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SHOWDOWN ON BIG ROCK 27


Gini Koch writing as Anita Ensal


Patsy finished drilling her section of Big Rock 27, where they were working today. The moment she was done, their ship’s robot, Zeller, tugged twice on her tether. They had communicators in their helmets, but they were old and faulty, so they used the old miners’ signals whenever they could. Two tugs meant Zeller wanted her attention.

She looked up and around. Zeller pointed off into the Blackness. There were lights coming. Definitely lights, not stars. And there were many of them. The Belt was huge, there were only two groups that traveled in force, and no conglomerate mining ships worked this far away from one of the Stations.

Which meant only one thing.

She tugged on the tethers that kept her little brothers attached to her, and they all stopped working and came to her. Zeller came, too. He leaned his helmet against hers. “We need to send out the call.”

“I agree,” Patsy said, as they started for their ship, the S7. She was normally proud of how her family had maintained this ship since before she’d been born. It looked ancient and vulnerable to her right now, though, because what it wasn’t was equipped to handle what was coming.

Once they were all in the ship, her parents looked confused. So did her little brothers. Patsy steeled herself, because they were all going to look terrified in a moment.

“Send the signal—we have pirates coming. A lot of them.”

* * *

Captain Eric Delgado wondered what he’d done to get this assignment and crew.

The duty could have been worse—he could be cruising around Charon Prison to ensure no one escaped. That was considered the worst duty in the system, and it was rare when any team could last there more than three months.

Cruising this part of the Belt was fine. Not as interesting as being around Ceres, Pallas, Vesta, or Europa Stations, not as dull as monitoring Earth or Mars. The Lunars were fine—the job tended to be escorting passenger ships or shuttles, which was important, though not the same as flying around the Suspended Cities of Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn. That duty was always exciting.

Of course, the Belt mattered the most. Without its miners getting the resources needed to keep the system alive, humanity would die out. Belt duty was many months of boredom flying through the Blackness interspersed with the occasional rescue of a mining ship that had been hit by a stray rock or had another malfunction. It was important work, nonetheless.

No, he had to admit it—it was his crew on this assignment that was the real problem.

There was nothing wrong with them, at least not individually. Marcus West, the most experienced officer with them, would retire at the end of this tour assignment, meaning he was focused on what he was going to do when he was done. It was interesting to West, but not to Delgado—who was decades away from retirement. And retiring wasn’t what he wanted to do, anyway. What he wanted was to find a woman who wanted to do the job with him—a life mate in uniform, saving the system together.

Rory Simons came from one of the wealthier Belt families. Why he was in the Galactic Police, though, Delgado couldn’t determine. Even though he was an excellent communications officer, and was extremely adept at accessing and repairing all the ship’s systems, Simons wasn’t excited about anything they were doing, and Delgado had to keep an eye on him to ensure Simons didn’t sleep on the job. Simons did as he was told, but only as he was told.

Jack Price, though, was the biggest challenge. The kid was from Earth and thrilled to be a part of the GP. He considered himself a hotshot, which was the real issue, and him ending up top of his class at the Academy meant Price thought he knew everything about everything. While Simons couldn’t care less about being in their ship, Price wanted to fly the 1963 at warp speed everywhere to rescue every miner in the entire Belt, preferably all at the same time.

A sound pulled Delgado out of his moody contemplations. “Distress call,” he said crisply. “Marcus, let’s determine who’s closest.” Price sighed audibly behind him. Delgado ignored it.

“Huh,” West said. “I know this ship. It’s the Sure Thing, Independent Seven-Seven-Seven. They’re good folks, and they never call for no reason or for something small.”

“Rory, who’s where?” Delgado asked.

Simons whistled softly. “We’re the only ship close. Everyone else is at least a day away, probably more.”

“Then it’s us,” Delgado said. “Marcus, let them know we’re coming.”

Before West could send the message, the distress signal shut off. He and Delgado looked at each other. “False alarm?” Delgado asked, as Price heaved another sigh.

West shook his head slowly. “I’ve known Doug and Sally Stevens since they found their claim. They’re good miners and good people, and they do nothing by accident.”

“One claim?” Simons asked snidely.

“One claim,” West said mildly, though Delgado could tell the older man was annoyed. “Thirty rocks, a family group, all of good size. Well, less than thirty now, since they’ve been working this claim for years. I checked them out when they first made their claim, helped them get it all straight.”

“You had to help them?” Simons was still unimpressed.

Delgado resisted the urge to slap him.

“I did,” West said, voice still mild. “They were young and were grateful for the assistance. I like this section of the Belt and, when I get the assignment here, I always check in on them. Would have suggested it once we were a little closer, as a matter of fact.” He still looked worried.

“Kids on the ship?” Delgado tried to find a reason for the false alarm.

West nodded. “One girl, Patsy, three boys, Bobby, Eddie, and Joey. The boys are a bit mischievous, but there’s no way even the youngest would do a fool thing like that.”

Delgado had to agree. The fines for a false call to the Galactic Police were harsh. “Visitors?”

“Not likely,” West replied. “They have no other family—Doug had his father and her mother with them when they came out to the Belt. Those two have since passed on, and that’s the entire family.”

Delgado nodded. That was common for a good chunk of the independent miners. “Then why?”

“Why what?” Price asked.

“Why did experienced miners send out a distress call, then cancel it?”

“At the Academy, they said we should always assume the worst,” Price said helpfully.

