Gunship (10 page)

Reilly turned too and, in the most relaxed manner she could muster, casually walked up the ramp with her crew. Duv followed Skeeter, and they kept going towards the bridge while Chang punched the blast doors and closed up the ramp. It felt like a lifetime as they continued to move at a relaxed pace, firing up the ship, checking and rechecking the boards before taking off. None of them spoke. Having Ray and his security goons on board meant that there were probably some bugs now too. They all strapped in and Duv spent the next hour taking them back out through the asteroid field. Once through, Chang and Reilly swept the decks and found five surveillance devices, including two in Ty’s bunk area, two in the halls, and one in the mess area. They put the bugs out the air lock. Then they did a second sweep just to be sure. Finally, when everything came up clean, they made their way back up to the bridge.

Duv and Skeeter turned as Reilly and Chang stepped onto the bridge. “Are we all clear, Captain?”

Reilly nodded. “Now, how the hell did you spirit Ty away before we got back to the ship? Please tell me he’s not still somewhere back on that damn space station!”

Duv and Skeeter both grinned at each other.

“Actually, it was Skeeter’s idea, so I’ll let him tell it.” Duv sat back with a proud look on his face as he waved his son forward.

“Well, I knew if Crazy Ray was coming on board then Sergeant Ty was in trouble, especially with the Enforcer, because then the shield would be pretty obvious. And then I thought of the cows. Enforcers can detect heat, and but they target everything visually. They only do heartbeats if something messes up their optics, which were working fine on this one.”

“You hid him with the cows? We didn’t see him,” Chang said unbelievingly. “What kind of trick is this?”

Seth paused to shake his head and then continued. “While I was living down in the bulkhead, I didn’t want to get trapped, so I, uh, made some modifications to your ship just in case I needed to find another way out. Nothing too big, I swear!” he said as Reilly eyeballed him. “Anyway, I knew if I could get Sergeant Ty down there, he could hide out until after we left, so that’s what we did. Then I went and took his place up in his room.”

“And how do the cows come into this story?”

Reilly started to laugh. “I think I know what Seth did. C’mon, let’s go see.”

They all left the bridge and followed Reilly down to the cargo bay. The two cows still lay against the back wall, happily eating hay. Reilly walked to one of the lockers along the side of the bay and took out a thermal imager. She walked back to where they others stood and turned it on and started to laugh. On the screen was a big red-and-white heat spot from where the cows were lying together on the floor. She handed the device to Chang and went back to the locker, this time grabbing out one of the combat sights. She flipped the sight on and clicked it over to P for penetrate, a setting that allowed soldiers to see their enemies through walls during operations in enclosed areas. Now when they looked at the screen they could see the two cows lying on top of a human. Reilly moved the sight around, examining the modifications that Seth had made, clearly impressed by his ingenuity, while the others looked over her shoulder. The kid was smart, no doubt about it.

Reilly turned back to Seth. “Great job, really great job. That’s the kind of thinking that saves lives. Today it may have saved all of us, not just Ty. Seth, I want you to keep doing this. In fact, consider it your new job. You still report to Duv and Ty, but outside of that, I want you thinking about how to improve this ship. Talk to everyone and see what kinds of scenarios they’ve encountered in the past, then come up with solutions. You present them to me, and if I like one, you make it happen. Understood?”

Seth could barely contain his excitement. He nodded in agreement. “I’ve got some stuff to finish up, but then I’ll get working on it, Captain. Thanks, thank you a lot!” He took off to go finish up his daily tasks so he could get started on his new project.

Reilly smiled and turned to Duv and Chang. “I’ll see you guys later, need to go work out everyone’s cut and finalize a parts list. We’ll talk about our next stop at dinner.” She headed up the catwalk towards her room.

Duv and Chang put the sight and the thermal scanner away and walked over to open up the hatch. Chang suddenly stopped short and cleared his throat. “So how long is Ty supposed to stay down there?”

Duv caught on at once. “I guess until someone tells him he can come back up. Does he still have that hidden stash of cigars and Virilonian vodka somewhere in the common area?”

