by Saxon Andrew
“Really?”
“Yes really. Under the number a list will appear of any damage you do. Victoria, why don’t you start; hit the figure in the middle of its chest and let’s see what happens.” Victoria pulled her arm back and Gem quickly corrected her, “Don’t pull your arm back. Go straight from having your hands hanging by your sides.”
Victoria lowered her arm and stood in front of the figure. Suddenly, she made a fist and hit the figure in the chest area. A black screen with a zero on it appeared. “What does that mean?” Victoria asked.
“It means all you did was make it angry if it were a real life situation. This time, focus on your hand and try it again.”
“Should I do it with a fist?”
“Yes. We’ll work on using your fingertips, a flat palm, and elbows later.”
Victoria stared at the figure and suddenly swung her fist from her side into the figure. Her fist went completely through the figure and a large red three appeared on the monitor with heart, backbone, liver, kidneys, lungs, and stomach listed under it.
Both of the women’s eyes went wide as Victoria said, “I didn’t swing that hard!”
“I didn’t see you hit it!” Desiree said shaking her head.
“That’s going to be what you have to work on. If you had hit a living person, you would have killed them instantly.”
“But I didn’t swing that hard!”
Gem clacked, “You are going to have to learn to hit to a specific depth. Focus on where you want to strike the figure and focus on how deep you want your hand to go.”
“How do I do that?”
“You’ll sense when you make contact with the surface of the figure; stop immediately if you want to just cause them to be knocked out of the confrontation. I want both of you to work on doing just that. Hit the figures in various places starting with the chin and working your way down the body. Try to score a one on each strike.”
“What happens if we decide to really put some effort into the strike?” Desiree asked.
“In a real life situation you’ll probably make a huge mess as various organs and bones splatter out of the body.”
“How are we just going to debilitate an attacker?” Victoria asked.
“Victoria, as your training progresses, the figures you will be using to train on will have special pressure points marked on them that you will press to take them down.”
“Do you think they’ll stand still for me to reach forward and press them?” Desiree asked.
“You will also need to learn how to use your superior speed.”
“What do you mean?”
“Both of you come over to the table in the corner.” They walked over to the table and Gem placed a small red ball in the center. “Victoria, I want you to observe Desiree but don’t focus on her. Just use your normal vision.” Victoria nodded. “Now, Desiree, I want you to stand here and take the ball off the table as quickly as you can. Focus on it first and then reach forward and take it off the table. Start with your hands by your side and end with them in the same place.”
Desiree stood beside the table and focused on the red ball. She reached out for it and took it to her side. She smiled and looked at Victoria whose eyes were wide open. “What?”
Victoria’s mouth was open and she said, “I didn’t see you move.”
Desiree’s head went back and Gem said, “Victoria, you do it now and Desiree, you observe without focusing.” Victoria grabbed the ball and Desiree’s eyes went wide. They looked at Gem and he said, “You will have no trouble pressing a pressure point before anyone can react. Matter of fact, you probably won’t be seen doing it. The person will just appear to collapse in front of you.”
Victoria looked at Gem, “I saw Leonidas drop two large crewmen on the Starliner and never saw him move.”
“He was a good student. You will be able to do that as well once you master using your new talents. But before you can run, you must first learn to crawl. I only want to see Ones on the monitor. You may start now.”
They went back to the figures and a new one rose out of the floor to replace the one Victoria broke in half. It took eight days before they could consistently make a One appear on the monitor.
• • •
Leonidas sat in the command chair on the Thermopylae and saw a passing Romanov Commercial Freighter was scanning his ship on the filament. They were interested in him. He pressed the ship’s intercom and said, “Gold, please come to the bridge.”
A few minutes later, Gold came through the portal, “Your crew is making extraordinary progress in using their weapon panels.”
“They have an excellent instructor. I need you to discuss an issue with me.”
“What is that?”
“I need to build a cover of being a pirate. That means I will probably have to go out and attack some vessels to steal from them. I’m reluctant to do that.”
Gold stared at him for a moment and then said, “Why? You’ve killed in the past.”
“I’ve killed those that were trying to kill me.”
“Not always. You killed those that you were contracted to kill as a mercenary.”
“I know. But this is different. I just don’t want to kill someone that poses no threat to me.”
“That poses a problem.”
“I realize that. Do you see any way around it?”
“You will either have to attack other ships or take credit for ships that others destroyed.”
“What?”
“Do you have any idea how many ships mysteriously disappear or are destroyed with no explanation every day?”
“No.”
“My warships destroy at least two or three Unity Vessels a week?”
“What?”
“You know we have ships out disguised as regular commercial vessels, don’t you?”
“Well, yes.”
“You could use the ships we destroy to build a cover. We’re certainly not going to claim responsibility.”
“Why would you kill that many Unity Ships?”
