by M. D. Cooper
One by one, the men and women in the room rose and picked their hand. Nearly all picked reward, but one of the station chiefs, a captain, and two of the first mates picked brig.
She directed those few out of the room, where the guards in the hall secured them.
Juasa said as another captain picked brig.
The man reached for her open palm, and Katrina readied another passel of nano. Then his hand shot forward and grasped her open wrist. A pistol was in his other hand, and he fired three rounds into Katrina’s chest before she managed to pivot to the side.
The shots ricocheted off her armor-skin, though the impacts stung.
Without a word, Katrina opened her other hand, and Gary’s eyes grew wide as he watched a charge build in her palm.
“Bad move,” Katrina said as the bolt of energy shot out, burning away his face and the side of his head.
Gary’s grip on her arm spasmed once before he let go and fell to the ground. Stu approached and dragged Gary’s body away, laying it beside Tyra’s.
Katrina looked down at her armor skin and nodded.
Katrina said.
Juasa gave Katrina a smile, though she did not appear entirely certain of her forgiveness.
Katrina turned and gestured to the next ship’s captain to approach.
No one else chose the brig.
A NECESSARY CONVERSATION
STELLAR DATE: 01.20.8512 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: Rockhall Station
REGION: Orbiting Persia, Midditerra System
Once her new command team had made their decisions, Katrina dismissed them for thirty minutes to get cleaned up, grab food, and deal with anything that demanded their attention.
She had passed the monitoring of Link connections to Sam, who was ensuring that no one shared the details of what had happened in the briefing room.
Except for Gary and Tyra’s first mates, of course. They were now captains and had been given plausible stories to share with their crews.
Once everyone else had filed out, Katrina glanced at the two bodies lying on the side of the room. “Let’s find somewhere else to have part two of this meeting.”
“Gladly,” Juasa nodded. “I think everyone will be a lot happier without seeing—and smelling—all that.”
“I’m going to send Lars to the brig,” Katrina added. “He’s disrupting my calm.”
“Want me to escort him?” Korin asked.
Katrina considered it. She could march him straight down there on autopilot and check himself in, but that would be rather suspicious. Instead she faked a message from Malorie instructing the guards at the station’s brig to expect Lars.
She winked at Korin. “Delegate it, Major.”
“You found my record, did you?”
“I did, and you’re the highest ranking person in my circle of trust here. You’re now CO of the Revolutionary Guard.”
Juasa cocked an eyebrow “Revolutionary Guard?”
“Well, we are gaining our freedom, overthrowing the old power.”
“Seems campy,” Korin said as he directed Stu to escort Lars to the brig.
Katrina ran a hand through her hair, the sensation of her armored fingers in her artificial hair not as comforting as it once had been. “Well, I don’t know what form of government we’ll settle on…obviously a dictatorship of some sort. Anything else will take too long.”
“Let’s go with Alpha Guard,” Korin suggested. “It’ll appeal to the members.”
“Works for me,” Katrina said.
Katrina passed some final instructions, and the pair of women left the room and slipped into another conference room across the hall.
Once within, Juasa stepped toward Katrina and took her hands. “I’m worried about you, Kat. I’m worried about all of us. Are you sure we want this? We can still get the hell out of here, go find the Intrepid without…all this.”
Katrina blew out a long breath. “I’ll admit, the idea of seizing this system and using it as a platform to wait for the Intrepid was more appealing in thought than deed. Dealing with these people is exhausting.”
Juasa nodded emphatically, not breaking eye contact with Katrina. “Exactly, everything is doublespeak, and scheming with them—”
“Which isn’t that much different than most governments, Ju; it’s human nature,” Katrina interrupted.
“Right, but the stakes here are corporal. You screw up, you don’t get voted out—you die.”
“I know, Ju—”
“Well, do you really want to live like that?”
Katrina leant against the table, the steel plates on her butt knocking against the hard plas. The sound of it and the incongruity of everything going on caused a small laugh to escape her throat.
Juasa smiled and stepped forward, her right leg between Katrina’s thighs. “I was wondering if you still knew how to do that.”
“I’ve laughed once or twice recently.” Katrina shrugged. “At least once.”
“Those were hard laughs; you just giggled.” Juasa put her hands on Katrina’s neck and ran her fingers up behind her ears.
Katrina giggled again. “Stop it, Ju! That tickles.”
Juasa grinned at her. “Who’d’ve thought that my steel warrior here would be ticklish?”
“Must be a nerve ending sensitivity issue. I’ll fix it,” Katrina muttered.
“Don’t you dare,” Juasa scolded. “You like being tickled.”
“Do not!” Katrina snorted and jerked back as Juasa ran her fingers under her chin.
Juasa leaned forward and their lips met, Juasa’s pressing hard against Katrina’s. Like she was desperate for her touch, seeking to devour her lover.
