Spinward Fringe Broadcast 14 Read online

  Rebel

  Spinward Fringe Broadcast 14

  Randolph lalonde

  Contents

  Books by Randolph Lalonde

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  38. Epilogue

  Thank you

  Books by Randolph Lalonde

  THE SPINWARD FRINGE SERIES

  Spinward Fringe Broadcast 0: Origins

  Spinward Fringe Broadcast 1 and 2: Resurrection and Awakening

  Spinward Fringe Broadcast 3: Triton

  Spinward Fringe Broadcast 4: Frontline

  Spinward Fringe Broadcast 5: Fracture

  Spinward Fringe Broadcast 6: Fragments

  The Expendable Few: A Spinward Fringe Novel

  Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7: Framework

  Spinward Fringe Broadcast 8: Renegades

  Spinward Fringe Broadcast 9: Warpath

  Spinward Fringe Broadcast 10: Freeground

  Spinward Fringe Broadcast 10.5: Carnie's Tale

  Spinward Fringe Broadcast 11: Revenge

  Spinward Fringe Broadcast 12: Invasion

  Spinward Fringe Broadcast 13: Warriors

  Spinward Fringe Broadcast 14: Rebel

  Spinward Fringe Broadcast 15: Pursuit

  * * *

  THE CHAOS CORE SERIES

  Trapped

  Cool Pursuit

  Savage Stars

  FANTASY

  Highshield

  Brightwill

  * * *

  HORROR

  Dark Arts

  * * *

  www.RandolphLalonde.com

  Rebel: Spinward Fringe Broadcast 14 © Copyright 2020 Randolph Lalonde

  Spinward Fringe is a registered trademark of Randolph Lalonde

  * * *

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher, Randolph Lalonde.

  * * *

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  * * *

  Thank you for supporting the author by purchasing this book. Every honest reader counts.

  * * *

  EBook ISBN: 978-1-988175-21-8

  One

  Angel's Landing Station

  * * *

  The meeting with Majan Lor went better than Alice expected. A few crates of rifles, military grade handguns, a new shield generator that would be compatible with her ship - a pirated Order of Eden Customs Corvette - military vacsuits and five sets of generation two Freeground Armour. The equipment was better than what the Order had, but several steps behind Haven Fleet's systems.

  Watching, listening, commenting on a closed channel to Noah Lucas as he made the deal was more relaxing than being the brains and the negotiator at the same time. He was good at putting a deal together, showing that there were limits without letting the situation become negative. Every time Majan Lor, the Captain of the Razpa, tried to ask for ship weapons or a starfighter, Noah turned her to something else like a new shield generator and specifications for emitter upgrades or intelligence on the supply lines for the Order of Eden only a couple light years away. The generators came at a cost, but the intelligence was free. He lit a fire in Majan by telling her that she was the first to get the information, but he was going to be sharing it with everyone, so she only had a limited time to get to a wormhole emergence point and make her move on whatever Order of Eden freight delivery she could catch.

  That wasn't the only thing that was free. When their business was about to conclude, and Majan had already agreed to pay one point four million platinum for the equipment and weapons that was on the table, Noah told her that he was throwing two new forma processors, three tons of the high-grade food for them and a month's worth of meal bars for her and her crew. "A revolution fights better on a full stomach," he told her with a smile that melted the hardened Captain.

  With a promise that she'd tell the members of the Underground she knew that he was trustworthy as soon as he made good on the deal, she and her crewmembers departed. Alice wished she could have gotten a clear read on her with her empathic abilities, but they still felt supressed by the reactor over their heads. Her suit said it was some kind of electronic interference that made most communication and some other systems unreliable as well. It was one of the reasons why the place was appealing to its clientele, and the ambience was helped a great deal by the rolling blue-white light shining through the partially shielded transparent ceiling that separated the establishment from the fusion flame above.

  Moments after the deal was closed and a delivery date was agreed on, Noah got up from his seat. He looked to Alice and the others behind him. "Ready to go?" She was in the lead in form fitted powder blue vacsuit and a captain's jacket like his own. Knud and one of the thick bodied Nafalli crewmembers towered in the rear, while Yawen and a human male beside her were in the middle. That was Theodore, who he was overjoyed to see. They were all in full helmets which were a new design. They still used metal slats over a sealed frame, but they were pointed down from the chin, broader at the top with a blacked-out faceplate that was tapered, giving them a serious, almost menacing look.

