Orbital Disruption Page 17

  Anna took one last look at the map application on her phone and then handed it to Sergey.

  “Maggie texted me a few minutes ago. She says they’re moored close to the southeastern corner of Black Rock Harbor, not far from Fayerweather Island,” she explained. “We’re here, just over two clicks northeast from their position, up Cedar Creek.”

  Sergey nodded and looked out over Cedar Creek. They’d left his BMW nearby in the parking lot of a factory. But the factory was a rusty shell of a building and tall weeds grew up through cracks in the concrete.

  “Hard to believe that just a mile downstream are yacht clubs and mansions,” he observed.

  “Welcome to Connecticut,” Anna responded, drily. “Now let’s find ourselves a boat.”

  Sergey surveyed the opposite bank of the tidal creek where a row of small motor boats were docked. Through a pair of binoculars he could see a couple of men carrying coolers and fishing poles from one of the boats to a car parked near the dock.

  “As soon as those guys leave, I say we swim across and take the zodiac in the third berth from the end,” Sergey suggested.

  “Yes, that one looks good. Dark color, hard to see. Hopefully the motor isn’t too loud,” Anna agreed.

  Sergey and Ann waited patiently as the men finished loading their possessions into their car and pulled out of the parking lot. As their red tail lights disappeared down the street on the other side of the creek, Sergey and Anna silently donned their wetsuits. Sergey hoisted a small black waterproof bag over his shoulder while Anna strapped a sheath to one ankle and slid in a large knife. Sergey then pulled on his fins and a mask with a snorkel. Anna put on her mask, snorkel and fins as well.

  “Ready?” he asked Anna.

  “Ready.”

  “Ok, let’s go.”

  The two stepped gingerly down the embankment and into the water.

  “Try not to drink it,” Anna said, grimacing as she put her snorkel into her mouth. Sergey merely gave her an unpleasant look, put his own snorkel into his mouth and kicked off from the shore. Anna followed.

  They quickly reached the far side and climbed up into a black raft with a rigid bottom and thick inflated rubber walls. An outboard motor was mounted to the stern.

  Sergey stepped onto the dock while Anna started the engine. It came alive with a muted rumble. Not loud, but far from silent.

  “Do you see any oars?” Anna said to Sergey in a hushed voice.

  Sergey slipped off his fins and walked briskly down the dock, looking at each boat. Four berths down he found a kayak resting on the dock, inverted. Turning it over, he found a double-bladed kayak paddle inside the cockpit. He pulled it out and grinned. It was the type of paddle that could be disassembled into two interlocked halves. He carried it quickly back to where Anna sat in the Zodiac.

  “I think this will do,” Sergey said and unlatched the two halves of the kayak paddle from each other. He held up the two single-bladed paddles.

  “Yes, good. Now let’s go,” Anna replied, pointing toward the lines holding the small boat to the dock. Sergey quickly untied them, tossed his fins and the paddles into the boat, stepped aboard and pushed away from the dock. Anna pivoted the motor and put it into gear. The dock quickly receded behind them as they moved southward down Cedar Creek in the gathering darkness.

  “I’ll be damned, Dennis,” Molly said quietly. “This might just work.”

  “Yeah?” Dennis replied. He was sitting across from Molly in the cabin of the Blue Orchid. The room was dark except for a small light over the sink and the glow of the laptop’s screen.

  “Yeah. Based on the simulation, if we accelerate at maximum thrust for about twelve days along a slightly curved path we enter the drive flare from the ships pushing Ruben’s asteroid right at the point where we make the flip and then begin decelerating.” Molly pointed at a graph on the screen as Dennis leaned in to see more closely.

  “Maintaining max thrust,” she continued, “for the next seven and a half days combined with the pressure of the drive plumes should bring us to within one or two meters per second of matched velocity. We can manage the docking maneuver using our compressed gas attitude thrusters at those speeds. Probably.”

  “How much time does it buy us?” Dennis asked.

  “About ninety hours from arrival at the asteroid to the point where the asteroid enters Earth’s atmosphere,” Molly replied.

  “That’s not a lot of time to impart much delta-v on a big rock.”

