Seeker of Moons (Cassidy's Command Book 1)

by Geoff Workman

  The meeting with the other two Lieutenants started with Kyle being presented with his own Pane computer and was given a quick lesson on its use before he placed the plain piece of glass back in its hardened carrier. Kang had loaded a synopsis of the intelligence reports gathered for the operational area, together with star charts and terrain maps of Chamtofi and the surrounding planets, moons and asteroids. Akimbe brought in two mugs of Kaffoo for himself and Kyle, also a juice for Kang. This was a compact meeting room with a small circular table and the three of them sat around Akimbe’s pane.

  “To recap gentlemen, we do know that many of the captured crews have been taken to Walendia city and the compound where our agent was compromised is the most likely location of their captivity. We have indicated a number of possible D.Z’s for your recon but on this mission the situation is so fluid you will have discretion on landing site.

  Firstly, you are going to have to get there. The Seeker of Moons navigation systems are now state of the art and there are a couple of potential crew who claim to be navigators, so that should be covered.

  Secondly, the mystery ship or ships, which are disabling craft out there may appear without warning. If that happens it could be game over before you start. We have no intelligence indicating a way to detect them which is an issue you may have to deal with.

  After that we have the Walendian wing of Chamtofi's planetary defence force which has kindly given us your ship. The government puts up with the pirates and probably could not do anything about them if it wanted to and in return the pirates masquerade as a legitimate defence arm. They do have sophisticated tracking systems based on beacons and satellites and always have two patrol craft on duty in opposite hemispheres.

  If you can get past problems one and two you then need to figure out where to land. Too close to the city and you could be spotted but too far away will put you in the centre of the surrounding deserts having shifting sands and 200 mph winds.

  Assuming you manage to reach the compound you are bound to have to overcome defences and defenders, any questions?”

  “Thanks for that Akimbe, I was expecting it to be a bit harder than that,” Kyle said sardonically.

  “Yes, sorry it seems nothing but bad news but the point is that dangers will be lurking every step of the way, you will not be able to relax and you’ve got to be ready for anything.

  As the Admiral said, neither the Guardian, the Berengian fleet or other Independent World military can cross the gate clouds without the whole council agreeing but you will get some help that’s not attributable to the inner worlds. I am not permitted to tell you yet what the help is but I can tell you that when it is revealed you are going to have to decide how to use it.”

  “I don’t understand why it’s got to be a secret and I don’t like surprises,” Kyle complained.

  “Admiral’s order my friend. Keep checking your Pane data system and I would recommend that you familiarise yourself with the ship manuals which our techs have put together for you. I am sorry that we cannot help more at the moment but we will keep in touch over the secure coms.”

  Instead of saluting when he left , Kyle insisted on shaking Akimbe’s hand and looking him square in the eyes, “I fully intend to attempt this mission, rescue whoever I can rescue, Prince or not and get back here. Just make sure that we have the same warm welcome when we shoot back from this cloud gate.”

  The next meeting was not one he was looking forward to, as he had always been one of the team rather than leader of it and worried about how he would be received.

  Walking through the door of Meeting Room 2, he was met with a barrage of green forage caps and bad language. Buzz, Pixie, Shiner and Bambi mobbed Kyle slapping him on the back, ruffling his hair with his cap still on and generally leaving him feeling as if he had been hit by a stampeding Hordaskian Nashorn.

  “Enough, enough I give in,” Kyle said laughing out loud as he broke out of the melee to take refuge behind the chair at the end of the oblong table.

  “I guess you’ve heard what they’ve done to me?”

  “Yes Sir, Sir,” mocked Shiner.

  “There was me thinking some bird had pooped on your shoulders,” added Buzz.

  Bambi had been the quietest of the group and Kyle guessed that she was still partly sedated.

  “It’s good to see you here Bambi.”

  “Engineer, Rachel Klein, assigned to the one way mission, reporting for duty Sir.”

