Duty and Obligation

by Sean Benjamin

  Vindictive’s comm officer spoke, “Incoming from Steppenwolf. Musketeer is blowing lines and getting underway in a hurry.”

  Delacruz nodded. “They’ll be too late. We will continue to press target.” He calmly scrolled through the screens floating around his chair. The plan was coming together nicely. He called up the two freighters. “Don’t shoot the second salvo. We won’t need it.” He got an acknowledgment and relaxed in his seat. There was only one unknown now and he could do nothing about that. Their victim was still unidentified and would remain so until they got on top of the target or until she started transmitting in the clear.

  The six pirate attackers continued to pour out missiles. The Brie was completely defensive now as she threw out interceptors at her cyclic rate. She sped toward her spaceport and safety. She still had to get through the two missile boats and Cottonmouth but had not even tried to engage them as she was fully committed to defending against the existing attack. Apparently, she would try to force her way through them with guns. Her captain and crew must have known they would not make it, but they seemed to want to give it a hell of a try. Desperation makes crews and ships attempt the impossible. This action made several of the pirate captains think they had finally gotten hold of Fusilier. The attacking force was easily identifiable as pirates but the light cruiser did not even try to ask for surrender terms. Chasseur would have surrendered as the pirates did not have a vendetta against her, but Fusilier’s crew knew no quarter would be given.

  As the light cruiser closed on the three ships in front of her, Cottonmouth joined the attack. She passed the two freighters and took up a defensive position between them and the Brie ship. The long range and well-coordinated defense had allowed the light cruiser to eliminate the initial missiles of the attack, but the incoming pirate projectiles were being intercepted closer and closer to their target. Now pirate missiles got through the defenses and began to impact on the shields. The Brie ship changed course continuously to allow missile impacts on several different shield panels but this was just delaying the inevitable. The added weight of Cottonmouth’s missiles was the tipping point. Her missiles hit the front shields and two sections were quickly depleted and they collapsed. Five missiles impacted one small area of the hull. Two penetrated and took out a twin missile station. The reduced defense now gave it up quickly. Missiles impacted along the entire hull. A dozen penetrated. An engine was taken out, and five compartments opened to space. The unrelenting wave of pirate munitions pounded the light cruiser even as she rolled to port and explosions ripped her guts.

  “Cease fire,” Shane ordered over his command net. The order was obeyed but the missiles already launched continued to hit the target. Escape pods began coming off the dying ship. The pirates closed on her.

  The comm officer spoke again. “She is broadcasting an SOS on all freqs. Clear language.” He paused and then turned to look at Delacruz. “Fusilier,” he said simply but then smiled. Shane smiled back.

  Fusilier belched pieces of wreckage and bodies as she died. Several open compartments had been occupied and drifting wreckage marked her wake through space. No missiles hit her now, but the pirates continued to close on her position. Every pirate wanted to see this target close up. This single warship whose existence had taunted them for so long was finally taken. They had to see the carcass and ensure it was really Fusilier. In eleven minutes, all the pirate ships were close in on Fusilier. The dead vessel was drifting now and the trail of wreckage and pods behind her was now a debris field marking the floating gravesite.

  Nobody talked over the comm, and nobody engaged the escape pods. Although it had never been discussed, everyone had seemed to come to the silent agreement that the pods belonged to Corsair. The Flot 1 ships maintained a minimum of headway as they assessed the damage and confirmed the identity. The ship’s name was on the broken hull and the escape pods. She had been Fusilier. It was done.

  Shane let his force enjoy the moment and then said over the command net, “Musketeer is coming this way. Let’s go greet her.”

  Musketeer had departed Libellule at top speed and was racing toward the last reported position of her sister. Steppenwolf had reported her departure and then had followed her out of port in order to maintain sensors on her. The cruiser was not on the sensors of the Flot 1 ships but would be in minutes if the pirates turned toward her.

