The Ripple in Space-Time: Free City Book 1 (The Free City Series) (17 page)

32. The long sought objectives
“
This is the route that your sugar pie Benny took?
”
Lev stared accusingly at Keira as she piloted the
Seiran
slowly
though the forsaken region of the interminable asteroid field.

The woman scowled at him,
“
What
’
s that supposed to mean?
”

“
Well, you were hanging all over him in the bar. How do we
know that he wasn
’
t just toying with you?
”

“
He
’
s only fifteen, you idiot!
”
she snarled.
“
I
’
m nearly old
enough to be his mom.
”

Keira adjusted the craft
’
s trajectory to avoid a mountain-sized boulder ahead.
“
That
’
s how leads are developed.
”

Lev hastily retreated from his
earlier disapproving tone.
“
Sorry.
”

She glanced at him,
“
Were you jealous of Benny?
”

“
I guess I was.
”

Keira smiled smugly at the
revelation; their rocky romance had come full circle. “You know that I felt the
same way when we went dancing and you dragged Desiree over to our table.
”

The woman glared at her heedless
copilot,
“
You two were draped all over each other like dirty sheets
on an unmade bed.
”

“
Yeah; I messed up that night. I should have apologized
sooner. Desiree is eccentric and enthralling,
”
Lev rubbed his
temple in dismay,
“
but I always seem to get into
way
too much trouble
when I
’
m around her.
”

He shook his head remorsefully,
“
She
’
s never been right for me.
”

Keira dodged around another
obstacle.
“
Who
is
right for you?
”

“
You are.
”

After the ship had cleared the
looming crag, she studied him for several seconds to appraise his sincerity.

He had a curious look of hope and
remorse, she finally decided.
“
No more ignoring me when some
fetching young thing walks by?
”

“
I
’
ll try my best.”

“And I’ll remind you,” Keira
quipped in victory.

• • •

While his young crewmates
slumbered together again in the berth, apparently putting an end to the weeks
of sullen moodiness between them, Ryo inched the
Seiran
along through
the floating rubble.

Keira was a much better pilot than
he would ever be, the old Investigator had realized long ago, but the search
had to continue when the woman required rest or other more sensual diversions.

In the endless tedium of grays and
blacks that was the Asteroid Belt, an unusual gleamer caught his eye. Ryo
concentrated on the distant anomaly. After several seconds of squinting to no
avail, he was nearly ready to give up on the shiny phantasm.

There!

Far off in the chaotic jumble of
jostling worldlets, a tiny speck blinked at him with a silvery flash.

Ryo checked the wide scan radar.
Nearly fifty kilometers away a colossal spacecraft sat stranded amongst the
stony behemoths.

He quickly shutdown the radar and
engaged the anti-detection system.

“
LEV! KEIRA! I
’
ve found something!
”

The drowsy duo rattled clumsily
down the passageway.

Keira straightened her ruffled
nightshirt and Lev stared dumbly at the control panel.

Ryo searched for the elusive
vessel with the ancient telescope,
“
I see it! I
’
m sure it
’
s the
Xenon Lightning
.
”

“
Do you see the
Butin Belle
?
”
Lev asked hopefully.

“
No; but I
’
m not surprised, the
Belle
is tiny compared to the tanker.
”

He handed the spyglass to the
young man.

“
I
’
ll be right back,
”
Keira frowned,
“
I
’
m going to check
on something.
”
She left the men in the cockpit and floated back to the
gravitational survey compartment.

Lev set the old instrument aside,
“
All I could see was the
Lightning
.
”

“
The weird antimatter doesn’t seem to be there!” Keira
called to the men.

“I don’t think that the
Lightning
is moving enough for the scanner to detect the stuff,
”
Lev said with a hint of doubt.

The woman returned to the cockpit.

