The Ripple in Space-Time: Free City Book 1 (The Free City Series) (13 page)

26. News Item: Megalomaniac of the Outer
Reaches

Dateline: 8th of August, 2445; Vesta, The Asteroid Belt and
Jupiter Colonies

With the heinous obliteration of
Arusha and the unforgivable slaughter of so many Africans only a week ago, the
fury of the inhabitants of Vesta in the Asteroid Belt and Jupiter Colonies has
risen to a most vindictive level.

Scores of angry miners ransacked
the local headquarters of the Outer Reaches Trade Representative last night,
killing two scummy henchmen of the villainous Warlord who were unfortunate
enough to be in the offices at the time of the riot.

Indifferent Vestan police officers
watched the mob carry out the lawless deeds. Several patrolmen reportedly
loaned their weapons to the miners to aid in the summary justice.

Many of the rioters vowed to take
up arms and storm the far off Titan Palace with the hopes of casting off the
tight new noose of tyranny that has recently slipped around the neck of
humanity.

Others dealt with the prospect of
the unstable megalomaniac in different ways.

It was widely reported yesterday
that the citizenry of several cities on Earth and Mars carried out silent mass
demonstrations. Most of these events were meant to mourn for the tremendous
loss of life, but a few had a more pathetic purpose, that of preparing the
residents for the grim likelihood of a long subjugation by the barbaric
overlord.

The Prime Minister
’
s Office in Free City promised to comply with Dimitri Verhovnyi's lurid
demands. Most residents of the metropolis however view that cooperation as a
vile and cowardly form of capitulation. A noisy demonstration led by
Enlightenment Crusaders flared up at the University. The young ne'er-do-wells
bemoaned the tragic turn of events as further evidence of the steady decline of
the human species.

New Roman authorities for their
part have skittishly succumbed to the madman
’
s
ever-escalating ultimatums. At least six large freighters will shortly depart
from low Earth orbit bound for the Titan Palace loaded with expensive offerings
for the illegitimate despot.

Meanwhile the search and rescue
work continues in the vast radioactive dustbin that was once Arusha.

27. Tensions abound
“
Just stay away from me!
”
Keira flared.

Lev hastily retreated from the
sleeping berth and scurried towards the neutral area of the cockpit where Ryo
was busy with the seemingly endless search.

The young man slumped into the
Second Mate
’
s seat and glanced warily back down the passageway towards
the apparently now forbidden compartment.

The old Investigator studied his
perplexed cohort.

“
It was going so well,
”
Lev shook his head in dismay,
“
I don
’
t know what happened.
”

“Things
should get better.
Just leave her alone for a
few days,
”
Ryo muttered.
“
We
’
ve all been
working far too hard for the last week on this hunt. I know it seems that we
’
ll be stuck together in this tiny ship forever.
”

Lev rubbed his forehead in
frustration and stared at the wide sweep radar display, “I hope you’re right.”

• • •

Boz idly watched her work from
across the Maintenance Compartment.

Ramesh had proved to be less than
worthless, Jana groused as she struggled to wire the magnetic field generator
into the tiny sphere.

While she and the two other
able-bodied slaves labored nearly continuously to produce the miniature weapons
for their impatient and frequently abusive capturers, Ramesh stayed behind in
the aft cargo bay with Erik. When he did accompany them to the maintenance
compartment, he often haphazardly tampered with the three unfinished devices.

Boz had beaten Ramesh twice in the
workshop for his blunders. Now the pirates seemed to prefer that the
troublesome grad student remain behind in the cargo compartment.

With luck, Jana realized with some
trepidation, she could soon load the finicky antimatter core into the weapons.
She still had unanswered questions as to who had produced the design work for
the complex devices; certainly not the pirates nor their mysterious employer.

No, she realized with a start,
this was the work of a clever Advanced Physicist; probably someone that she
knew.

The hatch creaked open.

Jana smiled briefly when the two
slaves returned with the tattered old pirate who had watched over them as they
scavenged parts elsewhere on the
Lightning
. Philip held up several
vector compilers and Lucas showed off a thick coil of red-sheathed wire.

She nodded her encouragement and
the men set the supplies aside.

Both Philip and Lucas had proven
to be excellent technicians, producing far better work than the much more
experienced Ramesh.

Boz methodically searched the men
for contraband.

Jana watched the routine pat down
with frustration, with the First Mate’s persistent vigilance, she might never
have an opportunity to sabotage the three weapons.

• • •

For several seconds Ryo stared in
disbelief at the flashing red incoming message light on the communication panel
of the quiet cockpit.
‘
Red
’
meant someone nearby was attempting to contact them, he recalled
doltishly as he contemplated the late night interruption.

He checked the particulars of the
unprecedented dispatch; it was a heavily encoded live audio message marked
‘
Top Secret for Inspector Trop Only. Biometric Validation Required.
’

Who would know that he was
loitering around in the
Seiran
in this obscure sector?

Ryo studied the radar for several
seconds: nothing. Apparently the sender was well disguised.

The flashing red light continued
to beckon.

He pressed the acknowledge button
and slid his fingertips over the interface panel to confirm his identity.

After several seconds, an eerie
fluttering hum caused by the profuse encryption filled the cockpit.

“Ryo? Ryo Trop?”

“Trop here. Who is this?”

“Zmuda. Are you alone?”

The old Inspector checked down the
passageway. Lev was apparently still asleep in the improvised bunk that he’d
cobbled together in the cargo compartment while Keira was slumbering alone in
the coveted berth.

