Milor!

by Thomas DePrima

  It took several days for a reply to arrive from Arrosa. Jenetta got her first look at Prime Minister Marueck after tapping the play button on the com unit.

  "Greetings, Captain Carver. Thank you for your concern, but the situation in our solar system is an internal matter and we demand that Space Command not get involved. We're fully capable of resolving our own disputes.

  "Nadeil Marueck, Prime Minister of Arrosa, message complete."

  Jenetta didn't require time to think about her reply. A more forceful message was obviously called for. She tapped the record button.

  "Message to Prime Minister Nadeil Marueck of the planet Arrosa. Begin message.

  "Hello, Mr. Prime Minister. Thank you for your reply. Again, I want to state that Space Command will not interfere with the internal affairs on your planet. However, I would be remiss if I didn't remind you that your laws and military powers end at the apex of your planet's sensible atmosphere, established as one hundred kilometers above the planet's mean surface. From that point outward, all actions become subject to Galactic Alliance law. As the military commander in this sector, I have no choice but to involve myself in the affairs of any planet that elects to launch aggressive acts off world. Since you apparently choose not to participate in binding arbitration, nor even to present your side of the issue, I must advise you that the final decision could easily go against your interests, and your people might be forcefully removed from the moon orbiting Selax."

  "Jenetta A. Carver, Captain, Base Commander, Stewart Space Command Base, message complete."

  Jenetta reviewed the recording to see if she appeared too harsh. She wished to appear firm, but not insensitive. Satisfied with the recording, she transmitted it. Quickly reviewing events in her mind, she decided that there was nothing more to be done unless or until Arrosa agreed to arbitration, or launched a pre-emptive attack against its neighbor. "Wouldn't it be wonderful if nothing happens until after the diplomats arrive?" she murmured.

  * * *

  Chapter Five

  ~ February 18th, 2275 ~

  The delectable aroma of fresh fried chicken filled the small room adjoining the galley as Byers placed the large dish of breaded, hot steaming cutlets on the dining table. They were real cutlets, not synthesized versions. As Terrans had spread throughout Galactic Alliance space, they had brought chicken embryos in small stasis chambers along with them. It was now difficult to find an inhabited planet in Galactic Alliance space where Terran chicken was not readily available at very reasonable prices. "Dig in guys. I used my mother's special seasoning recipe for the coating this time, just for a little variation."

  Vyx and Nelligen each took two pieces, adding them to the plates already filled with mashed potatoes, broccoli, and creamed onions."

  "There's a distinct advantage in having a former short-order cook among the crew," Vyx said.

  "True," Nelligen said as he liberally coated everything on his plate with red and black pepper. "It's just a shame that his stomach is so bad that he has to make the food so bland."

  "I could serve you up a bowl of molten lava and you'd complain that it wasn't hot enough," Byers quipped.

  "I think it would be hot enough— and maybe just a little bit less gritty than your mashed potatoes," Nelligen shot back.

  "Just load them up with red and black pepper. Your palate will never know that you're not eating something five days old that you found in the waste disposal can and warmed up," Byers said to the person that he loved to harass more than any other he'd ever known. It was a friendly harassment though, and both loved the constant repartees.

  "Speaking of hot things," Nelligen said to Vyx, "just what are we going to do at Rivemwilth's base. Might we be flying into a firefight with nothing to gain? We've gone along with you because you always seem to have a plan, but isn't this a wasted trip?"

  "I really don't know," Vyx responded in all honesty. "We won't know until we get there. I know that Rivemwilth had an arms cache with him on Gollasko, and that he evacuated it from the planet after the borders shifted and he needed to get out before Space Command ships arrived. It would have been foolish to add it to the arms he already had at his old base. I'm betting that he sent them on ahead in his small transport, along with everything else it could carry since we didn't find any ships in orbit around the moon. It's also possible that he was keeping his ship parked somewhere else in the solar system, intending for it to join the Maid for the trip to the new base. When the Maid lost atmosphere, and Rivemwilth died, the crew of the small transport might have taken off for parts unknown, along with their cargo of arms. But we won't be able to start piecing the story together until we reach the base."

