It took ten minutes and some tricky ship handling to match the trajectory and spin of the Larice to that of the Jane, but only a moment to stabilize them once the grapples were set. Moments later Lieutenant Arandsen and his men burned through the Jane’s hull next to the ruined airlock.
The search of the wrecked ship took just a few moments and three space suited bodies were quickly brought back to the Larice’s sickbay. The Jane’s computer core was brought back next.
Once Lieutenant Arandsen and his people were back aboard the Larice, Captain Harvaln ordered a course back to Hobson’s Planet at the best speed they could maintain with the Jolly Jane in tow.
*
Silver opened his eyes slowly as he regained consciousness. The first things he saw were the firm breasts of the Navy nurse who was leaning over him. Just a breath later a cool hand slid over his eyes and a much missed and beloved voice said, “Keep your eyes to yourself, Sterling.”
He tried to say, “Ann,” but only managed a strangled croak.
“Shh, don’t try to speak,” Ann said a she stroked his forehead. “They had to intubate you to get you breathing again. Your throat is probably going to be sore as hell once the drugs wear off.”
Silver brought his hand up and caught hers. He kissed her palm before he started drawing letters on it. C R E W
“There were two other survivors from your crew. A woman who fits your description of your captain, and a man who is built like a brick. We didn’t get his name.”
Silver again drew on her palm. O L A F F I R S T M A
“First Mate Olaf,” Ann finished for him. “They are in worse shape than you were. The last shot from the raider opened the engineering spaces to vacuum and threw them around a bit.” She paused for a moment. “We found a severed arm near the rupture. That’s all that was left of your other crewmen.”
Silver kissed her palm again and closed his eyes. They had survived, despite the odds and the best efforts of the raider to kill them. Sleep wrapped him in her warm embrace as soon as he relaxed. The last thing he was aware of was Ann stroking his hair.
Chapter 7
THE BOARD ROOM OF THE AMBERSON Cartel on New Britannia was quiet as a recording played from the sound systemâs speakers.
“Pursuing vessel, we are damaged and losing propulsion. Please don’t fire into us again. We surrender.”
“Jolly Jane, we don’t give a rat’s ass about your surrender. You will be destroyed, and your records with you. And don’t think I fell for your Kiev deception. As the old saying goes, ‘Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.’ I’m not going to let you disgrace me again.”
“We are nearly dead anyway, but we’ve broadcast your ship specs to the entire Hobson’s system. They know who you are.”
“This ship’s specs are of no consequence. We never make port in these systems anyway. We don’t need them. Our employer just wants your nosy asses scattered through space.”
“Your employer at Amberson’s? You know, if they hadn’t sent us straight to you, we never would have made that connection.”
“We don’t work for Amberson’s.”
“Sure you do. You knew who we were at LaFontain as soon as we came out of hyper. They sent you word to expect us, then loaded us with a cargo of trash that was supposed to be valuable mining equipment. It was heavily insured against loss in transit, of course. The mining facility in LaFontain was surprised to see us when we finally arrived, but not really surprised to open the shipping containers and find garbage. They accused us of stealing from them, of course, and when we proved that the seals were still intact they chased us out of there without refueling. They also exchanged a number of coded transmissions with you, which we recorded for the authorities. Are those the records you want destroyed?”
“Broadcasting it won’t do you any good. Without your actual records it’s just the word of a tramp freighter against a multi-system conglomerate. I’ve had enough of this. No one is coming to your aid, and we’ve closed to easy killing range.”
“Raider, this is the CSS Kiev, Captain Roman Alexandrov commanding. You have committed murder in the Confederated Star Systems. Said murder has been recorded for playback to the Confederated Government’s Anti-Piracy Board. In accordance with my instructions and under my authority, you are condemned.”
The recording cut off and the woman at the head of the table looked around with hooded eyes. “Would someone care to explain to me just exactly what happened here? The CSS Justice Department has contacted me to let me know that they are launching a full-scale investigation into our involvement in this incident. The Jolly Jane’s computer core has provided them with enough evidence for an indictment against us.”
