Wings of Steele - Destination Unknown (Book 1) (43 page)

"Methinks
I smell a rat..." quoted Brian.

Trigoss
wiped his hand across the layer of dust on the shuttle's
hull,
making a clean stripe, "This is the minor problem I spoke of.
The men found it early this morning when they were scrounging for
materials to finish up the hull."

"Has
it been searched?" Jack was concerned about preserving the
crime
scene, so to speak.

Trigoss
wiped the dust onto the leg of his coveralls. "Nope."

Jack,
followed by the others, moved around the nose to the access
hatch
on the other side of the shuttle. "This whole thing is
beginning to look like a setup... except it blew up in their
face..."

Paul
gave him a puzzled look, "I'm not sure I follow you..."

"Too
many coincidences, Pappy," answered Jack. "First, this
shuttle
disappears.
Then we answer a distress call, off the main travel route between
Genisis Gates..."

"From
the Eliza Meru," interrupted Paul.

Jack
nodded. "Right. Then about the same time, we acquire a shadow
named
Kidd. Then, at full sensor range, he's able to tell our ship has no
defenses and he only needs to send one fighter to stop our escape. I
checked this tub," he indicated the Freedom. "And at that
range, that information isn't available. Finally, in Gant's initial
conversation with the commander of the boarding party, they inquired
about the Earth pilots, and our planes. How could they have known
about that? That stuff's been driving me crazy. But this," he
pointed at the shuttle, "answers everything! Kidd had an agent
posing as a passenger on the Princess Hedonist!"

"But
who?" asked Derrik.

Jack,
standing at the shuttle's entry hatch, shook his head. He
opened
the panel covering the keypad. "I don't know. I'm hoping the
answer's in here..." The keypad chirped under Jack's fingertips
and the door swished open. Since there was no boarding ramp, the men
boosted each other up through the shuttle's doorway. "Search
everything," he directed.

It
was a fifteen seat work shuttle with cargo and luggage space, so
the
men split up and went to work. It didn't take long. Two pieces of
personal luggage were found in the cockpit on the copilot's seat. On
the navigation computer, was the course and rendezvous point between
the shuttle and the pirate cruiser. "Well," began Jack,
"let's see who the proud owner of this luggage might be..."
The luggage ended up on the floor in the passenger compartment,
surrounded by the six men.

Trigoss
knocked off the latch-locks with a heavy spanner wrench and
opened
the luggage. Kneeling on the floor, the men rummaged through the
clothes for a clue of identity. "Whoever he is," said
Derrik, holding up a dress shirt, "he's a little fella..."

"He's
also Saurian..." added the Chief Engineer, looking at the
pattern
on the shirt.

"What
have we here..?" Jack pulled a leather pouch out of a hidden
pocket
in the second travel case.

"Open
it!" urged the group.

Jack
removed the contents and spread them across the mess they'd
created
looking for clues. Trigoss inspected the various documents, among
them, a ledger of some kind. "Hmmm," he reflected, "it's
all in Saurian, can't read a word... maybe someone on the Princess
can translate for us." He flipped through the pages and a
plastic card fell out. He picked it up and scrutinized it, flipping
it over. "Hellion..." he mumbled. The engineer stared
blankly at the photo on the other side before handing it to Jack.
"It's Tee," added Trigoss, wrinkling his nose. "I
never liked that stinking little worm..." The others duplicated
his sentiment.

Since
he had not been among the prisoners and had not been
discovered
among the dead, Jack and the others came to the conclusion that, for
his efforts, Tee was probably awarded with a shove into an airlock.
It was also agreed upon, that a long stroll in space without a suit,
had been too good for him.

■ ■ ■

Later
that afternoon, in a meeting between Jack Steele and Gantarro,
arrangements
for the return of the recovered shuttle were arranged, as well as
the disposal of Tee's effects. Jack had also prepared a full report
for Gant to relay to the Council of the United Federation of Worlds
which outlined the new tactic of placing a spy on a ship desired for
acquisition. In the search for creative new ways to obtain safe
havens, it seemed obvious that large ships like the Princess
Hedonist were the newest likely targets by the pirates. They made
exceptional places for repair of small to medium ships and would
provide a safe, anonymous, facility for crew R&R, or even
innocuous transport of large masses of men and supplies.

He
also expressed that in the interests of victory, they might want
to
give the general populations, an incentive to participate in the
fight and inevitably have some bearing in the outcome. He explained
that rewards, bounties, bounty hunters and privateers, who under the
flag of their own world, pillage from the pirates then split the
profits with their own governments. This would not only increase the
number of ships at the UFW's disposal, but funnel needed funds to
the planets who might require added defense support.

He
explained, under this principle, he had taken possession of the
pirate
cruiser, making it his own. And, while his planet was not a member
of the UFW or the spacefaring community, he should be considered an
ally.

"So,
Jack, are you all settled in?" The two men sat in the Captain's
ready
room, connected to the Freedom's bridge. Jack wanted to show Gant
how the ship was coming along.

"Pretty
much. Most all the systems are up and running pretty well,
a
couple of problems, but we're weeding them out."

"Well
she looks super. Probably better than when I served on her."