  “You’re right. It’ll be close, and will depend on the exact mass of the asteroid, the thrust that Ruben’s ships can put out and how quickly we can execute the capture once we arrive.”

  “Ok. Not the best odds but it sounds like it’s the best we’ve got.”

  Molly nodded.

  “Do we still have a network connection?” Dennis asked.

  “Yup,” Molly confirmed.

  “Then let’s get that program uploaded to the capture ship. If we think of a better idea we can always upload a new program later.”

  “You got it,” Molly agreed. “Sending it now.”

  “Let’s send a copy to Mike, too. He might have some ideas.”

  “Gotcha.”

  Molly typed rapidly on the laptop’s keyboard while Dennis leaned back.

  “You know, I think we might finally be catching a break,” he sighed.

  Tabitha walked along the deck, one hand gently brushing the lifeline than ran along its edge. The sails were furled so she could clearly see Esteban at the bow, looking down.

  “Ahoy, captain,” Tabitha spoke softly.

  Esteban looked up.

  “Hey there, Tab.”

  “Checking the mooring line?” she asked as she came to stand beside him.

  “Yeah, just making sure everything’s fast. Wouldn’t want to come adrift in the middle of the night if the wind picks up.”

  “Are you expecting weather?”

  “No,” he replied with a slight smile. “But it’s the weather you aren’t expecting that you need to prepare for, right?”

  Tabitha smiled back. “Yeah, expect the unexpected. Prepare for the worst. Stay a step ahead.”

  Esteban folded his legs, sat down on the deck and then swung his legs out over the water, leaning back against his hands. Tabitha sat down beside him.

  “Well, we sure as shit didn’t see this one coming,” she sighed as she leaned back on her hands in a posture that mimicked Esteban. “Here we were thinking we were the clever cowboys - riding in to steal Ruben’s asteroid. Part business, part revenge and all adventure. What could go wrong?”

  “Well, you got some adventure,” Esteban said, shrugging.

  “Oh boy, did we ever. I haven’t had someone point a gun at me since… well shit, probably not since that bar in Tashkent.”

  Esteban chuckled softly but said nothing.

  “And now look at us. On the run from… a tech bro? That’s going to crash an asteroid into the fucking Earth? We might be fugitives from the law but… we’re not sure? What the hell…”

  “Well, the world-ending asteroid isn’t your fault. That one’s squarely on Ruben St. James.”

  “True,” Tabitha agreed. “But somehow we’re in the middle of it now.”

  “And if you weren’t?” Esteban asked softly, turning to look at Tabitha.

  Tabitha was silent for a moment.

  “There’d be little or no warning. Maybe a week or two at most to detect it once it got in range of the radar array operated by the Near Earth Objects Observation Program. But there’s a good chance they wouldn’t see it at all. And certainly no chance to stop it.”

  “So maybe it’s a good thing you’re in the middle of it. Gives you a chance to save the world, eh?”

  Tabitha coughed out a single laugh.

  “Yeah, we’re gonna be heroes, right?”

  “You’ve done it before, remember?”

  Tabitha looked down. “I was young and stupid. And damn lucky.”

  “Well,
now’s your chance to be old, wise and damn lucky again.”

  Tabitha looked up and smiled. She locked eyes with Esteban. Her smile slipped.

  “I’m so sorry to drag you into this. I really didn’t mean to.”

  Esteban kept his eyes on Tabitha and smiled. “Don’t be. This is the most excitement I’ve had in ages.”

  Tabitha smiled back.

  “And besides,” Esteban continued. “It brought us back together. At least for a little while.”

  “Yeah,” Tabitha said softly. “I missed that. I missed us.”

  “We had our moments, didn’t we.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Do you think it could work again?” Esteban whispered, leaning closer.

  “Just shut up and kiss me,” Tabitha replied softly.

  Esteban did.

  Twenty-Seven

  Sergey spotted the large Oceanis 45 sailboat in the distance. Its lines were sleek, designed for open ocean sailing. A toy for the wealthy or valuable tool for the expert sailer. Sergey had always been fond of sailboats. If Anna was right then perhaps this job would pay well enough to allow him to buy one like this for himself and retire to a life at sea. Assuming the job got done.