  The pirate ships formed up and began moving toward Musketeer. The two Flot 1 freighters made for the Brie border with the Badlands. In ten minutes, Musketeer did appear on all pirate sensors. Assuming all ships maintained course and speed, they would be in firing range in forty-five minutes. The fight would take place within Libellule space, but Shane didn’t care. The Bries would lose two light cruisers today. He knew the Bries would complain about the violation of Libellule space. Since the fight was not in the port itself, Delacruz doubted that anyone else would care. The Bries were bounty hunters. The job paid well, but it didn’t lend itself to making friends.

  The pirates closed on Musketeer but it soon became clear she wasn’t closing on them. She had done her duty in trying to support Fusilier, but suicide by pirate was not on the duty schedule today or any other day. Musketeer closed until she had Fusilier on her sensors. Once it was established that Fusilier was no more, Musketeer began turning around while still well out of missile range. It was apparent she intended to stay well out of missile range. The Brie warship started back toward Libellule. She didn’t run away at flank speed but did maintain her distance from the pursuing pirates.

  There was one pirate ship not in pursuit of Musketeer. In fact, she had not moved at all. Captain Flint Colfax of Corsair looked at the escape pods floating around the wreckage of Fusilier as he kept his ship close to the dead cruiser. The pods were right there, well within range. It would be easy. And not easy.

  There was silence on the bridge. Watchstanders glanced back at their captain as he stared at his computer screen. Nobody made a sound. They all knew what he was thinking and were willing to give him as much time as he needed. The event many of them had hoped for was finally at hand—retribution, payment for past sins. What goes around, comes around. Revenge is a dish best served cold. An entire litany of sayings and oaths covered this situation. The crew thought they could justify hitting the pods, but nobody acted on his or her own. They needed the order from their Captain. They would do as ordered, but they also wanted to sleep at night. Nobody would do it without orders.

  Colfax took a breath. It was time. Time to give back in kind. He knew this would be costly so waited a second prior to giving the order. Suddenly, he was aware of a presence close over his right shoulder. He turned his head and was nose to nose with Dallas Keitel, the OpsO. She wore no expression as they stared into each other’s face from millimeters away. She searched his eyes for a moment before speaking.

  “We are better than they are.” It was a simple statement made in a whisper, but he heard it distinctly, all the way down to his soul. Right this second, Colfax thought Dallas Keitel was the wisest person in the galaxy. Her brother had died in Redemption. If she could do this, so could all the rest of them.

  “You’re right. We are better,” he responded in the same low whisper as he stared at her.

  She gave him an enchanting smile and faded away. He turned to the front. “Helm, come about and regain station on Vindictive.”

  The helmsman acted quickly as tension crumbled away. Crewmembers took deep breaths and gave each other a smile of relief. They would have done it, but it would have been expensive for them. Now they were glad to save the payment and would be able to take pride in their part in this skirmish at Libellule and the death of a hated enemy.

  Shane Delacruz sat in his command chair staring at his command and tac screens. He had watched Corsair on the tac screen and Colfax on the command screen the entire time. He knew what was going through the man’s mind and heart. Corsair’s crew had killed Fusilier and her crew a million times, but that had been in the abstract. Life and dec
isions are always easier in the abstract. Consequences didn’t even exist in the abstract. Everything was neat and clean in stark black and white hues. However, reality is painted with a full array of colors, and there is always the aftermath.

  In another life and in another war, Shane had been in the exact same position as Colfax. He had opted for a different course of action than the one Corsair’s captain had chosen. He didn’t dwell on it much, but he did dream about it regularly. He always woke up just after giving the order to fire.

  He had stayed off the comm as he had watched Corsair. He would have let it happen if they had chosen the other course available to them. It was their revenge after all. If they had done it, he thought the price for them would have been more than for any of the other ships of Flot 1. He knew if Ringo had been in the same position, she would have tagged every pod and gotten a good night’s sleep afterward, but not Corsair’s captain or crew. Corsair was part of Pirate Flotilla One but was unlike every other pirate vessel. They were here under a different charter, so to speak. He briefly wondered if they would declare their mission accomplished and go back to the Aurora Empire now. He knew it was not his problem. That belonged to O’Hare and Hawkins, assuming they were still alive.

