by Kal Spriggs
“Man!” Rastar slapped Gunny Tam on the back, “you guys fight pretty well. That was really awesome how you got the Chigathi-Ho in that crossfire!”
Alannis hid a smile as she thought about how that had gone. In their powered armor, they were immune to just about any standard weapons... but the United Colonies Marines had some heavy firepower and much of it had “training” settings.
More than a few of the Ghornath powered armor looked a bit scorched and a couple of them with their helmets off had glares leveled in Rastar's direction, but none of them spoke up.
They had in fact, been caught in a nasty crossfire... and Rastar had been the bait in that trap. “Man,” Rastar said, “I'd love to do this again sometime.”
To his credit, Gunny Tam just gave the big alien a smile and a nod, “you fight well, Rastar. Maybe we can work together in the future.”
That had more than a couple of the Chigathi-Ho looking away and turning white in shock or yellow in embarrassment. For that matter, more than a few of the other, non-armored Ghornath warriors hung their heads. Then again, none of them had fought poorly... they'd just gone into the fight assuming that their human opponents would be easy prey.
The “quick” training exercise had turned into a running gunfight over sixteen hours. Alannis sported a black eye, a couple of the Marines had cracked ribs, and she didn't know if anyone really had any idea who had “won.” Both sides had been felled almost to the last Marine and Ghornath on either side. The handful of “survivors” had spent two hours going around applying the anti-paralytics in order to get everyone moving back to the base.
“Well,” Alannis muttered as she moved to stand next to Ashtar, “that went well.”
“My back is killing me,” Ashtar muttered. “I'm pretty sure my spine is compacted from a Ghornath landing on me. All I want to do is collapse on my bunk and sleep for a week.”
“Me too,” Alannis replied. “Just think, though, the Ghornath are going to want a rematch.” Ashtar glared at her and Alannis gave her a tired smile in reply, “The reward for hard work is more work, my friend.”
“I hate you so much right now,” Ashtar muttered.
***
Chapter IX
Gamma Serpentis system
Neutral Space
December 12, 2407
The Constellation emerged from shadow space and Captain Daniel Beeson gave a smile as his crew moved quickly and professionally about their duties.
“No hostiles in range, sir,” Lieutenant Cassat said. “I'm picking up the inhabited world, Sapphire. About a dozen ships in orbit.”
“I have a least-time course plotted, sir,” Lieutenant Forsberg said.
“Weapons standing by, sir,” Lieutenant Commander Douglass said.
“Communications online, sir,” Ensign Giovanni said. “No transmissions yet from the planet.”
I'm sure that will come soon enough, he thought. He'd ordered Lieutenant Cassat to go with full active sensors. Their ship would be a beacon to anything else in the system. Not only would the pirates see them coming and realize that his cruiser wasn't afraid of anything they had... but Lieutenant Cassat's sensor crew should notice any mines or defenses that might be a threat along their course.
His ship had emerged from shadow space only five hundred thousand kilometers from Sapphire. Daniel brought up the feed from the telescopic camera on the main screen. The planet was actually quite beautiful, planet covered in ocean, with only a few rocky islands. The oceans were a deep, vibrant blue, a color that made Daniel want to go swimming... though from what he'd heard, it would be a little cold for swimming. Fifteen degrees Celsius, he thought, probably a little cold for sunbathing too.
“Start us on that course of yours, Lieutenant Forsberg” Daniel said. “Let’s see if they want to talk to us then.”
***
“Boss, boss!” A hand shook James Copley's shoulder and the pirate king grunted.
His head hurt too much. “Go away,” he snarled and buried his head under something soft and muffling.
“Boss, there's a ship coming in! It ain't one of ours!”
“Blast 'em and loot the wreckage,” John grumbled. “Go away.”
The hand shaking his shoulder didn't let up. “Boss, it's a cruiser, a military one! They're scanning the whole system, probes and radar and everything!”
“What?” John sat up quickly. Too quickly. He felt his breakfast of raw liqour shift in his stomach and he had to turn and vomit. Most of it splashed on the floor, but some of it spattered his bed and the woman who shared it with him. She didn't as much as flinch, though she continued to snore. Matilda, he thought absently, that's her name, she captains the Widowmaker. He liked his women willing, so he didn't use slave girls. Besides, as the Pirate King of Sapphire, it wasn't as if there weren't any women willing to sleep with him.
Mathilda didn't look like much, but she was strong and fun and she wasn't afraid of his big dreams like some women were.
Copley struggled to his feet and pulled on a robe. It had seen better days, but so had he. Right now, he didn't care too much how he looked. “Have they said anything?” John asked, his throat raw from stomach acid.
“Not yet, should I call them?” John didn't remember this particular lieutenant's name. It wasn't as if he chose them for their initiative. Smart and capable pirate Lieutenants were likely to mutiny. James Copley had learned that lesson early on in his career... right around the time he killed his captain and took over. Not that anyone will miss that sick bastard, he thought.
“No, I want to be the one to talk to them,” John belched and then went over to his wardrobe. He dug through it for a moment and pulled out a uniform. It was one he hadn't worn in decades, not since he'd had it commissioned by a tailor.
