by Henry Vogel
I looked around the table. “Everything we’ve done for the last six months has led to this point. Our success will not only free those held by the pirates, it will save countless thousands of lives which would have been lost to these pirates in the future. Today, Aashla emerges from galactic obscurity. Today, we write her name into galactic history!”
Heading back to the bridge, Martin spoke quietly. “That was a very inspiring little speech you gave at the end of the meeting, but you know it’s complete bunk. It’s a big galaxy and news of our raid against the pirates — no matter how daring — won’t hold the public’s attention for more than a few hours.”
“I don’t know, Martin, you’re the one talking about the pervasive mythology surrounding pirates. There’s something about piracy that sparks our imagination and it includes those who fight it.” Martin still looked skeptical, so I said, “Let’s test it. How many pirates can you name from Earth’s ancient days of salt water sailing ships?”
Without thinking, Martin replied, “Blackbeard, Long John Silver, and Captain Jack Sparrow. I could name a few more if I gave it some thought.”
“I’m pretty sure Blackbeard wasn’t real — the stories have his headless body swimming around his ship, you know — but you’ve still proven my point. It’s been thousands of years since any of those men hoisted the black flag, but you know their names because humans find piracy fascinating. A thousand years from now, someone will probably still tell stories of the infamous pirate Captains Caudill and Quint and how they were brought low by a bunch of Lost Colonists flying a captured pirate ship and led by a reformed air pirate.”
“Well, when you put it that way, there is something rather mythical about this whole venture,” Martin mused. “If you want to take it even deeper into mythology, our tale even has overtones of the Trojan Horse.”
I clapped Martin on the back. “Now you’re getting into the spirit of the adventure!”
The hatch opened before us and we strode onto the bridge, Martin taking the command chair with me taking a computer station.
“Nist, report.”
“We are just about to round the last buoy, Martin.”
“Good.” Martin turned toward me. “David, has the course through the asteroid field been uploaded into your old messenger drone?”
I began verifying the upload right after we entered the bridge. Heidi suggested using the old drone I’d fired off when I first exited the wormhole over Aashla as our insurance policy. The idea met with universal support. The drone led Caudill right to our planet and caused me some problems when Caudill’s crew cracked the encryption and figured out who I was, but now it might save our lives.
“Yes, this course is recorded, another course is set for the nearest naval base, and our cry for help is intact. The thruster burn timer is set to thirty minutes,” I said.
“Good. Release the drone.”
The drone drifted free, then we rounded the last buoy and a huge opening yawned in the large asteroid before us. Beyond the opening, we saw a well-lit, well-equipped docking bay. Within, I counted six ships with space marked for one more.
“Oh joy. It looks like all the pirates are at home right now,” I said.
“Of course,” Martin sighed. “The rescue would be too easy if half the ships were out prowling.”
“Oh mighty pirate captain?” Nist sang out. “The big hole in the bigger rock is glowing.”
“Hm? Oh, that. Don’t worry about it, Nist. That’s an atmospheric energy shield. It keeps the air in the docking bay from leaking out. We’ll pass right through it.”
I went to the communications console. “Heidi, can you give me a ship-wide channel?”
Her fingers flew across the console. “You’re on, fearless leader!”
“All hands, this is David Rice. We are entering the pirate base as I speak. Everyone knows the plan and their part in it, but I want to remind you all of a few things. All of you now speak galactic basic well enough to understand what the pirates are saying. I cannot stress how important it is for us to hide that knowledge for as long as possible. There’s no telling what we can learn if the pirates believe we can’t understand them.
“With that said, don’t wander far from the ship, do not go out alone, and check your honor at the airlock. Reacting to an insult will give away our language advantage and put the pirates on alert.
“Finally, all of the pirate ships using this base are docked. The bad news is we’re more heavily outnumbered than anticipated. The good news is we can take out half a dozen of the galaxy’s worst criminals all at once. Keep a clear head and stick to the plan. Failure is not an option. Rice out.”
