Date: 210-993 Location: Aboard the Bray Keaven, approaching Kerin's Tyr
Kevon, who was starting to plot the Donovan’s course, looks up in shock at Swann’s realization. "Ms. Smythe, put every erg of power you can into the drives; we need to stop these guys," the captain orders.
"Mr. Kugiikishshi, transmit to the Botswann our theory and inform them that we’re pursuing the Donovan.
"Emile, let’s catch these bastards."
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"On it, guys!" Martha replies, directing her attentions toward pushing the Bray Keaven as best as she can to maximize the ship’s performance. "I’ll give you all she can bear!"
Under her breath, the young engineer continues. "Come on, baby — let’s see what you’ve got!" Her fingers fly as she strives to fulfill the captain’s orders.
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Vargas listens to Swann's theory and contemplates possible actions. Following the captain’s orders he immediately selects flank speed plus anything the drives can give. He follows the sensor images in an effort to outrun the Blue Donovan.
He then says to Kevon, "Captain, let us consider what is going on here. In the first place, I do not think a sophant is flying that ship. The voice is too calm and the messages too precisely timed to be coming from a sophant. I think the computer is flying the ship and it is possibly aimed at the highport.
"However, think about this. A single 200-dTon ship crashing into the highport will cause a bit of damage, but it will probably not be fatal to the installation. If that ship were loaded with explosives, especially nukes or anti-matter, it would probably destroy the highport and cause a great deal of collateral damage on the planetary surface from falling debris.
"We may be able to disable the maneuver drives with missile or laser fire from a reasonable distance, but that would turn a ship under power into a hunk of metal hurtling into the highport. We may be faced with destroying that ship while maintaining a reasonably safe distance in the event we set off a real light show.
"As I have said, I do not think the ship is manned by sophants but if it is, we are faced with the choice of the death of a few fanatics verses the death of hundreds if not thousands of innocent, unsuspecting individuals.
"Another possibility is to disable the drives and nudge the ship into an orbit around the planet.
"Whatever we decide to do, I need more speed. Is it possible to divert power from non-essential equipment to the drives and weapons?"
Vargas now gives absolute concentration to the task of intercepting the Blue Donovan per the captain’s orders.
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Ian, sitting in the lounge drinking a cup of — something (he hasn’t figured out what it is yet) listens intently to the conversations over the comm. He jumps in with a short message. "If there is any area where I may be of assistance, I’d be glad to help!"
He shakes his head and downs another gulp. After a few seconds, he flips the comm again. "How long do we have before impact? Is there enough time to board the ship and take control?"
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At the start of her acceleration, the Blue Donovan was 800,000 km from Kerin's Tyr. At 2G acceleration with no deceleration, Kevon calculates that the Blue Donovan will hit either Kerin's Tyr or Warne Highport 150.58 minutes from when she started her run, or approximately 45 minutes from now. The Blue Donovan's speed will be 177 km/s.
Drawing upon his naval design knowledge, Kevon quickly guesstimates that the Blue Donovan will have an approximate loaded weight of 665 tons barring some sort of metallic cargo. Kevon blanches when he realizes the kinetic energy of the impact alone should roughly equal a 2.3-megaton nuclear weapon.
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Vasilii easily manages to link up with the Botswann given the reduced range and the new communications gear. After a look of horror and extensive swearing, some of which Vasilii hadn't heard before, the Hue Mercenary officer replies, "Oh frell, damn frell. We don’t have anything that is in a position to intercept and board the Blue Donovan. We might be able to scramble enough ships along with the Warne Highport's defensive systems to vaporize most of the Blue Donovan, but damn, I’m not so sure. I know that our chances for success would be even less if we didn’t have any warning.
"If you can close in time, please try to board and divert the Blue Donovan since that’s the best chance of avoiding any damage. If you do board, we need to see positive control and a change of vector five minutes or 50,000 km or so from impact or we will begin firing. Oh frell. Botswann out."
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Vargas pushes the Bray Keaven into full pursuit mode trailing the Blue Donovan. The Bray Keaven's engines can normally accelerate an extra .2G above the nominal 2G rating, but that won't be enough by a long shot.
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Kevon, looking at his plot, sees that if Martha can push the engines to 3G of acceleration, the Bray Keaven can close to within docking distance within 29 minutes, which would leave about 11 minutes to dock, board and divert the runaway far trader. Kevon estimates that he or Vargas should be able to dock with the Blue Donovan in about two minutes if there is no one on board and the autopilot's collision avoidance system is not active.
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Martha redlines the power plant and maneuver drives as much as she can by diverting power from everything that she can. The Bray Keaven leaps forward, slamming everyone into their respective acceleration couches or seats as the reduced power grav compensators struggle to limit the increased G effects. The Bray Keaven is now accelerating at an impressive 2.88 G.
Martha sees that the power plant and maneuver drives are straining considerably to keep up the acceleration, and she doesn’t know how long she can maintain this level of acceleration without damaging or overloading the power plant and drives.
Hearing the Botswann’s communications over the ship’s comm, Martha continues her efforts to push the ship’s capacities, worrying every second about pushing the ship too far, too hard, but realizing that lives are at stake.
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In their respective fire control stations, Swann and Aidan see the laser capacitor levels begin dropping immediately, and they can see the Blue Donovan’s two maneuver drives burning their bright blue as the Bray Keaven desperately tries to close the distance.
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Kevon’s plot now shows a docking distance intercept time of 31 minutes.
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"Mr. McConnell, get suited up — you’ll be going with me onto the Donovan," Kevon orders. "You, too, Mr. Silver. We may need your computer expertise over there. Go with a combat loadout."
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A big grin flashes across Ian’s face. "Aye, aye Cap’n." With a new sense of purpose, Ian runs to his cabin to get the rest of his gear.
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"Aye sir!" Aidan says before he races back to his stateroom, suits up, and grabs rifle and pistol. All the while muttering to himself "Why is this place starting to remind me of a Tri–V serial?"
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"Mr. Vargas, I need to get suited up," Kevon says. "Can you manage for a few minutes without me?"
Vargas breaks his concentration momentarily to reply. "Not a problem, Captain. I shall continue to close and dock with the Blue Donovan."
Vargas then looks at the readouts and says, "Captain, given the risks involved in this boarding, maybe you should stay on board here and I attempt to divert the ship. Failure will result in certain death and I am more expendable than you are.
"I do not wish to confront you but am simply stating a fact as I see it. What are your orders, Captain?"
Kevon smiles as he pauses in the doorway. "You’re a stakeholder; I’m just an employee. Who’s more expendable? I’ll be back to help you dock, but I think we need the more experienced pilot on the Donovan.
"We’ll discuss contingency plans when we I get back."
"Good employers take care of good employees," Vargas says. "However, you are right. We need the more experienced pilot on the Blue Donovan. Good luck."
Kevon then heads out to don his fitted vacc suit and combat load out, sans cutlass and shotgun.
Vargas returns to giving total concentration to the task at hand — catching and docking with the Blue Donovan.
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Swann intently watches the Blue Donovan’s signature on the targeting sensor as he listens to the comm traffic. After he hears Kevon’s orders to Ian and Aidan, and the responses, he chuckles sardonically to himself. "Everyone’s in a hurry to be a hero," he says.
Suddenly, another idea pops into Swann’s head. He keys the comm. "How about we launch some missiles at the Blue Donovan? At 6G, they’ll get there well before we will. If that doesn’t take out the ship, we can still trying docking with it when we do get there."
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"If we get very close then fire on her and disable ONE of the thrusters, that should make her veer off course," Vasilii says. "And it will drop her to 1G, which will simplify the intercept. But I don’t know how hard a shot that is; I’m not a gunner. What do you sophs think?"
"Do not shoot the thrusters," Vargas says. "We already have a very tricky docking to accomplish and having the ship in a turn at this speed makes it even more difficult. We have too many crew at risk to make any mistakes now."
"If it turns away from the planet, do we actually need to board at all?" Vasilii asks. "It can just fly off into space and someone in a faster ship can worry about it.
"Besides, once it’s diverted we can shoot the other thruster or kill the power plant. Then it’s flying in a straight line and it can’t evade.
"That's assuming we could make the shot, of course, which I don’t know." He finishes on a downbeat.
After considering for a moment, Vargas says, "Shooting out a thruster may not actually divert the ship as the computer should compensate for the unbalanced thrust. I am afraid we are left with only two options: Boarding the ship or destroying it.
"I am curious about what is on that ship. However the choice rests with the captain."
"But if it does compensate, we’d be facing a ship going in a straight line at 1G instead of 2G," Vasilii says. "That would give us more time and make the boarding much easier, especially if it tries to evade. If it doesn’t compensate, then the ship will miss the planet.
"Again, that’s assuming a shot like that is possible, which I don’t know."
"That is a good idea, Vasilii," Vargas says. "It might be a good idea to partially disable the ship. However, that will make things a little more difficult for the boarding crew. I will maneuver in a way to enable a best shot assuming that the captain is in agreement."
Vargas then comms Kevon to get orders.
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Finishing his last clasps on his armor, Kevon replies, "Take out the port engine; use missiles, since Martha is pretty much taking everything else. I’ll be back up there in a bit."
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"Swann, good luck with that shot," Vargas says. "Hold for a few minutes while I close the range in order to make a more accurate shot."
Vargas then returns to absolute concentration on closing the distance between the two ships. He continues to maneuver to give Swann the best possible shooting solution with the missiles.
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Swann accesses the fire control for the port turret from his terminal. He brings the three loaded missiles to ready status. He waits for Vargas to finish his maneuver, then starts targeting the Blue Donovan’s port engine.
