Shiver Me Timbers

by Chris Hechtl

  Which meant gaming this deployment out just became all the more trickier for her.

  “Ma'am?”

  “I think we are going to send a force to take it. At the least we can take one or more of those cruisers out. I'd like to catch them if we can, but I doubt that would work.”

  “The question is, will they follow the admiral when they run? Or will they split off in another direction?” Lieutenant Black murmured. She pulled up a star chart on her tablet. When Shelby saw what her assistant was doing, she put the star chart up on the holographic emitter in the center of the table.

  The lights dimmed as the 3D image came up.

  “No, it won't work,” the Neolab said with a shake of her head.

  “What won't work?” Captain Corbin asked mildly. He knew some of them were parsing things out or getting data in through their implants. But sometimes they also talked out a brainstorm without thinking it through.

  “I was thinking if we could put a ship ahead of them we could drive them. Send in a ship, spook them and then hit them if they run to Virgin Holes. But we can't get there. We only know about this from the captured databases,” she said, pointing to the jump string between Tortuga and Virgin Holes.

  “Agreed. So, we work on taking Tortuga,” Shelby stated. “Now, I've already designated Strike in the Dark and Puglia for the job. I think we can afford to send a tin can as well. I was thinking Lightening Strike.”

  “Under the theory that two of the ships with Strike in their name is a good omen?” Boni asked in her ear. Shelby ignored the question.

  “I see now why I'm here,” Captain Corbin stated. “Roe?”

  “Take the enemy picket out if you can. Robotic probes of any base or platform remaining in the system. Do a full inventory sweep. Don't board anything until it's been cleared.”

  The Neochimp nodded.

  “Three cruisers against two and a tin can are a bit stiff for odds, ma'am,” Boni said in Shelby's ear.

  “Use defeat in detail if possible,” Shelby said to the captain. He nodded.

  “What about support ships, ma'am?” Lieutenant Black asked.

  “I don't want to send anything in until we've got the space secure. And I don't want to spare their services here,” Shelby admitted. “So, the boarding parties can be aboard the assault task force. But I don't see a lot of ships they can board other than the pirate ships.”

  “The derelicts, ma'am? What about them and the bases and platforms the pirates left behind?”

  “I think engineers will be needed. But we need to know if they fully abandoned them,” Shelby stated, looking at Lieutenant Slatterly.

  She nodded. “We're working on that now.”

  “Good. Now …”

  <()>^<()>

  ONI had its hands full with the processing of the radio intercepts. Some things jumped out right off. Those were compiled and processed by bots that looked for specific word choices and identified speakers.

  Three days after the destroyer's arrival, Lieutenant Slatterly had enough to hold another briefing on the radio intercepts with the commodore and the command staff. “I think we now have a good handle on the timeline of events that transpired,” Lieutenant Slater stated. “Based on the radio chatter we've intercepted, we've reconstructed the mishap. Which wasn't really a mishap at all.”

  “Oh?”

  “As we speculated earlier, the infection was deliberate. When Black Corsage and Black Death returned to port, they called the pirate lords and sent shore police to arrest the Horathians on the station. Many didn't survive the arrests. Word had spread through Tortuga and mobs tore them apart.”

  A few people around the table grimaced.

  “I'm starting to regret that big breakfast,” Captain Corbin quipped. He was rather happy, mainly because he'd been tapped for another independent command. His XO was handling most of the prep work involved for the moment.

  “I'll spare you the video then,” the lieutenant stated dryly.

  “Yes, please. I don't mind hearing that bastards like that got their just deserts, but I'd like to keep mine internally,” Captain Corbin said, patting his belly.

  “And such an ample belly it is. Time to hit the gym some more,” Shelby teased.

  The ape gave her a sour look. There was a soft chuckle around the room.