“David?” Martin said. “We may have to modify that plan a bit.”
“What do you mean?”
Martin pointed at a dozen locations in the docking bay. “Those are military-grade automated defense lasers. If we take off without sending the proper pass code, the lasers will cut this ship to pieces!”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Martin and I stared through the view screen at the automated defense lasers.
“We can’t leave the docking bay with those in place and the navy will get sliced to ribbons if the lasers are active when they come to our rescue.” Martin turned to me. “Have you got any bright ideas?”
I shrugged. “We’ll have to find a way to disable them, obviously.”
Laura, who had been on the bridge observing, stepped up to Martin and me. “Let me guess, you’re scrapping the carefully laid plan”
“Bad plans are scrapped at the last minute, my good woman,” Martin said. “Good plans simply require a few revisions!”
“Well, my good man, when you put it that way I feel so much better!” Laura replied.
I couldn’t tell if this was stress-relieving banter or if nerves were stretched to the breaking point. Before I could think of something to say to defuse the situation, Callan stepped in.
“Laura, to protect their wives, your husbands are forced to perform maintenance for the base, right?” When Laura nodded, Callan continued. “You and the other ladies on this ship were in the same position with Caudill. You used your positions to sabotage his ship.”
Martin and Laura flashed grins at each other.
“I told you we had a good plan, Laura.”
“And the simple revision is our husbands disabling the lasers!”
“While David and I are leading the captains on the wild treasure chase!”
“And when the two of you get back, we can just power up and leave!”
Callan frowned. “You hadn’t mentioned David going with you, Martin.”
“We’ll need a pilot and I can’t trust anyone the captains choose. And six against one is much worse odds than six against two.” Martin gave her a smile. “Consider it one last adventure for David. Something he can tell your grandchildren about when he’s a doddering old man.”
Callan sighed and slipped her arm around my waist. Anything she might have said was cut off when Nist spoke.
“We’ve docked, Cap’n! All engines stopped.”
Through the view screen, we saw men entering the docking bay.
“Time to go meet the Brotherhood,” Martin said.
A moment later, the airlock cycled and we stepped off the ship. Arrayed before us were the six pirate captains.
Footsteps rang on the ramp behind us as Rupor ran out to join Martin, Laura, Callan, and me. The pirates didn’t so much as glance at the prince. They were much too busy leering at Callan. It appeared women were as rare among pirates as the stories said, because the six pirates acted like they hadn’t seen a woman in ages.
Speaking his native language, Rupor said, “I have half a dozen men armed with lasers stationed just inside the airlock. I doubt we’ll need them, but I prefer to err on the side of caution.”
It was a good idea, one I wish I had considered. Rupor’s military training proved useful months ago when we captured the ship and it was proving useful again.
Quint grimaced at Rupor and growled, “What’s the elsie sayin’?”
“Elsie?” Martin asked.
“El Cee. Lost Colonist,” Quint said. “How long you been on that planet, Bane?”
“Eighteen years.”
The pirates all nodded as if that explained everything. “There been a spate o’ lost colonies being found in the last few years. Newsies called ‘em Lost Colonists but most folks just shortened it to elsie,” Quint said. “So, what’s the elsie sayin’?”
“He said he stationed six men with lasers inside our airlock as a precaution against treachery.”
The pirates muttered and exchanged glances before Quint scowled and said, “You don’t trust us, Bane?”
“Ah, how utterly foolish of me,” Martin replied. “I thought I had joined a pirate Brotherhood, not the Fractured Feelings Fraternity of Fragile Flowers.”
Quint’s scowl deepened and the other five pirates cast hard glares at Martin. Martin folded his arms and met the glares with the mocking smile he does so well. Quint barked a laugh, quickly followed by the other five captains.
“I believe you’ll do right fine, Bane,” he said.
The light patter of feet on the ramp sounded behind me. I didn’t even need to hear her speak to know who it was.
“What did I miss?” Megan asked.