"I can launch three missiles before having to reload," he thinks. "Should I try a spread of three? No, I’ll just launch one for now, see what happens."
Over the comm Swann says, "I’m not sure how accurate I can be from this range, but here goes."
He fires a missile at the Blue Donovan. "Go, baby, go," he says once it’s away.
Date: 210-993 Location: Aboard the Bray Keaven, approaching Kerin's Tyr
Vargas keeps trying to push the Bray Keaven to close faster with the Blue Donovan. The Bray Keaven is already in an almost–ideal, near–zero–degree–deflection firing angle (almost directly astern), and Vargas manages to keep the ship steady and true in spite of considerable vibration from the overloaded maneuver drives.
Looking at the fuel readout, Vargas notes that the Bray Keaven is consuming fuel at a truly alarming rate, probably because Martha has somehow combined a seriously abused plant and fuel directly routed to the maneuver drive to set up what amounts to an after burner.
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In engineering, Martha can hear, feel, and see the power plant and maneuver drives straining. Though she half fears that the engineering systems are on the verge of a total breakdown, she manages to route power and flow for a bit longer, maintaining the Bray Keaven’s acceleration and so far, avoiding a system shutdown or immediate apparent damage.
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Swann switches his fire control station over to handle the port turret, arms the missile launcher, targets the port maneuver drive on the Blue Donovan, and fires. The missile seems to slowly crawl towards the Blue Donovan about 15,000 km away since the missile only has a net 4G acceleration rate. Swann’s fire control readout estimates that the missile will impact in 14.5 minutes.
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While the missile is closing, Kevon, Ian, and Aidan suit up, grab weapons, and prepare to board the Blue Donovan. After a moment of hesitation, Saro suits up as well, grabs his medical kit, and prepares to follow the boarding party if requested.
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Vasilii also dons his vacc suit over diplo armor and grabs his magnum revolver. Then he returns to the bridge and lets Martha know he’s back on comms.
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Kevon also returns to the bridge while Ian, Aidan, and Saro wait in the improvised sickbay and the adjoining empty cabin.
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With everyone at least having one eye on Swann’s targeting readout showing missile closure, the crew waits out the minutes as the missile closes in on the Blue Donovan. The missile runs true to Swann’s targeting and slams into the Blue Donovan’s port maneuver drive. Scattered cheers ring out on the comms as the vids show the drive flickering and then go dark. On the bridge, the tracking plots show the Blue Donovan dropping to 1G acceleration. The Blue Donovan’s course still shows it impacting either the Warne Highport or Kerin’s Tyr, but now in 41 minutes rather than the original 31 minutes.
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In the starboard turret, Swann allows himself a self–satisfied — what his father would have called a "drek–eating" — little grin.
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After a minute, Vasilii sends a new message in system. "Bray Keaven to Kerin’s Tyr authorities. Be advised that we have destroyed one of Blue Donovan’s thrusters with a missile, and reduced her to 1G. Unfortunately this did not put her off course, but we have increased her transit time by 10 minutes. Details attached. We are docking to board. Please reschedule your firing to give us some more time to take control. Please confirm."
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The Bray Keaven closes on the Blue Donovan as the minutes pass by. As Vargas guides the Bray Keaven closer, he can see the Blue Donovan’s attitudinal thrusters firing to keep the damaged far trader on its course to impact the highport or planet. The Blue Donovan doesn’t seem to react at all to the Bray Keaven’s approach, even when the pursuing far trader passes into the range that should trigger collision avoidance systems if active.
Martha, upon observing this, mentions over the comms, "She appears to be on autopilot, but since the message changed after it started flying, there may be somebody onboard, so it’s safe to say they aren’t at the controls. Be careful, boys!"
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The strained power plant and maneuver drives begin to overwhelm Martha, and the acceleration drops to 2.64G as minor systems begin to fail. Martha’s damage–control displays start blinking madly in red showing various pumps, capacitors, transducers, and other minor systems that have overheated, shut down, or otherwise fail. Martha winces as she very briefly considers the damage being done to the just overhauled systems.
She comms the bridge. "Captain, she’s starting to shut down! I need to ease up on her soon, or we’re done for. I don’t know how much longer we can keep this up!"
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Despite the reduced closure rate, and the odd power fluctuations and the minor odd behavior the drives are starting to exhibit, Vargas still manages to dock the Bray Keaven’s port airlock with the Blue Donovan’s starboard airlock without any problems. The Blue Donovan doesn’t react at all and continues on her course. The astrogation plot shows impact with the highport or planet in 31 minutes though the mercenaries and highport will probably start firing in 26 minutes or so.
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Vargas begins to relax his concentration with the completion of docking. "Martha, we are successfully docked. You can give the engineering equipment a bit of a rest for the time being. Just have her ready for a quick breakaway if needed.
"By the way, great job on diverting power and keeping the ship in one piece."
Vargas looks back on the events of the past few minutes and is definitely glad that he put in the practice time in the learning of pilot skills. With the speeds matched and the ships coupled together, he reduces thrust to just enough to keep the ships matched in speed and direction.
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While the boarding party prepares for action, Martha starts running a level–one diagnostic on the system, in case there’s an immediate emergency need for repairs.
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During the docking procedure, Swann keeps an eye on the targeting sensors to make sure there are no more ships in the area. Once the ships are docked, he comms Martha: "I know you have enough things to keep you busy, but I need to ask you to do one more. I’m going to move to the airlock to provide the boarding party some backup if they need it. Can you keep an eye on the sensors for ‘visitors?’ If you pick up anything approaching, let me know and I’ll return to the starboard turret."
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"Damn!" Martha mutters under her breath. "Sure, Swann," she says as she pulls up the sensor suite and begins scanning the interplanetary neighborhood, leaving the diagnostic to run in the background. "I’m on it! Be careful in there!"
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Swann then moves to the area next to the port air lock, retrieves a shotgun from the ship’s locker, loads it, and stands by in case he’s needed.
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At the airlock, the boarding party prepares to board.
"McConnell first, myself next. Mr. Silver behind me, and Doctor, stay near the airlock until we can secure the area," Kevon orders. "Understood?"
Saro positions himself by the airlock, checking for the one-thousandth time that his medkit is handy. Nodding curtly to Kevon, "Sure thing. I’m not all that interested in finding myself in the middle of a firefight again iffen I don’t have to.
"I’ll be here, so if y’all need a hand, gimme a holler and I’ll come a runnin.’ "
"Mr. Vargas, sit tight for the time being and give us a moment to assess the situation, before we decide on what we need to do," the captain adds over the comms.
Turning to Ian and drawing his laser pistol, he says. "Let’s go."
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"Roger, captain, holding steady locked to Blue Donovan, awaiting further orders. Good luck."
Vargas continues to hold steady while the boarding party enters the ship. He now devotes his entire concentration on maintaining a perfect track with the Blue Donovan. Given that the Blue Donovan’s autopilot is on, the attitudinal thrusters are working, the Bray Keaven has been throttled back to 1G acceleration, and nothing has blown up — yet — keeping the Bray Keaven in position is relatively easy to do.
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Vasilii wonders what happens if they manage to change course on the Blue Donovan. Will it rip the airlock coupling apart? They only just paid to have it fixed. His 5 percent stake in the ship is not looking secure. Still, the spacer types should know what to do.
The Vilani merchant contacts the Hue Mercenary Boat Botswann. The Botswann is actually quite close (for the moment), and starting to accelerate in pursuit of the Blue Donovan and Bray Keaven. The Botswann is ahead of the pair of far traders, but the far traders will pass the Botswann very shortly.
The Botswann’s officer replies, "Good job on slowing the Blue Donovan down and docking. Please be aware that we have orders to fire on any ships approaching the Warne Highport or the planet at 50,000 km unless we see a significant vector change. Our plot indicates that you have 24 minutes to change course. We’re accelerating now to try and catch up to you, but we won’t be able to do so until after you are quite a way past the planet."
"Acknowledged, Botswann." Vasilii passes the information to all the Bray Keaven crew.
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In engineering, Martha breathes a sigh of relief as the power plant and drives return to a more normal level of activity and usage. She starts her diagnostic routines, wincing at the red flashing lights that appear, and then switches to a scan at Swann’s request. Martha’s scan plot shows a 200–dTon ship identified as the Botswann (transponder signal) about 20,000 km or so ahead and starting to accelerate in the same direction.
Martha also notes a 300-dTon ship that lies about 45,000 km to starboard and is accelerating at 2G. The 300-dTon ship’s transponder replies to her squawk request as the Ghaieul, a 300-dTon trader. The Ghaieul was headed inbound and decelerating, but she is now angling towards the projected path of the two far traders and accelerating.
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About this time, Vasilii receives a hail from the Ghaieul. The vid screen shows a black–furred Vargr with quite a scar across his snout. The Vargr says, "The Ghaieul pack is moving to . . . assist . . . you should you need it. We have notified the Warne Highport of our plan to assist. We can not catch up in time if you do not divert the ship, but we can help any survivors when we catch up."
"Great," thinks Vasilii, "why is it always a soph with a scar on his face who offers aid at times like this? Oh well, with the authorities coming in we can probably rely on him to play it straight."
He passes the message around the crew and acknowledges/thanks Ghaieul. He also lets the Botswann know what Ghaieul said, just in case Ghaieul gave them a different story.
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Shortly after the docking, Swann joins the boarding party, grabs a shotgun from the weapon’s locker, and wishes the boarding party good luck.
The boarding party consisting of Ian, Kevon, Aidan, and Saro make their way into the port docking tube headed for the Blue Donovan. Only two of the Bray Keaven crew can fit into the airlock comfortably at once, so Ian and Kevon enter first. When the outer iris valve opens, the docking tube beckons beyond. The tube extends some seven or so meters to the hull of the Blue Donovan, and the indicator lights show a good seal and a pressurized docking tube. After Ian and Kevon clear the airlock, Aidan and Saro follow.
