by Ward Wagher
“And new friends?”
The woman cocked her head and shrugged. “It's dangerous to have too many friends. You never know what their price is.”
Franklin nodded. “I left some very unhappy friends behind when I came out here.”
“The secret is knowing when to cut your friends loose. At some point they become liabilities.”
“Well, let me tell you a little secret, Margrethe,” Nyman said as he stood up. He bent over to whisper in her ear. “You see,” he said as he held her in a neck lock and slipped his knife between her ribs, “I didn't have to kill anyone to get out here, like you did. You murdered a friend of mine in cold blood, in front of witnesses.”
He eased her head down to the table as the light went out of her eyes. “Isn't it wonderful when justice is served, my dear?”
He eased the knife out and wiped it carefully on her tunic, before replacing it in the sheath. He had started to turn when his comm unit beeped. He held the beeping device up as he walked past the bartender and out of the bar.
“Skipper, it’s Lieutenant Simmons.”
“Go ahead, Gabe.”
“Louie got back. He’s pretty excited. I had to encourage him pretty strongly not to come looking for you.”
“I read you,” Franklin said. “Did he say what he wanted?”
“No, Sir. He just keeps repeating ‘must find Blipper.’”
“He really must be excited. I’m on my way, Mr. Simmons. Please contact the Exec and let her know what’s happening. And maybe have Lari Chaplin double check to make sure he has his vocoder connected correctly.”
“Uh, Skipper?”
“What’s on your mind, Mr. Simmons?”
“Louie brought back a pet.”
Franklin shrugged. “Dad’s exec had a dog one time. If Louie needs company, I’m not going to complain.”
Franklin snapped his comm unit shut before Simmons could speak further, and began walking towards the docking bay. He met Daphne coming from the other direction as he headed toward the gangway.
“Simmons called. Do you think Louie struck gold, Skipper?” she asked as they stepped aboard Canopus.
“I don’t know, but I hope so. Simmons said he was pretty excited.
“I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”
“Yes. Ask Louie and Simmons to come to my dining cabin. Also get Sergeant Kish of the Marine detachment. We can all hear it at the same time.”
“What about Signe?”
“What about her?”
“She’s been pestering me about what we are going to do about getting her parents back.”
“You’re going to have to sit on her Daff. She’s liable to strike out on her own and blow the whole operation.”
“I don’t think she will, Sir.”
“I don’t need think so, Exec. This is going to be touchy enough as is.”
“I understand, Sir. I’ll keep an eye on her.” She turned to the guards. “Under no circumstances will you allow Lieutenant Foxworth off the ship without permission from me or the Captain. Understood?”
“Aye, aye, Exec.”
She turned back to Franklin. “I’ll let the Chief of the Boat know, too.”
“Thanks, Exec.”
Franklin turned and headed for his cabin.
chapter twenty-two
"Okay, Louie what have you got?" Franklin said as he breezed into the conference room. "And what is that thing?"
"Location of the Glenn and Monica and Flooga."
"Gotcha... I think." He pointed to the octopus like creature draped over the top of the Woogie. "That is a Flooga, right? And you know where the Foxworths are."
"Correctimundo.”
Lieutenant Simmons stifled a snort. Daphne laughed out loud.
Franklin smiled. "First things first. I trust, Chief Engineer, you will keep your pet out of people's way and out of the machinery."
"Aye, aye, Skipper," the Woogie said. "Flooga well behaved."
"What is a Flooga? Simmons asked.
"Lieutenant, I am ashamed of you," Franklin said. "A professional like you should be familiar with Woogaean fauna. What we have here is a Woogaean Quintapod. They are a native of Louie's home world. The Woogies like them for pets."
“They are smart little critters,” Sergeant Kish added. “I’ve seen a few before.”
"Flooga like human too," Louie said.
Franklin bit his lower lip and raised an eyebrow, then shrugged. "Interesting. Now tell us what you found out about the Foxworths."
