Loyalty to the Cause (TCOTU, Book 4) (This Corner of the Universe) (7 page)

“The
chief’s got the rifle.  Let him go through the airlock first, Stacy,” Selvaggio
suggested.  “If there’s going to be trouble, we don’t want you taking the first
hit.”

“Hell,
let the ensign go through first,” Brown teased as he jerked his head toward
Gables.  “Everyone knows she’s indestructible.  The captain’s written her eulogy
how many times now?”

Gables
placed a hand on her hip and narrowed her eyes in fake menace at the senior
chief.

“Just
kiddin’,
ma’am
.”  Brown winked at her while he walked past her and into
the docking tube.  Everyone fell into line as they proceeded down the flexible corridor
connected to
Hussy’s
outer airlock door.

Brown
skipped the standard access controls and activated the outer manual override,
forcing the portal to open.  A slight gust of air pushed past the chief as the
pressure equalized.  He barged in and bellowed, “Under Brevic Rules of
Interstellar and System Commerce and Brevic Military Regulations, this is a
ship’s inspection.”

The
small airlock was empty and the portal to the adjoining compartment was
closed.  Vernay motioned Brown to the next door but frowned when she saw he could
not open it.  A voice came over the ship’s main channel.

“What
is this about?” it demanded.

Vernay
looked to the top corners of the compartment, searching for a camera, and after
finding none replied in an authoritative voice, “Ship’s inspection per ISC Rule
4505.25.”

“We’ve
paid our dues,” the voice insisted.  “Is Chamberlain getting greedy again?  He
can settle this with the council if he wants to push up the credits but for
now, you’re not getting onto my ship.”

Vernay
let a new edginess permeate her voice.  “Captain, we’re inside your airlock. 
We are
already
on your ship.  Open the inner door and permit us access
or I will have my men blow it open.”  After a brief pause, Vernay said, “Okay, Chief,
laze us a hole through that portal.”

“Stop!”
cried the voice.  Seconds later, “It’s unlocked.  You people have a lot of
explaining to do.  We’ve paid for access in this system.  You’ve just pissed
off the wrong people, lady.”

Brown
opened the portal and found a small stairwell spiraling up.  He looked
questioningly over his shoulder at Vernay.  After brief consultation with her
datapad, Vernay answered, “Up the stairs and then left, Chief.”  She raised her
voice and said, “Captain, please meet us in your galley with your ship’s
officers to present your ship’s registration and captain’s license.  I’ll
explain everything once we’re there.”  She turned around to face her crew. 
“Jack, stay here and see if the orbital security-police show up.  Let me know
if they do.  Everyone else, follow me.”

Vernay
walked through the portal and climbed the stairs.  Brown was ahead of her with
rifle at the ready.  Vernay knew openly brandishing a weapon was a breach of
protocol for ship inspections but thought that the unusual greeting more than
justified the more aggressive approach from the chief.

The alloy
stairs ascended to the main deck.  Once the group reached the top, they turned
left and walked just a few meters to arrive at an open portal marked “Galley.” 
By the time Vernay’s entire crew had entered,
Hussy’s
officers had also reached
the room.

“I
demand to know who ordered this inspection!”  The pirate captain’s dark eyes
flashed angrily as he began to bull his way through the naval personnel without
noticing that all but three were officers, highly unusual for a simple
inspection crew.  He fixed his gaze upon Vernay as he stomped toward her while raving,
“I don’t know who you’re used to dealing with but when the council hears of
this, the
least
of your concerns will be whether you ever get promoted
again, missy!”

Brown
intercepted the ship captain before he came within arm’s length of Vernay.  He
savagely thrust the rifle barrel into the man’s ribs, the jagged end of the specially-purposed
flash suppressor punching the man into obedient silence.  The captain’s arms
raised reflexively in submission, his leather jacket parting to reveal a fine, silk
shirt underneath.

“Shut
up an’ listen, you good fer nothin’ pirate,” Brown admonished.  He leaned in
closer to the shocked face of the man and rumbled, “Just give me a reason. 
Please.”

