As Sydnee left the flight deck, she pulled her helmet onto her head. It automatically self-sealed to the personal body armor and she was ready for anything by the time she reached the shuttle hatch.
The Marines were aligned two deep along the side of the shuttle as Sydnee hurried down the ramp and braced to attention in front of the Captain. "Lieutenant(jg) Marcola reporting, sir."
Lidden, not wearing personal body armor, looked at her, scowled, and said angrily, "It's about time, Lieutenant."
"I'm sorry, sir. My standing orders are to wait on the flight deck until summoned to leave the ship by the officer in command of the Marines I'm transporting or issued new instructions by the watch officer."
Lidden frowned, then turned towards Kennedy. "Lieutenant, you and your men will remain here unless I call for you."
"Yes, sir. But is that wise, sir?"
"I have Lieutenant Marcola for protection." Looking down at the two knife handles protruding from their scabbards on her belt and the flap holster holding the pistol, he added, "She seems ready for any trouble that might come our way."
"Yes, sir."
"Follow me, Lieutenant," Lidden said to Sydnee as he turned and walked towards the flight bay exit where a ship's officer was waiting.
"Welcome aboard, Captain," the officer said in Amer. I'm First Officer Sleddling."
Sydnee had set her armor's translator for Yolon but it wasn't needed.
"Thank you, I'm Captain Lidden, in command of the Space Command destroyer Perry. And this officer next to me is Lieutenant Marcola.
"Welcome, both. If you'll come with me, I'll take you to where Captain Surrosso and Ambassador Blethalla are waiting to greet you."
Lidden and Sydnee followed the officer and in a few minutes they were ushered into a lavish salon where the ship's Captain and the Ambassador were seated. The two Yolongi stood as they entered and introductions were made all around.
"Ambassador, may I see your credentials, please?"
"My credentials?
"I need to verify that you are who you say you are."
"What? Who else would I be? This is a Yolongi diplomatic vessel."
"Yes, sir. But I still need to see your credentials."
"I refuse, and you have no right to ask."
"I have every right. Galactic Alliance law states that diplomatic status is extended only to legitimate members of a foreign nation who prove said status when asked to present their credentials. If I don't see them, I'm required to treat the vessel and occupants as I would any other vessel. That means I must commence an immediate search for illegal contraband and persons without proper visas."
"This is preposterous," the Ambassador said. "This is an official Yolongi vessel."
"Yes, and you've stated that the vessel that attacked you was also an official Yolongi vessel. You can't both be in the right and I need to clearly establish which one is."
The Ambassador grumbled a little, then held out his left hand.
"Would you remove the data ring, please?" Lidden said as he produced a viewpad from a side pocket of his tunic.
"I can't. When a Yolongi official is issued his identity ring, a small microchip is embedded in the flesh beneath the ring. Once the ring is activated, if it moves more than half a finger length from the chip, the action causes a message to be transmitted if the wearer is aboard— or within a prescribed distance from— a Yolongi diplomatic vessel. The ring then powers down and can never be re-activated."
"Then would your touch your ring to the edge of this viewpad, please?" Lidden said as he extended it towards the Ambassador.
The viewpad issued a subdued chiming noise after a couple of seconds and Lidden pulled the viewpad back to stare at the display.
"Thank you, Ambassador. Your credentials have been confirmed. I apologize for any misunderstanding, but I was only following regulations. If I failed to ask, I could be charged with dereliction of duty and removed from command of my ship."
The Ambassador smiled. "Well, we wouldn't want that to happen. We do appreciate your rushing to assist us when we needed help."
"It's our duty to assist all vessels requesting help, regardless of nationality."
"Well, now that we have that out of the way, would you care for some refreshments while we talk?"
"Thank you, sir. That would be appreciated."
"Then come have a seat at the table and food will be brought in."
"Thank you."
"Lieutenant, would you care to remove your helmet now so you can enjoy some rare delicacies?"
"Lieutenant Marcola is required by regulation to keep her armor on at all times while aboard any vessel other than the Perry," Lidden said.
"But surely now that our identity has proven you're on a diplomatic vessel, that can be relaxed."
"I'm sorry, sir. It's a regulation and there is no exemption."
"Pity," the Ambassador said as he took his seat.
Lidden sat down across from the Ambassador and next to the Captain as the Ambassador clapped his hands twice and nodded towards the two guards at the door, one of whom then spoke quietly into a tiny transmitter on the back of his hand. Sydnee stood behind Lidden's chair and to the left.
"I realize it's still early, Captain," Lidden said, but have your engineers established a rough estimate of the time required to complete your repairs?"
"Right now, they're estimating six GST days. Of course that could go up or down slightly."
"Of course. Can you give us the course of the destroyer after it broke off the attack?"
"Yes, we watched it on the DeTect screens until it got out of range. Naturally, it wasn't transmitting an AutoTect signal. My tac officer will give your bridge the course information."
"Thank you. Once your repairs are complete, we'll have to see if we can locate it."
"And then?"
"If we find them, we'll attempt to take them into custody and send them to a justice court location."
"You must turn them over to us, Captain," the Ambassador said. "They are Yolongi citizens."