Floating over to the Blue Donovan, Ian and Kevon note that Blue Donovan’s iris valve and controls show no sign of any damage. A moment later, Saro and Aidan join them outside the Blue Donovan’s outer iris valve.
Readying their gauss pistol and laser pistol, Ian and Kevon key the iris valve open. The iris valve opens smoothly, and a perfectly normal looking airlock appears beyond. Ian and Kevon smoothly swing into the grav field, close the outer iris valve, look at each other a moment, and then key the inner iris valve open.
The inner iris valve opens smoothly. Straight across the small crew lounge area, Ian sees a destroyed vid screen and a fair number of scorch– and pockmarks on the wall. On the floor, in a pool of blood, lies a human body dressed in a light blue jumpsuit. The upper torso appears to have been hit by a number of high–velocity projectile rounds.
Even more notable is the rather large, gray lizard thing that appears to be noisily slurping on something in the body’s abdomen. At the iris valve’s opening the creature looks up, it’s mouth filled with entirely too many sharp–looking teeth dripping blood. The lizard is around three or so meters long from head to tail. The body is fairly squat and appears to be covered with tough–looking scales. The tail is about a meter or so long and fairly broad at the base.
The lizard snarls and charges Ian.
Over comm, Ian says, "What the frell is that? A giant lizard eating a dead guy!"
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Swann says to himself in a bemused tone, "A giant lizard? So is a gorilla piloting the ship?"
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Though a little surprised, Ian slides to the right (to give Kevon a shot) and fires his gauss pistol. Unfortunately, the shot misses.
Kevon fires his laser pistol at the lizard and misses.
The lizard reaches Ian and tries to chomp on Ian’s left leg. The lizard manages to briefly close on Ian’s leg, but the vacc suit is tough stuff. The lizard snarls louder as it appears to break a tooth or two on the suit.
"Sonavabitch tried to take my leg off!"
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Swann's bemusement turns to concern and a feeling of impotence at being stuck aboard the Bray Keaven. "Why does all this weird drek keep happening to us?"
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Ian fires again at the lizard at his feet. The gauss pistol round smacks into the overgrown gecko on its back near its left rear leg. The scales are apparently fairly thick because, while the lizard snaps at the impact area, not a lot of blood appears to flow from the wound.
Ian flips the gauss pistol fire selection switch to four–round burst so the next shots will have better results. He hopes. He takes the opportunity while the beast is distracted by his wound to step through the iris valve and to the left.
A string of Vilani curses spew from Kevon’s mouth as he attempts to cycle the iris valve closed. "How the hell . . . " sidestep " . . . do we always get into . . . " fumble for control while keeping one eye on the reptile " . . . these insane situations!" tap the controls
"Mr. Silver, Dr. Talbek, be advised we have a reptilian creature trying to bite Mr. McConnell’s leg off here," he warns the others. "Use caution when opening the iris valve."
He starts to make his way towards the bridge. "Keep it busy," Kevon quips with a little morbid humor — very little.
"Shouldn’t be a problem," Ian replies as he repositions himself in the corridor. "It seems to have taken a liking to me." A string of Marine–grade curses spew forth from Ian’s mouth towards the beastie.
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Listening to the curses and exertions of the two on the other side of the airlock, Saro groans. He leans back against the closest wall and slowly knocks the back of his helmet against the wall behind him.
"I’m beginning to think that no trip will ever be uninteresting. And I use ‘interesting’ in the ancient Chinese sense of the word."
Saro sighs deeply and straightens up. "If you want us to help you out in there, you’ll have to let us through, Mr. Holland. We can’t do much from this side of the lock."
He readies himself to dodge any man–eating lizards, flying monkeys and giant rabid basselopes that might greet him on the other side of the airlock.
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"Vasilii, good thinking about the message," Vargas says. "Please thank the Ghaieul for their concern and willingness to help, but we had better wave them off. The last thing we are going to need is another ship in the near vicinity in the event things go sour and we have to do some emergency maneuvering."
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"Ghaieul, Bray Keaven here. Our pilot advises that there may be some unpredictable violent maneuvers if we override controls on Blue Donovan or perform an emergency undocking with stress on the coupling. Please keep a fair distance once you match to avoid collision risk, or a swipe of the exhaust wash."
Vasilii receives no reply from the Ghaieul.
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"Martha, if possible, I think we had better seal off the entrances to engineering and the bridge," Vargas says. "If that coal scuttle full of teeth manages to get aboard, it could generate a real problem. Incidentally, are you armed down there?"
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Martha seals off the entrances to engineering and the bridge. "Roger, Vargas, though I’m not sure what impact it’d have on the beast."
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Hearing this, Vasilii drops a message into crew comm. "Does Mr. McConnell have his ACR, or would he like it brought to the airlock in view of developments?"
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Martha continues her sensor sweeps of the area, monitoring activity as the ships hurtle towards Kerin’s Tyr at breakneck speed. She doesn’t pick up anything new. Yet.
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Vasilii again wonders briefly about the docking tube, but then remembers that the starboard docking tube was the one just replaced. The port one hasn’t been damaged. Yet.
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On the Blue Donovan, the fight continues. Cursing, Ian dodges left to clear the airlock and then fires his gauss pistol in burst mode at the overgrown rabid gecko. Amazingly, the four–round burst catches the gray komodo dragon–crocodile cross at the base of the skull in mid–snap at Kevon, and all four of the gauss pistol rounds strike true, nearly severing the skull from the rest of the body.
Kevon, intent on running past the lizard to the bridge, makes it almost to the bridge iris valve before Ian manages to get out, "pant pant I think the motherfreller is dead pant pant."
Ian then fires another burst into where he guesses the lizard’s heart might be to be sure.
Kevon gets the bridge iris valve open. Immediately to his left past the iris valve are some laser scorches along the wall. Carefully inching forward, he spies a body slumped back over the right pilot controls, and a considerable amount of gore covering the controls on the right side.
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Meanwhile, Aidan and Saro make it into the airlock and open the inner iris valve. When the inner iris valve opens, Aidan strides out first with a curious and intent look on his face. He bends down to prod the now–dead lizard with his rifle briefly before commenting, "Good lord, I think that’s a Maherian Jawsenbek! Not something that you’d keep as a pet, and nothing that should be anywhere near here. I think that Cousin Gabriel hunted one decades ago when he took that extended safari down Sol way."
Saro warily follows and easily verifies that the light blue jump–suited body is definitely dead. The impact wounds in his chest probably killed him, but if not, missing most of his abdomen definitely did him in.
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On the bridge, Kevon checks the left set of flight controls. The controls appear to be computer locked with the autopilot engaged. The autopilot does appear to be set to intercept the Warne Highport.
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Looking around the crew lounge a bit more, Ian sees that there is a large (about 3m long, 1m high, 0.75m wide) rectangular container of some sort lying in the corridor towards the crew cabins with the nearest side open. A quick inspection (from a distance) reminds Ian and Saro of one of the frozen beastie low berths in the Bray Keaven’s cargo hold.
Date: 210-993 Location: Aboard the Bray Keaven and Blue Donovan, approaching Kerin's Tyr
A strangled groan emits from Saro as an ugly suspicion rises. Glancing anxiously at Aidan, Saro quickly yet cautiously approaches the open container in an attempt to get a better look at it.
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"Mr. Silver, I need you up here," Kevon says as he checks the level on encryption on the computer lock. "Mr. McConnell, is your leg all right?"
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"Yes Cap’n. From what I can tell, it appears to be only bruised a bit."
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While waiting for Aidan to arrive, the captain checks the comm system. He attempts to clear the automatic message program running through the system, and to establish ship–to–ship comms with the Bray Keaven.
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Vargas continues to hold position locked to the Blue Donovan. He toggles the crew communication. "Kevon, do you think that you will be able to divert that ship in time? I also wonder where the rest of the crew may be. This seems to be going too easily, I suspect that somebody has left more than enough nasty surprises on board that death trap. According to the ship’s chronometer, you have about 23 minutes left to accomplish your task. Good luck and good hunting."
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"We’re still a couple minutes away from being able to determine that, Mr. Vargas," Kevon replies calmly, albeit a bit distracted. "Thank you for the update."
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"Roger Kevon, acknowledging your last transmission. I will maintain contact with the Blue Donovan as long as possible. Vargas out."
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In the crew lounge, Aidan tears himself away from amusedly inspecting the carcass of the jawsenbek and rushes to the bridge. When he arrives, he cheerfully asks, "You requested some computer assistance?" before getting to sitting at the third bridge station and pulling out his tabletcomp. After a moment of inspection, he comments, "Ah, standard General Products Mk 1/bis Model 232.kx02. Let me see here, this shouldn’t take long."
-----
Meanwhile Kevon attempts to estimate how long it will take to get the ship back under sophont control, as well as quick–and–dirty nav numbers to determine roughly how much time he’ll need to effect the proper course correction and add 50 percent. He decides that about 5-10 minutes of 1G thrust at a 90 degree angle to their current course should be enough to convince the Warne Highport that the angle has shifted enough to avoid impact.
-----
Vargas continues to maintain course and speed to maintain lock with the other ship. He thinks to himself, "What next?" as he comms engineering.
"Martha, what is the position and status of the Ghaieul? For some reason I have the gut feeling that we had better keep an eye on that ship.
"Vasilii, please keep trying to raise the Ghaieul. I am beginning to get suspicious about there being no answer."
-----
Vasilii repeats his previous message and adds "Please acknowledge, Ghaieul." He gets no response.
