A Pirate's Tale: The Only Solution Is Retribution (14 page)

Victoria was watching them and saw something happen to the pattern.  Something important had been said and she wondered what it was.  But Barney picked her up off the floor and swung her around.  When she looked back at Leonidas, he was gone.

• • •

Leonidas left the party and went to the Thermopylae.  He sat in his quarters and began replaying all the memories from the past.  He never saw Desiree close to Mark.  He remembered catching her staring at him numerous times and didn’t really think about it.  He remembered Mark calling him to the warship he was given before the announcement about the unit being disbanded.  Desiree was right.  Mark kept him in the dark about her feelings.  Quite frankly, he never had feelings for Desiree because he thought of her as being Mark’s woman.  He didn’t know what to think or how to feel about this.  One thing he did know, Mark was being incredibly selfish.  His rage at Mark’s death underwent a sudden change.  Mark was a manipulator and he never knew it.  He suspected Desiree told him in order for him to decide if going after Blakely was something he was committed to doing.  And what should he do about Desiree now that she had told him how she felt?  He didn’t know.  He just…didn’t know.

• • •

The crews finally had enough and decided it was time to report to their ships.  They sang all the way out to the two entry ports and Victoria sang with them.  Once they stumbled to their quarters, Victoria went to Desiree’s cabin and knocked lightly on her door.  Desiree opened the door and Victoria said, “May I come in?”  Desiree nodded and Victoria walked in.  “What happened between you and Leonidas?”

Desiree’s face showed a flash of anger and then she blew out a slow breath, “I guess I should tell you; we’re going to have to work together for a while.  I told him that our former CO had deliberately kept me from telling Leo how much I cared for him over the years.”

“What?”

“He didn’t want Leonidas distracted, he was the best unit commander in Mark’s Unit.  I requested a transfer to his staff and he told me he’d approve it but that I could not allow Leonidas to know about my feelings.”  Victoria stared at her with narrow eyes.  “Anyway, he told me I could tell him if he ever left the service.”

“And when your unit was disbanded?”

“He took Leonidas to his warship and made the announcement from space.  He immediately flew away and never gave me the chance.”

“So you told him tonight?”

“I did.”

“Why?”

“Because he needed to know before he went out and risked his life trying to kill the pirate that murdered Mark.”  Victoria started shaking her head and Desiree quickly said, “Don’t get me wrong, Mark was an outstanding Commanding Officer and he did what needed doing to insure the security and safety of the Legion.  However, taking Leonidas away was a purely selfish act.  He did it because he knew his chances of survival were improved with Leonidas on board his ship.  He could have brought me along but chose to leave me and the rest of the unit on Regulus.  He also went through the difficulty of changing all the communicator’s frequencies before he lifted.”

“What did Leonidas say?”

“Nothing.”  Desiree stared at Victoria and lowered her eyes, “Victoria, do you have a crush on Leo?”

“I’m not really sure, Desiree.”

“Come on; that’s not something that’s hard to figure out.”

“Look, he saved my life after we landed and kept me safe while others were trying to kill or capture me.  You have to understand that he looks like a knight in shining armor to me,” Victoria answered.

“Does he know your feelings?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, let’s do this.  You can tell him if you want so he knows that both of us are interested in his companionship.  Then we’ll both agree to do nothing to gain an advantage in getting him.  He will make the choice and whoever loses will shake the hand of the winner and move on.”

“But you’ve been pursuing him for years; I’ve only just met him.”

“Telling me I have seniority is like telling a bride her future husband’s girlfriend had dibs first.  Feelings are feelings and his feelings are the important ones here.  He was probably developing something for you while he knew nothing about what Mark had done to me.  You and I have shared a special time of suffering and I’ve grown close to you.  We’ll let nature take its course as you and I make sure we remain friends.  Besides, you can offer more than me.”

“How’s that?” Victoria asked.

“You’re incredibly wealthy and I’m just a poor former mercenary.  He should choose you.”

Victoria reached out and hugged Desiree, “You should know that you are going to leave this mission with a very large chunk of my wealth.  He’ll decide based on what his heart tells him and don’t think either of us have a lock on him.  He could fall for a Pirate Princess on Tortuga and leave us both in the cold.”

