The commander of Torpedo Ship Squadron Four was monitoring the space within the star cluster pathway. He had broken the twelve ships into two-ship sections and had them covering the maximum volume toward the Rigel-Aldebaran sector. Taking a risk, he had loaded his four Charybdis with mines and had them seed a spider’s web of mines throughout the edges of the path, then return to be fitted with torpedoes. He kept all of his Scylla ships on patrol, and the weapons handlers were working at high efficiency to rearm and reload the Charybdis with torpedoes. All but one ship had returned from reloading. Torpedo Ship Squadron Five had done the same and was covering his back.
This would be his third four-hour patrol since the last assault had taken out Torpedo Ship Squadron Two. He hoped for a nice quiet patrol like the last two. He felt more secure now that they had a dense field of mines in front and in back of them.
His last pilot returned from the planet and joined up with her wingman. Now they waited and kept their eyes open. What he wouldn’t give for a sector early warning grid.
The two Shadow scout ships moved up to the star cluster in echelon formation. They were similar to the Vigilant, but only half the Vigilant’s size. They lacked Vigilant’s turrets, but had a deadly mix of plasma and particle cannons in their nose and winglets. Twelve guns could do a lot of damage.
They moved in, scanned, and one of them powered forward at FTL Power 5 for two seconds then drifted, scanning the whole time. Then the other powered forward for four seconds at FTL Power 5 and drifted, scanning. The first powered by the second ship for four seconds and drifted, scanning. The second ship adjusted for the change in angle of the path and powered forward. They kept this up until they started to see indications of Human activity on their long-range scanners. Both stopped and scanned. They received indications of terrestrial communications, including planet-wide entertainment broadcasts. The two captains were amazed that any life form could exist in this star cluster, much less Humans, but pressed ever forward. They moved forward slowly now, expecting a Human force to respond to their presence at any moment.
Their gravimetric sensors were of a match for the Vigilant’s, and they quickly found a path that would accommodate Fleet Commander J’Kalt’s maneuver scheme. Locating a minefield, they determined that it was an undisciplined and scattershot field, and easily found a path around it. It was a tricky maneuver, with two opposing 90 degree turns in quick succession, but still passable by the fleet. They pressed ever forward, sensing that the Human planet was ahead, but as of yet had not gotten a direct bearing on it.
The Vigilant coasted into a nest of four brown dwarves, close enough to the pirate world for the Vigilant’s sensors to get high resolution scans, but far enough away to be undetectable from the planet or the patrolling ships. The sensor section plotted and calculated the numbers and patrol patterns of the torpedo ships and the recently added cutter orbiting the planet. They intercepted the ships’ reports to the defense HQ on the planet, noting that the defenders were becoming more disciplined and more effective.
When Vigilant Sensors had a good enough plot to anticipate the patrol ships’ actions, they tested their ability to predict where the torpedo ships and cutter would be at any given times. Their patrol patterns were very predictable, like sentries walking post. One successful test was followed by a second, and third. Kelly thanked God they were lock step and predictable. He had Sensors calculate the next time all the patrol ships would be facing away from the planet and the orbiting patrol ship would be behind the planet.
They worked their magic and gave him a window of 40 minutes, to begin in one hour and twenty minutes. Kelly told CPT Chen to get her Marines ready. He had Chief Blankenship send a message to Alistair, giving him their ETA and to get the Debran women ready. The Vigilant would meet them on the ninth hole.
In exactly one hour and twenty minutes, the Vigilant made a high-speed dash into the pirate world’s atmosphere. They spiraled in, aiming for the pin of the ninth hole of the manor house golf course. Night had set in, but the Vigilant’s sensor feed made the helmsman’s monitor picture as bright as noon. The Marines were positioned to the port and starboard of the gangplank. As the Vigilant got within 100 feet of the ground, the gangplank went down and ten Marines rappelled out the opening. They landed softly and fanned out to form perimeter security for the ship.
As the Vigilant came down on its landing gear facing the manor house, the remaining Marines and CPT Chen ran down the ramp and across the short distance to the house. Kelly had the turret gunners prepared to fire in support of the Marines. Alistair came up on their tactical net and told them to stand down, as all the staff and security personnel were neutralized. He would bring the Debrans out to them.
True to his word, Alistair led the three women out of the house. He turned them over to CPT Chen and followed them as they ran back to the Vigilant. The Debrans were brought aboard, then the Marines hustled back on in the reverse order that they left. The ten perimeter guards were last on and ran up the gangplank, coiling their ropes just as the Vigilant lifted off. Kelly went back to congratulate Alistair and the Marines. He also wanted to greet the women who had caused this uproar.
