The Luck Bucket
Frost's friend had delivered. Unknown to the Captain, Frost had come to know Aragesh when he did some work for him as a cutter in a group of ship thieves. The reputation he had earned on Ao Katamari was well deserved even though no one actually had concrete proof. Aragesh was an issyrian who like to appear as a tall, statuesque man, perfect black hair and big white teeth included. When he flashed a smile you could see your reflection.
He had seen the used car salesman character in a movie somewhere and it had appealed to him. Thankfully the cultural reference was lost on all but his closest friends who had seen the old movie with him. As a master of a large used ship yard he did a lot of business in modified transport, small defence craft, cargo haulers and utility ships. Pretty much everything except for fighters and larger military vessels. His placement in orbit around one of the most expensive planets in the sector meant he could jack his prices and trade for high end vessels for much less than they were worth. Everyone who wanted to sell something so close to Ao Katamari was either desperate or in business. As a thriving business person Aragesh always preferred desperate.
The ship he sold the Captain came at a surprisingly low price. Only three point five million credits, a tenth its value. The only stipulation was that Jake had to have his picture taken by a holoimager with the dealer. Watching his Captain grin from ear to ear as he shook the living caricature's hand had Stephanie in stitches, but to Frost it was somehow eerie.
Everyone on the bridge of the Luck Bucket knew it was recently stolen. Captain Valance had even let Stephanie name the ship, and knowing it wasn't going to last long she didn't take it seriously. It was an old thirty meter long commercial interplanetary transport. Behind the main four seat cabin there were rows and rows of empty seats. The only benefit to the ship was its engines. It was fast, not terribly manoeuvrable or durable, but fast. There was no faster than light systems, just an old pair of fusion engines that could channel reactions straight out of the thrusters and generate much more power than the ship needed. The inertial dampeners made an awful whining sound every time Captain Valance accelerated. If the dampeners gave out all three of them would be crushed instantly and Frost found himself praying for the first time in years.
When they came aboard Captain Valance had done something unusual and loaned him his arm command unit so he could replace his old loose vacsuit with one of the higher tech versions Stephanie and the Captain used. The black suit needed more padding as far as he was concerned, it just wasn't flattering, but beggars couldn't be choosers. He knew it could take a lot more damage than any regular vacsuit could and was thankful for the gift.
The old, streamlined white and red vessel made the trip in under two hours and as Nissa came into view Frost couldn't help but shudder. Thickly forested planets, especially those with non-plant life on them, were his least favourite places to be. He was always looking over his shoulder for something that was about to leap out and drag him off into the wilderness. “Nothin' but swamp an' the madness that dwells within,” he said under his breath.
“You're not afraid of a few lizards are ya?” Stephanie teased, she had been doing a lot of that, ever since they rescued him from Nanna.
“Only if they're big enough to eat me whole. Besides, everythin' down there's camouflaged. You don't see it comin' til it's too late, then you're just gone.”
“You know, I've never heard of that happening to anyone.”
“That's because they're not around to talk about it anymore,” he replied as they began entering the atmosphere.
Stephanie laughed and nodded. “You have a point.”
The thrusters kicked in for atmospheric manoeuvring, filling the cabin with noise. The trio brought their headpieces up so they could manage the sound and speak through proximity radio. “What's the plan Captain?” Asked Stephanie.
Even though he had never flown the Luck Bucket before, he handled it expertly. It wasn't so different from the Samson, but Frost was sure there were pretty distinct differences in handling. He was constantly adjusting different controls, it seemed like there was a lot more work involved keeping a smooth, accurate trajectory. He was thankful there was no official port on the planet. Not enough people wanted to live there full time.
“I've been thinking,” Captain Valance started. “The Samson has anti-theft devices inside. How many people left aboard know how to trigger them?”
“Maybe five including the leftover boarding crew,” Stephanie replied.
“Really? Didn't we just train people how to activate those systems?” Frost asked.
“That was about two years ago. We've lost a lot of people since then.”
“I didn't realize, time flies.” Frost shrugged.
“Well, if they can get anywhere near those systems they could help themselves a bit. That really doesn't help us much though. There's not much I can do. Any fight I put up could cost lives, I'll have to surrender myself.”
“That's your plan? Surrender yourself?” Frost said, shaking his head.
“It's worked before actually,” Stephanie put in. “When you had to get aboard the Rising Mist. It was the only way to distract the crew so we could sneak in the other way.”
“I don't think we'll get away with that this time. Instead you'll impersonate me while Frost and I hide.”
“I'm a little short, don't you think?” Stephanie said in disbelief.
“You are, but we only need to distract them long enough for me to get in position. I'll be able to act as soon as you're in trouble.” He spotted a clear patch of earth. “Frost, check the density on that area there.”
Frost scanned the section of ground he was gesturing to and gave it the thumbs up. It was dense enough to support the weight of the craft. “Where will I hide?”
The ship set down with surprising speed, it didn't entirely seem intentional however, since the rear landing gear creaked so loudly they could hear it through their vacsuits and the Captain winced. As soon as they were down he pulled his sidearm and handed it, handle first, to Stephanie. “You'll find somewhere. If things start going wrong I'll just step out of the shadows and give myself up completely. If things go well we might be able to gain the upper hand and free the crew.”
“I don't like it,” Frost said as he accepted Stephanie's rifle.
“You don't have to, you just have to stay out of the way and be ready to help turn the tide,” he replied as he took a small communications and computer module from an inside coat pocket and stuffed it into a hidden fold in his vacsuit. He did the same with a few other very small components, they virtually disappeared on his person, before handing his scarf, long coat and arm command and control unit to Stephanie. “Take care of everything until this is over.”
“Any tips on impersonating you?” Stephanie asked.
“Keep your vacsuit faceplate blacked out and the long coat closed.”
“An' walk around like you own the place,” Frost added with a smile.
She grinned as she put on his arm command unit, long coat and white silk scarf. “Don't take too long sir, I like the way this fits.”
Gabriel Meunez
Gabriel Meunez had waited years to return to the Alice project. He was once an Executive Operations Officer with the Vindyne Corporation. Given great responsibility, a better paycheck and access beyond what most could fathom. After Major Hampon had captured Jonas Valent they moved on. He was reassigned despite his protests. An officer with much more influence had requested control of the Valent project.
Collins. A former general, he was a renowned tactician and was entrusted not only with Jonas Valent's fate but with pursuing the Alice software. He decided to attempt the transfer of a fully formed artificial intelligence to a human host using the information he would gather from Jonas Valent's mind and the scant fragments of Alice left in a massive computer. The problem was Valent's mind was resistant, and the computer core had been stolen along with the last complete imprint of the Alice AI.