After dinner and a short meeting, they headed to bed.
The next week followed the same routine. Saul and Fiona met with the siblings during the day and their team in the evening as reports started to come in. By the end of the week they were confident that they had a basic handle on the condition of the security force. The people running the security service appeared to be doing a good job. Losses were low and pirate attacks were relatively rare. All of which made the concerted attack on the McGee ship at the rescue point stand out in sharp contrast.
As the time approached for the Queen Elizabeth to depart on her next mission, Faye Anne became increasingly agitated. Finally, the night before the Queen Elizabeth was scheduled to depart, unable to take it any more, Fiona pulled her aside. “What is going on with you?”
“It’s just the mission,” Faye Anne answered.
“Where are you going?”
“Remember the planet where they used the slaves for human targets?”
“The one where your Marine friends stayed behind?”
“Yeah, that one.”
“Why are you going back there?” Fiona asked.
“A crime syndicate is trying to take it over. We think there may have been something else going on that we didn’t know about and they want to start it up again.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“We’re going to park and wait for them and talk them out of it.”
“Do you usually talk with missiles and lasers?”
“Frequently.”
“Faye Anne, this is another day at the office for you. That’s not what is bothering you.”
“No, you’re right, but I don’t have enough information.”
Fiona was not happy with that answer. “Tell me what you have. At least I will have an idea where to look.”
“The Swordsmen are trying to get Warren to visit them to discuss building a freight depot in Swordsman territory.”
“And you smell a rat.”
“Yes.”
“And that is all you have to go on,” Fiona concluded.
“Yes, it’s pretty thin,” Faye Anne admitted.
“The information we had when we went to rescue you from the Swordsman prison wasn’t much better and you saw what we did. Upload everything you know to Peter and we’ll dig into it.”
“Promise you won’t do anything rash,” Fay Anne said.
“I promise,” Fiona answered.
The Queen Elizabeth left first thing in the morning and Saul moved his command post to Peter’s flight deck.
CHANGE OF COMMAND - CHAPTER SIX
“EVENING, PETER.” SAUL STEPPED through the airlock to the flight deck on the cargo ship that had seen so much of the history being made.
“Welcome home, Saul.” Peter was using the breathy voice of HAL from the 2001 Space Odyssey movie. It was not one of Saul’s favorites and Peter knew that. Peter was angry about something and Saul knew he would find out sooner or later what he had done to offend him. Even growing up on this ship, he had difficulty dealing with sentient space ships.
“Thank you, Peter. Have the kids been taking good care of you?”
“They’re not kids any more, Saul. They’ve grown up, just as you grew up.”
“Thank you, Peter. I will keep that in mind.” Saul settled into the pilot’s chair. The leather had been replaced a couple of times over the years, but this was the chair from which his grandfather led a small band of refugees to establish a colony which would later devastate a Swordsman assault.
“You’ve been here for weeks and this is the first time you have come to see me. Was my flight deck not good enough for you?” Peter whined.
“Peter, there are eleven of us in my little group plus however many of my mother’s staff elected to show up. Your galley is too small. It was designed for eight. You don’t have a conference room like Elizabeth does. Besides, why do I have to explain all this? You know it as well as I do.”
“You could have taken the time to come visit.”
“Yes, Peter, I apologize, I should have come to see you. I was distracted. I am sorry.”
“Saul, you know your grandfather used to say that getting distracted will get you killed.”
Saul winced. Growing up with the legendary Greg Solomon had been a challenge and Saul distracted easily.
“Yes, Peter. Can we focus on the business at hand?”
“Yes, down to business.” Peter changed voices to that of a British actor who played Captain Hook in a recent Peter Pan remake.
Saul sighed. “Voices” was one of Peter’s favorite games. He had thousands to choose from.
“Did Faye Anne send you her thoughts on the Swordsman freight depot?”
“Yes.”
“Did you look at it?”
“Not a lot to go on, but my experience is to trust Faye Anne’s instincts. She is very good.”
“I wish Tab was as good,” Saul said.
“She will be. I’ve seen her work with the Fourth. Give her time,” Peter advised.
“Do we have time, Peter?”
“Yes, I believe we do.”
Fiona stepped through the airlock and crossed to Saul. She gave him a quick kiss and sat in the co-pilot’s seat.
“Hello, Peter.”
“Hello, Fiona.”
“Peter, has Saul mentioned Faye Anne’s concerns?”
“We were discussing that when you arrived. There is not much to go on, but since it is Faye Anne, my recommendation is that we should gather as much data as we can.”
“Can you access their data banks?”
“No, they figured out pretty quickly that both Elizabeth and I could mine their data and they locked us out right away. They use a special server to transfer what data they want us to see. I can’t even access the system clock to synchronize. I have to synchronize to the server and it synchronizes to their clock.”
“You sound frustrated,” Fiona said.
“I am.”
Saul smiled. The thought of a frustrated space ship somehow seemed comical. “Did they lock out Buddy and Daisy?”
