by T S Paul
“I’m sorry Tree. Did the message get through?”
The CATT’s voice still gave me shivers. The deep voice grumbled out a response. “It did. I was about to crack their systems. They are using incredibly ancient equipment and not to its full capacity. They don’t have anything in space or on the ground that can hurt us.”
“Hopefully Kate can forgive and forget and work with us. We can use their help.”
“Excuse me, Ma’am? Why do we need them so badly? Those ships won’t make a dent in anything we have in space!”
I glanced at the feed the commander was looking at. I grabbed her and told her to follow me to the ready room.
“Sorry but some of this is for command ears only. We are hitting Earth soon and need whatever we can scrape together. Scum and pirates they may be, but Earth wants us all dead. They should be given a choice to go down fighting. They have a fleet, and we need ships. If anyone else asks that is all you will tell them, understood?”
The commander nodded that she understood.
“Look on the bright side. The Earthies may take them out for us.” She smiled at me.
~~~~~~
Kate pursed her lips at the message she received. She was more in shock that her personal code was now obsolete rather than the message itself. “Commander Jordan. What do we know about the Empire? Did they just have a civil war? And are they in contact with Old Earth?”
“We intercepted a communication about a civil war, and Lonergan’s ships captured a freighter loaded with refugee’s that reported something about that. He may have learned more, but he didn’t report it. Want me to contact him?”
“Lonergan. I knew I should have taken out that whole clan. According to the message I just received, Old Earth sent a fleet and took down the Empire. That ship out there wants to talk about recognition of our system and a possible trade.”
“Really? Kate, why would they offer that?”
“It’s the cheese. Somewhere there is a trap. It would mean an end to lean months and starving children. Possibly better tech that helps our people rather than hurts us.” She stared at her oldest friend and most loyal commander. “Our days of raiding are coming to an end. You know it, and I know it. I have to think of our people. All of our people. Send a response. I will meet with them halfway to the planet. Contact Lonergan have him bring his flagship home and pick me up.”
“Lonergan? He hates you! At least let me call one of the other Captains.”
“No. I chose Lonergan for a reason. He’s bitter because his family lost the planet, but he knows I’ve done a way better job at improving our people’s lives. He needs to see firsthand what I do, or he will distrust me even more. Call him home.”
“You’re the boss. I still think you’re making a mistake.”
~~~~~~
“Athena, they say they will meet you. They set a location.” I looked at my console and at now had a blinking dot on it. I thanked the CATT.
“We will use one of the resupply freighters as a meeting spot. I want fighter patrols out. No one is to fire unless they are threatened first. We need these ships to survive.” I looked around the bridge to be sure everyone understood.
“Even though they are pirates, they are humans first. We need everyone on the same page when it comes to Earth and the clone army. Abigail, contact one of the supply ships and let's get this show on the road.”
~~~~~~
“Kate, they agree to your terms and say the meet will be on a freighter at this location.” Commander Jordan identified a point in space. He peered closer at his boss. She was the strongest woman he knew. “Boss, are you OK?”
“Sorry, this meeting has me on edge. The last time I ran into this woman I was trying to kill her. Now she is offering me peace with Mars. Too much irony for me to grasp. Is Lonergan on his way?”
“He is. You are mad to trust him. He will kill you and toss you out an airlock.”
“He won’t. You misunderstand the man. He has honor. That is about all he has. If I don’t include him, it will be worse for us. What is left of his family represents about fifteen percent of the planet. That is too many to discount. I’ll be fine. But, if something happens to me kill the son of a bitch!”
The commander laughed. There was the pirate he followed.
Several hours later Kate O’Malley and her protection team were safely ensconced on board the Inisfree. Personally, Kate didn’t like Captain Lonergan. But he had the three largest and strongest ships in the fleet. Exactly how he got them was still a secret, and he wasn’t saying.
“So Kate, what’s the plan here?” The man was smirking at her from across the room.
“It is just what I said. We will meet with the Martians. Not a lot of choice here Captain. They can blow this fleet away and then take the planet away from us. We don’t have anything that can stop them. I have a question for you.”
“What?”
“Did you know about the Civil War in the Empire?”
“Sure. Me and the boys took several of the so-called refugee ships. Lots of swag on those. Not just refugees. Rich merchants are fleeing with all the good stuff. I told my ships to target them. Profit in war and all that.”
“Did any of those merchants mention forces from Old Earth?”
“That fairy tale? I’d have to ask, but they may have mentioned it before we spaced them.”
“Damn it, Lonergan! That is why those ships are here. We can’t space survivors. It brings the fleets down on us.”
“Too many mouths to feed! You know how this works Kate! We are pirates, not nursemaids.”