Megan’s arrival did draw some open stares away from Callan, at least.
“Well now, seems t’ me you found yourself a secret source o’ fine lookin’ women, Bane.” Quint was back to growling. “The rules of the Brotherhood say share and share alike!”
The other five captains muttered “Yeah" and “Tha’s right" while their eyes darted back and forth between Callan and Megan. They were almost drooling after Quint’s pronouncement. I wanted to step between the pirates and Callan in the worst way. Callan laid a hand lightly on my arm, so I stayed put.
Martin’s voice cut through the building tension. “You don’t have any kind of stupid ‘sharing’ rule, Quint.”
“I been part o’ this Brotherhood fer nigh on thirty years, Bane. You been part o’ it fer ten minutes. Who do you think knows more ‘bout the Brotherhood?”
“Caudill’s files had a copy of the captain’s agreement for the Brotherhood. If I’d found anything so idiotic as a sharing agreement in the articles, I’d never have contacted you.”
One of the other captains piped up, “It’s an unwritten rule.”
The other four captains nodded. Quint kept his gaze steady on Martin, watching and, I expect, evaluating him.
“Is that so?” Martin asked. Martin pointed at Laura. “Then perhaps one of you gentlemen could explain why Caudill had all of the wives on his ship?”
More muttering from the five, then one said, “Caudill was different. And you ain’t Caudill!”
“No, I’m not. Caudill is dead. His ship is my ship now.” The captains stopped nodding. “One of your written rules provides very detailed rules for settling disagreements between captains. Quint, the next time you or your little Greek Chorus make another ridiculous claim, I will follow those rules to the letter and deprive one of these six ships of its captain.”
Martin’s glare swept across the six captains. “Are we clear, gentlemen?”
For the second time since we exited the ship, Quint burst out laughing. “Caudill was a good captain, but I think we be trading up with you!” Quint pretended to wipe tears of laughter from ice cold eyes. “Now, ‘bout Caudill’s treasure-”
“We’ll talk treasure after Laura and her friends see their husbands.”
“I told you we’d work that out, Bane.”
“And I’m telling you we’ll work it out first, Quint.”
“You puttin’ pleasure slaves ahead o’ treasure?”
“No, I’m putting my crew ahead of a treasure that isn’t going anywhere.”
“Yer crew?” one of the Greek Chorus said. “But Caudill-”
“For the last time, I. Am. Not. Caudill.” Martin turned back to Quint. “Well?”
Quint raised a wrist comm to his mouth. “Send ‘em in.”
The docking bay hatch slid open and a crowd of men hesitated before walking forward. Laura gave a small gasp and went flying across the bay. Behind us, dozens of feet rang on the boarding ramp as the rest of the women followed her.
Martin watched for a few seconds then said, “Now we can talk about treasure.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Martin turned to me and spoke in Mordanian. “I’m off to discuss treasure with these lovely gentlemen. You’re in charge until I return.”
Martin’s lines were for the recordings the pirates were bound to be making. In the short time we expected to be with the pirates, we doubted they would record a large enough sampling of Mordanian for their computers to complete a translation. Even so, we saw no reason to take chances.
“Yes, sir, Cap’n,” I replied.
Martin turned back to Quint, switching back to galactic basic. “Lead on, Captain Quint.”
Quint cocked an eyebrow as Laura and the man I assumed was her husband strolled, arm-in-arm, toward the boarding ramp to our ship. “And where do you think you be goin’, Mister Barrages?”
Laura’s husband stiffened and I heard a tremor in his voice when he replied. “I’m going to spend time with my wife, Captain Quint, as you promised I could.”
Other couples trailing along behind Laura and her husband stopped to watch. I saw fear written on the faces of the men and uncertainty on the faces of their wives.
“I know what be promised and what ain’t promised,” Quint growled. “You got a big ol’ room where all of y’all sleep. Git on along back there.”
Martin stepped between Quint and the couple. “I told you, Quint, I take care of my crew. That includes a little privacy for family reunions.” Martin turned to the couple. “You may carry on, Laura.”
