Stephanie frowned. “Okay, we’ll have to try something else. What’s something you really hate?”
His gaze slid away from hers. “Hate?”
“Yeah, you know. Something you dislike enough that you want to kill it.”
“Well, there was this one teacher in fifth grade…”
“Do you have a picture of him?”
“No! Why would I keep a picture of that guy?”
“Because you’re psychic and you knew you’d need it now?”
“Ha-ha. You’re so funny.”
“No, I’m not. I’m deadly serious.”
Lars picked his tablet up and flicked through it where Frog could see it.
“Wow! There’s a sale on?”
“Yeah. Do you see anything you hate?”
“No. Nope. No. Not that. I really— Ouch!”
The team leader looked at him. “Really, Frog?”
He blushed. “It’s the beak.”
“Uh-huh.”
“What?” Stephanie wanted to know and stood so she could see the front of the tablet. “Seriously?”
“Shut up.” He backed away and handed the rod to Brenden. “You’re up.”
The man moved in and gave his teammate a curious look. He burst into laughter when he saw what was on the tablet. ‘You are shitting me.”
Avery came closer. “That’s a duck.”
“It’s a rubber duck,” Lars clarified while they all stared at the yellow bath-tub toy. They looked at Frog and he threw up his hands and walked out of the kitchenette.
‘Laugh it up,” he snapped. “I’m gonna check out the movie channel.”
Lars turned to Brenden. “So, do you have anything you hate?”
It turned out that Brenden hated the wasteland outside the Gov-Sub he’d come from.
“That’s what killed my parents,” he said as the bar clanged from his fingers.
Avery hated pirates, something he shared with Vishlog, who also hated the alien, as well. “I saw what it tried to do to Stephanie,” he explained as he retrieved the rod to hand it back to her. “And their magic…Hrageth’s balls!”
“You don’t like their magic?” she asked as she took it and he shook his head as he followed Frog’s line of retreat. “I don’t like how it affected you.”
He fled through the door, and she stared after him. “I wonder what brought that on.”
Lars shrugged. “That’s not important right now. What is important is finding three pictures that are gonna trigger that reaction in any of our crew—and only when it comes to you. We don’t want to know everyone’s deepest secrets.”
Stephanie remembered the look on Frog’s face when he’d seen the rubber duck and snickered. “No, we really don’t.”
It took them a while but in the end, they chose a picture of space, Stephanie’s picture of one of the aliens, and a shot taken from one of the Marine’s body cams from the fight on the pirate ship. That one showed her hurling the Nihilism out through the hole in the hull.
“Yeah, that should do it,” Lars said. “If I was someone who wanted the aliens to win, that picture would piss me off no end.”
“It would work even if I was someone who simply hated Stephanie,” Brenden added. “She looks far too damned pleased with herself there. I’d want to kick her ass purely to cut her down to size.”
“It’s settled, then,” she said once the three pictures were printed off. “Lars, why don’t you and Vishlog take one of the cats out and see who has what reaction to these?”
“I have arranged for the crew to be held pending your analysis.” The Ebon Knight’s voice surprised them.
Stephanie looked around. “You have?”
“Captain Pederson instructed me to lock the ship down and gather the crew for processing. I have arranged the on-board conference room to be available for your use. Shall I assemble the first group?”
“Please,” she told her. “I would appreciate that.”
“Who did you have in mind?”
“The Marines.”
“Very well. Please allow ten minutes for transit.”
“Wait,” Lars called.
“Yes?”
“I would like to be in position when they arrive.”
“I can delay the notification.”
“If you would.”
“I will send it once you tell me you are ready.”
“I appreciate it.”
The ship did not respond, so he turned to Stephanie. “I’ll grab Vishlog and head up. Do you have a preference as to which cat?”
“Zee, if you can. He’s the least intimidating of the two.”
“And if we could expedite the process, it would be appreciated,” the ship interjected. “The captain has arranged for us to remain in orbit until his personnel have been checked. The Navy is not impressed.”
“But they have agreed?” Stephanie pressed.
“Yes. The captain gave them no other option. Your security is paramount.”
“Thank you, Ebony.”
It was a long day.
“Who’da thought it would take this long to have a hundred and fifty people hold a rod and look at pictures?” Frog grumbled when the ship finally prepared to break orbit.
“It was worth it,” Stephanie told him.
“Yes,” Lars agreed. “Even if it cost us another day to bring the replacements in.”
“Well, we can’t fly without life support.”
“They could have managed with one less.”
She frowned at him. “But it’s better if they don’t have to, right?”
“I suppose,” he grumbled, “but we’re on a timeline, here.”
“Well, we needed them and we’re still waiting on the navigator.”
“Yeah,” Lars confirmed. “Not finding that one could have ended really badly. He had access to the jump coordinates, for pity’s sake.”
“Well, the MPs have them now and the Navy finally asked the Meligornians for the help of their Truth Bringer, so we’ll know what’s up soon.”
“I’ll simply be glad to get out of here.”
