No Sane Person

The immediate threat to Chiba-1 from the Levchenko disappeared when it was rammed by the Mistral Challenger. At any moment, though, the two ships would separate and the relatively unharmed Levchenko would go back to shelling the airfield that had been rendered helpless by the EMP burst.

Unknown to the Yamanaki Future Technologies ship, however, a ninja had slipped on board.

Aiko touched a control on her headset. “I am leaving my audio and video feed on to provide real-time intelligence.On my way to the bridge.”

Along with the crew of the Mistral, I watched as Aiko crept down unlit corridors. Her infrared and thermal filters showed no other crew members present on the lower decks.

The ship seemed to be deserted. I remembered what Minori had told me once, that the new grav-carriers had been designed to be almost fully automated with a minimal crew if necessary. Most of them would be on the bridge.

At first I wondered how Aiko knew where to look. It wasn’t like there were helpful signs posted for potential saboteurs and boarding parties to follow. But when a 3-D imaged map of the Levchenko appeared on the video feed, I realized that Rio was making use of the Mistral’s superior sensor technology to create a rough map of its interior spaces and share it with her friend.

Aiko sheathed her sword and clambered up a ladder, avoiding the elevator next to it. She knew that all it would take to capture her was for someone to suspect that the distorted image moving in front of the elevator camera was actually a sensor-cloaked intruder. A flip of the switch would kill the elevator’s power and it would be all over. Ninja in a jar.

When Aiko poked her head through the hatch on the next floor, she saw only a few meters of empty corridor between her and the entrance to the ship’s control bridge.

Two guards conversed quietly as they stood just outside the bridge entrance at one end of the dark corridor. A thick pressure hatch secured access to the bridge. There was no easy way to breach it.

Aiko activated the advanced imaging capabilities of her goggles and panned her head camera from one side of the hallway to the other. She spotted the ambush right away.

Two other crewmen down the corridor from the bridge crouched behind crates and equipment carts. They knew she was coming and had successfully guessed what her ultimate destination would be.

Aiko zoomed in on their weapons, showing in her goggles as ghostly outlines, then whispered into her microphone. “Two hidden guards bearing Stinger super-Tasers. Non-lethal.”

She climbed, silently and unseen, out of the access hatch. “Alpha-Three, advancing to contact.”

The two bridge guards broke off their discussion, their eyes growing wide when a dark-clad apparition appeared before them like a genie out of a bottle. There was no time to bring up the carbines slung at their sides.

“I do not wish to kill either of you,” Aiko said in a flat, unemotional tone of voice. She held her submachine gun at waist level, its silencer-clad muzzle aimed at a point between the two crew members. “But I need you to open this door. I will kill one of you in three seconds unless the door is opened. You will not know which of you I will choose.”

“Uh, wait --” the first guard stammered.

“One.”

“We can’t open this door!” the second said. “It’s locked from the inside!”

“Two.”

The first guard flicked his gaze past Aiko. “Yuri, now!”

Aiko heard a noise behind her and spun around to face her ambushers. Two Stinger darts smacked into her raised arm.

The current coursed through her body and she fell to the deck in an unconscious heap.

Immediately afterward, all contact with Aiko was lost.

***

It seemed like a long time passed before Aiko’s video feed came to life again. It was grainy and low quality, indicating that the signal was coming from a backup spy-cam she’d hidden somewhere on her clothing.

She had reached her objective.

But now she was tied to a chair on the enemy’s lower bridge with her hands bound behind her.

The bridge of the Levchenko was enormous, especially when compared to that of the Mistral Challenger. It was on two levels, with the lower level containing the pilot, weapons, communications and engineering stations, as well as the chair Aiko occupied.

The upper level rose like an island in the middle of the bridge. It had see-through video screens and thickly padded seats facing to the left and right, allowing the ship’s officers to keep watch over the crew operating on the lower level. The captain’s chair sat a little higher. It was more luxurious than the other seats and was placed forward of the other two chairs, allowing for an unobstructed view of the entire bridge while also emphasizing the authority of the ship’s captain.

Its current occupant was Kira Nakamura.