Vernay
scanned the chief’s face and saw nothing of the trusted friend and mentor, just
the coiled tension of a predator preparing to strike.  “Captain,” she said,
loud enough to get not only the pirate’s attention but also Brown’s.  “I am
conducting an inspection of your ship.  Contrary to what you may think, we are
not interested in what you’re afraid we may find.”  Vernay looked the captain
in the eye and lied, “That is of no concern to us.  What I am concerned about
is an item that one of your crew has smuggled aboard your ship without your
knowledge.  Your crew will debark this freighter while we conduct a search.  If
we do not find the item in question, you are free to go about your way.  If we
find the item, we will confiscate it along with that crewman and you will then
be free to leave.”  Her datapad chirped and she read the short message.  She
closed the report and addressed the captain once more.  “There are orbital
police waiting to watch over your crew while we carry out our mission.  You
will use
Hussy’s
MC to order everyone off the ship to allow us to
conduct our investigation.”

“So
this isn’t about the euphoria?” the captain asked.

“No.”

“And
we’re free to go either way when you’re done?”

“As
you’ve said, your council paid its dues, Captain.  That money was wisely
spent.”  Vernay motioned toward the control panel near the galley door.

The
captain muttered under his breath but walked to the panel.  He pressed a button
with his thumb and announced, “This is the captain.  All personnel will
disembark the ship.  Don’t worry, I’m staying with the inspection party and you’ll
be back on it in an hour, but for now, everyone exit the ship.”  He paused and
then added, “That means you too, Joachim.”

Vernay
arched an eyebrow at the captain who explained, “Hussy’s chief engineer.  He
never leaves the ship.”

“Everyone
exits but you, Captain,” Vernay maintained.  “My people are not going to
babysit your crew while we conduct our search.”

At
the mention of Vernay’s comrades, the captain began to look around.  His eyes
struck upon officer epaulette after officer epaulette.  Vernay saw suspicion
grow in the captain’s black eyes.  “This isn’t a standard inspection team,
Lieutenant.”

“This
isn’t a standard inspection, Captain,” Vernay replied coolly.

As
Hussy’s
officers began to filter out of the galley, Vernay reached out to Truesworth
via her datapad.  “Jack, they’re coming out.  I want a count of the crew as
they leave the ship.”

“Sure,
Stacy.”

Vernay
groaned inwardly at the familiarity Truesworth had used for his superior
officer in front of
Hussy’s
captain.

The
sensorman’s voice carried over her datapad again.  “What about the extra
multi-rifles the SPs brought?”

Vernay
noticed the captain flinch at the question. 
Damn, I shouldn’t have had this
conversation in front of him.
  “I’ll send an
agent
down to you,
Lieutenant
.” 
Vernay purposefully placed emphasis on the words “agent” and “lieutenant,”
hoping Truesworth would understand why.  “I don’t want any surprises from a freighter
crewman who decides to stow away in Hussy instead of waiting off the ship.”  Truthfully,
Vernay did not think the rifles would be necessary to secure
Hussy
. 
However, she had no idea if they might become useful when trying to free the
Hollarans.

“Roger-dodger,”
came the reply.

Several
minutes passed as Vernay waited for
Hussy’s
crew to leave the freighter
and for Ensign Gables to retrieve the four extra multi-rifles.  Upon receipt,
Vernay sent a small, armed detachment led by Selvaggio to
Hussy’s
bridge
to answer any questions the orbital control tower might have, given
Hussy’s
rushed departure request and now her delay.  By the time Selvaggio confirmed
her arrival on the bridge via datapad message, Truesworth had completed his
count.

“Thirty-three,
Stacy,” Truesworth relayed to Vernay.  “That’s my second count.”

The
captain makes thirty-four so someone didn’t leave Hussy,
Vernay thought.  She shot an
irritated look at the captain.

“It
has to be Joachim.  Damn fool practically lives in the aft compartments.”  The
captain sighed with resignation.  “Let’s go get him.”

