“If you were to join them, I would counteract your involvement by linking this arrangement with your other recent escapades. The episodes of the OrCons destroying our house on Ulatar, Fusilier destroying Redemption, and Brie mercenaries attacking Agra 2 would be put out again in the media. The overall theme would be the Goths using allies and surrogates to do their dirty work for them… again. This time they are using an imported crazy man from halfway across the universe.” Hawkins paused now. “I realize you might not care about your reputation, but there would be other fallout from you actively supporting them. You know we got the three Goth ships remaining from the force that attacked on our settlement on Ulatar. Your Navy repaired and moved them to the far border with the Aurora Empire, but it wasn’t far enough away. You may not know we also got the two OrCon battlecruisers that fired on Ulatar. Republic and Citizen were both destroyed by pirate missiles at the Battle of the Electra system. Any Goldenes Tor ships who actively hunt with the Commonwealth squadron will be marked and treated the same way.” Hawkins leaned toward the screen. “Admiral, you give them intel and supplies, no problem. You hunt with them and support them in battle, big problem.” He leaned back. “I know Admiral Hochstadt will do what she will do. She is new here. You’ve spent a career here. Tell her the ramifications of joining up with the new kids in town. Regardless of how this plays out, they will go home, and you will be left with the cleanup.”
Dietrich was unmoved. “I’m surprised you care so deeply about our public relations.”
“I don’t. I just want to ensure the Commonwealth problem does not get bigger for me or you. If you actively help them out here in vacuum, I assure you the Commonwealth problem will get bigger for you.” He spoke softly now. “If this Commodore lives down to his reputation, you will regret helping him. The powers-that-be on Rialta don’t trust him so there is no reason for you to. You should sit this one out.”
Again, Dietrich was impassive. “I will pass your concerns on to Admiral Hochstadt.” He paused and then added in a slightly sarcastic tone, “Perhaps you would care to address these concerns to her in person.”
Hawkins ignored the sarcasm and grabbed the offer. “An excellent idea, Admiral! That would be better. A meeting might be beneficial to all of us. How about Destiny’s on Lorelei? Six days?”
Hawkins smiled at Dietrich as he waited for a reply. The Goth Admiral now realized the real reason for this comm call. A meeting with Admiral Hochstadt. And he had stepped right into the trap by suggesting it himself. The fact it was meant as a sarcastic retort would be lost when this reached Admiral Hochstadt and she heard of his words to Hawkins.
Dietrich nodded noncommittedly. “That might be a good idea.” He spoke in a neutral tone while making a show of looking at his watch. “I am sorry, but I have to run. A previous appointment.” He gave his own insincere smile. “Your Grace, do be well.”
Rafe matched the insincerity. “I will try. Do give Deputy Chancellor Attus a hug from me.”
Dietrich was cut short for just a moment but recovered. “I promise.”
Rafe nodded at Dietrich. “Bye.” He was gone.
Dietrich leaned back in his seat as he reviewed the just completed conversation. Hawkins did not seem surprised at the possibility of other Marbellan ships running around the Badlands. He clearly knew they were here and probably knew their exact location. Hell, they could already be a part of Pirate Flotilla One and just waiting for the main body to return before embarking on their own pirate careers. Dietrich did not want to dwell on that possibility.
He now pondered the meeting offer. He thought a meeting between Hawkins and Admiral Hochstadt might have some value. Hochstadt could view him close up. If Hawkins brought his senior lieutenants, even better. Killian O’Hare had to be seen to be believed. There is always value in meeting your adversaries FTF and sizing them up. If nothing else, Hochstadt would realize the difference between the Badlands and everywhere else in the universe. He turned to his computer to send a P4 to Admiral Hochstadt before preparing for his dinner.
After Hawkins signed off, he turned to Tactical and Baby Doll. Tactical spoke first. “He will forward the conversation to Hochstadt. It will give them something to think about.”
