“Good shot, Captain. Truly you saved our lives from this dangerous warrior,” Crusher whispered.
“Shut up,” Jason answered. He walked over to the pantry, grabbed a bottle of what was probably a very expensive wine, and handed it to Crusher. “Empty most of that out, without drinking it, and spill a bit on her shirt. Take her out to one of the couches we passed and lay her on it and place the bottle nearby. When she comes out of it she won’t remember that she didn’t actually suck down a bottle of wine and pass out. Then move as quickly and quietly as you can to catch up, we’re pressing on.”
With Crusher carrying the unconscious woman out to the sitting area, Jason and Lucky climbed a narrow, spiraling stairway that led from the galley to an area just forward of the main salon, obviously meant for the serving staff. The salon was dimly lit with side accent lights and was luxurious beyond anything Jason had ever seen. Along the aft wall was an expansive display case that housed a veritable treasure trove of unique and exotic items, many of which were probably illegal to own as a private collector. He knew the item they were after was a priceless cultural artifact that should be turned over, but to him it was a way deeper into an organization that had been, hopefully, running attacks up and down the Cluster’s shipping lanes. For the moment, the latter was of greater value to him.
He motioned to Lucky to post up and stand watch. The battlesynth, able to move with astonishing stealth for his stature, made his way quickly to an area that enabled him to cover the entire room and remain somewhat hidden. As he made his way to the display case he saw another, large shadow move against the forward bulkhead; Crusher had made his way up to them and was now covering the forward passageway. Looking the large glass case over, he thought it seemed straight-forward enough to open, but he would not be so easily fooled. “Kage,” he said, his com transmitting on an open channel. His video feed was also being linked back to the ship so the other three could see what he saw.
“Working on it, Captain,” Kage confirmed. “The case is tied into the ship’s main security protocols, but it operates under its own subroutine. This may take a moment.”
Jason knew his code slicer was working as fast as he could, and far faster than anyone else he had ever met. Cajoling him or distracting him with pointless words of encouragement wouldn’t help them out, so he remained silent. It wasn’t long before there was a pop-hiss and the glass raised into the ceiling. His displays warned him momentarily about an increase in argon gas concentration in the room and he realized that the case had been filled with the inert gas to help preserve the items. He called up an image he had been provided by Dowarty and began comparing it to the items in the case. Several seconds later he was lifting an absolutely ancient looking wood box out with the reverence it deserved. The case was exquisite, and when he opened it he knew he had the correct item; nestled inside, carved from colored gems the size of his fist, were what looked like a pair of four-winged hummingbirds in breathtaking detail. The statues were thousands of years old and were literally priceless.
Closing the box, he motioned Crusher over and told Kage to close and re-purge the display case. Crusher came forward, removing a padded bag as he did to place the box into. Once Jason slid the box into it, the bag formed itself around the item, squeezing out the air and inflating a series of bladders to pad it. He took the bag and motioned for the big warrior to turn around and kneel, then slipped it into the pack he was wearing. Once the item was secured and they were on the move, his adrenaline really started pumping, this was the most exhilarating part of a job: the getaway.
They moved quickly though the galley, stopped to make sure their wayward party girl was still out, and slipped back into the service passageway without attracting any more attention. Jason risked a slight compromise of stealth for speed as he moved quickly towards the cramped engineering bay.
Then, without warning, the ship lurched slightly and there was an noticeable pitch change in the engines. “Captain! The ship is powering up to break orbit! You’ve gotta hurry!” The frantic call over the coms was from Twingo. The trio didn’t waste time looking about and broke into a flat out run.
“Kage, pop the inner hatch! Keep the Phoenix in formation with the yacht until we’re back through!”
“Copy, Captain,” Kage said. “You don’t have much time though.”
They burst through the hatchway and noticed that the inner airlock hatch was just swinging up and open. Jason frantically motioned his guys through as the yacht’s engines continued to build power as it climbed up out of orbit with the Phoenix clinging to it like a parasite. Lucky hopped through the opening head first, followed by a headlong dive by Crusher. Jason slipped into the airlock, keyed the hatch closed, and began to disconnect the remote link box from the panel. “Are you out of their system, Kage?”
“Yes, Captain! Please hurry!”
He pulled the box off and noticed the flexible cofferdam was swaying wildly beneath him as his ship struggled to hold formation while flying though the gravitational wake of the bigger vessel. He tucked his arms in and dove through the tunnel and flew into his ship’s cargo bay, careening wildly off the ceiling and spinning towards the walkway that led to the upper hatch. “Close up the outer hatch and disconnect us before it rips the gangway off!” Jason shouted as he grabbed for some purchase on the railing he had hit. He looked down and saw that the drop-hatch in the floor of the cargo bay was rising back into place.
“Outer hatch closing! Gangway detaching now, Captain!” Kage exclaimed. After a moment more, “We’re drifting free. It looks like we’re still undetected, they’re pushing up out of orbit and heading out of the system.”
“Restore gravity to the cargo bay,” Jason ordered once he had climbed up onto the small walkway in front of the crew entry hatch. A second later he planted firmly to the grating as the artificial gravity was restored. He walked down the stairs to the cargo bay floor, pulling his helmet off as he went and sporting an ear-to-ear smile. “Now that was fun!”