Chapter Forty-Eight
“This song’s for all those who have ever wanted to escape Earth’s orbit as badly as I do.” Jonathan Wattlebird’s voice flowed cheerily from the speakers. “For the tone-deaf among you, the song you are listening for is the thrum of the engines. Hear it, listen to it, and love it.”
“Love it?” Stephanie asked and looked up from her tablet. “What is he talking about?”
Before anyone could answer, the pilot continued. “Please ensure your luggage and any small children and pets are stowed in the overhead lockers and that your tray tables are in the upright position.”
“My what?”
Lars rolled his eyes. “I wish he’d shut up and fly.”
“For those of you new to the Ebon Knight, welcome aboard. Please remain in your seats as we achieve escape velocity and I try to prevent this baby from flying off into the unknown depths of space.”
“But we’re heading to Meligorn.”
“I have before me a red button, a green button, a big red button, and a very big red button. I honestly want to push them all, but the captain tells me there can be only one, so hold onto your hats while I close my eyes and give the control board a random poke.”
“Is this guy for real?”
“Don’t you remember him on the flight out to the pirates?”
Stephanie rolled her eyes. “You’re telling me he’s always like this?”
“No, I’m only saying that every time someone gives this boy new toys and you step aboard, he falls off the deep end and makes a speech out of it.”
“You’re saying this is all for my benefit?”
“No, only that there’s an unholy coincidence.”
“It’s only happened once before.”
“And we’ve flown with him twice.”
“So your point is?”
“This is the second flight where we’re looking at anything vaguely experim
ental, although I don’t know what he was like on the flight out from Mars,” Lars admitted while the pilot rattled on.
“So, strap your asses to your seats, fasten your seat belts and safety harnesses, and make sure your trousers are properly zipped. This will be the fastest flight to the Jump Zone you’ve ever had. I’d also like to remind you that we have a legal officer on board who can update your wills in the shortest time I’ve ever seen, so…”
Stephanie rolled her eyes. “Maybe he’s nervous.”
“What’s that got to do with it?”
“Well—”
“You should also ignore the sirens and the messages from the Federation’s Traffic Centre. We will not go that fast—and they won’t be able to keep up anyway. I have also taken the liberty of hiding the licensing so we have plausible deniability in a court of law.”
“Now I know he’s spinning shit,” Stephanie huffed as Wattlebird continued, oblivious to anything but his beloved ship.
“And here we go, folks. Someone tells me this is supposed to be a return flight, but I honestly don’t know. This is only the fourth time this beautiful lady had agreed to step out with me and we will trip the light fantastic for the very first time.”
“I don’t know about the light fantastic, but he’s definitely tripping.”
“For those of you who don’t know, this is the Ebon Knight’s maiden voyage, and…” His voice trailed off and there was a moment’s silence before he returned. When he did, he sounded jubilant. “And that was High Earth Orbit giving us clearance to leave our lovely homeworld far behind.”
Stephanie breathed a sigh of relief and assumed it was over, but Jonathan started again.
“Also, if the kind soul who borrowed the flight manual from the bathrooms outside the mess hall would return it in the next twenty seconds, I would be eternally grateful. In the meantime, please enjoy the flight and keep the screaming to a minimum as I press the little green button.”
“How long do you think he’ll keep this up?” she whispered, and Lars shook his head.
“I hope he runs out of oxygen real soon.”
Stephanie huffed out a sigh. “Yeah, me too.”
They waited for him to resume but the silence stretched into peace and the Ebon Knight accelerated.
“You know,” she said, “I think I like the tradition that Navy ship had.”
“Which one?”
“The one where they stood together to watch the Earth as they left. Remember? The captain said it reminded them what they were fighting for. I like that idea.”
Lars looked at the ceiling. “Knight?”
“I am here.”
“Do you have an observation deck where the off-duty crew can gather?”
“I am sorry, Lars, but my observation deck isn’t of a sufficient size for the entire crew. However, Stephanie’s idea has merit. May I offer an alternative?”
“Please,” Stephanie said.
“I can broadcast the view of our world on all in-board viewscreens, and you may give a short address to explain why.”
“Thank you, Knight. I’d like that. Please make sure the captain approves.”
A short time later, the captain came on the line.
“I like it,” he told her. “It’s the kind of tradition that holds a crew together—and the kind of tradition that keeps it focused when we’re away. You may broadcast when you are ready.”
She nodded, pulled her tablet out, and jotted a few notes. When she was ready, she stood and looked out at the sight of the Earth receding into the distance.
“Crew of the Ebon Knight, this is Stephanie Morgana, the Witch of the Federation—your Witch—speaking. I want you to take a moment to look at our world and remember it. While we cannot be at home, this is the reason we are out here. This is the reason we are fighting. We must remember that. Our world depends on us and we must protect it. Only when it is safe can we return. This is the reason we go to war. It is a world worth fighting for.”
When she had finished, she continued to stare at the receding orb and tried to find the exact tiny dot on its surface that she called home.