“Then you better hope they aren’t here for you! What else have you heard about the goings on out there?” She waved at the wall.
“Fairy stories. First, the Empire went to war with itself. They started calling it the Earth Empire. Then my boyos started hearing about killer clones. Why people would paint their faces and attack people is beyond me?”
“Those are clowns. Clones mean something else entirely. Damn it, you need to pass on information!”
“We’re Pirates. What do we care about them?”
Kate just shook her head. “This is why I challenged your cousin. We can’t ignore the outside worlds. Not anymore. They have too many fleets. It’s not like the old days. Then they couldn’t find our planet. Now everyone can, it’s even listed on star maps!”
“But Kate we’re Pirates!” Kate held up her hand to silence him.
“I know this is your ship, Captain, but just get us there. We can talk about it all later. I’m bringing you along so don’t get your knickers in a twist.”
“And if It’s a trap? What then?”
“I’ll hide behind you and let them shoot you first.”
“Good. At least you understand. We should be there in a few minutes.”
Chapter 13
It’s good to have people. Every arrangement was made for me, and the fleet was in position surrounding the Gilhooley. I asked about that one since the name was kind of strange. According to Abigail, names for merchantmen were selected by the owners. Those that the Navy used were taken from a pool of names. Our other ship was called the Donovan.
We were going to meet in the main cargo hold. Refreshments and a meeting space were already set up. The Marines with me didn’t approve and wanted the meeting to take place as they spaced the pirates.
“We can’t space the pirates, Dar. They have ships we need for the war. You know it and I know it.”
“Hon, you haven’t seen what we have. Usually, Marines are the first on a ship after pirates get done with it. They don’t leave much. Attacks in this sector of space are the worst. The local pirates have taken to spacing anyone that objects or doesn’t fit a slavery profile or market. We would rather shoot them.” She motioned to the other Marines.
“Dar I’m sorry you feel that way. We need peace with these people, you must understand that. We need every ship we can find for the Earth attack. Our plan is to destroy as much as we can once we jump i
n. If we survive that part, these people are experts at raiding and blowing stuff up. They can help. Every human is needed.”
Dar kissed me and muttered something as she walked away.
“What did she say, Wilson?” I knew he must have heard her. He hears everything.
“She said that Pirates aren’t really human and shouldn’t be called one.”
“Oh.” She did have a point, but as an Ambassador, I needed to think of the bigger picture. We needed them; they have ships. At the moment that was what was important. I headed up to the bridge of the ship; maybe they would know the pirate fleet status.
~~~~~
“Approach them very carefully.” That was the orders given to the helmsman on the Inisfree. Kate O’Malley could only watch the main plot as they approached the freighter. The huge capital ships loomed in the distance. Even the smallest ship could vaporize this relic Lonergan called his flagship. She hoped that they weren’t here to take over. She had just gotten those on the planet to trust her.
“Would you look at the size of that carrier?” The crew of the ship were not shy in their admiration of the shiny new Martian ships. Their cruiser was barely a third the size of the much newer ship.
“How many squadrons do you think she holds?”
“At least three. It’s not the only one. There is another carrier out here. If they have the newest strike-fighters, we are toast. Don’t make too many sudden moves around that ship.”
Kate could see the other carrier they were talking about on her plot. It was easy to see how small their fleet was when shown side-by-side with these modern ships. She just wanted to get this over.
~~~~
“Athena, the Pirate Taoiseach is en route. Her shuttle just left the Inisfree.” I told Wilson thank you. He was better than some aides. I alerted those in the hold to stand ready. I needed for this to come off without bloodshed.
“Dar please don’t shoot the pirates. For me?” She nodded her head. Emotions over this might be high, but Dar always did her duty. She stared at me for a long minute and then agreed. We truly did need them.
I left my improvised Ready Room and slowly made my way to the main hold. Wilson played the footage from the ship’s exterior cameras for me.
~~~~~
The shuttlecraft from the Inisfree felt older than the old Rus cruiser. It barely had interior gravity. “Where did you dig this thing up?”
“You don’t like my shuttle?”
“No, I don’t.” With each surge of power, the ship rattled like it was about to collapse.
“Believe it or not its new. The boys found it on an old passenger liner. Where they found it is more of the question. My techs say it predates the first Interstellar War. It may have even come from a colony ship.”
“It just feels old. You said it came from a passenger liner? What happened to the passengers on that liner?”
The ship’s captain didn’t answer and had a grim look on his face. “Damn you to hell, Peter! That is exactly why these ships might be here! How many?”
