‘It’s
always darkest right before....”
He was interrupted by Coy’s wrist com. “Aziza to Lamont!”
“Lamont, go ahead.”
“Skipper, we’ve intercepted a transmission. It’s the Tenetian
consul on Melan. They say they have ten dignitaries held hostage on
the new Melan orbital Station. They assume terrorists. It was a recorded message, but the old guy sounds desperate. The message was
tightbeamed - probably to a Tenetian vessel but there’s nothing as
close as we are.”
Coy thought for only a second. “Send back: ‘Message received. Help enroute.’ On the same frequency.”
“Aye, aye.”
“Lamont out.” It turned to Butler. “Do we know anything
about Melan station?”
“I think so.” Butler went over to Coy’s vidcom and brought up all the
stations they had been collecting information about. “Some basics.
Building design. Some sketchy info about the governments. Tenetia is
a monarchy, I know that.”
Coy nodded. “Gather as much as you can. Full crew meeting
in the Starboard room.”
Butler was speaking into his own com even as he hurried from
the room. “Butler to All Ship. All crew to the Starboard briefing room.
All crew, starboard room. Vennefron, report to I &S ...”
Byars hurried out after him, on her way to prep her Sick Bay
for whatever was necessary. Bon hung back a moment. “It would
seem the time for discussion is past.”
Coy gave a short nod, but said nothing.
“Want a pep talk?”
“Such as?”
“Such as all the things you already know. How you’ve made
sure these guys were trained right. How you’re the best ship captain
I’ve seen, whether you see it or not. How everyone here is here because it is their desire to be here, doing this, with you.”
Coy looked him in the eye for a long moment. “Butler’s right,”
it told him finally.
“About what?”
“You are a bootlicker.”
Bon grinned, saluted and they both dashed out.
There was no relaxed conversation at this meeting. For all
they knew, this was one of Schiff’s endless drills. But you couldn’t
tell by their faces. Drill or not, they were primed and ready. Coy felt a
wave of… was that pride?
“We have our first job,” Lamont announced. “There are ten
people being held on a space station we assume by professional terrorists. Our job is to get them off safely.” Butler and Vennefron entered
from Intelligence and Security, a small room dedicated solely to the
gathering of information. Lamont had recently discovered Venn’s talent for sifting large amounts of data for relevant information and had
assigned him to help Butler whenever necessary. Butler nodded at
Lamont to indicate the information was ready and sat down. Coy returned a nod of thanks and continued speaking as it pulled it up onto
the vidcom. “How many of you are aware of the Trojan Horse scenario?” Every hand went up. They had better. It was standard BlackFleet
drill. They had been over it dozens of times in theory and practice.
“We are going to offer them something they can’t refuse to open their
gates for.”
Rebel spoke up. “If a message was sent, won’t they assume
someone’s coming?”
“Yes. And we’ll allow them to keep track of us. The Raven will continue on its present course, at moderate speed, alternating
shield frequencies. Hopefully, at least one of those frequencies will be
read by them so they will believe they are tracking us. It will be
manned by Bon’s staff and the bridge team. Everyone else will be on
the Blackbird . It may look like a yacht, but it has full jump capabilities. We will leave the Raven and jump beyond Melan, then head back
to it at full speed. If they are keeping
their eyes on Bon, hopefully they won’t expect so blatant a trick.
We’ll simply knock on their door and offer our gift.”
“Which is...?” Bon asked for everyone.
When Coy told them, smiles of appreciation rippled across the
room.
* * * * *
“Melan Station! Come in please!” the desperate voice called
over and
always darkest right before....”
He was interrupted by Coy’s wrist com. “Aziza to Lamont!”
“Lamont, go ahead.”
“Skipper, we’ve intercepted a transmission. It’s the Tenetian
consul on Melan. They say they have ten dignitaries held hostage on
the new Melan orbital Station. They assume terrorists. It was a recorded message, but the old guy sounds desperate. The message was
tightbeamed - probably to a Tenetian vessel but there’s nothing as
close as we are.”
Coy thought for only a second. “Send back: ‘Message received. Help enroute.’ On the same frequency.”
“Aye, aye.”
“Lamont out.” It turned to Butler. “Do we know anything
about Melan station?”
“I think so.” Butler went over to Coy’s vidcom and brought up all the
stations they had been collecting information about. “Some basics.
Building design. Some sketchy info about the governments. Tenetia is
a monarchy, I know that.”
Coy nodded. “Gather as much as you can. Full crew meeting
in the Starboard room.”
Butler was speaking into his own com even as he hurried from
the room. “Butler to All Ship. All crew to the Starboard briefing room.
All crew, starboard room. Vennefron, report to I &S ...”
Byars hurried out after him, on her way to prep her Sick Bay
for whatever was necessary. Bon hung back a moment. “It would
seem the time for discussion is past.”
Coy gave a short nod, but said nothing.
“Want a pep talk?”
“Such as?”
“Such as all the things you already know. How you’ve made
sure these guys were trained right. How you’re the best ship captain
I’ve seen, whether you see it or not. How everyone here is here because it is their desire to be here, doing this, with you.”
Coy looked him in the eye for a long moment. “Butler’s right,”
it told him finally.
“About what?”
“You are a bootlicker.”
Bon grinned, saluted and they both dashed out.
There was no relaxed conversation at this meeting. For all
they knew, this was one of Schiff’s endless drills. But you couldn’t
tell by their faces. Drill or not, they were primed and ready. Coy felt a
wave of… was that pride?
“We have our first job,” Lamont announced. “There are ten
people being held on a space station we assume by professional terrorists. Our job is to get them off safely.” Butler and Vennefron entered
from Intelligence and Security, a small room dedicated solely to the
gathering of information. Lamont had recently discovered Venn’s talent for sifting large amounts of data for relevant information and had
assigned him to help Butler whenever necessary. Butler nodded at
Lamont to indicate the information was ready and sat down. Coy returned a nod of thanks and continued speaking as it pulled it up onto
the vidcom. “How many of you are aware of the Trojan Horse scenario?” Every hand went up. They had better. It was standard BlackFleet
drill. They had been over it dozens of times in theory and practice.
“We are going to offer them something they can’t refuse to open their
gates for.”
Rebel spoke up. “If a message was sent, won’t they assume
someone’s coming?”
“Yes. And we’ll allow them to keep track of us. The Raven will continue on its present course, at moderate speed, alternating
shield frequencies. Hopefully, at least one of those frequencies will be
read by them so they will believe they are tracking us. It will be
manned by Bon’s staff and the bridge team. Everyone else will be on
the Blackbird . It may look like a yacht, but it has full jump capabilities. We will leave the Raven and jump beyond Melan, then head back
to it at full speed. If they are keeping
their eyes on Bon, hopefully they won’t expect so blatant a trick.
We’ll simply knock on their door and offer our gift.”
“Which is...?” Bon asked for everyone.
When Coy told them, smiles of appreciation rippled across the
room.
* * * * *
“Melan Station! Come in please!” the desperate voice called
over and
Similar Books