“Yes it was,” Crusher agreed, returning the smile and laughing out loud as the three made their way back into the armory to stow their weapons and put the purloined box in the ship’s safe.
“I must admit, while I do not condone stealing… that was quite exhilarating,” Lucky said as they were stripping off their armor and clothes. Crusher laughed sharply and slapped the synth across the back with enough force that it would have sent Jason flying into the opposite bulkhead. Lucky barely budged.
“There you go!” He exclaimed. “You’re starting to catch on now. As for the stealing… I’m sure that guy deserved it.” Jason smiled as Crusher tried to rationalize a petty theft into a somehow honorable action. He tossed his gear on the bench he had claimed as his own and pulled on a clean set of utilities he normally wore while shipboard. He then headed towards the exit, only to be stopped by a reproachful glare from Crusher.
“I’ll clean it up later,” he said, trying to put as much sincerity as he could into his voice. When the giant simply crossed his arms and intensified his glare Jason pressed on. “I swear! This time I’ll come back down and put everything away. I’m the captain, I should be on the bridge in case that ship comes about and opens fire.”
“Do you have any idea how sensitive my sense of smell is?” Crusher asked in a deathly quiet, and terrifying, whisper. Jason mutely shook his head that he didn’t. “Then allow me to enlighten you. It’s over one hundred times stronger than your own… so, the next time you leave your sweaty undergarments in the armory to ferment and kick up an unholy stench, I will respond in kind.” At that point Jason waffled on his decision to leave. He looked at the offending pile of clothes, and then back again at the glowering Galvetic, and then back again to the clothes. He decided that backtracking would weaken his position, tenuous as it was, so he turned and wordlessly left the armory. Once he was out of earshot, he asked the computer to give him a double-beep over the intercom when they meshed into slip-space to remind him to clean his mess up. He may be
proud, but he wasn’t crazy; he had no desire to know what Crusher’s idea of “in kind” was.
“How did everything go?” Doc asked as he walked onto the bridge. By his crew’s relaxed posture, Jason knew that they must still be drifting freely away from the other ship.
“Went great,” he said as he swung up into his seat. “As long as Kage was able to spoof the internal sensors to mask our actions, I think we’re free and clear.”
“Oh please,” Kage said indignantly. “That security suite was five years out of date ten years ago. I was even able to trick the logger into tracking the drunk girl’s actions as being real, without the part where Crusher carried her to the couch and peeked up under her shirt.”
“I don’t think she was actually drunk before I shot her,” Jason said, deciding to ignore the second part.
“Technicalities,” Kage shrugged. “Drunk or not, she’s going to have a raging hangover from that stun shot.” They fell silent as they watched the optical sensors’ magnified view of the yacht still accelerating out of the system.
“She came up out of the well pretty slow,” Twingo said. “I’m guessing the captain had orders to ease them out of the system after the partiers had all gone to bed. Not a bad life… slip-space in for a view while you dine and drink, go to bed, then wake up back on your own world.”
“Yeah,” Kage laughed, “great. Except for the part where a group of badass mercenaries breaks into your ship and pilfers through your priceless collection of rare artifacts, pours out your vintage wine, and shoots your lady friend.” Jason laughed as the yacht meshed out of the system in a flash of slip-energy.
“There they go,” he said. “Give me the engines, we’re out of here. The delivery schedule is a bit loose so…”
“Coded burst transmission coming in, Captain,” Doc said frowning. “It’s to us specifically, but it’s addressed to the auxiliary com node.” Jason also frowned, not many people knew the link address for that slip-transceiver.
“Who is it?”
“Decoding now, it’s text only,” Doc said distractedly. “It appears to be the Diligent. Captain Colleren is demanding that we rendezvous with them at the provided coordinates.”
“She’s demanding, is she?” Jason asked acidly.
“I’m just reading what is says, Jason,” Doc said, almost apologetically . “We are working for her, after all.”
“No, we’re working for one Crisstof Dalton,” Twingo said irritably. “We’re supposed to be working with Kellea Colleren.” Jason held up a hand to cut him off before he could really get wound up.
“Are we close, and is the location sufficiently discreet?” Jason asked.
“We’re eight hours away, and it’s in the middle of interstellar space with no systems or shipping lanes in the vicinity,” Doc confirmed.
“Fine. Send no reply, but plot a course to take us there. Maximum slip speed, I want to be very early in case this is a trap.”
“That cuts us down to six hours, give or take, depending on how well the engines are running,” Kage offered, ignoring Twingo’s spluttering at the suggestion his engines weren’t running at optimum efficiency.
“This had better be fucking important,” Jason said after letting his breath out explosively. “Give me a plot and crank this pig up… let’s see what the good captain has that is pressing enough to risk blowing our cover.” Twingo’s jaw jutted out, indicating he was less than pleased at the casual insults being bandied about regarding his ship. But he turned to his console and began giving the ship instructions nonetheless.
“Engines ready, Captain,” he said.
