“Captain,” he said. “What’s going on out there? We show that we’ve just lost…”
“Commander,” he mumbled. “They just destroyed two life pods. Inform the prime,” he ordered, still in disbelief. He added, “I’ve ordered the pods and ships to use evasive maneuvers.” Commander Jackey frowned and nodded. “Eisen out.”
Commander J'Dar studied Captain Eisen. The captain glared back at him. He knew why the commander was staring at him.
“Mar’Ki, we can’t approach. I also think it’s a desperate ploy to take us down. Agreed?”
J’Dar huffed. He replied, “I’d rather trade a banged up battlecruiser for those lives.”
“Yes, but once we are ‘banged up’ we won’t be able to do anything if the Ambulas goes elsewhere. This won’t be their only play!”
J’Dar looked at the hologram of the Ambulas. He looked at the laser turrets and waited. He noticed the position of the 471 rescue ships and the 271 life pods escaping for their lives.
He said with a soft tone, “Mial,” The captain looked at him with apprehension and dismay. “This is war… I would think.” He looked at the faces of the bridge crew and realized what it all meant. “We are at war this very moment. That’s what this is. War.”
Captain Eisen asked, “Mar’Ki? Are you taking over my ship?”
“Oh, no! No, Mial. Captain. Carry on, please. I need to discuss this with the prime, later. I think we need to keep doing what we’re doing. We’ll wait for the laser. Ms. Ellswood? Contact the Dorian Surge and the Edsen Tide. Update them and have them report their progress in finding a laser.”
…
Meanwhile, Rena waited for the workers to remove large sharp stone after stone. Janek, very interested in the search, stood apart from them and watched. He wondered about the device. She had not yet told anyone what it was or what it was for.
She decided it best to begin the search at the rear of the deep cavern. Two of the tunnels had been cleared of fallen rocks and caved in walls. After careful inspection, they discovered nothing.
“Three more to go,” Jak uttered as he looked at a disgusted pirate queen. She sighed deeply.
“It has to be in one of those other three. Let’s go,” she ordered.
The cavern was filled with workers, each worker standing side by side, handing large rocks to the man or woman beside him. They cleared another large opening bucket-brigade style. Rena entered the third – nothing. They all moved to the fourth, the tension mounting. She screamed within herself, “We should have found it by now! Nova! Tell me it’s here!” The workers formed another long line and slowly removed rock after rock, making slow progress deep into the fourth tunnel.
Rena said, “This has to be it. See how deep this one goes?”
Nell said, “That’s what I would think but maybe that’s what ‘he’ wants us to think. I bet it’s in the first tunnel. We should have started there.”
“Nell!” Rena belted. “Stop it! This is stressful enough.”
Jak, not wanting to wait any longer, had the workers stop. He was able to climb over large piles of rocks not yet removed. His curiosity getting the better of him.
“Be careful!” Nell said. “He blasted the tops of these tunnels. They could be unstable.”
“I know! Leave me alone!” He looked down toward the end of the tunnel and shined his light. “Ah! Nothing!”
Rena sighed again. “One left. Let’s everyone go.”
They all followed her to the first of the tunnels. This tunnel appeared to be as long as the fourth. After much work and much time they finally started to make their way deeper into the tunnel. The large piles of heavy rocks and small boulders made for a very tedious undertaking. A few fallen rocks from the ceiling of the tunnel gave added stress to the search. Jak was ready to go in and climb over piles of rocks but as another handful of rocks fell from the ceiling, he decided waiting would be wiser. The job became painstakingly slow. The workers stopped twenty feet into the tunnel.
“Queen,” a man exclaimed. We’re almost through. Close enough to climb over! Want me to go?”
Rena looked at Jak, expecting him to answer the challenge. He just waved his hand to the smaller thinner man. The man started to climb the pile of rocks in an effort to peer through the rubble and see what was on the other side. Minutes later he disappeared from their view.
Jak yelled, “Are you through?”
“I’m through!”
Rena screamed to herself, “It has to be there! Tell me it’s there! Everything says it’s here!”
