The tall, late middle aged Libertonian man walked into the main bar on Planet Crete. He usually kept a low profile when he ever came here; firstly because he was all too wary of the fact that Corsairs were never overly welcome of strangers, and secondly, because he didn’t want to run into his brother in law.
He wandered over to the bar, aware that many pairs of eyes were watching him from within the throng of rowdy Corsair pilots and soldiers of various ranks. Pedro, the bartender, greeted him with a silent nod.
Matthius has been here many times before - only semi willingly - his journeys to Crete were part of the deal he had made with the devil, a pact that would bind him for life; all because he had the dubious fortune of falling in love with a Corsair woman.
Not that he ever regretted that move, not at all. He considered himself the luckiest man alive, and found his wife to be still, after years of marriage to be the most beautiful, fascinating and unpredictable force of nature he had ever encountered in all his years of space travel.
Isabel was truly the only woman for him.
The Devil in this deal was however, her brother.
“Ren.” Pedro the bartender said as he sat himself down on a vacant stool behind the aging timber bar. “Howdy Pedro” Matthius answered, his usual cheeriness only slightly muted by the glares of others around him; “Get me a Liberty Ale if y’all got one”.
Pedro chuckled, “indeed we do, it was lifted off of a Brettonian shipment just this week so I’m told”.
The tall glass of ice cold beer with an expertly poured head sitting upon its amber depths was placed neatly before him. Matthius took a long mouthful, the chill of the fluid hitting his stomach and immediately cooling him down. Crete was hot, damned hot, and not the friendly kind of hot he was used to on his native Planet Houston in the Texas system; this place had heat that would melt paint and then put its hand out and ask you to pay for the labor, the smell of danger hung everywhere in the heat haze that perpetually hung over this planet.
He put the glass down, and wiped the small white layer of froth off his top lip. He was about to try to strike up a conversation with the barman when a slap on his shoulder jogged his attention. “Hey, you trader, what do you think you’re doing here?” Matthius swiveled in his stool and found himself staring at two young, burly Corsair pilots. He could tell from their arm insignia that they were Brotherhood Titan pilots; always a cocky bunch, and these two were definitely a few sheets to the wind.
“This is a Corsair pilots bar” one of them grunted, “and you don’t look like a Corsair pilot Libertonian”
Matthius smiled, “Well son, I definitely ain’t no corsair pilot - I’m a pilot mind y’all, just flew me a load ‘o food in, best a simple trader like me can do for the mighty people o’ Crete. Course, I ain’t a pilot in the same grade as you boys, that’s fo sho.”
He had found, over more than 30 years of plying the skies of Sirius, that good natured people are almost always genuinely disarming. That’s not to say he was putting it on, far from it, Matthius was described by almost all those who knew him as one of the most jovial natured men they knew - it took an awful lot to rouse him to anger, that or a strong hangover – but, he was also, despite his brother in law’s insistence, no fool. He knew how to handle people; he wasn’t a multi millionaire many many times over with major stakes in property on several Sirius worlds for no reason at all.
These two Corsairs however, weren’t buying it, they were looking for a fight, and there were no Benitez Corsairs in the bar - Matthius knew of the troubled state of Corsair politics, and thus, knew it was also probably diplomatically tenuous for them to take on the few OPG pilots sitting in the room. A lone Libertonian trader would do nicely.
The first pilot shoved him again, only mildly rocking his drink. “Food you say? Is that so, well we know for a fact a liberty registered ship dropped off a couple of thousand illegal passengers outside capital city last week, and we’ve grabbed most of them as outcasts and Hessians, kind of convenient you being here so soon after don’t you think?”
Even Matthius could tell they were morons, but they were clearly gunning for a fight. Just when he thought he might have to resort to blows Pedro the bartender stepped up close by unexpectedly.
“You want to leave this one alone for now” he said to the lead pilot.
The Brotherhood fighter jock wheeled around, “And what the hell is it to you barman?”
Pedro didn’t flinch, “This one’s got business with an Elder.”
“An Elder?!” both Matthius and the two brotherhood pilots mouthed at the same time. The Brotherhood jock scowled, ‘Which Elder? I don’t….”
Pedro nodded toward the door and they turned. Standing silhouetted by the harsh light outside was an older Corsair wearing a combat tunic framed by one of the cloaks favored and worn by Corsair Elders. His head was shaved, roughly, and a scraggly beard and moustache hung from his chin, His eyes, barely visible through the haze, peered coldly across the room, their shape; unmistakably Kusari.
“Laowai” Pedro said unceremoniously and chuckled to himself, picking up Matthius’s glass and dropping it onto a dish rack.
