ARMS Harris' Revenge Read online

  ARMS

  (Vol. 2)

  Harris’ Revenge

  By

  Stephen Arseneault

  Published By:

  Stephen Arseneault

  Copyright 2016 Stephen Arseneault. All Rights Reserved.

  “People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov

  View the author’s website at

  www.arsenex.com

  Visit the author’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/stephenarseneault10

  Follow on Twitter @SteveArseneault

  Ask a question or leave a comment at [email protected]

  Cover Art by Kaare Berg at:

  bergone.deviantart.com

  bitdivision.no

  Cover Design by Elizabeth Mackey at:

  www.elizabethmackey.com

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law, or in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Books written by Stephen Arseneault

  SODIUM Series

  A six-book series that takes Man from his first encounter with aliens all the way to a fight for our all-out survival. Do we have what it takes to rule the galaxy?

  AMP Series

  Cast a thousand years into the future beyond SODIUM. This eight-book series chronicles the struggles of Don Grange, a simple package deliveryman, who is thrust into an unimaginable role in the fight against our enemies. Can we win peace and freedom after a thousand years of war?

  OMEGA Series

  Cast two thousand years into the future beyond AMP. The Alliance is crumbling. When corruption and politics threaten to throw the allied galaxies into chaos, Knog Beutcher gets caught in the middle. Follow along as our hero is thrust into roles that he never expected or sought. Espionage, intrigue, political assassinations, rebellions and full-on revolutions, they are all coming to Knog Beutcher’s world!

  HADRON Series

  HADRON is a modern day story unrelated to the SODIUM-AMP-OMEGA trilogy series. After scientists using the Large Hadron Collider discover dark matter, the world is plunged into chaos. Massive waves of electromagnetic interference take out all grid power and forms of communication the world over. Cities go dark, food and water supplies are quickly used up, and marauders rule the highways. Months after the mayhem begins, and mass starvation has taken its toll, a benevolent alien species arrives from the stars. Only, are they really so benevolent? Find out in HADRON as Man faces his first real challenge to his dominance of Earth!

  Find them all at www.arsenex.com

  Chapter 1

  _______________________

  Trish and Gandy were given six weeks off, paid, as the Bangor was taken away for her upgrades. The two caught shuttles back to Domicile to visit family and flaunt some of their newfound credits.

  Tawn and Harris spent several weeks of the downtime with their first DDI contact. The meetings were all about the organization of the supply business, analysis of the truce colony needs, and where they should establish supply routes. The colonies of Eden and an Earther colony on Jebwa would be the highest priorities. Their first order of business was to make contact with a list of suppliers on Domicile.

  Harris belched as he emerged from an all-you-can eat diner in Juniper City. A manufacturer of nuts, bolts, washers and other fasteners was eager to do business with the partners.

  Tawn asked, “Who’s next?”

  “Metal fabrication machines. There’s a company here that makes a complete shop setup to turn out steel bars that can be formed to whatever shape is needed. They take raw materials through smelting all the way to finished product. If you have the ores, they can produce enough steel in a year to build out a standard fifty thousand settler colony.”

  “I saw another ad for a colony company this morning,” Tawn replied. “They’re offering transportation, housing for a year, and a job if you move out to their settlements. No education or experience required.”

  Harris nodded. “They’re following what New Earth is offering settlers. This is a race for having colonies that favor one side or the other.”

  Tawn sighed. “And what are the chances these colonists will get along with each other and the whole plan backfires?”

  Harris laughed. “No way. Will take a couple generations before loyalties are no longer strongly tied to where they came from. This will all come to a head long before that. And that first well on Eden will be complete and functional, probably in a few weeks. By the time we get the Bangor back, the New Earth colonists could be streaming in there.”

  Tawn stopped in front of the next building. “Life sure has its twists and turns. A slug and a stump… first gun runners and now spies. I have to wonder what comes next.”

  Harris shook his head as he chuckled. “Probably fugitives.”

  ***

  The hull of the Bangor was chrome in color and texture. A multitude of small protruding additions had been added to her exterior.

  Tawn remarked, “For a box, she doesn’t look half bad.”

  Harris frowned. “Gonna draw attention looking like that.”

  The mechanic handler stood behind them. “The skin is active. It can be changed to whatever color or simulated texture you desire. You can add numbers or company logos or whatever you like, all electronically. You enter a pattern, press a button and the ship is covered with it. You should have several exterior images already entered for you to select from.”

  The mechanic began to walk the outside as he talked. “Those antennae gather electronic emissions, sending out canceling signals to anything they find when turned on. On planet, the best sensors out there will have to be within a half kilometer to detect you. Out in space that jumps up to fifty kilometers.”

  He stopped at one of a number of small boxes dotting the hull. “These are your new plasma absorbers. They wrap the ship in an ion field and they’ll knock a full power plasma round down by about half. Given your hull thickness, you should be able to handle a dozen rounds without taking major damage. That’s not a foolproof system, by the way, just estimates.”

