First Command (28 page)

      
Mr. Debran paused in thought, then said, “Thank you, Captain, that is quite concise and to the point.
 
I would like to ask you that if you can’t save my family that you, at least, reduce this pirate stronghold to dust and cinders.”

      
“Sir, there are limits to what we can do.
 
We will see to it that the pirate base is destroyed and they are eliminated as a threat in this sector.”

      
Captain, pass this on to your admiral when he arrives that I want that base reduced to rubble and all the occupants eliminated.
 
If that doesn’t happen, I will make it my job to make things miserable for the Fleet.
 
Your own career is on the line.
 
I could make yours the shortest command in history.
 
Senator Coleen Santori is a close family friend and is personally interested in my family’s situation.”

      
Kelly quietly said, “Mr. Debran, Fleet will do everything possible to return your family to you and remove the pirate threat wherever they hide.
 
Before you threaten someone, however, you should know who they are.”

      
“My mother’s maiden name is O’Toole.
 
Her younger brother, my uncle, is Brian O’Toole.
 
You may be familiar with that name.
 
If there is nothing more, I’ll be heading back to my ship and my mission.”

      
Kelly stood up, walked out of the room, and with Chief Blankenship, left Mr. Debran‘s offices for his ship.

      
Debran spoke to Mr. Delphant after Kelly had departed.
 
Mr. Delphant pushed some buttons on his pocket tablet.

      
“Yes sir, LCDR Blake’s uncle is the majority leader of the Galactic Senate.
 
I think he’s just seen your senator and raised you.”

      
Friedrich Debran grimaced at the odds that a mere Fleet officer could have shut him down like that.
 
He told Mr. Delphant to get his hooligans ready to shadow the Vigilant.

* * * * *

      
Standard operational procedure for Scout Force ships on patrol and the physics of deep space did not normally allow for receiving or sending personal messages.
 
Kelly made use of a captain’s prerogative to authorize receipt of emails while docked at Rigel Station.
 
The fact that the sleek, black Vigilant was visible to several view ports along the spaceport’s promenade negated any operational security concerns.
 
Probably none of their observers noted the blue E, the red V, and campaign star, or understood their significance.

      
Kelly did not allow the crew any outgoing messages even though the operational security filters in the comms system would have scrubbed out any references to mission, destination, or location.
 
However, he did send two carefully worded messages to his mom and his dear uncle Brian.

* * * * *

      
The normal Senate Monday morning party leadership coffee was spirited as Brian O’Toole reflected on their recent passage of the Omnibus Appropriations Bill and its value to the Colonial party in the upcoming Fall elections.
 
With a final push to all his leadership to get the votes out for the Defense and Commerce Enhancement Bill authorizing an increase in funding for the expedited construction and broader deployment of transporter gates, Brian closed the meeting.

      
Brian asked Senator Colleen Santori to remain behind.
 
He reminded her that her dual hatting as Party Whip and Chairman of the Galactic Defense Committee was unprecedented and only an experiment.
 
He expressed his concern at the narrowness of the vote on the recent appropriations bill and how more important that was to the party’s future than her micromanagement of the Defense budget.
 
He opined that if things didn’t improve on this next bill he might ask her to choose which was most important to her.
 
She responded that she had just gone through a critical series of hearings on the upcoming Defense Budget, but there was now nothing in the way of her focusing her attention on Party Leadership matters.
 
Brian thanked her for her efforts on behalf of the party and the Republic and held the door for her as she left his office.

      
The pressure on Fleet over the Debran affair miraculously evaporated.

* * * * *

      
The sources of all the commotion were very comfortable in their captivity.
 
The VIP Manor House they occupied left them wanting for few creature comforts.
 
There were copious and well-maintained gardens, a fully equipped stable, fishing streams, a large pool and spa, tennis courts, a well-stocked library, a nine-hole golf course, and numerous other distractions for their pleasure and relaxation.

      
Christine and Sylvia spent most afternoons by the pool working on their all-over tans.
 
Julia spent her afternoons in the library.
 
Julia was pleased that Thorson (she didn’t know if that was his first or last name) had been chosen to captain the soon to be launched pirate cutter Eclipse, and thus was free to visit her often.
 
It allowed him to spend a good deal of quality time with her.
 
She was always so regenerated after his visits.
 
She so enjoyed being a desirable woman again.

      
Steven Maynard (the head pirate as Sylvia referred to him) also paid them a call.
 
He told them they were to be ransomed and should enjoy their confinement for the short time they were expected to be there.
 
He informed Julia that he was asking 100 million credits for the three of them.
 
Julia thought they were asking too little considering her husband’s worth, but kept that thought to herself.
 
Although the thought amused her to bid their price up, she never knew what true value, if any, Friedrich might assign to them.

* * * * *

      
The capture of the Nebula Queen caused all sorts of logistical problems, as it carried over 500 passengers, male and female, and 130 crew.
 
It took 12 shuttle flights to bring them all down to the receiving facility.
 