Delgado stiffened, and he knew West had, too. “The worst?” West asked.

“Out here,” Delgado said, “there’s only one worst—Boser Geist is paying them a visit.”

* * *

The system was, for all intents and purposes, lawful. Out in the Blackness, humanity had finally realized they were in this together and, as far as they’d ever found so far, they were alone in this together. That didn’t mean there weren’t criminals—that’s why Charon Prison existed, after all.

There were military and police forces on the planets, the Lunars, and the Suspended Cities, but the Galactic Police were the force that kept the Blackness safe. There were a lot of them—Delgado had heard they’d had to go to five digits recently for ship designations—because the solar system was huge, and there was a lot of Blackness to fly through. There were never going to be enough GP cruisers to cover it all.

The Belt, however, was where the worst of the worst did their work—specifically Boser Geist and his pirate armada.

Boser Geist had been around for hundreds of years. He wasn’t immortal—when the current Boser Geist was captured or killed, the title was passed along to whoever in the organization was ready or able to take over. Stopping the current one was always the number one thing the GP wanted its officers to do.

“That makes the most sense,” West said. “It’s a rich claim for an independent. There’s so much Blackness in the Belt, I was hoping Boser Geist wouldn’t find them, though, way out here.”

“What we want and what we get are rarely the same things,” Delgado mentioned.

“In training, they said the pirates take the claims for themselves,” Price said.

“They really coddled you at the Academy,” Delgado replied. “There are very few ways for someone to claim jump—our systems are set up specifically to avoid it. However, the ways Boser Geist and his ilk have found are both effective and horrific.”

“And it’s almost impossible to catch him doing it, too,” West added. Then he chuckled morosely. “Of course, Eric and I have both done so.”

“You’ve caught Boser Geist?” Simons finally sounded mildly interested.

“Killed,” Delgado said. “Not caught. And I’m all for doing that again. Right now, though, we need to do two things—set a course for the Stevens’ claim and find out every single thing about them: both what Marcus knows and what the records at Ceres Main tell us.”

“Why?” Price asked. “Can’t we just get there and blast the pirate ships to smithereens?”

Delgado wanted to ask West who he’d pissed off to get Price assigned to his ship. He bit it back—the Academy took two years of intense, constant training, but they didn’t prepare you for what it was really like to patrol the Blackness, let alone the Belt. “Because it’s unlikely we’re going to be able to do that and not destroy the claim and the miners.” He turned around and looked right into Price’s eyes. “And we’re here to protect and serve those miners first and foremost. If that means we have to let the pirates get away, then that’s what we do. If we can destroy the pirates without harming the miners and their claim, then that’s what we do.”

“What other options do we have?” Simons asked.

Delgado shrugged and turned forward again. “We can run. Or we can die.” The others were quiet. Delgado ensured their course was set, though he didn’t engage the engines yet. “So, now’s the time.”

“The time for what?” Price asked.

“The time to see what kind of person you are. Are you in or are you out?”

“You’d actually give us that choice?” Simons asked.

Delgado nodded. “I would. All four of us have to be willing to do whatever we’re going to have to do in order to save those people. One of us shirking, trying to fly away like a comet, not following orders, and we’re dead—the miners and all of us. Two of you are young, lots to live for. West is ready to retire, different things to live for. So, make your choices.”

“Kind of forcing the decision, aren’t you?” Simons asked.

“Boser Geist demands the decision. If you’re not in, then you get into your gear, get into the shuttle, and we call for another cruiser to pick you up. No loss of rank, no loss of status. Not everyone can do what this is going to demand.”

“What are you doing, Eric?” Simons asked.

“I’m going whether the three of you go with me or not.”

“I’m in,” Price said. “I didn’t work like I did to not actually perform my duty now that the comets are actually going to start flying.”

“I’m in,” West said. “I know these people. I can’t leave them to be destroyed by these Charon-damned worthless fish.”

Simons didn’t say anything. Delgado sighed to himself and looked over. To see Simons busily working at his station. “What are you doing, Rory?”

“Pulling up all the history we have on the pirates, as well as the other information you mentioned we’d need.” He looked over his shoulder and grinned. “Oh, sorry. I’m in. It just dawned on me that I was taught the pirates learn and pass the learning on, meaning they know whatever we did in the past. But the four of us might not. So…” He shrugged and turned back to his station.

Delgado was pleasantly surprised. “Then, we’re heading out. Rory, while you’re at it, send a call to whatever GP ships you can reach and let them know where we’re going and what we figure we’re up against. Preferably using a channel the pirates won’t have jumped.”

“On it,” Simons said.

“Good. Now, while we fly toward imminent excitement and potential doom, Marcus, start telling us all you know about the Stevens family.”

* * *

The pirates had sent two robots over to their ship. Zeller had warned them that ship’s robots were loyal to their ship, and the people that belonged to it, meaning there was no hope they could appeal to any of the pirate’s robotics. And reprogramming would take time they were unlikely to be given.

One of the robots stayed in the ship with their parents and Zeller. The other escorted Patsy and her brothers into one of the pirate ships. Both were heavily armed. Patsy had never seen an armed robot before. She didn’t care for it, but that didn’t mean that, somewhere along the line, she wouldn’t be able to use that against them.

There were ten ships surrounding their claim—the one they were taken to was sitting the closest to Big Rock 27. Patsy figured they were being herded to Boser Geist’s command ship so he could have them nearby while he threatened their parents.