  "What if the base is full of his people?" Nelligen asked.

  "I admit it's a possibility. He had quite a number of Tsgardi working for him, and none of them were at the old base. Since we're in the new Frontier Zone, we can't depend on Space Command to come to our rescue, so we'll just have to be extra careful."

  "Great," Nelligen said. "We might be walking into a firestorm of laser pulses."

  "If anything, it would probably be a flurry of lattice tubules. But that shouldn't concern you guys. I'm the only line agent here, so I'm going in alone. If anything happens to me, you guys just take off again and get back to Scruscotto. Blasperra will have the five-hundred-thousand credits ready and you can set up shop on the planet with enough credits to enjoy life until Space Command gives you new assignments."

  "You mean that you just want us to leave you there and forget you?" Byers asked.

  "Only if something happens and I can't get back to the ship. There's no sense you two getting hurt needlessly."

  Byers and Nelligen exchanged looks. They ate the rest of the meal in silence. It was the best meal that Vyx had aboard his ship since they joined him.

  * * *

  "Captain," Lieutenant Commander Gage, manning the tactical console on the bridge of the GSC Battleship Thor, called out, "our sensors just produced an anomalous reading. We passed an object that shouldn't be there."

  "Where was it, Commander?"

  "About ninety thousand kilometers off our larboard beam."

  "What can you tell me about it?"

  "All I can say is that the object was several kilometers in size and wasn't producing an energy signature. There's nothing listed in the navigation hazard database, and we were in and out of sensor range too quickly to collect data."

  "Helm, come about."

  "Aye, Captain," the helmsman called out.

  "Tactical, pass the location information to navigation. As soon as we're back in sensor range, get me everything you can on that contact."

  "Aye, Captain."

  "Com, alert the crew to prepare for a General Quarters announcement."

  "Aye, Captain," the com chief said as he deftly tapped the contact switches that would issue a GC standby announcement. "The crew has been alerted to a possible GQ condition."

  Throughout the ship, crewmen were busy stowing or locking down everything loose that could present a hazard during an action, but no one was hurrying to battle stations yet.

  The Thor was on routine patrol, so it was required to check out all such anomalous readings. The computer already contained basic information on every nebula, star or star cluster, planet, moon, and comet in the sector, as well as data on most asteroids larger than a baseball, and was programmed to register anything the ship encountered that was inconsistent with that data. It was the job of the science ships to conduct detailed investigations of celestial phenomena, but all ships were required to note and report on anything that might affect interstellar navigation.

  Traveling at Light-337, the Thor had gone many billions of kilometers past the object in the minutes that it took to reverse its course. If the object had been in their path, the collision avoidance system would have shut down the Light Drive immediately.

  The Thor returned to the vicinity at Light-337, and then slowed to Plus Ten, a hundred kilometers per second, as i
t closed to within twenty-five thousand kilometers. As soon as they were in sensor range, the tactical officer had begun an active scan of the object.

  "It's a ship, Captain," Lieutenant Commander Gage called out, "about three kilometers in length. It appears to be a freighter. Confirming that now, from the configuration data it's definitely a freighter. It's not under power, and is barely moving."

  "Armament?"

  "It appears to have twelve laser arrays in cargo link sections."

  "Com, try to hail her."

  "Negative response, Captain," the com operator said a few minutes later. "They aren't answering my hails."

  Captain Payton thought for a few seconds before saying, "General quarters. We don't want to get caught with our pants down."

  Laser gunners and torpedo guidance specialists, previously alerted by the standby announcement, now hurried to their battle stations in fire control centers located along the center axis of the ship, while other crewmembers hurried to assigned posts or safe rooms. The computer confirmed that all crewmembers were where they should be as the ship came within range of the freighter.

