Hunter Legacy 11: Home Is Where the Hero Is (10 page)

"That went well, I thought," said
a voice behind me, and I whirled around to verify who it was.

The Keeper stood there grinning at me.

The front of his clothes were covered in
blood, and most of the rest of him was sprayed as well. The room itself didn’t
have a lot of other colour than blood red. I'd made a mess.

Movement behind the Keeper drew my
attention. Jane burst into the room, took in everything at a glance, and strode
past me without a word. Amanda and Aleesha, in 'slinky red', not combat armour,
followed at her heels. Alison was right behind them, and also not in armour. As
a group, they went straight over to Sarah. Alison plucked the baby from her
arms, and Jane picked her up. They headed for the door as fast as was safe,
given the slick nature of the floor.

As they went past, I shifted their suits
back to belts, so they wouldn’t impede a medical checkup.

Amanda knelt, and pressed her fingers to
the throat of Objectionable.

"We got a live one here," she
said, and proceeded to unbuckle his belt, slip if off, and tighten it above the
stump.

Carter shot in the door, slipped on the
blood, and went down. She skidded for a bit, gained her knees, and duck waddled
the rest of the way. She pulled her backpack off, and started to work on him.
Several of her team followed soon after, one pulling a portable care unit.
Within minutes, he was placed in the care unit, and it was pulled out as fast
as was safe. Carter was covered in blood. She gave me a withering look as she
left, but said nothing. The Keeper's grin grew wider.

"Sitrep," I said to the twins,
before they too could leave.

I'd been listening to team coms in the
background, so I had a good idea, but I hadn't really been paying attention to
the details. I'd been a little busy at one point.

"Mining base secured," said
Amanda. "We stunned everyone coming in. Most had guns anyway so it seemed
prudent."

"We found the miners locked in a store
room," added Aleesha.

"No offense boss," said Amanda,
"but you two need a shower."

They grinned at me, and I waved them
permission to leave. I turned to the Keeper, but let the girls get out of
earshot before I dropped myself out of team coms.

"How are you alive?" I asked him.

"It’s a kind of magic," he
responded, still grinning.

"Magic? You're going with that?"

"Sure. It was really only a parlor
trick. I'm wearing body armour, and I added some stage effects under my
clothes."

"Why?"

"It was pretty obvious they were going
to shoot me, and since head shots require a good aim, and none of these people
really know how to use a gun, then a chest shot was the most likely. So I gave
them what they expected to see."

"Why didn’t you just ask me for a
belt?"

"Where's the fun in that? Besides, if
I'd been wearing a belt, it would have alerted them to the fact they had a real
problem, and things might have really gone pear shaped."

I shook my head in wonder.

"You do need a shower as much as I
do," he went on. "Shall we?"

I nodded and led the way out. My PC popped
up an arrow to follow. I turned team coms back on.

"General? Sitrep please."

"Both ships secured. Prisoners are
being transferred to station security as we speak."

"Good-oh. Have Jane dock both ships
again."

"Confirmed."

Jane had been listening in, of course.

The Keeper suddenly pulled me to a stop.

"The council wants to see us
immediately," he said.

"Now?"

"Now."

"Like this?"

"Apparently. But I doubt they know
exactly how we look."

"Okay."

I let him lead me the rest of the way to
the Lightning, where we found Jane waiting for us. She flew us to the station's
shuttle dock. While we crossed space, I pinged Walter.

"General, you don’t happen to have an
Engineering corps you can do without for a year?"

"I might. What for?"

"These mining asteroids. We're going
to need masses of resources for building here in space and dirtside. And we're
going to need as much living space as we can make."

"Yes. So?"

"Engineers could streamline the mining
of more asteroids, and turning them into habitats."

"I'll ask. If it can be done, it will
be. Should I ask for more mining crews as well?"

"Good idea, yes. But they need to be
here before the Door closes, and for now, they can't know where they are going,
just that it's a one year gig minimum."

"Leave it with me."