Once inside the pirate ship, they’d been instructed to remove their helmets. They’d obliged, though Patsy had insisted she and her brothers hold onto their helmets and, so far, no one had argued against this.

True to expectation, they were taken to the quite-roomy cockpit, to meet the person in charge of their capture.

She’d been expecting someone large; however, the man she was taken to was more on the wiry side. He wasn’t impressive-looking, either. In the books she’d read and holovids she’d seen, most of the pirates were described as big and hairy, handsome and romantic, or lacking teeth and limbs. This man just looked ordinary, nothing exceptional in looks or size.

He gave them a curt nod. “Welcome to my command. Your jobs will be simple, no one will molest you, you’ll sleep together, and you’ll be fed what the rest of us eat. You can call me Captain.”

“What’s your real name?” Patsy asked.

A smile flashed across his face, like he wasn’t used to doing it and didn’t like the feeling. “Boser Geist.”

The way he’d said it, it was clear he expected a reaction. Pity for him. “I meant your real name. I know Boser Geist is just a title.”

His eyes narrowed. “My real name doesn’t concern you. Learn that quickly—you’re going to be with us for quite a while.”

“You’re going to raise us well into old age if you think our parents can work this claim out themselves,” Patsy said.

He stared at her. She stared back. “They’ll have assistance,” he said finally.

“Besides us?”

He nodded. “We’re not fools, and we’re not trying to be unkind. This is just how we…do business.”

“So I’ve heard tell.”

Boser Geist eyed her. “You’d make a good pirate—you ask the right questions and make the right points. Consider it.”

Patsy controlled her reaction. She wanted to spit at him. Instead, she nodded. “I’ll do that.”

“Keep them quiet,” he said to the robot that had escorted them in. Said robot moved them to the back of the cockpit. No one else paid them any mind.

Boser Geist turned back to look out at her family’s life’s work. He began telling Patsy’s parents what he expected them to do, who would be with them when they went to Vesta Station to change their claim ownership, and so on. There wasn’t going to be a lot of time to get out of this, and none once her parents left the claim in the S7.

Patsy spent the time looking around, pretending to be awed. She looked down at her brothers. “You should try to learn the ship as soon as you can.”

They all nodded and started looking around like she was. She’d told them what the pirates wanted to do to their family—the boys were ready to do whatever they had to in order to ensure they’d survive as unscathed as possible. Hopefully one of the four of them would spot a weakness that could be exploited.

* * *

Simons shared that they were close to the Stevens’ claim, meaning they had to decide how to approach.

West had filled them in on all he knew about this family, but Delgado wasn’t sure if it would be enough.

Simons had given them a listing of all successful attempts against the various Boser Geists that had come before. He’d also found all the unsuccessful ones. The information hadn’t been heartening—the four of them were going to have to be more creative than Delgado thought they could be, and that was if he wasn’t selling any of them short. He and West had each been creative enough separately. And most GP officers didn’t get a chance to take on Boser Geist more than once.

“Guaranteed by now they have the kids on one of the ships,” Simons said. “That’s been their modus operandi for the past two decades at least. If there are children, the pirates take them. If there aren’t children, then they take the weakest people, women, for preference. If it’s a single miner and a robot, they take the miner and make them program the robot to do what the pirates want.”

West nodded. “The threat is obvious for the women—gang rape. But for any males it’s the threat of castration.”

All four of them shuddered. “There’s no way any parent is going to go against a threat like that,” Delgado said. “Or anyone else, really.”

“No wonder the robots do what they’re told,” Price said. “It’s the only way they can protect the ship’s owners from harm.”

“Per the history, they’re democratic, in a way,” Simons said. “They give the miners the option to join them as pirates. Some have taken that offer. Some of the captives taken have chosen to stay with them, too.”

“You eat well, if you’re following Boser Geist,” West said. “No laws, other than his. It’s appealing to some.”

“Or else those captives took the easier way out,” Price said. “Probably no risk of rape or castration if you embrace the pirate lifestyle.”

“Not that we have a record of,” Simons said. “But they don’t kill the miners after the claims are dried out. At least, not all of them.”

“They kill plenty of them,” West said darkly. “They just make it look like a stray rock or a snowball hit them.”

“Sadly, this claim isn’t near the snowline,” Simons said, “so chances of comets showing up to help us save the day seem slim.”

“This gets us no closer to a plan,” Delgado said. “And we have to have one, or we all die, and we doom this family to a fate that, honestly, might be worse than death.” He looked over at West. The older man was staring out into the Blackness, looking thoughtful. “Marcus, want to share what you’re thinking?”

“We have to fool the pirates,” West said, still staring off into space. “That’s what I’m thinking. They have to know the distress signal was sent, right?”

“Right,” Delgado agreed, “because otherwise it would still be going. It was turned off because the Stevens family was told to turn it off or die.”

“So if we show up looking ready for action, they’re going to blast. But…” West turned to him. “But what if we come in doing what I’d planned to ask you to do anyway?”

“You mean act like we’re just dropping by?” Delgado shook his head. “Going to be hard to sell.”

“Not necessarily,” West said. “Not if we can get the Stevens family to play along.”

“Can we?” Delgado shook his head. “You have to remember that this event is now the single most terrifying thing that’s ever happened to them, and it’s happening as we speak. Not everyone can work under pressure.”

“Belt miners can,” Price said. “Per everything I learned at the Academy, those who are mining here are independent thinkers, willing to do dangerous, dirty work. They have to be able to think fast when an asteroid can rip their ships apart.”

