Solomon Family Warriors II

by Robert H. Cherny

  Two months later, a Colony Service convoy arrived and the Queen Elizabeth was on the move again. The Queen Elizabeth seemed to have developed a specialty of cleaning out planets that had been occupied by one criminal group or another, granting amnesty and moving on after a few months on site. It seemed that the ship and crew would spend the rest of their lives wandering from planet to planet.

  After four years of establishing colonies, on one trip back to the depot adjacent to New St. Louis, they received orders from Warren. They were to announce that they were returning to headquarters for overhaul and refurbishment. The crew, except for her core group, was to be given a month’s extra leave starting immediately and bonuses for their excellent service. Since the work on the Queen Elizabeth was projected to take longer than their leaves, when their leaves ran out they were to report to the nearest Stellar depot for reassignment and transportation.

  The Queen Elizabeth and Rachel’s core group were to join a convoy going to headquarters at its formation point away from the system. Once they arrived at headquarters, they were to park next to the “bone yard” near the ship maintenance facilities and not let anyone know they were there while they waited for further instructions.

  Rachel wondered why Warren would want the Queen Elizabeth and Peter to appear to dismiss its crew, disappear and show up secretly at headquarters. This did not bode well. She kept her concerns to herself as she gave the necessary orders.

  COLONY SERVICE - CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  GREG AND AVI REPRESENTED the rest of the family at the Academy Graduation. Saul, Fiona, Rebecca and Sylvia had graduated in the top quarter of their class. Several of their classmates had planned parties for after graduation and the foursome intended to attend at least a few of them.

  Greg and Avi met the four graduates and steered them back toward their quarters. “We need to move.” Greg stated. “We need to get you out of those uniforms as quickly as possible. You are no longer authorized to wear them.”

  “Why?” Rebecca asked as she struggled to keep up with her grandparents’ long strides.

  “As of the end of the graduation ceremony you are no longer members of the Space Force.”

  “Why? What did we do?”

  “Warren has recalled you to headquarters. He sent us to get you. He didn’t tell us why, but he insisted that we spring you as fast as we could. He will not be happy that we took as long as we did.”

  “What does he want us to do?” Fiona asked as they raced along the sidewalk to their quarters.

  “There is a private jet and crew waiting on the flight line to take you to Canaveral. At Canaveral there is a pilot and a private ship waiting to take you to New St. Louis. You will pick up a shuttle to the adjacent Stellar depot. There is a ship in the yard waiting for you. It is your new command. Your battle group will be the core of a new trouble shooting task force attached to his security service.”

  Saul passed his key card through the building’s exterior door’s card reader and placed his hand over the sensor pad. The door swung open and they raced up the stairs.

  Greg continued as they hurriedly packed. “Warren will be assigning seven of the convoy escort ships to your group along with a robot tender. You need to recruit fourteen more people to be in your task force.”

  “Fourteen?” Saul asked. “That doesn’t add up.”

  “Four on your command ship. Two on each of the others, Greg said.

  “Where are you going?” Saul asked.

  “Recruiting and intelligence gathering. Do you have anyone who you want to join your group?”

  Rebecca said, “What is Michael Schwartz doing these days?”

  “Aida’s brother?” Greg asked.

  “Yes,” Rebecca grinned.

  “The one who asks about you every time I see him?” Avi teased.

  “Yes, if he’s half the pilot his sister is,” Rebecca started.

  “I’ll bring him in,” Avi assured her.

  “There’s this guy in our history class named Stanley Lank,” Sylvia said.

  “Yeah,” Fiona said, “he seemed pretty sharp. Can we get him?”

  “We’ll ask. He may not want to come,” Avi cautioned.

  Saul grinned. “He’ll come. Have him meet us at Canaveral. Tell him to bring all his, um, toys.”

  “Toys that I am going to have trouble getting through security?” Greg asked.

  “Yup,” Sylvia replied.

  “We’ll make it happen. Finish packing. The jet is on the flight line. See you at headquarters.”

  “Take this.” Greg handed each of them a data module. “It is your pass codes and specifications for your new ships.”

  Greg and Avi swept out of the room as the four former cadets finished packing.

  The graduates carried and dragged their luggage to the flight line in a single strenuous trip. Even being in as good shape as they were, they were winded when they arrived at the jet. The pilot helped them stow their baggage in the small cargo hold. They were about to board the plane when they noticed a fully loaded bright yellow battery operated maintenance cart hurtling down the hill in their direction. The driver was waving frantically and yelling “Wait for ME!”

  Saul looked at Sylvia. “Stanley?”

  Sylvia laughed. “I knew he’d come!”

  They stowed his gear and boarded. Within minutes, the jet was rolling down the taxiway.

  “Where are we going?” Stanley asked Sylvia once the jet was airborne.

  “You didn’t ask?” Sylvia said incredulously.

  “Nope. When the Solomons offer you to ship out with them, you have thirty seconds to say yes or no. I said ‘Hell Yeah!’ and here I am.”

  Sylvia looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “Was it them or me that made you want to come?”

