With immediacy that spoke both to how close they were in proximity and how well they knew each other the Appaloosa's captain replied, "Does that sound like me?"
With a roll of his eyes Kassad snapped back dryly, "No, as a matter of fact, it doesn't. You'd have made a wonderful pirate."
"Touché." Kassad could practically hear the Captain of the Appaloosa's eyes roll with the word. "My people will take charge as soon as we dock."
"Good…" the word left Kassad's mouth before he had time to think about what had been said and when he had he added, "you do know this isn't a boarding operation? Your people aren't going to shoot anyone are they? You know how Canis feels about strangers."
In practiced response the captain of the Appaloosa issued the proscribed warning, "My people will do what is necessary."
Greene glared at Kassad. "I thought you said this person would be reasonable?"
"I may have misjudged or maybe my memories have grown fonder with time." Kassad admitted and then keyed the communications circuit. "Would you like us on our knees with hands behind our heads in the airlock or will simply opening the door be sufficient?"
With cold bitterness the Appaloosa's captain retorted in tones that made it clear the conversation was over, "Follow instructions and you won't be hurt."
Toggling the communications circuit Kassad forced a smile and tried to sound upbeat as he said, "Well that was reassuring."
Nervous at the possibility of everything going wrong when they were so close to the end Greene asked, "So we drift until they pick us up?"
Pointing to the local map generated by Sabha's sensors Kassad said, "We're stationary relative to the local asteroids."
"I've never seen this many this close together." Greene noted.
With the wrap around virtual window providing a crystal clear view of the exterior Kassad nodded looking out over the masses of broken rock close enough that they could make out glittering mineral inclusions in the microgravity formed strata. "It's a spall asteroid field." He explained, "They break up one of the big ones into fragments to make it easier to work on and faster to extract everything worth extracting. It's safer to have crews working near each other. In case someone has a problem then help is close at hand." There was something surreal about the floating mountains that never failed to impress Kassad. "There's an art to getting them to separate enough so that the mass doesn't immediately pull back together, but close enough that they don't just drift apart completely. It's a real demonstration of demolition skill."
Kassad's previous paranoia seemed suspiciously absent now prompting Greene to inquire, "Visually impressive but, why is a Lawship sitting in the middle of an asteroid field?"
Kassad couldn't deny it was a good question and not less so just because he could think of lots of potential reasons that would justify the ship's presence. "Maybe someone has been bothering the miners. All that concentrated wealth is a tempting target. Or maybe the miners themselves have been quarreling, and the Appaloosa is here to make sure it doesn't get out of hand." Working lights and drill flare came from random scatter spots around the field indicating it was very much in active use.
Worrying about one of their passengers in particular Greene complained, "I still don't understand why we couldn't have just gone straight to Mareville."
"Maybe Armhamon flagged us as running from them?" Kassad speculated aloud then quickly dismissed the notion. "No, she's too by the book not to call out an arrest before making it. More likely it's the hull breaches. Mareville doesn't want a ship clogging up their port access due to an equipment failure, and it would take just as long to dock there, waiting for a tug, as to dock with the Appaloosa."
Accepting this explanation Greene returned to the topic of Kassad's past. "Okay, so what is the story behind your engagement to the Appaloosa's captain?"
Relieved at the prospect of finally being able to turn the whole mess over to the authorities and looking forward to the payday he'd been promised Kassad replied, "You know the whole story already. We were engaged to be married briefly. Then she came to believe I was involved in illegal activities and called off the wedding." It was as near to the whole story as was tolerable.
Sarcastically Greene responded in mock confusion, "I can't imagine how she could come to believe that." With her mind left to its own devices Greene couldn't let go of the topic. "There has to be more to it than that. This aggression is more than a simple failed relationship." Kassad ignored the implications and studiously checked status reports in the console display as Greene continued to speculate. "Were you using her to gain information on how to successfully execute your criminal plan?"
Offended by the accusation that hit too close to the truth for comfort Kassad snapped, "I don't need inside information to conduct my… perfectly legitimate business. The things she said in private in no way altered my plans, and I certainly never prompted her to talk about work." The ghost of that past frustration cast its shadow in the present. "She became all paranoid."
Processing the information Greene placed herself into the Lawship captain's shoes and had no difficulty imagining the woman might still carry a grudge. "Wonderful. So the Lawship captain we're depending on to rescue us thinks you seduced her to further your criminal ambitions with the intent of either abandoning her or luring her into a life of crime. I'm surprised she hasn't opened fire on us."
"Early on it's true I asked her to join my crew as a partner, but when it became clear she wasn't interested…" Kassad trailed off in melancholy. "I was seriously considering settling down here. I even went through all the trouble of getting that survey license, and if things had been just a little different that could have been me out there working the field."
Acknowledging the pain of Kassad's situation Greene said, "For what it's worth I'm glad you didn't settle down here. I can't imagine any of us would have made it this far without you."
