Kill Shot: A Remnant of the Commonwealth, Book Two (4 page)

Chapter 4

Aaron, Susan, and Eve returned to the
Long Shot
without incident. Eric and Thomas were leaving as they arrived, but Aaron turned the two cargo men around and, with a bit of grumbling, they all entered the ship.

It only took several minutes to get the entire crew assembled. Both Jessica and Terry looked like they had just woken up.

Aaron realized this was going to be the second long night in a row, but he felt the rewards justified the inconvenience.

“Listen up,” Aaron called in the hubbub of four different conversations going on
at once. “Eve has found a side job for us. We’re smuggling a family of Ishek off-world.”

“They’re paying us?” Eric asked, looking incredulous.

“This particular Ishek owns an outfitter store. We have from sundown to sunup tomorrow to get everything we want out of the shop.”

Several eyes widened at this, but it was Eric who spoke. “Does he have anything we might want?” His grumpy look showed his doubt.

“Clothes, food, robots, and even some transports,” Aaron replied, causing even Eric’s eyes to widen. “Now, I want us to concentrate on getting everything here. Get the stuff into the hold and we’ll go through it later. We’ll flush anything we don’t want out the airlock. Any questions?”

“What types of robots?” Kyle Grayson asked.

Kyle was the last member of their crew. He was the son of Charles Morgan, and he was the one who Aaron had been hired to break out of prison. He had liked Aaron’s group and signed on as a member of the crew. Kyle was in his late twenties, black, and in good shape. He wore old-fashioned glasses. Kyle was a natural when it came to computers—programming, hacking, even designing them.

Aaron shook his head. “They’re all kinds, but I’ll let you see them when we get there.” The crew started to climb to their feet
, and Aaron quickly raised his hands to stop them. “When we get there, I’ll assign each of you to different areas. Come see me, and don’t get lost.”

“Wait,” Russell said, raising his voice to be heard. “How are we going to
move this stuff to our ship? Won’t the security forces question us?”

It was a good question and it quieted the others down. They turned to Aaron, waiting for his answer.

Aaron shook his head. “I’ve been assured that once the gates are closed, the security forces only come out for a major disturbance. Plus, we’ll take a service road that runs along the interior of the port wall. We won’t be passing the main port exit.”

It took about half an hour for everyone to gather their gear and make the trip to Uri-alo’s store. They arrived with less than thirty minutes before the sun went down.

The Ishek was
nervously waiting for them inside the front door. “I must go. I am not allowed to remain in the port after sundown.” He pulled Aaron to the side. “I’m trusting you, human. Do not betray me.”

Aaron nodded. Earlier he had wondered what would make the
Ishek take such an insane risk. There were a lot of smugglers who would clean out the store and then take off without the Ishek. He had decided that Uri-alo simply didn’t have any other options. He was taking a risk that might save his family, whereas the alternative was to wait for the coming confrontation with the elatori. Chances were that a good number of those he held dear would die.

“Don’t be late,” Aaron said. “I
f you are late, then you’re on your own.”

Uri-alo nodded. “We’ll be there.”

Aaron waited until the door closed behind Uri-alo and then turned to his crew. None of them were watching him. They had stayed close like he’d asked them to, but they were busy scoping out the store.

Aaron clapped his hands together loudly, causing several of them to jump. “Okay, we only have until the sun comes up
, so let’s get started.”

There were four ground transports. The first two were for transporting cargo; they had small cabs in the front and a long bed behind. The
y both started right up, and Aaron assigned Eric and Thomas to drive them; their job was to keep the transports moving between the ship and the store.

The other two transports were meant for passengers. The larger one had fourteen seats and it also started right up. The smaller transport only had six seats and it would not start. They used the larger one to tow the smaller
, as Terry felt confident he could get it working.

The first load that Eric and Thomas drove to the ship consisted of clothing and food. They weren’t picky and they were in a hurry. Clothing of all shapes and sizes were thrown onto the transport
, as well as crates of food; they didn’t even bother reading the descriptions of what type of food it was. There would be plenty of time for sorting later.

