by Taylor Smith
“Thank you, Captain Johns. Ensign Marks out.” The channel closed.
“Captain Johns?” Cade laughed.
“Hey, I was thinking on my feet. Besides, Captain Neese would have given us away,” Andy responded.
Cade’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Why? Do they know you?” He asked. Cade saw Andy had turned to look at him squarely and didn’t respond for a moment. It only made Cade more curious, but also a little nervous.
“Naw,” Andy said and turned around without explaining. “Get some rest.”
***
Several hours later, after a brief nap and a shower, Cade felt recharged. Andy had also awakened the doctor from her transit tube. She was less than pleased, but was able to redress Cade’s wounds and give him some mild pain killers for his leg.
Andy had decided that they shouldn’t wake the entire crew up. Or rather, what was left of the crew. They’d been stunned when they finally restored power and found that nearly a third of the crew had died in their tanks, including several dents which hit Cade the hardest. The damage taken from Valiant had severed several major power relays and cut power to three sections that housed the sleeping crew. The tanks had backups, but they ran out hours before they were able to restore power.
Even with plenty of people to run the ship, Andy had decided that they should wake up as few people as possible until they got home. After learning what Torbeck had done, he wasn’t sure who to trust, or how far down the treason had gone. The Reaper now ran on a skeleton crew.
“Nearing the pod,” Cade announced, comfortably sitting at the helm again. The Reaper was much larger than the Grim Shoals, but he found it more responsive and easier to maneuver than his former frigate. Even with one good arm and one eye. He was lucky his implant hadn’t been damaged in the attack on the Grim Shoals, but even with it he didn’t think he could handle the grappling system in his current state.
“Good,” Andy responded from the command chair. “Come up slow, Cade. We know there are people in there, but it could still be some sort of trick.”
“Aye, Captain,” Cade responded. He knew Andy was still uncomfortable with the title, so he used it as much as he could along with an inward grin.
Andy nodded to Criss who activated the channel again and said, “Ensign Marks, this is the Kray. We’re coming along side and will dock momentarily.”
The response was immediate, “Acknowledged Kray. We see you.”
There was that word again. “Captain,” Cade said and waited for Andy to mute the channel. “She keeps saying the word ‘we’. How many people do those things hold?”
“It varies,” Andy answered. “This is one of the smaller pods. I’d say it holds ten, tops. That brings up a good point though.” He turned back to Criss and said, “Open a separate channel to engineering.” He waited for his comms expert’s nod and said, “Finn. Grab five crew and arm them, then head to the port airlock. We don’t expect surprises, but we don’t know for sure what we’re getting into.”
“Aye, Captain,” came the response.
Cade nodded, feeling a bit more comfortable with the situation, then rechecked his systems. “Docking in ten seconds,” he reported, then guided the cruiser up beside the pod, very gently aligning the Reapers airlock with the pod’s hatch. “Docking.”
“Merchant vessel, my ass,” came another woman’s voice over the speakers.
Both Cade and Andy winced.
“They must have seen us through the ports in the pod,” Andy commented.
“And the battle damage,” Cade added, then said, “Docked. Tight seal. We’ve got them.”
“This is going to be interesting. Cade you’re with me. Ms. Hulbert, keep an eye on things,” Andy said as they left the bridge.
The two made their way through the ship slowly, so Cade could keep up. His limp had become aggravating to him, and he couldn’t wait to get to Clew and get patched up. He felt less than useless, but Andy hadn’t mentioned his shortcomings once, and even expected him at the helm instead of waking up his lead pilot Cassidy, which Cade appreciated. After thinking about it though, Cassidy was grouchy. Maybe that was the reason Andy had insisted on keeping Cade at nav.
“Ok,” Andy said when they arrived at the port airlock. There were several other Reaper crew that waited, all armed and weary. “Let’s see what we’ve got. Open her up, Finn.”
