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Authors: David Adams
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said, strange as it was to be coming back to consciousness on her feet. Waking up while standing was something she had grown accustomed to. “I’ve been waiting to talk to you for some time. I assume there’s a good reason for instructing Keller not to talk to me about the Scarecrow .”
“You asked her, I presume?” He inhaled, letting the breath out slowly. “I’ll be honest, Captain Liao, this had nothing at all to do with you and everything to do with Captain Williams.”
Liao presumed he meant Captain Mike Williams of the TFR Rubens. “I’m listening. What does he have to do with all this?”
“Well, the Rubens under Captain Williams was involved in privateering operations against the Toralii Alliance. Their record was impressive. I haven’t had an opportunity to review the log yet, but my understanding is that they engaged and destroyed over thirty enemy vessels. And one friendly.”
“The Scarecrow ,” she surmised. She felt the dark stab in her gut that military personnel frequently felt when discussing fratricide. “These things are bound to happen.”
“Agreed. Captain Williams was operating on a skeleton crew. Most of them are, or were, pilots of various qualifications. They took turns flying CAP. It was Williams’s turn when the Scarecrow appeared, squawking no IFF, and was destroyed as a target of opportunity. It crashed on the surface of a moon we have named Perth. There were no survivors.”
Williams had made a call—the wrong call. She had been in those boots. Command required a decisiveness of action such that every decision was gambling with lives. So far, she had not been faced with a serious mistake of that nature.
So far.
“He okay?” she asked.
“I’ve spoken to Captain Williams about this incident. I’m confident in his operational capacity.”
There was something in his tone that Liao found overly formal, even for Anderson, and she knew. Williams wasn’t okay. Yet… neither was Anderson. She couldn’t put her finger on why.
“Very well,” she said. “So it’s a salvage operation.”
“Correct,” said Anderson. “The craft is a lost cause. It’s what they were carrying that’s valuable—valuable enough for the Toralii to dedicate a pair of cruisers to guard it. At least, they did until the Knight led them away. It took them a while to bite our bait, but they have.”
Liao narrowed her eyes. “We’re not near Velsharn, are we?”
“No.” Anderson folded his hands. “Saeed doesn’t want me telling you this. He thinks you need to rest. Unfortunately, so does he, and while he’s asleep, I’m going to fill you in.” He took a deep breath. “The Alliance cruisers are chasing the Knight . They’ve left Scarecrow undefended. Our window is limited. We need to land, retrieve the cargo, and get the hell out of here. The Washington is escorting the Rubens to her final jump point before they make the attempt. Unfortunately, you’re along for the ride.”
That made no sense. “What could the Scarecrow possibly be carrying that would justify risking so many fleet assets?”
Hesitant, as though sharing the great burden that was upon him, Anderson locked eyes with her. “The end.”
Perhaps she had not heard him correctly. “The… end?”
Penny punched in the commands on her console as Mike— No no, “Captain Williams” —touched a key on the command console and issued the order to prepare for jump.
She had expected the jump process to be dramatic, even spectacular—moving from one whole solar system to another was an incredible feat of engineering power that could only inspire awe—but instead, it was entirely mundane. The ship’s radar was momentarily a field of static, and then as the first pulse went out, everything slowly returned to normal—smooth, subtle, imperceptible, just like the hand of God.
The only thing bothering her was the light—the strange hues flooding the room, an alarm tone fading away as the ship’s systems
“You asked her, I presume?” He inhaled, letting the breath out slowly. “I’ll be honest, Captain Liao, this had nothing at all to do with you and everything to do with Captain Williams.”
Liao presumed he meant Captain Mike Williams of the TFR Rubens. “I’m listening. What does he have to do with all this?”
“Well, the Rubens under Captain Williams was involved in privateering operations against the Toralii Alliance. Their record was impressive. I haven’t had an opportunity to review the log yet, but my understanding is that they engaged and destroyed over thirty enemy vessels. And one friendly.”
“The Scarecrow ,” she surmised. She felt the dark stab in her gut that military personnel frequently felt when discussing fratricide. “These things are bound to happen.”
“Agreed. Captain Williams was operating on a skeleton crew. Most of them are, or were, pilots of various qualifications. They took turns flying CAP. It was Williams’s turn when the Scarecrow appeared, squawking no IFF, and was destroyed as a target of opportunity. It crashed on the surface of a moon we have named Perth. There were no survivors.”
Williams had made a call—the wrong call. She had been in those boots. Command required a decisiveness of action such that every decision was gambling with lives. So far, she had not been faced with a serious mistake of that nature.
So far.
“He okay?” she asked.
“I’ve spoken to Captain Williams about this incident. I’m confident in his operational capacity.”
There was something in his tone that Liao found overly formal, even for Anderson, and she knew. Williams wasn’t okay. Yet… neither was Anderson. She couldn’t put her finger on why.
“Very well,” she said. “So it’s a salvage operation.”
“Correct,” said Anderson. “The craft is a lost cause. It’s what they were carrying that’s valuable—valuable enough for the Toralii to dedicate a pair of cruisers to guard it. At least, they did until the Knight led them away. It took them a while to bite our bait, but they have.”
Liao narrowed her eyes. “We’re not near Velsharn, are we?”
“No.” Anderson folded his hands. “Saeed doesn’t want me telling you this. He thinks you need to rest. Unfortunately, so does he, and while he’s asleep, I’m going to fill you in.” He took a deep breath. “The Alliance cruisers are chasing the Knight . They’ve left Scarecrow undefended. Our window is limited. We need to land, retrieve the cargo, and get the hell out of here. The Washington is escorting the Rubens to her final jump point before they make the attempt. Unfortunately, you’re along for the ride.”
That made no sense. “What could the Scarecrow possibly be carrying that would justify risking so many fleet assets?”
Hesitant, as though sharing the great burden that was upon him, Anderson locked eyes with her. “The end.”
Perhaps she had not heard him correctly. “The… end?”
Penny punched in the commands on her console as Mike— No no, “Captain Williams” —touched a key on the command console and issued the order to prepare for jump.
She had expected the jump process to be dramatic, even spectacular—moving from one whole solar system to another was an incredible feat of engineering power that could only inspire awe—but instead, it was entirely mundane. The ship’s radar was momentarily a field of static, and then as the first pulse went out, everything slowly returned to normal—smooth, subtle, imperceptible, just like the hand of God.
The only thing bothering her was the light—the strange hues flooding the room, an alarm tone fading away as the ship’s systems
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