Hades Nexus, Hekate System
Three hours out from Asteria
Over the hum of engines, Nucks could hear the faint warbling of a tenor in a rousing ode. Pub at her music streamer again. Though muffled by distance and bulkheads, the lyrics of the song were familiar. Like an old friend coming round to visit once more. He hummed distractedly as his eyes swung across the displays on the console before him. A flick of his fingers brought up the sensor readings. Another reduced it to a side tab.
All was well. He checked his logs to make sure they're up to date, second by second. Security was so tight nowadays that if he didn't make sure everything was on the up and up, they would face a glut of delays. That would make his crew unhappy and his pockets empty. The rumblings from his stomach and the burning sensation made him wince. Damn it, skipping breakfast was a bad idea. Now he was paying for it twice over with a burning hole in his guts and heavy drumbeats in his head. Jabbing a button on the arm of his chair, he leaned back to ease the double whammies.
"Hey Pub, get me some chow, getting the pits here."
"Yeah, what'd be?" a low voice rasped.
"Whatever you've got back there. I ain't choosy."
"Whatever you say, Nucks. Be a minute," Pub drawled lazily.
Typical. "I don't have a minute." He put his mouth near the pickup. "I can smell gyros here so roll one over."
"So go order at a pit stop. Never no gyros where I am, you think I'm a takeout?"
"Shit, I'm dying over here. Dyyyyynnnnnnnng," he groaned emphatically, snapping his teeth for good measure.
"Some people would love to see that."
"They can get in line, get me that-," he stopped when someone coughed behind him and turned to see a widely grinning Kid, holding out a large steaming mug with a pair of chopsticks sticking out over the rim. "Damn it, all you can give me is noodles?" he growled into the pickup after one look into the mug.
"Knock yourself out."
A faint click told him Pub had turned off the comm at her end. The sound of creaking metal joints brought him round to see the mug placed on the inbuilt foldable table of his chair, along with a filled glass. He winced when he saw the dreaded white liquid.
"Oh no no, not that crap again."
"Not leaving till it's empty." Kid folded his arms, fingers plucking softly at his short beard as he tried not to look gleeful at Nuck's predicament.
"Ten credits if you-," Nucks whispered, peering behind his chair.
"Ohhh Pub! Nucks wants to..." A hard calloused hand closed off Kid's rising shout.
"Shit, shut your yap." Nuck grounded his teeth in exasperation, releasing the young man's mouth when he was sure he would not shout any further before snatching up the glass.
"Late nights and tumbling whiskeys are number one drummers. Pretty hard to beat," Kid intoned pontifically as the older man drained the contents without seeming to swallow. "So is riling the cargomaster. That's what they always say."
"When I want a droning, I'll get a pastor." Nuck shoved the empty glass at Kid. "Now git!"
He glared when Kid bowed theatrically before exiting from the cockpit. Picking up the mug, he stirred it hopefully with the chopsticks as he searched the depths. Not a shred of meat came into sight but there was plenty of vegetables. Was this vengeance for his drinking bout last night? Damn it, what was a guy to do when old buddies turned up to treat him free drinks? Especially when he thought they were dead, fighting in the Reaper War?
A shudder shook his heavy frame as images flashed before his eyes at that thought. Shit, he did not want to think about it. Grimly, he shoved noodles and vegetables into his mouth, concentrating on the taste of the food. Chicken flavoured noodles. Well, that was something even if there was no chicken in it. The ache in his stomach settled after he finished the food. Burping softly, he put aside the mug and went back to work. Three hours later, a soft beep from the console drew his attention to an incoming signal.
"This is SSV Hastings of Crispin Convoy to MSV Korvin, please respond."
Nuck frowned. They would have been with the Crispin Convoy if he hadn't been too drunk to wake. Should the convoy not be at Argos Rho by now? SSV Hastings? That would be an Alliance Systems frigate if he remembered correctly.
"This is MSV Korvin." He wondered why the frigate was not with the convoy.
"MSV Korvin, SSV Hastings en route to your position. ETA five minutes."
"En route?" he repeated in confusion.
"We are to sheepdog you to local cluster."
"Roger that." A grin split his face. Pub would not be so mad at him now for missing the convoy. He keyed the comm and shouted into it. "Hey! Guess what, the Alliance convoy sent a sheepdog to get us to Sol."
"What?" Pub rasped, bemusement thick in her voice.
"What?" Kid echoed.
"You heard me-," he took a deep breath, feeling his headache lifting.
"We'll be so lucky, man." Kid whooped over the comm.
"Nucks, what kind of sheepdog?" Pub muttered faintly, sounding as if she had stepped away from the intercom. "How far out did they say they were?"
"A frigate, ETA five minutes." He wondered at the anxiety in her voice.
Silence. Then a stream of profanities. "Shit, that ain't no..," she began to curse when muffled booms were heard in the background.
"Pub?" he said uncertainly as he stared around the cockpit, feeling the ship began to shake. He looked at the console. There was nothing on the readouts. The frigate was not on the sensors. What was going on?
"Shit! Nucks, put out a mayday!" Pub shouted. "That's no frigate coming in..."
