Then Blake focused on Shira and a haunted look came into his eyes.
“I bet if Earth had known about what was really out here, it might have saved us from our own internal strife. We could’ve focused our energies on finding more of what was out here instead of fighting amongst ourselves.”
Blake said.
“It might have saved many of us from having to kill for what now seems like unimportant reasons.”
Shira studied him.
“You know we can’t change the past. All we can do is move on and try to live with it, to carry those things we have done with us, and try to do better in the future.” She said , reaching up to gently touch his arm.
“We all do things in a war we regret”
her statement causing Blake to focus on her, the haunted look still evident, she understood the look all too well, taking his hand, she squeezed it reassuringly.
“We will fight to save Earth if we have to, and we will succeed. I know I haven’t known you long, Blake, but you seem like a strong person. I really think if anyone can get us through this, it is you,” she said gently.
Blake returned the squeeze, a small melancholy smile gracing his lips,
“I’m not here to save the world or the galaxy. I’m just here to save my daughter. I didn’t choose to be here, but I am nonetheless, I would walk through fire if it meant she was safe, and if that means flying this bucket of bolts around the entire universe to keep that Empire away from Earth, then I will.” Shira could hear the steel resolve in his words as he spoke the promise to the universe.
She knew he would do whatever it took to ensure that the Empire never got their hands on this ship or its secrets.
“‘The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.’ Ralph Waldo Emerson said that.” Shira and Blake turned in surprise to see Davi standing in the door to the bridge,
petting his metal bot and staring at the lights of slip space with a distant, serene look on his face, Davi slowly turned to focus on the two of them.
“In this, we are being useful,” he continued.
“We might have been diverted from our lives and our loved ones, but who is to say that this is not our destiny? the three of us could be destined to stand against the darkness to protect those we love and those who cannot defend themselves, to bring the light of hope and justice where there is only despair. Sometimes, we don’t choose our own destiny. Instead, fate chooses us. We may not understand the greater plan. We may feel insignificant at times but know this; we are where we are meant to be and are doing what we need to do.” Davi finished to the astonishment of his fellow crew members.
Blake realized he had been holding his breath and let it out slowly.
“Jesus, Davi. I thought you were just nuts, so what the hell was that?”
“I am insane, Captain, but insanity is a tool to be harnessed, like anything else. We all have our gifts, and this is mine.” Davi Finished, then as if shaking off the sanity,
went back to whispering to his little, metallic friend as he left the bridge heading back towards engineering.
Blake and Shira just looked at the door, not quite sure how to process what had just happened.
After a moment, Shira sighed.
“I guess there is more to that man that I thought,” she whispered.
“Fucking hell,” Blake said,
“I still don’t know what to think of that guy.”
He shook his head and looked back at Shira.
“A lot is going to happen, and there is so much unknown to us. I know we haven’t known each other long, but I have a feeling that pretty soon, the shit is going to hit the fan. I need to know I can count on you, Shira.” He stated leveling a serious look at her. She returned the look matching his resolve.
“They aren’t going to get this ship. Know this, if it looks like we are going to lose like they are going to take the ship, I will destroy it or drive it into the closest star. I will not allow them access to the technology or information on this ship.”
Blake nodded his head.
Then that distant stare of his returned
“You know, for a second I thought about flying this thing to Earth and just handing it over to whomever…the military, the UN, someone. But then I realized it would just get buried in politics and black budget shenanigans until that Empire rolled up having followed the beacon. We have nowhere to turn for this. All we have is the three of us.” He mused.
“I think the three of us have a chance, Captain,” Shira encouraged.
Shira and Blake spent the next few days getting to know each other while they learned about the ship’s systems and weapons.
Davi remained mostly in engineering, where he worked on a special project, but he always seemed to make it to dinner, meals became a ritual with the three of them , with their lives uprooted, it was a way to return some semblance of normalcy.
By the time they were close to their destination, the crew had developed a comfort with their environment, as well as a level of trust and companionship with each other.
The third day in, while wandering around,
Blake found a door marked arms storage. He entered the arms locker and came face to face with a vast, empty room.
“Morgan, what is this room used for?” he asked. Morgan immediately responded.
“This is the armaments storage area. This room is for the larger scale weapons and missiles used by the ship. From here, the autoloaders can reload any of the launchers within minutes. “
Blake walked from one end of the room to the other. The room was the size of a small convenience store.
“I take it the Empire didn’t give this ship a loadout when it was launched?” he asked, his voice echoing off the empty walls of the weapons larder.
“The ship has a current load of 12 kinetic cannons, which can shoot the Earth equivalent of .50 caliber shell-less rounds. Each cannon is loaded with 10,000 rounds each. The wing expanses hold 8 quantum torpedoes on either side.
The underbelly launchers hold 15 fusion warheads with auto-targeting systems. There are three underbelly launchers. There are also front and rear plasma cannons. Aside from what is loaded in the actual launchers, there is nothing more in storage. This ship was set for a test launch when we stole it, not a battle.” The voice answered, whispering in his head.
