by Peter Rhodan
She nodded to Corinne as the woman moved towards the Imperial shuttle. Corinne sort of hesitated, turning her head toward Gizel for a second then moving towards the Imperial ship once more.
“Aye aye, sir.” Came the reluctant-sounding reply from the shuttle pilot
Corinne disappeared into the shuttle and it took off. Once clear of the hanger, Lothar activated the door control to close the bay door and then the ship pressurized the hanger automatically.
“At least that’s still working,” Gizel commented, back on the general channel.
Karvon turned his head with a sudden suspicion of just whom it was he was conversing with.
“Our bay’s so shot up we can’t pressurize it. It’s a wonder the shuttle still works.” she added.
Karvon paused, looked as if was going to say something, then appeared to remember the situation they were in and turned towards his people.
“Right. Lothar and Krevis, the tactical center, which is still operational it appears. Moxton and Juxton, engineering.”
He paused and looked at Gizel. She realized what he was waiting for immediately.
“Sergeant Jones and Harmon with their people towards the bridge, Lukic and Gordo to engineering. These people are very experienced at boarding hostile vessels. Follow their orders as if I issued them. Understand?”
The four marines turned their heads briefly towards Dockson then nodded.
“Aye, aye.” They all parroted, and the two groups headed out of the shuttle bay.
She turned to Dockson.
“I think you and Lentar should work your way forward rounding up the survivors and checking the damage.” she paused and looked over at Karvon. “You guys hit their bridge?”
“Yes. You’ll have difficulties in that area of the ship. Same in engineering,” the Brython offered.
“Right. Well, do what you can Sergeant. Dedsun, take Morgan and head rearward checking the areas the engineering fellows have bypassed. Stallon, take Brone and check their other shuttle hanger. If it’s intact we’ll use that for the prisoners. Otherwise, see what condition their mess is in.”
Dedsun clearly hesitated because the orders she had just given would leave Gizel alone with Karvon. She held up an armored hand.
“Go. This man is an old friend so I will be perfectly safe.”
This caused the remaining Imperials to turn their helmets towards Karvon and then back to her.
“Get moving,” she ordered in a much more serious voice.
Dockson recovered first. “Right. You heard the officer. Let’s get moving.” And they all filed out, leaving her alone with Karvon. Once the troops had left Karvon popped his helmet. He was still just as handsome as ever. She popped her helmet as well and smiled at him.
“Fancy meeting you here.” she offered.
He frowned at her. “More to the point, what are you doing here?”
“Being rescued by you. Again. I thought that was obvious.”
She smiled sweetly at him.
“Fuck!” He exclaimed but he didn’t really look that upset at seeing her again.
She moved a little closer.
“So, how did you manage to arrive just in nick of time, yet again?”
He scowled, but not at her, she thought.
“We received a priority dispatch from Travgar, personally, asking us to come out here and find your ship. Then transmit a coded message, which I presume was either for you or the Captain, but I don’t know what it contains. Nor was I told you were aboard the ship, of course.”
It was her turn to frown.
“The message you carried was a warning about a possible trap and instructions to fall back into the New Victoria system and await further orders and, or, a task force. It’s a bit late for that now.”
He nodded at this, still frowning. She studied him for a moment. Now she had butterflies! Ha. Pirate cruisers were no problem, but hunky Brythons? They were another matter entirely!
“There was a small frigate size pirate ship we chased here. It fled through the jump point, and then just as we approached the gate this cruiser jumped us on. No warning, no message, just up shields and opened fire.
“Yeah. We saw that bit. So, there is a frigate as well. Just a second.” He put his helmet back on enough to use the comms and after a minute took it off again. “I told Andreas to move the Kormorant away a little and keep the shields up in case the other pirate comes back through the gate.”
