Shell Game, page 9
part #15 of The Last Hunter Series
Derek leaned up against one of the bulkheads. “I think it went pretty good. We ran into Patrick and have decided to work with him to handle the Poseidon Group intelligence gathering. It was a weird coincidence, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t something he had arranged. Since they are focused on the Poseidon Group, we’ll be looking at the Tardans. We have a location for the prospecting vessel, and if you’re ready to head in that direction, I can give you the coordinates for where they were four months ago. I doubt very seriously they’re still there, but we’ve got to start looking somewhere.”
He rattled off the information to the older man, who then entered it into the console. “It could be worse,” the professor grumbled, “but not much. It looks like we’ll be headed about three-quarters of the way around to the other side of the belt. Not a full hundred and eighty degrees, but a lot more than I’d prefer. We’ll have to curve to keep our distance from the star, but we can get there in about six hours. We’ll be diving in closer to the star, so no one should be able to detect us. The heat is probably going to rise even with our heatshield, though.”
“This is a damned peculiar system,” Derek said. “I understand that it’s useful for recovering a lot of heavy material because the planet in this orbit either collided with something else or broke up, so they have access to the shattered core or cores. Even so, I’m not sure why so many people are here.”
The older man finished entering the course into the console and got them moving before turning to give Derek his full attention. “I’ve been doing some research on that, and it’s actually a very interesting story. Everything you said is true but incomplete. They do have access to abundant supplies of heavy metals but also to a much higher range of rare materials that are normally found in very small supplies. Each of them is heavier than iron and, with only a few exceptions, is produced by supernovas. Why they are able to find more in this asteroid belt than elsewhere is something of a mystery.”
Derek pursed his lips, thought about that, and then shrugged. While it was interesting, it wasn’t something he needed to focus on. It was undoubtedly something exciting for people who focused on material sciences and perhaps manufacturing, and he could certainly understand why this would be more profitable than normal mining, but it didn’t matter to him since they were only passing through.
Maybe this star had been close to another star that went supernova. That might explain why all the outer orbital paths were empty and the world that had once been in the second orbit had been broken apart so thoroughly. Whatever the true story was, it was irrelevant right now.
“Maybe I’m something of a philistine, but I’m afraid that’s not really grabbing my attention,” Derek said. “I know that the admiral was talking with Tina, and he will get an update from her about what the probes have discovered, but I’m interested to see if you’ve heard anything.”
Prescott nodded. “Not only have I been parsing the data myself to pass the time, but I’ve also read over the summaries that she’s prepared. It looks like the Tardans have occupied thirteen locations around the belt. They seem to be equally positioned on the circumference, but there’s no rhyme or reason that I can determine as to why they picked those particular locations. Four of them are very close to large stations, but the remainder are either somewhat distant or perhaps only positioned near very small stations. To the best of our ability to detect, it does not seem that they are attempting to interact with the humans here at all. They seem content to remain behind the large asteroids they’ve selected to block the stellar radiation and wait.”
“Have you found any warships from the kingdom? I’d almost be willing to bet they are near the commanding officer in the system.”
“Interestingly, no. There may very well be some kingdom warships scattered throughout the belt, but we have not located them yet. There are a number of Locusts moving through as well, basically hopping from shadow to shadow to no doubt keep the level of heat they’re gathering down somewhat. It wouldn’t shock me very much if the kingdom warships were doing the same. Or, they might have gone on to Earth. After all, they have different goals than the Tardans.”
That made Derek nod. “They certainly do. I suppose that if a large force left from here to head toward Earth, it would make sense to accompany them. What I don’t understand is why the leadership of the Tardan forces wouldn’t do the same. They don’t know for certain that the Earth is the capital of the Confederation. It seems odd that they’d make that kind of guess without any information.”
The older man inclined his head. “You’re not wrong. I consider it equally likely that they are still somewhere in the system, and we just haven’t located them yet. With the vast amount of debris that the probes have to search through using only their passive sensors and adding in the incredible density of stellar radiation that is fogging everything up, you have a situation where we’re making educated guesses. It’s possible that these prospectors we’re going to speak to have something more concrete to tell us. If nothing else, once we decide to make a move on the Tardans, we can pull information from their computers. We’ll figure it out.”
“I’m sure we will, but we have to do it quickly.” He checked his chronometer. “Why don’t you grab something to eat, and I’ll take over running the helm for a while? That way, we can all be rested if something comes around that needs our attention.”
“Will do,” Prescott said as he stood. “I wouldn’t let this bother you too much, Derek. One way or the other, the enemy will present themselves to us in a fashion that we can take a swing at them. Whether they’re here or have left for Earth, we will catch up and stop them. It may feel like our advantages are slight, but that’s not the case. We have knowledge and technological superiority in ways that can be very useful in dealing with even vast numbers of Locusts. Keep your chin up.”
