A Pride of Lions

by Mark Iles

  Selena’s gave a carnivorous grin, as she eyed the Viper and the unknown ship on the view screen. “Back where I come from they have a saying, “slowly slowly catchee monkey”. Let’s see what happens when they don’t get an answer.”

  A little while later, Navs said, “They’re moving in to dock with Viper, Ma’am.”

  Leaning back in her chair Selena breathed out slowly and drummed her fingers on the arm of her chair, as she waited impatiently for news.

  Twelve minutes later the screen in front of her changed to show a grinning Lieutenant Udoh, the new commanding officer of the Viper.

  “I hope you have good news for me, Lieutenant,” Selena said, expectantly.

  “I do, Ma’am, the pirate vessel is in our hands. They put up quite a stiff fight but they weren’t expecting us.”

  “Good; well done, Udoh. I’m coming over. Kes, come with me.”

  The three ships dropped their camouflage and Vampyre docked on the other side of the Viper, so that, in all, three ships – including the pirate — were rafted up, with the Victory and Valiant patrolling protectively around them. Selena and Kes strode straight through the Viper into the pirate vessel, Selena acknowledging salutes from the troops. One of the commandos showed them through to the dining room.

  Udoh saw her and saluted, then gestured towards a group of four prisoners. “Ma’am, that one there’s the captain.”

  “Who’re you?” the pirate growled, his face contorting with rage.

  “I’m Lieutenant Commander Selena Dillon and I’m in charge. You’re the Captain of this outfit, I understand?”

  “That’s correct, the name’s Lumley. You had no right to—”

  “Shut up,” Selena ordered, and then turned to Udoh. “Did they resist?”

  “Yes, Ma’am. I lost two men. We identified who we were and they opened fire anyway. We killed eight of them; these are what’s left.”

  Selena turned back to Lumley. “By opening fire on Penal Corps, who identified themselves as such, you’ve declared yourselves pirates and committed murder. Lieutenant Udoh, leave Lumley where he is for the moment but space the others.”

  Lumley went white, watching as his protesting and panicking men were herded into an airlock and dumped into space. He turned his terrified eyes onto Selena, as she dismissed all but Kes and Udoh. Lumley gulped as he looked fearfully into her icy blue eyes.

  “Sit down,” Selena said, gesturing towards a light blue dining table with two matching blue chairs. She sat in the other, silently looking at him as he placed his hands on the table. “I want you to tell me who the informer is,” she said, finally.

  “Informer? I don’t know what you’re talking about. Listen, when Mercier finds out what you’ve done, he’ll have you skinned alive. If I were to say anything untoward he’d do the same to me too.”

  Selena noticed how he looked away as he spoke. The man was lying. “Who’s Mercier?” she demanded.

  Lumley bit his lip, realising he’d said too much. “He’s the guy running everything. He has spies everywhere.”

  “Ah, a pirate king: who’d have thought it? Now, I asked about the informer; and this time, don’t lie to me. I wouldn’t worry about this Mercier of yours at the moment, if I were you. He’s not here, I am. It’s me you really want to worry about, for the time being.”

  Selena drew her knife, turning it so that the twelve-inch self-sharpening blade glinted in the overhead light. Lumley’s eyes fixed on the weapon and he swallowed, beads of sweat grew on his forehead and drifted slowly down his face. His hands clenched and unclenched into fists and then he took a deep breath and lay them spread out on the table in front of him. Selena smiled slowly, her eyes remaining cold and remote. “Do I need to repeat myself?”

  “Uh, no, you don’t. I just don’t know who—”

  His scream rang through the room as she slammed the blade down into one of his hands, severing two fingers. He grasped his mutilated hand and held it to his chest, rocking back and forwards, eyes wide with panic and pain. Blood pumped from his ruined hand, staining his shirt and splashing over the table. He pulled his shirt free and held it to the wounds to try and stem the bleeding.

  “What the hell? You bitch...”

  “Tut, tut, don’t be nasty – I’m the one with the knife remember. Now, the name,” Selena demanded quietly, holding the knife up and turning it in the light, so that his blood ran down the keen blade and drew his eyes.

