END of LINE: Humanities Last Stand - part 3

by John Short

  “Would you like to speak with her dead body Commander?” the King asked. “Cause it's standing right here beside me.”

  “Sire, how can we be sure what you say is true? General Nykeus ordered us to rescue you and then to blow that ghost ship out of space.”

  “I've been given a tour of this ghost ship son. If you try to attack it your entire force will be converted to debris and scrap metals floating in space. I've love to stay and chat son, but my Palace is about to be attacked, so I must be going.” The King cut off the coms before looking over at Jon and admitting, “You're right. My brother has his hands around the throat of our realm. Go and do what must be done to save my house Admiral-General Connell.”

  “ Nav?” Jon called out.

  “Ready sir, jump in 3,2,1, JUMPING NOW!”

  No matter how many ways living beings find to twist the laws of physics with their FTL drives, some things can not be changed. Two objects still cannot occupy the same space at the same time. When Leviathan suddenly jumped into the Lexon II system she came very close to slamming a passenger liner out of orbit and into Lexon II's atmosphere. Then when her drives fired to push her toward her target, she did push the liner out of her way like a fat lady at a bargain sale pushes her way to a dress that is three sizes to small for her to wear.

  Jon ordered weapons to fire the golden disabling beam and the TransCo vessel with the city killer was instantly floating in space with no power. Its city killing projectile falling harmlessly from the end of the gun instead of being pushed out towards its intended target. “It's all yours Jackal. Tell Rik to be careful. I need both of you back here in one piece.”

  “I hear ya Dragon. Jelio already warned Prik to get back here in one piece. I think she likes him.” Jar replied as he launched his shuttle away from Leviathan's hanger. Jon watched from Leviathan's bridge as Jarrieal flew over to the cargo ship and first took down its engines with a pair of rockets and then landed on its hull. He held his breath as one after another the troopers exited the shuttle and entered the ship.

  “Rik to Leviathan,” the Prince commed. “This thing is empty. There is no crew onboard. Only a bank of computers in the command center and some kind of clock counting down.”

  “Rik, Dragon here.” Jon replied. “See if the connections to the weapon attached to the bottom of the ship are still intact. If they are, cut them!”

  “Yeah, I got it.” Zeprik confirmed. Even though he could not make the plasma fire travel along its blade, Jon had given him one of the dragon breath swords and the Prince used it now to cut the cables connected to the weapon. "All clear Dragon." he commed once he'd cut every cable to the computer.

  With the ship totally disabled, Jon had his own shuttles maneuver it inside one of Leviathan's bays where the data team began to go through every bit of information they could find in its computers.

  Two hours later when all of Leviathan's ships were back in their berths and the hangers closed again, Jon asked the King if he wanted to go down to the surface or stay onboard for the trial of Helios and Boss King and Regent U'Lanto. “I’m sorry Sire, but I will not allow a court on Lexon II to release these evil males because some magestrate has been paid to ignore the truth. They will be tried here on Leviathan and their sentences will be carried out from here.”

  Before the King could answer Data commed Jon, “Admiral, the reason no one was onboard that cargo ship is the ship was all controlled with pre-programmed computers. The parking fees were being paid for from a special TransCo account that ultimately led back to Regent U'Lanto. It was Boss King's insurance against a double cross. He tried to destroy the Palace from space, and then planned to move the ship remotely through space to Haven and destroy the Summer Palace also. His real target was the Regent.

  “You have all of that data stored for use at the trial?” the King asked.

  “Yes Sire.”

  “As big as you are my new son. Neither you nor all the males on this ship could make me leave before I pass judgment on those three!” King Le'puix informed Jon. “I only ask that you allow the trial to be recorded by more than one news service. That would mean letting the others on your ship.”

