The Pirate Captain (The Space Pirate Chronicles Book 2) Read online

  Once Charley had suited up she addressed Harry, Gronko, Vanessa and FIGJAM.

  “Harry has command while I’m gone,” she said firmly. “When our bobcats are full we’ll request a tow cable haul.”

  Harry nodded. “I’ll be watching from the cockpit,” he said.

  “Let’s do it,” Vinnie said. He looked especially keen to get out there and explore the asteroid. Charley had to admit she was too. The prospect of accumulating more riches made her feel all tingly inside. More funds meant better weapons, renovations for the Guild Hall and ship upgrades. They might even be able to afford to keep someone like Gronko. Charley’s heart chattered with excitement as Vinnie engaged the airlock and stepped through with her. The external sensor glow green and space beckoned. Charley didn’t have great memories of her first experience in free space, when she negotiated a toxic debris field with Vinnie. This assignment looked much easier.

  The first step was to haul themselves around to the main cargo bay where Harry should already have opened the doors.

  Charley moved in with Vinnie and deactivated the clamps on two of three mining bobcats. Vinnie held on to one and pushed it away strongly. It floated through the doors and straight to the asteroid. Charley watched with bated breath as it slowly turned wheel side and landed safely. The wheels had been magged so that they would stick to the asteroid.

  Vinnie said with satisfaction, pushing the second bobcat in the same direction. It landed twenty yards from the first.

  Vin said teasingly as he grabbed Charley and literally threw her though the bay doors. Charley squealed in shock - she hadn’t expected that. She tumbled toward the asteroid and she only just righted herself before reaching it. She landed rather ungainly on the strange dark rock but managed to keep her feet. Vinnie dropped next to her. Their air suits had light mag attractors in the feet that would keep them anchored to the asteroid’s mineral surface. With growing excitement Charley slid in behind the wheel of her bobcat. The controls were easy enough to learn. The hard part was finding safe travel routes on the uneven asteroid. Aided by the bobcat’s thick, tractable tires, Charley rolled over a small ridge and found herself entering a dark tunnel. The occasional flare of a gas pocket put her nerves on edge.

  Vinnie said over the com.

  Charley guessed that was how the internal tunnels were formed.

  Charley said, activating her bobcat’s search beams. The tunnel walls were illuminated - just as dark as the rest of the rock chunk. Charley rolled through the tunnel, listening to the eerie echo of her bobcat through her helmet. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure the Surprise was still visible and maintaining a parallel course to the asteroid. This place gave her the creeps. It was so remote, so isolated, so alien.

  Just as Charley was reaching the tunnel a rough patch of rock drew her attention. The bobcat pinged and a green beam of light passed over the rock vein. Charley looked carefully at her diagnostic screen.

  said Harry from the Surprise’s cockpit. It was comforting to know he was there.

  Charley reported, her excitement rising.

  Vinnie said.

  While Charley tried to work out how to fracture the rock, Vinnie rolled through the tunnel and casually laid a limpet mine near the valuable burnt orange rock.

  He rolled away immediately, gesturing for Charley to join him down the tunnel. The rock blasted free in a plume of dust. Orange fragments fell to the floor of the tunnel. Charley excitedly rolled forward and collected the material into her front scooper.

  she asked Vinnie.

  said the burly pirate.

  Charley pressed a red button to the right of the dashboard. The oligoclase fragments were sucked back into the bobcat and fed through the grinder. A container on the rear of the bobcat began filling with orange powder. It looked fine and silky.

  Vinnie said excitedly.

  Charley said.

  The thought seemed to sober Vinnie. he said.

  Charley worked her bobcat through the oligoclase vein until her rear container was full. She returned to the launch side of the asteroid and made sure she was visible to the Surprise.

  she said over the com.

  came the comforting reply.