Kelly found the Debran women being examined by “Doc” Kumar.
“How are they Doc?”
“Right as rain, sir. Just a slight touch of sunburn.”
Kelly turned to the three women and welcomed them aboard the Vigilant. He told them he had no quarters for them, but to just remain here in sickbay until they could be transferred to another ship. He then excused himself, as he had a battle to fight.
As Kelly congratulated the Marines and thanked them for a smooth operation, he saw that CPT Chen was in a heated discussion with Alistair. He ushered the two of them forward to get them away from the crowd of Marines around the raised gangplank.
“What is it, you two?”
CPT Chen was first to speak. Pointing her finger at Alistair, she said furiously, “You had to grandstand, didn’t you? You couldn’t just let my Marines pull this off, could you?”
Alistair calmly said, “Mary, the night staff was two old men and the security force was one enfeebled 70 year old. I took away his flashlight and locked them all in a closet. It was no trouble at all. I accept your expression of appreciation.”
CPT Chen stomped back to her platoon.
Kelly laughed all the way to the bridge.
He looked at the plot and saw no trailing ships. He looked over at the sensor watch position and asked, “Any reaction yet, Jameson?”
Petty Officer Todd Jameson replied, “None yet, sir.”
Jameson’s head suddenly went down. “Sir, two K’Rang medium scout ships, K’Tan class, just entering sensor range at 176 mark 52. I think they see us. They are powering up and heading our way.”
K’Rang scouts in the star cluster was a bad thing. Kelly fired off a quick message to Admiral Minacci, reporting that the Debran women were safely on board. He also informed him that he was about to be engaged by two K’Rang medium scout ships that appeared in the star cluster. Kelly was about to recommend the Admiral move the Fleet to the star cluster entrance, then thought, no, the admiral will figure that out on his own.
Kelly ordered the Vigilant to come about and engage the K’Rang ships. They couldn’t be allowed to carry information on the pirate world back with them. He sounded the collision alarm, as they were already at battle stations. The Marines lined up in the central corridor; CPT Chen, 1st LT Heron, and his Gunnery Sergeant stood at parade rest behind the command chairs.
Kelly asked, “Sensors, any reaction from the pirate top cover?”
“Negative, sir. They are continuing their patrol routes as before.”
Kelly had an idea. He wanted to make sure the pirates knew they had bigger troubles coming their way. He ordered helm to increase the closing rate by pushing their speed up to 0.9 c, just below light speed. He wanted to hit these K’Rang when the pirate torpedo ships were in the right position.
The Vigilant pressed on toward the K’Rang scouts. The turrets were hot and his best gunner was just below Kelly’s position, ready to fire the nose guns. Kelly knew he had gun range on the K’Rang; he hoped to do some damage to them before they could return the favor. Kelly ordered the gunners to fire as soon as the K’Rang ships came into range. Nose guns were to concentrate on the lead K’Rang scout and the turrets would fire on the K’Rang wingman.
The two K’Rang Scouts were coordinating their attack on the Human scout ship. They knew the Human had longer-range guns than they, but there were two of them. As long as he didn’t have missiles, they had a better than even chance of beating him.
D’Lon, the senior commander, had the lead. His junior commander, V’Tagg, was behind and to starboard.
D’Lon keyed his communicator to V’Tagg and said, “We must kill this Human scout. The Humans must not know we have been here. He will fire on me first. When he does, you must break right, then turn wide to come in on his left flank and kill him. I will draw his fire and inflict as much damage as I can. Whatever happens, do not let him escape. Fleet Commander J’Kalt will need the element of surprise.”
As the first steel rail gun projectiles started coming his way from the Human scout, he ordered V’Tagg to break right.
Kelly watched as the nose gunner opened fire. The lead K’Rang came straight ahead, as the trailing ship broke right and away. Kelly, being a former fighter pilot, knew this maneuver. The other ship would come in on their port side and try to shoot them amidships. Kelly warned gunnery to keep the turrets focused on the K’Rang maneuvering off to port.
The range indicator for the lead K’Rang showed him coming into range to fire back. Kelly watched the rail gun slugs tearing up the scout’s nose. He had the gunner concentrate next on the winglets, as they contained plasma guns. When the lead K’Rang’s guns came into range, D’Lon opened fire with all he had. The plasma guns had little effect on the Vigilant. Her shielding spread the charge all across the outer hull and neutralized the plasma pulses. The particle beams had more effect, but at this range it did little more than etch the hull. The K’Rang guns’ effect was also reduced by the Vigilant’s nose gunner’s deadly accurate destruction of the K’Rang guns.
