Latasha hit the bulkhead control sealing the bridge and got onto Kenal to tell him to stop sabotaging the ship. Then she sent a message to the Hyperion “Karl please stop firing the pirates are heading for the escape pods”.
Karl did not reply but he sent the fighters after the pods as they launched from the ship with Tina and Celine under orders to catch as many of the pirates alive as they could.
The drones he withdrew only when he was satisfied that all the pods had been launched. He switched to a view from Caleb’s visor cam as he ran down the decks past the bodies of Pirates they had taken out after breaching the hull. One group they took out as they ran down the stairs from the bridge with Caleb spotting the leader and stunning him repeatedly till he fell. He tied them up not caring at the pressure he applied to the mag cuffs that his team applied to their feet and hands leaving them face down on the deck to be collected up later. After that he sent two men to the bridge and followed Misha as she charged through the ship with two more men checking each room they passed for occupants. All they found though was rooms in a state of disarray that needed cleaning no doubt the pirates had taken these quarters over so they headed down to the engineering deck. They opened the hatch to see a crew man holding a dead man’s switch and Caleb lowered his rifle as he took in the scene as he heard Karl telling him that all the escaped pods had launched and were being rounded up. Caleb lifted his visor to speak to the man in front of him.
“Kenal I believe we are from the Phoenix we are here to help you will you please disable that dead man switch”.
Kenal had already been given the news by Latasha the pirates were jumping ship he figured this guy was telling the truth so he pulled the lead out of the base of the hand control unit before pulling it out of the reactor control terminal itself.
“Thank you sir now if you could tell me where the rest of your people are being held we’ll release them”.
“Cargo level one floor up bay three” the man whispered turning back to the control displays to assess the damage done to his ship.
Caleb led the team up to the next level and opened the door to the cargo bay where he found the rest of the Ravens crew. They looked in a poor state with several of them bearing injuries that had obviously been treated with what they had to hand. They stayed back from the open door no doubt frightened by their ordeal and the explosions they must have heard as his people had breached the hull.
“Please remain calm people we are of the trader ship the Phoenix if you would all come forward and identify yourselves we can take your names of the missing persons list and see that you get some medical attention my people are all trained medics so if you have any wounds that are causing you serious concern please let us know I have no doubt your Captain will be speaking to you shortly”.
They came out of the hold slowly clearly uncertain till they saw that Caleb intended them no harm despite his fearsome body armour and weapons.
The first thing he did was to take them to the communal dining room where they would feel more relaxed and then had his people who were not searching for any pirate holdouts tend to the injuries the crew had suffered and get a decent meal going by the looks of them they could do with it. The Captain was being tended to on the bridge where she was getting updates as to the amount of damage they had done during the boarding which even now his people were putting right welding hull plates back over the holes they had blown. She did however spend a few moments to assure them that they were safe now and gave them the welcome news that the rest of the crew had already been recovered.
It was Misha who found Ella and hearing the anger in her voice he went to the quarters where she had been held.
“Be gentle with her Caleb she’s been badly treated”.
Caleb forced the anger he felt from being apparent as he approached the young girls on the bed her face badly bruised and swollen with one arm in a foam cast splint.
“Hello Ella my names Caleb Timon has told me a lot about you”.
The girl flinched away from him which in itself spoke volumes but the mention of her brother’s name made her look at him again. “Timmy’s alright” she asked unable to keep the hope out of her voice.
“He’s doing just fine Ella he tells me you call him the ghost”
That seemed to end any doubts she had about Caleb and she burst into tears with Misha stepping forward to comfort her.
“Hush Ella it’s going to be alright now and soon you’ll be able to meet up with him for the moment we can get a com link set up so you can speak to him” Misha promised “now there is one thing we need to know did the man who hurt you do things he shouldn’t?.”
“If you are asking if he raped me yes he did” Ella said her face going cold with rage “I tried to stop him but he kept hurting me and laughing all the time”.
“Which one of them was it Ella” Misha asked her face as cold as Ella’s.
“It was the one in charge he kept saying the Captain couldn’t help me
because she didn’t even know I was back on board”.
Misha said nothing to Caleb as she turned to him she didn’t have to. Caleb nodded and left the room.
“Where’s he going” Ella asked quietly
“He’s going to make sure the man who hurt you never hurts anyone else again”.
“I want to kill him” Ella confessed
“I know you do Ella and you have cause but trust me this way is better Caleb will make him suffer that you can be sure of and he will tell the man why he is going to die”.
“That’s alright then Ella agreed the tension draining out of her at Misha’s promise that the man would suffer for what he had done”.
Quest for Vengeance: (AP Paranid Start) DID .
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Sabrina Bergin
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Caleb strode through the decks till he came to the cargo hold where the pirates they had captured were being held. The man obviously saw something in Caleb’s eyes as he strode into the room as he tried to hide behind his fellow prisoners who melted out of his way as he approached the man.
“You should not have raped the girl” he said simply as he drew his pistol and fired at point blank range not giving the man a chance to protest his fate he then turned to the rest of the prisoners, “As you can see the chances of you being handed over to the local security forces are slim to none, you attacked a trader ship and we have our own way of dealing with those who harm ours. The only chance you have of saving your lives is to answer every question my people put to you as swiftly and as truthfully as you can”.
He left them then and returned to see how the girl was doing and he was pleased to see Latasha had joined Misha in the room to give the girl what comfort she could.
“Is he dead Ella” asked.
“He is Ella and he knew why he died He assured her”.
Caleb left them the room and went up to the bridge where he reported into Karl. He told him about Ella and the action he had taken only to receive a nod of understanding it was necessary. A com link would be set up for the girl so she could speak to her brother as soon as Misha was sure Ella was up to it.
“Alright Caleb I did intend to jump the Raven out of here but the Local defence forces want any information we have on the Pirates destination. I have a mind to hand the prisoners over to them once we have the information we want what are your thoughts on that”.
“The sooner we get rid of them the better sir I will have my teams start getting answers out of them straight away. I think the ones we have on this ship will be amenable to answering them also I think Ella may need more care than the Raven can provide at the moment she won’t speak to anyone unless me or Misha are with her”.
“Good enough for me Caleb let Misha know she can have that link for Ella at any time she wants it and I’ll arrange a transfer as soon as we dock”.
Latasha returned to the bridge as Caleb finished the call and took her seat her face haunted by what a young member of her family had suffered. She listened as Caleb repeated Karl's proposals and she readily agreed to them then followed Karl’s lead as he headed the Phoenix to the nearest military base.
Karl was already in contact with the local defence forces as they set course for the base and was pleased to be remembered by the lieutenant he had once dropped off at the outpost in Heretic’s end.
The man a commander now and piloting a Katana had taken a parallel course to the Phoenix obviously intending to dock at the base as well and had assured Karl that he would not suffer a repeat of the attempt to board his ship that had occurred in Heretic's.
He was also very interested in the pirate base that the prisoners had told them had been put together in the Kuiper belt so Karl transmitted the coordinates he had extracted from the prisoners. Karl docked the Phoenix without incident and met the man on the docks a short while later as he handed over the prisoners from both the Phoenix and the Raven to the station security forces.
“Your people seem unwilling to hand these criminals over why is that Karl?” Matthew asked noting the hostility of Karl's people to the prisoners
“One of them abused a young girl a member of the Ravens family my crew think they should all suffer his fate which is why I need them off my hands before they start having fatal accidents, to be honest were it not for the need to get the girl onto my ship for proper treatment I would not have troubled you with them Matthew. These are the statements given from the crew of the Raven and copies of the ships logs and internal surveillance records they are quite damming”.
Matthew accepted the cubes then handed them to a base soldier and ordered they be taken to his commander straight away.
“I take it the capture of the Raven is what prompted your people’s ships to withdraw from both Terran and Commonwealth space Karl are they likely to return given that the incident has been dealt with, as you can imagine my superiors are quite concerned on that point”.
“You can assure them I will be recommending that when I report back to our leaders” Karl confirmed “the fact I will be able to confirm that your people had no part in what happened to the Raven will not go unnoticed”.
“That is good to hear Karl please feel free to contact me should you need any assistance whilst you are docked I have made sure that accommodation is available for your people should they require it. Also I would be honoured if you could join me for dinner this evening the crews of both ships are of course welcome to attend I owe you a debt of gratitude for your actions both here and in Heretics end”.
Karl considered that then agreed and shook Matthew’s hand before he walked back onto the Phoenix. Celine was of course furious at being given such short notice to get ready and the rest of the crew were keen to see a terran station. Only Caleb and his people declined preferring not to reveal themselves to the Terrans and of course because Misha had refused to leave Ella unattended.
Karl contacted Reuben and Clara and let them know that the operation had been a success and that they would be returning to commonwealth space within the Wozura. He did not go into details as to what had transpired suspecting that others would be listening on that communication and he knew they would want to know every last detail of events when he returned but for the moment he was happy enough with the way things had turned out overall.
He met the crew at the side hatch to the dock and was a little surprised to see Timon there but Della assured him it would do him some good and that she and Reece would look after him. She had also he noted found time to get him a proper ships suit and boots that fitted him. Tina and Caleb who had donned a ships suit he suspected Reece had lent him was also there. The only person not present was of course Celine and she arrived a few moments later having managed to make herself look at least presentable by her standards and he took her arm as he opened the hatch and led them to the waiting cabs queuing up on the dockside. He was pleased to see that Latasha had agreed to join them having been persuaded that not to attend would be considered an act of rudeness to the hosts by the crew who for the most part remained on board.
“You should not have raped the girl” he said simply as he drew his pistol and fired at point blank range not giving the man a chance to protest his fate he then turned to the rest of the prisoners, “As you can see the chances of you being handed over to the local security forces are slim to none, you attacked a trader ship and we have our own way of dealing with those who harm ours. The only chance you have of saving your lives is to answer every question my people put to you as swiftly and as truthfully as you can”.
He left them then and returned to see how the girl was doing and he was pleased to see Latasha had joined Misha in the room to give the girl what comfort she could.
“Is he dead Ella” asked.
“He is Ella and he knew why he died He assured her”.
Caleb left them the room and went up to the bridge where he reported into Karl. He told him about Ella and the action he had taken only to receive a nod of understanding it was necessary. A com link would be set up for the girl so she could speak to her brother as soon as Misha was sure Ella was up to it.
“Alright Caleb I did intend to jump the Raven out of here but the Local defence forces want any information we have on the Pirates destination. I have a mind to hand the prisoners over to them once we have the information we want what are your thoughts on that”.
“The sooner we get rid of them the better sir I will have my teams start getting answers out of them straight away. I think the ones we have on this ship will be amenable to answering them also I think Ella may need more care than the Raven can provide at the moment she won’t speak to anyone unless me or Misha are with her”.
“Good enough for me Caleb let Misha know she can have that link for Ella at any time she wants it and I’ll arrange a transfer as soon as we dock”.
Latasha returned to the bridge as Caleb finished the call and took her seat her face haunted by what a young member of her family had suffered. She listened as Caleb repeated Karl's proposals and she readily agreed to them then followed Karl’s lead as he headed the Phoenix to the nearest military base.
Karl was already in contact with the local defence forces as they set course for the base and was pleased to be remembered by the lieutenant he had once dropped off at the outpost in Heretic’s end.
The man a commander now and piloting a Katana had taken a parallel course to the Phoenix obviously intending to dock at the base as well and had assured Karl that he would not suffer a repeat of the attempt to board his ship that had occurred in Heretic's.
He was also very interested in the pirate base that the prisoners had told them had been put together in the Kuiper belt so Karl transmitted the coordinates he had extracted from the prisoners. Karl docked the Phoenix without incident and met the man on the docks a short while later as he handed over the prisoners from both the Phoenix and the Raven to the station security forces.
“Your people seem unwilling to hand these criminals over why is that Karl?” Matthew asked noting the hostility of Karl's people to the prisoners
“One of them abused a young girl a member of the Ravens family my crew think they should all suffer his fate which is why I need them off my hands before they start having fatal accidents, to be honest were it not for the need to get the girl onto my ship for proper treatment I would not have troubled you with them Matthew. These are the statements given from the crew of the Raven and copies of the ships logs and internal surveillance records they are quite damming”.
Matthew accepted the cubes then handed them to a base soldier and ordered they be taken to his commander straight away.
“I take it the capture of the Raven is what prompted your people’s ships to withdraw from both Terran and Commonwealth space Karl are they likely to return given that the incident has been dealt with, as you can imagine my superiors are quite concerned on that point”.
“You can assure them I will be recommending that when I report back to our leaders” Karl confirmed “the fact I will be able to confirm that your people had no part in what happened to the Raven will not go unnoticed”.
“That is good to hear Karl please feel free to contact me should you need any assistance whilst you are docked I have made sure that accommodation is available for your people should they require it. Also I would be honoured if you could join me for dinner this evening the crews of both ships are of course welcome to attend I owe you a debt of gratitude for your actions both here and in Heretics end”.
Karl considered that then agreed and shook Matthew’s hand before he walked back onto the Phoenix. Celine was of course furious at being given such short notice to get ready and the rest of the crew were keen to see a terran station. Only Caleb and his people declined preferring not to reveal themselves to the Terrans and of course because Misha had refused to leave Ella unattended.
Karl contacted Reuben and Clara and let them know that the operation had been a success and that they would be returning to commonwealth space within the Wozura. He did not go into details as to what had transpired suspecting that others would be listening on that communication and he knew they would want to know every last detail of events when he returned but for the moment he was happy enough with the way things had turned out overall.
He met the crew at the side hatch to the dock and was a little surprised to see Timon there but Della assured him it would do him some good and that she and Reece would look after him. She had also he noted found time to get him a proper ships suit and boots that fitted him. Tina and Caleb who had donned a ships suit he suspected Reece had lent him was also there. The only person not present was of course Celine and she arrived a few moments later having managed to make herself look at least presentable by her standards and he took her arm as he opened the hatch and led them to the waiting cabs queuing up on the dockside. He was pleased to see that Latasha had agreed to join them having been persuaded that not to attend would be considered an act of rudeness to the hosts by the crew who for the most part remained on board.
Last edited by Sabrina Bergin on Sat, 20. Sep 14, 11:31, edited 1 time in total.
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Sabrina Bergin
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The Terran Commander Sladon greeted them in the restaurants foyer then led them all inside to the room he had reserved for them with waiters coming forward to take orders for drinks till they decided they were ready for their meal.
The man looked every inch the Terran commander in his dress uniform as did his second who he learnt was his first officer. She was pleasant enough but Karl sensed some hostility from her when they were formally introduced which puzzled him as he could not recall their path’s having crossed before. Sladon apparently picked up on that and gave her a warning look Karl noticed.
Matt waited till he had a moment to speak privately to Karl in order to explain her attitude towards him and his people.
“I am afraid you will have to excuse Roberta she is rather prejudiced against any members of the commonwealth she lost a brother in Heretic’s end last month and she still has to come to terms with that”
.
“That is unfortunate and I sympathise Matthew but I do not understand her hostility towards myself or my people you of all people should know we take no part in this conflict”.
“I have good reason to be grateful for that Karl unfortunately she recognises Celine whose company is one of the leading arms manufacturers in commonwealth space I must confess to being surprised to find her here in terran space”.
“Celine is a valued member of my crew” Karl warned the man disliking the way this was going” and her company is also one of the largest suppliers of bio products in commonwealth space as well”.
Celine must have sensed something was amiss as she had joined them obviously having overheard part of the conversation or guessed that she was the subject of their discussion.
“Well commander would you prefer I go back to my ship now she asked bluntly”
“I would rather not Celine” Matthew admitted “the reason I invited you all here is for us to enjoy the evening and for me to show my gratitude to Karl for past acts, that would be difficult if not impossible if you were to excuse yourself and would also deny me the opportunity to get to know you better”.
The man did not say it but he also knew that if she were to leave then they would all return on masse to their ships. Clearly the man was hoping to avoid that which pointed at some larger concern than his stated reasons for inviting them here but Celine would deal with that once she knew what his intentions were for the moment she decided to accept his flattery at face value.
Smiling she allowed him to escort her to their table with Karl accepting her decision without comment though he had been on the brink of being angered by the hostility directed at herself. They were joined By Latasha and her engineer Kenal who was escorting her for the evening and then by Matthews first officer who seemed to have had time to reconsider her earlier attitude and took a seat next her.
“I apologise Ma’am my earlier behaviour was rude the woman admitted” quietly to Celine as she took her seat.
“Think no more of it Roberta and please call me Celine, tell me is it a rule that you have to wear your uniforms all the time I must admit you look striking in it but with your looks you would be stunning in even a half decent gown”.
The woman blushed and Celine worried that she would think the compliment contrived.
“Unfortunately my personnel effects have yet to catch up with me” Roberta admitted after regaining her composure somewhat “so the Captain thought it best if we were both dressed in our dress uniforms to spare me embarrassment”.
“We can’t have that” Celine decided startling the woman by taking her hand and leaving the Restaurant with her in tow.
Celine led Roberta onto the ship and led her straight to her stateroom where much of her luggage remained unopened. Roberta was wandering through the rooms unused to such luxury on a ship it was a stark contrast to her Katana. She forced herself to ask Celine how much the ship had cost her, estimating the fitting out cost alone would surpass the build cost of a Katana.
“Oh no I don’t own the Phoenix it’s Karl’s” Celine admitted as she found the box she wanted still sealed in its makers wrapper, another present she had never worn she realised as she studied Roberta’s feet for a moment and selected a suitable pair of shoes to match the dress fortunately she noted Roberta would be able to comfortably wear the ones selected. “I do think of her as mine though I could never afford her even if it was possible to buy a Hyperion. Here try this on I’ve never worn it to be honest it’s a tad small in size for me to even consider wearing it”.
“I think we should delay our meal for an hour or so Matthew” Karl said as he signalled the waiter to bring another bottle of wine to the table, “Celine has never been one to rush making herself presentable so we may as well get comfortable”.
Matthew was somewhat confused by the remark but he told the waiter they would be dining later than the others the man took it in his stride and assured him he would advise the chef accordingly. Latasha and Kenal said they would also prefer to dine later in the evening as well. So Karl turned his attention to Matthew again.
“So tell me Commander what is the reason for your just happening to be in this sector at this particular time?” he asked bluntly.
“No chance was involved in my being here Karl as I am sure you have already guessed, in fact as soon as your ship was noted as being in Neptune I was ordered to jump here to monitor your activities and if possible to speak with you in private. The actions you took against the Raven were not anticipated and to be honest we feared that the Traders had become factionalised and were actively participating in the war. We know better now of course and that was a source of relief to my superiors”.
Karl thought about that and he realised how his recent actions could have been interpreted that way by an outsider observing them.
“So will you now tell me why you were sent to meet me Matthew, I take it it’s a matter of some urgency to your superiors though if it is to ask that traders choose sides in the war that is not going to happen”.
“My superiors have had that made abundantly clear to them by myself and others but they still wish to put a proposal to you that I am not at liberty to discuss except to promise you that it will not compromise your position as regards the war. My primary purpose was to decide whether you would be amenable to it before they discussed it directly with yourself as you can understand should they make the proposal and be rebuffed they would suffer politically for their failure and now also I would ask Captain Gilser to attend that meeting”.
“You had best not omit Celine Matthew her views on the war coincide with both mine and Karl’s it would be a serious error to exclude her” Latasha said in terms that made it clear it was not a request.
Matthew was startled at her words but he nodded his acceptance of her wishes and considered it would actually be of benefit if Celine was involved given her relationship with Karl. Then he stood as he noticed the Ladies had returned to the room, he was shocked by Roberta’s transformation. She was now dressed in a shimmering silver gown that was almost dazzling under the restaurant‘s spot lighting. The other men at the table taking his lead also rose to greet them.
“Congratulations Celine you have set a record you have done wonders, in less than an hour as well” Karl teased.
“Be nice Karl” she warned light heartedly as he seated her at the table with Mathew doing the honours for Roberta his expression still clearly showing his surprise at the drastic transformation that had taken place.
Roberta too seemed to have undergone a change in her tone with Celine and after gracefully accepting compliments on her appearance they were all able to relax as friends should which Karl was pleased with. After the meal a feast by any terms he could use to describe it Karl suggested they should retire to the Phoenix where they could continue the evening in more comfort and privacy than that afforded on station, for a moment he thought Matthew might decline till he noticed Roberta discreetly signal otherwise.
They decided to walk back to the ship enjoying the cool of the air now that the station had entered its night cycle with a display of the star field portrayed on the ceiling high overhead.
Karl had left word with Tina that they would be stopping over for two or three days and was to consider the crew on shore leave. Leaving them to decide whether they would stay on station or return to the ship later. Reece and Della he knew had left earlier with Timon. When they had decided the excitement of the evening had been enough for him.
Karl had Loki open the ship up and he led his guests up to his stateroom Matthew had of course been on the ship before but only on the lower levels, he was startled at the quality of the finish and fittings that were evident even in the corridors of the ship he had a sneaking suspicion that Roberta had anticipated the effect the ship would have on him, having been faced with the same earlier. The stateroom was even more impressive and he hoped he did not betray his astonishment at the sheer size and luxury of the room and thefurnishings he found within.
"Please make yourselves comfortable I’ll open a bottle of wine for myself I will have a beer I am afraid whilst I am learning to appreciate a good wine I can only drink so much of it lest I get a headache the following day" Karl announced opening the cooler cabinet.
Matthew and Kenal asked for the same with Latasha declaring them to be barbarians. Celine agreed with her admitting that despite her best efforts she had been unable to educate Karl properly as regards fine wines yet. Whilst the men were loitering in the kitchen after having placed glasses and a fine bottle of Kingdom white on the table for them which Latasha poured for them after Matthew had opened it for them.
Latasha again commentated on Roberta’s dress saying that it suited her to perfection admitting that she would kill to have eyes the colour of hers which were a startling emerald green in colour.
“Sadly it’s not mine" Roberta admitted unconsciously running her hand across the gossamer silk fabric "Celine was kind enough to lend it to me”.
“Phish traders don’t lend things girl hasn’t your Captain taught you that much about us yet, we either sell things or we gift them” Latasha continued without pause. “Sorry Celine I assumed the latter”.
“You were correct to do so Latasha I have tried to explain the concept to Roberta but she is having as much difficulty with the idea as I once did. Roberta the dress as I said earlier is yours given freely as I told you then I will never wear it not least because as Latasha has noted I don’t have your eye colour which makes the dress perfect for you. It would be a waste for it not to be worn by one it could have been made for”.
“But this must be worth a fortune” Roberta protested unable to deny to herself how much she truly wanted the dress.
“Methinks you protest too much girl accept the gift or throw it in a waste disposal unit Celine won’t accept it back” Latasha cautioned.
Roberta was horrified at the suggestion “I’m sorry it’s just I’ve never had anything so beautiful given to me before”.
“Then that’s settled, now Roberta tell us about yourself it’s rare we get to spend time in people’s company other than our own and we are curious” Celine said closing the discussion about the dress which was troubling the girl.
Roberta found herself able to speak freely to the two woman which surprised her a little as she had always been a bit shy in front of others in personal situations. She told them of her upbringing on a floating city in Jupiter orbit in a small apartment complex and of her burning desire to join the fleet one day and to travel amongst the stars sprinkling the narrative with anecdotes as both Celine and Clara asked her frequent questions to explain some point they had not properly understood. At some point Celine replaced the empty wine bottle with a fresh one at having noted the men had deserted them and suspected that Karl had taken them forward to the bridge despite his frequent protests to the contrary she knew he took immense pride in the Phoenix and would show her of whenever he had the opportunity to do so. On a whim once she had refreshed their glasses again Celine led them the short distance to the bridge where she found the both Matthew and Kenal studying the work stations and activating various displays like children playing with new toy’s though she admitted to herself she also got no small degree of pleasure from their praise for the design and layout of the bridge.
Karl started at their arrival and for a moment Celine could picture him as a child who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar but he recovered well enough that she suspected only she had noticed his momentary discomfort as he offered Latasha the command seat whilst taking Roberta in hand and showing her around. Celine settled back into her accustomed seat and was happy to point out the various stations to Latasha who admitted it was a well-crafted ship but she felt a little overwhelmed by the amount of effort that must have gone into to making it so pleasing to the eye whilst still retaining full functionality.
Celine could tell that whilst Latasha admired the Phoenix she actually preferred the Raven and would never willingly be parted from her. Latasha excused herself after a while and went below returning a short while later confirming that she had gone down to check on Ella where she had found Timon curled up alongside her in the cot with Misha watching over the pair of them adding that it would make probably make her recovery easier if he was near her at all times in the near future.
Roberta had been informed that a young girl that had been abused whilst a captive and Matt had warned her not to raise the subject when he had briefed her earlier but now she felt compelled to ask how she was coping. Celine answered that having kept a close eye on Ella’s progress since she had come aboard,
“it is early days yet but she has shown great strength in coping with what happened in time we are hopeful she can put it behind her”.
“It is certain that once she is reunited with her family that her recovery will be more certain” Latasha agreed, which prompts the question of the Raven are you certain the Teladi will honour their agreement to carry out the necessary repairs Celine?”.
“Karl will make certain of that and more Latasha, they are desperate to avoid the consequences they have been warned they face after what happened to your ship and family at one of their stations should they fail to honour their agreements in this matter”.
Roberta glanced at Karl whilst Celine spoke wondering at the certainty Celine felt that he should be able to force the Teladi to make such reparations even here in terran space their greed had become a well-known factor when dealing with them.
“That reminds me Celine I have yet to offer Caleb my thanks for his handling of the situation if you would let him know that the Raven are in his debt I would be pleased”.
That statement startled Roberta and she sensed that Celine had rather it had not been made as she changed the subject to speak of those members of the Raven family that had been rescued somewhere far south of the contested sectors. Whilst she listened she thought back to Caleb she had seen him earlier in the company of one of Karl’s crew the pale looking woman and it had been clear to herself and anyone who saw them that they were partners. The idea of him being capable of such a callous murder no matter the justification for arbitrary justice did not fit well with her earlier assessment of the man.
She got the impression from what was alluded to but not said plainly was that the rescue of the Ravens crew or family as both Celine and Latasha referred to them had not been without cost. She also learned that the woman she had seen Caleb with earlier had in fact been badly hurt during that action which explained her pale appearance Roberta had noted at the time. She had not realised till this moment that she had also flown one of the fighters the Phoenix had launched in support of the operation to recover the Raven. It seemed that Karl’s crew was composed of very determined and talented people having watched the action from a distance and being aware of how well they had handled their fighters.
The man looked every inch the Terran commander in his dress uniform as did his second who he learnt was his first officer. She was pleasant enough but Karl sensed some hostility from her when they were formally introduced which puzzled him as he could not recall their path’s having crossed before. Sladon apparently picked up on that and gave her a warning look Karl noticed.
Matt waited till he had a moment to speak privately to Karl in order to explain her attitude towards him and his people.
“I am afraid you will have to excuse Roberta she is rather prejudiced against any members of the commonwealth she lost a brother in Heretic’s end last month and she still has to come to terms with that”
.
“That is unfortunate and I sympathise Matthew but I do not understand her hostility towards myself or my people you of all people should know we take no part in this conflict”.
“I have good reason to be grateful for that Karl unfortunately she recognises Celine whose company is one of the leading arms manufacturers in commonwealth space I must confess to being surprised to find her here in terran space”.