The Yamanaki Future Technologies executive glanced down at the captive ninja. Indignation and incredulity vied for expression on her face, with anger winning out over both. “So one of the Challengers decided to confront our ship single-handedly? Incredible.” She let out a frustrated sigh and turned to one of the officers behind her. “Raise the Mistral Challenger and activate full bridge video and audio.”

A moment later, Minori’s image appeared on a holo-display in front of the captain’s chair. Nakamura spoke first. “Mistral Challenger, this is Yamanaki Future Technologies Senior Vice-President Kira Nakamura, commanding the destroyer Levchenko. To whom am I speaking?”

“This is Lieutenant Asakusa, acting captain, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency grav-carrier Mistral Challenger,” Minori replied. “Please state your business.”

“So polite,” Nakamura sneered. “Let me get to the point. I want you to surrender your ship unconditionally, right now. We will secure cables to your vessel and bring it with us under tow.” Another video feed appeared, showing the captured Aiko. “Give me your decision now, Lieutenant Asakusa. If you do not surrender, I will destroy your ship and throw your crewmember over the side.” Her lips curled slightly. “She can join Peterson in hell.”

In spite of Aiko’s self-control she couldn’t hold back a gasp. “You killed Lieutenant Peterson?”

Nakamura’s eyes lit up at Aiko’s outburst. “Why yes, I did. You had feelings for this young man? What a pity. I vaporized him with a single hit from a hypervelocity cannon shell.” She shrugged, unconcerned. “He would have died in front of a firing squad anyway.”

Minori looked distracted but unmoved. “What guarantee do we have that you’ll honor your part of the terms?” 

“None whatsoever,” Nakamura replied, crossing one leg over the other and lacing her fingers together.

“Where will you be taking the ship? Where will the crew be let off?”

A note of exasperation entered Nakamura's voice. “Lieutenant Asakusa, you need to understand the meaning of ‘unconditional surrender.’ It means I can do whatever I want with your ship, and in return I won’t kill you. Last chance. Will you surrender or not?”

Minori gave Nakamura a cool stare. “The Mistral --”

Before she could finish, Keenan’s video feed crowded onto the holo-display next to Minori’s. “Perhaps you could ask Lieutenant Peterson for his opinion? He should be aboard the Levchenko shortly.”

“What?” Nakamura and Aiko said in unison.

***

“Keenan, I’m going to rip your artificial heart out!” I shouted into my dead microphone as I hurtled toward the bridge of the Levchenko. The clueless android had spoiled my surprise attack. He’d probably seen my delisted headset signature as it approached the enemy ship.

I switched off the channels I’d been monitoring that kept me abreast of Aiko’s movements and continued my downward plummet. The captured grav-chute I’d mounted on the back of Doc’s experimental exo-suit allowed me to descend at a reasonable rate but it howled like a wounded banshee.

The chute had an on-off switch and no lateral control of any kind, so I had to time my jump off the top of Chiba-1 when the wounded Mistral and Levchenko lodged against the side of the towering arcology.

There were pros and cons to the grav-chute. On the positive side, the chute still worked. That was great.

On the negative side, it was about to blow up. Not so great.

I landed hard on the streamlined cowling in front of the Levchenko's bridge, my armored leg servos soaking up the impact. The look of shock on the face of the pilot turned into terror as I slammed a powered fist into the cockpit windshield. The thick bulletproof panel shattered into a thousand fragments, destroying the suit’s hand and arm servos and wrenching my shoulder. I jumped past the pilot and body slammed two crew members who had surged forward to stop me, hurling them backwards.

There was no time for dramatic speeches. I stripped the grav-chute from my back and dropped it. “Everyone, clear the bridge! This thing is going to explode!”

The high-pitched shriek coming from the grav-chute was unnerving, to say the least. Several of the crew nearest the chute panicked and ran, while the two officers on the upper bridge shouted and tried to restore order.

Nakamura had leaped to her feet when I exploded through the windshield. The expression on her face made me wish I had time to snap a photo. It was truly a classic.

Amid all the chaos, I searched for Aiko.

