Chapter 21: Phaon

CyberDeck Operation (SD): Affects the use of a CyberDeck when attempting to enter and "travel" through the Global Telecommunications Network, into distant databanks or other reaches of the Matrix. One member of a group operating in Cyberspace must be operating a CyberDeck (i.e. the "CyberDeck Operator", CDO): the other members of a group are assumed to be "plugged into" his Cyber Deck (wearing mindlinks). The CDO receives a -10 combat modification for every group member other than himself. Of course, it is not necessary to operate in a group; each character could have and operate his own CyberDeck and no one would receive a negative combat modification (to combat inside the Matrix). Long distance travel and survellance can be handled as Research projects, while other specific activities are handled as a Static Maneuver.
Skill Cost:
Armsman - 10, Pilot - 8, Explorer - 9, Sys Tech - 6, Elec Tech - 4, Researcher - 6, Physician - 7, Engineer - 6, Criminologist - 7, Medic - 6, Planetologist - 7, Administrator - 8, Entertainer - 9, Theologist - 9, True Telepath - 3/8, Semi-Telepath - 4.

Raymont looked at the Margrave and slowly leveled his struptor.
"You, Sir, are a very dangerous man, and were it not for the circumstances I would agree to leave you, but I believe you are the only active, possibly the only living being who can shut down the self destruct and call off the combots." Raymont thrust the point of his rifle towards Rabustus, growling nearly subsonically, then he calmly
shouldered the weapon. "Not to mention you're a cheap bastard. I've been chased by nearly two billion credits worth of combots alone and you offer a million for your meagre life? I think not. If you wish to live, you will tell us how to call of the dogs, shut down the self destruct and where the artifacts are. Oh, and do you want to explain what this ship was really doing here, or shall I?"
The Margrave merely regarded Raymont with a calm expressionless face.
Raymont looked at the Margrave, "Ok, we'll get you out of here, provided you meet our conditions. First things first; we shut down the combots then the self destruct goes down, giving us leisure to figure out the rest, which includes making ourselves rich. So don't get distracted by the shiny things until the basics are out of the way. And remember, so far as we know, there's still a force topside to be dealt with."
Solo stomped out his stogy and looked at the Margrave. "This is one of the fuckers from the ship? And he knows how to turn off the combots?" Then getting a very angry and thoughtful look on his face, he continued, "I notice you have two arms and I only have one ... right now, that is. If you wish to keep both of your arms and not volunteer one to me, I strongly suggest you listen to my friend here and do what he says. And as for the only living being left on the ship. Yes. That is true. I personally killed Brother Antheus. And I won't hesitate to kill you either ... after I remove your arm sans anesthetic."
Thorn slowly broke a smile at Solo's words. "Yeah... that's Solo for sure! Nice to see that you survived William." Thorn addressed the assembly. "I say we get this Margrave fellow to shut this thing down and find us an exit. I don't give a damn about his politics, so if we can get away with the money.. that are us due, I'd say... I'd be more than happy to let him tag along." Turning to Margrave, she asked "you do want to live, don't you 'handsome'?"
"It is my belief," Raymont began, then glancing at the Margrave, "Correct me if I'm wrong, that we three have just arrived from this man's quarters. His importance should be apparent from that fact alone." After a moment, Raymont shrugged and stared at Margrave, waiting for some response from him.
It was Joe who spoke instead. "It would seem that the Margrave is the commanding military officer on the ship. He is obviously a very important and capable person, or he wouldn't have risen to that status. It also seems that he is not brain-washed to the extent that his sergeants are. We have no reason to believe that he is exceptionally trustworthy, though, and I expect that if he ever gets back to Galatia, that million will be put towards ending our lives rather than enriching them - let me add that politics is a bitch, and we don`t want to get mixed up in it. In fact, the only reason we can possibly have for dragging him with us is that he might be able to help us get out of here. If he proves unwilling or incapable of doing that, he is useless to us, and thus the only reason we have not to leave him or kill him is that we are not capable of such an act," looking around at the assembled party, Joe didn't seem to put much faith in the Margrave`s continued well-being should he prove uncooperative.