The Knight made it out of the Jump Exclusion zone in a quarter of the time it had taken the Meligorn Dreamer. As they made the jump, she spoke to the Knight and its captain and they agreed that training needed to be conducted en route.
“It’s no use having all these new weapons if we can’t use them effectively,” she declared and he had immediately agreed.
“I hoped you would come to this without me suggesting it,” he told her. “If we go into combat anytime soon, we will need many more hours working everyone through their paces.”
Stephanie had him run the first drill as soon as the ship had made its first jump. She occupied one of the jump seats at the back of the command center and observed as the captain took the weapons and defense crews through their paces.
In the week that followed, she made the crew scramble through emergency evacuation drills and asked the Knight to run a life support survival scenario. After that, she gave the crew three days’ break before she summoned them for the next.
This time, they’d found an abandoned asteroid belt and the Knight confirmed it was clear of life.
“Yes! It’s time we did a little real-life target practice,” Stephanie instructed, and the captain scrambled the weapons crews.
“Can we coordinate this with ship maneuvers, too?” she asked and worked with Knight to create a flight scenario to keep Jonathan occupied and to challenge the weapons crews as well.
“These guys are getting good,” she said and nudged Lars when the ship registered ninety percent accuracy.
“And this is becoming expensive,” he sniped in response.
“Expensive?”
“Well, yeah. Each one of those missiles costs around 1.45 million apiece, and I don’t know how many the Meligornian depot has to spare.”
“Whoa!” Stephanie answered and caught hold of his arm. “You’re not shitting me?”
“No.”
“Wow. Okay, so we’d better stop soon.”
“But you’re having so much fun. Why would you want to do a stupid thing like that?” he teased.
“Uh, well, because I’m not stupid rich. Is there a way we can get the computers to do what we’re doing in the real so we can conserve the ammo?”
“I am able to do that,” the Knight reassured her. “I will make this the last live-fire round.”
“Will you tell the crews?”
“Oh, no,” Knight told her. “I will isolate their systems. They will continue to believe they are firing until after the exercise.”
“What about the scans?”
The Knight sounded smug. “The scans will show what I want them to show. They will not know until the exercise has ended.”
“Make it so,” she told her.
The exercise ended without incident and the weapons teams were awarded points based on accuracy and speed.
“Why the points?” Stephanie had wanted to know when Lars suggested them.
“Bragging rights,” he told her, “and crew cohesion. They’ll work harder for those than anything else.”
He was right. She watched the interest increase in the crew’s faces when he announced the scores at the end of the activity.
“When’s the next one?” the third-place team asked.
The guard had smiled. “After Meligorn,” he told them and dismissed them to the good-natured ribbing of the top two teams.
“Arrival in the Meligorn Home System is T-minus forty-two hours,” the Knight announced. “Prepare for dimensional transfer. I repeat…”
They prepared as instructed and Stephanie ordered a stocktake of available weapons. She wanted to order a resupply as soon as they were able. The transfer approach was flawless and their reentry to normal space occurred without incident.
The greeting they received as soon as they had made the transition was unexpected.
“It’s like they were waiting
for us,” she muttered when it was repeated.
“Ebon Knight, the King’s Warrior welcomes you. Please show your legs and arrive as soon as possible. Repeat, please show your legs and arrive at speed.”
“Legs?” she asked, and Captain Emil gave her a worried look.
“He is referring to the ship’s speed and distance. I believe we need to hurry.”
She nodded. “I don’t know if we can go any faster than this, Captain. Is it possible to show more leg than we are?”
He smiled. “Oh, yes. We can shift in-system.”
“No ship can do that,” Lars scoffed and the other man’s smile grew broader.
“This one can.”
“Or it might simply blow up,” Jonathan told them.
The captain sighed. “Lieutenant Commander, it is time.”
“Time for what?” Stephanie as the pilot uttered a whoop of glee.
“To push the big red button.”
Lars groaned.
Chapter Forty-Nine
The Meligornians noticed when the Ebon Knight vanished from their screens. They were still squawking their concern when she reappeared moments later.
“…did you go?”
“…epeat, Ebon Knight report your status.”
“…in Selestel’s name are you?”
“We are currently being targeted by two warships and one supersized battle cruiser,” the Ebon Knight announced. “Scans also show two smaller vessels moving to firing positions.”
“Hold your fire. This is Captain Emil Pederson of the Ebon Knight. We are testing new technology. I repeat, this is Captain Pederson of the Ebon Knight. We are testing new technology. Hold your fire.”
V’ritan’s crisp clear tones cut through the chatter. “Stephanie, is that you?”
“Yes, I am aboard the Ebon Knight. We have just performed our first in-system jump.”
There was a stunned silence, both from the waiting ships and from the Knight’s crew before V’ritan came back online. “Say, again, Knight.
“We have just made our first in-system jump,” she repeated and he sighed.
“That’s what I thought you said. I take it you will complete the journey using more conventional propulsion?”
“Would you like us to?”
Witch Of The Federation III (Federal Histories Book 3) Page 53