by Randal Sloan
“Prince John is adding the reinforcement to the tubes of his squadron as we speak. We believe we indeed will have to use it if we’re forced into full combat with the rebels, something I very much expect will happen.”
The Commander shook his head in sadness. He didn’t want to believe it would come to that, but he expected she was right. “All that aside, let’s talk about your mission. What can I do to help with that?”
“We’re going to need to take some leave due to an extremely long mission, I believe,” Jarra told him with a smile. “Later we may need to do a patrol for pirates nearby in the asteroid belt. We may need some help with Gregorio Resault IV, but I have some ideas I want to try with that before we ask for your involvement.”
They talked for a few minutes before the group broke up, the Commander returning to his office to issue his orders. It was only after he finished with his work that he realized that she had very much assumed the role of Crown Princess, but she had done it in such a way that he never even realized it was happening. He was very glad she was on his side, although he worried about her involvement and the risk to her. He would very deeply regret it if something happened to her on his watch.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Under Cover
Sasha Alexandrai was unhappy. She was on her first assignment as an Imperial Intelligence weenie as they were not so affectionately called by most of the Imperial Navy. Until a few hours ago, she was quite happily digging through the Rigelus data-stream, despite having been forced to do her job this far out on the rim.
Although to be fair, it appeared this out-of-the-way job had turned out to be central to the ongoing conflict and it might wind up to her benefit instead of killing her career like that idiot admiral had intended. She had already compiled quite a bit of information on the Governor, who looked more and more guilty and on potential rebel bases, along with the probabilities of each location being the one.
She had just started working on a similar list of possible hiding places for a rebel fleet out in the areas of hyperspace around Rigelus, the system being rich with nebulae and hyperspace eddies, many of them a good potential hiding place for a large fleet. Then she received orders telling her to report to the Rim Patrol District Office immediately. She didn’t have time for such nonsense.
Sasha had been tempted to do exactly as her orders indicated to the letter, not even bothering to change into her uniform, but she was already in enough trouble as it was, so she changed into her dress uniform. At least she got to show off her merit medals, which she had in spades, for all the good they had done her.
Arriving at Rim Patrol HQ, Sasha was sent directly to a conference room. Noting a number of Imperial Marines stationed in front of the conference room, she immediately knew something was up. That was why when she stepped into the room, she immediately knew just who the young officer in front of her really was. Without a second thought, she dropped to one knee.
#
Back on Rigelus at last and once again in her role as a lieutenant, Jarra had been in a serious discussion with Commander Crusoe when a young officer entered the room. She was anxious to get on with her mission and was unhappy about having to wait for the IE weenie John had insisted on joining them. She had been preparing herself to find a way to reject the officer from the onset. All of that changed when the young woman dropped to a knee and proclaimed, “Your Highness, Sub-Lieutenant Alexandrai reporting as ordered.”
“Thank you for your service. Please rise,” Jarra toned automatically, still surprised at the turn of events. After all her time in the Academy and her time in service no one else had seen through to her true identity.
“Prince John sent me a message telling me to meet with a new commander, Your Highness,” Sasha told her as she rose. “Then I received specific orders to report here this morning.”
“How in the galaxy do you know who I am? Did someone on the Crown Prince’s ship pass that on to you?” Jarra had to clear that question up first. Then she could get on with the rest; she still planned to send the girl away. After all, she had her team working perfectly and didn’t want to mess with that.
Sasha smiled as she replied. “Sorry, Princess. As to John’s ship, no, although in hindsight he did talk a lot about his near sister. I just hadn’t put it all together before I met you.
“You might say I’m a little bit unusual. I look for patterns in the data and the patterns told me it had to be you. Your unique position in the Rim Patrol, the Imperial Marines on Rigelus, and a quantum message in to Commander Crusoe, among other things.”
Jarra just stared at her. This was nothing like what she expected. And what was that reference to John by his first name? It was much too familiar for them to be just casual acquaintances. But ever the practical one, those questions had to come later.
“What else have you seen in the patterns, Lieutenant?” she finally asked.
Sasha hesitated a moment. The last time she had answered such a question, she’d been sent here.
Before she could think of how to respond, Jarra went on, “Don’t worry. I’m not going to do to you what Admiral Kosak did. Aunt Margarette has already taken care of him; the man has decided to retire immediately because of health reasons. No, I want your best answer.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Sasha answered automatically as she tried to pull herself back together. All of this had caught her completely off guard. “A lot of data seems to indicate some sort of rebellion brewing here, although we haven’t had anything like that in decades. Before I came here, I was seeing upper eighties in the probabilities; with the data straight from this District AI’s, I’ve been able to firm that up to be in the nineties.”
Once more shocked by her statements, Jarra just nodded. Something told her there was more.
Best to get it over with, so Sasha continued her brief. “Something to do with aliens, but I don’t think it’s the Borjon. The data is inconclusive there, since we’re speaking of complete unknowns, but I’m getting upper eighties now on that probability.”
