by Chris Hechtl
She blinked and then nodded. “Thank you, Admiral. I've taken as many of my old crew over as I can. Can I have your permission to recruit more?”
“You can try, but without provisions or a purse, you're SOL there, lass,” he said with a grim smile. She blinked again and then her eyes narrowed. She started to open her mouth but he flicked his hand up. “Nay. Don't be askin' me or others to front you the money. You be on your own there. Consider it your first test,” he said.
Her ears went flat back and her eyes widened slightly but she forced a nod. “Aye aye, sir.”
“Good then. Be off with ya,” he growled, waving a dismissive hand. He was amused by her salute before she about-faced and departed.
He was even more amused by her yowl of success as soon as the hatch shut behind her.
Times, they be a changin' he reflected.
<()>^<()>
Captain Dab was too busy setting up the factory module and yard to pay attention to the base or the flack going around the yard.
The slip was a simple thing to assemble. The truss segments had been carefully taken apart, they went back together with a bit of fuss and cussing over the course of several days. The modules they'd detached from the core factory ship had to be put back. Since they were putting it back together, she took the opportunity to implement the plan to rebuild the yard to more efficient lines like she'd drawn up on the trip there.
Still, she found the time in-between overseeing various phases to check out their first customer, Seydlitz. “What the hell did they do to this ship?” she demanded when Captain Fisher met her at the lock and handed her the list of what needed to be done.
“Stripped whatever they wanted and then some,” the diminutive captain replied. “I've got a small investment, a nest egg to start with. And I've pulled some choice equipment from my old command along with half of her crew.”
“Half the crew? Who's running the ship?”
“She's being used as a base for that doctor. The remaining crew are all human.”
“Oh,” Captain Dab replied, wrinkling her nose. She nodded. “Makes sense. I doubt the ship will be going anywhere anytime soon.”
“Exactly my point. And I've done a survey of the boneyard for parts. That's what I need to get her functional again. The stuff I don't need,” she said pointing to the tablet. “Some of it is supposed to be coming from Gutt. Whenever he can spare the time to pay me what is owed me,” she growled.
“Ah, well, I'll have a look. An independent report to the admiral might get things moving.”
<()>^<()>
After hearing Captain Dab's rather scathing report on the state of affairs on Seydlitz, the admiral called Captain Gutt. Gutt hadn't been kidding when he'd reported he'd stripped the ship nor had he been very punctual about turning over his old used hardware.
The admiral was not amused by the state of affairs on Seydlitz but he needed the ape's support. Besides, the ape had stuck to the code.
“Take what you can, give nothing back,” Captain Gutt said before Leonidas could say anything.
“You wound me to the quick,” the lion growled, deciding to take a different tact. “I didn't even get my wind up!”
“And I took it right out of your sails, so there. I figured Dab be on you for me to share.”
“Well, if you won't return what you took, fine. The code be damned though. You formed an accord with Fisher, and I expect you to stick to that.”
Captain Gutt grimaced but nodded.
“I need that ship back in shipshape,” the admiral growled softly. The Neoorangutan grimaced further but then nodded once.
“Oh aye, she'll get my leavings then when I'm ready to part with them.”
“Fine then. We have an accord then,” the admiral said, locking eyes with the captain. Slowly Captain Gutt stared at him for a long moment before he finally nodded.
“Aye.
“Aye then,” the admiral said, cutting the channel. He sent an email to Captain Dab that she'd get some of the parts, just no timetable on when or an inventory. She would have to make do. If that meant drawing the parts from the boneyard or prize row, then so be it.
Chapter 34
The Saladin convoy came into the star system in an anti-climactic state of affairs. They were met by a single cruiser picket. They flashed their IFF and then made way to the base.
<()>^<()>
Captain Hammer met up with the pirate lords in port three days later. He was replenished in his usual pirate finery for the dinner meeting but was a bit put out over not getting much attention. “Fine how do you do,” he grumbled.