Eric and Thomas had just left on their first run to the ship, along with Russell, Adam, and Grady, when Kyle called Aaron over.

“What is it?” Aaron said, hurrying over.

In answer
, Kyle stepped back, exposing a humanoid robot. “This is CAC,” he said.

The
robot was in the shape of a man—two arms, two legs, a torso, and a head. It was silver and appeared to be ancient. It was discolored and dented. Many different types of robots used this same form, and Aaron wasn’t sure what CAC’s primary function was.

“Hello, CAC,” Aaron said
, and then got right to the point. “What type of robot are you?”

“Hello,
sir,” CAC said in a very formal-sounding voice. “I am a command and control robot.”

“A
h,” Aaron said. It made sense. Most modern spaceships had a sophisticated computer that was capable of monitoring the ship while the crew was sleeping. However, older ships required a presence on the bridge at all times. Command and control robots had been developed to automate that function. These days, they were only in use on extremely outdated ships.

“He’s a bit old,” Kyle said, “but I think I can make use of him.”

“By all means,” Aaron agreed. “Is that why you called me over?”

“One of the reasons, but I also wanted to run down the list of bots that are here.”

“All right,” Aaron said. He was impatient, and it must have shown because Kyle spoke hurriedly.

“There are eight repair and maintenance bots. Three of the R30 variety
, two R50s, and three R70s.”

Aaron
was pleased. The R-series of robots were meant for repairs. They rather resembled spiders, with various arms. The R30s were about a foot long and were the smallest robots. They were meant to make small repairs inside a cramped bulkhead. The R50s were about two feet long, and the R70s were roughly four feet in length.

Kyle pointed
to where three robots stood. “There are three general ship bots, but only two of them are working.” The three bots resembled humans from the waist up, but their humanoid upper body rested on a wide, continuous track system. He shrugged. “Not sure what’s wrong with the other one, but I may be able to repair it.”

Aaron nodded again but remained silent. This place was turning into a goldmine. He might have
to give Eve that full share sooner than he wanted to.

“We have five cargo bot
s. Only three of them are working, but I hope to get the others running.” He paused, but Aaron didn’t reply. “There’s also a M71 medical bot.”

“Excellent,” Aaron said. “There’re all old
, but we’re getting them at an excellent price.”

Kyle smiled. “There’s also a bunch of parts I want to take. It might make it easier to get the others running.”

“Certainly,” Aaron replied. “Get them on the next cargo run.”

Kyle smiled, apparently pleased that he was getting to
keep his newfound toys.

“Aaron,” Susan called out. “Got a moment?”

“Sure,” Aaron replied. “What you got?” He moved away from Kyle and hurried over to where Susan was waiting for him.

“Good news,” she said. “Got three spacesuits.
The seal certs are expired, but we can get them recertified at the next stop.”

“Damn
” was Aaron’s only response.

Susan smiled. “You hate it that Eve has found this treasure trove. Don’t you?”

“Is it that obvious?”

Susan didn’t answer but waved over to where Eve was standing. “She just uncovered some exo-suits as well.”

Exo-suits rather resembled metallic spacesuits, but were used for lifting and moving cargo. They were about eight feet tall, and a human could climb into the suit. The mechanical suit augmented the human’s strength and could be used to life items that weighed up to a ton. They would definitely make moving cargo easier.

Aaron just shook his head. He glanced up and caught Eve grinning at him.

They spent almost the whole night cleaning out t
he outfitter shop. They dumped the items in semi-organized piles in the cargo hold. It was a mess, but they had an eight-day trip back to Pocal III, and they could get things sorted while underway.

The sides of the hold
had tall racks that went all the way to the ceiling. There was a large space under the racks where they secured the transports.

There was still a good deal of h
eavy objects that might shift if they were forced to make any sudden turns, so even though they were dead tired, they got busy trying to secure any potentially dangerous items to the floor.