  “I'll do as you ask my King.” Jon told him and offered a proper bow to the King making it official. The Com Officer wasted no time in sending invitations to all the news vid services to attend the trial. It was to be held on the Leviathan. This would not only be a legal trial, most of those were boring anyway. This was a chance to get cameras inside the huge Warship that appeared and disappeared all over space seemingly at will. Maybe they could interview a member of the crew. Perhaps they would even see that ominous caped male who seemed to takeover anyplace he entered and learn his true identity.

  “SIR!” the Officer manning the scanners shouted, “One of those battle wagons is preparing to fire on us!”

  “ALL HANDS, BATTLE STATIONS! SHIELDS UP!” Jon ordered. “Weapons, blow that traitor out of the sky!”

  “Yes sir!” came a reply and every cannon along Leviathan's massive flank opened fire on the one Lexonian Battle Cruiser that had decided to shoot. The huge ship didn't even shake as round after round of plasma bursts exploded from its cannons to engulf the Lexonian ship. Huge sections of the attacker were torn away from its hull, venting the air out into space. Soon the ship broke apart into hundreds of sections that continued on their course towards Leviathan only to bounce harmlessly off of her armored flanks.

  “Open coms!” Jon ordered, “Who will be the next to fire on your King?”

  “We're leaving right now!” came a frightened reply.

  “NO YOU”RE NOT!” the King yelled. “I'm ordering Admiral-General Connell to destroy any of you who try to run away! Everyone of you is under detention for attacking your King!”

  “Great!” Phillie exclaimed from her view screens in Engineering. “More junk to have to clean up. Maybe this time there would be some usable parts.”

  The day of the trial arrived and there were ships of all types in orbit around Leviathan. The remaining Battle Cruisers that had tried to attack Leviathan had been disabled and brought in close to her flanks. The entire command crew from each of them had been relieved of duty and brought to Leviathan to stand trial with the other prisoners. The King issued instant promotions for lower ranking officers to place them in temporary command of the ships.

  Of course the news services had ships filming every inch of the Warship, from the large cannons along her flanks to the massive guns at her front and rear. They tried to get in close to see what was inside the launch bays for the fighters and the shuttles, but the protective shielding Jon had ordered raised prevented them from getting the right camera angle. They all filmed the huge cannon barrel that took up most of the front of the ship and each speculated on the kind of weapon that must be.

  Only one channel guessed it right. The huge cannon was the planet-killing weapon. It was said this ship could fire at a planet and cause that planet to explode. It had been said that only the fabled Dragon King and his mate could use the weapon. All the other channels insisted that no such weapon could exist.

  Inside, the ship was in a state of complete confusion from the landing bay, that had been designated for visitors and also held three additional Destroyer class ships, all of which were now fully armed and having the Stars and Bars flag applied to their bows, to the miles of corridors that had been cleared for public viewing. People roamed everywhere from the mess room where some were being served early meals, to the actual chamber that would be the courtroom for the trial. The room was chosen because of its similarity to a small theater that held seats for over one hundred people and had a stage in front where tables had been set up for the King, the Prince and the Princess.

  Jon and his Aunt Gala would also preside over the trial as the presenters. Their task was to present the evidence against the accused. Two of the Regent's paid Peacekeeper Generals had been chosen to defend the prisoners. One of which was the very same General who had sent the task forc
e out to destroy the Leviathan. That force of ships was now traveling the slipways back to Lexon II and was not expected before the trial ended.

  Each of the news crews tried to get the best angles for their cameras covering the trial, while others in their crews tried to sneak all over the ship and record as much as they could of the inside. None of them got past Leviathan's security cameras or the crewmen who were tasked to keep the reporters and their cameramen away from certain strategic areas that were not on the tours each channel was given.

