Chronicles of a Space Mercenary 0: Tanya, page 17
Chapter 64
Tanya could hardly believe what she witnessed as her finger settled on the actuator of her laser pistol and the red beam speared out, but Felone moved, going into her dive even as Tanya’s finger settled on the actuator, even though Felone was facing an entirely different direction, her back to Tanya as she carried some shopping back to her ship. There could have been no warning that Tanya had even arrived- would she have been doing some casual shopping if she had known? Yet she had somehow sensed the exact moment Tanya was about to fire. There could be no other explanation for what she had just witnessed. Tanya had never witnessed anything so inexplicable!
As Felone rolled, Tanya moved to the opposite side of the corridor and into a store entranceway. She counted three-one-thousand and stepped out, her laser pistol extended at full reach and steadied by her left hand. She saw Felone instantly, their eyes locking like magnets drawn to one another, and then Tanya fired, but Felone once again dove to the side just in the nick of time and this time behind the cover of a thick post. Tanya did not pause to marvel at the speed she had just witnessed because it was now time to go, and she did so quickly.
Tanya was running before Felone hit the deck, back the way from which she had come. Felone was armed with blasters, and as the one under attack could legally use them in this human dock with nothing more than a stiff fine- this wasn’t a Kievor Trade Station. Tanya had never failed to make the kill shot before when her target was right there in front of her, and Felone had even had her back to her.
Then Tanya began to think about her own uncanny abilities. Like Felone she possessed her own strange ability to sense when other people were looking at her, especially when there was enmity in the look and low thoughts behind the stare. Tanya wasn’t a mind reader, of course, but a person didn’t have to be a mind reader to feel bad intent, and Tanya had this ability to a much higher degree than anyone else, or at least she had thought so up until then. Obviously Felone also had a highly attuned sense of danger as well. Maybe even more so than Tanya’s, but of that Tanya could only surmise.
The endeavor had not been an entire waste. She had missed her first clear kill shot but it had also been an enlightening, educational experience, and one to live and learn from. She did not think Felone would give her any more such clear open opportunities now that she’d gotten an idea of how bold Tanya could be. Even though Tanya had missed her shot, it had been a close call and Felone was on notice. Tanya was not afraid to take the fight to her, even though she was learning that there was a lot more to Felone than she had been aware of previously. It would just mean she would have to think her moves through very thoroughly before she acted again.
Felone was obviously enhanced like herself, but with an enhancement that seemed to hold the potential to be superior to her own, one which was good enough to give Felone the confidence to walk without fear anywhere she wished even with enemies hunting her; good enough to give Felone the confidence to accept battle wherever it might be joined, and to walk fearlessly in the meantime. Or it could just be Felone- she wasn’t quite so sure. She had an uneasy thought then as she reached Starfire that it was possible she had finally met her better. This was proving to be far more interesting, and deadly, than she had at first imagined, and Tanya did not consider it necessarily to be a bad thing.
Live and learn was Tanya’s motto, and anything that didn’t kill her would only make her stronger- that had been proven out long ago. She accepted the changed circumstances with a bit of eagerness, in fact, very much looking forward to her next meeting with Felone. To conquer Felone would be her greatest accomplishment ever, and Tanya was not one to turn down a good contest. She welcomed it.
Chapter 65
Jason had just received the bogus Arrest and Seizure Warrant when Starfire received clearance for liftoff from Breaton control. Adjudicator was out of visual range of the planet, but not out of the range of its orbital defense network, and they kept their photon cannons charged and ready, but with the bogus A&S Warrant for one Starfire and one Tanya Serensen, which he had just relayed to the authorities complete with his legitimate Bounty Hunter license, he would be able to unload upon Starfire at will and without fear of legal repercussion. The Warrant wouldn’t stand up under close scrutiny of course, but it was unlikely anyone would bother. And if they did, there were ways that it could be handled that benefited everyone.
As far as Jason knew, Tanya had no family, no one to care when she was gone, and no reason for anyone to look into her disappearance too closely. Investigations cost credits and there were few governments these days willing to spend good money investigating every crime that occurred in space, especially if the crime wasn’t against one of society’s elites.
The Universe was a dangerous place, and the amount of crime and pirating that went on of every stripe, type, and color made the effort to protect and serve even more difficult. Never mind that the flaunting of illegality was common on a stupendous scale, Felone’s four photon cannons on an ore freighter the perfect example of this. In the end, the only citizens that could expect justice were the ones that could pay for it. And they generally ignored society’s justice and meted out their own.
Jason nosed Adjudicator towards the planet under half-thrust, hardly able to believe it was going to be this easy. That Tanya was just going to walk into his sights thinking Jason would not fire upon her in such close proximity to the planet and the heavily congested traffic lanes full of ships was a foolish assumption. Tanya was wrong if that was what she thought. Jason had every legality covered, and as long as he did not damage any other ships or property in performing his duty there would be no issues. The authorities were eager to create the illusion that criminals were brought to justice, and it was even better if they did not have to be involved themselves other than in handing out the bounty check.