  The hatch was opened. “The active surface can also be used as camouflage. You have a selection that will mimic your surroundings. Not perfect, but it will make you much harder to see.”

  The mechanic stepped up into the cabin. “Your bunkroom has been updated to hold the four of you. As requested, mil-grade mattresses were installed. Most of the cabin, except for your benches, was left untouched. In the cockpit you’ll find most of the modifications.”

  The mechanic pointed. “Displays have been upgraded to the latest hi-res units. Your ship’s computer as well, including a redundant unit buried back in the bunkroom. There’s also a virtual console back there where the entire ship can be controlled from if necessary. You also have copies of the latest nav-maps, and your sensor displays are now state-of-the-art.”

  The mechanic stopped. “Who’s responsible for the autofeeder on the railgun?”

  Harris replied, “That would be my first mate, Trish.”

  The mechanic smiled. “Nice work. We only changed a few of the mountings. Both rails are now active. I saw a practice firing. You get within a couple kilometers of any ship and you can open her up. We don’
t have armor thick enough on anything in the fleet to stop even one of those rounds. New Earth will be the same.”

  Harris chuckled. “Yeah, who wants to be within a few kilometers of one of those warship monsters?”

  The mechanic shook his head. “That’s in atmosphere. In space it’s more like the fifty to a hundred kilometer range. Depends on the reaction time of the ship or her pilot. Anything over that distance and we’re getting in the seconds range for reactions.”

  “When can we take it out?”

  The mechanic headed to the hatch. “It’s yours. Oh, and I have a bracelet for each of you. Press this button if you’re in comm range and the ship will come to you. When it arrives, press it again and the hatch will open. If your second attempt is a press and hold, the cabin will evacuate and the airlock will open instead.”

  Tawn nodded. “That could come in handy. Could have used that our first time on Eden.”

  The mechanic replied as he hopped out onto the tarmac where the ship sat. “It’s an untested feature, so you’ll want to get in a few practice runs to see how well it works… or doesn’t. I’d suggest your first move before taking off should be to set the outer skin color. Try out the samples and see what you like.”

  The mechanic hopped out and began to walk away.

  Harris called after him, “Where do we bring it for problems or repairs?”

  The man yelled back as he continued to walk: “Don’t care! You’re on your own from here on out!”

  The mechanic disappeared behind another ship on the tarmac.

  Tawn moved to the cockpit. “I guess that’s it, then. We begin here and now. Hello, fellow spy.”

  Harris shook his head as he moved to the hatch and hopped out to look at the exterior. “Are you a slug or a nerd? Pick us a color scheme and I’ll tell you what works.”

  Tawn selected Newly Abandoned.

  Harris frowned. “Looks like too much of a junker. That would draw attention on its own.”

  Corporate Shuttle was set.

  Harris laughed. “Dripping with credits. Too posh looking.”

  Aid Ship was next in line. “Not for traveling. Could come in useful at some point though. What else?”

  Tawn made the next selection.

  Harris laughed. “Looks just like the old Bangor. What’d they call that one?”

  “Slug and Stump Gunrunning Spy Ship,” Tawn replied.

  Harris smiled. “At least they had a sense of humor. Let’s go with that for starters.”

  The skin was set and the updated ship taken to Belmont, the city where Trish and Gandy were waiting.

  Gandy hopped into the cabin looking around. “New benches, that it?”

  Harris pointed at the control consoles. “Mostly here. New sensors. And we have exterior shielding that should ward off plasma strikes for a bit longer. Railgun two is also operational.”

  Gandy shook his head. “I still can’t believe the government didn’t find that and then arrest us after you took down that NE ship.”

  Harris shrugged. “Who could say. They know it’s there now.”

  Trish asked, “So what’s the plan?”

  Tawn replied, “We’re heading out to Eden. The Earther colony there will be looking to retool and expand. In six months that might be the capital. If we hustle, we could be a major supplier.”

  Trish scowled. “We’re helping the Earthers?”

  Tawn sighed. “They are expanding whether we sell them supplies or not. If we take control of that effort, not only will it be profitable for us, but we could cause timely material delays if need be. If we can stall that well coming fully online for a few weeks to a month, it gives us time to come up with a better plan.”

  “So we haven’t given up on Eden?”

  Tawn half smiled. “If we’re not successful slowing the colony growth, maybe we can slow the opening of the mines, should it come to that. So no, we’re not giving up yet. But we’ll want to play nice in the meantime. One of our goals is to build trust with the Earthers.”

  Gandy sat in the cabin. “None of this makes sense. We killed a hundred and fifty of their colonists. We shot down a destroyer. Why would they let us anywhere near that colony?”

  Harris crossed his arms as he sat back in his chair. “Maybe they still don’t know or believe we shot it down. The latest news reports have been saying it crashed on its own. And that the crash was planned as a way to get leverage in the Eden talks.