Aaron looked up from a box of Kyle’s computer parts and noticed that Molly and Eve were seriously dragging. “Hey
, Eve,” he called out, causing Eve turned her bleary eyes toward him. “Why don’t you and Molly get some breakfast ready. Go ahead and make some more sandwiches as well. It’ll be well after lunch before we can get some sleep.

Eve nodded, and she and Molly quickly disappeared through the hatch.

The sun had been up for less than hal
f an hour when Uri-alo arrived. Seven other Isheks were with him. They were smaller, appearing to be quite young. They climbed up the cargo bay ramp and Uri-alo blinked around in surprise.

“Where are the rest?” Aaron asked.

Uri-alo pulled his eyes from the piled-high floor. “They will be here shortly. Would’ve drawn too much attention if we arrived in one big group.”

Aaron nodded.
Should have thought of that myself. Must be more tired than I thought.

“How will you hide all this in the next couple of hours?” Uri-alo asked, looking back to the
cargo bay floor.

Aaron tilted his head to the side in confusion. “Why would we hide it?”

“Because the customs inspectors will surely question such a large load of merchandise. Without proper documentation, they will hold the ship while they investigate.”

A surge of apprehension ran through Aaron’s gut. “What customs inspectors? We cleared customs when we landed.”

“Yes,” Uri-alo agreed, “but there will be another inspection before the ship is allowed to leave.”

Chapter 5

Aaron just stared at the Ishek, his mind frantically trying to find a way out of this mess. Finally, he shook his head and looked around. Russell was standing nearby, listening to the exchange. Aaron pointed to Uri-alo and called out, “Get him settled and see to the rest of his family.

Aaron sprinted up the cavernous cargo hold, dodging around piles of clothing and machinery. He slid to a stop beside the collection of robots. Kyle Grayson was there, happily fiddling with his new toys
, and it was his help that Aaron needed.

“I need you,” he called out in a breathless rush. “Quit screwing with those robots and come on.”

Kyle looked surprised, but he seemed to hear the anxiety in Aaron’s tone and he quickly hopped up. “What do you need?”

“Our passenger says customs will do another inspection before we are allowed
to leave.” Kyle’s eyes widened, and Aaron rushed on. “I need you to slice into their computers. I need to know if he’s right and when to expect the inspector. Can you do that?”

“Course,” Kyle answered. He didn’t even wait to see if there was anything else before he sprinted off toward the interior of the ship.

Aaron paused only long enough to grab Susan, and then the two of them followed Kyle to engineering. The engineering section was actually in the main smuggling compartment, which was disguised as the original, oversized engines.

“I’m in,” Kyle called out as they ran up.

“What? Already?” Aaron asked, surprised.

“Please,” Kyle replied with a snort. “Their systems are so old and they don’t
even bother updating them.”

“Well?” Susan asked, watching Kyle’s screen intently. “Is the Ishek right?”

“Oh yeah,” Kyle said. His eyes never left the screen. “We’re supposed to take off in five hours, and they have an agent scheduled to inspect us in just under four.”

Susan glanced at Aaron. “That’s not enou
gh time to clear the cargo hold—not even close.”

Aaron nodded at Susan, but he addressed his question to Kyle. “Can you change that? Can you mark the ship as having passed inspection?”

“I can,” Kyle said slowly, “but I don’t think it’ll help.”

“Why not?”

“An agent has already been assigned. Someone will notice if you change the schedule,” Kyle replied.

Only one other idea
occurred to Aaron and he spoke it aloud. “Then we’ll have to kill the agent and you mark the ship as clear.”

Kyle shook his head. “Won’t work either.”

“Why?” Aaron demanded. He hoped Kyle wasn’t squeamish about killing.

“That agent has an outbound ship inspection every half hour. If we kill him, the next ship will be calling for him before we
even hit space.”

Aaron took a deep breath and cast around for any idea, any stroke of inspiration.
There had to be some way out of this. He cursed himself for not being more careful; he should’ve checked the spaceport regulations thoroughly.

Kyle was still busy typing on his keyboard. The
click, click, click
of his typing was constant, unfaltering, and then there was a pause. “Huh,” he said, nearly under his breath.

“What?” Aaron demanded.