It was Jarra’s turn to hesitate. She now understood why her cousin had been so insistent she put this girl on her team. The rebels, maybe someone should have been able to see with enough time. Even possibly her own identity someone could have figured out, although no one else had managed before. But seeing the aliens, that had to be a one-in-a-million shot. Then she suddenly realized something else. Oh, my! I definitely want this girl working for my team. Heaven forbid if she were working for someone else.
“Lieutenant, I don’t know how you did it, but you’re right on all counts,” Jarra told her. She gave her a smile. “Welcome to my team. Let me get your insight on our discussion here, and then I’ll take you to meet the rest of my team.” Whew, looks like I owe John once more. I’ve still got to figure out what’s going on between the two of them.
#
With the Aeres crew officially on leave, Jarra and team requested and received lodging based out of the District Headquarters for the Rim Patrol. They needed to be close for her plan to work against the mark. Jarra arranged for Sasha to be lodged nearby, although for security’s sake she didn’t officially include her in with her team. After all, she didn’t want to tip her hand, just in case anyone was checking.
As part of the plan, the cruiser Greg Resault served on was ordered into port. Of course, Greg played right into their hands by requesting and receiving leave for himself and a handful of his cronies. They just happened to receive quarters close to where Jarra’s crew was located. Imagine that!
The first part of her plan was to break into Greg’s room and look for information. When Greg and his group left to go to the bar where they undoubtedly would be spending most of their time, they put the plan in place.
Jarra discussed it with her team before they went in. “I don’t actually give this plan much chance for success. Even a spoiled idiot like Greg should know not to leave evidence lying around or even on his pad.”
“That’s because you would never do
anything that stupid.” Galen answered. “You don’t understand the world of the lazy and incompetent. I bet we do find something.”
“I’ll take that bet, Galen,” Gabo said. “I’m with the boss. He can’t possibly be that stupid.”
Sara jumped on board instantly. “I’m going to go with Galen and I propose that the losers of our little side bet have to shine the shoes of the winners and clean their quarters. Staying in the HQ like we’re doing, we’re subject to inspections. My least favorite part of the Rim Patrol.”
Jarra looked at Gabo, who nodded. “You’re on. I’ll even throw in a bonus. If you win, I’ll buy you any tech you choose, with the constraints it has to be legal and cost less than one hundred thousand credits.”
Sasha smiled at the group. “I’ll just sit this one out since I have an unfair advantage, but the odds are against you, Princess.”
Jarra looked at Gabo, who looked like he was ready to switch sides. “Gabo, if they win, I’ll match it for you too, if you’ll stick with me. You too, Sasha.”
“Sweet,” Gabo told her. “But now, I almost hope we lose…”
They all chuckled at his statement. Sasha just shook her head. She was still figuring this team out, but she knew so far she had struck gold. Thanks, Admiral Kosak. I owe it all to you. Well, with a little help from John.
Jarra laughed with the rest of the team. But it was time they got down to business. “Ok, this is how we’re going to do it. Sara, first I need you to hack the surveillance in the area and fix it so that it records everything else but our team. We need to be ghosts as far as the net. Then I’ll need you to hack the door to Greg's quarters.”
She looked at Galen, a slight smile on her lips. “Galen, you and I will conduct the search while Gabo stands watch. I wouldn’t want you to claim I cheated. Sara, of course, will try to break into his pad and Sasha will be helping analyze everything Sara finds.”
Galen smiled back, his smile a little more obvious. “I’m not worried about you cheating. If we still had Girl Scouts, you’d be one. But I do agree you need a second eye on the search.”
Sara had been busy while they chatted. “The hack is done on the surveillance video and the door to his quarters will now open to your AI query,” she told Jarra. “Let’s get to it. That pad is going to get me new implants and an update to my AI, because I know I’ll find something on his pad. I hope your Royal Highness knows how to shine boots.”
Jarra just laughed. “I actually hope you’re right.”
The search went smoothly and quickly. Greg didn’t really have that much for Jarra and Galen to look through. But it wasn’t long before Sara exclaimed, “Gotcha. Take a look at this, boss.”
Even Galen and Sara had figured they wouldn’t actually get anything useful. They were surprised at what they found. It was all there in the temporary documents and had not been deleted. Jarra was astounded when she saw it.
The team regrouped in Jarra’s quarters, where Jarra wasted no time. “Ok, guys, this document changes everything. We now have enough evidence that we could probably charge Greg and his father with treason. But that would still leave the rebel forces at large, and I want to take care of them at the same time. Plus, we still don’t know how many ships they have or where they’re hiding, and I plan to wipe them out too.
She looked around at her team. “These guys are challenging the Empire and everything my family and I stand for. I won’t let a single one of them get away if I can help it.”
Galen placed his hand on his heart. “We’re yours, Princess. We swore to serve you and we meant it.”
Jarra felt those tears trying to work themselves out. She quickly buried them, at least for now, turning back to her team. “Ok, here’s the plan,” she told them, then she explained what she had in mind.
#
The rest of Jarra’s plan involved getting Greg in a position where they had leverage over him without revealing what they knew. The plan was to get him to lose his temper enough to challenge Jarra. Jarra, of course, was planning to win that challenge, which should give her that leverage and get him separated from his friends that were always hanging around.
