Seafu cocked his head and was about to speak when a large white feathered being on Blake’s left came to his big yellow feet
“We decide who gets paired. You and your people were never authorized for this. This is a travesty. They have no training in the Path.
How can we trust them? I vote we should remove the pairing and hold them for tribunal”
the being huffed at his companions who seemed at odds with the statement.
Some agreeing, some abstaining and some shaking their heads no. Blake had just about had enough of this shit and stepped a little closer to the group “Alright, listen up here Foghorn Leghorn.
First, shut the fuck up,
second even try and lay a hand on a member of my crew and”
Blake pulled his pistols and leveled one at the being he referred to as Foghorn and one at Seafu. Instantly the others pulled their pistol and leveled them at the council, ensuring everyone was covered.
“They will be picking pieces of you up off the floor,” Blake said,
evaluating the situation, he quickly came to a decision
“You know what, not my kind of party,
we are out of here”
Blake stepped back keeping his pistols trained on the two.
The group also did the same, without question.
Blake felt very proud of his group until Kree saddled up to him in his chair and whispered, “What the hell are you doing?”
Blake shot him a gaze,
“Either go with it or stay man, I have no time for explanation.” Kree hesitated but seemed to make up his mind as four initiates rushed into the room with metal staffs.
Xera surprisingly pulled a staff from behind her belt, Blake had been worried as she and Kree were the only two who had not pulled guns initially, Xera put her back to Blake to ensure none of the initiates got the drop on them.
Blake could hear Rom breathing heavy,
he may have been mild mannered and well spoken, but the guy was literally a beast of a warrior,
and he could smell battle.
Foghorn seemed to blanch, and other members of the council seemed shocked or outraged,
Seafu stood up and took a step forward.
Blake raised his pistol to reinforce his last statement. Seafu faltered and raised his small hands “Captain please, there is no need for violence” Seafu turned to the elders
“Captain Blake was chosen by the box known as Morgan, she evaluated and chose to allow pairing. Our committee is not here to overrule the decision of one of the machines.”
Another member of the committee who looked akin to an orange baboon stood seeming to ignore the gun “Elder Seafu is correct, we too were chosen by the machines, not chosen by a committee.
Are we too going to be suspect until vetted by this committee?”
The baboon sat down and seemed satisfied with the murmurs of dissent from the committee.
Seafu again looked at Blake
“Captain, please, allow us to talk amongst ourselves before making a rash decision.”
Seafu begged, the little white being stepped forward, and Blake lowered his gun,
he was pissed
but not enough to execute an unarmed man.
“Fine old man, but understand if you try and hold us, this will not end well for you,”
Blake said leveling his gaze at the council
“Don’t make me come back in here, damn, it’s like the intergalactic version of the fucking village people in this place.”
Blake barked shaking his head and walking out of the chamber, he motioned to the others who lowered their weapons and joined him.
They walked by the initiates Blake stared down the one closest to him, they had his ire up.
Blake was fuming, “Fucking assholes” he whispered. He paced back and forth like an angry bull, who the fuck did these people think they were, treating his team like lackeys?
This shit seemed to be going south, and Blake was just about ready to bolt.
“Any thoughts?” he said looking at the group, “anyone have anything, because I am just about ready to tell this place to screw off and get in the Specter and get the hell out of here”
he said still pacing, his voice was low,
but they could hear a dangerous edge to it.
“Well, you did overreact a little”
Rom said a tad sheepishly.
Blake just looked at him like he had three heads. “Really, this coming from the guy who could tear people apart with his bare hands, I overreacted,”
Blake said with an irritated tone.
“He is right Captain, don’t get me wrong we will always back your play, but being subtle is just not your strong suit,
you should leave that to Rom,”
Shira said.
Blake now turned his irritated look on Shira, and then deflated a bit. She was right, he had already been on edge, and something about the whole high and mighty council just pissed him off,
he probably could have handled that better.
But dammit the guy was just so fucking judgmental. He turned to Davi and Kree
“Alright fruit loops and Furby, anything from the peanut gallery? Fluffy? Any retort”
he asked the gathered crew. Xera who looked confused and then looked down at herself,
“I am not fluffy, I keep my fur very, very clean and straight” she said as if Blake had insulted her mother. He just rolled his eyes,
damn she acted more like a cat every time he talked to her. Davi just gave Blake a look, and he acquiesced, “okay, okay”
he said holding up his hands
“I’ll play nice with the damn polit bureau in there, but one more mention of reviewing the pairing or judging the crew and I will shoot someone.
I meant it” he said.
“I will kill them dead,”
and he walked over to a bench and sat down to sulk.
Shira and Rom smiled a little at the reference, I guess it was even funny translated because even Xera smiled. “Of course, Captain,” she said.
