work with you.”
“And yet you and I are still an item in the wonderful world of black ops.”
“Should I ask, or should I just play along while you invent a way out, probably making it up on the spot?”
“What would be your preference?”
“Tell me.”
He did, and when he was done, she nodded slowly, evaluating their chances.
“It’s stupid enough that it just might work, though I shudder to think what could happen if your plan goes sideways.”
“Not a chance.” His grin turned predatory. “They won’t want to risk their precious station.”
“True, but it still sounds amazingly stupid to a naval officer’s ears.”
“That’s why it took a Marine to figure it out. Anyway, as a wise man once said, if it’s stupid and it works, it’s not stupid. You might wish to record that somewhere for future reference.”
She gave him a playful tap.
“Smart ass. Give me an hour or so to prepare the systems, then you can play dumb Marine with the station’s controllers. Just make sure you win.”
***
“Kilia control, this is Chimera .”
Zack’s voice held a hint of panic, but he had a twinkle in his eyes when he winked at Talyn.
A bored voice came on.
“Yes, Chimera , what can we do for you today?”
“Well, we – um – have us a bit of a situation here, control.”
“Oh?” The voice didn’t lose an iota of its disinterest.
“Um, our magnetic bottles – how shall I put this? They seem to have developed a bit of instability. Nothing much, mind you, but we’re thinking…”
“What do you mean, instability?” The boredom suddenly vanished. “Don’t you have fail-safes?”
“Well, er, the fail-safes have…well, um, they failed, and we haven’t had a chance to replace them.”
“I’m scanning you now Chimera , stand by.”
Decker nodded at Talyn. She touched the helm station’s screen.
“Holy crap, Chimera !” The controller’s voice had gone up by two octaves. “You just burped some anti-matter.”
“Yeah, yeah, we felt that,” Zack replied, full-blown terror in his tone. “Can we like evacuate to the station and you guys kick the ship off.”
“Ah, wait.”
The radio went silent for almost twenty seconds during which Talyn vented a further spurt of anti-matter, creating a tiny, very bright sun aft of Chimera . Then, a new voice came on.
“ Chimera , I’m cutting you loose and pushing you away with my tractor beams. Get yourself out of range pronto. Your presence is no longer welcome here. Any ship dumb enough to sail without working fail-safes on their magnetic bottles is barred from Kilia.”
The words were accompanied by a loud mechanical sound as the controller unlatched both grappling arms holding the ship to the docking tower. Then, they were pushed out far enough to engage the sublight drives.
“Now get out of here, Chimera .”
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” Decker replied before cutting the transmission. “We’re free and clear, Hera.”
“And we’re on our way,” she replied, stroking the drive controls. The small ship accelerated with all she had, leaving the asteroid field far behind.
***
“Did you run the EMP yet?” Talyn asked once she’d turned the helm over to the AI.
“No, but those things have a pretty short range, so they’re nothing more than electronic dust right now, for all they’re worth.” He touched his console. “Done.”
“You know this kind of stunt could get us thrown in jail for reckless endangerment of a spaceport,” she remarked, stretching her slender frame to release the tension. “But I’ll grant you: it worked, so by definition it wasn’t stupid.”
“Told you. Now what?”
“We find a quiet spot away from any watchers, switch out the transponder, change names and try our luck further along the rim.”
“Dump the Chimera identity so quickly?”
“The Jackals will make sure their Sécurité Spéciale sponsors take an interest in our
“And yet you and I are still an item in the wonderful world of black ops.”
“Should I ask, or should I just play along while you invent a way out, probably making it up on the spot?”
“What would be your preference?”
“Tell me.”
He did, and when he was done, she nodded slowly, evaluating their chances.
“It’s stupid enough that it just might work, though I shudder to think what could happen if your plan goes sideways.”
“Not a chance.” His grin turned predatory. “They won’t want to risk their precious station.”
“True, but it still sounds amazingly stupid to a naval officer’s ears.”
“That’s why it took a Marine to figure it out. Anyway, as a wise man once said, if it’s stupid and it works, it’s not stupid. You might wish to record that somewhere for future reference.”
She gave him a playful tap.
“Smart ass. Give me an hour or so to prepare the systems, then you can play dumb Marine with the station’s controllers. Just make sure you win.”
***
“Kilia control, this is Chimera .”
Zack’s voice held a hint of panic, but he had a twinkle in his eyes when he winked at Talyn.
A bored voice came on.
“Yes, Chimera , what can we do for you today?”
“Well, we – um – have us a bit of a situation here, control.”
“Oh?” The voice didn’t lose an iota of its disinterest.
“Um, our magnetic bottles – how shall I put this? They seem to have developed a bit of instability. Nothing much, mind you, but we’re thinking…”
“What do you mean, instability?” The boredom suddenly vanished. “Don’t you have fail-safes?”
“Well, er, the fail-safes have…well, um, they failed, and we haven’t had a chance to replace them.”
“I’m scanning you now Chimera , stand by.”
Decker nodded at Talyn. She touched the helm station’s screen.
“Holy crap, Chimera !” The controller’s voice had gone up by two octaves. “You just burped some anti-matter.”
“Yeah, yeah, we felt that,” Zack replied, full-blown terror in his tone. “Can we like evacuate to the station and you guys kick the ship off.”
“Ah, wait.”
The radio went silent for almost twenty seconds during which Talyn vented a further spurt of anti-matter, creating a tiny, very bright sun aft of Chimera . Then, a new voice came on.
“ Chimera , I’m cutting you loose and pushing you away with my tractor beams. Get yourself out of range pronto. Your presence is no longer welcome here. Any ship dumb enough to sail without working fail-safes on their magnetic bottles is barred from Kilia.”
The words were accompanied by a loud mechanical sound as the controller unlatched both grappling arms holding the ship to the docking tower. Then, they were pushed out far enough to engage the sublight drives.
“Now get out of here, Chimera .”
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” Decker replied before cutting the transmission. “We’re free and clear, Hera.”
“And we’re on our way,” she replied, stroking the drive controls. The small ship accelerated with all she had, leaving the asteroid field far behind.
***
“Did you run the EMP yet?” Talyn asked once she’d turned the helm over to the AI.
“No, but those things have a pretty short range, so they’re nothing more than electronic dust right now, for all they’re worth.” He touched his console. “Done.”
“You know this kind of stunt could get us thrown in jail for reckless endangerment of a spaceport,” she remarked, stretching her slender frame to release the tension. “But I’ll grant you: it worked, so by definition it wasn’t stupid.”
“Told you. Now what?”
“We find a quiet spot away from any watchers, switch out the transponder, change names and try our luck further along the rim.”
“Dump the Chimera identity so quickly?”
“The Jackals will make sure their Sécurité Spéciale sponsors take an interest in our
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