Kelly kept watch on the flanking scout ship; it was almost in position for what Kelly had in mind. Kelly keyed up the screen showing the pirate patrol routes. It was time. Kelly ordered the helm to come 45 degrees to port. This put them equally between the two K’Rang ships and in a position where neither could fire on the Vigilant with their fixed nose or winglet guns. Kelly ordered the turret gunners to fire on both ships as they passed. He saw pieces fly off both ships as the turrets’ twin particle cannons chewed pieces from the sides of the scouts. Both scouts frantically tried turning in toward the Vigilant, but the radii of their turns were too tight.
D’Lon was almost weaponless, but he ordered his own ship and V’Tagg’s to turn in pursuit. They must destroy this Human scout. V’Tagg thought she had an idea of what the Human was trying to do, but the code of Shadow Force was to follow your orders without hesitation. She would follow, but could ask questions.
“D’Lon, could this Human be leading us into a trap?”
“No, he is running. Did you not see how he turned between us to avoid our guns? He must be hurt more than he shows. His nose guns may be off line or damaged.”
V’Tagg suggested, “He seems to be leading us back to the Human world, where those fighters are patrolling.”
D’Lon saw only victory and honor. He said to V’Tagg, “Look at your tactical display. The fighters are out of position to be able to support him. V’Tagg, form up tight on me and follow me.”
She lined up on his starboard winglet and followed him, in accordance with the code. As one of a very few K’Rang female ship commanders, she mustn’t take any actions that would endanger the future for those females coming up in the ranks behind her.
Kelly had the helm line up with the pirate planet atmosphere. He wanted to leave a message few below would miss. The ship skipped in and out of the atmosphere, leaving a contrail half the diameter of the planet. Every time they skipped into the atmosphere, it produced a sonic boom, as well. As they came around the planet, they came face to face with two-dozen surprised torpedo ships. In an instant there were over 100 torpedoes launched and heading their way. Calm, professional reports of the torpedo squadrons engaging a Scout Force ship went down to the defense HQ on the planet.
As they turned away from the torpedoes, the torpedoes and the torpedo ships followed in tail chase. Kelly ordered the helm to line up with the lead K’Rang scouts nose. Once the distance to the K’Rang ships closed to where the torpedo ships had sensor readings on the K’Rang scouts, not so calm reports were sent to the defense HQ. The level of profanity increased exponentially.
Kelly had what he wanted. He ordered the helm to climb 15 degrees and go to FTL Power 3. As expected, the Vigilant accelerated away from the torpedoes too quickly for them to maintain lock. The torpedoes searched for a new target and the two K’Rang scouts were in their sights. The K’Rang were unable to turn away in time and over 100 torpedoes homed in on the K’Rang scouts. The conflagration was a wonder to see, as torpedo after torpedo accelerated into the growing mass of debris, flame, and smoke.
Kelly ordered the ship off general quarters and had Connie call for damage reports. The sections reported only minor damage. Engineering had a fried circuit breaker and a 10 % loss in shields. Sickbay reported a mild case of motion sickness on the part of Miss Christine Debran. The galley reported a broken glass. Sensors reported a frayed nerve; Doc immediately prescribed duck tape.
Kelly should chastise his section chiefs for inappropriate reporting, but at the moment, coming off an adrenaline high, he thought it hilarious. He ordered the helm to reverse course to the pirate world and hold off 200,000 km from the planet.
The torpedo ships still held position where they saw the K’Rang ships destroyed. Kelly listened as the torpedo ships reported the Vigilant’s presence. The next thing he heard was a hail from the defense HQ of the planet.
“Scout Force Scout Ship, this is Steven Maynard, head of the Brotherhood of Barataria.”
Kelly let a moment pass then responded, ”Mr. Maynard, this is LCDR Kelly Blake, captain of the Galactic Republic Scout Ship, Vigilant. What may I do for you?”
“I would like to discuss terms of surrender, captain. We could probably have held you off, but we have no desire to take on the K’Rang.”
“Mr. Maynard, I would be happy to accept your surrender, but I must contact my admiral first. Stand by.”
Kelly sent Admiral Minacci a message, informing him of the current situation and asking for guidance on how to proceed. In ten minutes, he was directed to stand by in orbit, awaiting the arrival of the 3rd Assault Landing Group.
Kelly called down to Mr. Maynard. Maynard answered and Kelly ordered him to stand down his forces and prepare to receive the Commander of the 3rd Assault Landing Group in approximately four hours. Kelly observed the space clearing over the planet. Before long, the Vigilant was alone in orbit above the pirate planet.
