by Randy Dyess
The Orion-class patrol ship that King Florres used did not have windows or portholes, so views of the outside were simulated with cameras and monitors. King Florres had deck-to-ceiling monitors installed on one side of his stateroom to see his base and fleet whenever he wanted. He often stood and stared into the monitors while congratulating himself on how much he had accomplished. Nothing cheered him more than seeing the twenty-meter-high letters spelling out the name of his empire.
“I made Pirate’s Bay a place of safety for any pirate who would swear their allegiance to me.” The use of the station not only built up King Florres’ fleet, but it also gave him tremendous wealth from the bars, brothels, and mess halls he owned. A percentage was taken from each of his ships, along with a tax for handling the resale of seized cargo, and the King took the rest of his crew’s money in the form of entertainment whenever they stayed on the station. This kept the pirates in debt to him, ensuring their loyalty.
“Didn’t anyone ever tell where Pirate’s Bay is?”
King Florres had a dark look on his face as he turned toward Carmina. “I work hard to keep this place hidden and safe. Those who even think about selling the base’s location to some corporate security or using it to save their hides die in the most hideous ways possible.”
“What about those they tell?”
“Most of them are in my back pocket, anyway. Damn corporations don’t pay their security crews enough, and my little payments to key people help to keep them off my back. That’s how I find out who’s trying to sell me out. My network also helps by letting me know things that others don’t know about—especially valuable cargoes or high-value hostages who are coming into my sectors.”
“You’re so smart,” Carmina replied. Now, if she could only escape one day, she could help bring this murderous maniac to justice.
“Well, except for that bilge rat, Captain Moore, and those damn Sullivans,” King Florres continued.
“The what?”
“Never mind, sweetie. It’s just an old term I heard on a holo-vid.”
“Who are Captain Moore and the Sullivans?”
“They are the only people in this sector I can’t bribe. They think they’re too good to work with me, and I’m always losing ships to them. Although,” he added, “they never take me on directly—it’s always just a few of my men and the smaller ships of my fleet.”
That’s because you’re too chicken to meet them face-to-face, she thought. She knew King Florres didn’t have a chance in an actual fight. He only fought when he already bribed the opposition into throwing the fight or when he had an overwhelming advantage over some unarmed freighter crew.
“Tell me how you captured the Anarchy, my King.”
“You know how, love.”
“Tell me again!” she whined.
“Well, I took the Anarchy from that old, fat Peterson Mining captain—Captain Tiddlywink, or something like that,” he said with a smile. He listened to her giggle and then went on, “That idiot thought he knew more than I did about fighting ships, and he came at me without a full crew. He thought that, because the Anarchy was twice as large as the old Reaver, he would walk all over King Florres.”
What the King didn’t tell her was that a source on the inside had told him the Anarchy had recently suffered damage and was making its way to the docks to be repaired. Peterson Mining wouldn’t pay people to ride around on a damaged vessel and had transferred most of the crew to other vessels. He also didn’t tell her that same inside source knew the Anarchy would suffer massive drive damage if he could hit the drives with one or two shots. Captain Fiddy, who had already been fired, had left the bridge to some new person to sleep off a massive hangover when King Florres attacked. The man hadn’t really cared about what would happen to the ship as it made its way to the repair yard.
“I showed that fool. He came at me, and with one good dodge to the port, followed by a broadside for the Reaver, the Anarchy was dead in the water. We swarmed her and took out all defenses in five minutes. I had pumped my crew full of energy by telling them how the Anarchy represented all those damn corporations —most of us grew up on a Candus Corporation planet and remembered how they’d treated our parents and grandparents. Besides, most of us had lost a lot of friends to Candus Security or Sullivan Shipping over the years. That fat fool and his crew never stood a chance after I worked up my crew. Must’ve been quite a shock to Captain Tiddlywink when we came pouring into his docking bay—I think the old man peed is pants,” King Florres said with a big belly laugh.
Carmina struggled to keep from rolling her eyes. Even knowing the Anarchy was heavily damaged and that there was only a skeleton crew on her, King Florres had still been afraid enough to board her with dozens of pumped-up pirates. The man could have walked over and taken the Anarchy with two pirates and a dog.
“That fight gave me the biggest pirate ship in two sectors. Since then, no one has ever disputed my claim as being the Pirate King of the Taurus and Pegasus sectors.”
“Now, everyone for billions of kilometers fears you,” she said.
“Soon, everyone in all of human space will fear me and my fleet,” he responded before falling back to sleep with a smile on his face.
Carmina stared at the monitor showing Pirate’s Bay, wondering if she would ever be allowed to leave.