  Charley watched as a steel tow cable launched from an ejector on the side of the ship and thudded into the rock several yards to her right. She released the lock and attached it to the bobcat. The next step was to release the bobcat’s mag attractors, which she did nervously. The vehicle floated across the void, reeled in gently by the ship. Once at the Surprise, Charley stowed the mineral container into the airlock and sealed it. Harry or Gronko would take it down to the cargo bay so the airlock would be ready for the next arrival. It wasn’t the most efficient way to mine minerals off an asteroid but without the proper ship or tech it was the best they could do.

  Once Charley got into a rhythm and trusted she was safe at all times, she actually enjoyed the process. Vinnie had found an electric blue vein of cerulean cobalt on the other side of the asteroid. This kind of cobalt was much in demand and MinCorp would pay top dollar for it. Charley found a magenta vein of an unknown mineral on the front of the asteroid. They mined it enthusiastically, dreaming of the kind of price they might fetch for it. All up, once they’d finished, there were eleven full mineral containers in the cargo bay. Not bad for a few hours work. As far as they could tell, the asteroid didn’t have any more interesting seams of rock. It would take a deep drill to properly explore its recesses.

  12

  Charley was glad to complete her last run and head to her bedroom to remove her air suit. Harry came in after her to congratulate her on a successful operation and Charley felt the urge to entangle her naked body with his. In the end they both resisted, which turned out to be wise as Vinnie wasn’t far behind Charley.

  Once she was showered and dressed again Charley reported to the cockpit. Vinnie had already taken them far away from the asteroid and Harry was asleep on his bench again. Gronko was standing by Vinnie but there was no sign of Vanessa. She must have gone back to bed.

  As Vinnie guided the Surprise through clear space there was little sign of bandit activity. All the ships they passed seemed to be peaceful traders. Heavily armed, yes, but not part of any of the nefarious guilds.

  Charley had a strange feeling come over her, like they were in extreme danger. She looked at Vinnie - he looked like he sensed it too. “Full speed,” he said, keying propulsion.

  The nav projection pinged - Charley’s eye was drawn to a red, blinking dot on the edge of scanner range.

  “Just one ship,” Vinnie commented.

  “That’s OK then,” Charley said, her hope rising.

  “Fuckers have a cruiser,” Gronko said. “You guys have no chance against that kind of firepower.”

  “The renki’s right,” Vinnie said with frustration. “We can’t outgun it or outrun it with the Surprise.”

  Charley watched as the red dot gained on them, a chill settling in the pit of her stomach.

  “What do we do, Vinnie?” she asked plaintively.

  For once, the burly pirate didn’t seem to have a plan. He activated full throttle but it didn’t seem to make much difference.

  “Where did the Silent Runners get a cruiser?” she asked with a slight edge of panic.

  “They’ve been controlling the trade in this secto
r for more than a decade now,” Vinnie said with a trace of embarrassment. “That means plenty of time to accrue the resources to buy a fucking cruiser.”

  The bitterness in his voice was unmistakeable. Charley felt numb with shock. Was her burgeoning pirate career about to come to an end so soon? Had they bitten off more than they could chew by killing Fallon on Mina IV? The Pirate Guild’s daring plan now seemed foolhardy.

  Vinnie was pale as he soared aimlessly through the black. It was only a matter of time before the cruiser caught up with them. It was just about to enter missile range.

  “What system is this?” asked Gronko gruffly.

  “Gruder,” said Vinnie glumly. “Cruiser probably launched from Bonesse.”

  “Bonesse,” said the renki thoughtfully. “Turn the ship around.”

  “What?”

  Gronko drew his plasma pistol and pointed it at Vinnie’s head.

  “I said turn the ship around, human.”

  “OK, OK, no need for the fucking threats, renki.”

  Charley could barely breathe as Gronko reluctantly holstered his weapon. That alien is fucking nuts, Charley thought.

  Vinnie dutifully turned the ship around and flew straight for the approaching cruiser. Charley had to admit the move might buy them some time. At the very least the cruiser wouldn’t risk heat seeking missiles that could in theory turn back on them if the Surprise was close enough.

