“We have an update from the boarding squads Captain,” announced Oz. The bridge above him was abuzz with activity as they finished extending a gravity net around the disabled Palamo and redirecting it to slowly descend back into the obscuration field. “You have to look for yourself.”
Jake pulled it up on his control pad, inviting Ayan to look over his shoulder. The situation at a glance was alarming. “Stephanie, get four squads together and ready for pick up. I'm calling the Cold Reaver back and you're going to secure the station personally,” he ordered over the comm.
“Aye sir. We'll be on deck in five ready to board,” Security Chief Stephanie Vega replied.
“I'll have Ronin relay the order, he's on his way through the field right now,” Oz added on the command comm channel.
“He's going back out?” Ayan asked.
“Punting him in a minute, yup.”
“Are you sure he's good for another go out there? He just put down six fighters and disabled two mid sized ships.”
“His stats are healthier than mine, as cool as a cucumber,” Oz replied. “Besides, things are pretty much under control and we need a good pilot to coordinate our passage through the barrier.”
“Figures. Get him in a cockpit and he's right at home.”
“His SIO is pretty shaken up though. Not that I can blame him. What Minh managed to set down on the deck didn't look much like a fighter. I think he left half of it out there.”
“But they're okay?”
“Not a scratch. I'm taking Slick out of rotation for twenty hours though. He'll be taking debriefing duties instead. Minh has a note here saying that he wants him to get familiar with the paperwork so he can take the second squad leader position.”
“We have a problem,” Jake said, pointing at the end of the boarding squad's report. “Stephanie,” he opened a comm channel to the Security Chief. “We're dealing with a slave crew, they have det implants.”
“You're kidding. Did they set them off down there?”
“Yup, a whole incursion crew was killed as our team surrounded them.”
“All right, taking it under advisement.”
“What's a det implant?” Ayan asked.
Jake's eye was drawn to where Ashley was taking her place at the helm. She looked completely recovered. She had already overheard Ayan's question and looked unphased. “It's a slaver's tool. They implant a device with three or four compounds that combine in different quantities to kill, disable or detonate a slave if it suits whoever holds the controller.”
“I wore mine until Jake bought me,” Ashley commented as she quickly, calmly reviewed all the helm status information. Larry, her navigator, was at her side bringing up the most pertinent bits of information and making manoeuvre recommendations.
Ayan looked to her for a moment, stunned before returning her attention to Jake. “She was a slave?”
Jake nodded. “They had a remote disabling device implanted in her breastbone when she was two. I removed it with nanosurgeon bots when she joined my crew.”
“I had no idea.”
“I bought three slaves while I was running the Samson.”
“I'm not the only one?” Ashley asked. “I'm hurt.”
“There were two before you.”
“I'm hurt,” she repeated with a feigned huff.
“You were the most expensive, if that makes you feel better.”
“It does, thanks Captain,” Ashley beamed as she worked with Larry to prepare for their descent into the gargantuan obscuring field. “Why are we doing this again?” she whispered to him.
“Because we need a place to hide from the Order of Eden and Regent Galactic while we power our main systems down and replace two of our main engines.”
“Gotcha, just wondering,” she giggled as she settled into the pilot's chair as though she was resigning to being there for several hours.
“You know, I think I like her.” Ayan whispered to Jason.
“Everyone does,” Jake nodded.
“Now what do you do about slave crews?”
“Generally you stay the hell away from them, especially when they're wired up like live bombs.”
“Can't you jam them or something?”
“There's a small chance the jamming could set off the devices,” Jason interjected. “One in a million but-” he shrugged.
“He's right. I was thinking about jamming them, but he's right.” Jake admitted. “I'm going to have to make a deal with the Captain. He'll be one of the only life forms aboard without a det implant. Can you scan the Palamo Agameg?”
Agameg Price nodded and passed the order to his tactical team. They started a focused scan of the slowly descending carrier beneath the Triton. “There are three life forms without a det device, nine hundred and three with and they're all armed.”
Jake sat back and slowly shook his head. “The Captain's ready to blow his whole crew if he has to.”
“So he's holding his own crew hostage?”
Jake brought up a larger diagram of the rough, rectangular small carrier. The Palamo had been mapped in detail by the Triton’s advanced scanners. There were a few damaged, decompressed sections but for the most part the ship was active. Red and white dots were scattered across the length of the vessel, designating several hundred life signs. “It looks like they're affecting emergency repairs. They really don't want us to take that ship.”
“I'm detecting several tons of highly dense material, it could be raw diamond,” Agameg highlighted.
“That would do it. A haul like that is worth a fortune, especially to a captain who doesn't have to pay his crew.” Jake stared at the cross section of the damaged vessel as he thought about the problem. “I hate slavers,” he muttered at long last.
“From what I'm seeing it would take them weeks to repair the engines and there's too much damage to their emitter systems to even try to get into hyperspace.” Ayan offered.
“All his other ships are either in the same or worse shape,” Agameg advised.
“He's cornered,” Jason commented.
Jake nodded slowly. “This couldn't be worse. I'm going aboard personally. Have a team assembled and order the Clever Dream to land on the Triton as soon as they finish recovering pilots.”
“Are you sure that's a good idea Jake? You're the most experienced commander aboard.” Oz objected.
“I'm also not sending someone else aboard that ship. If the worst happens the only person I want to blame is myself. How are we for manpower Stephanie?”
“We have sixteen squads left, four with boarding qualifications,” she replied over the comm.
“I'll take three. Are we covered after that if we have an incursion on the Triton?”
“Barely, but yes, we're covered. Do you know something I don't Captain? Should we be expecting a boarding party?”
“You never know. This group of ships could be just a part of a larger syndicate. I'll try to get all the intel I can from the Captain when I board the Palamo.”
“The Clever Dream's here, good luck sir.” Stephanie said before closing the channel.
“You have the bridge,” Jake said to Ayan. “Just get the Triton inside the energy barrier and establish a micro wormhole so you can monitor things outside the field.”
Ayan took a deep breath, let it out and nodded. “I'm ready, barely.”
Jake stood, Ayan caught his hand. He looked to her in mild surprise. His eyes met her deep blues and he recognized her concern. It had been a long time since he'd seen anyone worry about him, it was disarming.
Randolph Lalonde
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 5: Fracture
“Be careful,” she whispered.
“I'm sorry about earlier. I'll see you soon,” he reassured.