“Hello?” Jak called again.
“I’m walking to the back.”
Moments later he reappeared, climbing over the rock pile. Rena was about to shoot him for withholding valuable information. The man rested on the rock pile, out of breath, and looking disappointed.
“I’m sorry, my queen. The tunnel is empty.”
Rena gaped and glared at the man then at Jak, Nell, and Janek.
“What?” she asked.
…
“Terra, it’s not foolish. I don’t care if it’s lost forever. It should be destroyed if I had my way!”
Disgusted, Boone walked back into the bathroom and picked up his shirt.
“Boone?” Terra asked. “What are you saying? What are your intentions?”
He stepped out of the bathroom and was buttoning up his shirt. He answered, “Don’t worry, Terra. My intentions are getting the device and delivering it to whoever the court says to deliver it to – Commander J’Dar!”
Terra looked at Kola, Lorin, and Phia. Then she looked at Boone. “Can we have your word on that?”
Boone gazed at her, sitting on her bed and looking as though she needed to stay there. She looked exhausted and fragile with her hair missing on the back left side of her head, her face and left arm still dotted with tiny scars and faint bruises, and part of her right arm was still wrapped in bandages. A sign that skin grafts were still in process of healing. He saw her determination and strong will to fight. He finished buttoning his shirt and walked up to her.
“Terra,” he said in a compassionate tone. “I give you my word on that. OK?”
She just nodded.
“Can I have your word on something? Terra?”
As she looked at him, she too noticed what the battle had done to his body. He was as willing to give himself for the battle as much as she. She feared his question.
“Boone. Please? Don’t ask me.”
“Terra, can I have your word on something?”
Terra glanced at Lorin, Phia, and Kola. Only Lorin realized what Terra feared for she had stubbornly fought with Boone many times during the gamma mission.
“I need you, Terra, but I need…”
“Fine!” she blurted. “You have my word! I’ll follow your orders!”
Boone saw her anger but he also saw her dedication. He sat down next to her on her bed. He carefully put his arm around her shoulder. She bowed her head in frustration and hid a tear.
“Terra, I know you want to lead. I know you hate being told what to do and I know you want to be the one who goes in first. You want to be the one who protects everyone else, the one who should face the danger, and the one who decides who should stay behind. You hate taking the back seat.”
With her head still bowed, she nodded and wiped a small tear. “Yes. I ‘have’ to do those… those things, Boone. I can’t have it any other way.” She looked up at him, unashamed at the tears. “Please don’t ask me to sit back while everyone else…”
“Terra, we are going to do this my way. You know what your problem is?”
She laughed, “Oh, yes! I know!”
“You’re just like me,” he said. “You and I want the very same things. Terra, your time to lead hasn’t come yet. OK? Can you accept that? It will come! Take this time to… to get ready because I know that you’re never really ready for anything. Can I have your word? Terra?”
She looked at him and nodded. “Yeah. You have my word. I
’ll listen to you. On ‘this mission!’”
They all laughed.
“So, we need the Night Star. I have plans I’m working out.”
Boone sat down on his bed, put his shoes on, and started to tie the laces.
Lincoln entered, overhearing the plans Boone was making. He came and stood next to Lorin and Phia.
“You think the Night Star should lead the mission? Is that because of the device? Because I can get you any ship in the fleet! These ships are three times faster than that slow gunship of yours.”
“Ha!” Mace blurted, following the investigator’s footsteps. Lincoln looked at him slightly annoyed. “The Night Star might be slow but…”
Jona interrupted, “I’ll take the Night Star over any ship or battlecruiser the High Guard or anyone else has. She’s got one thing no one else has!”
“Oh, no,” Lorin chuckled as did everyone. “I know what you’re going to say, Jona.”
“What’s that?” Lincoln asked. “What does the Night Star have that we don’t?” He looked at Boone. “Some secret weapon?”
“Yep,” Jona answered. “She’s got ‘Boone Nova.’” Everyone chuckled.
Terra said, “Get used to this, Lincoln. They’re always like this and they’ll never change.”
