by Ryk Brown
“You get my point,” Cameron replied.
“The captain is correct,” General Telles interjected. “Taking on eighteen jump-capable warships with a single ship is not a sound strategy. At this point, the most the Aurora can hope to do is harass the Dusahn, and to support guerrilla operations on the surface whenever possible. If we are lucky, we may be able to prevent the Dusahn from getting a firm hold on the Pentaurus cluster. If we are very lucky, we may even be able to prevent them from expanding their empire to include the entire sector.”
“To what end?” Lieutenant Commander Shinoda wondered. “We can’t keep it up forever. Sooner or later, luck has a nasty habit of running out.”
General Telles seemed hesitant to speak.
“What are you thinking? Cameron asked, noticing the general’s expression.
“What if the Jung penetrations into Alliance space are a false-flag operation, being conducted by the Dusahn. If we could prove this to the Alliance, they might be able to spare more ships to assist us.”
“The problem is we’ve already bloodied the Jung’s nose with KKV strikes,” Commander Kaplan reminded them.
“If we didn’t have a problem with the Jung before, we sure as hell have one now,” Cameron agreed. “Galiardi saw to that.”
“You still think he has some evil master plan, don’t you?” Lieutenant Commander Shinoda said.
“You’re in intelligence, Ken,” Cameron said. “Don’t tell me the thought hasn’t crossed your mind more than once.”
“Two, three times at the most.”
Cameron sighed, looking at the images again.
“Okay, four times, but that’s all, I swear.”
A wry smile crept onto Cameron’s lips. The lieutenant commander had a knack for breaking the tension at just the right moment. It was one of the reasons she enjoyed having him present during such discussions. “Eighteen ships.”
“And twelve gunships,” the lieutenant commander added.
“The gunships don’t worry me,” Cameron replied. “Catch them by surprise with a single jump missile, and they’re done. But I sure wouldn’t mind having a few gunships ourselves.”
“I’d rather have a few destroyers,” Commander Kaplan argued.
“Warships have less jump range,” Cameron pointed out. “It takes us longer to get into position. That makes it harder to fight a guerrilla-style war, especially if we’re always going to be staging a hundred-plus light years away from the enemy.”
“Until we learn the true range of the Dusahn jump drive technology, we will be forced to stage further out,” General Telles said.
“Cobras can cross a hundred light years in minutes,” Commander Kaplan suggested.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Cameron agreed.
“I don’t suppose you know where we can get our hands on a few Cobra gunships?” General Telles asked.
“There’s no way we’d get any of them to join us,” Commander Kaplan insisted. “We’re cranking out gunships so fast, every one of their captains are straight out of the academy. They’re about as gung-ho Galiardi-worshiping as you can get.”
“I was thinking of gunships with crews,” Cameron said.
Commander Kaplan looked at Cameron, a stunned look on her face. “Cameron Taylor, are you thinking about stealing a Cobra gunship?”
“Actually, I was thinking about stealing five or six of them.” Cameron glanced over at Lieutenant Commander Shinoda. “What are you smiling at?”
“Nothing,” he said, suppressing a chuckle. “Just not exactly where I saw my career going.” He looked up and to the right, as if gazing at a sign in the air. “Kenichi Shinoda… Space Pirate.”
General Telles also seemed surprised. “I am impressed, Captain. I assume you have a plan?”
“Sorry, no. I’m actually surprised I even thought of it. I was hoping that you and Jessica might come up with something.”
“How hard can it be?” Commander Kaplan shrugged. “They’re being built on at least three different worlds now. And each one of them has at least a dozen just sitting there at all times.”
“We will need more details on their security,” General Telles said. “And there are obviously more pressing tasks at hand. However, it is an idea worth investigating.”
“How much do you have on the Cobra plants?” Cameron asked the lieutenant commander.
“One of my guys worked security at the plant on Earth for a few years. He might be helpful.”
“I’ll check the crew’s service records, to see if anyone worked at any of the plants as well,” Commander Kaplan promised.
“There is one other way to get information,” Cameron suggested. “Before we left the Sol sector, I sent a time-delayed message to Jessica’s brother, Robert. He’s still in command of the Tanna.”
“The converted Jung frigate?” General Telles asked.
“Same ship, only it’s been upgraded to a destroyer.”
“Why did you send him a message?” the general asked.
“Well, partly because his sister was involved,” Cameron replied. “But mostly, because I wanted someone back in the Sol sector to know the truth, in case this all went really wrong.”
“You think he can help us?” Lieutenant Commander Shinoda asked.
“Maybe. But I’m willing to bet he told Gil Roselle, the captain of the Benakh, as well. And the Benakh is stationed in the Tau Ceti system.”
“Where one of the Cobra plants is located,” Commander Kaplan realized. “Nice.”
“Roselle hates Galiardi. He knows the admiral will never give him a capital ship. In fact, I heard through the grapevine that Gil was thinking about retiring pretty soon.”
