Infiltrate (Silver Cane Chronicles Book 3) Read online

  Dawson Blake set up a secure channel using his personal AI and directed his message to a small settlement on Frost.

  “She will be passing near Frost on her way back to Pepper. I’ll monitor her flight from here. You had better watch her too. Can you do that without leaving any trace?” the admiral asked.

  “I’m all about keeping things quiet,” was the cheerful reply. “You shoot her down and I’ll take care of the rest.”

  Blake ended the call and turned his attention to the desk sized holostage in his office. Razor was displayed there, alongside its current speed and heading. He watched a countdown in the corner of the holoimage. The time it would take a mosquito to travel to Silver’s craft meant that if Blake was going to act he would have to do it very soon. He could launch a mosquito without any other authorization. He would have to cover his tracks but he could do that later.

  The countdown reached zero. Blake knew he was hesitating. This was a service chief he was about to fire at. This was risk.

  “Launch now,” Blake said.

  The mosquito’s plasma engine flared. The missile blasted off from a tube on the underside of the Defender. Dawson watched it on his holostage for a brief moment before closing the display. A single mosquito. It was enough firepower to vaporize a police cruiser. It was enough to take Silver out of the picture. Timing was everything. Blake sat in his large armchair and waited. He would know if he’d succeeded soon.

  Chapter 4

  Silver sat back in her chair. It was good to be back in the field. She was a field agent through and through. She was getting close, she could feel it. The prisoners had been killed to keep them from talking. It was a setback, but it also meant she was getting close to those involved. Her agents were working hard and had all secured leads. She had time before she arrived back at police HQ on Pepper and she decided to take a closer look at the reports from her agents.

  Agent Iron had had a tip from a civil servant. Another civil servant had been behaving suspiciously; erasing document trails related to military munitions transfers. The civil servant had abandoned his duties and had left on a personal cruiser. Agent Iron had been given a heading that the wayward civil servant had taken.

  Another agent, the rookie Diamond, had been contacted by a commander stationed at an asteroid outpost. They had become concerned with the unusual working patterns of a junior officer under their command. The commander had investigated and discovered a badly concealed trail of evidence relating to theft of explosives including MYAC devices used by the terrorist Coris. Before the commander could act the junior officer had fled. Agent Diamond had the heading that the errant officer had taken when he left the asteroid facility.

  Agent Lithium’s report was messy and disorganized. It was exactly what Silver expected from Lithium. The report was unclear but it appeared a scientist working in the outer system had identified unusual movement patterns, the report was unclear about what was moving or where. It was typical of Lithium to sketch over the details and plough into action. One thing in the report was clear, the scientist had provided a heading that agent Lithium was directed to follow.

  Silver flicked quickly to the next report. She scanned to the end. Agent Sodium was following a lead and had been given a heading.

  The next agent’s report. Another lead. Another heading. Each report for all active agents all ended with an update. The agent was pursuing a lead and following a heading they had been given by an informant.

  A sudden feeling of concern came over Silver. She called up a holoimage of the system on her small holostage. “Display agents last recorded positions,” Silver said. A small light for each agent appeared on the image and blinked gently. They were scattered across the system, from the moons of Titan to the inner planet of Pepper. “Show the flight path for each agent along the headings in their reports.”

  The lines appeared at once. They streaked across the display from their scattered locations. All paths converged at a point high above the ecliptic.

  “They are all heading to the same point,” Silver said. “They’ve all been directed to this isolated region. What are they heading toward?” Silver said. She sensed danger. She sensed a trap.

  “Incoming,” Arty’s voice shattered Silver’s uneasiness. And before she could ask for clarification Razor was hit.

  Silver tumbled forward as Razor took the hit. Alarms sounded from every flight system. Lights flickered on and off until Arty switched to emergency power. Silver used her suit’s grav field to stabilize herself and she pulled herself toward her chair.

  Coolant erupted from a conduit, venting violently into the flight deck. Silver activated her suit’s environment to protect herself from the sudden eruption of gas.

  “What hit us?” Silver said as she reviewed Razor’s flight status. The craft was tumbling wildly through space. A large wound on the rear portside quarter was spewing fluids and gas out onto space. Razor’s systems were shot to pieces, the craft was out of control and dangerously unstable.

  A ship quake ripped through Razor as the outer hull of the craft shuddered.

  “It was a missile. A mosquito, I think.”

  “You think?” Silver said. “Arty, we need to know.”

  “Details are impossible. We didn’t see it coming, not until the last fraction of a second. We have no data. It came on us completely undetected.”

  “Why did we not see it coming?” Silver fell forward from her seat as a flight system failed and exploded behind her, showering the flight deck with fire and debris.

  “It must have been hidden from our sensors somehow.”

  “Has someone been tampering with Razor?”

  “Maybe. But we were lucky, Sil.”

  “Lucky?”

  “Yes. If that was a mosquito we should have been destroyed. Looks like Razor spotted it at the last moment and it only struck a glancing blow.”

  The holostage exploded, flinging Silver back toward her chair. “Can we land her?” Silver asked.

  “The collision and detonation has thrown us into the gravity field of the planet Frost. We are entering the atmosphere now. We will land, that is for sure.”

