Mitchell's Revenge

Far away, in another solar system entirely, the Guardian Angel was lurking in an asteroid belt, hiding from the system police. The Angel was discovered raiding an unarmed supply freighter. The pirates had managed to load food and medical supplies before the police found them. Then they bolted, the police in hot pursuit.

The Guardian Angel didn’t look like much, but it was one of the fastest, most nimble ships operating in the Ambleby solar system. It was an ugly ship. Covered in antennae, radar and various other flotsam, it was cobbled together from the wreckage of larger, more impressive ships. Powered by a failing FTL drive, the Guardian Angel could still move at speed from one point to the other with pinpoint accuracy. But each jump took more out of the ship than the crew were happy about. She was going to need a re-fit, and soon.

The police were confused. One moment the ship was pulling away from its victim, and the next moment it had vanished completely. The FTL signature gave them some indication of the direction the ship had gone, but that was all. Their own ship was sadly lacking in the technology that would enable them to track the fleeing pirates.

Captain Flex MacElroy didn’t know that the police couldn’t track him, which was why he was hiding in the asteroid belt. Rufus Yaap, his pilot, was a young man who ran away from home when his parents decided that his obsession with arcade video games was not going to earn him a proper living. Little did they realise it was that very obsession that would lead to his skill in navigating the solar system in the Guardian Angel.

Rufus was in his element as he danced their way through the maze of floating rock, chunks of ice and space debris. They emerged unscathed on the far side of the belt and hovered, nestled close to a large chunk of rock, waiting to see what would happen next. From their vantage point they could see four of the planets of the Ambleby system, glowing orange, yellow, mustard and red in the distance.

A sleek looking cruiser suddenly materialised slightly forward of their position, hurtling towards the first of the planets. It had a blackened gash running down one side. It left a vapour trail and droplets of ice formed behind it as it moved. Flex and Rufus looked knowingly at each other.

“Better follow it,” said Flex. Rufus nodded and set the Guardian Angel after the stricken ship.

It flew straight on, the Guardian Angel following close behind it. Scans of the ship in front of them showed no signs of life. If it continued on its current trajectory it was going to crash into the planet directly in its path. Other members of the crew gathered in the control room to watch the drama unfold.

The ships’ engineer, Bolter Carthigan, worked in the control room alongside Rufus and Flex. He was brilliant with computer software as well as hardware. Bolter could resurrect the most damaged FTL drive, make turbines out of papier mache, and cause the unflyable to fly. He was a wizard with computer code and a master of machines.

The pirate raiding team consisted of three members. Nicknamed Flick, Snatch and Grabb, their real names had long been forgotten. Flick Andersson was female, and the leader of the team. Tall, strong and powerful, she looked like a blond Viking from old earth. Snatch Upp was a stocky, strong young man, with powerful arms, who moved incredibly quickly for his size. Grabb Nufsten was tall, thin and graceful, like the ballroom dancer he had been in a former life.

They had worked together for so long now they were fast and efficient when it came to dismantling wrecked ships and salvaging anything useful. The cruiser they were following looked expensive. Its outer shell sparkled with some kind of hardened alloy which none of them had seen before. Flex studied the ship.

“It looks like something Universal Starship Enterprises would build,” he said thoughtfully. “It’s certainly fast, even if it’s out of control.”

Bolter agreed. “I wonder what killed the crew. Nasty gash that, down the side.”

“If there’s anything left for us to salvage, we’d better be careful,” said Flick. “We don’t need to bring any nasties on board this ship.”

The others nodded their agreement. They watched as they approached the planet’s atmosphere. The ship was gaining speed as the planet’s gravity, weak as it was, grabbed hold of it and pulled it inexorably towards the surface.

“We might just hang back here for a bit,” said Flex.

Rufus slowed their approach until they hovered above the surface of the planet, waiting. The cruiser hit the surface and shattered. The Guardian Angels’ scanners showed it spread over a three kilometre radius, but it looked as if the main control module of the ship had remained intact. Nothing appeared to be burning, but that could have more to do with the atmosphere of the planet than with the crash.

“Let’s check the largest piece of wreckage first, “said Flick, leading her team down to the robing room to prepare for the surface.

Forty minutes later the Guardian Angels’ salvage pod made its way towards the surface of the planet. The fuchsia coloured pod looked like an Australian utility vehicle with a tonneau cover and no wheels. A complex arrangement of grappling hooks, operated from the cockpit, enabled the crew to collect wreckage without having to go EVA themselves. They could load the pieces into the tray of the pod, or hold them attached by the hooks underneath.

Their instruments showed that the planets’ atmosphere was unbreathable and far too hot for the EVA suits they were wearing. So they stayed onboard and examined the remains of the ship from as close as they dared to get. Flick studied the wreck below them. The command module remained intact.

“The problem is what killed the crew,” she said. “Our instruments are not telling us anything, so I’m assuming that whatever it was is dead itself. Do we take the risk and bring that module up here?”

She looked at Snatch, and then at Grabb. Snatch shrugged and Grabb rolled his eyes.

“Surely the crash will have finished anything else off?” volunteered Grabb. “If we bring it up a bit closer we might be able to get a better idea. I think we take the risk.”

Snatch shrugged again. “Looks like some very sophisticated technology in that ship. I think we should take the risk too.”

“OK,” decided Flick. “We’ll bring it up a bit closer and see what we can see. It’s up to you now Grabb.”

Grabb settled down to manipulate the controls and got to work. Half an hour later the module was dangling from the grappling cables below the pod. They lifted away from the surface of the planet to reduce the effects of the heat and began scanning the module. No living thing showed itself, nor did any humanoid remains.

Flick frowned. “Either I’m completely paranoid, or there is actually nothing living, or dead, in that module.”

Snatch laughed. “Maybe it’s automated. Crewed by robots. Could be a test craft. The crash probably finished them off anyway. I’m happy to take a look before we go back to the Angel.”

While Grabb lifted them further away from the surface of the planet, Snatch headed towards the rear of the pod to complete donning his EVA suit, then added an oxygen pack and magnetised boots for his excursion outside. He stepped into the airlock and attached a safety cable to the back of his suit. Grabb slowed their ascent and then hovered, waiting for Snatch to complete his checks before going EVA. They were about half way between the surface of the planet and the Guardian Angel.

After testing his coms unit Snatch pressed the airlock release and floated outside. He began to work his way down one of the cables towards the salvaged command module. As he approached the top of the module, Snatch could see engraved letters through the heat damage that identified the ship as a Universal Starship Enterprises design.