The figure at the door spoke in no uncertain terms. “Get away from the Libertonian you two, this is my business”
The brotherhood pilots deferred, and reluctantly bowing their heads slightly in salute, went back to their own table.
The old Corsair approached him and Matthius was unsure of what to say. He had not spoken to his brother in law for years, and had not seen him, at more than a distance, in a similar amount of time. What’s more the man had publicly tried to kill him, and made it plain that he would like to do so many times since.
Laowai was the one who broke the silence. “I’ll keep this brief” he said curtly. Matthius nodded and raised his eyebrows in acknowledgment; aware of his movements, as if the old man standing before him was a volatile animal that might be set off by any sudden action.
Actually, up close, he noticed the similarities between this man and Isabel; The eyes obviously, but more, the shape of the face, the nose, though his wife had not aged as visibly as her brother had.
The Corsair went on. “Things have changed since my sister and I last spoke, my… station here has altered somewhat”. Ren nodded and indicated to the Elder badge clasp holding the cloak his brother in law now wore. “An Elder is it, well, y’all be right there, that certainly is different”.
Laowai glared at him, but nodded; “Yes, that has changed, and so my place, and thus, hers’ on Crete are now not what they were”
He reached into his tunic and removed a round bronze seal about the size of his hand. Gold encrusted and lined its surfaces, and in silver the words “Honour, Loyalty, Kinship” were embossed, circling over a corsair Elder motif, the same words, written in a Kusari dialect that Matthius was all too familiar with, were similarly displayed. In fact, Matthius was quite familiar with those words; they adorned a sword and a blaster that his wife owned.
They now adorned a Corsair Elder badge of office.
Laowai handed it to him. “I want you to take this to Isabel directly; she will know exactly what it means, tell her I wish to see her here on Crete as soon as she is able to come”
Matthius took the seal, and nodded. The Old Corsair continued, “You may have to bring her here yourself...” he scowled slightly but nodded “I will pay you for your work of course”
His eyebrows raised in slight surprise, Matthius suppressed the smile that threatened to break out on his face; these were the most words his brother in law had ever spoken to him without a gun pointed at his face, he wasn’t about to ruin it by seeming to enjoy it at all.
“I’ll tell her” he said simply.
Laowai nodded and turned to leave, but after a few steps paused, turned and half looked over his shoulder.
“Tell her also” he said “That our father and mother are now vindicated”.
With that he left, leaving a quite surprised Matthius Ren Clutching the elder seal.
The small crystal sat on the desk. It caught the light of the screen which was the only real light in the otherwise dark room.
The face on the screen was a nervous looking Brettonian Dr who was peering over data charts in front of him; Laowai waited for his answers.
Dr Remington shook his head, "I dont know how far you can make it work; you said its working in same system communication only?"
Laowai nodded; "Same system, but it definitely works, they have been able to hear me.."
The Brettonian, now intrigued enough to seemingly forget his fear of the old Corsair, consulted his data again. "Well, from what you sent me, there is an energy spike which seems to happen when you are in contact with it; but, its not an energy wave manipulated before."
"And its not something you have seen in their technology before?" Laowai asked. The Brettonian shook his head, "No, not like that, its similar mind you, it has a similar characteristics in some ways, but this is definitely not Nomad in origin, I would say its much older."
Ben had suspected that, these were active artifacts, Dom Kavosh no doubt; but able to be manipulated by humans in a way that their makers probably didn't intend.
Dr Remington went on, " You said it had been used to introduce suggestion into a human?"
Laowai nodded slowly, "Yes, Ive seen it used that way only once, though I have been told it can be used in that manner more effectively if one knows how."
Remington was all academic curiosity now"...and do you?"
"No" Ben said, " I dont."
"But you know people who claim they do? If I can meet these people, study how they learned to do this I cou..."
"That is impossible." Laowai interrupted, "There is no way to find them."
Remington looked disappointed "..Oh.. Well that's a shame, but continue to send me the numbers and Ill process it from my end, perhaps I can find something Ive missed."
A small light next to him began to flash, indicating another transmission was being received, Laowai held it, and turning to Remington he ended their call, " I have other business now Dr, we shall speak again."
He flipped the transmission over to the new one, The screen flickered to life and a familiar face appeared on the screen.
" Well isn't this an interesting twist."
His sister Isabel smiled at him; Ben grinned back in return and sent the docking command. "Welcome back" he said "Meet me at my hangar, we have much to discuss...."
