by Ryan Krauter
Captain Ares looked at Velk's bedroll, which was unoccupied.
"Where is the Priman?" Ares asked.
Damn, Loren thought. That had the potential to be trouble as well. This pirate's feelings toward Primans could throw a serious wrench in the works depending on whether the judgment was good or bad.
"Last I saw, he was asleep on his bedroll, no doubt dreaming happily about conquering the galaxy at large."
The pirate stomped closer to Loren, scarred and weathered blaster pointed at his forehead but just out of arm's reach. "I don't find that amusing. You seem to be pretty happy with yourself, though, eh?" Captain Ares flicked the weapon towards the front of the bridge where Velk's bedroll was, indicating Loren needed to head that way. Loren shuffled slowly, backing up towards the fore end of the bridge as Captain Ares aligned himself with his back to the bridge hatch.
"If your friend doesn't want to show himself, you're both going to get locked in here while I bypass controls of the ship to another station. Except it's going to stink real bad, because you'll be full of blaster holes and this compartment is going to smell like charred meat. That is, until you start to decompose. Unless I just vent the air right away." The pirate made a show of looking thoughtfully at the air vent above Loren's head. "Hmm, that might be more fun, actually."
"We're not really that good of pals," Loren offered somberly. "I'm not sure he'd lose too much sleep if you blasted me."
"Seriously?" the pirate replied.
"In fact," they heard from the starboard side where Captain Ares had first appeared, "I would take offense. I need that man alive."
Ares twitched his head to look right, but by the time he realized he'd taken his eyes off Loren it was too late. Loren juked his head right to get out of the line of fire, then grabbed the slide of the blaster with his left hand. He hit the pirate in the nose with a palm strike followed by a right elbow, then spun to his left and inside towards the pirate's chest. He switched his grip to grab the blaster with his right hand as he jabbed the pirate in the solar plexus with his left elbow, and the pirate was on the deck wheezing for air that could barely make it in through his broken nose or stunned chest.
Loren wound up to crack the man in the temple with the butt of his own pistol but stopped himself. The pirate was not a threat, and in fact collapsed to the deck a second later.
Loren took a step back and field stripped the captain's weapon, then grabbed and holstered his own SSK from the top of the console.
Velk was standing over the pirate by the time Loren returned.
"You showed restraint. Why?"
"We all do things during conflict where we get a little out of control. I guess I figured out just in time that this guy didn't need any more of a beating."
"You think he would have spared you?" Velk looked at Loren critically.
"Probably not. But that's not the point, is it? I can't make up for some things I've done, Representative, but I can try to prove to everyone else and myself that I still know how to be a decent human."
Velk just nodded, and Loren could swear he saw compassion in the man's eyes. "Someday, Commander, when this is all over, you and I will have many rewarding conversations about the galaxy and the way things could be."
About half a light-minute behind the pirate frigate, Avenger paced the ship as her crew readied themselves for what would most likely be another hair-raising transit through Priman space.
The low-grade scanners on the pirate ship hadn't even detected the event, but they'd been only seconds away from the sensor threshold of a Priman light cruiser that had been patrolling the area they'd passed through a few hours ago. Perhaps ignorance was bliss.
"Well," Captain Elco began from where he stood behind Lieutenant Caho's sensor station, "now the hard part begins. We're about to cross into what everyone would agree is the area the Primans consider their own pacified space."
"Oh wonderful," Caho said with a grimace. "Because the easy part was such a cakewalk. We needed the extra challenge to really feel rewarded for our efforts, right Captain?"
"They won't sing songs about us later if we don't take any risks, Lieutenant," Elco replied with a fatherly smile. "Only a day and a half and then we stand off and watch the planet they're headed for. We'll need to be on our toes because Loren may or may not be able to get a good signal through when they leave again. Just like we briefed; we'll watch every ship in and out, every long distance transmission, and decode everything we can. If they leave by different means than the pirate frigate, we can't afford to lose them. According to Velk, the best chances of success are if they head to Callidor. If he's going to get anywhere with their Council, that's the place to be, so anything that looks like it's going that way is a priority as well. You've trained some great sensor operators, but I'll need you ready to go whenever something interesting happens."
"Well, I guess it's good job security for me."
Elco chuckled and clapped her on the shoulder as he straightened up and took a half step aft to look at the main damaged control and status board. Avenger still wasn't ready for a major engagement. One laser battery was completely inop, two more were down to a single functioning barrel, and one of their mag shield generators was twitchy which was reducing their cloaking efficiency. In addition, his ship was down to just three out of the four torpedo tubes fore and aft. After years of war and sporadic yard time, his ship needed some serious TLC in a shipyard. He and his whole crew should be getting gift baskets from grateful yard workers who would have months of secure work ahead of them with all the repairs Avenger deserved. That of course was based on Avenger making it to a yard and not being yet another casualty of war in the meantime.