And then Xera came over and sat next to him.
She stared at him for a few moments and seemed uncomfortable, “Captain may I ask you a question?” she said, almost sheepishly.
Blake refrained from rolling his eyes, no need to be rude to a crew member and dammit if Xera didn’t seem so serious about the request.
“Of course,” he said and gestured for her to continue. “Well, I didn’t want to ask before, but what is it like being paired,”
she asked with a sparkle in her eye.
Blake had been waiting for the question, he was actually surprised that she hadn’t asked before, but shit she was polite and well he wasn’t. Blake thought for a moment
“It’s like sharing your head with someone, I guess but not that invasive. I mean she is there but not in the forefront unless I need her to be.
The knowledge is amazing, and so far, there hasn’t been any conflicts, and for me that is huge” he said, realizing he honestly felt that way.
Morgan had not over asserted herself into him, had not tried to share equal conscious space.
She was a voice in his head but not an overriding one.
Xera seemed satisfied with the answer, She had studied the process and the machines,
hell she practically idolized them. Xera would be asking to be paired before long, Blake wondered how he felt about that. I mean he liked Morgan but what were the other machines like, could he trust these machines, would they take over the crew and change them? But Morgan had not changed him, for some reason Blake could not shake his suspicion. He would have to talk to Morgan about it. He could feel her in there, but she was staying back, apparently due to the proximity of the judgment chamber.
While they waited, everyone tried to stay entertained enough to keep their mind off of what was going on in the chamber. They could hear the murmuring but not make out any of the words even with their enhanced hearing.
Blake guessed i
t was the composition of the doors. Of course, this race, who pioneered the nanites process, more so than the rest of the galaxy from the look of it, would know how to counteract it. Shira and Rom were whispering comments to each other as Davi rubbed his face on the carpet, seeming to want to play ‘guess the fabric?’.
Blake had to admit it was funny,
the guy was crazier than a shithouse rat,
but he was one of the crew. Xera and Kree seemed to be engaged in a conversation about the machines and how they worked.
Kree seemed to be, of the opinion that, he would be an excellent candidate since he was sure that the machine would be able to make use of his internal quantum computer.
But seemed to have reservations about sharing his mind until Xera pointed out the race that built the machines also created the reality bubble,
and that seemed to sell it to Kree, he was a tech whore.
After an hour of laughing at Davi and listening in on Kree and Xera the doors of the chamber opened. A stern-faced initiate came out
“The council will see the Captain, and only the Captain.”
Blake sensing another authority move got up and squared his shoulders at the young lizard
“And the Captain will bring his crew, and if the council doesn’t like it, the Captain will gladly fuck off. Now be a good little gecko and tell your keepers we are all coming in.”
He stated, moving towards the doors.
The initiate made a move to block him
“Weapons are not permitted…” he started to say until Blake grabbed him by his shoulders and literally picked him up and moved him out of his way. The being, with a look of surprised shock on his face, wasn’t able to form words as Blake walked past him pushing the sides of the trench coat away to ensure the guns were free for use.
As he walked by, he quietly said ‘Come and try it asshole.’ And the poor creature watched helplessly as the entire crew entered the chamber,
the council looked very displeased. Foghorn got up again obviously to protest,
and Blake shot him a withering look,
at which point he gave the floor to the orange baboon.
Blake looked at the sizeable simian creature and nodded towards him
“So, King Louie any scat numbers or are we going straight to business?”
The captain asked sarcastically.
The Baboon seemed confused at the translation and looked to Seafu who just shook his head.
“Well, we have talked, and we really would rather have this conversation alone, if possible, Captain,” King Louie said while making eyes at Seafu.
Blake thought for a second and then stepped up to Louie, “And the Captain doesn’t keep anything from his crew so either we all stay, or we all go”
he said more to the entire council then the baboon. “So, if you, Foghorn or short shank over there,” Blake said pointing at Seafu
“have anything to say, then please let’s have it out because as of right now I am thinking this place, might not be the best fit.”
See I can be political Blake thought while glancing at Rom who seemed pleased with Blake’s choice of words.
King Louie started, but Seafu interrupted him with a hand gesture; apparently, they were trying to stay civil, boy they must need my help Blake thought. “Captain, we need your help,” Seafu said,
catching Blake off guard.
Boy he called that one,
What the hell could they need from me? He thought
“It seems that after we left, the Empire sent a ship to the temple. It seems our inquiries into the box that had fallen into their hands had not gone unnoticed. So now they are looking for it with renewed vigor. An Empire fleet invaded and then obliterated the temple and surrounding villages we had occupied, looking for any lead,
and they found one” Seafu bowed his head. “Apparently there was a partial message found, the message itself was of no consequence but based on their movement, we believe they know we have a backup of all communications that made it to the Temple.”