The interior of the vast hangar on the outskirts of Crete's capital city lit up brilliantly as Laowai kicked on the power control. In the Distance, the bulk of the Xibanya Nuren hung like the predatory bird it resembled, its new engines in fine working order, its hull freshly coated in the special anti weather and anti sensor lock coating that had been developed by Corsair engineers on Tripoli.
Its effectiveness was still being debated, but many Captains were using it, its cost being negligible.
The whine of a docking shuttle from outside echoed through the building and he stood in the door and watched it touch down gracefully on his small shuttle pad. Its doors hissed open and his sister Isabel, donned in a civilian flight suit climbed down the small gangplank, followed by her husband, the Libertonian trader Matthius Ren.
Laowai disliked the man, but knew he would come. It had been him after all that had brought his sister here, as he had asked him to do. Besides, actively showing his distaste for the man would immediately put his sister on the defensive, something he did not want to do.
She came forward smiling and they embraced warmly, " Well brother, I didn't expect to be here again so soon". Laowai smiled and nodded, "yes I know, things have moved at quite a pace here on Crete for once, I felt it was important that you came". She stood back and the Libertonian stood beside her, unsure of how to greet him. Ben took the initiative and nodded to him "Ren - I thank you for bringing my sister here safely; I trust the journey was without incident?"
Matthius nodded "No trouble, there weren't nuthin worth speakin' of on the way in, happy to do it."
Isabel cocked one eyebrow curiously, strange for her brother to even talk to her husband, this was definitely out of the ordinary, exactly what she had thought when Matthius had returned to Houston with Ben's request. " Well, this is interesting" she smirked, "Has becoming an Elder made you a diplomat?"
Ben squirmed and Isabel chuckled, "shall we retire to your cozy loft then?" she said a little mockingly. Laowai nodded and gestured them through the small door cut into the main hangar doors that loomed behind them, it creaked on rusty hinges as he closed it behind them and he led them through the floor space and workbenches towards the stairs to his Mezzanine.
Isabel glanced around the massive interior, noting the ships; "Donny said you built yourself a gunboat?" She asked.
As they climbed the stairs Ben replied "Yes, I did, the Outsider, shes been quite a success, much better to hit traders with."
He paused, noting the glance that Ren gave his sister, "er......those that should be hit of course." He said, slightly awkwardly looking at them both.
"Of course"... Isabel and Matthius said, Isabel with a slightly devious wink in her eye.
They went inside the mezzanine loft and Isabel sat herself down on the old and worn couch, Matthius seated himself beside her. Ben took three glasses from a table and poured everyone a draft of Baijiu, handing it to them he sat himself down in another armchair opposite.
Isabel watched her husband suppress a grimace as he took a small sip, she knew for a fact he detested the drink, but he was simply being courteous. The fact that her brother was even allowing him here, let alone giving him a drink, was extremely unusual.
"Ok Ben she said Whats going on?"
Laowai sat impassively in his chair. "You know I now sit on the council as an Elder." He said simply.
Nodding Isabel said " yes I gathered that much from the seal you sent back with Matthius - I was more than a little surprised, given the..." she paused, looking for the right words and a small sneer crossed her face; "Tolerance and open mindedness leveled at us since we came here as children", the sarcasm was unmistakable in her tone.
She had never let go of her bitterness concerning how they had been treated by other Corsairs. They had been ostracized, suspected and accused of all manner of fabrications, shunned and treated as some kind of aliens - just because of their mixed heritage. As soon as she had been able to fly and fight her own way, Isabel had left Crete, and she had made it plain she was glad to do so.
But somehow among all that, she still had a fierce pride in her Corsair heritage. It was a schism in her sentiments that often confused her brother, and others who knew her, but it was this same schism that Ben hoped to appeal to by having her here today.
Though he did understand her bitterness - he had been subjected to the same treatment, the same suspicions. Yet he now sat as an Elder in the Corsair council. "Things have changed" he said to her, "This is not the same place you left all those years ago."
She shook her head - "That badge and that robe changes the way they look at you? I dont believe it, the Corsairs are the same intolerant group of racist thugs that they have always been, Matthius gets it every time he comes here".
Ben shook his head, "No my sister, these robes dont change how they look at me, its because of the fact that they look at me differently now that I have these robes."
He took a sip of his drink, "The Corsairs do still have many issues that need to be resolved, but you and I are not outsiders here anymore, my service stands for itself, and you - are the younger sister of an Elder, and that carries with it an amount of respect."
Isabel snickered, "It does does it? Well, that's lovely, really lovely, great, thanks Crete - really, thanks for that...."