The pirate frigate held on the outer fringes of the Moor System. The place was unremarkable; two planets at habitable distance, one a little too warm and the other a little too cold. A few gas giants further out that provided mining opportunities. The planets themselves were nice enough but attracted people who worked for the various interests there rather than people looking for a great place to start a new adventure.
It was more popular as a stopover point where several commercial spacelanes converged, and as a result much of the local business was done among the dozens of immense high-orbit stations.
Since it was in conquered Enkarran space, it was now considered Priman territory. While the Primans had done a masterful job of relocating or outright evicting dozens of Enkarran planets at the heart of their territory, planets like this one were lower on the list. As such, the Enkarrans had already been moved to the colder of the two planets and now waited in limbo to see what their future held, while the Primans had settled in on the warmer of the two. Traffic in and out of the system was locked down; unlike Callidor and some other possessions in neutral or Confed space, the Primans had no reason to make any sort of gestures with this system and the locals were simply unable to move.
The trouble this created for Loren and Velk was that only a Priman ID was going to get them entry without being blown up or captured. Luckily, being a former Commander, Velk knew enough recognition passcodes that he could assure Loren they'd be allowed to enter without so much as a military escort to the surface.
"Well," Loren said as he resigned himself to his fate, "here we are, edge of the Moor System. I see two inbound Priman ships already." He studied the barely-capable sensors of the frigate. "One further back is a light cruiser or whatever you call ships of that size. The other one is smaller, but has a huge power signature. This tub doesn't have a database, but maybe it's one of those anti-fighter gunships you have?"
"We call it the Reaper," Velk allowed. "It was designed as a counter to your tactics of using waves of small fighter craft, a doctrine we abandoned in favor of more large vessels. Still, enough of a problem that we had to add it to our fleet mix."
"Well," Loren said with a smile, "good to know we weren't making things easy for you."
Velk gave him a look that he couldn't quite decipher, though it didn't seem hostile.
He was about to continue when an audio transmission arrived from the Reaper.
Loren couldn't follow it well. He only knew bits and pieces of Priman, a few phrases at most, but definitely couldn't translate it at full speed the way it had arrived.
"All I got out of that was something about identity."
"We need to transmit our identity and codes or face immediate destruction," Velk offered. Loren got up and made room for Velk at the console.
The Representative replied back in the Priman tongue, which prompted another exchange between the two ships. Loren was lost, but looking at the scanners he saw the two Priman military vessels peel off and leave their ship alone once more.
"Apparently you convinced them to not wipe us out."
"I used a covert operative code phrase. We will land and then attempt contact with my two resources."
"You call them resources, not allies," Loren observed. "Does that mean anything?"
Velk turned to face Loren. "I do not know if they are allies, Commander. They are people I hope we can trust. You must remember; I am merely a Representative, a former Commander who was replaced early for not doing his job to the satisfaction of the Council. Our leadership has become much more aggressive, and my offer of moderation and truce may not be well received. I may not even be worthy of the title Representative any more. We can only make contact and see if I have any friends. But if one of these people can get us to Callidor and the people we need to see, then it's worth it."
"And who is the ultimate prize here again?"
"The newest Representative. Next in line was a woman named Ravine. She will someday ascend to Commander, provided Commander Tash doesn't find a way to circumvent that process. Her family always leaned towards the center politically, and she is our best bet to end this war for two reasons. One, she might just see what I've seen and believe that we can coexist. Two, she is the highest ranking person I can reach that won't have us killed or imprisoned outright. She will at least hear us out; of that, I'm sure."
"Great," Loren said without enthusiasm, "because I thought this was going to be a difficult mission." He sighed and became lost in thought as he watched the distance to their atmospheric entry corridor decrease.
The landing was uneventful, controllers giving them plenty of space. Loren assumed it was due to whatever recognition codes Velk had offered up, but he didn't know if it made him feel better or worse. They were attracting attention by virtue of their special treatment, though Velk assured him it was normal for operations like theirs to pass through Priman outposts.
Once the ship was shut down and on external power, they readied themselves. Both applied and adjusted their clear compression masks, designed to alter their facial features subtly enough to not be uncomfortable but enough to spoof recognition scanners. They each carried a single duffel filled with a weapon, currency, and a change of clothes.
Velk led them off the spaceport and into the small city it was located in, grabbing a public groundcar which took them to a central terminal in the heart of the city. After that, they walked until they found a nice looking hotel. The city around them was only two-tiered, featuring businesses at ground level and mostly residences on the second, higher tier. This hotel went from the surface all the way up twenty stories to become part of the skyline of tier two. With entrances on both levels, plus a hovercar garage and public hoverbus stop at a rooftop terminal, it made Loren rest a little easier with all its many exit points.
They spent the afternoon trying to find a way to make contact with Representative Ravine or one of her trusted advisors. Velk admitted that he'd reached out to several Primans he knew and trusted, but was primarily interested in the Representative, whose family had been entrusted to administer this world. Ravine, therefore, often passed through while on other business to pay her respects and update her family in person in the latest war news.