  “You are welcome Engineer Klein and it’s good to see you back on duty.”

  The quartermaster had arranged for uniform roundels to be produced, featuring the name of their new craft. Kyle handed a batch around for attaching to their fatigues.

  “Seeker of Moons, it’s a good name,” said Pixie, “it’s good to have a reminder of our old ships.”

  “Doom Seeker would be a better name,” retorted Bambi, who was clearly unfit for duty.

  “I’ve got the job of leading our little team on this mission and the rank is not important though apparently necessary for ‘political reasons’ but I haven’t worked that one out yet. My main concern is to get all or as many of us as possible back again. To that end, I’m going to ask you to volunteer for the key roles on the Seeker of Moons and we are just going to have to learn as we go along.

  Under my stout leadership will be Lieutenant Kang the one proper military type amongst us, I have met him and he seems ok. I don’t know how his presence won’t upset this treaty, it hasn’t been explained but I am glad he’s coming with us.

  Pixie, there is nobody I have yet come across who can grasp the content of manuals and instructions so quickly and remember it, I want you for Systems and Comms Officer, are you up for it?”

  “I’ll do my best Sir.”

  “That’s another thing, we have come through a lot together, so it’s Getaway when we are alone and that’s an order for you all.

  Buzz, you are a dead shot when sober and I think you are ideal for weapons systems, are you happy with that?”

  “Sounds good to me, just give me something to shoot.”

  “Bambi, you are the best in power plant mechanics, can I rely on you to keep us flying?”

  “I guess so,” Bambi answered listlessly.

  “That leaves you Shiner and I know it’s not engineering and is a contradiction in terms but I want you for Intelligence Officer, can you take that on?”

  “Yeh and all of you take notice I’m the one with intelligence, it's official.”

  “Good we are making progress. You are all confirmed as holding function status for your roles, which means another badge and more importantly a pay rise. The Admiral has agreed and your contracts will be available on your personal database later today.

  To carry on the momentum, we have the opportunity to recruit some extra help from the people that the Admiral has been able to dredge up at short notice on his way here. I have split them into 4 groups and you will each conduct a preliminary interview to try and get a short list for myself and Lieutenant Kang to interview tonight. It will be your choice but look for people we can share a confined space with for some time and have a particular skill they can offer be it in technical matters or combat.”

  “Or are just drop dead gorgeous,” Buzz interrupted using his hands to make out the curves of an imaginary woman.

  “Typical of you,” chided Pixie who was now confident in her dealings with the former Seeker crew.

  “It’s good to see you all again but we have much to do. Get your patches sewn on and meet here again in two hours with Lieutenant Kang, whom you’d better address as Lieutenant. In the meantime get a break its going to be a long day, also get down to the maintenance hangar to look at our new baby. Remember to have your passes with you at all times or you will be in the brig, this is a warship after all and meet me in the general mess at 21:00 hours ship time this evening for new orders.

  It’s time to get going but Bambi can you stay for a minute please?”

  When the others had tr
ooped out Kyle and Bambi were left facing each other across the meeting table.

  “Are you sure you are ok?”

  “Yes I am fine, it was just a bit of a shock to get the news about Lengo and Esther arranged for me to be sedated so I am a bit woozy.”

  “Do you still feel the same way about me as you did before?” ventured Kyle.

  “Yes, never more certain but I don’t know how we take it forward from the situation we have gotten ourselves into.”

  “Then this is the plan, if we behave like smitten teenagers now we will put ourselves in danger, everybody else and the mission too. No matter how much we want to be together it’s going to be impossible, so the day after we hand the Seeker of Moons back we head off somewhere together, somewhere with blue skies, warm seas and comfortable rooms, is that a deal?”

  “You bet and no armour and no guns and with lots of fresh Kaffoo.”

  “That’s fantastic, now let’s get this mission started and over as quickly as possible.”