"Who committed a crime in Galactic Alliance space," Lidden said.
"That crime was against this ship. I won't press charges for that. We want them for stealing a Clidepp Empire warship and
impersonating Clidepp military personnel."
"Their crime of attempting to hijack a ship in GA space became part of the official record when you called for help, Ambassador. It doesn't require that you press charges. In any event, I must follow regulations. If we find them and take them prisoner, our duty is clear. I'm sure the Galactic Alliance court system will consider your request for extradition according to the treaties that are currently in place."
"What of the ship?" the Ambassador asked.
"It will be returned to the rightful owners, if they want it."
"Of course we'll want it. Why wouldn't we?"
"There may not be much left if they don't surrender peacefully."
"Oh."
"Exactly."
The door opened and a small parade of six servants entered with trays. Unusually, all of the servants were Terran females. They placed their trays on a side table and began serving the three men, but one couldn't stop staring at Sydnee and Lidden.
After the food and drink was served, the women turned to leave, but one raced to Lidden and grabbed his arm saying, "Help me, please. You're Space Command. My name is Carla Taft. I was captured by Raiders twenty years ago when they seized our ship, the Siren of Seren. They sold me to this Yolongi. He has eighteen of us as slaves. Please help us."
The Ambassador and Captain Surrosso had jumped to their feet as the woman grabbed Lidden's arm.
A guard, who had raced from his position by the door as soon as the woman started shouting, dragged her away, but she broke free of his grasp as they reached the door and ran towards Lidden again while the other women ran to a corner of the room and cowered in fear.
The woman who had sought help from Lidden suddenly screamed and fell to
the floor in pain before she could reach his side. The material near the neck of her dress was brushed aside as she writhed on the deck and a collar like the ones the Raiders used to control their prisoners was plainly visible. Sydnee noticed that the guard by the door was aiming a small blue controller at the woman. She wasn't wearing the other bracelets Raiders usually place on their prisoners, but the neck collar was enough to control anyone. The wrist, waist, and ankle bands only prevented movement. The collar was used to correct bad behavior.
"Stop it," suddenly emanated loudly from the speaker on Sydnee's breastplate.
The guard nearest the woman looked up, then reached for his weapon. But Sydnee, prepared for such a response, was faster. She had unsnapped the flap on her holster when the woman grabbed Lidden, but hadn't pulled her pistol. In one quick movement now, she pushed aside the flap of the holster and pulled her handgun, then fired directly into the chest of the guard trying to pull his pistol. He went flying backward and crashed to the deck where he lay motionless. Sydnee immediately swung her pistol towards the other guard, who was by then also reaching for his weapon, and fired again. That was a slightly more difficult shot since he was about five meters away, but she hit him dead center and he crashed backwards to the deck with a thud just like the first one. The time between shots had been less than a second.
Surrosso and the Ambassador had turned towards the guards when Sydnee pulled her pistol. They were in time to see their guards crash to the deck. They believed they were next. Neither was armed, so they dropped back into their chairs and covered their heads with their arms.
"Lieutenant!" Lidden yelled.
"They were reaching for weapons, sir. I had to protect you since you're unarmed."
Me?"
"Well— us."
The woman who had been shocked was still writhing on the floor. If the collar was of Raider manufacture, she would probably be completely incoherent for several minutes, after which she would have trouble with her basic motor skills for another five minutes.
"Ambassador Blethalla, Captain Surrosso, I apologize for the rash actions of a very young lieutenant(jg)," Lidden said.
The Ambassador and Captain slowly lowered their arms and regained their composure.
"Rash actions?" the Ambassador said, his voice increasing in volume with each syllable. "Rash actions?" he said again. "She's murdered two of my guards. If I had known you would be bringing someone so unstable, I would have arranged for a room full of guards to protect me."
"You were never in any danger, Ambassador, since you're unarmed. I'm equally sure that your guards wouldn't have been shot if they hadn't been reaching for weapons. Isn't that correct, Lieutenant?"
"Yes, sir. I was only looking to protect us from possible danger."
"Captain, I will be filing a full report on this incident. You can't come aboard my vessel, kill two of my people and expect that there will not be repercussions."
"No one has been killed, Ambassador. Lieutenant Marcola is holding a stun pistol…" Glaring at Sydnee, he said, "Which she will now holster." Turning back towards the Ambassador, he continued with, "…not a laser pistol. Your guards will awaken in a few hours and be just fine. And I can assure you that they experienced far less pain than this young woman whom one of them shocked."
The Ambassador looked down at the three crumpled people on the deck as Captain Surrosso walked to one of the guards and felt for a pulse, then checked the other.
"Both have strong pulses, Ambassador, and there are no entry wounds."
Looking back at Lidden, the Ambassador said, "It doesn't matter. You attacked two of my guards."
"The Lieutenant used non-lethal force to protect our lives, which she believed were at risk. I'm not happy that she was driven to take that measure by your guards, but I'll defend her actions to the end. I think you have other issues to worry about, Ambassador."
"What do you mean?"