“Does one of the kids want to join the GP?” Simons asked.

“Not that I know of,” West replied. “Why?”

“Because, based on the tracking data, someone on that ship has been accessing all GP training manuals, system alerts, and more. You’ve accessed them, as well, but not as many and not nearly as often.”

“It must be Patsy,” West said. “I gave her an old manual years ago, when she was out of new things to read and waiting for the family to be able to afford new transmissions for her.”

“So,” Delgado said slowly, “she’s a reader?”

“Yes,” West said. “She likes some really old books, too. Before-expansion old.”

Delgado was thinking. “What’s her favorite book, do you know?”

“I can make a guess, but that’s all it would be.”

“Based on her entertainment transmissions,” Simons said, “she’s enamored of some ancient texts. Some match her holovid transmissions, too.”

“She read the books and wanted to see if the vids were better?” Delgado asked.

“No. I think she saw the vids and wanted to see if the books were better,” Simons replied. “Based on timing. And, to get ahead of your next question, Eric, based on transmissions, the books she’s rented the most are Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking-Glass, and any vids made from those original source materials.”

“Marcus, have you read any of those?” Delgado didn’t hold out a lot of hope—the original texts were ancient. Everyone in the GP read—you had to have something to keep your mind occupied while you cruised the Blackness—but most read authors who’d been born in the last century.

“I have, actually,” West said slowly. “I read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland because Patsy told me what a wonderful book it was. That’s what my guess would have been for her favorite, too.”

“Perfect.” Delgado felt his plan solidify. “Do you know it well enough to quote it incorrectly?”

“Maybe?”

“I can send the text to your station,” Simons said cheerfully. “All our stations, just in case.”

Delgado considered how to phrase his next question and decided being blunt was probably best. “Rory, why are you here? I don’t mean philosophically, or why you’re on my ship—I mean why are you a part of the Galactic Police? And before you consider lying to me, realize I’m asking because I have some strong suspicions it will waste time the Stevens family doesn’t have to confirm your story.”

“Why do you think I’m here?” Simons asked carefully.

Delgado turned and looked at him. “I think you’re here because it was us or Charon Prison. Your family has money, which is why you got the choice. Am I right?”

Simons nodded, but he didn’t speak. He looked worried, though.

Delgado chuckled. “Relax. Right now, having the best hacker in the System on board is a bonus, not a problem. And in case it matters—which, based on what you’ve already done, I know it doesn’t to you, but might to the people we answer to—I authorize you to hack whatever you need to in order to save these people and keep us all alive.”

Simons grinned. “My dad said he was getting me assigned to the best crew possible. I see he didn’t lie.”

“I’ll be flattered if we’re all alive tomorrow.”

Price was staring, openmouthed. “Wait. Are you saying Rory is The Demon?”

“I am so saying,” Delgado confirmed.

Simons shrugged. “I didn’t choose that handle.”

“The handle you chose was rude by the standards of every civilized community we have,” West said dryly. “And, in fact, was offensive to everyone in Charon Prison, too.”

Simons grinned again. “I wasn’t hacking the systems to make everyone like me.”

“Why were you?” Delgado asked.

Simons shrugged and turned back to his station. “I was bored.”

West shook his head. “Kids today.”

Speaking of which, Delgado looked back at Price. “Jack, are you up to working outside our ship?”

“Sure. I’m up for whatever you need me to do, as long as it’s not sitting around and doing nothing. Though, I’ll do that,” he added quickly, “if those are your orders.”

“No. If we’re sitting around doing nothing, it’s to fool the pirates.”

West’s idea would get them close enough, and Delgado knew the refinements he’d already thought up would ensure it. They’d also hopefully alert the Stevens family that the officers were aware of what was really going on.

He had an idea of how to give the girl clues they were trying to help her and her brothers. If she was smart enough—and someone who was reading all the GP manuals for fun was probably more than smart enough—she might even be able to give them coded replies.

How to stop the pirates once they’d fooled them into relaxing, that was the problem.

Simons and Price were talking quietly. “What?” Delgado asked.

“We were just looking at what you and Marcus did to beat Boser Geist,” Simons said. “Both were pretty impressive.”

“I want to know how you got on board a pirate ship without them knowing,” Price said excitedly. “When we have time.”

“I’m more impressed with how Marcus got the pirates to basically kill themselves,” Simons countered.

“I was lucky,” Delgado said. “There was only one pirate ship. We caught Boser Geist on his way to a function on Ceres Main, if you can believe it. The rocks on these pirates are unbelievable. It was easy to fool one ship, we just pretended we were verifying entry to the event, and they had to let me in or be blasted out of the Blackness. Once in, I didn’t take off my helmet and released our fast-acting paralysis gas. I still had to kill Boser Geist, because he reacted faster than the rest, and it was either him or me. The rest of that crew are in Charon Prison.”

“And we didn’t have them kill themselves,” West said. “We stuffed their exhaust vents with toxins, so there was feedback.”

Delgado jerked. “How?”

“How what?” West asked.

“How did you do that without them knowing?”

“We were transporting a new polymer from Earth to Europa Prime, and we had its creator on board. We had four ships and while three of them kept the pirates busy, we were able to put the polymer into the torpedo bays and shoot it at the rear of their ships. We got away with it because there were only three pirate ships, and we had four GP cruisers and, like I said, we were lucky to have the polymer on board with us.”