After a brief pause to catch his breath, Joe continued, "I think the matter at hand is to try and make a plan to get out of here. But before we can do that, we should update each other on what's been happening."
Joe continued, "Since we last saw you, we have defrosted a marine, calling herself Sergeant Garsya. She had sort of an attitude problem, and started poking her rifle at us, and made us defrost the Margrave, who also seemed to have an attitude problem. Then a combot showed up, and we - TJ, Bug and me - got away while the Margrave turned the combot into scrap metal. We rigged an explosive, and the Margrave conveniently walked right into it, destroying whatever remained of his Powered Armour, and here we are. In short, we`re not significantly closer to solving our problem. How about you guys?"
Raymont settled down gently next to the Margrave and talked in a steely whisper. "If you know the computer overide codes for the combots and the self destruct and you tell me now, we MIGHT let you use the medbed in the next room. Otherwise, you're baggage and if the combots get to us, you're a shield." Raymont flashed him an evil grin as he waited for a response.
The Margrave calmly replied, "Your threats, while entertaining, have little significance to a military man. While I thought you might want to profit from your good fortune in disabling me - for which I commend you and your talents - I am fully prepared to die. I would be little worthy to command a crusader force were I not. As for acquiring the command code for the Guardian defense robots, yes I suppose I can do that. They belong more to the protocol of the ship's commander, but I suppose, being of command rank, I could at least try and gain access to their codes, that is if they haven't been erased yet. As for the self destruct, that is also a ship's protocol but even if I were able, never would I agree to shut it down. You may kill me if you wish. The end will be the same for you. There is an experimental teleport unit in my room, but it doesn't have sufficient range to teleport you all through the rock layers we are buried in and still escape the effects of the blast when the ship's reactors overload. As for the artifacts you mention, I know nothing of them. But, assuming they are archaeological artifacts, since that was our initial mission to retrieve significant finds from a site, then I would also say that it would be remiss for me to say anything of them. No doubt they have technological ramifications and to allow them to fall to the Jadists or any other power would be remiss to my duty to his Grace. So kill me if you wish for I will neither shut down the self destruct nor help you in the search for the artifacts.
If you can find some shred of intelligence within you, however, I think we can reach a compromise. I should also point out that one of you accidentally triggered a tight beam distress beacon, aimed at Galatia. No doubt, we shall be receiving visitors - very soon. I shouldn't tell you this of course, but I say it in hopes that it will bring you to your more reasonable senses - assuming you have any."
Raymont listened patiently to Margrave's speech. "Judging from your records, I'm not surprised at your attitude. In any case I do see the advantages in having you alive for the moment." Raymont pulled the Ono-Sendai computer link from his pocket briefly, then he put it away. "Unfortunately, I think we'll have to find a terminal where somebody can watch you. I don't trust you enough for this." After a brief stretch, he looked over to Leon. "You want to carry him, or
shall I?"
But before Leon could respond, Raymont went on to add, again addressing the Margrave, "Oh and one more thing. I don't know how fast your friends can get here, but you've been in a tank for a few years and things on the surface have changed a bit. Don't count on the cavalry to save you just yet."
Solo looked disgustedly at the Margrave. "Military man. Prepared to die, huh? Are you also as prepared to live with your failures?" Then spitting at the ground near Margrave's feet, he turned to the rest of the party. "Whatever ya'll have in mind, I am with you. But whatever we decide, it had better be quick. Just tell me what to do."
After letting the Margrave's words sink in, Joe spoke to the disabled nobleman. "I understand you have no wish to salvage this ship, but would rather erase any evidence of your presence here. I can understand and respect that. In fact, I don't think anyone will profit from your presence here becoming public knowledge. At least, not anyone I care for."
He turned toward the party and continued, "I suggest that we concentrate on getting out of here, the faster the better. Salvaging this ship isn't only darn difficult, but with the rescue ship coming in and the politics involved, it is outright deadly. We don't want the Church on our necks, and they will be if we mess this up for them. And, I can assure you, all the wealth in the world won't make us safe from their revenge. They built this ship. Remember, they have all the resources they want."
