Galaxy Rangers: "Time Bomb"
Chapter 5
The Rangers piled into Daisy's interceptor and headed for Entropy's
Edge. It was a tight fit, but the ship wasn't built for luxury, and
Zozo was small enough that he was able to get relatively comfortable
between the two rear seats.
Doc, of course, took the computer console. He pulled out his CDU
and triggered his badge. There was a musical sound as the power of his
implant flowed through him, and the I/O port of the CDU opened. The
bright, flashing diamond shape of Doc's power flickered into view.
A tiny, yellow ball of fire zipped out of the gate. "Firefly," Doc
commanded. "Get in there and see if you can get the Tractor Dispersion
Field working, as well as the Sensor Scrambler. We might need it on
this mission."
"Righty-O, Doc!" The little tweaker flew into the computer
panel, and lights began to flash on it. Within moments, a nimbus of
blue flame encircled the ship.
Firefly zipped back out of the panel. "You can only have one of
the two activated at a time, Doc." it said, "But I've set it so you can
switch between Sensor and Tractor Beam Jamming, using the controls."
Daisy checked her readouts. "Well done, Ranger," she said.
She pulled back on the thrust lever, and the interceptor's engines
fired. It shot forward, as a brilliant ball of blue-white light formed
ahead of them. It spread out into a star-shape as the ship shot into
Hyperspace, and then a ring of brilliance spread away from where the
ship had been.
Thousands of light years away, in an asteroid belt orbiting a
black hole, the ring of light appeared again. Daisy's interceptor
shot into view, coasting to a stop as the inertia of Hyperspace
wore of. Behind it, the star shape dwindled back into the ball of
light, and then vanished. This time, however, the light was reddish.
"Welcome to Entropy's Edge, boys," Daisy said, as the interceptor
coasted towards the largest of the asteroids.
Doc shot Daisy a sidelong glance, smiling. "Now *that's* what I
call a welcome! No bad guys welcoming us themselves with their blasters
pointed at us. Yet."
Daisy parked on a nearby asteroid, close enough to be inside the
Black Hole Gang's sensor field, but far enough away that it wouldn't be
spotted visually. The gang then changed into their familiar red and
white space suits, except for Buzzwang, of course, who just put on a
jetpack. Daisy slipped into the golden suit that came with her
interceptor.
They rocketed over to the station and landed near one of the
maintenance ports. "I've got this 'un, Ranger," Daisy told Doc.
She typed a code into the access panel, and the port opened.
The Rangers slipped through the airlock. Daisy trigged the
control, and the portal dialated shut. "All right, boys, we're
inside," Daisy said, taking off her helmet. "Where to no'?"
"Where would the girl be held?" Goose asked.
"In the prisons, most likely. I know a way." She stepped up to
another panel next to the wall, and opened an accessway into a small
tunnel. "This is a maintenance shaft. We should be able to sneak past
the internal sensors through here."
The maintenance shaft led to a narrow power conduit, and from
there to a series of ventilation shafts. Daisy led them through the
maze of passages. She seemed confident in her sense of direction, and
also knew when they were getting near inhabited areas. She motioned
the Rangers to silence as they approached one area, where there was
some obvious activity going on.
The Rangers paused above a large work area, looking out from
behind a vent high up on the wall. Machinery was moving around in the
room, members of the gang working frantically. They were producing
electronic devices of some kind, turning them out by the dozens.
"My spy told me about they'd been put to work on something
mysterious," Daisy said quietly. "I wonder wha' it is they're all
workin' on?"
"Must be related to that missing disk... well, maybe..." Doc
shrugged. "Goose, you want 'dibs' on the girl? Maybe I can get my
tweakers to uncover something important about those devices."
"All right," Gooseman agreed, "but watch out for alarms..."
"'Watch out for alarms,'" Doc echoed, as if taken aback. "My
Gooseman, you're talking to the Doctor, remember?"
"Just be careful," Goose cut in warningly. "I'll leave Buzzwang
with you. The two of you see if you can figure out what they're up.