  “What we know is that a Doctor Goethe, referred to as the Bitch in most intercepts managed to infect herself with a number of plagues before she was caught and torn apart. Based on the data in 8116,” the spook paused to pull up an ID tag of a woman. “This is her.” The image of an unassuming human female dressed conservatively in a white medical smock appeared. “She was an assistant to this man,” the lieutenant paused again to change the image to a male. “A Doctor Wilhelm. He held a commander's rank while she held a lieutenant commander's Rank. They were both from the Ministry of Purity and Enlightenment.”

  More than one person grimaced at that news.

  “Doctor Wilhelm was an assistant in their bioweapon plans. He developed the Akion T-4 plan. T standing for Tau. He specialized in Tauren bioweapons research. He came here specifically to oversee the deployment of his life's work.”

  “I take it he came to a bad end?”

  “Yes. According to the radio intercepts, he was the first to be torn apart by the pirate lords themselves. Apparently, he had no idea they were on to him when Black Death returned to port.”

  “Oh.”

  “So, you've confirmed they are both dead?”

  “Yes. Torn apart actually. We have video. Apparently the Tau pirates shared it to show others.”

  “Spare us.”

  “Well, I for one am glad. And I'm glad the pirates did something right for a change. A little late, but at least they put both down. Pity they didn't suffer,” Captain Corbin said with a growl.

  A few heads nodded in grim agreement over that sentiment.

  “I never thought I'd say that,” Lieutenant Black admitted quietly.

  “I never thought I'd agree with that. Maybe they aren't all bad,” Captain Corbin said.

  “You do remember the part about tearing people apart? And let's not forget these are the same pirates as before who had been preying on people in the sector for centuries. Who held hunts to hunt people for sport. Who, when presented with the weapon, spread it. Who shot their own people rather than let them surrender to us. Those same people,” Shelby stated tartly.

  “They were following orders,” the captain said, playing devil's advocate.

  “Spare me that argument, it doesn't wash. For their own self-preservation, they should have flushed the shit into the sun along with those who'd created it. But they didn't. Now it's come back to bite them. They've had a small taste of what suffering they've unleashed on the sector.”

  “And I bet they hate it,” Boni murmured.

  Shelby glanced at her holographic avatar and then nodded. “Personally, I hope they choke on it. Unfortunately, a lot of innocent people are doing the dying right alongside them. That we need to find better ways to halt. But first we've got to stop the deliberate spread of the plagues once and for all.”

  The growls and aye ayes in the room were loud and vehemently in agreement with her.

  <()>^<()>

  Shelby read the latest report from ONI. It confirmed something she'd suspected, that Ishmael hadn't left tamely. According to multiple intercepted radio chatter logs, they had a problem. There were booby traps in the system, specifically in the hardware that had been left behind.

  “We can try to deduce where. And of course, anything that didn't get visited might earn a pass,” Lieutenant Slatterly stated.

  “We need to get EOD in on this,” Boni suggested.

  “Agreed. And the Marines. We'll need robots to clear each structure or frame. That's going to be tedious. And everything is going to have to be checked. We were planning that anyway, but this will slow us down.”

  “Which might have been his plan all along,” the spook stated slowly.

/>   “Ideas?” Shelby asked.

  “I'm wondering about the triple think that could be going on here,” the lieutenant replied with a shrug. “If he knew we broke his code, he might have fed it to the net and let us get it.”

  “To what, make us think twice?”

  “Yes.”

  “An interesting theory. Anything to back it up?” Shelby asked.

  “Honestly, no. It's too widespread. We won't know for sure until we send our people in. Boy, I wouldn't want to be one of them though,” the lieutenant stated.

  <()>^<()>

  Governor Adrienne immediately called Mister Muggs when she heard the news of the deployment. “Are you seriously going to draw down the warships even more?”

  “Again, ma'am, it isn't up to me or you. It is a navy decision.”

  “Okay, and they are just what, sending those ships off to die?” the governor demanded.

