STOWAWAY TO THE STARS

The news that the door to the data processing area could only be opened from the inside hit Larry like a physical blow. On top of the tension he was already feeling, Larry’s short temper reached its limit. He erupted.

“You stupid bastard,” he snarled at Prenstall, struggling to keep his voice down. “You knew where we were going, yet you didn’t warn me we wouldn’t be able to get in. You are so close to having your guts smeared all over this corridor.”

“I just did what you told me to.” Prenstall’s face had a suspicion of smugness. “How did I know what your intentions were?”

Larry turned away. He fought down the temptation to press the button on his remote and change the expression on Prenstall’s face. That would bring soldiers running and blow his last chance of success. He took a deep breath and forced himself to be calm and think. Could Prenstall have given a secret signal, and this was a delaying tactic until assistance arrived? No, he couldn’t warn them about the grenades, and even if he had, it was hard to see what could stop him triggering them. Prenstall didn’t strike Larry as the type of hero who would be willing to die for his cause.

He turned back to the officer.

“Will there be any soldiers inside? Make sure you get this right, your life is already hanging on a thread.”

Prenstall hesitated, then shook his head. “No, just civilians – the data control technicians.”

Larry thought out loud. “Well, we’re not going back. One way or another we’re going through that door. The only thing I can think of is blasting it. We’ll need a distraction, the same as when we blasted our way into the base.”

He snapped his wrist tie and told Karen to do the same. He pulled the laser pistol out of his belt and shot out all the cameras in the corridor, then gave the gun to Karen.

“Can you keep an eye on things while I’m busy?” She still looked pale, but her nod was firm.

He pointed to the two men, one hand waving the remote detonator at them. “I want one of you at either end of this corridor. Fratzin, you can wave the empty rifle. Prenstall, you’ll have to use your authority. Tell them there’s an unexploded bomb or anything you want, but no one comes into this corridor. Stay in sight, and don’t think about making a run for it unless you think you can outrun my detonator signal. Bear in mind it reached clear across the base earlier. Karen, can you watch them and shout if they try anything?”

In English he added, “Remember, with the comm. earpieces in our ears, I can always hear you.”

Karen nodded. “No problem. I’ve got so used to the faint echo it gives all the time, I’d forgotten it was there.”

The men trudged to the end of the corridor, Fratzin looking completely cowed, Prenstall very wary now. Larry checked the doors on the other side of the corridor until he found one that opened. It revealed a large, unoccupied office with a window in the far wall. The window looked out onto a wide alley with another wing of the building on the other side. The window did not want to open, but Larry was past caring about making a bit of noise. He climbed onto a desk and kicked it until it gave way.

He pulled all his remaining supplies out of their hiding place, selected one of the most powerful mini-grenades, and registered it on his remote detonator on a separate program. The rest he pocketed for quicker access later. I hope for the sake of our two captives I get this right.

He checked that no one outside could see him, leaned out of the window and threw the grenade as far as he could along the alley. That should divert their attention and give them something more urgent to do than worrying about what the computers reported from the cameras in the corridor. It might even persuade them to start an evacuation if he was lucky.

He returned to the corridor, selected a low power grenade and registered it on the same second program on his detonator. He surveyed the door looking for somewhere to place the grenade, and settled for balancing it on the handle. Please let it not fall off. He hadn’t time to hunt for something to stick it with, and he would only get one shot at this break-in.

“Okay you two,” he called to Fratzin and Prenstall. “When I’ve blown this door, I want you straight back here on the double. Have you got that?”

Fratzin nodded vigorously, Prenstall scowled and gave a slight nod. Larry pulled Karen into the side room for protection and triggered the two grenades. The big one he had thrown down the alley drowned the one on the door with its massive blast. A fresh siren immediately wailed in the distance. Ignoring it, and the shouting that started up outside, he whipped back into the corridor and beckoned his two unwilling helpers to return. He made them lead the way inside, where he found they were in a small ante-room. The room was empty and no sounds of activity came from the door beyond.