Chapter 3
Candus Corporation CEO, Henry Candus, strode into his office and looked at several members of his staff. “Okay, tell me who those people in my conference room are,” he said, looking at the head of Candus Security, Commander Max Wekesa.
“The Sullivan family. They represent Sullivan Shipping and are here to discuss the recent pirate activity in the Taurus and Pegasus sectors.”
“Why am I wasting my time meeting with an insignificant shipping company?”
“Because,” his Chief Counsel, Parker Ponsonby, replied, “we are currently in ten lawsuits involving them. A lot of shipping has been raided by a pirate named Florres.”
“So?”
“Technically,” Commander Wekesa replied, “we are contracted by the Senate to provide security in those two sectors. This makes it our problem.”
“Fill me in on this pirate problem,” Henry commanded.
Commander Wekesa took several minutes to go over all the pirate activity in the Taurus and Pegasus sectors over the past few years. The three men discussed Florres and his ability to attack and run back to a hidden base before they could engage him. Commander Wekesa also brought up the point that he believed Florres had multiple Candus Security and Candus booking agents on his payroll. Florres was just too lucky in his attacks.
Henry Candus looked to Parker, who just nodded. “Okay. What do they want us to do? From what you tell me, we haven’t had much luck, so far. Do they want us to fire all of our security forces and booking agents?” Henry asked.
“They’re here to discuss a joint operation to get rid of the pirate activity in both the Taurus and Pegasus sectors,” Parker replied.
“Can they do that?” Henry asked Commander Wekesa.
“I believe they can. Sullivan Shipping recently launched a line of armed freighters that have a lot of firepower,” the Commander replied.
“Did one of our sources verify this?”
“One of our sources at Sullivan shipyards got a look at the plans for those ships. He reports that they are the most advanced ships out there and that their weapons are just beyond what is legal by the Tarquin Accords. Our source, a chief engineer, believes these ships could take out the Terran Navy.”
Henry Candus looked at Commander Wekesa with disbelief. “Are you sure this chief engineer hasn’t exaggerated? That seems advanced for some small, rim world shipping firm.”
“We verified with two other sources. They have three of them and their firepower is unbelievable.”
“We’ll see,” Henry grunts. “Who’s in charge out there?”
“Richard Sullivan is here with his two daughters and two sons. One of his da
ughters commands the Sullivan freighters,” Parker replied.
His AI displayed the video feed from the conference room into Henry’s glasses. “One of those young pups commands those ships?” he asked in disbelief.
“Don’t let her age fool you—she’s been fighting pirates for almost a decade and has quite the reputation,” Commander Wekesa said.
“If you say so. Tell me about this miracle family.”
Parker spoke up, “Richard Sullivan started the firm from scratch almost forty years ago.”
“Really?” Henry exclaimed. It was unusual to actually meet someone who founded a company since most company leaders and owners only had control because an ancestor handed it down to them. Not many people had the ability to build a company and compete with existing companies and their political allies.
“Yes,” Parker said. “He grew up on a Zeng Yong planet called Geselon. At fifteen, he took a mining contract with Zeng Yong and saved enough money to go independent. By the time he was thirty, he’d had several good runs and invested in a few run-down freighters. Ten years later, his firm has grown into the premier shipping firm in the outer rims.”
“Sounds like a tough one,” Commander Wekesa said.
“Don’t give him too much credit. He did build his company in the rims—it doesn’t take a lot of brains to build a company in those sectors,” Henry said.
Like you would know, Commander Wekesa thought. Everything you have has been handed down to you on a U-981 spoon.
Parker cleared his throat to get their attention. “With him is his oldest son, Robert, his daughters, Dakota and Cheyenne, and his youngest son, Owen. From my material, the youngest son is slated to take over the firm. He’s just received his degree from Xueqin University and is starting to learn the family business.”
“Never heard of the place,” Henry broke in. “Why isn’t the oldest taking over? Too much of a lightweight?”
“Hardly,” Commander Wekesa replied. “Robert Sullivan joined the Terran Marines ten years ago and spent two years as a Marine Raider before disappearing into Senate Intelligence.”
“Senate Intelligence, huh?” Henry said. “What did he do there?”
“We don’t know,” Commander Wekesa continued. “His record is sealed beyond what our sources can get. Anyway, after leaving Senate Intelligence, he built a small commando team at Sullivan Shipping and has been very active in wiping out pirate activity in the Orientalis, Ovis, Australis, and the Terrecea sectors. He has quite the reputation and will probably be a factor in whatever they are proposing.”
“What about his daughters?”
“His oldest daughter, Cheyenne, is considered one of the smartest humans since Chinonso Slava. I talked with the head of our R&D department and she and her colleagues are in awe of that young girl’s designs. She has advanced degrees in engineering, physics, and weapons designs. Dr. Simon has gotten a hold of several of Cheyenne’s theoretical weapon designs and reports that those weapons would make Sullivan Shipping the most powerful fleet in human history.”