Blake looked at Seafu for a moment with a skeptic look on his face. “How the hell do you know that?” Blake asked with a suspicious gaze on the little teacher. “We have a spy on the fleet. Oh, don’t look so surprised, there are many who believe in the Path, and when things threaten the members of the Path, they get us word. In this case, they mentioned a planet with a temple outpost,
this outpost has a sole purpose”
Seafu said, looking at his colleagues to ensure he did not say too much.
“This outpost houses our backup systems including all communications to and from the temple.
If the Empire gets there, not only will countless members of the planet and the temple be slaughtered, but they will gain access to the entire backup repository of knowledge stored there.” Blake looked at the little man and then gazed around the room, King Louie and Fog Horn seemed to find the base of their chairs very interesting, while others seemed to be looking anywhere but at Blake and his team.
Blake looked at them, just a few minutes ago they wanted to pass judgment on him like they had the right of authority, and now they ask for his help. He didn’t like the death of any being,
but he had a crew to protect and damn if he wasn’t going to try and get them killed over a fucking computer backup. He thought
“No Offense little guy, but this sounds like a ‘you’ problem. So, we are going to see our way out and find something else to do.”
Blake began to turn, and as he stepped towards the doors, Seafu raised his voice a little
“Captain, the coordinates to Earth are in that backup as well as statistics on the planet and the system, enough for the Empire to mount a full-scale strike once they know about the resources of the Sol system.” Blake stopped in his tracks and thought about his daughter.
He knew Shira was thinking of her mother, and hell Davi was probably thinking about flowers or some shit that he missed.
But all three got the message.
If the Empire got the coordinates, it was only a matter of time before they visited Earth,
and the Earth was not ready for it.
If the Empire went to the Sol system,
the earth would fall.
Blake remembered the firepower leveled against the Nismel, and that had been a ragtag fleet,
what would a battle-hardened professional force have? Blake slowly turned
“What did you say?”
His tone was exuding real menace.
Seafu met his gaze
“The coordinates to Sol Captain, are on that backup, as you know the machine sent her analysis back to the Temple on a regular basis.
There is 40 years of data just about your planet in that archive.”
Blake stared around at the council
“Are you fucking kidding me, you kept that information and then led the damn Empire to it.
Do you have any idea what would happen if the Empire went to my planet?
What would happen to those people?
To my daughter, to Shira’s mom?” Blake said realizing too late he was raising his voice and took a deep breath, of course, they knew, that is why they held it out there. They also knew he wouldn’t get his crew killed over something stupid,
but to save his planet, he would do just about anything and
dammit they were right.
This was Earth, this was his family. Blake continued to look the council over,
giving a side glance to Shira and Davi,
both looked as if the news had hit them hard.
Blake bet it did, he needed to figure out his options, and it only took a minute to realize he didn’t have any. He would help, try and save Earth,
or get on the Specter and hoped everything worked out. Shit, the second option was nice but about as useful as an ostrich sticking his head in the sand. Blake sighed. “I need to talk to my crew,” he said and turned to walk out. Seafu took a step
“Captain, please.”
“You are asking me to risk the lives of my entire crew, the lives of the people who expect me to protect them against an armada of the Empire. I will not do this without talking to them,
is that understood?” he stated as he stared the little man down, who to his credit matched his gaze.
Blake had to give it to the little guy, he had balls. “I understand Captain, please do not take too long, we don’t have a lot of time” Seafu stepped back, and as some of the council began to protest,
he held his hand up silencing them.
Blake walked out of the chamber and allowed the doors to close before he spoke. “Guys, I know Shira and Davi are in, but the rest of you, this isn’t your fight, you don’t need to risk your lives for my planet. I wouldn’t expect you to, and if you back out I won’t think ill of you” Blake said to the group looking at each one. Rom thought for a second and then looked at Blake
“The Empire killed my planet, if I get a shot at them, I am going Captain.” Blake nodded,
he got it Rom would track the Empire to the ends of the earth to make them pay for his planet.
“Thanks, Big Guy” Blake said slapping him on the back. Xera stepped up “I have friends at that outpost Captain, you are not going without me” she also stepped over towards Shira and Davi, leaving Kree alone. He shook his head
“I don’t really want to die, but I also don’t want to stay here, so I’ll come but hell if I am leaving the ship, I will do support from there”
he said looking at everyone.
Blake shook his head. “No problem, we will probably need it.” Kree looked at him
“Damn right you will. If you can’t retrieve that backup then you will need to wipe it to ensure they don’t get anything, and for that, you will need me” he said with pride and hovered his chair over to where the others were.
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