Once the older man had left, Derek double-checked the course that they were on and then began reviewing the summaries Tina had written. Everything that the professor had said was listed right there. With all the debris in this orbit—even though the asteroids were spread out far wider than any video entertainment program would lead someone to believe—there was plenty of space for ships to hide.
After about half an hour, the hatch slid open, and Tina stepped in. “Just stopping by to see how you’re doing. Do you need anything? Coffee? Sandwich?”
He shook his head. “No, I’m good. I’ve been going over the information you’ve gathered, and I have to say that I’m impressed. It has to be almost impossible to pin down the locations of ships with all this debris, but you localized their biggest clusters. Good work.”
“It’s not that hard figuring them out,” she said with a shake of her head. “After all, once I sent the probes slipping through the asteroid belt looking for ships hiding in shadows, all the Tardans we found thus far were fairly easy to see. Unlike the local vessels, they don’t have heat shields, so they have to do the best they can. It’s interesting because a lot of the local vessels are moving above the belt where we are. Not nearly so far in, but they obviously don’t want to run into the Locusts or the Tardan warships.”
“Do you think the ships with the control codes are still here?” he asked softly. “If you’re not finding the kingdom warships, I’m kind of afraid the lead elements on the Tardan side may have headed for Earth.”
She shrugged. “We have no way of knowing until we get more intelligence. Getting that will require finding a ship that looks like it’s in control of the system and trying to get in. If we can get the control codes for even just the Locusts here, that’ll be a pretty big deal. I’m not Lisa, but I’m pretty good at utilizing the sabotage drones and the ones that can tap into their computer systems. We’d still be better off getting her back in for that operation, but if push comes to shove, we can always find an isolated Tardan ship and take it down.”
He pursed his lips and considered that. There was something to be said for locating a ship that was out of communication with its fellows and taking control of their computers. The problem was that they would be vastly outmanned. It could be done if the ship were knocked out with sabotage drones, and they were in and out before the Tardans could respond, but he wasn’t going to hold his breath that such a plan would work. It was better to be certain than to act precipitously.
He held his breath. The words seemed to echo in his mind, and the beginning of a plan began to take shape.
“We’ve utilized the sabotage drones to take down systems all over Tardan warships before. Do we have any idea if they could override the safety hatches that would normally protect the crew from a blowout? If we could arrange for the entire ship to lose atmosphere in one fell swoop before anyone could get into their suits, that might make such a mission possible.”
She considered that with a frown. “I think so, but it would require directly interfacing with each hatch. That’s something that might be risky because I’ve never done anything like that, and the chances of making a mistake can’t be ruled out. That might also be something we need Lisa for.”
“Those kinds of hatches are pretty basic. There will be vacuum sensors to detect a loss of atmosphere and seal off the damaged section of the ship with airtight hatches. So long as those sensors are disabled, the hatches won’t initiate. I suppose they could be manually tripped from the bridge, but if you’re already looking into the mechanical aspects of the hatches, it wouldn’t be impossible to make sure that that particular command doesn’t work.”
Tina shook her head. “Too risky. That’s something that I think Lisa might be able to handle on the fly, but I’m not willing to risk mission failure by doing it myself. Why don’t you just put that idea on the shelf? We can pull it out if we need to. The first step is to get to the prospecting ship and get their information. Depending on where they are and what’s going on, they might have a decent idea of what the Tardans are doing. Let’s focus on that first.”
He nodded. “Okay. It didn’t hurt to wargame it out in our heads. We’ve got five or six hours to get to where we’re going, and I can keep thinking of alternate scenarios. Whatever situation we find ourselves in, we’ll figure it out.”
She grinned. “You’re damned right we will. I’ll leave you to what you’re doing and send Jack to relieve you in a few hours.”
He sat back in the control couch after she left. It was so irritating to have to sneak around and do things from the shadows. He was a Navy officer. He wanted to just blow things up. Not that he would tell Amanda that because she’d just laugh.
Maybe they’d get some information that they could take action on soon. He certainly hoped so because he wanted to make the Tardans suffer for what they’d done to the Confederation.
12
Patrick sauntered down the corridor, wearing a look that told everyone around him that he had places to go and things to do. As always, that would keep people from paying much attention to him because he looked like a man on a mission. Which he was. Just not any that they would expect. Lisa strolled along beside him, looking a bit more uptight and occasionally glancing at the crowd around them.
He discreetly jabbed her with his elbow. “Don’t look around. It’s just going to draw attention. If you look like you have a purpose, people won’t even remember that you went by. They’ll have forgotten they ever saw you within minutes.”
She nodded. “Intellectually, I know that, but it’s hard sometimes. Admittedly, this isn’t as difficult as some of the other places I’ve been. They’re not hunting for us, and most of the people around us don’t have any interest in us.”
The two of them had pitched the conversation low enough that anyone passing by wouldn’t get more than a couple of words, and nothing incriminating would stick out in their memories. One didn’t talk business in a public setting, particularly when one was a spy or assassin.