If worse comes to worse, we may have to blow this rock to stop them."
Doc raised an eyebrow. "Glad you're on my side..."
Goose looked at Daisy. "You and Zozo are with me. If we're gonna
get the girl back, we'll probably have to fight our way through."
"I'd rather give Macross a piece o' my mind..." Daisy commented.
"An' find out abou' that disk..."
"You and me both," Doc muttered.
"We don't know where Macross is, OR the disk, so let's concentrate
on what we DO know."
"Right," Doc agreed. "You guys go on. If we can locate Macross or
the disk, we'll try and stall him until you guys can catch up with us.
Right now, getting Eve back is our first priority."
Goose continued crawling down the narrow passage, with Daisy
and the little Kiwi right behind him. Doc watched them for a moment,
then setted in front of the grille that overlooked the big room below.
He stared at the gang members moving around in the room for a second
or two, then pulled out his CDU.
A familiar hum filled the air as Doc triggered his badge. With a
series of musical tones, the glowing portal to Cyberspace opened, a
jumble of colored lines and numbers flashing within it. "Pathfinder!
Get in there and find out what they're building. And be careful you
aren't seen!"
"They'll never know I'm here, Doc!" The little blue sphere said
in its high pitched voice, as it zipped out of the gateway. It dropped
through the grille, and down out of sight, behind some boxes.
The tiny mote of light darted across the room, from box to table
and back again, working its way across the room. A gang worker turned
to examine something, and Pathfinder swooped around behind him,
slipping into his machine. It popped out the other side, and then
passed through a few more machines, as it make its way to a bank of
computers.
After a few moments in the computers, Pathfinder shot back out,
and disappeared into the wall. A few seconds later, it appeared from the
aluminum of the air duct, and returned to Doc.
"I'm not sure what they're working on, Doc," Pathfinder said.
"They're building some kind of transmitters. From the looks of it,
they're old-style radio transmitters, with a range of maybe a few
miles. They're programmed to echo any signal that they receive."
"There's hundreds of them..." Doc said, looking down through
the grate at the objects coming off the assembly line below. "Enough
to blanket an area of several thousand miles with a radio signal..."
"Doc..." Buzzwang said. He seemed to be attempting to make his
comments sound offhand. "Would it be possible for Pathfinder to
retrieve some information, and then give it to me, instead of you? I
could, for instance, analyze the information, and then erase it from
my memory... if need be..."
The hacker looked at his android companion, a wry grin on his
face. "Still thinkin' about Walsh's order not to look at the disk,
eh?"
"Well..."
"Look, Buzz, my momma didn't raise this Ranger to be no fool.
If Macross an' Kilbane BOTH think there's something on that disk that
could kill me, well, orders or no orders, I'm gonna look at it." He
grinned.
"I see..."
Doc's expression turns serious. "What is it, Buzz? You think you
know what's on that disk?"
The android paused a moment. "I'm... not sure. If I could just
get a look at one of the devices. If it is a transmitter, perhaps it
would be a good idea if I tried to find out what the frequency it
transmits is, so that we might be able to build a jamming device..."
Pathfinder glimmered in the darkness of the vent shaft, as he
darted back and forth for a few moments. "I'm sorry, Ranger Buzzwang,"
it said, "but there was no indication of what the signal was to be, or
what frequency it would be on. Those are amplifiers, designed to echo
the signal, not broadcast it."
"That makes sense," Doc said. "Kilbane didn't even have the disk
until a few days ago. These guys had to have been working on these
devices for weeks. So, they couldn't have known what the signal was
supposed to be when they designed them."
"But!" Pathfinder interrupted. "There is something else. The
devices have also been programmed with a secondary system, to detect
the hyperspace signature of a Ranger spacecraft. When the signature is
detected, another signal is sent, on standard subspace frequencies.
Maybe we could jam THAT!"
Doc nodded. "We need more information. Buzzwang, let's see if we
can find an empty room and get OUT of this ventilator. If I stay in
here one more minute, I'm gonna turn into a pretzel!"