“How do you do?” Captain Gutt teased, smiling his usual half-crazed lazy smile.
“Fine, thanks for asking,” Joe replied with a snort. “So, what's the plan? And what's this I hear that the vaccinations have begun? Wasn't I promised first dibs?”
“Aye, but you weren't here. Be thankful for that, Doctor Perez took her sweet time getting it right,” the ape replied, looking at his sore shoulder. He had finally accepted a booster shot only after they'd confirmed that the vaccines were working. He was the third wave of people to get the vaccine package. It wasn't complete but it was a start in the right direction.
“Ah,” Joe replied with a nod.
“Your crew is up next, Joe, now that you're here,” the admiral growled. Joe looked over at him and then nodded.
<()>^<()>
Captain Dab surveyed prize row and shook her head in disgust at what her people had found. There were some hefty ships there, but all ancient and many picked over to the point where they were missing hatches and locks.
When she saw the ludicrous thing floating off the cutter's port side, she had to have the pilot swing by for a closer look.
The ship was fat and long. It didn't look like a ship, only the gantry sections, towers, and giant tanks and engines on one said that it was. Of all things it was made out of an asteroid. A long potato-like shape with sublight engines on the rear. The crust was covered with a web of nodes, locks, plates, and gear. The interior was no doubt hollowed out.
Initially, she thought it was ancient, but according to their files, it dated back to the Xeno war. Instead of building hulls which took time and slip space in a yard, the builders had built into an asteroid with parts skimmed from various industrial lines. They'd added a minimum amount of structure inside to keep it all together. The ships were reportedly horribly slow in hyper.
Technically, they could be tough warships, but they were incredibly slow and under-powered. They lacked weapons and had pitiful shields.
“This one. This one can go to the breakers. The habitat can be attached to the base or broken up; I care not which. But we have dibs on the parts,” she growled, making a note.
When she got back to base, the tugs and shuttles were already descending on the ship. She scanned it again and found someone had made an entry about it or found one. Curious she scanned it while eating a rat burger.
The idea for the ship design had come from the ancient Terran days of WW2. During that time period, steel had been at a premium. Some of the water shipyards had resorted to building ships out of concrete with air bubbles in the mix to keep them floating.
The interior was like an O'Neill colony. They considered using the rock at one point, but a massive radiation leak had forced them to abandon the ship. Occasionally, the people in Tortuga had picked gear off the surface. Eventually, they'd sun scuttle the thing.
She put in a hurried call to get her people to stay out of the blasted thing and stick to the surface. She no longer wanted to hook it up as a habitat, but she wasn't going to waste the fuel to sun scuttle her either. Strip her exterior and then abandon her in place; that was the best she could do.
<()>^<()>
Doctor Perez heard about the massive number of engineers in sickbay. She was called in to test them. She found most suffering from acute radiation sickness. A half dozen had it bad; three were fatal.
It was only after several inter
views that she got the full story. They'd been tasked with stripping a hulk that had turned out to be irradiated internally. She shook her head over that stupid oversight.
She made an announcement about it to quell the panic and hysteria that had hit the base and then made sure other medics did the same. “Can I get back to work now?” she demanded plaintively near the end of a very long day.
<()>^<()>
Leonidas wanted to scrub at his face or roar, do something as the debates continued to rage, but he couldn't. The good news was that some of the lords had gotten over their fear and were in the same room with him.
That was good and bad in that they were there and he couldn't hit mute to shut them up anymore.
He had to let the pirates lords vent. They needed to come together, though it looked like the loss of Tortuga and the betrayal of the homeworld was going to fracture their unity.
He wearily turned his head as another lord beat the same drum. He could almost quote them without even hearing their spiel by now.
“Ar, there is no profit in fighting the navy. You just get sorry and sore, your ship shot to hell and back!”
“Ar. We be pirates. We are all about profit. I say we go where they aren't,” a Neobear snarled.