Kyle chose to answer the question with a question. “What landing bay are we in?”

“Seventy-one,” Aaron answered. “Why?”

“Because,” Kyle said, pointing at his screen, “the
Berkheimer
in bay seventy-three is due to take off in three hours.” He leaned back from the screen and looked up at Aaron. “And she’s already cleared her customs inspection.”

Aaron looked to Susan. “What do you think?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No way we reach the Hasan point before they realize what’s going on.”

The Hasan point was the variable point where a star’s gravitational influence had fallen off enough that a starship could create a wormhole. The wormhole was what made interstellar travel possible.

Aaron knew Susan was correct. The authorities on Bathia would know something was going on, but with any luck, they wouldn’t know it until it was too late to catch them.

Aaron made the decision. “Get the ship ready for takeoff,” he said in Susan’s direction. He then glanced down at Kyle. “Route that ship’s name,
ID number, and the name of the captain to the bridge.”

It took nearly half an hour for the rest of Uri-alo’s family to arrive. It was good for them that they didn’t lollygag, as Aaron was beginning to give serious thought to leaving them; getting most of the family out alive was better than them all dying. Aaron was immensely relieved when the last one stumbled onto the ship.

Aaron closed the hatch and left Russell to get the Isheks locked into the passenger quarters;
he didn’t want the Isheks wandering around during takeoff.

Sprinting, Aaron ran the length of the ship and climbed onto the bridge.

The bridge of the
Long Shot
was at the very top of the ship and allowed both forward and aft views through the thick, transparent portals. The captain’s chair was in the middle, the pilot’s chair was in the front, and the other stations were arrayed around the outside of the circular bridge.

Adam was alre
ady sitting in the pilot’s seat, ready to go. Susan sat at the communications and sensor station, and she looked nervous. Kyle sat at the engineering station; it was unusual for him to be on the bridge, but Aaron wanted him close. The weapons station was empty and would remain so until Russell finished with the Isheks.

Aaron shot a look at Susan. “Everything ready?” he asked.

“Yes, sir,” she answered quickly.

He nodded and said, “Patch me through to Port Control then.”
His stomach was doing flip-flops, but they were past the point of no return. The plan was simple: Call Port Control and give the other ship’s name, then request an early departure. It wasn’t an unusual request for a merchant ship. He just hoped the real
Berkheimer
didn’t make the same request. Port Control would track their departure, but as the
Berkheimer
was in bay seventy-three, Port Control wouldn’t know the wrong ship had taken off until the real
Berkheimer
requested departure approval in several hours.

Susan pushed several buttons. It seemed like everyone on the bridge was holding their breath. She looked up and pointed at Aaron.

He glanced at the small computer screen beside the captain’s chair. “Port Control, this is Captain Jordan Hayes of the
Berkheimer
in bay seventy-three. We’re locked up and ready to go. Requesting permission for an early departure.”

The only response for a long moment was static, then a male voice said, “Acknowledged
Berkheimer
. Permission granted.”

Aaron exhaled deeply, just then realizing that he had been holding his breath. He glanced to Susan and swiped his
finger across his throat. She punched a button and the transmission cut off.

“Adam,” Aaron said quickly, “get us out of here.”

Adam’s hands flew over the controls and there was a slight jarring as the ship left the ground headed for space.

“Slow and steady,” Aaron said. “We’re supposed to be an old, slow merchant ship.”

“Yes, sir,” Adam said. He adjusted the controls and they slowed down a tad.

Aaron swiveled his chair in Susan’s direction. “Best guess on when we reach the Hasan point?”

Her hands were already typing on the keyboard, and then she set back in her chair and exhaled. “Around four hours.”

“Damn,” Aaron said. “Port Control will know something’s up in about two.”

It was a long and tedious couple of hours as
the
Long Shot
left the planet’s atmosphere and began pushing for the outer confines of the solar system. They maintained the slow pace that was expected of them, even though they were all itching to go full throttle. After getting the Isheks settled, Russell had joined them on the bridge; he now sat at the weapons console.