Turning back to the Margrave again, and without waiting for responses from the others, he went on, "You said you have a teleporter. We need to know its range, capacity and reliability. Do we need a teleporter technician to operate it? Can it teleport large inanimate objects? In fact, if you have a tech manual for it, that would be very helpful. We will also need heavy weaponry if we are to survive whatever waits for us up there, and some means of transport to get to minimum safe distance. We will require your assistance to acquire all of these. We will also need you to disable the Combots." To nobody in particular, probably thinking out loud, he added; "Maybe we could see if the sensors are still operational. They could help us figure out exactly who is on top of us and how many ..." Joe drifted off into thought.
"I was wondering when you would finally finish," the Margrave Rabastus responded. "As for the technical particulars of the teleport platform, I will not divulge them. As for heavy weaponry or anything else military that you might salvage from the Divinity, I will not aid you in their acquisition. I'm not here to help a bunch of scrounging packrats make off with their grubby gains. The more I listen to you all, the more I'm convinced that you are all scum and it would be better that we all die here - together."
Raymont, polling for opinions, went to each person save the Margrave and asked a few simple questions in a low whisper.
"I have a couple of ideas about the self destruct, but I don't know enough about the operation of this ship to know what to do. I think the core of the engines is some kind of antimatter reactor, but if it's not, we could use the teleporter to drop some explosives in to disrupt their operations. Also, the computer in engineering uses a handprint for initial ID. What's your guess if we use the hand of an unconscious Margrave?"
Whispering back, Thorn answered, "Don't ask me, I'm no techrat. But the machine wouldn't know if Margrave was unconscious would it?"
Bug, long quiet, added his advice, saying, "Thorn's right. ID cards work off of very simple technology that can tell if the user is stressed or dead, certainly such an important function like a military ship's distruct would be at least guarded by such measures."
Tessa said, "I agree with Raymont, let's make him talk. It seems we have to disable the combots and do something about the upcoming explosion, and the Margrave seems to be the only one that can help us."
Leon said, "I'm with Raymont, lets get you all treated first and get the combots shut down if possible."
Thorn chirped, "I'm not hurt. Anyone else need repairs? Let's go, one of you 'tough' guys drag the Margrave with you eh? And be a bit careful, he'd make our task a lot easier if he was alive...", Thorn smirked slowly, before checking on the other party members. She added, "Perhaps the medbed can fix a new arm for you Solo?"
Leon said, "I've tried to break into the computer and shut down the self destruct. The system was too well protected for me to break in. If no-one else can shut down the self destruct then I would say we have very little option but to take up the Margrave on his offer. What ever was shooting at us on the surface was fairly accurate and had powerful weapons, so even if we can stop the self destruct, on our own we may yet have to take up his offer."
Tessa nodded, saying, "Yeah, Leon may be right, it's worth a shot. Since you are willing to carry him, let's go!"
"Wait a minute....." Leon added, with a grin spreading across his face, "If the rock above us is stopping all communication, how can the distress beacon make it through all that rock? I'll just try and track down the signal with a multiscanner and estimate it's strength, to see if it is able to get through the rock."
Hearing this, Raymont shook his head, saying, "If I recall, the General said we couldn't teleport through that much rock. I doubt that anything designed to communicate instantly with a planet who knows how many light years away in an instant is going to have a problem with a few feet of rock. Just a guess, of course. Can't hurt to try to get a bead on any ongoing signal, but I'd imagine we set off a burst transmitter. A few milliseconds transmission then silence."
As Leon picked up a scanner and started to fiddle with the controls he added "I also think Raymont's idea of taking the unconscious Margrave to the palm print is a good idea, and I'd be happy to carry him."
The Margrave, who's hearing appeared to be quite acute, despite his injuries volunteered, "I will tell you that despite the attenuation of the rock layers above us, the teleport should be sufficient to transport a signal to the surface without too much signal loss. However, that will not be of help when the ship's engines overload as you will not be far enough away. And as for my being unconscious when you use my palm print, your little alien pet was quite correct when he voiced that nothing will help you if I'm not alive, conscious and uncooerced."
To this Raymont replied, "Let's not make him unconscious until we get him to a terminal where he can ferret out any codes he's willing to trade for his hide."