The series of sonic booms woke up everyone in the factory women’s dorm. Irina Bugarov knew what it was instantly. She ran outside in her nightclothes, with Terri trailing close behind her, and a crowd of other women following. Above them was a contrail looking like a giant dotted line stretching across the sky as far as they could see.
Terri, obviously afraid asked, “What is it? Are we under attack?”
Irina calmed her down, “We aren’t, but our pirate friends are. That was too big to be a fighter and too small to be a major combatant. My guess is that was a scout ship making a point.”
Right then, the torpedoes collided with the K’Rang scouts and the cascading explosions could be seen plainly in the night sky.
Terri asked, “Did they kill them?”
Irina answered, “Somebody died, that’s for sure. I just hope it was some of our pirate friends.”
The dazzling explosions went on for several minutes. Irina thought their deliverance might not be far off. The Fleet had found them.
With the show over and nothing left to see, Irina and Terri retired to their room and climbed into their beds. Sleep came slowly, as they imagined their liberation.
The Vigilant orbited above the pirate world, its sensors peering down to make sure that the pirates had stood down. The sensors detected no activity other than the start of practice for a parade by the Ascetics. Kelly watched the units forming up and running through their drills on his cabin monitor. CPT Chen sat opposite, commenting on lapses of precision in their formations and soldiers out of step. The Vigilant’s sensors were of a high enough resolution that individual soldier’s movements could be seen clearly. There was little else to do while awaiting the 3rd ALG’s arrival. Kelly had already prepared his defense for possibly exceeding his orders, and forwarded a detailed report to Scout Force HQ.
There was a knock on the door and Alistair stuck his head in the door. “Anyone in need of a refill?” he asked, as he entered with a carafe of fresh coffee. Kelly held up his cup and Alistair filled it. CPT Chen still wasn’t speaking to him, but held up her cup, too.
Kelly said, “Alistair, look. They’re preparing my victory parade.”
Alistair sat down and looked on.
Kelly commented, “ I suppose they’re not all that bad, for a bunch of monks. Mary’s platoon could put on a better show. I don’t know much about these Ascetics. Aren’t they just a bunch of mercenaries with religious trappings? I’ve heard they’ve wound up on both sides of a conflict more than a few times.”
Alistair recalled a recent Intel study on the Ascetics.
“The Templar Corps was formed more than 150 years ago on Earth, in reaction to a need for ethical and disinterested peacekeeping forces to preside over disengagements and nation building, in the aftermath of several civil wars and other conflicts. They were surprisingly good at it. They didn’t loot and they didn’t look the other way. They were sufficiently armed and had flexible enough rules of engagement that they could preempt many problems before they blew up.”
Kelly asked, “How did they get started? After all, someone had to have the idea to form units of military monks.”
Alistair continued, “Theopholus the First was the first Cardinal, First Class of the Templar Corps in 2195. He saw the need for ethical peacekeepers after the outbreak of the Retro Post-Colonial Wars in Africa, Pan Pacifica, and Asia in the late 22nd Century. The United Nations-funded peacekeepers too often went in with their own agendas or their hands out and made matters worse.”
“Now, so you understand, the Templar Corps is only the military arm of the Order of the Holy Knights of the Resurrected Temple. The Cardinal, First Class is dual hatted as the military commander and head of the order. The order also provides mobile hospitals, refugee camp administration, logistical support, and nation building support. After the Great Global Depression of 2203, the Templars were able to recruit trained specialists in medicine, logistics, engineering, finance, law, and other fields.”
“Theopholus, seeing the need, also recruited heavily for acolytes and deacons (their foot soldiers) from the slums and barrios, built discipline through rigorous religious and military training, and outbid the UN peacekeepers on dealing with the Nigerian Civil War aftermath in 2207. The Templars went in, disarmed the combatants, restored order, established hospitals, schools, and civil government. It was rumored that they only had to shoot a few key people Pour l'encouragement d' les autres — for the encouragement of the others. In a year, Nigeria was back on its feet with a stable coalition government, a rebuilding economy, and a functioning civil society. It was rumored that their new constitution was dictated by a Templar cardinal.”
“The Templars, or Ascetics as they are commonly known, became the go-to guys for any regional instabilities. Sometimes the mere threat of bringing in the Ascetics was enough to force an agreement at the negotiating table.”
CPT Chen, forgetting she was still mad at Alistair, asked, “Why are they called Ascetics?”