“Fratzin, stand at this outside door. Usual rules, no one comes in no matter what. I’ll shoot out all the cameras in a minute, but the computers must have raised the alarm already. I’m hoping that big blast will keep everyone too busy to pay them much attention for a while, but if anyone comes, tell them it’s all under control.

“Karen, I need the pistol. Stay out of sight of the corridor, and keep an eye on Fratzin. If he tries anything at all, or gets too close, fire your slave detonator. It will be the last thing he tries. Unfortunately, Prenstall, that means you as well, so you might want to back me up on this.”

Prenstall glared at Larry, but muttered to Fratzin, “For fuck sake, do exactly as he says.”

Larry caught Karen’s worried look and switched to English. “Don’t worry about not having a detonator. I would like to keep up the appearance that you do, but if you have a problem, all you need to do is shout. I will hear you and set off mine.”

He turned back to the officer. “You come with me where I can keep an eye on you.”

He kicked open the door to the main data room, and thrust Prenstall in front of him. He was on edge in case the officer had lied, but he was greeted by silence. He weaved his way past the computers, data storage units and consoles. Four technicians were cowering in a corner, trying to hide behind the largest cabinet. After Larry had shot out the cameras, he pointed at the technicians.

“I need one of you with full access rights at the console to get the data I need.”

The four men looked at one another, but no one spoke.

Larry’s temper flared again, and he fired a longer burst where one of the cameras had been. As the smoke drifted down from the charred plastic, he snapped, “I’ve no time for this. If someone doesn’t help me, I shall burn you from the feet up, one by one. Starting with you.” He jabbed the pistol toward the man on the end.

The man dropped to his knees, shaking hands stretched out in supplication. “Please, no, I can’t do it. I’d be shot as a traitor.”

Larry switched his pistol to point at Prenstall. “Is that true?”

“It’s possible.”

“But I’m damned sure you could sanction it. Tell him”

Prenstall nodded slowly.

Larry turned back to the man on the end. “There, you have three witnesses. Now let’s get on with it. Prenstall and you other three, I want you face down on the floor.”

It took more agonizing delay before Larry got them organized on the floor. Then he said to the technician at the console, “I need to make a search of the main military database. How do I do that?”

“We have a secure connection over the Starnet link.”

“Right, set it up for me. And get a move on.”

He watched the man enter a whole sequence of codes. Once the system was running he looked at it in dismay. What a vast and complex piece of software it was.

“You’d better work this for me,” he said to the technician. “Make a search for the word ‘Inferior’. It’s the name of a planet if that helps.”

Once the man had filtered out all the useless references and found nothing, Larry realized that that was just the translation of the Trajian word for the planet.

“Damn. Okay, try searching for Trajia.”

That gave a few small references, but nothing that looked as if it related to the operation on Inferior.

A commotion started up outside. In his earpiece, he could hear the shouts of Fratzin being picked up by Karen’s earpiece.

“Karen, are you all right out there?” he called, cupping his hand over his earpiece.

After a long silence, she whispered, “It seems to be all right now. Three soldiers came to check out what had been seen on the cameras. When they saw the damaged door they wanted to come in and check what was going on. Fratzin managed to get them to go, but it was a close shave. Will you be much longer?”

“Don’t know. I haven’t found anything yet, but it’s got to be here somewhere. I’ll be as quick as I can.”

“Okay.” She sounded very demoralized. Was she going to crack under the strain?

“You’re doing really well. We can do this. Just keep going.”

He turned his attention back to the database. What the hell was the name of the star of the Trajian system. After a few moments it came to him.

“Try Harkelt instead,” he told the technician.

Near the top of a bunch of hits was the one he was after. He scanned the data and whistled to himself. The project was far bigger than he had imagined, a plan to build a huge stockpile of weapons and assemble a powerful military fleet in secret. He could only guess at the reason – maybe a bid to break away from the Union. Whatever the reason, it broke every Union law in the book. No wonder they were so desperate to silence him.