Finn, a short man with a bulging belly and grease marks all over, waddled up to the inner airlock controls and entered the sequence that would open the outer doors.
Cade watched through the window, gazing into the airlock as the outer doors swished open to reveal the escape pods hatch. The metal was gleaming white and looked brand new, a stark contrast to the gun metal toned Reaper.
Andy activated the intercom pressed it. “Out of the pod! Hands where we can see them!” he shouted.
After several tense seconds, the hatch opened to reveal the business end of an Alliance issue assault rifle.
Chapter 12
Haley fired, the rifle still set on wide-area stun, and flinched as the weapon activated. A wave of energy spread out into the empty airlock only to stop at the inner door where several faces peered through the windows at her. Laughing.
“Well it was worth a shot,” Saundi said behind her in a deflated voice.
Haley’s shoulder’s drooped, and she let the rifle fall to the floor of the pod. She took a deep breath and held her hands up. “Yeah. Worth a shot.”
Their hope had been dashed as their rescuers neared. Once they were close enough, Haley recognized the silhouette of the pirate ship they’d engaged previously. Though she didn’t need to know what the pirate ship looked like, as the many weapon emplacements along the hull told her it was not a merchant.
“Step into the airlock,” a voice crackled over the speaker. Haley recognized it immediately as Captain Johns, if that was truly his name.
They slowly exited the pod and stood motionless in the airlock. Several muffled whistles and hoots could be heard from the other side of the door. Haley was immediately nervous. She looked at Saundi to see her friend betraying no such emotion.
“Turn around, slowly,” the voice demanded.
Haley sighed as they both slowly turned in a full circle, and then jumped as the outer doors closed behind them, blocking their escape back into the pod. Not like the pod would do them any good now, though.
The inner doors opened and they were greeted by more than several rifle and pistol barrels wielded by a very dangerous looking bunch. Most of the men and women in front of them wore jackets emblazoned with the Jolly Roger. ‘Reaper’ was stitched beneath the skull and cross swords. All wore scowls.
“Here’s how this is going to work,” said a man who walked toward them. He was taller than Haley and maybe a bit older, but not by much. He had a dangerous look about him, and his voice held an air of command. “I try to consider myself a gentleman, so I’ll give you two choices, although neither of you deserve it. We can escort you to our brig, or we can throw you in it.”
“You gonna give us a pat down too? I bet you will,” Saundi said with a flare of her hand. “You look like you haven’t seen a genuine smile from a girl your entire life, pirate pig.”
Haley sighed dramatically. “Saundi…” she whispered desperately but the damage was done, and the man in charge motioned to several of his crew. She watched helplessly as they carried Saundi away kicking and shouting obscenities.
She held her hands up and said, “I’ll go.” She didn’t have any fight left. She’d spent all her courage trying to get her and Saundi off the Valiant, and her stay in the pod had drained any spare nerve she had left. Then from the corner of her eye, she saw the man that outed Andrelli standing behind several other pirates. “You,” she said quietly when she spotted him. He was still handsome, more than that, he didn’t look as murderous as he had on the main screen a day ago. The bandages across his head and left arm looked fresh, and he had a look of curiosity, not hate. He was the only one she
could tell who wore a sword. A true swashbuckler, she thought.
“Good,” came the other man’s voice, and she turned back to him. “This way.” He motioned down the corridor, the same direction they took Saundi.
“My friend,” she began as they walked, worried about Saundi.
“Will not be harmed,” the man said less than pleasantly.
Haley decided to leave it at that. She trusted nothing the pirate said. She could only hope that his word was true, which she doubted. She was confused at how they were still around. When they vanished she was sure they were gone for good. That hope crashed down around them as the pirate ship neared the pod.
As they walked, Haley noticed her surroundings for the first time. Instead of the pristine white metal corridors and cleaning bots scurrying about, this ship had a dark grey tinge to it and a design she couldn’t place. The corridors were ribbed, similar to Alliance ships, but the bulkheads were much thicker, and the walls and floors had the look of years of use. She could faintly smell burnt wiring and sweat still lingering in the air.
