Part 39 (1/2)

Kieran stood silently nearby, awaiting his orders. It seemed Gardner had forgotten about him for the moment. Good.

'That derelict is clearly under the control of some alien force,' Gardner persisted. 'What if it jumps right inside the heart of this system's star and turns it nova, Senator? What if it tries to destroy us all?' What if it tries to destroy us all?'

The Senator gave him a pitying look. 'Or you might consider the more realistic possibility that Dakota Merrick is controlling the derelict herself.'

Gardner stared at him, almost bug-eyed with horror. 'You think this is just a matter of someone simply stealing the derelict?' he choked. 'We don't have any reason to think it isn't about to destroy this entire system, you f.u.c.king lunatic. Merrick said the Shoal knew from the start what we'd found and now, by the looks of it, they're busy protecting their secret. If you don't act right now, there's a very good chance we're all going to die.'

The Senator bristled. 'Outside of you and the woman pilot and Corso, there isn't a single human being in this entire system who didn't fight to the death at some time to prove they were good enough to be here. We aren't afraid of dying, Mr Gardner. But if we do die, at least we die with honour. Maybe you should think about that.'

'No.' Gardner shook his head furiously, taking a step back from the Senator. 'No!' He shook his head again. 'You're insane. I want to communicate with my partners. Now.' Now.'

'That's not possible. We're under attack, hadn't you noticed?'

'You have a duty-'

'I only have a duty to the Freehold,' Arbenz replied wearily. 'You can return to your quarters. We're going to catch and disable the derelict, but only once we've dealt with the fleet. It might possess transluminal capability, but until it decides either to jump or not jump, it's no faster than either us or the Agartha.' Agartha.'

Arbenz turned away from Gardner, implicitly dismissing him. But Gardner just stepped back around to confront him again.

'Who the h.e.l.l do you think you're talking to, Senator? What exactly do you think you're going to do without my help? You're going to kill us all!'

'Frankly, I don't trust you, Mr Gardner.'

Gardner's face darkened. 'To h.e.l.l with you. Corso was right: you're going to kill us all, just to satisfy your f.u.c.king honour.' He spat the words out with maximum derision. 'Our relations.h.i.+p is over.'

Arbenz stared at him, his face twisted into a mask of fury, and then he burst out laughing.

'Have you ever had those occasional moments of absolute clarity, Mr Gardner? I genuinely did wonder who was responsible for telling Bourdain about the existence of the derelict. Now that I think about it, I wonder how I could ever have harboured any doubts that you were the one responsible.'

Gardner said nothing, but Arbenz could see the truth hidden in his cowardly eyes.

'Kieran,' signalled the Senator.

Kieran came forward, quickly grabbing Gardner around the neck and pulling him back until he was bent over a console. Gardner flailed and twisted in his grasp.

Arbenz then stepped forward and punched Gardner hard in the stomach. The man slumped, winded, then redoubled his struggles when he saw the long, heavy knife Kieran had withdrawn from its sheath. He handed it over to the Senator.

'Don't take this personally, David. You're a braver man than I thought, going behind our backs like that. But if we can't trust you, we can't take any chances either. We took the life of a loyal Freeholder just to keep you alive, and now it's time for you to pay him back.'

Kieran yanked Gardner's head back hard, exposing his throat. Arbenz wasn't a s.a.d.i.s.t, so he made it quick. He took the knife and cut a deep slice across Gardner's throat as Kieran kept a hand firmly planted over the man's mouth. A spray of blood spattered on the deck. Gardner's body twisted and jerked momentarily before it collapsed.

Kieran gave his superior an accusing glare. 'You should have let him defend himself, Senator.'

'This isn't the time and place for observing tradition,' Arbenz snapped. 'Have you readied the systems yet?'

Kieran nodded. 'We should evacuate straight away.'

'Not yet.' Arbenz shook his head. 'Not until whoever's in charge of that fleet is just about ready to board us-if that's what they're intending to do. Until the Agartha Agartha shows up and draws their attention, we'll be an easy target if we abandon s.h.i.+p too soon.' shows up and draws their attention, we'll be an easy target if we abandon s.h.i.+p too soon.'