  Stanley looked at her straight and said, “both” without hesitation.

  COLONY SERVICE - CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  MICHAEL SCHWARTZ WAS WAITING at New St. Louis when Saul and company arrived. “How did you beat us here?” Rebecca asked as she wrapped her arms around him.

  “I’ve been here since before you left Earth.”

  “How?” Rebecca started.

  Michael laughed, “Come on! You know your grandmother as well as I do. You can’t tell me she hasn’t wanted to get us together since we were kids. I rode with them from Eretz. So, what’s up?”

  “All we know is we’re supposed to pick up a ship at the Stellar yard,” Fiona answered.

  Micheal spotted Stanley standing behind Sylvia. “I don’t know you. I’m Michael Schwartz.”

  Stanley smiled and offered his hand, “Stanley Lank at your service.”

  “Pleased to meet you. So, Saul, are we your battle group?” Michael asked clearly proud to be asked to join.

  “The beginnings. We have more people to recruit,” Saul replied.

  “Awesome!”

  “We need to see to our luggage,” Stanley said.

  “I took care of that,” Michael said. “The containers with your stuff are being transferred directly to your ship only you have to be there to receive it or Customs won’t release it. We need to move if we’re going to catch the shuttle!”

  They settled into their seats. Ten minutes later the shuttle departed for the Stellar yard. They were met at the end of the ramp by a pair of security officers. After the briefest of formalities, the one of the officers said, “Ladies and gentlemen, please put on your helmets. We are going outside.”

  They looked at each other, glad they had not packed their helmets in their luggage. The officers took them to a docking bay where a pair of small open shuttle craft of the type used to transport workers around the yard waited. They mounted the shuttles and strapped in. The officers weaved through rows and rows of ships. Some were obsolete and being scavenged for parts. Others were awaiting parts for repair and a few looked new. Finally they approached a ship that looked like an overgrown Convoy Escort except that it carried way more missiles than an escort.

  The se
curity officer pointed to a panel next to the air lock. “Put your key in the lock.”

  Saul took a moment to realize the data module he had been given on Earth was his key. He slid the panel cover aside and inserted the data module. The lights around the airlock came on, and the airlock door opened. All six caught their breath. This was to be their ship!

  The officer handed Saul a tablet and a stylus. “Sign here that you accept delivery of this ship.”

  Saul trembled as he signed the tablet.

  “Mr. Cohen?”

  “Yes, sir?”

  “There’s a lot of us counting on you. Be careful out there.”

  “Yes, sir, I will.”

  The six floated into the airlock and closed it behind them. When they entered the ship, they discovered that the life support systems were on. The food storage was full, but none of the other systems had been started. The ship was brand new. One reactor was idling producing enough power for the small drain that the life support produced. The seals on other had yet to be broken.

  They wandered through the ship speechless until a cargo tug arrived with their luggage. They signed waivers and statements that they were not carrying anything illegal, and the customs official passed the containers to them unopened. Still disbelieving what they were seeing, they silently gathered on the flight deck. Saul sat in the command chair, and the display in front of him lit up. He jumped in surprise. It prompted him to insert his data module into the lit receptacle beside the display.

  Warren’s face appeared on the display, and his voice filled the room. “Hello Saul, Fiona, Rebecca, Sylvia and whoever may have joined you along the way. Saul, by now I trust you have reviewed the contents of the data module I gave you when you left for the Academy. If you have not shared it with your comrades, you should. The conflicts I anticipated are coming to a head sooner than I expected. Of all my children, you and Fiona are the most level headed, but I know neither of you has the skills necessary to run the company. I would wish to hand you the keys and let you run it, but I know better than to think you will have the patience for what it takes to run a company this size. Therefore, you must be my enforcers. I intend to run this company as long as I can, but someone I can trust needs to watch my back.”

  “Fiona, I need your votes and your voice among my children. We must not let petty conflicts and greed break up the company. We are under attack from outside the company as well as from inside. That is to be expected in any company this size. I have recalled the Queen Elizabeth for the duration of the current emergency. She should be at headquarters by the time you arrive. Fiona, it is important that no one know you are coming in until you show up at the meeting. Too many of your brothers and sisters see you as a threat, as well they should. Even I can't guarantee your safety until you walk into the gathering room and announce your presence.”

  “This ship is your command post and anything else you wish it to be for as long as you wish to keep it. Once you arrive at Headquarters, the rest of your ships will be assembled for you to staff. I place only one restriction on your choice of staff. You may not take any from the Queen Elizabeth. I need them where they are.”

  Warren paused. “Come home. I need your help.”

  The screen went blank.

  The six stood in silence for a moment.

  Michael looked around and said, “Are we in as much trouble as I think we are?”

  Saul and Fiona said, “Oh, yeah.”

  Rebecca added, “Probably more.”

  Michael sighed. “I can’t say I wasn’t warned.”

  Stanley turned to Saul, “You’re the captain, but I think we should light the candle and blow this pop stand. We have been given our orders.”

  Saul looked straight at Stanley. “Engineering, please initiate start up procedures.”

