Kinetic Cut and Run

By W.F. Gigliotti

After one hundred years of universal peace, Kinetica Corporation rules over most of humanity’s twenty-seven worlds. It finds itself under attack by a terrorist faction from within the company. The terrorists control a murder machine known as the Chromic Mass, a product of human vanity that was perverted into a lethal killer on a grand scale.

Ida Kaufman, leader of Human Resources at Kinetica seeks someone for the ultimate job, C.E.O. of Kinetica. Emotionally compromised by an early attack by the Chromic Mass, she finds a distress call from a lowly pirate, a man who might actually fulfill the role that the company needs. But is Shelden Renn the right man, of is Ida’s choice purely personal?

Shelden Renn, a self-styled freelance miner, still mourns the death of his fiancé from 10 years previous. While mining in a restricted area, he stumbles upon proof of intelligent life. He also witnesses the birth of Kinetica’s greatest threat: The Chromic Mass. He finds that he – and the sentient aliens that he discovered – might be humanity’s final hope in a war that will determine the fate of all.

• Language: English
• Publisher: W.F. Gigliotti
• Release date: Apr 29, 2016
• ISBN: 9781310579516

Book preview

Chapter 1 – EPIC FREELANCER

Movement is down in this area, Sir, Sylvia said.

Shelden Renn breathed a sigh of relief at that. Care was needed for two very important reasons. His venturing into the Albatross asteroid field was unauthorized by Kinetica, the corporation that owned it. Without care, Kinetica patrols would catch him and imprison him or fire upon him with nary a blink of an eye. This place was also the crown jewel of Kinetica’s fortune, one of the few places known, among the twenty-seven worlds, where Elba crystals could be found in such overwhelming abundance. The Elba crystals were what gave his ship power. He was here to mine some of the crystals, to replenish his stock and sell the surplus on the black market.

"Good, Sylvia. Scan the area for signs of Elba, but no long range scans. Be as gentle as you can be. Remember we don’t want to be discovered here."

As good as my word, Sir, Sylvia replied.

Sylvia, his companion for over ten years now, was an artificial intelligence construct that Shelden had custom made for whatever ship he happened to have. It could be plugged into any ship that had the right interface. However, the interface was of an old design and not many ships were constructed anymore that Sylvia could reside in. The mining skiff he piloted was one of those old ships that had had the right interface.

In the years that he has possessed this particular mining skiff, he had made a few modifications to make it faster and more agile. The cargo hold itself was made to open out into space in an emergency, to get rid of any evidence he might be carrying, though he’s never had to use that capability. The manned vehicles that were usually used for mining operations in such a mining skiff were not present – or needed - since he didn’t have a live crew.

His crew consisted of Sylvia and his three bots: Bo, Bella, and Bear.

Outside the ship was the cold blackness of deep space, littered with asteroids of all shapes and sizes, some of them spinning and racing at various speeds across the crowded field. He had piloted Sylvia - though she was just the AI of the ship, he referred to the ship itself as being Sylvia - two hundred kilometers into the asteroid field, just enough for the view of stars to be rare.

My scans show a lot of Elba, Sylvia said. There is an asteroid a kilometer away that is practically covered with the stuff and, Shelden dear, it has a cave that we can reside in, out of view.

Excellent. Take us there.

You request that I pilot us there? Sylvia asked.

You like to do it, don’t you?

What pleases, you pleases me, Shelden.

You’re too easy, Sylvy, he said, cracking a smile. The view screen emerged from the control panel and came to life showing a random woman who was as far from being a beautiful woman as can be without being a corpse. She winked at him seductively. Yeah, very funny, Shelden said. You know that’s not how I picture you. The woman’s eyes rolled and the view screen went dead and folded away.

With that, the engines came to life and Sylvia started moving toward its destination, dodging asteroids whenever needed. Shelden Renn got up from his seat and moved to the back of the cabin. "Wake up the bots, Sylvia."

Yes Sir.

And start a recording of what we’re doing.

Sir?

Shelden paused. "I have a feeling about this, Sylvia. You ever feel like something is inevitable?"

Always, when you are with me, darling, Sylvia said. But then I remember that I’m not human.