While she cleaned up his headwound, Tess spoke to Margrave, "Are you sure the teleporter won't make it far enough away? Do you know how to operate it?"
"Again, good lady," the Margrave replied, "the attenuation of the signal by the rock layers will mean that the teleport will NOT have enough range to escape the blast radius. The device was never meant for transport through rock. It was only meant for ship to surface transport. As for operating it, any idiot could do that - obviously."
Raymont smiled. "At least up to a point, Bill, Leon and I have figured out how it operates." Raymont spared Solo a glance, "Of course, Grandpa here." meaning Solo, "was too chicken to ride it all the way down here to tell you guys. The base station is in General Rabastus' quarters Deck twenty-one, about seven decks down and seems fully operational, but if he thinks it's too weak to punch through a hundred feet of rock, I'm not risking my life to find out." Turning to Leon, he added. "We could try the chair."
Tessa turned to the party, "I am not sure where the sensors are located, but that is a good idea. I would hate to escape right into a trap. I no longer care for the riches of this place, I just want to escape. I agree we need weapons, but unless we get cooperation from Margrave, I say lets find a way out now." She added, "It actually might be advantageous for this ship to explode. Any evidence of us would be destroyed with it, but I do want to be far away!"
"I think it's a fair assumption that the sensors are in some way attached to the ship, in which case they'd have to see through the aforementioned hundred feet of rock to give us any helpful data. In any case, they don't seem to be operational." Raymont gave a sheepish shrug.
Tessa waited for responses while she started to tend to some of Margrave's other wounds, feeling somewhat guilty that she helped cause them. As she neared to finishing this task, she asked, "Raymont, is it really possible to disable the self-destruct? We wouldn't have much time anyway, with the beacon attracting unwanted visitors. How many combots would we likely encounter on the way. I think we should first go to the sensors, and as far as carrying Margrave..." She looked to the rest of the party.
Getting closer to the others, she whispered "Could we drug Margrave to get more cooperation from him?"
Raymont replied rather testily, "Did you not hear me? What do you expect to get from sensors buried 100 feet underground. As for interior sensors, do you think we could have avoided the combots this long if they were operational? Alright then. As for the self destruct, I'm pretty sure the terminals allow for deactivation, but since I couldn't get past the authorization routine I can't be sure. In any case I'd lay odds that the self destruct is the greater of our worries. Judging by the power output of the engines, I'm not sure we could get clear of the blast radius EVEN IF WE COULD GET TO THE SURFACE. Any ships incoming may be chimerical, but in any case if they can get past planetary defenses..." A pause as Raymont glanced
around himself, "which I don't doubt, we're in pretty bad shape and I don't want to be around when they come in. Of course the ideal situation would be to booby trap the ship as we leave so it blows when her friends come to call. Oh, and at first opportunity, once we're clear of course, we should let the authorities know that a hostile force is incoming."
Looking at the situation, it seemed that Thorn reached a quick decision. "Well, seems like we should better concentrate on rescuing our butts, and perhaps dragging the Margrave with us? I thought he said something about a million bucks? Should be better than nothing, and a great heap better than staying in here and dying... with the explosion! But I'd still like to know what attacked us, and whether Margrave can get any money at all! He's been here for some time hasn't he?" To Tessa she whispered, "Stop dawdling him... _you_ didn't hurt him, it was Jess, remember?" Then to the others, she resumed by concluding, "Well then, we're all set? Let's get the Margrave and find that terminal of yours..."

"You'll tell me if this hurts, won't you?" Raymont kindly asked Margrave Rabastus, while picking him up.
"It hurts!" Rabastus protested.
"Good! That makes me feel better," Raymont told him. "Dia, you're heavy!"
"Want some help?" Leon offered.
Remembering Leon's prodigious strength when carrying both himself and Solo while escaping from the combot, Raymont nodded and threw Rabastus over to Leon.
"I don't suppose you care how much pain I'm in either," the Margrave ventured to comment.
"Not really," Leon quickly admitted.
"O.K. folks, let's go," Solo waved with his one remaining arm.
"Hey Solo, you know that priest's robe looks rather good on you," Raymont said, winking at Thorn, "Did you ever consider joining the Church?"
"Fuck thee, my son," Solo retorted.
