Space Pioneer 2 - The Titan Plot - 1. Chapter 1

The Titan Plot

Ion clenched his hand to a fist and looked around on the bridge of the ship. His two companions were carrying plasma guns. The captain and the crew of the Cleus spaceship were dead. A young woman was sitting in a seat, her body trembling and her eyes widened. Her mouth formed a silent cry. Chief in command Ion watched her, enraged.

"How could you be so careless, Lady Tiana?" he hissed.

The Titans raised their plasma guns, but Ion waved his hand.

"Wait. Take her down and lock her up in a room. Leave me alone. I must think," he said.

Ion’s companions dragged Tiana from her seat and shoved her from the bridge. Ion looked after them, then sat down in the captain’s seat and looked at the dead men hanging in their seats or lying on the floor. His eyes turned to the front window of the spaceship. They were in outer space, but not far from the Sirrah solar system. The system was on the ship’s route from the planet Cleus to the main planet of The Empire of Titania. The Sirrah system was a no-go zone because of various political and international disputes in the past. It was general knowledge, however, that the Alliance furtively controlled the system. For what reasons, no one knew exactly, but there were rumors, of course.

Ion was thinking. He rose to his feet, went to the main console and pushed the seat with the dead pilot aside. Ion bowed over the devices and gadgets. He knew the Empire of Titania would trace the lost ship. The Cleus ship had started from Cleus four days earlier and the systems had worked properly until Ion and his team had disabled the ship’s electronics. The investigators would trace the logs and ultimately locate the ship. Ion clenched his teeth. It was all Lady Tiana’s fault. No self-deceit, he scolded himself. He had to proceed rationally. After shooting the Cleus crew, the Titans had re-booted the ship’s systems. Ion had no doubt the Empire of Titania had started investigations as soon as they had lost contact with the ship. They probably knew already where the Cleus ship was located.

Their original plan had failed, but there was still a slim chance to get through with it. Ion pulled the dead pilot from the seat and sat down in the seat himself. He studied the console of the Cleus spaceship. He was familiar with the devices. Ion commanded the computer to bring up the flight plan of the sector. He limited the search to the Sirrah system. Naturally, no flights to and from the system came up. Any such flights were secret and not in the public domain. Ion studied the listed flights that passed by the Sirrah system. He straightened. A shiver of excitement was running down his spine when he found what he was looking for. A couple of cargo lines were operating in the area around Alpha And. Alpha And was a vast trade platform for companies operating in the Andromeda galaxy. It was close to the Sirrah system, yet in outer space. Ion knew that any legal trading platform was not only visited by registered spaceships, but was also the target of illegal operating ships and crews. Ion had long worked in the field. The chance of getting hold of a ship was slim, but not it was not zero. Ion leaned back and looked out of the window. The blackness of space deemed him a warning, but the blackness was not complete. Ion focused on the distant stars that were perforating the blackness. He was thinking and his mind was razor-sharp.

Ion’s companions entered the bridge, carrying a set of portable devices.

"I figured you want me to change the code of the ship," Shikoba said. "We ought to get away as soon as possible now that the plot has failed."

Ion measured the man. "I was thinking," he said. "We’ll send the ship into the Sirrah no-go zone and get away with the shuttle."

"Where shall we go with the shuttle? We’re in outer space. There’s nothing out here," Nuka said in disbelief.

"Alpha And," Ion replied. "It’s a platform for trading companies. We’ll get us a ship there."

"Alpha And?" Shikoba asked. "It’s far from here. We won’t make it there with the shuttle."

Ion silenced the man with a wave of his hand. "Check the specifics of the Cleus shuttle," he said.

He rose to his feet and Shikoba sat down in the seat and started checking on the ship’s inventory.

"The shuttle is a standard shuttle. It can fly for thirty hours before it must be re-fuelled. Sorry, Ion, we can’t get to Alpha And in the Cleus shuttle," Nuka said finally.

"We’ll perform a space jump with the main ship to Alpha And, get off with the shuttle, and send the main ship to the no-go zone on a pre-programmed course. A few odd maneuvers and a little zig-zagging will give them some thoughts when tracing the ship’s route," Ion said.

"How do you plan to land on Alpha And? How will you explain that we come in with a shuttle?" Nuka asked. "Don’t you think they’ll ask where the shuttle comes from?"

Ion looked at the front window. "We’ll do it like in the old pirate days. We’ll mag-lock the shuttle to a cargo ship," he said.

His companions looked at him and then started grinning.

"Well, I it might work out, if we find a ship vast enough to mag-lock the shuttle between the landing gear, that is," Nuka said.

"Is the Cleus ship equipped with a magnetic locking system?" Shikoba asked.

"Sure. It’s a modern ship," Ion said.

"I’ll better check on it," Nuka replied and resumed checking the ship’s inventory. "Yes," he said. "The shuttle is not the problem. The problem is the cargo ship that we need to find."