  Vinnie’s face got its color back as the Surprise moved closer to the cruiser. It seemed the pirate had started to see the objective of Gronko’s plan.

  “Fucking crazy, but better than nothing,” he muttered under his breath.

  Charley watched the approaching cruiser, with all its murderous missile bays and gun ports on its underside. Cruisers were basically military-class vessels. For the Silent Runners to have one was troubling to say the least. The enemy ship was framed by the green planet it had sprung from - Bonesse. Not much was known about the steamy jungle planet save that it was a haven for smugglers and other assorted criminals.

  “I’ve heard the Silent Runners control the drug trade there,” Vinnie said. “The jungles have native dema pods.”

  Charley recognized the term. Dema was an intense and addictive stimulant that had filtered its way onto Abeyas. If it had reached that backwater of a planet, it must be widespread throughout the galaxy.

  “This is gonna be tight,” Vinnie warned everyone as he diverted all power to roof and aft shields.

  As the Surprise passed underneath the cruiser, the larger ship opened fire from point blank range with its flak guns. The Silent Runners’ clear objective was to board. To take Charley, Vinnie and Gronko hostage and torture them for killing their leader. What it hadn’t banked on was a kamikaze run that could well see the Surprise break up over the jungle planet’s atmosphere.

  The ship was bombarded with heavy fire that broke through the shields within seconds. As the hull was peppered with lethal flak. Charley finally understood what Gronko and Vinnie intended. Rather than allow themselves to be scooped up by the cruiser, the plan was clearly to break planetary orbit, even if the ship was just a bunch of fragments by that stage.

  Charley gripped the edge of her chair, praying that the Surprise’s hull held firm. The seconds dripped past as the ship received an absolute hammering from the cruiser squatting on top of them.

  “Dispersion cloud,” Vinnie said, toggling a gray dial on the dashboard. A thick veil of smoke poured from the ship’s aft end. Vinnie magnified the rear screen view and the four of them watched hopefully as the cruiser was shrouded in a cloud of what was actually a special kind of vapor. It was designed to disperse heat signatures so that enemy vessels couldn’t get a lock on their targets. Naturally this situation only lasted around ten seconds before the vapor either dissipated or the enemy locked on to the fleeing craft using another signature. But those ten seconds could well be the difference between escape or destruction.

  “Seems the Surprise has some tricks yet,” Charley said with a wide grin. The fiery inertia of the planet’s upper mesosphere was now creating a halo around the ship.

  The dashboard pinged a warning. The cruiser had abandoned the idea of firing flak at them and launched two missiles. Charley couldn’t tear her eyes away as she watched the blinking objects approach the Surprise and careen into the aft shields. The ship lurched savagely, throwing everyone around.

  “Damage report,” Vinnie yelled at the AI.

  “Propulsion breach,” came the robotic reply. “The Surprise is crippled.”

  Vinnie cursed and gripped the steerage bar as if it were a long lost child. The Surprise ‘bounced’ across the upper atmosphere before dipping its nose into the soup. The ship shook so much Charley thought all the rivets would come loose.

  Vinnie pushed the steerage bar as far as it could go. The Surprise dived through the atmosphere dangerously, but there was method in his madness. The ship was losing altitude relative to the planet’s surface so fast that its trajectory would be difficult to gauge from the bandit cruiser above them. It was notoriously difficult to fire at a moving target through a planet’s upper mesosphere. Sure enough, two more missiles came screaming toward them, but they went wide. Of course they turned on their heads once their heat sensing tech told them to do so, but by that stage Vinnie had fired his forward lasers, detonating the missiles safely. The Surprise dived through a cloud of acrid smoke, their view of the planet obscured. Charley watched the nav screen in white terror. The cruiser was indeed following them but was adopting a much safer entry vector, costing them time.

  So far, the fleeing Surprise had managed to stay intact. And now it had the added bonus of a thick black cloud between it and the enemy vessel.