“Find better hunting grounds. Ar,” others joined in.
“You mean run,” the Neolion asked mildly. Kix turned an eye to him but said nothing. Slowly he turned back to the rest, one hand resting on the pommel of his sword.
“Yes. Hunt where we're the predators, not the prey.”
“We could take one or two in groups. But again, where be the profit in it? Look at Bill! Saladin tried to use their tech, and it didn't work out!”
“If we take one out, they'll send more. They'll know where we be huntin',” another pirate said over the tumult of voices.
The room echoed with a series of “Ar,” and growls of agreement.
“Keep running?” the Neolion asked as the voices grew quiet.
“If necessary, yes. Stick to the code!”
“Fight to run away?” Kix asked, turning to Captain Gutt and then to the admiral.
“Exactly.”
“And we keep doing that? Running away?” Admiral Ishmael asked, rising from his throne. “How far be you wishin' to run? And where? We can't go to Rho; the navy be there and has no doubt put defenses on the jump point leadin' to it. We make that jump and we'll all be for Davy Jones' locker.”
That caused a stir.
“We can go to Upsilon, but it be a long haul. And what then? There be other brethren there. Will they want us to share their hunting grounds? We will not know them; we'd be the new predator on an already picked-over plain, trying to survive while competing with our kin.”
He began to pace, hands tucked behind his back. “In another decade or two, the navy will come again. And then where do ye think ye be goin' then?” he demanded, pointing to Captain Hammer.
“We can't fight them, not and win,” another captain insisted as Joe opened his mouth to reply. “Just look at your ship!”
“Ar, and I see it all the time,” the admiral said, resting a hand on Kix's shoulder. Kix nodded but his eyes cut to the hand paw as the claws flexed in and out ever so slightly. “We be needin' to teach the navy a lesson in manners,” the lion growled.
“And how be we doin' that?” another pirate captain asked.
“By ambushing them,” Captain Fisher said. Eyes turned to her. A few of those eyes grew cold as they recognized or didn't recognize her. A few lips curled in disdain. She was the newest warship captain and was as of yet unbloodied. It would have been wiser for her to keep her peace and learn from her betters, but she lifted her chin up in a challenge. “We find one of their patrol routes and hit them. We get behind their lines and take what they sow. They are giving away Fed tech!”
“Aye and look what it did to my ship!” Captain Hammer growled. “Damn near killed us!”
“But there be other tech we can use—metals, food, fuel. The lubbers grow with it. We come along and reap more of what we need,” Captain Gutt said with a nod to his protégé. She gave a slight nod back.
That nod of support quelled any who might have challenged her. She flicked her ears to him and curled her lip ever so slightly as she glared about her.
“We need to relocate the bases,” Captain Dab interjected, voice rough from fatigue.
“Ah, Captain Dab, nice of you to put in an appearance,” Captain Gutt drawled. “Bored?”
She glared at him. “Not likely. But I've been thinking about my job and why I'm doing it here. Does the navy know where we are? How soon will they come for this place and the other bases?”
Heads swiveled almost as one to the admiral.
“Aye, I let them have the cursed system to choke on it. I believe it'll buy us time, time to plan and scheme, to hit them where it hurts,” he growled. “But only if we're ready!” he snarled, turning to the group. “That means training. It means work,” he growled, kicking a Neochimp who'd started to nod off. The group chuckled a little as the chimp snorted himself awake. The admiral took a stein of beer and dumped it on a Neodog who had looked away from him. The dog sputtered, wiping at his face. He tried to rise to challenge but remembered who'd done it and lowered himself carefully back into his seat, his ears flattening.
There was another chuckle over that.
“I be thinkin' we need to send a ship south to keep an eye on the navy. Mayhap cause them … some mischief,” the admiral purred. That had a few people interested but most were wary. They feared an encounter with the navy; he knew it. A deliberate entanglement was asking for trouble.
