Hold the Star: Samair in Argos: Book 2 (84 page)

              “What about the tanker ship, Captain?” the woman, Cago, asked from the helm.  “What if they direct us to that instead of to the station for refueling?”

              The captain sighed.  That had been one of his worries as well, but the middleman who had come and explained this mission had told him to do whatever it took to get the ship to the station.  They’d said that ‘provisions would be made’ to get the fueling tanker away so that they would have to dock at the station, but the agent hadn’t said anything about a warship coming out to meet his ship, or the tanker still being at the damned station when they arrived.  “Shit,” he murmured to himself.  “This was supposed to be a milk run.  Get out to the station, let the mercs out, let them do their thing and then we all just sit back and watch.”  He swore again.

              “Captain?” Cago asked.

              He swallowed hard and seemed to regain a measure of control.  “Everybody stay cool.  We’re just flying out to the station to get fuel.  If the corvette wants to escort us in, we let them.”  He grimaced.  “It’s not as though we can do anything to stop them anyway.”

              “Captain, the
Kara
has sent us a message back,” Ykzann replied.  “They say they welcome our escorting them into the station.”

              Tamara nodded.  “Thank you, Mister Ykzann.  Helm, match our course and speed with the freighter.”

              “Aye, aye, Captain,” Wymea said from the helm, slewing the corvette around in a wide turn to bring the corvette on the same course as the
Kara
.

              Tamara watched her displays from her command seat.  She could see the local area traffic, most of which was staying well clear of the lane that the two larger ships were using, something which she took for granted really, since all of the ships in the nearby area were company assets, all following the traffic patterns set down by the controllers on the Kutok mine.  She did notice one of the bigger sensor returns in the local area beginning to move away from the mine and she brought it up on her main display.  The tanker ship was leaving its parking orbit and a few keystrokes by Tamara showed its projected course: deeper in system, headed for the habitable planet and most likely the orbital.

              She turned to the comms officer.  “Send a message to the tanker ship, query their intentions and destination.”

              “Yes, Captain.  The reply will be coming in nine minutes, assuming they answer right away.”

              Tamara nodded.  Light speed lag was annoying.  “Very good,” she answered.  She contented herself with monitoring the shuttles and tugs buzzing around the mine as well as those near the
Samarkand
.  Finally, the reply came back. 

“Captain, the tanker is responding,” the zheen said.  “They’re heading out to the orbital, apparently the authorities there have just put in an order for a full load of helium 3 fuel for the station.”

Tamara whistled appreciatively.  That was a
lot
of fuel on board the tanker, but if the admins on the station, or the engineers wanted to make a purchase that large, she wasn’t going to argue.  So long as the payment voucher cleared, she didn’t much care who bought their fuel.  “Send an acknowledgement, please,” she ordered.  She settled herself more comfortably into her command seat, knowing that there would be several hours yet before the
Kara
reached the mine.

              The
Kara
was about an hour out from the station when Glacis Ghovorak received the call from the ship’s captain.  He immediately went out to his soldiers and began readying them for the assault.  His soldiers had been coolly waiting, playing cards, reading books, chatting to themselves, even sleeping.  The others that Glacis had brought in were less than controlled.  It would have been accurate to say that many of them were chewing on the bulkheads with excitement.  The group leaders were doing all they could to maintain order among the troops, although it was clear that many of them were sharing the same levels of excitement about the upcoming operation.  Many of the soldiers had seen limited combat operations and hadn’t lost the luster of it all.  None of them had ever fought on a space station, however, even his own soldiers.

              But it wouldn’t be that different from storming a compound planetside.  Just make sure that no one breached the hull, make sure that hatches were opened and closed properly and of course, seize the control center and environmental compartments as quickly as possible.  Simple.  Glacis nodded to himself just as the call came in from the bridge.

              “Yes?”

              “Sir,” the comms officer said, her voice shaking.  “Um… you wanted to be informed when we were an hour from the station?”

              “Yes, thank you.  Any problems?”