“Madame Chairwoman, there is no way—”
“Did ye no’ hear me?” she snapped, her voice cracking with the strain of the last few days. “The Justice Department of the Confederated Star Systems Government has indicted the Amberson Cartel for supporting commerce raiding. I want to know exactly what has been going on, and who is responsible. There can be no payoffs this time. The entire Hobson’s System heard those transmissions.”
“Madame Chairwoman, please,” one of the men down the table from her began cautiously. “There is no proof against us. There are just unfounded allegations made by a tramp freighter. It will be a simple matter to prove that we had nothing to do with them.”
The Chairwoman of the Board glared at him for a moment, then pressed a button on her desk and a new recording began playing.
“LaFontain Control, this is Harris. We lost contact with that miserable little freighter. We’re assuming that they were lost in hyper due to a bad nav fix.”
“Harris, this is Station Manager Jameson. That miserable little freighter tricked you and came back here. They delivered the shipment and demanded payment even after we proved the containers were full of trash. They are on their way out now, so you have a second chance. Don’t screw up again.”
“I’m going to overtake them and kill each of them personally.”
“Shut up, you arrogant ass! Don’t get fancy, just blow them out of space. Fail again and Amberson’s is through with you and your little crew of misfits. Kill that ship or you’ll never dock again.”
The recording cut off as the chairwoman glared around the room again. “Those are the decoded versions of the transmissions that the Jolly Jane recorded in LaFontain. The CSS Navy is on its way to arrest Nathan Jameson and seize the LaFontain facility. The indictment against us could land the entire board in prison, and allow the government to auction off the cartel.” She paused and looked around at the stunned faces of her board of directors. “Someone’s head is going to roll, ladies and gentlemen, and tis not going to be mine. Find someone to sacrifice and provide the Justice Department with all the evidence they need to convict them.” She stood and looked around the table. “An’ while yer at it would someone please kill the survivors from the Jolly Jane?”
*
Eleven parsecs away another recording was being listened to.
“My name is Sterling Albert Stevenson, but it’s also Silver Llewellyn Garand. How that happened isn’t important. I am the Navigator on the independently owned space ship Jolly Jane, Captain Denise Stabenow commanding. She, First Mate Olaf Larsson, Chief Engineer William Putin, and Load Master Jeremiah Brasov rounded out the crew. They are all dead, and I’m down to about three hours of air in my suit pack. Sorry, Ann. Please don’t cry.
“I am making this recording as a dying declaration. In our memory banks and backed up in my suit’s memory is information about the raider who attacked us and who we surmised were their employers, the Amberson Cartel of New Britannia. The Kiev should have picked up at least part of it while I was talking to the raider. Don’t let them get away with this. Sterling Silver, out.”
Admiral Stevenson stared at the recorder and shook her head. “Melodramatic to the end, my love?” she asked.
“I didn’t know you were following the Kiev with
Willy and the small-boys. I thought I was really going to die this time.” He paused to take a sip of her bourbon. “I thought Denise and Olaf were already dead. Now that the Jane has been officially declared un-repairable, I have to find something to do with myself. And pay back the insurance company.”
“I already did that,” Ann said as she snuggled down beside him. “As soon as I found out that you were alive I contacted the Department of the Navy and let them know what had happened. Your identity is yours to take up again.”
“And the loose ends here in Hobson’s?”
Ann giggled. “Well, it seems that a little old lady named Harriet Fairmont broke the bank at the Flaming âOâ Lounge in a rather spectacular fashion just a few days ago. The ‘bank’ didn’t want to pay up, but she made such a fuss about it that the planetary authorities were brought in to sort it all out. For some reason they thought her son might be upset if they didn’t.” Ann smiled impishly. “They were terribly shocked to find that not only had Missus Fairmont beaten the games of chance, but those games had been rigged against her and she’d beaten them anyway. Shocking. Missus Fairmont was awarded the entire facility, and the owners were imprisoned on interstellar fraud charges.”