She nodded. “Good. Our ship’s a mess.” she paused and her lip quivered, then she looked up at him. “We were done, you know.” Her voice wavered a little. “I wasn’t sure your ship was the Kormorant or another pirate vessel until you opened fire. We had a little emergency power, only close contact sensors, all our weapons were down and I doubt either the engines or the power plant can be repaired out here.” She stopped and looked down. “We lost most of the crew and life support will probably fail before the emergency power runs out.”
She knew what she was now feeling was a reaction to the battle. She wanted him to hold her, which was a little silly considering they were both wearing armor. She moved toward him and then he was holding her anyway. She looked up at her rescuer and his face was just as beautiful as she remembered it. He looked down at her and it lost the harsh expression it had before. They stared at one another for a few seconds. Her heart started racing and she knew her feelings hadn’t changed, even after all this time. And it wasn’t just his amazing eyes, or the handsome shape of his jaw; it was something more than that. He had a presence, an aura, and a calmness that affected all those around him. She had never seen him flustered or uncertain. And he had saved her again! Now he’ll just think that’s why I’m blushing and looking at him like I’m some stupid teen soap opera starlet.
But he was right here and he was holding her, armor, or no armor, and she could feel herself smiling up at him and she felt him starting to respond in kind. She moved her head closer and was hoping to be kissed when they heard the tramp of armored feet coming along the corridor. They moved apart. Private Stallon entered the shuttle bay.
“Ma’m,” he said after saluting. “We have a situation.”
Karvon and Gizel looked at each other, both raising their eyebrows to the other in a, what the fuck now moment?
“Tell me,” Gizel commanded.
The ImpSec man hesitated.
She nodded at Karvon. “He knows who I am,” she stated.
The man’s head pivoted towards Karvon for a moment as he considered this breach of security and then settled for returning to his original task.
“Hostage situation, Your Highness. The person is holding a gun to an apparent non-combatant female civilian and demanding to speak to the captain of the cargo ship. I believe, given the current circumstances, that would be you, sir.”
He turned to look at Karvon.
“It would indeed. And who is the fellow?” Karvon asked, his tone all business now.
The ImpSec man appeared nervous and was clearly trying to prevaricate. It was the first time Gizel had ever seen someone prevaricate in space armor.
“What is it Luco?” she asked.
She watched him hesitating and even through the helmet she could tell he was uncomfortable. She reached over to Karvon and put a hand on his shoulder.
“It’s fine Luco. Karvon is a friend.”
This had the effect of stopping the man’s fidgeting and replacing it with a sort of stunned motionlessness. I may have misled him a little there, Gizel decided. Finally, he seemed to overcome his internal demons.
“Your Highness. The man, the man brandishing the weapon, it is your uncle, The Duke.” Stallon said and suddenly he was all formal again.
“What!” Gizel blurted out.
“Are you sure?” Karvon asked, projecting calm and command at the same time.
“Yes sir. We’ve taken care to not mention any ranks, Sir. Ma’m,” he said carefully.
Karvon frowned, but Gizel nodded, putting her helmet back on.<
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“Good man!” She turned to Karvon. “Answers finally. Maybe. We’ll keep my identity secret for a little longer I think.”
Karvon had followed suit and with his helmet back on discovered a whole bunch of people wanted him. He sorted them out and turned to Gizel.
“Sorry. The ship appears to be secure.”
Gizel nodded. “What I’m being told too. Let’s see what my uncle is up to. And no names, I’m just a Kimerian marine attached to you for the boarding operation.”
Karvon nodded. “Right. I see.” He turned to the ImpSec man. “Lead on, Luco, was it?”
“Private Luco Stallon, Imperial Security, sir. Best I appear to be just another marine for the present I think.”
“I quite agree, Private Stallon. Let’s go.”
And the two of them followed the ImpSec man into the corridor. They encountered Dockson and Krevis in the mess as they made their way through the ship. “Cap. We talked to a couple of the prisoners who seem willing to open up in exchange for not getting spaced. The fellow in the suite claimed to be a Kimerian industrialist named Petro Kugar.”