  Alice nodded, and they followed him out of the bar. There were at least four other groups of people who stared at him or tried to approach him as though they wanted to strike up a conversation. To her surprise, he strode past without giving them a seconds' notice. "One of those groups could be from a resistance cell," Alice said, communicating from her suit to his suit using a laser link.

  "If they were, they'd know that we wanted to talk to them by now, and they'd get right in front of us," Noah said, activating his own helmet. "They'd have the confidence of someone who already knows we want to talk to them. That is, unless there's another resistance outfit that isn't ready to approach us. In that case, I'd rather see them when they've decided I'm worth their time."

  "I would add that, if they can't get real attention from an arms dealer, they probably aren't very good rebels," Theodore added. "It takes a kind of ruthlessness to attack an Order Ship or installation."

  They passed into the lift and Alice felt her empathic abilities start to open up again. The general sense in the elevator car was that people were pleased, but her focus hadn't returned. Before it did, there was something she wanted to do, a risk she wanted to take. With an eye gesture at her heads' up display, she ordered her helmet to retract.

  "Hey, there she is," Noah said, opening his helmet a moment later, revealing a smile that summoned hers in an instant
.

  "Wow, you really are bald," Alice laughed, reaching up and running her hand over the prickly stubble on his scalp.

  "Yeah, part of the whole Apex thing I was ordered to run away from. I could stimulate it, but…" he looked down into her yes unflinching.

  The elevator car was much cleaner than the bar they just left, but it still smelled of sweat and something that had burned a long time ago, something biological. Alice ignored it as her fingertips made their way down to his cheek, where the stubble ended, becoming perfectly smooth skin. "I would have come even if I didn't have orders, you know," she said softly, not looking away from those eyes, that smile.

  "I'm glad I'm not alone, I'm happy you're here." It sounded like a confession, something he was saying only for her.

  "Are you sure you wouldn't rather they sent Remmy? He has a more experienced crew." It was a joke, of course, something to cover her nervousness, the rare uncertainty of not really knowing how he was feeling yet. It was exciting, normal, like old times before the extra sense kicked in. Alice was sure he understood the jest, her raised eyebrow and lopsided smile would telegraph at least that. Her fingers moving under his chin, gently drawing him down while she started pushing herself up on her toes would suggest something else.

  "Maybe, but he'd definitely get a different welco…"

  "Someone is trying to pirate me! Help!" Elise said from where she was installed on the Corsair, the message crackling into clarity. "I just got past their jamming signals, but I'm afraid the whole station is hearing this."

  The opportunity to have a normal moment with Noah without her empathic abilities letting her cheat or giving her a reason to retreat was gone. She could feel that he was overjoyed to see her, he liked the way she looked in that powder blue vacsuit, he was feeling a little insecure about his negotiation, and it took a lot of effort for him to restrain his joy at being near her again. His positive reaction was reassuring, more encouraging than she would admit to anyone but him, but it felt like she'd skipped to the end of a story she wanted to experience from the very beginning. The reaction he was having to her was disappearing under his alarm at more pressing concerns. Alice reactivated her helmet. "Hey, Lewis," she said, watching her comm signal get lost in the jamming noise.

  "I can't get a signal out," Noah said, the slats of his helmet coming together.

  "There's someone with a generator on his back using a beam weapon on the airlock," Elise explained. "They're not making too much progress, and they'll have to get through my armour plating once they're finished depleting that shield, but it's alarming. They could get through if they keep at it for another nine hours and three minutes, give or take a few seconds."

  Noah sighed with relief. "Okay, it’s not as bad as I thought."

  "You may want to have a short conversation with her about exhibiting the appropriate degree of alarm for different situations," Theodore added. "Also, the elevator is no longer in motion. It stopped while you two were focused on each other, so I thought it could wait. Could the two events be connected? The pirate attempt and the elevator stopping?"

  "I'm thinking, yeah," Alice said. "Can you hack it?"

  Theodore looked at the control panel. "I'd have to damage the control surface, but once I get past that, probably."

  "Please." Noah gestured at the small interface panel, the digital buttons were surrounded by a swirling ad that was telling them to order a can of Gan-Gan but to 'Imbibe responsibly.' "I'll reduce the station's bill a few plat to cover the damage."

  "If you insist," Theodore said, poking a tiny hole that was less than half a centimetre wide in the corner of the display then pushing a miniature arm that extended from his finger inside. "Oh, that ruins the whole aesthetic."

  "I think they'll get over it," Yawen snickered.

  A moment later Theodore shook his head. "The problem is not software, it's mechanical. Something is blocking the old cable mechanism from working."