Shelden Laughed. Wake them up. I’m going down into the hold. As the sliding door in front of him opened, he felt a slight jolt as the ship twisted and turned. He turned around and looked toward the front of the ship and through the thick windows that dominated. Sylvia was racing now, dodging asteroids with a precision that was flawed only in that he was slightly better at piloting than she was.

There were four areas within Shelden’s mining skiff. The bridge was the smallest area, though small wouldn’t be what one would call it. Large enough for a crew of four people with plenty of space to spare, it held most of the controls of the ship, including navigation and the interface for the ship’s computer and AI. Through the back door of the bridge was the main hallway where one would pass the stores area where most of the supplies were kept, as well as sleeping quarters, lavatory, kitchen, old style hibernation chambers, and other basic amenities. The old style hibernation chambers were a throwback to the time before stasis generators, which did the same thing, but were better, efficient, and instant. When Sylvia had been outfitted with stasis, Shelden left the hibernation chambers alone. He had spent a lot of money on them and didn’t feel a need to get rid of them. And besides, he liked having a backup plan in case the stasis generators failed. Beyond that and the hall were the entrances to the engine room and the cargo hold.

As Shelden walked through the hall, lights came on and off, following him as he made his way. Dim lights on the floor lined each side of the path. A green light blinked on the side of the airlock that led to the cargo hold, signifying that it was safe to open. Shelden walked in and closed the door behind him. Bo, Bella, and Bear are awake, Sir, Sylvia said through the speaker above him, They await your commands. The cargo hold is pressurized and ready to enter.

Good, he said. For a moment, he scratched the stubble on his chin. The door behind him sealed and the door in front of him opened. The pressure in the hold was slightly different from that of the rest of the ship. He swallowed immediately, letting his ear drums pop. It was better to force it to happen then for it occur on its own at an unexpected time. Ideally, there would be no change in pressure at all, but it was an old ship and the cargo area was huge compared to the rest of the vessel. Such a huge space would usually need a much longer equalizing time. The settings Shelden had set were right at the sweet spot between time and utility. It suited him best.

His three mining bots stood before him. The largest one, the one being ten feet tall and carrying a large holding tank, was Bear. He was the one who hauled mined material to the ship. The other two were the ones who actually did all the mining: Bella and Bo. They were very small in comparison - about three feet tall. While Bear’s appearance was dominated by his tank and the various rocket thrusters, Bella’s and Bo’s appearance was dominated by various drills, arms, and belts full of various bits and spare parts, as well as the same thrusters Bear had.

Beside and within the entrance to the cargo hold was a podium one might see in an auditorium, upon which a large control pad waited. Shelden picked it up and started typing up his orders as he spoke to them. Hi guys. Today we need to be low profile. No running lights or flashers. Only scrambled radio communications allowed. I’m uploading the password now.

Understood, Bear said. His voice echoed through the cavernous hold. Bo and Bella nodded.

Now entering our destination, Shelden, Sylvia said over the speakers. Maneuvering thrusters engaged. The destination was an asteroid twice as big as Sylvia. It had a large cave carved out of it, a cave that Sylvia could fit into. He had ordered her to turn around and back herself in so that he could see out through the cockpit’s front window. The cave would hide them, and Shelden could see what was happening.

Excellent, Shelden said, turning his head toward where Sylvia’s voice was coming from. Set up some random leisure activity on the bridge. I’ll be finished in a moment. Although he could have given his instructions to the bots from the bridge, the control panel specifically made for them was much more efficient and allowed for more detailed instructions. He laid in rules for keeping out of sight from Kinetica patrols while being quick and fruitful with their labors. There, he said.

The three bots stood, turned, and proceeded to walk toward the back of the hold. Shelden replaced the control and reentered the interior airlock and closed the door. In seconds, all air was sucked out from the cargo hold, and then stored and mixed in with the co2 scrubbers deep within the engine room of the ship. He looked back through the airlock window as the cargo hold opened and let his three bots venture out into the vacuum of space. They set to work on their task, small navigation thrusters firing in seemingly random sequences, yet pushing them closer to their destination. Sylvia had set the ship with its back end facing the rear of the asteroid’s cave so they had to exit the cave before having ample space to work. Within moments the three bots were passing the front of the mining skiff. The nearest Elba crystals were at the mouth of the cave entrance.