              There was a slight pause.  “Oh, no.  No, sir.  No problems.  The other ship is… um… still following us as escort, but they’re not doing anything to bother us.  Just like they want to look tough in front of us.”

              Glacis nodded, even though he knew that she couldn’t see him.  “Thank you.  Please keep me informed if there are any changed.”

              “Y-yes, sir,” she replied nervously. 

              He ended the call, turning to his group leaders.  “All right, one hour until we dock.  Get everyone ready, last minute checks.  I know that we’ve all been going crazy on this ship waiting for us to finally get there, but it’s time.”

              The others smiled and nodded, one of them rubbed his hands together in anticipation.  It had been far too long; this trip, between contracts, Glacis knew that his soldiers were getting fat and lazy.  He was glad that this contract came along, it would give them all a chance to get back to what they were good at, what they’d been trained for.  And a hell of a payday afterward wouldn’t hurt.

Chapter 28

              “Kutok Mine docking control, this is the
Kara.
  Requesting instructions for docking and fueling operations,” the freighter’s comms officer said, putting a dull drone into his voice, as though this was just one more routine operation.

              “
Kara,
this is Kutok mine Docking Control,” a voice came back.  “Reduce your speed to fifteen and continue on course.  Further instructions to follow.”

              The captain nodded.  “You heard the man, helm,” he ordered.  “Do what they say, get us docked with the station, nice and easy.”  He looked over at the comms officer.  “Call Mister Ghovorak and tell him we should be docking within the next ten minutes.”

              Tomas and Garank were standing at the far end of the airlock as the
Kara
was locked down.  It was a momentous occasion, the first non-company ship to be docking here at the station for refueling.  The Chief wanted things to go smoothly, and so far the security forces aboard had done a good job of keeping order but this would be their newest test.  Eventually, more freighter or warship crews would be coming here when their ships would be in for refueling, to patronize the shops and bars aboard the gas mine, so if the crew of this ship wanted to come aboard for last liberty before shipping out to parts unknown, then Corajen was going to make sure that things went smoothly. 

              She had two of her deputies keeping an eye on things in the compartment outside the airlock, with six more waiting in the small security office nearby.  All of them were only lightly armed, wearing no armor over their uniforms, only pistol stunners on hip holsters, but there was a small cache of heavier weapons in the security office.  Until now, the deputies hadn’t needed anything more and it didn’t seem as though they would just to handle a bunch of freighter bums.  There was no reason to believe otherwise. 

              Corajen was monitoring the docking from the main security office, which was just off of the main commercial section of the station, three decks away from the docking bay.  She tapped a claw on the desk, watching as the airlock started to cycle.  She activated her comms.  “Get unit three up to the docking bay,” she ordered.  “I want to make sure this new crew understands how things work here.  No mistakes.”  Sending another six deputies up there should be more than enough to keep things under control.

              “Forward squads, you know what to do,” Ghovorak ordered.  “Get in fast before they can lock us out.”

              One of the soldiers, a well-muscled man with dark hair, nodded.  “You got it, Boss.  Breachers, let’s go.  You heard the man, we get in there fast.”  They looked over at the display at the hatch of the airlock.  After a very long moment, the atmospheric indicator for the airlock switched from red to green.  “Good seal; move it out!”

              Garank’s antennae twitched as the airlock opened.  He’d been on the station since the first round of security officers had been hired by Chief Nymeria; he’d been impressed by the lupusan and of course with the opportunity to get to work in space.  The last few weeks on the station had been good and relatively easy.  The chief’s training regimen had been intense and now with the influx of new crew on the station, he’d been earning his paycheck.  But there was still something to be said about the first civilian freighter to make a stop here at the station.  The very first one that wasn’t a company ship.  Granted, so far,
everyone
who had come here for refueling was a resident of Seylonique, with the exception of Captain Eamonn and the remainder of his crew on the bulk freighter.  And Commander Samair, of course. 