Rafe nodded. “I suspect the Goths have had enough of other people’s warships wondering around the Badlands on their own agenda. The fallout from the OrCon raid cost Beck his command and damaged the Goth reputation. I don’t think they will hunt with the Commonwealth but would be more than happy to swoop in if an opportunity to hit us becomes apparent.” He switched topics. “I agree he will forward the offer for a meeting. I also think Hochstadt will buy off on it.”
Tactical, ever practical, got to the basics immediately. “Want me to contact Destiny to confirm the tentative arrangement we set up with her?”
Rafe nodded immediately. The offer for a meeting had not been a spur of the moment idea. He had been thinking about it for weeks and several messages were sent to establish potential timelines. “Please do. Attendees will be all of us, O’Hare, Blondie as Zeke liaison officer, and Captain Cassidy. The Goths can bring whoever they want as long as the numbers don’t get out of control.”
“That works,” Tactical responded. “Destiny will set up security to ensure no surprises. I assume no weapons in the room.”
Rafe nodded in agreement. “Get hold of Destiny to ensure she sends the message to the Goths with all the pertinent details for the meeting. We’ll act like the meeting is a certainty. It will be harder for them to turn down a major figure like Destiny if she offers to host the meeting. They know her opinion carries weight here. Once the meeting is confirmed, we’ll come up with a list of topics and organize a plan of attack.”
Everyone nodded. Rafe went on to another subject. “Since we are talking meetings, we should set up a potential rendezvous with the Commonwealth guy, too.”
Tactical nodded. “Safe room only, right?”
“Yeah. I don’t trust this guy FTF outside the safe room. See if we can get the meeting set up before the Goth meeting. Maybe we can learn something from Yossian that we can surprise the Goths with.”
Baby Doll joined in. “What intel do we want to know before the meeting? I need to gear up my assets.”
“A couple of things come to mind. Get more background on this guy. The Humanity Commission report is a must read so send a copy to everyone’s computer. We know they have made the rounds in the Badlands while waiting for us. See if they have locked in any planet visits in the near future. Might be good to know. Get hold of Dylan Whitlock. We need the latest info on the Marbellan ships. I know it is a long shot, but I don’t want those two groups running into each other. Last thing we want is a gunfight between the Marbellans and Commonwealth before we’re ready for one.” Hawkins leaned back and closed his eyes. “One more thing. I assume you two are already doing it, but we need a detailed analysis of their ships, tactics, and command structure.” He opened his eyes and looked at all of them. “I hope this Commonwealth thing goes away without a knockdown, drag out fight, but we need to be ready.”
Tactical returned his look. “We’re damn close to ready now. We’ve been running everything we can get through analysis and war games. The Commonwealth won’t surprise us.”
Hawkins nodded. He thought they would have already been on it, but it was nice to have confirmation. He smiled. “I guess we’re good to go then. Break orbit and set course for the middle of nowhere.”
~ ~ ~
Admiral Hochstadt had been touring the Badlands and meeting with governmental, religious, business, and social leaders. She had thought one of the mistakes of her predecessor, Admiral Beck, was not getting out to meet the people and their leaders. She had toured several planets and seen their places of government, work, religious services, and sporting venues. She learned much in conversations and much in what was not said in conversations. Except for the corporation leaders, nobody said a bad word about Raferty Hawkins. She learned slavery and transporting slaves wa
s a growing business despite being outlawed. She learned her Empire was regarded with suspicion and distrust. She learned that the media worked against her side as the various charges made against the Goldenes Tor were backed up by images and were regarded as fact. She was sorry to have to confirm most of the charges were facts, but she would try to make things better. She had just returned to Rosstrappe and was in her quarters preparing to retire when her computer chirped. She almost ignored it, but that had never worked out in the past, so she moved to the screen and read the comm from Dietrich. She shrugged. I’ve met everyone else so why not a pirate, she thought as she sent a quick approval back while informing her staff so they could prepare background. She then retired for the evening.
Chapter 23
Madison Hopkins tilted her head as she spotted the incoming bogeys on sensors. Ships in convoy formation were closing on Predator’s position. “Ten ships closing on us. No squawk.” Raferty was relaxed in his seat. He looked at Hyatt Renaldo at the comm station. “Send challenge.”