-----
Ian stays with the Doc as he checks out the dead, keeping a watchful eye out for any other surprises. "Hmm. It doesn’t look like you can help this one, Doc.
"Kevon, Aidan, any chance either of you could get into the computer and lock down the rest of the hatches and iris valves so we won’t have any more surprises? Just see if you can add it to your ‘to do’ list!" he ends with a grin.
-----
Saro contacts the Bray Keaven. "Vasilii, this is Saro. Could you indulge me and seal off and lock the areas where our passengers and the frozen beasties are berthed until we get back aboard? It is just for my peace of mind."
-----
Vasilii acknowledges Saro and passes the request on to Martha, who has control of that stuff from engineering.
-----
"Roger that," Martha says, triggering the lockdown of the low berths and the cargo holds. She continues to monitor the sensor array.
-----
After listening to the comm traffic, Swann decides to join the bordering party on the Blue Donovan, just in case there are any more surprises waiting.
Once Saro and Silver clear the airlock on the Donovan, Swann crosses over. He exits the airlock to find Ian and Saro inspecting a container. He takes a look at the deceased reptile splayed on the floor.
"Ian, this things big enough for you to get a new belt and a pair of boots out of its hide," he says. He prods it with the toe of his boot. "Sure is nasty looking. You’re lucky it didn’t do some real damage to you."
"Thanks for your concern. I managed to get a lucky shot."
"So, should we search the rest of the ship while Kevon tries to get control of this runaway?"
-----
The Bray Keaven and the Blue Donovan continue accelerating steadily at 1G towards the Warne Highport.
-----
Vasilii continues to hail the Ghaieul, but still receives no reply.
Vasilii wonders whether the Ghaieul has anything to do with the dueling pistols, either intercepting them or protecting them or just keeping an eye on them.
He decides to get a picture of what’s happening with the various ships as regards intercepts and matches. Gathering the available data he puts together a timetable for:
1) Blue Donovan to change course sufficiently to calm everybody down — 0236 hours. 2) Ghaieul to flyby close enough to shoot at them — 0300 hours. 3) Ghaieul to close and match, to theoretically allow docking — 0315 hours.
4) The Botswann to intercept and match Blue Donovan and Bray Keaven — 0320 hours. 5) Blue Donovan to make a controlled journey to Kerin’s Tyr at 1G — 0700 hours.
-----
Continuing her sensor sweep, Martha has the Botswann on the scan along with a couple of other 200-dTon Hue Mercenary boats (MacCaren and Joosul). The Hue Mercenary boats are broadcasting their transponder squawks. Rapidly retreating to starboard is the Ghaieul, also replying to transponder squawk requests. The Ghaieul is falling behind because of far traders’ high speeds, but she is accelerating.
-----
Vargas is really beginning to become concerned about the lack of communication from the Ghaieul. He now begins to concentrate on maintaining an even track with the Blue Donovan in the event that he will need to make an emergency docking.
He thinks, "Well, let’s see: A ship full of wounded and dead crew and passengers nearing a critical collision with the high port, a giant lizard eating the dead, a Vargr ship attempting to catch up and no communication, all gunners and command away, minimal crew — the situation is excellent. Life as an adventurer is a thrill a minute."
"Vasilii, what is the status of the Blue Donovan and the communications with the Ghaieul?"
"No change."
"Please inform Kevon that I shall maintain a shadowing position until we are clear of danger of collision with the high port."
"Will do."
Vargas then clicks the intercom and asks, "Martha, how is the engineering plant taking this beating?"
-----
Martha responds, with a voice brimming with concern, "I’ve yet to do a detailed diagnostic, but preliminary reports show a number of red flags. I don’t like it, not at all. If someone’ll take sensors, I can start making some field repairs."
-----
"Well, I’m not quite as bad at sensors as I am at comms," Vasilii says. "I’ll monitor them, and let you know if there’s anything that looks important."
Vasilii starts to alternate between monitoring sensors and comms.
-----
After a few minutes of "Hmmm, that’s interesting," "Ah," and "Why did they do that?" comments along with the occasional "Oops," the "Lockout Active" message on all of the screens at Kevon’s pilot station suddenly disappears, and Aidan comments, "The ship is yours, I believe."
Kevon checks the controls, and he does seem to have the ability to disengage the autopilot and take manual control at any time.
"Well, done, Mr. Silver," Kevon says as he starts programming his maneuver. "You’ve earned at least another week of not getting shoved out the airlock." He pauses long enough to give Aidan a mischievous smile, then returns to his work.
-----
After a moment of coordination between the two far traders, Vasilii disengages the Bray Keaven’s docking tube and Vargas fires the port thrusters to move the Bray Keaven 1 km to starboard of the Blue Donovan. Then, the pair of far traders pivots 90 degrees to port and begin accelerating.
-----
Finally recovering fully from the shock of his encounter with the overgrown gecko, Ian turns to Swann with a troubled look on his face. "Swann, I am concerned that you left the Bray Keaven with only three crew members aboard. None of which have any skill in gunnery that I’m aware of. Please consider returning before we are forced to undock. I am planning to search the ship, but my first priority is to protect Kevon and Aidan so I planned to stay here at the entrance of the bridge until they have control of the ship."
"I thought securing this ship was the pressing concern," Swann says. "I didn't know the boarding party was going to establish control so quickly. Plus, with all those shuttles out there, I don't think anyone will try anything. But if you think it’s best, I can go back."
Swann walks back over to the airlock just in time to see the Bray Keaven pull away as the Blue Donovan changes course. He turns back around, a sheepish grin on his face. "Well, I guess I missed my ship.
"Maybe we should start looking around now, see if anyone else is aboard?"
Ian turns off his comm unit so no one will hear the stream of curses he starts hurtling at Swann under his breath.
-----
Vasilii, manning comms, notifies the Botswann of the course change. Botswann replies, "Well done Bray Keaven. Please continue accelerating on your current heading for another 5 minutes and then start decelerating. Botswann and MacCaren will intercept for inspection. What is the status of the Blue Donovan’s crew and passengers? Departure manifest shows four crew and four passengers."
-----
Kevon replies directly to the Botswann’s orders. "Understood, Botswann. We’ll continue at 1G on current heading for 5 minutes, then decelerate to station keeping. Blue Donovan out."
-----
Saro completes his inspection of the rectangular box in the corridor. The box does appear to be a mobile low berth similar to the ones used to transport the frozen beasties in the Bray Keaven’s cargo hold. He is a little curious as to how the box came to be in the corridor, since it's too long to be maneuvered around the corner, until Swann points out that the box could have come in from the cargo bay or through the forward cargo lock.
-----
On the bridge, Aidan locks down the iris valves as requested earlier by Ian.
-----
After Vasilii relays the crew and passenger count, Ian, Swann, and Saro decide to head to the passenger lounge to investigate. Ian and Swann go up first. When the lift doors open, they find six bodies scattered about the lounge. There are three men and one woman in various civilian clothing, and one man and one woman in light blue jumpsuits. All have their hands bound behind their backs. None have any visible wounds other than the two in jumpsuits who appear to have some blunt force trauma. All are breathing, and the civilian woman is moaning lightly.
Speaking over his comm unit, Ian says, "We have six bodies in the crew lounge. They all appear to be alive at the moment. Doc, you’d better get up here."
Ian approaches the civilian woman who is moaning and starts to untie her hands so she will be more comfortable. "Ma’am, can you hear me? I am here to help you. Who did this to you? Do you know what happened to the other two people on board?"
-----
Listening to the boarding party over the comms, Martha says, "From the sounds of it, there is still one crew member missing. Be careful, boys, in case he may still be on the ship somewhere."
After a moment’s pause, she continues. "He may be gone, of course, to avoid the crash, but if he’s part of some bunch of fanatics or zealots or something, who knows what he’ll want to do in order to protect his mission."
-----
Swann goes over to the men in civilian clothing, and starts checking them for injuries and for weapons. "Ian, check her for weapons before you untie her. Can’t be too careful."
"Huh? Oh, OK Swann. Can’t be too careful, right."
"Dammit!" Ian thinks to himself, "Gotta get my head on straight and quit piss’n and moan’n about Swann leavin’ the ship!"
Ian searches the woman before he unties her and resumes questioning her.
-----
Martha continues to monitor sensors to make sure everything proceeds as normal. She also continues specific diagnostics of the various ship’s systems that were strained by the recent exertion.
-----
Vasilii contacts Martha. "Miss Smythe, you’re our EW expert. I was wondering if it would be possible to send a message to the Botswannwithout Ghaieul getting wind of it. Do we have that sort of capability? Would you be able to work something out?"
-----
The young engineer responds, "It all depends on the range of their sensors. I can do something low powered, that won’t carry as far, and can even encrypt it. I’ll create you a comm link."
-----
Vasilii sends a secure message to the Botswann. "This is Bray Keaven on secure comm. We have received no comm from the ship Ghaieul, who is making a matching maneuver. We find their behavior a little suspicious — they have ignored hails since we asked them to pull off. Can you advise whether you are familiar with this ship? Also, can you give us an ETA to reach our vicinity and/or match us? We’d appreciate an escort, if that is possible. Request secure reply."
He appends course and speed details for the various participants.
-----
Botswann replies, "Understood, Bray Keaven. We have warned the Ghaieul off as well. They do not seem to be inclined to acknowledge. I doubt that they will try anything with us in the neighborhood, but I would recommend caution just in case. Our records indicate that the Ghaieul has some history of opportunistic ‘assistance’ in the past. Our ETA is currently 37 minutes."
-----
Vargas is concentrating on the piloting of the ship in an effort to keep it out of harm’s way. He continues to shadow the Blue Donovan and silently wonders why the crew was left alive.