“
I suspect it will take days of delicate stalking,
”
Ryo concluded as he watched for the periodic glint of the distant ship,
“
but let
’
s see if we can creep up on that
beast undetected.
”

• • •

It had indeed taken days, as the
old Investigator had predicted, for the
Seiran
to sneak up on the
hijacked tanker.

The trio had spent hours shortly
after the discovery of the
Lightning
painstakingly plotting an elaborate
and stealthy course to intercept the marooned vessel. Lev had suggested a
zigzag route that took advantage of the cover offered by the many asteroids
that littered the gulf between the ships. Keira recommended that the
Seiran's
maneuvering engines should only be engaged when the craft was shielded behind
the floating debris. The interceptor would then slowly drift to the next rock a
few kilometers away and begin the drawn out process again.

Ryo had warned his crewmates to be
ready for a quick chase should the pirates detect the creeping craft.

Now the huge
Xenon Lightning
loomed about a kilometer ahead.

“
I
’
m still not picking up anything
on the gravitational scanner,
”
Lev reported.
“
Well, other than the tanker and the usual clatter of the surrounding
rubble.
”

As the
Seiran
glided
towards the derelict tanker, Ryo and Keira studied the monster from the
darkened cockpit. With the exception of a few feeble marker lights, the vessel
showed no signs of life.

Keira slowly shook her head,
“Where is the
Butin Belle
?
”

• • •

“
Why did we abandon my friends?
”
Jana snapped at Bosco when he finally opened the hatch to the chamber.

For nearly a day she
’
d been locked away again in the tiny cell onboard the
Butin Belle
.
To her great dread, Jana had watched the
Lightning
slowly recede though
the porthole. Although she was worried about her slave companions still onboard
the tanker, Jana was especially anxious to know about the status of the three
booby-trapped weapons that they had constructed for their captors.

The big First Mate laughed,
“
Well, it
’
s nice to see you too, sweetheart.
”
He motioned towards the door.

She took a deep breath and
relaxed; Jana was most certainly still a prisoner, if she hoped to discover
anything about the abrupt change she would need to seem cooperative.

“Sorry Boz, I’m really hungry.”
Jana followed him down the corridor.

He glanced back at her;
“
I
’
ll get you some chow in a few hours.
”

“
Thanks.
”
She tugged on his sleeve,
“
Can I check over the devices? I
’
d like to make sure that the
containment bubbles haven
’
t degraded.
”

The gruff marauder considered her
request for several seconds,
“
Well, since I
’
d prefer not to be blown halfway to hell by a faulty bomb, I guess we
could take a few minutes to examine the little beasties.
”

Jana nodded,
“
It would be a good idea.
”

They diverted into a large side
compartment. In the center of the room, clamped firmly into launching fixtures,
sat the three small weapons.

The pirate pointed to the
munitions,
“
Knock yourself out, Doc.”

Jana pried open the first device,
casually maneuvering around to block Boz
’
s view of the object. With a
smooth and well-practiced motion, she secretly reset the doomsday timer and
resealed the cover,
“
This one looks OK. Why did we leave the
Lightning
?
”

He tepidly watched her float to
the second sphere,
“
Our employer, who still owes us a great deal of money, gave
up the ghost a few days ago.
”

She nonchalantly restarted the
second timer,
“
Really? That
’
s sad.
”

“
He was a friggin
’
weasel and would have tried to
cheat us out of our due.
”

Jana stopped at the third bomb and
studied the man,
“
What
’
s to become of this enterprise
that you and the Captain have been engaged in for so long?
”

“
We
’
re tending to that right now,
”
Boz smiled ominously.
“
You and the
Lightning
will eventually be ransomed. The men will be sold off for slave work in a few
months to a mine somewhere.
”

“
I suspect my son would be interested in getting me back
alive.” She swiveled around and reset the third device, “What about these
weapons?
”

“
The three little gems will be used to blackmail the
simpletons on Earth.
”

33. News item: Death of the despot?

Dateline: 1st of September, 2445; Free City University,
Free City, Earth

“
Amazing, if true!
”
crowed one ecstatic revealer
during the wild impromptu celebration late last night near the War Atrocities
Monument in Roscommon Park.