She began to feel irate, as she always did when they branched into this topic. She swigged the last of her drink and reaching to the small table between them, poured herself another. Swigging that too she continued: "Respect, fine, great, thanks Crete - So can I have my childhood back? Can I have my friends back? Can I have my goddamned Mother back?"
She sat back down. "No Ben, I'm pleased about your new situation, but there is too much water under this bridge for me."
"Now is the time for new bridges my sister." Ben said. "What was done cannot be undone - but it is not too late to do something different, to give meaning to our parents legacy, to vindicate them and us, to rise above the misdeeds of others and not be bound by them."
Matthius Ren looked uncomfortably into his half finished glass, he almost never broached this topic with his wife, it pained her, and usually him after the argument that almost always followed. He felt almost as if he was intruding, however if the Old Corsair pushed his wife too far, threats or no threats, he would end this discussion.
However, his wife broke the silence; scowling, Isabel glared across at her brother, a dark expression crossing her face:
"What do you want?" she said quietly. "Why did you insist on dragging me down here?"
He could feel his sisters resentment, but even as part of him sympathized with her he had learned to put it behind him. He was unsure that he could ask that she do the same however.
"We need you" he said simply. Again her eyebrow rose, "We? You mean the Corsairs?"
Ben sighed, "Yes, the Corsairs, but more than that, I need you"
Isabel's demeanor didn't change; "You?" she said, "You need me for what?"
Laowai didn't know how to approach it, so he said it simply, "I need you to work for us."
Her glass dropped down on the coffee table with a bang and she stood up; "Work? You dragged me all the way down here on some kind of recruitment drive? Sent with an Elder seal and like the good little Corsair I'm supposed to answer the call?!"
She turned to storm out, and Matthius Ren made to rise as well, still not having said a word he took his wife's lead.
Quickly Ben jumped to his feet "Wait!" he said, "Its important, more important than you know, its not just about the Corsairs, its about everyone!" Isabel scoffed and opened the door to leave but Ben went on "Its about the Nomads!....... they are working with the Outcasts!!"
Framed in the doorway she stopped and turned, a look of disbelief on her face.
"The what?"
Ben's shoulders slumped and he sighed, "Its complicated, but please my sister, I would not ask this of you if I did not believe it urgent, you are the only one who can do it."
"Nomads..." she said again. "Those alien things that shoot at you in the Malvada cloud, the ones that the systems fought a war against, those Nomads?"
"Yes, those Nomads", Laowai said, sitting back down and inviting his sister to do the same.
She did and he went on; "Circumstantial evidence has been mounting for some time, it was clinched a few weeks ago when the Outcasts were accompanied on a raid on Tripoli by a Nomad vessel, it seemed to be overseeing what was happening."
Isabel still couldn't believe what she was hearing; her knowledge of Nomads was little more than whispered rumour and stories. She had experienced them only once in her life, many many years before when she had undertaken her trial in the Malvada cloud, when like all Corsairs when they came of age, she flew a woefully inadequate and under gunned fighter into the Malvada cloud to retrieve an artifact. They came; swift and deadly, their ships impossibly maneuverable, their weapons cut her ships shields and hull apart like butter and she saw them up close only briefly; semi transparent glowing blue spirits of death.
She had survived, by nothing more than luck and fast flying.
"Cardamine."
She said quietly.
"You knew... You knew I'd know, I'd know because of Mum, because of the things she said when she was.... out of it..."
Ben nodded, "We dont know how, but we think that their cooperation has its roots in that, yes."
Isabel shook her head and looked at the floor: "Mum always said, she tried to..." Ben interjected, "Yes I know" he said, "but this is a lot more than that; if they are cooperating on some level, and we have reason to believe they are, then this is a new threat for us, but also for everyone, everywhere."
Isabel looked at her husband, the Libertonian was clearly out of his depth, he looked from his wife to her brother and said "Well, I think Ill be needin' to leave y'alls alone for a bit, I'm sure a trader like me dont need to be hearin' this kinda official Corsair business and all..."
Ben nodded and Matthius stood, Isabel squeezed his hand and he smiled at her, "Whatever it is baby I know you will sort it out, Ill head on up to the Shifu, Ill send one of the boys down with the shuttle when you need it."
Matthius left and Isabel turned back to her brother:
"Can you prove this?"
Ben leaned forward; "that is what we need you to do..."
Vessel registration and administration (Tripoli sub branch) was a small office on deck 12 corridor 4b of Tripoli shipyard. A nondescript room, dissected by a counter in its center that had transparent super alloy windows (the super alloy was designed to handle blaster bolts, such is the known respect corsairs have for red tape), several chairs for waiting were scattered around the room, several (fake) shrubberies lined the walls. Behind the screen there sat that most rare of Corsairs; the Corsair bureaucrat.