“Boone,” Lincoln said. “I’m being serious! We can’t trust your ship in a serious dogfight! Can we? And you’re telling me your ship is better than…than ships like Terra’s new ship? Seriously, Boone?”
“Sir,” Terra interrupted. “I’ve been there. I’m a believer, now. He can work wonders with that ship. Believe me.” He looked at her, puzzled by the remark. She added, “I don’t have time to explain. I think we need to seriously get moving but on our last mission…” Terra paused when she recalled the many arguments she had with Boone and his team. “Sir, I’ll fill you in later but every time I objected to Boone’s ‘crazy and unusual’ methods I learned most of the time he was right about everything. In the end, I was glad we did things his way. I’m asking you to trust me and trust him.”
Lincoln looked at her then at Boone. “One thing is true, we don’t have time to waste. Boone? You want us all in that… uh, the Night Star?”
“No. I think we will need Terra’s ship, the Wildfire, also.”
“Yes!” Jona shouted as he clenched his fist and shook it up and down. “I like the Wildfire!”
Mace said, “Jona! You’ve never been in the Wildfire! How can you say, ‘I like the Wildfire’ if…”
“Guys!” Pryce said. He shot them a glare and they chuckled as they quieted. Pryce shook his head from side to side because of their foolishness. He sat down by Terra and she quickly slipped her good arm around his. He smiled at her then continued, “Boone, we’ve got Kola and his team – Gunner, Goss, Chopak, and Viel. That’s five! Two investigators - Lincoln and Terra – that’s seven!”
“Uh, three investigators. I’m going on this mission!” Phia ordered.
“Lieutenant Sa’vo, we don’t even know you! Who are you? What are you doing here?”
Boone held up his hand, “Pryce, I know this is very complicated. Can I address this once we get underway? Please?”
Pryce replied with a glare but listened to his friend. “That’s… eight, now. Then there’s us four. That’s twelve, Boone. It’s too many. Isn’t it?”
“No, I’ve got a plan.”
“Oh, no. A plan!” Lorin interjected. “Can I watch?”
Everyone laughed except Lincoln, Kola, and Phia but Lorin explained the comment to them regarding how Boone came up with his plans.
“We’re taking the Night Star, the Kori Dane, and the Wildfire. Logistics will be later. Now, we need to go get our supplies. Terra, are you sure you’re ready, physically?”
“Boone, don’t even say it. I’m ready.”
Pryce frowned at her eagerness. Their eyes locked and Terra realized his concern for her. He really wanted to talk to her privately but he also knew she wouldn’t take no for an answer. She also knew he would try to talk her into staying behind.
Boone replied, “OK, you need to take it slow, at first. You take Kola and Lincoln and go get our supplies. Use your ship. Don’t forget the food. OK? Also, everyone, no High Guard uniforms. You can have I.D.’s, but no uniforms. We will be in ‘covert mode’ as I like to call it.”
Terra nodded. Then she motioned for Kola and Lincoln to follow her. “Boone? Where are we prepping?” she asked.
Kola answered, “How about the royal tarmac?”
Boone said, “OK. We’ll all meet there in an hour.”
Everyone nodded.
Chapter 12
The life pods received an order from the Sim-Sa Gale to periodically thrust to their port side then their starboard side intermittently. They were told the laser from the Ambulas could only target a stationary target or a target moving away from them in a straight line. If the pods were able to thrust to port and starboard, it would be nearly impossible for them to be struck with the five laser turrets of the Ambulas. The maneuvers, though, only caused more stress for the occupants.
“Sim-Sa Gale,” Major Banks echoed through the COM. “Some of my ships have already retrieved some pods. Copy?”
“We copy! Great job!” the captain replied. “Continue evasive maneuvers, everyone, especially when you latch onto the pods. Copy?”
“Copy that, Sir. I estimate the last pod retrieval to be in eleven minutes. Banks out.”
Captain Eisen sat down in his chair as Commander J'Dar looked on. J’Dar nodded his head up and down, satisfied that good results were finally coming. J’Dar strolled over to Ms. Ellswood.