Blake shook his head.
“As soon as we can, we’ll need to try and get this place stocked, and I’m guessing we don’t have the capital on hand to do that since it will need to be an under the radar purchase.” Blake lamented, realizing there was a lot he didn’t know about the universe at large, like currently and trade. Where the hell do you get ammo, is there a galactic military surplus. He shook his head the old feeling of being overwhelmed returning.
“That is correct. We would have to go through the black market, and that would require many galactic credits we do not currently possess.” She responded to the frazzled Captain.
“Morgan, do we have the patrol routes for Empire ships that ferry munitions from one planet or system to another?”
queried a voice from behind.
Blake jolted at the interruption and turned to find Davi standing in the doorway.
“Yes Davi, that information is available on the computer.” Morgan’s came over the intercom speaker in the wall as she answered his query.
Blake thought for a moment and then smiled.
“If we can’t buy it, we can procure it.” He said, the potential solutions dawning on him.
Davi smiled back.
“It’s how a pirate would do it,” he said as he winked at Blake.
The Captain leaned against the wall and took a good, long look at Davi.
“If I didn’t know any better, I would say you’re not as crazy as I first thought.” Blake said slyly.
“Oh no, Captain, I am truly crazy, just not stupid. I think if we need
to ensure our own survivability out here, we will need to procure a full load out of weapons and possibly other gear as well. For a short-term solution, hitting Empire logistics shipments will suffice. At some point, however, we will need to utilize this ship and our talents in ways that will allow us to make money, to build our nest egg and give us the ability to purchase expendables out from under the Empire’s nose.” Davi mused.
Blake thought about that for a moment.
“Any ideas on that?” he asked Davi.
“Well, considering our skills and the capacity of the ship, we can accomplish that by hiring ourselves out as mercenaries or black-market runners. We have the cargo capacity to do either. However, I would say mercs would be better da, because cargo hides gremlins” He answered , shivering at the thought of his arch nemesis.
And here comes the crazy Blake thought.
“Aside from your freaky fucking gremlin comment, I like that. It’s something we might need to look into later, but let’s solve our immediate problem first. Thank you, Davi., you might be nuttier than a fruitcake, but That was a great insight.” Blake complemented his engineer.
“Thank you, Captain,” Davi said with a broad grin. “That means very much.”
Then, Davi threw his arms around Blake and hugged him.
“Davi,” Blake whispered.
“Yes, Captain?” came Davi’s muffled voice from the middle of Blake’s chest.
“If you don’t take your hands off me, I will rip your arms off and smack you sane with them,”
he growled.
“And Davi…”
Again, Davi’s muffled voice replied,
“Yes, Captain?”
“Don’t ever hug me again,”
he ordered and pushed the smaller man back, visibly shaking it off.
Davi just smiled, then turned and walked out of the room, humming a tune Blake knew but couldn’t place. Then, with a smile, it came to him:
Don’t Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult.
Chuckling to himself over the exchange, Blake continued his tour of the ship.
He was about to head up to the bridge to see what Shira was up to when he noticed a door labeled Launch Bay. Entering the dark bay, he called for lights and as the room began to brighten, his jaw hit the floor,
“Shira, you might want to get down here,”
he said aloud, knowing that Morgan would relay the message and his location.
It took about ten minutes before Shira strolled into the bay. She stopped just past the doorway and whistled,
“Morgan what the hell is this?” Shira asked walking toward the only item in the bay,
She admired the sleek lines and dark colors.
The room echoed as Morgan’s voice came over the internal speakers.
“That, Shira, is a Simerian class stealth combat troop transport, used to ferry special operations troops to the surface of a hostile planet. It has the secondary mission of offering air support.
The support ship is complemented with two front, and two rear, plasma chain guns as well as a side door that opens to reveal a squad operated weapon. It is complete with a full complement of countermeasures and can render itself invisible both to sight and radar.” Morgan answered and
suddenly, the ship was gone. Shira approached where she had last seen the ship and reached out a hand. She was greeted with a smooth surface that didn’t visibly appear to be there.
“This is amazing,” she whispered.
“How does it do that?”
The ship shimmered back into existence.
“The ship is covered with an ablative coating that allows it to adapt to its surroundings. Sensors around the vessels collect data, and then the coating displays what is on the other side, thus rendering it practically invisible. I should warn you, the engines put out enough heat that infrared, and some other vision augmentations will be able to pick up the shuttle’s signature. Because of the undercoating, radar and ship sensors will not be able to detect it. I would suggest if we enter a system with active scanning, we use cold coasting by shutting off our engines and allowing inertia to take us through the system.”
Morgan said, as if a professor addressing a class.
Blake suddenly smiled as a plan formed in his head.
“Shira, when you’re done going over the ship, please meet me on the bridge. I have an idea.”
Kill two birds with one stone,
he thought.
