by gerald hall
"I was told that Adam had found us fourteen replacements from down on Waypoint. A couple of them even claim to have some experience flying aerospace fighters. I don't know how good they are however. It is still a seller’s market for mercenary battlers and reliable crews. I agree about the utility of getting one for this mission. But it seems that most of the experienced crews have been bought out either by the Truists or by someone else in the human part of the Orion Arm trying to hang on to whatever ships or worlds they already have control of. So it looks like we are stuck with just the two shuttles that we currently possess.
Hell, Julia. I would have even accepted another heavy shuttle. If what we find is half as important as the Captain believes, we will need all of the cargo space that we can get to haul back the booty that we will find out there." Sarah impatiently replied.
“But first, we need to find this place, Ma’am. Without that, the purpose of all of this is simply moot. Hopefully, the information that we got from that prisoner is accurate and doesn’t simply lead us on a wild goose chase.”
“If we don’t find something useful at that location, our ‘guest’ is going to find us far less welcoming very quickly.” The pirate band’s second in command coldly noted.
Aboard the Hidden Blade, Jonathan Murrel woke up to find himself totally able to move on his own for the first time in many weeks, it seemed. He was still dressed in a loose fitting white blouse and pants. The room appeared to be a medical examination room, but most of the cabinets were empty. Jonathan tried to open the door, but found that it was locked from the outside.
"Am I truly free of the Demons now?" he asked himself after sitting down on the one chair in the room.
Without warning, the door opened and a petite blonde-haired woman stepped quietly in. Like him, she was dressed in a loose fitting white blouse and pants. Her long wavy blonde hair hung loosely down behind her shoulders.
"I can't believe it. This is the angel of my visions....the angel of my salvation." Jonathan silently thought as she walked towards him.
"Hi, there. I'm Angela. I'm glad to see you're awake. What's your name?" the lovely young woman asked in a very pleasant and all too familiar voice.
"I'm Jonathan.....Jonathan Murrel. I'm very pleased to meet you, Angela." It seemed so very appropriate to Jonathan that this beautiful young woman who had delivered him from the Demons would be named Angela.
"Thank you, Jonathan." Angela said with a smile that could warm the coldest of hearts. For Jonathan, it was almost overpowering to see in the flesh the image that had brought him back from the brink of the hell that he had endured.
"You are very welcome, Angela." he replied with a weary smile of his own. She noticed that he had an interesting accent to his voice. It hinted to a peculiar drawl that sounded like it came from the North American Southeast. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she remembered that it also came from somewhere else in the Orion Arm. But Angela could not remember exactly where.
Angela’s own accent was considerably more neutral as were many whose ancestors also came from North America. A great many of the early travelers into space came from the American Midwest and brought that neutral accent with them. That made it relatively easy to understand for most English-speakers in human-colonized space.
"How are you feeling today?"
"Much better, thank you." He replied, his smile quickly flashing to life again.
Angela could see that Jonathan had already gained back half of the ten kilograms that he had apparently lost while in captivity. He looked and sounded a lot healthier than when he first arrived on the Black Diamond. For someone with as small a frame as Jonathan, losing ten kilos made a big difference in his appearance. He still looked a little gaunt, not nearly as much as he did when he first arrived.
"I'm glad to hear that. I was wondering how you ended up out here so far away from civilization, Jonathan? It can be pretty dangerous out here as you have already learned."
Jonathan didn't want to tell Angela the full nature of what he was doing or what he knew. He was still very suspicious of anyone that he did not truly know. But at the same time, he didn't feel that that it would be too dangerous to say a few general things about what he had been doing. But the more sensitive material, he still kept to himself.
"Well, I had been working for Galactic Expeditions for several years as a member of a survey team. We were out surveying several of the star systems for the potential of setting up asteroid mines when we were attacked. I'm sorry. I don't remember a lot past that, I'm afraid. I had been pretty banged up during the attack.
What about you, Angela? You seem a bit out of place here as well."
Like Jonathan, Angela didn't want to say anything about what the true nature of the group that she was working with. To be honest, she was actually quite ashamed that she was now working as part of a pirate band. So she also decided to tell only part of her story as well.
"I grew up in a very religious community in one of the worlds of the Gliese Confederation. They were very conservative with their beliefs, more so than what I felt that I could accept. So I left there right after I turned eighteen and joined Earth Fleet to learn about the universe and the technological wonders out there. For a while, I thought that I had left my faith behind on my homeworld as well. That was a very hard thing for me to do in spite of the trouble that I had with my family over the differences of opinion that we had. I still felt the need to have something to believe in outside of myself though.
While I was serving in Earth Fleet, I became a follower of The True Way. Back then, the group seemed very benign to the rest of humanity. When ‘The True Way’ decided to become a political and military force in its own right, I was serving on a jump tender that had declared for ‘The True Way’. I decided to stay with my shipmates when that happened because they were the only family that I had by that time.