“Yep. The Captain is going to be working in her room, and we still have four hours until dinner…” They both grinned mischievously and headed back up towards the mess.

Ty, lying in the hold on Skeeter’s old blankets, dozed in the cramped space, snoring, tossing, and cursing to himself, waiting for someone to give him the all-clear sign. He could’ve sworn he had heard the Captain and Chang talking above him just a short while earlier. He sighed. With his luck, it was probably going to be a long wait.

Duv sent Skeeter down to let Ty out for dinner. He and Chang tried unsuccessfully to find the hidden compartment in the common room and finally gave up so they could finish their regular duties before eating. Reilly came in a bit early and settled into her leather chair in the corner, talking and joking with the rest of the crew as Chang and Skeeter set food out on the table. Ty demanded to hear what had happened during their visit to Crazy Ray’s, so they each recounted their piece of the story for him. When Skeeter finished up his part, Ty looked at him hard.

“I could be dead right now. We all could be if Crazy Ray had found me on board.” He waved Skeeter over from the table and reached for a bag next to the sofa he was lying on. It was an old army duffle, and he opened it up with care then rummaged through it until he found what he was looking for.

“I don’t know about anybody else, but I’m pretty sure we all agree you proved to this crew that you know what it means to be part of a team, to watch someone else’s back. So I want you to have this.”

Ty handed Skeeter an olive drab square and motioned at him to open it. Inside was a military jacket, somewhat worn but still wearable. It had a single stripe on each sleeve and the ISU marine emblem on the front left pocket.

“It was mine as a specialist. It’s been through a lot, got a lot of history, but it made it through and so did I.”

Skeeter quickly put it on. It was a little long in the arms, a little big in the chest, but he would grow into it. He looked back at Ty, who was pulling another package out of the duffle now.

“I asked the Captain and your dad on this one. They agreed that when we get planetside again and if you want, we can start running you through some of the ISU basic training drills, teaching you some stuff so you can start working missions and maybe earn a full cut on jobs. This was mine, too. It’s yours now.”

He finished unrolling the cloth, and inside was a battle rifle, the standard issue for the ISUs with a holosight. Skeeter sucked in his breath as Ty handed it to him. He had never had his own gun before, although he had shot several with the crew for practice. He slid his hand around the grip but made sure to rest his finger above the trigger, and checked to make sure the rifle was still on safe. He turned away from his audience and brought it up to his shoulder to see how it felt, making sure he kept the muzzle pointed at the wall. When he turned back around again, the rest of the crew was grinning at him.

“Let’s eat! I’m starving!” Ty reached for the plate Chang passed him. Skeeter set the rifle against the wall and chose to pull his chair up next to Ty, who started to tell him all of the specifics on the battle rifle and what made it such a great weapon.

They all bantered back and forth as they ate, Chang giving Duv a hard time about his flying in the asteroid field, Reilly assuring Ty that his title of “Wanted Man #3” was still secure and that Crazy Ray had increased the bounty on him, Duv giving Chang crap about his shooting, Skeeter telling them about the latest happenings with the space cows, and Reilly realizing that Duv and Chang hadn’t let Ty out of the hold for an additional three hours so they could search for his hidden stash. Ty bet them they would never find it, and then Reilly claimed she already had, which started the betting again on whether she had found it or if she had found another hiding place. She refused to reveal the location, though, much to Ty’s relief and the others’ chagrin. Finally, as dinner started to wind down, Reilly settled back into her chair and the crew looked at her expectantly.

“As you all know, we are way overdue for some downtime. We need to get the ship worked, and apparently I need to hire some additional crew”—she grimaced in Duv’s direction as he toasted at her with his coffee mug—“and now we have a new private who needs training!” At this they all clapped and cheered as Skeeter grinned and put his head down.

“So I could only really think of one planet that would work for all of this, since I don’t feel like making a bunch of stops.”

The crew perked up and waited.

“Duv, I’ll need you to plot us a course for Roen. We can head out right away.”

