The Solarian Celebration: Book 3 of the Alliance Conflict (29 page)

Kolvak said, “Captain, the odds of intentionally hitting the destroyer exactly where we did and exactly when we did are astronomical.  They are probably borderline incalculable.  How could you risk the entire crew on a plan that had almost no chance of success?”

Jim said, “That was a joke.  I had no idea that the ion cannon blast would do that.  I had intended on stopping the first destroyer with missiles and disabling the second with the ion cannon.”

Jim almost said - Then we could have killed them in a much less painful fashion – but reconsidered at the last moment.  Instead he said, “Then we could have forced them to surrender.”

Kolvak replied, “Computer, what does the phrase ‘just the way I planned it’ mean in Earth language.”

“English,” Colin corrected.

“English,” Kolvak repeated.

…94.6% The phrase means a favorable outcome was achieved despite less than ideal actions by the participants or possibly even by accident…

Kolvak responded, “Ah, I see.  The saying is a little flaky.”

Jim studied the main monitor and said, “We will be in missile range in another two minutes.  The battleship still hasn’t moved.”  He took a breath and continued, “Shole, run a full active scan on the battleship.  We need to know if there is any internal activity.”

Russ responded, “It certainly appears like they are just hoping we will float by.”

It certainly did.  Jim was about to order the fighter squadrons to peel off and attack the battleship when Shole said, “Captain, we are being hailed.”

“Why are we stopping?” Crista Bullpeep demanded.

“I don’t know,” her husband responded.  “Jack Dogbarks just said that we need to stop at the Anvil.

“Anvil?” Crista asked.

Victor replied, “The Anvil is the name of the primary commercial space station in Conron.

Crista pointed at the chart of the Conron system that was displayed on the main monitor.  She pointed to the monitor and responded, “Look, flying straight through the system in real time will take an extra two days versus just jumping around the outskirts.”

Victor responded, “I am sure that Jack knows what he is doing.  I have complete faith in his ability to navigate to Hiricula and back.”

Crista made a derogatory sign with her hand and said, “You once told me that you don’t trust Jack.”

“I don’t,” Victor answered.  “However, I think we can trust his judgement in this situation.”

A few hours later the two mini-freighters docked side-by-side at the Anvil.  They had been given docking slips on the lowest level, or the farthest from the commercial center of the station.  Jack was able to save a considerable amount of money on the docking fees by parking so far away. 

Victor, however, would have preferred a spot on the main level so that Crista could have gone shopping without him.  Crista’s control collar may not have enough poison left in it to kill her, but Victor wasn’t ready to risk Crista’s health by allowing her to wander through the station’s shopping district alone.

Jack exited the
Jackal
through the main hold, turned left, walked a few meters, turned left again, and walked into the main hold of the
Vista
.  Victor wasn’t waiting for him, so Jack started walking down the main hold toward the crew cabins.

As Jack was walking, he noticed several things that seemed amiss inside Victor’s ship.  Most beings wouldn’t see it, or wouldn’t know what they were seeing.  Jack saw them and knew what he was seeing.  He noticed that there were small holes physically drilled in the floor.  Further, the holes were threaded.  Jack knew that particular attachment method was only used on Earth.

Jack then noticed tire tracks from a large vehicle.  However, that wasn’t the worst.  There was a bump out in the main hull.  Jack approached it and looked in.  He realized that it was a multi-stall restroom and sonic shower.  The interesting fact was that the urinals were actually made on Earth. 

He then saw there was a passageway between the primary and secondary hold.  He peeked through and saw a kitchenette.  Jack quickly realized that the
Vista’s
holds had been modified to carry passengers – specifically human passengers.

Jack recalled his research from secretly taping Ella’s conversation with the
Sunflower
.  There had been two separate shipments of humans – the first was 20 and the second was 50.  He thought that the restroom and kitchenette looked large enough to accommodate about 50 humans.

After their Earth monitoring jobs ended, Jack had privately derided Victor for neither selling his mini-freighter nor using it to haul cargo.  After all, ownership of the mini-freighter was the main part of their severance package when the Earth over watch program ended.  What was the point of owning an asset if one wasn’t going to use it?

Now however, Jack knew the truth.  Victor had indeed been using mini-freighter to haul cargo.  Jack smiled to himself and said at a barely audible tone, “Kidnapping Humans from Earth.  Well Victor, I see that you have been busy after all.”

