Chapter Thirty-Seven

Breaking Rocks

Crush gave Sec an annoyed look as he rushed onto the Liberties’ bridge and took his position.

“Oh, spare me,” Sec glared back. “Do you know how much work I had to do in the last…few… hours? Sorry, Boss.” He wilted under the stare.

“Just to be clear,” Crush said to the assembled crew. “If you need time, ask. But do not be late unless someone is dead.”

“Sounds like an encouragement to kill someone to cover for being late, Boss,” Quad offered.

“There is no way you can twist what he said into that,” Cara laughed.

“We are twisty people,” Prim replied smugly.

“What’s the Merchant here for?” Tri asked. “We don’t need to buy something, do we?”

“Kiss my ass, Tri!” Berenice snapped.

“Oooh, touchy!” Tri laughed.

“Enough,” Crush sighed. “We are here for a serious mission, people.”

“We hunting the bases?” Cara asked.

“We are,” Crush nodded. “And there will be no messing around once we start this mission, understood?”

“Understood, Boss,” Prim saluted smartly.

“That’s why we are getting it out the way now,” Quad nodded.

“Still wondering why she’s here,” Tri offered.

“Berenice is here for her other skills,” Crush said with a smile.

“That smile either means shooting or sex,” Prim told the others. “No telling which.”

“Shooting!” Crush yelled. “I’m with Vicky.”

“Plus, I don’t sleep with cops,” Berenice said seriously. “They give me hives.”

“Bet they weren’t hives,” Cara laughed.

“Also,” Andy said with a broad smile, “And I hate to tell you this, Berenice, but since you are crew here, you are technically a Marshall now, too.”

Berenice went pale.

“Oh, wow,” Tri said, applauding. “This is a special moment!”

While they undocked and moved away from the Rest, Crush gave them the basics of the mission ahead.

Nellie had decided it was time to remove the interlopers from the system. With the Harbinger’s spectacular arrival on the scene and the second Imperium class rapidly approaching completion, it was only a matter of time before the Line invaded the system.

As such, destroying their staging points within it was an immediate priority.

Paren had started the process when she wiped out the base on the planet now called Home. It was up to Crush and his people to take out the ones in the asteroid belt while the carrier Sparklight focused on the base established on one of the habitable moons of a gas giant.

“Operation Rock Breaker!” Quad suggested enthusiastically. “We can bust them up from a distance with the rail guns and all be home before the end of the shift!”

“Yes and no,” Crush grinned.

The original plan was pretty much as Quad suggested. The Liberties would use weapon fire to take out the asteroids in much the same way that XL Beam weapons would be used against a base on a planet. It was a good plan—reliable, efficient, and very Salem.

Crush, however, saw an opportunity to get much more.

“Those heavy destroyers might not be the only thing whoever made them upgraded,” Crush said. “Wouldn’t it be nice to get our hands on more of that technology? Intact.”

“A ground assault on the bases?” Cara groaned. “Zero G combat sucks so bad!”

“It’ll be worth it,” Crush said with a smile. “If we do it right.”

Figuring out the right approach was the first significant hurdle.

With a large number of asteroids and no definite fixes on the bases, any angle they took could leave them exposed, losing the vital surprise aspect of the plan.

Cara and Sec worked together, plotting the trajectories taken by the capitals fleeing from the Harbinger and cross-referencing them with the various retreating destroyers from several attacks.

They ended up with several clusters, places where the trajectories crossed from multiple sources.

“Look here, here, and here,” Cara noted. “These three clusters are all equidistant from this specific asteroid.”

“We have two more over here,” Sec said, pointing to another spot across from and above the first.

Crush and the crew enlarged the scans, finding that there were actually three large asteroids in the area. The two they identified first had clear views of each other, but only one could see the third.

The more data they looked at, the more convinced they became that the three asteroids were the bases they were looking for.

“How many of the destroyers escaped the battle at the Rest?” Cara asked.

“Just two,” Crush confirmed. “One was heavily damaged.”

“So we have to assume they have attack options if they see us coming,” Quad said. “What about this spot?”

Right in the very center of the misshapen triangle created by the three bases was a scan dead spot where the sensor shadows from the asteroids overlapped.

“We won’t know if they have anything there until we are right on top of it,” Crush said. “For now, we assume the worst.”

Cara nodded.

“I can bring us in from the far side of the distant base, the one only one of the twin bases can see,” Tri said. “If I time it just right, we can shut down power and go ballistic, coast the rest of the way in.”

“How do we stop?” Berenice asked.

“I use the gravity wells from the asteroids to bleed speed until we get to here,” Tri pointed. “From there…”

“We go rock hopping,” Crush smiled while Cara groaned.