“In here for now,” the man said as they rounded a corner. The room he indicated was a small compartment. It held only one table and two chairs facing each other. She froze at the sight of an interrogation room. The man must have sensed her panic.
“Only a few questions, I promise. We’re not in the business of breaking fingers or chopping toes here.”
“Not funny,” she said, not budging from the doorway.
“Ensign Marks,” a familiar voice grabbed her attention. She turned to see the man with the bandages across his head and eye. “We’re not going to hurt you. We just have a few questions.”
She eyed the man for a moment, noticing the change in his voice from the first time she heard it. “I won’t tell you anything.”
The man with the bandages stepped closer to her. He smelled clean although his clothes and coat looked like they’d seen days of use. “You helped kill everyone aboard my ship” he said in an even tone, lightly rimmed with anger. “You owe me a couple questions at the very least.”
Haley paled. “I didn’t know,” she was able to say.
The man put a gentle hand on her arm and said, “I’d like to understand. Please sit down.”
She had no choice but to enter the room and sit in the far chair. She found herself shaking and quickly took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. She glanced up and found the two men talking in the corridor and nodding as if agreeing on something. The man who called himself Captain Johns left, and the man with the bandages entered the room and shut the door behind him.
“What are you going to do with us?” she asked.
The man stood silently for a moment then crossed his right arm over the sling that held his left. “I’ll make a deal with you,” he started slowly. “A question for a question.”
Haley squinted at him in thought. He would obviously be asking about tactical abilities of ships, fleet movements and perhaps even weak cargo facilities or freight routes. He was a pirate after all. “Ok. What are you – “.
“Me first,” he said and sat down. “What’s your name?” he asked.
She noticed the man tried to hide a wince as he sat. “Ensign Marks, Allied Fleet. Currently – .“
“No,” he interrupted again. “I don’t care about your rank or your murderous Allied Fleet. What do I call you? And I won’t call you Ensign Marks.”
She flinched at his description of the Allied Fleet. “Haley,” she said quietly.
“Haley,” the man said as if trying it out. “I’m Cade.”
She nodded at him, remembering this was an interrogation and not a lunch date. “What are you going to do with us?” she asked immediately knowing it was her turn.
Cade leaned back and said, “I honestly don’t know. That will be decided by people far above my station. We’re not going to hurt you, if that’s what you’re worried about.” He shrugged and continued. “We’re not in the business of killing pretty Ensigns, but we are in the business of hurting those who hurt us.”
She had almost smiled at the mention of her being pretty, then nearly recoiled at the end of his statement. She had to take a deep breath and remember where she was. She was in big trouble, and she suddenly wondered about Saundi. She hoped she was ok.
“What can you tell me about your captain. Andrelli,” he said, the name rolling like acid off his tongue.
Haley’s mood darkened and she suddenly found herself so far outside Alliance protocols she barely cared. “He’s a murderous bastard who deserves to die.”
Cade’s eyes widened in surprise. “Really,” he said leaning toward her. “Did he do that?” he asked pointing at her eye.
She shied away, embarrassed, and then quickly regained herself. She kept feeling like the man in front of her wasn’t a killer pirate as she’d been lead to believe. It was an interrogation tactic, she was sure. He was trying to make her feel comfortable, so she’d talk. But the more she thought about it, the question’s he’d asked weren’t even close to confidential, nor would they put the Alliance in danger. She nodded.
“Tell me about why you two were in that pod while– “.
“My turn,” she interrupted and thought she’d caught a glimmer of a grin from him. She thought for a moment and decided to find out just who Cade was. “How many people have you killed?”
Cade seemed confused by the question but then shrugged and said, “One.”
Haley didn’t believe him. “One. Seriously?”