  One reporter thought he was getting away from the crowd when he stumbled upon Talga's favorite sleeping spot and the tiger woke up. The huge cat simply grabbed the male by his belt and carried him back to where he belonged. The reporter dropped his camera and had to struggle to grab it even as he began screaming for help, his screams reverberating throughout the ship! His screams only ended when the tiger dropped him on the floor back with the other reporters who, once they got over seeing a wild saber-tooth tiger, known only on Haven, roaming freely on the ship, all began filming and laughing! For his part, Talga merely made that deep huff that only a big cat can make before turning away to return to his spot and go back to sleep. Later that night, even the reporter's own channel announcers laughed at his situation when they showed the film of him slowly sneaking into what was just one of thousands of similar crews quarters before waking the big cat from its nap.

  In the courtroom, the crowd had all found seats and the news crews had their cameras in place when the King took his seat. That was the signal for everyone else to sit as well.

  “The Presenters may begin.” King Le'puix said in a very stately manner.

  “Thank you Your Highness.” Gala said, as she stood before the gathering in her finely woven gown with the Connell House colors. “For the record, my name is Galaxiey Connell. I will be presenting evidence against the accused. We would call the Data Master of the Leviathan to testify.” As she stood facing the crowd, several reporters recognized her as the same female that had accompanied Jon Connell the day of the Reunification celebration on Haven when the giant male had attacked a member of the lesser royals.

  The Data Master rose from his seat in the audience and came forward to a podium set up below the stage. When he reached his place, Gala asked him. “Will you give your name and position onboard this ship.”

  “I am Major Neloie, Data Master of the Leviathan.”

  “Were you always a Major assigned to Leviathan?”

  “No ma'am, before this job I was a grub on the Defiance. Before that I severed in the Peacekeepers on the Mercury. Before that I helped my parents farm until the financiers came and took it away from them.”

  “Could you explain to us what it means to be a grub?”

  “In the Peacekeepers people are given one of three jobs at first. There are the ground pounders, those guys are good fighters and all, but the grubs are better.

  “Grubs, like me, excel at hand to hand and close quarters. We are the ones who board ships in space and deal with any pirates before capturing the ship.”

  “The last group is the fliers. They usually come in already knowing how to fly or their entry tests say they should be good at learning to fly. They fly the shuttles that take the rest of us were we need to go. They provide all the main firepower when we attack the pirate ships for taking out their drives or just blowing the ship apart. If it's a ground operation, after dropping the troops, they bring in supplies and take out the wounded. Then come in and get us out again.”

  “So you were first hired as a grub on Defiance, the later became Data Master for Leviathan. Is that accurate?”

  “Yes.”

  “Whom does Leviathan belong to?”

  “The boss says she belongs to all of us, ma'am.”

  “What is her job?” Gala was merely laying down groundwork for what would come later in the Data Master's testimony. She wanted to at least remove all the little loopholes that her brother, the Regent, could crawl through.

  “Leviathan's main purpose is to provide security for BBITFTLCo. That's a fleet of four privately owned FTL haulers flying the rim worlds. Well, it was a small four ship fleet until we captured some of the vessels from TransCo that were hauling illegal drugs or committing acts of piracy. At last count the company now has ten cargo ships counting our orginal converted Novas and four destroyer class ships. Then there is Leviathan.”

  “I understood that those first four ships were all ex-military and were armed. Is that correct?”

  “Sort of correct. They are all ex-mil Nova class Carriers. They have working guns, but no attack shuttles or fighters. The hangers have been converted to haul cargo so they couldn't even carry fighting ships now without a lot of work.”

  “One of them was leased to the Peacekeepers, was it not? Did that ship still have the ability to load a full compliment of fighting craft?” Gala inquired.

  “Yes ma'am, it was leased and it did carry fighting ships, but once the lease was up she was remodeled into a cargo ship like the others.”

  “What about the four Destroyer class vessels currently berthed onboard the Leviathan?”

  “Those ships were all taken as salvage via the anti-piracy laws. Each of them was taken while in the act of attacking a cargo vessel or a planet with proper claims sent to Fleet Command and approvals on file for each. One was taken in the act of attacking Sanctuary. They are fully armed fighting ships ma'am.”

  “So those are what you are using for the security side of your business?”