Real navy, he thought. Appearances meant a lot to people like that.
When he had set out to be a pirate, he had never thought it would be as dirty and violent as it had been. James Copley had killed more people than he cared to count. Most of them, the vast majority, he'd killed face to face. He told himself that he'd fought as fair as he could... or at least as fair as he could afford.
Sapphire had been a pipe dream, yet when he'd first laid eyes on the planet, he had seen its potential. He'd told his men that it would be a haven for their kind... and it was... but it could be so much more, he knew.
These people coming in, he thought, they've got weapon and honor and a nation, but I've got a planet, and people.
Not all of those people did what he wanted them to do. Slavers and some of the worst scum of pirates had moved in, but so had some merchants and smugglers. Sapphire wasn't paradise, but it was a waystation, a planet on the edge of human space where ports were few and far between.
He pulled his uniform on quickly enough and he didn't have to hide his smile of pleasure as the blue pants and gold-trimmed jacket fit him just as perfectly as when he'd had it tailored. He might have gone to drink, but he'd still kept in shape.
“Let's go,” James said.
***
“I'm James Copley, the King of Sapphire,” a big, ugly man said over the communication link. To Daniel's surprise, the man wore a uniform, though it didn't look to be of any military he recognized.
“King?” Daniel asked. There was a slight delay over the distance, but that would grow shorter as they approached.
“Well, it's a title that will do as well as any, right?” the man responded. “Now, I think I've been polite, who are you?”
“I am Captain Daniel Beeson of the United Colonies Fleet, this is my ship, the UCS Constellation,” Daniel said.
King Copley nodded, “To what do we owe the pleasure of your unexpected arrival, Captain Beeson?”
How polite of you, Daniel thought. “We're on our way through. We need to take on some supplies and we heard about your world.”
“Oh?” Copley seemed excited by that. “Merchants let you know about our little oasis?”
“No, I'm afraid we ran afoul of some
pirates just over six weeks ago,” Daniel said.
Copley scowled at that. “Six weeks... huh, that probably was Arvad and his crew. Waste of oxygen still owed me docking fees when his 'fleet' skipped orbit. I hope you killed them.”
Daniel's eyebrows went up at that. It was more of an honest statement than he had expected. An interesting fellow, this King Copley, he thought. “We captured most of his fleet intact. Many of his crew had committed a number of documented crimes and were executed, some of the others will be spending the rest of their lives in prison.”
“Good,” Copley said. “Well, Captain, as long as your intentions aren't hostile, you are welcome to make port and trade for whatever supplies you need.”
“You seem remarkably calm about a military ship coming into orbit over your world,” Daniel said.
“The way I see it,” Copley replied, “someone was bound to find this place sooner or later. I'd rather be as amenable as possible. And while I'm sure you could blast everything we have in orbit, that won't really help you out much, if that's not what you came here to do, am I right?”
Daniel nodded slightly. It would be far easier to use the local's transport shuttles and infrastructure. “I may be a pirate, but that doesn't mean I don't know how to be useful. While I've never heard of this United Colonies of yours, I can't imagine that they would mind having an outpost out here. We're a bit off the beaten path... but there's a lot of empty systems out here. The war's over with the Chxor, there's no reason that we won't be expanding out this way in a few years.”
“A long-term planner, are you?” Daniel asked as he considered that.
“I set this place up as a trade hub,” Copley replied, “when there was nothing out here but a handful of scavengers fighting over scraps. I've got big dreams.”
“Dreams that include slavery and piracy?”
Copley frowned, “It's not something I like, but they brought in traders and smugglers. Yes, I've profited from it and it's not something I like, but that's just how life is out here on the ragged edge.” He shrugged, “I'd love to get rid of it, but it isn't as if I've a lot of trade partners out here.” His expression practically screamed at Daniel to make him a better offer.
Here I was sort of hoping we could just blast all the pirates back into the stone ages and resupply, Daniel thought absently. Now it looked like he'd end up negotiating... something with this King Copley.
“Well,” Daniel said. “That will have to wait until we can meet in person, I think. How about we agree to avoid any hostilities?”
“No problem,” Copley grinned. “I'll tell my boys not to take potshots at the big scary ship coming into orbit. I'll forward you their transponders so you know who's mine and who isn't.”
“What about the other ships?” Daniel asked.
“Well, I'll tell them to stand down,” Copley smirked, “but half of them are slavers and pirates, so if they take a shot at you, feel free to blast them.” His smile faded a bit, “Oh, and there's a frigate up there called the Widowmaker, leave that one alone, if you would... her Captain is my girlfriend.”
***
“Alright,” Captain Beeson said, as Alannis and the others assigned to the away party stood waiting. “We have three objectives here. Lieutenant Commander Douglass is in charge of the recon team. Your assignment is to evaluate just what is going on down on this planet. The local leader has made me some kind of offer of alliance... maybe even to clean up his act. I want you to find out everything you can and report back.”
Alannis didn't know what all they might learn. It seemed to her that the last people any of the pirates would talk to would be a bunch of men and women in uniform. Still, she wasn't about to say that to the Captain. It was his plan after all.
