Priorities
by Anatol Rathbaurer
Sector C
Maran Community
Maran Home system, Aár
The well known busy sounds of the bridge
surrounded him. To his left sat First Mate Teroni at the Armament Control,
and to his right Second
Mate Alabatano at the Com and Sensor Station. In front
of his own command chair were the two consoles of the pilot and the navigator.
Everyone
went about his own business, leaving the Captain with
nothing to do but wait. Because of the planetary alignment more satellites
than usual would
direct their sensory arrays at that cosmic spectacle.
Satellites normally needed to sweep the system in search of pirate ships.
Pirate ships like his.
He was hiding on the opposite side
of the sun to where the alignment was about to take place, inside the asteroid
belt of the Maran home system,
Aár. The pirates were waiting for a diamond transport
coming through. If the transport was on time, it would come into sensor
range during the next
hour. The raid would make a rich man of him and his whole
crew, even when one subtracted the share of the Triad.
Of course he, like all pirates, had
acquired his ship from one of the Triads. The Triads also organized the
loyal shipyards who repaired the pirate
vessels after battle and supplied them with what they
needed. Controlling practically all pirate activity, the Triads were the
heart of the Terchan pirate
movement. Most Terchans didn't care for the Triads' goals,
but regarded them as a necessary evil to follow their trade. That was okay,
though, since
the Triads didn't really care for the pirates either,
but used them to prepare the glorious reclaiming of the Terchan Empire
down on Maranar that would
come one day. Ever since the Terchan Empire had been
defeated in the world war and was destroyed completely, the Terchans did
not see themselves
as Maran anymore. They regarded themselves as distinctly
different, although they naturally still shared the same biology. Now the
Terchans had their
own colony, Sanoan, and the Captain for his part was
sure he wouldn't care to leave it for Maranar even if the Empire was retaken
tomorrow; after all,
Sanoan was the perfect base for all pirate activity.
Hypnotized by the black void and the
distant stars on the bridgescreen, Captain Merada thought about his home.
This time it had been harder for him
than usual to leave. His wife was pregnant and he would
have liked to be with her when she gave birth to their first child. Briefly
the Captain wondered
whether it would be a boy or a girl. Not that it really
mattered much, but deep inside him he longed for a boy. He would show him
how to hunt in the
endless woods of Sanoan, and together they would work
on their house near Velomet. Later, they would go privateering together,
father and son. How
grand that would be! A blinking, green status light caught
his attention.
The Captain tucked at his short ruffle collar and brushed over his satin clothes to order his thoughts again.
The Second Mate addressed him, "Captain Merada?"
"Yes?"
"A Maran frigate is appearing within sensor range. They have laid a course that will cross the anticipated route of the transport."
The Captain frowned and pulled on the false beard that was modern on Sanoan right now.
"You think they are an escort?"
"Probably," replied the man. "What should we do?"
The insider reports had not mentioned an escort. Merada thought aloud.
"If we destroy the frigate, the transport
will notice the debris and become suspicious. If we do nothing now,
the two ships might engage in a rendez-vous.
It will be impossible to hinder the transport from escaping while
we are battling the frigate then."
"Captain, if I may?" asked the First Mate. His superior nodded.
"I suggest we lure the frigate away
from here and lose it in the asteroid belt. If we return here while they
are
still searching for us, we can plunder
the transport and disappear before the reinforcements the frigate will
likely
call for arrive."
The Captain pondered this for a moment, then he said:
"It sounds possible, but timing is critical in such an action."
Affirmatively the First Mate nodded and then shrugged.
Obviously he didn't want to take the responsibility. The Second Mate threw
him a
doubting glance.
"We will wait," Merada finally decided.
Both mates turned back to their stations and did not drop another word.
They knew any decision of
their Captain was final.
A few moments later the Second Mate Alabatano spoke again.
"The frigate is reaching the assumed
rendez-vous point now. No reduction of speed. Passing ideal point.
Entering tolerance margin. Speed unchanged.
Exiting tolerance margin. Captain, they're going away!"
Perfect, thought the Terchan Captain. Maybe today is our
lucky day!
*****
Vilada was walking through the garden
with her maid. The girl was carrying an umbrella to shield her mistress
from the sun. Sometimes Vilada felt
like the wife of one of the members of the autonomous
council. Her skirt, an exclusive piece of clothing that had been very expensive,
brushed over the
high grass of her garden and Vilada embraced her stout
belly that carried her child inside.