"Being kept at Higginbotham nest on planet. Information reliable."
"Simmons, pull up a polar projection onscreen here," Franklin said. "I'd like to get a look at this compound."
"I don't have the coordinates for the compound itself," Simmons said. "I would have to dig around a little bit for that."
"Louie has coordinates." The Woogie stretched out with a couple of tentacles and snagged the keyboard. He began typing delicately as the polar region of Victor was displayed. The view panned and zoomed as he narrowed the view into one section of Knoxville.
He highlighted the Higginbotham compound by outlining with a red square. "X marks the spot."
"But that's a box, Louie," Daphne said.
"Whatever."
"How close can we zoom in?" Franklin asked.
Louie responded by zooming the picture in to where the compound filled the entire screen.
"That's pretty close," Franklin said. "I wish we had a layout for the building."
"Never fear. Louie's here." The Woogie typed some more and the overhead view of the compound was replaced by a drawing of the building layout.
Simmons set his elbow on the table and dropped his head into his hand.
"Problems, TACO?" Franklin said.
"Sorry, Skipper. I just never know what the CHENG is going to say."
"Right. Louie, do we know what part of the compound or room the Foxworths are kept in?"
Louie highlighted a red square over one corner of the compound. "This room. Upper-level. Access through door or window..."
Daphne suddenly squealed and hopped over to the next chair and into Signe's lap. During the conversation the Quintapod had slipped off of Louie and was attempting to crawl into her lap. "Keep that thing away from me, Louie."
The creature gave a high-pitched gurgle and scuttled back over to Louie.
"Flooga like Daphne. Want to be petted."
"I'm sorry, Louie," Daphne shuddered. "I'm just not used to that thing."
"No problemo.”
Franklin turned to Kish. “How do we get the Foxworths from the compound?"
"Do we have any ideas on how many people are guarding the compound?" Kish asked.
"Twelve guards," Louie said. "Eight hour shift. Three each shift, but quick reaction from the rest."
Kish tilted his head back and forth. "Let's see the town again. I assume we'll have to ingress on foot. Is there a place close by we can drop the shuttle in for egress?"
Three red circles appeared on the screen.
Franklin said, "You've done your homework, Louie."
"The Woogie wants to lead team."
"Are you going to wear your eye patch?" Daphne asked.
Louie burbled. "I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours."
"Louie!" Daphne yelled.
Simmons turned red and hid his face in his hand again. Franklin struggled not to laugh. Signe giggled. The Quintapod slithered back up onto the top of Louie and gurgled contentedly.
"Since we seem to have located the Foxworths," Franklin changed the subject, "we probably need to let the Marines handle the extraction.”
“Thank-you, Sir,” Kish said. "We have six Marines to their twelve guards. That's fair odds."
"I could probably come with you," Franklin said. "I did a little bit of sneak and peek while in the Navy."
“I want to come too,” Signe said.
Daphne turned to stare at her. “And just what kind of training have you had for tha
t, Lieutenant?”
Signe turned red. “Sorry Exec. They're my parents. I think I should go.”
"Thanks, Captain, Lieutenant,, but, we have trained together,” Kish said. “Extra bodies just won't help in this case. I would request that you make sure the extraction shuttle is manned and loaded for bear."
Franklin looked at Daphne and raised an eyebrow.
"We can do that," Daphne said. "What kind of opposition can we expect?"
Kish looked at the Woogie. "Chief engineer, did you find out anything about ground to air weapons?"
"No missiles, or crew served weapons."
"So the bad guys will likely only be shooting whatever they can carry?"
"Exactimundo.”
"Louie!" Franklin said.
"Sorry, skipper. Two missile emplacements around Knoxville."
Kish looked at the screen. "Captain, let me get back to my men. I think we would like to drop in about the middle of the first watch. The guards will be sleeping and everyone else will be in bed. Can we assume they anticipate no one knocking on their door?"
Franklin looked at Louie.