  Delacruz dismissed his musings and resumed his observation of Musketeer. She was going just slow enough so she could be caught by the pirates in Libellulan airspace just before reaching port. A battle there would bring the planet’s defenses into the fight and an incident would be created. Musketeer would then duck into port and dare the pirates to continue the fight there. Shane had no intention of doing any such thing. He spoke over his command net. “Musketeer is running for home and trying to drag us with her. Let her go. All ships, come about and form on me. We’re going home too. Well done, people. Now let’s go and find some slavers.”

  Chapter 22

  Admiral Cynthia Hochstadt watched the video of Hawkins’ attack on the prison as it was pieced together from the prison cameras. She saw the pirates execute the warden, deputy warden, and head of security. She saw Killian O’Hare get her hand blown off, and she saw Raferty Hawkins go down. She saw Tactical and Baby Doll execute two guards. She knew she had just seen a whole bunch of images of pirates behaving badly. She also knew she had not seen it all. She was seeing a very selective version of events while hearing a very selective narration from the Strasberg Mining Corporation vice president for operations on Bolindale as he sat in front of her commenting on the video. The man had come to Rosstrappe to press his case for Imperial Navy support for Bolindale and the need for increased efforts to get the pirates under Hawkins. That man, Leonid Kaplan, made these requests as he sat across from her at the flag briefing room main table. Also at the table were Captains Bergman, Senger, and Morstein from the Admiral’s staff. Seated at the end of the table was Commander Fritz Steiner from Fleet Operations.

  The video ended and Kaplan immediately concluded his narrative with a final statement. “As you can see, the survivors could have easily been casualties also. We were very lucky in that regard.”

  Hochstadt had listened without interrupting. She knew she should have made the appropriate murmurings of sympathy, compassion, and empathy but, well, she just didn’t feel like it so she had kept quiet throughout the presentation. She knew when she was being played but would wait to begin her counterattack until this man was through with his tale of woe. He threw out a couple of more platitudes and ended with stressing the need for more protection for his planet and with an urgent appeal to get those “damn pirates” and make the universe safe for decent folks.

  The room fell silent as he was finished talking and none of the navy officers present would speak before Admiral Hochstadt. She regarded Kaplan with an even stare and then started with a question. “Is this the entire video on the pirate attack?”

  “All that is pertinent, yes. There are other recordings made at the same time by cameras in other locations in the prison, but they are not relevant. We have put together this narrative from the best-placed cameras.”

  Hochstadt cocked an eyebrow. “Not relevant? The pirates took over the entire prison and yet there are camera positions that captured nothing relevant? Hard to believe.” She leaned across the table toward her visitor with her elbows on the table. “Here’s my problem. You show me a video that is clearly incomplete and edited and would have me believe that is all there is.” She shook her head. “Nope, not buying it. Also, you have offered no reason for why the pirates risked valuable assets, including their top leadership, in a ground assault on a prison that has no strategic or tactical value whatsoever. They only took one young girl and the cameras seem to indicate that was a spur-of-the-moment decision so their attack was not to free close friends or allies. They didn’t steal anything. They clearly intended to kill certain people but not everybody. I have to ask myself why. Well, Mister Kaplan, why did they come to the prison at all, and why did they take the actions they did take once they got there?”

  Mister Kaplan seemed to sweat a bit. This was not the reception he was hoping to receive, and he was not prepared to undergo an interrogation. He smiled weakly. “Well, Admiral, who knows what goes on in the minds of such people? We can only guess as to their timing, their motives, and why they did what they did. I think you and your people would be better at filling in those blanks as you have much more experience in law enforcement and with these criminals.”