“They take a vow of poverty, chastity, and obedience when they join the Templars. They possess only the clothing they are issued and live a Spartan existence, therefore Ascetics.”
Mary asked, “Chastity? So do they never have sex? Certainly, that must cause them problems? I have enough problems of that sort with my Marines.”
“They have an internal program where exemplary male and female Templars are chosen to have children. The children are raised in common creches and the parents never know which child is theirs. It fosters a sense of family throughout the Corps, because you never know if that new acolyte or presbyter might not be your own child or brother or sister. Scrupulous records are kept in the Templar HQ to guard against incest, which is a high sin in their beliefs.”
“They really made their impact felt in the Great Migration, when they were chosen to provide the security forces for the settlements. Their ranks swelled as each settlement ship left Earth with a battalion of Templars, and there were 100 settlement ships. The Templars established a strong presence in the new Galactic Republic. That’s why every first tier world has a Templar monastery.”
“On my own world, allowing for our unique situation, the Templars became the police force more than a military force. They used their military power at the beginning to put down the Revolt of Desperation, but after that they were our cops. After we got the upper hand on the ‘Many Teeths’, a lethal predator, there wasn’t much need for military. An interesting fact is that the Ascetics train equally on modern weapons and on sword, spear, and shield. That came in handy on Archimedes, after they ran out of ammunition packs.”
“The Templar Corps nowadays is likely to show up in situations like this, where military capability is needed, but can’t be associated with the Republic or any world government. As much as they try to avoid it, they occasionally wind up on both sides of a conflict. They justify their mercenary activities by pointing out that their acolytes and deacons never engage in war crimes and always follow the Galactic Conventions on War. They fight a higher ethics war.”
“Of course, the Templars today are diversified. They have their own combat and support fleet. They produce their own rations. They set up monasteries to train new recruits wherever they go. As ground forces go, they are pretty low maintenance. The local bar owners hate them, though.”
CPT Chen asked, “What is their rank structure? What are these acolytes and cardinals?”
Alistair replied, “Acolytes are their lowest ranks, basically privates. Deacons are junior sergeants. Archdeacons are senior NCOs. Presbyters are junior officers. Bishops are large unit commanders, battalion through brigade. Cardinals are their generals commanding divisions and corps. The one Cardinal First Class is their order and military leader.”
Alistair changed the subject. “So when are you going to recon the exit out to K’Rang space? Minacci is a fool, not having you do it now. What if there is a K’Rang fleet just sitting waiting for their scouts to report? Don’t you think they might wonder what happened to them and poke their heads in to see?”
Kelly paused, then responded, “I think the admiral is a little ticked with me for stealing his glory. I’m expecting to be called on the carpet when he gets here. I’ve already prepared my defense.”
Kelly got an idea. “His order said stand by in orbit, but it didn’t restrict us in other ways.”
Kelly called in LTJG Cortez and Chief Blankenship. “Connie, Chief B, program one of our long-range probes for travel to the K’Rang side of the star cluster.”
Kelly quickly called up the K’Rang navigation chart that they captured in the Scutum sector. He picked a spot between two K’Rang main worlds. “Have it come out here.”
Chief Blankenship took down the coordinates. Connie asked, “What do you want it to do, Captain?”
“Have it scan the sector and report all combatants. Return it here after it completes its scan.”
The two women said, “Aye aye, sir,” and departed to complete the task.
In fifteen minutes, Connie stuck her head in and said the probe was ready. Kelly gave the order to launch and it was away. Kelly calculated that he should have a report just before Admiral Minacci’s arrival. That should give them something useful to talk about.
The probe left the Vigilant on a direct course for its destination, but its internal sensors adjusted its route to avoid gravity eddies and celestial bodies. It took it a quarter hour longer than Kelly’s shirtsleeve analysis determined. As it approached the edge of the star cluster, its self-protection program caused it to halt, as a K’Rang missile corvette was patrolling just within sensor range. The probe waited for it to pass, advanced into K’Rang space, and immediately sensed 33 K’Rang combatants and support ships of various class and type. With no other combatants within the sector to find, the probe retired back into the star cluster, and returned to the Vigilant, transmitting its report once out of sensor range of K’Rang space.
Kelly whistled when he was handed the report. Minacci might get his chance for glory after all.
Fleet Commander J’Kalt impatiently paced the carpet in his command suite. The two Shadow Scouts should have reported by now. Was the pathway into the star winding, filled with dead ends? Was there a Human invasion fleet waiting that destroyed them? He was blind and could not formulate a final plan without that information.
