by Chris Hechtl
“Well, if she wishes to stop by again, she and you are more than welcome. I'll take the time to go over all the information you provided,” the governor said, holding up the microcomputer the Neochimp had given him early on in the negotiating process. “I'm already getting addicted to this thing and playing spider solitaire on it,” the governor admitted.
That made Fred smile a tight-lipped brief smile. “I know the feeling.” He took a measured chance and extended his hand. The Tauren nodded and took it, engulfing it with his own massive one. Obviously the Tauren had been around enough Terrans to know the custom. “Until we meet again, Governor.
“Until we meet again indeed. Please pass on our sincere thanks to your medics. And thank them for the information on the plague and what to do about it. Believe me, if the pirates do come a calling we'll stay well upwind of them.”
“Good idea,” the Neochimp said as they broke the handshake. He nodded his chin to a couple of Tauren cows impatiently waiting and stomping their feet nearby. Governor Iapyx turned to look over his shoulder, then turned back and shook his head. “It never ends,” he muttered.
“No, it doesn't. I've got my own to get back to. Something tells me we're both in for the usual nagging,” he said. That got the Tauren to throw his head back and laugh. Fred couldn't help but smile as he waved and headed to the waiting shuttle.
]][#]]]{OO}===}==>
“Last shuttle is aboard, ma'am. All personnel are accounted for,” Cynthia reported.
“Good,” Shelby replied with a nod. She turned to the navigator. “Have the ships move out in formation to the jump point.”
“Aye aye, ma’am. The other ships across the star system are already en route. Is this a race?” Portia asked.
“No hurry … as long as we get there just a few seconds before everyone else,” Shelby said with a grin.
Portia snorted. “I'll see what I can do,” she said.
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When Phoebe returned to the ship, she let into her husband for all she was worth. Fred Muggs had spent days working the political scene and trying to form contacts with the planet's government; he was quite happy with the achievement despite missing out on his wife and son's fun. His innocent request of information on how their vacation had went turned into a full reaming by his wife for not being there, not warning her of the problems with their finances. “I didn't know you were going to get a ride down on a shuttle! How was I supposed to know that!” Fred said in exasperation when she stopped for breath.
Her eyes bulged in fresh rage at his impetuous desire in talking back to her. “Well, you should have! After how long I've been cooped up in this stinking place!” she said, her bottom lip quivered in anger and emotion. When he just stared at her, his own fur on end, she dropped her head and began to cry softly.
He sighed and wrap her in his long arms. “It's over now; you are safe,” he said, rubbing her back but that got her going again. She angrily pushed herself away.
“No, it's not all right! These people are barbarians! They were horribly mean to me! I didn't know, but they … they treated me like a criminal! I'm so embarrassed! I don't ever want to come back here!” she snarled.
Fred realized that the better part of valor was to keep his own counsel, especially if he didn't want to sleep on the floor, which he very much didn't wish to do. He realized quickly that if he pointed out she should have done her due diligence he'd be in more trouble so he wisely forbade that. He just came up behind her, sat quietly, and rubbed her shoulders and tried to help her calm down.
Chapter 28
“Sir, this is a space colony. We're really bypassing it?” the XO asked as they crossed the Tau-49436 star system.
“This is the last turn before we head to the base,” Captain Layafette said with a nod. “Those are our orders for the time being. We'll follow them,” he said flatly. To be honest he wanted to hit the next star system over and then turn inward, but they were running low on fuel and the crew needed some downtime.
“Understood, sir,” Commander Misaki replied, seemingly relieved.
“We're picking up a series of ion trails. They are less than a month old, sir,” CIC reported. “We're also picking up debris along this heading.”
“Debris?” the captain demanded. He turned to look at his tactical officer.
“Checking,” the tactical officer said. “It is consistent with a running battle here, sir. I think it's like looking at chum after a shark's feeding,” Lieutenant Troykov said.