  “Well, there have been a few changes since we last spoke. No doubt you noted the recent arrival of a destroyer from Tortuga last week …”

  “I did. It's become something of a routine. Something you can almost set your watch by, if I was into that sort of thing.”

  “Yes, ma'am. Now, this is classified, but I was cleared to inform you and only you.”

  She nodded. “I can keep a secret.”

  “Good to know, ma'am. The news is good; the pirates have mostly pulled out of Tortuga.”

  “You say mostly. By mostly you mean …?”

  “All but three warships have left the system. They headed north, most likely to their nearest base in that direction.”

  “Oh.” There was a pause as she seemed to digest that and then her eyes went wide. “Oh!”

  He smiled indulgently. “Yes, ma'am. We don't have to fight for the base or what's left of it. They took everything they wanted or could carry and ran.”

  “So, we can move in …?” she smiled.

  “Well, the navy can. From what I understand, Commodore Logan issued orders for these ships to scout the system and kill or capture the enemy forces left there. Once the system is secured, the navy will send in teams to finish securing the star system.”

  “Ah. What about a naval base there?” she asked carefully. “Will they move there?”

  He shook his head. He'd been prepared for that question.

  “From what I understand, we're just going to strip the system clean then pull out. But that will take time, quite possibly years. There might be a naval station there, but it will serve as a picket and to kill or capture any late pirates who arrive in the star system. Most of the navy's energy will be spent disarming any booby traps left behind and then surveying and recovering anything of value.”

  “Oh.”

  She turned her head to the video screen where the Knox News anchor was showing the deployment of the Strike in the Dark force. “Okay. Well, then I wish them the best of luck.”

  “Me too, ma'am. Me too.”

  Chapter 20

  Tau-1929

  Captain S'th finished her talk with Governor Lor and then checked the status of her ship. Belfast had refueled in Lebynthos so she had no need to stop for a layover in Delos orbit for more. She dealt with the disappointment of the governor as professionally as she could. No doubt there would be other times and of course other ships.

  She had parted company with the Beta convoy after getting a much-needed repair months ago. The repairs had been the best that the small support ship could give her. It had allowed them to pick up several octaves, speeding up their return journey significantly.

  In another thirty-two hours, they would be at the jump point to Tau-1252 and a much overdue reunion.

  <()>^<()>

  Tau-1183 Lebynthos

  Lebynthos had recently seen the passing of Belfast and then the Rho Mercy Mission I passed through their star system earlier in the month. The arrival of the Beta convoy a week later had them excited. The corvette captain passed on orders from the commodore for an ansible platform to be deployed. That was a welcome delay to the crews of the ships; it meant they'd have some time to have some liberty on the planet.

  But, when the Rho Mercy Flight II arrived just as the Beta Convoy had made orbit, it had the population practically doing backflips.

  Commodore Richards put a call in to Captain Mochadeyn. The captain grinned when the link was established. “Good to see you! Caught up to us, ma'am? I expected as much.”

  Helen couldn't help but smile at the other man's exuberance. She had a lot of sympathy for him and his crews. They were the tortoise; she was the hare. She kept stopping to help people while he plodded along. But she was fairly certain he wasn't going to win this race. “That we did. Home stretch?”

  “Not quite, ma'am. We've got orders to deploy an ansible here. We were about to do so when your convoy arrived and spooked us.”

  “Ah. Well, don't let me stop you. We'll be making contact with the planet and then most likely moving on.”

  “Aye aye, ma’am. Damn good to see you here.”

  “Thank you, Captain. It's good to be here too I suppose.”

  The captain's face fell a little more into professional decorum. “Aye, ma'am, I wish it was under different circumstances,” he said.

  She nodded. “Me too.”

  <()>^<()>

  The Omaha class light cruiser Marblehead arrived at the Mykonos jump point in the usual sparkle of dissipating energy.

  Captain Fitzgerald watched as his navigator walked them through maneuvers to clear their hyper wake. Within minutes of their arrival, the active sensors were busy drinking in everything they could see and hear. He studied the distant glitter of the planet beyond.