Peter rolled his eyes and thought for a moment. “About a thousand. We sold the young ones to one of the slave ships. The rest, well after the boys finished with them we spaced them. Kate, this is the business. You have done the same thing! We can barely feed our own people much less a bunch of niarth!”
“Why didn’t you ransom them? We used to do that in the old days.”
“Ransom? To who? Things have changed since you left and founded your little kingdom. The Empire doesn’t care about its people, and all of those niarth on that ship were running for their lives. The wealth on their backs was all there was! I follow the code.”
The damn code. Kate so wanted to change how things were run. Yes, she created a kingdom of her own and paid for it in blood and tears. It was all gone now. She learned a very valuable lesson from the whole thing. Never trust a politician. They lie. The tone of the loud engines changed, and she could feel them straining to adjust to different gravities. It was almost time.
“Ready the boarding party. We are almost there. No weapons. I will gut the one who violates this flag of truce. Parley is one of the oldest rules of the code. Understood?” The members of the crew nodded or yelled their encouragement. We live by the code, and we die by the damned code!
The engines finally stopped with a loud rattling thump that shook the entire ship. A bolt worked its way loose and landed on Kate’s head. She looked up and stared at the new hole. “Fix that before I come back!” She pointed up at the hole.
She looked at her escort. Her guards looked sharp in their uniforms. Captain Lonergan’s men were dirty and dressed in ragged clothing. They were true pirates.
The shuttle door creaked open with a kick from a crewman. “All ashore that’s going ashore.”
Kate rolled her eyes at the shuttle crew’s antics. Peter would pick the oldest most decrepit shuttle he had. She peered through the door and could see Marines in full dress uniforms backed up by ones in full combat gear. There was a message there. Play nice, or we will come down hard.
“Let’s get this over with.” Following the tradition that no Captain did anything that he wouldn’t ask his crew to do, Kate stepped out first. Peter came second, followed by the guards for both of them. Kate gained a measure of respect from the whole party. If it were a trap, she would have died first.
Doubting this was a trap she strode forward toward the party of Naval officers she could see ahead. Strange sounding pipe music came from overhead as she approached. She had read about it, but never experienced it before.
The party of officers meeting her were an interesting mix. A tall and imposing Marine Captain led the party. On either side of her was a Commander and a Flag Lieutenant. Kate assumed the meeting would take place inside. The Marine gave her a once over and glared at Captain Lonergan and his crew.
“Taoiseach, welcome to the Gilhooley. My name is Captain Dar. The Admiral wishes for you and your party to meet her inside. Please leave any weapons here.” Dar pointed to the table to her right. “My men will take care of them and not allow them to wander.”
Kate eyed the table. If they wanted her dead, she would be dead. She pulled out a pair of stilettos and a boot knife and laid them on the table. She started to leave but found the big Marine watching her. Sighing she reached into her bodice and pulled out a stun grenade. “Happy?” Dar waved her over to the side.
Peter Lonergan eyed the table with distrust and anger. Not really wanting to die he began pulling knives, small guns, grenades, and brass knuckles from inside his clothing. It was surprising he didn’t clank when he walked. The rest of the Pirates followed their captains and shed all their weapons. Dar glared at the last man. He had a wooden leg and walked with a cane.
“Sir, if you please.” She pointed at the man’s leg.
“You can’t have me leg!”
Peter rolled his eyes. “Jacques! Go back to the shuttle, now!”
Jacques stumped back to the ship and closed the door. Dar smiled and inclined her head.
Kate leaned in to Peter and asked. “What did he have in there?”
“Pulse cannon in the leg and a power sword in the cane. Jacques is a terror in a fight.”
The door opened, and they were ushered into the main hold by Captain Dar. The hold was empty except for tables, chairs, what looked like a cantina unit, and a short blond woman wearing an Admiral’s uniform.
“Welcome, Taoiseach O’Malley. Please have a seat, we have a great deal to discuss.”
~~~~~
Kate O’Malley just stared at me in shock. I guess she honestly didn't believe it was me. She appeared to shake herself and took a seat directly across from me. Her companions spread out to the other tables. The tall man with her sat to her left across from me.
“It’s been a long time since Beck’s Refuge, Captain O’Malley. We assumed you survived the loss of your fleet.”
Kate was quiet for a moment. I hoped she wasn’t plotting revenge against me for the loss
of her crews. In war, people die.
“You are that engineering lieutenant, correct?”
“I was. The James Cook was our ship. We encountered your fleet attempting to capture one of the lost colonies.”
“Yes, whatever happened to the Governor of New Reno? I still have a bone to pick with him.”
“I think he’s dead. I can check if you like.”
“That won’t be necessary. Why are we here?”