The crew hooted and clapped. Roen was an old military supply station that over time had been settled by ISU soldiers who had retired or gotten out and were looking for work. It was made up of several small towns surrounded by a dry, arid landscape of red dirt, scrubby trees, and small cactus. The planet was the closest thing to a home that any of them had, and it had been almost three years since their last visit. Travers, the largest town on the planet, had a decent space port and a population of around three thousand. Roen now served as the trade hub for the solar system, so Reilly would be able to find the parts and equipment she needed while Duv scouted for new crew members. Reilly scanned everybody’s handhelds to upload their credits from the day’s sales while the chatter continued for a bit longer and then began to break up as the crew took their leave to begin preparations for the trip. Ty had fallen asleep on the sofa after the meal, so rather than wake him, Chang tossed a military blanket over him and dimmed the lights while he finished cleaning the mess. The ship settled into its evening routine, but there was an air of excitement as the crew thought about their upcoming shore leave.

Reilly walked the ship, looking for any issues and thinking about the upcoming break. She liked the quiet, the familiar sounds of the ship whirring in the background as her boots tapped lightly on the metal walkways and stairs. She glanced down the main hall to see Duv and Skeeter with their heads together, looking over the route on the bridge display, then continued through the common area and down to the cargo bay, past the engine room, and then back up to the main level. She paused to check the wall console and noted the continued steady loss of oxygen. It was minor and they would have plenty to last them the next four days as they made their way to Roen, but in space, even minor problems could become major if you were complacent. The gravity generator was also showing a fractional loss. Reilly made a mental note to have Duv check it out in the morning. She strode down the hall a bit further and opened the door to one of the empty berthing rooms. It was dark, and the lights flickered on, slowly illuminating the area. Four people could comfortably fit, according to the faded military capacity sign on the wall. She snorted. They had fit eight hot bunking on twelve-hour shifts when she was still in the service, and there had been nothing comfortable about it. She glanced around, and for just a moment the ship came to life, people rushing down the hall, alarms sounding, she and the others grabbing their gear and pulling on body armor to head out. She shook her head and it was gone again, just a still, silent room.

Chang walked by and then came back, poking his head into the room. “Everything okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m good. Just reliving the hot bunking days aboard the Dark Angels.”

Chang settled on the opposite bunk with a shudder. “I’d rather not remember them. My bunkmate had a thing against using soap and deodorant. It was not pleasant.”

Reilly laughed. For all the challenges and difficulties and losses, there were just as many good memories, laughs, and friends like family from her time in the military. She never would have become a captain with her own ship without what she had learned there. Even her crew would’ve been different now if she hadn’t been in. She had a lot to be grateful for. She stood up and stretched, then headed for the door.

“So you going back to Roen after three years…I was beginning to wonder if we ever would.”

Chang’s words halted her mid-step. The downside to having crew she served with closely was that they knew each other’s ghosts. And wouldn’t hesitate to drag them out if they were concerned those ghosts might get in the way of the mission or crew safety. Reilly stayed silent.

“You know Ty and Duv will bring it up, too. Especially with everything that is going on. We all must maintain focus, and not everyone down there will be a friend.”

Gunny was right to ask, but it still irked her. She had been through a lot, some worse than Roen.
Some, but not much,
a little voice said quietly in her mind. That part of her was dead until someone felt the need to revive her memory of him and that day. Then it felt like dying all over again. She wanted to cuss Chang out for bringing it up, but at the same time, she knew if it had been her she would’ve asked too. Reilly bit her tongue, waited a moment more to speak, but still didn’t turn around.

“This is another job like any other. Only reason we haven’t gone back there sooner was because we’ve been on the far side of the galaxy. That’s it, nothing else. The past is the past, no need to go dragging up the dead. We’ve got more than enough on our plate without adding that.” She took another step towards the door.

“We run this ship no differently than when we were operational, we look out for each other, back each other up, and tell each other when or if we think we’re screwing up, because that’s why we’re all still alive. Your words and your rules, Captain.” Chang rubbed his face with his hand. “We respect them, which is why we are all here, and it is why I am asking you now—”

“Gunny, drop it. I appreciate the concern, I do, but I have no issue with going back to Roen. Otherwise we’d be going someplace else for refit. Make sure the others know, too. Don’t want to have this conversation more than once. Got to get back to those ledgers, so see you in the morning.” Reilly walked out and down the hall towards her room, leaving Chang alone in the empty bunk room with his thoughts.