When he returned to the bridge, Shelden found that Sylvia had set up three monitors along the main control console of the bridge. One was the split-screen view from the cameras mounted on each of the bots. The second showed a computerized version of chess, while the third showed the latest edition of the Encyclopedia Galactic, which he had updated before venturing out here. He sat in the chair in front of the control board, half bored, half-wondering what to do next. He stared out into space through the main front window. Now all he had to do was wait.

Directly ahead, about a half kilometer out, there was an asteroid that seemed to be a different shade of grey than the others. It seemed completely still. Though most of the asteroids in the area were more or less stationary, there was still movement.

Sir, Sylvia intoned. Shelden was startled. I’ve found some old videos of the last war. It’s archival footage from Kinetica’s Encyclopedia Galactic Museum.

Yeah, that’ll do. He said.

A fourth view screen popped up and the video began. The camera showed a vast warehouse full of old warships – and some outside, floating in space - that had been decommissioned after the last war. Here we are, with the last remnants of an age long gone, the narrator said, sounding so overly gruff and scholarly that it made Shelden chuckle a bit. It was a time of war and uncertainty, when man sought violence upon man for wrongdoings perpetrated by all parties involved. It has been over a hundred years now since that last shot was fired. These ships serve as a bold reminder of the chaos that once ruled the galaxy. It was a time when nuclear weapons were used indiscriminately, with the slightest provocation. That is… until Kinetica Corporation began to govern the people…

This video is just going to turn into just another one of those damned commercials telling everyone how great Kinetica is, Shelden said.

Look at all the firepower, Sir. Sylvia said. The warehouse seemed to be without end, warships of all description lay dormant as far as the camera could see. The view switched to outside the hanger, where a ring of ships extended to the horizon, orbiting a planet called Ursa.

…and that’s when the rise of Kinetica Corp and the Interstellar Consortium began. The narrator continued. Together, they bought out the lesser competitors and forced an end to the fighting. The known galaxy had at last known peace…

The screen went dark, as well as the one that had a chess program and the search engine. The two of them folded into the console. The monitor that showed Shelden’s bots was still up, his bots still hard at work gathering the Elba crystals. The other remaining monitor became white, tuned to a dead frequency.

"Sylvia?"

I’m detecting a strange energy coming from nearby, and also, the energy signature of someone about to transmit a video signal. I’ve tuned in to the video signal on the second monitor.

Okay, an imminent video signal. What’s this strange energy you’re detecting? Shelden asked.

Unknown.

Okay. Keep monitoring the robots. Shelden looked through the large window that dominated the front of the mining skiff’s bridge. Bear had left the other two bots to drop off a load of Elba in the cargo hold as they continued to work bits of the mineral out of the surface of the asteroid. A small readout on the side of the console showed the remaining loading capacity of the cargo hold. There was still a long way to go. Shelden’s eyes again ventured to the oddly colored asteroid directly ahead. For a moment he thought he saw a part of it shift somehow. There’s something strange about that asteroid.

Which one? Sylvia asked.

The one directly ahead. It’s got a lighter shade of grey than the others.

Detecting no anomaly, Sir.

Must be my imagination, he said.

Bear returned to where the other two bots were working. They immediately started filling Bear’s tank with more of the ore. Shelden couldn’t shake the thought that something was seriously wrong about that asteroid. He continued to watch it for a while but nothing happened.

The transmission is starting, Sir, Sylvia announced.

The white screen faded and became dark, and then the image came up. Dana Macavoy, reporting here within the Albatross asteroid field for Kinetica Corp and for the archives of the Encyclopedia Galactic, the reporter said. Her smile was genuine, but with just a hint of not wanting to be there. The scene here is tense as a rescue party has been sent into the caves of the mine to determine the fate of the missing miners. It’s been a few minutes…

This should be interesting, Shelden said. You got a fix on that location?

I’m working on it, Sir. Sylvia answered.

…I’m hearing we have a survivor. He’s being loaded up on a stretcher. Say again? For a moment they lost the signal. Then it was back. Ladies and gentlemen, we are being told that the interior of the cave network is in ruins… The screen went white.