“Celine is a valued member of my crew” Karl warned the man disliking the way this was going” and her company is also one of the largest suppliers of bio products in commonwealth space as well”.
Celine must have sensed something was amiss as she had joined them obviously having overheard part of the conversation or guessed that she was the subject of their discussion.
“Well commander would you prefer I go back to my ship now she asked bluntly”
“I would rather not Celine” Matthew admitted “the reason I invited you all here is for us to enjoy the evening and for me to show my gratitude to Karl for past acts, that would be difficult if not impossible if you were to excuse yourself and would also deny me the opportunity to get to know you better”.
The man did not say it but he also knew that if she were to leave then they would all return on masse to their ships. Clearly the man was hoping to avoid that which pointed at some larger concern than his stated reasons for inviting them here but Celine would deal with that once she knew what his intentions were for the moment she decided to accept his flattery at face value.
Smiling she allowed him to escort her to their table with Karl accepting her decision without comment though he had been on the brink of being angered by the hostility directed at herself. They were joined By Latasha and her engineer Kenal who was escorting her for the evening and then by Matthews first officer who seemed to have had time to reconsider her earlier attitude and took a seat next her.
“I apologise Ma’am my earlier behaviour was rude the woman admitted” quietly to Celine as she took her seat.
“Think no more of it Roberta and please call me Celine, tell me is it a rule that you have to wear your uniforms all the time I must admit you look striking in it but with your looks you would be stunning in even a half decent gown”.
The woman blushed and Celine worried that she would think the compliment contrived.
“Unfortunately my personnel effects have yet to catch up with me” Roberta admitted after regaining her composure somewhat “so the Captain thought it best if we were both dressed in our dress uniforms to spare me embarrassment”.
“We can’t have that” Celine decided startling the woman by taking her hand and leaving the Restaurant with her in tow.
Celine led Roberta onto the ship and led her straight to her stateroom where much of her luggage remained unopened. Roberta was wandering through the rooms unused to such luxury on a ship it was a stark contrast to her Katana. She forced herself to ask Celine how much the ship had cost her, estimating the fitting out cost alone would surpass the build cost of a Katana.
“Oh no I don’t own the Phoenix it’s Karl’s” Celine admitted as she found the box she wanted still sealed in its makers wrapper, another present she had never worn she realised as she studied Roberta’s feet for a moment and selected a suitable pair of shoes to match the dress fortunately she noted Roberta would be able to comfortably wear the ones selected. “I do think of her as mine though I could never afford her even if it was possible to buy a Hyperion. Here try this on I’ve never worn it to be honest it’s a tad small in size for me to even consider wearing it”.
“I think we should delay our meal for an hour or so Matthew” Karl said as he signalled the waiter to bring another bottle of wine to the table, “Celine has never been one to rush making herself presentable so we may as well get comfortable”.
Matthew was somewhat confused by the remark but he told the waiter they would be dining later than the others the man took it in his stride and assured him he would advise the chef accordingly. Latasha and Kenal said they would also prefer to dine later in the evening as well. So Karl turned his attention to Matthew again.
“So tell me Commander what is the reason for your just happening to be in this sector at this particular time?” he asked bluntly.
“No chance was involved in my being here Karl as I am sure you have already guessed, in fact as soon as your ship was noted as being in Neptune I was ordered to jump here to monitor your activities and if possible to speak with you in private. The actions you took against the Raven were not anticipated and to be honest we feared that the Traders had become factionalised and were actively participating in the war. We know better now of course and that was a source of relief to my superiors”.
Karl thought about that and he realised how his recent actions could have been interpreted that way by an outsider observing them.
“So will you now tell me why you were sent to meet me Matthew, I take it it’s a matter of some urgency to your superiors though if it is to ask that traders choose sides in the war that is not going to happen”.
“My superiors have had that made abundantly clear to them by myself and others but they still wish to put a proposal to you that I am not at liberty to discuss except to promise you that it will not compromise your position as regards the war. My primary purpose was to decide whether you would be amenable to it before they discussed it directly with yourself as you can understand should they make the proposal and be rebuffed they would suffer politically for their failure and now also I would ask Captain Gilser to attend that meeting”.
“You had best not omit Celine Matthew her views on the war coincide with both mine and Karl’s it would be a serious error to exclude her” Latasha said in terms that made it clear it was not a request.
Matthew was startled at her words but he nodded his acceptance of her wishes and considered it would actually be of benefit if Celine was involved given her relationship with Karl. Then he stood as he noticed the Ladies had returned to the room, he was shocked by Roberta’s transformation. She was now dressed in a shimmering silver gown that was almost dazzling under the restaurant‘s spot lighting. The other men at the table taking his lead also rose to greet them.
“Congratulations Celine you have set a record you have done wonders, in less than an hour as well” Karl teased.
“Be nice Karl” she warned light heartedly as he seated her at the table with Mathew doing the honours for Roberta his expression still clearly showing his surprise at the drastic transformation that had taken place.
Roberta too seemed to have undergone a change in her tone with Celine and after gracefully accepting compliments on her appearance they were all able to relax as friends should which Karl was pleased with. After the meal a feast by any terms he could use to describe it Karl suggested they should retire to the Phoenix where they could continue the evening in more comfort and privacy than that afforded on station, for a moment he thought Matthew might decline till he noticed Roberta discreetly signal otherwise.
They decided to walk back to the ship enjoying the cool of the air now that the station had entered its night cycle with a display of the star field portrayed on the ceiling high overhead.
Karl had left word with Tina that they would be stopping over for two or three days and was to consider the crew on shore leave. Leaving them to decide whether they would stay on station or return to the ship later. Reece and Della he knew had left earlier with Timon. When they had decided the excitement of the evening had been enough for him.
Karl had Loki open the ship up and he led his guests up to his stateroom Matthew had of course been on the ship before but only on the lower levels, he was startled at the quality of the finish and fittings that were evident even in the corridors of the ship he had a sneaking suspicion that Roberta had anticipated the effect the ship would have on him, having been faced with the same earlier. The stateroom was even more impressive and he hoped he did not betray his astonishment at the sheer size and luxury of the room and thefurnishings he found within.
"Please make yourselves comfortable I’ll open a bottle of wine for myself I will have a beer I am afraid whilst I am learning to appreciate a good wine I can only drink so much of it lest I get a headache the following day" Karl announced opening the cooler cabinet.
Matthew and Kenal asked for the same with Latasha declaring them to be barbarians. Celine agreed with her admitting that despite her best efforts she had been unable to educate Karl properly as regards fine wines yet. Whilst the men were loitering in the kitchen after having placed glasses and a fine bottle of Kingdom white on the table for them which Latasha poured for them after Matthew had opened it for them.
Latasha again commentated on Roberta’s dress saying that it suited her to perfection admitting that she would kill to have eyes the colour of hers which were a startling emerald green in colour.
“Sadly it’s not mine" Roberta admitted unconsciously running her hand across the gossamer silk fabric "Celine was kind enough to lend it to me”.
“Phish traders don’t lend things girl hasn’t your Captain taught you that much about us yet, we either sell things or we gift them” Latasha continued without pause. “Sorry Celine I assumed the latter”.
“You were correct to do so Latasha I have tried to explain the concept to Roberta but she is having as much difficulty with the idea as I once did. Roberta the dress as I said earlier is yours given freely as I told you then I will never wear it not least because as Latasha has noted I don’t have your eye colour which makes the dress perfect for you. It would be a waste for it not to be worn by one it could have been made for”.
“But this must be worth a fortune” Roberta protested unable to deny to herself how much she truly wanted the dress.
“Methinks you protest too much girl accept the gift or throw it in a waste disposal unit Celine won’t accept it back” Latasha cautioned.
Roberta was horrified at the suggestion “I’m sorry it’s just I’ve never had anything so beautiful given to me before”.
“Then that’s settled, now Roberta tell us about yourself it’s rare we get to spend time in people’s company other than our own and we are curious” Celine said closing the discussion about the dress which was troubling the girl.
Roberta found herself able to speak freely to the two woman which surprised her a little as she had always been a bit shy in front of others in personal situations. She told them of her upbringing on a floating city in Jupiter orbit in a small apartment complex and of her burning desire to join the fleet one day and to travel amongst the stars sprinkling the narrative with anecdotes as both Celine and Clara asked her frequent questions to explain some point they had not properly understood. At some point Celine replaced the empty wine bottle with a fresh one at having noted the men had deserted them and suspected that Karl had taken them forward to the bridge despite his frequent protests to the contrary she knew he took immense pride in the Phoenix and would show her of whenever he had the opportunity to do so. On a whim once she had refreshed their glasses again Celine led them the short distance to the bridge where she found the both Matthew and Kenal studying the work stations and activating various displays like children playing with new toy’s though she admitted to herself she also got no small degree of pleasure from their praise for the design and layout of the bridge.
Karl started at their arrival and for a moment Celine could picture him as a child who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar but he recovered well enough that she suspected only she had noticed his momentary discomfort as he offered Latasha the command seat whilst taking Roberta in hand and showing her around. Celine settled back into her accustomed seat and was happy to point out the various stations to Latasha who admitted it was a well-crafted ship but she felt a little overwhelmed by the amount of effort that must have gone into to making it so pleasing to the eye whilst still retaining full functionality.
Celine could tell that whilst Latasha admired the Phoenix she actually preferred the Raven and would never willingly be parted from her. Latasha excused herself after a while and went below returning a short while later confirming that she had gone down to check on Ella where she had found Timon curled up alongside her in the cot with Misha watching over the pair of them adding that it would make probably make her recovery easier if he was near her at all times in the near future.
Roberta had been informed that a young girl that had been abused whilst a captive and Matt had warned her not to raise the subject when he had briefed her earlier but now she felt compelled to ask how she was coping. Celine answered that having kept a close eye on Ella’s progress since she had come aboard,
“it is early days yet but she has shown great strength in coping with what happened in time we are hopeful she can put it behind her”.
“It is certain that once she is reunited with her family that her recovery will be more certain” Latasha agreed, which prompts the question of the Raven are you certain the Teladi will honour their agreement to carry out the necessary repairs Celine?”.
“Karl will make certain of that and more Latasha, they are desperate to avoid the consequences they have been warned they face after what happened to your ship and family at one of their stations should they fail to honour their agreements in this matter”.
Roberta glanced at Karl whilst Celine spoke wondering at the certainty Celine felt that he should be able to force the Teladi to make such reparations even here in terran space their greed had become a well-known factor when dealing with them.
“That reminds me Celine I have yet to offer Caleb my thanks for his handling of the situation if you would let him know that the Raven are in his debt I would be pleased”.
That statement startled Roberta and she sensed that Celine had rather it had not been made as she changed the subject to speak of those members of the Raven family that had been rescued somewhere far south of the contested sectors. Whilst she listened she thought back to Caleb she had seen him earlier in the company of one of Karl’s crew the pale looking woman and it had been clear to herself and anyone who saw them that they were partners. The idea of him being capable of such a callous murder no matter the justification for arbitrary justice did not fit well with her earlier assessment of the man.
She got the impression from what was alluded to but not said plainly was that the rescue of the Ravens crew or family as both Celine and Latasha referred to them had not been without cost. She also learned that the woman she had seen Caleb with earlier had in fact been badly hurt during that action which explained her pale appearance Roberta had noted at the time. She had not realised till this moment that she had also flown one of the fighters the Phoenix had launched in support of the operation to recover the Raven. It seemed that Karl’s crew was composed of very determined and talented people having watched the action from a distance and being aware of how well they had handled their fighters.
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Sabrina Bergin
- Posts: 2239
- Joined: Sat, 12. Apr 08, 10:53
By unspoken mutual agreement they left the men on the bridge and returned to Karl’s stateroom where Celine produced some light snacks for them to taste whilst they waited for the men to return with Latasha selecting a wine she favoured from the cooler and savouring the taste that bought back memories of her youth when she had been Roberta’s age and had dreamed of one day being a Captain. That ambition she had found reason to question of late and had sought Karl’s advice wondering if she had failed her people and should step down. Karl had urged her not to his reasoning being that no Captain could have anticipated the treachery that had led to the taking of the Raven and that all her crew had been anxiously awaiting the news of her safe return. His words had been a comfort to her and she had decided to continue as Captain largely based on what he had told her as well as his obvious respect for and his stated wish for her to remain in her present position. She also had to acknowledge the unspoken support that she had received from Celine and the crew of the Phoenix who were a true barometer for her to gauge and judge herself by.
She put such sombre thoughts aside as the men returned all discussing the attributes of the Phoenix which raised a concern of her own for the future of the ship Karl had demonstrated his resolve in saving her ship and family she just hoped the cost had not been too great a burden for him. Then there was Celine the woman had defied her expectations originally she had not expected the pairing to last and had thought her a wealthy outsider struck with a passing interest in the life of a trader that would fade in time as she grew bored with it. Again she had been wrong in that if anything the bond between the two seemed stronger than ever. The men fetched fresh beers from the kitchen then joined them at the table.
Karl was speaking to Matthew about the huge station they were docked at and confessed that he would like to take a tour of it.
“You will find much to admire Karl” Matthew admitted “The size of the stations can appear daunting but their size is a necessity given the large areas that are given over to the parklands they contain that few visitors rarely see. I am a ground sider to use a common term to describe planet born people like myself but Roberta here was born on one of the larger orbital cities perhaps she would care to show you around tomorrow”.
Roberta was startled by the request she knew that the Spartan would remain docked as long as the Phoenix was on station but had assumed she would be expected to report back for duty in the morning. A quick glance to the others told her they would really like to see the station so she readily agreed to be their guide in the morning.
“Then I will take my leave of you for the moment Ladies Karl, Kenal if you have need of anything whilst you are here please contact myself or Roberta directly.
Karl led Matthew back down to the dockside access and Roberta asked if she could call a transport to take her back to her on station lodgings.
“Don’t be silly Roberta since you are to be our guide tomorrow you might as well stay on board it’s not as though we don’t have room to accommodate you and it’s a bit late to be wandering around a station alone at night”. Celine said
“For myself I will be getting back to my ship Celine it is late as you say and I prefer my own bed”.
“As you will Latasha I’ll give you a call in the morning” Celine replied rising and embracing her before letting see herself of the ship so as not to give offence.
Roberta made no comment at that and saw that Celine was deliberately giving the woman no cause to think she doubted her ability to see herself to her own ship.
“You will have the other stateroom of course Celine decided pouring Roberta another wine I imagine Karl and Matthew are taking the opportunity to discuss other matters out of our hearing”.
“I can’t imagine he wishes to keep things from you Celine”
“You would be surprised to learn that he does on occasion Roberta usually it’s for the right reasons so I try not to pry too much, at other times it’s because he thinks I would be upset at his intentions and would try to prevent him acting as he wants. He can be incredibly stubborn at times she mused” then telling Roberta of their first row back in Paranid prime.
“I find it hard to believe Karl would argue with you over a matter of paying to have the hull cleaned properly Celine he is obviously devoted to you”.
“Normally he wouldn’t Celine admitted but I picked the fight deliberately as a sort of test, I knew then I loved him but I was uncertain if he loved me for myself or my family’s wealth. I had to be certain of him so I deliberately goaded him into the argument to see if he was prepared to sacrifice his principles merely because I wanted him to”.
“That sounds awfully callous”.
“I had to be Roberta all my life I have had people who saw not me but my family name and money as a means to advance themselves at my expense I learnt that the hard way unfortunately. Needless to say Karl passed my test and I have been at his side ever since”.
“Wasn’t it hard to give up the life you knew to stay with him?”
“Lord no trust me on this once you have a fortune above a certain level money becomes meaningless in itself it was more a means of keeping score than having any real meaning to me. As to the life I led do you know how boring it can become doing the endless rounds of attending all those society functions and dinners that you were expected to attend merely because of who you were? Listening to the constant infighting as people you soon came to loathe jockeyed for position just to be seen with you”.
“You make it sound awful”
“Not all of it was and I did make some good friends though I haven’t been so happy in years. Now tell me about this station and which places you think we should visit” Celine suggested. After which they started discussing plans for the morning relaxing easily in each other’s company as they waited for Karl to return.
They had pretty much fleshed out some sort of itinerary for the morning when he re-joined them and he gave it his approval. Discarding his jacket and settling next to Celine on the couch. Helping himself to some of the savoury snacks.
“Problems” Celine asked
“No Matt had a few queries regarding where we go next I gather the people we are to meet are not yet on station and he wanted to know if we could extend our stay here so I told him I would discuss that with Latasha but I don’t see it being a problem I can always have the Trojan bring her crew here if need be but I would prefer it was repaired first”.
“I’m pretty certain she will as well” Celine agreed suspecting that Latasha would want her ship to be restored to the condition it was in before it was taken before asking her crew to return to it.
“Was the ship badly damaged?” Roberta asked hoping they would not think her enquiry breached their sense of etiquette.
“Not in any major way but the ship will have to be refurbished so as to avoid unpleasant reminders of their experiences for the crew”. Karl replied
“I can imagine Latasha will have some very expensive ideas about that, but given the circumstances I can’t blame her” Celine added
“Nor do I they are still getting of lightly though Celine I know your views are at odds with my own in this regard but an agreement has been made regarding reparations and I will not undermine it”.
Celine did not pursue the matter Roberta noted and they discussed other more mundane matters which whilst Roberta was happy to be part of and not wishing to seem rude she asked if she might be excused.
“Of course Roberta I had forgotten you are on terran time you must be exhausted” Celine apologised showing her to her rooms across the corridor.
Roberta was glad to be able to close the door and saw the room layout was the same as Karl’s as she entered the bedroom startled to see that in her absence someone had laundered her uniform and laid out a cover for the gown she was wearing. Removing it carefully she placed it in the cover where she found a note advising her to accept the shoes as part of the gift. Roberta carefully hung the gown in one of the many cupboards and placed the shoes in the box provided before heading for the necessary to grab a shower. That intention she discarded when she saw the bath.
She put such sombre thoughts aside as the men returned all discussing the attributes of the Phoenix which raised a concern of her own for the future of the ship Karl had demonstrated his resolve in saving her ship and family she just hoped the cost had not been too great a burden for him. Then there was Celine the woman had defied her expectations originally she had not expected the pairing to last and had thought her a wealthy outsider struck with a passing interest in the life of a trader that would fade in time as she grew bored with it. Again she had been wrong in that if anything the bond between the two seemed stronger than ever. The men fetched fresh beers from the kitchen then joined them at the table.
Karl was speaking to Matthew about the huge station they were docked at and confessed that he would like to take a tour of it.
“You will find much to admire Karl” Matthew admitted “The size of the stations can appear daunting but their size is a necessity given the large areas that are given over to the parklands they contain that few visitors rarely see. I am a ground sider to use a common term to describe planet born people like myself but Roberta here was born on one of the larger orbital cities perhaps she would care to show you around tomorrow”.
Roberta was startled by the request she knew that the Spartan would remain docked as long as the Phoenix was on station but had assumed she would be expected to report back for duty in the morning. A quick glance to the others told her they would really like to see the station so she readily agreed to be their guide in the morning.
“Then I will take my leave of you for the moment Ladies Karl, Kenal if you have need of anything whilst you are here please contact myself or Roberta directly.
Karl led Matthew back down to the dockside access and Roberta asked if she could call a transport to take her back to her on station lodgings.
“Don’t be silly Roberta since you are to be our guide tomorrow you might as well stay on board it’s not as though we don’t have room to accommodate you and it’s a bit late to be wandering around a station alone at night”. Celine said
“For myself I will be getting back to my ship Celine it is late as you say and I prefer my own bed”.
“As you will Latasha I’ll give you a call in the morning” Celine replied rising and embracing her before letting see herself of the ship so as not to give offence.
Roberta made no comment at that and saw that Celine was deliberately giving the woman no cause to think she doubted her ability to see herself to her own ship.
“You will have the other stateroom of course Celine decided pouring Roberta another wine I imagine Karl and Matthew are taking the opportunity to discuss other matters out of our hearing”.
“I can’t imagine he wishes to keep things from you Celine”
“You would be surprised to learn that he does on occasion Roberta usually it’s for the right reasons so I try not to pry too much, at other times it’s because he thinks I would be upset at his intentions and would try to prevent him acting as he wants. He can be incredibly stubborn at times she mused” then telling Roberta of their first row back in Paranid prime.
“I find it hard to believe Karl would argue with you over a matter of paying to have the hull cleaned properly Celine he is obviously devoted to you”.
“Normally he wouldn’t Celine admitted but I picked the fight deliberately as a sort of test, I knew then I loved him but I was uncertain if he loved me for myself or my family’s wealth. I had to be certain of him so I deliberately goaded him into the argument to see if he was prepared to sacrifice his principles merely because I wanted him to”.
“That sounds awfully callous”.
“I had to be Roberta all my life I have had people who saw not me but my family name and money as a means to advance themselves at my expense I learnt that the hard way unfortunately. Needless to say Karl passed my test and I have been at his side ever since”.
“Wasn’t it hard to give up the life you knew to stay with him?”
“Lord no trust me on this once you have a fortune above a certain level money becomes meaningless in itself it was more a means of keeping score than having any real meaning to me. As to the life I led do you know how boring it can become doing the endless rounds of attending all those society functions and dinners that you were expected to attend merely because of who you were? Listening to the constant infighting as people you soon came to loathe jockeyed for position just to be seen with you”.
“You make it sound awful”
“Not all of it was and I did make some good friends though I haven’t been so happy in years. Now tell me about this station and which places you think we should visit” Celine suggested. After which they started discussing plans for the morning relaxing easily in each other’s company as they waited for Karl to return.
They had pretty much fleshed out some sort of itinerary for the morning when he re-joined them and he gave it his approval. Discarding his jacket and settling next to Celine on the couch. Helping himself to some of the savoury snacks.
“Problems” Celine asked
“No Matt had a few queries regarding where we go next I gather the people we are to meet are not yet on station and he wanted to know if we could extend our stay here so I told him I would discuss that with Latasha but I don’t see it being a problem I can always have the Trojan bring her crew here if need be but I would prefer it was repaired first”.
“I’m pretty certain she will as well” Celine agreed suspecting that Latasha would want her ship to be restored to the condition it was in before it was taken before asking her crew to return to it.
“Was the ship badly damaged?” Roberta asked hoping they would not think her enquiry breached their sense of etiquette.
“Not in any major way but the ship will have to be refurbished so as to avoid unpleasant reminders of their experiences for the crew”. Karl replied
“I can imagine Latasha will have some very expensive ideas about that, but given the circumstances I can’t blame her” Celine added
“Nor do I they are still getting of lightly though Celine I know your views are at odds with my own in this regard but an agreement has been made regarding reparations and I will not undermine it”.
Celine did not pursue the matter Roberta noted and they discussed other more mundane matters which whilst Roberta was happy to be part of and not wishing to seem rude she asked if she might be excused.
“Of course Roberta I had forgotten you are on terran time you must be exhausted” Celine apologised showing her to her rooms across the corridor.
Roberta was glad to be able to close the door and saw the room layout was the same as Karl’s as she entered the bedroom startled to see that in her absence someone had laundered her uniform and laid out a cover for the gown she was wearing. Removing it carefully she placed it in the cover where she found a note advising her to accept the shoes as part of the gift. Roberta carefully hung the gown in one of the many cupboards and placed the shoes in the box provided before heading for the necessary to grab a shower. That intention she discarded when she saw the bath.
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Sabrina Bergin
- Posts: 2239
- Joined: Sat, 12. Apr 08, 10:53
The Terran station:
Roberta was woken gently the next morning by Della who placed a breakfast tray on a small table within the room and suggested she eat it whilst it was still hot.
Roberta had never been one able to stay in bed once awake so she threw back the bedding and regarded the breakfast that had been prepared for her. The breakfast looked pretty standard fare though the coffee had a strong and pleasant aroma that she could not identify it did taste good though as she studied her plate and tried the sausages, again she was surprised they looked like sausages but they certainly tasted nothing like those she was used to with a mix of unknown meat seasoned with herb and spice flavours that made them delicious at least the eggs were the same as she tasted each part of the dish delighting in the strange tastes and textures the meal offered. A surprising thing in itself was the toast it looked dry and hard but when she bit into it found it to be incredibly soft to the palette, again it was seasoned with some unknown flavouring rather than a butter spread. Having cleared her plate she had another cup of coffee before she had a shower and got dressed in her uniform making a note to buy some basic clothing whilst they were on station she could hardly walk around in her dress uniform all day on station.
She opened her staterooms doors and seeing the lights were still dimmed assumed it must still be early morning ships time as she struggled to adapt her time sense to that of the ship seeing Karl and Celine’s door was still closed she returned to her rooms and retrieved the breakfast tray and went below to find the galley to return it.
The galley come dining room was not unoccupied and she was startled to see most of the Phoenix crew were present enjoying their own breakfast. Roberta found the cleaning unit and saw to her dishes before finding a fresh mug and pouring herself another coffee from the large coffee maker set on the counter.
Della waved her over making it clear she should join them so she braced herself and took an empty seat at the table.
"You’re an early bird Roberta to be honest we thought you might take the opportunity to have a lie in” Della said as she made herself comfortable and took another sip of her coffee.
“Force of habit Della” she agreed “I’ve never been one to stay abed of a morning. I’m surprised to see you all here I thought you had decided to stay on station”.
“We are” the one she recognised as Tina the fighter pilot Roberta recognised responded “but Celine sent us a list of the places you were going to take her to see today so we thought we might tag along if you don’t mind that is most of us have never seen parklands and such as you describe them the closest most of us have ever got to something like that is on a wheat farm”.
Roberta could not imagine such a life to know only the metal corridors of a ship or a station made her shudder.
“Don’t you ever go planet side?” she asked.
“Not if we can avoid it the big man next to Della said as he grabbed another slice of that odd toast “Gravity is always to light and it takes time to adjust before we stop walking around like we’re going to take off with every step”.
“That’s because you always walk around like that Reece Della noted her affection for the man evident in her tone of voice and the softness that came to her eyes when she looked to him.
“The gravity feel normal here though” she noted
“Yeah Loki has been altering it to Terran standard since we docked the Captain figured we would be having guest on board and didn’t want you feeling heavy”.
“Hey Loki what is the comparative gravity difference to what we normally have on board he asked addressing the terminal that was set above the table with displays on each of its six sides tilted at an angle to allow anyone seated to see them without difficulty.
“The current gravity is now at one gee as per terran standard which is a reduction of twenty percent below the ships standard setting” Reece the disembodied voice answered.
“That’s not too bad” Reece admitted “so Roberta how do you like the Phoenix”?
“It is an impressive ship I must admit I find it a little overwhelming especially those staterooms”.
“Yeah but it was designed to be the Emperors personal yacht originally so expense wasn’t a consideration I guess and Karl’s uncle spent a fortune on her as well before he gave her to him”.
“Karl; has an uncle” Roberta queried not having heard mention of him before now even in her briefings.
“Tupmanclolanks well he wasn’t blood kin I mean he was a Paranid after all but him and Joran Karl’s father they went way back together and he sort of adopted Karl so after he died he made sure Karl got the Phoenix though I gather some of his associates at court had fit’s over it, the Emperor gave his blessing to his bequest which silenced those who objected to it”.
From the sudden silence that settled on the table Roberta got the impression that perhaps Reece had spoken of things that were supposed to be kept private amongst them so she was startled when Tina spoke up next.