They were identified against the roster, chipped, sorted by use categories, and eventually sold.
 
Irina Bugarov and Terri remained together because of some skillful camouflage and even more skillful makeup usage.
 
Suspecting what was coming; Irina made Terri look old and used up.
 
She emphasized wrinkles on Terri’s face, and wrapped an elastic band around her bust to de-emphasize her breasts.
 
Irina then dressed both of them in their worst looking clothes.

      
When the Ascetics found them in Irina’s cabin, they initially thought Terri was a man.
 
Irina convinced them otherwise.
 
When they reached the sales arena, Irina kept her close.
 
The two of them were pushed into a cage holding older female captives.
 
Irina and Terri were sold as part of a block of 100 female workers for a piece goods factory.
 
General Irina Bugarov, veteran of two wars, Senior Fighter force commander for a battle fleet, Vice President for Debran Defense Industries, would be a seamstress.
 
She told herself if she was going to be a seamstress, she was going to be a damned good one.

* * * * *

      
The Vigilant hovered just outside the Pleiades star cluster, where Alistair Bennett had lost the mysterious ion trail.
 
Kelly had the gravimetric plot on his command display.
 
He studied the readouts, then switched to the 3-D display.
 
With some adjustment, a tunnel of low gravity fields appeared before him.
 
He could see a clear path ahead into the star cluster.

      
He and Alistair had agreed that one of the several Sol-type suns should be their first target of investigation.
 
Kelly ran through his mental calculations for choosing this system over the other one more time.
 
He couldn’t find any reasons to argue against that choice.

      
Kelly called all hands to battle stations and ordered the helmsman to move ahead.
 
The helm and navigator worked closely with the Exec and Chief of the Watch to keep them in the middle of the gravity channel, as they moved resolutely ahead at FTL Power 3.
 
Kelly stayed on the bridge for the first few critical junctions then moved back to sensors.

      
As Kelly walked by, Chief Johnson had his section at maximum effectiveness.
 
They were monitoring external gravity, X-rays, and stellar radiation, in addition to the normal communications, early warning, and self-defense sensors.
 
They had already detected terrestrial communications ahead.

      
Kelly walked back to snag a coffee from the galley and returned to sensors.
 
He watched over the operators’ shoulders as they monitored their screens.
 
He had sat position beside them often enough, during work ups and in his previous job as Exec, that they no longer were nervous over his presence.
 
Sensors and the galley were two areas of his ship he had yet to master.
 
He had a deep respect for their capabilities.

      
The sensor operator, Chief Johnson, and Kelly saw it at the same time.
 
An indicator for a laser burst transmission ahead of them showed on one of the monitors.

      
Chief Johnson spoke first.
 
“Looks like we are on the right route, sir, and they now know we’re here.”

      
Kelly replied, “I have to agree with you on that.
 
Is there any chance you could break out what the message was?”

      
“No, sir, we only got the indicator because there is so much dust in this area.
 
It was facing mostly away from us.”

      
“Chief, can you get a close up view of that thing?”

      
Chief Johnson nodded at the sensor operator and he zoomed in on the early warning satellite.
 
It looked like a rock with an antenna sticking out the top.

      
“Let’s let this one go.
 
Maybe if they only get one report they won’t react.
 
Yes, I know it’s wishful thinking on my part.
 
Good work, Chief, but keep your eyes open.
 
I suspect we may see company soon.”

      
Kelly walked back to gunnery and found Chief Pennypacker, “Chief, we just tripped a burglar alarm, it seems.
 
Heat them up and keep your gunners fresh and focused.
 
I suspect we may have some company soon.”

      
“Nothing to worry about, sir, we’ll be ready for them.

* * * * *

      
Irina adjusted to the work relatively quickly.
 
Terri let her hair go dirty and kept a disheveled look about her.
 
This kept the male foremen off of her.
 
Irina found out one of the worst offenders of women was a captive himself.
 
She arranged a meeting with him.

      
When he arrived, three other women grabbed him from behind and held him while Irina approached him.
 
She unbuttoned her shirt and knelt in front of him while undoing his trousers.
 
He kept asking them why they were holding him – he would cooperate fully.

      
When his trousers hit the ground, Irina pulled out a set of industrial scissors and menaced his manhood.
 
He fainted.
 
Irina brought him to and told him that if they ever saw or heard of him bothering another woman in the factory, he would see those scissors again.
 
She also told him to pass the message to the other captive foremen.
 
She scared him so much that he soiled himself.

      
Treatment of the women improved dramatically at that point.
 
If ever a man started bothering a woman, the scissors came out and a snick-snick sound echoed through the room.
 
It had a very chilling effect.

* * * * *

      
It was First Day.
 
The weeks on Barataria were only six days long and were referred to by their order in the week.
 
Logically, the first day of the week was First Day.
 
The next was Second Day and so forth.
 
First Day was important because that was the only day of the week the Ruin View restaurant was closed and was Sally’s day off.