“Rock hopping?” Sec asked.

“We launch ourselves from one asteroid to another,” Crush said, “Until we reach the base.”

“Won’t they see the ship moving between the asteroids?” Berenice asked.

“I never said we were taking the ship,” Crush said, laughing at the Merchant’s look of horror.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Tri gestured, and Crush cut all the power in the ship, leaving them drifting on ballistic as they all locked their helmets in place. All four of the non-cent crew had nanite-crafted lungs, meaning the one-hour air supply was closer to twelve hours; still, it put them on a clock.

As the Taking Liberties sailed on, without even thrusters to guide her, Tri’s piloting skill really became apparent. The trajectory took them close enough to one asteroid to slightly alter their heading, easing the ship between two mid-size asteroids that kept the ship on course while bleeding speed.

Crush clenched his teeth as they passed inches from the surface of another larger asteroid, once more altering their course.

This time, their lower speed let the asteroid pull them further, curving the Liberties' path upward before they escaped.

Ahead of them, an irregularly shaped asteroid rotated slowly. The cruiser slid alongside it, losing the last of the speed and coming to a stop.

“Damn,” Tri muttered. “I missed?”

“Missed?” Berenice whispered, “ We are right here.”

“Short by a meter,” Tri sighed quietly. “I’m embarrassed, I really am.”

“Why are you guys being so quiet?” Prim yelled, making Berenice jump.

“Shh!” Berenice waved at her. “Sound travels!”

“Not through a vacuum,” Prim said drily, kicking the hull and causing a gong-like bong. “We could throw a fucking party.”

“Oh, right,” Berenice said. “I knew that.”

“Sure you did,” Cara laughed. “Come on, let’s get this party started.”

===<<<>>>===

Crush looked back, making sure that the other three had landed the jump from the Liberties to the asteroid. He carefully kept his eyes away from the edge. Looking at the ship spinning past would just give him vertigo.

Once he confirmed they were all down safe, Crush led the way to the jump spot on the far side of the spinner.

There was next to no gravity, so he carefully placed his feet to ensure he always stepped on something smooth enough for his boots to lock onto.

“I’m going to puke in my suit,” Berenice said over the comms. “What do I do if I puke in this thing?”

“Marinate?” Cara offered with a laugh.

“Keep your eyes on the floor until it passes,” Andy said quickly. “And think of something that you find refreshing.”

“No comms from after this jump,” Crush reminded them, arriving at the jump-off point. “Let your implant tell you the timing; you do not want to have to burn too much fuel to get back on track.”

“Yes, Boss.”

“Yes, Boss.”

“Got it.”

Crush took his spot, waiting for the flash of warning from his implant. He crouched and, when the marker flashed green, pushed off.

He sailed through the void, silence wrapping around him like a cloak. There are no words for the absolute absence of anything that is flying across absolute nothing and praying nothing stops you from landing on something solid on the other side.

Training helped, being prepared helped, but most of all, not thinking about it helped. For Crush, he thought about what might lie ahead, about the bases, and about the chance for discoveries that might help them all.

Some might be happy to sit back and wait for the next miraculous idea by Paren, Nellie, or Lucy, but that was not Crush.

He wanted to contribute, and this was how he could do it.

Grinning, he realized it was actually quite refreshing. Nellie had better captains, better soldiers, better ships, and even better HyperDrive, but Crush was her best Marshall, and it was time to evict the squatters.

He rolled in the air, landing in a gentle crouch to absorb his kinetic energy and give his boots time to lock onto the asteroid. His people landed one after another, although Berenice did need an assist from Cara as she hadn’t figured out the need to roll and arrived face first.

Hiding his very ungentlemanly grin, Crush led the way to the next jump-off point.

Five jumps later, Crush got his first look at the asteroid base and had to admit he was impressed. Instead of building up from the asteroid, they had built inside a large fissure, the docks and antenna barely above the surface of the massive rock. Unless the light hit it just right, you would never know it was there.

He spent five minutes locating the antenna control array, an airlock—this nanite-improved vision was just straight-up cheating—and even the main vent system they used to bleed off any excess heat to prevent a thermal bloom from giving them away.

Crush turned to his squad, using hand gestures and signals to relay orders. Which was great, except Berenice didn’t know any of them.

Although she was surprisingly versatile when it came to making rude suggestions with only sign language and some rather vivid hand gestures of her own.

CRUSH: Just stick with me. Once Cara and Andy are done with their assignments, we will move to the airlock and make entry.

BERENICE: Wait! We have this chat, and you wave your hands about instead?