“How do we get in contact with him?” General Telles wondered.
“In my message to Captain Nash, I included a time and location for an update message. That’s a few days from now. In the meantime, we should keep digging at this end, and see what we come up with.” Cameron looked at her XO, then at her chief of security. “Why are you both grinning like little kids?”
“Going rogue is so much more fun,” Commander Kaplan replied.
* * *
Nathan stepped into the Seiiki’s port forward corridor, making his way toward the boarding airlock just forward of the galley. Standing by the airlock door were Jessica and Master Sergeant Anwar.
“How do I look?” Nathan asked, half-joking.
“I still say the coat makes you look a bit roguish.”
“Good, that’s the look I was going for,” Nathan replied, pulling his collar up.
“You want to look like a pirate?”
“No, I want to look like a man willing to do anything for the cause that he is claiming to lead.”
“The uniform pants and boots are a nice touch,” Jessica decided. “It adds a touch of credibility, which you desperately need with that young face.”
“I could go back to my cabin and get my eye patch,” Nathan suggested, smiling.
“We just got word from the Mystic,” Loki called over Nathan’s comm-set. “You’re cleared to board, but no comm-sets.”
“No way,” Jessica protested.
Nathan removed his comm-set, handing it to Marcus, who had just stepped out of the galley.
“You’re not serious,” Jessica said. “No guns, no comms…”
“I’m with her, Cap’n,” Marcus agreed. “How the hell are we supposed to know if you need us?”
“Guys, come on. We’re lucky they’re even letting us aboard. Would you rather we just send the Ghatazhak in, guns blazing?”
“Actually, I would much prefer that,” Master Sergeant Anwar stated.
“We’re going,” Nathan insisted. “No guns, and no comms. Besides, if something goes wrong,
I’ll just have you kick all their asses,” Nathan said to Jessica, with a wink.
“That would be fun to watch,” the master sergeant joked.
Jessica pointed a finger of warning at her fellow Ghatazhak, then reached over and activated the inner door. The door slid open, disappearing into the bulkhead, after which she gestured into the open airlock. “After you, Captain.”
Nathan stepped into the airlock, followed by Jessica, who pressed the inside controls causing the inner door to slide shut again. Nathan leaned forward, peering through the small window in the angled outer door. “Nobody in the next airlock,” he stated.
Jessica stepped over to the outer door controls. “Pressure is good on the other side.”
“Open her up.”
Jessica activated the outer door, which slid into the bulkhead. Just outside the ship was another small compartment with a hatch. They stepped inside, then activated the outer door of the Seiiki to close behind them.
“Gravity is light here,” Nathan commented. He pushed upward, floating up a few centimeters before settling back down gently onto the deck of the outer compartment. “Very light.”
The hatch before them was gear-actuated. Nathan pushed the latch bar up, causing several locking clamps to disengage. He then pushed the door open into the next compartment, Jessica stepping in after him.
The next compartment was stark white, with rounded joints at the bulkheads. The first thing Nathan noticed was that the gravity in this compartment was stronger than it had been in the previous one. It still wasn’t a full G, but it was close.
He stepped up to the inner hatch control. “It’s locked.”
Jessica swung the outer door closed and latched it.
“It’s still locked,” Nathan said.
Pale blue lights suddenly came on overhead, and a computerized voice made an announcement, first in Takaran, and then in Corinairan.
“What?” Jessica said. “All I heard was ‘decontamination’.”
“It told us to prepare for decontamination,” Nathan confirmed. “Take a few deep breaths. When the lights turn yellow, take a deep breath and hold it.”
“Is this normal?” Jessica asked, as she started purposefully hyperventilating.
“All big passenger ships do this to anyone coming aboard while en route,” Nathan said. “To protect the passengers and crew.”
The blue lights overhead suddenly turned yellow. Nathan and Jessica took deep breaths and held them, as the lights changed to red.
A thin mist began to fill the compartment, coming from tiny ports evenly spaced on all four walls. Within seconds, a dense fog filled the room around them. Thirty seconds after the fog settled, powerful fans sucked it out of the room, after which they were hit with intense light and fans blowing off any particles that had stuck to their clothing.
The overhead lights turned from red to orange, and Nathan let his breath out and resumed normal respirations.
Jessica breathed out as well. “What now?”
Green beams of light shot out from the walls, sweeping over them both, as more instructions were given through hidden speakers. Nathan raised his hands as he rotated around once.
“We dancing now?” Jessica wondered, as she followed suit.
The green light beams disappeared, and the computerized voice called out again as the overhead lights returned to their normal white color.
“That’s it,” Nathan said. “We’re clean.” He looked at the control panel again. “The inner door is unlocked.” He looked at Jessica. “You ready?”
Jessica nodded, and Nathan activated the inner door, causing it to slide into the bulkhead. Before them, at the other end of the long boarding tunnel, were four armed, uniformed security guards, their weapons trained on Nathan and Jessica.