"We've heard for years that Yolongi officials were keeping Terran slaves, but your government has always denied it and we've never had any proof. Now I've seen it with my own eyes."
Looking towards the five women cowering in the corner, the Ambassador yelled, "You women, get out of here, and take this one with you."
"Captain," Sydnee said, "We have to free these slaves. This is Galactic Alliance space. Slavery is illegal."
"Outside this ship, it's Galactic Alliance space, Lieutenant. Inside the ship, it's Yolongi space. This is a diplomatic vessel, and since the Ambassador has presented his credentials, there's nothing I can do."
Sydney watched as the five women tenderly picked up the one who had been shocked. She was mumbling incoherently and drool was hanging from her mouth as they gently cradled her in their arms and carried her out. It was a good thing Sydnee hadn't brought her laser pistol because right then she had an overwhelming desire to see what color the insides of a Yolongi Ambassador might be.
The Ambassador smiled smugly. "Quite right, Captain. Now if you'll leave quietly, I think we can forget all about this little— incident. No one was hurt after all. As you say, my guards will be fine in a few hours."
"Yes, I think it's best that we leave, Ambassador," Lidden said.
The slaves were nowhere to be seen when the two Space Command officers left the room. Lidden lead the way to the shuttle bay with Sydnee following. Surrosso trailed along in case they lost their way or took a detour.
As they entered the flight bay, Surrosso said, "I'm sorry for the incident in the salon, Captain. We do appreciate your coming to assist us. I'll see that my tac officer sends you the information about the rebel-commanded spaceship."
"Thank you, Captain. I too regret the incident. Let us hope that future encounters will be less stressful.
Sydnee couldn't believe it when Lidden actually extended his hand in friendship and it was accepted by Surrosso. She turned away without a word and walked to the shuttle, still guarded by the Marine contingent. She didn't bother to preflight the craft since no one had been able to get at it while it was surrounded by four full squads, and she was anxious to leave.
Sydnee stowed her helmet and weapons in her locker and plopped into the pilot's chair to run through the takeoff checklist.
Kennedy came in just as she was finishing up and sat down without a word. He looked a little nervous and avoided eye contact with Sydnee. She was still upset and glad that he wasn't looking for conversation.
The shuttle received clearance to move to the temporary airlock area by the bay's controller, and after verifying that the small vessel was sealed, Sydnee started up the oh-gee engine and directed the ship towards the hatch.
Within minutes, the shuttle was outbound for the Perry. Kennedy never said a word the whole trip.
Chapter Eight
~ Jan. 30th, 2285 ~
As Sydney shut down the power aboard the Perry, Kennedy looked at her and said, "Good job, Syd."
It was the first time he had used her given name, and she was taken completely by surprise.
"Um, thanks. But it was just a routine flight."
"I don't mean that. I mean what you did aboard the dip ship— trying to protect and free those Terran women. Well done."
"Um, how do you know about that?"
"The Captain filed a quick report with the watch officer before we left the bay. He said in his report that he feared the Yolongi might want to ensure that no one learned they were keeping Terran slaves, so he made sure to report all the facts before we came under their guns. If they had decided to fire on us, we wouldn't have stood a chance in this shuttle. I've never wished harder for an uncomfortable seat in a MAT. At least we wouldn't have had to worry about the lightweight laser arrays they have mounted on the hull."
"Perhaps they decided they had gotten lucky with the Clidepp destroyer and that they might not come out so well with an SC destroyer, even if it is only the Perry," Sydnee offered.
"Maybe. But still, well done."
Kennedy jumped up and left the flight deck while Syd
nee was still shutting everything down. She retrieved her weapons and helmet from the storage locker, then pushed the stun pistol into the holder/recharger unit in the flight deck locker where it belonged before shoving her laser pistol into her holster. She was glad she'd spoken to Weems before the flight. His words had convinced her to swap the stun pistol for her laser pistol before she left the flight deck of the shuttle. It was the non-lethality of the weapon which had allowed her to draw and fire without seriously worrying about the consequences. If she'd only had a laser pistol, she might have hesitated. She and the Captain might very well be dead right now if she hesitated and the guards didn't.
As Sydnee walked down the shuttle ramp, a squad of Marines blocked her path.
"Lieutenant," the company sergeant said, "we'd be honored if you'd accept the four-four-three's helmet icon. The way you took out the two guards torturing the Terran women shows what you're made of."
When Kennedy had mentioned the incident, she'd supposed he had overheard a private communication from Lidden to the Perry while they were still outside the shuttle, but now she realized that Lidden must have sent the report while in the shuttle cabin. Since Lidden wasn't wearing a helmet, it meant that every Marine on board had also heard.
"The honor is mine, Sergeant," she said as she accepted the data wafer. "I'll upload it as soon as I reach my quarters. Thank you."
"Oo-rah," the squad said loudly in one voice, then turned and left the bay.
After Sydnee removed her armor, she added the contents of the data wafer to the helmet's memory where several different images of her face were already stored. During inspections, the front of her helmet displayed the facial image she felt was most appropriate for the particular encounter, and it could be changed in an instant. As soon as the new image was loaded, she activated it to see how it looked.
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