Beyond the Event Horizon by Albert Sartison Read Free Book Online Page A

remember unpleasant stories about space robbers. If
you have experienced their cruelty first-hand, any pity for the
corsairs instantly evaporates.
    “Attention
unidentified ships on approach course, this is the captain of
EMC1906. I consider your actions an attempt to seize my ship. I
order you to cease your pursuit. Change course,” said Kimble, and,
after switching off the microphone, added: “I bet they don’t bat an
eyelid.”
    Silence was
the response. Kimble waited several minutes and repeated the
warning. The pirate ships continued to fly on the same course, as
if they had not heard the captain.
    “Attention
unidentified ships. This is the captain of EMC1906. Change course.
This is the last warning. Keep at a distance of not less than one
million kilometres. We are authorised to use force without further
warning.”
    Kimble
grimaced at his own words.
    “I hate having
to warn the enemy.”
    Steve just
shrugged his shoulders.
    “Flight rules
are what they are. You can’t do otherwise.”
    “Exactly.”
    Kimble
patiently waited another few minutes. There was no response from
the ships, nor were they going to change course.
    “They are not
reacting at all,” said Steve, somewhat surprised.
    Kimble
laughed. “Of course they aren’t. They think we’re ordinary
civilians, just bluffing.” He looked at the clock again.
    “All right,
they don’t want to listen to the voice of reason...” He switched
off and contacted Toshi.
    “Let the birds
out of the nest,” he ordered him.
    Toshi could be
seen on the image from the camera in the cargo compartment standing
next to the drones and saluting, then keying something in on his
tablet. Vapour issued from the tails of the drones, and Toshi
hurried towards the exit. The magnetic soles made movement
difficult, particularly running. Toshi was lifting his knees
unnaturally high, trying to run as fast as possible before the
cargo compartment became filled with mist.
    Eventually,
the drones started their engines. The screen showed their tail ends
beginning to light up. The first one rose slowly and floated to the
exit. A few seconds later, the second one followed.
    Kimble
switched on communication with their onboard computers. All systems
were working normally. Their coordinate system was linked directly
to the heart of EMC1906, its reactor. Now they were moving at two
and a half metres a second relative to the ship.
    When the first
one went out into space, the ship’s computer divided the picture
into two parts. One part of the screen showed the view from the
external camera, the other showed the view from the cargo
compartment. A few moments later, the second one passed through the
lock. By that time, the first one had already turned and
accelerated away from the ship towards the pirates. Its speed
rapidly increased to 100 metres a second. The second one followed,
a few dozen seconds behind it in flight time.
    The external
camera tracked them, keeping them in the centre of the picture and
gradually increasing the optical magnitude. Then the image suddenly
disappeared and reappeared. Now the picture was coming from a
telescope. Both drones were clearly visible against the background
of the black starry sky, although they were covered in
light-absorbing paint. The speed readings increased still further
to 500 metres a second. Now the two drones, which so far had been
flying in the same direction, accelerated in absolute
synchrony.
    1000 metres a
second, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000...
    After passing
the five thousand mark, the computer changed the units to
kilometres a second.
    6.0... 6.5...
7.0... 7.5 kilometres a second...
    “Why have they
separated?” asked Steve in surprise.
    “They will
approach the target from different sides. It’s harder to neutralise
them that way,” replied Kimble calmly. He leaned back in his seat
and put one leg on the console in front of him.
    “When will
they be in position?”
    “In three or
four hours,” replied the Captain, not taking