In a people that often defined themselves by plunder, power, violence and honour, the Corsair bureaucrat was indeed a remarkable specimen. Like in any technological society with a government, they were essential to the daily running of the Corsair state; though should you ask any of them what they did for a living, they would never tell you the truth.
This led them to being a generally surly bunch, added to that, the universal constant of the mindless adherence to regulations that was the hallmark of bureaucrats everywhere.
Despite the blaster proof screens, Vessel registration and Administration (Tripoli sub branch) was usually a quiet, calm place.
Its calm was shattered by its door being kicked in violently and one of its hinges breaking free, causing the door to sway violently and then hang slightly out from the lintel.
Ben Laowai stormed in behind the stricken door and slammed his hand down on the bench top, only slightly startling the clerk who sat behind it who looked up with a blank expression.
“Is this where you people process ship registration??” he growled. The clerk, sensing a dispute, straightened the papers in front of him and said “Yes sir, it is, how may I help you?”
Laowai produced a crumpled slip of paper and banged it down on the counter top “THAT” he said, more heated this time “Is the latest Council Brief that was sent to me this morning from this office listing registered vessels”
The Clerks expression didn’t change; “Yes sir, we are required by council regulations to keep all Council Elders informed about changes to the registry, was there a problem with yours?”
“A problem?!!” his temper was now well and truly raised, and the calm, unflinching face of the desk jockey in front of him was making it worse “Yes there is a damned problem, my ships are ON it!” He pointed to the text on the sheet in front of him; the clerk however merely gave it a cursory glance and continued his blank, bored expression. “I never registered those ships! I made it perfectly clear to the council and to you bunch of paper pushers that I would never register my ships, so how the hell are my ships on the registry!!!”
“You must have registered them sir, there is no other way for them to be on the list”
Laowai banged the sheet down on the counter again; “I tell you I did NOT register those ships, it had to have been done here and you know damn well I have not set foot in this office before, I want you to tell me who put these ships on here! And I want them taken off this blasted piece of paper”
The clerk flicked a control on the screen and a form appeared. “We cannot remove your ships sir, under the Tripoli registration code section 26A we are unable to remove ships from the registry without the ships being decommissioned, unless we receive a unanimous council vote, or until the captain in question is deceased, and in that eventuality the ship still be on the registry until its recommissioning, or decommissioning is finalized”
The clerk then slid a piece of paper under the screen “This is a copy of the Council registry act of 816, you can see all the relevant information there, as to…who registered your ships, I would suggest perhaps it could have been a member of your staff?”
Growling Ben snatched the paper and tossed it aside; “I don’t need to read the act you weasel! I was there when it was voted on and I voted against it!”
He leaned into the screen, attempting to intimidate the Clerk who wasn’t in the least bit intimidated “NO member of my staff or crew would dare put my ships on this blasted thing out of fear of their lives, now WHO DID IT?!”
“I’m sorry sir, but you will need to calm down, if you are unable to do so I will be forced to call security”
Standing up with indignation Laowai continued to shout “SECURITY?? I am a Council Elder for Crete’s sake!”
The Clerk, now seeming extra smug, for surely he was enjoying the old Corsairs impotence, smiled slightly. This was his domain, and he didn’t care who walked through that door, in here, regulations were on his side, and no amount of shouting and screaming would change that.
“Yes sir, I do know who you are, unfortunately, we don’t keep records of who does the actual registration, and if you don’t know, that is unfortunate, again sir, im going to need to you calm down or we will have to call security, council regulations are clear that in…..”
“BAH!” Laowai growled, he turned and stormed out of the office.
“and a lovely day to you too…” the clerk muttered, rolling his eyes he went back to his filing.
The small shuttle maneuvered around Tripoli’s main ship assembly pylon, attached to it, were the various frames and superstructures of the various projects that were constantly being undertaken on this the corsair’s main ship building station.
Like Crete, and indeed any Corsair outpost, Tripoli never slept.
Which is why at 3am when Ben Laowai had arrived to inspect his newest addition to his captaincy, there was someone on hand to meet him.
As the shuttle thrusted gently around a metal pylon, another larger metal structure came into view.
“That’s her” the pilot said. Ben peered over his shoulder at the vast, skeleton like frame floating above them. In its current state it resemble a great land stricken, age worn whale, whose flesh had long since withered away leaving only its frame like ribs for all to see.
“She doesn’t look like much right now” the pilot said, “you send us down some more ship panels on top of what you already have and it’s look like more.”
Ben nodded silently, happy with what he was seeing so far.