But in the months afterwards, I saw such terrible things being done by others in the name of ‘The True Way’ that I felt that I could not stay. I could no longer be a part of such...evil. So I deserted from my ship, knowing that I could never return to her and to the ‘True Way’.
I wandered around for a couple of months with little money or work until I signed up with this group of people as a technician. They gave me a home and steady employment when I was hungry and didn’t know where I would find a safe place to sleep. I finally had time to think and pray while I worked for my new ship. It was during that time that I rediscovered my faith and the good that had always been a part of it. It’s not perfect here, but at least I have some purpose in my life. So, that's my story so far."
"Angela, I grew up in a community of faith ever since I was young as well. My faith in the Lord has sustained me even through the most terrible trials and tribulations. I thank Him daily for the strength and wisdom has He has given me. I thank Him also for bringing you, my angel, into my life as well."
Angela blushed for a moment. She had been torn for so long, but now things were becoming clear once again. The problem was the decision that she knew that she might have to make. But for now, she needed to leave Jonathan and the moral conflict that he had now spurred within her.
"I just wanted to check in on you. I need to get going to work now. I will come back soon, I promise." Angela said in a near panic.
"I look forward to it. I will keep you in my prayers." Jonathan answered.
"Bye..." Angela said with a quick wave of her hand and a fleeting smile before turning and leaving sick bay.
Captain Farrow caught Angela at the Black Diamond's mess deck just before she was about to head back down to the Hidden Blade. She was still in the midst of assisting with the refitting the former TTW disguised battler weeks after the pirates' capture of the vessel.
"Hello, Angela. How are you doing?” He queried the young technician.
"I'm doing fine. Thank you, Sir."
"Have you been able to get any more information from our 'guest'?" Captain Farrow asked as he sat down at the
table across from Angela.
"Not so far. If anything, he has gotten more reticent in the past few days, Sir. I've been getting away from playing an angel, and just being myself instead. But I don't think that is why Jonathan has started being so wary though. In some ways, he's been a lot more open, just not about the information that you want him to give us."
"I need your assistance in getting that Truist disguised battler fully operational obviously. But I also want you to continue to try to gain our guest's trust. We need all of the information that he obviously knows. I've already committed us to traveling to the star system that he seemed to be pointing us towards with his initial comments. But every piece of additional information that you are able to get from him, by whatever means necessary, will help us find perhaps a treasure trove of advanced technology. If we do, we can all be very wealthy. That includes you and your friend there, if he cooperates."
"I'll do all that I can, Sir."
"I know that you will. Incidentally, how are things going with the modifications with that Truist disguised battler that we acquired?"
"It's been hard as hell removing some of those capital missile launchers and the related missile magazines without the aid of a shipyard. But we did manage to get them dismounted and shipped down to planetside. Our agent down there already had a couple of buyers lined up. We are now setting up the retractable plating over where the new laser and particle accelerator pop-up turrets will be located.
I've already learned that at least some of the lasers and particle accelerators that our agents have found are older tech without the extended range of the newer weapons. We will probably also have to devote a few extra tons for fire control, but she will still have a hell of a punch at short range. You will have a couple of thousand tons freed up for additional cargo storage as well once we get all of the work completed. That extra space will come in handy the next time that you do a raid, Sir."
"Very good, Angela. Now, go see about working some more of your 'magic' on your new friend down in sick bay." Captain Farrow replied with a quick smile before leaving the shuttle's Engineering section and heading back towards the Black Diamond's bridge.
He saw Sarah Bucholtz standing there on the bridge. She had a very worried look on her face as she looked out through the main viewport.
"What's wrong, Sarah?"
"Sir, I'm afraid that we have started to draw some unwanted attention as a result of the military grade materiel that we have been selling planetside."
"How so?"
"I was afraid that the capital missile launchers that we dismounted from that Conestoga would be just too obvious. Several of our people have already reported being followed after we first offered the launchers for sale. Maybe these people were agents for the Truists or one of the colonial intelligence services. Maybe they were just local gangsters looking to see if they could steal our salvage. I don't know for sure, who they were. But I have a very strong feeling that we need to leave here as soon as possible."
"I was afraid of someone noticing our newfound wealth as well. But we needed to dump this haul, resupply and do some refitting before we head out into the edge of the Orion Arm to act on that intel that we got from our guest." he replied with a note of concern in his voice.
"So, you've decided that we should do a little treasure hunting, huh?"
Jackson sighed for a moment before responding.
"Yes. We were damned lucky last time we ran into the Truists. I want to get out of this part of space for a while just in case they are hunting for us now. Hopefully, things will settle down while we are gone. Besides, the next time that we run into ‘The True Way’ or some other armed force, I want to be as well armed as possible."
"Then why did you sell most of the capital missile launchers on the Conestoga, Sir?"