“All of our ships have to go through one of us.”
“Ah. What about my new ship? Can you reprogram it like you did Elizabeth?” Saul asked.
“They might not have blocked it yet. As soon as your friends dock it, I can connect to it and reprogram it.”
“Thanks.”
“Where is it by the way?” Saul asked.
“They took the Fourth for a joy ride this morning. They aren’t back yet,” Peter answered.
“Do you think they are testing the station security system?” Saul asked.
“More than likely. It’s something of a game to them,” Peter said.
“Doesn’t anyone mind when they do that?” Fiona asked.
“No, they like it. It breaks up the monotony of the patrols. No one has ever challenged us here. The pilots get bored.”
“As long as they aren’t being a problem, I guess it’s OK,” Fiona said.
“Buddy and Daisy are out, too. I think the Fourth challenged your gang to a practice shoot out and the security service is the referee. That would be like them,” Peter said.
“You can’t tell?” Saul asked.
“No, whatever they are doing they are on the opposite side of the primary. All I know for sure is that a bunch of off duty security ships suddenly headed in that direction.”
“Can you get the harbor master on voice? Maybe he knows something,” Saul said.
“Good evening!” The harbor master sounded unusually gleeful.
“Sir, could you please tell me where my ships are and what they are doing?” Saul asked.
The guffaw that followed reverberated on the small flight deck. “Lost them, did you?”
“Yes, we did,” Saul replied quietly.
“You were busy, so I authorized an exercise this morning between the Fourth and the new guys. Security Service asked if they could participate so I pulled a Federation exercise
out of the book and assigned roles. At last report, the Fourth was kicking everyone’s butt out there.”
“So, this was an authorized exercise,” Fiona said.
“Oh, yes, the Fourth asked me days ago if we could do this and today turned out to be the day with the least in-system traffic so I told them to have at it.”
“I wish they had consulted us,” Saul said.
“The Fourth has been so independent for so long that you can’t expect them to immediately give up their freedom just because you hit town,” Peter said.
“I guess not,” Saul said.
“Are we going to have a problem with them?” Fiona asked.
“That’s up to you. Ask, don’t tell. They love a challenge. Keep them busy,” Peter advised.
Fiona and Saul took advantage of the quiet and had dinner in Peter’s galley. They returned to their quarters and turned in early.
In the morning before the meeting Saul pulled Timothy aside. “What can you tell me about this proposed freight depot inside Swordsman territory?”
Timothy looked at him with surprise. “Artemus is pushing that.”
“I should have guessed,” Saul said.
“How do you know about it?” Timothy asked.
“Timothy, sometimes it is better to not ask me how I know things,” Saul replied.
Timothy cracked a smile. “Faye Anne. So, she really is that good. None of us will talk to her.”
“Who do you talk to for your intelligence?” Saul asked.
“Our intelligence service.”
“The same intelligence service that delivered my family to the Swordsmen to be tortured and whose information about the planets to be colonized was so bad that my mother gave up on them?”
“That would be them,” Timothy said.
“So, where do you really get your information?” Saul asked.
“I rely on the numbers coming out of my department. Fuel use rates are a prime indicator of a wide variety of activities.”
“Brilliant. I never would have thought of that. So, what is your opinion of the new depot?” Saul asked.
“I’m skeptical. It depends on the numbers. Harold has not offered an opinion. I am waiting to see what he says. If he feels we can make money on it, I’m for it. If not, I can help kill it. It’s a business decision for me, but I suspect it’s not for you.”
“You’re right,” Saul said. “It’s not, but it should be. Timothy, I value your opinion and I will reserve my judgment until I hear from Harold.”
Timothy smiled. “So you military types can learn.”
“Yes, and quickly. It’s a survival skill,” Saul replied.
Saul told Fiona about his conversation with Timothy. “Zelda runs the intelligence service,” she said.
“That explains a lot,” Saul said.
That morning was the beginning of the last day of the siblings’ quarterly meeting. The engineering team and the Triton reps presented the rough sketches of a ship design that had been approved by the pilots. They had also come up with a potential second generation ship that instead of being able to handle six of the cargo modules, could handle twelve. There were power and propulsion issues to be resolved with the larger version, but the engineering team was confident that by the time such a ship was economically viable, they would have solved the problems.
Jared and his team reported that once the new ship was on line, they definitely could use it with the triangle and rectangle routing scheme. Until then, the existing ship inventory was not flexible enough for a change in the routing system. They were particularly excited with the notion that by using a consistent design, they could eliminate some of the out of date and custom designed material handling equipment they now had to deal with. Since currently some ships could not call at some ports due to inconsistencies in their equipment, this would make their jobs much easier.
The reports were accepted as offered and funding was authorized for the construction of a prototype of the new cargo ship to be delivered in one year.
After the meeting was over, Saul and Fiona penned Artemus in a corner. “Tell us about the new Swordsman freight depot,” Fiona demanded.