Victor and Crista exited the crew compartment and met Jack in the main hold beside the restrooms.  Victor said, “Sorry that we were a few minutes late.”  He pointed to Crista and said, “One of us forgot that Solarians are supposed to be blue.”

Jack smiled politely and bowed slightly toward Crista.  He said, “Crista, it is a pleasure to finally meet you in person.  I think that you look beautiful in any color.”

Crista replied, “Thank you.  It’s nice to be appreciated for once.”

Jack pointed to the restrooms and said, “I like what you have done with the place.”

Victor wondered if Jack knew that the hold had recently been used to transport humans.  He certainly knew something.  Victor continued the charade just in case.  He replied, “Yes, we used it for living quarters.”  It technically wasn’t a lie.

Jack replied, “Victor, this restroom is going to be a problem.  It juts out into the main hold.  The kitchenette in the second hold will also be an issue.”

Crista asked, “Why will it be a problem?”

Jack replied, “The Hiriculans know the exact area and layout of a mini-freighters hold.  Their load will be sized so that it fits perfectly in the allocated space.  Also, the load will more than likely be pre-bundled so that they can slide it into the cargo hold in two or three big moves.”

Victor hired a shipbuilding crew to disassemble the restroom and the kitchenette that he had installed on Earth in order to safely transport the humans.  Both units were pre-built and stand-alone, so the work to remove them was minimal.  However, he had to pay a significant premium because he needed the work done quickly. 

The crew efficiently removed both items.  The kitchenette was Alliance designed and could easily be resold.  The restroom unit, however, was unique because it had been constructed on Earth using human-sized toilets. 

The crew leader offered to sell the restroom for scrap and reimburse Victor, but Victor declined.  He realized that the restroom unit would make an excellent addition to his Human Town tourist attraction.  He was certain that Solarians would pay money to go the bathroom in actual Earth urinals. 

Victor decided to have the restroom unit placed in storage on the station.  However, this meant that he had to pay yet another fee to store it.  Plus, he would have to retrieve it at some point in the future or pay even more to have it shipped back to Solaria.

Crista summarized for her husband, “You should have known that you needed to remove those before we left Solaria.”  She overemphasized the word ‘before’ for effect.

The last item was the walkway between the primary and secondary holds.  Victor didn’t want to pay to have the doorway repaired, but repair crew supervisor insisted.  He mentioned that it was illegal to haul different cargo in the two holds without having a proper seal between them. 

Victor agreed, but not without a fight.  He wanted the crew to simply patch the doorway.  However, the crew supervisor again explained that the repair would not pass final inspection.  Victor relented and they removed the entire section of the wall that surrounded the doorway.  They then put a new panel in place and fused it to the existing wall. 

Victor inspected the work.  Everything was back the way it used to be.  Victor couldn’t tell where the threaded holes, restroom, or kitchenette had been.  Even the new panel matched the others next to it. 

Jack said, “Don’t worry too much about the money that you spent modifying your ship to turn it back into an actual cargo carrier.  I know a way to make the money back and then some.”

Victor worried a little bit about Jack’s last statement.  It certainly sounded like he knew that he had been transporting people, and perhaps even humans.  However, Victor wasn’t going to admit it.  He answered, “Tell me.”

Jack said, “We can get an outbound load.  I will explain on the way to the mercantile.”  Jack, Victor, and Crista walked across the large hangar to the electro lift.  They took it up 14 stories to the station’s main commercial and shopping area. 

They left Crista at one of the clothing stores and proceeded to the mercantile.  Once there, Jack started scanning the monitors.  Victor started looking as well, but he was just pretending.  He really didn’t know what he was looking for.  Victor said, “What do you recommend?”

Jack replied, “I generally try to find a mix between food and hard to find consumer goods.”

Victor said, “Makes sense” and started scanning the boards with a little more purpose.  Victor asked, “How long will we have to unload and sell our cargo?”

Jack replied, “I am looking for something that we can sell quickly once we get to Hiricula.”

Victor nodded and said, “Selling the merchandise as quickly as possible makes sense, especially since they are impatiently waiting for the office building components on Solaria.  With the amount that the Hiriculans are paying us, they may get upset if we arrive at Hiricula with our holds full.”