He called to Karen again. “Good news. I’ve found what I wanted, but it will take time to get it all recorded. Hold in there.”

“Please hurry.”

Larry instructed the technician to record the data onto portable data pins, making two copies for safety. More shouting sounded outside. From what he was picking up through Karen’s earpiece, it sounded as if someone in authority was refusing to believe Fratzin’s assurances that everything was all right. Larry spoke urgently to Prenstall, one hand held up showing the remote detonator and the other wielding the laser pistol.

“Prenstall, there’s someone outside giving Fratzin a hard time. Come over to the door, open it just wide enough to see the guy at the outer door. Tell Fratzin to move out of the way so you can see who it is, and use your authority to get rid of the guy. If that doesn’t work, give me the nod, and throw the door wide open. Remember, the alternative is that I distract the guy by having Fratzin explode in front of him, which means taking you out as well.”

For a moment he thought that Prenstall would refuse, but the man hurried to the door, flinging it open almost too far.

“Fratzin, get out of the way, I want to see who’s causing all this distraction. Oh, it’s you Yelstrous. Look, I’ve got my hands full here with a possible unexploded bomb. It’s under control, but I can really do without these interruptions. Leave me to get on with things and keep everyone away from this area.”

This diatribe had the desired effect. It went quiet outside, and Prenstall closed the door again.

He turned to Larry and snarled, “By all the saints, you’ll pay for this. You’ll never succeed in getting off this planet, and when we catch you, you’ll be praying to be put out of your agony before we’re done.”

“You’re probably right,” said Larry, “but my one consolation is that you won’t see it, because I’m keeping my hand on this remote detonator. If we’re caught, I’m taking you with us. In the meantime, get back on the floor and let me finish this job, because your one chance of survival is that I do get away.”

Larry turned his attention back to the technician. “Is that recording finished yet?” The man nodded and handed over the two data pins.

Larry fought down the urgent feeling that he needed to get away, now that he had his evidence. He still had one more job that he wanted to do. He found an official headed printout form and told the technician to copy the first page of the data file on to it. That would provide further evidence of the source of information.

Now at last he was done.

He picked a medium strength mini-grenade from his shrinking supply, registered it on a fresh program on his detonator and set it in the middle of all the equipment. He wanted to cause the maximum possible disruption, and as a bonus, make it as difficult as possible for them to find out exactly what he had been up to.

“Right,” he said to the five men. “I want everyone in the ante-room, then get back down on the floor.”

He ushered them out at the end of the pistol and closed the door to the data room. Karen looked at him with relief and whispered, “Oh, thank God you’re back. I thought for sure that Yelstrous guy would see me out here. I was pressing myself flat against the wall behind the door to keep out of his view.”

He gave her an encouraging smile in response. “I’m sorry, it must have been terrifying, waiting out here. But this whole mission was to get what I have managed to obtain in there, so it really was worth it. Now we can try to make our getaway.”

He called Fratzin. “Give me the rifle now, strip off your uniform, and join the others on the floor.”

He clipped the power pack into the rifle and handed it to Karen.

“Take off that coverall and put his uniform on over the top of your clothes – make it fit as best you can. I’m afraid you’ll have to keep that bonnet on for the moment. When you’re ready, stand guard at the door.”

As soon as she had got the uniform on, he addressed Prenstall. “I want your uniform as well.”

Larry removed his own coverall and squeezed the uniform on over his tunic.

“We’re going now,” he said to the six men on the floor. “I need you all out of action, so I’m going to stun you all with a two hour shot. If anyone objects to that, the alternative is to be out of action permanently. It’s your choice.”

Larry found his needle stunner and administered the shots, beginning with Prenstall. As he gave the second man his shot, he heard Karen cry out in English, “Oh shit,” closely followed by the characteristic crackle of ionized air from a momentary burst of the laser rifle. He looked round in time to see one of the technicians drop a small stun pistol and clutch his leg, screaming. He looked round at Karen who was standing with the rifle pointed at the man.