  Hochstadt nodded slowly and then continued her attack. “The media in the Aurora Empire has written several stories on the new peer, Raferty Hawkins. Although many people may know he is a duke now, his general life story has not received widespread dissemination here. As it happens, his mother and her group were killed while in the middle of negotiations with your mining corporation to improve the lot of your miners. It happened on Bolindale. The details of what happened to the children of the group are rather sketchy.” She stared directly at her visitor. “Still, it is difficult for me to believe that it is a mere coincidence that he came to this planet to attack a prison and that planet just happened to be where his mother was killed and where he started on his path to piracy. Really, really difficult for me to believe that.” She let a long pause happen and then added, “Can you shed any light on that coincidence?”

  Kaplan quickly shook his head. “I cannot, Admiral.”

  Hochstadt smiled a patently false smile at him and spoke again. “Well, I’m going to help you then. Fregattenkapitan Steiner is here at this briefing because he will be returning to Bolindale with a couple of my other officers and some Imperial Army soldiers. I have already signed the necessary legal papers to give him access to your video, your records, conduct interviews, and whatever else he deems necessary to complete a full and detailed investigation of this attack. I hope his investigation bears out what you and your corporation have been telling me. If your story turns out to be less than the complete truth, that would be bad, very bad indeed.”

  Kaplan talked in a cooperative tone. “I will inform my office on Bolindale to prepare for his arrival and assist him in any way possible.”

  Hochstadt shook her head. “I think not. We will keep you here until my team arrives at the prison. I am sure it will be more helpful to the investigation if we begin that way.”

  The mining executive looked puzzled. “I am not to communicate with my company or the planetary government?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Admiral, I must insist on that basic right.”

  She had been instantly tired of this whole affair when she first heard about it and that feeling didn’t change with this visit from Kaplan. “You can insist all you want, but it isn’t going to happen.”

  Kaplan puffed up. “The home office will hear of this, Admiral.”

  Hochstadt gave him a sardonic smile. “You’ll forgive me if I don’t much care about your being offended or your damn home office.” She now stared at him. “There is more here than meets the eye. Raferty Hawkins did not stop off at that prison on an impulse while he
just happened to be flying by. Two things I know about Hawkins and his leadership group is they do nothing on impulse, and they are not stupid. Before this is over, I will know why he risked so much on such a target.” She leaned toward Kaplan and spoke in a low, threatening voice. “I have a feeling about all of this. A very, very bad feeling. For your sake, you better hope I am wrong.”

  Hochstadt needed this presentation to be done for now. She suddenly stood up to signal the end of the meeting. Everyone else rose. Kaplan was ushered out to be put in isolation for the next three days. Hochstadt sat back down after their guest had departed and the other officers followed suit. She looked down the table at Steiner. “He is lying about many things. Your mission is twofold. Find out why the pirates attacked that particular jail and what the people there are hiding. I suspect the two answers are linked. Answer one and the other answer will be clear.

  “Do get the videos from every camera and whatever else they have, but be sure to interview everyone. That includes prisoners. If there is something being hidden there, the prisoners are the ones most likely to talk about it. All interviews will be done individually, and no prison officials will sit in on any of them. Who knows, some quiet secretary or a mass murderer may break this wide open for you.”

  Commander Steiner replied, “Aye, aye, Admiral.”

  Bergman spoke up, “You think there is some sort of conspiracy here?”

  Hochstadt nodded. “I think it is very odd that a planetary government facility is attacked, and that planet sends an official from a privately owned mining corporation to plead their case. I realize the corporation really runs the planet, but it is still strange. The man showed up here before the bodies got cold trying to disseminate their version of events. They want their version to be the first version out there so it would have a good chance of becoming the official version. It’s not going to happen. They are hiding something for sure. If we find out what it is, our visiting mining official will probably deny any knowledge of it. Since it is the planetary government running the prison, he might be able to make that claim stick. Of course, the mining company and the government there have been working together for decades, and they will work together now to make this go away.