“We don’t have anything like that on the ship,” Price pointed out sadly.

“Sure we do,” Delgado said. The other three men looked at him, clearly questioning. “We have at least a hundred patch kits and fifty patch extinguishers on board. We carry them for us and for the miners. They’ll fill an exhaust hole just as well as some polymer would. We shove in an activated paralysis bomb and ‘patch’ the exhaust outlet. The only downside is we have no idea how many ships we’ll be facing, and it’s unlikely they’ll fall for anything we toss at them that would allow us to leave our ship unmolested.”

“Plus, it’s been done,” West pointed out.

“But pretending you’re just doing a routine check out here hasn’t,” Delgado countered. “Combining what we both did could be something they aren’t prepared for.”

“Plus, we’re only one ship,” Simons agreed, “and no one other than Eric has been successful against them alone. It’s a combination of plans I don’t think they’ve seen before.”

“How do we get out of the ship?” Price asked. “And back in again, because if Eric’s right, it’s going to take more than one trip for us to do this.”

“Oh, as to that, leave it to me,” Simons said. “If the pirates don’t blast us immediately, I can hack their systems.”

“You’re sure?” Delgado asked.

Simons snorted. “Trust me.”

“We will be,” Delgado said. “Jack and I will be the only ones going in and out. Marcus is going to be conning the pirates, and you’re going to be hacking them.”

“This is going to be the greatest,” Price said with much enthusiasm. Delgado didn’t share it, but at least they had a plan that was, for the moment, solid.

“Okay, Marcus, here’s what I want you to do…”

* * *

The pirates had latched onto the S7’s radio, and Patsy and her brothers were still in the cockpit, so she heard what Boser Geist heard. Which was Officer West. She held her breath—she and her brothers had known this man all their lives, and she didn’t want to see him murdered in front of them.

“Howdy there, Doug and Sally,” West said cheerfully. “Just thought we’d drop by and see how you’re all doing.”

“Routine visit,” Boser Geist said, on a separate channel that went to the rest of his ships and to the robot with her parents. “Let it play out. I only see one GP cruiser.”

“It’s good to see you, Marcus,” her father said. Good. No one in their family ever called Officer West by his first name, no matter how often the officer asked them to.

“Looks like you’ve finally gotten the help you were hoping for,” West said, still sounding cheerful and completely unconcerned. “These ships carrying the relatives you told me might be coming out from the Lunars to assist?”

“They are indeed,” Pa said heartily. “It’s taken some time, but both Sally’s kin and mine are with us now.” They had no other family, and Patsy knew West knew this.

Which meant West understood these were pirates. Which also meant he knew she and her brothers would be on one of the pirate ships by now. She had to figure out how to let him know which one.

“Wonderful news! We’ll leave you to it then—oh. Wait a moment.”

She felt all the pirates stiffen, and she knew Boser Geist might give the kill order any second.

“Yes?” Pa asked, sounding confused.

“Are you going to change the claim status? If so, do you want me to help you with that again? You two had so much trouble with it when you first staked this claim, if you’re planning to share with your relations, that’s going to be even more complicated.”

“Oh,” Pa sounded relieved. “Would you help us, Marcus? You’re right about the complexity, and it would save us the trip to Ceres Main if we processed via the Galactic Police.”

This was true, and Patsy felt proud of Pa, and Officer West, too—he’d never struck her as sneaky before.

Boser Geist laughed softly. “We have a helpful public servant here, boys and girls. Let him stake the claim for us—that will be a true first.” He started giving orders for whose names needed to be added and what relation to the Stevens family they should say they were.

“If you don’t mind waiting,” Pa said, “we’re figuring out the right folks to put onto the claim, and who the beneficiaries will be.”

“No problem at all,” West said. “It’s quiet out in this part of the Belt right now, no one needs us for anything, we’re happy to relax. So, while we wait, Sally, how’s your little Patsy doing?”

Boser Geist snorted a laugh and turned around to look at her. “Been a while since he’s dropped by?”

“What of it?” she asked defiantly.

Another one of those obviously painful smiles flashed across his face. “He still thinks you’re a child, not a pretty, young woman.”

She shrugged. “What does it matter?”

“She’s fine,” Ma said before Boser Geist could reply, her voice shaking only a tiny bit.

“I wanted to tell her I read the book she recommended. While you folks deal with the claims situation, you mind if I while away some time chatting with her about Alice in Wonderland?”

Geist raised his eyebrow at her. “Seriously?”

“I like to read, and it’s my favorite book. Marcus likes to read, too, and he’s a nice man. Also, we talk books every time he comes by. If you want him to stay unsuspicious, you’re going to have to let me talk to him.”

“I don’t mind,” Ma said. “Let me get her.”

“Letting the girl talk,” Boser Geist said on the pirate channel. He indicated she should come to him.

She looked down at her brothers. “Be sure you three are extra good,” she said slowly and clearly, “and really well behaved while I’m talking with Marcus.” She winked at them. They all grinned at her and nodded. Good. Before the pirates had arrived she’d told them if she winked, or sounded overly polite, or spoke slowly, or seemed “off” in any way that they were to do the opposite of what she was saying and to remember the games they liked to play. “Keep your helmets no matter what,” she added softly. “And make me proud.”

With that, she went forward.

“Feel free to sit on my lap,” Boser Geist said.

“I thought you said we weren’t going to be molested.”

