A Pirate's Tale: The Only Solution Is Retribution (13 page)

“And your ship will only have two on its hull.  The others will be hidden inside the ship’s hull and will emerge if they’re needed.  Actually, Victoria’s ship is twice the size of yours and houses more blasters than your vessel.”

“That’s good.”  Leo looked at him, “I’ll notify the crews that we’ll be leaving in two days.  How are Victoria and Desiree coming along in their training?”

“They’re actually making faster progress than you did.”

“What?”

“I suspect sharing the experience with someone else makes both of them work harder to not fall behind.  You didn’t have that.”

“If I haven’t told you before, thank you!”

“You’re welcome.  But you should know that this mission is bringing me more excitement than I can say.  I really think it will be the most fun I’ve ever had.”  Leo smiled and wondered if that was a good thing.  “By the way, what is your pirate name going to be?”

Leo’s eyes went wide, “Name?”

“Well, you have to have a pirate name and a cover story when you waltz into Tortuga.  You better start working on that.”  Leo rolled his eyes and then nodded.  “I also need a name to put on your ship now.”

“I’m stumped on that.”

“Do you think there are military records on you?”

“I’m sure there are.”

“Well, it might not be a bad thing for others to know that you were a professional mercenary before the Unity disbanded the Legions.  They probably won’t know about your former CO being killed by Blakely’s ships.  It wasn’t registered to you.”

“Are you suggesting I name the ship and use a name that could be tracked back to my military records?”

“I am.  A large number of pirates are former mercenaries.  Some of them might know you on Tortuga.  Using a different name might cause you some problems.”

“Put the name Thermopylae on the ship.”

“And your name will be?”

“Leonidas Alexander.”

“The best disguise is one that’s real.  You can use your anger at having your Legion disbanded by the Unity as a reason for you to become a pirate.  The other good thing about doing it this way is your crew won’t slip up and accidently say something suspicious.”

“Blakely did see me on the ship he attacked,” Leonidas said absently.

“You can tell him you were going to attack it but he beat you to it.”

Leonidas smiled, “Now that is good thinking, Gem.”

“That’s what I’m here for, Leonidas.”

“What has Victoria chose for her ship’s name?  The last one was named ‘Life’s a Party’.”

“She chose, ‘Play Toy’.”

Leonidas laughed, “That fits.  I’m sure she’ll just tell anyone that knew her that she was bored with the older, smaller ship.”  Leonidas paused, “What’s going to happen if she runs into someone that knew her?”

“She’ll apologize for not remembering.  She’ll tell them that she’s met so many people during her party travels that it’s all just mush in her mind and ask where they knew her.  She’ll be able to fake her way through it.  Pretending to be intoxicated will make it easier to believe.”

“She needs to work on that.”

“Already playing the role.  You’ll see next time you see her.”

“Gem, are you alright?”

“I am.”  Leonidas stared at him and Gem raised both arms, “I’m as alright as I was when Victoria was still alive! I’ll be fine!”  Leonidas nodded and turned back to the ships.  Something was going on with Gem but he wasn’t saying what it was and he knew not to push it.

• • •

Desiree stood behind Larry, Arnold, and Joe as they questioned the Insectoid Engineer standing behind them.  Joe shook his head, “I’m not clear on how to fire a missile at a target.”

The Insectoid raised its head and clacked, then looked at them.  He pressed a button on their panels and said, “When you press this button, it allows you to go through training attack patterns and work with your weapons system.  No missile will be launched but the computer will track your results.  There is a glass cover over this button so you don’t accidently press it during battle.  Understand?”  The three nodded.  “If the ship’s Scanner Officer detects a possible enemy ship moving toward you, your panels will be activated automatically.  The one of you that’s in the optimum position to launch against the incoming ship will see the data start appearing on their display and the coordinates of the attacker will be fed to the first missile in the launch tube you control.  You will press the red, I repeat, the red button which will launch the missile when the green light illuminates on your panel.”

The three crewmen looked at each other and Larry said, “That seems easy enough.”