“If the tale is not told those it speaks to cannot be remembered”
Roberta felt the tension that had been slowly building evaporated as Reece given tacit approval by his senior continued.
“Tupmanclolanks was as you might have gathered a high ranking diplomat for the Paranid and as such he had many enemies one of whom managed to poison him. Joran Karl’s father in the Swan was on his way to help him retrieve the antidote when the Swan was attacked and destroyed Tupmanclolanks was aboard her when she died and Karl was stranded of the ship and had to watch it happen that’s why he hates pirates so much, why we all do. So when he heard of the Ravens plight he decided that he was not going to let the Raven suffer the same fate as the Swan”.
Roberta was shocked she had heard none of this before this moment and was unprepared for how hard it hit her emotionally. It also explained much that she had not fully understood till now as regards this crew’s fierce loyalty to their captain and their actions in dealing with the pirates. She was still puzzled how this crew came to be though given that Karl was by all accounts an orphan and asked how they came to be here on the Phoenix.
“That is a complex matter and some of it we will not discuss suffice to say the Phoenix is the Swan’s line renewed in us you see here it will be easier to show you” Tina said taking a locket from around her neck and placing it on the table before touching a concealed control on its surface which portrayed a hologram listing the family tree that had the Phoenix at its starting point which then branched outwards with ships names and families listed by name and age. It was an incredible record and Roberta quickly saw that it spanned generations and hundreds of ships. The interconnections seemed endless. She would have liked more time to study it in detail but Tina retrieved the locket closing down the display.
“As you can see our history is deep and wide Roberta and even this much would not have been revealed to you had our Captain not vouched his approval. That I suspect is because he has some regard for your own Captain”.
Again that was news to her and she made a note to discuss that with Matthew at some near time in the future, she was well aware of the courtesy the showing of this much of their history had been had been and thanked Tina for allowing it.
“My Captain obviously feels that if we are to share our path with yours for a time there should be no misunderstandings between us” Tina observed “and in truth we are grateful for the opportunity to remember our forebears once more”.
There was a muted chorus of agreement from the others at the table to that statement.
“So we are to visit these parklands of yours today I take it Celine has said little of the matter can you tell us more?” Della asked.
“I think I would rather surprise you” Roberta decided “I can promise you it will be different”.
“Then we shall anticipate the surprise and ask no more” Tina said with a warning glance to the others not to pester her.
Switching her attention back to Tina she took the opportunity to ask about the fighters the Phoenix carried which was obviously a subject close to Tina’s own heart as she instantly began giving the specifications of the Perseus she normally flew when not at the helm of the Phoenix itself describing accurately the good and bad points of the ship which she said were few when she learnt that Roberta herself had till recently been a fighter pilot the discussion became even more animated with them both comparing Terran to commonwealth fighters.
The rest of the crew left them to it and drifted off to attend to their own affairs sensing that the two women would continue their discussion for some time oblivious to all else around them.
Caleb and his teams entered the dining area at their normal breakfast time helping themselves from the counter before sitting at a nearby table so as not to intrude on Tina and the Terran woman Roberta. Karl had told him that most of the crew would be of ship today so he had already briefed his people on their duties which would be primarily ensuring the safety of the ship and routine matters that the crew might normally deal with.
His team were more than happy to help out on such occasions they all knew that it was rare the regular crew had the opportunity to relax on station and they had all volunteered when he had put Karl’s request to them. Karl had also told him he would ensure his people would have time on station themselves and had provided them all with ships suits to render them indistinguishable from the Phoenix crew.
Roberta noted the appearance of Caleb and his people the way they moved easily as a team made her suspect they were trained soldiers a point she put to Tina.
“To be honest they have become part of the crew by now, as you can imagine Celine’s brother Nial was adamant that she should have adequate protection when she first joined us, now though they have proven themselves invaluable in other ways and have become part of the family”.
Roberta had sense enough not to pry further well aware of the regard Tina held Caleb in. When Della returned to tell them Celine was ready she took a brief moment to speak with him kissing him quickly in parting before joining herself and Della to gather at the boarding ramp with the others.
“There you are ladies Celine noted as they arrived I’ve ordered a transport so Roberta if you could lead on”.
The Journey to the parklands took a while even using the fast access routes high above the main levels of the station. Once there though Roberta led them through the lush woodlands that had been made here and led them to the stables where she had arranged for their visit.
“What on earth is that” Reece asked as a horse was bought out into the yard for them to see.
“That Reece is a horse a domestic animal” Roberta explained “it’s been trained to be ridden watch I’ll demonstrate”.
Roberta climbed over the fence and with the aid of the stables assistant mounted the horse and let it carry her around the stable demonstrating her control over it as she made it take a series of left and right circles within the yard. After judging that she had overcome their initial reservations the stable hands bought out more horses and asked them to pick one each to ride. Celine was one of the first to accept the offer followed by Tina and Della. Not wishing to be shamed by the woman the others swiftly followed suit mounting their chosen horses then being led out of the stable yard to be taken on a designated riding trail through the woodlands escorted by the stable hands.
“This is marvellous Roberta” Celine said as they rode through the woodlands escorted by mounted guides from the stables “though I am certain it could be uncomfortable if it was prolonged”.
“That has been an issue in the past but rest assured we will not be riding long enough for it to cause discomfort Celine I have arranged another treat a bit further on where we will leave the horses”.
The ride ended at a Café with a large outdoor dining area where tables had been booked for them for lunch. The stable hands retrieved the horses and led them to stables located near at hand where the riding tackle was removed and they were let loose in a fenced of grassy area. Reece appeared to be the only one to suffer any discomfort from the ride and he walked with awkward steps wincing at each one he took to the seating area with Della telling him not to be such a baby.
Roberta suspected the reason he had strained himself was his failure to relax when mounted and she knew the discomfort would soon pass despite his insisting he might be crippled for life by the experience. When they were all seated Roberta ordered for all of them opting for a light lunch as she wanted them to be able to enjoy the next treat she had planned for them. She found herself enjoying the experience being able to show off a part of terran life that few outsiders suspected even existed or got a chance to participate in.
“Alright what’s next Della?” asked after they had all finished their meal.
“Next I thought we might go to the boating lake there are some avian species there I think you will find fascinating”.
“Lead on then” Celine said rising from her seat with the others following her lead. It was a short walk through a line of screening trees to the boating lake that was in fact one of the stations water reservoirs. They were escorted onto the waiting boats at the end of a short jetty where staff secured them aboard before casting off and moving out onto the lake proper. Celine noted some birds flying freely high above them and asked how they were kept confined one of the crew of the launch explained that there was a low energy repulse field that kept them in the parklands area.
It was as they were traveling back to the jetty that they saw the sight Roberta had hoped for since that morning. She signalled for the launch driver to hold station as the swan and her young floated past them. None of the Phoenix crew needing to be told the species with Roberta using her data pad to record the moment. The launch driver leaned across to her and told her she might like to visit a small store back near the café promising her it would be of interest to her. She judged him to have earned the gratuity she gave him when they docked though tipping was discouraged as a rule she felt he had done more than she asked when she had booked his services.
Taking his advice she led the crew to the store he had pointed out to her. Celine swept past her as she stepped inside every wall was adorned with hand crafted artworks. And there was one that Celine had seen on entering the room she was determined to purchase despite the high price indicated on it. Having paid for the picture she had the storekeeper package it and paid for it to be delivered to the Phoenix also enquiring as to contact details for the artist which the man was happy to provide.
On the way back to the ship they called in at one of the large retail complex's where they all spent some time purchasing souveniers and other odds and ends that took their fancy. Roberta found time to purchase some casual clothing and had it forwarded to the Phoenix. Before they ended the day with a dinner at one of the cafe's within the complex before finally returning to the Phoenix.
Roberta was woken gently the next morning by Della who placed a breakfast tray on a small table within the room and suggested she eat it whilst it was still hot.
Roberta had never been one able to stay in bed once awake so she threw back the bedding and regarded the breakfast that had been prepared for her. The breakfast looked pretty standard fare though the coffee had a strong and pleasant aroma that she could not identify it did taste good though as she studied her plate and tried the sausages, again she was surprised they looked like sausages but they certainly tasted nothing like those she was used to with a mix of unknown meat seasoned with herb and spice flavours that made them delicious at least the eggs were the same as she tasted each part of the dish delighting in the strange tastes and textures the meal offered. A surprising thing in itself was the toast it looked dry and hard but when she bit into it found it to be incredibly soft to the palette, again it was seasoned with some unknown flavouring rather than a butter spread. Having cleared her plate she had another cup of coffee before she had a shower and got dressed in her uniform making a note to buy some basic clothing whilst they were on station she could hardly walk around in her dress uniform all day on station.
She opened her staterooms doors and seeing the lights were still dimmed assumed it must still be early morning ships time as she struggled to adapt her time sense to that of the ship seeing Karl and Celine’s door was still closed she returned to her rooms and retrieved the breakfast tray and went below to find the galley to return it.
The galley come dining room was not unoccupied and she was startled to see most of the Phoenix crew were present enjoying their own breakfast. Roberta found the cleaning unit and saw to her dishes before finding a fresh mug and pouring herself another coffee from the large coffee maker set on the counter.
Della waved her over making it clear she should join them so she braced herself and took an empty seat at the table.
"You’re an early bird Roberta to be honest we thought you might take the opportunity to have a lie in” Della said as she made herself comfortable and took another sip of her coffee.
“Force of habit Della” she agreed “I’ve never been one to stay abed of a morning. I’m surprised to see you all here I thought you had decided to stay on station”.
“We are” the one she recognised as Tina the fighter pilot Roberta recognised responded “but Celine sent us a list of the places you were going to take her to see today so we thought we might tag along if you don’t mind that is most of us have never seen parklands and such as you describe them the closest most of us have ever got to something like that is on a wheat farm”.
Roberta could not imagine such a life to know only the metal corridors of a ship or a station made her shudder.
“Don’t you ever go planet side?” she asked.
“Not if we can avoid it the big man next to Della said as he grabbed another slice of that odd toast “Gravity is always to light and it takes time to adjust before we stop walking around like we’re going to take off with every step”.
“That’s because you always walk around like that Reece Della noted her affection for the man evident in her tone of voice and the softness that came to her eyes when she looked to him.
“The gravity feel normal here though” she noted
“Yeah Loki has been altering it to Terran standard since we docked the Captain figured we would be having guest on board and didn’t want you feeling heavy”.
“Hey Loki what is the comparative gravity difference to what we normally have on board he asked addressing the terminal that was set above the table with displays on each of its six sides tilted at an angle to allow anyone seated to see them without difficulty.
“The current gravity is now at one gee as per terran standard which is a reduction of twenty percent below the ships standard setting” Reece the disembodied voice answered.
“That’s not too bad” Reece admitted “so Roberta how do you like the Phoenix”?
“It is an impressive ship I must admit I find it a little overwhelming especially those staterooms”.
“Yeah but it was designed to be the Emperors personal yacht originally so expense wasn’t a consideration I guess and Karl’s uncle spent a fortune on her as well before he gave her to him”.
“Karl; has an uncle” Roberta queried not having heard mention of him before now even in her briefings.
“Tupmanclolanks well he wasn’t blood kin I mean he was a Paranid after all but him and Joran Karl’s father they went way back together and he sort of adopted Karl so after he died he made sure Karl got the Phoenix though I gather some of his associates at court had fit’s over it, the Emperor gave his blessing to his bequest which silenced those who objected to it”.
From the sudden silence that settled on the table Roberta got the impression that perhaps Reece had spoken of things that were supposed to be kept private amongst them so she was startled when Tina spoke up next.
“If the tale is not told those it speaks to cannot be remembered”
Roberta felt the tension that had been slowly building evaporated as Reece given tacit approval by his senior continued.
“Tupmanclolanks was as you might have gathered a high ranking diplomat for the Paranid and as such he had many enemies one of whom managed to poison him. Joran Karl’s father in the Swan was on his way to help him retrieve the antidote when the Swan was attacked and destroyed Tupmanclolanks was aboard her when she died and Karl was stranded of the ship and had to watch it happen that’s why he hates pirates so much, why we all do. So when he heard of the Ravens plight he decided that he was not going to let the Raven suffer the same fate as the Swan”.
Roberta was shocked she had heard none of this before this moment and was unprepared for how hard it hit her emotionally. It also explained much that she had not fully understood till now as regards this crew’s fierce loyalty to their captain and their actions in dealing with the pirates. She was still puzzled how this crew came to be though given that Karl was by all accounts an orphan and asked how they came to be here on the Phoenix.
“That is a complex matter and some of it we will not discuss suffice to say the Phoenix is the Swan’s line renewed in us you see here it will be easier to show you” Tina said taking a locket from around her neck and placing it on the table before touching a concealed control on its surface which portrayed a hologram listing the family tree that had the Phoenix at its starting point which then branched outwards with ships names and families listed by name and age. It was an incredible record and Roberta quickly saw that it spanned generations and hundreds of ships. The interconnections seemed endless. She would have liked more time to study it in detail but Tina retrieved the locket closing down the display.
“As you can see our history is deep and wide Roberta and even this much would not have been revealed to you had our Captain not vouched his approval. That I suspect is because he has some regard for your own Captain”.
Again that was news to her and she made a note to discuss that with Matthew at some near time in the future, she was well aware of the courtesy the showing of this much of their history had been had been and thanked Tina for allowing it.
“My Captain obviously feels that if we are to share our path with yours for a time there should be no misunderstandings between us” Tina observed “and in truth we are grateful for the opportunity to remember our forebears once more”.
There was a muted chorus of agreement from the others at the table to that statement.
“So we are to visit these parklands of yours today I take it Celine has said little of the matter can you tell us more?” Della asked.
“I think I would rather surprise you” Roberta decided “I can promise you it will be different”.
“Then we shall anticipate the surprise and ask no more” Tina said with a warning glance to the others not to pester her.
Switching her attention back to Tina she took the opportunity to ask about the fighters the Phoenix carried which was obviously a subject close to Tina’s own heart as she instantly began giving the specifications of the Perseus she normally flew when not at the helm of the Phoenix itself describing accurately the good and bad points of the ship which she said were few when she learnt that Roberta herself had till recently been a fighter pilot the discussion became even more animated with them both comparing Terran to commonwealth fighters.
The rest of the crew left them to it and drifted off to attend to their own affairs sensing that the two women would continue their discussion for some time oblivious to all else around them.
Caleb and his teams entered the dining area at their normal breakfast time helping themselves from the counter before sitting at a nearby table so as not to intrude on Tina and the Terran woman Roberta. Karl had told him that most of the crew would be of ship today so he had already briefed his people on their duties which would be primarily ensuring the safety of the ship and routine matters that the crew might normally deal with.
His team were more than happy to help out on such occasions they all knew that it was rare the regular crew had the opportunity to relax on station and they had all volunteered when he had put Karl’s request to them. Karl had also told him he would ensure his people would have time on station themselves and had provided them all with ships suits to render them indistinguishable from the Phoenix crew.
Roberta noted the appearance of Caleb and his people the way they moved easily as a team made her suspect they were trained soldiers a point she put to Tina.
“To be honest they have become part of the crew by now, as you can imagine Celine’s brother Nial was adamant that she should have adequate protection when she first joined us, now though they have proven themselves invaluable in other ways and have become part of the family”.
Roberta had sense enough not to pry further well aware of the regard Tina held Caleb in. When Della returned to tell them Celine was ready she took a brief moment to speak with him kissing him quickly in parting before joining herself and Della to gather at the boarding ramp with the others.
“There you are ladies Celine noted as they arrived I’ve ordered a transport so Roberta if you could lead on”.
The Journey to the parklands took a while even using the fast access routes high above the main levels of the station. Once there though Roberta led them through the lush woodlands that had been made here and led them to the stables where she had arranged for their visit.
“What on earth is that” Reece asked as a horse was bought out into the yard for them to see.
“That Reece is a horse a domestic animal” Roberta explained “it’s been trained to be ridden watch I’ll demonstrate”.
Roberta climbed over the fence and with the aid of the stables assistant mounted the horse and let it carry her around the stable demonstrating her control over it as she made it take a series of left and right circles within the yard. After judging that she had overcome their initial reservations the stable hands bought out more horses and asked them to pick one each to ride. Celine was one of the first to accept the offer followed by Tina and Della. Not wishing to be shamed by the woman the others swiftly followed suit mounting their chosen horses then being led out of the stable yard to be taken on a designated riding trail through the woodlands escorted by the stable hands.
“This is marvellous Roberta” Celine said as they rode through the woodlands escorted by mounted guides from the stables “though I am certain it could be uncomfortable if it was prolonged”.
“That has been an issue in the past but rest assured we will not be riding long enough for it to cause discomfort Celine I have arranged another treat a bit further on where we will leave the horses”.
The ride ended at a Café with a large outdoor dining area where tables had been booked for them for lunch. The stable hands retrieved the horses and led them to stables located near at hand where the riding tackle was removed and they were let loose in a fenced of grassy area. Reece appeared to be the only one to suffer any discomfort from the ride and he walked with awkward steps wincing at each one he took to the seating area with Della telling him not to be such a baby.
Roberta suspected the reason he had strained himself was his failure to relax when mounted and she knew the discomfort would soon pass despite his insisting he might be crippled for life by the experience. When they were all seated Roberta ordered for all of them opting for a light lunch as she wanted them to be able to enjoy the next treat she had planned for them. She found herself enjoying the experience being able to show off a part of terran life that few outsiders suspected even existed or got a chance to participate in.
“Alright what’s next Della?” asked after they had all finished their meal.
“Next I thought we might go to the boating lake there are some avian species there I think you will find fascinating”.
“Lead on then” Celine said rising from her seat with the others following her lead. It was a short walk through a line of screening trees to the boating lake that was in fact one of the stations water reservoirs. They were escorted onto the waiting boats at the end of a short jetty where staff secured them aboard before casting off and moving out onto the lake proper. Celine noted some birds flying freely high above them and asked how they were kept confined one of the crew of the launch explained that there was a low energy repulse field that kept them in the parklands area.
It was as they were traveling back to the jetty that they saw the sight Roberta had hoped for since that morning. She signalled for the launch driver to hold station as the swan and her young floated past them. None of the Phoenix crew needing to be told the species with Roberta using her data pad to record the moment. The launch driver leaned across to her and told her she might like to visit a small store back near the café promising her it would be of interest to her. She judged him to have earned the gratuity she gave him when they docked though tipping was discouraged as a rule she felt he had done more than she asked when she had booked his services.
Taking his advice she led the crew to the store he had pointed out to her. Celine swept past her as she stepped inside every wall was adorned with hand crafted artworks. And there was one that Celine had seen on entering the room she was determined to purchase despite the high price indicated on it. Having paid for the picture she had the storekeeper package it and paid for it to be delivered to the Phoenix also enquiring as to contact details for the artist which the man was happy to provide.
On the way back to the ship they called in at one of the large retail complex's where they all spent some time purchasing souveniers and other odds and ends that took their fancy. Roberta found time to purchase some casual clothing and had it forwarded to the Phoenix. Before they ended the day with a dinner at one of the cafe's within the complex before finally returning to the Phoenix.
Last edited by Sabrina Bergin on Sun, 21. Sep 14, 07:21, edited 1 time in total.
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Sabrina Bergin
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Home coming:
It was actually four terran days before the Terran delegates arrived on the station but the delay had not concerned Karl unduly It had given him a chance to ensure the crew all had a run ashore and allowed him to provision the ship in a more leisurely manner than was normal. He sat back in his chair in the lounge of his rooms his eyes moving inevitably to the picture Celine had purchased on station.
He had given no real thought to actually owning a painting before reasoning that a view screen could provide any image he cared for but this one captured him in ways he had not anticipated each time he looked at it he saw something different in it, he had to admit it was a magnificent gift.
Celine entered the room having got ready for the meeting and reached down and straightened his hair. Come on Karl it’s time she said softly understanding his fascination with the piece. It was a wonderful painting of a swan rising in flight from a lakes surface at dawn that seemed to limn its wings in fire and she understood why it captured his attention so completely. He stood and with a last glance at the painting led her to the elevator.
The presence of Misha and Kayle waiting at the access startled him.
“Would you explain why you are here and armed he asked”.
“Caleb’s orders sir as both Celine and yourself are attending this meeting and the Terrans have expressed some concerns as to people opposing this meeting we have obtained the necessary permissions to act as the bodyguards for you both and to carry weapons” Misha responded in a voice that made it clear it was going to be this way whether he liked it or not.
Karl thought about that for a moment and whilst it was possible Caleb was over reacting this meeting was important, Matthew had said as much before now and better safe than sorry would probably be the wisest course of action he admitted to himself particularly where Celine’s safety was concerned.
“Alright if Caleb feels it is necessary” giving in to the inevitable he opened the access door and led Celine to the waiting station car Misha and Kayle flanking them their eyes scanning everything around them as they moved. They entered the car without incident even then the two marines did not relax their vigilance Karl was about to tell them to relax when Celine took his hand.
“Let them do their job Karl I know you’re not used to this level of protection but I was for a very long time they don’t need distractions”.
Karl realised she was right so sat back quietly in his seat as the car took them deep into the station to the core sector where the Terrans had been given accommodation in one of the higher class hotels the station offered. He stayed put as the transport pulled up at the entrance and Misha and Kayle exited the vehicle and scanned the area before telling them it was clear.
They walked into the foyer where Mathew was waiting to escort them to the conference room letting them know that Latasha and Kenal had already arrived. Misha and Kayle assumed positions in the corridor that led to that room acknowledging the Terran Guards already present.
Mathew opened the door for them and then ushered them inside and escorted them to the table where Latasha and Kenal were waiting for them along with four terrans Karl assumed must be the people they had been asked to wait on station to meet.
They took their seats and Karl waited for them to speak as to what they actually wanted from him or rather the traders.
"Sirs Ladies allow me to introduce myself and my colleagues I am Sol system Senator Graves my colleagues are also members of that body and we have been tasked by the senate with two goals the first being to facilitate the resumption of the Trader presence in the Terran sectors. The departure of your ships has had a greater impact on our economy than was anticipated we would discuss what we might be able to offer to assist you to make your return to terran space more likely and I have the authority to implement the terms of any agreement we might reach here.
The second and by far the most important task we have been given is to approach yourselves to act as intermediators with the commonwealth race governments to begin discussions as to finding a way to end the war that has been waging for too long and is bleeding both us and the commonwealth dry with horrendous loss of life and resources that could be put to better use. Initially we would ask that you use your standing amongst the races to at least in the first instance arrange a cease fire that will open the way for talks to a permanent cessation of hostilities across all the contested sectors. We have already made approaches to the Goners to act as mediators in any such discussions. The staff here will record hard copies of the discussions and you may ask to review those records at any time for clarification”.
“Let us begin” then Karl agreed sensing for the first time in Jazura that peace might actually be possible in the near future aware also of the pressure that put upon him to do nothing to bar the way to that by making sweeping expectations or demands in what they discussed here.
The discussions ran all day and late into the evening but they all sensed they were close to reaching a tentative agreement so they took a short break to have a light supper before returning to the room to conclude the discussions. Finally it was done as Karl considered the hard copy of the terms of the agreements reached that they all formally signed. It was couched in broad outlines deliberately to allow more detailed discussions as to the actual detailed terms to be agreed by senior officials from both the terran and commonwealth governments when the next meetings took place between those who had the power to enact a possible ceasefire not wishing to hamstring those discussions at this early stage by trying to deal with specific issues now.
They were all tired from their efforts and after sharing a glass of wine to mark their achievement here they gathered their copies of the agreement and began to disperse.
Karl sat back gazing at the cover of the hard copy he held embossed with the seals of the Witness a Goner priest who had arrived at the station for just this purpose gathering his own copy of the agreement he thanked them for their efforts then bowed to them before leaving for the docks.
“Well shall we take a room here or go back to the ship” Celine.
“Definitely the ship I need a long hot bath and a lie down I haven’t had to endure such a lengthy meeting in over a Jazura and I am getting a headache”
“The ship it is then” Karl agreed and took her hand to lead her back to the foyer Misha and Kayle falling in just a step behind them as they passed. Karl suspected they had made use of stim shots to keep themselves focussed.
There was a slight delay for the transport to arrive due to the lateness of the hour Karl suspected it being close to dawn station time. They got a call to indicate the car was waiting outside and the walked down to it with Kayle opening the nearside door for Celine.
What happened next was a blur to Karl he heard Kayle shout “gun” and saw him grab hold of Celine and covering her as they fell then he heard the shot even as Misha was knocking him to the ground drawing her own weapon and firing at where the shot had come from before running in that direction. Shouting back that she had hit the shooter.
Karl rolled over and got to his feet then rushed to where Celine lay she was pinned under Kayle who had taken the brunt of the blast his clothing scorched through to reveal the armour beneath.
“Get a medic” he screamed at the shocked bystanders as he gently moved Kayle of Celine trying not to cause the man more pain.
“I’m alright Karl just winded” Celine whispered to him still shocked by what had happened, “see to Kayle”. Then station security arrived and took over moving him aside so they could attend to both Kayle and Celine.
Karl looked in the direction Misha had gone and taking Kayle’s weapon he set of after her. He looked down after having reached where the gunman must have been hidden a discarded blast rifle its charge pack a molten mess where Misha’s shot must have hit it lying to one side of the stairwell and saw a trail of blood that eventually led him to a narrow access way between buildings where he could hear muffled cries of pain and terror. At the end of the passage he could see Misha bent over the man she had captured using her knife on him. That was what had made the man cry out in agony that noise had led Karl here even though Misha had her hand over his mouth to stifle his screams. For a moment he thought Misha might attack him as she detected his approach and spun to face him drawing the knife out of the man on the floor uncaring as to the damage she inflicted on him her features contorted by her rage.
“Misha please we need him alive if you kill him we will never know who planned this”.
“This Bastu shot Kayle she roared who are you to deny me justice?”
“You won’t be denied Misha I swear it but we need a name from him, Kayle has been hurt badly but medics are with him even now”.
“He’s still dead sir or soon will be I saw the hit he took” she said quietly uncaring of the tears that ran freely down her cheeks now as she accepted what she knew was inevitable.
“Then go to him Misha” he told her not realising till now that the man was her partner.
“You promise me this man’s life” she asked rising. Her gaze turning to him”.
“It’s yours Misha”.
“Then he’s yours for now sir” she said giving him her knife as troops approached them before running past them back the way they had come.
“Sir your orders” one of them asked obviously aware of who he was.
“This man is my prisoner Sergeant I want him kept alive till I decide what I want to do with him and search him for suicide capsules I don’t want him taking the easy way out”.
“Understood sir” the Sergeant replied saluting crisply as his men carried out Karl’s instructions “I will have him detained in the dockside brig pending your disposition of him sir”.
Karl returned the Salute then walked back to where Celine and Kayle had been injured. The scene was chaotic as he returned finding a cordon of armed guards had been established for a hundred meters in all directions. He was escorted into a medical station within the hotel complex where his guide began giving him, updates as to the condition of his people.
Once they reached the medical section Karl saw Mathew who had arranged the security around the medical facility with all people approaching it being questioned rigorously and in most cases being turned away.
“Karl my gods I can only offer my apologies for this to happen on one of our stations defies belief. I understand you captured the assassin”.
“I did he’s being held for me at the dockside brig, I am afraid I will not be turning this man over to you when I am done with him”.