Gizel nodded. That was the Duke’s personal name of course. It struck her as strange he had made no attempt to hide his identity. What was he thinking?
“This was a communal merc ship previously. Spent several years contracted to the Alandia Federation but left that contract and hasn’t done very well since. They were in pretty poor shape and in need of a lot of repairs when this Kugar individual approached them. He paid for a complete refit and then brought them out here four months ago. He had already contacted the pirate mob and the plan was to trap the Thister, pretty much exactly as they did.”
Karvon nodded. “Thanks. Don't mention that some of them talked to the other prisoners. We’re going to go and negotiate with him now. No one breathe a thing about who she is.” and he pointed at Gizel. “Something is really rotten about all this and I’m pretty sure he’s the one making the stink. So everyone here is either a common Imperial Marine or from my ship.”
They nodded, and then Dockson and Krevis followed behind as they headed down the main corridor until they reached the cabin in question. The door was closed and it was being guarded by a marine and Dedsun, who of course was dressed in marine armor as well.
“Situation?” Karvon demanded as they arrived.
“The fellow has relaxed a bit but is still demanding to see the captain of the freighter.”
“Right. Well, let’s not disappoint him.” He looked at Gizel. “You?”
“Yes.”
“No.” Came three voices almost simultaneously.
“Yes. This is an Imperial Security situation. It’s my call and I’m going in gentlemen. You are all staying out here. It will be fine. Trust me.”
She tried to sound more confident than her stomach would admit. She had a sick feeling which was the result of suddenly finding her uncle way out here in the middle of nowhere, and worse, that seemingly he was in charge of the plot to kill her. She thought of all her crewmates who had just died as a result of his actions! She could feel her anger rising and tried to keep a lid on it.
The three of them looked like that was the last thing they wanted her to do, but she had changed a lot since she’d started late at the Fleet Academy and had had to work like a navvy to catch up. Between that and her training as an Imperial Princess, she had developed a confidence about her that officers didn’t normally gain until they had served several years at least. On top of that came the horrors she had just experienced and they had wrung their own changes too. The men reacted to her tone of voice and didn’t attempt to argue any further.
She held up her hand as the two of them moved to the door. Karvon hit the switch and it slid open revealing an opulent if not overly large cabin. Large enough for a double bed though. Next to it stood a solid, greying man of around two meters in height. He held a woman by the shoulder and had a blaster sort of pointing at her head.
“Who are you?” he asked.
Karvon nodded in a friendly manner.
“I’m the Captain of the Kormorant. This is my Imperial aide, minder? I’m not sure which. Anyway, what can I do for you?”
The man peered at him. Not that he could see much given the Nordland armor Karvon was wearing.
“Brython eh? What’s your name?”
“Karvon Alistair.”
“Alistair is it? Any relation to Baron Huntsmouth?”
“Second son sir.”
He nodded again and moved a step to the left.
“Funny place to find a Baron’s son. Captaining a cargo ship out here on the fringes.” the older man said looking suspicious.
“I could say the same about a Kimerian Duke. In my case, let’s just say my father and I didn’t see eye to eye over certain matters and I caught the first ship leaving orbit.”
He waved a languid hand while saying this in his best Brython aristocratic manner. Something he hadn’t used in years. Apart from the occasional trip home.
The Duke frowned at him. “Hmmph. You recognized me then.”
“The first Imperial in here did. I’ve never seen you before, I don’t believe.”
Karvon moved slightly to his left and waved a hand.
“This all seems a bit strange, a ship with a Kimerian Duke on it shooting up a Kimerian destroyer.”
The Duke eyed him for a moment, and then glanced at Gizel, who remained anonymous in her unmarked marine space armor.
“I had my reasons. This is my personal transport. Unfortunately, your arrival wrecked my plan to eliminate someone, ostensibly by a pirate attack.”