Katrina gave a little cry as Juasa nibbled at the end of her tongue.
“What did you do that for?” Katrina asked as she pulled back.
“It’s the only real part of you I can touch anymore,” Juasa said with soulful eyes. “I just wanted to make sure you were still in there.”
“My eyes are real,” Katrina said. “They don’t lie to you.”
“You want me to poke you in the eye? Besides, they’re not exactly original equipment, either.”
“Yeah, what I meant is that they’re unchanged.”
Juasa stroked Katrina’s cheek. “But this face that they’re in—it’s not the face I fell in love with. It looks so hard. Promise me that when the Voyager gets here, you’ll put yourself back the way you were.”
Katrina had already said as much, but it seemed that Juasa needed to hear it again.
“I promise.”
“Good.” Juasa cupped the hard plate over Katrina’s right breast and pushed her thigh against the carbon fiber between Katrina’s legs. “Because these are no fun to play with.”
Katrina laughed and lifted Juasa into the air, turning and setting her lover on the conference room table.
“I’ll show you what’s fun to play with.”
CASTIGATION
STELLAR DATE: 01.20.8512 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: Rockhall Station
REGION: Orbiting Persia, Midditerra System
After their brief tryst, Katrina and Juasa moved to the conference room next door where the new command team was assembling.
When they were all present, Katrina laid out the new command structure. Freya was now the stationmaster of Rockhall Station, but Juasa was responsible for the crew chiefs—all of whom, it turned out, knew about the cruise
r hidden behind racks of scrap hull in the back corner of the asteroid’s interior.
A revelation that infuriated Malorie to no end.
Malorie hadn’t replied, but her sour expression spoke volumes.
After further discussion, Katrina learned that none of the crew chiefs had worked on the cruiser. Lars had a special team who had been repairing the ship in secret. The chiefs provided the identities of those workers, and confirmed that, from what they knew, the ship was in working condition.
“What’s its name?” Captain Jordan.
“The Castigation,” Demy, one of the chiefs, responded.
“Fitting,” Juasa snorted.
“Do you know its provenance?” Katrina asked.
Demy shook her head. “Lars said it was back there when he took over.”
“What about origin; what system, military?” Juasa asked.
“It’s Ranian,” Demy supplied. “Wasn’t derelict, either, but taken in some battle at some point.”
“Well I’ll be…” Malorie said with a slow shake of her head. “That sonuvabitch.”
“Care to share?” Katrina asked.
“I remember that ship. Marv, the old stationmaster, he said its reactors were shot and that he’d parted it out.”
Juasa grinned. “Guess he was good at cooking the books.”
“Not that good,” Malorie said, catching Juasa’s eye. “Jace caught one of his other indiscretions and killed him for it.”
“I want that ship pulled out and readied for combat,” Katrina instructed Juasa and the crew chiefs. “Powered up, put through every pace you can while it’s still in the station. But keep it somewhere obscured. Lara’s inspection team could arrive at any time, and I don’t want them seeing it.”
“Are you anticipating combat with her?” Captain Hana asked.
“Not if we can avoid it, and I’d really like to avoid it.”
“That’s good,” Jordan retorted. “Lara has over a thousand ships in the system; we’ve a dozen ships here—fourteen, if you count the Havermere and the Castigation. Even if you manage to pull a coup on every other Blackadder station in the system, there are only…two hundred and eleven ships.”
“What about other cantons?” Katrina asked.
Malorie snorted. “Do you have a decade?”
“Was just an idle question,” Katrina replied. “My real plan is to cut the head off the snake. The same as Jace.”
“If she comes over with the inspection crew, will you do it then?” Freya asked.
Katrina shook her head. “No, not unless there’s the perfect opportunity. Without control of the other Blackadder stations, I can’t effectively control the system. And I can’t do that without Jace.”
“Who will be back any day now.” Malorie’s voice contained one part forewarning, one part regret, and one part vengeance. Katrina couldn’t tell who the disparate emotions were aimed at.
“Juasa, Demy, Meg, you three get on the Castigation. I want a first-hand report by noon,” Katrina directed.
“You got it,” Juasa said as she rose from the table. “We’ll have that ship out of mothballs in no time.”
“Excellent,” Katrina replied before looking to the rest of the command team. “When Lara’s inspectors arrive today, Freya, you’ll meet with them. Unless Lara has attended as well; then Malorie will join you.”
Freya leaned back in her chair and stretched her arms out. “No sweat. I’ve dealt with dozens of inspection teams. Lara, on the other hand, wigs me the fuck out. She’s all yours, Malorie.”
Malorie scowled, and Katrina could tell that the woman did not like Freya’s familiar attitude. Freya, on the other hand was all but glowing at the opportunity to speak to Malorie as an equal.