“We do need to keep an eye out,” Captain Gutt said slowly. “You bought us fighting room and time. But for how long?”
“Aye. Cap'n Hochi will no doubt come runnin' when the navy appears in enough force to chase him out,” the admiral growled. But, me thinks we need one willing to watch our back.”
“For what price? There be no profit in picket duty!” a lord growled.
“I'll do it,” Captain Fisher stated, “if no one else is brave enough. Fix my ship and I'll sit on Long Sands and then rush back with a word of warning should trouble come,” she said.
The admiral turned to her and nodded slowly.
“Pretty kitty kissup,” a lord said in the back.
“Who said that?” she hissed, ears back, teeth bared as she drew her dagger. “Who be the mangy cur?”
“At ease,” the admiral said, smiling indulgently at her spitting rage. “I like your spirit, Cap'n Fisher. So be it. We'll see your ship fixed, aye, Cap'n Dab?”
“Oh aye, just another thing among many for me to try to figure out,” the Gnoll engineer said tiredly. “Sure thing, want a steak with that?”
“Aye, though we'll discuss that later,” the admiral drawled. The captain grimaced, realizing his patience wasn't without limits. She flicked her ears.
“Mayhap I'll reward you with some … quality time should you get the ship back in space in a timely manner,” the admiral said as he resumed his throne.
That earned a chuckle from the audience.
“Someone better warn the wolf,” a voice stage whispered.
“Don't you dare!” Captain Dab flared. That earned roaring laughter from the group.
Chapter 35
Asterion IX
Canterbury was in orbit of Asterion IX when Félicité arrived at the Tau-X3301 jump point. The skeleton crew on Canterbury was scrambling to get their crew to the shuttles and up when they received Félicité's IFF.
The relief was palatable when they informed Governor Iapyx and the people on the planet.
Over the next three days, the two ships conversed. Captains Vaser and Buzzfeed had hit it off and decided since their two ships were slow they would travel together the last leg of their journey. According to their intel, they only had one more jump before they were in Federation territory.
Governor Iapyx had trouble believing Félicité was a friendly prize s
hip like Canterbury until the ship arrived in orbit and sent a shuttle down. Only when he saw the uniformed personnel on the planet did he finally fully relax.
“So, what's going on? You are Feds too? Or did you turn over a new leaf?”
“As we tried to explain to you, Governor, we caught the ship. We're a prize crew,” Lieutenant Vaser stated with a smile.
“Oh!” The governor turned to Captain Buzzfeed. The T'clock prize captain gave a human-style nod.
“Wait, didn't Commodore Richards' people say something about that?” a Tauren demanded.
The governor frowned and then scratched under his chin. “I guess we forgot. My apologies, Captain.”
“It's understandable.”
Both ships were slow so they used up more provisions in hyperspace. That meant they had to trade at each port for provisions and fuel. Governor Iapyx let his business people handle the details but he leaned on the two captains to try to get one or both of them to remain in his star system. “We're joining the Federation. We need a picket. Once we're safe, the vote will just be a formality.”
“I understand that,” Captain Vaser stated. “The problem is we can't stay. We have orders to return to the capital. We're just a prize crew; we need more people to man the ship. And, to be honest, the ship is crap, both ships. They need a proper overhaul to meet the minimum specs we demand. Don't get me started about supplies and weapons,” she said with a shake of her head.
The governor blinked. “Oh. I didn't know.”
“I doubt the pirates would ever let anyone know just how old and decrepit their ships are. They are still dangerous though. We made some repairs and improvements, but the ship needs a full yard rebuild before she can be returned to service.”
“Well, that's certainly true! But we need support. We've got our asses hanging out here bare and vulnerable. They have to pass through us to get to you.”
“There are other jump points but I concede your point,” Captain Buzzfeed stated. “I will pass on your request for support though. If you give me a formal request, I can give it to the commodore.”