“Something like that,” the XO agreed. She pursed her lips, fingertips tracing the plot. The closer they got the more pensive she got.
“Problems Number One?” the captain asked as he rose to stretch and leave the bridge.
“This debris, it isn't consistent with a boarding, sir. It looks like it was mutual fire,” the XO said.
Lieutenant Troykov looked up. “She's right, sir. I was thinking the same thing. A boarding doesn't leave any debris other than the occasional spaced body. This is different. We're seeing what looks like an engagement between two armed opponents,” he said, pointing to the debris clouds. “They are dispersing, but we can see one here,” he said. “That matches ion trail one. This,” he pointed to a second stream of debris. “That is from ion trail two. But there isn't enough mass in the debris to confirm a kill.”
“So whatever happened, someone got away,” the captain observed, crossing his arms and rubbing his chin and goatee with his hand. “Interesting. Do you think it was a spat or the Federation?” he asked.
“I'm leaning to Federation, but your point about a spat might be valid. We're supposed to be one big happy family but …,” the tactical officer grimaced.
“Point,” the captain said with an equal grimace of his own.
They had only stopped at star systems with a planetary population and only long enough to scan for water dwellers and then to spread the plague. The captain knew that Mister Flynn had come from somewhere in the sector, but where was a big question. It bothered him that they might have already spread the plague on the water dweller's planet.
They hadn't seen a single sign of a Federation presence up until that moment. Now he wondered if their next stop was safe … or even there.
“We need to spread the word about the Federation. Drop T-4 if necessary and focus on ridding the galaxy of them if necessary,” the tactical officer said. “The longer we wait, the stronger they are growing,” he warned.
“You don't approve of the T-4 plan, Lieutenant?” the captain asked mildly.
The lieutenant spread his hands apart. “I'll do my job, sir. A target is a target. But some take more of a priority than others.”
“That's why we're focusing on the planetary populations. I thought about what the admiral said. A space colony can shut off their life support in an infected section and then space it. A missile would be preferable. Given the opposition we might face in the future though … I suppose they aren't going anywhere so we can tidy them up later. Board, take what we want, the usual 'Ar me hearties' and all that bit,” the captain said.
“True, sir,” the lieutenant said, ducking his head.
“I don't like the T-4 plan; it conflicts with our other orders to find water dwellers,” the captain mused. That made the XO look up and over to him. “That's our orders though, conflicting anyway,” the captain said. “We'll just have to make the best of a bad situation.”
“Aye, sir,” the lieutenant said quietly.
“It almost doesn't seem right,” Commander Misaki said quietly as she wandered over to them. “The kids aren't at fault for being born the way they are …”
The captain looked over to his XO. “Are we going to have a problem here, Commander?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I said almost, sir. It does bother me, but I'm an officer. I know where my duty and loyalties lie, sir. I'll get the job done,” she said quietly.
He studied her for a long moment and then nodded slowly.
]][#]
]]{OO}===}==>
Captain Rinhard Scmidst looked blearily at the ship's plot. He heard some coughing and glared balefully about to find the culprit. There were four people left on his bridge, no wait, two, he realized; the others were just the backs of empty chairs. Not that they needed someone manning tactical or the comm section anyway, he thought, mind skittering about.
He deeply regretted stopping in the Platte cluster and ignoring the warnings of a plague. He and his crew were paying for it now. They'd ignored the warnings; he'd thought they'd been a ruse, that the lubbers hadn't had the tribute. Unfortunately, he'd been wrong, and half his crew were already dead or dying while the other half were barely hanging on and trying to cover for them. He scrubbed his face, feeling salt crusting in the corners of his eyes and his mouth. He tried to breathe through his nose, but he was stuffed up. He pulled out a hanky and blew his nose only to have yellow crud and then blood come out with it. He dabbed at the dribble, grimacing as he looked up to the ceiling to try to staunch the bleeding.