“I didn’t want to kill him,” she said. “Was that all right?”

It was more than all right. He’d been rushing too much under the stress and been careless. “Well done. He’s got the message. It would have been fatal for us if we’d been stunned. Here, take his pistol for a souvenir.”

He stunned the rest of the men, starting with the one who had been burned in the leg and was moaning in pain. At last, to Karen’s obvious relief, he said, “Okay, let’s go. I’ve left a grenade in the main data room that I’ll set off as soon as we’re out of the room. These guys will have to hope they’re safe in here.”

Once outside the room, he triggered the grenade. A major blast shook the walls. A high pitched siren began to howl behind them, closely followed by other sirens, in the corridor and further away.

“We need to hurry,” Larry said. “As soon as someone checks the computers properly and discovers what we’ve done, these uniforms won’t help anymore.”

He had expected more trouble from the computers raising the alarm over what they had seen. He couldn’t understand how he had got away with so little problem. Not that he was complaining, but he felt as if he was sitting on a time-bomb.

They hurried down the corridor, retracing their steps, and soon met several civilians milling about.

Larry cried out to them, “Hurry up all of you, we think there are more unexploded bombs. Evacuate the buildings.”

This seemed to focus their minds. They made a concerted rush for what Larry hoped would be the exit.

“Follow the crowd,” he whispered to Karen.

They met more civilians and one or two soldiers on the way to the exit. Larry repeated his call to evacuate. No one needed any further encouragement, or showed any inclination to argue about whether he, and the woman dressed in guard’s uniform with him, were legitimate.

They found their way out of the building at the back of the crowd. Larry called out to the hurrying throng. “Make your way to the main entrance. We’re going to check the perimeter.”

He made his way against the flow, repeating his message to new groups. Only once did a small group of soldiers show any inclination to dispute his order. He snarled at them, “You heard what I said. Do it, or you’ll all be on a charge as soon as this is over.”

They hesitated for a moment, until one of them broke and muttered, “Sorry sir, we’re going right away.” He left at the double, the others following his lead.

Larry and Karen arrived at the rear of the complex, where they had entered the base. It was deserted except for three soldiers guarding the hole Larry had blown in the wall. These men were obviously under strict orders and they ignored his command to leave.

“I don’t recognize you, sir,” one of them said, “and how come you’ve a woman guard with you? I’ve never seen a woman guard before.”

“You don’t know me, soldier, because I’m new here, and she’s my personal assistant,” snapped Larry. “I’ve been appointed to tighten up this base, and not before time, I can see. This is an emergency, and you’re disobeying orders from a senior officer.”

Taking the pistol from its holster he pointed it at the three and snapped, “Do I need to use my authority to shoot mutineers? Otherwise do as I say and evacuate now.”

****

Karen watched this interchange with a sick feeling of despair. The soldiers were suspicious and Karen could see that they were not going to accept Larry’s bluff. Oh Christ, it’s three against two, they all have laser rifles, Larry only has a little pistol and I don’t know how to use my rifle properly. Do I shoot first? I’ll have no chance otherwise.

She saw the soldier who had spoken tense and start to raise his rifle. Instinct took over. She thumbed the firing pad and raked the rifle fire across the three men. Larry joined in, opening up with his pistol. Two of them screamed briefly as they collapsed in a heap, then there was only silence and the stink of burnt flesh.

She gagged at the smell and the thought of what she had done. She was about to throw up when Larry grabbed her arm and distracted her.

He dragged her toward the hole in the wall as she cried out, “What have I done? Are they dead?”

He shook her arm roughly. “You had no choice. They wouldn’t back down, it was them or us.”

The words brought her to her senses and she allowed Larry to push her through the hole. Once outside, he grabbed Karen’s hand and they hurried across the cleared area for the safety of the trees. But before they could make it, their luck ran out.