Matthew looked askance at that but he could see that this was not a matter Karl was prepared to discuss which meant the man was dead or soon would be and to his shame he felt no qualms about that fact.
Matthew led Karl down the coldly antiseptic corridors to the room where Kayle was being treated explaining that he seemed well aware as to the extent of his wounds and had asked to speak with him in private. He opened the door to the room for Karl but remained outside.
Misha was at his side holding his hand gazing upon him with a fierce intensity as if intending to burn his features into her memory for ever.
“Sorry to bother you sir” Kayle whispered seeing Karl as he neared the bed.
“It is not a bother Kayle I owe you more than word’s can express if there is anything at all I can do for you or your family you have but to name it”. Karl did not insult the man by offering anything for Kayle alone they both knew how badly he had been hurt.
“There is one thing sir I want to go home” it’s been an honour to serve with you sir he whispered his voice fading as he lapsed back into unconsciousness.
Only then did Misha turn to speak with Karl “He’s Terran sir not many people knew that he came south before the war to explore the commonwealth and stayed, eventually we met up and I talked him into signing up with us”.
Kayle woke briefly one more time only long enough to whisper Misha’s name before his end. Misha stood up after a few moments and arranged him neatly in his bed kissing his forehead gently one last time and bidding him farewell, the calm almost indifferent tone of her voice betraying nothing of the anguish she felt at his passing but they had long known this moment might come for either of them and had vowed to bear it as a marine should with fortitude and acceptance.
“Sir with your permission I will make the necessary arrangements to have him taken back to the Phoenix”.
“Of course Misha contact Della she will have everything ready for you”.
Karl left her there aware of the terrible strain she was enduring in maintaining her stoic façade and not wanting to her to lose control in front of him which would shame her.
He closed the door behind him and asked Matthew to ensure she was not disturbed for the moment and that later she would arranging for Kayle to be taken back to the Phoenix.
Matthew agreed to that of course and then showed him to another room where Celine was being treated.
“How are you feeling he asked” as he entered the room.
“I’ve felt better” she admitted but it’s mostly bruising from Kayle throwing me to the floor how is he?”
He didn’t have to answer her out loud she saw it in his eyes, “Damn now I won’t have a chance to thank him for saving my life she cried. Where’s Misha”?
“She’s with him Celine, I thanked him for both of us before the end”
“Gods that poor woman Celine whispered I can’t even begin to imagine what she’s going through”.
“She’s strong Celine she will survive this” Karl assured her now why don’t you get dressed and we’ll get back to the Phoenix”.
They arrived back on the dock with a strong military escort the dock having been swept clear before their arrival. Caleb also had his men guarding the access way to the Phoenix itself. Karl took Celine straight upstairs and with Illsa’s help got her out of into the bed before making her drink a sedative to allow her to sleep.
“Look after her for me please Illsa” he asked the girl once he was certain Celine was asleep before he went back to the boarding ramp where Misha had arrived with the casket containing Kayle. Once Della had secured it in one of the holds he went onto the Dock Misha appearing at his side before he had taken half a dozen paces of the ramp.
“I had not forgotten my promise to you Misha”
“Of that I am certain Sir” she replied crisply
They entered the dock side brig where the man had been confined to one of
the cells chained to a medical gurney with a raft of medical instruments sensors and tubes attached to him at various points on his body.
He stiffened in horror as he recognised Misha who smiled coldly at him enjoying his terror as Karl ordered the medics to clear the room.
One of the men protested till Misha unshouldered her rifle
“My Captain has given you an order people, you do not want me to make you regret disobeying him.”
The room cleared instantly after that statement.
“Misha this man has a name I want I don’t care how much he suffers but I want him to be alive after you’ve got it out of him”.
Misha looked to Karl as if to protest but kept her peace when she saw the rage he was struggling to contain within himself. Misha drew her knife again and held it so the man on the gurney could see it clearly and moved close to him taking an ampoule from her belt which she plunged into a drip that was feeding him fluids.
"That was a stim shot she told him that’s so you don’t die on me when I start peeling the skin of you a layer at a time. A fact she demonstrated by doing just that to a section of his chest, “I have a problem you see that was why the fleet wouldn’t let me sign up for them” she continued in a conversational tone ignoring his muffled gasps of pain “it’s not that I don’t mind killing people but that I like killing them over a very long period of time. For some reason they thought that was wrong. Now the Captain here he lets me play now and again which is why I get upset when people anger him” she paused to slice another section of skin off the man this time from his leg. “Now you can stop this at any time you like by just writing down the name my Captain wants confirmed on this pad but I’d rather you didn’t”.
Again she took a section of skin of another untouched area of his body. The man was thrashing in spasmodic jerks each time the knife touched him it did not take long for her to break him. With shaking hands he grasped the pad and typed in the name. Hoping for an end to his pain.
“Sedate him Misha he’s coming with us” Karl told her pocketing the pad and throwing a sheet over him.
They wheeled the Gurney down to the Phoenix and onto the ship with Misha placing the gurney in a storage locker close to the boarding ramp.
It was actually four terran days before the Terran delegates arrived on the station but the delay had not concerned Karl unduly It had given him a chance to ensure the crew all had a run ashore and allowed him to provision the ship in a more leisurely manner than was normal. He sat back in his chair in the lounge of his rooms his eyes moving inevitably to the picture Celine had purchased on station.
He had given no real thought to actually owning a painting before reasoning that a view screen could provide any image he cared for but this one captured him in ways he had not anticipated each time he looked at it he saw something different in it, he had to admit it was a magnificent gift.
Celine entered the room having got ready for the meeting and reached down and straightened his hair. Come on Karl it’s time she said softly understanding his fascination with the piece. It was a wonderful painting of a swan rising in flight from a lakes surface at dawn that seemed to limn its wings in fire and she understood why it captured his attention so completely. He stood and with a last glance at the painting led her to the elevator.
The presence of Misha and Kayle waiting at the access startled him.
“Would you explain why you are here and armed he asked”.
“Caleb’s orders sir as both Celine and yourself are attending this meeting and the Terrans have expressed some concerns as to people opposing this meeting we have obtained the necessary permissions to act as the bodyguards for you both and to carry weapons” Misha responded in a voice that made it clear it was going to be this way whether he liked it or not.
Karl thought about that for a moment and whilst it was possible Caleb was over reacting this meeting was important, Matthew had said as much before now and better safe than sorry would probably be the wisest course of action he admitted to himself particularly where Celine’s safety was concerned.
“Alright if Caleb feels it is necessary” giving in to the inevitable he opened the access door and led Celine to the waiting station car Misha and Kayle flanking them their eyes scanning everything around them as they moved. They entered the car without incident even then the two marines did not relax their vigilance Karl was about to tell them to relax when Celine took his hand.
“Let them do their job Karl I know you’re not used to this level of protection but I was for a very long time they don’t need distractions”.
Karl realised she was right so sat back quietly in his seat as the car took them deep into the station to the core sector where the Terrans had been given accommodation in one of the higher class hotels the station offered. He stayed put as the transport pulled up at the entrance and Misha and Kayle exited the vehicle and scanned the area before telling them it was clear.
They walked into the foyer where Mathew was waiting to escort them to the conference room letting them know that Latasha and Kenal had already arrived. Misha and Kayle assumed positions in the corridor that led to that room acknowledging the Terran Guards already present.
Mathew opened the door for them and then ushered them inside and escorted them to the table where Latasha and Kenal were waiting for them along with four terrans Karl assumed must be the people they had been asked to wait on station to meet.
They took their seats and Karl waited for them to speak as to what they actually wanted from him or rather the traders.
"Sirs Ladies allow me to introduce myself and my colleagues I am Sol system Senator Graves my colleagues are also members of that body and we have been tasked by the senate with two goals the first being to facilitate the resumption of the Trader presence in the Terran sectors. The departure of your ships has had a greater impact on our economy than was anticipated we would discuss what we might be able to offer to assist you to make your return to terran space more likely and I have the authority to implement the terms of any agreement we might reach here.
The second and by far the most important task we have been given is to approach yourselves to act as intermediators with the commonwealth race governments to begin discussions as to finding a way to end the war that has been waging for too long and is bleeding both us and the commonwealth dry with horrendous loss of life and resources that could be put to better use. Initially we would ask that you use your standing amongst the races to at least in the first instance arrange a cease fire that will open the way for talks to a permanent cessation of hostilities across all the contested sectors. We have already made approaches to the Goners to act as mediators in any such discussions. The staff here will record hard copies of the discussions and you may ask to review those records at any time for clarification”.
“Let us begin” then Karl agreed sensing for the first time in Jazura that peace might actually be possible in the near future aware also of the pressure that put upon him to do nothing to bar the way to that by making sweeping expectations or demands in what they discussed here.
The discussions ran all day and late into the evening but they all sensed they were close to reaching a tentative agreement so they took a short break to have a light supper before returning to the room to conclude the discussions. Finally it was done as Karl considered the hard copy of the terms of the agreements reached that they all formally signed. It was couched in broad outlines deliberately to allow more detailed discussions as to the actual detailed terms to be agreed by senior officials from both the terran and commonwealth governments when the next meetings took place between those who had the power to enact a possible ceasefire not wishing to hamstring those discussions at this early stage by trying to deal with specific issues now.
They were all tired from their efforts and after sharing a glass of wine to mark their achievement here they gathered their copies of the agreement and began to disperse.
Karl sat back gazing at the cover of the hard copy he held embossed with the seals of the Witness a Goner priest who had arrived at the station for just this purpose gathering his own copy of the agreement he thanked them for their efforts then bowed to them before leaving for the docks.
“Well shall we take a room here or go back to the ship” Celine.
“Definitely the ship I need a long hot bath and a lie down I haven’t had to endure such a lengthy meeting in over a Jazura and I am getting a headache”
“The ship it is then” Karl agreed and took her hand to lead her back to the foyer Misha and Kayle falling in just a step behind them as they passed. Karl suspected they had made use of stim shots to keep themselves focussed.
There was a slight delay for the transport to arrive due to the lateness of the hour Karl suspected it being close to dawn station time. They got a call to indicate the car was waiting outside and the walked down to it with Kayle opening the nearside door for Celine.
What happened next was a blur to Karl he heard Kayle shout “gun” and saw him grab hold of Celine and covering her as they fell then he heard the shot even as Misha was knocking him to the ground drawing her own weapon and firing at where the shot had come from before running in that direction. Shouting back that she had hit the shooter.
Karl rolled over and got to his feet then rushed to where Celine lay she was pinned under Kayle who had taken the brunt of the blast his clothing scorched through to reveal the armour beneath.
“Get a medic” he screamed at the shocked bystanders as he gently moved Kayle of Celine trying not to cause the man more pain.
“I’m alright Karl just winded” Celine whispered to him still shocked by what had happened, “see to Kayle”. Then station security arrived and took over moving him aside so they could attend to both Kayle and Celine.
Karl looked in the direction Misha had gone and taking Kayle’s weapon he set of after her. He looked down after having reached where the gunman must have been hidden a discarded blast rifle its charge pack a molten mess where Misha’s shot must have hit it lying to one side of the stairwell and saw a trail of blood that eventually led him to a narrow access way between buildings where he could hear muffled cries of pain and terror. At the end of the passage he could see Misha bent over the man she had captured using her knife on him. That was what had made the man cry out in agony that noise had led Karl here even though Misha had her hand over his mouth to stifle his screams. For a moment he thought Misha might attack him as she detected his approach and spun to face him drawing the knife out of the man on the floor uncaring as to the damage she inflicted on him her features contorted by her rage.
“Misha please we need him alive if you kill him we will never know who planned this”.
“This Bastu shot Kayle she roared who are you to deny me justice?”
“You won’t be denied Misha I swear it but we need a name from him, Kayle has been hurt badly but medics are with him even now”.
“He’s still dead sir or soon will be I saw the hit he took” she said quietly uncaring of the tears that ran freely down her cheeks now as she accepted what she knew was inevitable.
“Then go to him Misha” he told her not realising till now that the man was her partner.
“You promise me this man’s life” she asked rising. Her gaze turning to him”.
“It’s yours Misha”.
“Then he’s yours for now sir” she said giving him her knife as troops approached them before running past them back the way they had come.
“Sir your orders” one of them asked obviously aware of who he was.
“This man is my prisoner Sergeant I want him kept alive till I decide what I want to do with him and search him for suicide capsules I don’t want him taking the easy way out”.
“Understood sir” the Sergeant replied saluting crisply as his men carried out Karl’s instructions “I will have him detained in the dockside brig pending your disposition of him sir”.
Karl returned the Salute then walked back to where Celine and Kayle had been injured. The scene was chaotic as he returned finding a cordon of armed guards had been established for a hundred meters in all directions. He was escorted into a medical station within the hotel complex where his guide began giving him, updates as to the condition of his people.
Once they reached the medical section Karl saw Mathew who had arranged the security around the medical facility with all people approaching it being questioned rigorously and in most cases being turned away.
“Karl my gods I can only offer my apologies for this to happen on one of our stations defies belief. I understand you captured the assassin”.
“I did he’s being held for me at the dockside brig, I am afraid I will not be turning this man over to you when I am done with him”.
Matthew looked askance at that but he could see that this was not a matter Karl was prepared to discuss which meant the man was dead or soon would be and to his shame he felt no qualms about that fact.
Matthew led Karl down the coldly antiseptic corridors to the room where Kayle was being treated explaining that he seemed well aware as to the extent of his wounds and had asked to speak with him in private. He opened the door to the room for Karl but remained outside.
Misha was at his side holding his hand gazing upon him with a fierce intensity as if intending to burn his features into her memory for ever.
“Sorry to bother you sir” Kayle whispered seeing Karl as he neared the bed.
“It is not a bother Kayle I owe you more than word’s can express if there is anything at all I can do for you or your family you have but to name it”. Karl did not insult the man by offering anything for Kayle alone they both knew how badly he had been hurt.
“There is one thing sir I want to go home” it’s been an honour to serve with you sir he whispered his voice fading as he lapsed back into unconsciousness.
Only then did Misha turn to speak with Karl “He’s Terran sir not many people knew that he came south before the war to explore the commonwealth and stayed, eventually we met up and I talked him into signing up with us”.
Kayle woke briefly one more time only long enough to whisper Misha’s name before his end. Misha stood up after a few moments and arranged him neatly in his bed kissing his forehead gently one last time and bidding him farewell, the calm almost indifferent tone of her voice betraying nothing of the anguish she felt at his passing but they had long known this moment might come for either of them and had vowed to bear it as a marine should with fortitude and acceptance.
“Sir with your permission I will make the necessary arrangements to have him taken back to the Phoenix”.
“Of course Misha contact Della she will have everything ready for you”.
Karl left her there aware of the terrible strain she was enduring in maintaining her stoic façade and not wanting to her to lose control in front of him which would shame her.
He closed the door behind him and asked Matthew to ensure she was not disturbed for the moment and that later she would arranging for Kayle to be taken back to the Phoenix.
Matthew agreed to that of course and then showed him to another room where Celine was being treated.
“How are you feeling he asked” as he entered the room.
“I’ve felt better” she admitted but it’s mostly bruising from Kayle throwing me to the floor how is he?”
He didn’t have to answer her out loud she saw it in his eyes, “Damn now I won’t have a chance to thank him for saving my life she cried. Where’s Misha”?
“She’s with him Celine, I thanked him for both of us before the end”
“Gods that poor woman Celine whispered I can’t even begin to imagine what she’s going through”.
“She’s strong Celine she will survive this” Karl assured her now why don’t you get dressed and we’ll get back to the Phoenix”.
They arrived back on the dock with a strong military escort the dock having been swept clear before their arrival. Caleb also had his men guarding the access way to the Phoenix itself. Karl took Celine straight upstairs and with Illsa’s help got her out of into the bed before making her drink a sedative to allow her to sleep.
“Look after her for me please Illsa” he asked the girl once he was certain Celine was asleep before he went back to the boarding ramp where Misha had arrived with the casket containing Kayle. Once Della had secured it in one of the holds he went onto the Dock Misha appearing at his side before he had taken half a dozen paces of the ramp.
“I had not forgotten my promise to you Misha”
“Of that I am certain Sir” she replied crisply
They entered the dock side brig where the man had been confined to one of
the cells chained to a medical gurney with a raft of medical instruments sensors and tubes attached to him at various points on his body.
He stiffened in horror as he recognised Misha who smiled coldly at him enjoying his terror as Karl ordered the medics to clear the room.
One of the men protested till Misha unshouldered her rifle
“My Captain has given you an order people, you do not want me to make you regret disobeying him.”
The room cleared instantly after that statement.
“Misha this man has a name I want I don’t care how much he suffers but I want him to be alive after you’ve got it out of him”.
Misha looked to Karl as if to protest but kept her peace when she saw the rage he was struggling to contain within himself. Misha drew her knife again and held it so the man on the gurney could see it clearly and moved close to him taking an ampoule from her belt which she plunged into a drip that was feeding him fluids.
"That was a stim shot she told him that’s so you don’t die on me when I start peeling the skin of you a layer at a time. A fact she demonstrated by doing just that to a section of his chest, “I have a problem you see that was why the fleet wouldn’t let me sign up for them” she continued in a conversational tone ignoring his muffled gasps of pain “it’s not that I don’t mind killing people but that I like killing them over a very long period of time. For some reason they thought that was wrong. Now the Captain here he lets me play now and again which is why I get upset when people anger him” she paused to slice another section of skin off the man this time from his leg. “Now you can stop this at any time you like by just writing down the name my Captain wants confirmed on this pad but I’d rather you didn’t”.
Again she took a section of skin of another untouched area of his body. The man was thrashing in spasmodic jerks each time the knife touched him it did not take long for her to break him. With shaking hands he grasped the pad and typed in the name. Hoping for an end to his pain.
“Sedate him Misha he’s coming with us” Karl told her pocketing the pad and throwing a sheet over him.
They wheeled the Gurney down to the Phoenix and onto the ship with Misha placing the gurney in a storage locker close to the boarding ramp.
-
Sabrina Bergin
- Posts: 2239
- Joined: Sat, 12. Apr 08, 10:53
SOL SYSTEM:
Karl was sat in his office finishing of some much delayed paperwork when Misha knocked briefly on his door then walked in as soon as he released the latch. Despite the fact she was wearing a normal ship set of working fatigues there was a presence about her that made him feel as if she was still clad in her combat rig. He knew why she was here though so he shut down his terminal and asked her to follow him as he rose and led the way out of the office to one of the lower holds near the fighter docking port. Not speaking to her till they were alone in the room where the prisoner was held in a stasis pod. He sat on the edge of a work table asking her to take the only chair in the room.
“I know why you have come to see me Misha and I am sill bound by my promise to you but there is something I wish to say to you before you kill the prisoner” he raised his hand to forestall whatever objections she might have been about to make. “Both Caleb and Tina have spoken to me about the status of your people on board this ship though they obviously have personal reasons in bringing the subject to me for consideration. But I have refrained from granting their request because I was reluctant to bring people whose purposes might conflict with my own onto my ship. Kayle however through his acts he has placed an obligation upon me that I must honour. If you recall he asked me specifically to take him home and that is where we go next. What you may not have realised is that he asked much more of me than that he asked me to take him home as we would a member of our own. I would ask if you would wish that for yourself I am inclined now to grant that wish for all of you, it is a matter I would ask you to decide now”.
Misha was stunned this was not what she expected to hear and she considered what Karl said carefully. She forced herself to remember the moments before Kayle died his strange request to Karl that she had given little thought to at the time, then she considered that request from Karl’s point of view and the underlying intent of the request became obvious she was angry with herself for not seeing it till now. She should have seen it though Kayle had in their private moments together told her how much he had come to admire the traders way of life that had him given him the chance to protect people he had come to care for. She also knew that Karl wanted something from her that she might be reluctant to give so she put that to him. He did not she note attempt to evade that question when he answered.
“That is a fair question and the answer is simple enough Misha by our laws the Captain of a ship alone has the right to determine the fate of those who have wronged them but before you become angry thinking I seek only a means to renege on the promise I made to you I will tell you this, trader justice is far harsher than you can possibly imagine”.
He was waiting for an answer from her, no he was waiting for something more she realised as she considered his words. She did not doubt that he would if she asked him give her a phase pistol and let her kill the assassin right here and now, but he also offered her a choice. She knew what she wanted to do but what would Kayle have wanted her decision to be. Once that question occurred to her she knew what Karl wanted from her, he wanted her to trust him to deal with Kayle’s killer. The cold side of her protested that choice wanting to feel the life leave that man’s body at her hands to savour that moment of revenge and vengeance satisfied yet that she knew now was not what Kayle wanted for her, it seemed even in passing he had sought to care for her and his brothers in arms. Still she was reluctant to follow Kayle’s intent in this her need for vengeance was like an open wound that she suspected nothing but that man’s ending would heal or would it Karl had already said trader justice was far harsher than she could imagine, could it be that the killers death at her hands would be a less painful ending than that which Karl intended she had seen the rage in him a rage that dwarfed even her own. She did not come easily to her decision but once made she felt it was right that Kayle would approve.
“I will abide by your decision in this matter then sir” she answered finally.
Karl took her by the shoulder and led her back up to the accommodation levels saying nothing for the moment sensing perhaps that she needed time to accept the choices she had made. He left her outside her quarters and returned to his office where he found a waiting call from the Spartan.
He hit the respond tag and was pleased to see Roberta once more back on her ship.
“Lieutenant I am sorry for the delay in responding to your call”.
“That is of no moment sir Captain Sladon has asked me to confirm that your request has been granted and that that Spartan will accompany you on this voyage”.
“Please convey my thanks to your Captain and inform him we will depart at ten o clock station time the Raven will be joining us for the voyage and will be arriving in system shortly Phoenix out”.
Roberta stared at the blank screen for a moment startled by the news the Raven would be returning so soon she had thought the refurbishment would have taken longer than the three days since it had left the sector to jump to the Teladi shipyard.
Matthew no the Captain she corrected herself forcing herself to resume correct protocol on board. would know more of that so she decided to ask him. “Coran you have the helm” she announced leaving her position and going aft.
“Lieutenant please come in” Matt said as she poked her head around the half open door of his office.
“Sir a message from the Phoenix the Raven will be entering this sector by ten hundred hours at which time Captain Reaver intends to undock and proceed to his next destination”.
“And you would wish to be informed as to that destination lieutenant as you should be well since we are now locked down ready for launch I can inform you that we will be jumping to Venus and then traveling to the inner system acting as escort for both the Phoenix and the Raven. Once Captain Reaver has completed whatever he intends and leaves Terran space we will no doubt be reassigned possibly to return to our former duties but that we will have to wait and see if that is the case.
Is that all?” he asked seeing she had chosen to remain despite her question having been answered.
“Sir I feel compelled to ask why have the fleet gone to such lengths to accommodate the Phoenix”.
Matt was surprised at the question, or rather at the way Roberta had asked it in a manner that allowed him to withhold that information from her should he choose to do so. Instead he decided to tell her the truth.
“There is a very pressing reason for that Roberta and what I tell you must remain between us alone is that understood?” seeing her instant agreement to that he continued activating the privacy field in the room that told her that what she was about to hear was classified information entrusted to few. “The reason is simple enough the senate has long feared that the Traders would eventually be forced to choose a side in this war, despite their much stated and traditional neutrality in such matters. Had they chosen to side with the commonwealth then there existed the very real possibility that this war would be brought to a swift conclusion with us losing it”.
Roberta was stunned as she considered the implications of his statement it made no sense the traders fielded no capital ships what possible difference could they make. Then she considered that they did not have capital ships but they could make a massive difference to the economic infrastructure to support one sides and allow the collapse of the others.
“Logistics” she said the one word indicating her understanding of the traders true power should they ever choose to wield it.
“Precisely Lieutenant now you know as much as I do, now prep the ship for launch and follow the Phoenix as soon as she clears the dock”.
Roberta Saluted acknowledging his orders and returned to her place on the bridge having had many questions answered that gave her a much better understanding of their true mission than she had before and why the Spartan or rather her Captain had been chosen for it.
Karl was sat in his office finishing of some much delayed paperwork when Misha knocked briefly on his door then walked in as soon as he released the latch. Despite the fact she was wearing a normal ship set of working fatigues there was a presence about her that made him feel as if she was still clad in her combat rig. He knew why she was here though so he shut down his terminal and asked her to follow him as he rose and led the way out of the office to one of the lower holds near the fighter docking port. Not speaking to her till they were alone in the room where the prisoner was held in a stasis pod. He sat on the edge of a work table asking her to take the only chair in the room.
“I know why you have come to see me Misha and I am sill bound by my promise to you but there is something I wish to say to you before you kill the prisoner” he raised his hand to forestall whatever objections she might have been about to make. “Both Caleb and Tina have spoken to me about the status of your people on board this ship though they obviously have personal reasons in bringing the subject to me for consideration. But I have refrained from granting their request because I was reluctant to bring people whose purposes might conflict with my own onto my ship. Kayle however through his acts he has placed an obligation upon me that I must honour. If you recall he asked me specifically to take him home and that is where we go next. What you may not have realised is that he asked much more of me than that he asked me to take him home as we would a member of our own. I would ask if you would wish that for yourself I am inclined now to grant that wish for all of you, it is a matter I would ask you to decide now”.
Misha was stunned this was not what she expected to hear and she considered what Karl said carefully. She forced herself to remember the moments before Kayle died his strange request to Karl that she had given little thought to at the time, then she considered that request from Karl’s point of view and the underlying intent of the request became obvious she was angry with herself for not seeing it till now. She should have seen it though Kayle had in their private moments together told her how much he had come to admire the traders way of life that had him given him the chance to protect people he had come to care for. She also knew that Karl wanted something from her that she might be reluctant to give so she put that to him. He did not she note attempt to evade that question when he answered.
“That is a fair question and the answer is simple enough Misha by our laws the Captain of a ship alone has the right to determine the fate of those who have wronged them but before you become angry thinking I seek only a means to renege on the promise I made to you I will tell you this, trader justice is far harsher than you can possibly imagine”.
He was waiting for an answer from her, no he was waiting for something more she realised as she considered his words. She did not doubt that he would if she asked him give her a phase pistol and let her kill the assassin right here and now, but he also offered her a choice. She knew what she wanted to do but what would Kayle have wanted her decision to be. Once that question occurred to her she knew what Karl wanted from her, he wanted her to trust him to deal with Kayle’s killer. The cold side of her protested that choice wanting to feel the life leave that man’s body at her hands to savour that moment of revenge and vengeance satisfied yet that she knew now was not what Kayle wanted for her, it seemed even in passing he had sought to care for her and his brothers in arms. Still she was reluctant to follow Kayle’s intent in this her need for vengeance was like an open wound that she suspected nothing but that man’s ending would heal or would it Karl had already said trader justice was far harsher than she could imagine, could it be that the killers death at her hands would be a less painful ending than that which Karl intended she had seen the rage in him a rage that dwarfed even her own. She did not come easily to her decision but once made she felt it was right that Kayle would approve.
“I will abide by your decision in this matter then sir” she answered finally.
Karl took her by the shoulder and led her back up to the accommodation levels saying nothing for the moment sensing perhaps that she needed time to accept the choices she had made. He left her outside her quarters and returned to his office where he found a waiting call from the Spartan.
He hit the respond tag and was pleased to see Roberta once more back on her ship.