"Vasilii, it seems strange to me that a pirate attack would take over the ship, set it on a collision course with the high port, then leave the crew alive. As my adoptive father would say, this does not smell right. There is a great deal more to this then meets the eye."
"Yep. Maybe we disturbed them; maybe they relied on the lizard thing keeping the crew from the bridge. Who knows?"
"If you can contact the boarding party without any one else overhearing, tell them to carefully watch for booby traps. I just have a gut feeling that all is not as presented."
Date: 210-993 Location: Aboard the Bray Keaven and Blue Donovan, approaching Kerin's Tyr
On the Blue Donovan, Saro rushes up to the passenger lounge. He finds Ian and Swann searching the six bound bodies for weapons and then starting to cut their plastic-cuff bonds. Ian and Swann don’t find any weapons on any of the bodies.
Saro immediately does a quick inspection of all. The two in light–blue jumpsuits appear to have suffered blows to the head and body. There may be some neurological damage, but neither appears to be in imminent danger. The other four appear to have been rendered unconscious through chemical means, probably an injection of some sort. The two in light–blue jumpsuits also appear to have been given some sort of injection.
After making sure that the two in light–blue jumpsuits really are stable and in no immediate danger, Saro turns his attention to the woman whom was originally moaning. She appears to be in some psychological shock, but other than some odd tenderness around her abdomen, she seems to be OK, all things considered.
The woman rather blearily and confusedly answers Ian’s questions about what happened. "What? Who are you? Where did you come from?
"No, I don’t know what happened to the captain and the other fellow. What happened? Ow, my head and stomach ache.
"Who are you? I remember some men with guns who tied us up. George! George, I’m sorry for leaving. I remember someone with a needle. Why did they use a needle?"
Further questions are also similarly answered, at least for some time.
Gradually, the other three probable passengers also awaken in a similarly confused state. All recount a similar story and similar symptoms — a headache and a stomachache. The youngest male complains that he "knew that damned Vorick Stew was going to make us all sick."
-----
On the bridge, Kevon keeps the Blue Donovan on the designated course and makes the flip over to start decelerating at the designated time. The Botswann replies to Kevon’s acknowledgement of the course. "Thank you for the acknowledgement and starting deceleration according to schedule. Just so you know, we have notified the Ghaieul that their assistance is appreciated, but unnecessary at this point."
-----
The Bray Keaven and the Blue Donovan still have their ship–to–ship tight–beam link, over which Vasilii transmits Vargas’ warning about booby traps to Kevon, who relays the message on suit comms to the rest of the boarding party.
-----
Swann acknowledges the message from Kevon. "Thanks for the heads up. Speaking of, see if this ship has any sort of weapons and if you can power them up. Just in case we need them.
"We’re going to check aft for more ‘surprises.’ If you don’t need Aidan to help you getting the weapons online, you might want to send him up here to help Doc."
Swann then goes over to Ian and says in a low voice, "We should probably search the rest of the ship, especially engineering, to make sure they didn’t leave any backup ‘presents.’ "
Ian nods his head in agreement. "Sure."
Turning to Saro, he says, "Doc, you got things under control here? Swann and I are gonna go for a stroll."
Turning back to Swann, he says, "Let’s go ahead and check this area out. I’d hate to leave the Doc here alone before we do."
-----
Turning back to her damage–control readouts, Martha sees that the automated diagnostics have completed. A very rough guestimate would put the damage at about Cr50,000 worth of damage to the power plant and maneuver drives. The plant and drives should be okay for a 1.75G bit of acceleration, but anything more would be really unwise. 1G would be best. She has enough parts on hand to conduct emergency repairs, which would restore 2G acceleration for a brief period.
Martha makes a mental note to have Aidan pursue the legal ramifications of seeking recompense for answering this Signal GK. She then begins to conduct emergency repairs to the maneuver drives.
"Could these guys be friends of Ian’s, perhaps after that box of his? Or do they even know about the box?" she mutters, more to herself than to the others on the link. "Boxes, boxes ever where, and no one stops to think."
-----
Kevon continues to concentrate on his course, monitoring the comms as he works. At some point, he uses the suit comms to contact Ian and Swann. "Mr. McConnell, what’s the word with the passengers? Anything new?"
-----
Ian pauses during his inspection to reply. "Captain, all six appear to be alive. Some appear to have been drugged; others were beat unconscious. I will let the Doc give you a more detailed report on their conditions. Swann and I have started a sweep of the ship. Once we have completed our inspection of the area around the lounge, we'll be heading to engineering, contacting you as we go to let us through the iris valves as needed."
-----
Vasilii lets Martha and Vargas know how soon he calculates the various ships will arrive and be able to dock with the Blue Donovan and the Bray Keaven. "About five minutes of evasive maneuvers should be no problem, if it comes to it, right?"
Then he sends the figures over to Blue Donovan on secure comm, along with a general sit rep, and asks for a return sit rep when it’s convenient.
-----
Martha clears her throat and responds. "Evasive maneuvers at 1.7Gs, not a problem. You want 2Gs, that’s gonna take some attention down here."
-----
"Half a gee would be fine, I’d think," Vasilii says. "After all, all we have to do is spin at our deck plate compensation limit, and they’d need to fly 15G circles round us to keep the airlocks aligned. Just so long as they don’t try to fire and disable us.
"Miss Smythe, a thought. If, and only if, it makes engineering sense, perhaps we might let Ghaieul detect us powering up our lasers when they come into normal sensor range. If that sort of thing can be done?"
-----
"Ship’s gunner is one of the few things I can’t do on this ship, Vasilii," Martha responds. "We can do it, but then aren’t we asking for trouble? How’d it look to the locals?"
-----
Closing the comm, the Vilani merchant mutters, "Next time, we keep a gunner aboard."
"Vasilii, I heard that and could not agree more," Vargas says. "I was thinking along the same lines.
"There is always a risk of attack from the Ghaieul, but I don’t think they will do so with other ships so nearby. I propose to screen the Blue Donovan and maybe bluff the Ghaieul away."
"OK, but let’s not actually start anything," Vasilii says. "After all, they’ll know there are three ships from Kerin’s Tyr due on the scene within a few minutes of them. They ought to realize they just don’t have time to do anything, unless we panic them."
-----
"They’re already within close range for their weapons, I’m sure," Martha says. "If they were going to fire, they’d have done it by now. What with an SDB not but moments away, they’re more likely to attempt to dock and raid than open fire."
-----
Vargas considers the possibility that they may be boarded, then keys the intraship comm. "Martha, I am going to try to prevent the Ghaieul from boarding the Blue Donovan. However, this maneuver may result in an attack on our ship. Can you transfer engineering controls to the bridge and join us here?
"Also, stop by the ship’s locker and bring my shotgun with you. Although nothing may happen, I think we should not be separated in the event of a problem."
-----
"Vargas, if you want 2G acceleration, I have to be down here with the engines. If you don’t mind operating at reduced efficiency on this, I can come up to the bridge. Make the call." Martha continues her repair efforts as she awaits the pilot’s decision.
-----
The former Scout considers the problem for a moment. "Mr. Vasilii, I don’t think they will actually fire on us with the other ships nearby but they may try boarding. In that case, I do not want Martha alone in engineering. I don’t think her safety is worth the little extra performance we are going to achieve. Besides, I have a few maneuvers up my sleeve, I think we can keep them off for a few minutes."
Vargas then keys the intercom. "Martha, I think in the interest of your safety I would prefer to sacrifice a little speed. Please lock down engineering and come up to the bridge."
He then turns to Vasilii and says, "I am still concerned as to why that group of pirates did not kill the passengers and crew on the Blue Donovan. Why would they give an injection to their victims, unless . . . " his voice trails off as he thinks of something new.
"Mr. Vasilii, what if the survivors are the booby trap? I wonder if they have been infected with some biological agent? Please contact Saro and let him know my concerns and ask if he can do some testing to confirm or negate my fears? I just cannot understand the actions of the attackers.
"I may be paranoid about this, but I just cannot see why a non-lethal injection would be given to the sophonts on the Blue Donovan. I simply believe that an ounce of prevention is worth several pounds of cure."
Vargas continues to plot a course that will protect the Blue Donovan from attack or boarding.
-----
Vasilii relays Vargas’ idea to Saro over the laser link. "Dr. Talbek, Mr. Vargas has pointed out something suspicious . . . "
-----
On the bridge of the Blue Donovan, Aidan powers up the far trader’s weapons. He finds that the ship has a pair of pulse–laser–and–sandcaster–combo turrets. After a systems check, both turrets register as fully operational, and both have a full load of sand (three canisters).
Kevon keeps the Blue Donovan on her designated deceleration course. His plot shows the Ghaieul closing steadily on the Blue Donovan. The Ghiaeul eventually holds a position 20 km away from the Blue Donovan but doesn’t approach any closer.
-----
Ian and Swann do a quick inspection of the upper lounge area and the adjoining passenger staterooms for any obvious booby traps. They find no living or mechanical booby traps, though Ian is tempted to call the malfunctioning toilet in what is probably an unused stateroom a definite hazard if not an actual trap. Ian is quite thankful that he is still suited up given the state of the fresher containing the toilet.
In one passenger's stateroom, Swann finds a medium sized (0.66 m or so) lizard in a plastic cage. The lizard looks fairly fearsome with a crest, but is probably not too dangerous since it's contained and happily munching on some red fruit and part of a green leafy plant. It’s hard to say for sure to Swann's inexperienced eye, but the lizard doesn’t seem to be a close relative of the one that attacked Ian.