"Could you imagine Solo hearing confession?" Thorn asked, laughing.
"Hey, it might not be a bad scam," Solo was the first to admit. "I mean, some sucker comes and gives me some juicy shit and I could cash in on all sorts of ongoing scams, blackmail - who knows."
Bug, again wearing his a-grav belt, zoomed ahead, hovering above Joe. Turning so that he glided while facing backwards, Bug asked Raymont, "You know, I was thinking that if your teleport does reach the surface, couldn't we just call the ship that was supposed to come pick us up when we had harvested all of the equipment from this wreck?"
Everyone stopped.
"We're flippin idiots, you know that, don't you," Solo commented. "We forgot all about the ship. Now all we have to do is get to the surface."
"Ship? You have a ship?" the Margrave asked.
"You bet your noble buns we do, Margy," Solo laughed, patting Bug on it's abdomen.
"Somehow, I don't think it's going to be as simple as all that," Joe said. "Remember, we were supposed to call them when we had salvaged this ship. What are we going to tell them when they come down and we have nothing for them, but a few chips and Raymont's computer?"
"Hey, nobody's giving away my Ono-Sendai. This thing's mine for now," Raymont told everyone, clutching his pack.
Solo looked back at the Margrave. "Well Margy, there might be a reason for keeping you alive and taking you with us after all." Solo patted the Margrave on the cheek.
Raymont turned on his scanner. "Alright folks, let's go!" Thorn and Leon went first, checking things out, and then Raymont and Joe came up and passed them until they had gone on a bit while Leon monitored his scanner. Solo and Tess guarded the rear while Bug hovered somewhere in the middle of the group. In such a fashion, the party covered the short distance to diagnostics.

At the Medical Diagnostics and Treatment Unit, everyone except Bug and Margrave Rabastus gave themselves the once over in it. Since no one could read the diagnostics display with any degree of certainty, they all had to hope that whatever the bed was doing, it was the correct thing.
"Well, I feel much better. I feel relaxed and normal now," Tessa said.
"That's probably tranquilizers," Joe said. "The unit probably treated our stress levels with tranquilizers, though I don't know if that's the best thing given our situation. We need to be at our best."
"Oh great Professor, now you tell us," Solo snorted.
"What about him?" Tessa pointed at the bound figure of the Margrave, trying not to show how cold he was, half sitting in the frigid water pouring down from the stream above.
"Yes, we want him to be alive, remember?" Thorn pointed out.
"No, not yet," Raymont insisted. "Remember, he's a trained warriour. No telling what tricks he's got up his sleeve. However, I'm willing to bargain. Leon, put our guest here in the seat next to that terminal you were using earlier."
Leon obliged by lifting the Margrave into the seat with one arm.
"There you go, M'Lord," he said, removing the bonds around Rabastus.
The Margrave calmly shivered but said nothing.
"That Medbed thing is over there," Raymont said, pointing to the MDTU that they had all finished using. "Now, if you want to cooperate, there's no reason why you have to remain in so much pain and suffering."
While the others were busy trying to "convince" the Margrave, Joe occupied himself by splashing around the half submerged Sickbay, looking for something valuable in the floating and sunken debris. To pass the time, he sang to himself, some Phaonic country song.
Thorn meanwhile seemed more preoccupied, studying the MDTU.
"What about it, General?" Raymont asked.
"Whattt, do, yyou, wwwant?" the Margrave asked.
"Find the code to shut down the combots," Raymont told him.
The Margrave, with some effort and what looked like considerable pain, pulled his broken arm onto the console, placing his hand onto the recognition plate. The console at once activated. Surprisingly, it responded by voice. Raymont meanwhile, donned his mindlink set, to watch the Margrave's activities.
"STATE NAME AND RANK," the voice prompted.
"Margrave RRRabassstus, Rewnnn Chhhuummbar, Gennerall in commmmannd."
There was a pause and the voice resumed.
"PLEASE REPEAT. STATE NAME AND RANK."
Raymont tore off the mindlink and pulled the Margrave's hand off of the recognition plate. The Margrave yelled in protest, grabbing his injured hand.