  “We invaded. They lost a ship while stopping that invasion. As to the hundred and fifty NE soldiers, we’ll find out if that’s an issue. If so, we focus our efforts elsewhere. One thing we have to remember is Eden is a truce world. Domicile and New Earth are not supposed to interfere.”

  Tawn said, “We’ve been busy while you two were vacationing. We’ve been lining up legitimate suppliers and cutting deals. If they allow us, we’re hoping to be the major supplier on that planet. Maybe even delivering the well drilling equipment ourselves.”

  ***

  The Bangor landed in the intense daytime heat of Eden at the colony of Boxton. A handful of other ships were parked on the newly poured concrete tarmac.

  The administrator working in the welcome room greeted the new arrivals. “Welcome to Boxton. Are you settling? I wasn’t expecting anyone today.”

  Harris replied, “No. We’re here to do business. I have word you require well drilling equipment?”

  The man nodded. “We do. The funding for that is being lined up now. Once that comes through, we’ll be putting out for bids. You suppliers?”

  Harris smiled. “We are. And I can provide financing for the equipment if needed. We want your business and are willing to take it on at cost to get ourselves established.”

  “Wow,” the man replied. “If you’ll excuse me for a moment, I need to fetch my boss. He will be making the actual decision.”

  As the man left, Tawn turned to face Harris. “I thought we were going to slow this effort down?”

  Harris nodded. “We will. But first we have to earn the job.”

  The boss walked into the room several minutes later. “I’m Garp Huukov. I’m told you can supply water-well equipment?”

  Harris held out a powerful hand for a shake. “Harris Gruberg. My associates and I are suppliers. I see this colony as a tremendous opportunity to grow our business. And I was telling your administrator here we’d be willing to finance the drilling equipment as well as supply it at cost. We would consider it an investment in our future for doing business here.”

  Garp gestured toward the door. “Come to my office where we can sit. Have you eaten?”

  Tawn grasped his shoulder, as a reminder to stick to business.

  “We have, but I can have an appetite at times. Let’s discuss our options first. Afterward we can eat if you like.”

  Garp nodded as they walked. “Wholly acceptable.”

  The five turned into the office of Garp Huukov and were seated.

  Garp leaned forward on his desk. “This equipment… what size well head are we talking?”

  Harris scratched the back of his neck. “We can go from a thousand liters an hour up to about four million. I have the suppliers back home already lined up.”

  Garp asked. “You’re Domers, aren’t you?”

  Harris nodded. “We are.”

  “And aren’t you against the expansion of New Earth colonies out here? You know there’s been violence, right? We lost a bunch of colonists just a short time ago.”

  Harris sat forward. “We heard. Our government is against any Earther expansion, that’s no secret. But the rest of us don’t care. We’re not at war. And we all have to earn a living.”

  Garp sat back in his chair. “Technically, we are still at war. That was a truce they signed. An Armistice. A cessation of hostilities. The war never officially ended.”

  Harris smiled. “Our government is busy with its own problems. I can get that equipment out here in as few as three days. My government will be under the impression it’s
going to an outer colony, which it will be when the drilling is complete here. And you won’t actually be purchasing the drilling equipment. Just leasing it.”

  “And what about the well head?”

  Harris replied, “My government couldn’t care less about the sale of a well head. They just don’t want the well drilled. Besides, if we don’t supply it I’m certain some company from New Earth will.”

  Garp tapped his fingers on his desktop. “This is interesting. It’s the second offer I’ve had for drilling equipment in two days.”

  Tawn asked, “Who else has been out here, if you don’t mind my asking? We like to keep tabs on our competitors.”

  Garp opened a desk drawer, pulling out a tablet. “Let’s see. Rumford mining supplies. It was a tall, red-headed gal. She offered a competitive package, but nothing like yours.”

  Tawn nodded. “We know her. We’ve had a few shady business dealings with her in the past. Our last venture didn’t go so well for us.”

  Harris said, “Look, Mr. Huukov, we want this business. And I’m prepared to offer you a piece of the pie, so to speak. We plan on moving a tremendous amount of material out here in the coming months. We have the ships, we have the personnel to do it, and we may be willing to negotiate in a percentage for parties who assist us in growing this business.”

  “Is that a bribe?”

  Harris leaned forward. “I like to call it a business investment. And for those involved… they may earn a few extra credits, but they’ll get the job done out here faster and for less.”

  Garp rubbed his chin with his hand. “That’s quite the interesting proposal, Mr. Gruberg. Getting that well up and running early might actually go a long way toward cementing my position here as the colony buyer. I have the authority, at least initially. That well would certainly increase any support given by my bosses.”

  Harris held out a hand. “Equipment could be here in three days.”

  “Are we talking the four million liter equipment?”

  Harris smiled. “If that’s what you want.”

  Garp walked out from behind his desk, taking Harris’ hand and shaking it vigorously. “And before I give any go-ahead to you to begin this process, what can I be expecting as a cut?”