The Infinity Brigade 2: Stone Hard by Andrew Beery

Author:Andrew Beery
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2016-08-10T17:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12: Capture …

Threat-level four meant several things on a ship like the Kara.

First, it meant her intruder suppression systems were engaged. Anyone entering the ship was likely to face AI controlled stun pointers. The electric pulses that traveled down the minute plasma tunnels created by a pointer weapon were generally not lethal but they would certainly incapacitate most targets.

The second thing a TL4 status did was to lockdown the Kara’s control systems. It would take a considerable effort to bypass the security lockout without damaging critical components.

It was my hope that both actions would discourage our presumed Donalite hosts from attempting to discard the Kara’s crew too soon. First, such an action would require we blow our cover and fight out way out –never a good idea when you have no idea about the size, training and composition of the opposing forces… and second, it would require us to tip our hand that the GCP was looking into the pirate situation.

My internal AI was currently tied into the ship’s internal sensors. It provided a vivid out-of-body experience as I could see what was happening even with my eyes closed.

The Potato Farm was in fact a ship. I have to be honest… this one took me by surprise. At three kilometers in length, it was most certainly one of… if not the biggest… ship in the Sol system.

Now in fairness, calling a hollowed-out shell with a massive set of thrusters bolted on to the back end – a ship – was a bit of a stretch. It did explain why the asteroid had next to no rotation. When Hedy had commented on the lack of rotation to the miner earlier, Barney had claimed that it limited outgassing during drilling operations. Sometimes volatiles got heated by the tenuous solar radiation and chose inopportune times to gush forth. This could be a problem for someone working on the surface. As none of us were miners, the explanation made sense and so we didn’t think much more about it. Now we knew the rotation had been suppressed so we would not see the VASIMR thrusters on the asteroid’s dark side.

As the Kara made her way around the dark side in the course of her orbit, a small tug, much like Barney’s Red Barn made its way from the surface and joined the rock rat in securing our vessel with maneuvering clamps designed to latch onto access points placed at standard intervals around the ship.

It was at this point that the pirates ran into their first problem. Kara’s AI was programmed to keep her in orbit around the asteroid. The tugs, attempting to change the Kara’s position relative to the asteroid found themselves battling the combat shuttle’s more powerful station-keeping thrusters.

My AI was tied into the Kara’s comm system and so I was able to hear the radio chatter that was passing between the two Donalite pirates.

“Damn bastards… they must has the ship’s autopilot engaged. We ain’t going to get this done without someone going inside to disengage it.

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