"What did you do that for?" Leon asked, surprised by Raymont's actions. Raymont rubbed his head, as if in pain (loose 1 temp Re)
"I think the computer recognized that he was in pain," Raymont told them. It sent out a call for security forces to investigate and it routed them here." Raymont pointed down at his feet. "And of course, the only security forces I can think of are"
"The combots!" Solo bowed his head into his hand.
Bug volunteered, "Well, that's a standard procedure. They use the same technology for Id cards. There was always a chance that this military vessel wouldn't require such a clearance."
"What are we going to do?" Leon asked.
"Let's get out of here!" Tessa said. "What do you mean, what should we do?!"
"I don't think we'd make it," Raymont told them. "Those combots are converging on this point from all directions, and they move fast. We'd run into one no matter which way we go."
"So?" Solo asked. "We have to do something. I don't know about you guys, but I've tasted those droids before and I can tell you, it's something you'll want to miss!"
"Let's put him into the Med unit," Tessa said, pointing at Rabastus.
"Why?" Leon asked. "Don't you think we have better things to do now?"
"No, she's right," Raymont said. "The comp triggered because he was sick and it sent those combots to investigate. Our only hope is to get him better and have him turn them off. Until then, the computer won't accept any commands from him until security's concerns have been addressed."

Everyone waited tensely while the MDTU worked on Rabastus. It seemed like it was taking forever. They could only hope that the wrecked condition of many of the ship's corridors, which had made them take numerous detours on their own explorations, were serving to slow down the combots.
"Time?" Tessa asked.
Leon checked his chronometer. "Forty-six minutes. Does it look like it's finishing?"
"Who can say," Thorn shrugged.
"I'VE GOT MOVEMENT!" Raymont shouted, looking up from his scanner. "It's two bodies, and they're at 236 point 372, range 48 meters, and the other's at 025 point 383, range 17 meters! Both signals are closing - slowly!"
"I confirm that," Bug announced, monitoring his own scanner.
"It's alright," Leon told Tessa and Thorn.
"Yea," Solo nodded. "They're both below us, at least by a few decks. It'll take them some time to get up here."
"I hope you're right," Thorn said suspiciously, as if not believing her companions' estimates.
"Why won't this fucker wake up!" Solo said, pounding on the clear bubble covering the Margrave.
"Stop it Solo!" Tess yelled. "That's not going to help!"
A few seconds later, many of the lights winked off and the bubble lifted. Rabastus wasn't moving, but he wasn't allowed to rest. Leon yanked him off of the bed and propped him back into the console. Raymont came splashing back and put his mindlink back on.
"Do it!" he nodded to Leon.
Leon obligingly propped the Margrave's hand onto the recognition plate. Rabastus' eyes fluttered open. He took one quick look around and seemed surprisingly alert after that.
Glancing quickly at Raymont standing beside him, Rabastus chucked. Then he looked over himself, seeming satisfied with the results.
"Necessity breeds kindness, it seems," Rabastus commented. "Actually, the stress activation safeguard had been installed by that monk you killed," Rabastus commented. "It's a standby precaution, but it isn't loaded automatically. One would assume that stressful and painful conditions could be met on a warship," he explained.
"Would you skip the lesson and get going!" Solo growled. "I've waited long enough for you to wake up. The only thing I want to hear is the sound of those combots dropping to the ground!"
"Certainly," Rabastus nodded.
He placed his hand on the plate.
"STATE NAME AND RANK"
"Margrave Rabastus, Rewn Chumbar, General in Command of Crusader Force Twenty-ninth Legion `the Hand of Wrath, Knight Templar.'"
There was a pulsing under the recognition plate.
"CONFIRMED."
"Deactivate Guardian anti-boarding droids, effective immediately."
"REQUEST DENIED."
"Overide code - zeta, alpha, alpha, nine, six, one, two, four."
"REQUEST DENIED. MUST OBTAIN SECURITY CLEARANCE TO PROCEED."
"Security clearance is given. Code, D-I-T, Chumbar. Activate primary - this point."
"CONFIRMED."
"What's happening?" Tessa asked Raymont.
Raymont shook his head. "I'm not sure. I'm having trouble following him through all this. I'm not trained to recognize what I'm seeing - and my fucking head hurts!"