Desiree said, “It’s too easy.  Do not fire unless I give you orders to do so.”

Arnold raised his hand and said, “What if there are multiple attackers moving on us.”

“Your panels will be assigned the ones that you will fire on.  The data for each target will be sent to the corresponding missile in your tubes,” the Insectoid answered.

“How do the blasters figure into this?” Joe asked.

“The blasters will be used on approaching ships first.  The missiles will be fired if the blasters fail to take the targets out.”  Larry opened his mouth and the Insectoid quickly said, “If a target on your panel is destroyed by the blasters, the data for the missile assigned to it will automatically be changed to a different target,” the Insectoid answered.

Desiree looked at the engineer, “The blasters have a longer range than the missiles?”

“No, they don’t.  But you have a finite supply of missiles and the blasters can be recharged.”  Desiree nodded.  The Engineer continued, “If you find you are highly outnumbered, then start taking them out with missiles first to lower their numbers before they move into their blaster’s range.  That will be a decision that you will make and enter into your weapon command system.  You can always return here and have your missiles replaced if you run low.  I trust that you will attempt to run from any superior force attacking you but this is the tactics you should use if you can’t.”

Desiree nodded, “Can you start some practice attacks for them to work on?”

The Engineer smiled and lifted an electronic unit off his belt.  He pressed a button and the three crewmen heard from their panels, “Enemy vessels approaching.  This is not a drill, prepare to launch!”  Desiree watched the three work hard to keep up with the attackers and after each session, they began showing remarkable improvement.  Within four days, they were working together and even high numbers of attackers were not getting close to the ship.  Desiree asked the engineer before he left the ship, “Will the missiles we launch be seen by an attacker?”

“The missile ports will open and close in less than a second.  The missiles are only ten feet long and will present a frontal profile of less than three feet.  Most scanners won’t pick them up until they’re less than five miles out.  They will be moving too fast for the target ship to do anything before they hit.  The missiles are programmed to fly away from their targets before turning toward them and won’t be tracked as having come from your ship.  I suspect the ship they hit will believe they were fired from another ship.”

“And if there’s no hiding we’re armed?”

“Then you can change the missiles programming on your panel to go straight at their targets.”

“I can see why the Unity leaves your species alone,” Desiree remarked.

The Engineer clacked and said, “We intend to keep it that way.  We’ve learned a lot building these two ships and we’re changing a number of things in our newer warships that we learned during this process.  You have an excellent ship, Captain.  Keep it safe.”

“I will do everything in my power to do exactly that.”  The Insectoid walked away and Desiree realized that the Insectoids didn’t look so scary anymore.  She discovered she liked them a lot and knew there was no deception in their dealings with others.  She welcomed that trait after her dealings with humans.

The Insectoid Engineer was also changed.  He thought the humans were little more than intelligent animals but found them to be something different.  He initially thought the Prince wanting to go out with them was the highest form of lunacy…but now…he wished he were going with them.  He got his wish.

• • •

The Prince called the Engineer to his ship and he bowed as he stepped into Gem’s quarters, “Please rise.  My mother has forwarded your report on the humans to me.  It appears you have developed a good working relationship with them.”

“They were more than I expected, Highness.”

“Are you mated yet?”

The Engineer jerked, “No, Majesty, I am not.  Why do you ask such a personal question?”

“I am going to send you out with the second ship.”

“What?”

“I feel they might need your expertise if things go bad.  Are you willing to do it?”  The Engineer thought about his current status and saw no one on the horizon he was interested in choosing as a mate.  The Prince clacked his laughter and smiled, “Come on.  You’ll be able to see these new ships in action and your knowledge will be invaluable to the Realm.  Would you rather be working on building new ships?”

The Engineer thought about the remark and clacked, “Count me in, Majesty.”

“Good!  I’ll notify Leonidas later this evening that you will be joining his crew.  I need you ready to leave by then so tie up any loose ends before our meeting.  What do you wish to be called by the Humans?”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“They are unable to pronounce your name.  They call me Gem, which is a valuable shiny stone.”

“Then they can call me Gold.  That’s a shiny metal I’ve heard they value.”