Kassad suppressed a full face grin in an effort at modest acknowledgement of the compliment. "Well, fate has its little games." He remarked, and then prompted by a proximity sensor light returned to the business at hand. "Now, it will take fifteen minutes or so for them to get into position. Check that your personal possessions are all together and be outside the airlock with me when they dock. We don't want to spook them."
"Fine, but I'm going to check on everyone in the hold first. I want to be certain that they were in good shape now. If anything happens to them after the turnover…" Greene trailed off and Kassad looked over questioningly as she left, then Greene turned back to say, "I'll start building a highway out of the skulls of those responsible."
To Greene's departing back Kassad called, "Ah, you've been reading Herself's biographies haven't you?"
Greene admitted to nothing.
Chapter 20: "Boarded"
"Boarding operations? Half the time you're hoping that no one resists so you don't have to shoot anyone. The other half of the time you're reminding yourself that any hesitation to fire will certainly get yourself and a lot of other people killed."
-Excerpt from interview with Hans Solfridge, veteran Lawship crewman
Once the big Lawship was moving it only took ten minutes for the Appaloosa to make its approach. Her front end opened massive clamshell doors to swallow Sabha whole as she overtook the smaller craft. Once inside her hanger the doors were sealed and the space within pressurized to make for a shirt sleeve environment.
The boarding party assigned to take the Sabha, and they could be called little else, didn't wait for pressurization to stage to complete for their entrance. Clad in armored vacuum suits of the sort favored for boarding forces expecting resistance the well drilled team took up positions in advance of where the Sabha would come to rest. As the docking cables secured and reeled Sabha into a fixed position they charged the airlock in two man teams with multiple covering squads.
Slapping the manual control to open the airlock Kassad waved in a friendly fashion and quietly cautioned Canis who had begun to growl a warning, "Gu
ests Canis, guests." Even with the admonishment Canis could read the body language of his guests and so was determined to remain alert and serious rather than welcoming and friendly.
Moving forward on magnetic boots a figure completely obscured by armor and sporting a massive rifle shouted unnecessarily in electronically enhanced voice, "Keep your hands where we can see them." Behind him the second half of his binary was so close as to be physically touching while another pair quickly came up behind.
Waggling his spread fingers in front of him where he floated Kassad announced, "The rescued scientists are in automated medics within the cargo bay to your right and the cockpit controls are unlocked up the ladderwell to your left." The armored figure conducted a brief wordless inspection of the trio, probably involving sensors built into their suit, before moving off into the Sabha.
Tasked to deal with passengers it was the second team, in identical heavy armor and electronically enhanced voices, who demanded, "Come forward slowly and one at a time. Keep both hands on the anchor ring."
Mounted to the deck just beyond where Sabha's ramp opened was the anchor ring. Anchor rings were simple metal loops a meter and a half off the deck and spanning just over a meter and a half in diameter. Usually they were a set of two rings with a second ring near the deck to grasp with feet thus keeping everyone oriented in the same direction.
Greene continued to be surprised and impressed by Canis. The animal seemed so at home in the weightless environment, grasping the lower ring with both legs, that it was hard to imagine that microgravity wasn't his native state. Even more impressive was the way Canis kept himself between these strangers and his people; his look and stance warning of consequences for any hostile action.
Searching the Sabha took very little time for the experienced Lawship crew. In part this was due to Sabha's small size. Mainly the speed of the search was due to the two additional boarding teams that had joined the first while Kassad, Greene, and Canis bobbed outside on the anchor ring.
As the search teams withdrew the captain of the Appaloosa finally put in an appearance. Appaloosa's captain was dressed in a casual short sleeve shirt and trousers that only came down to the top of her calves. The outfit only resembled a uniform because of the large patch on one arm depicting the Lawship motto and ship's hull number over a spotted horse.
Captain Connelly moved to the anchor ring with an easy grace that marked her as having spent most of her life in space. She wasn't as fashionably muscular as Greene and instead her frame supported a pleasingly rounded form that, in spite of its surface level averageness, never failed to make Kassad's heart skip a beat. Long years in weightless and microgravity had sculpted the captain's body and features into gorgeously perfect curves cascading one unto another that he could not resist.
Quickly recovering from the thrill of their reunion Kassad complained, "Cheryl, can we move along to the medical aid part of this rescue?"
Captain Cheryl Connelly was dispassionately matter of fact in her reply directed entirely towards Greene. "I'm afraid it looks like we're going to be a bit longer before getting your people to medical care." Then addressing Kassad she said, "That Lawship you ran from, the Armhamon, is here and demanding custody. They're moving to dock now."
More than a little annoyed Greene asked, "Demanding custody of what exactly?"
Giving Greene an appraising stare Appaloosa's Captain answered, "I don't doubt we'll find that out when they come aboard."
With exaggerated indignation Kassad demanded, "Under what authority? This is still a rescue operation until those people are in the hands of proper medical care. They have no right to delay us."
Unimpressed by Kassad's complaint Connelly replied coolly, "I don't see any need for immediate emergency treatment. You're still alive and functional. Treatment can wait until we get this sorted out."