Jane docked us at the main shuttle bay on
the station. I followed the Keeper to the council chamber, Jane following along
behind us both. At some point along the way, I caught a glimpse of a combat
suit doing rearguard. The insignia on it looked like BA's. It wasn’t until we
arrived, it occurred to me we could have showered in the Lightning. Oh well.

The council looked shocked as we walked in.
I couldn’t help it, but burst out laughing, and the Keeper joined me.

"What's so funny?" came from the
left side.

"You're faces," answered the
Keeper.

"Are you hurt?" came from the
right.

"Not our blood," I said.

If anything, that made them even more
shocked.

"What happened?" asked American
Indian.

The Keeper pointed to the empty seat on the
right.

"That happened."

All heads turned to the empty seat. Then
back to us.

"Kindly be more specific."

The Keeper nodded to me. I sighed, and then
took a deep breath.

"Your fellow councilor abducted my
ex-girlfriend and my son. We were told to present ourselves or they would be
killed. We did so. I warned them, and suggested they surrender quietly. Your
councilor friend shot the Keeper, then shot Sarah. I cut the arm holding the
gun off around the elbow, and then had to defend myself against twenty one
other people in the room who all tried to kill me at the same time."

"And what happened to them?"

"All dead. Except your fellow
councilor, who was alive last I saw him. One of my people stopped him bleeding
out, and he had a doctor treating him shortly after. If you care to check with
my Doctor Carter, she should be able to give you a full account of his
condition."

"How might I ask, did you manage this
carnage without a weapon?" asked someone on the right side.

"I'm never unarmed. A little gift from
Kali."

I could see they were wanting more, but I
wasn’t feeling chatty.

"They also attempted to take Galactica
and my ship, with the intention of destroying both of them, so no-one could go
back through the jump point, thus keeping the secret of Gaia intact."

I had a thought. Always dangerous of
course.

"Jane?"

She stepped forward so I could see her
slightly in front of me and to the side.

"Sir?"

"Did any ship leave through the jump
point while all this was going on?"

"No, but there is a freighter about
twenty minutes away from it, heading out. Not one of ours. No flight plan."

"Group Captain?"

"Sir?" answered Lacey.

"Freighter outbound to the jump point.
Interdict and return it here. If they refuse to co-operate, you have permission
to destroy the ship."

"Understood."

I could hear him bellowing orders in the
background, as I turned back to the council. They'd only heard my side of the
exchange with Lacey, of course, but it was my orders that were what they needed
to hear. Several mouths opened to ask questions, but I beat them to it.

"No point in destroying the ships
here, if you leave people in Outback who know the secret of the jump point.
Dock at the station, quick raid inside, kill everyone there, and/or plant
explosives in a place which would destroy the station, and high tail it back
through the jump point. Station goes foom, everyone dead, secret safe."

"Oh," said someone.

I forestalled the next question as well, as
I could see it coming.

"Yes, I will be doing releases for
those I killed."

"Just how many people have you
killed?" asked Hindu Indian.

"I've no idea. My ship kills are on
record, but I've no idea how many people were on the capital ships. I guess you
need four digits for the number."

"And you call yourself
spiritual?"

"I completed the first level of
Ascension some months back."

"You expect us to believe that?"

"Hell no. Ask Kali when you talk next.
I was taken to a large meeting place in Buddha Amitabha's Pure Land. Kali was
there, along with a lot of other Ascended Masters and ArcAngels. In fact, I've
been there several times now."

She closed her eyes for a moment, obviously
communing. She opened them again, and nodded to both sides.

"What of the other people
involved?" asked far left.

"I don’t know numbers, but there were
no deaths on either ship or the mining station, other than those who attacked
me. Probably some injuries from excessive gravity, but I've not been informed
of deaths. My orders were to use stunners only. And for the record, had the
kidnappers not searched me, or not given me reason to think I would be
searched, and I could have smuggled a stunner in there, no-one need have died
at all. Likewise, they could have surrendered when I told them my troops were
ready to move in. Alas, there is no catering for stupid people. Actions have
consequences. They acted, the consequence was death. They made the choice. I
was just the messenger. They refused to hear the message. I offered them
forgiveness, they chose suicide by the sword. I wielded it, but the choice was
always theirs."