  Sergey steeled his resolve and turned around. He gave Anna a hand signal and then pointed at the Blue Orchid, now just a couple hundred meters away. There were no other boats moored in this section of the harbor. The Blue Orchid was alone.

  Anna switched off the engine and the zodiac drifted. She moved up to the middle of the small boat and picked up the two paddles. Anna handed one to Sergey as he moved back to join her amidships. Each leaning over the side opposite from the other, they began to paddle. By carefully synchronizing their strokes, the little inflatable boat moved forward slowly but silently.

  “Where did Tab go off to?” Dennis asked Molly.

  “I think she went up to talk to Esteban.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah, I don’t think you should interrupt. I get the feeling they have some unfinished business to discuss.”

  “Huh. Well, ok. In that case I’m going to just sit here and drink a beer.”

  Dennis opened the Blue Orchid’s small refrigerator and withdrew a can.

  “Do you want one, Molly?”

  “Sure, why not,” she replied.

  Dennis reached in and pulled out a second can.

  “Miller?” he said, reading the label. “Geez, what a shit beer. Well, I guess that makes this ‘Miller Time’!”

  Molly rolled her eyes and opened her can. She held it out toward Dennis.

  “Cheers!”

  Dennis laughed and touched his can to Molly’s.

  “Cheers!” he replied.

  Each took a sip and then Dennis took a seat across the table from Molly.

  “Well, shall we call it a night?” Dennis asked. “I’m pretty fried. Maybe after I have a good sleep I’ll be able to think of a better plan than the current crazy-assed one.”

  “Yeah, hopefully the feds round up the Excelsior guys so we can go home.” Molly sighed. “I like boats but I also like sleeping on a bed that doesn’t move.”

  “Yeah, no kidding. At least out here we’re pretty hard to find. I guess that makes us safe.”

  Molly started to answer but Dennis didn’t hear her. Her voice was drowned out by the sound of a gunshot, followed by rapid footsteps running down the length of the Blue Orchid.

  Esteban leaned into the kiss and placed his hand on Tabitha’s shoulder. He moved it up to the back of her neck and felt her hair. Her warm lips moved against his. It seemed so natural, as if he’d last kissed her a few minutes ago rather than several years in the past.

  Suddenly Tabitha broke off the kiss, turning her head away. In a fraction of a second Esteban’s heart sank. No, this was too good. The universe wasn’t fair. It wouldn’t give him another chance with Tabitha. Somehow - and he knew instinctively that he’d never really know how - he’d ruined it. Again.

  “Tab…” he started to say but she cut him off.

  “What was that noise?”

  Esteban didn’t hear it at first and then he did - a faint splash that was somehow out of sync with the rest of the waves that gently lapped against the Blue Orchid’s hull. He stood up and looked around.

  His stomach clenched as he saw the faint outline in the darkness of a small boat nearing the stern of his sailboat. Two figures dressed in black holding paddles. The gentle splash again as one of those paddles hit the water at the wrong angle.

  They were under attack.

  Esteban started to say something to Tabitha but she was already up and moving around the far edge of the deck, trying to reach the stern from an angle that the attackers would be least likely to see. Esteban took the more direct route, moving slowly toward the stern along the other side of the deck.

  Sergey winced as Anna’s paddle made a slight splash. He knew it was unlikely to be heard above the other waves but there were two figures sitting close together on the bow of the sailboat. It would be best if they could board from the low stern of the ship and take them by surprise.

  Suddenly, both figures stood up and started running in crouched postures toward the stern. Sergey knew they’d been spotted. They were less than five meters from the sailboat and moving fairly swiftly so Sergey set his paddle down and unzipped the bag he had slung over his shoulder. He reached in, withdrew a pistol, braced one knee against the edge of the zodiac, aimed along the sights at one of the approaching figures and squeezed the trigger.

  The shot was deafeningly loud and the flash temporarily blinded Sergey but in a second when his vision cleared he could see that he’d missed - the figure was running more quickly now. In the few seconds that had passed, the smaller boat’s inertia had brought it to within a meter of the large boat and Sergey leapt across the gap, landing on the deck just above where the name “Blue Orchid” was stenciled on the hull.