In a last ditch effort to change a mind Kassad knew to be hard to change he made his case in extreme earnestness, "Everyone aboard has suffered prolonged exposure to Lawless Space. Our sensory processing is still all mucked up, there's no knowing what other affects it could have had on us, and we're only getting by at all with guesswork medical treatments. Without immediate medical aid the damage could become permanent."
In a tone of finality that was crafted to end all arguments Connelly explained, "I've already made the call on my authority to detain everyone involved. The Armhamon is only a few minutes out, they out gun us, and they have made it clear they think I'm involved in some kind of conspiracy with my former fiancée." Connelly gave Kassad an intensely bitter glare. "They also seem eager to shoot this out, and if we're getting drawn into a fight I'd rather do it here with lots of witnesses."
One of the anonymous and interchangeable armored search party figures called out, "Captain they've taken a position a kilometer off our bow and dispatched a small craft. They're coming in hard and will be docking any second."
Captain Connelly nodded curtly in response then after a moment and in response to the questioning gazes of her crew ordered, "Take the boarding parties into the ready rooms and stand by. If they try to take the Appaloosa… make them bleed."
A disgruntled Kassad watched as the Appaloosa's crew moved out of sight and asked, "I suppose you want us right in the middle of things?"
Pointedly ignoring Kassad Connelly leaned into Canis who responded with a vigorous and enthusiastic yipping and wagging of tail that caused his whole body to waggle.
Cooing soothingly Connelly spoke to the dog, "You poor thing, what has the bad man gotten you into?" Taking the animal's head in her hands she rubbed her face against the top of Canis' head only to be driven back by and onslaught of friendly licking.
Rolling his eyes Kassad observed, "Oh, him you're happy to see."
"Canis I trust. It's just too bad he can't speak." In response Canis barked loudly causing Connelly to smile in spite of herself. "Now maybe you two will tell me, before your friends show up, exactly what is going on here?"
"We don't know." Kassad looked to Greene for support. "Right?"
Rather than support Kassad's assertion Greene said, "We think they might have found a way to alter the physical laws of space. There was some kind of incident, intentional or not, and that's how they got trapped behind Law's End. The platform they were working on was destroyed. We can't be certain but it looks like they destroyed it themselves." Greene sighed and cast a worried look towards Sabha's cargo hold. "They might have been trying to destroy evidence."
Annoyed at the outburst of honesty Kassad tried to perform some damage control. "But we don't know any of that. We can only speculate. We don't have the whole story. The people in our cargo hold might not even have the whole story."
A keen observer of people Kassad thought he saw an opportunity to press his argument. While Kassad could see that his own words had no weight on their own there was a glimmer of respect between Connelly and Greene that could be advantageous. That glimmer of respect represented itself physically as a subtle interplay between the two in eye contact and body language… unless Kassad was mistaken. If only he had the time, and his observations were correct, then persuasion was inevitable; unfortunately Kassad wouldn't be afforded the time to verify his observations or win over his former fiancée.
Chapter 21: "Between Enemies"
"Crews will put up with pompous, arrogant, and even belligerent officers if those same officers consistently bring their crews back alive. A lack of survivability is the only unforgivable trait for a Lawship captain, and it virtually guarantees a mutiny."
-Excerpt from interview with Hans Solfridge, veteran Lawship crewman
Making a grand and intentionally over-dramatic entrance the captain of the Armhamon strode menacingly into the Appaloosa's hanger on loudly clanking magnetic boots. Clad from the neck down in a full suit of gleaming vermillion poly-ceramic powered armor finely decorated with gold inlays Andrews held the armor's hawk faced helmet clutched casually in one hand, and held an oversized side arm at the ready in the ot
her. While the color scheme made her the obvious focus of attention extra reinforcement on the legs and feet made her a full head taller than anyone else present. It was cutting edge tailored fitted armor designed to make a statement simply by its being worn, but didn't skimp on protection to achieve this.
Behind the captain a pair of more generically clad underlings served as honor guard for the formidable figure. Their armor was lighter as necessitated by the absence of the expensive built in strength enhancing augmentation that their captain enjoyed. Even with the lighter weight the two struggled to keep pace with their captain, their torsos pushed out ahead of their legs as if they were charging. One could almost hear the strained breathing behind the face concealing armored helmets.
Without preamble Captain Andrews announced, "You will immediately deliver those fugitives into my custody."
Unperturbed by the demand or intrusion Captain Connelly retorted, "Captain Armhamon," addressing her fellow captain in the formal form, "if you have claim on these persons you will present it before I deliver anyone into your custody."
Ignored the unarmed and unarmored Connelly Andrews swaggered up to the group. Approaching to within easy arm reach of the anchor ring Andrews dismissed Canis' warning growl with a sneer as Kassad made soothing noises to reassure the animal. Handing off her helmet to an underling Andrews gave the group a quick look over and quickly spotted what she was looking for. With a swift grab and pull that wrenched Kassad free of the anchor ring Andrews extracted the data card from Kassad's pocket.
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