“And what is dear Missus Fairmont going to do with a resort satellite?” Sterling asked innocently.
“Why, she is going to run it, of course. As a religious retreat.” She paused and slapped Sterling on the back several times until he’d cleared his lungs of the bourbon he’d just inhaled.
“You did that on purpose,” he wheezed.
“Of course. Now you’re forgiven for almost getting yourself killed again.” She smiled evilly and snuggled into his arm. “Mom’s not really going to turn it into a religious retreat. That’d cost way too much to maintain. She’s having the games repaired and certified, the girls vetted by a real doctor, and some of the more-esoteric-of the entertainments removed. Then she’s reopening as the Silver City Casino and Resort. She likes the name Silver, by the way.”
Sterling chuckled. “I just might keep it this time. Sterling Silver is a really distinctive name.”
“And Lloyds of New London will be paying for the Jolly Jane soon. The records here in Hobson’s indicate that the insurance goes to ‘Whoever of the crew survives, or the Sisters of Stellar Peace if she should be lost with all hands.’ The three of you will get equal shares, as well as splitting the ship’s account.”
Sterling shook his head slowly. “I wonder what Denise and Olaf are planning?” he asked softly. “You returned my credit chip, and with it and the rest I think I can afford a small cargo ship.”
“With thirty million credits you could afford a not-so-small ship, Sterling, even without the rest. What would you name it, though?”
Sterling grinned at her. “How about the Admiral Ann’s Revenge?” he asked with a wide smile, and then ducked as she raised a fist in not-so-mock threat.
“And your friends?” she asked as she tilted her head to the side.
“I have my old captain’s certificate from when I commanded the Bryn Mawr. I’d still need a crew, and I owe Denise my life. Olaf, too, I guess. A lot will depend on what size crew the ship requires.”
Ann looked up into his face. “And us?” There was a note of pleading in her voice that he’d never heard before.
“I could use a good First Mate-oof!” Sterling ducked away from the second blow, but he and Ann were both laughing. “Okay, okay, you be the captain and I’ll be first mate!”
*
In a tall residential tower in New Erin’s city of Galway, a man threw a ‘Pad across the room as he shouted, “Bloody hell!”
“What happened?” a woman asked in a mild tone from the far side of the room. She was knitting, an archaic yet remarkably soothing pastime in this modern era, and didn’t look up. He was always blowing up about something.
“We’ve lost the Flaming ‘O’. The whole bloody thing!”
“Destroyed, or something else?” the woman asked, still not stopping her knitting.
He gave her a harsh bark of laughter. “Something else. A woman came in and started winning. Winning big. She broke the bloody bank. Then that fool Pahna Mah tried to brush her off and not pay. She screamed bloody murder about it and involved the authorities.”
“Our people in the system government should have been able to deal with it,” she answered as she finally put her knitting down. “What happened?”
“What happened? Wha’ happened was tha’ she threatened to tell her son.”
“Her son?” she asked suspiciously.
“Secretary o’ Commerce Fairmont.”
She whispered, “Bloody hell.”
“That’s what I said. âTis a total loss. We don’ even dare reveal that we had an interest in it. And there may be even worse news.”
“I’d be interested in hearing what could be worse than the loss of a three billion credit resort satellite.”
“Amberson may have been exposed.”
The woman walked over and poured herself a shot of whiskey. “Tell Harriet to deal with it.”
“Aye, that I will. As soon as I get another ‘Pad.”
Chapter 8
IT ONLY TOOK SEVEN WEEKS AFTER the incident in the Hobson System before the Department of the Navy found out about what Ann had done and sent her recall orders. The order was short and to the point.
“Rear Admiral Annette Stevenson, you are directed to return to the Georgia System with the CSS William the Conqueror battle group to face charges of misappropriating Navy vessels and personnel for personal purposes. You will surrender command of the battle group to Captain Hellete immediately and consider yourself under quarters arrest pending your arrival.”