Dakota had already told Corso about the uninvited guest inside her skull. They'd watched, appalled, as a dome of dust and debris expanded across the face of the receding moon.

'The derelict?'

'It has to be, surely? I think Trader must have taken it over, now there's nowhere else for him to hide. But the derelict itself- the machine intelligence in the heart of it-can still communicate with me. It's the same with the other derelicts on Ikaria.' She looked at Corso. 'It's like they want me want me to come to them.' to come to them.'

'But your Ghost-?'

'The physical circuitry still functions.' She smiled. 'With all the protocols and routines I built up gone, it means the other Magi s.h.i.+ps will accept me as a pilot. No interface chair required whatsoever. Just me.'

Corso shook his head. T don't know what to say. I know I don't have any choice but to believe what you're telling me.'

She stared off into s.p.a.ce, far away for a moment.

'I'm not crazy, Corso. Trader might have control of the Theona derelict, but maybe there's a way to persuade one of the other ones on Ikaria to take us out of this system.'

The surface of Theona was hazed by cloud, pale tendrils slowly wrapping themselves around the surface of the little world, spreading outwards from the gaping hole the derelict had blasted through kilometres of encompa.s.sing ice. Dark and silent, the Hyperion Hyperion drifted far above. drifted far above.

The three s.h.i.+ps comprising Bourdain's fleet manoeuvred to come alongside the inactive vessel, while sporadic automated mayday alerts and warnings of cataclysmic life-support failure continued to broadcast from the Freehold craft. Warnings blasted out from Bourdain's fleet that the Hyperion Hyperion was about to be boarded. was about to be boarded.

There was no reply. Before he and the Senator had departed the bridge, Kieran had deliberately left several communications channels wide open that permitted those in charge of the invading fleet to access the bridge's video feeds and witness the carnage within.

In the meantime, on the far side of the Hyperion Hyperion from the nearest s.h.i.+p of the attacking fleet, there was a brief burst of energy as an emergency rescue pod, carrying two people, jetted away. from the nearest s.h.i.+p of the attacking fleet, there was a brief burst of energy as an emergency rescue pod, carrying two people, jetted away.

A few moments later, once the central s.h.i.+p of Bourdain's fleet was within a thousand metres, the Hyperion's Hyperion's engines blazed into unexpected life and it began to move. Slowly at first, but then faster, heading for an intercept with the fleet's command s.h.i.+p. engines blazed into unexpected life and it began to move. Slowly at first, but then faster, heading for an intercept with the fleet's command s.h.i.+p.

At that same moment, the commander of Bourdain's fleet picked up the Agartha Agartha on long-range telemetry, approaching from over the curve of Theona's horizon. on long-range telemetry, approaching from over the curve of Theona's horizon.

Missiles raced away from the Agartha, Agartha, closing in on the other two vessels in Bourdain's fleet. closing in on the other two vessels in Bourdain's fleet.

Twenty-eight.

'Something's happening,' remarked Dakota.

Corso peered over at a display of figures scrolling in tight columns as the Hyperion Hyperion unexpectedly powered into life. They'd watched closely the destruction occurring on the surface of Theona, now barely more than a distant pinp.r.i.c.k of light as they accelerated away. Dymas itself was beginning to dwindle as the unexpectedly powered into life. They'd watched closely the destruction occurring on the surface of Theona, now barely more than a distant pinp.r.i.c.k of light as they accelerated away. Dymas itself was beginning to dwindle as the Piri Piri used up most of its remaining fuel to blast them halfway across the Nova Arctis system. used up most of its remaining fuel to blast them halfway across the Nova Arctis system.

The images they were now watching were fed through a deep-s.p.a.ce optical scanner system set up by the Freehold. It allowed them to watch the approach of the three unmarked vessels, as they carefully vectored in to match the Hyperion's Hyperion's...o...b..t and velocity. orbit and velocity.