  Lumley began to speak, hesitatingly at first and then more firmly.

  “What are you going to do?” Kes asked, as they made their way out of the dining room and towards their own ship. Behind them, Lumley’s pleading protestations were cut off as a hatch slammed shut; then the airlock cycled again and the man joined his fellows drifting in space.

  “He gave me the combination to his files, remember. It’s time for a little light reading.”

  * * * *

  Back on the moon-base , Selena had all five ships, the Vampyre, Victory, Viper and Valiant – plus their newly acquired pirate vessel, which she renamed Vicious – crammed full of commandos and ensured they were fully armed. With Lieutenants Harding and Udoh as commanding officers of the Victory and Viper, she met Lieutenant Phil Simons, Harding’s previous XO whom she had made commanding officer of the Valiant. A little earlier, she’d told her SO, Josef Khan that he was to lead their new ship Vicious. Sharon Potts made her objections, saying as senior lieutenant and her XO she should have had command of the Vicious.

  “Don’t be dense, Sharon,” Selena told her, with a frown. “You’re my First Officer and I need you here. Besides, we have four other ships to control now and I need an experienced officer to coordinate them and advise me at all times; that’s you. Now, I don’t want to hear anymore about it. Don’t let me down.”

  They were in the Vampyre’s wardroom, crammed with the Commanding Officers and the XO’s of the other ships. Selena tuned to face them, as a furious Sharon sat back in her chair, tight lipped and simmering.

  “Now,” Selena said, her voice carrying throughout the room, “as you know, the last pirate vessel we captured was completely intact and has been renamed Vicious. The Intel we gleaned from her has revealed the location of the pirate base. It’s on one of the system’s outer worlds, a lightly populated world called New Kenya — and I intend to attack it immediately. How they’ve gotten away with keeping their base secret so far, I don’t know, but I mean to find out.

  “I don’t plan to upgrade the Vicious yet, we haven’t time. Instead I intend that she lead the way into the pirate lair. They’ll be expecting her back anytime, so we need to move quickly. The other ships will follow her in, our stealth modes making us undetectable – so with luck they won’t see us until it’s too late. Once the Vicious has landed, and her commandos are storming the facilities, we’ll land too and disembark our own troops.”

  Selena took a deep breath, and then went on, “It seems we had a traitor in our midst, ladies and gentlemen. Corporal Jones, one of my own crew, is now under arrest and will be tried for conspiracy, piracy and murder, the last two of which carry the death penalty.”

  “Why not just shoot him now?” Udoh asked.

  “Because we need to make an example of him, as a deterrent to others. There’s one other thing. The person running this whole pirate organisation is someone called Rick Mercier. I want him taken alive. He’s to be tried for his crimes, alongside Jones. Now, does anyone have any questions?”

  When there were none forthcoming, Selena ran through everything again. Without further ado, the officers left and boarded their ships.

  Within the hour, Selena’s little flotilla, brimming with troops, had lifted and they were on their way to the pirate stronghold.

  * * * *

  “Vicious has been challenged by the pirates, Ma’am. Their reply has been authenticated and everything’s going smoothly,” Sharon reported, as they waited a short distance from the pirate stronghold.

  “Thank you, Lieutenant,” Sele
na acknowledged. “Order the other ships to follow her in.”

  As the Vicious slowed and landed there was silence for a moment, then her cargo doors opened and the commandos stormed out, weapons firing. The pirates were taken completely by surprise and were mown down before they could mount a defence. As the battle erupted, the other four ships began landing and their troops swiftly joined the battle.

  Within the hour, the pirate base was in their hands, but no matter where they searched Mercier was nowhere to be found. They did, however, capture certain local dignitaries in the company of the pirates, with large stashes of money in their hands. It was obvious to Selena that they were in cahoots with the pirates and, having received their confessions to the same, she ordered those and the pirates concerned shot on the spot.

