Mitchell's Revenge
Asteroid belt, the Ambleby System

Far away, in another solar systementirely, the Guardian Angel was lurking in an asteroid belt, hiding from the systempolice. The Angel was discovered raidingan unarmed supply freighter. The pirates had managed to load food and medicalsupplies before the police found them. Then they bolted, the police in hotpursuit.

The Guardian Angel didn’t look likemuch, but it was one of the fastest, most nimble ships operating in the Amblebysolar system. It was an ugly ship. Covered in antennae, radar and various otherflotsam, it was cobbled together from the wreckage of larger, more impressiveships. Powered by a failing FTL drive, the Guardian Angel could still move atspeed from one point to the other with pinpoint accuracy. But each jump tookmore out of the ship than the crew were happy about. She was going to need are-fit, and soon.

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

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

Rufus was in his element as hedanced their way through the maze of floating rock, chunks of ice and spacedebris. They emerged unscathed on the far side of the belt and hovered, nestledclose to a large chunk of rock, waiting to see what would happen next. Fromtheir 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 suddenlymaterialised slightly forward of their position, hurtling towards the first ofthe planets. It had a blackened gash running down one side. It left a vapourtrail and droplets of ice formed behind it as it moved. Flex and Rufus lookedknowingly at each other.

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

It flew straight on, the GuardianAngel following close behind it. Scans of the ship in front of them showed nosigns of life. If it continued on its current trajectory it was going to crashinto the planet directly in its path. Other members of the crew gathered in thecontrol room to watch the drama unfold.

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

The pirate raiding team consistedof three members. Nicknamed Flick, Snatch and Grabb, their real names had longbeen 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 wasa stocky, strong young man, with powerful arms, who moved incredibly quicklyfor his size. Grabb Nufsten was tall, thin and graceful, like the ballroomdancer he had been in a former life.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Let’s check the largest piece ofwreckage first, “said Flick, leading her team down to the robing room to preparefor the surface.

Forty minutes later the GuardianAngels’ salvage pod made its way towards the surface of the planet. The fuchsiacoloured pod looked like an Australian utility vehicle with a tonneau cover andno wheels. A complex arrangement ofgrappling hooks, operated from the cockpit, enabled the crew to collectwreckage without having to go EVA themselves. They could load the pieces intothe tray of the pod, or hold them attached by the hooks underneath.

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

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

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

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

Snatch shrugged again. “Looks likesome very sophisticated technology in that ship. I think we should take therisk too.”

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

Grabb settled down to manipulatethe controls and got to work. Half an hour later the module was dangling fromthe grappling cables below the pod. Theylifted away from the surface of the planet to reduce the effects of the heatand began scanning the module. No living thing showed itself, nor did anyhumanoid remains.

Flick frowned. “Either I’mcompletely paranoid, or there is actually nothing living, or dead, in thatmodule.”

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

While Grabb lifted them furtheraway from the surface of the planet, Snatch headed towards the rear of the podto complete donning his EVA suit, then added an oxygen pack and magnetisedboots for his excursion outside. He stepped into the airlock and attached asafety cable to the back of his suit. Grabb slowed their ascent and thenhovered, waiting for Snatch to complete his checks before going EVA. They wereabout half way between the surface of the planet and the Guardian Angel.

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