Can you boost the signal? Shelden asked.

Well. It’s meant to be transmitted to outside the asteroid field. It seems all the relays are pointed outward. Even though we are undoubtedly the closest ones to the source, we have the worst reception. Boosting.

Shelden’s attention went back to his bots. Bear was again taking a load back to the cargo hold. Bella and Bo continued gathering Elba in his absence. Some clumps of the mineral floated weightlessly behind them, ready for Bear to return.

…I tried to contain it…. cracked open. The signal was going in and out. …calm down, Sir, the reporter said. Everything will be alright. We…

Shelden eyes were trained on the monitor with the intermittent signal. …evil incarnate… run for your lives! Shelden wondered at what was actually happening. The signal was carried out of the asteroid field where everyone could see and hear everything. He was probably one of only few people in the known galaxy that wasn’t able to see the whole thing.

The video came back: Sir, what is this Chromic Mass you speak of? The video died but the sound was still there. Something loud created a momentary distortion in the microphone. A lone voice could be heard. Payback is done this day, the voice said. Moments later, screams of agony and fear filled the air. Shelden could only sit and wonder.

Screams gave way to moans of pain and impending death. After a while the video came back. There was a man in a red robe standing in front of the camera, holding a microphone. Hello known universe, the man said. The voice was full of a mixture between anger and pleasure. The man seemed to be mocking the reporter who Shelden assumed was now dead. My name is Stephen Volkov and I’m reporting live from the Albatross asteroid field in the heart of Kinetica Corporation’s territory. Maybe you recognize the red robe and wondered who we are. A little bit of subliminal advertising. We are the Red Revolution. We are here to tear down the tyranny of Kinetica. The camera turned.

Shelden leaned in close, his jaw dropping. The scene was grizzly. Bodies and parts of bodies lay everywhere. The few people in the shot who were still alive were trying to get away. Shelden saw some of the shards of the Chromic Mass as they attacked. The stuff seemed to be moving against the will of the laws of physics.

The man in the video continued. It was a good system, but in every sidewalk there are cracks. This is just the beginning. Every world will be a government unto itself just like it used to be. Justice… true justice can only happen with smaller governing bodies.

The screen went blank.

We completely lost the signal, Shelden dear.

Can you get it back?

Wait, something’s coming.

Shelden looked out the front window. A small ship raced into view and then crashed into a nearby asteroid, losing its momentum. It slowed down, its engines off. Something silvery smashed into the ship and seemed to be dissolving it from the inside out. The bit of Chromic Mass took the ship’s shape and then departed.

Shelden’s eyes went wider as he tried to take in more of everything that he was seeing. His eyes centered on the discolored asteroid in the distance. It was closer, racing toward the Chromic Mass. It opened, like a giant mouth, just as eye stalks suddenly appeared from within the rocky surface. It was a creature. The asteroid was a living creature. Shelden’s mind raced as he tried to keep his wits.

"Sylvia! Shut it down! Shut everything down, now! Everything but life support. Do it now!"

The lights of the ship went out. The bots outside became lifeless.

As the asteroid creature ate the small portion of the Chromic Mass, small parts of the mass turned on the creature, breaking off parts of the rocky surface. For a moment, Shelden thought he saw pain in the creature’s eyes. In his mind he thought he heard its screams, but that couldn’t be real could it? There was no way that all that Chromic Mass had come this far in such a small amount of time. This was but a tiny fraction of what he saw in the transmission. The creature continued to struggle with the Chromic Mass as more small parts of its form were sliced off. As it struggled, it chomped at its enemy, devouring small bits of it.

The small amount of the Chromic Mass fled the scene.

The audio and video transmission came back on, though the screen was extremely dim. Thought you might want to see this, Sylvia said.

We are calling this the Chromic Mass, Volkov said. You can call it what you will. I call it … justice. The view went crazy and then settled on a side view as Volkov threw the camera to the ground. The ground was covered with the silvery substance, whether in solid or liquid form. Then, the camera was overcome and the signal was lost.

