Twin Stars 1: Ascension (7 page)

“He will fend for himself.”

* * *

The moment the shuttle docked with the pirate carrier
Belleflower
, Ping An connected herself to the ship’s link system- going over their current status and everything the carrier had about the orbital transfer station’s crisis. As a result, when she and the rest of her team reached the ship’s bridge, she had already decided what needed to be done.

Sitting some 200km away from the transfer station, the
Belleflower
was a modified heavy cargo carrier turned into a platform for carrying smaller assault craft and troops. With its original outer hull design intact, it could still pose as a cargo ship and get in close with its prey. The perfect machine for carrying out raids on targets like orbital stations and supply depots, which was Camus’s bread and butter.

And now, Camus is dead.
Thought Ping An, standing on the bridge. She glanced at the command chair-
should I take it?
She wondered. It wasn’t the act of taking Camus’s seat that bothered her, it was the timing and how it might look to the crew.

She decided to stand.

“Leederman, what’s our status?”

The young man had taken the operations seat, he was second rank bridge crew, but the woman whose seat he had taken had died in the docking ring, and he was next in line. All around the bridge Ping An could see other second rankers settling into positions they normally only occupied during the off shifts when nothing was expected to happen.

Now they’re the main crew.
She mused.
My crew.

“Ships systems are green, all Gunrigs are ready for launch, assault shuttles are prepped and boarding crews are loaded.” Leederman reported, swiveling to look at her. “Awaiting your orders, Captain.”

The rest of the bridge crew followed suite- all eyes were on her. She was Camus’s Number Two and the logical choice.

This is it.

“Leederman, give me your assessment of the situation.”

“Okay,” he nodded, then called up a holographic display. “The transfer station is in a decaying orbit,” he told them. “Someone has used the stationkeeping systems to push it toward the planet, and while we were en-route back to the ship there was another explosion in the command hub. It’s a safe bet those freaks from the docking zone were behind it- that bastard you fought said that he was trying to make sure nobody got away. My bet is we’re not dealing with a pirate clan, and there’s no sign of any other pirate ships in the area. The only defense ship nearby is that Cutter, and it’s crippled and next to useless.”

Ping An smiled inwardly; she hadn’t been the only one preparing for their moment. “I agree.”

“So, if you want my opinion- I think we should make our move now and grab what we can while there’s still cargo to snatch.”

“How long before they hit atmosphere?”

“Two hours, twenty three minutes,” one of the crew reported.

She nodded and looked back at Leederman. “And you think we should go into that, Leederman? Despite the risk?”

She saw him hesitate, and made her move.

“Too risky, I’m not going to lose any more people today.” She dismissed his plan with a wave of her hand. “You’re also missing the obvious- take a look out there in orbit around the station- what do you see?”

“Uhh,” Leederman looked at the display. “Ships?”

“How many” She pressed.

“Well…Lots.”

“Owned by who?”

“Merchants, Companies, and people who fled the station.”

“So why should we try to board a burning station to get cargo when our targets have already come out to us? Do you think any of them can put up a fight?”

She gave them a moment to let that sink in, she was the top dog now - there would be no challengers, and then she continued. “Bring us in slowly, and try not to get too close to the station. If the transfer station goes down, we grab the small fry and go, but, if they save the station.” She paused and smiled. “Then it’s all ours.”

* * *

Aboard the transfer station, sirens echoed through empty streets.

Mere hours ago, the habitat zone had been alive with revelry, and now…Lieutenant Albert Tysen walked among the desolation, frowning at the senseless chaos of it all.

“Any word from Sir Fawn?” He asked, turning to look at his companion. Esther was kneeling down nearby in front of the remains of a jewelery stall, picking up the scattered goods in a childlike gesture. She looked up at him and shook her head.

“You could evacuate,” she told him. “This station will soon be destroyed.”

He took note of the word “you” in that sentence.

“You’re not leaving?”

“No,” she said, a hint of sadness entering her normally calm demeanor. “I must wait for Sir Fawn to return.”

“And if he’s dead?”

Tysen regretted the question immediately- how could he have said something so cruel? Even though she was a Squire she could still have feelings, and here he was crushing her hopes out of a selfish desire for…what?

But if Esther felt anything at his words, she didn’t show it.

“Then...I will evaluate his standing orders and decide the best course of action.”

Tysen looked at her, and then turned away.

“Fine, suit yourself. Station control may be gone, but there’s still auxiliary control…I could head down there, but…I don’t know if I could make it in time…”

Tysen called up a map of the station into his field of view, perhaps there was a lift tube he could use nearby.

"Hey Al! You there?"

Tysen almost jumped in surprise as a little Augmented Reality window with an image of Kip popped open in front of him. It was an icon, not the actual person, who was likely too busy to stand in front of a visual input screen.

“Kip?!?” Tysen exclaimed, feeling a sudden rush of hope. “Kip! What’s the status of the
Crystal Leaf?
”

"Just like we expected, I’m afraid," came a saddened reply. "The Captain’s gone, so’s the X-O. The ship’s self-repair systems are going great guns, though."

But that wasn’t what Tysen was focused on- “Can she move? Do you have communications?”

He felt a feeling like a mental shrug. "Sure, we lost the command deck, but the rest of the ship is fine as long as we don’t need to jump or fight."

“Kip, the station is falling. I need her to nudge us back into orbit. Can she do it?”

