Defenders of the Rim_Badlands

by Randal Sloan

  Jarra smiled. "We'll be there momentarily. I just need to stop by the galley to pick up the crow."

  On Katarina, they all celebrated quietly. Jarra gave Sasha a pointed look, but she left it there for now. The small crew quickly donned their dress uniforms along with all their medals and made their way to the exit ramp. Jarra entertained a brief smile as Master Sergeant Gibbons and her escort negotiated their status with the Marine escorts the Dauntless had sent. With the usual Marine efficiency, it was completed quickly and it was no surprise to her that the Master Sergeant led the way, this time to the bridge of the ship. There was a small matter to attend to.

  Despite the talk about eating crow, Jarra didn't give the Dauntless officers a hard time. Instead she handed the XO a chip containing the info on her ship's configuration changes they'd made, as well as the EW settings the Katarina had used to spoof the ship's sensors.

  "Commander," she told him. "You may distribute this information to your companion ships, but it is to remain Top Secret Gamma level and is not to leave this squadron. Due to the nature of the mission we are about to undertake, we dare not let even our own know the details. We might have to use it for real next time."

  Jarra wanted nothing less than to rush forward to greet her cousin with a huge hug, but she held herself back. "Your Highness," she said with a quirky smile. "Shall we adjourn to your Ready Room to discuss our current mission?"

  "Quite right, Your Highness," John replied with his own smile matching his cousin's. "We do have much to discuss."

  As soon as they all entered the designated room, Jarra did apply that hug, although the medals she wore required a little more delicacy.

  "You've been busy, I see," John told her. "Of course, Uncle gave me the details of your mission. Having met Admiral Janson, I admit I don't care for the man, but that's a far cry from a charge of treason."

  "I understand, cousin," Jarra replied, "But there's enough evidence there to warrant an investigation."

  She held up a hand before John could reply. "I intend to do the investigation covertly, for two reasons. One, if the man really is innocent, an Imperial investigation would destroy his career, and two, if he is guilty, I want to catch all the rats while I'm at it."

  John just shook his head. "Why do I think we're going to regret this? None of this gives me a warm feeling. But you're right, for both reasons. Just because the rebel survivors say they had an Admiral aboard ship, doesn't mean they had a real admiral filling those shoes, and since none of the survivors actually saw the man, we have no way of identifying him. But whether or not it was him, things look rather fishy in the Admiral's district. Someone has to be passing the Imperial patrol schedules to those pirates, and if it's not the Admiral, it's someone high up in his staff."

  "Our dear Sasha gives us more than 90% that it's him directly, despite the rather confusing detail of his brother having been captured by the pirates some years ago. His brother was never heard from again. You would think that would make him hate the pirates instead of joining up with them. Obviously, he's playing a long game that we're not aware of."

  John narrowed his eyes as he looked at his cousin. "With what you just said, dare I ask you to please be careful? We don't know what he's up to and we know we haven't crushed all the rebels. Things don't run as smoothly in the Basil District as others; it's always been the least civil District. You could possibly be in some danger, not that I think you'll back down."

  Jarra gave him a smile. "I'll be careful, dear cousin, I promise. I'm always careful."

  "That's what worries me," was John's quick reply, although he wasn't brave enough to look her in the eyes.

  "Shall we talk about the mission," he finally went on. "My squadron is planning to shadow your ship again, albeit even further back this time. We will have to make a considerable detour to slip into the district undetected, but we should be in position by the time you see any action. I assume you're going to be the one to go undercover?"

  When Jarra nodded, he went on, "Sub-Lieutenant Alexandrai will be the one in command of the Katarina then?"

  "Yes," Jarra replied. "I assume you'll want her to stay behind a few minutes to discuss coordination of the ship's movements," she said with a smile, glancing over to Sasha to catch the quick gleam that brought to her eyes.

  "That would probably be expedient," John replied, once again refusing to look Jarra in the eyes.

  "You know," she told them, "I'm going to be getting the complete details on you two soon, or I'm going to have to bring the full inquisition."

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Undercover

  Sasha had been quite nervous when she was informed she would be in charge of the Katarina while Jarra was away on her covert mission. But sub-lieutenants didn't tell their boss no, especially when her boss was really the Crown Princess. So Sasha had put her fears aside and pressed on. She knew some of it was just a lack of self-confidence, that and her limited people skills.

  But her new team was very special from the Crown Princess down to the Marine detail and they all had accepted Sasha just as she was. That meant no one questioned her when she called a team meeting and informed them of her orders.

  "I'm going to depend on all of you and your areas of expertise to help us accomplish our goals. I know none of you want to disappoint your Princess; I sure don't. So I promise you I will be giving it my all and I expect each of you to do the same."

  "You've all seen our orders. Do you have any questions or suggestions?"

  Galen didn't hesitate. That was one of the reasons the team was so successful. Each did his or her part. "Do you intend for us to run under camouflage the whole way or do you want us to move at high speed until we reach the target area and then slip into our merchant cover?"

  "There's advantages and disadvantages to both. Gabo, how likely are we to be detected if we go with the high speed run?"