"Because we couldn't afford to provide ammunition for them. Those big missiles are expensive as hell. But by selling the launchers, we were able to turn right around and use the proceeds to buy a bunch of lasers and particle accelerator cannons. We don't have to worry about buying ammo for those. Those weapons will still give us one hell of a punch at short to medium ranges, which is where most of our fighting will be anyway. We will have to upgrade the cooling systems on that ex-Truist ship a little. But our techs will be able to handle that with the additional heat sinks that we bought as well. I decided to keep that nuclear missile though. There might be an occasion where having a nuke might come in handy."
Sarah nodded her head in agreement.
"I better get the rest of our people ready to leave here. It sounds like we have a very long journey ahead of us." She replied.
"Yes. But with any luck, it will be a very profitable journey for us all as well."
Chapter Twelve:
Pirate Jump Tender Black Diamond
Near Zenith Jump Point
Unknown Star System, Orion Arm
December 30, 2320
Angela stepped into the Black Diamond's small sickbay for her daily visit to Jonathan. She had stopped trying to pretend to be an angel, though she continued to wear mostly white flowing clothing whenever she visited the prisoner. Angela had also arranged to have Jonathan's medication reduced to a bare minimum of common anti-depressant drugs to deal with his continuing nightmares. She had arranged for the purchase of those and a few local herbs that were supposed to have the same effect at the last star system that the Black Diamond had stopped at.
Most of Jonathan's physical injuries were healing well. But there were some injuries from the torture that Jonathan had received at the hands of his Truist interrogators that he would never fully recover from. Angela already knew from what the medic had told her that Jonathan would never be able to father a child ever again. She didn't know if the Black Diamond's medic had told Jonathan yet. Angela certainly didn't want to be the person to break the bad news to him though.
Angela's job was to try to help with the psychological injuries now...and to find out everything that she could about what Jonathan had discovered out during his journey into the far edge of human explored space. At least, that is what her orders were.
"Hello, Jonathan. How are you doing today?" Angela asked.
"I'm feeling a little better." He said with a tired smile as he sat up in his bed.
Angela could still see in his expression and tone that he was still being very guarded with his words though. At the same time, she noticed that the Southern drawl had disappeared from his speech. While that seemed a little curious, she truly was much more interested in how Jonathan was recovering from his ordeal.
"I'm glad. I was very worried about you."
"Thank you, Angela. I really appreciate all that you have done for me during the past few weeks."
"You're welcome. Do you remember anything more today, Jonathan?"
Angela had been asking this question of Jonathan every day since she finally cast off the visage of a heavenly angel. But she could still see the guarded expression flicker on his face once again before Jonathan answered. She knew that he was holding something back.
"No. I'm afraid that my memory of the past few months is pretty shaky still. I just remember being just another man on a Galactic Expeditions shuttle. Suddenly I hear explosions, screams and then have these terrible visions of being thrown into the midst of Hell with Demons tormenting me without mercy. Then I start having visions of being rescued and being in the caring arms of this beautiful angel. The funny part about these visions is that the angel seems to look exactly like you."
Angela blushed for a moment even though he knew that she really was the 'angel' of Jonathan's dreams after the living nightmare that he had experienced and her efforts to pull his mind out of the subsequent psychosis.
“Thank you for the complement, Jonathan. But I hardly consider myself angelic by any means though."
"Angela. I know that you saved my life, one way or another. I can't begin to thank you enough for that. You can be sure that you are in my prayers."
"You've
certainly been in mine as well, Jonathan." Sarah honestly answered.
Jonathan had no idea how close to the truth that his statement was. Since the day that he arrived on the Black Diamond, he had only met Sarah Bucholtz once. There was no way that he could have known about the monster that lurked underneath the surface of that woman's mundane exterior. Without Angela's efforts, Jonathan would have eventually found himself on the outside of an airlock without a space suit almost certainly. Even so, it had continued to be a struggle for Angela to keep an increasingly impatient Captain Farrow from calling upon his first officer's services as an interrogator.
They chatted for nearly an hour before Angela had to go back to work with the refitting of the Hidden Blade.
"I need to go now. If you remember anything new, please let me know. Any little piece of information will help me a lot."
Angela was just about to step through the door out of sickbay when she heard Jonathan call out to her once more.
"Hey, Angela."
"Yes, Jonathan?"
“You're still my angel." He said with a smile.
Angela was smiling too as she finally left. But that smile soon faded when she encountered the pirate band's first officer.
"Have you been able to get anything more from our prisoner, Collins?" Sarah gruffly demanded.
"As I told the captain..."
"I don't care what you told the captain. I want to know what else you have learned from this bastard. I'm tired of him eating from our supplies and taking up valuable manpower. He needs to earn his keep, one way or another." Sarah interrupted with a snarl.
"I know that he's got more information. I just need more time to gain his trust. Jonathan is very guarded about what he says concerning the time to when he was rescued by us and the work that he was doing when he was captured by the Truists."
"You're not falling for him, are you Collins?" Sarah said while leaning in so close to Angela's face that their noses were nearly touching. Sarah Bucholtz wasn't a particularly tall woman, but she was deceptively muscular while Angela was very petite all around.