  By rights he really should have stayed and gotten what they'd needed in Mykonos. But one big thing had stopped him.

  Mykonos had the plague. The Feds had visited it and had applied the cure to some of the plagues, but apparently not all. Or, so the native lubbers said. They could very well be lying; he wasn't sure. Either way, the silverback Neogorilla hadn't been happy about trying to land on the planet to get what he could. The risk to his own life and ship just wasn't worth it in his eyes.

  Which was why he'd taken the risk and made another jump. It wasn't risky to his ship so much as to his own person if he came up empty. The admiral had impressed on him the importance of a timely delivery. He'd already delayed longer than he'd wanted.

  If at all possible, he would much rather catch a Federation ship and extract it from them. That would minimize the risk to his ship and crew. Which was why he'd jumped on to Lebynthos. He'd been confident that there the Feds would have cured the plagues and any lingering crud would be long gone making it safe for his people to land.

  And, once he had the cures, he'd make sure his crew was vaccinated or whatever, then they'd have a bit of fun with the lubbers.

  <()>^<()>

  The arrival of a ship at the Mykonos jump point didn't go unnoticed by the Federation warships in the star system. Despite having a lot of their crews on the ground enjoying liberty, the skeleton watch immediately followed protocol and ordered the ships to go into stealth. As a few hours passed, their probing passive sensors picked up the neutrinos from the ship and then an image of her. The data was enough to give them a rough ID of the ship.

  “If he sees us, he'll run,” Helen warned. She'd been called in from her tour of the native's medical facilities.

  “Oh, he'll see us. But we're going to make sure he sees what we want him to see. I'm pretty sure he'll take the bait,” Captain Rogers stated. It was just his luck that he and the TAO had been on Remarkable when the enemy had arrived. He had refused permission for the shuttles to lift to his ships unless they were obscured by the planet.

  But he had no intention of remaining in orbit for long. Already his ships were getting ready to get underway.

  “All right, this is your show, Captain. Give ‘em hell.”

  “Thank you, ma'am.”

  Captain Rogers ordered both convoys, which couldn
't go into stealth to flee to the Tau-1929 jump point. The corvette ran with them, broadcasting as their escort and even putting herself between the enemy cruiser and the gaggle of unarmed ships.

  <()>^<()>

  Captain Fitzgerald wasn't the only one to gloat at the report of the convoy. “This is getting better and better!” he said with a toothy grin. He took out a toothpick and picked at a bit of food stuck around his gold canine. “Look at that herd of sheep bleating as they run!”

  “Yar!” a couple of the bridge watch said. His tactical officer grinned fiercely and then began to work on plans to catch one or more of the ships.

  “The good news is we can take a pick of the lot. Let's make it good,” the Neogorilla said. “I'd like to catch more than one if we can.”

  “Aye aye, sir.”

  The XO frowned. She was all for going after the ships; it beat sitting around and waiting for one! But she wasn't sure if the ships actually had the plague. Many of the drives were freighter signatures. “Sir, what about the planet?”

  “What about them? Those are hospital ships. We can get the cure from them, and if we catch a few, we can drag them back with us. So, we'll get some booty while doing our good deed,” the captain explained.

  There was a chuckle of anticipation from the bridge watch.

  “Yes, sir,” the XO replied with a dutiful nod.

  “They've got a what, pissant destroyer covering the convoy?” the captain asked. He was basing his assumption on the reports from Black Death. The flagship and her consorts had encountered an enemy hospital ship being escorted by a destroyer. They'd gotten a piece of it before both ships had managed to escape.

  Apparently not a big enough piece though, they'd managed to run all the way to Tau-1252. He was heartily glad he hadn't been around for that holocaust.

  “No, sir. It looks like a frigate or corvette. We might be wrong due to the distances involved, but it doesn't have the sensor profile of a larger ship.”