"Bug do you see anything?" Thorn called out back to Bug.
"Yes, the moving bodies seem to have stopped," it announced.
There was elation in the party.
"OH SHIT!!!" Raymont yelled loudly, glaring at the Margrave.
Leon moved to yank the Margrave's hand from the grid, but Raymont screamed at him.
"NO! NO! DON'T! The fucker's done something. Haven't you?" he asked the Margrave. (Raymont, loose 1 temp Re, and one temp Me).
"Yes, my boy, if you were better with that thing, you will have noticed that I've rigged the engines for instantaneous overload. The trigger is removing my hand from this plate, or if my life functions should cease."
"There's no way those engines could just blow like that!" Solo screamed. "He's bluffing! I say we cream him right now!"
"You are correct," Rabastus replied, "But it would only take a matter of minutes after my death for the engines to reach critical, as they've been building to that point already. I'm afraid your only choice is to die or to accept my terms."
"What are your terms?" Tessa asked.
"Don't worry my dear, I remember your kindness to me. Fortunately for your friends here that you did show me some consideration. I propose to let you all go. I'll give you three hours before I reactivate the Guardians. That should give you plenty of time to reach the teleport and transport to the surface. There you can contact your ship and should be well away from here by the time my rescue arrives."
"And what do we offer them for loot?" Thorn asked. "We were going to sell them your hide."
"That's your problem," Rabastus replied curtly. "You're fortunate that I'm letting you go at all."

Tessa, who had been focusing on the Margrave's words, cleared her mind of her own thoughts. Then, suddenly, she felt the image of his mind inside her own. His thoughts were thundering across her own consciousness. She was reading his mind.

"He's lying," Tessa announced firmly.
"I could have told you that," Solo snorted.
"No, I mean it. I don't know how to explain this to you, but he's lying. He doesn't plan to let us go. The moment we're gone, he's going to reactivate the combots, - he thinks of them as Guardians, - and then he's going to revive the rest of the marines. He's found out that there's still over a thousand that are undamaged in cryo-freeze. Then, he's going to salvage those artifacts, and whatever heavy equipment he can and establish a basecamp on the surface. When the rescue ship comes, he'll leave - with the artifacts, and then leave a number of soldiers behind to act as sleeper agents and saboteurs for the future.
"You're a telepath!" Rabastus scowled. "My congratulations, my dear. The Bishop will be pleased when I present YOU to his Grace."
"Hey! I'm presenting you to the world of Death!" Solo said, reaching for a bit of heavy debris to use as a club.
"No Solo! Don't!" Tessa screamed. "He was speaking the truth about the engines. If we either kill him or he removes his hand, or if his bodily readings change drastically, then we all die."
"So, now what do we do?" Joe asked.
It was Rabastus who answered, looking all the while at Tessa. "You know, don't you my dear."
"You can go," Tessa announced suddenly. "He'll let you go, just like he said. Teleport to the surface and then call the ship." She handed her satchel over to Thorn. "There's a fortune in jewels there that I found in one of the staterooms. Use those to buy passage somewhere."
"You say that like you're not going?," Joe asked.
"That's what he's offering as a deal," Tessa said, looking with apprehension at the Margrave. "He'll let you go if I stay."
A thin smile crept its way across Rabastus' lips. "I suggest you all take advantage of the lady's generosity. I tired of your collective presence when I first encountered it."
"Leon?" Solo asked.
Leon looked over at Solo and then waved his hand. "No, Solo! Don't"
Everyone then looked over to see that Solo had propped up a rifle and aimed it directly at Rabastus, seated in his chair.
"Grab his hand Leon and make sure it doesn't move!" he announced. Leon hesitated only and moment and then grabbed the Margrave's hand even as Solo fired. Joe tried to block the shot and was shot down for his efforts. Solo's second shot was squeezed out right away and it hit Rabastus square in the middle. Rabastus went limp.
"Solo! You idiot!" Thorn screamed. "You killed him! You killed Joe! We are all DEAD!"
Solo fished Joe from out of the water and held him up. "Funny, nothing seems to be happening," he said, looking around him.
