Time Bomb

Chapter 10

by Richard Ryley

"We should be out of range of Tortuna's tracking stations, Shane," Daisy said. Gooseman nodded, and switched on the subspace radio. In a moment, Commander Walsh's face appeared on the small viewscreen.

"Ranger Gooseman!" He said, somewhat surprised. He glanced down at the panel. "This isn't a BETA registered transmitter! Where ARE you?"

"On our way to the Queen's Graveyard, sir," Goose told him. "I'm using a borrowed ship. We were unable to use Ranger Two. Have you heard from Zack and Niko?"

"We just heard about the Queen's ultimatum a few minutes ago, Ranger Gooseman. Rangers Foxx and Niko are on their way to rescue Doc now. Do you want their coordinates?"

"Damn!" Goose slammed his fist down on the console. "Commander, the message the Queen sent is a trap! I can't say more over the radio, but I have reason to believe that she has discovered a weakness in our implants. You have to call back Ranger One now!"

Walsh stared at the screen for a moment, then turned away. He barked some orders to one of the officers behind him. After a few moments, an answer came back. From the look on his face, it was not good news.

"About five minutes after Zack reported that they were on their way, we lost contact with Ranger One. At first, we thought it was a malfunction. We've been trying to re-establish contact, but nothing seems to work."

"Damn," Goose said again. "It's too much of a coincidence, Commander. The Queen's agents must have sabotaged the communications on Ranger One. We'll have to try and get there first."

"I believe that the Queen has set the... trap... to be triggered by Ranger One's engines, when it comes out of hyperspace." Buzzwang was sitting in the seat behind Goose, and leaned forward so that Walsh could see him. "We should be safe, in this ship. This ship also has jamming capabilities, so we may be able to get into the Queen's Psychocrypt without being detected."

Goose nodded his agreement. "Send me the information on where they were when you lost contact..."

Walsh uploaded the data, as Goose continued. "One more thing, Commander. Don't let ANYONE know about this conversation. Most particularly Senator Wheiner. And keep an eye on him... I will explain once we're all safe."

The Commander nodded. "Understood, Goose. Be careful." The screen went black.

Zozo leaned forward for a better look, as Goose studied the output on the viewscreen. "They're on their way?" He asked. He, Eve, and Buzz had taken the back seat, while Daisy, of course, was at the controls.

"Yeah. According to this, Ranger One will be about an hour behind us all the way. We're closer to the Queen's Graveyard than they are, but that still doesn't buy us much time."

"Can't we intercept them?" Zozo asked.

Daisy shook her head. "Not in Hyperspace. We'd need a Hyperdredge, or something like that, to net a ship in Hyperspace, and no one's ever tried to use one FROM Hyperspace. I do have a couple of warning beacons, though. Maybe we could drop one in Ranger One's path..."

"If Walsh can't get through on the radio, they wouldn't be able to pick up a subspace beacon. The Queen's made sure we can't contact them through NORMAL channels."

"Maybe this can help." Zozo brought the second device out of his pocket. "It seems like Killbane had a backup. Maybe we can drop IT in their path. Careful with it, though, we don't want to set it off..."

"You're not kidding," Goose muttered, as he took the little hand held unit. He held it gingerly as he studied it.

"That is not the same type of device," Buzzwang said. He leaned forward, as Zozo had, while Goose turned the small object over in his hand. "I do not believe that is even a transmitter." Buzz held out his palm. "May I see it?"

Gooseman handed him the unit. "No, this isn't a transmitter at all. It's a bioelectric field generator. It isn't anything like the device that activated your implant."

"Are you sure?" Goose asked.

"Yes. Just to be safe, though, I could activate it for a few milliseconds, to test its effect..."

"I dunno," Zozo cut in, but Goose held up a hand.

"No. We need to know all we can about what Kilbane was up to. Try it."

Buzzwang activated the device, then touched it to Goose's arm. There was a flash of light, but nothing else. Buzz studied the device for a moment more. Then, suddenly, he held it up, excitedly.

"Of course! I know what this is!" He turned a control on the device, then placed it on Goose's arm. He then pressed the switch on the top of the device. There was a whine of power, and Goose's badge flashed, as he suddenly morphed -- into Eve!

"HEY!" Gooseman protested. Even his voice had transformed. Eve herself burst out laughing, as did Daisy, while Buzzwang quickly pressed the button again. Goose returned to his normal form.

"Sorry, Ranger Gooseman," Buzz said. "Clearly, this is how Kilbane was able to impersonate both you and Eve Wheiner. When I activated it the first time, it was set for your body form, which is why nothing appeared to happen."

"All right, all right, no harm done." Goose scowled at Eve and Daisy, who were still giggling. "This doesn't help us, though."

"Not true," Buzzwang noted. "Did you notice that your badge activated?"

"Yeah, it did, at that," Zozo agreed.

"The energy used by this device is far inferior to the power used by your implant. But it may still be enough to give you one more charge. According to the schematics on the Senator's disk, the implants always retain a small charge, even when exhausted. Otherwise, you could defend yourself from the self-destruct signal, simply by using up all your charges."

"When the device activated your bio-defences, your implant activated on its own, much the same as when the Mindnet device activated Niko's charge. If I can cause the device to expend ALL of its charge into your body, it should impart a charge to your implant - at least enough to allow that residual charge to be used..."

The android studied it for a moment. "But there may be some discomfort..."

"Don't worry about that. That one charge may be the one chance we have. Do it."

Buzzwang flipped the device over, and opened up its back. He then pulled out a small component and twisted a piece of wire in its place. Closing the cover, he adjusted the control, then placed the device once again on Goose's arm. He pressed the button.

Goose winced, as a stream of yellow energy flowed up his arm, and into his badge. There was a faint crackling noise, and the musical sound of his implant powering up. Then the light faded.

Goose rubbed his arm. "There's no way of knowing if it truly worked, Ranger Gooseman." Buzz told him. "You won't know until you activate your implant, and if you do that, the charge is gone."

"Then we'll just have to hope..." Goose glanced out the window, at the red unreality of Hyperspace, flashing past them. "Like Daisy said, Hyperspace is a big place. Our only chance is to get to the Psychocrypt, and make sure the Queen doesn't send that self-destruct signal..."

Doc pulled himself painfully to his feet. His body still ached from the shock that had knocked him out, but the room was empty now. Apparently, the Queen had left to take care of other business, after making her broadcast to lure Zack and Niko here.

Blinking his eyes to clear away the last of the spots, Doc looked around at the room outside his prison tube. The tube, of course, was made of a clear, but tough material, so he could see out, but not get out. He could see his CDU sitting on a table next to the big console where the Queen had displayed the image of Ranger One. His badge sat right next to it, and next to both of them was the disk!

Doc sighed. He had his suspicions about what was on the disk. It was clear that the Queen felt that the signal she was about to send was fatal, and from the clues he'd collected so far, he had no reason to doubt that. Doc only hoped that Buzzwang had managed to figure it out, as well.

"Come on, my Gooseman..." Doc said aloud. "You an' Buzz are the only chance we've got."

He fell silent as he looked down at his uniform. The Queen had been smart enough to take his badge, and with it, his powers. If he was going to get out of this, it was going to have to be on his own, using his wits.

The hacker smiled. Nothing new about that. He felt around on the floor, finding a seam in the deck plate under his feet. He lifted it out, revealing the emitter that had delivered him the electric shock before. Crouching in the tube, he began to fiddle with the wiring.

Time Bomb - Chapter 10

From Betamountain.org

Time Bomb

Chapter 10

by Richard Ryley