Working with a partner was definitely something new. He’d had partners in the past, but even so, those had mostly been solo endeavors. Two of the king’s spies and assassins would occasionally be assigned to the same ship and sent out to do their work in tandem. One would typically monitor the situation around the primary operative while the other one did the work. They didn’t go out at the same time to perform a killing or to work amongst a populace while spying on someone.
He found what they were doing now to be at least somewhat interesting. Should he explain what he was doing as he was doing it? Or should he keep his mouth shut and only pass on information that she really needed to know? He needed to train her in the parts of their work that she didn’t know, and he was certain there were aspects of what she did that he would benefit from mastering. No matter how this proceeded, it would be a learning experience.
They were moving through the common areas of the space station on their way to the apartment where the ex-manager that Admiral Romanoff’s people had been looking for lived to see if there was still anything useful there.
Personally, he had his doubts. If the man was gone, he was gone. That meant he was in custody or dead. There would be nothing left in his apartment because the secret police would have gone over everything with a fine-toothed comb.
Even so, he supposed it didn’t hurt to look and see what they could determine about the person before they moved on to figuring out who had taken him and where they’d placed him. Romanoff had indicated that time was of the essence, and he thought this was a waste of his time, but if it allowed him to spend time with Lisa and discuss their situation, he’d tolerate it for now.
They took the lift to the appropriate level and made their way to the apartment. As Romanoff had indicated, the door was blocked by tape, and the keypad was locked out with an externally mounted security setup. That would be what he needed to break into to give them access to the apartment.
“I’ll defeat the security, but I’ll need you to keep an eye out for people coming our way. If they see what I’m doing, that will prove problematic. We don’t want them to call the security services thinking this is a break-in, even though that’s exactly what it is. If you see an opportunity to provide a distraction, feel free to do so.”
At this time of the day, the corridor they were standing in was mostly empty. He’d seen two sets of individuals go by, but it had been a few minutes before he saw anyone else. That boded well for getting into the apartment unless they were just plain unlucky.
Sadly, luck played a role in this kind of operation. If you couldn’t control who was going to come across you while you were committing your nefarious deeds, you had to find a way to work around it. Sometimes, that was as simple as coming in while everyone was asleep. Other times, a distraction could be arranged to draw attention elsewhere. This was one of those situations. Lisa would make sure he knew what was going on, and if need be, she’d draw attention away from him.
With that done, he tore down the security tape and stuffed it into a satchel he wore on his side. That would keep people from questioning what was going on too deeply. There was nothing like trying to break into an area that was clearly marked as no admittance to draw attention.
He pulled out his tools and began breaking into the security system. This was a relatively simple model, though it had security that would keep even talented amateurs from attempting to break through it. He’d seen its kind before, so he wasn’t intimidated.
Lisa was a hacker, and she could break into any computer system imaginable. She was also quite talented with security systems, but he was the master when it came to the latter. Computers were still something he didn’t understand all that well, but security systems were his bread and butter. He could get into things that Lisa wouldn’t even be able to touch.
This particular model of security lockout had no external ports that he could plug into, but it was able to be linked to wirelessly. It didn’t advertise that particular connection, but he’d taken several of these units apart over the years and knew how to link them to his tablet.
After utilizing a backdoor that the manufacturer had put in to reset them if they were ever locked out, he was past the initial challenge and response sequence that the device would normally give someone trying to connect wirelessly. It wasn’t even technically a login. It was more like it would demand the passcode, and you had to enter it, or it would begin screaming both to the security network and audibly.
Once he was past that, he was able to lock out all the functions that would normally alert the security services if the device was tampered with or deactivated. Now, it would report nothing even though he was about to put it into a safe state. After another couple of seconds, it detached from the wall and fell into his hand, revealing the original keypad.
He handed the security device to Lisa, quickly popped the keypad out of its holder, and bypassed the wires to connect to the security system himself. Then, he was able to send a command to release the door, before putting everything back together again. He opened the door and stepped inside. Lisa followed along, and he closed the door behind them.
The apartment was thrashed. Whoever had searched it had had no compunctions about destroying the furniture and dumping everything on the floor. Some of the cabinetry and dishes in the kitchen were smashed, and that was just needlessly violent. As a professional, he was offended. When he searched someone’s quarters, they would never know that he’d been there. This type of indiscriminate destruction was odious.
“Looks like someone needs a cleaning service,” he said.
“Ugh,” Lisa said. “I don’t think we’ll find very much in here.”
“Probably not, but it has given us some information that we didn’t have before. He was definitely picked up by the secret police. Regular security would not have been so wantonly destructive. We can look through everything quickly, but then we’ll need to go elsewhere because someone will eventually come by to pick up this security lockout.”
“If they’ve destroyed the place, why bother locking it up? Why not just leave it like that and go on about their business? It certainly seems as if there’s no reason to keep anyone from coming in here.”