“What we still need is engine parts” the shuttle pilot said has he positioned the shuttle behind what looked like a giant tunnel, but was actually an engine cowling. “Don’t worry” Laowai answered him “I have been stockpiling those for months, I’ve been taking the Nuren out to Yanagi”
“Ah yeah” the pilot said, who was also the Tripoli foreman for this assigned project. “Some of the boys said they saw a stock pile of something or rather near your hangar on Crete”
Glancing above him now at the engine cowling passing them by, Ben patted the man on the shoulder; “Don’t worry, this little idea of mine has been in the works for a long time, most of the parts are ready, weapons, panels, engines, H Fuel, I have been stockpiling for months now; a few of the other parts you need are still missing, but matters are in hand in that area”
The pilot nodded in acknowledgment “Well that’s good, because we don’t run a charity up here, your credits are good, but as you know our parts are sometimes limited, and resources are marked for the wings of the main houses, this much material isn’t just laying around.”
Ben smiled “Don’t you worry about logistics, you just get her built”
The shuttle drifted back around over what was the central spinal bulkhead, Laowai smiled, when this project was finished, he would be in a much better position to take a firm role in the increased defensive needs of Crete, and given the current moves in Sirius, it would not be a moment too soon, while the Xibanya Nuren was a much better asset for force protection and mobility, she lacked real clout in the recent incursions that had happened in Gamma and Omicron Delta. He had been planning this project for a long time, now, with his increased wealth and connections, his status as an Elder, and more to the point, the fact that he had been consistently making a fortune for his crew, which guaranteed him new recruits, it was time to speed things up.
“You’ll get another shipment at the end of the week” he said, “You can recommence work then”.
The loud clang of metal on metal echoed throughout the hangar as one of the technicians hammered a hull panel into the cut had been prepared for it, the clanging paused for a moment and Ben Laowai peered across the seam; carefully noting its consistency. "Good" he said, "good, now level it out and then coat it with the rest of this area of the ship, I want this thing like new before it heads out."
The technician nodded and went back to his hammering, a little more gently this time, making sure this, the last of several layers of super alloy hull panels was precisely fit.
The gunboat Outsider was sitting high on the several hydraulic pylons looming out of the hangar floor, her outer hull, crawling with technicians and one concerned captain.
"Make sure the Solarises are properly aligned as well" he shouted to no one in particular. "The last few weeks they have been out and are hitting right of where the targeting system tells me they are."
A few days earlier, Laowai had taken her into Omega three and successfully hit several Brettonian bound convoys, several of the trains he had aimed to cripple and found out out to his chagrin that his systems were not what they said they were, the twin rapid firing Solaris turrets had shredded the outer cockpit armour of several ships and decimated their crews, leaving nothing but a mass of floating gore and spherical globules of blood. This would have been fine; had he been aiming at the cockpits, he had been however aiming behind them.
He had no qualms about killing when he needed to, but living civilian pilots are worth money; dead ones weren't.
The communicator that he wore on his belt chirped. He cursed; a drawback to a position of responsibility was that he noticed that recently that thing never stopped. He slipped it off his belt and spoke at it, "Laowai" he said abruptly.
It was his sister.
"Its done" she said simply, "they are ready and we are in position..."
"Hmmm ok he said thoughtfully, The money has been transferred, you know how to reach me if its not enough."
She grunted an affirmative and he added: "good luck".
"Thanks" she said "oh... and Ben"?
He moved away from the technicians a little; "Yes?"
"You owe me big time." she said and the call cut off.
An aide approached him from the makeshift cordon of cubicles he had set up beneath his mezzanine for the half a dozen helpers he had been forced to hire. "Elder" he said quickly, balancing a pen in his mouth and a sheave of papers in his arms "You just got a message in from the Venganza, the second round of engine tests are done and the cruise engines are running at peak - they want to start weapons trials, should they go ahead?"
Ben shook his head "No, Ill come on board and take care of that myself" he said, " if someone asses that up then it should be me who gets it."
The aide nodded and scurried back to his cubicle. Ben creased his brow with his hands; tired, he thought, worried for his sister, wanting a drink..
"Captain?" A voice behind him spoke. He turned and a young man in a Corsair pilots uniform stood waiting. It was Phillip Alberto, helmsman of the Outsider and the Xibanya Nuren. Laowai nodded to him; "Phillip I have a job for you."
He reached into his jacket and withdrew a crumpled sealed envelope and handed it to the younger man. "Those are your orders" he said.
Phillip glanced at the envelope but didn't open it, "Can I ask for a brief before I read these?" he said.
