CHAPTER 1

At home, Vince Akeeno watched the Langley, a trader starship, come to Earth on schedule, except that it could not land. Pirates intercepted her as she made her last leg of a trade route to home. The company reporter explained the situation. The 3D display showed the ship under attack. It was out of reach of the Earth Space Patrol and too far into Sol System for Earth Star Fleet to intercept. The ship went into high orbit and the pirate captain sent a message that his landing servos had failed. He wanted a repair crew from Earth to rendezvous in orbit. Otherwise, he would drop bombs on Midwest Spaceport.

"What are you doing, Vince?" Nora said.

His estranged wife hoped to catch him at something.

"Got a call from work," Vince said. "Go back to your couch."

"You don't tell me what to do," she said.

Vince went to his workroom with Nora following him. He waved at the sensor before she came running into his room. Her muffled shouting did not bother him. Another call came in on his secure channel. After the call, he left his house by way of his personal exit to the garage. His house was in the Alpine Addition on Reservoir Hill in Tulsa, Oklahoma near army headquarters. He had to go south to Midwest Spaceport. In doing this, he had to bypass the usual protocol because the call had been an emergency. Pirates were incoming.

The audacity of this crime convinced Vince that something big wanted his attention. No pirated ship ever came this close to home.

Everything he did to get to the spaceport blurred up to the moment when he landed his car in the midst of shuttlecraft. He ran from his car to the nearest one.

Two pilots greeted him with enthusiasm. The one on his left said, "I'm Don, and this is Banger."

"You guys army?" Vince said. He wanted them to be at ease, but they did not look like they needed assurance. He had a plan, but he knew he could expect death if he made a mistake. It would be a dangerous ploy. It involved a fake button and fast talk.

"Port security," Don said. "We work for Space Dynamics."

"We have word that only the Langley is in a parking orbit," Vince said. "Pirates hijacked the ship on the last leg of her trade route."

Banger grinned evilly.

Don said, "Banger is a natural marksman."

"It's a bad situation," Vince said. "Don't go with me if you expect this to be easy."

Banger had tiny mean eyes. He also carried a lot of muscle weight. Don was lean. Both of them seemed competent. "Let's go see it," Vince said.

The shuttle wall was a temporary ramp. They walked up it into the hold. The ramp rose until it was a wall. Darkness became light as the shuttle powered up.

"We better move fast," Vince said.

Without a word, Don and Banger went to the pilots' cabin.

Vince buckled his seat belt because of no artificial gravity.

The shuttle left the spaceport driving up through dark clouds. Vince felt every change in direction and speed. The pilots were good. They kept the course within safe limits of human tolerance. They matched orbit and landed in the shuttle bay of the pirated ship.

Vince stepped out of the shuttle, his pilots following on either side.

The captain waited there. His belly hung out of his tight uniform and his red beard spread out over his chest.

Pirates shot Don and Banger before they could react.

Vince stood alone between two dead men.

"Where is my repair crew?" the captain said.

Vince did not dare show fear. "What are you wearing?" Vince said. "That isn't our standard uniform."

"It's something new we're trying out," the captain said. "I'm Captain Dorman, and you are not the repair crew I expected." He scratched his belly absently.

"We're not a military operation," Vince said. "Your uniform is military issue, from where? My pilots were not soldiers. Why did you have them shot?"

"We don't need Space Dynamics clown suits," he said. "Your men had weapons in their hands. My men followed instincts. When can we expect repair of our landing gear?"

Vince moved toward the main moving walkway. It would take him to the aft sections of the Langley. There he would find engineering and the offending anti-gravity servos.

"What are you doing?" Captain Dorman said. He wheeled about with difficulty, having to shift his weight.

"I'll inspect your landing gear," Vince said. "Is that a problem?"

"Well, no," he said. He pursued Vince, who kept a fast pace.

They both arrived at engineering where a corridor led to the damaged servos, which upon first glance seemed to be okay. Vince went to a particular station. A display showed operational feed. He slapped the control panel. His extra button appeared. To the untrained eye, nothing was different. Vince had supplied a new piece of equipment that would cause the monitor to display false information. Now, it was time for his lie. "The servo seems fine."

"Check the others," Captain Dorman said. He was out of breath.

Vince said, "This monitor says you have several days before your computer systems fail. I don't know why you reported a problem, but you can land anytime. The servos will hold out that long."

Vince turned to face Captain Dorman.

The captain pointed a weapon at him. It was of the energy emitter type, military issue, illegal, even in space.

"Now, you better tell Midwest to send up that repair crew," Captain Dorman said.

"Why would I do that?" Vince said.

"Because I'll kill you and drop bombs on your spaceport," he said.

"You won't escape from our Space Patrol," Vince said. "They will overhaul your ship before it gets past Jupiter. There will be nothing but prison for you if you don't land and surrender this ship. Space Dynamics will allow you to leave without charges if you do that."

"We're not landing," said Captain Dorman.

Vince said, "Someone, passing as a repairman, down there in a shuttle, is waiting to get clearance for the Langley?"

Captain Dorman grinned. "You're getting smart."

"Who captained this ship?" Vince said. "It won't matter if you tell me."

"You're right," Captain Dorman said. "You can thank your local crime syndicate for that. We're making loot by grabbing cargo for the bosses on Earth. As for the former captain, you can find him floating between Jupiter and Mars."

Vince said, "The crime syndicate would not sanction an independent action like this. You know that you're sandwiched between two enemies. The person you deal with is a murderer. He won't let you live. He has his own crew."

Captain Dorman said, "He is a one-of-a-kind man. Earth is dying. He will take us to another planet. I'll get what I deserve."

"A shot of energy from your own weapon?" Vince said. "Whoever you have waiting is crazy as a rat chasing a bug. You're in trouble. You know it."

Captain Dorman let his chest swell, and said, "We have a plan. He's bringing pens with him, enough to build a colony. We'll have plenty of workers."

Vince knew that pens were an alien crystal technology that would allow storage of a human body for transference to computer media. Thus, making a means for putting a person into virtual reality.

Vince wondered how pens would build anything. He had to keep talking. "A psychotic with big ideas and a captain...