He thought about his options if the scouts did not report back. He could just form up his fleet and conduct a recon by fire, as suggested by the Elders, and attempt to spring any Human trap early by destroying potential hiding places they encountered. He could conduct a meeting engagement and try to overwhelm any Human force before it could do the same to him. He could establish a defensive perimeter here opposite the known exit from the star cluster.
The recon by fire offered a possible offensive option, but failed if it ran into a larger Human force. The meeting engagement was another offensive option and worked best against an unprepared and slow to react enemy. A smaller force able to react quicker in a surprise-meeting situation has overwhelmed many a larger force. He couldn’t plan on the enemy commander being stupid, but it is a gift he would accept. The defensive option was the safest course of action. He could array his weakest ships nearest the exit and his stronger ships in depth. He could probably commandeer the planetary defense fleets to add more depth. This would be the most likely to be successful, but he always felt fortune favored the bold. He called a commander’s conference for six hours hence, whether the scouts reported or not.
Admiral Minacci called Kelly to his flagship, but not to chew him out. He wanted him to bring the raw sensor files from the probe to be analyzed by his own Intel staff. He congratulated Kelly on discovering the K’Rang fleet. He did mention that he might have overstepped his authority by forcing the surrender of the pirates.
Kelly pointed out that in engaging the K’Rang scouts he was carrying out his priority responsibility to the fleet of counter-reconnaissance. Per Fleet doctrine, it was a scout ship’s duty to deny the enemy information on friendly forces.
Admiral Minacci realized he was beaten and said, “How did you induce the pirates to surrender?”
Kelly just shook his head, “I don’t know, sir. I think the realization that the K’Rang knew of their existence convinced them that surrendering to us kept them alive longer. It surprised me as much as you.”
The admiral changed the subject. “You did take a hell of a chance, taking on those K’Rang with the Debran women on board.”
“Couldn’t be helped, sir. It was worth more than all of our lives if the K’Rang ships got away with the knowledge of the pirate world. How are they settling in here on your flagship?”
“We rousted some junior officers and gave them a cabin to themselves. It will do until a transport arrives to carry them home. Mr. Debran has been notified and has a transport on the way. He’s coming himself, I’m told.”
“The pirates want to hold a surrender ceremony and sign a formal surrender document as a sovereign independent world. My lawyers tell me this is required by Galactic Republic law and lets the pirates off the hook for execution for piracy. I guess we won’t be holding mass spacings after all.”
The admiral fixed Kelly with a steely, but bemused glare and said, “I’ll expect you, as the conqueror of whatever this world is called, to share the reviewing stand with me.”
Kelly deflected the glare. “Barataria, sir, it’s called Barataria. I’ve gathered some other info on them while in orbit. It seems their data banks aren’t too secure. The population is about 400,000, about 300,000 members of the Brotherhood and the remainder captives. One of our terms must be to release the captives immediately. The moon is full of captured ships in various stages of cannibalization and some pirate ships being constructed. They have one called the Leviathan that is bigger than your flagship. It’s a giant clamshell looking thing with an EMP projector. It would come up behind ships and fire the EMP, disabling the ship. The clamshell opens, they use tractor beams to swallow the ship, and transport it back to the moon. It’s quite a monster.”
“Steven Maynard has built quite an empire here, completely under the radar. Too bad it’s built on captive labor. He’s got farms, factories, mines, and mills — all the features of a second tier world. If they hadn’t gotten greedy, we’d still be wondering where the ships went.”
The admiral changed the subject to the K’Rang fleet on the other side of the star cluster.
“I’m glad you put that probe out there. That K’Rang fleet could have ripped us badly if they’d hit us unaware. Even knowing they’re there, there’s not much we can do about them. My tacticians put us being wiped out in five scenarios out of eight. Even adding in the pirates, it’s a close run thing with the odds only improving slightly.”
“I’ve sent a dispatch requesting a cruiser squadron to reinforce us, but none are in close enough range to reach us in less than a week. Now if the K’Rang will just cooperate…”
Kelly thought back to the mystery fleet that attacked the pirates and pondered on how he could enlist their aid. He wondered where Mr. Debran was.
Steven Maynard called up to speak with Admiral Minacci. “Admiral, I have a request to make of you, on a matter of legalities. Due to long mutual distrust, we don’t allow lawyers here on Barataria, except for unique circumstances. Our surrender is one of those circumstances. We have need of legal advice in regards to the surrender.”
Admiral Minacci impatiently wanted Maynard to come to the point, “Yes, Mr. Maynard, what does this have to do with me?”