There was silence.

"Warrior of God," said the same
one who'd said it last time.

The others nodded.

"What will you do with the
prisoners?" I asked them.

"You're people arrested them,"
said Aboriginal woman, who had so far stayed silent. "What are the
charges?"

"Attempted destruction of private
property and Gaia property. Attempted murder. Unlawful imprisonment. Treason.
Your ex-councilor friend can also be charged with kidnapping. Assuming he
survives."

"What penalty do you wish?"

"I know a nice penal planet in the
Corporate sector. Drop them there. No-one leaves."

"Can you arrange this?"

"Sure. Jane?"

"I can have a fast freighter here in
several hours. I'll put security and combat droids on it, with some builder
droids and resources to build drop pods. It can make the pods on the way."

"Do it."

"You will feed them on the way?"
asked someone.

"Jane?"

"Boss?"

"Can we feed them as well?"

"Let me see."

She was silent for several minutes, and
no-one moved the whole time. Except for the Keeper's smile which was back to
being a grin again.

"Yes, we can do that. But if you're
going to feed them, we better install life support as well."

Someone choked.

"Hmmm. Yes, I guess so. Not much point
in running corpses all the way to Earth. But life support only on the decks
they live on. Basic cots and amenities. Cheapest food. They need to know they
screwed up in the worst possible way."

"On it."

She made herself look like she was giving
orders by PC.

"Oh," I said, looking back at the
council. "Did you want to give them a trial first?"

"They just had it," said American
Indian. "Sentence is incarceration for life on this Corporate penal
planet. Sentence to begin immediately."

I gave them a slight bow.

"As you wish. Anything else we can do
for you? Or can we get a shower now?"

"Shower. You both definitely need
one."

I didn’t bother commenting any further, but
turned, nodded to the Keeper, and stalked out, Jane following along behind me.

I did the releases under the spray of
water. The physical reaction was hardly noticeable.

After showering, I went to see Sarah. She
refused to see me. I can't say I was surprised. Grace had reacted similarly
after her ordeal. It bothered me that history had repeated itself. The little
fella on the other hand seemed quite cheerful, and he had a tight grip on my
finger for a while. Carter informed me they were both fine.

Objectionable was in a coma. They hadn't
been able to save his elbow. In theory, if he came out of the coma, he had
options. In practice, he was heading for the penal planet with only one arm.
He'd have to learn to live like that. Carter was not impressed when I told her
he left with the prison freighter, coma or no coma. Jane would monitor him
while he was still in the care unit, for as long as it took for him to be able
to come out. Chances are, he'd come out of it in time for a one way trip to the
surface, where being one armed would add to his challenges there. Karma was a
bitch sometimes, but if you kick it in the arse, the kick back could be
devastating. He was alive, which was more than could be said for the rest of
them in that room.

There had been some other injuries, notably
limb breakages. Being hit by high gees unexpectedly, and smashed to the deck,
wasn’t exactly good for your health. I left Carter to attend to people, but
made sure Jane had enough security droids monitoring the patients. As soon as
they could be safely moved, they were going into detention cells. The freighter
was going to be cramped.

I headed back to my suite, but Bob
intercepted me on the Cargo Deck, as I hopped off the trolley near the access
shaft. He introduced me to Josh Baker, the local shipyard manager, and reminded
me we needed to talk. I invited them up to my suite for dinner.

Aline was waiting in my lounge room,
ticking Angel. She took one look at Bob, rose, and quietly left. She could have
stayed, but most likely she would have been bored stiff. Angel looked at the
three of us, and quietly headed into the kitchen.

We moved into the dining room, where Jeeves
came in and took drink and food orders.

"How fast can you make Hubs?" I
asked Josh. He hesitated, so I rephrased. "How many can you build in the
next year?"