  “Aye, Captain!” Stanley replied with a grin.

  Saul turned to Michael. “Give him a hand until we get you your own ship.”

  “Aye, Captain.”

  Saul turned to Rebecca. “Navigation, please plot a course out of this maze to open space. We will depart as soon as engineering verifies our flight worthiness.”

  “Aye, Captain.”

  Saul turned to Sylvia. “Communications, please request clearance from the harbor master for us to depart. Once we have jumped into hyper drive, please inspect our combat information databases and report on their completeness.”

  “Aye, Captain.”

  Saul turned to Fiona. “Munitions, please inventory and verify weapons systems and ordinance.”

  “Aye, Captain.”

  “All hands prepare for departure.”

  A few hundred shipyard workers watched as the warship gracefully wended its way through the rows of derelicts and hulks that had hidden it from view for the year it had waited for its crew. Now that it was moving, they knew that their hopes, their careers and even some of their lives rested on what the six kids inside it did when they got where ever they were going.

  CHANGE OF COMMAND - CHAPTER ONE

  WITHIN MINUTES OF THEIR RETURN from a successful rescue mission, the human members of the self named “Fourth Battle Wing” sauntered down the space station’s hallway from the hanger area to the harbor master’s office still wearing their flight suits. They were followed by a gaggle of friends, some carrying their helmets and others still wearing theirs. These four “twenty-somethings” were among the harbor master’s favorite pilots. They returned his affection by always reporting to him on return to the station before reporting anywhere else in spite of protocols that insisted they do otherwise. Boisterously laughing and talking loudly, the vibrant group headed toward the station’s headquarters. This gleefully animated rabble was a common sight and was well accepted by even the most conservative of the station’s staff. Their reputations as effective pirate hunters guaranteed them respect, but their attitudes won them friendship. The foursome knew most of the guards and greeted them by name provoking laughter and teasing wisecracks as they passed.

  Warren Elias Rothschild, the Fourth, CEO of Stellar Interstellar, the largest interstellar shipping company in the history of the human race, had taken particular note of their skills and had commissioned them as an independent task force attached to his security service. When they weren’t challenging the station’s security forces in training exercises, they took on specialized missions. Equipped with two ancient small warships and an antiquated cargo ship they used as a tender, they had developed a reputation for their skills in keeping pirates at bay. Hunting pirates was a game to them. They took the game seriously because lives were at stake, but to them the hunt was fun and they were good at it.

  They were returning from their favorite type of mission. A heavily laden freighter had developed mechanical difficulty. It had sent a courier missile requesting assistance. They were assigned to bring the repair team to rescue the freighter and its crew. While there, they guarded the freighter until it could safely return to base. As was their practice, they brought a half dozen trainees and teenagers they sought to recruit on the mission with them so the size of this particular noisy group making its way through the corridor was not unusually large.

  In fact, were it not for the subcutaneous medical transponders they all wore, no one would have suspected anything about this group that would have aroused suspicion. These kids were a common sight. None of the guards gave them a second look beyond a smile or a wisecrack. The one person on duty whose job it was to notice such things was silenced by a warning hand motion from a woman whose reputation was considerably more savage than that of her daughter who led the party as it noisily proceeded down the hall. Even when the exuberant gaggle of flight suits deviated from its normal route and headed for the station’s executive suite, none of the guards thought the situation unusual. The kids were showing off and they had a right to show off. They had killed the pirates that had tried to board the freighter while it waited for rescue. They were heroes, again.

  It wasn’t until they stopped in front of the
doors to the executive board room that anyone realized that something out of the ordinary might be going on.

  Fiona Mahoney Rothschild Cohen took off her helmet and addressed the guard. “Please open the door.” She smiled sweetly at the guard who was taken completely by surprise.

  “Excuse me, but my orders...”

  The man standing beside Fiona took off his helmet. Saul Cohen was not as tall as the guard, but the fierceness of his expression left no doubt as to his thoughts. “Lieutenant, this is Mr. Warren Rothschild’s daughter. Should I explain to him how you prevented her from participating in a family meeting?”

  The guard nervously surveyed the smiling group standing before him. He knew the four in the “Battle Wing” and knew their reputation for quickness in combat whether in space or hand-to-hand. He had sparred with some of them. It was not a pleasant experience. He did not know either of the two people who had addressed him. Sweat appeared on his forehead. Indecision froze him in place.

  Fiona quickly reached around the guard and put her hand on the recognition pad. The guard turned to stop her, but Barney and Delmar, the male half of the “Fourth” having anticipated this move, restrained him. The door swung open. Fiona and Saul entered the room. Saul gave a cheery wave to his sister as the door closed behind him. The diversion had worked. Fiona and Saul had arrived at the inner sanctum intact. Gabby Cohen called her mother to tell her the package had been delivered and to stand down.

  Rachel Solomon Cohen smiled at the security officer she had intimidated merely by pointing a finger at him and thanked him for his cooperation. She told him he probably should report the incident, and she headed for the harbor master’s office to meet the returning task force.