“Most of them are spies disguised as commercial vessels attempting to uncover our ships. The Unity has millions of ships in their fleets and the ones we kill are often just reported as lost to pirates. The Unity is not going to report them as warships.”
“I don’t want the Unity to decide that I’m the one doing it. They’ll send their fleets out after me.”
“How will they know?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”
“Well, what you want is a list of ships that you’ve attacked to use to provide a cover story, right.” Leo nodded in agreement. “Well, anyone can look at the list of ships reported destroyed and verify the destruction. All you need do is share the list of those you want credit for attacking to the one checking out your claims and they will see that the ships were destroyed. The fact no one was reported as being responsible will add to your cover as being incredibly sneaky in doing it without being caught.” Leo stared at Gem as he turned his head to the side, “And since all of them will be listed as commercial vessels and not warships…”
Leo smiled, “I like it.”
“Your crew will have to be instructed to know the vessels’ names and the type of ships to answer any questions thrown at them but that should be easy enough. You’ll only have to take credit for ten or so before you have to use the cover. I understand you’re going to wait nine months before you start your operation at Tortuga.”
“And if I make deposits into the account on Kellinger soon after each ship is reported destroyed…” Leo said thinking out loud.
“Your cover will hold with the Romanovs.”
Barney said from his console, “And since we know no other pirate destroyed those ships, they will believe you did it.”
“But they may have access to the information on how the attacked ship was hit. That information is available in the reports,” Embree added.
“That’s not an issue. I’ll have detailed images sent to me a
long with a recording of the actual attack. Show the recording and images to your crew and they’ll be able to answer any questions about it.”
“Let me know as soon as you hear anything about a ship that’s been destroyed.”
Gold lifted his communicator and began talking in clacks, chirps, and unintelligible sounds. He waited a moment and spoke some more. A few moment later he looked at Leonidas, “I have the images and recording from one that happened an hour ago. I’m sending it to your console.”
Leo saw the receive button on his console illuminate and he pressed it. The recording showed what appeared to be a commercial hauler being fired on by multiple blasters. The ship’s hull was breeched in multiple places and all of the lights on it went out instantly. Gold said, “The scans after the attack showed there were no survivors.”
“What prompted the attack, Gold?”
“They ordered our ship to stop and prepare to be boarded.”
Leo nodded and then smiled as he pressed the ship’s intercom, “Attention, I am going to send a recording of an attack that we are going to take credit for doing. I want you to play this recording repeatedly until you have it memorized. You will not reveal anything about who or what was on the ship if someone questions you about it in the future. Simply say you were not part of the boarding party. I will be sending you recordings like this periodically and I will quiz you on it until I’m certain all of you are telling the same story. This ship’s name was the Kilder out of Margel. Know where it was hit and be able to describe the attack in detail. You will be tested on this information before I send the next one. You’re going to need this information to provide us a cover when we go to Tortuga. What you don’t see is that the Kilder was a disguised Unity Warship and was attempting to board another ship. What they got, they deserved. Be prepared to take the quiz in two days. That is all.” Leo pressed some buttons on his console and sent the images to every crewman’s console. He turned to Gold, “Thank you.”
“It might be better for you to actually attack some ships before you actually go to Tortuga. Your crew can use the experience.”
“I’ll look for an opportunity to do just that. However, this solves my biggest issue.”
“I’m going back to work with your missile crews.” Leo nodded and Gold left the bridge.
Embree watched him leave and watched the recording, “Captain, those blasters knocked some pretty big holes in that freighter. A warship wouldn’t have sustained that much damage to its hull.”
“That’s true, but to the universe at large, they won’t know it was a warship. They’ll see it as a regular commercial freighter and those blaster hits look normal,” Leo replied.
Barney sighed, “I’m really glad the Insectoids are friends. They are far ahead of everyone else technologically.”
Carl said without looking up from his console, “Amen to that!”
• • •
Frick, Walt, and Jim watched the destruction of the freighter on their displays and Jim said, “Those blaster beams are pretty hot.”
Frick shook his head, “You think?”
Jim nodded, “That freighter had a high strength alloy hull. They’re hotter than any I’ve ever seen.”
Walt sighed, “But they didn’t use missiles. I wish I could see what they’ll do.”
“Gold says the missiles pack a more powerful punch than the blasters,” Jim said while staring at his display. He looked up, “I wonder why they didn’t use them?”
“The use of missiles would be a dead giveaway that an Insectoid Warship destroyed it,” Walt replied.
“You’re right, Walt. I wonder if the freighter reported the ship they stopped. I would expect them to report in on any ship they stopped,” Jim said as he stared at his monitor.
“Not if they were doing a little piracy on their own,” Frick replied. The other two looked at him and Frick shrugged, “I suspect the Insectoids would have heard them report in and would have just tried to run. I wouldn’t put it past Unity Ships to use piracy to increase their wealth. Notice that a very large hole is located on the top of that ship where a blaster would be housed.”