  "We should be good for the first part of the trip. However, the closer we get to the target area, the more likely we are to be discovered. I would actually suggest a hybrid of the two. It does have the advantage of putting less strain on our camouflage systems and those of us maintaining them, yet it poses minimal risk of being detected."

  "Send Galen the details; I'll want to look over the plot before I approve. What else?"

  Sara decided to stick her toe in the water. "What about the Princess? Do we have a way to contact her and can she reach us if either gets in a bit of trouble?"

  Sasha gave her a smile. "I have her com codes, but she instructed me to make sure we have something important before we use it, especially the first few days while she's traveling. So yes, we have a way, but I refuse to use it unless absolutely necessary. That's where our team comes in. We are supposed to be able to handle anything and I expect you to be able to accomplish what needs to be done."

  She looked around at the small team. "I know I can't fill the Princess's shoes, but I do have the merchant ship experience you need to pull this off. However, so much of this is up to you guys doing the hard stuff to make our camouflage systems work. I know you're the best and I know you can do it.

  "I'm not promising you this part of the mission is going to be easy, but we should be able to pull it off on our own. It should be easy compared to what you've already done."

  Sasha knew better than to make such a bold statement. She'd probably regret it later.

  #

  The first part of the voyage by the Katarina went quickly and without a lot of fuss. After all, the Basil District was the least populated sector of the Empire. Galen had worked out their course to make a close encounter with another vessel highly unlikely. In addition, with their top-end sensor systems, Gabo was able to steer them away from any vessels when he detected them at the extreme range of his systems, so most of the ships they passed in this way probably never even knew they were there.

  So far everything in the Katarina was exceeding their expectations. Sasha worried about the experimental nature of so many of their systems, but s
he knew Gabo and Galen were the two she wanted managing and operating those systems. It helped that they didn't push the limits on anything yet; the experience they were gaining now would be a major benefit when, not if, they were needed. Sasha knew enough about their mission to know that much.

  Galen had planned a layover in an out-of-the-way system with nothing to show for itself but a bunch of asteroids in a belt too poor to even earn a mining expedition. Nevertheless, it was the perfect place for them to lay over and rest before they made their run into the area they knew was frequented by the pirates.

  Sasha let everyone have the evening off as the Katarina hid in the outermost asteroid belt, most of her systems set to sleep mode. Pretty much only their stealth systems were active, since they wanted to be sure they weren't disturbed. That and their passive sensors, which remained quiet.

  Everyone gathered in the galley, since that was the largest area on the Katarina and the only place that could accommodate them all. Most of the marines teamed up to start a card game; Gabo and Galen quickly joined them. Sasha knew they were out of their depth, but they weren't playing for high stakes so she left them alone.

  As a result, that left Sasha and Master Sergeant Gibbons to sit together. "Got to keep an eye on the children, don't we," the Master Sergeant quipped to Sasha, despite the fact he knew most of his marines were older than Sasha.

  Quick to catch on to the humor of his comment, Sasha just smiled. "Not that you wouldn't be keeping an eye on me too, now would you, Sarge?" she replied softly.

  The Sarge just grunted, "As much as I appreciate you, Lieutenant," he pointed out, "I and this lot should be with my Princess instead of sending the two greenest recruits in the Marines."

  His look said it all. The Master Sergeant was not at all happy about his two youngest being the ones away with the Princess. Having lost that argument with the Princess, at least he could commiserate with the sub-lieutenant.

  Sasha understood his position very well. She wasn't thrilled with being left in charge either. "I know you're right, Sarge," she told him, "But your presence would have blown their cover from the start. I can tell you from my limited experience, the Princess is still in good hands. Those two almost worship her and they'll do whatever it takes to protect her. Plus, she's quite capable on her own."

  "That's what worries me. What if she tries to take on the entire Imperial Navy? Even our Princess couldn't handle that."

  "No, she'd just pull her Princess credentials out and they'd all be declaring fealty to her in an instant. When she wants to do it, that girl can command instant obedience. But I think this time she'll lay low as long as she can. She really wants to accomplish her mission and that includes making sure she gets them all. She stands a lot better chance doing that watching from the shadows."

  Sasha smiled as she had another thought. "Besides," she went on, "You know the first chance she gets, she won't be able to resist visiting Marine country, and with her abilities, that girl can earn the respect of any Marine. She'll have them all following her around like a little puppy dog."

  "I know that," the Sarge said. "Hell, I wouldn't want to face her on the mats and I didn't think I was afraid of anyone."

  "Still, I should be there," the Sarge declared vehemently. "Not only is it my job, I've come to respect the Princess a lot, and I want nothing less than to protect her."

  "Don't we all," Sasha told him. "I knew the second I met her I was in trouble. Just like you, I would do anything for her."

  "Ditto," Sara said as she came up to join them. "That was before she gave me these implants, which I gotta tell you, blow anything away I've ever used before."

  Smiling, she went on, "I've gathered you some interesting data I think you'll want to see, Sasha." Seeing the look in Sasha's eyes, she amended, "Not until tomorrow. That's going to be plenty soon enough. I suspect the next few days are going to be both boring and challenging as we proceed at true merchant speeds through the target sector. Boring, because most of the time nothing is going to happen, and challenging, because we have to be ready when it does. That will be the perfect time for you to do your deep dive."