Jack
tried not to let his pride get the better of him. "Thanks.
Everyone's worked very hard on
her.
And I want to thank you, for letting your people help us out."

Gant
swept the sentiment away with a wave of his hand. "Forget it,
most
of them came to me and personally insisted on it. Besides, the UFW
needs all help they can get. I'm obliged to make sure if an
opportunity arises, that I do what I can to make the best of that
opportunity."

A
tall, particularly attractive female porter entered with a tray of
food
from the galley. She had long silken auburn hair and sparkling brown
eyes. She strolled gracefully across the room with long, supple legs
and set the tray on the table. "Wine?" Her voice was light
and musical. Jack nodded and she poured for both men who watched
silently. "Will there be anything else, Captain?"

"No.
Thank you Alité." She turned and walked out, both men
watching
her go.

"Y'know,
Jack," Gant leaned back in the high back chair and put his
feet
up on the conference table, "the UFW is liable to claim
ownership of the Freedom, being she was theirs to begin with... they
lost a lot of good people when the Ynosa disappeared."

Jack,
unconcerned, sipped his wine. "I don't know, I think they've
got
more important things to worry about. Besides," he grinned,
"finders keepers..."

Gant
dropped his feet off the table and leaned forward, snatching
a
sandwich off of the platter. "Well," he smiled, "the
Council will have their hands full when they deal with you..."

Jack
raised one eyebrow, "How so?"

Munching
on his sandwich, he waved his free hand. "You have the
element
of surprise. You aren't orthodox in your approach to things. At
least not what they consider orthodox." He smirked, "They'll
probably just agree with you. It'll be the path of least
resistance."

"That's
the attitude that's losing their war," commented Jack.

"True,
true," agreed Gant, taking a swallow of wine. "They need
some
fresh
approaches, some new ideas. They're too used to playing it safe."
He held up Jack's report. "Maybe this will get them thinking."

Jack
leaned forward. "I hope so, I really do..." The two men
grew
quiet,
each contemplating their futures and what was in store for them.
Secretly, Gant wanted to be back on the bridge of a warship, he
missed the thrill of conflict.

The
comm on the table buzzed, interrupting the silence. Jack
answered
it, “Steele...”

"Captain?"
said the voice, "Lieutenant JG Raulya and Ensign Myomerr to see
you."

"Thank
you. Send them in."

The
two former security members of the Princess Hedonist entered
the
ready room from the bridge, dressed in brand new, gray and blue
uniforms of the Freedom's crew. They saluted sharply. "Reporting
for duty Captain."

Jack
smiled, "Relax, it's just us. So, you two got all you're gear
stowed?
You all settled in?"

Raulya
stepped forward and lifted a sandwich off the platter. "We
have
quarters on the port side, right down the hall from the bridge."

"Real
nice too," added Myomerr.

"Good,
good." Jack had been surprised when the two Ketarians had
expressed
an interest in becoming part of his crew, but was pleased to accept
them with Gant's blessing. "Listen," he added, "if
you two are hungry, Marna can get you something hot to eat in the
galley."

"Sounds
like an excellent idea," agreed Myomerr.

"Then,
get some sleep," added Jack, "we've got a long, busy day
tomorrow."
It was true. They were scheduled to pull the Freedom out of the
Princess's bay, the day after that.

"Raulya
looked down at the floor. "What about Fritz?" she asked
softly.

Jack
looked up and shifted uneasily in his chair. "They won't even
let
me see him, it's been three weeks..." his voice trailed off. It
was obvious this was a painful, open, emotional wound. He swallowed
hard. "Maybe it's better for him to stay on the Princess where
they can care for him..." He took a deep breath to maintain his
composure.

Raulya
cleared her throat. "Well, I think there was someone waiting on
the
bridge
to discuss that with you."

Jack
stood up. "Why didn't somebody say something?!" He hustled
to
the
door and it swished open before he reached it, disappearing into the
wall. Gant jumped up and followed him out, accompanied by Raulya and
Myomerr. Jack ran onto a bridge crowded with crew-people. "What
the hell is going on here...?" No one spoke. He looked around,
there had to be almost thirty people on the bridge. "Are you
all going to stand there grinning at me, or is someone going to tell
me what's going on..." his voice dropped off in mid-sentence,
as Fritz moved slowly through the crowd which parted silently,
shuffling to either side. "Oh..." his voice wavered.

The
Shepherd looked different, yet the same. Jack was so stunned, he
didn't
comprehend the changes. Using CABL (Computer Assisted Biological
Lifeform) technology, the surgeons were able to save the dog's life.
The right side of his head, from the bridge of his snout, including
the right eye socket, to behind the right ear, to about middle of
the top of his head, was polished stainless steel. This man made
steel exo-skeletal plate, was molded to replace the destroyed part
of his cranium. His right eye had been replaced with a color, full
zoom, optical cell. Shaped the same as his original ear, his new
right ear was a mechanically articulated, polished aluminum
composite dish, with a digital pickup that tripled his hearing
ability. A specialized CABL microcomputer took the place of the
damaged right lobe of his brain, which would actually make him
smarter as it aged and stored acquired information.