A Matter of Honor (Privateer Tales Book 9) (27 page)

"Captain, you should probably come up," Ada informed me over the comm.

I dropped Mom's bag into her room and hurried to the bridge. When I arrived, the lights were low as we were running silent.

I stepped up the stairs into the cockpit and sat between Tabby and Ada. My HUD highlighted two bright white Belirand cruisers steaming toward where we'd just come from.

"That's a quick response," I said in the quiet voice I reserved for silent running. It wasn't as if they'd hear me, but we all did it.

"I cut our engines entirely," Ada said. "I'd like to put some distance between us."

"Good plan," I said. "How long before we reach the platform?"

"At this pace? Too long. I'll kick the engines on once those cruisers clear out and we'll be there in three hours or so," she said.

"Mom appreciated the flowers."

"Good."

For the next twenty minutes we watched as the cruisers grew smaller and smaller as they sailed away from us. Finally, Ada slowly accelerated.

I walked to the back of the bridge where Jonathan still sat on the couch, leaning against the aft bulkhead.

"How much time will we need to load once we get to the platform?"

"Ten minutes. I've arranged to have everything in the loading bay upon our arrival," he said.

"Will we have enough room for all the aninonium?" I asked.

"Yes. The material is compact. We'll be bringing on twenty cubic meters, which is more than
Hotspur
could use in several of your lifetimes," he said. "I've also arranged to load several construction machines and a Class-F industrial replicator."

"That's a huge replicator, it has to be worth several million credits," I said.

"The Ophir settlement will have to be rebuilt if they've been overrun. That replicator has limited value on the platform now that Master Anino is gone," he said

"You miss him, don't you?" I asked.

"It is like that. I believe the most similar emotion you experience is regret. He had much to offer and his passing was a considerable loss for more than humankind," Jonathan said.

"How much help will you need to get everything loaded?" I asked.

"We have stevedore bots standing by. Your help is not required. Would you like to review the load distribution in the hold?"

"That won't be necessary."

"Would you mind if I asked a very personal question?"

I looked at him and tried to read his face, only to remember he didn't likely have the same tells most people did.

"I don't mind, Jonathan. What's up?"

"Do you regret your decision to get involved with us?"

I considered his question. "I regret that I didn't understand the peril I was placing my family in. It is difficult to see beyond that right now."

"Yet, you are not just continuing on, but have assumed responsibility for the Ophir settlement. Are you not similarly concerned you will come to have regrets about that decision?"

"Are you trying to talk me out of this?"

"Not at all. We are trying to understand your motivations. Humans have a creativeness that is unusual among the sentient species we've run into," he said.

"How is that related to what we're doing?" I asked.

"You say you regret not understanding the peril you placed your family in, yet you knew it would place your crew in danger. There was some level of danger you were willing to assume. Your entire crew took less than ten minutes to come to a unanimous decision and you spent most of that time talking about unrelated issues," he said.

"You were listening?"

"We were, but only for the purpose of research. We would not have shared your conversation with Master Anino," he said.

"It was intuition," I said. "We made that decision because we believed we would be successful and the need was great."

"You had very few details on what you were getting into. How were you able to come to that decision?"

"Conflict isn't something you can calculate and know you'll be successful," I said. "It changes too quickly. You simply have to do what is right at the time and make necessary adjustments as things change. It's more about having core principals, one of which is to value life. Perhaps another is to surround yourself with people who can be trusted. Sorry, other sentients who can be trusted."

Jonathan smiled. It wasn't a big warm smile, but it wasn't a bad smile, overall. "You honor us by including us in that list. We want to know why you would do this, having only known us for such a short period of time."

"You do have a lot of questions, don't you?" I asked.

"Yes."

"My dad had a saying – trust a person by their actions, not their words."

"You two are looking pretty cozy over here," Marny said. We must have been out of the thick of things if she was up and walking around. "I'm headed for coffee, would either of you like a cup?"

"I'll have one. Do you need an extra hand?" I asked.

"I think I can manage, Cap," she said.

Jonathan and I continued to talk. He had a lot of basic questions and I didn't think he was even close to the bottom of the list when Ada finally announced that we would be docking in a few minutes.

"Thank you for the talk, Captain," Jonathan said. "We'd enjoy talking again."

"You should join us for poker. We like to talk philosophically when we play. It's even better if we're drinking, although you might get more honesty than you're expecting," I said.

"And now, we have many more questions. We look forward to playing poker with you," he said and got up.

I walked over to where Nick was quietly talking with Marny.

"Any signs of Belirand?"

"Yes. There's a Corvette called
Lawbringer
orbiting the platform," Marny pointed to a long, narrow warship sitting five hundred kilometers off the platform.

"Man, those are gorgeous lines," I said.

"Like a snake, Cap. She has more firepower than
Fist of Justice
and runs as fast as we do. Her only downside is she's short on armor," she said.

"Then they'll be sending her after us," I said.

"Good bet," Nick said.

"Cap, grab Tabby and a blaster rifle, I don't want that ramp open otherwise," Marny said.

"Copy that," I said.

"On it," Tabby acknowledged.

The three of us made our way down to the hold, stopping first in the new armory where we picked up blaster rifles. We found Jonathan standing patiently next to the exit hatch.

"We'll meet you at the cargo ramp once it's open," I said, in passing.