"The Woogie only talk to friend. Not to go near Higginbotham nest."
"I’ll let you make the call, Sergeant," Franklin said. "I don't want to hang around too long, or people will start to get suspicious. Other than that, the Exec will have a shuttle ready whenever you are."
Sergeant Kish looked at his time piece. "It's 18:00 now. Can we have the shuttle ready by 02:00?"
"No problem, Sarge," Daphne said.
"It's the summer season in Knoxville and it will never get entirely dark, given the latitude. I still think that time of day is our best bet."
Kish tapped his teeth with a thumbnail. "May I suggest, Captain, that we get back together in a couple of hours? We should have a plan roughed in by then and I would like to go over it with everyone."
"Very well," Franklin said. "Let me know if you need anything in the meantime."
Kish nodded.
"If there's nothing else, then, I guess we can adjourn for now. Please be back here at 20:00."
# # #
Sergeant Kish stood in front of the screen display in the room reserved for the shipboard marine contingent. This room was used for meals and meetings, and the adjoining room was where the enlisted people slept. Sergeant Kish and his counterpart Sergeant Smalley each had small staterooms to themselves. Because the number of people loaned from the Baltic Regiment for the marine contingent on Canopus consisted only of six people, these four rooms were what made up Marine country on the destroyer.
"Let's go through this one more time," Kish said. "Since Smith & Jones were our best smash and grab artists, this may be on-the-job learning for us."
"I think we're in trouble, Sarge," a voice said to accompanying laughter.
"If it were any other outfit," Kish replied, "you would no doubt be right. But, we are from the Baltic Regiment, and the Colonel sets high standards for our performance. Does anyone seriously think we will have problems with a bunch of third rate pirates?"
No one replied to this question. He gave the room a fierce grin. "I didn't think so."
"But will the Navy be there when we need them?" One of the corporals asked.
Kish looked over at Smalley and nodded. "Mandy?"
"Petty Officer Gosling will be piloting the shuttle," the stocky gray-haired woman said. "I've run into him a couple of times before when he was merchant league Navy. He's good people. He will be there if he has to carry the shuttle on his back."
"I just want to be sure he will carry us out again," the corporal said feelingly.
"How is the weapons load-out, Corp.?" Kish said.
"Locked and loaded, Sarge."
"Since we don't have time and place for a rehearsal, we are going to have to improvise. But, I do not want anybody taking unnecessary chances. The big risk is the unpredictability of the pirates. If one of them takes a notion to start praying and spraying, then it's apt to ruin our whole day."
"Now, let's take a look at the building again. Lenson, you will be the door knocker. McKinley, Crocker, Dorne, you will be going over the wall. I will come in through the hallway window closest to the Foxworth’s room. Mandy, you go in with Lenson."
"Communications, Kish?" Smalley said.
"Two click's if any of you think one of the pirates smells something. Three clicks to signal when we go in. One click when everyone is in position."
"Do we have an abort signal?" Corporal Crocker asked.
"The abort signal was set to be the word: abort," Kish said. "If any of you recognize the operation coming apart on us, please feel free to call the abort."
Everyone laughed again.
"If we can slip away before anyone recognizes us, we'll have a chance for another approach. If they start waking up, and nobody aborts, we will probably go through with it. I think our first chance will be the best. Any other questions?"
Kish looked around the room. "All right, then. Let's mount up."
As the Marines were reviewing the extraction plan, Daphne slipped into the captain's ready room. Franklin looked up as she came in.
"Don't you think one of us should be on the ground with the team, skipper?"
"Are you really itching to get into action, Daphne?"
"I just think we need some proper supervision."
Franklin grinned at her. "Sergeant Smalley has been doing things like this for longer than you have been alive, Daff. Kish knows what he is doing too. I don't think we need to worry any more than if we had a seal team going in."
"Hostages get killed with the seal teams too," she said.