Velk ventured out to get ingredients for a simple evening meal, then they continued to wait.
"So," Loren finally said, unable to endure the silence any longer. "how long should we wait? Staying in one spot isn't usually the preferred way to not get caught while on a covert mission. At least, that's what I was told."
"The Representative almost always visits once a week. We should give her at least that long. Are you concerned for your ship, hiding out in the solar system?"
"No, I'm concerned for us."
Velk was about to reply when he heard a chirp from the comm panel on their door to the hallway.
"Were you expecting anyone?" asked Loren.
That's when the door exploded. The breaching charge shattered the door; debris and the flash-bang effect of the explosive blinding and deafening Loren and Velk. As disoriented as he was, Loren got to his knees from where he had fallen and crawled in the direction of where he thought the couch had been. His duffel and SSK were there; the weapon was the only thing that would give them a fighting chance. Loren wondered what the hell had gone wrong in the first place. Had Velk betrayed him? Had someone sold them out? It didn't really matter, Loren realized, because the effect was the same no matter who had instigated.
He'd made it to the couch. Through the cotton-stuffed ringing noise that filled his ears, he could hear voices, objects being thrown and crashing around. They were right behind him.
Loren reached up for his weapon, turning to the side as he raised his head. He was staring down the emitter end of some sort of blaster rifle. There was a flash, and then it was dark.
Loren woke up groggy and sore. He kept his eyes closed; bright light hurt them even though he squeezed them closed tight. Where was he?
"You are awake?" he heard, a voice he didn't recognize. It was male, maybe older. Other than that, all he could say was he had no idea who it was.
"If I'm dead and you're one of the gods, I'd like to apologize in advance for some of the things I did in my twenties."
He heard a soft chuckle. "No need to apologize. I'm not who you need to talk to in any case. You should get up; Representative Velk is already moving about."
His interest piqued, Loren complied, albeit slowly. He opened one eye first, squinting as it adjusted. Then the other eye. He took in his surroundings.
He was in some sort of vehicle. Large, and he could barely sense movement. His first guess was a medium sized or larger ship, maybe a large hover vehicle. The chamber he was in was small but clean, almost clinically so. Shiny white surfaces greeted him wherever he looked. He turned to identify the voice and sat upright quickly, renewed determination in mind to appear strong and focused.
The old man was a Priman.
He sat in a simple chair next to Loren's cot and looked at Loren critically, but not in a hostile way. It was a though he was sizing him up, like someone about to buy a new appliance. He wanted to see what Loren was really about, apparently.
"Suppose you could brief me on what's going on?" Loren asked as he shifted to get more comfortable. They were alone, which could be a good sign. A pair of angry looking guards with splintered pieces of lumber in their hands would have been bad; this, he still couldn't say.
"The Representative sent out several calls to those who might be willing to meet with him and hear him out. We were one of those parties. I promised we'd listen to what he had to say. Along the way, we discovered at least one other party had called it in to military security. If the military security forces reached him first, I was sure he would simply vanish. So, we arrived first. We took you both down as if we were apprehending a standard subversive or criminal.
"That leaves you in our custody for the time being, though very soon your presence will be discovered. What happens then is still a matter of some debate. I am of the opinion that a public arrest such as this and eventual transfer to the Council is the best way to assure enough of us know you are here that you and the Representative do not suddenly disappear. There are parties involved that might consider that a valid option. No matter what the Representative has to say and how it is received, he should have earne
d the right and honor to be heard."
"Well, thanks for not shooting us on sight, then. You know me?"
"Commander First Rank Loren Stone, Executive Officer of CSS Avenger. You and your ship have caused some measure of difficulty for my people. Your vessel is currently branded as a traitor by your Loyalist Senate nor is it welcome among the independent members of the Confederation. It would seem your efforts are not entirely appreciated by those in power among your people."
"They'll thank us later. Besides, the reason I'm here is because the Representative seems to feel that the same corrupt mess you're learning from us is going to drag your people down as well."
To this, the aged Priman simply nodded and drifted off in thought. Loren didn't grasp enough about the Priman culture to know if he should give the elder time to ponder his thoughts or if he was expected to participate in a give-and-take.
"Your concerns are valid," the Priman finally replied. He stood and indicated the single hatch along the bulkhead. "Representative Velk is out in the main salon. We are on the way to meet the person he seeks to parlay with."
"Representative Ravine?"
"Yes," the old Priman assured Loren. "My daughter."
"So then the transport docked with this light cruiser here," said Lieutenant Caho as she tapped the monitor with her index finger. "Now it's headed out-system and deeper into Priman space."
Captain Elco stood behind her station and tried to figure out what the agenda was. They'd tracked Loren and Velk to their hideout and watched the overhead views via hacked satellite feeds as forces converged on their location. A brief trip to the local spaceport and the two of them were in orbit headed towards a Priman cruiser that had dipped low out of high orbit to meet them.