A dull booming crack resounded from the comm before vanishing abruptly. The console emitted a shrill scream as an alarm flashed, indicating a hull breach in the aft cargo hold.
"What the fuck was..," Kid said stridently before he was cut off as another muffled boom was heard from his end.
Not a frigate? What was Pub talking about? His brain felt frozen as he struggled to make sense of what was happening around him. To his shock when he glanced out of the cockpit window, he saw a shuttle next to the personnel access airlock behind the cockpit. The hatch was open. Hardsuit figures were exiting. He didn't recognise the suits or the patches, they were not the blue white of Systems Alliance marines. Raiders? Emotion and thoughts crashed into one another as he fought to decide what he should do. What had happened back there? Where did the shuttle come from?
Automatically, he keyed in new coordinates and was about to enable FTL before he remembered the hull was breached. Shit. The freighter was on in-system drive, there was no way he could out run the shuttle with that kind of speed. It was doubtful there would be one shuttle, there had to be more. The hull breach was probably more boarders in other shuttles. He slapped on the wide distress broadcast and beacon, hoping the Allied taskforce at Asteria would be able to respond. Inwardly, he knew it was too late by the time they received the signal but he tried anyway. Becoming an unknown statistic was not in his plan.
"Mayday! Mayday! This is the MSV Korvin..," he broke off when the console flashed again, indicating outer hatch opening. "Oh shit." He slapped on ship wide comm. "Raiders coming in, suit up and break out the arms."
That was what he should have done in the first place. Instead he wasted time trying to figure out what was happening. Curse his throbbing head. Curse his fool sentiments. All that stupid mushiness was going to cost them all. Before reaching down for the shotgun under his seat, he locked the hatch to the cockpit and set new coordinates before firing the engines, redirecting the ship to head back to Asteria. How many raiders were already attached to the hull? Another beep from the console. Inner hatch open. What were they after? The cargo? People? The ship? He doubted they would settle with one. He got up from his chair and faced the door, shot gun in hand.
Well Pub, I should have listened to you. I was stupid. If we meet again in the next life, I'll make it up to you. I swear.
She would be organising the rest, set up a defense grid if she were still alive. Try to hold out, until help arrived. Or if they were lucky, repel the intruders. Or if they were unlucky, they die. He wished he was with the rest of the crew, not locked up in the cockpit but his duty was to defend it. The hatch to the cockpit shuddered. He raised the shotgun.
Time to die.
SSV Ain Jalut
"Status," Captain Aeimesmith said softly.
"Engines shut down. Boarding parties have presumably taken control. Hull damage aft," the XO reported, eyes intent on the data.
The CIC thrummed softly, aglow with bright haptic displays. Shadows stood over consoles or glided across the deck as crew members shifted. Arms crossed, Aimesmith stared at the display of the Hekate System that overlap the spinning galaxy map. White knuckled fingers rubbed against one another, his jaw twitched. Minutes went by slowly, seeming to crawl. He closed his eyes, resisting the urge to pace and tried not to think of what was going on within the freighter. When the XO spoke, it was welcome relief.
"One of the shuttles is leaving. Cargo beacon confirmed."
"Helm, track departing shuttle."
He flicked his fingers to magnify the display of the Hekate System. The icons of the ships glowed brightly. Freighter in green, shuttles in red. One of the reds was moving away.
Show me your lair, you rats.
His eyes narrowed as it headed for Triodia. The planet or one of the fourteen moons in its orbit? He waited, eyes trained on the target like a patient hovering hawk. The red dot head for one of the moons. The frigate followed and quietly settled in orbit around the moon.
"Launch a probe, light scans," he said, pulling up the sensor read out on another screen. The red dot landed on the surface. A tiny blue dot appeared and vanished once it hit the surface of the moon. He waited for the probe to send back readings.
"There's no underground terrain. Reading a compact mass, faint radiative signatures, configurations unknown," the XO said after a few minutes.
"A ship?"
"Yes sir. Measuring a kilometre long, power output minimum but holding steady."
A kilometre? An Athabasca class freighter? His gut told him otherwise. The shuttles were short range. There was no other fuel station except the one at Asteria Station. The shuttles had to come from somewhere. An Athabasca class freighter was too small to hold three shuttles and carry enough fuel for extended mission duration. The vague sensor data from the probe was not enough. If he wanted to know exactly what was down there, there was only one way to find out.
"Active scans."
He ignored the questioning sound, cut off before it could be uttered clearly. The XO threw him an uneasy glance, probably wondering if he should voice a caution, but said nothing. He activated the short range sensors.
"Picking up DRA (diffuse radiator arrays), pattern conforming to that of a dreadnought."
The disbelief in the XO's voice drew his gaze. A dreadnought? As far as Aimesmith knew, the dreadnoughts of the Allied navies were nowhere in this sector. The biggest heavyweight in the Asteria taskforce were cruisers so which flag did this dreadnought fly? If it belonged to the raiders, how did they manage to get their hands on one? One dreadnought was not enough to take on the Asteria taskforce. If it was a platform for the raiders to conduct raids, they risked losing it if they were discovered by the taskforce. Were they that confident?