"That won't be necessary. The stevedore bots are fully automated and I need to run up to Master Anino's office before we leave again," he said. "I will be back shortly."

"Would you like an escort?"

"No. Ms. Chen has restored communications and the Belirand agents aboard the platform will not be able to intercept me," he said.

"Wait." I stopped in my tracks. "There are Belirand agents on the platform?"

"Yes. Eight in total. I've provided Master James with a link to the station's security. He should be updating you shortly," he said.

I heard Marny next to me, contacting Nick. A moment later my combat HUD popped up. Two red dots showed in a room adjacent to the platform.

"I'd feel more comfortable if you were accompanied," I said.

"We won't have difficulty bypassing the Belirand agents. They will most likely be focused on you and the loading bay," he said.

"Understood."

I followed Marny and Tabby through the aft pressure barrier into the hold and we jogged through the narrow aisle of food crates.

"We're down," Ada's voice announced over our comms.

"Nick, we're showing the bay is empty. Copy?" Marny asked.

"Copy, Marny," Nick answered.

My HUD marked the spot in the bay where I was to set up and take cover. It designated the space I was to monitor and lock down. I could see two other fire lanes that Marny and Tabby would be covering.

"Ready," I said.

Marny palmed the loading ramp and it lowered slowly, small puffs of atmo escaping as the hold's pressure equalized with the bay.

"Tangos on the move," Marny said.

I wasn't surprised, since the agents had been monitoring the docking bay from inside. My heart started hammering in my chest as the excitement of combat grabbed me. A third and fourth red dot showed in the adjacent hallway and I recognized the four-man stack on the doorway.

"Go, go, go," Marny said as the ramp descended sufficiently for us to disembark.

Adrenaline hit my bloodstream and I raced for my position, sliding to a stop behind a stack of crates.

Identify contents of crate
. I requested.

It took longer than I'd expected for my AI to reply, which led me to believe it had to reach out to Jonathan for permission.

"
Polymer based plumbing fittings
," the AI replied.

So much for deflecting blaster bolts. I took a knee to steady my shooting and present a smaller target.

"They're breaching," Marny said.

The barrel of the lead Belirand agent's blaster scanned the room.

"I'm fragging the door," I said.

"You ready to draw first blood, Cap?"

"Roger that," I said.

"On my mark, three… two…" Marny started counting me down.

I pulled a frag grenade from the side of my blaster rifle. It expanded to fit in my hand and as Marny's count hit zero, I stood and threw it. After playing pod-ball all my life, I was disappointed by my throw. It landed short and skipped into the opening. I'd planned to bounce it off the open door, back into the hallway.

I watched as the red dots scrambled to escape as the frag grenade exploded short of its target.

"Nick, we need to get those stevedores moving," I said.

"On it," Nick said and five bots lifted from the floor and moved crates into the hold.

"Marny, I have turret control," Mom announced. "Add me to tactical."

"Aye, Mrs. H.," Marny replied.

In all, three turrets activated and swung around, pointing at the bulkhead where the invading Belirand agents had holed up.

"Liam, that Corvette is awake and she's steaming around the platform to line up on us," Ada said.

"Jonathan, tell me this platform has defenses," I said.

"It has sufficient structural integrity to withstand a Corvette's attack for a sufficient amount of time," he replied. "I've completed my task and am on my way back. Unfortunately, I've run into a problem. The second Belirand team has done the unexpected and we appear to be trapped."

"Mom, I need you to keep that first team pinned down," I said. "Marny, find a route to Jonathan."

"I've got 'em," Mom said. "I'm in communication with them now. I just need to establish a pecking order, wait one."

A single shot from the aft blaster on the top of
Hotspur
ripped through the atmo of the docking bay. I'd never been on the outside of the ship when one of her guns had been fired, at least not with atmosphere between us. The round tore through the top of the bulkhead above the position of the first team and I suspected it hadn't stopped at that point.

"They're stationary, you're clear," she said.

"Cap, Tabby, on me," Marny said. "Jonathan, I need you to move to location alpha. We'll meet you there. We move now."

Tabby and I formed up on Marny as she took off at a jog. As she did, our HUDs started updating. I knew that the cognitive load of planning an extraction was too much for Marny to also be effective on point, so I accelerated around her. I felt a reassuring pat on my shoulder as she acknowledged my adjustment.

We serpentined our way to an elevator bank and stepped onto the waiting car. Ordinarily, we'd avoid elevators, but Marny must have been confident we had sufficient control of the platform.

The station was rocked by an explosion outside of the bay and I realized that
Lawbringer
had started its attack.

"We're loaded, Liam," Ada's voice cut in.

"Close ramp and move to the aft section of the bay. There's an exit we'll have to enhance," Marny said. "But don't tip our hand yet."

The elevator stopped a floor above where Jonathan was trapped. He was still moving, but the Belirand agents were moving in concert to keep him cut off from an exit.

"Are you going to pull a
Bakunawa
?" I asked.

"Aye, Cap," Marny replied. "Tabby, breaching charge, pattern on floor."

The room we entered showed three outlines on the floor. I pulled my final explosive charge from the stock of my blaster rifle and configured it for breaching, placing it on one of the outlines.

"Jonathan, hold back," Marny instructed. "Strike team take cover."