  “Yes ma'am.”

  “So in light of your testimony, what role does Leviathan play?”

  “Leviathan is our home base. Because of the danger of reprisals from the pirates, we don't have a base on any planet. She is also sometimes used to ferry damaged ships to their destinations.”

  “Was Leviathan used in the fight at Sanctuary?”

  “Yes ma'am, but only to stop the Destroyer that was bombing the planet.”

  “Then why was Leviathan used to stop the attack against the Palace instead of one or more of the Destroyers?”

  “I'm not the one to answer that question. I'd think it was because the Admiral thought it would take too long to unload the Destroyers. I just know we had to move fast and the Admiral must have thought it would be faster if we came in Leviathan rather than spend time off loading the Destroyers, besides, the General in charge of handling the defense of the King had sent an entire battle group out to destroy us. We could not let that happen because we had the entire Royal Family onboard. If we had been forced into a battle with the group that came after us, or if we had waited to unload some place outside Lexon II's system, we might have been too late to stop the attack on the Palace.”

  “Did your Admiral inform the Commander of this battle group that the Royals were here onboard this ship?”

  “No, the records show that the King informed him right before we jumped here to stop the attack.”

  “Where is this attack group now?”

  “Somewhere still in the slipway heading back here. I guess. Levi is a big boat ma’am, but she’s really fast.”

  “I'm going to give you to Admiral Connell now Data Master.” Gala smiled. “Thank you for being so candid in your responses.” Gala walked back to her seat and gave the fist to chest salute to Jon who stood and returned the salute before turning to look at the Data Master.

  “Hi Snoop. Holding up OK?”

  “Yes Sir.”

  “For the record, my name is Admiral Jon Connell. I will also be presenting evidence against the accused."

  “I object!” the Defence council stood and declared. “This male has no training in matters of the court. He is nothing other than an injured warrior.”

  “I will take that into consideration, General.” The King said. “Let him present the evidence.”

  “This is ridiculous!” The Regent shouted and stood to leave. “These people have no power over me! I will not be party to this foolishness!” Several of the armed securit
y personal around the room pointed their pistols directly at the Regent.

  “Sit down brother!” The King demanded. “I’ve learned much in my time among these people and you will give an accounting!” The King stared directly at his Regent as if daring the male to give him an excuse to cause his brother bodily harm. “Please Admiral-General Connell, continue.”

  When the room had quieted and calm regained control of everyone, Jon addressed his Data Master as if nothing had happened, “Snoop, you have a huge amount of data to share with us. It may take more than just one day for this court to digest all of it. Can you afford to give us several days if needed?”

  “Yes sir. It’s not hard as long as all I have to do is tell people the truth. I've always been good at being truthful.”

  "Maybe you should have a seat." Jon waved and a chair was brought in and placed near the podium so Snoop could sit to give his testimony if he became tired of standing. “Care to tell the court how you got the call sign of Snoop?”

  “Jackal gave it to me after I accidentally triggered the video of him and Wrenches together in the forward showers.” the Data Master said with a grin on his face. Around the room many of the audience chuckled.

  “Snoop, this next question is very important. Everything you're going to present here was gotten using legal methods of data collection. You have signed and approved warrants for all of it. Right?”

  “Yes sir. Everything except the recordings of the prisoners in their holding area. No warrants are needed to have security cameras in a holding area.”

  “Speaking of the holding area, can you playback the part where the prisoners talk about a monorail crash on Haven that was responsible for the death of our beloved Queen?”

  So it went for three full days of presentations. There was data that had been uncovered on everything from the plot to prevent Satrina and Jon's messages from being delivered to the plot to kill the Queen, the Prince, the King and lastly Satrina. There was even data discovered that linked the Regent as the one who had ordered the capture of both Galaxiey and Satrina to be used as the Regents personal sex slaves. His plans had involved more than his own private perversions, but also using them to force ranking members of the Royal Household into compromising positions.