Swann ponders the lizard momentarily before resuming his sweep. He informs everyone of what he found, adding, "This probably isn’t a coincidence. There must be a connection, but I don’t know what it is right now. Continuing my search."
Ian responds, "I dunno, could be a unrelated. Many people like to keep those things as pets."
After their quick inspection of the lounge, Ian and Swann head downstairs towards life support and starboard engineering. The life support systems and starboard power plant and drives show evidence of age and relatively poor maintenance, but again, no obvious traps.
Swann says to Ian, "I’m glad Martha isn’t here to see this. She’d have a fit."
"Ain’t that the truth!" Ian adds.
-----
Onboard the Bray Keaven, Martha finishes her immediate tasks and then, with a sigh, heads towards the ship’s locker in order to pick up Vargas’ shotgun. She then joins Vasilii and Vargas on the bridge.
-----
Meanwhile, Vargas puts the Bray Keaven into a bit of a spin to make docking more difficult for the Ghaieul should she decide try and board.
-----
Vasilii relays Vargas’ thought about a possible biological agent to Saro over the linked comms. A string of muttered Vilani and Vargr profanities comes back before Saro says, "I should have thought of that. Let me see what I can tell."
Saro then checks each of the passengers and the two crewmen. All seem to have recently — within the last eight hours — received an intravenous injection in either the neck or arm. Inspecting each's abdomen, Saro finds that all have been given some sort of injection with a fairly large needle just below the stomach and around the upper portion of the small intestines. Running his portable imager over the area of each, Saro sees that for a few of the folks, there is some slight internal bleeding as a needle has pierced the intestines, but in others, there doesn’t appear to be any significant internal bleeding.
All of the passengers report that they remember getting an injection in the arm or neck, but nothing else. They also all report some tenderness and soreness around the abdomen injection point.
Saro keys his suit comms and comments, "Ummm, guys, I hope that you’re all still suited up like I am. Looks like everyone got two injections, one that probably put them out, and another, unknown injection."
-----
"Thank you, Doctor," Kevon says. "Everyone stays suited until further notice."
Switching over to ship–to–ship, the captain reports to the Botswann. "Botswann, Blue Donovan. We have accounted for all four passengers and three of the crew. One crewmember is dead, apparently killed by a large carnivorous reptile that was let loose on the ship.
"Be advised; the others were bound and given two injections each," he continues. "Our ship’s doctor thinks one was an anesthetic, but he cannot determine the nature of the second. We should consider this ship an unsafe environment until we can give the survivors full medical tests."
-----
Swann looks at Ian and says, "Great. This ship just keeps getting weirder and weirder. I usually like weird. But I have my limits."
"Very strange," Ian agrees. "Why would the hijackers inject them with anything besides a tranq? If they were infected with something weird and nasty, would there have been anything left at the impact site to spread the infection? You’d think it would all burn up in the crash and resulting explosion."
-----
Hearing the general broadcast, Vasilii goes a bit pale and lasers a voice message tagged for Saro. "Dr. Talbek, if you find anything airborne you’d better check us over here on Bray Keaven. Some air might have cycled through during docking."
Vasilii has his vacc suit on, but he hasn’t been wearing his helmet.
-----
When Martha arrives on the bridge, Vasilii offers her the choice of sensor and comm control. Martha first locks down the bridge access from the outside again. She then takes over sensor duty. "I’ll take it, but be ready. If I have to shift to engineering, someone’s got to take up the slack," she says with a tired smile.
Vasilii, Martha, and Vargas see that the Ghaieul is maintaining position about 20 km away from the Blue Donovan. The Botswann, MacCaren, and Joosul are closing now — 1,000 km away.
Vargas listens to the comm links and breathes a sigh of relief when he hears Saro’s report that the crewmen are suited up. He continues to maneuver between the two ships and waits for the arrival of the authorities to relieve them of the burden of the Blue Donovan.
"Well, this looks like it is beginning to end. Oh, for the life of an adventurer. And I thought the Scout service had an interesting life.
"Martha, you did a magnificent job of nursing the last bit of performance from our engineering system. You are truly a credit to your profession."
Martha looks sullenly over at Vargas. "I did everything I could." She sighs heavily. "All that work we just had done — ruined. I’m hoping I can make field repairs soon."
"Vasilii, have you heard anything from our friends in that Vargr ship?" Vargas asks.
"No, they’re just pacing us."
Vargas continues to match the Blue Donovan and awaits the arrival of the officials.
Date: 210-993 Location: Aboard the Bray Keaven and Blue Donovan, approaching Kerin's Tyr
On board the Blue Donovan, Swann and Ian continue their quick booby-trap inspection. After going through upper engineering, down to port engineering, through the (empty) low berths, and through the crew quarters, they don’t find anything that would seem to indicate a booby trap of some sort. The ship does seem to have a general air of disorder, age, and poor maintenance, but there isn’t anything overtly and immediately dangerous.
-----
On the bridges of the Blue Donovan and the Bray Keaven, the respective bridge teams watch as the three Hue Mercenary boats approach. The Hue Mercenary boats are sleek 200 dTon craft with the appearance of being well armored and powered. One boat, the Joosul, takes up station fairly close to the Ghaieul while the others pace the Blue Donovan and the Bray Keaven.
When Kevon informs the Botswann about the suspicious injections, a Hue Mercenary officer, whose jumpsuit reads "H. Ghent," curses in an unknown tongue and replies, "Thank you Blue Donovan. Be advised that the Blue Donovan and Bray Keaven are now under quarantine pending medical tests. I understand that you have a doctor onboard the Blue Donovan now. Please transmit his findings and test results to me while we return to Warne Highport on course 235.31 by 123.31 at 1G accel."
-----
The trip to Warne Highport is long and a little arduous because the Bray Keaven crewmembers are starting to feel the effects of sleep deprivation and being suited up for quite some time (at least, for those without fitted vacc suits). Swann and Ian check in on Saro every now and again, but spend most of their time examining the Blue Donovan, particularly for any other surprises.
The cargo proves to be utterly normal looking: refined metals, a tractor, and some cut wood. The lizard freeze box doesn’t appear to have been part of the original cargo manifest. After checking the cargo, Swann and Ian return to the lounge to help Saro.
-----
The smaller lizard found in a passenger cabin is claimed by one of the passengers, Urkel Martel, as a pet.
-----
The two crewmembers in the lounge, Jo Adir and Lynden Nasima, eventually awake. Their story is a little confusing, but seems to follow the general track of the Blue Donovan departing Warne Highport and then going out to the jump limit to meet a ship called the Tarnoke to pick up a small package bound for Adukgin. The two ships docked, and the crew thought that the Tarnoke was sending over a pair of humans over with the package. Instead, they sent over an armed boarding party — all humans — with some sort of holo camouflage–imager device, and the boarding party was able to storm the crewmembers gathered in the lounge. Warren (presumably lizard–food man) and Indel (presumably the captain on the bridge) were killed, and they took Jo, Lynden, and the passengers captive. The armed party of humans then injected everyone with some sort of drug which knocked them out.
-----
On the rather long trip back to Warne Highport, Saro places each passenger in his respective stateroom and places the crewmembers in an unoccupied passenger stateroom to monitor their status. All continue to report significant intestinal discomfort and show some signs of slight fever.
-----
Back on the Bray Keaven, Martha finally tires of staying on the bridge and heads back to engineering to start field repairs on her strained drives and power plant. Using the onboard parts, she completes the field repairs on the power plant and drives. She decides she probably should spent a day in dock to perform the final repairs, once she gets a laundry list of parts, but the field repairs should provide at least a few hours of normal max acceleration if the ship needs it.
Martha prepares a list of all necessary repairs, including parts and estimates, for Aidan to fully pursue, as he did for the ship back on Sentry.
-----
Around 0600 hours, all of the Blue Donovan survivors start showing signs of weakening systems, high fevers, swollen abdomens, and eventual unconsciousness in spite of Saro’s best efforts to care for them. Much to Saro’s shock and dismay, a diagnostic imager scan of one of the passenger’s abdomen shows what appear to be tick–like insects about 2–3 cm in diameter attached to the small intestines and other internal organs. A quick scan of the others shows the same tick–like insects in their abdomens. The insect things did not show up on any initial scans that Saro did.
-----
Vasilii comms the Blue Donovan boarding team. "Are there any low berths over there? Perhaps we could freeze them down to stop — whatever it is."
-----
Saro replies, "Frell yes. I should have thought of that earlier. Ian and Swann, help me get these passengers down to the low berths. I don’t want to use the ones on the Bray Keaven, but we might be able to help these poor folks."
-----
Saro confirms Ian’s earlier comment about a biological agent likely not surviving an impact with the planet or the higport. "Yes, it doesn’t make any sense at all! Nothing should have survived a high–speed hit on the highport, so there would be no reason at all to leave some neo–crocodile thing onboard nor inject the passengers with something. This doesn’t make any sense!"
-----
Martha suggests, "Perhaps it’s insurance. If the crash didn’t work because the crew was rescued, then perhaps whatever’s inside them would finish the job that the Blue Donovan could not."
-----
With some trepidation, Saro scans each of the Bray Keaven boarding party, but finds nothing unusual.
Despite Saro’s negative findings, Swann still doesn’t feel safe. In fact, he’s sure he can feel something inside him starting to crawl around. He rubs a hand across his abdomen. "Doc, any guess as to what the incubation period would be on those, ummm, bugs?"
-----
Before arriving in the vicinity of the Warne Highport, the Botswann officer, H. Ghent, oddly says on a tight–beam transmission to the Bray Keaven and Blue Donovan, "Bray Keaven, thank you very much for your help. You’ve at least saved the lives of the Blue Donovan survivors today. I’m sorry for what will probably happen next after you pass out of our area of control. Botswann out."