  Payton ordered the Thor to remain ten-thousand kilometers from the apparently derelict freighter, while a full platoon of Marines disembarked in two Marine Armored Transports. Five Marine fighters would provide additional protection while the status of the freighter was determined.

  "No sign of exterior hull damage," Lt. Commander Pincus, the Thor's second officer, in command of the investigative team, reported. "It looks like we've found Arrosa's missing ship. We're preparing to board."

  The large monitor at the front of the bridge showed an enlarged view of the area outside the flight bay where Marine personnel would attempt to gain access to the freighter. The exterior lights from the two MATs illuminated four EVA suited team members as they left one of the small ships and approached the freighter. They succeeded in opening an airlock hatch to enter the ship, and disappeared inside. Several minutes later, a flight bay door opened so the two MATs could move inside. While the fighters continued to circle the freighter helically, the flight bay door closed and the bay was pressurized.

  The tactical officer on the bridge of the Thor changed the view on the monitor from the image produced by the MAT's exterior cameras and sensors, to a grid of individual images received from the helmet cameras of Marines inside the freighter. The atmosphere in the ship was still intact, but the temperature was below freezing, so the squad members wearing EVA suits were the only ones authorized to move about inside the ship until the temperature rose. Dispatched to engineering with orders to stabilize the life support functions aboard the freighter, they hurried off.

  Crewmembers on the bridge of the Thor watched and listened as Pincus issued orders, and team members spoke about encountering frozen bodies sprawled in grotesque positions. Their helmet cams produced high res images of the scenes they witnessed.

  After reaching engineering, the EVA suited team located the life support computer console and reset the temperature, but it would take an estimated twenty minutes for the internal temperature in corridors and key areas to rise above a point where exhaled breath didn't condense. The higher temperature, between seven and eight degrees Celsius, would help keep the video lenses from fogging over when the Marines left the shuttles, although the lenses were built to minimize such problems. Pincus ordered that none of the EVA suited team members were to leave the engineering area until the rest of the platoon was available to participate in the mission.

  When the temperature had risen to an acceptable minimum, the Marines removed their EVA suits. Outfitted in lightweight battle armor, the platoon moved through the corridors as ship's temperature slowly rose to normal levels. They continued to encounter thawing bodies at irregular intervals.

  "Thor, are you receiving these images?" Pincus asked.

  "Affirmative, Commander," Captain Payton said. "We see the bodies."

  "They all appear to have been shot by laser blasts at close range. Definitely small arms fire; most likely pistols. Moving on."

  As the team moved towards the bridge, they encountered more and more bodies of deceased crewmen. Upon entering the bridge, they found the thawing bodies of the ship's senior officers.

  "Thor, it looks like everyone on board is dead, but I'd like to make a full sweep of the ship, including the cargo containers. I could use another platoon of Marines for the search, and some engineering techs to check out the ship. The commissioning plate on the bridge confirms that this is the Hunaray."

  "I'll send over your additional personnel, Commander," Payton said. "We'll need complete records for the investigation into this incident, so do it by the book. Let me know if you need anything else."

  "Aye, Captain."

  Payton looked at his first officer and nodded. Commander Dansiger knew the signal meant that he should see to assigning the needed personnel.

  Dansiger walked to a computer console at the tactical station and checked the duty roster before issuing the orders. Payton, meanwhile, had gone into his briefing room to compose a message.

  * * *

  Jenetta was in conference with several of her senior officers when the message arrived, but she noticed it as she checked her schedule after the meeting was over and the officers had left. She tapped the play button and sat back to see what Payton had to say.