Jason was sure he would soon have one less enemy as Tanya began to move away from the surface. Adjudicator would be in plain sight on Starfire’s scan, and he had expected her to duck back to the surface but she wasn’t- she was still coming. What in the fuck did she think she was doing? There was nowhere for her to run where she wouldn’t be in his sights, and he almost couldn’t believe how easy this was going to be! He would only have to wait until Starfire completely cleared the magnetosphere, and he locked on the unmistakable signature of Starfire in preparation to taking the shot.
Starfire continued to move away from the planet now on full burn but she was coming directly at Adjudicator. Jason could not fire because Breaton was still directly behind her, so to fire on Tanya meant firing on the planet, which would assuredly trigger the orbital defense network into firing back. Designed to defend Breaton against entire fleets, it would tear Adjudicator apart instantly. Breathlessly Jason counted the seconds but Tanya was not altering course, still keeping the planet directly behind herself as she came at full burn. This bitch is INSANE! Jason thought to himself, then; Oh, FUCK! The beep and red flash on his screen showing Felone’s ore freighter undocking and its photon cannons charging set him into immediate desperate motion. Adjudicator was no match for the freighter, and Jason cursed his luck as he thought about the opportunity he had just missed.
So they hadn’t finished one another! They were even debarking at the same time! Jason’s immediate thought as he charged the jump engine was that they had made a partnership, something he hadn’t considered but a possibility not to be ignored, and as Jason threw Adjudicator into full burn and threw the stick starboard he looked for a shot at Tanya but she followed his vector and gave him no choice. He jumped away at minimum velocity just as the freighter opened up with all four turrets, the massive particle beams slicing through where Adjudicator had just been. A second flash was Starfire jumping out-system and then only Felone’s massive freighter remained of the trio of enemies as it slowly accelerated towards its own jump and destination unknown.
Chapter 66
Jason had almost met his maker. He was clearly the less dangerous of the two, Tanya decided. Jason was predictable and Felone was not, and as the most predictable Jason was the least to be feared. His ploy might have been a good one under normal circumstances and against a less experienced pilot, but he had entirely underestimated Tanya and had at the same time almost put himself in Felone’s sights. The battle between the massive freighter and Adjudicator would have been a short and brutal one in which Adjudicator would have been cut to scrap. Tanya was now sure that Felone had only been waiting for her departure, not to attack Starfire, but because she had wanted Tanya to draw Jason’s attack, knowing that he would expose himself to the overwhelming firepower of the freighter. Tanya had now barely made it through three encounters with Felone. It was time to create an advantage.
The only thing Tanya could think to bring this to a conclusion was to draw Felone back into the ghetto again. Tanya had left there to draw the attention away from Malcomb and the children, but that was a failed attempt as obviously they followed her and as equally obvious was that they would still be following her.
But as wealthy as Tanya was it was but a drop in the bucket to the wealth that both Jason and Felone each possessed, and she would never be able to outspend them in a contest of purchasing more powerful ships, nor did she want Malcomb and the children brought into open space conflict.
They weren’t pilots and they wouldn’t stand a chance. But knowing that Malcomb and the kids would most definitely be showing up, probably sooner rather than later, and knowing their best chance for survival lay in the ghetto, Tanya found herself in a position from which she could see no alternative but to return and make her stand there.
It suddenly became obvious that she needed to end this in person and immediately. Felone would follow her wherever she went. Jason would not. Jason would never leave the safety of Adjudicator, but that was a problem she could figure out later. Felone was both the most dangerous as well as the most willing to engage, and therefore Tanya would draw her back to the ghetto and deal with her first.
The umail Tanya composed told Felone exactly where she was going and that she would be waiting for her there. Tanya exited jump, sent the umail, and once again she and Starfire were on their way. Doubtless, Felone was close behind.
There were no reply umails waiting for her when she exited jump, but that didn’t mean a thing and Tanya was by no means deluded. Felone would come.
Chapter 67
Malcomb watched the screen flash to life as it instantly identified and tagged the new ship upon its arrival. It was Starfire all right, and Malcomb smiled to himself, having been expecting her, a small smile that no one else noticed, not that that would matter, but Malcomb was a man who had seen much in his life and learned to enjoy the small things that providence delivers to the righteous. Having seen it all, there was little that could surprise him further, and Tanya’s return was not surprising at all. He had been expecting it, waiting for her here, and now here she was.
“It must be providence.” Malcomb said.
“It’s something, all right.” Jerin said. “I can’t believe she came back.”
“It’s the only place she really knows. It’s her home. Of course she’s returned.” Malcomb thought out loud more than responding to Jerin’s statement. He knew Tanya would return because Tanya would know that he would never stop following her and that the safest course for the children lay in returning to the ghetto and what they knew.
Malcomb had not been saving the children of the ghetto for over sixty years without learning a thing or two about human nature and Tanya’s nature, one aspect of it at least, was entirely predictable- she would do whatever she thought would put the children in the least amount of danger.
She thought just the same as he, and even though he was putting them in harm’s way, it was the code by which they lived and it was for the better good of all. If Tanya failed and was killed, Malcomb had no doubt that this Jason or Felone and their Organization would be back to finish what they had started. So once begun the only safest course was to see it through to its final conclusion. He was completely aware that Tanya could not disagree with his logic.