“Sir,” she said. “I already know your question. If the last pod is retrieved in eleven minutes then it should be here in three hours and twenty-seven minutes.”
J’Dar turned and looked at the captain.
“No!” Captain Eisen uttered. “I know what you’re thinking. I’m not getting us any closer to those ships. If…”
“I understand,” J’Dar said. “That’s not what I’m thinking.”
Captain Eisen exhaled a sigh of relief. “Then what?”
“We’ll have to return them to O'bipherion.”
“Yes,” he nodded, still wondering what the commander was getting at.
“I don’t want to leave this battle. We have to find a way to engage the Ambulas. I’m not going to just let that… that battlecruiser, that’s what it is! You know?”
“Yes, Commander. It is a battlecruiser!”
“If we have to go back to O'bipherion, where will the Ambulas go next?”
Ms. Ellswood entered the conversation, “Commander, what if the Ambulas follows us? What’s to stop it from… from doing anything it wants to?”
“That’s my thought!” J’Dar exclaimed.
Captain Eisen stood and approached the commander and Ms. Ellswood. Just as they thought they were having some success with the rescue, great trepidation overtook the bridge once again.
“Jamisen,” J’Dar said. “Open a COM to the Tide and the Surge. We need to discuss this with Captain Koine and Captain Kapavon.”
…
“I’m sorry, my queen. The tunnel is empty.”
Rena gaped and glared at the man then at Jak and Nell.
“What?” she asked. “It can’t be! Jak!”
Jak grabbed a bright light and climbed over the rocks and into the tunnel. He was going to find out for himself. A minute later he reappeared.
“He’s right. There’s nothing here,” he uttered in disappointment. “I’m sorry.”
Rena stood shocked. Her mouth gaped, her eyes were glaring at him, and her face was turning red with anger. She took a few steps toward the center of the cavern and looked around. Janek watched and wondered what this device was and what it could do. He picked up his scanner and started scanning the walls of the cavern.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Ever hear of ‘false walls?’ Holographic?”
“Yes!�
� she watched him as he slowly turned and scanned the walls of the cavern. “You think one of these walls is a hologram? A tunnel?”
“No,” he said as he glanced at her. “But, it’s worth checking out.”
“Who else has a scanner?” she asked.
No one had one, so Janek scanned every part of the cavern with Rena right behind him.
“So, queen? Do you have a name?”
“No, actually. And no one will ever know me other than ‘queen.’ Why?”
“Strange, is all?” he said. He glanced at her. “Have a boyfriend?”
“Ha,” she uttered. “Yes. And don’t even try to play me. I know what you’re doing. Just finish the scan.”
He finished, closed the scanner, and looked at her. “I’d like to know what this device is. I’d like to know why it’s lost, who put it here or wherever it is, and I’d like to know what you’re going to do with it. Because I can tell you this, it’s not in the cavern.”
She huffed, “The device is vital to my plans. It’s vital to our network. It belonged to the 5th prime, we stole it then… then… uh,” she moaned. “Boone Nova!”
“Boone! You know him?”
“Oh, yes! And soon, if not already, he’s dead! Why? Do you know him?”
“You can say that,” he answered with anger in his voice. “He and I are long-time enemies. We go way back.”
She gazed at him, wondering. “Well, I’d have a lot of questions for you, if he were alive. But, I’m sure he’s dead now.”
“Oh, yeah,” he muttered. “That’s too bad. He may be the only one who knows where the device is.”
She sighed and scowled, realizing the truth of it.
“I can’t believe it’s not here!” she said as she turned to the workers. “Everything here tells me it is! He was here. His ship was in this cavern!”
“Queen,” someone said. “What about the other caves?”
“Everyone!” she shouted. “Break up into teams of two. Half take this side of the valley and half take the other side. Search every cave! Search every inch of that valley! Kill every kukupa! I’m going to go get your dinner. Tonight, you will feast and drink! Are you with me?”
BOONE NOVA AND THEPIRATE QUEEN Page 11