  Alice looked at Knud and pointed up. Without hesitation, he reached up and pushed the hatch in the roof open. "Okay, armour up, shields up. We're flying the last nine levels then sixteen frames over," she said.

  * * *

  "Wait, uh, I didn't take all the qualifiers for flying in this armour," Noah said, nervous as he activated his entire suit. Slats of metal spread up from his boots and around him from his captain's coat. "I mostly spent time in, the fun one where you fly through rings, shoot the little boxes that come drifting through that try to knock you off course."

  "What's your best time?" Noro, the thick-bodied shorter Nafalli asked.

  "Nine minutes, thirty-five and change, no collisions," he replied, hoping it wasn't too bad.

  "Damn, that's really good," the Nafalli replied, covering his nose. "How many attempts?"

  "Well, it took me a while to get used to the way the emitters in the suit…"

  "So, you can fly," Alice said. The slats on the bottom half of her suit flared a couple times, lifting her feet off the floor for a moment. Knud was already up on top of the elevator car, and Theodore hopped up easily. "Just take it easy and you'll get there without punching a hole in the side of the transit shaft, flyboy." He could hear her grinning, this was fun for her.

  "Have you logged much time flying in these suits?" he asked, happy that they were on laser link communications, only the crewmembers in a direct line of sight could hear him. "In gravity? Outside of a simulation?" Alice asked. "Just about none. I qualified then had a few hours of fun in the sim. I've done a lot of time in zero-G, though. Still, you won't be the only one taking it slow." With a burst of light beneath the slats of her armour, and a "Woo!" she launched up through the hatch.

  When he stepped under it he was just in time to see her slow her thrust down so she was hovering ten metres above the top of the car, listening to her laugh at her overshoot was enough to make him grin. He reached up and let the strength enhancement kick in so he had an easy time pulling himself through the hatch. Knud and Noro picked him up like he was feather-light toddler and a map of their route through the transit tube appeared on his HUD.

  The elevator shaft walls were host to cables, pipes and tubes that ranged from manufacturer original to new and improvised with signs of hasty repair everywhere. "Well, there's our problem," Knud said, looking up to an open door above and a clamp that had been wrapped around the cables, keeping them from moving. "Someone's been watching us."

  "This might be the pirates I messed with when I came into the system. They could have paid the admin of the station off, gotten some extra access so they could try to take me out? Take my stuff? Probably both," Noah said.

  " Are you sure the station management would burn you like that?" Alice asked.

  "Might not be them, that's true, the security here is kind of a joke. We'll see if someone from Angel's Landing already paid me. I don't really care past that. I think someone trying to screw you over in this area of space is like their version of hazing, I'm just glad I'm ready for it."

  "Well, we just have to get to the Corsair or an airlock for now. Let's go," Alice said enthusiastically. Her emitters flared, blue light pulsing under her armours slats as she course corrected with her hand against the wall of the transit shaft before ascending.

  He followed behind Knud, who was flying with his fists raised over his head like some ancient super-hero. The path outlined in Noah's heads up display was easy to follow; straight up for many levels, then to a horizontal transit shaft that would take them to an emergency airlock. Even flying at less than ten percent thrust, they moved fast, over ninety kilometres per hour straight up at first, and Noah stayed within the section of shaft that was reserved for their elevator.

  Noro didn't. "Yikes!" he yiped as he narrowly dodged an elevator car coming down to Noah's right.

  "We're in military grade power armour," Alice said as she waited at the entry to the horizontal shaft. "No one else on this station is, so if you smash through a wall, or into an elevator car, you'll also smash through whoever's unlucky
enough to be in your way."

  "Sorry," Noro said. "I'm just eager to get out of here. A bad smell got into my helmet from that bar. I'll watch out."

  They were at the end of the horizontal passage and at the airlock door in no time. There were bands of metal welded to the inner door. "I would say someone tried to disable this," Theodore said, gingerly touching a thick metal bar. "It was years ago, though, so probably not the angry pirates."

  "Station management probably trying to stop people from boarding the station without going through customs," Noah said. "I could cut through it."

  "Step aside," Knud said as he and Noro pointed their side arms at the bands, carefully but efficiently cutting through the metal braces. Theodore plugged into the smashed terminal beside it and fed power to the door. It opened, and they gathered inside the airlock chamber, there was no room left to move, Alice was pressed against him, her chest against his. "This could be fun if we weren't in power armour."

  "I can't quite reach the outer door panel," Theodore said as the inner door closed. "I couldn't stay connected to the other door so we're trapped in here until we shift around or someone gets impatient and tears through the wall."