They needed intel and equipment, and they weren’t going to find it out here in the middle of nowhere.
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
THRITEEN
War Plans
Blake paced the bridge. The consoles around the room were displaying ship schematics, star charts, and astrogating routes.
“Morgan, there’s got to be a shipment we can use,” a frustrated Blake barked.
“We’ve investigated at least 300 of these damn ships. Is there any way to get a roster with ship manifests that are at least current? Most of this stuff is decades old, and just regular resupply missions. No one looks to have a regular shipment that might yield what we are looking for.”
He said lowering his head to the console surface and smacking his forehead against it,
he paused as he heard an audible ding come from the console,
looking up he watched as a screen to his right lit up to show multiple shipping routes.
“Captain, there are no regular shipments of those type of armaments. Current intel would require us to patch into the Empire’s network. Once in the hub, I should be able to discern at least one or two ships that would meet our needs.” Morgan said as routes began to highlight.
“What needs are you talking about, and what’s with all the maps and the light show?”
Shira asked as she strode into the room.
Her attention focused on the large display of a solar system, which showed space transition routes and ship names.
With dawning realization, Shira looked at Blake like he had gone insane.
“Wait…if I am reading this right, these are Empire transport ships. Are you looking to get caught? We have a target on our asses right now!”
Shaking her head Shira continued the admonishment.
“This is completely insane.”
Blake blew out a long breath.
“I know, but we’re sitting ducks with empty coffers. We need to do a quick hit and quit. It’ll be over before it gets started.”
Davi sauntered into the room, for once without his pet robot.
“You rang, Captain? I take it you have some wonderfully devious plan that might take a bit of technical know-how,” he said.
“Yes, and yes,” Blake stated giving Shira an annoyed look, she looked between the two of them “Oh yeah, because if he is on board, it must be a good idea” Throwing up her hands in defeat She returned to the pilots chair shaking her head and quietly talking to herself, Blake didn’t think he wanted to know the contents of that conversation and concentrated on Davi.
He called up the astro-navigational chart he had been studying on the main display.
“As I see it, we have several immediate issues. Aside from the beacon, we have insufficient intelligence and munitions. Morgan’s knowledge of what’s going on in the Empire is at least forty years old. The only weaponry this ship has are what’s loaded in the tubes and guns. So, if we get into a lengthy firefight, which is highly probable, then that isn’t going to get us far. We need supplies and intel before anything else.”
Blake looked towards Davi.
“Your job is going to be to mask our signal enough where it won’t give away our exact position for at least a little while. We need to get into a system and get close to one or more of these freighters.”
He then looked at Shira who was still ignoring them from the pilot’s station.
“Your job, Sister, will be to get us alongside the freighter in our little invisi-jet, without them knowing. Then, we’ll board and take the ship.
We load up with their supplies, and Morgan can pull the data core for the latest intel.”
Shira turned and eyed Blake for a long minute before shaking her head.
“I was wrong, you’re stark raving, fucking mad. I thought Davi was shitballs crazy but hell, you have him beat by a mile! No offense, Davi.”
Davi glanced at her.
“None taken.”
He went back to thoughtfully staring at the navigation chart. Blake waved his hand dismissively.
“Yeah, I know, it’s crazy as shit, but we still need supplies. We also need weapons and gear for a ship intrusion, both lethal and non-lethal. Can you handle that, Davi?”
Blake asked the little man, who was transfixed by the charts floating over the console, swiveling his head to look at Blake a triumphant smile broke across his face.
“Already in the works, boss. I was preparing for any planet-side landing we would do so. I will simply accelerate the timetable. We need a full combat loadout worthy of a space marine, Well, if one of those existed,” he laughed.
Blake nodded approvingly
“Good. Let me know when it’s done. We’re also going to need a way to hide our emissions. It’s space, so I doubt we could sneak up on any ship, but maybe we could confuse them.”
Blake said thoughtfully. Davi rubbed his chin and thought for a second.
“I might be able to temporarily disperse the beacon, then alter our emissions to make us seem more like a freighter and less like a warship, but I need to talk to the ship, she might not like it, but if I can talk her into it then the profile should be in the computer. Let me get to work on it,”
he rushed out of the bridge.
“We are going to put ourselves right near Empire ships who would surely report back our location, no need to triangulate that,”
Shira complained.
“Plus, what happens when things go south? You know they always do! Do we need these supplies that bad?” she finished.
Blake still looking thoughtfully at the console answered
“Space is big. If we see something we don’t like, we run, simple.”
He leveled a stern gaze at her.
“If we go planet-side, how are we supposed to run if the Nismel is in space? What if it cuts and runs, leaving us behind while the Empire chases it down? We’re low on munitions and have little or no current intelligence; we need both desperately before we start wading into this mess, and I can’t think of an easier way to do it. If we try to hit a depot, it’s going to be heavily guarded with tachyon transmitters and reinforcements, so we would have company much sooner.
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