              He was all set to see a group of spacers step through the airlock as the hatch cycled open, dressed in shipsuits, maybe carrying a duffel or two.  When a troop of soldiers, zheen, human and others, came bursting through the hatch, weapons drawn, Garank didn’t even think.  He dove to the side, his stunner in his fist, energy bolts spraying toward the soldiers.  “Get down!” he yelled to his partner, who hadn’t moved as quickly.

              The soldiers didn’t hesitate.  They opened up with their weapons and billets and needles crashed into the bulkhead where Garank and his partner had been standing just an instant before.  Hissing and buzzing loudly in near panic, Garank continued firing.  Reaching up, he grabbed a fistful of the man’s uniform tunic front and yanked.  And an instant later the man dropped to the deck with a boneless thump.  Garank turned his head slightly and he saw that a pool of blood rapidly spreading from his partner, who was lying lifeless on the deck, a number of holes in his uniform from needle strikes.  With another hiss, the deputy got to his knees and scrambled out of the hatch into the next compartment.  Reaching up, he slapped the control and the hatch to the compartment slid closed. 

              He lay against the bulkhead for a second, his fear momentarily overcoming his training.  He buzzed constantly for those few seconds before he finally recovered.  Clambering to his feet, he palmed the lock, which thankfully responded to his palm print, sealing the door.  He activated his wrist comm.  “Security, this is Garank.  We have armed intruders in the docking bay.”

              There was a heavy thump against the hatch, as though someone with great mass had tried to shoulder through the metal. 

              He hissed again.  “They killed Dobson,” Garank said with a near constant hum emanating from his thorax.

              “Get out of there, Garank,” Corajen’s voice responded.  “Fall back to the security office there.  We’re bringing up everyone we have.”

              “But Chief, they killed him,” the zheen said.  The boss just didn’t seem to understand that his partner was dead.  She didn’t understand that the station, this safe, civilian station had just been invaded by a hostile force.  Who could it be?  Pirates?  But that didn’t make sense.  No other ships had come to the orbital station, except for company ships and…

              Another hammer blow slammed into the hatch and all thought was pushed from Garank’s head.  He ran down the corridor just as the door exploded outward in a shower of sparks and shrapnel.  The hatch clanged against the far bulkhead, but Garank didn’t even stop to look.  He pelted down the corridor and skidded into the security office.

              “They’re coming!” he bellowed.  The others looked up from what they were doing, either grabbing weapons or slipping on chest body armor.  The looks of determination and poorly-hidden fear that they sent back his way didn’t do anything to bolster his confidence.  He could feel that his own level of anxiety rising and he did his best to stamp it down.  “They’re right behind me!” he said, rushing forward.  One of the deputies wrapped the body armor over his chest, strapping it down with Velcro.  While they were doing that, Garank stuffed the stunner back in its holster and grabbed one of the three remaining assault rifles from the rack.  The deputy slapped him on the back letting him know the armor was secure and Garank stepped up to the ammo box and grabbed three magazines and stuffed them in his pockets.  “Go!” he yelled and the seven of them burst forward out into the corridor.

              “Shit!” Corajen swore, jumping up from her desk, grabbing her rifle.  A moment later she was into the weapon’s locker, yanking out her armored vest and putting it on.  Strapping a needler to her thigh and her meter-long blade to her back, she pulled out several clips of ammunition.  As she was just slapping the magazine into her rifle, five of her deputies rushed into the main office and made a beeline for the locker.  “Weapons, armor, let’s go!” she demanded.  “Move!  We’ve got to get there and cut them off before they make it to any of the critical areas.”  A second later, they were ready, strapping on armor as they ran, the lupusan loping forward in front of them with her rifle raised.  As she ran, Corajen was on comms calling to the Operations Control room.

              “Yes, Chief,” Tiyaana Moreetz, one of the Ops controllers, responded.  She was a young woman, in fact, one of the youngest employed by the company, but her skill in handling the employees, workers and schedules had been unsurpassed by anyone but Stella aboard the
Grania Estelle
.  After barely a week on the payroll, Tamara had appointed her to Operations and a week after that, the young woman was smoothing out schedules and making sure the station was running efficiently.