“Why theoretical?” Henry asked.
Parker added, “All of them have been outlawed by the Tarquin Accords. She’s not doing research into them, but theorizing. Dr. Simon believes all of the weapons would actually work, though, if she took the time to build them.”
“She’s also the main designer of the Sullivan’s armed freighters,” Commander Wekesa continued.
“Okay, so she’s smart and designs great weapons and ships,” Henry conceded. “Tell me about the other one.”
“Dakota Sullivan is the captain for the Sullivan fleet,” Parker replied.
“And what great things has this pup done?” Henry asked.
“At the age of sixteen, she took control of the bridge of one of their old freighters when the captain became injured in a pirate attack. She used the cargo pods attached to the freighter to take out three pirate vessels before the pirates retreated. Since then, she has been involved in over twenty battles and often pilots her brother’s commando ship when needed.”
“How did they get permission to build their ships?” Henry asked. “I thought we had the only armed ship building permit in the rims.”
“We do,” Parker replied. “We think they used an old clause in the Tarquin Accords that allows a company to build vessels to protect their interests. We use the same clause to justify our security vessels.”
“Good information. What are we going to do next?”
“We need to hear them out and work with them. It is imperative that one of our own security people commands the fleet.”
“Why?”
“Because we have the security contract, and if we command the fleet, it is a security response, even if one of our ships isn’t with them. If they command, they can claim salvage rights to anything they capture.”
“Good point. What else?”
“We also need to keep them from leading an assault force on any pirate bases. Not only are salvage rights at stake, but also, if they lead, they may not destroy the bases.”
“Why would we want them destroyed?”
“If we destroy the bases and ships, there’s a good chance that we destroy any seized cargoes. This makes the cargo destruction part of a security response and the insurance companies have to pay out. No one would be able to give an accounting of what was left and they would have to resolve all claims. That would take care of over fifteen lawsuits, including the ten the Sullivans are involved in.” Parker continued, “If they are in charge, the inventory would be accounted for and we would eventually lose the remaining lawsuits and have to pay out. It is in our best interest if we destroy everything and not take any ships or pirate bases intact.”
“How are we supposed to do that? I don’t control an army of commandos.”
“No,” Commander Wekesa replied, “but you do know Admiral Damon-Cowles, and he controls the Terran Marine raider force.”
“Another good point,” Henry smiled. “The Admiral loves going to Taurus Prime to hunt Gyrdyds. I’m sure a Candus-sponsored trip there will loosen up a few marines to help us out. In fact, he’s been bugging me about getting him together with Senator Kensington. The Admiral’s budget appropriation is due, and Kensington controls the appropriation committee. If I send Damon-Cowles on a hunting expedition with Kensington, the good ol’ Admiral will let us borrow both the Terran Navy and the Terran Marines.”
“Maybe only ask for the marines—those incompetent fools in the Terran Navy would cause more problems than they would solve,” Commander Wekesa said.
“I was in the Terran Navy,” Henry growled.
“Yes, sir, I know,” Commander Wekesa said. “I believe you were captain of the Candus-sponsored destroyer, Titan’s Fury.”
“You’re damn right I was.”
“Can I ask you a question, then, about your command?” Commander Wekesa asked.
“What?”
“During the six years you were captain, did you ever run the bridge and weapons crew in a live fire situation?” Before Henry could reply, Commander Wekesa continued, “Let me rephrase that: did you ever run the bridge and weapons crew in a live fire situation when you weren’t hosting a party or trying to impress a girl?”
Henry Candus’ face broke into a large smile, and he replied, “Okay. No Terran Navy.”
All the men laughed at his answer and Commander Wekesa spoke up, “My AI has reported that Captain Moore is outside. He’s our Alpha Squad commander, and I want him to have overall command of any task force. With his record, I’m sure the Sullivans will not object.”
“Let’s go, then, and get this over,” Henry said. “I just got a very expensive brandy from Bruna this morning, and it’s waiting for me.”
“Lucky you,” Parker said as the three men stood and made their way out of Henry’s office.
******
Richard Sullivan, CEO, and owner of Sullivan Shipping looked around the gaudy conference room his team had been ushered into. What an eye-sore, he tho
ught. He knew it was decorated to mimic the conference rooms of the most powerful inner-core corporations. Apidale might have been the capital city of the outer-core planet Metros, but the difference between inner-core and outer-core worlds were still miles apart. Inner-core corporations were the powerhouses in the human world, while outer-core and rim corporations could only act like they were powerful, even if they did control dozens of planets and the lives of billions of workers.