That smile flitted across his face again. It was far more frightening than anything else, because, by now, she was sure when Boser Geist smiled it wasn’t because he was thinking kindly or friendly thoughts.

“If you behave yourselves. You’ve given that instruction to your brothers. I’m going to make sure you follow it. I’ve seen several of the Alice in Wonderland holovids, you know.”

She sniffed as she sat in his lap and did her best not to shudder. The good part of this was he’d be unlikely to pay her brothers any mind while she was on his lap, and if he spun them around, she could block his view, at least momentarily. “The book is better.”

“We’re a little too busy to read ancient space dust like that.”

Good, he hadn’t read the book. She really hoped West had a plan beyond stalling, though.

“Hi, Marcus,” she said. “Ma says you finally read Alice in Wonderland.” He’d read it years ago, and she and he had both used the full title to differentiate from the holovids.

“I have. Loved it. I wanted to tell you that. Such a fun book.” He didn’t correct her not using the full title. Hopefully this meant they were on the same side of the moon on this.

“And so different from all the holovids, too. Most people only watch those. It’s sad.” She hoped this was a clue he’d get, that the pirates hadn’t read the book.

“They don’t know what they’re missing,” West said. “A raven is like a writing desk because they’re both black, after all.”

Patsy forced herself not to hold her breath. “Exactly. And, like the Red Queen says, there’s always time to take off someone’s head.”

“Right!” West said, while Boser Geist just sighed in a bored way. So, Belter’s Luck was with them. Thank Sol. “One of my favorite parts was when Alice had to put a fishbowl over her head so she could swim in the lake.”

“Oh, I loved that whole part!” So, West wanted them to have their helmets on. They couldn’t do it now, but at the first sign of something, she’d have to risk it and hope her brothers followed suit or had correctly interpreted that clue for themselves. They might be younger, but they were all smart. “Like Alice says, turn at the fourth fish from the left and go straight on until the bottom.” She hoped he counted from the S7 outward and also looked for the ship that was the lowest—Boser Geist’s ship was still hovering just above Big Rock 27.

“She had to wear a helmet?” Boser Geist asked, sounding interested, versus suspicious.

“No, a real fishbowl,” Patsy said. “With water and a goldfish in it. So she could swim deep into the lake with the fish. I told you, the book was much better than any of the holovids. They have to leave too much out.”

The screens blinked and the sound crackled for a moment. Then everything went back to normal.

“Huh. Everyone okay out there?” Boser Geist asked. The replies were all affirmative, then the pirates had some questions regarding the claim reassignment, and he got distracted with that. Patsy and West continued to share false quotes to trade information.

There was a ruckus from behind them, and Boser Geist did indeed spin his captain’s chair around. Patsy would have blocked his view, but there was nothing to see. Her brothers, and the robot guarding them, were gone.

* * *

West was doing a great job sounding like a clueless idiot. Thankfully, the Stevens family had caught on immediately. The girl was as smart as Delgado had hoped, and she and West were exchanging information well. The pirates seemed to have no suspicions raised, even when Rory’s hack had caused a momentary blip. Delgado wasn’t sure if Belter’s Luck was going to hold, but he hoped it would.

“I’ve got the tanks and paralysis bombs out by the emergency hatch,” Price said. “I pulled half of the patch kits out, too, just in case. You ready?”

“Yes. Rory, you’re sure no one but the four of us can hear what we’re saying on the channel going into our helmets?”

“Positive.”

“Then we’re rolling our part of the plan.”

GP officers were equipped with a variety of spacesuits. The ones they were in were called wetsuits, because they were based on ancient Earth prototypes that sat tight against your body. They were heated and reinforced, and they allowed you to move more freely than standard spacesuits. The helmets used for wetsuits were also more contoured than the standard fishbowls.

Added to this, they had utility belts that allowed them to clip whatever they needed to their waists, and they wore small jetpacks on their backs. They’d still have to aim themselves carefully, and the jetpacks wouldn’t last long with continual use—they were made to be utilized in short bursts—but they’d help them get to the ships quickly and, hopefully, accurately.

He and Price went to the emergency hatch, sealed this area from the rest of the ship, each clipped six bombs and two tanks to their suits’ utility belts, and aimed.

Patsy had indicated she and her brothers were in the fourth ship that was also the lowest. Counting from her family’s ship, that meant the ship hovering just above the big rock the family’s ship was tethered to was the likely culprit. So they’d hit that one last.

Price had insisted he wanted to take the farthest ships because there were more of them, and he’d be faster, and Delgado hadn’t argued, because he knew he needed to be the one to get inside Boser Geist’s ship. It had the most risk and required the most finesse, as well. Price wasn’t experienced enough to give him that part of the mission.

“If they spot us, we’re dead, so be sure you don’t get spotted,” Delgado said, as they pushed off from the 1963.

“Can’t catch me,” Price said. “I’m a leaf on the wind.”

“You’ll be a splat on the side of a ship if you go in too fast.”

He had to stop paying attention to Price, because he was coming up on his first ship. Because of how the pirates recruited, their ships were all of different designs and years of manufacture. Of the ten ships they were going to have to hit, no two were alike. However, one thing was standard—exhaust went out the back somewhere.

He reached the first ship with no issues and was able to catch an outcropping so he didn’t slam into it. Hand over hand, he moved to the back, searching for the exhaust port. He found it quickly, activated two of the paralysis bombs, tossed them inside, and sprayed the insta-hard foam over the exhaust port.