When the two reached the small wooden
pavilion, she stopped and sat down on a bench to look up into the sky.
Sanoan was only a moon, and so
its atmosphere was comparably thin. The planetary alignment
was clearly visible in the sky. How beautiful it was, thought Vilada. She
adored the sight,
even though the alignment wasn't complete yet. But it
would be in a bit more than an hour. The woman looked up and wondered whether
the planetary
constellation had any special meaning. The Maran news
were full of it, and it seemed that the whole galaxy was totally excited
about the alignments of
several solar systems falling on the same galactic day.
Vilada, however, only found it beautiful.
Suddenly she felt a bit uncomfortable,
and thought she had sat down on a wet spot. Standing up, she noticed that
her skirt was soaked and realized
the implication of it.
"My fruit blister just ripped," she announced, wondering why she hadn't felt it immediately.
The maid stared at her wide-eyed, then she burst into a flurry of activity, trying to get hot water, towels, cushions and a doctor all at once.
"Calm down," Vilada commanded, "And prepare to contact my husband!"
"But, Ma'am!" cried the girl, "Your
husband is... I mean... he doesn't want to be contacted when
he is... you know..."
Vilada reached her hand out to touch the girl on her cheek consolingly and repeated:
"Prepare to contact my husband!"
The girl nodded and ran away to do everything that was
necessary. Vilada sat down again and looked at the alignment. What a perfect
moment,
she thought.
*****
The Terchan ship carefully maneuvered
behind a large asteroid. Not far from it a transport was slowly moving
by, at least ten times as large as
the tiny pirate ship.
"Transport coming into range!" shouted the Second Mate.
The Captain clapped his hands together and gave out orders he had given a hundred times before.
"Ready all weapons, lay in an interception
course, assemble the men in the boarding hatches!
All men to battle stations!"
A red light flashed on, and the bridge
was completely silent except for the clicking of the crewmen punching orders
into the keyboards of their
consoles. The ship accelerated and left the asteroid
behind, heading for a clearing in the other rocks' tracks. Captain Merada
stood up, straightened
himself and inspected his Shredderpistol and his sword.
Let's make this a lucky day, he mused.
Suddenly, the familiar chirp of the intercom interrupted the silence.
"What the...?" cursed Alabatano.
"A direct hail?" wondered Merada. "The Maran frigate?"
"No, Captain. I'm checking the ID encoding
right now. It's a Terchan code."
And a second later: "Captain, it's a message from your
wife."
"Put it through!" demanded the Captain.
"We can be spotted when we do, Captain. And the frigate is still somewhere out there..."
"I know. And my wife knows, too. She wouldn't call if it wasn't important."
The Second Mate decoded the message
and then put it on the speakers. The Captain's
wife's voice filed the bridge. She sounded short-breathed
and exhausted, but happy.
"Atono Merada, I am calling you to
tell you of marvelous things that have happened here.
I just came down with a beautiful
and healthy son. Your son, Atono! I wish you could see
him; he's so strong and lively - just
like his father. I don't want to make this longer than
necessary, as I know it is dangerous,
so please come home as quickly as possible. I love you!"
Captain Merada stood in the middle
of the silent bridge and fought against the tears of happiness. A boy!
A lovely, healthy, strong little boy!
Then he thought of his wife, and he wanted to be with
her. This was indeed a lucky day.
"Captain?" queried his First Mate. "We will be in weapons' range in ten seconds."
The Terchan Captain gave that a quick thought, and then he announced:
"Pilot, turn around! Plot a course to Sanoan - the fastest route possible!"
More than only one questioning eyebrow
was raised at the order, but no one dared to challenge the Captain. And
he himself didn't care. He only
wanted to see his wife and his boy. Throwing the transport
a last look as his own ship elegantly swung round and faced the asteroid
belt again, he
thought of all the lives that had been spared today.
Apparently it was their lucky day as well, he thought.
Behind them, the planets of Aár
reached the full alignment, and the solar eruption caused by the combined
gravitic fields of the planets made the
sun glare brighter than before for the fraction of a
moment.
It was like even the sun was announcing the birth of a
certain child.