Starfire showed no signs of recognizing Malcomb’s Falcon, but then there would be no reason for her to recognize it because he had purchased the ship since last seeing Tanya. Falcon wasn’t nearly as large as Adjudicator, but she was equipped with an independently tracking photon cannon and was just about as fast as anything riding a fusion plume. Its most important attribute was the fact that none of their enemies knew of it. If they showed up following Tanya they were going to be getting a big surprise.
The small ship that exited a small distance out-system didn’t alarm Malcomb at first, but as he was keeping a close eye on every ship coming and going it was hard not to notice this one, now running flat out on full thrust on a tangent that Falcon’s AI immediately graphed as intersecting with Starfire, which had come to a stable orbit while presumably awaiting landing protocols.
Malcomb quickly opened a com channel to warn Starfire but Tanya had already seen the threat, because Starfire suddenly exploded in brilliant fusion flame as it lit its main thruster and began a run towards the planet below.
Chapter 68
Tanya was expecting trouble to arrive shortly but she could hardly believe how quickly it had come. The ship that entered just out-system gave her no immediate concern until it lit up in full burn on a direct course for Starfire, at yet some 0.0034 Light Seconds distance but closing quickly. Closing quickly and with unmistakable intent- it was Felone.
The incoming ship would run her down long before she could gain the velocity to jump or to be able to put up a fight, and Starfire would be a sitting duck in the targets of the more rapidly moving attacking ship. She could not gain the velocity she needed to outrun the first swoop of the enemy ship without . . . Tanya acted instantly, turning Starfire’s nose towards the planet below and hitting full thrust at the same time, using the planet’s gravity to aid her acceleration but also risking the ire- and potentially the defensive might- of the planetary authorities below. If she lived she would deal with them later.
The plunge straight planet-ward was surreal and deceptive as the surface only appeared to be very slowly growing closer beneath her, but that was an illusion. Starfire was already sending sonic shock waves crashing into the city below. And this not one of the ghetto cities, this was a port city!
Starfire accelerated past Mach 5 in a screaming vertical dive straight towards the city below. At twenty-five kilometers above the surface, and just as the following ship, no question now it was Felone, entered the atmosphere above, Tanya suddenly pulled back on the stick with every gram of strength she possessed and instantly blacked out, the darkness closing in like a thick wet blanket thrown over her mind.
Somehow, with some great inner fortitude she hadn’t known she possessed, Tanya forced her consciousness to awaken and accept the merest pinprick of the physical universe and the tiniest point of light at the end of her tunneled vision.
It was really no more than a pinhole, but enough to allow her to command her screaming muscles and hold the stick back. She had not known how she was going to pull Starfire out of this dive, but she had known that this was the only way she would be able to gain the velocity to either jump or fight. This had been the only option.
To let go of the stick now would mean Starfire would bury herself a kilometer deep in the crust, or spread herself across kilometers of city. Through the hardest maneuver of her entire life Tanya held on to that stick for her very life.
….................
Falcon was within photon cannon range of the little ship as it hit the atmosphere and Malcomb had already completely familiarized himself with its operation as his first order of business. The ship following Starfire reacted instantly when Malcomb charged the photon cannons, twisting onto a new course, its acquisitions program instantly detecting the photon charge and relaying that data to the pilot of the little ship, that pilot immediately recognizing the threat from the unknown ship for what it was.
The photon cannon charged in a moment and Malcomb followed the little ship carefully with the targeting hairs before depressing the manual switch. Falcon thrummed for a moment as the massive energy of the photon cannon erupted, spearing out, but the little ship had twisted again at the very moment Malcomb’s finger settled on the firing button and the bolt of energy went off the mark.
Dumbfounded and entirely helpless to interfere as he would have to fire directly down upon the planet itself to attack the ship now, not something Malcomb was willing to do, he watched as the attacking ship followed Tanya down into the atmosphere.
….................
The small, passive drone recorded the events as they transpired and relayed them by Ultra-Net to Adjudicator. Jason watched the simple real-time drama unfold with much interest, immensely enjoying the spectacle of the aerial battle between Tanya and Felone that was occurring, Felone at the moment in the process of chasing Tanya down into the atmosphere and Tanya diving recklessly towards the surface to gain the acceleration Starfire needed. But Jason took especial interest in the ship that Adjudicator had tagged as Falcon, a newly registered ship, only recorded in the government taxation files two days previously.
There was no doubting who this new intruder was, and Jason immediately powered up Adjudicator and moments later was accelerating towards a jump that would land nearly in Falcon’s lap. Won’t that be a surprise for them, he thought, as he contemplated with gleeful malice the shock that Tanya would receive when she realized the leader of her secret army had been obliterated. He would enjoy watching her suffer.
Chapter 69
The city was rushing up at her rapidly, and with her vision reduced to mere pinpricks the universe became a rushing blur that Tanya could barely comprehend, objects were moving so swiftly, yet events now seemed to unfold in slow motion as Starfire and Tanya fought for their lives.