“Admiral, we have an unarmed ship we use for courier runs that we would like to send to Aldebaran to return with our legal team, if you will allow it. It will require crew transport by our shuttle up to the moon. You may board or scan the courier ship to verify it contains no weapons or contraband. We may be forced to delay the surrender if we don’t have our legal representatives here.”
Minacci responded, “All right, Mr. Maynard. Have your ship come up to my flagship and stand off 50 km for boarding. If we scan and detect any weapons, explosives, or anything we don’t like, we will vaporize your ship. Do you understand?”
“Absolutely admiral, there will be no tricks. It’s just as I say.”
Maynard closed the comms channel and turned to Thorson. “Thorson, pick your crew and take these dispatches to the law firm of Rondage and Jompe, in Santana City on El Nath Prime. They’ll know what to do. Return here tomorrow or the next day at the very latest.”
Thorson rode the shuttle up to the moon and boarded his incomplete ship. When he purchased the engine and weapons upgrade they had removed the old engines and weapons, but had only replaced the engines before the surrender. He felt naked in a ship with no weapons, but the reduced weight and faster engines made him one of the fastest commercial ships in the area.
After a thorough but, thankfully, expedited inspection, the Eclipse was on its way. During the trip, he worked on a little something the lawyers could do for him. His refund for the weapons should cover it.
Friedrich Debran departed Rigel Station for Barataria in the custom executive transport. He would stop off first to retrieve his family, and then on to the planet. He couldn’t let a habitable planet go to waste. His pilot followed the path through the star cluster provided by Admiral Minacci and rendezvoused with his flagship. He wasn’t allowed to dock with the warship, but a launch was sent over with his family on board. There were no tears of joy from his wife and daughters when they came aboard, only a request to know where were their cabins and were there fresh clothes to change into.
Friedrich had the steward show them to their quarters. He joined the captain and had him request permission to land on Barataria. Permission was denied and Debran just kept going higher up in the chain of command until he was put in touch with Steven Maynard. Maynard told him that he was busy surrendering his planet and didn’t have time for social or revenge calls right now.
Debran quickly laid out the outline of a financial proposition, to act as Maynard’s Galactic Republic land agent for settling the unoccupied portions of the planet. The proposition interested Steven, and he authorized Debran’s ship to land.
All the captives were released from their labors. This date would be henceforth known as Barataria’s Independence Day. Russell and Sally took the day to visit the main city park.
Sally had made a picnic lunch for them, and they searched out a shady hillside patch to spread out their blanket.
Sally was pensive as the two of them lay beside each other. She had been quiet during the walk to the park. Russell could tell something was bothering her.
“Sally, what’s wrong?”
Sally kept quiet and turned away from Russell.
Russell pulled her over into his arms and asked again.
She seemed to shrink away from him even as he held her tight.
Quietly, she said, “I don’t want this to end.”
“You don’t want what to end? The captivity?”
“No, us, the restaurant, the time we’ve had together. It’s all going to go away. I’ve been so happy here in this intolerable situation. Of course, everything is going to change now. I’ll have to go and find a job in the Algol, Rigel, or Aldebaran system. I’m sure running a restaurant as a pirate’s captive will seem exotic, but won’t get me my own place. And you, you’ll go back to being a merchant sailor again. Everything will change.”
Russell continued to hold her and kissed her head.
“What will happen to us now that you…we won’t be forced to be together? You won’t continue to be happy with me, when you can have your choice of younger, prettier women.”
Russell looked down at her and said, “You idiot! Don’t you know that I love you? I want YOU! You’re more than pretty enough and young enough for me. I couldn’t imagine living with you if you were younger. You work twice as hard as any one my age. You wear me out as it is, in the restaurant and in bed. I’ve chosen you.”
Russell continued to hold her as tears streamed down her face. He leaned down and kissed her, tasting the saltiness of her tears.
She looked up at him and said, “I’m sorry for being such an idiot. I never expected to find someone as wonderful as you in my life. Forgive me for being an insecure, emotional woman.”
“You’re forgiven — now fetch me out a sandwich. I’m hungry.”
The tears vanished and her smile returned as she laid out their feast.
The Vigilant was chosen to take the admiral and selected officers down for the surrender ceremony. Chief Blankenship and the chiefs motivated the crew to make the ship gleam. When she came for Kelly to do his inspection walk-through, she reminded him how hard the crew worked and they would appreciate him recognizing their efforts.
Kelly conducted his walk-through inspection and was impressed when he saw the shape of his ship. The crew really exceeded his expectations. He was effusive in his compliments and issued two on-the-spot awards for exceptionally well-maintained spaces. Chief B gave him a thumbs-up when he was through.