  "Good afternoon, Jen. We've found your missing freighter, the Hunaray, named on the posted alert. We're approximately four light-years from the base. Our preliminary investigation indicates that those still onboard died from laser fire at close range. My Marines are presently searching the entire ship to see if they can locate the killer, or killers, but we don't expect to find anyone. The internal temperature of the vessel was below freezing when we arrived. Why, we don't know. A Hunaray crewmember trying to oppose the killer may have lowered it, or perhaps there was some other motive. Whatever the reason, we have a perfectly preserved crime scene at this point. We'll try to determine if any shuttles or tugs are missing. The cargo sections appear intact, so this doesn't appear to have been a Raider attack.

  "William E. Payton, Captain of the GSC Thor, message complete."

  Jenetta debated whether to notify the Arrosians immediately or wait until she had more information. Since all aboard seemed to have been murdered and there wasn't anything the Arrosians could do to help, she decided to wait.

  "Message to Captain William Payton, GSC Thor. Begin message.

  "Thank you for your preliminary report, Bill. As soon as your investigation permits, please tow the freighter to Stewart, or bring it here under its own power if the power systems are undamaged. Place the link sections in one of the 'cargo farms' outside the base, and bring the freighter inside after inspection by the HazMat and BioAgent teams. I hope that you'll be able to identify each of the dead crewmen and discover if any are missing.

  "Jenetta A. Carver, Captain, Base Commander, Stewart Space Command Base, message complete."

  Arriving at work the next morning, Jenetta discovered a new message from the Thor among the dozens of others awaiting her attention.

  "Hi, Jen," the new message from Captain Payton began. "We've completed our investigation and the search of the ship. We've accounted for all crewmen listed in the computer, however, one person, listed as a passenger, is missing. The individual's name is Xamto Paluuk. We're also missing a space tug. All shipping sections are present and the cargo appears to be intact. I've put my first officer in command of the freighter, and we're underway for Stewart with the freighter operating under its own power. We should be there in ten days.

  "William E. Payton, Captain of the GSC Thor, message complete."

  Jenetta sat up straight in her chair and tapped the 'record' button on her com unit.

  "Message to Prime Minister Nadeil Marueck of the planet Arrosa, with a copy to Captain Oluthru of the freighter Gastrime. Begin message.

  "Mr. Prime Minister, it's my sad duty to report to you that one of our battleships, the Thor, has
come across an Arrosian freighter adrift in space. Since Captain Oluthru of the freighter Gastrime reported the Hunaray as missing, I've had my ships looking for any sign of it. It's been determined, thus far, that all crewmen died by laser weapon at close range, in the hand of an unknown assailant, or assailants. The ship and cargo appear intact. A space tug is missing, along with the sole passenger named in the computer files, a Xamto Paluuk.

  "I've ordered the ship, found just four light-years from Stewart, be brought here so that a full investigation can be conducted. Since the crew died while the ship was in interstellar flight, Space Command must conduct a full investigation, but we'll welcome a representative from your government to function as liaison. The ship will arrive at Stewart in about ten days, and you will receive a full report upon completion of our investigation.

  "I offer my condolences to the families of the crewmen aboard the Hunaray."

  "Jenetta A. Carver, Captain, Base Commander, Stewart Space Command Base, message complete."

  * * *

  When the message from Captain Carver arrived, Marueck was tempted to ignore it, only because he was still angry about the previous message that essentially promised retaliatory military action if Arrosa moved against Selax. But it would have been stupid to ignore a message from the GSC military commander in this sector, and Marueck hadn't achieved his position by being stupid.

  After listening to the message, he picked up the nearest item, a solid globe of crystal presented by a visiting dignitary from a remote province. He hurled the fist-sized ball at a wall with all his might. The crash brought a guard, stationed outside the door, rushing into the room with his pistol drawn. Seeing no danger, other than the Prime Minister cursing like a madman as he paced around the office, he immediately withdrew.

  Marueck, after calming down enough to talk, called his Minister of State Security.

  "Lisaul, contact the rest of the council and get everyone up here. The Selaxians have struck again. Now they're attacking our freighters in space."