—————

Reilly wasn’t the only one having an evening gone sour. Crazy Ray was irritated. These interruptions had been going on for the last hour. Vishon knew better than to let anyone bother him during his movie time. He toyed with the idea of sending him down to the detainment wing in the morning as a reminder. It would have been acceptable if Vishon had just arranged with him earlier. He truly never minded live target practice, as long as it was in his schedule. The doors to his room were now propped open by bodies. So far, three security team members had had the nerve to disturb his relaxation time, and for what? Some stupid ship demanding to speak with him? Well, they would find out soon enough that they had crossed the wrong person. Crazy Ray sighed. He would have to let the next one live so he could send him back to order the barrage gunners to open fire on his visitors. But then he brightened at the thought of having the man return to clean up the bodies, so he could shoot him when he was done. Vishon could clean up the last one. Comforted by that idea, he was settling back against the pillows on his sofa and preparing to hit play on his most recent torture video when he detected the slow shuffle of someone approaching. He set the remote back down and picked up his blaster again. The door wiggled against the bodies, started to open, then swung closed. Crazy Ray rolled his eyes impatiently. Maybe it would be better to just shoot this one too, he thought, the rage growing within him. The door wobbled, and this time a hand reached around to pull it open, away from the bodies. In the passageway stood Vishon, eyes wide, holding his own throat. Blood gushed through his fingers as he tried to stagger into the room. Crazy Ray jumped to his feet and walked towards the door, head cocked at a sharp angle, not quite believing his eyes. As Vishon started to sway and then slide down the wall to join the others, Crazy Ray grabbed for the piece of paper tacked to his chest. He looked at it, grinned maniacally and then crumpled it up. It landed next to Vishon, who was now gasping like a fish out of water. Crazy Ray looked blankly at his business manager for a moment, then knelt next to him and kissed his forehead.

“Vishon, you did your best work for me. I am sorry to see you go, and know that I will deal harshly with whomever did this to you.” Crazy Ray stood up and fired a single round into Vishon’s chest as he stepped over the bodies and strode out the door. He couldn’t have anyone seeing him responsible for this act of kindness. They might think he was getting soft. He would send for a cleanup team later, but first he would deal with his rude guest in the most severe manner he could think up.

Blood began to soak through the paper on the floor, blotting out the message. It read, “So can we talk now?”

—————

Duv swung up and into the crawl space. He had a full face mask on with an oxygen bottle and a lightweight exposure suit. Behind him, Skeeter peered in through the hatch, with Ty moodily standing behind him. Reilly had mentioned the oxygen leak and the gravitational loss that morning over coffee. Chang had also mentioned cleaning the cargo bay. Faced with a choice of cleaning up after the cows or risking life and limb to check the space between the interior and exterior hulls, Duv had chosen the latter. Skeeter and Ty quickly volunteered to handle the safety line and pass him any tools he might need. They stood at the back of the mech room in suits with breathing gear at the ready in case the hull breached.

Duv moved forward slowly, shining his light on the walls and checking for stress cracks or other damage. The accessway led to a series of smaller crawlspaces that would open to the exterior hull. His handheld showed the blueprint of the ship in bright green lines and identified areas of stress in the hull on a color gradient. He scanned each access port as he crawled by until he found one that zoomed to a yellow-orange-colored spot.

“Think I found it. Stand by for access hatch opening.”

Ty and Skeeter donned their masks and waited. Duv cracked the door open slowly. He could feel the change in air flow indicating a leak and waited to see if anything blew. After a few uneventful moments, he pushed the door open completely and crawled in. The handheld showed a larger orange spot ten feet further down in addition to the weakened spot he had in front of him.

“Yep. We got a couple leaks and some severely weakened hull points. I need the mini arc welder and some extra plating and welds.”

“Roger. Heading to you.” Skeeter grabbed the items and crawled in, clipping into the safety line while Ty anchored them both. Gravity was at its lowest here, so the normally bulky plating was easy to move along. He handed off the equipment to Duv and headed back to the hatch.