Tennokiken Voyagers: Eleven
The great space station floated in space, the ancient construct normally accompanied by two silvery shapes, but now there was a third. The former raider ship hung attached to the station by life-support connections, power links and transports tubes, the Venture and Revenge docked nearby.
Siobhan Ward, her long cloak flowing around her and Captain Kelly Miles walked to the raider's bridge, their voices rising as they argued. "No," Kelly said firmly, the blonde haired officer's eyes flashing, "I will not let you disassemble this ship for parts."
"This ship is a prize of war," the door to another compartment swished open as Siobhan gestured, the black haired woman's cybernetics gleaming, "I have the right to, damn it."
"I need this ship intact for evidence," Kelly said patiently, "or we'll never be able to prove who's behind these attacks."
Siobhan scowled, but she couldn't actually argue with that. "How's cracking the data-banks going?" she changed the subject.
"They're as paranoid as I'd expect," Kelly admitted as the bridge hatch loomed ahead of them, "all the encryptions are top notch. I've got Isis, Jesse and Rio working on it now, along with anybody else who has the time to help."
They entered into the bridge, looking around at the large command center. The design resembled the layout of the Venture's bridge, with a central command chair and stations space out around it. The main viewscreen was off, with the lights dimmed a bit by primary systems running on reserve power sources.
"Any luck on getting the fusion reactors online?" Kelly asked as they headed too where Isis was working away at one of the terminals.
"They did a good job crashing the drive computers before they bailed," Siobhan had the look of an annoyed engineer, "probably hoping the reactors might blow. I'm going to have to reprogram at least part of the system before we can bring them back online safely."
Isis looked up and smiled warmly, "Mother."
Kelly felt herself blushing again, Siobhan looking on in amusement. "Hello Isis," she answered, "how's the code breaking going?"
"I'm using several military decoding programs as well as several corporate models," Isis replied, "I believe I'll have their code cracked fairly soon."
"I'm impressed," Kelly smiled.
Isis shook her head, "Actually this is quite challenging. I was able to break the Fleet standard codes in less than an hour."
"Fleet codes?" Kelly blinked before tossing a suspicious glance to Siobhan. The taller woman just looked innocent and Kelly sighed softly.
"Comparatively, this is much more stimulating," Isis concluded.
"Where are Jesse and Rio?" Kelly frowned, noticing they weren't on the bridge.
"They found something interesting while reading the unencrypted files," Isis answered frankly, "I believe that they grabbed Dan and Shane and went to check it out."
"Wonder what sort of trouble they're getting into?" Siobhan mused aloud, looking amused.
Down in the engineering section Jesse frowned as the dark blonde said, "Come on, put your backs into it you two!"
"Why are we the ones doing all the heavy lifting?" Shane sighed, holding one end of the console, Dan on the other.
Rio looked amused, her short black hair falling into her eyes, "You certainly don't expect the two of us to do it?"
Dan groaned, the console hitting the ground with a thump. "So why are we down here again?" he asked, both men visibly out of breath.
Jesse knelt down in front of the exposed bulkhead, studying it thoughtfully. "Most non-engineers don't know that at this junction," she tapped the wall gently, listening, "there's a small compartment made by the connection of two prefabricated segments."
"And?" Shane asked tiredly.
"It's a bit of a tradition," Jesse said as she took a mono-filiment blade and began to cut into the wall, "engineers leave a message here, usually a list of staff and date of completion."
"Why is that important?" Dan asked after a moment.
"When we first came aboard I noticed that this ship was in surprisingly good condition," Rio said, "for a decommissioned ship that's seen service. The official records I found say that she served for fifteen years and was retired a year ago..."
"But records can be faked," Jesse tugged, yanking a section of the wall away to reveal writing inscribed on the inner wall. "This," she looked smug, "should be accurate."
"Oh shit," Dan murmured, reading the dates in seconds.
"This ship was built barely three years ago?!" Shane looked in confusion towards Rio, "What the hell does that mean?"
Rio looked grim, silently exchanging a glance with Jesse. "We won't know for sure until we go through the encrypted database," she said quietly, "but it looks like Fleet ordered this ship built, decommissioned it almost immediately and handed it over to the raiders."
There was dead silence as everyone processed that, as well as the implications. This wasn't just a few officers selling arms and equipment to criminals, if Rio was right it meant there was a substantial conspiracy within Fleet, the goals and purpose of which was still unknown.
"We'd better bring this to Kelly and Siobhan," Jesse finally broke the quiet, "they need to know about this as soon as possible."
Before any of them could move there was a soft chime before the shipwide announcement, "All crew report to the bridge, please."
