Read Willful Child for Free Online Page B

courses and destinations logged, and all have confirmed they are presently where they should be.”
    “Helm, set a course to take us to each automated cargo vessel in turn.”
    Sin-Dour had returned to the science station, and must have been studying the particulars of the AI vessels, for she now said, “Captain, one of the AI ships is not a cargo ship.”
    Hadrian spun in his chair. “Really? What is it, then?”
    “Private pleasure craft, sir. No crew—no biologicals aboard at all.”
    “Ship history? Who was privately taking the pleasure of this craft?”
    “Rather vague,” Sin-Dour admitted, frowning at her screen. “But worthy of note: there’s no evidence of this craft ever taking on consumables.”
    “Since when does an AI decide to become a pleasure craft so private no one’s allowed on board? Is that strange enough for you, 2IC?”
    “It is, Captain,” she said, straightening to face him, and did he note a hint of admiration in her regard?
    “Helm, let’s pounce on that yacht. Forget the rest for now. Sin-Dour, what’s the ship’s name?”
    “ IPS Tammy Wynette, sir. No, wait—it now identifies itself as The Black Hand . Oh, not anymore. Now it’s the Catch Me If You Can. ”
    Joss Sticks shouted, “Target vessel has changed course and powered up!”
    “Pursue, Helm! On screen!”
    “Now it registers as the Crap They’re On To Me— ”
    “Never mind the ship’s name, 2IC! Track and tag its antimatter signature—it’s heading into that swarm of inner satellites and junk. Screens at full. Red alert!”

FOUR
    “Lieutenant Galk! Combat cupola on the double!”
    The Varekan’s voice was laconic as it replied via ship speaker. “Presently emplaced, sir. I am tracking the rogue vessel.”
    “Electronic invasives, Galk. Shut the engines down on that yacht.”
    “Negative, Captain. All efforts blocked—this AI is able to counter even the most sophisticated suborning routines.”
    “Really?” Hadrian squinted at the main viewer. “Where is it, anyway?”
    Sin-Dour said, “We are presently twenty-two thousand kilometers from the vessel. It is a rather modest yacht, sir. Nine meters in length. Total mass—oh, what’s this? Captain! I’m now reading a humanoid life-form on board. Previously disguised by some kind of personal stealth device, I believe, sufficient to hide from passive scans, which has just failed due to the intensity of our active scanning.”
    “Joss, extreme magnification on the target!”
    Something blazed onscreen, a raging fire that bathed the entire bridge in blinding light.
    “What is that?” Hadrian demanded.
    “Extreme magnification, sir! I think it’s a thruster!”
    “Back off a few stops, will you? I think my retinas are on fire.”
    The view pulled back to reveal a slim, elegant vessel. It was sliding planetward, almost skipping the atmosphere. Plasma bloomed and then faded, and then bloomed again.
    “The rogue vessel’s engines are straining, Captain,” said Sin-Dour. “Now fourteen thousand kilometers.”
    “Galk! Ready a missile.”
    “Shall I obliterate the enemy, Captain?”
    “No! A small missile. Take out its in-system drive.”
    “I would rather use the starboard railgun, sir. Kinetic.”
    “You think you’re that good, do you? If you mess this up, Lieutenant, I’ll have you hunting dustballs with a hand-pump vacuum cleaner on Deck Twenty.”
    “Understood, sir.”
    “Sin-Dour, ready the gravity snare.”
    Hadrian licked his lips. This was what the space age was all about. The Willful Child shuddered as the starboard railgun powered up, electromagnetic fields churning to insane levels along the ultracooled track. In his mind he saw the selected projectile edge free along its angled runner, rolling gently down to drop and then halt in midair, trapped in the EM fields. “Galk! What’s the mass of the projectile you’re using?”
    “Bee Bee.”
    “Bee Bee?”
    “It is the size of a Bee Bee, sir. Copper, not lead. Not a pellet,