-----
Martha listens to the last little bit, a question upon her face. "I wonder what he meant by that?" she muses to herself. The moment passes, and a blinking red light draws her back to the tasks at hand.
-----
"Oh, that doesn’t sound good at all," Ian comments. "Looks like we are in for more excitement, guys."
Swann looks at Ian, a look of concern on his face. "Sounds like someone might be looking for a scapegoat. And I bet we’re first in line for the job."
"Yes," Ian shakes his head. "It’s never a dull moment, eh? We’d better be very careful down there."
-----
Upon arriving in the vicinity of the Warne Highport, the two far traders are instructed to a holding area while SPA medical and investigative teams come aboard. The investigative team collects evidence and takes depositions from the Bray Keaven crew. The investigators are oddly quite rude and taciturn, rebuffing any efforts to elicit any information in return.
The medical teams immediately transfer the passengers and surviving crew to a medical modular cutter module and make copies of Saro’s scans and notes. Much to Saro’s chagrin, they don’t allow him to follow to treat his patients.
-----
The Bray Keaven boarding party is returned to its ship. On the way back, Saro insists that they all spend 10 minutes in an evacuated airlock before boarding the Bray Keaven. The SPA medical personnel also run the boarding party through a full decontamination spray.
Saro and the SPA medical personnel run a full scan on each member of the boarding party and on Martha, Vasilii, and Vargas. Saro (not the SPA medical personnel, who don’t say much at all) says, "Based on what happened to the poor folks on the Blue Donovan, I would guess that the tick things are not airborne, since they were injected. It wouldn’t hurt for everyone to stay suited up, but I think that it’s probably OK to unsuit."
A notable hesitation belies his confident words, but Saro does remove his vacc suit. Most of the others follow his example.
-----
Without much of an explanation, the Bray Keaven is kept under armed quarantine guard for 24 hours. Aidan, monitoring the local news networks, sees absolutely no mention of the Blue Donovan.
-----
Saro does continue the periodic medical scans. Other than stress, particularly in Martha and in Aidan, who seems to be developing a cold, he finds nothing of note.
-----
Martha busies herself with activity in engineering, continuing to make repairs as best she can.
-----
Swann takes a shower and then takes a nap. During the 24-hour quarantine, he combats the tickles inside his abdomen with regular liberal doses of Suntory Hibiki whiskey.
-----
After 24 hours — which include a number of medical personnel boarding and running medical and environmental tests — a somewhat thin, tall human male boards accompanied by a couple of Portside Security guards. His vacc suit reads Syl Mixon.
Speaking to the crew in the passenger lounge, the somewhat thin man says, "I’m acting Warne Highport Administrator Mixon. Your ship is cleared to dock at Warne Highport under certain conditions. The first is that you agree that nothing happened with regards to the Blue Donovan. The Blue Donovan is now an Imperial matter. I will authorize payment for any damage that you may have suffered during your assistance along with a payment of Cr10,000 to each of the crew for your assistance. But if I or any other SPA Administrator hears of you speaking of the Blue Donovan to anyone else, you will never dock at an SPA starport again. Do we understand each other?"
-----
The man is waving Cr10,000 chips at paper millionaires, Vasilii muses. But then he’ll know that. So it’s just window dressing for a threat of violence. Vasilii finds the veneer of bribery strangely chilling. Suddenly good honest criminals don’t seem so bad.
Vasilii gives the administrator a very long, calculating, weighing look that makes it clear he understands that he’s not being bribed here. Then he nods.
-----
Martha nods, but doesn’t say anything.
-----
"Yes sir, thank you for the generous offer," Ian says. "Are you sure there is no more you can tell us about this incident?"
To Ian’s question, Acting Administrator Mixon replies, "No, there is no further information that I can share with you, Mr. McConnell. We think that they were just a bunch of crazy pirates that you had the notable luck of surprising. Nothing more, nothing less. Certainly nothing to cause a panic about by spreading stories."
"Very well, Mr. Mixon. Thank you for your time and assistance."
The acting administrator seems to be put at ease by Ian. Ian’s impression of Mixon is of a petty bureaucrat who finally got into a position of some importance after a long time and who could be considerable trouble if forced into feeling like he has to show that he has authority.
Mixon hands each of the crew a Cr10,000 credit chit, and all of the non–Bray Keaven personnel withdraw.
-----
A concerned look crosses the lieutenant commander’s face, and he walks with the administrator to the airlock, as a ship’s captain should. "We’ll abide by your orders, Administrator," he says. "However, since we’re already involved and being held to secrecy, is there anything we can do to help with an investigation?"
Acting Administrator Mixon replies, "I think not, Lt. Cdr. Holland. Thank you for your offer, but this is such an isolated incident, I don’t think that your assistance will be necessary. No sense in alarming folks because of some crazies."
The young officer keeps his expression neutral at the response, and then nods in agreement. "Aye, sir. Thank you, again, for your generosity."
-----
The Bray Keaven is then directed by Warne Highport Approach Control to enclosed and pressurized docking bay 2391. The crew then gathers in the lounge to discuss what to do now.
-----
Swann fixes himself a large bowl of oatmeal sweetened with kamishgiirmu, and topped with walnuts and sliced bananas, hoping that if there are small insects inside him the oatmeal will smother them. He listens to the other’s theories and opinions while he eats.
-----
Vargas sips on a beverage from the dispenser, shares his meal with Rusti, and listens to the conversation.
-----
Ian will grab whatever beverage is available in the lounge and grab a seat. "So, what the bloody hell is going on here, guys?"
Vasilii starts by tapping his ear and waving an arm around the room.
"First, we’ll never know unless someone tells us. I’ve got one guess that seems to fit the facts, but who knows? For what it’s worth, I think we disturbed them by coming out of jump while they were halfway through some plan that involved breeding deadly parasites and didn’t involve ramming the planet in any way, shape or form. Our arrival caused them to bail out, and aim the ship at the planet to dispose of it.
"We’ve already hit one interstellar biowarfare conspiracy on Alief — the Marquis’ team confirmed an external angle, after we finished our trip and he sent the troops in. Now we run into more bioweapons, and a Starport Administrator who didn’t seem completely surprised. Something’s going on, something interstellar — it’s got all the Imperial types fired up, and we just ran into it again.
"But we’ll never know."
Ian nods his head in agreement while he gulps his drink.
Martha shakes her head resignedly. "The man said he was Acting Admin, not the Admin himself. Yeah, something’s going on, and it’s big."
She pauses, then continues. "It seems that we’ve been in the middle of it for a while, and it’s pretty obvious it involves the nobles at Sentry, and probably Aleif. Whether we like it or not, we’re a pawn in this game, and I don’t think we’re getting out of it any time soon."
"As for what we do," Vasilii continues, "I’d say we just butt out, forget it, sell our cargo, and hope the Marquis doesn’t turn up wanting to hire us again. We don’t talk, we don’t ask questions, we don’t do any computer searches." He looks at Aidan. "We give him exactly what he wants."
Again, he taps his ear and waves a hand around.
Only then does it dawn on Martha what Vasilii is getting at. Quietly she heads downstairs to access a crew workstation on the bridge to use the sensor array to begin scanning passively for hidden surveillance devices. Her sensor sweep doesn’t detect any unexpected transmissions from the ship. Not entirely comforted, she returns to the lounge to inform the others.
-----
As soon as Vasilii gives Aidan a pointed look about not doing any computer searches, Aidan gives Vasilii a well–practiced innocent smile, and then immediately reaches over for his tabletcomp. Vasilii rolls his eyes.
-----
"Assuming that they don’t pull us right back into this thing the minute they want a throwaway crew to help with whatever investigation or operation they have in mind," Kevon offers. "But, I agree. We stay under the radar as much as possible; we don’t even tell the Marquis.
"However, we double– and triple-check all of our incoming cargoes, and I would recommend we take no passengers, frozen or unfrozen," Kevon adds.
"Ms. Smythe, as soon as you can give us an estimate, we can get it to the administrator’s office ASAP. No use in sticking around any longer than we need to."
Martha nods toward Aidan. "He should have it already. I sent him the file this morning, before we started getting busy. Mr. Silver may not have even had the chance to check it yet."
Aidan replies, "Yes, thank you, Martha. I do have the list, and I’m going through the proper forms now. It’s amazing what the SPA considers necessary these days.
"Ah, back to form SPA–X82l1L29471–5, Environmental Impact of Replaced Power Plant Components," he adds with a sigh.
-----
"Frell it all, I was hoping to have a bit of fun here. Been hearing a good bit about this place. Now they’ve put a damper on it all." Ian looks at Vasilii with a half grin and nods. "Lady and gentlemen, we will need to be on our toes the whole time we are here. Please, no one venture out alone, even outside the ship in the docking area. Let’s keep the ship locked down as much as possible as well. As I understand it, this is a bit of an unruly place anyway."
-----
Vargas looks at the other crewmembers and says, "I would really like to know what is happening. However, we must consider this: Choose the battles that you will fight and only fight the battles that you will win. If we choose to investigate this, we are definitely running with the big dogs and if we lose, well I guess we might as well give up being honest traders. Curiosity can be wonderful but dangerous.
"I do not think we can win or even break even in this battle, therefore I must agree with Vasilii. We should just keep a low profile, conduct our business, and get out of town.
"Now, I believe that we have some business with a Vargr in the highport. Shall we continue on to it and hope that it goes better then the trip from the jump nexus?"
-----
Martha announces, "Room’s clean, by the way. As far as I can tell, we aren’t being actively bugged. There may be burst-recorders, but at the moment, there’s nothing."