The next ship had two exhaust ports. He sent one bomb into the left port, sealed it up, then did the same with the right. On to the third ship, where one gigantic exhaust port waited because it was a larger ship than the first two. He tossed in the rest of the bombs and had to use both tanks of patch foam.

He cursed in his head. Three down on his side was great. However, the moment Boser Geist realized he had problems on any of his ships, the hostages were in trouble.

“I got four of them,” Price said. “I’m out of gear and heading back to the ship for more.”

“Same.”

The return to the 1963 was relatively easy from where he was, but it would risk his being seen by the ship identified as being Boser Geist’s. Delgado gnashed his teeth—Price was sailing directly in front of that ship to return to the cruiser. No reason to be careful now. Either the pirates would see them or they wouldn’t.

The jetpacks ensured they both got to the hatch quickly and accurately. “That was foolhardy,” Delgado said as they dropped the used tanks and re-equipped. “They could have seen you.”

“They didn’t.”

“We don’t know that.”

“We do,” Simons said. “There’s some kind of ruckus going on in what we’re now certain is the ship Boser Geist is on. Marcus thinks the boys did something while he was talking to the girl. No one’s on the comm with him right now—they stopped talking mid-sentence, then he heard a lot of shouting.”

“I need to get into that ship,” Delgado said. “Can you handle the last two ships alone, Jack? They’re the biggest in this fleet, meaning more exhaust ports, most likely.”

Price snorted. “Of course.” He clipped four tanks to his belt and ten bombs. It was a good thing they were weightless, or Price wouldn’t have been able to move.

“Be careful,” Delgado warned, as he took two tanks and six bombs.

“It’s going great, we have nothing to worry about,” Price said. “I’ll come back you up when I’m done.” With that he shoved off, once again choosing a straight line that sent him across and above Boser Geist’s bow.

“Does he realize what he just said?” Simons asked, sounding worried for the first time.

“I doubt they teach about Belter’s Luck at the Academy now. They never did when I was there.”

The Academy didn’t focus on superstition—the Belters did.

Belter’s Luck was a real thing, everyone out here knew and believed in it. But the Luck was capricious. And the moment you said aloud that Belter’s Luck was with you, that everything was going great and nothing bad would happen, the Luck would leave you like a snowball running away from Mercury.

However, he didn’t have time to dwell on this. He had to rig, then get inside, Boser Geist’s ship. “Marcus needs to get a signal to the kids—they need their helmets on as soon as possible, because I’m heading to their ship and, if they’re all paralyzed, it’s going to be close to impossible for me to get them all out.”

“Understood. Be careful, Eric.”

“As careful as I can be.” Within reason, of course, because there was nothing cautious about what any of them were doing right now.

The distraction the kids had likely caused wouldn’t last forever. He had to follow Price’s lead and just head straight for his goal, being spotted or not. He made it to the command ship quickly, then had to determine where he could enter safely and remain undetected. Meaning he had to waste precious time crawling around the ship, only to discover his best option was the man-sized exhaust port.

“Rory, is there anything I should know about the ship I’m about to enter via the riskiest means yet?”

“Nope,” Price said, as he joined him. “These kinds are only a problem if they fire up. Watch and learn.” Before Delgado could grab him, Price had clambered into the exhaust port.

“Don’t go in,” Simons said urgently. “They’ve figured out no one on the other ships is responding. They’ll move any minute—”

Delgado tried to grab Price, but the kid was too far into the port. Instinct and years of being in the GP made him fling himself to the side so the sudden push of ionized exhaust didn’t hit him.

Price blasted out of the port, and Delgado missed him again. The kid sailed away fast and, based on how his limbs and head moved, he was unconscious.

Delgado had two choices—abandon the miners and go after Price, or try to salvage the mission.

“Let us pray that the Blackness does not take us today,” he said to Price’s retreating figure. “But if it does, let us shine as brightly as Sol when we die.”

“In Sol’s name,” Simons and West said in unison.

Delgado cleared his throat. “Rory, I need a way in, and I need it now.”

“Hang on, I need a minute. Go to the left side. There’s an emergency hatch there I’m pretty sure I can open.”

“They’re getting ready to send people to the other ships,” West said as Delgado worked his way around the ship. “Not sure what’s going on with the Stevens kids, no one’s talking to me at all. I’m still on with them, though. I’ve muted my side, but they haven’t. We have less than five minutes before they blast us, if that.”

“Got it! The door’s open, Eric. All you need to do is pull the exterior handle.”

Delgado would have done so. Only the hatch opened before he could get to it.

* * *

Boser Geist had dragged her along with him to search for her brothers before Patsy had been able to let West know what was going on.

Boser Geist had run all over the ship, which, because she was good with memorization, was helpful and instructive, but Geist’s firm grip on her arm meant escape wasn’t an option. Not that she was going anywhere without her brothers.

Who—as they followed the trail of screams, shouts, and broken ship and robotic parts, along with a lot of human blood—had done their work well. Presumably, the robot wasn’t used to children, let alone those who were good at working together as a team.

They ran into another crew member. “Those three kids are riding the robotic,” he said. “Don’t let them see you.”

“What?” Boser Geist sounded furious. “Why shouldn’t I let them see me?”

“Because they’re controlling it.” The other pirate shook his head. “Boser, they’ve disabled half the crew already.”

Patsy did her best not to smile. Her brothers loved playing virtual reality and holovid games. They were particularly good at first-person-shooter games. Pa and Ma were going to be amazed at how useful the “time wasting” the boys had done for years was turning out to be.