“Aye, Captain.”
Minutes passed as the convoy closed on the stationary pirate vessel.
“Lead ship just entered a squawk,” Maddie reported from sensors.
“Squawk checks out with briefed codes,” added Tactical a second later.
“Correct response to challenge on correct discrete freq. Responding with countersign,” Hyatt joined in.
Rafe smiled. “Close on them. Seems we have a rendezvous.”
The ships closed to visual range, and communication was established. Hawkins smiled at the image of Lisa Cassidy. “Welcome to the Badlands, Captain. How was the trip?”
“Quiet and routine, Your Grace. Just the way we want it.” Lisa Cassidy replied from her command seat in the CIC aboard Drake. “We had no trouble crossing and not one contact here in the Badlands.”
“Excellent. You ready to transfer?”
“Affirm.” Cassidy looked down at the closure rate on her floating screen. “Expect to be within close shuttle range in twenty-six minutes. My shuttle is ready.”
“Great. We have the port airlock ready for a hookup. See you shortly.”
The rendezvous was completed and Captain Cassidy transferred to Predator. The pirate ship turned away from the Royal Navy convoy and set course toward Agra 2. Cassidy was met by Hawkins outside the airlock and the two walked to his day cabin. They entered and sat at the briefing table. Already seated were Tactical, Baby Doll, and Blondie. Hawkins began the update. “We are on our way to Agra 2 as we discussed at Hartley. We will be meeting the senior council of the Agra 2 government. They are expecting to hear from me and Captain Cassidy.” Hawkins shrugged at Cassidy. “However, I did omit one pertinent fact regarding this mission. We will not be arriving at Agra 2 in Predator. Too risky that Predator’s appearance there would cause some sort of counter move by the Goths or their mercenary allies. We will be going in aboard another ship.”
“A freighter of some kind?” asked Cassidy.
Rafe gave a slight headshake. “Not exactly. You’ll see once it makes an appearance tomorrow morning. In the meantime, we will update you on all the current intel we have on activities in the Badlands.” He turned to Baby Doll, but she spoke up before he could ask his question. “To answer your obvious question, the brief I am about to give has already been forwarded to all the Royal Navy ships, and I will answer all questions they might forward to me after reading said brief.”
Rafe nodded his thanks and turned back to Cassidy. “Incidentally, our XO is ashore on the mission to undermine the Sunrise investors, and you will be staying in his stateroom for the night. You’ll be sharing a head with Tactical. I apologize for the inconvenience, but we have all available areas packed with supplies and ordnance that we received at Wanderlust so space is at a premium.”
“No problem, Captain.” Cassidy understood the situation and was not put out in the least.
The intel briefing began the update for Cassidy. An operations brief by Tactical followed and Blondie concluded the session with a detailed proposal for Cassidy to present to the Agra 2 leadership. Cassidy combined some of her ideas with that proposal, and the updated offer was printed and given to all to review. The group adjourned for a late evening meal and Cassidy went to her borrowed stateroom for the evening. She retired early.
As she laid in her rack, Lisa reflected on recent events. She had departed Naval HQ only four weeks prior, but it now seemed like years in the past. She could hardly believe her good fortune. An independent command in the Badlands. Sure, her ships were old, and this was not the front lines of the war with the OrCons, but this was heaven compared to where she had been and what she thought her future would be. Cassidy suddenly realized she had not thought of Richard in days. She felt guilty about that, but she knew he would forgive her. He had understood duty and the commitment to it required by those in command. She had been focused on her mission since stepping aboard Drake, and it had been a full-time task. She now said a prayer for her late husband and shut her eyes.