"Sounds like a big job, but you’re the boss!"

It would be a big job, likely too big for just the Cutter. Tysen thought quickly- “There should be a bunch of cargo haulers around you, transfer operational command to me here and see if you can conscript any other ships in the area to help.”

"You got it, Lieutenant."

Standing along in the empty street, AR windows suddenly began appeared in the air all around Tysen, giving him a complete display of the command systems and operations of the
Crystal Leaf
. The damage was indeed still bad, but even as he watched different systems were already coming back online.

We can do this.
He thought as he set to work.
I’m not going to let this station go down without a fight.

* * *

“The Imperial Cutter is moving.”

Ping An nodded, watching the main display. “Looks like it wasn’t dead after all. They’re moving to try and push the station back into orbit, right?”

Leederman looked up at her, surprised. “Yes, how’d you know?”

“It’s what I would have done. Are they asking the cargo ships in the area to help?”

“More like ordering.” Justin answered from communications. “We just got their hail.”

“So, what do we do?” asked Leederman.

Ping An frowned as she focused on the image in front of her, and the path was before her, but did she see the best solution? This would be a big gamble, but if she handled it right…

“Put the Gunrigs on standby for immediate launch. We’re going in.”

* * *

Tysen watched the clusters of smaller ships gather around the station in his display.

Each ship had a gravitic drive that allowed it to move freely through space, and by extending the fields of their generators they could in theory move the station back into orbit. The problem was how many ships were available to help and how much of the station’s mass they could effect. Once the station had started to move towards the planet they were fighting both the station’s momentum and the gravity of the planet itself. Not an easy feat.

Tysen wished there was time to send a ship to get help, but it would take days for them to get to the nearest system and return with more ships, and they didn’t even have hours, much less days.

At long last, an AR window reappeared with Kip’s real face on it. His frazzled red hair more of the mess than usual, and his forehead smudged with sweat and burnt carbon.

"It’s no good, Lieutenant. Even with the cargo haulers helping it’s like ants trying to push a grapefruit."

“And we need bigger ants.”

“That’s about the size of it,” then Kip’s tone changed to one of concern. “Al, I really recommend you get to an escape pod. We can pick you up when this is all over and…”

Tysen cut him off.

“No, Lieutenant. If this station goes down, those pods will be needed by the families on board. I’ll stay as long as I can.”

That bought him a lopsided and slight amused smile. "Al, didn’t anyone ever tell you that Nobles only do that in the dramas? Keep it up and I might start to believe you’re not such a bunch of asses after all!" Then Kip shrugged in resignation. "Alright. You’re the...Hey, wait a minute! Al, there’s another ship incoming. A big one!"

Tysen stopped talking- dare he hope?

He brought up a readout on the ship, it looked to be one of the heavy haulers used in mining, but something about it struck him as odd. He magnified the image, and then he saw them. The cargo hauler had pulled back housings to reveal missile launch ports, and even worse- Gunrigs. Makeshift combat drones used by almost exclusively by rebels and…

“Pirates.”

Not now, dammit!
Tysen cursed inwardly. He had enough problems to deal with and now this?

“Kip, tell the haulers to scatter, and get the
Crystal Leaf
between that ship and the station. Try to buy the refugees what time you can.”

Kip nodded as a look of resignation came on his face and he said, "Al, the pirates are hailing us. You want I should answer?"

“I’m in command. Link it through to me directly.”

"Done. Audio only."

Another AR box appeared in Tysen’s field of vision, this one contained a roughly human silhouette on a grey background.

"Is this the Captain of the Star Guard Cutter
Crystal Leaf
?"

The voice was distorted; all he could tell was that it might be female.

“The Captain is dead. I’m the officer in charge- Lieutenant Tysen. To whom am I speaking?”

"I am the Captain of the Raider
Belleflower
, representing the Volkstag Pirate Clan." There was a clear playful tone in the voice. "It seems you have a problem, Lieutenant Tysen, one that perhaps I might be able to help with."

This is a damn odd way to ask for surrender
, Tysen thought.
What does she really want?

“Go on.”

"My ship is a converted high gravity hauler with larger than normal gravitic drives. With our help you might just be able get that station back into orbit."

“And,” he said with suspicion. “In return for this you get?”

There was a short pause, then "Peace of mind? The knowledge we did our good deed for the day?"

She’s laughing at me
, Tysen tried to fight down his growing anger.
She knows she has the upper hand and she’s laughing at me.

“Look,” he snapped. “We don’t have time for this- just tell me what you want!”

"You’re not very experienced at this negotiation stuff, are you?" She mocked. "Okay then. I want all the cargo containers from the industrial storage hub. All of them. Give me that with no interference, and I’d say we’re even."

“Done.” Tysen didn’t even skip a beat. “Anything else?”

"Al! What are you doing? You don’t have the authority to do that!"

Tysen didn’t even bother to switch to a private link. “Shut up, Kip. I’m in charge and there’s half a million people on this station- they’re not going to die because I put cargo over their lives.” He glanced beside him, where Esther was watching him carefully, he ignored her.

“So, Lady Captain, do we have a deal?”

* * *

"The station is back in a stable orbit," Kip sighed. "We’re done."

It had been a long two hours since Tysen had traded cargo for the lives of the people aboard the Miraposa Three OTS, and Tysen had spent most of that time going over the events- wondering if he’d made the right call.