trolley of goodies. We may have some excellent toys to wire up.’

Marko made contact with the drones bringing the survival pods to them and gave them their orders, after ensuring that Patrick was in the loop. As each arrived, he opened the external doors of the large access airlocks and then closed them again after the pods had been placed inside. They opened the pods, checked the systems and then wired them into
Basalt
so that Patrick had total control of them.

Veg approved of these. Basically a squat cylinder with heavy shielding, each had one door and, when a crew member pressed against it, the person was rotated and sealed into an individual survival system which would immediately start the hibernation process, if deemed necessary, and allow the next person in. Marko had once seen one accommodate and secure ten crew, then eject itself away from a disintegrating frigate in under fifteen seconds, saving the soldiers. He thought it was nice to know that the powers-that-be were taking the mission seriously. They then checked and wired the second pod in position just as the remaining half of the specialist recovery and salvage section arrived on board.

A few minutes later the major gave his orders. ‘All crew, report to your stations. Specialists, please secure your equipment, as instructed per your HUDs, and then proceed to the main galley for briefing and assignments. We depart in twenty minutes.’

Basalt’s
crew moved quickly to their stations with Veg and Harry as pilots and the major, for the first time, actually sitting in the commander’s chair. Marko checked his board and with all systems at optimum shunted control across to Veg. Epsilon’s tugs pushed them away from the Orbital and at one kilometre out they were assigned a flight number and sent on their way.

‘Marko, Fritz, Jan,’ Harry said. ‘We have control of your boards. Could you go help this latest lot of salvage guys sort their stuff? We have seven hours’ transit to the LP and everything is to be locked down before then.’

~ * ~

Part Two

Crystal Infant

~ * ~

One

The salvage section were indeed an interesting bunch as far as Marko was concerned. All individual specialists, all shapes and sizes, and all with a hell of a lot of equipment. They had come prepared for just about anything, he thought, and were certainly heavy hitters, with six sergeants, two WO1s, a lieutenant who looked like he should have been in a trench somewhere, and an immaculately dressed major.

Marko, as the ranking SNCO, introduced himself then Jan and Fritz before saying: ‘Major van Beere, sir. Major Longbow sends his compliments and requests you join him on the bridge.’

Van Beere inclined his head to Marko and replied in a highly cultured voice. ‘My thanks to you, sarge’ major. This is Lieutenant Blair. I shall leave you to your tasks.’ His tone and demeanour marked him as a member of one of the senior Administration families.

He walked off as Marko turned to the lieutenant. ‘Sir. Mr Blair, how can we assist?’

The grinning lieutenant looked around, then back at the
Basalt
crew members. ‘Pleasure to meet with you, guys. Nice ship this. Love the exposed living wood and the flowering orchids. Your AI obviously takes pride in maintenance and a great-smelling atmosphere. This will be an interesting trip. So how did you get this mission? And no GB! Bet that is a relief. You can be yourselves for once. We have our billets, ta. Just need access to the arms cote for our weapons and also the explosives. They are all on their own drone carriers, so it is probably easy to leave them that way and stow the whole lot in one go. Will wait until after orders before we familiarise you guys with all our toys. Do you want to go through everyone’s suits and headpieces, Sergeant van Vinken? Sergeant Itou, this is Sergeant van Vinken. She is our comms and computer tech. I’m sure that you will enjoy each other’s company. She is a fan of yours, Sergeant van Vinken.’

Marko thought she was a classy looker as he watched them immediately start talking heavy tech, although he noted that by the third sentence Fritz had asked her about her tastes in music. Must have been acceptable — he turned and gave Marko a thumbs up as they walked away.

‘Lieutenant Blair, I shall take you down to the arms cote. Staff Wester will sort out the rest of your people for their personal kit. She’ll also need your medical requirements and individual records. Could you have your people squirt their medical files across, please? This way, sir.’

As they walked across to the centre spiral stairway leading down to the arms cote deck, the four sizable, heavily laden drones powered up and followed them on their AG. As per the protocols, the lieutenant then gave Marko lists of what they were carrying so he could log it with Harry, as the officer in charge of weapons. It was an impressive list.

Once back in the hangar, they helped sort through the equipment and with aid of their own drones went about securing it all, then gave the new guys a tour of the ship, watching them experience their first coffee and exotic fruits. Veg said that Jan made an excellent brew as his apprentice barista, which was something Marko could not argue with. After a meal together, they made preparations for the initial jump, which went as smoothly as ever. In fact, it was a little smoother than before, as the refit of
Basalt
had given the ship the latest improvements and Patrick now knew how to make them work well.

~ * ~

The officers were at the front of the orders room as Major Longbow took charge. ‘Patrick, you have the helm. For those who do not know her, this is Colonel White. It was she who found the site of the missing Hauler.’

They were all in the main entertainments theatre. Well, the
Basalt
crew had all called it ‘entertainments’ as before they had never actually had a full formal military orders group on board, nor used the theatre for its designed purpose of planning a military action.

They all had their AV HUD helmets on and the colonel talked them through what she had found. ‘The following images are taken from some 220,000 kilometres away. You will note that the Hauler is of an Iris class. It is the original of that class, which grossed over 200,000 tonne, dry. It should be six hundred and fifty metres long. As the images get clearer, you will note that it is now considerably longer and wider than as originally built. You’ll also note that the exterior hull, with the exception of the primary front portion, is no longer the original hull but appears more alien organic in structure, a departure of style from how the Haulers normally grow their ships. You can also see that there are what appear to be urchins orbiting the craft. As already stated, this particular Hauler is a very old one. It is called
Cactus 3
and, before going missing, had a long and very prestigious career. It is a much-respected member of the Haulers’ Collective with many astronomical discoveries to its name.’

She paused for a few seconds, looking around the room, then continued. ‘The mission it had was to dump many thousands of tonnes of weapons from the Infant conflict. The weapons, even by today’s standards, were very nasty. A number of them were radioactive, including the now outlawed neutron bombs, plus standard old-fashioned thermonuclear devices. What is of real concern, however, is that the cargo also contained hundreds of tonnes of DNA-altering bacteria, together with delivery systems, which were primarily Avian-type creatures, bred specifically for the purpose as their intention was to destroy whole worlds. We need to learn what has happened to
Cactus 3
and are under pressure to retrieve the core of the ship’s AI. We would also very much like to know why it ended up 12.3 light years from its original destination, which was Hades. The other three Haulers that were employed delivered their cargos onto Hades with its caustic poison atmosphere and surface temperatures in excess of five hundred degrees C, and returned safely.’ She paused again and tapped on her wrist screen. ‘I’m copying to you all the nasties involved, and also the Avians. The cargo contained the entire contents of the various research labs which produced the biological weapons, including, in some cases, the corpses of the research staff involved. The records show that in at least one case, the entire lab was encased in molecular chain-linked glass and lifted intact.

‘The mission is to separate the nose area of the Hauler, where the AI will be, and then shunt the remainder of the craft into the nearest sun. I cannot emphasise enough the enormous risk of the biological weapons becoming accessible to anyone at all, including some members of our own dear Administration. Hence, this mission now comes under my command. Major Longbow.’