The next morning Cassidy accompanied Tactical to breakfast. An hour later she was on the bridge awaiting the rendezvous with the ship that would take them to Agra 2. Surprisingly, Blondie was not in engineering but was sitting quietly at the laser control station. Cassidy discretely looked over the young officer. She wore her blonde hair in a long braid down her back. She had on worn red overalls with no nametag or insignia. Her dagger was strapped to her right thigh, and she wore beat-up safety boots that looked like they came from her family farm. She slouched in her chair with her hands folded across her midsection as she calmly watched the proceedings while showing no interest in participating in them herself. Cassidy smiled. Blondie had gone native in a hurry, but she then recalled Blondie had been a key figure in the pirate attack on the secret OrCon base six months prior, so Blondie had a several months’ head start on the transition from Royal Navy officer to pirate. She looked completely at home now. Cassidy wasn’t sure why, but she found she envied the young woman.
“We’re at the rendezvous coordinates,” Tactical spoke from her ops station.
“Eli, do a slow level circle. We want them to hear us.” Rafe said from his command chair. He now looked expectantly at Maddie Hopkins as she listened on white phones. She sensed his eyes on her, and she shook her head in response while continuing to listen intently. Cassidy quietly watched from behind the captain’s chair. Baby Doll stood up from her intel station and joined her.
“Staying hidden is their job, and they are good at it,” Baby Doll remarked to her.
“Who?” asked Cassidy. She thought she knew of every ship in Flot 1.
“You’ll see in a second. Probably our most indispensable ship.”
Maddie interrupted the budding conversation. “Got them! They’re coming out near the starboard bow.”
A few seconds later, a ship began to shimmer into view where Maddie had called it. Cassidy watched in surprise as a spy ship took shape beyond the large bridge portholes. Baby Doll had been right about it being an indispensable ship. A vessel like that was worth its weight in credits. Lisa stepped closer to the porthole. She had never seen an actual spy ship. According to various rumors, all the major powers had a few even though they were outlawed by several agreements and treaties. She couldn’t begin to guess how Hawkins got one. She realized that little ship was their transportation to Agra 2, and she was looking forward to the ride.
Dylan Whitlock appeared on the screen of any computer window rolled to his discrete frequency. “Welcome, Predator. Good to see you as always.”
“And good to see you, Dylan,” responded Hawkins. “We’ll be in our shuttle in a minute.” He wanted to minimize Flicker’s exposure in open space where someone might have Predator on their sensors and come to investigate that contact.
“Airlock is ready,” Dylan said. “Understand four passengers?”
“Correct,” replied Hawkins as he rose from his chair. As he moved toward the back of the bridge, he was follow
ed by Tactical, Baby Doll, and Cassidy. He spoke to his young engineer. “You are acting captain, Blondie.”
“Aye, Captain,” Blondie replied as she rose quickly from her seat, moved to the captain’s chair and practically leaped into it. She didn’t even try to keep the glee from her voice.
Rafe stopped at the hatch to the long passageway running between the staterooms and looked back at his chair. He smiled at Blondie’s enthusiasm and she returned the smile.
She spoke with the cadence of a quote. “When placed in command, take charge.”
“Who said that?” Rafe asked.
“General Norman Schwarzkopf… and me.”
Rafe nodded while keeping his smile. “Don’t forget to come back and get us now.”
“Oh, I won’t.”
“Blondie made that sound like a fifty-fifty proposition,” observed Baby Doll as the party filed down the corridor. Nobody disagreed with her.
The four moved to the hangar bay, boarded the shuttle, and launched. A short trip later, the shuttle sealed to Flicker’s airlock and the four passengers disembarked into the ship. Introductions were made for Cassidy as several crates of supplies were also being offloaded to the spy ship and put into any available space. The shuttle detached and returned to Predator. The hangar bay hatch was still closing behind the shuttle when Predator pivoted and began to depart.
“Good luck,” Blondie offered over the comm as parting words as Predator pulled away.
All the people on Flicker watched the shrinking ship through portholes. “Who is that in command?” asked Whitlock. He hadn’t recognized the voice.
“Blondie,” answered Hawkins.
Dylan nodded. He had never met Blondie but did know her reputation. “Sounds like she is in a hurry to enjoy her captaincy.”
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