“Stop running like a coward. Find those brats and kill them,” Boser Geist snarled to the other pirate. He dragged Patsy back to the cockpit and shoved her at the communications console. “Get on the radio and tell your parents to get your brothers under control, or you all die.”

Patsy saw a figure flying across the Blackness, going from the Galactic Police cruiser to one of the pirate ships. Now wasn’t the time to acquiesce to anything.

She turned around and shoved him back, so he’d hopefully not see what she had. “No.”

“No? You realize I—”

“Always planned to kill us? Yes, I do.” She shoved him, hard.

Either he wasn’t prepared for a woman her size to be strong, or no one else had ever fought back. As he staggered backward, Patsy put her shoulder down and rammed into him. He went down.

She didn’t hesitate. She ran.

While she was running, she put her helmet back on. “Boys, if you can hear me, we need to get off this ship. Where are you? I’m being chased by Boser Geist and trying to get to the escape hatch.”

“We found the self-destruct,” Bobby said.

“Can we pull it?” Eddie asked.

“We’ll wait for you,” Joey added.

“How close to the escape hatch is it?”

“Right next to it,” Bobby said. “Hurry.”

She rounded a corner and saw her brothers. They were still riding the robot. “Duck!” Eddie shouted.

She did, still running for them. She didn’t see the laser shots that went over her head, but she heard them hit. She didn’t turn to look back until she was close enough to grab Joey and could see the escape hatch’s activation light was on already. “Now!”

Bobby and Eddy pulled the self-destruct as Patsy slammed into the hatch. She grabbed Eddie and Bobby did, as well. “Shove that robot back inside!” she shouted as she turned to make sure she had all three of her brothers. As she did, she saw that Boser Geist was hit but not dead and was, therefore, still coming.

The boys did as they were told. However, when they tumbled out of the hatch, they slammed into something hard.

* * *

“Are you all the Stevens kids?” the officer who had her in his arms asked, putting his helmet next to hers.

“Yes, Boser Geist is still coming!” she shouted as the pirate leader reached the hatch doorway and started shooting at them. How he wasn’t dead from the lack of oxygen she didn’t know. Maybe he really was immortal.

The man holding her let go with one hand and threw something right at Boser Geist. It hit him and knocked him back.

“The ship is going to explode!” Patsy shouted now.

“Get a firm hold,” the man said. He moved her so he had his arm around her waist with her back to him. She tucked Joey against her tightly and managed to do the same with Eddie. But Bobby’s hold slipped.

“No!” she screamed, as he floated out of reach.

The man holding her cursed. Bobby was heading toward the ship, and she saw flames ignite inside. The ship was already blowing itself up. Her brother was going to die, and she knew the man was going to have to choose to save the three of them and himself instead of Bobby.

Then a different flaming light came up out of the Blackness. It was another man, who grabbed Bobby and kept on going.

The man holding her laughed, and suddenly they were flying after the man holding her brother. They made it to the Galactic Cruiser just as Boser Geist’s ship exploded.

* * *

Price had somehow returned from the dead and gotten the one kid and himself into the 1963.

Delgado was able to shove the kids he had in just as the pirate ship exploded.

The girl pulled him inside and got the hatch closed just in time. “Shields are up on our ship and the miner’s,” West said. “No damage from the explosion, though the same can’t be said for the rest of the ships in this fleet. Rory hacked into the Stevens’ robot and was able to get it to overpower the pirates’ robot. We have ten cruisers on their way. They should be here before the paralysis gas wears off in those ships that weren’t structurally compromised by the explosion.”

Delgado took his helmet off and hugged Price. “We thought you were dead. Impressive return.”

Price grinned. “Told you I was good, Eric. Belter’s Luck is always with me, even when you think it isn’t.”

“Thank Sol.” Delgado addressed the kids. “I think you’re safe to take your suits and helmets off. We’ll be bringing your parents and ship’s robot over here where you’ll all stay until the other cruisers arrive. Good job. Great job, really.”

The kids took their helmets off, and Delgado felt stricken. “Did we lose your sister?”

The three boys looked confused. “No?” the one Price had saved said. “Patsy’s right here.”

The beautiful, sexy young woman who had just shimmied out of her spacesuit and was helping the boys with theirs looked over her shoulder at him. “Why didn’t you think I was their sister?”

“Marcus, Officer West…he kind of insinuated…you were a kid.” Delgado felt embarrassed for no good reason. “I was really impressed with how smart and brave a kid you were.”

“So I’m not impressive now because I’m twenty, not twelve?”

“No, you’re definitely impressive.” Delgado felt his face flush.

She noticed and laughed. “Whose plan were you following? I was impressed they were thinking like I was.”

“Eric’s—Captain Delgado here,” Price said. “He’s the one in charge. The rest of us just followed his orders and added in as necessary or requested.” He winked at Delgado, then looked down at the boys. “Let’s go see Officer West, kids. We all want to know what the four of you did inside Boser Geist’s ship.”

The boys looked at Patsy, who nodded. They trotted off with Price. “How long are we going to be with you, do you think, Captain Delgado?” she asked him.

“As long as I can possibly convince you to stay.” He hadn’t meant to say that aloud. She looked at him thoughtfully. “You’d make a great GP officer.”

“Really?”

He nodded.

Patsy smiled slowly. “Tell me more…Eric.”


The End



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