"It’s a busy area," Ion said. "I pulled up the flight schedule. Cargo vessels come and go regularly. Check out the schedule, Nuka."

"An Orean cargo ship is due in thirty-eight hours," Nuka said a few of minutes later. "Their ships are vast. There’s another minor problem, Ion. Even the biggest cargo ships are being operated with only few crew. Do you think we can slip through controls? Won’t they notice that we don’t belong to the ship’s crew?"

"Not a problem either," Shikoba said. "The Oreans resemble the Titans closely. I’ll re-program our finger chips. We just need to make sure we don’t pass controls together with the Orean crew. The crew would know that we don’t belong, but controls won’t have a problem with laggards."

"We’re set, I think. I would have preferred to hand over the Cleus ship to Quanah in the proximity of the Titan main planet, but this idiot," Ion said, nodding his head at the dead Cleus captain on the floor, "smelled the rat and contacted the Empire in order to inquire about me. That’s what he got from it. Luckily, we were monitoring the bridge and disabled electronics before he could get through to the Empire."

"They will send a Titan warship here," Nuka said.

"They won’t arrive any time soon," Ion replied. "It’s a four-days trip even for the fastest ships that operate in space jump mode."

"They could warn Alpha And and the Alliance," Shikoba said.

"The Empire of Titania and the Alliance are on bad terms. The Titans won’t ask their enemy for assistance," Ion said.

"What about Alpha And?" Shikoba asked.

"I don’t think they will contact the space hub," Ion replied. "But if they do, then I’m sure they will tell them to watch out for a Cleus ship taken over by a Titan terrorist group."

"Oreans usually go bald," Nuka said, brushing back his dark hair.

"Shaving my head or not is the least of my problems," Ion said. "Get to work now. We’ll wait another couple of hours, then jump to Alpha And and mag-lock to the Orean vessel. It’s all about timing. Nuka, calculate the trip and set up a course on which we send the Cleus ship." Ion walked to the exit. "I’ll go and talk with our prisoner, the honorable Lady Tiana," he said with a sneer. "I doubt her father will see her again."

"She’s not important to him anyway," Nuka said. "The first-born son will succeed Tian Mu."

"Not correct," Ion said. "If the first-born child is a daughter, then the daughter’s husband will succeed his father-in-law. Quanah would have married her on board of his ship. A marriage on Titan territory is one essential condition of two to make the marriage legitimate."

"What’s the other one?" Shikoba asked.

"Age of consent," Ion said. "The daughter must be twenty-two years of age and mentally and emotionally stable, the latter confirmed by an expert opinion."

"Quanah will be after us, too," Nuka said.

"Why?" Ion asked.

"Well, we’ll send his bride into the no-go zone," Nuka replied.

"We won’t," Ion said.

"No?" Nuka asked in confusion.

"We won’t give away our pawn," Ion replied. "Quanah wants her and her father wants her back, too. Either will pay a ransom for her, provided we maneuver us into a position to repeat our demands, but I trust we will. I’ll go and talk to her and convince her to play along. Co-operation is in her interest. She’ll either understand it right away or she will learn it the hard way."

***

The spaceport bar on Alpha And was crowded because departures of all flights were delayed. The crews had taken it lightly in the beginning, but the mood had changed meanwhile. The men were angry and complaining loudly.

"I wished we could finally get out of here," Lest said. "How many hours have we been sitting at this very same table?"

"Three hours and forty minutes," Doctor Midad replied. "But if we give up on the table, we won’t get another one. I prefer to stay seated, captain."

Lest leaned back impatiently. "Hell, what’s going on here? Why don’t they inform us? I hate their information policy."

The crew at the next table stood. Their chairs were instantly claimed by an Orean crew.

"Incredible," one of the Oreans said. "The hangar was empty when we got in an hour ago. Who would have thought that the bar was so crowded?"

Lest turned to the Oreans. "You came in an hour ago? All departures are delayed. What’s going on? Do you have an idea?"

"We were told that all incoming flights were directed to the old spaceport. Only the huge cargo ships are permitted to touch down in the new hangar. My ship is vast," the man said with a grin. "I’m Captain Ekain. Greetings to you. You look like a Daglon."

"I’m Daglon," Lest replied. "Greetings to you. I’m Captain Lest. We have been waiting here for more than three hours."

"Something’s going on here," Captain Ekain said. "We saw Alliance military ships in the new spaceport. The Sirrah system is in the sector. I suspect that whatever is going on here has to do with the no-go zone."

"Damn! Thanks for this bit of information," Lest said, turning back to his crew.

"Alliance ships? This doesn’t sound good," Doctor Midad said.

He pushed his chair closer to the table to let Jeff and Le’Ton pass by behind him. The two men placed glasses on the table and sat down.

"What?" the Orean shouted.

Lest turned to the man. "What’s up, Captain Ekain?" he asked.

"You won’t believe," Ekain said. "I was just informed that hangar security detected a shuttle mag-locked to my ship, hidden between the landing gear."