Kelly ordered the probe launched again to maintain a watch on the K’Rang fleet. It would hover near the spot it had observed from before and pop out every hour or two to maintain contact with the K’Rang ships. It wouldn’t do to get caught unaware, with the only scout ship parked on the planet below.
At the appointed hour, the Admiral’s gig pulled up to the airlock and docked. Kelly met him in his dress uniform and six side boys stood for his arrival. The party consisted of the admiral, his aide, his protocol officer, the captains of two of the three assault landing carriers, and his entire JAG section. The Yellow Jacket would be sending CPT Chen and the SOC down in an AS-500 as an honor guard.
The gig pulled away and the AS-500 pulled up beside the Vigilant. Kelly called down to the spaceport and received permission for the two ships to land. Kelly ordered the helm to make a standard approach to the spaceport, and advised the AS-500’s pilot of his intentions. The pilot responded back that he would follow them down.
They spiraled down through the atmosphere and lined up to put down at the designated spaceport parking spaces. An obvious government functionary met them at the gangplank. He introduced himself as Roger Delvane, secretary to Mr. Maynard. His first question was if it would be possible to move their ships to another location. The ceremony would take place at the main parade field across town. If the people could see the presence of the fleet in the form of these two ships, it would do much to calm down certain reactionary elements in the Brotherhood, and raise the spirits of the former Prisoners of War.
Kelly caught the reference to POWs. Someone in the Brotherhood knew the Galactic Republic law on non-aligned worlds. They were safe from execution by spacing as long as they could maintain this farce that they were a non-aligned world and secretly at war with the Republic. Kelly conferred with the admiral and the pilot of the AS-500, and they agreed to move to the parade grounds. Mr. Delvane had a hover ship waiting to lead them to the new location. Kelly and passengers loaded back up and held position until Mr. Delvane’s hover ship arrived to lead them across town.
Kelly put the crew in their dress uniforms for the ceremony. They would form part of the honor guard. He would leave the sensor watch, two turret gunners, and the bridge watch onboard, in case they needed to leave in a hurry. Connie had the ship. She complained about missing the show, until Kelly pointed out that from the elevated position of the bridge, she would have a better view than he did from the reviewing stand, and an air conditioned view. It was quite warm and humid today in Lafitte City.
CPT Chen marched her Special Operations Company out of the AS-500. They were quite impressive with their white hats, blue blouses, and red trousers with gold stripe down the leg. They were armed with the M-57 blast rifle. Kelly considered issuing his troops — at least the chiefs — with side arms, but decided their weapon was the deadly black ship behind him. He had twelve torpedo ships and two K’Rang scouts to his credit for this campaign.
While he waited, he had Chief Miller survey the hull for damage. He did a clockwise walk and Chief Miller counter-clockwise. When they each made a full circle and met at the nose, they concluded that the ship was in good condition. It would need a paint job when they got back to Antares Base, but not much else.
Mary Chen and her sergeants positioned her Marines in accordance with a diagram Mr. Delvane provided. Her sergeants put down markers where key personnel would stand so that others would line up on them, in lines so straight you’d think they were laid with a laser. First Sergeant Don McMaster helped Chief Blankenship do the same for the Vigilant’s formation. Formations and marching were not Fleet strengths.
Mary Chen came over to Kelly. “I’m happy for your promotion, frocking, and command selection, but I really wanted to meet you as an equal. I had plans for you and me. Why did they have to make you a Lieutenant Commander?”
Kelly choked slightly and responded, “I had to be frocked to qualify for this command. If it’s any consolation, it was a surprise to me, too.”
“It isn’t any consolation. Here we are again in a war zone, too. I could get really pissed at the K’Rang. They are so inconvenient.”
Kelly’s communicator buzzed. It was Sensors, reporting that the probe just reported no change to the K’Rang fleet disposition. Kelly went to report to the admiral. Mary walked back to her marines in a less than rosy mood. First Sergeant McMaster warned those near him and they passed it back.
Friedrich Debran met with Roger Delphant in his office on board the executive transport. Mr. Debran was in an upbeat mood.
“Roger, I don’t know if you noticed that there were two yellow suns off to starboard as we made our approach. I would bet that our friends here haven’t made a proper survey or claim on any planets or exploitable asteroid belts that might be there. Get our usual survey specialists energized and in here quickly. I want those systems surveyed and filed with the GR courts as soon as possible — as in days Roger, not weeks.”
“Yes, Mr. Debran, I’ll see to it immediately. I know just who to contact.”
Mr. Debran thought to himself that there were trillions of credits to be made here if he could move quickly.