CRUSH: It is simpler to use hand signs.

BERENICE: Lies. You just think you look cool doing it.

CRUSH: Are you saying I don’t?

BERENICE: That’s not the point!

Crush laughed and counted down their jump. All four jumped at once this time, the whole group crossing the last gap together, just in case.

The moment their feet touched down, Andy and Cara split off, moving low across the surface of the asteroid toward the antenna array and dock, respectively. Crush, meanwhile, led Berenice over to the airlock. He gestured up and then moved above it and out of sight.

Five minutes later, Cara arrived with Andy, both giving him a thumbs up and taking positions on either side of the airlock.

Berenice moved to hack it, but Crush pulled her back and gestured for her to wait. She scowled at him but did as he asked.

Seconds ticked by, and just when Crush was going to give up and hack it, the airlock started to cycle. Andy and Cara moved back, sliding out of sight on either side as the door opened and a silver-clad figure emerged, irritation showing in their body language. They stepped out, turned to close the airlock, and saw Cara, who shot him in the head with three quick beams from the Nano rifle. The impact knocked his hand free, and the silver drifted off into space.

Crush swung down into the airlock, rifle at the ready, and saw no one on the other side of the inner door. He waved the all-clear, and the squad squeezed into the small airlock, waiting for it to cycle.

The indicator went green, and Crush eased the inner door open, stepping quietly into the station.

“What? Did you forget the tools?” A grinning man asked, sticking his unarmored and unhelmeted head out of a room near the airlock.

Crush drew a bead on him with the rifle, but Cara beat him to it, a throwing knife hammered into his eye with barely a noise.

Leaping forward, Crush caught the body before it fell, lowering it gently to the ground.

They were in a long corridor, and the cheap construction was evident in the blank metal walls and simple rubber sheeting on the floors. It was functional, nothing more. Several doors opened off the corridor, each one having a wheel on, indicating a pressure seal.

Crush checked, but there were no signs of cameras.

Room by room, they cleared the corridor, only finding one other occupant so far. The woman was asleep in the cheap cot right up until Cara slapped some tape over her mouth and flipped her over, cuffing her arms. She was bound hand and foot and placed in the corner before she had even had a chance to wake properly.

Cara closed the door and crouched down in front of her, putting her suit speakers on minimum volume.

“Listen very carefully; I do not need to kill you. I need information. You give me that information, and we are going to both leave this room alive. If you understand that, nod your head.” Cara said.

The woman nodded.

“How many personnel are on this base? Nod once for each person.”

The woman nodded fifteen times.

“Fifteen?”

Nod.

“Did this base make the changes to the destroyers?”

Shake.

“Is it the next base?”

Shake.

“Is it the last base, the one closest to the edge of the asteroid belt?”

Shake.

Cara looked at Crush. He mimed a datapad.

“Did you get the information from a datapad?”

Nod.

“Do you know where it is?”

Shake.

“Do you want to live?”

Vigorous nod.

“Can you sit quietly here and not do anything stupid?”

Nod.

A ladder at the end of the corridor led down into the central part of the base. Crush went first, dropping to the rubber mat below with his weapon raised.

Two men yelled in surprise, and he shot them both in the head before they could reach the alarm button on the wall.

He stepped clear, letting the rest of the squad drop down.

Once they had all gathered again, Crush split them into two pairs. Crush and Berenice went down the left corridor while Andy and Cara took the other.

He cleared two empty rooms before they found the control center.

A bearded man was sitting at the security station, the monitors clearly showing Cara and Andy sweeping a large storage room full of ammo and ship parts. He hadn’t noticed as he was busy vigorously pleasuring himself with his feet up on the controls and his eyes closed.

“Need a hand?” Berenice asked.

The man yelped and opened his eyes in shock before she shot him in the head and kicked his body off the chair.

“Ick.” Berenice kicked him again until he was on his side and facing away from her. “I am so glad I am wearing gloves.” She went to work on the controls, fingers flying as she took control of the station.

Crush tried not to laugh and kept an eye on the corridor.

“Two more crew members are still alive,” Berenice said after a minute. “They are unarmed and sealed in their compartments as of now.”

“Does this place have a base-wide broadcast?” Crush asked.

“One second,” Berenice nodded to him, “You’re on.”

“This station is now under the control of the Marshalls of the Nanite Imperium. Keep your hands raised, kneel down in front of your doors, and do not resist. Comply, and you will not be harmed. Any resistance will be met with immediate execution.” Crush said, using his best command voice.

“You might have overdone it,” Berenice laughed. “I think that one peed herself.”

“Let’s get this place buttoned up and move on to the next.” Crush nodded.