  Silver held her chair as Razor bucked this way and that. “What did I say about sarcasm being unhelpful?” Silver said, clinging on to her chair as the ship bucked and rolled. “Can we land safely?” Silver clarified her question.

  “Unlikely,” Arty replied. “Abandon ship.”

  Silver fell through the cold air above Frost. Razor was spiraling out of control toward the planet surface, little more now than a burning ball of debris. She saw it impact the snow covered ground and explode silently in the distance. The shockwave from the explosion pushed the swirling snow away. Silver watched the pressure wave spread out from Razor like a growing shell of super heated air. It came closer and closer, rising through the atmosphere as she fell.

  The pressure wave washed over her. It had dissipated enough that all she felt was a warm wave, but then came the noise, a violent tearing of the air. Silver plugged her ears against the sound, the sound of her craft, Razor, dying.

  The ground raced upward, the air cold and sharp. Below on the ground she saw a vehicle speeding across the snowy surface. As she fell further, coming closer to the ground, she saw it was not one but two small surface craft.

  With just a few hundred meters to go Silver extended her grav field toward the ground and slowed her descent. With less than thirty meters left in her descent her suit’s grav field stuttered suddenly. Silver accelerated toward the ground. The suit’s grav field kicked in again momentarily, slowing her descent. And then with a jolt her suit’s grav field failed. The final ten meters were covered in free fall.

  Twisting herself over onto her side and into a better landing position, Silver slammed into the snow covered ground. The pain shot through her arm and leg as she hit. Her neural processor released pain killers automatically. Her suit’s environment her only protection against the harsh winter conditions on the surface of Frost ha
d failed. She heard the motors of the two surface craft drawing near. Through the swirling snow she saw the two craft take up flanking positions.

  The blazer rounds blasted the snow filled air aside as the shots raced toward her. Silver lay close to the ground and drew her Blazer. She pulled the trigger and loosed a well aimed blazer round at one of the incoming vehicles. And just as she was taking aim again she heard the fizzing of a blazer round. And then the world turned black.

  Chapter 5

  Silver woke. She sat up, alert. She was warm. She was in a bed. She looked around at a room she knew she recognized instantly.

  “You must have taken quite a beating,” said a voice from a dark corner of the room. “That stun round was only supposed to knock you out for a few minutes. You’ve been asleep for hours. The doctors say you must have been exhausted.”

  Silver sat up in the bed, she grabbed the covers and held them to her. “Darklin?” Silver said, her voice weak.

  “Good to see you again,” Darklin stepped forward into the low light around the large, soft bed.

  “Where is my tac suit?” Silver felt naked without her suit. She felt the soft covers against her skin. She realized she was naked.

  “Tac suit?” Darklin said, sitting on the side of the bed. “Your tactical suit is damaged I’m afraid. You burned out the grav generator with that last landing. I’ve got people working on it.”

  Silver spotted the large jug of water on the small bedside table. She wriggled across the bed toward it. Darklin reached out and picked it up. He poured a glass of the water and held it out to Silver.

  Silver reached out and then checked herself. Darklin spotted her reluctance to take the drink from him. He smiled and raised the glass in a toast. “Here’s to not poisoning your guests,” he said and took a small sip. He held the glass out again.

  Taking the glass in both hands Silver drank the water greedily. In her haste to satisfy her burning thirst and in her fatigued state she spilled rivulets of water out of the sides of her mouth. She felt them running down her neck and over her bare chest. She pulled away from the drink, gasping. She held out the glass to Darklin.

  “Another?” Darklin asked.

  “Why am I here?” Silver asked. She fell back on to the bed, tired, bruised and battered.

  “You were shot down,” Darklin said. “I rescued you.”

  Silver had a rescue of her own to perform. She needed to contact her agents and tell them she was concerned that they were heading into a trap. She sent a message to police HQ. It failed to send. She called out to Arty. No reply. “Why can’t I contact my HQ?” Silver said.

  “Your neural processor is not functioning. There is a dampening field around the room. The same kind of dampening field that stopped your ship detecting the mosquito that hit you.”

  “You know?” Silver said. “You are involved in the attack on my ship?”

  Darklin stood at the side of the bed and nodded. “Oh yes. I’m very much part of the conspiracy to shoot you down.” He beamed a broad friendly smile.

  “I am going to take you down,” Silver said.

  “Let me get you your tac suit and blazer first,” Darklin said.

  Silver lay back in the soft pillows under the warm and comfortable covers. She needed to move but it was so hard. “Are you holding me prisoner?”

  Darklin tipped his head this way and that as he considered Silver’s question. “If I was going to take you prisoner I might find a more effective way to restrain you than simply taking your suit and giving you a comfortable bed. But, then again I have to admit that I don’t want you to leave.”

  Silver swung her legs out of the bed. She wrapped the covers around her and stood up. “I need to contact my HQ. People are in danger.”

  “You are in danger, Silver.” Darklin placed a hand on her shoulder.

  Silver let the covers drop and she struck out at Darklin with her fist. She caught him in the windpipe and the gangster started choking. A second blow to the abdomen and Darklin doubled over. Then Silver brought both hands down hard on the back of his head and sent him sprawling to the floor.