Laowai gestured to the Outsider: "Long story short, You're to take command of the Outsider and take her to Tau 44."
Alberto raised his brows in surprise "Me? Take command?.... I"
Ben cut him off, "dont worry Phillip, you have earned it, and Ive seen you take command when you have had to, you will do well."
Phillip nodded, looking a little hesitant, "Tau 44, that's Remnant and IMG space close to Alpha, what will I be doing there?"
Laowai smiled, "The details are in the envelope, but the mission I know you will enjoy." He handed him a command card for the ship which Phillip took without looking at it. "You'll be taking out Cardamine. Your orders are: destroy the cargo, and if those carrying it dont drop it, destroy them."
Comm Id: Commander Phillip Alberto, Commander Corsair Gunboat Outsider.
Location confirmed: Sulawesi Station, Tau 44.
Message reads:
My report shall be brief Senor Capitan. We have now been on Sulawesi for a week and have so far encountered few hindrances to our mission. We have successfully intercepted a handful of vessels, though some; such as a very slippery Liberty Rogue, managed to give us the slip.
So far however we have been venturing out alone, but should we coordinate our efforts with the other Corsair vessels arriving the net we cast will be much harder to elude.
Our presence here has raised a few eyebrows, and caused some amount of fear, which I must say Senor Capitan, was alone worth the long journey here.
The Remnant are gracious hosts, I have had full access to their facilities in this area we have not wanted for anything. I shall report to you again at the scheduled time.
The Venganza's massive bulk hung tethered to the Tripoli dry-dock. Her engines, still unfired and not powered up lay silent and minimal power was running throughout the ship, dim auxiliary lighting barely illuminating her many passageways and hatches.
In this Quarters, on deck one a hundred meters or so from the entrance to the main bridge, Ben Laowai sat in his chair with his feet up on his desk. In his hand he held a data pad with the latest reports on the repair of the ship. Just after a week ago, she had been ambushed by three Bounty Hunter Cruisers in Omicron Minor and badly carved up.
Her crew had been forced to abandon ship after a reactor in engineering ruptured and blew, demolishing a large section of the rear of the vessel and decompressing the ship from stern to bow.
Initially he had thought the whole crew had got away, it was only after the pods had been retrieved by a salvage Vessel sent out by the Order that he had realized that several of them had not made it, and he did not know if they had died during the ships decompression or been taken by the Bounty Hunters.
He wore their loss heavily for it was his responsibility. He had acted rashly following the first Cruiser into Omicron Minor knowing as he did that there had been reports of increased Bounty Hunter activity in the area.
He had just not expected three cruisers so close to Toledo and the Isis; what were the order doing??? Sleeping?
Still, the fault lay with him and him alone.
He pressed a small button on his desk and a voice answered "Yes Captain?"
"Authorize the transfer of the money to the families of the Crew that are missing Diego" he said to his aide, Diego Bazan who was on the bridge. Pausing he added "and Diego... Double the amount."
His aides voice answered quickly "Yes Captain, consider it done "and the line clicked off.
The ship was looking better but was still far from combat ready. She needed at least another one entire engine, and the ruptured reactor was still in the process of being repaired, not to mention the rear of the ship. Her exterior had been replaced and patched allowing the technicians to restore atmosphere throughout the vessel, but inside looked like something resembling a dismembered android, shattered panels and loose wiring hung everywhere makeshift patchwork wiring jobs lay duct taped all over the deck allowing bridge control of the engines she still had in working order, although on his Engineers insistence they had dared not fire them, until the superstructure surrounding the massive engine mounts had been thoroughly inspected; which was being done at the moment.
He would have to take the Nuren to Sigma 13, and had already ordered her crew to have her standing by; which she was doing at his hangar on Crete. He would take a shuttle back there in an hour or two, after he had finished overseeing operations here. He had been spending a fortune of late, it was getting to the point that his offshore ventures would have to be expanded, that or he was just going to have to get busy taking a lot more of other peoples' money.
A voice chirped through his desk comm speaker "Captain, Structure checks out, engines can work, but we dont know about cruise yet."
Laowai stroked his chin and beard, considering... "How long till you'll know that?"
His engineers voice replied quickly, obviously the man had anticipated the question "Sorry Captain, that'll be at least another 24 hours."
Laowai cursed under his breath, "very well, get it done, Ill be on the Nuren if anyone needs me."
He cut the line, no use wasting the technicians time with worthless banter. However the tinkerer in him was tempted to roll up his sleeves and go down there with them to fix this mess he had made.
He sat on his bunk and slipped on his boots, in an hour or so he would get back to Crete and then head out and get the parts for the last engine, it seemed not that long ago that he had just made that same trip for that same purpose.