“Along those lines,” Katrina began. “If we did reach out to another station, are there any likely candidates? It would have to be one in orbit of Persia.”
Everyone around the team looked pensive, and Katrina noticed that several looked to Hana and Jordan to give the answers.
The hierarchy was already establishing itself. Which of those two consider themselves senior? Katrina wondered.
Hana spoke up first. “We could send a team to Deserie Spire. Stationmaster Severs has been at odds with Jace a few times in recent years. He would support a coup.”
Katrina looked up Deserie Spire. It was a station that ran markets selling the Blackadder’s ill-gotten wares. It was a clean, high-class operation. Many of the other cantons also ran sales outlets there, paying a portion of their proceeds to the Blackadder.
“What’s Severs’ beef?” Katrina asked.
“His costs are too high. Man can’t keep his overhead in check,” Malorie supplied.
Hana shot Malorie a dirty look. “Jace wants all profit and no overhead, but Severs attracts a type of customer you can’t get otherwise. Look at the other trading stations. Sure they run at rock-bottom costs, but they don’t pull in anywhere near the same level of clientele or profit.”
“Half Severs’ money is from gambling and slaves,” Malorie countered.
“Which he can make bank on because of who he brings in,” Hana shot back. “I always thought you were smarter than that, Malorie. Took you for a real businesswoman, with how you run the sithri trade. I guess that must have been Jace all along.”
Malorie bristled, but Katrina lifted her hands. “OK, I’ll consider reaching out to Severs. He doesn’t have a lot of armament, but it would be good to have someone with his connections onboard.”
“We should make sure our ships are fully armed,” Jordan added. “Surreptitiously, of course. We can spread the word that we’re gearing up for a big raid.”
“We don’t want to attack Lara,” Malorie said. “We have to lure her here, or kill her on Farsa. She’s far too strong for a frontal assault to work.”
Jordan nodded. “Yes, but there may be retaliation, and we may need to land troops on Farsa in great haste. Either way, we should be prepared.”
“I agree,” Katrina allowed. “That will be our fiction for now. We have one last order of business—for immediate resolution, that is.”
“Which is?” Freya asked.
“Who is going to captain the Castigation?”
All eyes turned to Hana and Jordan, and the two women looked at one another.
Katrina had reviewed the pair’s records—such as the Blackadder kept—and found that they had joined the organization in the same week, some thirty years ago.
From the assessment she had been able to make, Hana was the more strategic thinker of the two, but Jordan was better when things went to shit.
Jordan laughed. “I feel like we should rock-paper-scissors this.”
“Don’t worry,” Hana said. “I like my Ares Eye. You can castigate all you want.”
A broad smile broke out over Jordan’s face. “Ha! Well then, looks like I got me a warship.” She turned to Katrina. “Is it permanent?”
“We’ll see how well you acquit yourself,” Katrina replied. “If things go well, I don’t see why not.”
“Yes!” Jordan cried out.
“Does this mean I’m captain of the Irradia, now?” Jordan’s first mate, Micha, asked.
“If you want the job, it’s yours.” Katrina hoped he did; shuffling captains beyond this would be risky.
“Damn straight I want the job.”
“Just be careful with the Irradia,” Jordan cautioned. “She’s still my girl.”
“You volunteering?” Katrina asked.
“Uh…yeah,” Jordan added quickly. “This is all contingent on that ship actually working.”
Katrina rose from her seat and placed her hands on the table. “Of course, Jordan. Now, I don’t have to remind everyone how crucial it is that we keep what we are planning secret. No leaks. If there are any, I’ll know where they came from—and it won’t go well for the leaker. Understood?”
There were solemn nods around the table, and Katrina straightened.
“Good. I’m not a capricious leader like Jace, but I do expect obedience. Especially now. Remember: when Jace dies, and Lara follows after him, you will all reap the rewards.”
“I have one question, if you don’t mind, Katrina,” Hana asked.
“What is it?”
“Who were you before…before you came through the Streamer? Why are you doing all this? You certainly could have escaped the system.”
“I was a spy, a rebel leader, ruler of a star system, and a seeker in the darkness,” Katrina replied quietly. “Now I’m a warlord.”
“Shouldn’t you be a warlady?” Jordan asked with a grin.
Katrina glowered at her, and the woman stifled a laugh.
“Sorry, you’re right. It doesn’t have the same ring.”
THE INSPECTION
STELLAR DATE: 01.20.8512 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: Rockhall Station
REGION: Orbiting Persia, Midditerra System
Katrina had just settled onto one of the sofas in the suite—with Malorie across from her, still sulking—when Ames reached out.
She checked Juasa’s progress in extricating the Castigation from its hiding place, and saw that the rear of the asteroid was in disarray; the mess made by moving the racks of hull plating creating a shield between the Havermere and the cruiser.