  Selena allowed herself a moment’s pause as she sauntered past the captured pirates in their white coverall uniforms, sitting in the main hanger with their hands cuffed behind them. They were a sullen lot and stared resentfully at their watchful guards. The dock workers were under arrest too, although they stood with their hands held above their heads. Selena would let them go in a while, although she knew that no doubt many of them were pirates, not that she could prove it. No matter, she had intended for some of them to escape anyway as she needed them to carry a message. She stopped in front of the prisoners and turned to face them, hands clasped behind her back she started to speak.

  * * * *

  There was a sharp rap on Selena’s cabin door. “Come in,” she ordered, looking up as Sharon entered the cabin, along with two armed guards and Kes. Sharon’s hands were cuffed behind her back and two additional guards remained outside.

  “Captain, I don’t understand, what’s the meaning of this?”

  “Shut up, Potts,” Selena snapped, leaning back in her chair. “Did you really think you could get away with it? For your information, Jones was just a ploy; we knew you were the real spy. We’d hoped you’d lead us to Mercier but it seems he got away. Warn him, did you?”

  “No, Ma’am, I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’ve got the wrong person, I—”

  Selena sighed and stood up from behind her desk, pushing back her black swivel chair with her backside as she did so. Striding over to her drinks cabinet, she poured herself a small brandy and sniffed it appreciatively, then turned back to face her former XO. “When Norma was murdered you were one of the first on the scene. You were far too quick for my liking and that made me curious. You killed her, didn’t you, Sharon? To stop her finding the evidence of your crimes. It was also you who deleted that data. Unluckily for you, it was all there when we captured the Vicious, even the details of your little ploy to frame Jones. Rather careless of them, really. There’s no point denying it, Sharon, we have the evidence and it’s irrefutable.”

  “What are you going to do?” Sharon asked softly, eyes downcast. “I’ll give you whatever information you need, I’ll do anything.”

  “You can start by telling us why you did it. Don’t you realise that you’re directly responsible for the deaths of thousands of people? There can never be an excuse for that.”

  “I finish my service soon, Captain. I needed money, so I could buy a new identity and return home to see my family. I haven’t seen them for over twenty years. Surely you can understand that?” Her tear-filled eyes were pleading.

  “But what about those other families, Sharon; those of the people you betrayed to the pirates?”

  Sharon looked to the floor again. “What are you going to do?” she repeated.

  “Well, I’ve thought about it,” Selena replied. “And I’ve decided to let you go.”

  Sharon’s eyes snapped back up and locked onto Selena’s. “What?” she demanded, incredulous.

  “That’s right, I’m letting you go. The prisoners are being loaded aboard a transport as we speak. I had a little chat with them, and the dockyard workers, who’ll be set free when we leave. I told them that you’d double crossed them in an attempt to save your life and told me everything. I’ve no doubt there will be a few pirates among the workers that we’re letting go, so the news will spread quickly. I don’t know how long you’ll survive, Sharon, but I sincerely doubt it will be long.”

  “You can’t do this!” Sharon shouted, stepping backwards. Her face was ashen, tears spilled from her eyes and flowed down her face. “Please, I’ll do whatever you want...”

  “Don’t insult me,” Selena snapped, slapping Sharon hard across the face so that she staggered to one side. “You’re a disgrace to that uniform. Now, I imagine someone in your shoes would need a few bruises to look like they were interrogated. Kes, if you will...”

  A little while later, with the transport full of prisoners already on its way back to Andros Prime, Vicious and the other vessels lifted one by one. The local police held the facility now, but they had their orders not to interfere. Vampyre was the last ship to leave. Selena looked out of the viewer at Sharon’s lonely figure standing on the tarmac, staring hopelessly back at them.

  As the Vampyre lifted, Sharon turned and started to run, followed seconds later by a mob of dockside workers.

  Selena turned away from the screen and lifted a cup of steaming coffee to her lips, and wondered just how long the woman would last.

  * * * *

  Back at their base, the crew had taken over a local bar and a celebration party was already running riot. Selena stripped and jumped in the shower. There was a loud knock on the door As she did so and Udoh came in. “Sorry, Ma’am, I was just coming onboard to see you when I found these flowers. There’s even roses in there, must have cost a fortune. Looks like you have an admirer! I’ll put them in a vase for you.”