Chromic Mass, Shelden Renn whispered. Red Revolution. Stephen Volkov. Sylvia, this is big. What the hell are we getting involved in? He looked back out the front window. The asteroid creature was back at its original spot, though easily spotted now with the scorch marks on it. Once again it looked like a lifeless asteroid, normal. And what in the name of all hell are you supposed to be?

Chapter 2 -- TOUCH

Shelden Renn sat back in his chair in the dim lights of Sylvia’s bridge. His eyes were on the injured asteroid creature outside, one hundred and fifty meters away. Its eyes were extended on the ends of long stalks that jutted out from the creature’s round body. Shelden wasn’t sure if the creature had noticed him. If it did, it gave no clue. He wasn’t sure if the creature would be hostile towards him, but he wasn’t going to take a chance. Not yet, anyway.

"You still recording everything, Sylvia?" he whispered.

Yes. She whispered back. Shelden, I have bad news. In my haste to shut everything down, the bots outside have undergone a hard reset.

Wonderful. He would have to go outside to retrieve the bots, to restart them. What are the chances this creature will move on? he asked.

Unknown.

He leaned back and closed his eyes. He let the comfort of his chair take him, but the chair was little comfort now.

Memories of the past began to invade his thinking.

It was around fifteen years ago that he set out on his career as a pilot. His first job was that of a shipper for the Interstellar Consortium. It was a decent wage and a decent job. The Consortium was a trading company similar in some respects to the gargantuan Kinetica Corporation but it was dwarfed in comparison. It was Kinetica’s only competitor. Some said that the Interstellar Consortium was only kept around to keep Kinetica Corp from becoming corrupt and was in fact a subsidiary of the larger company. In the few years that Shelden was with the company, he saw no evidence that the two were even related.

While he was with the consortium, he fell in love with Rebecca Slone. She was a beautiful red head who had become his dispatch officer. The relationship was nearly perfect except for one detail that doomed it from the beginning: her father did not approve. The Slone family was well off financially and was a large financial backer of the company. Members of the family often held different positions within the company. Robert Slone, Rebecca’s father, felt that Rebecca should only date within her own social class. Shelden is below her, Mr. Slone would say.

Shelden would hear none of it. He would proceed to see Rebecca anyway. One night Shelden met with Rebecca at a local nightclub. He was going to ask her to marry him, to elope, and to leave the Interstellar Consortium. They would become freelancers. She agreed.

That’s when her father and four of his bodyguards came in, grabbed her, and took her outside while Shelden was at the bar buying drinks. Shelden and Rebecca were going to celebrate their freedom. Shelden had turned away from her for only a short time. When Shelden realized she was taken, he dropped what he was carrying and ran outside. Mr. Slone’s men forced her into the car and sped off at great speed.

But the vehicle didn’t get far. After two blocks a large tractor trailer slammed into the car. Shelden ran down the street toward the accident. But when he got there, his worst fears were realized. He forced open the crippled back passenger door and Rebecca’s lifeless body fell out and into his arms.

The look on Robert Slone’s face had mirrored that of Shelden’s. Two of Robert Slone’s men were dealing with the other two bodyguards, who were also injured. Mr. Slone knelt beside Shelden who was holding Rebecca.

You’re going to blame me for this, aren’t you? Shelden had said.

Your fault, my fault, Rebecca’s father had said, it doesn’t matter now. We both loved her in our own way. I see that now. I think it’s too late to place blame.

Shelden stayed with the company for a short while afterwards, but everything he did reminded him of her. Robert Slone’s opinion of him had completely reversed over the short time after Rebecca’s death, but it was too late. The damage was done and Rebecca was gone forever. He couldn’t handle it. He quit his job and became a freelancer, alone.

It was so long ago, but it seemed like yesterday.

Shelden rubbed his eyes and looked out through the front window of Sylvia’s bridge toward the creature, and at his three bots, who were now lifeless and vulnerable.

Thinking about her again, Sir? Sylvia whispered.

Yeah.

Outside and far away, the asteroid creature’s eye stalks started retracting back into its main body. Within moments it looked like an ordinary rock floating in space again. How could a creature like this exist? If there’s one, it stood to reason that there must be more. All movement on the surface of the creature ended.

"Sylvia, I’m going to see if the bot controller can rouse our little friends." He knew the answer to that, but decided to check again. Shelden got up and walked to the back of the bridge.