“Lieutenant I am sorry for the delay in responding to your call”.
“That is of no moment sir Captain Sladon has asked me to confirm that your request has been granted and that that Spartan will accompany you on this voyage”.
“Please convey my thanks to your Captain and inform him we will depart at ten o clock station time the Raven will be joining us for the voyage and will be arriving in system shortly Phoenix out”.
Roberta stared at the blank screen for a moment startled by the news the Raven would be returning so soon she had thought the refurbishment would have taken longer than the three days since it had left the sector to jump to the Teladi shipyard.
Matthew no the Captain she corrected herself forcing herself to resume correct protocol on board. would know more of that so she decided to ask him. “Coran you have the helm” she announced leaving her position and going aft.
“Lieutenant please come in” Matt said as she poked her head around the half open door of his office.
“Sir a message from the Phoenix the Raven will be entering this sector by ten hundred hours at which time Captain Reaver intends to undock and proceed to his next destination”.
“And you would wish to be informed as to that destination lieutenant as you should be well since we are now locked down ready for launch I can inform you that we will be jumping to Venus and then traveling to the inner system acting as escort for both the Phoenix and the Raven. Once Captain Reaver has completed whatever he intends and leaves Terran space we will no doubt be reassigned possibly to return to our former duties but that we will have to wait and see if that is the case.
Is that all?” he asked seeing she had chosen to remain despite her question having been answered.
“Sir I feel compelled to ask why have the fleet gone to such lengths to accommodate the Phoenix”.
Matt was surprised at the question, or rather at the way Roberta had asked it in a manner that allowed him to withhold that information from her should he choose to do so. Instead he decided to tell her the truth.
“There is a very pressing reason for that Roberta and what I tell you must remain between us alone is that understood?” seeing her instant agreement to that he continued activating the privacy field in the room that told her that what she was about to hear was classified information entrusted to few. “The reason is simple enough the senate has long feared that the Traders would eventually be forced to choose a side in this war, despite their much stated and traditional neutrality in such matters. Had they chosen to side with the commonwealth then there existed the very real possibility that this war would be brought to a swift conclusion with us losing it”.
Roberta was stunned as she considered the implications of his statement it made no sense the traders fielded no capital ships what possible difference could they make. Then she considered that they did not have capital ships but they could make a massive difference to the economic infrastructure to support one sides and allow the collapse of the others.
“Logistics” she said the one word indicating her understanding of the traders true power should they ever choose to wield it.
“Precisely Lieutenant now you know as much as I do, now prep the ship for launch and follow the Phoenix as soon as she clears the dock”.
Roberta Saluted acknowledging his orders and returned to her place on the bridge having had many questions answered that gave her a much better understanding of their true mission than she had before and why the Spartan or rather her Captain had been chosen for it.
Last edited by Sabrina Bergin on Sun, 21. Sep 14, 17:38, edited 1 time in total.
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Sabrina Bergin
- Posts: 2239
- Joined: Sat, 12. Apr 08, 10:53
“Captain the Raven is in system” Tina announced as she studied the external sector display unaware that she was as surprised as Roberta had been at the rapid return of that ship from the Teladi shipyard she had estimated at least a Wozura before it would be ready.
“Contact traffic Control and take us out when ready Tina maintain standard in system speed limits”.
“Aye Captain” Tina acknowledged as Illsa gave the confirmations from the traffic controller and forwarded the necessary data to her displays. Much had happened on this station both good and bad there were matters they had yet to attend to but for the moment she was happy enough once more to be at the helm as she undocked on time to the second and swung the Phoenix clear of the docks assuming a restrained acceleration away from the station so as not to alarm its traffic controllers. Frank gave her an advised course which she acknowledged and swung onto the new heading to rendezvous with the Raven. That was moving with surprising speed towards the east Trans orbital accelerator. Once the course was set she allowed Loki to assume control and sat back in her chair content once more to be back in space. Celine arrived on the bridge a few mizura later slipping quietly into her seat. Tina had grown increasingly concerned for Celine of late and at first had attributed her withdrawal from them as being a result of the attempt on her life. Which she had to admit was enough to shake anyone, but over the last few days she had become even more distant not even sharing her fears with herself which hurt her she had to admit. She had been concerned enough to speak to Karl about it but he had told her that Celine had to be allowed time to work through this herself and to give her some space.
That was easier said than done she admitted to herself it pained her to see Celine shutting them all out it went against very thing she had been raised to expect or do to someone who was part of the family. Karl must know that, must know how she must be feeling yet he had asked her to keep her hand out of this.
The only reason he would do that would be at Celine’s request, it was the one thing she could think of that would cause him to act counter to his nature. That worried her it indicated it was a matter that was personal to Celine, perhaps the reason why someone had tried to kill her. The answer was there somewhere she was sure of it.
Her attention was brought back to her duties as Loki announced they had come within transport range of the Raven. Karl contacted the Raven and arranged to lock their courses together for the transfers to take place. That seemed to bring Celine back to herself and a rare smile touched her face as she left the bridge to make her farewells to the children who were now eager to return home.
They both rushed forward and hugged her as she entered the room, it was a bittersweet moment for her she had come to care a great deal for the both of them but now they needed to be placed back in the care of their kin. She made a fuss of them kissing them both before wishing them good fortune as the transport beam whisked them back to their own ship in a brief burst of light that lingered for a moment after its task was complete.
Della dabbed at her eyes as she shut down the transporter and Celine knew that she too had grown fond of them.
“It will seem strange without them running around the ship” Della said with regret at that thought clear in her voice, “it’s amazing how quickly you become attached to them isn’t it”?
“I understand that we will soon have children aboard again Della”
“Oh that’s a ways of yet Celine I’m not even starting to show yet”.
“Does Reece know”? Celine asked
“Truth be told he knew before I did Celine everyone just sees him as a big lump of a man and they don’t look past that to what a caring and gentle person he truly is”
“You did or you would not have bonded with him Della you certainly did not come to the Phoenix purely because of his good looks” Celine joked
“That’s the truth but as I keep telling people he’s my big lump and there are more kinds of beauty than most people think”.
“That’s true enough Della do the others know”?
“Tina does but she was always the smartest so I figured she would know long before the others that’s why she keeps trying to slip extra portions on my plate, but she hasn’t asked me outright I guess she figures that’s for me to tell them when I’m ready”.
“Yes Tina has always been very perceptive” Celine admitted knowing she had been forced to keep her distance from the girl of late.
“You’re hurting her you know Celine” Della said in all seriousness
“I’ve done nothing to warrant that accusation Della”
“Celine I am not going to pry I figure it’s your business I just thought you should know that Tina is hurting because she knows you are hurting and you won’t let her help you”.
“Why can’t she just let it be Della?”
“Because she’s senior amongst the crew and it’s her job to look after all of us whether we like it or not and your hiding from her is stopping her doing that”.
“She considers me crew”
“Hell no Celine you’re Karl’s partner and that just makes it harder on her because she can’t just drag you to one side and have it out with you”.
“Did she ask you to discuss this with me Della?” Celine snapped her voice becoming cold and hard with suspicions she had thought she would never have aboard this ship.
“Hell no Celine in fact she told me to say nothing and would probably be ripping me of a stripe for disobeying her if she was here right now”.
“Then why hasn’t she put this to me”? Celine asked her
“Because Karl told her to keep her nose out of your business” Della snapped back making clear her disagreement with that order leaving the room not trusting herself to speak further.
Celine watched her go and cursed the gods that had put her in such a position. She had developed a deep bond with all of the crew and now she was putting that at risk the fractures were already showing as Della’s words had so clearly demonstrated, It had not helped that Karl had put Tina in such an invidious position of wanting to help but being denied the one means she knew to do so damn the man why couldn’t he let well alone but she knew the answer to that even before the question had occurred to her.
He wanted her to make a decision and had ensured that she was given the space to make it herself. Once she had then he would act on it to the limit of his ability regardless of cost. Till then he had done his utmost to give her the time she needed but even he could not have anticipated how it would affect the crew.
She left the room and returned not to the bridge but to the stateroom that had once been hers alone. An answer presented itself here she could withdraw totally from the crew and Karl and do what she asked herself leave the ship because that was where it would lead if she went down that path. Did she want that to run away and hide, it would be an irrevocable act and what of Karl could she do that to him? He knew that name he had given her had set all this in motion but even he did not know the significance of that name or of the holo portrait of herself that Matt had obtained from the assassins ship. That had confirmed what she had begun to suspect when she had heard the name but it was difficult to give it credence and she had been denying that truth even to herself.
She looked up surprised to see the lights had dimmed and realised it was late very late Karl when she thought of him was on the bridge she knew that for a certainty wondering at that. Forcing herself to act on the decision she had made she pressed the button on the intercom. Tina arrived in her stateroom moments later her hair hastily brushed back into the ponytail she often favoured on board the ship.
“Please come in Tina” Celine called pouring them both a coffee when the door chime sounded.
Tina took a moment to let her eyes adapt to the dimly lit room before taking a seat opposite Celine in the small dining area next to the kitchen. The girl was worried Celine realised that was not helped by being roused out of bed in the middle of the night to be invited here of course.
“We need to talk Tina you’ve spoken with Karl I gather”
“Tina’s eyes glanced for a second in the direction of the bridge so she too shared that ability to know where he was which was interesting.
“Yes ma’am” Tina replied not touching the coffee in front of her but only to express my concerns ma’am I haven’t said anything else”.
“And what else could you tell him Tina and I am sure you have not forgotten my name”
“That you know who it was that tried to have you killed I swear I won’t say anything if you tell me not to Celine”.
The Girl was desperate to promise that much, to withhold information from Karl must rank much the same as heresy to her.
“And why would you make such a promise Tina”
“Because if I don’t you’ll leave the ship and it would be my fault and it would hurt Karl more than he’s ever been hurt and he would blame me for it”.
“Is that your only concern Tina that he would blame you” Celine asked coldly unable to stop herself.
“No ma’am sorry Celine" Tina whispered before her eyes brightened as if she had come up with a solution acceptable to her "I could leave instead if you prefer as long as you stayed, if you left he would never trust me again and then I would have to leave anyway”
“So what would you do, go back to the Cormorant”
“Ma’am you don’t understand I could never go back to the Cormorant it would shame them and me too much even to consider it. No I would have to find a job somewhere hopefully on a ship but it wouldn’t be a trader ship. I’d get by alright though ma’am” she promised to make that choice easier for Celine to keep her secret safe from Karl.
That was a staggering concept that Tina might voluntarily choose exile from her own people for the sake of her ship and her Captain. No she wouldn’t get by alright Celine realised she’d probably do something stupid like join the fleet and get herself killed as soon as the separation from her people became too much for her to bear. This had gone on too long she realised shamed by the lengths Tina was prepared to go to in order to heal the ship as she saw it. Would she be able to make such a decision she asked herself, she couldn’t Celine never lied to herself and recognised the lack of that particular kind of selfless courage in her make up.
“Then it’s as well we have the chance to speak before either of us makes any rash decisions” Celine said aloud sensing that if they had not spoken Tina would have acted on her own initiative sooner rather than later. The girl probably had a carryall ready in her quarters as they spoke to take with her when she left the ship. She had already guessed how Tina would do that she would take the Perseus and dock it at one of the stations in the sector then set it to return to the ship after erasing the flight log making it impossible to trace her.
“So Tina how did you work it out”
She watched as Tina seemed to release a breath she might not have realised she had been holding before she answered the question.
“It was the name ma’am sorry Celine I recognised it I overheard it once in Aladna hill two of the militia were investigating a freighter that had been sabotaged and the Captain killed they said it was probably arranged by this Split Cher t’gan from what I could tell he seemed to be some sort of fixer for that type of thing. So I figured you knew the name as well and then I saw Captain Sladon give you a picture which I think was a picture of yourself well that sort of made it obvious”.
Celine was surprised at how easily Tina had put it together her thinking had followed an almost identical path to her own.
“So how did the picture lead you to conclude who it was Celine asked”
“Because of your bracelet when we were at the lake on station you had to turn the jammer of so we could include your image in the pictures we took so I imagine that there are very few recent picture of yourself about except tri vid images which wouldn’t allow the use of a recognition scanner that Captain Sladon told you the gun had been fitted with, I’m guessing you didn’t tell Karl about either the picture or the scanner he would have put it together before I did if you had he’s a lot smarter than I am”.
Celine had her doubts about that statement despite Tina’s certainty which led her to the next question that she had to ask to let Tina understand why she had tried to keep that knowledge from him.
“What do you think Karl would do if he found out Tina?”
“That’s obvious Celine our next stop would be Legends home where he would kill your brother and” Tina stopped there as she thought it through
“Precisely He would attempt to kill my brother Tina but he would fail and in making that attempt he would risk the Phoenix and everyone aboard you see now why I have tried to keep it from him”.
“I understand why Celine but he will find out sooner or later and he will act, you have to tell him everything and come up with a plan to punish your brother for his crimes against you”.
“I’m surprised you don’t suggest I simply have him killed to pay him in kind for his treachery”
“You can’t, you mustn’t Celine though he has wronged you he is still your blood kin we do not make war upon our brothers” she said “quoting one of the trader’s oldest laws”.
It was as if she had been slapped as Celine accepted the implications of Tina’s words if she killed her brother Karl would be expected to shun her if he chose not to then the Phoenix herself would be shunned by their people. Similarly if Karl took matters into his own hand the same might apply the traders did not play games with sophistry the way others did the results would be the same.
“Then we have to find a way to punish my brother without actually killing him” she conceded glad now she had not set in motion the plan she had envisaged and prepared to deal with him.
“I will speak with Karl she promised but for the moment I will make us some fresh coffee these have gone cold and perhaps whilst we wait for the kettle to boil we could consider an appropriate punishment Karl might find acceptable within traders law”.
They spent the rest of that night discussing possible means to take revenge on her brother but nothing they could conceive of met what they could call an acceptable response.
They had an early breakfast together before Tina excused herself to start her duty period on the bridge.
“Contact traffic Control and take us out when ready Tina maintain standard in system speed limits”.
“Aye Captain” Tina acknowledged as Illsa gave the confirmations from the traffic controller and forwarded the necessary data to her displays. Much had happened on this station both good and bad there were matters they had yet to attend to but for the moment she was happy enough once more to be at the helm as she undocked on time to the second and swung the Phoenix clear of the docks assuming a restrained acceleration away from the station so as not to alarm its traffic controllers. Frank gave her an advised course which she acknowledged and swung onto the new heading to rendezvous with the Raven. That was moving with surprising speed towards the east Trans orbital accelerator. Once the course was set she allowed Loki to assume control and sat back in her chair content once more to be back in space. Celine arrived on the bridge a few mizura later slipping quietly into her seat. Tina had grown increasingly concerned for Celine of late and at first had attributed her withdrawal from them as being a result of the attempt on her life. Which she had to admit was enough to shake anyone, but over the last few days she had become even more distant not even sharing her fears with herself which hurt her she had to admit. She had been concerned enough to speak to Karl about it but he had told her that Celine had to be allowed time to work through this herself and to give her some space.
That was easier said than done she admitted to herself it pained her to see Celine shutting them all out it went against very thing she had been raised to expect or do to someone who was part of the family. Karl must know that, must know how she must be feeling yet he had asked her to keep her hand out of this.
The only reason he would do that would be at Celine’s request, it was the one thing she could think of that would cause him to act counter to his nature. That worried her it indicated it was a matter that was personal to Celine, perhaps the reason why someone had tried to kill her. The answer was there somewhere she was sure of it.
Her attention was brought back to her duties as Loki announced they had come within transport range of the Raven. Karl contacted the Raven and arranged to lock their courses together for the transfers to take place. That seemed to bring Celine back to herself and a rare smile touched her face as she left the bridge to make her farewells to the children who were now eager to return home.
They both rushed forward and hugged her as she entered the room, it was a bittersweet moment for her she had come to care a great deal for the both of them but now they needed to be placed back in the care of their kin. She made a fuss of them kissing them both before wishing them good fortune as the transport beam whisked them back to their own ship in a brief burst of light that lingered for a moment after its task was complete.
Della dabbed at her eyes as she shut down the transporter and Celine knew that she too had grown fond of them.
“It will seem strange without them running around the ship” Della said with regret at that thought clear in her voice, “it’s amazing how quickly you become attached to them isn’t it”?
“I understand that we will soon have children aboard again Della”
“Oh that’s a ways of yet Celine I’m not even starting to show yet”.
“Does Reece know”? Celine asked
“Truth be told he knew before I did Celine everyone just sees him as a big lump of a man and they don’t look past that to what a caring and gentle person he truly is”
“You did or you would not have bonded with him Della you certainly did not come to the Phoenix purely because of his good looks” Celine joked
“That’s the truth but as I keep telling people he’s my big lump and there are more kinds of beauty than most people think”.
“That’s true enough Della do the others know”?
“Tina does but she was always the smartest so I figured she would know long before the others that’s why she keeps trying to slip extra portions on my plate, but she hasn’t asked me outright I guess she figures that’s for me to tell them when I’m ready”.
“Yes Tina has always been very perceptive” Celine admitted knowing she had been forced to keep her distance from the girl of late.
“You’re hurting her you know Celine” Della said in all seriousness
“I’ve done nothing to warrant that accusation Della”
“Celine I am not going to pry I figure it’s your business I just thought you should know that Tina is hurting because she knows you are hurting and you won’t let her help you”.
“Why can’t she just let it be Della?”
“Because she’s senior amongst the crew and it’s her job to look after all of us whether we like it or not and your hiding from her is stopping her doing that”.
“She considers me crew”
“Hell no Celine you’re Karl’s partner and that just makes it harder on her because she can’t just drag you to one side and have it out with you”.
“Did she ask you to discuss this with me Della?” Celine snapped her voice becoming cold and hard with suspicions she had thought she would never have aboard this ship.
“Hell no Celine in fact she told me to say nothing and would probably be ripping me of a stripe for disobeying her if she was here right now”.
“Then why hasn’t she put this to me”? Celine asked her
“Because Karl told her to keep her nose out of your business” Della snapped back making clear her disagreement with that order leaving the room not trusting herself to speak further.
Celine watched her go and cursed the gods that had put her in such a position. She had developed a deep bond with all of the crew and now she was putting that at risk the fractures were already showing as Della’s words had so clearly demonstrated, It had not helped that Karl had put Tina in such an invidious position of wanting to help but being denied the one means she knew to do so damn the man why couldn’t he let well alone but she knew the answer to that even before the question had occurred to her.
He wanted her to make a decision and had ensured that she was given the space to make it herself. Once she had then he would act on it to the limit of his ability regardless of cost. Till then he had done his utmost to give her the time she needed but even he could not have anticipated how it would affect the crew.
She left the room and returned not to the bridge but to the stateroom that had once been hers alone. An answer presented itself here she could withdraw totally from the crew and Karl and do what she asked herself leave the ship because that was where it would lead if she went down that path. Did she want that to run away and hide, it would be an irrevocable act and what of Karl could she do that to him? He knew that name he had given her had set all this in motion but even he did not know the significance of that name or of the holo portrait of herself that Matt had obtained from the assassins ship. That had confirmed what she had begun to suspect when she had heard the name but it was difficult to give it credence and she had been denying that truth even to herself.
She looked up surprised to see the lights had dimmed and realised it was late very late Karl when she thought of him was on the bridge she knew that for a certainty wondering at that. Forcing herself to act on the decision she had made she pressed the button on the intercom. Tina arrived in her stateroom moments later her hair hastily brushed back into the ponytail she often favoured on board the ship.
“Please come in Tina” Celine called pouring them both a coffee when the door chime sounded.
Tina took a moment to let her eyes adapt to the dimly lit room before taking a seat opposite Celine in the small dining area next to the kitchen. The girl was worried Celine realised that was not helped by being roused out of bed in the middle of the night to be invited here of course.
“We need to talk Tina you’ve spoken with Karl I gather”
“Tina’s eyes glanced for a second in the direction of the bridge so she too shared that ability to know where he was which was interesting.
“Yes ma’am” Tina replied not touching the coffee in front of her but only to express my concerns ma’am I haven’t said anything else”.
“And what else could you tell him Tina and I am sure you have not forgotten my name”
“That you know who it was that tried to have you killed I swear I won’t say anything if you tell me not to Celine”.
The Girl was desperate to promise that much, to withhold information from Karl must rank much the same as heresy to her.
“And why would you make such a promise Tina”
“Because if I don’t you’ll leave the ship and it would be my fault and it would hurt Karl more than he’s ever been hurt and he would blame me for it”.
“Is that your only concern Tina that he would blame you” Celine asked coldly unable to stop herself.
“No ma’am sorry Celine" Tina whispered before her eyes brightened as if she had come up with a solution acceptable to her "I could leave instead if you prefer as long as you stayed, if you left he would never trust me again and then I would have to leave anyway”
“So what would you do, go back to the Cormorant”
“Ma’am you don’t understand I could never go back to the Cormorant it would shame them and me too much even to consider it. No I would have to find a job somewhere hopefully on a ship but it wouldn’t be a trader ship. I’d get by alright though ma’am” she promised to make that choice easier for Celine to keep her secret safe from Karl.
That was a staggering concept that Tina might voluntarily choose exile from her own people for the sake of her ship and her Captain. No she wouldn’t get by alright Celine realised she’d probably do something stupid like join the fleet and get herself killed as soon as the separation from her people became too much for her to bear. This had gone on too long she realised shamed by the lengths Tina was prepared to go to in order to heal the ship as she saw it. Would she be able to make such a decision she asked herself, she couldn’t Celine never lied to herself and recognised the lack of that particular kind of selfless courage in her make up.
“Then it’s as well we have the chance to speak before either of us makes any rash decisions” Celine said aloud sensing that if they had not spoken Tina would have acted on her own initiative sooner rather than later. The girl probably had a carryall ready in her quarters as they spoke to take with her when she left the ship. She had already guessed how Tina would do that she would take the Perseus and dock it at one of the stations in the sector then set it to return to the ship after erasing the flight log making it impossible to trace her.
“So Tina how did you work it out”
She watched as Tina seemed to release a breath she might not have realised she had been holding before she answered the question.
“It was the name ma’am sorry Celine I recognised it I overheard it once in Aladna hill two of the militia were investigating a freighter that had been sabotaged and the Captain killed they said it was probably arranged by this Split Cher t’gan from what I could tell he seemed to be some sort of fixer for that type of thing. So I figured you knew the name as well and then I saw Captain Sladon give you a picture which I think was a picture of yourself well that sort of made it obvious”.
Celine was surprised at how easily Tina had put it together her thinking had followed an almost identical path to her own.
“So how did the picture lead you to conclude who it was Celine asked”
“Because of your bracelet when we were at the lake on station you had to turn the jammer of so we could include your image in the pictures we took so I imagine that there are very few recent picture of yourself about except tri vid images which wouldn’t allow the use of a recognition scanner that Captain Sladon told you the gun had been fitted with, I’m guessing you didn’t tell Karl about either the picture or the scanner he would have put it together before I did if you had he’s a lot smarter than I am”.
Celine had her doubts about that statement despite Tina’s certainty which led her to the next question that she had to ask to let Tina understand why she had tried to keep that knowledge from him.
“What do you think Karl would do if he found out Tina?”
“That’s obvious Celine our next stop would be Legends home where he would kill your brother and” Tina stopped there as she thought it through
“Precisely He would attempt to kill my brother Tina but he would fail and in making that attempt he would risk the Phoenix and everyone aboard you see now why I have tried to keep it from him”.
“I understand why Celine but he will find out sooner or later and he will act, you have to tell him everything and come up with a plan to punish your brother for his crimes against you”.
“I’m surprised you don’t suggest I simply have him killed to pay him in kind for his treachery”
“You can’t, you mustn’t Celine though he has wronged you he is still your blood kin we do not make war upon our brothers” she said “quoting one of the trader’s oldest laws”.
It was as if she had been slapped as Celine accepted the implications of Tina’s words if she killed her brother Karl would be expected to shun her if he chose not to then the Phoenix herself would be shunned by their people. Similarly if Karl took matters into his own hand the same might apply the traders did not play games with sophistry the way others did the results would be the same.
“Then we have to find a way to punish my brother without actually killing him” she conceded glad now she had not set in motion the plan she had envisaged and prepared to deal with him.
“I will speak with Karl she promised but for the moment I will make us some fresh coffee these have gone cold and perhaps whilst we wait for the kettle to boil we could consider an appropriate punishment Karl might find acceptable within traders law”.
They spent the rest of that night discussing possible means to take revenge on her brother but nothing they could conceive of met what they could call an acceptable response.
They had an early breakfast together before Tina excused herself to start her duty period on the bridge.
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Sabrina Bergin
- Posts: 2239
- Joined: Sat, 12. Apr 08, 10:53
“Sir” Illsa said her voice coming over his ear piece “we have a com request for you from the Raven” Illsa said patching the transmission through to his office”
“Thank you Illsa” Karl replied accepting the link
“Latasha you are looking well”
“Why thank you Karl as you can see I decided to take your advice and purchase this ship to replace our old one, that ship had served us well but our journey together had come to an end the crew approved my choice in this”.
Karl knew that much of the credit for this should go to Celine she had spoken at length with Latasha whilst they were on station and had suggested the use of the Trojan as an alternative to the old ship that no matter how well refurbished would forever carry the memories of the harm done to her crew. It had already been fully repaired and outfitted so it was a simple matter for Latasha and her family to transfer to it as it had been used to carry the bulk of the Ravens family to the Teladi shipyard where the Raven that was had put in for repairs and refurbishment.
“What of the Old ship Latasha”?
“I have left a long list of repairs and refurbishments for the Teladi to attend to Karl and Kenal has stayed behind to oversee the work. Once complete we will sell the ship it will help offset the cost of this one. Your partner haggles like a Teladi Karl” she complained.
Karl smiled at that he knew that Celine had sold the ship for little more than its hull price but Latasha had also negotiated the price down citing the damage it had incurred in its short life. Honour had been satisfied on both sides, more importantly Latasha had been able to purchase the ship and maintain her reputation and standing not only with her family but with all traders. The decision to allow the old ship to be fully refurbished and then sold was a wrinkle he had not considered but he was glad she had, whilst her family was not poor still the purchase of the new Raven could have hurt them in the short term. He also knew that the Raven carried the response to the Terran proposals aboard her ship and would be staying in Terran space to carry out a full test voyage of her the new Raven and to demonstrate good faith to the Terrans.
“She must be slipping” Karl allowed she should have seen that coming she might not have been knocked back so hard on the price”
“You didn’t see it either did you Karl”?
“No I didn’t Latasha” he admitted truthfully
“See kid there’s things experience is good for”
“You won’t catch me arguing with you over that Latasha and I want to thank you for traveling with us I know it can’t be easy for you or your family”.
“Hell Karl we all know that young man that died was one of the ones that helped save us it’s the decent thing to do, every single one of us wanted to pay our respects, even the children how’s Celine taking it”.
“Hard Latasha I think she blames herself”.
“She’ll see the error of that soon enough Karl she’s a strong woman just give her time to come to terms with it and be there for her that’s the best advice I can give”.
“Its advice I will heed Latasha thank you now to more immediate concerns the Terrans have given us access to the inner system I’ll have Illsa send you the coordinates for the jump beacon there which will save an extended trip for both of us”.
"I’ll contact you as soon as we are ready to jump then Karl give my good wishes to your family”.