Gem clacked loudly in laughter, “Now that is a great choice.  You’re going to have an incredible adventure.”

Gold clacked heartily, “I believe I am.  How am I going to explain my presence on their ship?”

“You’ll say that you’ve been banished from the Realm for killing a minor member of the Royal Family.”

“But we never kill each other, Highness?”

“Trust me on this, no one knows that but us.  Your cover will work among humans and any other alien species you encounter.  It will cause others to fear you when they hear what you did.”

“I guess that makes sense.  If I killed a member of the Royal Family, I would have no qualms about killing anyone else.”

“Exactly.  I want you to stay in contact with me and keep me informed on what’s happening.”

“I will, Highness.”

• • •

That evening, the two crews gathered in Victoria’s building for a farewell party.  Gem appeared with another Insectoid and Desiree walked over to them.  She looked at the Engineer and said, “You look familiar.”

“I’m the one that trained your crew on their weapons.”

Leonidas walked up and Gem said, “Gold will be going with your ship, Leonidas.”

Leonidas looked at the Engineer and said, “Why?”

“Because you may need assistance in operating the various weapon systems on your ship and no one knows them better than Gold.”

“How will I explain his presence?”

Gold said, “I killed a member of the Royal Family and have been banished from the Realm.”

Leonidas smiled and nodded, “Now that is a good story.  Welcome aboard, Gold.  I’m glad to have you.”

Desiree smiled, “He’s good, Leonidas.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Gold replied.

Leonidas smiled, “Come and join us.  I’ll introduce you to my crew.”

Victoria staggered up and put her arm on Desiree’s shoulder to keep her balance as she said in a slow drawl to Gem, “Dahling, who is this…this fine specimen of an Insectoid?”

“My name is Gold.”

“Well it’s good to meet you, Fold.”

“No, it’s Gold.”

Leonidas chuckled, “She knows.  She’s just practicing her role.”

Gold looked at Gem as he said, “I’ll explain it later.”  Gold twisted his head to the right indicating some confusion and followed them to the gathering.

• • •

Later that night, Leonidas was sitting in a chair watching the two crews celebrating the end of their training.  Victoria and Desiree had been danced off their feet and Desiree finally called a halt and said loudly, “I need a break!”

Victoria looked at her and yelled, “You big baby.  Come on guys, whose next?”

Desiree walked over to Leonidas and sat down in a chair beside him.  Leonidas smiled and said, “You have a good crew.”

“That I do.” 

Desiree sighed quietly and Leonidas turned to her, “What’s bothering you.”

“I’ve been debating whether or not I should share some private information with you.”

He stared at her and, after a moment said, “I don’t think we should have secretes between us.”

Desiree looked at him and furrowed her brow, “I didn’t tell you the entire truth about my choosing to go with Victoria.”

“What did you omit?”

“You said that Mark told you that he didn’t want me to go with him because he felt I should settle down and leave the life of war we’d been living.”

“That’s right.”

“He wasn’t being honest with you.”

Leo’s eyes narrowed, “He never lied to me, Desiree.”

“That wasn’t a lie, either.  But he wasn’t telling you everything and though it wasn’t an outright lie, it was misleading.”

“I’m not sure I understand.”

“You always thought that I requested to join Mark’s staff because of how I felt about him.”

“I did.”

“The truth was that he made me promise that I would never tell you the real reason.”  Leo stared at her.  “I requested to join Mark’s staff so I could be near you.  Even after our unit was disbanded he did not relieve me of my promise and he wouldn’t allow me to go with the two of you because he thought I would ultimately take you away from him.  I chose to go with Victoria’s ship because I knew that, if the going got really tough, I would do everything in my power to prevent you from being harmed and that might cause me to make bad decisions.  Mark knew I cared for you and would not allow me to express it; I had to be satisfied with just being near you.  He flew away with you before I could tell you.”

Leonidas stared at her with his mouth open as Desiree stood up, “I just thought you should know.”  She walked away and left the room’s entrance for her ship where, she went directly to her quarters.