“Plot is entered, ready when you are,” Kage confirmed. Jason smacked blinking drive engage and climbed up out of his seat as the Phoenix accelerated hard out of the system and meshed out of real space. A soft beep-beep sounded over the intercom, causing everyone but Jason to scan their displays in confusion.
“Where are you going?” Kage asked.
“To clean up the damn armory,” Jason snapped. The three remaining crewmembers on the bridge just looked at each other and shrugged.
Chapter 9
The Phoenix hung motionless in space, her drive down to minimum power and all running lights extinguished. She was just a darker patch against the black of space. Jason always felt uncomfortable this far out between star systems. If something went wrong, there would be nobody coming to help. He thought back to his first extra-vehicular activity while they were deep in interstellar space, he had thought it would be like the NASA films; well lit with stunning views. The view was indeed stunning, but it was so dark that he couldn’t even see his hand in front of his face until Twingo had turned on the external flood lights. The experience left him with a firm understanding of just how alone they were when drifting between the stars.
His thoughts were interrupted by a beep from his console and he saw that a ship matching the Diligent's profile had just meshed into the area. It coasted to a stop and held position exactly in the pre-arranged coordinates. Jason watched the sensor display for a moment, his face a mask of calm. Underneath he was seething at the interruption to his operation, if this visit ended up being nothing more than a tug on his leash, it would not go well for the standoffish captain aboard the other ship. He reached over and engaged the main drive and nodded to Kage, who pinged their transponder once to identify them, and began a slow approach to the much larger frigate.
“Gunship-class vessel, Phoenix: come along side as directed and prepare to be boarded through your port airlock. Diligent out.” At the terse message the bridge crew looked at each other in alarm; something was very wrong.
“Crusher, Lucky; get your asses to the armory and gear up! Meet me at the port airlock, and bring my gear,” Jason shouted over the intercom. “Doc, you’re flying. Don’t run into anything.” He didn’t wait for an answer as he launched himself out of his seat and ran off the bridge. The fact that they weren’t taking them aboard their ship, and their use of the phrase “prepare to be boarded” gave Jason the sinking feeling this was anything but a social call. He ran down the stairs from the command deck, spun around grabbing the handrail and running forward on the main deck to the forward airlock and waited for the other two.
A moment later Lucky came into the sparse room the airlock was in, followed seconds later by Crusher, the latter carrying Jason’s shipboard weapons and light body armor. Jason wasted no time getting his gear on and verifying his weapons were ready for action.
“What’s going on?” Crusher asked.
“The Diligent meshed in and more or less demanded we come to and prepare to be boarded, their words. I don’t think this is going to be a friendly conversation,” Jason said grimly. “Doc, Kage! Bring the weapons online, but don’t go active yet. Monitor the discussion here, if it goes sideways get us the fuck out of here at any cost, light the Diligent up with the main guns if you have to.”
“Copy, Captain. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
“This seems serious,” Lucky said calmly. Already Jason could feel the battlesynth powering his own arsenal as a precaution, the air in such close quarters humming with energy. Crusher smiled fiercely at Lucky and nodded, engaging the power supply on his own plasma weapons.
“Let’s talk first,” Jason cautioned. “This may be a misunderstanding, or it may not. I want you two on either side of the hatch, I’ll be in the middle and back out of your way to clear your shooting lane. Match force for force, don’t shoot unless you see me draw down or dive out of the way.” The two warriors turned and moved to either side of the airlock hatch and waited. A few long minutes later he could hear the pressurized gangway banging against his ship’s hull and anchor itself.
“They’re requesting we open up, Captain,” Kage said over the intercom.
“Open it up,” Jason said simply, every nerve tingling in his body. With a hiss and a jerk, the inner airlock door began to slide into bulkhead. Standing in the hatchway, looking quite angry, was Captain Colleren herself
along with a visibly armed Commander Bostco and another armed crewman flanking her. Crisstof could be seen looking worried and pallid behind the trio. They remained just a step back from the hatch opening.
“Captain Jason Burke, we’re here to take you into custody. Will you and your crew come willingly?” She asked simply.
“What in the fuck are you blathering on about, Captain?” Jason retorted with equal insult in his inflection. “Explain yourself before I tell my crew to engage the engines and fly out of here, whether you’re back onboard your own ship or not.”
“You were hired to gather intelligence in order to plan a lawful interdiction of a certain criminal element. You were not hired to run wild through the Cluster as a part of that element,” she said hotly. “Since you disappeared, without giving any status reports, we’ve heard nothing but news of shootouts, assaults, drug running... and this ship popping up in some of the most brazen attacks the Cluster has seen yet.” Jason, a little confused, just stared at her as if he couldn’t believe how dense she was.
“No shit, genius. That’s why you called us; to gather the intel you were too incompetent to gather yourself. It’s called being undercover, operational security precluded the ability to file status reports with you people,” Jason said insultingly. “How the hell is it you’re so bad at this? Did you really think we’d just land and walk into a bar and the ringleader of this operation would come introduce himself to the new faces?” Captain Colleren was turning red and appeared apoplectic at the human’s barrage of insults.
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