Fate of Frailty Chapter 19
By Karen Hart
Soft beeps and hums punctuated the silence in the security station where chaos sat, his eyes darting back and forth between monitoring equipment and the screen propped against the wall, where the celebration could be seen. He smiled faintly at the display, and tried to suppress a twinge of regret at having agreed to join the skeleton crew working security.
"Wish they'd let us keep an eight-pack or two in here," one of the techs grumbled, a dour man in his thirties who spent more time staring at the screen that at the monitors. "Swear to god, it's New Years and I'm drier than a council meeting in the desert. Hell is up with that?"
chaos looked over his shoulder at the man, a grin splitting his face for one brief moment. "Heh, well, I doubt they'd want anyone spilling drinks in here. Especially not if they were drunk."
The tech—one Thomas Nguyen—groaned audibly at chaos. "Yeah, yeah. How much longer do we have to—what the…?" His attention snapped back to the monitor as a distress signal sounded in the near-empty room, loud and jarring, telltales lighting up like the beginnings of plague. He swore as a male voice sounded over the speakers, quivering slightly.
"This is the tradeship Miranda # # under # attack! Coordinates are DX588, Y#04, Z82#. Please help!" Light static garbled the message.
The next few minutes were mayhem, as the small handful of people in the room rushed about, tracing the origin of the signal and trying to secure an alternate channel to the tradeship. chaos's hands flew over the touchpad as his screen resolved into a three dimensional mockup of the surrounding area for a good thousand lightyears, identifying trade routes and UMN columns leading to the Foundation.
"I got 'em!" someone screamed, voice lowering a second later. "This is Cole Misuda of the Kukai Foundation Security Division. Miranda, do not try to engage. I repeat, do not try to engage your attackers. We'll dispatch a rescue team immediately, just get in your escape pods and sit tight."
"Sit tight!" chaos could hear the outraged shout from where he sat. "We're being shot at and you want us to—"
"Get in the god damned escape pod!" Misuda yelled in reply. The line was cut off. "Damn!"
Nguyen sighed. "I hope to god they listened to you."
---
Shock rooted Jr. to the spot, faced flushed bright crimson while the crowds cheered as the overhead display exploded in a cacophony of colors and visual effects. Despite the spectacle, however, Jr. found himself unable to focus on the event, mind gone quite blank after Mary's kiss. Or maybe it the second shot. He thought it was the second shot. A hand clapped him on the shoulder. He looked up, still slightly disoriented. "Looks like you'll be having good luck this year," Caito grinned
"What?" Jr. murmured, blinking in wide-eyed confusion.
The bartender's grinned widened further. "You didn't know? A kiss on New Year's Eve is good luck. I thought you were a smart kid." He laughed as Jr. scowled at him and stalked away, and turned to address the crowds. "Next round is on the house!" As the man had expected, the bar was once again packed.
Jr. sat down on a still unopened box of fireworks, and shook his head. "Why did she…?"
"Jr.!" a voice shouted above the din of the masses. "Jr.!" A few seconds later a woman appeared in front of him, breathless and trembling from exertion. She handed him a small headset. "Call…from the security…station." The words came out in short breaths. He nodded, and clipped the set to his right ear.
"Go ahead."
"Jr.," chaos's calm tone was marked with stress. "We got a distress signal from a tradeship nearby. We're sending out a rescue team. Thought you should know."
"Thanks," Jr. replied, sobriety settling in quickly. "I'll inform Gaignun. Let me know if anything else happens."
"All right," chaos agreed, and ended the call.
I see, Gaignun replied a moment later. I should have expected something to mar the occasion.
How could we have planned for something like this? Jr. pointed out. I'm gonna get in touch with the medical teams, have 'em ready by the time they get here.
A good idea.
---
Within hours a small crowd had gathered by the docks, mostly medical personnel and security—though a few civilians rubbernecked from a safe distance—all of them watching as a small search and rescue vessel made its way into the available berth. Moments later a pair of adults were led off the ship, towards a group of emergency vehicles.
Jr. pushed his way through the crowd of onlookers. "So just what the hell happened?"
One of the S and R technicians turned half about, startled by the redhead's sudden presence. "Seems like they were in the middle of an ambush."
"I guessed that much," Jr. muttered. "Damn it, this is supposed to be a safe area. Where'd this take place?"
The tech looked towards the overhead a moment in a universal gesture of recollection. "I think it was…just off of the Danae column."
"The hell. That's not part of any trade route leading here. I thought they were on a tradeship?"
"Does your dad know you swear? Heh, all right then. Anyway, apparently they were trying to avoid the normal routes. Maybe they figured traffic would be congested today." The tech shrugged. "Doesn't look like the detour was worth it though. Then again, maybe this'll make people follow proper navigational paths."
"Want to bet?"