  Saluting for effect, 1st Engineer Klein of the Seeker of Moons waited for the returned salute and marched out of the room, smiling for the first time that day.

  The interviews for potential crewmates lasted for most of the afternoon but eventually there was a shortlist of 12. All had been briefed that the mission was an adventure, which might be a one way ticket and the money was good without being obscene.

  Kang cast a very careful eye over the personal histories and work records of the group. Spotting inconsistencies he got rid of four names, which by reason might have been mercenaries, crooks or worse. Two then failed Kyle’s probing as to whether they had the moral fibre when the plasma bullets started streaming.

  That left six, four men and two women, of these three were from the Seeker and had been transferred to the 'papyrus', so he already knew something of them and before the final interviews he read their details again on the Pane:

  Audine Franks.

  Lately a diagnostic engineer of the rescue tug, Seeker, with the crew name ‘Speedy’, for her desire to fly any craft under her control as fast and furious as possible. Audine had three times applied to the Aeronautical Service of her home world for a role as a ships pilot but each time she has failed her flight assessments by flying dangerously and failing to follow instructions. Faced with not flying at all she developed a role as a diagnostic engineer and is highly regarded within the crew though something of a loner. This role allowed her to test craft under repair, so she still got to fly but not quite as fast as she would have liked.

  The downside to Audine is her struggle with command as a principle and exemplified by her relationship with her last officer, she had disagreed with Sub-Officer Fuentes on almost every subject.

  Peter Thompson.

  Peter Thompson, late of the rescue tug, Seeker, a qualified engineer and support navigator. Peter thought by some to be aloof has proved to be reliable in every task assigned to him. He has above average competency in engineering maintenance, navigation and combat skills. Though not exceptional at any one role he is a good all- rounder and has been ideal as Navigator on the Away ‘A’ Team.

  His psychological profiling indicates he works best in isolation and he would be the last man to buy his round of drinks. Due to his less than sunny disposition the crew nicknamed him ‘Sunshine’.

  Jürgen Meinhof.

  Jürgen Meinhof, formerly acting Sub-Officer of the rescue tug, Seeker, and Commander of the Away ‘A’ Team. Jürgen understands command and seeks to progress his career either through military service or through the commercial fleet. He is an all-rounder and was Stahl’s deputy on the Seeker in combat training. He was also Quartermaster on the Seeker and had a reputation for being able to get hold of even very scarce supplies. He was mostly seen walking the corridors of the Seeker in his combat boots, which prompted people to refer to him as ‘Boots’.

  Kyle and Lt Kang decided to interview the ex-Seeker group together as a trio. They had all been vetted by Bambi, who checked out their individual motives for wanting to join up. Now Kyle was going to take the process a step further and worked out a routine with Lt Kang. The three candidates were assembled in one of the meeting rooms and each had on a set of the green crew fatigues without the badges. Lounging back in chairs they were quite comfortable.

  Kang entered the room and barked, “Attention, Commander entering the room.”

  The instruction was so quick and so dominant that the three candidates shot into the air with Thompson knocking his Kaffoo onto the floor.

  This time Kyle wanted to see if his former ship mates would accept him as leader and he strode purposefully into the room, green officers cap over his sunglass clad eyes.

  Meinhof saluted, Thompson did half a salute and Audine did not bother. At their interviews they had deliberately not been told that Getaway was in command and Kyle now wanted to test their re-action.

  “Sit please,” he said in the most authoritative voice he could muster.

  They all sat except Kyle who removed his glasses and cap, placing them on a nearby desk. It is fair to say that the candidates were a little surprised by the identity of their likely commander.

  “It’s good to see you three and I am pleased that you’re interested in the enterprise. You should have all been told about this rescue mission, that in the short term we may not get much support and that there is every possibility we will get fried by plasma on ship or on planet. We are not allowed to work directly with any military of the settled planetary groups so in reality we are freelance but the slight chance we have will only work if everybody knows their place and orders are followed, even if they are from me.”