Karl returned to the bridge and asked Illsa to send the jump coordinates to the Raven then sat back and waited for the ship to vanish before going below to speak with Misha there was one last thing he had to do before he left this sector. Misha was waiting for him in the lower hold where the prisoner was confined, He had already transferred the man in his stasis unit to the escape pod and made the necessary adjustments to it.
“You’re letting him go Karl you promised me his life”
“I will not deny you that if you wish it Misha but I have a worse fate planned for him than death. Amongst traders we believe that a soul can only find peace if it rests beneath the sun that gave it birth, but there is the opposite of that for one whose crimes can never be redeemed they are cast out into the eternal darkness never to feel the warmth of the sun upon them damned for all time to travel in darkness never knowing peace. This one’s fate will be far worse than that he will have time to suffer, to know that his death is certain but unable to hasten it. If you wish to show him mercy you can take this pistol and shoot him now or you can launch the pod that will take him far beyond this star system out into the darkness where he will never know the warmth and light of a sun again.
Karl left the bay leaving Misha alone with her choice noting he had left his pistol for her to use if she choose to do so.
Misha looked at a display that showed the prisoner within the pod the man was terrified his eyes darting all around the confines of what would be his tomb. She considered Karl’s choice of ending for Kayle’s killer and recognised the primal urge within her to drag this man from the pod and take his life with her bare hands. Was that what Kayle would wish for she asked herself realising it was not he would want this man to suffer without Misha bloodying her hands with him and Karl’s chosen form of punishment would ensure he was made to suffer far longer than anything Misha could devise. Her decision made she hit the button that would begin the ejection sequence and sealed the bay behind her. As she walked down the corridor towards her quarters she felt Kayle’s presence and his approval.
Karl entered the bridge to initiate the jump to Venus space where the Raven would be waiting as a courtesy he contacted the Spartan and gave them their jump timing that would allow them to follow at a safe interval. He sent a signal to the Nav sat buoy he had launched when originally entering the sector as the jump field enveloped the ship.
“Thank you Illsa” Karl replied accepting the link
“Latasha you are looking well”
“Why thank you Karl as you can see I decided to take your advice and purchase this ship to replace our old one, that ship had served us well but our journey together had come to an end the crew approved my choice in this”.
Karl knew that much of the credit for this should go to Celine she had spoken at length with Latasha whilst they were on station and had suggested the use of the Trojan as an alternative to the old ship that no matter how well refurbished would forever carry the memories of the harm done to her crew. It had already been fully repaired and outfitted so it was a simple matter for Latasha and her family to transfer to it as it had been used to carry the bulk of the Ravens family to the Teladi shipyard where the Raven that was had put in for repairs and refurbishment.
“What of the Old ship Latasha”?
“I have left a long list of repairs and refurbishments for the Teladi to attend to Karl and Kenal has stayed behind to oversee the work. Once complete we will sell the ship it will help offset the cost of this one. Your partner haggles like a Teladi Karl” she complained.
Karl smiled at that he knew that Celine had sold the ship for little more than its hull price but Latasha had also negotiated the price down citing the damage it had incurred in its short life. Honour had been satisfied on both sides, more importantly Latasha had been able to purchase the ship and maintain her reputation and standing not only with her family but with all traders. The decision to allow the old ship to be fully refurbished and then sold was a wrinkle he had not considered but he was glad she had, whilst her family was not poor still the purchase of the new Raven could have hurt them in the short term. He also knew that the Raven carried the response to the Terran proposals aboard her ship and would be staying in Terran space to carry out a full test voyage of her the new Raven and to demonstrate good faith to the Terrans.
“She must be slipping” Karl allowed she should have seen that coming she might not have been knocked back so hard on the price”
“You didn’t see it either did you Karl”?
“No I didn’t Latasha” he admitted truthfully
“See kid there’s things experience is good for”
“You won’t catch me arguing with you over that Latasha and I want to thank you for traveling with us I know it can’t be easy for you or your family”.
“Hell Karl we all know that young man that died was one of the ones that helped save us it’s the decent thing to do, every single one of us wanted to pay our respects, even the children how’s Celine taking it”.
“Hard Latasha I think she blames herself”.
“She’ll see the error of that soon enough Karl she’s a strong woman just give her time to come to terms with it and be there for her that’s the best advice I can give”.
“Its advice I will heed Latasha thank you now to more immediate concerns the Terrans have given us access to the inner system I’ll have Illsa send you the coordinates for the jump beacon there which will save an extended trip for both of us”.
"I’ll contact you as soon as we are ready to jump then Karl give my good wishes to your family”.
Karl returned to the bridge and asked Illsa to send the jump coordinates to the Raven then sat back and waited for the ship to vanish before going below to speak with Misha there was one last thing he had to do before he left this sector. Misha was waiting for him in the lower hold where the prisoner was confined, He had already transferred the man in his stasis unit to the escape pod and made the necessary adjustments to it.
“You’re letting him go Karl you promised me his life”
“I will not deny you that if you wish it Misha but I have a worse fate planned for him than death. Amongst traders we believe that a soul can only find peace if it rests beneath the sun that gave it birth, but there is the opposite of that for one whose crimes can never be redeemed they are cast out into the eternal darkness never to feel the warmth of the sun upon them damned for all time to travel in darkness never knowing peace. This one’s fate will be far worse than that he will have time to suffer, to know that his death is certain but unable to hasten it. If you wish to show him mercy you can take this pistol and shoot him now or you can launch the pod that will take him far beyond this star system out into the darkness where he will never know the warmth and light of a sun again.
Karl left the bay leaving Misha alone with her choice noting he had left his pistol for her to use if she choose to do so.
Misha looked at a display that showed the prisoner within the pod the man was terrified his eyes darting all around the confines of what would be his tomb. She considered Karl’s choice of ending for Kayle’s killer and recognised the primal urge within her to drag this man from the pod and take his life with her bare hands. Was that what Kayle would wish for she asked herself realising it was not he would want this man to suffer without Misha bloodying her hands with him and Karl’s chosen form of punishment would ensure he was made to suffer far longer than anything Misha could devise. Her decision made she hit the button that would begin the ejection sequence and sealed the bay behind her. As she walked down the corridor towards her quarters she felt Kayle’s presence and his approval.
Karl entered the bridge to initiate the jump to Venus space where the Raven would be waiting as a courtesy he contacted the Spartan and gave them their jump timing that would allow them to follow at a safe interval. He sent a signal to the Nav sat buoy he had launched when originally entering the sector as the jump field enveloped the ship.
Last edited by Sabrina Bergin on Tue, 23. Sep 14, 00:20, edited 1 time in total.
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Sabrina Bergin
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Karl entered the bridge to initiate the jump to Venus space where the Raven would be waiting as a courtesy he contacted the Spartan and gave them their jump timing that would allow them to follow at a safe interval. He sent a signal to the Nav sat buoy he had launched when originally entering the sector as the jump field enveloped the ship.
Venus was an unremarkable sector save for the large power plant that was less than fifty clicks from the jump beacon which must have been built since his last visit here. There was little in system traffic which given the lack of production facilities was not surprising.
It was clear the loss of the resources of the minerals in the asteroid belt was having a serious effect on the terrans production abilities. The constant hostilities in that sector had effectively divided the Terran systems in half making freight transfer from one side to the other hazardous to say the least. Which raised the question why they did not use jump drive equipped freighters to transport the needed resources to where they were most needed. It was a point he would put to Matthew when he next had chance to speak to him.
“Sir the Raven is accelerating for the east accelerator sir”
“That’s what she’s supposed to be doing Tina”
“I am aware of that sir but the Raven is exceeding her specified maximum acceleration by a wide margin if we are to maintain in system speed we will not catch her before she transits the accelerator”
Intrigued Karl had Tina transfer her data to his side monitor the Raven was definitely showing him a clean set of heels.
Celine came onto the bridge just then and seeing his attention was fixed on the display next to him she leaned over to see what had caught his attention.
Her confusion rising the longer she studied the figures
“There must be some mistake that ship was built to standard specifications Karl”
“The data doesn’t lie Celine Kenal must be one hell of an engineer to tweak that much out of her drives”.
Karl captured the data file and forwarded it to Aaron for study it was possible he might be able to determine how the designed speed limitations of the Raven had been exceeded and then be able to apply that knowledge to the drives of the Phoenix.
“You could just ask Latasha” Celine observed
Karl gave her a horrified look that she could even suggest such a thing which made it clear he would never even consider doing that.
It must be a trader thing she realised as Karl got a call from Aaron down in engineering
“Yes Aaron what have you come up with?”
“Not a lot that could help us sir Kenal has got hold of some Pandora material somewhere and he’s used it in his drive power couplings I recognised it because someone has done the same thing to the Phoenix. I’ve done the numbers through sir and even if we had some of it I doubt we could get more out of our power units they are pretty close to maximum as it is and they might be degraded in the attempt. We might be able to use some of it in the attitude drives there’s still room for some improvement in our manoeuvring capability, if you could obtain some of the material I’m confident I could duplicate the process”.
“Okay thank you Aaron just one thing what exactly is Pandora material I’ve never heard of it”?
“No one’s really sure sir the best guess anyone has come up with is that it’s the basic raw material the gate metal is made from that was left behind when they were constructed. It’s extremely rare to find any of it and extremely difficult to use because as soon as it is exposed to the metal to be coated that’s it, it’s basically a one chance to get it right material”.
Karl closed the com link happy that the puzzle had been solved and feeling a bit happier knowing that there was little to gain in attempting to apply such technology to the Phoenix even were this material available to them. He had no doubt Latasha would be expecting him to enquire about the Raven’s unexpected turn of speed and he would take no little pleasure in not mentioning it. He suspected Latasha would be incensed by that and a slow smile spread across his face at the prospect.
Celine could almost see Karl’s thoughts on hearing Aaron’s explanation of this mystery material and understood exactly why he was smiling like a fool at the moment. Honestly he was such a child at times.
Tina came up to them with a tray and placed two coffee cups in front of them Karl noted Celine thanking her warmly and sensed that whatever had come between the two was over and done with which was a load of his mind. He waited for Tina to guide them through the accelerator before giving her the new course. They were still some distance from Sol let alone the earth which would appear on their gravidar in a few hours. The speed restriction he found irritating but Matthew on the Spartan had been insistent on their maintaining it apparently any ship that exceeded that speed was assumed to be hostile and dealt with as such regardless of apparent identity. That he assumed was a result of the commonwealth attacks that had taken place here at the beginning of the war. They had cleared the debris from the sector he noted and had placed the military bases at the edges of the sectors borders presumably to prevent an attack being able to take them out in one strike.
The Spartan came into the sector a mizura behind them and accelerated beyond that speed limit till it came on to a course parallel to that of the Phoenix. The Raven had dropped slightly below that speed to allow the Phoenix to overtake it. Karl wondered at The Spartans course and went back to his day cabin to ask Matt the reason for it.
“I have a question for you Karl that signal you broadcast I assume it was to announce your intentions here”.
“Obviously it was on a trader frequency it is customary on such occasions”
“That would explain it then we have a large number of freighters jumping into Venus sector in breach of regulations I will signal the local defence forces there to let them make the transit unhindered”.
“You say it’s a breach of regulations why is that”.
"The use of the jump beacons we have deployed in the buffer zones are restricted to military RRF use only Karl. We also have reports of a large convoy of freighters heading for the asteroid belt, I can only assume they are also coming this way”.
“Send me a list of the ship names if you can Matthew let’s see if they are intending to bear witness if they are I will have to delay matters to give them time to arrive. If that’s the case then I will contact Latasha and tell her to head directly for Earth there’s no need for her the message she’s carrying to be delayed”.
“I’ll arrange an escort for her then Karl expect that list within the hour and let me know if there are any names on it you don’t recognise we don’t want a possible repetition of what happened in Pluto”.
“You won’t get any arguments from me on that score Matt but as Celine won’t be in any public places here that should not be a cause for concern”
“Never the less I would still like your response on that list sooner rather than later Karl if only to ensure they pose no threat to the stations in this sector. As I’m sure you will appreciate we have other security concerns regarding giving this many ships access to what is effectively a core sector where they would not normally be given access”.
“Understood Matthew I will deal with it as a matter of priority”
Karl closed the link and asked Scott to monitor any freighters that came through the gate and had Tina change course and assume a holding position once she reached the coordinates he gave her.
Celine came into the office a mizura later obviously wanting to know why the change in plan. Karl gave her what little information he had.
“You seem surprised that they should wish to attend Karl, care to tell me why”
Karl considered that for a moment to answer Celine’s Question would be to share trader information she would not normally be privy to and by rights he should not divulge but Celine owned a unique place on his ship and he felt she had a right to know the reason for his concerns and to hell with what others might think of his decision in explaining them to her. Karl activated the offices security shield which made it impenetrable to any type of surveillance.
“To answer your question Celine because those ships should not be here, once the call for Exodus was received all trader ships should have jumped to the gathering point as soon as they had offloaded any cargo they were carrying”.
“Is it possible they did not receive the message” Celine asked
It was a reasonable assumption one an outsider might make but then Celine was unaware of how the message was sent out which made that an impossibility. No matter where in the verse these ships had been they would have received that message even in Xenon space.
“Let’s just assume that as far as I am aware that should be impossible Celine”
“Then we shall have to wait for that list and hope that it will provide a solution to this riddle" Celine concluded. "I take it this conversation involves trader secrets indicating the privacy shield”.
“Only in the broadest terms Celine but even described as they have been the knowledge that we could be certain that all Traders would have received that message would give people a clue as to the method used to deliver it”.
“You know that is just going to drive me insane now don’t you Karl, given what you’ve told me I still don’t have a clue as to how that could be possible”.
“You’ll work it out given time Celine”
“That just makes it even more infuriating”
Karl reached for the shield control having expressed his concerns.
“No please leave the privacy field up a little longer we need to have a talk”.
“I take it this involves the recent tension between yourself and Tina. I assumed you had resolved the matter Celine as I told you before I intend to respect your privacy that’s why I asked Tina not to pester you”.
“Well let’s not go into that right now what is important is that you should know that the man who tried to have me killed was my brother. Wait Karl before you get all riled up and make rash decisions I want you to think this through. You can’t just jump into legends home and kill him that would put the Phoenix at too great a risk. There is also the problem that he is my brother how would your people react if I had him killed which I could, I already have a plan of action that would achieve that”.
“You can’t Celine, you know our laws that’s why I have to kill him for you no blame would be attached to you”
“Wouldn’t it Karl I have been accepted by your people and your crew as one of you they will judge me and what you do with that in mind, tell me I am wrong”
Karl couldn’t he realised his people were ever harsh in their judgements and what she said was the truth.
“The man has to be punished Celine”
“He will be Karl but we can’t kill him and in a way that gives me some comfort that I will not be responsible for his death you can be certain that once I have devised a suitable punishment I will tell you but we have more important matters to deal with so I will ask you to leave this in my hands for the moment”.
Venus was an unremarkable sector save for the large power plant that was less than fifty clicks from the jump beacon which must have been built since his last visit here. There was little in system traffic which given the lack of production facilities was not surprising.
It was clear the loss of the resources of the minerals in the asteroid belt was having a serious effect on the terrans production abilities. The constant hostilities in that sector had effectively divided the Terran systems in half making freight transfer from one side to the other hazardous to say the least. Which raised the question why they did not use jump drive equipped freighters to transport the needed resources to where they were most needed. It was a point he would put to Matthew when he next had chance to speak to him.
“Sir the Raven is accelerating for the east accelerator sir”
“That’s what she’s supposed to be doing Tina”
“I am aware of that sir but the Raven is exceeding her specified maximum acceleration by a wide margin if we are to maintain in system speed we will not catch her before she transits the accelerator”
Intrigued Karl had Tina transfer her data to his side monitor the Raven was definitely showing him a clean set of heels.
Celine came onto the bridge just then and seeing his attention was fixed on the display next to him she leaned over to see what had caught his attention.
Her confusion rising the longer she studied the figures
“There must be some mistake that ship was built to standard specifications Karl”
“The data doesn’t lie Celine Kenal must be one hell of an engineer to tweak that much out of her drives”.
Karl captured the data file and forwarded it to Aaron for study it was possible he might be able to determine how the designed speed limitations of the Raven had been exceeded and then be able to apply that knowledge to the drives of the Phoenix.
“You could just ask Latasha” Celine observed
Karl gave her a horrified look that she could even suggest such a thing which made it clear he would never even consider doing that.
It must be a trader thing she realised as Karl got a call from Aaron down in engineering
“Yes Aaron what have you come up with?”
“Not a lot that could help us sir Kenal has got hold of some Pandora material somewhere and he’s used it in his drive power couplings I recognised it because someone has done the same thing to the Phoenix. I’ve done the numbers through sir and even if we had some of it I doubt we could get more out of our power units they are pretty close to maximum as it is and they might be degraded in the attempt. We might be able to use some of it in the attitude drives there’s still room for some improvement in our manoeuvring capability, if you could obtain some of the material I’m confident I could duplicate the process”.
“Okay thank you Aaron just one thing what exactly is Pandora material I’ve never heard of it”?
“No one’s really sure sir the best guess anyone has come up with is that it’s the basic raw material the gate metal is made from that was left behind when they were constructed. It’s extremely rare to find any of it and extremely difficult to use because as soon as it is exposed to the metal to be coated that’s it, it’s basically a one chance to get it right material”.
Karl closed the com link happy that the puzzle had been solved and feeling a bit happier knowing that there was little to gain in attempting to apply such technology to the Phoenix even were this material available to them. He had no doubt Latasha would be expecting him to enquire about the Raven’s unexpected turn of speed and he would take no little pleasure in not mentioning it. He suspected Latasha would be incensed by that and a slow smile spread across his face at the prospect.
Celine could almost see Karl’s thoughts on hearing Aaron’s explanation of this mystery material and understood exactly why he was smiling like a fool at the moment. Honestly he was such a child at times.
Tina came up to them with a tray and placed two coffee cups in front of them Karl noted Celine thanking her warmly and sensed that whatever had come between the two was over and done with which was a load of his mind. He waited for Tina to guide them through the accelerator before giving her the new course. They were still some distance from Sol let alone the earth which would appear on their gravidar in a few hours. The speed restriction he found irritating but Matthew on the Spartan had been insistent on their maintaining it apparently any ship that exceeded that speed was assumed to be hostile and dealt with as such regardless of apparent identity. That he assumed was a result of the commonwealth attacks that had taken place here at the beginning of the war. They had cleared the debris from the sector he noted and had placed the military bases at the edges of the sectors borders presumably to prevent an attack being able to take them out in one strike.
The Spartan came into the sector a mizura behind them and accelerated beyond that speed limit till it came on to a course parallel to that of the Phoenix. The Raven had dropped slightly below that speed to allow the Phoenix to overtake it. Karl wondered at The Spartans course and went back to his day cabin to ask Matt the reason for it.
“I have a question for you Karl that signal you broadcast I assume it was to announce your intentions here”.
“Obviously it was on a trader frequency it is customary on such occasions”
“That would explain it then we have a large number of freighters jumping into Venus sector in breach of regulations I will signal the local defence forces there to let them make the transit unhindered”.
“You say it’s a breach of regulations why is that”.
"The use of the jump beacons we have deployed in the buffer zones are restricted to military RRF use only Karl. We also have reports of a large convoy of freighters heading for the asteroid belt, I can only assume they are also coming this way”.
“Send me a list of the ship names if you can Matthew let’s see if they are intending to bear witness if they are I will have to delay matters to give them time to arrive. If that’s the case then I will contact Latasha and tell her to head directly for Earth there’s no need for her the message she’s carrying to be delayed”.
“I’ll arrange an escort for her then Karl expect that list within the hour and let me know if there are any names on it you don’t recognise we don’t want a possible repetition of what happened in Pluto”.
“You won’t get any arguments from me on that score Matt but as Celine won’t be in any public places here that should not be a cause for concern”
“Never the less I would still like your response on that list sooner rather than later Karl if only to ensure they pose no threat to the stations in this sector. As I’m sure you will appreciate we have other security concerns regarding giving this many ships access to what is effectively a core sector where they would not normally be given access”.
“Understood Matthew I will deal with it as a matter of priority”
Karl closed the link and asked Scott to monitor any freighters that came through the gate and had Tina change course and assume a holding position once she reached the coordinates he gave her.
Celine came into the office a mizura later obviously wanting to know why the change in plan. Karl gave her what little information he had.
“You seem surprised that they should wish to attend Karl, care to tell me why”
Karl considered that for a moment to answer Celine’s Question would be to share trader information she would not normally be privy to and by rights he should not divulge but Celine owned a unique place on his ship and he felt she had a right to know the reason for his concerns and to hell with what others might think of his decision in explaining them to her. Karl activated the offices security shield which made it impenetrable to any type of surveillance.
“To answer your question Celine because those ships should not be here, once the call for Exodus was received all trader ships should have jumped to the gathering point as soon as they had offloaded any cargo they were carrying”.
“Is it possible they did not receive the message” Celine asked
It was a reasonable assumption one an outsider might make but then Celine was unaware of how the message was sent out which made that an impossibility. No matter where in the verse these ships had been they would have received that message even in Xenon space.
“Let’s just assume that as far as I am aware that should be impossible Celine”
“Then we shall have to wait for that list and hope that it will provide a solution to this riddle" Celine concluded. "I take it this conversation involves trader secrets indicating the privacy shield”.
“Only in the broadest terms Celine but even described as they have been the knowledge that we could be certain that all Traders would have received that message would give people a clue as to the method used to deliver it”.
“You know that is just going to drive me insane now don’t you Karl, given what you’ve told me I still don’t have a clue as to how that could be possible”.
“You’ll work it out given time Celine”
“That just makes it even more infuriating”
Karl reached for the shield control having expressed his concerns.
“No please leave the privacy field up a little longer we need to have a talk”.
“I take it this involves the recent tension between yourself and Tina. I assumed you had resolved the matter Celine as I told you before I intend to respect your privacy that’s why I asked Tina not to pester you”.
“Well let’s not go into that right now what is important is that you should know that the man who tried to have me killed was my brother. Wait Karl before you get all riled up and make rash decisions I want you to think this through. You can’t just jump into legends home and kill him that would put the Phoenix at too great a risk. There is also the problem that he is my brother how would your people react if I had him killed which I could, I already have a plan of action that would achieve that”.
“You can’t Celine, you know our laws that’s why I have to kill him for you no blame would be attached to you”
“Wouldn’t it Karl I have been accepted by your people and your crew as one of you they will judge me and what you do with that in mind, tell me I am wrong”
Karl couldn’t he realised his people were ever harsh in their judgements and what she said was the truth.
“The man has to be punished Celine”
“He will be Karl but we can’t kill him and in a way that gives me some comfort that I will not be responsible for his death you can be certain that once I have devised a suitable punishment I will tell you but we have more important matters to deal with so I will ask you to leave this in my hands for the moment”.
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Sabrina Bergin
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Celine left the room and Karl shut down the privacy shield Nial had killed one of his people in his attempting to kill Celine and he would pay for that. There was also the harm done to his crew Celine had not said as much but he was certain that the recent schism between Tina and Celine had been a direct result of his actions. He could see how Tina would have reacted had she worked out as he suspected she must have that Celine’s brother was the man behind the assassination attempt and by ordering her to keep out of Celine’s affairs he had put her in an impossible situation that he admitted was his fault but at least it was something he could do something about. He signalled the bridge and asked Tina to call in on him when she had time. Whilst he waited for her to arrive he spoke to Caleb then put in a call to Earth using the now distant Raven to relay on.
“You asked to see me sir” Tina said stepping into the office and closing the door behind her
“Yes Tina I have learnt that my previous instructions regarding Celine to you might have placed you in a difficult situation, I am sorry if that was the case, in future though I would expect you to tell me if such orders are likely to give you cause for concern”.
“Understood sir” Tina said crisply “will that be all sir”?
“Yes that’s all Tina carry on I will be back on the bridge shortly”.
Tina left the office leaving him alone with his thoughts till he got the link through to earth that he had requested. The man he saw on the display could only be Kayle’s father the similarity was striking
“Sir I am”
“I know who you are Captain Reaver, you’re the man that got my son killed, I have already received reports from Commander Sladon as to your intentions in this system and I will not be attending some damn pagan ritual to ease your conscience, my son chose to leave his home and family many years ago as far as I am concerned he was no longer my son when he did so. I would ask you not to contact me again”.
The man ended the call but the link stayed live Karl was about to close it when a woman appeared on the display.
“Captain Reaver please don’t close the link this may be the only chance I have to speak with you”
“You have my attention miss”?
“Oh sorry my names Elizabeth Van Dorne, I would ask you to forgive Harlen he never got over Kayle leaving to go south, but the reason I wanted to speak with you is that I would wish to attend the funeral someone from his home world who loved him should be there”
“Then I shall send a transport for you Elizabeth if you will just give me the coordinates of your nearest port and your contact details and a time you would wish to be met I shall make the necessary arrangements”.
The woman added a file with the necessary information then closed the link.
Karl decided to ask Misha to make the trip she had proven herself a capable pilot and he thought she might appreciate the break from the routine of ship life for a while. Misha sealed the Canopy of the Venti and began her pre-flight checks making sure the weapons were disarmed and the targeting scanners were switched of. Karl had been most insistent on that.
“Okay Loki I am ready to launch on your mark” she said over the com link
“The Phoenix is in stable flight Misha you may undock at your discretion be advised we have traffic approaching our position from the west your advised course is being relayed to your nav computer”.
“Thank you Loki I am launching now”
Misha released the docking clamps and hit the lateral thrusters to take her clear of the Phoenix she rolled onto her new course accelerating over the Phoenix knowing that she would be clearly visible from the bridge of the Phoenix. With that thought in mind she did a barrel roll as she passed then it accelerated towards Earth. It had been a long boring flight she had known it would be when Karl had asked her to make it but it had got her of the Phoenix and given herself time alone to get her act together. Karl probably hoped for that she knew as she contacted the Earth space traffic control and filed her flight plan, getting clearance within a mizura. It seemed the terran authorities were going out of their way to accommodate Karl and any ship designated as belonging to him.
Not one to pass up an easy ride she descended into the atmosphere proper activating her targeting array to give her notification of any other craft around her as she entered the clouds. That seemed to upset the traffic controllers though as they were on the com to her within a sezura.
“Lima Zulu six twenty you have activated your targeting array please advise why”
“Copy that control I am passing through heavy cloud and I don’t want to be bumping into anybody during my descent I will deactivate it if you require me to do so but its giving me a clearer picture of the immediate space around me than my gravidar”.
“Understood Lima Zulu six twenty you will be required to deactivate that system once you pass through forty thousand feet regardless of visibility”
“Copy that control I will shut it down before I reach that altitude” she confirmed altering course slightly to give a wide berth to an atmospheric transport she was approaching rapidly bleeding her speed a little to give herself more time to react to any other craft she might encounter.
As soon as she reached fifty thousand she shut down the targeting array and turned control over to the auto pilot allowing it to take her to the coordinates of the landing port, giving her time to enjoy the view as the Venti flew high over the body of water below her.