Chapter 5
The Rangers piled into Daisy's interceptor and headed for Entropy's
Edge. It was a tight fit, but the ship wasn't built for luxury, and
Zozo was small enough that he was able to get relatively comfortable
between the two rear seats.
Doc, of course, took the computer console. He pulled out his CDU
and triggered his badge. There was a musical sound as the power of his
implant flowed through him, and the I/O port of the CDU opened. The
bright, flashing diamond shape of Doc's power flickered into view.
A tiny, yellow ball of fire zipped out of the gate. "Firefly," Doc
commanded. "Get in there and see if you can get the Tractor Dispersion
Field working, as well as the Sensor Scrambler. We might need it on
this mission."
"Righty-O, Doc!" The little tweaker flew into the computer
panel, and lights began to flash on it. Within moments, a nimbus of
blue flame encircled the ship.
Firefly zipped back out of the panel. "You can only have one of
the two activated at a time, Doc." it said, "But I've set it so you can
switch between Sensor and Tractor Beam Jamming, using the controls."
Daisy checked her readouts. "Well done, Ranger," she said.
She pulled back on the thrust lever, and the interceptor's engines
fired. It shot forward, as a brilliant ball of blue-white light formed
ahead of them. It spread out into a star-shape as the ship shot into
Hyperspace, and then a ring of brilliance spread away from where the
ship had been.
Thousands of light years away, in an asteroid belt orbiting a
black hole, the ring of light appeared again. Daisy's interceptor
shot into view, coasting to a stop as the inertia of Hyperspace
wore of. Behind it, the star shape dwindled back into the ball of
light, and then vanished. This time, however, the light was reddish.
"Welcome to Entropy's Edge, boys," Daisy said, as the interceptor
coasted towards the largest of the asteroids.
Doc shot Daisy a sidelong glance, smiling. "Now *that's* what I
call a welcome! No bad guys welcoming us themselves with their blasters
pointed at us. Yet."
Daisy parked on a nearby asteroid, close enough to be inside the
Black Hole Gang's sensor field, but far enough away that it wouldn't be
spotted visually. The gang then changed into their familiar red and
white space suits, except for Buzzwang, of course, who just put on a
jetpack. Daisy slipped into the golden suit that came with her
interceptor.
They rocketed over to the station and landed near one of the
maintenance ports. "I've got this 'un, Ranger," Daisy told Doc.
She typed a code into the access panel, and the port opened.
The Rangers slipped through the airlock. Daisy trigged the
control, and the portal dialated shut. "All right, boys, we're
inside," Daisy said, taking off her helmet. "Where to no'?"
"Where would the girl be held?" Goose asked.
"In the prisons, most likely. I know a way." She stepped up to
another panel next to the wall, and opened an accessway into a small
tunnel. "This is a maintenance shaft. We should be able to sneak past
the internal sensors through here."
The maintenance shaft led to a narrow power conduit, and from
there to a series of ventilation shafts. Daisy led them through the
maze of passages. She seemed confident in her sense of direction, and
also knew when they were getting near inhabited areas. She motioned
the Rangers to silence as they approached one area, where there was
some obvious activity going on.
The Rangers paused above a large work area, looking out from
behind a vent high up on the wall. Machinery was moving around in the
room, members of the gang working frantically. They were producing
electronic devices of some kind, turning them out by the dozens.
"My spy told me about they'd been put to work on something
mysterious," Daisy said quietly. "I wonder wha' it is they're all
workin' on?"
"Must be related to that missing disk... well, maybe..." Doc
shrugged. "Goose, you want 'dibs' on the girl? Maybe I can get my
tweakers to uncover something important about those devices."
"All right," Gooseman agreed, "but watch out for alarms..."
"'Watch out for alarms,'" Doc echoed, as if taken aback. "My
Gooseman, you're talking to the Doctor, remember?"
"Just be careful," Goose cut in warningly. "I'll leave Buzzwang
with you. The two of you see if you can figure out what they're up.