His beautiful Félicité was doomed. He highly doubted the crew of the medium cruiser would survive to their next port of call. If they even tried to dock at a base, they'd be blown away. No one wanted a plague ship near them. He just wished that he could get his gun sights on the bastard who'd carried the plague to Platte before he died.
Something told him that with his luck, that was just wishful thinking. He glanced over to the helm station. He wasn't even certain if they were on the right course; his head hurt too much to interpret the map correctly. Wearily he rose, holding onto the arm rests of his chair. “I'll be in my quarters. You have the bridge,” he said as he got up and walked feebly off the bridge.
The Neocat at the helm didn't even blink. He was in and out sometimes, but for the moment he was the only one on the ship who was halfway functional. He coughed again though, into his elbow in a vain attempt not to spread the crud. He grimaced at the sight of snot and phlegm on his fur, but he couldn't do anything about it; he had to focus on keeping the ship going in hyperspace.
He just hoped and prayed someone was alive when his shift ended to take over. The crew was dropping like flies.
]][#]]]{OO}===}==>
F-our weeks later Fancy and 8116 made the 3.4 light year jump in Beta to arrive at the Virgin's Holes star system. The system was thick was material from a nearby nebula being drawn in by the gravitational well of the M class star. “This place is like soup. How quaint, they just had to name something like this,” Commander Misaki said.
“Be glad it's named this. I heard some are even more vulgar,” the captain drawled. His XO looked at him curiously for a long moment. He just shrugged. She turned and looked away, shaking her head.
“Sir, we're being hailed. IFF requested,” a comm rating replied.
“No picket on this jump point, odd,” the captain said. “Comm, send our IFF.”
“Aye, sir, sending IFF.”
“There are quite a few ships in the system. More than I expected for a small support base actually,” Commander Misaki said, looking at the plot as their active sensors began to report more and more hits.
The captain looked at the plot and pursed his lips. There were several dozen starships in the system. About half were warships based on their IFF and energy signatures he judged.
“We have been accepted to the star system, sir,” the comm rating reported a few minutes later.
“Good. Nav, do you have the course plotted?” the captain asked, turning to the navigator's station.
“Aye, sir, course plotted. We're using the data in our database, sir.”
“You didn't get an update when we were in Tortuga?” Commander Misaki accused, turning to round on the junior officer.
The lieutenant squared his shoulders. “Ma'am, they refused to give me anything, just laughed when I asked.”
“Lovely,” the commander said, shaking her head. She looked at the captain.
The captain's jaw worked for a moment before he looked at the plot. “Nav, does your database square with what we're seeing on the plot?” he asked.
“Yes, sir,” the navigator said.
“Fine then, bring us in,” the captain ordered.
“Aye aye, sir,” the navigator said. He turned to the helm rating. “Helm, five point four degrees to starboard by two degrees nadir. One-half speed. Way markers and course to follow,” he said.
“Aye sir. Course five point four degrees starboard by two degrees nadir. Course one half-speed,” the helmsman parroted back.
“Comm, make sure 8116 has the same course,” the XO said.
“Aye ma'am. 8116 course telemetry being fed now,” the comm rating said.
The captain nodded. “CIC, get me an ID on those ships,” he said, considering it an exercise.
“Aye sir, ID on ships in the star system,” the rating replied from the overhead.
“And,” the captain said, rising from his chair. “I've got some more paperwork to drown in. You've got the bridge Number One,” he said to the commander.
She nodded. “XO has the bridge, aye, sir,” she murmured, standing at parade rest as the captain left the bridge. Only when he was gone did she take the hot seat.
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“They are here, sir,” Captain Baker said.
“By they, you mean …?”
“Fancy and her consort,” the captain replied.
“Ah, good. About time,” a familiar voice purred.
]][#]]]{OO}===}==>
Three days later the two ships picked their way through the star system, following the map in their databases. “That?” Commander Misaki demanded, pointing to a blinking dot on the plot that was just a blurry image of metal.