The sun was setting behind her as she began crossing the shore of the continent and the Venti accepting directions from the local traffic controllers settled onto a new heading reducing speed still further as she saw the city on the horizon ahead of her. Apparently the local security forces were not all that trusting as she saw an atmospheric fighter intercept her course and assume a position just behind her to the left. She waggled the Venti on its axis to acknowledge she was aware of him as the Venti began its slow descent to the hard surface below, she had never actually done a surface landing herself so decided to play safe and let the auto pilot handle it. The last thing she needed to do here was make a fool of herself by looking like a rank amateur she thought and she was fairly certain Celine would be upset if she bent her bird.
The landing was heavy she thought as the Venti touched down its forward thrusters engaging in a sustained burst to bring her speed down to almost a standstill. A ground car came onto the landing pad ahead of her and the large display mounted at its rear read simply enough follow me. Misha obliged keeping the drives barely idling as they made the lengthy journey to where they wanted her to park. She noted that whilst there where some heavier craft at the landing site hers was far larger than most of the small planes parked all around her. She shuddered at the thought of risking her life in one of those flimsy things as she got a request from the control tower to power down and await customs inspection.
Misha acknowledged that request and once the drives had begun to spin down she got out of her seat and opened the Hatch to the cargo bay turning on its interior lights to help the inspection team spot her more easily taking a seat on a casing whilst she waited for them.
To be honest they didn’t take that long to reach her though they seemed surprised at the Venti being here clearly they rarely got military craft landing here. The senior man approached her a scanner and data pad in hand.
“Ma’am you are the pilot I take it”
“I am” she said producing her documents for him to scan.
The man scanned them then handed them back to her before continuing
“Ma’am I am required to ask if you have any contraband items aboard this vessel and also that the weapons have been disabled”
“I can confirm that I have nothing on board that might give you cause for concern sir and that all weapons are locked down and secured”.
She applied her thumbprint to his data pad after making that declaration and stepped aside as two other members of his team came aboard and began making scans initially of the cargo bay and then the cockpit itself.
“You don’t have any luggage Ma’am” the senior inspected noted as he followed her around the Venti as she carried out her pre-flight visual checks.
“No strictly a stop and go I’m here to pick up a passenger for my Captain then I’ll be heading home”.
“Well everything is in order ma’am so I’ll bid you a good evening and a safe journey if you contact the tower when you are ready to depart they will give you final instructions”.
“Thank you I’ll do that” she promised as the man led his team back to the nearby buildings
It started to rain then so she stepped back into the open cargo bay hoping her passenger would be on time and with the wind picking up it was starting to feel cold despite the fact she was wearing her flight suit. Eventually a small ground car pulled up at the rear of the ship and she stepped forward to confirm it was her passenger and to introduce herself.
The driver of the ground car started unloading the baggage which Misha began loading into the cargo bay lashing it down with the webbing nets to make it secure. There seemed to be an awful lot of it she thought as she finally finished getting it tied down and went to fetch her passenger who had stayed in the ground car. Obviously this woman was used to having things done for her, Misha was of a mind to educate her as to the reality of life on board a star ship but thought better of it this woman was Karl’s guest so she was prepared to cut her some slack because of that only for the moment though.
The woman stepped out of the car a headscarf covering her hair and a large pair of tinted glass’s covering most of the rest of her face. Misha knew the type, she had met them vid stars or musicians who once they achieved fame or stardom did their best to conceal themselves from the people who had made them famous. Gunne’s that was all she needed some airhead for a passenger suspecting the return flight to the Phoenix was going to be a lot longer than the one it had taken to get here.
The surprise though was the young girl she helped out of the car who was well wrapped up against the weather.
“I was only expecting one passenger Ma’am”
“Oh I am sorry this is my daughter Jaclyn she decided she wanted to come along at the last minute. Is that going to be a problem”?
“No ma’am there’s plenty of room it’s just unexpected alright if you’ll follow me I’ll get you seated and we can get going”.
The woman gave the ground car driver his fee and the woman dashed into the cargo hold to get out of the rain her daughter holding onto her hand looking in awe at the Venti. Misha secured the cargo hatch then took them into the cockpit removing the girls outer garments so that she could secure her properly in the shotgun seat that was normally folded away except on training flights. The woman waited patiently for Misha to finish before allowing herself to be seated in the gunner’s seat next to hers. She had taken of her outer clothing which Misha retrieved and stowed with the girls in a storage bin in the cockpit before slipping into her own seat and starting her pre-flight checks and spooling up the drives.
“Tower this is Lima Zulu six twenty requesting departure instructions”
“Copy that” came the towers response that gave her a series of instructions to place her at the edge of the landing pad. Misha powered the drives up to maximum waiting for the clearance to take of which seemed to be taking a while.
“Tower this is Lima Zulu six twenty be advised I can only hold here for twenty seconds before I will have to launch”
“Copy that Lima Zulu six twenty please power down and await further instructions”.
“Please the woman said can’t you just take off”.
Something in the woman’s voice made Misha realise she wanted out of here before those further instructions arrived, acting on a gut instinct she released the brakes and accelerated forward her ground speed rising
rapidly.
“Sorry tower my drives are over heating I will contact you again once I have achieved a safe altitude Lima Zulu six twenty out”.
There was no reply to that as Misha lifted the Venti’s nose of the ground and went vertical,
She’d probably just broken a dozen local regulations but she was too busy at the moment to worry about that as she maintained acceleration that put them into space within a couple of minutes. As soon as they had reached escape velocity Misha cut back on the power and set course for the Phoenix. Setting the auto pilot Misha looked to her passenger for an explanation.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t take the chance he would try and interfere if he had we could have been stuck at that terminal for day’s till I got it sorted out, and I promised your Captain I would not be late”.
“Just who is this He and why would he want you to be late”
“Harlen Kayle’s father he’s never forgiven Kayle for leaving and this was just one last chance he had to spite him and I couldn’t allow that. Here" she said producing her travel documents "as you can see I have been granted permission to go off world all legal and above board”.
Misha accepted the woman’s word on that and waved the documents aside
“I don’t doubt you not least because the sector control has just given me a green light for our trip we’ll get it sorted out when we dock for the moment we may as well just sit back and enjoy the ride it’s going to be a bit boring I’m afraid the local police are going to insist we keep to this speed all the way back to the ship”.
“I want to go faster” Jaclyn piped up from behind them
“So do I honey Misha" said "but if I do I’ll get a speeding ticket”
“That’s not fair” the girl decided standing up so she could see out of the cockpits canopy
“No it’s not” Misha agreed pleased that the girl showed no sign of being affected by motion sickness as a lot of young people were when they first went into space.
“You’ll have to forgive her" Elizabeth said looking to her daughter "she has always wanted to travel in space. Let me know if she starts being a nuisance”.
“She’ll be alright Elizabeth the ships on auto pilot and she can’t exactly damage anything in here unless she puts a lot of effort into it”.
Misha powered up the HUD display to draw Jaclyn’s attention and she immediately sat back down and started asking Misha questions about the display and what all the different images represented. Elizabeth had taken her advice it seemed and was soon asleep. Jaclyn’s constant questions helped pass the time and as Misha had to keep alert herself she did not mind answering them. As they neared the Phoenix she asked Jaclyn to sit back in her seat and secured her restraints before moving into dock.
“You’re going to crash” Jaclyn exclaimed as they accelerated towards the docking port
“No I’m not Jaclyn we are going to dock at that big ship where you and your mother will be staying for a while, watch” she suggested as she made her final approach and felt the grapples engage and bring them into the bay.
“There we are safe and sound now just sit still a moment and I’ll open the hatch so we can get out”.
Misha released the Canopy and arranged the ladder to enable them to climb out of the cockpit fortunately Karl was waiting to greet them and took hold of the girl as Misha helped her over the side of the cockpit. Elizabeth managed by herself before Misha followed her having made sure the ship was powered down. Karl was speaking with Elizabeth to one side of the bay so Misha accessed the cargo bay and started unloading the woman’s luggage which she stacked on a transport platform leaving it in one corner of the bay till they knew where Karl wanted to put it.
“You asked to see me sir” Tina said stepping into the office and closing the door behind her
“Yes Tina I have learnt that my previous instructions regarding Celine to you might have placed you in a difficult situation, I am sorry if that was the case, in future though I would expect you to tell me if such orders are likely to give you cause for concern”.
“Understood sir” Tina said crisply “will that be all sir”?
“Yes that’s all Tina carry on I will be back on the bridge shortly”.
Tina left the office leaving him alone with his thoughts till he got the link through to earth that he had requested. The man he saw on the display could only be Kayle’s father the similarity was striking
“Sir I am”
“I know who you are Captain Reaver, you’re the man that got my son killed, I have already received reports from Commander Sladon as to your intentions in this system and I will not be attending some damn pagan ritual to ease your conscience, my son chose to leave his home and family many years ago as far as I am concerned he was no longer my son when he did so. I would ask you not to contact me again”.
The man ended the call but the link stayed live Karl was about to close it when a woman appeared on the display.
“Captain Reaver please don’t close the link this may be the only chance I have to speak with you”
“You have my attention miss”?
“Oh sorry my names Elizabeth Van Dorne, I would ask you to forgive Harlen he never got over Kayle leaving to go south, but the reason I wanted to speak with you is that I would wish to attend the funeral someone from his home world who loved him should be there”
“Then I shall send a transport for you Elizabeth if you will just give me the coordinates of your nearest port and your contact details and a time you would wish to be met I shall make the necessary arrangements”.
The woman added a file with the necessary information then closed the link.
Karl decided to ask Misha to make the trip she had proven herself a capable pilot and he thought she might appreciate the break from the routine of ship life for a while. Misha sealed the Canopy of the Venti and began her pre-flight checks making sure the weapons were disarmed and the targeting scanners were switched of. Karl had been most insistent on that.
“Okay Loki I am ready to launch on your mark” she said over the com link
“The Phoenix is in stable flight Misha you may undock at your discretion be advised we have traffic approaching our position from the west your advised course is being relayed to your nav computer”.
“Thank you Loki I am launching now”
Misha released the docking clamps and hit the lateral thrusters to take her clear of the Phoenix she rolled onto her new course accelerating over the Phoenix knowing that she would be clearly visible from the bridge of the Phoenix. With that thought in mind she did a barrel roll as she passed then it accelerated towards Earth. It had been a long boring flight she had known it would be when Karl had asked her to make it but it had got her of the Phoenix and given herself time alone to get her act together. Karl probably hoped for that she knew as she contacted the Earth space traffic control and filed her flight plan, getting clearance within a mizura. It seemed the terran authorities were going out of their way to accommodate Karl and any ship designated as belonging to him.
Not one to pass up an easy ride she descended into the atmosphere proper activating her targeting array to give her notification of any other craft around her as she entered the clouds. That seemed to upset the traffic controllers though as they were on the com to her within a sezura.
“Lima Zulu six twenty you have activated your targeting array please advise why”
“Copy that control I am passing through heavy cloud and I don’t want to be bumping into anybody during my descent I will deactivate it if you require me to do so but its giving me a clearer picture of the immediate space around me than my gravidar”.
“Understood Lima Zulu six twenty you will be required to deactivate that system once you pass through forty thousand feet regardless of visibility”
“Copy that control I will shut it down before I reach that altitude” she confirmed altering course slightly to give a wide berth to an atmospheric transport she was approaching rapidly bleeding her speed a little to give herself more time to react to any other craft she might encounter.
As soon as she reached fifty thousand she shut down the targeting array and turned control over to the auto pilot allowing it to take her to the coordinates of the landing port, giving her time to enjoy the view as the Venti flew high over the body of water below her.
The sun was setting behind her as she began crossing the shore of the continent and the Venti accepting directions from the local traffic controllers settled onto a new heading reducing speed still further as she saw the city on the horizon ahead of her. Apparently the local security forces were not all that trusting as she saw an atmospheric fighter intercept her course and assume a position just behind her to the left. She waggled the Venti on its axis to acknowledge she was aware of him as the Venti began its slow descent to the hard surface below, she had never actually done a surface landing herself so decided to play safe and let the auto pilot handle it. The last thing she needed to do here was make a fool of herself by looking like a rank amateur she thought and she was fairly certain Celine would be upset if she bent her bird.
The landing was heavy she thought as the Venti touched down its forward thrusters engaging in a sustained burst to bring her speed down to almost a standstill. A ground car came onto the landing pad ahead of her and the large display mounted at its rear read simply enough follow me. Misha obliged keeping the drives barely idling as they made the lengthy journey to where they wanted her to park. She noted that whilst there where some heavier craft at the landing site hers was far larger than most of the small planes parked all around her. She shuddered at the thought of risking her life in one of those flimsy things as she got a request from the control tower to power down and await customs inspection.
Misha acknowledged that request and once the drives had begun to spin down she got out of her seat and opened the Hatch to the cargo bay turning on its interior lights to help the inspection team spot her more easily taking a seat on a casing whilst she waited for them.
To be honest they didn’t take that long to reach her though they seemed surprised at the Venti being here clearly they rarely got military craft landing here. The senior man approached her a scanner and data pad in hand.
“Ma’am you are the pilot I take it”
“I am” she said producing her documents for him to scan.
The man scanned them then handed them back to her before continuing
“Ma’am I am required to ask if you have any contraband items aboard this vessel and also that the weapons have been disabled”
“I can confirm that I have nothing on board that might give you cause for concern sir and that all weapons are locked down and secured”.
She applied her thumbprint to his data pad after making that declaration and stepped aside as two other members of his team came aboard and began making scans initially of the cargo bay and then the cockpit itself.
“You don’t have any luggage Ma’am” the senior inspected noted as he followed her around the Venti as she carried out her pre-flight visual checks.
“No strictly a stop and go I’m here to pick up a passenger for my Captain then I’ll be heading home”.
“Well everything is in order ma’am so I’ll bid you a good evening and a safe journey if you contact the tower when you are ready to depart they will give you final instructions”.
“Thank you I’ll do that” she promised as the man led his team back to the nearby buildings
It started to rain then so she stepped back into the open cargo bay hoping her passenger would be on time and with the wind picking up it was starting to feel cold despite the fact she was wearing her flight suit. Eventually a small ground car pulled up at the rear of the ship and she stepped forward to confirm it was her passenger and to introduce herself.
The driver of the ground car started unloading the baggage which Misha began loading into the cargo bay lashing it down with the webbing nets to make it secure. There seemed to be an awful lot of it she thought as she finally finished getting it tied down and went to fetch her passenger who had stayed in the ground car. Obviously this woman was used to having things done for her, Misha was of a mind to educate her as to the reality of life on board a star ship but thought better of it this woman was Karl’s guest so she was prepared to cut her some slack because of that only for the moment though.
The woman stepped out of the car a headscarf covering her hair and a large pair of tinted glass’s covering most of the rest of her face. Misha knew the type, she had met them vid stars or musicians who once they achieved fame or stardom did their best to conceal themselves from the people who had made them famous. Gunne’s that was all she needed some airhead for a passenger suspecting the return flight to the Phoenix was going to be a lot longer than the one it had taken to get here.
The surprise though was the young girl she helped out of the car who was well wrapped up against the weather.
“I was only expecting one passenger Ma’am”
“Oh I am sorry this is my daughter Jaclyn she decided she wanted to come along at the last minute. Is that going to be a problem”?
“No ma’am there’s plenty of room it’s just unexpected alright if you’ll follow me I’ll get you seated and we can get going”.
The woman gave the ground car driver his fee and the woman dashed into the cargo hold to get out of the rain her daughter holding onto her hand looking in awe at the Venti. Misha secured the cargo hatch then took them into the cockpit removing the girls outer garments so that she could secure her properly in the shotgun seat that was normally folded away except on training flights. The woman waited patiently for Misha to finish before allowing herself to be seated in the gunner’s seat next to hers. She had taken of her outer clothing which Misha retrieved and stowed with the girls in a storage bin in the cockpit before slipping into her own seat and starting her pre-flight checks and spooling up the drives.
“Tower this is Lima Zulu six twenty requesting departure instructions”
“Copy that” came the towers response that gave her a series of instructions to place her at the edge of the landing pad. Misha powered the drives up to maximum waiting for the clearance to take of which seemed to be taking a while.
“Tower this is Lima Zulu six twenty be advised I can only hold here for twenty seconds before I will have to launch”
“Copy that Lima Zulu six twenty please power down and await further instructions”.
“Please the woman said can’t you just take off”.
Something in the woman’s voice made Misha realise she wanted out of here before those further instructions arrived, acting on a gut instinct she released the brakes and accelerated forward her ground speed rising
rapidly.
“Sorry tower my drives are over heating I will contact you again once I have achieved a safe altitude Lima Zulu six twenty out”.
There was no reply to that as Misha lifted the Venti’s nose of the ground and went vertical,
She’d probably just broken a dozen local regulations but she was too busy at the moment to worry about that as she maintained acceleration that put them into space within a couple of minutes. As soon as they had reached escape velocity Misha cut back on the power and set course for the Phoenix. Setting the auto pilot Misha looked to her passenger for an explanation.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t take the chance he would try and interfere if he had we could have been stuck at that terminal for day’s till I got it sorted out, and I promised your Captain I would not be late”.
“Just who is this He and why would he want you to be late”
“Harlen Kayle’s father he’s never forgiven Kayle for leaving and this was just one last chance he had to spite him and I couldn’t allow that. Here" she said producing her travel documents "as you can see I have been granted permission to go off world all legal and above board”.
Misha accepted the woman’s word on that and waved the documents aside
“I don’t doubt you not least because the sector control has just given me a green light for our trip we’ll get it sorted out when we dock for the moment we may as well just sit back and enjoy the ride it’s going to be a bit boring I’m afraid the local police are going to insist we keep to this speed all the way back to the ship”.
“I want to go faster” Jaclyn piped up from behind them
“So do I honey Misha" said "but if I do I’ll get a speeding ticket”
“That’s not fair” the girl decided standing up so she could see out of the cockpits canopy
“No it’s not” Misha agreed pleased that the girl showed no sign of being affected by motion sickness as a lot of young people were when they first went into space.
“You’ll have to forgive her" Elizabeth said looking to her daughter "she has always wanted to travel in space. Let me know if she starts being a nuisance”.
“She’ll be alright Elizabeth the ships on auto pilot and she can’t exactly damage anything in here unless she puts a lot of effort into it”.
Misha powered up the HUD display to draw Jaclyn’s attention and she immediately sat back down and started asking Misha questions about the display and what all the different images represented. Elizabeth had taken her advice it seemed and was soon asleep. Jaclyn’s constant questions helped pass the time and as Misha had to keep alert herself she did not mind answering them. As they neared the Phoenix she asked Jaclyn to sit back in her seat and secured her restraints before moving into dock.
“You’re going to crash” Jaclyn exclaimed as they accelerated towards the docking port
“No I’m not Jaclyn we are going to dock at that big ship where you and your mother will be staying for a while, watch” she suggested as she made her final approach and felt the grapples engage and bring them into the bay.
“There we are safe and sound now just sit still a moment and I’ll open the hatch so we can get out”.
Misha released the Canopy and arranged the ladder to enable them to climb out of the cockpit fortunately Karl was waiting to greet them and took hold of the girl as Misha helped her over the side of the cockpit. Elizabeth managed by herself before Misha followed her having made sure the ship was powered down. Karl was speaking with Elizabeth to one side of the bay so Misha accessed the cargo bay and started unloading the woman’s luggage which she stacked on a transport platform leaving it in one corner of the bay till they knew where Karl wanted to put it.
-
Sabrina Bergin
- Posts: 2239
- Joined: Sat, 12. Apr 08, 10:53
Beth straightened her clothing as she moved away from the plane that had bought them here Jaclyn rushing forward to grip her hand unused to the strange place she found herself in.
“It’s alright honey this is just like the garage at home”
“It’s a lot bigger than our garage mommy”
“Yes it is but that’s because this is where the planes have to be kept”.
Karl Reaver walked in then she recognised him from the vid link he walked forward and lowered himself down to be at eye level with Jaclyn.
“Hello there my names Karl what’s yours”
Jaclyn was a little surprised at the man’s question but she decided he was a nice man and her mommy was not worried so she answered him politely as her mommy had taught her.
“My name is Jaclyn Van Dorne sir, this is a very big ship”.
“Yes it is Jaclyn she is called the Phoenix”
“You called it a she”
“Yes I did all Captains think of their ships as women because they are beautiful. At least to them. Would you like to see more of her”?
Jaclyn looked to her mommy for advice on that but she nodded to say it was okay so she agreed and let the man lead her and her mother out into the corridor to a lift which was small but worked very quietly. When the doors opened the man led them to some rooms he said they would be living in and she was a bit disappointed till she saw it had a window that let her look outside the ship. Karl guided Beth through the guest quarters and pointed out the various things she might need in the short term and told her to contact the ships AI Loki who could explain anything she was unsure of. Karl smiled at her reaction to having to speak to an AI he knew well why the Terrans were so frightened of them.
“You will find that the ships AI bears no resemblance to the Xenon or AGI as you refer to them Elizabeth, Loki was developed by the Paranid without the lack of restrictions that created the terraformers. If you feel uncomfortable accessing Loki then any member of the crew will be glad to assist you. Now whilst I am here is there anything I can do to assist you
further in the short term”?
“No Captain you have been most helpful and courteous I am a little curious as to where we might take our meals the galley here is obviously unsuited for preparing such”.
“I had hoped you might join me for supper this evening there is much we need to discuss prior to the ceremony and whilst Jaclyn is unexpected I am sure we can accommodate you both for the moment I will leave you to get settled in I am afraid I have some matters that require my attention”.
“Of course Captain you were kind enough to greet us in person I will delay you no further from your duties”
Beth watched as the man left a little startled at his obvious youth still he was a man used to command she could see that in him he had made no mention of Harlen’s clumsy attempts to prevent her leaving earth though she was certain he was aware of it Harlen would have been in contact with him as soon as his ship had left orbit which begged the question of why he had not seen fit to question her about the matter putting that thought aside for the moment she managed to get the coffee maker working and then settled down in the lounge area to arrange matters for her departure. The Com link was active and one of the crew gave her access to the local system net punching in her access codes she called Paul who was she found at home for a change.
“Paul glad I caught you how did the sale go”?
“As you thought it might Elizabeth the buyers flocked in droves to the sale there’s barely a stick left in the gallery, but why the rush to sell I know you want to move of world but we could have got much better deals had we managed the sale gradually”?
“I won’t argue with you over that Paul but I needed the cash injection I have a contact I need to see to get some new pieces. With luck you should see them arriving within the month”.
“That is good to hear Elizabeth I had feared”
“What that I was going to close the gallery don’t be silly Paul instead I am going to put you in charge of it whilst I go shopping don’t look so surprised Paul you are the best man for the job if you want it of course”.
“Of course I want it Elizabeth but I would rather you were here”
“That’s nice of you to ay so Paul but I think you need to demonstrate your own ability perhaps now might be a time to push those Aztec pieces you’ve been collecting, and make a name for yourself in your own right”
She knew that had him he had been badgering her for ages to do a Mexican themed showing and now he had the opportunity to become a name in the field in his own right. To be honest he deserved it he had stood by her when she had started her gallery and they had shared hard times together in the early day’s so it was only fitting he be rewarded.
“Elizabeth this is too much I appreciate the offer but you are the gallery”
“That’s kind of you to say so Paul why don’t you think it over before you say no I am sure Rafe will have his own views on this so why not go out for a meal together and talk it over then come back to me if you think you are not up for it”.
Beth closed the link knowing that Rafe would push Paul to take on the challenge and it was him she was counting on to make sure the transition went smoothly. Paul was the front man people liked him for his charm and knowledge but Rafe was the driving force in the pairing the one who sat in the background and weighed up all the odds before he told Paul what to do. It was a shame he was not her type she thought Rafe was quite handsome, but then accepted she could never do that to Paul they were an odd pairing but together they were formidable as a team.
Beth contacted her bank and arranged the necessary fund transfers she would leave enough for the Gallery to survive for the moment, her contact in Saturn had sent her some holograph’s of some works that she knew would do well then started browsing through the list of what her other contacts had flagged for her attention.
Taking a break from that for a moment she made Jaclyn a sandwich from the contents of the small cooler and gave her a fruit juice to go with it she made herself a coffee. And sat back in the small couch in the lounge as she reviewed her purchases some she flagged for Paul’s attention as they would be arriving at the gallery over the next day or so. The others would be held in storage at the Mars Exchange till she had sorted out some new premises for herself. Thinking of that she sent out a search for suitable premises within the price range she had set. It seemed pieces had gone up dramatically in the Saturn sector recently no doubt due to the influx of people working at the military bases there most of what was available was far from suitable so she expanded her search to include Neptune.
That looked much more promising there were a lot of new stations being built there and there was a lot of traffic to and from the Aldrin sectors, that was a thought those sectors had been isolated for centuries it might be worth a trip there to see if they had anything of interest. The properties in that sector were also a lot more reasonably priced and she saw several that caught her attention. She would need to speak to the Captain to see when he planned to conclude matters here before she could move on with her own plans.
At that moment the door buzzer sounded and a young woman poked her head through the door when she told whoever it was to come in.
“Sorry to disturb you Ma’am the Captains compliments would you care to join him for supper”?
“Tell him I’ll be right along I’ll just need a moment to freshen up”.
The woman left closing the door quietly. It took a few moments to wake Jaclyn who decided she wanted to go to bed so she got her changed and tucked her in making sure she had her favourite toy with her and that her com pad was set to receive from the rooms own com system in case she woke up whilst she was gone.
She opened the door to her quarters surprised to find the young woman had returned and was waiting outside her door presumably to show her the way to the Captains quarters.
“Is your daughter not coming ma’am”?
“No she’s fast asleep it’s been a very long day for her”
“Then with your permission ma’am I’ll watch her for you once I have shown you to the Captain’s rooms”.
“Are you sure I wouldn’t want to impose”
“It’s no problem ma’am I’ll be glad to. Here we are” she said opening the door for her before retreating back down the corridor.
“Please come in Elizabeth I’m Celine Karl is just finishing preparing a supper for us he won’t be long”.
Celine led her into a spacious lounge and indicated she should make herself comfortable but Beth stopped as she saw the Kigawa piece that was mounted on one of the wall of the room that immediately caught her eye. She had not expected to find such a piece here and stepped closer to it wandering if it was a reproduction but ruled that out as she got close enough to see the textures more clearly. A glance at the signature chop in the corner of the painting confirmed it was an original.
“I see you have an eye for art” Celine said pausing to study the painting with her.
“It’s a magnificent piece Celine I must admit I am envious. Kigawa is an exceptional artist and his works are much sought after”.
“Then I shall stop feeling so bad about the price I paid for it” Celine admitted she had thought the price she had paid had been high “I take it you are an expert in the field”.
“I have a small gallery in Paris” Beth admitted allowing Celine to lead her to a comfortable seating area where she could still see the painting “I would be happy to pay a fortune for a Kigawa though I suspect the price would be beyond my reach”.
“In that you would be correct I bought it for Karl and I am certain he would never part with it no matter what was offered for it”.
“Then you have an excellent eye for art Celine” Beth admitted “it is still wonderful to see such a piece though, Kigawa is not a prolific artist and his works rarely come on the market and those that do are quickly snapped up by collectors” Beth explained.
“Then we share a passion for art Elizabeth I have a small interest in the field myself though I tend to deal in sculptures rather than paintings”
Beth was studying some holographs of some of the pieces Celine had collected when Karl called them through into the dining room.