"Wonderful," Shane scowled as they raced to the drop-shaft that would carry them up to the bridge deck, "wonder what's gone wrong know?"
"It could be good news," Dan offered mildly.
"I prefer to assume the worst," Shane flashed him a smile as he added, "I find I'm disappointed less often that way."
Reaching the bridge they found Kelly sitting in the command chair, Isis at tactical while Siobhan was under a nearby console, loudly cursing as she tried to re-route power to needed systems. The main viewscreen was on, a static clouded image of local space shining in front of them.
"To your stations," Kelly barked.
Isis was perfectly calm as she told Dan, "We've picked up a jump signature at the edge of the system, unknown origin."
Dan slid into the helm station, frowning at the limited data displayed there. "Can we really fight in this crippled ship?" he asked.
"Lucille is moving the Venture into position to defend," Shane reported from sensors, "and Sylvie is moving out with Revenge."
"Light up weapons systems," Kelly ordered.
Isis nodded as she worked, "It will look like we're fully armed, even if we can not actually fire in our current situation."
Jesse scooted underneath the primary junction with Siobhan, a few moments later the two women's combined efforts restoring full lighting to the bridge. "Thanks," Siobhan grinned at Jesse then looked at Kelly, "Should we hail them?"
"Ship identification?" Kelly ordered.
"A Fleet heavy escort craft," Shane reported after a moment, "about as well armed as the Venture, high density armor and shields. We can probably take it, but it'll be messy."
"Understood," Kelly nodded, weighing the situation. "Hail the ship," she ordered.
There was a moment's lag, then a very familiar face appeared on the screen, with a slightly dusky skin tone, curly black hair and dark eyes. Commander Victoria Donavan smiled slightly, "My weapons systems are powered down, I come in peace."
"I'll be damned," Siobhan growled out, eyes narrowing.
"Good to see you, too," Victoria nodded to her. She looked at Kelly, "I have information that may be of use to you, as well as a captive with a very interesting story to tell."
To be continued....
Tennokiken Voyagers: Twelve
The heavy escort craft dropped from hyperspace, emerging into a system that didn't have a name, just a numerical designation on a chart. A old red star glowed off in the distance, but they were completely ignoring the scenery. Instead the small starship was looking for something, a structure that they identified almost immediately.
"My god," the black haired young woman at helm blinked as they got their first view of the massive artificial space station. Alielle shook herself, bending over her controls as she reported, "I've got us on a standard approach."
Commander Victoria Donavan nodded, shifting back in the captain's chair. With her slightly dusky skin tone, curly black hair and dark eyes, she could be considered quite beautiful but there was a calculating look in her eye. "You know," she admitted, "I think I'm impressed."
The station that slowly began to fill their screen was a massive construction, dwarfing the three starships that hovered around it combined. The slowly turning disk was a deep gray marked with silver, and it gave the impression of immense age. It was also quite clearly alien, the construction subtlety different than human work.
Nearby the Venture hung, the oval ship resembling a thick metallic plate with an opening at the back for the vessel's drive exhaust. Spaced around the outer edge of the Venture were weapons modules, the communications systems, and beneath the hull plating itself the shield emitters. Along the bottom were hatches, designed to deploy landing vessels and other transport.
"What is THAT?" Fatora inquired, shaking her head in disbelief.
Moving out from the station the other ship took a defensive position, weapons powering up. It looked like several ships had been salvaged, pieces extracted and used to assemble the odd looking ship on the view screen. An angular, blocky front, a curved, rounded middle, what looked like a bridge module attached to the base of the craft, and an oversized engineering section wielded to the back. And painted on the side, a white skull and crossbones on black field.
"Siobhan Ward's work, I'd bet on it with a pile of credits taller than you are," Victoria said, her voice containing just a bit of admiration. Everyone knew Ward did good work, but to construct a hybrid vessel like that... it was remarkable.
"Getting weapons readings," Alielle reported crisply, "all three ships are powering up."
"Hail the ships," Victoria commanded. There was a moment's lag, then she saw the bridge of what looked like a Fleet vessel, one that was populated by several familiar figures. She smiled slightly, "My weapons systems are powered down, I come in peace."
"I'll be damned," Siobhan Ward growled out, eyes narrowing in anger.
"Good to see you, too," Victoria nodded to her, working to hide her surprise. Cyborgs were rare these days, with regeneration technology and all, not to mention unattractive. She looked over at Kelly Miles and with a cool formality said, "I have information that may be of use to you, as well as a captive with a very interesting story to tell."