“Lieutenant Montief will be obtaining foodstuffs and other supplies. Since he's also carrying gold and platinum bullion as trade goods, that's why he has armed Marines with him,” Captain Beeson nodded at the small fire team.
“The last group will be with me. We're going to this Copley's headquarters and I'll discuss things more directly with him,” Captain Beeson said. “If anything goes wrong, get on your comms and contact me. If I don't answer, call the XO here aboard the ship. Worse comes to worse...” he gave a shrug, “we still have the firepower to level this entire place. Hopefully it won't come to that.”
***
Alannis had talked her way into the cockpit again and Chief Petty Officer Darini was at the controls once more. “Things going on, eh, Ensign?”
Alannis snorted, “Not that I really know much. The local pirate chief seems welcoming, the Captain isn't sure this isn't a trap of some kind, now you know as much as I do.”
“Well, it's a pretty world, isn't it, ma'am?” Chief Petty Officer Darini said as they dropped out of the clouds.
“I suppose,” Alannis said. Sapphire looked better than the mystery planet they'd visited. The cobalt blue oceans looked welcoming, though the frigid temperatures she'd seen suggested any swim wouldn't be particularly enjoyable. They swung low over one of the main islands, one of a dozen small island clusters that made up all of the planet's land-mass.
Sapphire City wasn't much, a mix of stone and prefab buildings perched along a harbor area where ocean-going vessels sat docked. The rest of the island was an odd mix of bare, eroded rock and patches of cultivation. Alannis brought up the video from one the plots and shook her head. She could see where soil had been placed and then stabilized to grow crops.
“Place like this,” Chief Petty Officer Darini said, “there's not enough advanced lifeforms, plants or animals, to really get any organic soil. They probably imported all of that, and the bacteria in it, in order to grow what you see there.” He shot her a glance, “place like Sapphire, you save every bit of waste, trash, and even corpses and they all go to making the planet livable.”
Alannis shivered a bit at that. She didn't like the idea of eating something that might have been fertilized with human remains. Then again, she thought, it isn't as if I'll have much choice. The Constellation needed to resupply. The Ghornath battlecruiser had to take on supplies as well and this was the only place to get anything.
Looking at the weathered rock, Sapphire City didn't look anything like a welcoming port. It looked battered and worn and threatening. I have a bad feeling about this, she thought.
***
Reese Leone yawned as he rubbed sleep out of his eyes and checked the time. Ugh, the local star isn't even up yet, he thought, if I wanted to be up this early, I would have stayed in the military. He ignored the chiming of the comm unit that had awakened him for a moment. There was only one person who had the number for that unit, and Reese didn't want to deal with him without a clear head anyway.
He moved over to his bathroom and splashed some water on his face. The amenities were rather rudimentary here, but they were far better than some of the places he'd stayed since becoming a wanted man.
Damn Lucius and damn his vindictive nature, Reese thought. He didn't believe for a second that his former brother-in-law wasn't behind the wanted notices that had appeared on more and more civilized worlds. In the past year alone, he'd had to flee a dozen systems, just ahead of bounty hunters and law enforcement.
I will repay him for that, he thought with a glower. That was part of why he was here, after all. To properly repay Lucius Giovanni and his nascent United Colonies.
He retained that glower as he answered his comm, “What do you want, Rackham?”
The pirate flinched a bit at Reese's glower. Then again, Reese had dealt with far scarier propositions than Jack Rackham in the past few years. Admiral Mannetti makes him look like a school bully, Reese thought. Though Lucretta Mannetti was dead, her backer --and Reese's current patron-- was even more formidable.
“There's a warship that just made orbit,” Rackham said.
“So?” Reese asked. “Pirate vessels make orbit fairly often, Rackham.” In the past two months that he'd been here, trying to find what he needed, there'd be
en at least a dozen pirate vessels that came and went, in addition to various smuggling and slaving vessels.
“No!” Rackham shook his head, “This isn't pirates; it's a military warship. They say they're part of the United Colonies!”
“They say what?!” Reese demanded. That was impossible. The United Colonies had no reason to be here... none besides him. They wouldn't send a whole warship for that... not unless they had some inclination about his mission here.
“It's a cruiser, with transponders that say United Colonies. Word on the streets is that Copley isn't going to put up any kind of fight... that maybe he worked out some kind of deal with them!”
Not much of a surprise there, Reese thought. He didn't want to think about trying to fight a cruiser with the random assortment of pirate vessels and slaver ships found around Sapphire. While they might be able to take a cruiser in some kind of ambush, they'd be nothing but prey in a real fight.
“How much does Copley know about our business?” Reese demanded. There was every possibility that the pirate king had already sold him out and that a strike team was on its way now. Reese turned away from his screen and began to pack his bags.
“Nothing!” Rackham said. From the strength of his denial, that suggested he'd told Copley something at least. Probably drunken bragging about the wealth Reese promised for his services. If he wasn't my only lead, Reese thought, I'd have him killed for incompetence.
“Well,” Reese said, “You had better hope he doesn't know anything. Contact your supplier. Tell him that we can't wait any longer. It's time for him to call or fold. We'll meet him at his warehouse in one hour.”