  Vinnie leveled the craft out as they neared rolling hills of thick vegetation. He cruised over the treetops for as long as he could, the propulsion unit spluttering and wheezing in its death throes. The ship finally dipped below the tree line and all Vinnie could do was try and land it safely. Easier said than done in a tropical rainforest setting. The craft forged a path through the trees, missing enormous trunks by inches. Finally the inevitable occurred, and the fighter’s port wing tip glanced against a trunk. The impact wasn’t great but it sent the Surprise into a spin.

  “Brace yourselves!” Vinnie yelled as the Surprise ricocheted off tree trunks like a pin ball. Charley was thrown across the galley like a rag doll and she heard Vanessa scream from her room. The Surprise gave one final lurch and settled on a bed of tree ferns. Through the viewscreen all she could see was foliage and smoke. It seemed the propulsion unit was well and truly shot. Silence reigned as the Surprise’s crew found their feet and checked for broken bones. Apart from a rising headache, Charley was OK. Vinnie had been strapped securely in the pilot’s chair and looked shaken but otherwise fine. Gronko was standing over his shoulder as if nothing had happened. Amazingly, Harry had taken that one step further - he was still asleep in the corner. Now that was one battle-hardened dude!

  Charley found Vanessa in the corner by her bedroom door. She seemed a little stunned but there was no serious injury. Thanking the stars her crew was intact, Charley activated the top hatch and looked at the diagnostic airlock report. Bonesse was certainly breathable. She popped the hatch and took a look outside. She was immediately wrapped in a thick, humid curtain and assailed by the chitter of a thousand monkeys. She couldn’t see them, but knew they were watching from the forest canopy. The Surprise had finally settled in a level position around eight yards from the ground. Towering paladin trees rose above. The forest was alive with color and probably extreme danger.

  Vinnie climbed out alongside Charley and surveyed the scene with his wrist pad. The unit projected the terrain and gave them a large-scale map to reference.

  “We’ve landed in the southern forests,” he murmured. “According to my data the Silent Runners run a supply depot to the north, near the Hidar Plain.”

  “And the cruiser?” Charley asked nervously.

&nbs
p; Vinnie shrugged. “What we did certainly wasn’t from the flyer’s manual but it worked. They’ll have a hard time matching our heat signature through all that canopy.”

  Charley felt a huge weight lift from her shoulders. She heard the bass hum of a large ship above the canopy, but it passed over them and continued west.

  “Right, so that’s not an immediate threat,” Charley said. “But how do we get off this rock?”

  Vinnie looked down wistfully at the Surprise. “If I had the right tools I might just be able to rig this tub. At least enough to allow us to travel back to Pankar for repairs.”

  Charley looked out into the thick, unnerving forest. “Sounds like we have to take what we need.”

  Vinnie grinned and laid a hand on her thigh. “Damn straight,” he said. “That’s my little pirate.”

  Charley was about to kiss Vinnie when Gronko pushed out from underneath them and began lowering himself to the ground using a tree creeper.

  “Let’s get to work, then,” he growled. “Show me the Silent Runners’ camp and I’ll turn them into red paste.”

  Vinnie looked at Charley. “That ugly motherfucker is right,” he said with a faint grin. “We need to move and move quickly. Better to attack where they least expect it than wait around for them to overwhelm us.”

  Charley nodded and headed back into the Surprise.

  “What’s happening Charley?” Vanessa asked with concern. FIGJAM was rubbing against her foot but she seemed oblivious.

  Charley lifted the PalBot and hooked him into her belt.

  “Mmm, home again,” FIGJAM purred. “Do you mind if I stare at your crotch for a while?”

  Vanessa was staring at FIGJAM with a look of intense disgust. “What’s that hideous thing? Does it have a virus?”

  “Ignore him and you’ll be a lot happier,” Charley said crisply. “Listen, Vanessa. You need to get changed into my spare utility suit. Our number’s roughly the same so it should fit OK.”

  “Right, boss,” Vanessa said, disappearing into Charley’s bedroom.