"That they do," Franklin agreed. "But all one of us will be able to do if we are on the ground there is complicate things. We need to be sitting up here ready to haul gravs, because when the shuttle heads back in our direction things will begin to happen pretty dog-gone quickly."
"So then, do you think we should have the first watch out of bed and at their stations?"
"No, Exec. We're going to call general quarters just before the shuttle leaves the ship. We will need to backstop the shuttle when it's coming back up from the planet. I fully expect we will have to fight our way out of here, too. Since you now know we will be going to quarters at some point tonight, I will let you decide how you want to arrange the crew."
"Aye, aye, Skipper."
"And Lieutenant?"
"Yes, Skipper?"
"Tonight will likely be the night we forge the ducal navy of Hepplewhite."
Daphne stared at Franklin for a few moments before speaking. "I understand, sir."
She turned and marched out of the ready room. Franklin leaned back, put his hands behind his head, and gazed at the ceiling. "I just hope the price we pay will not be too high."
chapter twenty-three
Franklin Nyman sat in his ready room and idly spun a stylus on his desk as he watched the tactical repeater. He reached forward and pushed a button.
"Combat Information Center, Lieutenant Simmons."
"About ten minutes by my clock," Franklin said.
"Right, Skipper. It is dead quiet at the moment down there."
"I don't think we can count on it remaining that way for long. You probably should get up here to the bridge, now."
"Aye, aye, Skipper. On my way."
Franklin pushed another button on his desktop.
"Bridge, this is the Exec."
"This is the Captain, Lieutenant. Let's go to quarters."
"Aye, aye, Sir," Daphne said.
Almost immediately the GQ horn started honking. Daphne's voice came over the ship's speakers. "General quarters. This is not a drill! I repeat; this is not a drill."
Franklin sighed, stood up, then walked over to the chair where his spacesuit was sprawled in an untidy heap. He shook his head, then started to strip out of his uniform.
Five minutes later he walked out onto the bridge. "Secure the alarm," he said. In the sudden quiet he spoke to Daphne. "You c
an suit up in the ready room once you have finished the check list, Exec."
"Thanks, Skipper. I'm just finishing up here."
"Did we get the crew fed? It may be a long night."
"Yes, Skipper. I got everybody up a half hour ago. We are as ready as we'll ever be."
The elevator door slid open and Lieutenant Simmons walked onto the bridge. He walked over to the bridge tactical display where Ensign Kane was working.
"I relieve you, Ensign," he said.
"Sir, I stand relieved."
"Then you'd better run along, Ensign. They need you in CIC, and you need to get suited up."
"Aye, aye, Sir." The young ensign pivoted on his heel and walked quickly to the elevator.
Simmons slid into the chair in front of the tactical systems and quickly scanned his boards. "Skipper, they should be opening the ball any time now."
"Gotcha, Gabe. Keep me posted."
"Aye, Skipper."
Franklin punched a button on the arm of his chair.
"Engineering, Chief Engineer Louie."
"How are we looking, Louie?"
"All systems are powered up and nominal, Skipper."
"Can we undock from the station at any time?"
"Affirmative. We bypassed station systems and disconnected mooring collar. Station thinks we're still attached. Umbilical is still attached, but will pull loose when we back out of dock."
"Louie, you are wonderful."
"I know."
CPO Sabbath was at the helm. He was carefully running diagnostics on the board.
"Are we ready to fly, Chief?" Franklin said.
"Yes, Sir. Everything looks good."
Franklin looked over at Ensign Fred Bartlett, who was sitting in front of the navigation console. "Ready to roll, Fred?"
"Absolutely, Sir."
"Okay, if we have to start maneuvering quickly let me remind you that your job is to keep us out of trouble. I don't want to hit anything on the way out of system."
"Aye, aye, Sir. I'll keep you from scratching the paint."
Franklin snorted. "That's the least of my worries today, Ensign."
"Okay, we're getting some activity now, Skipper," Simmons said.
Franklin looked at his tactical repeater. "Radio chatter. You think it's associated with the jailbreak?"