              “We have armed hostile intruders in the docking bay!” the lupusan barked.  “Put the station on alert status, contact Commander Samair on the
Cavalier
and get her up to speed.”

              Tiyaana, her mind normally so sharp and so quick, suddenly blanked.  It couldn’t be true.  Invaders?  From where?  “Is this another drill, Chief?” she asked tentatively.  The security chief was notorious for her surprise drills and the staff had started to get weary of them.

              “No, stars damn it!” the chief spat.  “This is
not
a fucking drill!”  She sounded like she was running.  “Check the damned security feeds!”

              Tiyaana pressed a few controls, activating her displays.  She saw armed soldiers rushing out from the airlock and the blood drained out of her face.  She slammed her hand down on the emergency alert button and klaxons immediately began blaring.

              Glacis smiled, though he didn’t know that he was doing it.  “Well, we’re in it now,” he said.  The squad with him boiled out of the docking bay and through the ruined door.  “Move!” he shouted.  The corridors were empty for the moment, but as they rushed around the corner, they ran into a group of security deputies that were kneeling, against the bulkheads, trying to find some semblance of cover.  Their weapons opened fire and four of his soldiers went down, either wounded or dead, Glacis didn’t even spare them a glance.  There was no time.  He raised his own weapon and returned fire, diving to the deck as he did.  Needles and bullets went over his head, missing him by mere centimeters.

              He fired back at them, but he was pinned where he was.  Rolling to his right, bullets ricocheted against the metal of the decking, where he’d been only an instant before.  He fired again, hitting one of the deputies in the leg, who went down, screaming.  But now he was pressed against the bulkhead with nowhere to go.

              The clomping of booted feet signaled the arrival of more of Ghovorak’s soldiers, which distracted the security troopers long enough for Glacis to shoot another of them, roll to his feet and retreat down the corridor.  One of his men took a shot in the face as Glacis was pulling back, his falling body nearly tripping the mercenary leader.  He and his soldiers retreated down the corridor, one of the soldiers tossing a flash bang to cover their retreat.  The security troopers tried to rush them but were stopped dead as the grenade went off.  Unfortunately, Glacis couldn’t take advantage of this as another small group of station security arrived, guns blazing.

              The smile on his face grew ever wider as the fighting intensified.  He took careful aim and shot one of the defenders in the chest, dropping the human instantly.

              “What the hell is going on?” Leicasitaj demanded from the bridge of the
Cavalier
.  He’d just been summoned from his quarters where he had been about to get some rest when he’d been called back up to the bridge because of some emergency on the station.  “It’s not another false alarm again, is it?”

              Three weeks ago, during one of the Security Chief’s training drills, one of the comm specialists had panicked and sent out an emergency alert.  All the company ships in the system had responded to the call, which much to their ire they had discovered was nothing.  The rather embarrassed and harassed comm specialist had been demoted to scut work in order to make up for his grievous error.  It hadn’t been a total loss, the Romigani had decided.  It allowed them all to work out their response procedures, something that had obviously been lacking.  There was no need to recall all the tugs and shuttles to deal with some sort of an alert on the station unless the situation was truly dire.  Eventually, yes, they might need to be called in, but the station had its own quartet of shuttles, capable of handling SAR and other such duties.  The
Samarkand
and other ships might not be anywhere near the station when the call went out, and even at full acceleration, it would take hours, possibly days for the constructor ship to get to the mine to help out.  So, it took about a week to get things back on schedule, after the false alarm had scrambled everything.

              “No, sir,” Ykzann replied.  “There is a genuine alert going out from the station.  I have a transmission from Operations.”

              “Put it on speakers,” the squid ordered, flopping into the command seat. 

              “
This is the Kutok gas mine to all FP company assets in the nearby system.  We have been boarded by an armed hostile force, which are attempting to take control.  They came aboard from the freighter
Kara
.  Security forces are hard pressed to hold them off.  We need immediate assistance.  Message repeats.  This is the Kutok gas mine…
” 

              Leicasitaj nodded, waving one of his tentacles nervously.  He pressed a stud on the command chair.  “Commander Samair?”