Captain Layafette checked the file and then put in an order for CIC to lock a telescope on their destination and enhance the image. Slowly an image began to fill in of their destination.
It was a refueling station orbiting a class 1 gas giant. It was a massive complex of pipes and fuel balls with docking arms stretching out from its diameter along with the bead-like giant balls that most likely contained fuel. Ships were moored to the arms. One of the biggest was a familiar black battlecruiser in the largest port. The bridge crew was surprised by the sight. “Sir, it's the Black Death. Vice Admiral Ishmael is here holding court.”
“He beat us here?” Captain Layafette demanded. “How? How is that possible? We never saw him …”
“Apparently, he knows a route and hasn't told anyone else about it,” his XO said dryly.
“Apparently,” the captain said, not happy about being caught out, nor having to face the admiral once more.
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“Captain Layafette, fancy meetin' you here,” the admiral drawled with a slight smile.
The captain bowed slightly to the admiral. “Your ship is certainly living up to its reputation as for being fierce in many ways, sir,” the captain said.
“Aye, that she is. I reserved the best for her,” the admiral purred possessively.
“Clearly our navigational database is out-of-date. Can we get an update, sir? And an updated war book while we're at it?” the captain asked.
The admiral's ears flicked. “I'll have Captain Baker look into it,” the admiral said dismissively.
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Another ship arrived on the heels of Fancy and 8116. Just as the two ships made dock, Black Corsage entered the star system at the same jump point they'd come in on. She limped into port six days later. Captain Gutt was the first person off of his ship. He was a massive and rather shaggy brown Neoorangutan with devil in eye as he made his way into the pirate lord chamber. Based on his massive size alone, he made everyone including Captain Layafette wary of tangling with him.
He wasn't certain how things would go in the next few moments. He'd transmitted his tactical data of the engagement to Black Death as instructed several hours ago. There hadn't been any commentary, just orders to report to the Lord's chamber.
“
Look what the cat dragged in. Found something too big to chew?” Captain Sam Patch of the Whidah mockingly said.
“Oh, screw you, Sam,” the Neoape captain growled, turning to glower at the other captain. “I've had the mother of all bad couple of weeks,” he snarled, running a frustrated hand through the shaggy fur over his eyes. His ship's damage was extensive as was her munitions expenditures. Both were not going to be cheap to fix and he knew it. He also knew that Virgin's Holes was not the place to make the repairs, though his crew would be able to get some of the ones they couldn't get done while underway patched up while in port. At least, they'd better, the captain thought acidly. There would be hell to pay if they got rowdy and drunk instead. The thing that bothered him the most about having to go to Tortuga was that it would send him in the opposite direction of that hated light cruiser. He burned for revenge. “We tangled with another ship under parlay. They turned out to be a Federation ship if you can believe it,” the Neoorangutan captain snarled. That got the pirate lords talking.
Captain Gutt's attention wasn't on them. He surveyed the room but then his eyes locked on the vice admiral and the new human. Both looked at each other. “You don't seem too surprised,” the Neoorangutan accused. That got the other pirate lords to quiet down as they looked at him and then to the duo he was looking at. Not many dared meet the vice admiral's eyes. Captain Gutt was crazy enough to do so on an almost regular basis.
“That's because we're not,” Captain Layafette said as he turned to the Neoape. “My ships tangled with one of them at the Tau-X3301 jump point in the Tau-T1832 star system. We caught each other by surprise on almost reciprocal courses. We had a brief and intense exchange.”
“But you destroyed the ship, right?” Captain Kitty Cat Katy of Hannah demanded.
“No. Even outnumbered she put up a hell of a defense,” Captain Layafette said. “She even managed to destroy Cytheria.”
That set the lords tittering again.
Captain Gutt snorted as he eyed the human. “One dinky ship against your lot and you lost your ship and it got away?”