“Aiko! Where are you?”

“I am here.”

If you want to know where a ninja is hiding, just look behind you. I jumped in surprise and whirled around to see Aiko shrugging off the last of her bindings. Somehow, she’d managed to escape on her own.

“Get down!” I shouted. We both hit the floor. I shielded her with the exo-suit as the grav-chute detonated.

The sound was deafening in the enclosed space, almost bursting my eardrums. The blast turned most of the forward cockpit into scrap and peppered the bridge with fragments, destroying the Levchenko’s maneuver and piloting systems. Thick, acrid smoke filled the cabin, and survivors of the blast started coughing.

I felt the Levchenko’s stern dip. Loose debris started shifting and rolling backwards across the deck. It was time to leave the sinking ship.

“We’ve got to leave, now!” I said to Aiko as we rose to our feet. I looked at the tangle of artificial muscle and circuitry exposed on the suit’s left arm. “Sorry, my arm isn’t working so great right now.”

“Understood. My ankle may be broken as well.” I looked down and saw a hasty bandage she’d made from her neck scarf wrapped around the injured ankle and foot.

“We’ll manage. Come on!” I threw her arm over my good shoulder and we staggered toward the damaged cockpit. Gingerly avoiding any sharp edges, I boosted Aiko up through the shattered window. She crawled out onto the Levchenko’s outer skin, then turned to help me.

The damaged exo-suit was more of a hindrance than an asset at this point. I twisted the escape valve and let out a sigh of relief as the pneumatic liner collapsed and the releases popped, allowing me to step out of the thing. It was snug fitting, but in all the wrong places.

I grasped Aiko’s extended arm and she pulled me out of the bridge cabin with little effort.

Like a conjured demon, Nakamura emerged from the smoke on the upper bridge, coughing and stumbling through the rubble. “You again!” She fixed me with a glare of pure hate. “I will find you again! And when I do --”

I never found out what her sinister plans for me were because at that point one of the officers shouted “Miss Nakamura, we’re losing headway and sinking by the stern! We must activate the portal!”

Forgetting about me for the moment, she turned and disappeared back into the smoke of the bridge. The demon had vanished. For good, I hoped.

Before Nakamura or her minions could return, Aiko and I slid off the sloped bridge fairing. Aiko had both hands clamped around my arm and her eyes squeezed shut.

“Ow! Hey, you can let go of my arm now. We’re on a balcony of some kind. Here, let me guide your hands to the railing. That’s good, that’s good.” Now that the double tourniquet of Aiko’s clenched hands were released, I rubbed circulation back into my arm and checked the equipment I’d strapped to my body before I’d jumped off Chiba-1.

Aiko slowly opened her eyes, then inhaled a deep, deep breath. We were over the heavy growth of trees that covered the ruins of old Chiba. It was a breathtaking sight even for someone not scared of heights. The arcology itself was behind us, out of sight of the listing Levchenko.

My headset beeped. I switched it on and heard Minori’s voice on the open general channels. “Aiko, I hope you can hear this message. The Mistral has separated from the Levchenko. We are losing lift. But listen….” Hastily, I turned on the external speaker so Aiko could listen in.

“Another rip is opening, immediately to the rear of the Levchenko and directly in the path of her drift. You must leave the ship immediately!”

“That rip suddenly appearing is definitely no coincidence,” I said.

Aiko nodded and tried to keep her teeth from chattering. “The Levchenko may be attempting to escape Japan’s defense forces or destroy herself. Either way, we will share her fate.”

She gave me a suspicious look. “Why are you smiling? I do not like the look of that smile.”

“I have a plan just for this kind of thing.” I leaned forward and whispered it into her ear. She drew away from me and took a step back.

“No sane person would ever do that! And I most certainly will not!”

“Sure you will.” I gave her my best used-car salesman smile. “Trust me.”

“No!”

“Yes.”

“No!”

The speaker on my headset came to life again. “EMP is imminent! Pulse  incoming in four seconds!”

I reached out and took Aiko’s hand. It was ice cold. “Come on. It’s time to leave.”