  Audine was the first to speak, “I had reservations before but now I am really concerned, it’s only 5 minutes ago you were the lowest of the low being an ex-con on the Seeker and now we are supposed to take orders from you,” the other two nodded in agreement.

  “That is more or less what I said to the Admiral and in that I share your concern but I am told that I have qualities which are uniquely suited to this mission and I have the unfortunate experience of fighting the pirates at first hand, plus I know all of you. It is a noble cause if you want to regard it as that and I will try to bring back as many of the crew alive as possible. When I saw you were interested in this venture I picked you three out straight away as being vital for the ops success and I want each one of you to sign up but………at the end of the day I and my colleagues are going. We are not going for the money nor specifically to rescue the prince. We are going because we have friends and colleagues who if not dead already are suffering and we are their only hope, there is nobody else. If you don’t want to come and you cannot accept my orders then please walk out now with no hard feelings.”

  First again, Audine stood up and held her hand for Kyle to shake, “Count me in Sir.”

  Glad to have you on board Speedy, this was Audine’s crew name on the Seeker and her flying style deserved no other.

  Meinhof was next, “Me too Lieutenant!”

  “Good man Boots, we certainly need you.”

  There was a pause and Thompson rose from his seat, “I don’t want to miss this party, Sunshine reporting for duty Sir.”

  Kyle let his mask slip, he broke into a broad grin and leant forward to give Speedy a hug which she had not expected, before breaking off to shake the hands of the two men very vigorously. “Lieutenant Kang is a Berengian liason officer and also second in command, Boots you will be taking the Sub-Officer role. Lt Kang will give you your insignia on the way out but we need to get this show on the road, so report to Pixie in the next room she has your contracts, the mission brief to date and any manuals that you will need for your position.

  We launch tomorrow at 16:00 hours ship time no matter what, there are a lot of people depending on us. The passes that Pixie will give you grant you access to Seeker of Moon’s hangar. I am sure you will want to have a look at what we’ve got and begin to familiarise yourselves with the systems and equipment
. If you need any help on board seek out Pixie, who is a genius with manuals, facts and figures.

  The men saluted Kyle and went off in search of their insignia. Speedy dawdled then turned to Kyle, “Are you giving me the assistant pilot’s role?”

  “I am sorry no,” Audine’s face dropped.

  “I am afraid that you are the main pilot.”

  “I don’t know what to say, you know I have only ever wanted to be a ships pilot and you trust me, Getaway, sorry I mean Lieutenant Cassidy, you must be as crazy as me.”

  “This is your big chance Speedy, it’s not a fighter but the new Seeker of Moons is a proper warship now which needs a special sort of flyer and I guess there will be nobody better for this mission this side of the clouds. Go get your wings and manuals and pass the word that the Admiral will be paying us a visit tomorrow at 14:00 hours ship time, it would be good if we looked like we know what we are doing.”

  Kyle had the last three positions to fill and he chose Barbara Mbata a commercial spacecraft bodywork fitter, whom he named ‘Patches’ and Ivan Gudrov an agricultural engineer, who he called ‘Ploughman’, to work under Bambi in the Engineering department. Then Oskar Fingle, a passenger shuttle second-pilot, now known as ‘Ossie’ to be Speedy’s number two.

  That left just one more berth which was the Medical Officer and the Admiral had dredged up Dr Hussein a Doctor from the planet Ogillian, who had been struck off for conducting cosmetic operations, which had been made illegal on the planet. Accompanying the Doctor were 2 nurse Hu-mechy’s, Gloria 45 and Mizuko 19.

  It was late in the evening by the time Kyle had finished his staff administration and thought he would just grab a fresh Kaffoo and a pastry before turning in. He sauntered into mess 5 on the Guardians lower deck but before he reached the food counter he was hailed by a familiar voice.

  “Getaway is that you?” It was Esther, “I …..” then, she saw the 2 gold threads on his epaulettes which was one more than she had.