"Three? Maybe four?" he
responded.

"Not enough," said Bob. "If
the Darkness turns up before then, we're likely to need hundreds."

"Maybe not hundreds here," I
said. "But certainly dozens. We will need hundreds of them. Certainly in
Outback, but at key places along the spine as well."

"How?" asked Josh.

"Can you make station modules?" I
asked.

"Sure. About the same speed as a Hub.
The shipyard here is small. We've never needed anything bigger."

I looked at Bob. He looked at me. We both
grinned.

"You tell him," I told Bob.

"You spend a couple of weeks building
specialized build droids. I'll send you some specs. They will help you to build
a shipyard module which specializes in station modules. You build one
immediately, as fast as you can turn it out, along with more of the build
droids. Churn them out. Both modules now build new modules. Then all four build
new modules. Then all eight. At that point, half keep turning out new modules,
while the rest start building Hubs. By years end, you should be able to have at
least fifty completed Hubs. If the worst happens, you also have a huge shipyard
to handle damaged ships and stations if need be."

Josh looked at us both.

"I'll be doing the same thing in
Outback," he went on, "although I have a head start on you in terms
of how fast I can churn out the new shipyard modules."

"We need probably a hundred or more Hubs
on the other side of Earth before the Darkness comes," I added. "And
another hundred on this side of Earth."

"How will they help?" asked Josh.

"Assuming we can get stations moving
in time, the biggest slowdown is going to be the jump points. Each station leaving
enough space between them to avoid collisions, will slow things down too much,
once enough of them are on the move. By joining them with Hubs, we can jump
groups of them together as a single ship."

"Brilliant!"

"Who came up with the Hub idea?"
asked Bob.

"The Keeper."

"Odds are," I said, "if the
Darkness comes up the spine, Outback will become full of stations and ships,
all needing to jump here in the next five day window. Hundreds of stations and
thousands of ships, might not have enough time for all of them to jump. Not to
mention collisions if ship captains or station people panic and all try to do
it at once. If we dock the ships, and Hub together the stations, assuming we
don’t hit a size limitation on the jump point itself, we could speed up the
evac considerably."

"It’s a plan," said Bob, and Josh
nodded.

Jeeves brought dinner in at that point, and
conversation became technical while we ate.

Bob and Josh left straight after dinner,
without waiting for coffee. Bob was going to organize specs for Jane, to go to
my shipyard down the other end of the spine. It was flat out doing ship
upgrades at the moment, but when those were complete, it could start turning
out Hubs and station tugs. Bob also promised to design a much bigger station
tug, so even the very huge stations could be moved at least as fast as normal
military ships. Anything going slowly was likely to be left behind. I didn’t
even want to think about how many tugs we going to need. Fortunately Bob was on
it, and he'd be talking to all the other shipyards as well. Up our end of the
spine, we could be assured there would be enough tugs. Down the other end
though, no-one was going to be making any. I'd pick up as much slack as I could
in that regard.

After they left, I settled in a lounge chair
with Angel on my lap, and tried to catch up on emails. The comnavsats worked
while the jump point was there, so we had normal communications with Outback,
and beyond.

One of the emails I’d missed from the day
before was a beta test suit parameter change. Most notably, the design team
thought they had made the suit triggers even more hair-trigger than before.
They asked if I could test it for them. I responded with a yes, thinking it was
probably a bit late, since I’d really needed it early in the day. Serves me
right for not keeping up with my mail.

I didn’t notice Aline come in. I was
starting to stretch a little, between emails, when she pulled me out of my
chair. Angel had apparently jumped down at some stage without me noticing
either. She pulled me into the bedroom.

"Where's Miriam?" I asked Jane
sub-vocally.

"Galactica. On your games rig."

"Can you organize packing that room up
please? Also my old bedroom. Once we get back to Hunter's Haven, can you
recreate both rooms in my suite there?"

"Confirmed."

A fist pummeled me in the chest.

"Oi!" said Aline. "Pay
attention."

I did so.