She crossed the room silently; stopping before him she smiled and stared down at him. He pulled her close, kissed her stomach gently and looked up at her; she looked exactly the same as she had all those years ago when he had met her.
His wife who he held, whose warm flesh was soft to his touch, who he had laid with all afternoon.
Zarita Crusellas, Zarita Laowai his wife; who was dead.
He got off the bed and moved to the counter at the side of the room, dipping his hands into the small basin there he splashed his face with water; catching a view of himself in the mirror as he did so. He also looked as he had some thirty years before.
It never ceased to amaze him, this place was timeless, and it would be so, forever, as long as it existed.
At least that's as much as anyone supposed.
It had been a month since he had been here last, but six months since they had been able to physically interact. These times were precious, they lasted as long as they lasted, it could feel like hours, days, time in whatever reality it was, didn't work the same as outside, it was all perception, emotion.
Eventually he would sleep, and sometimes when he woke, he would still be within her reality, other times; he would be back outside in the crystal chamber, with her gentle voice in his mind, whispering how much she loved him.
He sat back on the bed, sitting beside her and she stroked his arm.
"You're running a risk you know, using your crystal to talk to those things."
Ben nodded, "I know, but it gives me an advantage. Puts them on edge, its an in that I wouldn't normally have."
"But do you want that in?" He looked at her; "Ben, you're a hack at this! This is how these things communicate every minute of their lives. You've had what? Thirty years? and most of that is here, with me, you know we dont even fully understand how it works."
He put his hand over hers as if to reassure her, "I know, but its worth it if even to get an understanding, or to give one..."
She shook her head and sighed a little "you are a stubborn one Benjamin Laowai, You will try things you know you shouldn't..."
Sitting up she looked at him more earnestly; "But seriously, be careful, you are dealing with things here no one really understands, and.."
"you're worried they might learn too much" he said.
She looked at him "Yes, but not just about Tangier, about us, about what we can do."... And a slight sadness crossed her face; "that something could happen to you, that you might not make it back here we dont know how far these things can reach.."
"I'm working on that" he said confidently and he kissed her on the forehead, "unaided, Ive been able to be heard across 2 systems at least..."
She looked a little surprised "Two? Systems?! - but how is that possible, we've only ever been able to make it work with ships in orbit, and that's the furthest we've been able to try?!"
"I dont know" Ben replied, "maybe its because as you said, this is how they communicate, I dont know, my sensors I put in Iota clearly showed their vessels there when I was in Kappa, and they were responding to my thoughts..."
"I hope to make it work over more."
Zarita's brow creased, "Wait....You're experimenting with it?"
"Slightly, more that im trying to find ways to give it more power, increase its range."
He summoned a crystal in this thoughts and one appeared beside him, picking it up he showed her, "Ive already had some results, quantifying the energy it uses, all we need to do is find out, how too give it more, or take more from it. And then I can talk to you. From a long, long way from here."
She looked unconvinced and he could tell, but he knew she trusted him enough not to do anything stupid. "don't worry" he said "Ive already found a way to interface these with our computers, at least so the energy is readable, I'm taking things one step at a time."
She sensed there was something else, " There's a but isn't there?"
There was, and he looked slightly sheepish; "I need another one."
"Another crystal?! What on Crete for?"
"I need to connect one to a computer, to record their communications..."
She looked perplexed, "Can you even do that? Ben? We cant waste one!? If anyone connects through it they will bond to it and it will only work for them! Outside of Tangier that's useless!" She paused and considered.. "at least until your experiments show results, if we waste it that's one of us in the future that cant use one!?"
He knew she would raise that objection and had already taken it into account; "no one will physically touch it" he said.
Holding the crystal between them he said, " They have to be held to work, no one, not even myself will physically touch it," thus he thought the crystal in his hand away and it vanished, taking her momentarily by surprise ..."no one, will bond with it!."
"Zarita, I know whats at stake here, please its important."
As he left his wife physically again, some hours later, he cradled the second crystal in the container he had made specially for it using his own. It interfaced perfectly and would link into the computer system he had been installing on the gunboat.
As he made his way to the surface where he had left his Titan, he held his own crystal in his hand, and her voice came into his mind, clear as if she had been standing beside him.
***be safe my love, come back to me again, and be careful***
In his own mind he formed an image, one of the things they had shared only a few hours before, locked in each others arms and where words had no place.
***you always know the right things to say*** her voice said again.
He smiled to himself as he strapped himself into the cockpit of the Titan, started it up and lifted off into the cold, overcast Tangier sky.