Vernay
followed with Brown in tow.  Behind her, she heard him ask someone, “Who got
assigned Engineerin' duty?”  After a short pause, he said, “Okay, Ensign May,
can you come with us… an’ someone else too.  You, Ensign Olson, will you please
accompany the L-T an’ me.”  Given his word choice, the sentence was phrased as a
question.  Given his experience and authority, the sentence was anything but.

The
ship captain led Vernay and her three shadows through slender corridors.  The
walls were covered with a faded and chipped paint that may have been a functional
white at one time but now resided in the hues of a stained yellow.  Most of the
deck lacked paint completely, worn away by countless footsteps over the
freighter’s decades of neglect.  The group stepped down a small companionway,
passing the crew’s quarters.  Overhead, Vernay knew, were the freighter’s two
lifeboats.  The corridor ended abruptly at a door.  The pirate manually cranked
a wheel on the portal and then opened the hatch to reveal
Hussy’s
aft
hold.

Easily
the largest compartment Vernay had ever seen on a starship, the hold was
forty-two meters long, sixteen meters wide and some nineteen meters tall. 
Through the darkness above, Vernay could make out the bottoms of cargo hatches
that would open upward into space.  Contrary to Brevic military regulations,
there appeared to be no containment field ready to prevent accidental decompression,
no status board showing atmospheric pressure or hatch lock-out controls, none
of the myriad of safety precautions taken in a standard Brevic naval vessel’s
hangar. 
Could I really just walk over to those controls and decompress the
entire hold with us in it?
  Vernay shivered at how close she was to open
space.  The group reached the far end of the hold and the captain began to open
the aft hatch when Vernay’s datapad chirped again.

“Stacy,
it’s Jack.  Am I supposed to say anything to the SPs before we take the
freighter?”

Vernay’s
ears burned and her mind cursed Truesworth while her blue eyes locked onto
Hussy’s
captain.  She opened her mouth but the words came out slower than the pirate
captain’s holdout pistol, stashed inside the sleeve of his jacket.  Instinct
drove her to the deck as the ugly, snub-nosed pistol boomed.  She turned away
from the captain and began to roll even as she heard the rounds from Brown’s
multi-rifle ricochet off the closing aft hatch.  Vernay stopped rolling and saw
Ensign May drop to her knees with an uncomprehending expression on her face and
a red blossom growing on her abdomen.

“Dammit,”
Chief Brown cursed.

Ensign
Olson immediately grabbed May to ease her down to the deck.  “Vivian!” he
shouted reflexively.

Vernay
sprung to her feet and ordered, “Olson, stay with her and tell Selvaggio what’s
happened.”  She threw her datapad at the stunned ensign.  “Chief, we have to
stop him.”

Brown,
already at the hatch, stood to one side and nudged it open with the tip of his
rifle.  He peered cautiously into the hall and whispered, “Clear.”

Vernay
looked down the hallway before stepping in.  To her left was a hatch labeled
“Life Support.”  The corridor’s only other hatch was at its terminus.  Vernay
motioned to the closer hatch.  “We have to clear this one first.”

Brown
nodded and again gently nudged open the portal.  The sound of cascading water
emanated from inside the room.  It was dark but the illumination from the corridor
was enough to reveal a vacant compartment.  Brown pointed to the hatch at the
end of the hallway.

“There’s
two of them, Chief.  Don’t forget.”

The
pair crept down the hallway to arrive at the portal.  Vernay asked quietly, “How
do you want to do this?”

Brown
pointed and said in a low voice, “Get to that side of the door, ma’am.”  He
lowered himself to the deck directly in front of the hatch.  “When I give the
word, you kick open the door but stay hidden to the side.  If I get hit, close
the hatch an’ try to keep ‘em from openin’ it.”

Vernay
bit her lip and nodded.

“One…
two… THREE!”

The
hatch swung open hard enough to slam against the inside bulkhead.  Vernay
thought she heard the holdout pistol’s report but it was difficult to tell over
the deafening staccato bursts of the multi-rifle.  Brown immediately rose from
the deck and charged into the room.  Somewhere inside, Vernay heard a desperate
voice implore in accented English, “
Nein!
  Don’t shoot my babies!”