  Esteban had seen Sergey raise his arm to fire and had ducked just before the shot rang out. He knew he had to close the distance before his attacker could get another shot off. Esteban rose up from a crouch and sprinted the last few steps to the stern of the fifteen meter long sailboat. He saw Sergey jump from the zodiac onto the stern and knew he’d have a short window when the other man would be concentrating on landing on the sailboat as it swayed with the gentle swells rolling into the harbor from Long Island Sound. That gave him an opening and he took it - left hand grasping Sergey’s outstretched right wrist, just below where it held the gun while Esteban’s right arm pistoned forward to strike Sergey’s right forearm just below the elbow.

  The gun went off again, this time close enough to Esteban’s left ear to leave it ringing and for his skin to feel the heat of the muzzle flash but the strike to Sergey’s arm was sufficient to break his grip on the gun which clattered to the deck.

  Sergey yanked his arm free and turned to reach down for the gun but Esteban kicked out with his left foot and the gun slid from the deck into the water, making a soft “plop”. Sergey reacted quickly. Rather than stand up, he kicked out with his right leg and brought it around, sweeping Esteban’s legs out from under him. He felt the impact of Sergey’s foot against his calf, followed by the impact of the deck against his shoulder as he fell. Rolling with the fall he avoided a second kick from Sergey and was able to get back up into a crouch before Sergey could lunge at him. Bracing his right foot against the helm station, Esteban pushed forward, his fist connecting with Sergey’s sternum just as Sergey’s fist struck Esteban’s jaw. Esteban felt intense pain as at least one tooth was broken loose but he also felt the satisfying compression of Sergey’s chest as his fist drove in, gaining leverage from Esteban’s braced position.

  Sergey stumbled backward and fell off the stern of the Blue Orchid and into the zodiac just as Anna was leaping out. She dodged Esteban as his momentum carried him in the same direction as Sergey.

  Tabitha saw Esteban leap into the zodiac after Sergey in her peripheral vision but her focus was o
n Anna who was charging across the lower section of the stern toward where Tabitha stood on deck. Tabitha saw Anna reach subtly toward her ankle as she took a large step up onto the deck, correctly anticipating the knife that Anna now held out in front of her. Tabitha crouched down as Anna charged toward her, knife held out. She felt the neatly coiled rope on the deck under her hand. Without looking away from Anna, Tabitha pulled a length of it up held firmly between both hands. As Anna stabbed forward, Tabitha dodged and wrapped the rope around Anna’s hand, trying to snare it. She briefly got a grip on it when Anna’s left foot snapped up and connected with the last rib on Tabitha’s right side. She felt a sharp pain and wondered if it was broken.

  Anna pulled her knife hand back sharply and slipped out of the rope that Tabitha had wrapped around her wrist. Anna stepped back, preparing another jab when Tabitha brought her left leg up and landed a sharp snap kick on Anna’s right side, directly on her wound.

  Anna exhaled sharply in pain. She saw a brief flicker of a smile play across Tabitha’s face and knew that Tabitha had chosen her target intentionally - she’d obviously remembered where Anna had been shot the night before. The pain was intense but Anna could deal with pain. She lunged at Tabitha, drawing strength and anger from her agony. Tabitha dodged and tried to kick a second time but Anna blocked it with her free hand and lunged again. Tabitha had passed the mast and briefly tried to keep it between her and Anna but Anna leapt past it. Tabitha was forced to retreat further toward the bow of the Blue Orchid. Unarmed, she considered jumping overboard but knew she’d be unlikely to be able to climb aboard again while Anna was free.

  Falling off the stern of the Blue Orchid, Sergey hit the soft edge of the zodiac with his hip and tumbled down onto the rigid hull. He continued to roll, knowing that Esteban was right behind him. Sergey felt the Zodiac move sharply as Esteban landed where Sergey had been a moment before. Sergey completed his roll and rose back up to a fighter’s crouch just as Esteban’s foot swung past at high speed. Sergey dodged the kick and lunged forward. He spotted one of the oars in his peripheral vision and before his conscious brain had completed the thought, the oar was in his hand.