Several hundred students mainly
from the University
’
s Department of Advanced Applied Molecular Biology gathered
at the normally somber monument around midnight when sketchy tidbits regarding
the death of Dimitri Verhovnyi first materialized. Although no source, reliable
or otherwise, could be sniffed out to verify what many believe is merely
wishful thinking, the rumors have persisted.

University officials remain
perplexed by what many students now claim is true. Several instructors in the
School of Psychology attribute the hearsay to Enlightenment Crusade crackpots.

The prevailing buzz involves the
dictator falling ill shortly after an unexpected visitor claiming to be an
envoy from our fair city departed from the Titan Palace. Accounts remain fuzzy,
but many jubilant students maintain that after Verhovnyi became comatose, he
was bludgeoned to death by palace slaves who then hung their despised master
alongside his long-dead father on the surface of the icy moon.

This morning the Prime Minister
’
s Office dismissed the speculation as ludicrous, pointedly noted that
the city
’
s official diplomatic delegation is in route to Titan and
is still more than sixty days away from the Warlord
’
s palace.

34. Advanced Mission Completed
“
She
’
s a lovely child,
”
Mixion commented to the men.

It had taken nearly a week of
intermittent scrubbing to finally remove the many layers of dirt that had
begrimed the girl; recently outfitted in Mixion
’
s spare flight
suit, Dilma finally resembled a conventional eleven-year-old.

The former slave had taken to
tidying up the crowded spacecraft; perhaps as a familiar diversion during the
interminable return to Earth.

Jasper peered over the interface
display and studied the purposeful youngster as she retrieved wayward objects
floating about the cabin,
“
I imagine that someday she
’
ll make an excellent espionage agent.
”

The girl smiled sweetly to the
doting adults.

Zmuda chuckled at the suggestion,
“
She certainly can act the part and her abilities to nab unattended
valuables is already legendary.
”

In the many days since they had
departed from the Titan Palace, the former parlormaid had managed to accumulate
a huge and very carefully hidden trove of unguarded treasures. Whenever a
toothbrush or control knob went missing, the adults would spend hours playfully
coaxing their beloved ragamuffin into returning the pilfered item.

“
What
’
s going to become of her when we
return to Free City?
”
the woman asked.

Zmuda brooded over the nettlesome
matter.
“
I don
’
t know.
”

• • •

The Lieutenant studied the
classified message from Earth with interest.

Back in Free City, his associates
in the CRAMP were already developing an intricate new effort to destabilize the
Fiefdom of IndoPacifica. The elderly and enfeebled Warlord of the scattered
realm would certainly be a much easier target than Dimitri Verhovnyi.

The CRAMP had organized a robust
subversive movement in New Rome since the city had become the de facto capital
of EurAfrica following the destruction of Arusha and the death of Daniel
Kufuzu. In progressively larger and louder demonstrations around the city, the
citizens were making it clear that they would not tolerate a return to the
corrupt feudal system of the past.

New Roman authorities were slowly
capitulating to the inevitable change.

Zmuda grinned with proud
satisfaction when he read that hundreds of Enlightenment Crusaders from Free
City University had converged on New Rome to lend their support to the local
revolutionaries. For the first time in nearly two centuries, many more people
were flooding out of Free City then were clamoring to get in.

Dr. Suzuki had taken over his
half-dozen classes in the Department of Advanced Applied Molecular Biology.
Although the grades of his students had dipped slightly since his abrupt
departure, Zmuda was satisfied that the fledgling instructor had sufficiently
motivated his eager young charges.

The tireless Suzuki had also
cloned several new members of the CRAMP from the secret old database that Zmuda
had used earlier to produce Jasper and Mixion. When the Lieutenant and his
cohorts eventually returned to the University in many months, there would be
plenty of untraceable agents that the CRAMP could deploy.