Laura started toward the boarding ramp, pulling on her husband’s arm.
Martin looked at the other couples. “That applies to the rest of you, as well! Enjoy yourselves.”
Quint and the other captains scowled but said nothing as the couples streamed past them.
“You made a bunch o’ pleasure girls part o’ your crew, Bane?” Quint asked after the last couple had entered our ship.
“No, I made skilled techs my engineering staff,” Martin replied. “If I hadn’t done that, I’d still be on that lost colony and you wouldn’t be about to discuss the division of Caudill’s treasure.” Martin motioned toward the docking bay doors. “Shall we have that discussion, gentlemen?”
Watching Martin and the captains walk away, Megan said, “Those men are not happy with Martin!”
“Tell me something I don’t know!” I replied.
Typical of Megan, she took it as a challenge.
“Those husbands are all terrified of their captors,” she said. “All of them except Heidi’s husband.”
As Megan’s words sank in, I nodded my head toward our ship. “Let’s go inside and discuss this further.”
Switching from observant to obstinate, Megan asked, “Why? It’s not like any of the pirates can understand us.”
“Is ‘because I asked politely’ sufficient?”
“Oh, wait!” she said, comprehension dawning. “It’s because of those ‘recording’ things you’ve told us about, right?”
A few pirates looked up at Megan’s words. Well, at one of her words. There is no Mordanian word for ‘recording,’ so we’d simply used the gal base word. Hearing a familiar word from people who aren’t supposed to speak his language might make a pirate suspicious.
I looked at the men around us and didn’t see any narrowing of the eyes or anyone hurrying off to report the verbal slip to a superior. Callan was already speaking before I turned back to Megan.
“That’s exactly right, Megan.” Turning toward the boarding ramp, my wife added, “Come on.”
I entered the ship in time to catch the tail end of Callan’s admonishment to
Megan. All I can say is that Callan took a more gentle tone than I’d have done — far more gentle. Nodding and biting her lower lip, Megan listened attentively to my wife. I left her to it, since Callan’s approach was working.
“Your impetuous nature is one of your most endearing qualities,” Callan wrapped up, “but for the next few hours you must keep a tight rein on it!”
I put a smile on my face and carefully kept my tone neutral as I asked, “Could you tell us what you observed concerning Heidi’s husband?”
“When that old, scary pirate spoke, all of the men reacted like whipped dogs,” Megan said. “They looked down and scrubbed all expression from their faces. Heidi’s husband kept his head up, looking at the other men and smirking. It’s like he thinks he’s above them or something.”
I thoroughly disliked the sound of that. “Do you think he’s working for the pirates — like he’s acting as their inside man among their hostage tech crew?”
Megan gave my question careful thought before nodding. “It’s possible there’s something else behind his expression, an indomitable will or something heroic like that, but I don’t think so. He’s nothing like you.”
“Thank you for that assessment, Megan. And for the compliment.” I turned to one of the guards Rupor had stationed inside the airlock. “Please bring Heidi and her husband to me.”
Moments later the guard returned — alone.
He snapped off a salute and reported, “Sir, they’re gone!”
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
“Check with the guards at the forward airlock,” I said. “Have them seal the exit if Heidi and her husband haven’t gone out that way.”
The guard saluted and ran off. I strode off toward the bridge. Callan, Megan, and Rupor fell in behind me.
“Does anyone know why Heidi’s husband would even bother boarding the ship if he only planned to stay for a few minutes?” Callan asked.
“There could be any number of reasons,” Rupor said. “Once aboard, it’s likely Heidi told her husband of our plan to sabotage the lasers — that is an integral part of the plan, after all. If he’s working for the pirates, he’ll want to report our plan as soon as possible. It’s also possible he just wants to show off his beautiful wife. After all, the pirates have quite a severe shortage of women here. It’s a petty and foolish thing for a prisoner to do, but men do foolish things when women are involved.”