  “Ha, don’t know who. But thanks, Udoh, I’ll be out in a moment. There’s a vase under the washbasin.”

  Seconds later, there was a loud crash.

  Puzzled, Selena turned the shower off and put her dressing gown on, drying her hair with a towel as she walked into her room. “Udoh?”

  The lieutenant lay quivering on the floor, the flowers beside her. Sarah pressed the personal alarm hidden under her desk and Kes was there in minutes, as was the medic.

  “I’m sorry, Ma’am, she’s dead,” the medic said.

  Kes held up a scanner from the flowers and looked straight at Selena. “The roses in the vase are covered with a neurotoxin. If you’d opened these yourself it would be you lying there.” Using a pair of tweezers, he picked up the card and read it out loud: “To Dillon the villain. You missed me, better luck next time. RM. Who’s RM?”

  “It has to be Rick Mercier,” Selena replied. “I’m going to find that son of a bitch. I’ll kill him, if it’s the last thing I do.”

  “It’ll have to wait a while, there’s a letter for you.”

  Hastily, she opened it. Her heart sank. “I’m being moved,” she said.

  Chapter Seven

  Admiral Black’s face appeared on the main view screen on the Magellan’s bridge with the commanding officers of the other ships in the flotilla forming a frame of faces in small square mini-screens about it.

  “Captains,” the admiral acknowledged, leaning back in his black swivel chair and scrutinizing them one-by-one. “As you may know, our military bases on Olympus sent out a flurry of distress calls a few days ago. The calls were cut off almost immediately, so we didn’t get much information about what was going on, and we haven’t heard from anyone since. There were several ships in the system at the time but we’ve not been able to raise any of them, either. Naturally, this has the Admiralty deeply concerned and so they’ve decided to send our flotilla in to investigate what’s going on and to try to resolve the problem — or to at least lend assistance. That’s all we know at the moment, but I’ll keep you informed as further information arrives. Now, are there any questions?”

  Captain Jameson of the Kittihawk raised a hand. “Admiral, if I may. Are there no indications as to what’s happened, nothing at all?”

  “None; as I said, Capt
ain, all communication was lost almost immediately. Now, next question? Captain Kotes, you seem to have something to say.”

  “Sir, we’re only seven ships, exactly what are we supposed to achieve? We’re talking billions of people here, with cities both on the planet and moon-side, let alone the outer colonies and ships. Disaster relief will be a huge task, and we won’t be much help on our own.”

  “The Admiralty’s sending us in first because ships on long-range deployment, such as ourselves, carry disaster-relief supplies. In the meantime a fleet of other vessels are already being loaded with more specific equipment. These ships will follow once they have our reports on hand and can see what’s needed. We have your light frigate, the Magellan, plus two heavy cruisers and four destroyers; so we have a lot of punch, should we need it. Both cruisers have well-equipped hospitals onboard, and the other ships have sickbays with highly trained medical staff. The main thing for us to do is to find out exactly what’s happened, and what we can do to help those people.

  “Now, we jump in fifty-eight minutes. It’s only a small hop, twenty-three hours to be specific, so we’re going to be there in one standard day. Tell your crews to buckle up. We may have no idea what’s happened, but by God those people need our help. Make your ships ready, gentleman. That’s all.”

  Kotes inspected the ship from top to bottom, ensuring everything was spotless and the crew ready. Before he knew it, he was back on the bridge as the flotilla prepared to exit hyperspace. The ships were already at action stations, first aid teams were closed up at their posts and all shuttles and landing craft were fully loaded with engineers, medics, troops and supplies.

  Then they were back in normal space and approaching Olympus. The Magellan was the first ship into the system, the others blinking in from hyperspace moments later. The flotilla immediately formed up into a V formation and began their approach.

  “Focus the forward screens on Olympus and zoom in,” Kotes ordered. “Let’s see what we have here.”

  As the crew complied, his jaw dropped and his face went pale.