But the most startling news for
the clandestine organization was the secret vow of support from the Free City
Prime Minister. A great deal of money had been surreptitiously diverted from
other projects to fund the CRAMP for the next few years.

Perhaps now, Zmuda speculated,
with the first wobbly steps away from the tyranny and subjugation of the past,
the CRAMP would achieve its goal of allowing all humans to live freely once
more.

• • •

It was the middle of the night,
shipboard time; although Zmuda noticed with some amusement that the craft’s
control panel indicated that it was midmorning Universal Time. He had carefully
calculated the optimum hour to transmit this particular communiqu
é
, taking into account the relative locations of the two vessels, the
sleeping patterns of his crewmates and the likelihood that the recipient would
be available to respond.

Thankfully, due to the dwindling
amount of propellent remaining after the mad dash to Titan, the return speed of
his spacecraft was now ridiculously slow and he would be able to enjoy a long
conversation before he slipped out of range.

The Lieutenant entered the
connection information and the vessel
’
s communication system began the
methodical automated search through the profusion of asteroids far below.

After nearly an hour of patient
waiting, the contact acknowledgment light flashed.

He had found his compatriot.

“
Ryo Trop, Zmuda here! We
’
ve arching over
your location on the way back to Earth.”

“Lieutenant! I noticed that the
encryption is
‘
on;
’
is this another Top Secret
message?
”

“
No,
”
he chortled,
“
only medium secret. I don
’
t want any eavesdroppers in the
Belt to discover my dual identities.
”

“
Fair enough.
”

“
We were quite successful with our effort on Titan. The
x-pathogen worked acceptably well, although I
’
ll have to
improve the virility and simplify the delivery system,
”
Zmuda reported.

“
Are the Outer Reaches Warlord-free?
”

“
Yes,
”
the Lieutenant said with great
satisfaction.
“
We deployed a tiny satellite to snoop on Titan before we
left. Evidently the palace slaves finished off Dimitri on his deathbed. I have
a spectacular surveillance photo of his corpse dangling alongside his father
’
s on the moon
’
s surface. If necessary, the CRAMP will use the image to
allay fears of future attacks by the lunatic.
”

“
That
’
s great news. Can I share it
with my crew?
”

“
Please do. How is your quest for the pirates and the
missing munitions?
”

“
Well,
”
Ryo vacillated,
“
it
’
s not working out as well as your recent effort.
”

Zmuda frowned,
“
My condolences. Bring me up to date.
”

“
We dug up a lucky tip in a bar on one of the nearby
asteroids about a marooned supertanker.
”

“
The Xenon Lightning
?
”
the Lieutenant interrupted.

“
Yes, how did you guess?
”

“
One of my CRAMP cronies discovered a morsel about a group
of fairly inept raiders called the Kuiper Belt Shipjacks. Someone had paid them
an absurd amount of money to commandeer the unladened vessel. We wondered over
a few beers why anyone would hijack an empty tanker when a fully loaded one
would be worth trillions more.
”

“
We
’
re guessing that it was some
sort of hideout. Unfortunately the pirates along with the all-important
antimatter have slipped away.
”

“
Are you back to sniffing around on a cold trail?
”

“
Luckily no. We
’
re tracking them using a
gravitational distortion that the strange stuff onboard the ship produces but
with all of the clatter caused by the asteroids it is quite a challenge.
”

Zmuda winced; with the antimatter
still at large, continuing blackmail was inevitable.
“
I wish you the greatest of luck in your search.
”

“
We certainly need it right now,
”
Ryo groaned.

“
In a more minor matter; during our shindig at the Titan
Palace we acquired a new crew member. She
’
s an adolescent former slave
girl and an exceptionally wonderful child. I
’
d love to find
an especially attentive guardian for her when we return to Free City.
”

“
Interesting.
”

“
Do you know of anyone who might be up to the task?
”
Zmuda wondered.

“
Perhaps,
”
Ryo replied after a protracted
silence.