It was Leon who explained what Solo had done to Rabastus. "He's stunned."
"Solo, you are a lunatic!" Raymont said, shaking his head, but his voice carrying a small bit of admiration in it. "How did you know that stunning him wouldn't set off the destruct?"
"I didn't," Solo said, fishing in his pockets for the soggy remnants of his last cigar stub. "I just got tired of listening to him talk."

While Raymont and Thorn searched around for stimulants to awaken Joe, Leon and Bug worked to weld a harness to keep the Margrave's arm locked into place. For added assurance, they also bolted down straps of plastic over Rabastus' hand to keep it firmly in place.
"I think these are stimulants," Thorn said. "And these I think are tranq tabs," she said to Solo and Tessa, the only two who didn't seem to have a current job beyond watching the Margrave.
"One way to find out," Solo said, injecting Joe with one of the supposed stimtabs. Joe's eyelids fluttered and his body twitched.
"Whawhawha."
"You are dead, my son, and this is the afterlife," Solo droned into Joe's ear. "Behold your God!" Solo, cigar and all beamed into Joe's face.
Joe's response was to punch Solo in the jaw and send the one-armed pilot flying backward into the cold water.

"Well, I've injected him with as many tranq tabs as I dare," Thorn announced, assembling her belongings.
"How long will that hold him?" Raymont asked.
Thorn shrugged. "Who knows. Your guess is as good as mine. I guess I should have studied more in school."
"Well, we know what the Margrave intends," Leon said. "I think we can all agree that we'd better get out of here as soon as possible."
Solo shook his head, regarding the Margrave. "And to think we can't kill him. That Antheus was just an itch compared to the pain in the ass this freak's been."
"No killing him," Thorn warned. "Unless you can think of someway to do it when we're gone."
"If only we had some sort of time delayed bomb," Solo mused aloud. "Say, Bug, what about the one you did him in before, could you rig up another?"
Bug nodded. "Sure. We used up most of the explosive we found in the first device, but if you found me some more, then I could rig another."
"Forget it!" Joe said, still a little touchy about having been shot. "We don't have time. And who knows how big this blast will be when this wreck explodes. Remember, we have to be far enough away when it happens. And I don't want to pin all my hopes on some phantom smuggler ship that's supposed to pick us up. Can you think what would happen if we rig Solo's bomb, and then find that there's no ship to pick us up, and us with no way to turn it off?"
"I have tried raising the smuggler unit with the comdevice Dicey gave us," Bug said. "I cannot get a signal but that could be because of all the debris and layers of rock all around us."
"Well, I did pick up when reading the Margrave's thoughts," Tessa said, "that there's another teleport somewhere in the ship. It's where all the ground vehicles are kept, like tanks, and armoured personnel carriers and scoutcars and such."
"Tanks! Did you say tanks!" Solo shouted.
"Calm down, Solo," Thorn patted him on the back. "You're drooling."
"Anyway, if it still works, we could use that teleport to transport us to the surface along with a vehicle and then we could drive away. I got the idea that this platform, or maybe it's more than one, is really big. They used it to send tanks and whole units of marines down to a planet."
"Do you know where this other teleport is?" Raymont asked.
Tessa shook her head.
"Well," Raymont said, "there it is. We know where one teleport is. It sounds like there's a good possibility we could use that to get off of this ship and to the surface. After that, we're on our own, either hitching it back to civilization on foot or trying to call the smuggler ship, probably having to give up most of our loot as passage out of here, since we didn't end up with as much as we thought we would."
"We know Onzlo's cave is well stocked with supplies," Leon pointed out.
"Or, we could look for Tessa's teleport and hope that it works like the other one we found. That way, it sounds like we could teleport out of here with a vehicle, again making use of Onzlo's stores on the surface."
"I have another idea," Thorn volunteered. "What do say we keep coming back here to check on the Margrave, inject him with tranqs to give us time to check out more of the ship and get more goods out of here."
"If he doesn't die of hypothermia in this place" Joe said, shivering.
"Well, there it is," Leon said, stepping forward to grab everyone's attention. "What we need is a plan. What we don't have is time. How about it folks?"

Back to Space Master Page

Back to Main Page