Victoria's eyes roamed the bridge, quickly getting a sense of who was there. Rio and Jesse Kain from the Venture were there, of course, and with a shock she recognized the Isis android. Shane Lewellyn, the pilot who assisted Ward's disappearance was there, but oddly none of the other crew she was aware of.
"And how do we know you're not involved in this Raider's situation?" Kelly asked, the blonde studying her warily.
"You don't like me," Victoria acknowledged, "but have I ever chosen to do something that wasn't personally profitable?"
"I vote we blow her out of space," Siobhan said dryly, sapphire cybernetic eye shining, "it'd be a benefit to the species."
"Tempting," Rio admitted, the blue eyes, black haired woman's manner indicating she wasn't exactly joking around.
"A bit short sighted though," Shane volunteered reluctantly. The older man shrugged, "If she went to the trouble of tracking us down, we should find out why."
"He's got a point," Victoria decided that it was time to break into their debate. She paused a moment before adding, "And if it helps any, the people behind the Raiders tried to kill me, too." That caused a moment of silence on the other vessel's bridge, something that Victoria noted with some satisfaction.
Kelly studied her, and Victoria wished she knew what was going on behind those green eyes. Finally she said, "Dock with the space station, we'll meet there." Kelly paused, "And if you're messing with me you'll wish I had let Ward have you."
Alielle raised her eyebrows slightly as the other ship disconnected, then the image on the screen shifted to show the other three ships moving to dock. "I don't recall Captain Miles being that harsh," she offered tentatively.
"Do you want one of us on board with you?" Fatora asked Victoria as they moved towards the station and the other docking chute.
Victoria looked like she was considering it, then she shook her head. "I'll just bring our little friend over," she said firmly, "that should win me some points."
"How did you know they were here, ma'am?" Alielle asked wonderingly.
Victoria smiled humourlessly while the station grew larger on their screens, "Ward kept the lid on this place fairly well, but most merchant shippers are terrible gossips." Silently she added, 'Not to mention being able to blackmail one into telling me.'
"Very clever," Fatora smirked.
They slid smoothly into place, the reinforced docking chute locking on with a slight jolt to the airlock. As Victoria was leaving Alielle quietly said, "Be careful, ma'am."
"Always," was Victoria's calm answer as she left the bridge.
Waiting by the small craft's hatch her security officer held a unconscious woman, the tall woman's white hair flowing around her face. "Ma'am," Ifurita nodded as Donavan approached her, "I should be going over with you."
"No," Victoria said, "and I want you held in reserve, anyway."
"I'll be ready to move on your signal," Ifurita responded grimly, checking the pressure levels before opening up the outer hatch.
A few moment's later and Maya was secured, the black haired woman stunned and being dragged up the zero-gee passage to the space station. They reached the hatch and Victoria pressed the warning chime, the door sliding open soundlessly a few seconds later to reveal a grim Rio.
"Friend of yours?" Rio looked down at Maya then up at Victoria in suspicion.
"The officer who tried to kill me," Victoria said crisply, "I thought your captain would appreciate the chance to talk to her, too."
Rio frowned, but didn't argue as she helped Victoria haul Maya through the space station to the meeting room that Kelly had selected. Some of the usual suspects were waiting there, including Ward, Miles, the Isis android and now Rio.
"Commander Donavan," Kelly nodded seriously, "so glad you could join us." She raised a eyebrow at the unconscious girl but clearly decided not to ask just yet.
"Skip the pleasantries," Sio growled, "what do you want?"
"What I want is to protect my interests," Donavan answered grimly, "sadly that means I have to cooperate with you. So where is the rest of your merry crew?"
"Working," Isis said simply, the artificial girl studying Donavan expressionlessly. Her gaze strangely unnerved Donavan, piercing as she watched the other woman.
"Who's the kid?" Siobhan asked, looking with mild concern at the younger woman that Rio had helped Victoria Donavan haul there.
"Maya Ibuki," with a grunt of effort Donavan got the unconscious woman into a chair, "a tech officer on Drydock who tried to shoot me in a false emergency."
"Gee I wonder why?" Rio murmured to no one in particular.
Kelly gave her a scolding look, then turned her attention to Donavan. "You said you had information as well?" she asked.
"One of my people," Donavan wryly thought of the fearsome Ifurita, "illegally used chemical interrogation methods on Maya here."
Rio raised an eyebrow, "I thought Fleet officers were immune?"
"Not to what I can get my hands on," Donavan said smugly. She took a breath, her expression surprisingly serious, "The ones behind your Raiders aren't merely some corrupt sector commodore trying to line his pockets, we're dealing with a sizable faction within Fleet itself."
To be continued....