“Won’t happen!” Desiree said.

“Why not?”

“Look up Pirate Princess in the database and see what sort of images appear.  Gem looks better than most of them.”

Victoria burst out laughing and said, “There is also a chance we could find another during our travels.”

“I hope you’re right.  This constant heartbreak is something I want behind me.”

Victoria hugged her again and said, “Try to get some sleep.  I’ll see you in the morning.”  Desiree nodded and Victoria left her quarters.  She walked to her cabin and wondered if she was capable of playing nice with Desiree in pursuing Leonidas.  She was raised by a family that was ruthless in its dealings with others.  She had learned from the best and was finding it hard not to plot on how to win Leo.  She sighed; Desiree had to deal with her heartbreak and she had to deal with developing scruples.  She wondered which was more difficult.

L
eo looked at Victoria and Desiree on his console’s display and smiled, “Well, I hope the two of you have a good time going out to party.”

“Actually, I was wondering if you had a problem if we delay that for a while,” Desiree replied.”

“What will you do instead?”

“That will depend on your plans, Sir.  Are you going to immediately go to Tortuga or do something else first?”

“I’m not going there immediately.  I’m going to take some time to get my crew acclimated to the ship’s systems and work on developing a good cover story.  Gold is going to work with each weapon team to make them proficient before we take that planet on.  Why do you ask?”

“I’ve been thinking that showing up after a long absence from the party planets might cause some questions.  Victoria was well known and we’ll need a cover for that missing time.  We also need to take advantage of anything that will keep her away from the Romanov Searchers as long as possible.”  Desiree paused and then said, “I think we should leave this galaxy and go out to another one and visit some of its tourist hot spots.  That way we can say that she has been away exploring new places to have fun.”

“That sounds like a good idea.”

“We will, of course, have to visit some of those planets so our cover won’t be blown by anyone that has actually been out of the galaxy but it will also give us time for Gem to train us on our new physical talents.”

Leo smiled, “That’s a very good plan, Desiree.  Victoria, what do you think about this?”

“I’m all for it.  However, both of us agree that we want to be close when you decide to go to Tortuga, just in case you need a second ship in the event things go south.”

“Let’s do this,” Leo replied.  “I expect this mission to take a while so for the next six to nine months, I’m going to build a cover story for my ship as well.  If we’re going in as pirates, we need to be able to have stories, true stories that can be verified, about how we’ve taken ships and terrorized them.  That will take some time and that should give you enough time to complete your physical training and visit enough planets outside this galaxy to give substance to your cover.  I want you to also realize that if you get in a tight place, you should contact me as well.  It will take some time to get to your location but use me if the situation calls for it.”

“Actually, when we return, you could use us as one of your stories.  You could say that you forced Victoria to pay a huge ransom for you to release her and that would give you funds you might need on Tortuga.”

Leo smiled, “Now that is a good idea, Desiree.  Stay in touch.”

Victoria smiled, “You do the same.”

“I suspect Gold and Gem will be staying in contact so if you don’t hear from me just check with Gem.  I don’t know how they do it but their communicators are far beyond what we have.”

“I wonder why they didn’t install their communication system on our ships.” Desiree said.

Leo raised his shoulders, “I suspect it would allow us to hear all of their communications and the Insectoids are leery of doing that.”

Desiree shrugged, “You’re probably right.  Good luck and we’re boosting out in ten minutes.”

“We’re leaving in an hour after all of our missiles are brought on board.  Be careful.”  The display went dark and Leo sighed.  Desiree wasn’t showing any emotion.  She was so brilliant in devising tactics and he wondered how she would be if she let her hair down and relaxed.  Shoot he wondered how he’d be if he did the same.  He looked over his shoulder, “Barney, how’s the loading going?”

“We’ll be done on time, Sir.”

“Can the calling me ‘Sir’, Barney and pass that on to the rest of the crew.  Address me as Captain.”

“Yes…Captain.  What rank am I?”

“First mate.”

“That sounds kinda…I don’t know…”

Leo laughed, “Get used to it.”