"Good luck explaining this to the authorities," Lest said. "What about the shuttle crew?"

"No one was on board of the shuttle. I guess we’re screwed up," Captain Ekain said, hitting his fist on the table. He motioned to his crew. "The party’s over. We’re called to contact hangar security. That’ll be fun, I guess."

"Go in and win," Lest said with an encouraging nod.

"Thanks, captain," Captain Ekain replied.

The Orean crew pushed through the crowd. Their seats were instantly claimed by others.

Lest sighed and shifted in his chair.

Corr made a gesture with his hand and focused on his neural implant. "Hulton, calling from the bridge," the pilot said.

"Don’t tell me they found something mag-locked to my ship," Lest said drily.

"The Horus is scheduled for take-off in three hours," Corr replied.

"Finally," Lest said. He seized his drink and downed it in one gulp, then pushed back his chair.

The Horus crew pushed through the crowd and left the bar. They crossed the spaceport hall and entered a corridor. A moving walkway took the men to the hangar where their ship was parked. Forty minutes after leaving the bar, the men finally entered the bridge of their ship.

Hulton looked up and wrinkled his nose. "You don’t smell good," he said.

"Shut up," Lest said, slumping in the captain’s seat.

"I think I did not miss a thing," Hulton replied, turning back to his devices.

The men settled in their seats and prepared the Daglon warship for departure. Finally, they were cleared to roll to the take-off hangar.

"What crap is this?" Lest asked. "Why can’t we take off from our parking hangar?"

"Spaceport traffic control said that all ships need to depart from the old spaceport because the new spaceport is closed," Corr said.

"The Orean said they touched down in the new hangar," Lest replied.

"Only the vast cargo ships land and take off there," Corr said. "All others are redirected to the old spaceport. The spaceports are connected with tunnels. We were assigned tunnel sigma 11. The entrance is at the end of the hangar, to the right, over there."

Lest stood and looked out of the front window. He shook his head and sat down again.

"How backward is this? Cyrus is more advanced than this batshit place," he said.

The Horus was rolling slowly towards the entrance of the tunnel. A battered looking ship was ahead of them. Another vessel followed the Daglon warship close behind. The queue of ships was moving slowly. More than an hour had passed when the ship in front of the Horus was finally cleared to roll into the take-off hangar. The Daglon ship rolled to the exit of the tunnel and was ordered to wait. Several cargo ships were rolling into the hangar from different tunnels. One ship after the other was cleared for take-off. Lest was pacing the bridge and the other men were shifting in their seats. A streamlined ship came into the hangar and slowly passed by. Lest stopped and looked out of the window with interest.

"Another warship," he said. "An Atkon gunship, I think. Warships really stand out in this place."

The Atkon gunship took off. The Horus was ordered to roll into the hangar. Lest sat down in his seat with relief. The ship taxied and finally reached the starting position. Space traffic control center gave clearance for take-off. The engines came on and the Daglon warship shot into space.

"Le’Ton, set course on Cyrus as soon as we have reached the end of the assigned flight corridor," Lest commanded. "Perez is waiting for the ore. Corr, get a message out and inform him of the delay."

An alarm went on. The men straightened in their seats.

"Object on collision course," Jeff shouted.

"Evasive maneuver," Lest commanded.

Le’Ton threw a lever and hit a button. The computer calculated the maneuver and sent the ship on a steep climb. The men were pressed into their seats. The ship finally leveled out and resumed its former course.

"Hell, what was that?" Lest asked. "The ship was coming right at us."

"The computer identified the type of the ship," Hulton said. "An Atkon gunship, type AK504."

"The ship we saw in the hangar?" Jeff asked. "It left a couple of minutes before we took off."

"It was following the same flight corridor. The Horus computer was monitoring it," Hulton said. "I’m analyzing the data."

A minute went by.

"Captain, the Atkon ship made a sharp turn and came back towards us. It dived while the Horus climbed, then it flew on a straight course a couple of minutes and ultimately made another turn away from the platform. The Horus computer has lost it," Hulton said.

"The pilot must have gone insane," Lest said.

"A Titan warship is coming in. It’s headed for Alpha And. The ship’s close. We’re having visual contact," Jeff said.

A big ship was flying in the adjoining flight corridor and passed the Horus by. The men saw it on the right side of the front window.

"What is Titan military doing here?" Lest asked. "The Empire of Titania is way off."

"It explains why the new Alpha And spaceport was closed," Le’Ton said. "They are waiting for the Titan warship."

"The Orean said he saw Alliance ships. The Empire and the Alliance are not on good terms," Lest said.

"Did we miss a thing?" Le’Ton asked. "We should check the news channels. A meeting of the Alliance and the Empire on Alpha And is in fact remarkable."

Jeff did a brief search but found nothing related to the events on Alpha And.

The Horus set course on Cyrus. The flight was uneventful.

***