If worse comes to worse, we may have to blow this rock to stop them."
Doc raised an eyebrow. "Glad you're on my side..."
Goose looked at Daisy. "You and Zozo are with me. If we're gonna
get the girl back, we'll probably have to fight our way through."
"I'd rather give Macross a piece o' my mind..." Daisy commented.
"An' find out abou' that disk..."
"You and me both," Doc muttered.
"We don't know where Macross is, OR the disk, so let's concentrate
on what we DO know."
"Right," Doc agreed. "You guys go on. If we can locate Macross or
the disk, we'll try and stall him until you guys can catch up with us.
Right now, getting Eve back is our first priority."
Goose continued crawling down the narrow passage, with Daisy
and the little Kiwi right behind him. Doc watched them for a moment,
then setted in front of the grille that overlooked the big room below.
He stared at the gang members moving around in the room for a second
or two, then pulled out his CDU.
A familiar hum filled the air as Doc triggered his badge. With a
series of musical tones, the glowing portal to Cyberspace opened, a
jumble of colored lines and numbers flashing within it. "Pathfinder!
Get in there and find out what they're building. And be careful you
aren't seen!"
"They'll never know I'm here, Doc!" The little blue sphere said
in its high pitched voice, as it zipped out of the gateway. It dropped
through the grille, and down out of sight, behind some boxes.
The tiny mote of light darted across the room, from box to table
and back again, working its way across the room. A gang worker turned
to examine something, and Pathfinder swooped around behind him,
slipping into his machine. It popped out the other side, and then
passed through a few more machines, as it make its way to a bank of
computers.
After a few moments in the computers, Pathfinder shot back out,
and disappeared into the wall. A few seconds later, it appeared from the
aluminum of the air duct, and returned to Doc.
"I'm not sure what they're working on, Doc," Pathfinder said.
"They're building some kind of transmitters. From the looks of it,
they're old-style radio transmitters, with a range of maybe a few
miles. They're programmed to echo any signal that they receive."
"There's hundreds of them..." Doc said, looking down through
the grate at the objects coming off the assembly line below. "Enough
to blanket an area of several thousand miles with a radio signal..."
"Doc..." Buzzwang said. He seemed to be attempting to make his
comments sound offhand. "Would it be possible for Pathfinder to
retrieve some information, and then give it to me, instead of you? I
could, for instance, analyze the information, and then erase it from
my memory... if need be..."
The hacker looked at his android companion, a wry grin on his
face. "Still thinkin' about Walsh's order not to look at the disk,
eh?"
"Well..."
"Look, Buzz, my momma didn't raise this Ranger to be no fool.
If Macross an' Kilbane BOTH think there's something on that disk that
could kill me, well, orders or no orders, I'm gonna look at it." He
grinned.
"I see..."
Doc's expression turns serious. "What is it, Buzz? You think you
know what's on that disk?"
The android paused a moment. "I'm... not sure. If I could just
get a look at one of the devices. If it is a transmitter, perhaps it
would be a good idea if I tried to find out what the frequency it
transmits is, so that we might be able to build a jamming device..."
Pathfinder glimmered in the darkness of the vent shaft, as he
darted back and forth for a few moments. "I'm sorry, Ranger Buzzwang,"
it said, "but there was no indication of what the signal was to be, or
what frequency it would be on. Those are amplifiers, designed to echo
the signal, not broadcast it."
"That makes sense," Doc said. "Kilbane didn't even have the disk
until a few days ago. These guys had to have been working on these
devices for weeks. So, they couldn't have known what the signal was
supposed to be when they designed them."
"But!" Pathfinder interrupted. "There is something else. The
devices have also been programmed with a secondary system, to detect
the hyperspace signature of a Ranger spacecraft. When the signature is
detected, another signal is sent, on standard subspace frequencies.
Maybe we could jam THAT!"
Doc nodded. "We need more information. Buzzwang, let's see if we
can find an empty room and get OUT of this ventilator. If I stay in
here one more minute, I'm gonna turn into a pretzel!"