“Torbeck,” Cade nodded. “I put Captain Kova’s sword through his back when I caught him talking to Andrelli about giving up my friends for slaughter.”
“Captain Kova?” Haley asked, confused then looked down at Cade’s beltline where the sword hung, as if she could see through the table. “That sword?”
Cade nodded. “Kova commanded the Grim Shoals. He gave me this sword just before you killed him and everyone aboard but me. You remember the Grim Shoals, don’t you? The ship you destroyed several weeks ago,” he said evenly, a small amount of anger returning to his voice.
She leaned back as if trying to deflect some of that hate and said, “Look. Cade,” she started shaking her head. “I graduated from Fleet Academy a month ago. I was assigned to the Valiant, and when I got there – “ she faltered.
“When you got there, what?” he asked, prodding her to continue.
Haley took a deep breath and said, “When Saundi and I arrived on the Valiant, it was like nothing I’d been prepared for. The crew was hateful. Our X.O. was even worse.” She shook her head, leaned forward and said, “My first captain literally told me I was unwanted and a waste of a trip within the first five minutes of meeting him. Can you imagine that?” she asked, tears welling up uncontrolled. “After everything I went through, top of my class, I’m dismissed like garbage by my first command.”
Cade watched, captivated, as emotions cascaded through the woman across from him. He could imagine. In fact, he lived it. “Mine put a bag over my head and threw me out of an airlock.”
Haley froze, staring at him for long moments and finally burst out laughing. She didn’t know why that was so funny, except for the fact that she wasn’t expecting him to out class her in the area of new-recruit-abuse. “What?” She was finally able to ask between breaths.
Cade had grown a grin as she laughed. “Well, it wasn’t a real airlock, but I couldn’t see anything. It was the bridge, and they’d set up the countdown and everything. Then they sprayed me with fire extinguishers when the count hit zero.”
Laughter consumed Haley once more as she imagined it.
“Ok,” Cade said, becoming more serious, “it wasn’t that funny.”
This only made her laugh more. “But it is,” she was able to squeak out between laughs. “Oh, that must have been terrible.” She was finally able to control herself and took another deep breath. Wiping the tears of mixed sadness and laughter, she said, “This wasn’t hazing. Saundi and I knew something was wron
g with the entire operation when Andrelli murdered the survivors of,” she had to pause and glance at the ship name on his jacket, “the Grim Shoals. Then he had the cargo ship crew murdered and tried to cover it up as if you had done it.”
Cade tilted his head in wonder. “Why was he trying to cover it up? He’s Alliance. Who does he have to hide from?”
“The crew of the Valiant!” she half-shouted. “Or at least some of his officers.” Haley paused for a moment. She thought she saw a small glimmer of realization in him. “Oh, my god,” she said in a panic.
Cade snapped out of his thoughts. “What?”
She could tell he was surprised, so she spoke quickly. “Cade, what Andrelli has done, what Andrelli has been doing, is not who or what the Alliance is. He’s gone against everything the Alliance stands for! He is a monster! Not the Alliance! There’s no way command knows what he’s doing out here. They’d never stand for it! He’s deleting logs and data. He’s probably been covering his tracks for the entire time they’ve been out here!”
Cade sat back and eyed her with interest after what she’d said. “How do you know all this?”
Haley sighed and let her head fall. She may as well spill it, so she did. She went through her entire experience on board the Valiant, including stealing the data and escaping in the pod. She kept the story at a high level and made sure she wouldn’t be giving anything sensitive away. The more she thought about it though, everything about Andrelli was sensitive.
Her thoughts went to the drives. It was only time before they found them, so she may as well use them to her advantage. She shook her head, took the data units from her pocket and held them up. “This is everything we have on Andrelli. We were going to take it straight to the Admiralty and expose him.”
Cade, obviously digesting the story she’d told him, looked at the small black devices she held. “I’m going to need those,” he said slowly as if she’d just shown him a bomb.