“Go ahead Lieutenant.”

“Excellent! We’re about three
thousand kilometers above you right now traveling at just over 75 AU/yr!”

Ryo noticed a delay of about two
seconds. “How are you managing that speed?”

“Secret new technology. With
Kufuzu’s untimely death, the CRAMP has switched all its efforts to Dimitri
Verhovnyi.”

The lag time was already
noticeably longer.

“A worthy target.”

“You’ll hear soon...that the
Inquisitor's Office and the CRAMP...are working together to stop further
carnage. Good...luck...with locating...the pirates....
”

Zmuda was rapidly slipping out of
range.

Ryo smiled at the good news,
“
Good luck to you too, Lieutenant.
”

• • •

After an especially nerve-racking
day of loading the volatile antimatter into the three weapons, Jana was in no
mood for the travails that were awaiting her when she and the others were
rudely shoved back into the aft cargo compartment.

“
NO! NO!
”
Erik screamed at Ramesh.
“
You tricked me! YOU TRICKED ME!
”

The writhing madman flailed
indiscriminately at the grad student.

Lucas and Philip seized Erik and
pulled him away from Ramesh.

Jana pushed the grad student
roughly back towards the outer bulkhead,
“
What the
hell
is going on
here?”

“He tricked me!
”
Erik
’
s voice echoed across the vast compartment.

Ramesh shook his badly scratched
face,
“
It
’
s nothing, don
’
t listen to him.
”

“
He had me design a tau antimatter weapon for him!
”
Erik shouted.

“
What?
”
Jana stared in horrified
disbelief at the grad student.

“
He said he built a bomb at the Lab for the pirates!
”
Erik ranted.

“
He
’
s crazy. Months ago, I told him
that I needed help with the research for my dissertation about massive particle
annihilations and he put together a rendition of a sample device,
”
Ramesh smiled disarmingly.
“
He
was
my Faculty
Advisor, after all.
”

“
The plans!
”
Her head pounded with the
frightening implications of his apparent duplicity.
“
How did the friggin
’
pirates know about the plans!
”

Ramesh had the terrified look of a
mischievous child caught after a misdeed had gone terribly wrong.
“
I was...They were going to pay me,
”
he stammered,
“
for the drawings and a working device... Then they stole both of them
when they kidnaped us.”

“Hundreds were killed,” she
growled like an enraged beast,
“
the lab was destroyed and we
were abducted because you were bribed?
”

Ramesh nodded remorsefully.

She shook uncontrollably.

Again and again she bashed him
against the unforgiving wall of the chamber.

When it was finally done, Jana
hovered over his battered corpse still seething at his self-serving betrayal of
humanity.

The hatch creaked open and Boz
glared angrily at the disturbance in the compartment.

Lucas and Philip cowered far off
to the side, both tightly restraining Erik who had watched the lethal pummeling
with an odd sort of demented retribution.

The pirate floated across the cell
to scrutinize the body.

“
What happened here?
”

“
He fell and bumped his head,” Jana said flatly.

In the zero gravity of the ship,
Boz glanced at the bloody remains and laughed at the absurdity of her
explanation.

“
Nicely done,
”
the First Mate jeered,
“
it would have been you or I who eventually did the deed, I
’
m sure.
”

• • •

“
...and so those are the weapons systems,
”
Keira appraised the old Investigator.
“
In short, we
certainly could disable the
Butin Belle
with this firepower and probably
completely destroy it, if need be.
”

Ryo nodded to the woman as they
drifted back to the cockpit. Blasting willy-nilly at the ship would likely
cause the cargo of antimatter to explode and vaporize them as well.

“
What have you discovered about the
Seiran
’
s
other abilities?
”

They floated past the sleeping
berth where Lev was loudly snoring.

“
It was designed to be a very nimble ship. I
’
ll show you a fascinating trick.
”
She settled into the pilot
’
s seat.

Ryo slipped into the copilot
’
s chair next to her.

“This controls an anti-detection
system that masks us by duplicating the background electromagnetic
interference.
”

“
Impressive.
”

“
We should be able to get within a few hundred meters of the
Butin Belle
undetected.
”

“
Good work, young lady,
”
Ryo smiled.
“
Now tell me what
’
s behind your current
difficulties with Lev.
”

Her shoulders slumped visibly.

“
I really like him,
”
she whispered sheepishly,
“
but I just don
’
t think that Lev will settle
down and apply himself sufficiently to ever satisfy me.
”

He studied her crestfallen face.

“
I think you
’
re too hard on him. I know that
he can be a bit eccentric and promiscuous at times, but he is a good guy.
”

“
I know,
”
she confessed.
“
I think he just reminds me of my far less than perfect parents: all
pleasure and no pragmatism.
”

Ryo considered her for several
seconds before continuing,
“
It
’
s not always bad
to have a little mischievous fun with those that happen to surround you.
”

She stared at him skeptically.

“
It
’
s true, my dear. I had a mate
long ago,
”
Ryo reminisced,
“
her name was Talya. We were
married for a short time about thirty years ago.
”

“
What happened?
”

“
I was a busy young Investigator working way too many hours
and Talya finally gave up on me when she realized that I wasn
’
t likely to ever spend those fleeting simple moments with her.
”

“
That
’
s sad.
”

“
It was all the result of my own selfishness and
shortsightedness,
”
Ryo acknowledged,
“
that I lost someone that I
’
d hoped to live with forever.
”

The woman nodded as she
contemplated her own recent intolerance towards Lev.

• • •

She felt surprisingly heroic.