"Thanks, Miss Smythe. That’s a relief." Vasilii smiles.
"You want I should jam any outgoing signals for a bit, just in case?"
"Yes, by all means," Ian says. "Let’s keep a low profile and get on with our business and get out. We will need to contact the Vargr when we get settled in and are ready to start things rolling. Vargas, would you be willing to be our point of contact in this situation, considering your experience and skills with the Vargrs?"
Vargas looks at Ian and simply states, "Ian, I would be honored to help in this matter. I am quite curious about this relative of our benefactor. I sincerely hope this is as presented and not some lead into a wild adventure. I do believe that the end will justify the trouble if Jarvis produces the documentation. I think we should conclude this affair as soon as possible."
Vargas then says, "We were very lucky this time in that the Bray Keaven did not have to go into any action requiring a gunner. If that Vargr ship had attempted boarding or firing on us, we would have been in deep trouble. While everyone likes to be a hero, we must place our ship’s safety first. In the future, we need to determine beforehand who will leave the ship and who will stay. We cannot afford to risk our home in space by removing essential personnel in time of crisis. Keep in mind that I am not pointing any fingers or laying any blame in this case, but sooner or later our luck will run out and we will regret some of our choices. What does everyone else think?"
Ian turns and glares at Swann.
Martha agrees. "Vargas definitely has a point here. Now, if you guys want me to take a crash course in gunnery, I probably can, but that won’t cover us in the short-term. Guys, someone’s gotta watch out for the Bray Keaven."
-----
Having finished eating, Swann leans back and says, "I think this all goes back to what that Scout on Fonnien said about SolSec deep–strike teams. Apparently there’s one operating in the cluster. I don’t know if they were responsible for that business back on Alief, but it’s certainly possible.
"What worries me the most is that if they were involved with Alief, by now they might not be too happy about us always crashing their parties, and might come jumping for us. And that’s a lot more serious than having some backwater SPA official mad at us for tellin’ tales in some star town bar.
"So yeah, for our own safety, I think we should let this go, and try our best to stay off everyone’s sensors. And yeah, we need to be extra careful about the contents of all cargoes we take on. I also suggest that everyone start caring a handgun of some sort at all times, even when you’re onboard the ship. In an emergency, you might not have time to go get a weapon from the ship’s locker or your cabin."
Vasilii nods.
"As for the other business," Swann says, his face turning slightly red. "Yeah, I messed up by leaving the ship without a gunner onboard. I did it because I was concerned about the safety of the boarding party. But I will do my best from now on not to act in those situations without thinking, or at least let someone know what I plan to do so they can talk me out of it." He breaks into a sheepish smile.
"So I guess we should defrost our passengers and see about offloading those bovine popsicles."
Ian nods once. "Very well. I’m glad you have realized that your actions were not in the best interest of the crew and ship. Let’s try and learn from out mistakes and be a bit more coordinated in the future. Thanks." Ian ends with one of his familiar big grins.
Aidan looks up from his tablet comp and quips, "Besides, I thought rash actions during boarding emergencies were my responsibility."
Even Vasilii grins at that.
-----
Martha waits a moment to see if the conversation continues, then starts moving about, thinking about the SolSec strike forces and Zhodani mind rapers that seem to be running rampant in the Linkworlds.
-----
After the meeting, Swann tracks down Ian. "I think you and I need to learn how to operate those laser carbines we’ve got in the cargo hold. Kevon has a laser pistol, he can probably show us the basics. I wonder if they came with a user’s manual. Let’s go check."
"Not a bad idea, it’s always good to expand one’s horizons." Ian goes with Swann to check out the carbines.
-----
Later Ian double checks that the "gift" is still tucked away safe and sound in a drawer his stateroom.
The ex–Marine then looks up the Vargr, Jarvis Nuuis, in the comm directory. A little later, Ian (with Vargas nearby), places a comm call to Jarvis Nuuis. A female Vargr takes the call, and after Ian identifies himself, says, "One moment please."
A beat later, the image of a tawny-white Vargr appears on the vid plate. The Vargr smiles a somewhat alarming smile and says, "Ah, Ian McConnell. I received a message just yesterday from my cousin that you would be arriving soon with a gift from him. In fact, I insist that you and the entire crew of the famed Bray Keaven join me for dinner in my humble quarters this evening. Say, 1830 hours?"
-----
Ian tries to make a better impression than he did during his last meeting with a Vargr, using any and all communication and etiquette skills he can muster. "Insist . . . entire crew . . . for dinner?" Ian thinks. "So much for laying low!"
"Yes," Ian briefly glances over to Vargas, as if to say "Jump in here anytime!" "I’m sure they will all be honored by your generous invitation. 1830 will be fine."
The implications of leaving the ship empty immediately start flowing through the security officer’s brain. Once the scenario has run through at least twice — "very well. I look forward to our meeting. Might I ask the location of the dinner? I am unfamiliar with this area and would appreciate your assistance."
"Ah, I forget my manners. I will send someone to escort you to dinner since this station can get a little confusing for newcomers."
-----
During the vidcall, Vargas pays close attention to Jarvis’ dress and posturing. He attempts to use his observational skills and knowledge of Vargr culture to determine his charisma. He finds that he can’t get a good feel on such a short call. He does guess that Jarvis isn’t too important in the scheme of things.
"Jarvis is attempting to be friendly, I certainly hope the package is in good condition," he thinks.
When Ian indicates that Vargas can jump in at any time, he carefully allows himself to be seen in the vidscreen range. When Jarvis notices him, Vargas says in Irilitok, "Good day and good hunting, Jarvis. The entire Bray Keaven pack eagerly looks forward to meeting you and your pack in person. You do us great honor in your generous invitation."
-----
After the conversation, Vargas translates what he said and follows with, "I hope that no one took offense at my accepting that invitation."
Ian turns to Vargas. "I really don’t like leaving the ship vulnerable like that, no crew and all. You think he’d be offended if we all didn’t show?"
Ian punches the ship–wide comm. "Fellow crewmates. We have been invited to dine with Jarvis Nuuis, cousin to Merkul, at 1830 hours. We will be his ‘honored guests.’ Ian out."
-----
Kevon smiles slightly at the mention of their being "honored guests" of the Vargr. "I guess I get to pull out the dress uniform tonight."
He heads to the fresher and gets cleaned up, then dons his dress uniform, replete with his ceremonial cutlass. He’ll carry his short-range comms, but leave the laser pistol on the ship; an officer doesn’t carry a sidearm to a formal function — it’s just bad form.
-----
"Hello, sounds like a job," Vasilii thinks. "Or at least a business relationship. I just wonder whether we want him as a friend. But I think we may as well go and see."
-----
Later in the day Swann says to Martha, "You might want to consider keeping a shotgun stashed away back in engineering. Or maybe even two, one on the port side, one starboard. You’re an awful long way from the ship’s locker back there. If you don’t know how to use one, either Ian or I could show you. They’re pretty simple to use."
Martha stops what she’s doing and turns to stare at Swann, a little surprised. "Swann, do you KNOW what kind of damage a shotgun can do to a ship, particularly control panels? Isn’t that just asking for trouble? This isn’t some shooting gallery! This is a delicate vessel, and our home!" She pauses for a moment, too flustered to continue.
After a moment to recompose herself, Martha continues. "I’ve got my snubbie, so don’t you worry about me. ’Sides, with you at the gunner’s station, they won’t even come close."
-----
Vasilii arranges for the freight cargo to be offloaded that afternoon at 1300. Saro wakes all of the passengers successfully, and Ian and Swann escort Tariq Abasov, Nancy Gattis, and Guwann Dura off the ship and out of the Bray Keaven’s berth. Each pays for his or her passage with cash.
Anil Salian wakes a little groggily, but almost immediately goes into cheery salesman mode. "Ah, there already? I dreamed of many things, but it seemed like I just went to sleep moments ago. What was that? We’re at the Warne Highport? I thought that our agreement was that you’d deliver my cargo and me to Tersberg Downport. Of course, if you have some repairs to make before we go downside, I can certainly wait a day or so before departing."
"Very good of you, Mr. Salian. We should have our repair estimates fixed soon," Vasilii says. "If there’s any meaningful delay, I’m sure we can send you and your cargo down to Tersberg in the shuttle service at our expense. In fact, I’d be happy to arrange that right now if you’re in a real hurry. Or I can book you some more pleasant accommodation on the highport if you want to wait for us."
-----
Vasilii then starts selling all speculative cargo (chemical catalysts, gray salt, leather, Marine field rations, vid discs), either for delivery within the highport or to anybody who will accept shuttle forwarding groundside.
Whilst he’s looking at the markets, he keeps an eye open for anything that might be worth buying.
-----
After the passengers depart, Ian says to Swann, "Swann, I am concerned about leaving the ship empty during the dinner. Could you and Aidan set up the security programs at their highest level while we are gone?"
Swann looks around to make sure they can’t be overheard. "Let’s wait and see what our cattle-wrangling Scout decides to do with his cargo. If he leaves it on board, I’ll stay behind to stand watch. I’m sure the Vargr will understand the necessity of leaving a guard behind. If he off loads the cargo today, we’ll discuss our other options."
During the discussion about ship’s security, Vargas suggests that if the entire crew is to be absent, they might consider hiring some security guards to patrol around the ship for the night. "If we have cargo onboard, obviously someone would need to stay to monitor the low berths and frozen biologicals. This would be the perfect reason for one crewman to remain onboard. These Vargr seem to understand business and I do not think insult would be taken in this case. In any case, we do need to be concerned about ship security in light of our fame and recent events."
-----
Ian starts looking around for a bag or container that the "gift" can be placed in for the duration of the trip to the Vargr’s quarters.