One man, likely an officer, stood in the middle of his men, beyond the far hatch. “Raise your hands, place them on your heads, fingers interlaced, step through the hatch, and walk slowly toward me.”
Nathan glanced at Jessica as he raised his hands, placing them on his head, and interlacing his fingers. He stepped into the tunnel and began walking slowly toward the officer.
Jessica did the same, following a step behind and to the right of Nathan. Her first thoughts were to count the number of men facing them. Five in total. Four of them were carrying shipboard energy rifles, designed to wound but not to damage the interior of the ship. The assistive undergarment that all Ghatazhak wore under their uniforms and their battle armor would protect her from that, as long as she didn’t receive too many shots in the exact same location in rapid succession. She also noticed that while the officer was wearing a sidearm, none of his men were. She immediately decided that she could take them all out, if they allowed her to get in the middle of them.
Nathan also recognized the low-power weapons, but he wasn’t trying to decide if he could take them out.
“That’s far enough,” the officer instructed. He barked a quick order in Takaran, and two of the four men lowered their weapons to their sides, out of view, and entered the tunnel.
Jessica immediately began calculating combat probabilities, just in case.
The two men approached cautiously. Once they reached Nathan and Jessica, they began patting them down.
“Open your jacket,” one of the men ordered Nathan.
Nathan complied, holding his jacket open to either side so that the man could check him for weapons.
The young guard stared at Nathan as he patted him down, as if trying to figure out where he had seen him before. When he finished patting Nathan down and stepped back, his eyes widened. “You’re… You’re…”
Nathan lowered his hand to his face, putting his index finger in front of his lips as he made a “Ssh” sound.
The young guard’s expression turned from surprise to complete disbelief, followed by awe, as he stepped back, whispering something in Takaran to his fellow guard.
The second guard did not reply, only glancing at Nathan, as he patted down Jessica. “What is this?” the second guard asked, feeling something odd on her sides.
“Attachment points,” Jessica explained.
“Raise your shirt,” the second man instructed.
Jessica untucked her shirt and raised it as ordered, revealing the assistive undergarment, and the attachment points on either flank.
“What is this suit?”
“It’s a bio-assist undergarment,” Jessica said. “All Ghatazhak wear them, at all times. Those attachment points are for life-support systems and body armor.”
“Why do you need this?”
“Like I said,” Jessica explained. “All Ghatazhak wear them, at all times. I didn’t think it would be a problem. I can take it off, if you’d like,” she added with a wink and a flirtatious smile.
The second guard turned and shouted something back in Takaran to the officer in charge, receiving instructions in return.
“That will not be necessary,” the second guard told her.
“I appreciate that,” Jessica said, as she tucked her uniform shirt back in.
The first guard reported that Nathan was clean, and both men returned to their group, stepping through the hatch at the far end of the tunnel and disappearing to either side. As they stepped aside, the first guard said something in Takaran to the officer in charge. The officer barked at him, again in Takaran.
“You may return your hands to your sides, and continue forward slowly,” the officer directed.
Nathan took a deep breath and sighed, letting his hands fall back down to his sides as he continued forward at a leisurely pace.
A few moments later, Nathan and Jessica stepped through the hatch at the far end of the boarding tunnel, into a much larger compartment. The guards had moved, taking up positions in all four corners of the co
mpartment, their weapons still trained on the two guests.
The officer in charge stepped up, eying Nathan and Jessica suspiciously. “First, I should warn you. If either of you harm the captain’s family, I will kill you both myself.”
“Fair enough,” Nathan replied calmly, not wanting to make a scene. His goal was to speak to the captain of the Mystic Empress, not to get into a pissing contest with one of her security officers.
Satisfied with his response, the security officer continued. “I am Lieutenant Oronsi, chief of security for the Mystic Empress. My men and I are to escort you to Captain Rainey. While en route, you are not to speak to any of the passengers, or crew. If you try anything, if you make any suspicious moves, my men will not hesitate to fire. And while our weapons may not kill you, they will cause you considerable discomfort… And I emphasize the word considerable. Are we clear?”
“We will comply with your directives, Lieutenant,” Nathan assured him.
The lieutenant turned his attention to Jessica, looking her over, up and down. “Ghatazhak, huh?”
Jessica detected the disdain and disbelief in his voice, resisting the urge to punch him in his smug little mouth. “That is correct,” she replied flatly.
The lieutenant said nothing further, turning and heading for the door. “You will follow me,” he instructed.
Nathan looked at Jessica, noticing the controlled anger in her eyes. “Down girl,” he whispered, gesturing for her to go before him.
* * *
“Seiiki, Mystic Empress. Your captain and first officer are safely aboard, and are being escorted to Captain Rainey. Your docking clamps will be released in one minute, and you are instructed to proceed to a standoff position at least one hundred kilometers distant, or at maximum reliable communications range, whichever is furthest.”
Loki looked over his shoulder at Vladimir, who was now in command of the Seiiki.
“Do as he says,” Vladimir ordered.
