Fate of Frailty Chapter 23
By Karen Hart
Author's note: My apologies for the time it took to write this chapter. I've been a little lacking in inspiration lately.
The walk from the hanger to the security station was brief and uneventful. Halfway there Gaignun intercepted him, and the two walked side-by-side, somberly discussing the Foundation's current situation.
"You're sure they're connected?" Canaan asked. It never hurt to double-check.
Gaignun nodded, grim. "We've got shots fired on the docks, our ships being picked off one by one, and we're short a director because he's out investigating the ambushes. The timing's too perfect for a coincidence."
"You have a point." They stepped into the security station, bypassing technicians. "So what's my part in this?"
A pause. "Wilhelm didn't give you any orders?"
The realian shook his head. "Just to follow yours."
Wonderful, Gaignun thought to himself. "Well, your Asher's overkill in this situation. I don't want you trampling the civilians." He thought the situation over. "One would think we need to find out where the shots were coming from, but…" The barest inklings of an idea came to Gaignun at that moment and he beckoned Foster over.
The security chief raised an eyebrow. "What's up?"
"What's the casualty rate for the shootings so far?" Gaignun asked without explaining himself. Foster blinked.
"I—well, so far's I know, there haven't been any deaths. Lots of bleeding from shots to places like shoulders and limbs, but no fatal wounds." A worried look passed over his face, followed by grim comprehension. "You don't suppose this whole thing was a—"
"—distraction," Gaignun finished, green eyes narrowing. "Indeed, this whole thing is to take our eyes off our real enemies."
"But where…?" Suddenly the two of them turned as one towards the shipyard, Canaan following their gaze curiously.
"The Durandal?" Foster murmured in alarm.
---
There was a kind of subdued din in the Foundation's main hospital, as green and white garbed medics shouted out orders for patients to be moved, drugs to be secured, forms to be signed. Visitors stayed well out of their way, choosing instead to gather in small clumps, speaking in low voices and throwing worried glances as the wounded were carted somewhere beyond sight.
Mary peered out from behind a countertop as another gurney was moved down the hall. She and Shelley had decided to help out by running errands for the hospital staffs, most of it things like fetch and carry jobs and file sorting. "Another one… This is bad, Shelley. This place'll have injured bursting out the windows if this keeps up." She turned to her sister, who was sorting through forms, her eyes turned away from Mary.
"I know," Shelley replied a couple minutes later. "But there's nothing we can do here except help out when we're asked. I'm sure Gaignun and the security teams are doing everything they can to put a stop to this. There's no use in thinking how it'll get worse." She looked at her younger sister and smiled, the expression wavering just slightly. "Let's just do what we can, here."
Mary nodded, her going-on-thirteen year oldface setting in determination. "You're right."
---
Jr. cursed under his breath as he felt along his side for any forming bruises, hissing as he touched sore spots. "Where the hell did that blast come from? Was it from that rippling area?" He looked over at chaos, expectedly.
"Not from what I can tell. Seemed like it came from right behind us." chaos's voice was laced with worry. "And before you ask, I can't spot anything there. Not even that ripple effect."
"Damn it," Jr. hissed. "I don't like this. Get us pointed where they want us and shoot us in the back. And they've got damned good cloaking technology. Just who are we dealing with and what the heck do they want?"
The three of them grew quiet, contemplating the situation. Then: "Well, we can't sit around and do nothing, but after this little development, I'm not so sure firing at that ripple'd be a good idea." At the others' expressions Matthews continued. "Look, that thing might just be a decoy, just this little oddity set up to get our attention. So we waste power firing on it, and we find out it's something completely innocuous, like a piece of hull plating or something. And once we're completely powerless, we get noshed on."
Jr. thought that over for a moment. "So what do we do, fire in the direction that shot came from?"
Matthews shook his head. "Don't know. There's no way for us to know if whatever shot us is still there. For all we know, it could've maneuvered away. If we fire, and miss…well." He shrugged, the gesture more eloquent than anything he might have said.
"One thing that bothers me," chaos spoke up a moment later, "is that we haven't received any communications from them. I mean, shouldn't they be telling us to stand down and wait for boarding or something? It just seems a little weird that they're not saying anything."
"That bugs me too," Jr. murmured in response. "Toying with us? A warning shot? But what the hell are they warning us against?"
chaos regarded his screen blankly, thinking over Jr.'s questions. "Do we really want to know?" He waited as Jr. and Matthews chorused "no thank you" and continued. "We might be able to do something. Maybe if we fired a weak shot in the direction that attack came from, we might hit something."
"And if we don't," Matthews replied, "they'll fire on us again."
"Hopefully," chaos agreed, much to the other's amazement.
"Say what!" Jr. stared at chaos.
"Listen, if we manage to hit something aiming for that last shot, great, but if we don't…"
"Yeah, and?" Matthews prodded him impatiently.
"Well, if we miss and they fire on us again, I could use the direction of the blast to pinpoint our enemy's location. But one of us would have to ready to fire the guns at a moment's notice." He nodded at Jr.
"But what if that blast—"
Matthews interrupted. "No, I think he's right. That last blast wasn't meant to hurt this ship. Whoever they are, they don't want us dead. If they did, that wouldn't've been the only shot, believe me. That was 'you're in big trouble, now settle down and don't move,' that's what that was."
Jr. snorted. "Like hell."
"Anyway, let's give it a shot." Matthews settled himself in his seat, nodding Jr. over to the armaments board. Jr. began flipping switches at Matthew's instruction, the weapons coming to life. A moment later he had a target, tracking courtesy of chaos. He held his breath, and fired.
The weakened shot hit nothing, merely continuing on until it dissipated or hit something else. There was no sound on the bridge, breathing suppressed as they waited for the result of their little gamble. It came a moment later, this time from starboard.
"NOW!" chaos yelled.
Jr. fired.