“Uh-oh,” Kyle said, breaking the silence.

Aaron’s stomach felt like it was dropping through the deck. “What is it?” he demanded.

Kyle looked up from his keyboard. “I’m still in the spaceport’s systems
, and they just ran a check to see who is supposed to be in bay seventy-one.”

Adam turned to look at Aaron. His unspoken question was obvious
:
Full throttle?

Before Aaron could even answer, Susan
said, “Incoming transmission.”

“On speaker,” Aaron replied.

Susan hit a button and a voice erupted from the speaker.

“Captain Tillson, you are ordered to immediately return to port or you will face dire consequences. I repeat, Captain Tillson . . .”

Aaron waved his hand, and Susan pressed the button again. The spaceport’s transmission promptly cut off.

“Full speed?” Adam asked.

Aaron was once again prevented from answering as Susan spoke up again.

“I got a ship on an intercept course,” she said.

Aaron stood and moved closer. He looked over Susan’s shoulder at the computer screen. The computer had identified the interceptor as an old Jayden destroyer. It was hopelessly outdated, but it was probably the best Bathia could afford.

“It’s moving fast,” Susan said, glancing up at Aaron. She looked past him at Adam. “Full speed,” she
ordered.

“Belay that,” Aaron called out. Susan and Adam both
stared at him questioningly. He glanced across the bridge to where Russell sat patiently. “Are you tracking it?”

“Yes,” Russell called out. “It’s on an intercept course, thirty degrees below us, gaining fast.”

“Yes, it is,” Aaron agreed, “too fast. That ship shouldn’t be able to move at that speed unless they’re running without shields.”

Susan
turned back to her console, her hands flying over the buttons. “Confirmed. Target is running without shields.”

“That’s crazy,”
Russell said. “Why would they take such a stupid risk?”

“Because they think we’re just a slow, old freighter,” Aaron said after a moment. He glanced to Adam. “Maintain course and speed.”

Adam swallowed hard and nodded his head.

Aaron turned his attention back to Russell. “Release a spread of mines,” he said softly.

“Passive or active?” Russell asked.

The
Long Shot
had been drastically upgraded by Kyle’s father, Charles Morgan. The weapon systems were beyond what any freighter should have installed. In this case, special tubes had been added between the engine exhausts that allowed mines to be dropped out the rear of the ship.

Active mines sou
ght out something in particular, be it a heat source, magnetic metal, or radio waves. The mines then maneuvered close to the object and exploded.

Passive mines were dumb objects that simply floated in space. If something collided with the mine, then there was one hell of an explosion.
Passive mines were harder to detect than active mines, but passive mines required a bit of luck, as there was no maneuvering them once they were released.

“Just release passive mines,” Aaron a
nswered Russell. “Narrow spread—try to get them in the path of that ship.”

Russell bent over his console
and went to work.

Aaron turned to Susan and quietly asked, “How long till that destroyer can open fire on us?”

“Seventeen minutes,” she said, having already requested the info from the computer.

“And how long until the Hasan point?” Aaron asked.

“One hour twelve minutes,” she answered without hesitation.

“Mines away,” Russell called out.

Susan touched several buttons and a screen lit up with a magnified view of the destroyer. It was small, but growing fast.

“Raise shields,” he said, nodding to Russell. Unlike the destroyer,
the
Long Shot
had power to spare; they could run full speed and have their shielding in place.

Aaron crossed over and sat down in the captain’s chair. Of all the things that he could be doing at that moment, the last thing on his list was to sit there patiently. But there was little else he could do; he had to put on a brave face for the crew. He didn’t watch the clock or keep a count in his head, so he was a bit surprised when Russell called out.

“Impact! Two maybe three mines have struck the destroyer.”

Aaron’s eyes flew to the screen. A horrible scene was playing out behind them. Russell had apparently done a good job with the mines. The destroyer had run up on them
without detecting them. The first mine had struck in the bow of the ship and ripped it open. The second, and possibly third mine, had struck the ship’s middle and the devastation was unbelievable. The ship had been nearly torn in two.