I have my doubts, Sir.

As do I. Keep an eye on that creature. If it so much as moves an inch, I need to know.

Shelden ventured to the airlock leading to the cargo hold. He donned the space suit hanging on the side wall, activated the breathing apparatus, and cycled the lock. What he beheld on the other side made all of this worth the trouble. Half of the hold was filled with the Elba crystals that his bots had been gathering. There’s a lot of money in this hold, Shelden thought.

He reached over to the podium where he had left the control. He started typing in the necessary commands to get the bots back up and running and get them back into their usual spots in the hold. "Sylvia, he said aloud, Are the bots active? Are they moving?"

I detect no movement from the bots or the creature.

He stared up at the ceiling for a moment and took a deep breath. Great. Slowly, he walked over to the storage room to the right of the airlock and opened the door. Inside were various tools, ropes, chains, oxygen tanks, and thruster packs suitable for space walks, everything one might need to perform repairs on the outer surface of the mining skiff.

In moments he had one of the thruster packs on and secured. The fuel indicator on the suit indicated that it was empty. He reached up to the top shelf and retrieved a small yellow capsule the size of an average headache pill. Within the capsule was a milliliter of liquid which had been produced from mixing water with a small Elba crystal; enough to power the suit for at least twelve hours. Below the pack’s fuel meter was a small round slot. He inserted the capsule. The meter came to life, showing that it was full. He reached over, grabbed a number of ropes, chains, and hooks and left the storage room.

Are you sure you want to go out and reset the bots with that creature out there, Sir? Sylvia asked.

Shelden thought about that for a moment as he walked toward the main exit in the back of the hold. "I can no more abandon them than I can abandon you, Sylvia."

Awe, aren’t you sweet.

In a few moments, he was at the airlock that led outside. It was a regular-sized airlock, meant for human or robot sized passersby. But it wasn’t the only exit out of the cargo hold. The entire roof of the cargo hold was able to open up into space, but he seldom used that capability, and only when the hold was empty. For a moment he turned and looked at all the Elba. Glad this stuff isn’t radioactive, he said. It was a heavy element, surprisingly stable, yet powerful when harnessed. He smiled and entered the airlock while putting the finishing touches on his suit and gear. The door slid shut and sealed behind him. All air was vacuumed out of the lock and back into the ship’s reserves.

The outer door opened into blackness. Sylvia had parked back-end-first into the asteroid’s cave. Thus there was nothing to see here. Quickly, he attached the ends of the ropes to the reel which was to the right of the airlock. The plan was to run the ropes to the bots and then have Sylvia reel them in. Shelden tested the thruster pack, sending himself end over end and side to side, finally stopping where he had begun. While in motion, he traded the ropes from hand to hand multiple times to keep from being tangled. In space there was no up, no down, no East, South, North, or West. Direction was all relative here. For Shelden, the bottom of the cave was down and the entrance up. In that orientation he imagined his mining skiff standing strait up on its hind end, though there was nothing holding the vessel to any side of the cave. It was floating in the middle.

Slowly, Shelden moved to the edge of the ship’s engines. For a moment he thought that if Sylvia went crazy and decided to kill him, all she had to do was fire up her engines. In a while he was past that area and was about to round over to the side of the ship. He fired the small thrusters near his chest, slowing his forward momentum. He peeked around the side. Is there any movement from the creature? Shelden asked.

None, Sylvia answered, her voice crackling with distortion over the helmet’s weak speakers.

Very well, Shelden said as he fired up the suit’s rear and side thrusters, rounding the outer corner of the ship. The front of the ship seemed like an eternity away. He could dial up the speed on the suit but he didn’t want to rouse the asteroid creature that seemed to be sleeping now. Do those things sleep? Did it know he was here?

There were more embedded Elba crystals at the lips of the cave. Bo, Bella, and Bear floated there in mid-task. A few of the crystals floated beside Bo and Bella. Bear had a small load in his arms which he had been moving toward his tank when he had been shut off. Dim light from distant stars shined upon them intermittently, depending on the slow movement of distant asteroids which blocked much of the light, yet reflected some of it.

Shelden was nearing the front of the ship.