Karvon shifted his weight, moving slightly to his left. Gizel suddenly realized he was deliberately separating them and moved her weight to her right to begin a gradual shuffle of her own. Her souvenir blaster, which was surprisingly accurate, hung off her right hip in the special holster she’d had one of the engineering staff make up for her. If she moved and angled just a little…
“Well if your plan was to kill someone aboard that ship then you might still have achieved your goal. They took some pretty heavy casualties as I understand it.”
The Duke looked at him for a moment. Glanced at Gizel who tried to look innocent, which was a bit difficult to portray when she was covered from head to toe in space armor, but she tried to project her fake feeling of innocence. He looked back to Karvon.
“You don’t know who was aboard that destroyer, do you?”
Karvon shrugged, an expression that you could carry through in space armor.
“Apart from a shipload of Kimeria Naval personnel, no.” he sounded like he meant that.
“I see.”
The Duke stared at Karvon and Gizel inched a bit further to her right.
“Well, as you’ve wrecked my transport, I feel you owe me a trip out of here. Operating out here on the fringes means you probably aren’t making much of a living. You do take passengers, don’t you? Very well-paying ones of course.”
Karvon waved a hand and stepped a little further to his left.
“Perhaps. If you tell me why you attacked that destroyer.” he held up a hand. “I’m merely curious. Seems to be a very odd thing to be doing.”
They stared at each other for a few moments. At least she assumed Karvon was staring, as she couldn’t actually see his face through the armor. Finally, the Duke shrugged.
“My only daughter was killed when Kimerian Marines assaulted a ship she was on, which had been captured by pirates. I was in the process of securing her release myself, by paying a ransom, when the Kimerian officer in charge launched his attack. I was simply trying to return the favor to the person who was ultimately responsible for the death of my daughter.”
Gizel could quite clearly see the pain and anger the man felt. She vaguely remembered the incident he had just described from her studies at the Academy. It happened when she was like five or something. And he was still holding a grudge?
“His daughter was aboard that destroyer.”
Karvon shifted his weight, still edging left.
“Seems a bit baroque. Still, it’s not my problem. Destroying a Kimerian warship is a whole different kettle of fish though, which is why I intervened. I’m not real big on piracy, you have to understand, being an honest trader of sorts.” Gizel nearly laughed at the way he made himself sound very dodgy. “And anyway, sooner or later the Imperials will turn up looking for their missing ship and asking lots of unpleasant questions.”
The Duke nodded. “Hence my inquiry about safe passage out of here.”
Karvon nodded. “There is also the problem of you having been recognized by some of the Kimerians.” He inclined his head at Gizel. Damn him! If she didn’t know better she’d be getting worried about now.
The Duke nodded. “I don’t suppose you would be amenable to solving the witness problem…” At Karvon’s shake of his head he continued. “No. I figured as much.”
Karvon waved a hand and moved slightly further to his left.
“There is another alternative….”
The Duke turned his head, distracted by the way Karvon waved his hand. Gizel pulled out her souvenir blaster and fired from the hip, hitting her uncle between the eyes, almost. Not that it really mattered as the shot took off the top of his head. The hand he was holding the blaster in spasmed and the gun went off, but the shot went into the ceiling. The woman he was holding hostage screamed, and screamed. She kept on screaming, standing in the middle of the room like a ninny.
Gizel marched across the floor space and slapped her in the face making sure to moderate the blow from her armored hand.
“Shut up you idiot.” Then she looked down at her uncle, shook her head, and then turned to Karvon. “Easiest this way,” she said simply and began loosening her helmet.
After a moment he followed suit. “Dockson? You can come in now. What’s the situation with the rest of the ship?”
The cabin door opened and four men piled in. Dockson looked at the body on the floor and then at Gizel’s hand, which was still holding the gun.
“Now we’re in a pickle.” he offered.
Gizel shook her head. “Clear case of Treason. The attempted assassination of a member of the Kimerian Imperial Family, the perpetrator caught in the act and summarily executed. No pickle.” Her voice was firm, and she appeared completely in control. Before they could do anything else the situation changed again.