“The Swordsmen have offered us a system wide exclusive contract if we build them a freight depot. Pretty simple really. We have a design that’s the right size from a depot we recently finished. There are no design costs. We provide supervision. They provide the labor and manufacture the materials. They pay us cost plus on all our expenses. Seems pretty low-risk to me.”
“So we’re going to give them a working depot design that they can copy as long as they want and go into competition with us,” Fiona said.
“They can’t reuse the design. They don’t know how,” Artemus replied.
“They will when the depot is finished,” Saul observed.
“They are an ethical people. They will honor their agreements,” Artemus assured them.
“You really believe that? I have some lake front property in Florida to sell you,” Saul retorted.
“Excuse me?”
“Ever been to Florida?”
“No.”
“Just as well, you wouldn’t enjoy it. So, when do we go meet with them?”
“You don’t. They specifically asked that your family have nothing to do with the project.”
“So how do we provide security?” Fiona asked.
“You don’t. They do,” Artemus replied smugly.
“You are going to allow our people to work without security?”
“Only some of our people will go. They have asked that no Jews and no Muslims be assigned to the project. There will be no need for security. None of them will be in any danger. The system is well defended. No one has penetrated the system in years.”
Saul shook his head. “Who will prevent them from placing a nuclear warhead inside a container to be shipped here and detonated by remote command?”
“Why would they do such a thing?” Artemus asked.
“Why would they torture my mother?” Saul replied.
“You are judging an entire society by the actions of a single renegade individual.”
“Right.” Saul spun on his heel and strode out of the room with his jaw tight and his fists clenched in anger. He did not stop until he reached the gym and, without bothering to change into his sweats, vented his anger on a punching bag.
Saul was still dripping from the exertion of his workout when his comm alerted him that Warren wanted to see him in the office, now.
Saul stood in front of Warren’s desk with his hands carefully clasped behind his back.
“Do you have any evidence that the Swordsmen are not acting in good faith?” Warren demanded angrily.
“No, sir, I do not.”
“Then, why do you suspect them?”
“Personal experience, sir.”
Warren stared at the young man rigid as a Marine on parade and tried to meet his eyes. There was no give in his stance. His body language spoke of holding his ground at the risk of his life. Warren had seen this look before and knew that there was only one way to deal with it. “What if you’re wrong?”
“What if I am right, sir?”
“I am leaving in one week to start the negotiations. Bring me a plan that will guarantee my safety whether you are right or wrong and will not insult our hosts if you are wrong,” Warren said.
“And if I am right, sir?”
“You may kill as many of them as it takes to get me out of there.”
“Yes, sir. I understand, sir.”
“Dismissed.”
That evening Saul and Fiona gathered their people together on Peter’s flight deck and started to work through scenarios. The Fourth had basically blown everyone else out of the sky in three separate exercises and the new project was the only thing that stopped their gloating.
Three days later, Saul and Fiona requested that Warren and Alina meet them on Peter’s flight deck because that was the only place they could guarantee was completely secure. They
presented their plans, contingencies and the logic behind them. More adept at military planning than Warren, Alina probed the plans for flaws and unforeseen contingencies. When she was satisfied that the plans were sound, she expressed her admiration for the quality of the work they had done.
The plan was authorized and put into action.
CHANGE OF COMMAND - CHAPTER SEVEN
SIX HOURS BEFORE he was due to depart, Warren called Artemus and his mother to the office. He informed them that since they had worked so hard to bring the negotiations to this point they should accompany him on this trip. Since Artemus was so much more familiar with this particular depot design and its features than he was, Artemus should do that part of the presentation. The sudden loss of color in their faces was the first real clue Warren had that Saul might have been right.
Two hours later, the Fourth intercepted an unscheduled courier missile addressed to the Swordsman embassy in New St Louis. The message inside was coded and they brought it to Peter for him to work on in transit. Warren greeted the news with a renewed sense of caution.
One hour before Warren’s scheduled departure, the Fourth and a select group of Security Service interceptors headed out for an exercise like the one they had done a few days previously.
Warren’s ship pulled away from the dock exactly on schedule. Saul’s command ship and two new pirate interdiction style warships escorted them out of the yard to the point where they would jump into hyper drive. The P I ships docked to the command ship and fifteen minutes after Warren’s ship departed, the escort jumped into hyper drive.
The trip to the designated meeting place was a week at one G in hyper drive. The system that had been chosen for the meeting hosted a new colony on an Earth-like planet that had not yet been claimed by either the Federation or the Swordsmen. It seemed like a perfect neutral location for a prolonged meeting.
Six and a half days after departing from Headquarters, Warren’s ship dropped out of hyper drive. A task force sat waiting for them. Saul and his people had driven at slightly over one G to arrive at this point on the interstellar grid ahead of Warren’s ship. Peter still had not broken the code in the message. He suspected that it involved Japanese characters of which he had no knowledge. Given that he and the Solomon family used Hebrew for the same purpose, he was not surprised.
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