  "So you think something's there, in the patterns?" Sasha asked.

  "Yes, I think so. I suspect when your through we'll know a lot more about the pirates and you'll have enough information that it may be worth disturbing the Princess to pass it on." Her smile grew bigger, "I wouldn't be surprised if you don't figure out the location of the pirates' lair. That would be worth telling the Princess about, don't you think?"

  Sasha laughed. "You've got a lot more faith in me than I have. Surely the pirates have been careful to use subterfuge to not give away their hideout."

  Sara gave her a grin. "If I were a pirate and I was told to make sure I didn't let anyone know the location of our base, what would I do?"

  What Sara was suggesting suddenly dawned on her, causing Sasha to match her grin. "You're right. I would plot a course directly away from my base and then switch my course later. I may well be able to pull all the available course data and reverse the directions of their courses to come up with an intersecting area of space. A stealth ship would be able to investigate that area and find such a base."

  Now excited, Sasha looked at her teammate and friend. "Now I really want that data, but I know you're not going to give it to me."

  "Nope, not tonight. You need to rest just like the rest of us."

  Sasha wanted to argue, but she couldn't. "Think they'll let us join their card game?" she said, not really addressing either one of them.

  Sarge couldn't help but shake his head. "No, your reputation precedes you, Lieutenant," he said with a laugh. "Even if the two that know what you can do didn't object, the others have heard enough to know better." He smiled at her. "Put it this way, I wouldn't attempt it and I used to be quite a card shark back in my day."

  "Oh really," Sasha answered him. "Why don't you tell us about it? Looks like we have a little free time."

  "Have you heard about the time I won a racing ship in a game and lost it the next day?"

  "No. Please do tell."

  Before long, both girls were laughing at the Sarge's tales. Deep inside, Sasha knew this was exactly what she needed. Pirate hunting would come a little later. It would come, of that she was sure.

  #

  Sara had used a hack to give a back trail for travel by Jarra and the two Marines into the South Basil Capitol District. Of course, they didn't actually stick to the full back trail for their travels. Instead they boarded the ship that took them the last leg of the journey. Still, that journey took the better part of a week. Finally they arrived at the planet that served as the district capital to the Basil District, taking a shuttle down to disappear into the normal traffic load at the space port.

  Arriving at the Imperial Navy office that served the district, Jarra and the two Marines presented their orders to the lieutenant in the reception area. "We all have been given orders to report to the Relentless," Jarra told him. "I am part of an exchange program of officers between the Rim Patrol and the Navy. These two I just picked up along the way since we were all traveling to the same place."

  "This is most irregular," the lieutenant responded. "I need to verify these orders."

  Jarra shook her head, a look of anger flashing across her eyes. "You know as well as I do that the orders are correct. We've traveled a long way to get here and we would appreciate being able to get our traveling done by arriving aboard our assigned ship."

  "The Admiral's not going to be happy," the man told her, although for some reason he seemed a little afraid of her. Standing beside her, the two Marines knew exactly why, even if the officer did not. Jarra carried a presence about her that others couldn't help but feel. Especially when she got angry, which she was beginning to be now.

  Jarra nodded. "I expect he's not going to be happy either way, but those are our orders. If we can catch the next shuttle up to the ship, we should be able to arrive on First Watch. I believe that would minim
ize the amount of difficulty our arrival will cause."

  "You're probably right," the man begrudgingly told her. "Ok, you're assigned seats on the next shuttle up. Make sure you don't miss your flight."

  "Thank you for your assistance, Lieutenant," Jarra told him as he handed the order chips back to each of them. "I believe we can find our way there without help."

  Neither of the Marines had said a word and they just shook their heads as they headed toward the naval shuttle port. As soon as they were out of earshot, Maze told Jarra, "I believe it would have been traditional for us to have cooled our heels for at least a day or two, ma'am, stuck in limbo where we couldn't do anything for fear of being called to rush to our shuttle. I think I'm going to travel with you from now on."

  "That's ridiculous," Jarra told him. "We don't have time to waste like that. I think we need to get a couple of procedures changed when we're done with this."

  Maze shrugged. "I hope you can do it, but I wouldn't hold my breath, ma'am. Some things never change."

  Jarra nodded. That she understood. "You're probably right. Oh well, we have a mission to complete, so best we be about it."

  "Yes, ma'am," the two told her.

  #

  As Jarra had said earlier, their shuttle indeed brought them aboard Relentless during the first watch. She knew that the admiral was not going to be happy to see her, someone outside of his normal command who he hadn't had a say about. From what Sasha had given her, most of the officers on the ship had been handpicked and it wasn't because of their ability that they were on his crew.

  Jarra had been pleasantly surprised, however, to see that Lieutenant Commander Jason Cauldwell was now assigned to Relentless, so she expected to see at least one friendly face. Admiral Janson must have thought that Jason's connection to his father might help him with his cause. She was a little worried that Jason might get caught up in the mess that was bound to come out of the scrutiny on Admiral Janson, but she was prepared to intervene in his support if necessary.