“Arggg, I will, Captain.  I’m going below decks and beat the hostages.”

“Barney, I think you might be getting into this pirate’s role a little too…”

“What?  We don’t have hostages?”

“We also don’t have below decks, Barney.”

“Then we’ll have to build some, Captain.  Below decks is where all the pirates have their fun.”

Leo laughed and Barney left the bridge.  Embree looked up from his panel, “Permission to go below decks, Captain.”

Leo looked at him, “Drank a little too much last night, Embree?”

“Which one of the three of you said that, Captain?”

“Go and lie down for a while.  I’ll call you when it’s time to boost.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

Carl looked at him as he walked off the bridge, “Big baby!  Can’t hold your booze!”

Embree paused and looked at Carl, “I yield to the professional drinker.  I have no idea how you can drink that much and still stand up.”

“Lad, most of it wasn’t vodka, it was water.”

“Where did you get water!?” Embree asked.

“I carry a bottle in my pouch.”

Embree rolled his eyes and almost fell.  He grabbed a console next to him and groaned, “I’ve been deceived, betrayed, and laid low.”

“Be thankful you’ve learned how to do it.  All it cost you for the lesson was one good hangover.”

“It’s not worth it.”  Embree turned and stumbled off the bridge.

Leonidas laughed and took a stack of white cards and put them in a lock compartment under his console.  He hesitated before he closed it, reached into his backpack, took out a purple colored card, and put it with the white cards.  This new identity would not support carrying a purple card.  He felt almost naked without it but knew it had to be done.  He decided that he needed to go to see someone before he started this new life.

• • •

An hour later, Barney said over the bridge’s loud speaker from the landing bay, “Everything is stored and the ship is ready to go.”

Leonidas looked at Carl, “Take the ship out and enter Kellenger’s coordinates in the stardrive.”

“Captain, is it safe to go there after what’s happened?”

“This ship is not listed on any Unity records.  Armed ships go to Kellinger on a regular basis and I think we’ll be safe.”  Leo sat back in the command chair and watched the ship lift from the berth holding it and rise into the morning sky.  It reached orbit and boosted toward the filament.  The first intersection was an hour away.

• • •

They arrived at the intersection where twenty filaments crossed each other and the ship moved to a large filament headed toward the Kellinger Filament.  Leo pulled a number up on his communicator and scrolled down to a number he had taken from Ana’s communicator.  He pressed it and saw a face appear on the small display, “Do you remember me?”

“I do.”

“I want to have a private meeting with you.  Will you do it?”

“When will you arrive?”

“How do you know I’m not there now?”

“I have my ways.”

“I should be there in another twelve hours.”

“Go to a restaurant named the Grove.  I’ll be waiting for you there in twelve hours.”

“Thank you.”

Leo sighed and sat back in his chair.  He closed his eyes and felt the headache pounding in his head.  He would be carrying a bottle of water in the future.  He had way too much to drink the night before and he wouldn’t be doing that again.

• • •

“Please state the nature of your visit to Kellinger?” sounded out of the loud speaker.

Leo leaned forward and pressed a button on his panel connecting him with Kellenger’s Traffic Control, “I am meeting someone for a short meeting and then I’ll be leaving.”

“Your ship is an armed vessel and you will park in the outer most orbit with the other armed ships.”

“Thank you.”

“Do you require a shuttle to go to the surface?”

“No, I’ll be taking my own.”

“Is your shuttle armed?”

“The one I’m taking is not.”

“You are approved to land.  What location will you be going to?”

“The Grove Restaurant in the main city.”

“A parking place has been designated for your arrival and the coordinates will follow.”

“Thank you, Traffic Control.”

“You’re welcome.”

• • •

“Sir…I mean, Captain, there is an armed Romanov Warship holding orbit close to our assigned orbital location.  We are currently being scanned by it.”

“Let me know if they move.”

“They are holding position, Captain.”

Leo looked at Barney, “You have the ship.”  Barney nodded and moved to the command chair.  Leo stood and left the bridge for the landing bay.  He arrived and saw the shuttle was powered and ready for launch, “Nick, I want to exit the port side.”