Walt smiled, “You make a very good point. Let’s watch this recording and start quizzing each other on it.” All three went back to watching the recording.
• • •
Desiree and Victoria were getting frustrated at trying to score Ones on the monitor as the loud speaker announced, “Lady Victoria, we are approaching the second intersection and will be picking up the major filament in an hour.”
Victoria looked at Desiree and she said, “I ordered the crew to address their statements to you. They need to become accustomed to doing that before we land on a planet.” She looked up, pressed a button on the wall speaker and said to Jack over the PA system, “We’ll be on the bridge before you arrive.” Desiree looked at Gem, “We need a break to settle our nerves. Frustration works against our control.”
“Yes it does. You can come back here and work on it in your spare time. Once you’re able to score eight Ones in succession, we’ll move to the next phase of your training.”
Victoria rolled her eyes as Desiree sighed and said, “Let’s go clean up and decide where we’re going.”
The two left the training room and Gem smiled. They were really doing quite well. But it just wouldn’t do to tell them. He received a message on his communicator and read it. Now that was a novel idea to build a cove, he thought. Gold didn’t understand the human’s reluctance to just go out and attack other ships but he would learn as he became more familiar with humans. Still, he did agree that Leonidas did need to make an actual attack before going to Tortuga. He’d wait and not say anything unless it was absolutely necessary.
• • •
Victoria and Desiree arrived on the bridge and they saw the intersection on the main wall monitor. It was growing larger each moment and Desiree turned to Victoria, “Do you have a preference of which galaxy we choose to visit?”
“Why would you ask me?”
“Because I’ve never had any experience with any galaxy but this one and you must have some information about others. After all, your family must have trade relations with galaxies other than this one.”
Victoria shrugged, “We do but I was never involved in any dealings with them. I’ve often thought about going to see Earth. The cradle of mankind has always fascinated me.”
Desiree shook her head, “Everyone knows Earth was blasted and pretty much destroyed thousands of years ago. The database says that humans are still there but it’s a dangerous place to live. Perhaps we’ll make the trip in the future when all this blows over.”
“Then pick one that’s not far off the major filament we’ll be taking,” Victoria said.
Desiree smiled, “Closest it is.”
• • •
A week later they sat on the bridge and Victoria sighed, “Perhaps we should choose another galaxy.”
Jack looked up from his console, “This one really is the backwater in the universe’s cesspool.”
Desiree smiled, “I’m forced to agree that the tourist planets don’t hold much competition for those in our own galaxy. There’s one more planet and it’s rated three stars on the Cartian Map. It has a funny name…Jester.”
“I wonder why it has a human term for its name,” Billy asked from the thruster controls.
Desiree shrugged, “It may not be a human term. Words can only be put together in so many ways and since the Cartian language is pretty much universally used, the term may just be descriptive of the native term.”
Victoria sighed, “I’ve found it distracting that so many aliens seem to be attracted to me. Most of the humans have kept their distance.”
Jack chuckled and Victoria looked at him, “What’s funny, Jack?”
“That’s easy. The aliens see you’re incredibly wealthy and want you to pay for their good time. The humans take one look at you and know you’re out of their league.”
“What?”
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br /> “Men are like that, Victoria. Beautiful women are looked at as something beyond their reach. They’re something to be dreamed about and admired from a distance.” Jack paused, “At least they are if they have a normal ego and aren’t extremely wealthy as well. Most of the humans in the places we’ve been are doing OK but I’ve not run across any that are wealthy. The aliens are the ones with the wealth in this galaxy.”
“Well, maybe this planet will be different,” Desiree responded as she entered Jester’s coordinates. “If this bombs, we’ll head out to anther galaxy.”
• • •
The Play Toy came off the filament and Desiree’s head went back, “I’ll say one thing; this planet has more ships above it than all the others had combined. This might be what we’re looking for, Victoria.” Victoria shrugged and Desiree lifted the communicator, “Alright, you know the drill. Those who are assigned to go to the surface with us need to get ready to leave within the hour. Keep your distance but make sure you’re close if you’re needed. Remember to carry your wrist projectors and leave your blasters on board. The standby shuttle will land and be prepared to come if you’re called.” Desiree changed the channel and said, “Gem, are you going down with us?”
“Yes, I believe I am.”
“Good, meet us in the landing bay in an hour.”
“Traffic control is contacting us,” Thomas said from the communication console.
“Get our orbital location and see it they can recommend a place for us to go first,” Desiree responded. She turned to Jack, “You have the ship.” Jack stood up and went to the command chair as Victoria and Desiree left the bridge.
• • •
Victoria and the three with her exited the tavern and turned south. Desiree had her arm inside Victoria’s as they walked and Victoria said, “This is better than the others we’ve visited.”