  Silver looked around the room for anything she could use to cover herself but modesty was not as important as contacting her agents and warning them that they were heading to a trap. If it came down to it she would fight her way off Frost undressed.

  The door opened and two burly men in smart suits stood there, blazers pointed at Silver. She stood there and calculated the odds. They were not good. And even as the two men averted their eyes Silver knew she probably wouldn’t be able to get out of that door.

  Darklin groaned and tried to stand. “You are in danger, Silver, but not from me. Stay here, at least until I can get you your suit back.”

  “Everything ok, boss?” one of the men called out.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “Ask my date.” Darklin rose to his knees. He took off his shirt, pulling it up and over his head. He held it out to Silver. “If you are going to try and get away you might want to cover up a bit.”

  Silver snatched the shirt and pulled it over her head. It fell down to her thighs. She helped Darklin to his feet and walked him to the bed.

  “Tell me, Darklin,” Silver said throwing the gangster to the bed. “Who should I be wary of?”

  “When Admiral Blake contacted me I thought I was done for,” Darklin said. “He told me about Chief Silver of the police service. I couldn’t believe it was the same Silver who had come here and attacked my settlement.”

  “You attacked me,” Silver corrected.

  Darklin stood up and walked to a small cabinet at one side of the room. He poured himself a drink from a heavy glass decanter and drank. He gave Silver a beaming smile. “Maybe I’ve gotten the details a bit muddled, but there was no doubt I remembered you.”

  “And so Blake wants you to kill me, is that it?”

  Darklin sat down in a chair next to the drinks cabinet. “No.” he said and took a packet of cigarettes out of his pocket. He placed one in his mouth. “Quite the opposite, in fact. He wants to keep you alive. You were attacked with a mosquito. It was meant to destroy your craft without killing you. It was a surgical strike. If Blake had wanted you dead you would be an expanding cloud of plasma in the space above Frost right now.”

  “I’ve been shot down, my cruiser destroyed. I’ve only just escaped with my life,” Silver said angrily.

  Darklin nodded. “Impossible to think you could have survived, isn’t it.” Darklin lit the cigarette. He blew out grey smoke in to the dark room. “And that is the point. Now the whole system thinks you are dead. Now the admiral can be sure to keep you alive, because no one will be trying to kill you.”

  Silver poured another glass of water. She drank and thought. “It’s a pretty extreme way of protecting me,” she said.

  Darklin smiled. “I like extreme. When he told me his plan I knew I had to help, if only to come face to face with you again. Maybe we can get along better this time.”

  “If I remember correctly, I didn’t kill you last time. I’d say you managed to get along with me as well as you are likely to.”

  Darklin stubbed out the cigarette and laughed. “Are you always this difficult to spend time with?”

  “No one has said so before.” Silver sat heavily on the bed. “Just wait until I get my hands on Blake.”

  “He saved your life, Chief. All he had to do was simulate your death. And he’s got a message for you. Play dead, only then can you find out who is working to destroy our society.”

  “I can’t play dead. I can’t just ignore my duty. I can’t be intimidated by the danger. I have information that my agents are all being lead into a trap. I need to warn them.”

  Agent Sodium spotted the other police cruisers first. He calculated they were all converging on a point in space still several thousand kilometers away. He sent a message to the other agents telling them that they were all racing toward a point ahead.

  “I’m following a lead,” Sodium tol
d his fellow agents.

  All confirmed they too were pursuing their own investigations into the bomb attacks and following their own leads.

  Every cruiser in the little flotilla of police cruisers detected the salvo of mosquitoes the moment they were launched, a dozen missiles racing away from the launch point, two for every police cruiser.

  “Where are they coming from?” Iron called out to the other agents.

  But there was no time to answer as the missiles closed in on the agents.

  Diamond took evasive action. He flung his cruiser into a tight curving maneuver away and trying to avoid the incoming mosquito. The first missile struck the underside of his cruiser, vaporizing it instantly. The second slashed through the expanding cloud of gas and plasma that was once Diamond and his cruiser.

  Sodium turned back toward the system’s ecliptic plane, flipping the cruiser over on its nose and powering back the way he’d come. A mosquito struck the plasma jets of the cruiser, transforming it into a white incandescent glow that expanded into the black of space.

  The agents turned their cruisers away from the incoming mosquitoes attempting to flee the ambush. Lithium Trel opened fire.

  The hail of kinetic rounds that flew forward from Lithium’s cruiser created a deadly hail in front of his craft. The leading mosquito targeting his cruiser clattered into the deadly cloud and exploded. Lithium fired the main plasma cannon, huge gouts of plasma pulsing forward toward the oncoming mosquito. The missile veered to avoid the plasma bolts. Lithium flung his cruiser about, pivoting on the nose and lined up on the evasive mosquito. Another blast of plasma and a hail of kinetic rounds were launched in an accurate shooting display across the path of the missile as it began to turn back toward Lithium. A kinetic round caught the tail of the mosquito and kicked it off its course, sending the mosquito spinning and spluttering away.