"Pattern confirmed. Turian dreadnought." The XO looked at him in shock. Turian?
Aimesmith did not hesitate. "Condition one," he rapped out as he put on his helmet and sealed it.
A wail rang out, the tension in the CIC became more tangible as the V.I. intoned changed status. A subtle difference was felt as g-grav was disabled in response to the alert. The crew quickly strapped themselves down.
"Asteria Station, AUC Mike-Alpha-Delta-Echo-One-Eight-Five-Niner, SSV Ain Jalut engaging unidentified dreadnought at Triodia..."
"Sir, the dreadnought is moving. Reading multiple incoming bogeys."
"Come about. We'll blow a hole in that cloud and run in as close as we can. I want everything we can grab on that dreadnought before we split."
"Yes, sir."
Thessia
Kelice Marketplace
The wavering glint caught April's eye, twinkling merrily in the sunlight. Intrigued, she picked it up to examine it. It looked crystalline to her, beautifully faceted in the shape of a multi-point star, strung on a creamy band. Removing it from the hook it was hung on, she held it to the booth console scanner which threw out information of the crystal.
Cimilcir Crystal, Thessia
Forged 2190 CE First Cycle
Crafter Pyselia
Credits 1000
She craned her head, trying to see over the crowd, hoping Liara had not finished her transaction. A voice drew her attention back to the booth.
"May I help you?" The Asari salesperson asked helpfully.
"Yes, can you tell me what does this crystal signify?" She reined in the desire to add "and hurry up about it".
"Cimilcir represents the spiritual aspects of life." The Asari reached out to take the pendant and held it at an angle that allowed the glimmers of blue to show up more clearly. "Life is a perpetual process in the universe. The blue aspects of the crystal signify healing and purity. The crystal brings peace, serenity, beauty and calmness. It calms tired nerves, alleviating agony and pain from physical stress. It also strengthens the connection between bondmates."
I'm sold.
She did not say anything, trying to decide between this and another item that caught her eye. She was more inclined towards the crystal. Maybe the Asari was telling her tall tales to garner a sale but she felt drawn to the crystal. The blue was the colour of Liara's eyes. As she tried to make up her mind, she could vaguely feel Liara's thoughts switching. Probably making her way back to the cafe. That decided her. A few minutes later, the crystal was wrapped and tucked in the pocket of her pants. She threaded her way through the crowd to the cafe they had arranged to meet at. After a quick glance around, she spotted Liara seated at a corner overlooking the river.
"Where did you go?" Liara looked up from the menu datapad as she sat down.
"Oh just looking around the sale booths." April crossed her arms on the table and leaned forward, trying to shield the image of her purchase. One bad aspect to advance bonding, she decided. Trying to hide surprises from her bondmate who surely could read her easily.
Liara hid a smile, feeling April's tiny flash of worry. Not that she "saw" what it was that her bondmate bought. She was aware of her wish to give her a little surprise. A gift. It was tempting to tell April that the greatest gift she ever had to give was already given twice over. Her bondmate had done the impossible, returning from that suicide mission to the galactic core and surviving the Reaper War. The finest gift of all, their child. There was nothing more she would ever want but she understood her bondmate's desire nevertheless and thus did not try to pry too hard into her secret.
"What would you like to eat?"
April did not bother to pick up the menu datapad before her. "Whatever you want. I'm not picky."
"If you are sure." Liara sent her bondmate a wicked grin before punching in their orders.
"As sure as the deep ocean." Reaching out, she clasped Liara's hand to find she could feel her happiness and satisfaction clearly.
I'm glad we make time today.
I am glad you suggested it. Do you know, I do not remember stepping into the market district at all.
Aw damn. Guilt rose up. April knew why Liara was not able to make the time.
It is fine, love. Liara shook her head. It would not have been the same as it is now. Look at it.
A smile lit her lips as she looked at the city. April followed her gaze. Spiraling buildings rose once more into the sky. Long bridges arched gracefully across the river, decorative flags flapped gaily from crossbars, skycars glided overhead, the smell of twining and blooming flowers, the bustle and sounds of people going about their business. Most encouraging was the sight of children crowding and skipping about with their parents.
We will have to put aside more time to go out.
April's eyes lingered on a small Asari child holding on to her mother's hand as they walked past the cafe. Her mind automatically replacing it with another image; she and Liara strolling along with their own child. It vanished when the waitress arrived with their order. A beep from her omni-tool distracted her. She read the message as their meal was set out.
"My replacement has arrived. I hope he has a better time than I have with Nyrine-," she looked up. Her eyes widened in amazement when she looked at her plate. Summer spaghetti. "Is that.."
A chuckle escaped Liara as she picked up her fork. "Do not tell Effia. She will kill me."
"Damn, do you know how long I have not eaten this?" Picking up her own fork, April speared some of the pasta and held it up before her eyes.
"I know. I do not know how you put up with Effia for so long."
"She has your best interests at heart. As do I. But you know that already, don't you. Heart of mine."
Heads turned briefly to the couple sitting in the corner of the cafe, a subtle empathy underlying the amusement at the aura of a pair obviously in love. Striking a cord within their essences that resonated in unison to the indisputable faith in their future.