The team knew right where to find Greg and Jarra sent an encrypted message to the Marines that she was on her way there. Greg was at his usual spot, sloshing himself at the bar frequented by the Rim Patrol students. His cronies were all there with him, catering to his every whim as usual. After all, it got them free drinks and they only had to pretend to like him. Of those cronies, three were actually hard core, so Jarra knew she would have to watch them. She also worried that one or more of them might actually be working for the rebels, so she warned her team to be careful. Just in case, she went armed, a hidden holster at her back that she could get to in an instant if needed.
Jarra ordered several rounds of drinks for her table. They also joked and laughed like they were just there to have a good time. After one particularly boisterous round of laughter from her team she stood, pretending to stagger a little, and wandered over to Greg’s table, somehow accidentally knocking over his drink.
“Hey, louse. Did you ever get that dung rat crap off your shoe or did you figure out it was your upper lip you were smelling?” Jarra spat at him.
Greg was in a bad mood, Jarra’s appearance was already irritating him. But he had seen more of those Marines come in like the ones that had stopped him from messing with the girl before, and he hadn’t dared start anything with her. The last time they had roughed him up pretty good. But this was too much. He started to rise, but she pushed him back in his seat with surprising strength.
“Sit, little boy,” Jarra told him. “You were lucky the last time when those Marines came to my rescue and saved you. I was just about to beat the crap out of you. I’m sure those Marines over there would probably do it again. I would at least get a couple of licks in before they could stop me this time, but that’s not good enough. I want nothing less than your total humiliation.”
Greg by this time had grown quite red in the face, his anger getting the best of his judgement. His Dad had warned him to stay out of trouble, but this was just too much. He finally managed to stand.
“Let’s just go out back. After I slap you around a little while, we can move on to more pleasurable things. I always wanted to try out a blond-haired girl. Not many like you around here.”
Jarra just laughed. “Like you could handle me. No, we’ll settle this the civilized way. Meet me at the Rim Patrol range tomorrow. I challenge you to a Rim Patrol duel. I’ll let you choose the first means of competition, I’ll choose the second and the Rim Patrol AI can choose the third. Unless you’re too yellow to do it, in which case you should crawl back into that hole you came out of.” Jarra had planted the hook, what would the fish do?
“Hah,” Greg said. “It’ll be child’s play for me to beat you. But what’s in it for me? I don’t want to work up a sweat for nothing.”
“The loser has to wait on the winner for a week. Shine her boots, clean her quarters, carry her backpack. Nothing illegal or immoral allowed, of course. I’ve already got my week planned out for you.”
Jarra could see the look cross Greg’s face. He immediately realized it was his chance to humiliate her in front of the whole patrol, never once considering that he might lose. The fish set the hook! He was on the line, he just didn’t know it yet as he was still running free.
“I always wanted to have my own personal servant here, but the Rim Patrol wouldn’t allow it. But this way, I’ll have one for a week. You’re on!” He waved his hand toward the guys at his table. “You’d better not try to weasel out after you sober up. I’ve got all these men here as my witnesses.”
“Yeah, I’ve got my team for witnesses too. See you tomorrow, sucker!”
Jarra walked back to her team, no longer appearing to be the least bit drunk. She had one more round with her team, then they left. Tomorrow was going to be fun!
#
The Rim Patrol duel had come about many, many years b
efore to replace an actual duel between Rim Patrol officers. Duels were legal in general in the Empire, although they weren’t all that commonplace anymore. But the Rim Patrol didn’t want their people killing each other, so they had made it against the rules for them to duel each other with pistols, but instead replaced the part where the duelers faced each other at gunpoint with three contests between the two.
As Jarra had said, each contestant chose the type of contest in turn and the Rim Patrol AI chose the third, supposedly at random. Personally, Jarra didn’t care what he chose for his match. Hand-to-hand, weapons, even VR sims; she was certain she could best him at anything. Princess Jarra never lost, as Crown Prince John could have told anyone.
What Jarra hadn’t expected was the crowd that was there to watch when she entered the Rim Patrol range. It looked like everyone in the Rim Patrol that wasn’t on duty was there. It was total chaos and the ones there were treating it like a circus. Even her Imperial Marines were there, having claimed they overheard the two talking in the bar the night before. Not that the young soldier on guard duty at the entrance to the arena would have considered saying no to them.
Greg was standing with his circle of friends looking rather smug. Jarra wanted to wipe that smile off his face. Greg himself was feeling rather cocky; after all, he was considerably larger than her and he was quite confident in his abilities. She brought this on herself, now she’s going to have to pay up for it. I’d been willing to let all that stuff with her go, but there’s no way now. Plus, nothing wrong with having a little bit of fun while I’m at it and she’s not a bad looker. As far as I’m concerned, it’s in the bag. I wonder, just how far can I carry this personal servant thing?
Greg never once considered what would happen if he lost.
Commander Crusoe sent his assistant, Lieutenant Commander Andrew Connors, to oversee the duel so no one could claim favoritism. Jarra and team were assigned to the blue side, requiring them to dress in a blue exercise uniform. Greg and his three close stooges were assigned the red side, and they were dressed in red.