Crista joined them at that moment.  She was carrying a shopping bag in one hand and holding three fried Advranki sea moss sticks in her other.  She gave one to Victor and the other to Jack.

Jack accepted the stick and stood there staring at it.  He had been forced to Advranki sea moss when he was traveling with Ella Birdsong and had developed a distinct dislike for the stuff.  No, actually, he loathed the stuff.  He hated Advranki sea moss.  He hated it with a passion reserved for precious few other things in his life. 

Jack looked over at Crista and saw that she was watching him expectantly.  Victor’s treat was half eaten.  Crista’s was almost gone.  Trapped, Jack bit off the top and started chewing.  He swallowed that bite and took another.  He chewed and swallowed it as well. 

Jack took another healthy bite and forced it down.  Jack smiled and said, “Wow, these are really good.  Thank you Crista.” 

‘Last bite’, Jack thought to himself.  Jack took the last bite of his sea moss treat and started chewing.  Chew, chew, chew; now swallow.  Jack smiled because he had finally finished the repugnant thing.  However, he was still thinking about Victor’s statement when he saw it on the mercantile monitor.

Crista said, “I am going to go back to the store and get a couple of cases of sea moss sticks for the road.  Jack, would you like me to get you a case as well?”

Jack smiled politely and said, “Absolutely.”

Jack sighed; he knew what he would have to do.  It simply made too much sense.  Jack said, “Victor, look, they have Advranki sea moss available for sale.”

Victor replied, “Yes, it’s really cheap here.  Do you think that we will be able to unload it quickly when we get to Hiricula?”

Jack answered, “No.  But I know a place where we can sell it immediately upon arrival.  And it is only three days out of our way in each direction.”

“Victor said, “Meaning that we will be a week late.  Won’t we have to pay a penalty or something?”

Jack waved him off and answered, “There is no penalty clause.  When we get there, we get there.  Plus, this way we will reach Hiricula with empty holds, so there they won’t be able to complain.”

Jack purchased enough Advranki sea moss to fill both mini-freighters’ main holds.  He also bought enough fruit and vegetables to fill both secondary holds.  This time though, he made darn sure that his tertiary hold was not filled with anything.  He was still mad about having to throw away nearly two pallets of sea moss from his last trip.

They returned to their ships and watched the station crew finish loading the cargo into their holds.  Once completed, Jack walked to the control room of the
Jackal
.  He found a case of Advranki sea moss sticks sitting on the main control panel. 

Jack picked up the case of sea moss and briefly read the label.  There were 24 sticks inside.  Jack couldn’t imagine eating another one, let alone 24.  Disgusted, he flung the box across the floor.  It stopped when it hit one of the cryostasis tubes.  Jack could still see the offensive box, so he kicked it farther away.  It was still visible, so he pulled the curtain across the two chambers.

“Better,” Jack announced now that the box was no longer visible.

An hour later the two fully-loaded mini-freighters undocked from the Anvil space station and headed for Conron – Opron hyperspace lane.  Jack plotted a course that allowed them to micro-jump around the outskirts of the system.  They were able to shave some time off of their trip by doing so and would reach the lane in 42 hours.

…………………….

“The
Informe
r is coming through now,” traffic control informed Admiral Wertak.

Admiral Wertak paced across the flag bridge of the
Sentry
.  He had ordered 14 of the 18 ships in the Conron fleet to the entryway of the Opron – Conron hyperspace lane.  All ships were on full alert and over 100 fighters were circling the area.  There were another 316 fighters prepped and ready for launch if required.

Admiral Wertak replied, “Contact the corvette and have them give their report immediately upon arrival.  There is little point in waiting for them to dock with us.”

Traffic control technically didn’t report to the Navy, but the traffic control officer accepted the command anyway.  There was very little reason for him to refuse it.  As tense as the situation was, every moment could count.

Traffic control: “
Informer
, welcome back.  We received your report.  Please set a course for the battleship
Sentry
and contact them immediately.”

Admiral Wertak answered the moment the
Informer
contacted them.  The distance between the ships was very small and the communication delay was less than a second.  Wertak said, “We got your report a few minutes ago that an entire Hiriuclan fleet jumped directly to the entryway of the Conron – Opron hyperspace lane.  Can you tell us what happened?”