Signed,
Fleet Admiral Edward Teach
CINC Epsilon Quadrant
William the Conqueror led her escorts out of the Hobson System just three hours later. It only took six days in hyper to reach the Georgia System, and Admiral Stevenson was ordered to the Naval Administrative Habitat to face charges that would cost her her command, if not her commission.
Admiral Stevenson and her guests were met by Admiral Teach’s gig and Chief of Staff while the battle group was still maneuvering to their assigned parking orbit. The tall woman in the captain’s uniform was no stranger to Ann or Sterling.
“I didn’t believe you’d risen from the grave, Sterling,” Captain Jenissa Harrisson said as she stepped forward to clasp hands with him.
“Never made it into the hole, Jenny,” Sterling said as he smiled up into her dark face.
“Not for lack of trying if what I hear is accurate.” Captain Harrisson turned toward Ann and came to attention. “Admiral Stevenson, I am to escort you to Admiral Teach immediately. He was just short of apoplectic when he heard what you did with William the Conqueror and your battle group. You’ll be lucky to retain your flag.”
“No I won’t. I’d be beached at best if I stay, Jenny, but I won’t stay.” Ann paused as Captain Harrisson’s expression turned intensely curious. “Sterling accepted my proposal and we’re married again. Captain Hellete performed the ceremony before the orders came. I’ll be leaving the service to stay with him.”
“You’re just going to surrender your flag, Ann?” the captain asked, forgetting military courtesy in her shock.
“I am,” she replied. The trip over to the Fleet Command Habitat was a quiet one.
Admiral Teach met them in his day room and frowned mightily at the three civilians who followed Ann into his presence. “What’s the meaning of this, Admiral Stevenson?”
“Admiral Teach, I believe you know my husband, Sterling Stevenson, formerly of the CSS Stellar Navy.” She paused as Admiral Teach’s eyebrows tried to climb onto his hairline for a better view. “The other two are associates of his and were instrumental in the destruction of a ship that was engaged in commerce raiding.”
“I know your husband,” the admiral said, and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “I sent
flowers to his grave. That, however, has no bearing on these proceedings. You, Admiral Stevenson, took your battle group away from your assigned patrol area in pursuance of a personal vendetta against one Pahna Mah in Hobson’s Planet orbit.”
Admiral Stevenson snapped to attention before answering. “Sir, I was under an obligation to pay the debt owed by my ‘deceased’ ex-husband, and unable to leave the battle group. Therefore I took the battle group with me to pay that debt.”
Admiral Teach scowled as he considered his answer. “I’ve read the report, including the unofficial bit about Sterling’s misadventure and the events leading up to your meeting again. That does not excuse your actions. However, the Navy doesn’t want a scandal about this. We can’t afford the public relations fallout. While we can’t put you in front of a Courts Martial, we can’t allow you to remain in uniform, either.” Admiral Teach came to attention and looked Admiral Stevenson in the eye.
“Rear Admiral Annette Fairmont Stevenson, you are charged with dereliction of duty in regards to taking your battle group away from your assigned patrol area without orders or authorization. Additional charges of misappropriation of Navy resources in regards to your taking an entire battle group off on a personal mission, use of Navy personnel in pursuance of a personal vendetta, and in general behaving in a manner that would be an embarrassment to the entire government if it ever comes to light. Because of the last charge under the ancient Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, a non-judicial sentence was passed on you in a private session of the Joint Chiefs, and your punishment decided.
“It pains me to do this, because you had a brilliant career ahead of you, but, in accordance with my instruction from the Secretary of the Navy and the Chief of Naval Operations, I must ask you to resign your commission.”
“I had intended to do exactly that, Sir,” Admiral Stevenson replied and watched the shock on Admiral Teach’s face.
“You intended to resign, Ann?”
“Yes, Sir,” Ann said and looked into his eyes. “I let my career and command of the Saint Peter cost me the man I loved. I’ve spent the last ten years kicking myself for that mistake. We’ve rectified part of it already, and my leaving the Navy completes the process.”
Inadvertent Adventures Page 6