Celine and Beth joined him and she found the supper delicious though she recognised few of the dishes accepting that they were from the commonwealth. It was as they were relaxing over coffees in the lounge that Karl bought up the incident at the Terminal earlier. Beth had expected it to be brought up and was candid and open about her hostility towards Harlan.
“I am in agreement with your judgement of the Man Elizabeth he filed some sort of complaint with the Sector commander but I have been told it has been ignored he seems overly taken with himself”.
“That’s a polite way of describing him Karl the man is an arrogant son of a bitch excuse my language for years he has refused to acknowledge my daughter’s very existence then when he learnt of Kayle’s death that all changed and he tried to force himself into our lives, it was for that reason that I chose to leave Earth the man doesn’t seem to grasp that I want nothing to do with him. For all his pretensions to the contrary he is merely a senatorial advisor but due to his extensive business holdings in France he is given greater regard than is justified by his status”.
“I had assumed as much Elizabeth he actually seemed horrified when he learnt that I actually outranked him a point the local Military commander was happy to confirm for him which leads me to suspect he has little respect for the man either”.
“You’re probably right Karl Harlan has a unique ability to irritate people”
“That I had noticed” Karl agreed “There is one matter I feel I must discuss with you Elizabeth with regards Kayle his partner has asked to be the one to speak for him at the ceremony but if you wish I can speak to her so that you might do so in her place, as you will appreciate none of us suspected that Karl had a family here let alone a daughter”.
“I would rather you did not Karl” hiding the pain his words caused her that Kayle had been in a relationship with another woman,
“Kayle left Earth nearly a decade ago before either of us knew I was pregnant and in truth I had always loved him more than he loved me it would be cruel to deny his partner her right to speak for him. In truth I am grateful to be given the opportunity to attend I would ask no more of you than that”.
“You speak of leaving Earth with some sense of permanence Elizabeth” Celine noted moving the conversation away from Kayle for which she was grateful.
“Yes I intend to settle in Neptune I had thought to go to Saturn but the prices there are ridiculous”.
“I can agree with that” Karl said easily and if you are agreeable once we are done here I would be happy to take you to Neptune myself”.
“I was going to ask you to drop me of in Venus but if you are sure it’s not an inconvenience then I would be grateful”. Elizabeth admitted
“Think nothing of it Elizabeth” Celine told her “to be honest it is as easy for us to jump to Neptune as it is to Venus”.
With that settled they returned to the lounge where Celine suggested they try some of her collection of commonwealth wines whilst acknowledging that she might find them wanting considering that where she had lived till now had long been renowned for its own wines which in itself told her that Celine was well aware of those wines probably from a time before the war she guessed which was confirmed as they sampled the commonwealth wines Celine suggested she might like and compared them knowledgably with wines she knew herself.
Jaclyn came in escorted by the young woman a little while later.
“Sorry sir young Jaclyn was insistent on seeing her mother”
“Think nothing of it Della thanks for looking after her for us” Karl said as the young girl rushed to Elizabeth still holding onto a small toy.
“I imagine she might be a little hungry” Celine said leaving to go to the kitchen and returning a little while later with a plate that had a wide selection for Jaclyn to choose from placing it on the table in front of her before lifting her up onto a footrest for a chair so she could reach her plate more easily.
“This might get messy” Beth warned
“That is of no moment Elizabeth she is an adorable child and a little cleaning up is not a hardship”.
Elizabeth was pleased at that comment and they returned to their earlier conversation with Jaclyn quite content with the meal in front of her. The ceremony she learnt would take place three days hence and that they were on course for a sol orbit as they spoke she gathered from what Karl said that there had been some matter of dispute with the local military commander as regards some of the ships that had chosen to participate and their course which they had managed to resolve to Karl’s satisfaction. Beth was grateful that they refrained from speaking of Kayle in Jaclyn’s presence presumably because they did not know how much she had told her about her father. The evening came to an end a while later when Jaclyn became sleepy again and Beth picked her up to take her back to their rooms thanking Karl and Celine for their hospitality.
She found sleep eluded her when she finally got to bed herself, whilst Karl and Celine had been more than hospitable there was much they had left unsaid regarding Kayle, in part that might have been because of Jaclyn’s presence but she wandered at what they had not told her.
“It’s alright honey this is just like the garage at home”
“It’s a lot bigger than our garage mommy”
“Yes it is but that’s because this is where the planes have to be kept”.
Karl Reaver walked in then she recognised him from the vid link he walked forward and lowered himself down to be at eye level with Jaclyn.
“Hello there my names Karl what’s yours”
Jaclyn was a little surprised at the man’s question but she decided he was a nice man and her mommy was not worried so she answered him politely as her mommy had taught her.
“My name is Jaclyn Van Dorne sir, this is a very big ship”.
“Yes it is Jaclyn she is called the Phoenix”
“You called it a she”
“Yes I did all Captains think of their ships as women because they are beautiful. At least to them. Would you like to see more of her”?
Jaclyn looked to her mommy for advice on that but she nodded to say it was okay so she agreed and let the man lead her and her mother out into the corridor to a lift which was small but worked very quietly. When the doors opened the man led them to some rooms he said they would be living in and she was a bit disappointed till she saw it had a window that let her look outside the ship. Karl guided Beth through the guest quarters and pointed out the various things she might need in the short term and told her to contact the ships AI Loki who could explain anything she was unsure of. Karl smiled at her reaction to having to speak to an AI he knew well why the Terrans were so frightened of them.
“You will find that the ships AI bears no resemblance to the Xenon or AGI as you refer to them Elizabeth, Loki was developed by the Paranid without the lack of restrictions that created the terraformers. If you feel uncomfortable accessing Loki then any member of the crew will be glad to assist you. Now whilst I am here is there anything I can do to assist you
further in the short term”?
“No Captain you have been most helpful and courteous I am a little curious as to where we might take our meals the galley here is obviously unsuited for preparing such”.
“I had hoped you might join me for supper this evening there is much we need to discuss prior to the ceremony and whilst Jaclyn is unexpected I am sure we can accommodate you both for the moment I will leave you to get settled in I am afraid I have some matters that require my attention”.
“Of course Captain you were kind enough to greet us in person I will delay you no further from your duties”
Beth watched as the man left a little startled at his obvious youth still he was a man used to command she could see that in him he had made no mention of Harlen’s clumsy attempts to prevent her leaving earth though she was certain he was aware of it Harlen would have been in contact with him as soon as his ship had left orbit which begged the question of why he had not seen fit to question her about the matter putting that thought aside for the moment she managed to get the coffee maker working and then settled down in the lounge area to arrange matters for her departure. The Com link was active and one of the crew gave her access to the local system net punching in her access codes she called Paul who was she found at home for a change.
“Paul glad I caught you how did the sale go”?
“As you thought it might Elizabeth the buyers flocked in droves to the sale there’s barely a stick left in the gallery, but why the rush to sell I know you want to move of world but we could have got much better deals had we managed the sale gradually”?
“I won’t argue with you over that Paul but I needed the cash injection I have a contact I need to see to get some new pieces. With luck you should see them arriving within the month”.
“That is good to hear Elizabeth I had feared”
“What that I was going to close the gallery don’t be silly Paul instead I am going to put you in charge of it whilst I go shopping don’t look so surprised Paul you are the best man for the job if you want it of course”.
“Of course I want it Elizabeth but I would rather you were here”
“That’s nice of you to ay so Paul but I think you need to demonstrate your own ability perhaps now might be a time to push those Aztec pieces you’ve been collecting, and make a name for yourself in your own right”
She knew that had him he had been badgering her for ages to do a Mexican themed showing and now he had the opportunity to become a name in the field in his own right. To be honest he deserved it he had stood by her when she had started her gallery and they had shared hard times together in the early day’s so it was only fitting he be rewarded.
“Elizabeth this is too much I appreciate the offer but you are the gallery”
“That’s kind of you to say so Paul why don’t you think it over before you say no I am sure Rafe will have his own views on this so why not go out for a meal together and talk it over then come back to me if you think you are not up for it”.
Beth closed the link knowing that Rafe would push Paul to take on the challenge and it was him she was counting on to make sure the transition went smoothly. Paul was the front man people liked him for his charm and knowledge but Rafe was the driving force in the pairing the one who sat in the background and weighed up all the odds before he told Paul what to do. It was a shame he was not her type she thought Rafe was quite handsome, but then accepted she could never do that to Paul they were an odd pairing but together they were formidable as a team.
Beth contacted her bank and arranged the necessary fund transfers she would leave enough for the Gallery to survive for the moment, her contact in Saturn had sent her some holograph’s of some works that she knew would do well then started browsing through the list of what her other contacts had flagged for her attention.
Taking a break from that for a moment she made Jaclyn a sandwich from the contents of the small cooler and gave her a fruit juice to go with it she made herself a coffee. And sat back in the small couch in the lounge as she reviewed her purchases some she flagged for Paul’s attention as they would be arriving at the gallery over the next day or so. The others would be held in storage at the Mars Exchange till she had sorted out some new premises for herself. Thinking of that she sent out a search for suitable premises within the price range she had set. It seemed pieces had gone up dramatically in the Saturn sector recently no doubt due to the influx of people working at the military bases there most of what was available was far from suitable so she expanded her search to include Neptune.
That looked much more promising there were a lot of new stations being built there and there was a lot of traffic to and from the Aldrin sectors, that was a thought those sectors had been isolated for centuries it might be worth a trip there to see if they had anything of interest. The properties in that sector were also a lot more reasonably priced and she saw several that caught her attention. She would need to speak to the Captain to see when he planned to conclude matters here before she could move on with her own plans.
At that moment the door buzzer sounded and a young woman poked her head through the door when she told whoever it was to come in.
“Sorry to disturb you Ma’am the Captains compliments would you care to join him for supper”?
“Tell him I’ll be right along I’ll just need a moment to freshen up”.
The woman left closing the door quietly. It took a few moments to wake Jaclyn who decided she wanted to go to bed so she got her changed and tucked her in making sure she had her favourite toy with her and that her com pad was set to receive from the rooms own com system in case she woke up whilst she was gone.
She opened the door to her quarters surprised to find the young woman had returned and was waiting outside her door presumably to show her the way to the Captains quarters.
“Is your daughter not coming ma’am”?
“No she’s fast asleep it’s been a very long day for her”
“Then with your permission ma’am I’ll watch her for you once I have shown you to the Captain’s rooms”.
“Are you sure I wouldn’t want to impose”
“It’s no problem ma’am I’ll be glad to. Here we are” she said opening the door for her before retreating back down the corridor.
“Please come in Elizabeth I’m Celine Karl is just finishing preparing a supper for us he won’t be long”.
Celine led her into a spacious lounge and indicated she should make herself comfortable but Beth stopped as she saw the Kigawa piece that was mounted on one of the wall of the room that immediately caught her eye. She had not expected to find such a piece here and stepped closer to it wandering if it was a reproduction but ruled that out as she got close enough to see the textures more clearly. A glance at the signature chop in the corner of the painting confirmed it was an original.
“I see you have an eye for art” Celine said pausing to study the painting with her.
“It’s a magnificent piece Celine I must admit I am envious. Kigawa is an exceptional artist and his works are much sought after”.
“Then I shall stop feeling so bad about the price I paid for it” Celine admitted she had thought the price she had paid had been high “I take it you are an expert in the field”.
“I have a small gallery in Paris” Beth admitted allowing Celine to lead her to a comfortable seating area where she could still see the painting “I would be happy to pay a fortune for a Kigawa though I suspect the price would be beyond my reach”.
“In that you would be correct I bought it for Karl and I am certain he would never part with it no matter what was offered for it”.
“Then you have an excellent eye for art Celine” Beth admitted “it is still wonderful to see such a piece though, Kigawa is not a prolific artist and his works rarely come on the market and those that do are quickly snapped up by collectors” Beth explained.
“Then we share a passion for art Elizabeth I have a small interest in the field myself though I tend to deal in sculptures rather than paintings”
Beth was studying some holographs of some of the pieces Celine had collected when Karl called them through into the dining room.
Celine and Beth joined him and she found the supper delicious though she recognised few of the dishes accepting that they were from the commonwealth. It was as they were relaxing over coffees in the lounge that Karl bought up the incident at the Terminal earlier. Beth had expected it to be brought up and was candid and open about her hostility towards Harlan.
“I am in agreement with your judgement of the Man Elizabeth he filed some sort of complaint with the Sector commander but I have been told it has been ignored he seems overly taken with himself”.
“That’s a polite way of describing him Karl the man is an arrogant son of a bitch excuse my language for years he has refused to acknowledge my daughter’s very existence then when he learnt of Kayle’s death that all changed and he tried to force himself into our lives, it was for that reason that I chose to leave Earth the man doesn’t seem to grasp that I want nothing to do with him. For all his pretensions to the contrary he is merely a senatorial advisor but due to his extensive business holdings in France he is given greater regard than is justified by his status”.
“I had assumed as much Elizabeth he actually seemed horrified when he learnt that I actually outranked him a point the local Military commander was happy to confirm for him which leads me to suspect he has little respect for the man either”.
“You’re probably right Karl Harlan has a unique ability to irritate people”
“That I had noticed” Karl agreed “There is one matter I feel I must discuss with you Elizabeth with regards Kayle his partner has asked to be the one to speak for him at the ceremony but if you wish I can speak to her so that you might do so in her place, as you will appreciate none of us suspected that Karl had a family here let alone a daughter”.
“I would rather you did not Karl” hiding the pain his words caused her that Kayle had been in a relationship with another woman,
“Kayle left Earth nearly a decade ago before either of us knew I was pregnant and in truth I had always loved him more than he loved me it would be cruel to deny his partner her right to speak for him. In truth I am grateful to be given the opportunity to attend I would ask no more of you than that”.
“You speak of leaving Earth with some sense of permanence Elizabeth” Celine noted moving the conversation away from Kayle for which she was grateful.
“Yes I intend to settle in Neptune I had thought to go to Saturn but the prices there are ridiculous”.
“I can agree with that” Karl said easily and if you are agreeable once we are done here I would be happy to take you to Neptune myself”.
“I was going to ask you to drop me of in Venus but if you are sure it’s not an inconvenience then I would be grateful”. Elizabeth admitted
“Think nothing of it Elizabeth” Celine told her “to be honest it is as easy for us to jump to Neptune as it is to Venus”.
With that settled they returned to the lounge where Celine suggested they try some of her collection of commonwealth wines whilst acknowledging that she might find them wanting considering that where she had lived till now had long been renowned for its own wines which in itself told her that Celine was well aware of those wines probably from a time before the war she guessed which was confirmed as they sampled the commonwealth wines Celine suggested she might like and compared them knowledgably with wines she knew herself.
Jaclyn came in escorted by the young woman a little while later.
“Sorry sir young Jaclyn was insistent on seeing her mother”
“Think nothing of it Della thanks for looking after her for us” Karl said as the young girl rushed to Elizabeth still holding onto a small toy.
“I imagine she might be a little hungry” Celine said leaving to go to the kitchen and returning a little while later with a plate that had a wide selection for Jaclyn to choose from placing it on the table in front of her before lifting her up onto a footrest for a chair so she could reach her plate more easily.
“This might get messy” Beth warned
“That is of no moment Elizabeth she is an adorable child and a little cleaning up is not a hardship”.
Elizabeth was pleased at that comment and they returned to their earlier conversation with Jaclyn quite content with the meal in front of her. The ceremony she learnt would take place three days hence and that they were on course for a sol orbit as they spoke she gathered from what Karl said that there had been some matter of dispute with the local military commander as regards some of the ships that had chosen to participate and their course which they had managed to resolve to Karl’s satisfaction. Beth was grateful that they refrained from speaking of Kayle in Jaclyn’s presence presumably because they did not know how much she had told her about her father. The evening came to an end a while later when Jaclyn became sleepy again and Beth picked her up to take her back to their rooms thanking Karl and Celine for their hospitality.
She found sleep eluded her when she finally got to bed herself, whilst Karl and Celine had been more than hospitable there was much they had left unsaid regarding Kayle, in part that might have been because of Jaclyn’s presence but she wandered at what they had not told her.
Last edited by Sabrina Bergin on Mon, 9. Feb 15, 23:34, edited 1 time in total.
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Sabrina Bergin
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Sabrina Bergin
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The observation deck on the level below had been a delightful surprise to her she had found it only after finding Jaclyn had gone off on one of her explorations of the ship and with Della’s help they had found her here looking out on the nearby ships that matched the course of the Phoenix. Since then she found herself coming here quite often marvelling at how rapidly the Earth had seemed to shrink in size with each passing hour it could now only be seen in one of the displays that were mounted above the virtual window. Jaclyn was playing happily with her toys when Misha came in the woman she recognised as being the one that had collected from the terminal on Earth. On seeing Beth her she made as if to leave.
“No please join us” Beth insisted “I’m just keeping an eye on Jaclyn she seems to prefer playing here”.
“It is one of the few places on the ship where one can be undisturbed Misha agreed I come here often when my duties permit as she walked towards the view screen and looked out at the stars. “I find it strange to think that my distant ancestors once looked on these same stars” she admitted “Stranger still to think that Kayle would have considered them familiar”.
Misha’s words should have startled her she supposed but somehow she had suspected that she might have been Karl’s partner perhaps because she had seen so little of her since she had brought her to the Phoenix as if she had been avoiding meeting her again, she was also certain that this meeting had not been left to chance. In a way she was glad of that there was so much she did not know of Kayle’s life since he had left.
“He did not know he had a daughter” Misha admitted “If he had he would have found a way to meet her”.
“That is partly my fault Misha I was hurt when he left and when Jaclyn was born I had lost contact with him and had no way of letting him know about Jaclyn. Then the war began and it was impossible to make enquiries as to his whereabouts”.
“Does Jaclyn know Kayle was her father”? Misha asked directly after checking that Jaclyn was beyond range of her words.
“I have told her but I have yet to hear myself how he was killed”.
“Ah to be honest I had hoped that Karl might have told you it seems he feels that burden should fall to me so be it then. There was an attempt on Celine’s life” she began recalling all that had happened that fateful evening sparing no detail despite the obvious pain she felt reliving it.
“I am glad you were there at his passing Misha that must have been a comfort to him to have the woman he loved at his side”
“Such is my belief Elizabeth though I am surprised to find you so accepting of that”.
“What you think I should begrudge you that moment Misha I loved Kayle once long ago and I am glad he found love with someone who clearly loved him in return and was there at the end. In truth it is of some relief to me to know this I had feared he might have died alone”.
“You are generous in more than just your words Elizabeth” Misha said giving her an odd bow of that she asked Misha about.
“It is a custom of the Split race who are rightfully acknowledged as fearsome warriors amongst the races they use such as a mark of respect amongst themselves, it is a custom that we who are trained to serve as warriors have adopted as a custom amongst ourselves. It is called the Serva kai. I was born in Aladna hill and as such I met with members of that race often hence my speech is different than that of most other of Argon”.
“It is a custom similar to one used by the Japanese a branch of the Terran races long ago” Beth told her finding it odd that two races who had never met had developed such a similar custom.
“In truth” Misha agreed “Kayle had mentioned this in the past I had thought him mistaken in this it is good to know I was in error”.
“Would it be too painful for you to speak of Kayle’s life in the south Misha there is so little of that life that I or Jaclyn know of and though she has not said so as much but I think she yearns to know more of her father than I can tell her”?
“If his tale is not told he cannot be truly remembered” Misha said adding a subtle emphasis to those words that indicated they carried more meaning than was apparent to her.
Beth called Jaclyn to her and she held her in her arms as Misha told them both of Kayle’s life in the commonwealth. There was much Misha omitted or glossed over and Beth suspected that was due to Jaclyn’s presence rather than a desire to withhold anything and together they listened as she told them of his life. When she had finished Jaclyn seemed a little confused and Misha asked why this was so
“If you were married to my father that would make you my Aunt she decided at last” obviously having struggled to understand her relationship to herself.
Misha considered that for a moment and whilst it was not strictly accurate it was a close enough analogy.
“I believe you are correct Jaclyn” Misha acknowledged as if in surprise at this revelation as Jaclyn threw her arms around her neck “I would be honoured for you to consider me as such” she allowed after seeing Elizabeth’s acceptance of her daughters reasoning.
In truth she was both surprised and pleased to be acknowledged as such by Kayle’s daughter and was certain that somewhere Kayle was laughing at her original discomfort with the notion. He had always spoken of one day having a family but they had known that the life thy led precluded the possibility or so it had seemed till now a thought she shared with Elizabeth who insisted she call her Beth in future, a name she allowed few to refer to her she suspected. Having learnt much of her father it seemed had only aroused Jaclyn’s curiosity as she began to ask her questions about her own life seeking out explanations to some concepts that were clearly alien to her. There was one thing she picked up on at once that startled her with its perception that she was speaking in a different way than she had when they had first met and that she kept wiggling her fingers when she spoke.
“It is a failing of mine” she admitted when I discuss matters that are important to me I tend to speak as I learnt to as a child in Aladna the gestures are a skill I learnt from the Split and are used to place emphasis on certain words or phrases.
“Could you speak without talking just using your fingers”? Jaclyn asked
“I could but then you would not be able to understand me” Misha conceded
“I could if you taught me” Jaclyn pointed out with irrefutable logic
“Indeed very well then let us begin I should warn you it takes time to master such skill” Misha cautioned as she began explaining her gestures demonstrating them slowly so that Jaclyn could see them clearly.
They stopped practicing only when a message over the ships com system announced dinner was ready in the main galley where Misha led them with Jaclyn holding her hand as well as Beth’s as they made their way there. Karl passed them in a corridor as he was making his way towards the bridge and acknowledged them with a brief “Ladies” as he passed.
It was with a lighter heart that Karl strode into his office and took his seat he had hoped that Misha would overcome her reluctance to speak with Elizabeth directly and the sight he has just witnessed gave him hope that she would come to terms more easily with the loss of Kayle. There was just one more matter that he had to deal with before the ceremony was complete the plight of those traders lost when they had travelled through the gate following Nathan Gunne had not been known to them an entire branch of his people had been isolated within the Aldrin Sectors and since the construction of the gate in Neptune they had been denied freedom to travel by the Terrans a situation that could not be allowed to continue.
“No please join us” Beth insisted “I’m just keeping an eye on Jaclyn she seems to prefer playing here”.
“It is one of the few places on the ship where one can be undisturbed Misha agreed I come here often when my duties permit as she walked towards the view screen and looked out at the stars. “I find it strange to think that my distant ancestors once looked on these same stars” she admitted “Stranger still to think that Kayle would have considered them familiar”.
Misha’s words should have startled her she supposed but somehow she had suspected that she might have been Karl’s partner perhaps because she had seen so little of her since she had brought her to the Phoenix as if she had been avoiding meeting her again, she was also certain that this meeting had not been left to chance. In a way she was glad of that there was so much she did not know of Kayle’s life since he had left.
“He did not know he had a daughter” Misha admitted “If he had he would have found a way to meet her”.
“That is partly my fault Misha I was hurt when he left and when Jaclyn was born I had lost contact with him and had no way of letting him know about Jaclyn. Then the war began and it was impossible to make enquiries as to his whereabouts”.
“Does Jaclyn know Kayle was her father”? Misha asked directly after checking that Jaclyn was beyond range of her words.
“I have told her but I have yet to hear myself how he was killed”.
“Ah to be honest I had hoped that Karl might have told you it seems he feels that burden should fall to me so be it then. There was an attempt on Celine’s life” she began recalling all that had happened that fateful evening sparing no detail despite the obvious pain she felt reliving it.
“I am glad you were there at his passing Misha that must have been a comfort to him to have the woman he loved at his side”
“Such is my belief Elizabeth though I am surprised to find you so accepting of that”.
“What you think I should begrudge you that moment Misha I loved Kayle once long ago and I am glad he found love with someone who clearly loved him in return and was there at the end. In truth it is of some relief to me to know this I had feared he might have died alone”.
“You are generous in more than just your words Elizabeth” Misha said giving her an odd bow of that she asked Misha about.
“It is a custom of the Split race who are rightfully acknowledged as fearsome warriors amongst the races they use such as a mark of respect amongst themselves, it is a custom that we who are trained to serve as warriors have adopted as a custom amongst ourselves. It is called the Serva kai. I was born in Aladna hill and as such I met with members of that race often hence my speech is different than that of most other of Argon”.
“It is a custom similar to one used by the Japanese a branch of the Terran races long ago” Beth told her finding it odd that two races who had never met had developed such a similar custom.
“In truth” Misha agreed “Kayle had mentioned this in the past I had thought him mistaken in this it is good to know I was in error”.
“Would it be too painful for you to speak of Kayle’s life in the south Misha there is so little of that life that I or Jaclyn know of and though she has not said so as much but I think she yearns to know more of her father than I can tell her”?
“If his tale is not told he cannot be truly remembered” Misha said adding a subtle emphasis to those words that indicated they carried more meaning than was apparent to her.
Beth called Jaclyn to her and she held her in her arms as Misha told them both of Kayle’s life in the commonwealth. There was much Misha omitted or glossed over and Beth suspected that was due to Jaclyn’s presence rather than a desire to withhold anything and together they listened as she told them of his life. When she had finished Jaclyn seemed a little confused and Misha asked why this was so
“If you were married to my father that would make you my Aunt she decided at last” obviously having struggled to understand her relationship to herself.
Misha considered that for a moment and whilst it was not strictly accurate it was a close enough analogy.
“I believe you are correct Jaclyn” Misha acknowledged as if in surprise at this revelation as Jaclyn threw her arms around her neck “I would be honoured for you to consider me as such” she allowed after seeing Elizabeth’s acceptance of her daughters reasoning.
In truth she was both surprised and pleased to be acknowledged as such by Kayle’s daughter and was certain that somewhere Kayle was laughing at her original discomfort with the notion. He had always spoken of one day having a family but they had known that the life thy led precluded the possibility or so it had seemed till now a thought she shared with Elizabeth who insisted she call her Beth in future, a name she allowed few to refer to her she suspected. Having learnt much of her father it seemed had only aroused Jaclyn’s curiosity as she began to ask her questions about her own life seeking out explanations to some concepts that were clearly alien to her. There was one thing she picked up on at once that startled her with its perception that she was speaking in a different way than she had when they had first met and that she kept wiggling her fingers when she spoke.
“It is a failing of mine” she admitted when I discuss matters that are important to me I tend to speak as I learnt to as a child in Aladna the gestures are a skill I learnt from the Split and are used to place emphasis on certain words or phrases.
“Could you speak without talking just using your fingers”? Jaclyn asked
“I could but then you would not be able to understand me” Misha conceded
“I could if you taught me” Jaclyn pointed out with irrefutable logic
“Indeed very well then let us begin I should warn you it takes time to master such skill” Misha cautioned as she began explaining her gestures demonstrating them slowly so that Jaclyn could see them clearly.
They stopped practicing only when a message over the ships com system announced dinner was ready in the main galley where Misha led them with Jaclyn holding her hand as well as Beth’s as they made their way there. Karl passed them in a corridor as he was making his way towards the bridge and acknowledged them with a brief “Ladies” as he passed.
It was with a lighter heart that Karl strode into his office and took his seat he had hoped that Misha would overcome her reluctance to speak with Elizabeth directly and the sight he has just witnessed gave him hope that she would come to terms more easily with the loss of Kayle. There was just one more matter that he had to deal with before the ceremony was complete the plight of those traders lost when they had travelled through the gate following Nathan Gunne had not been known to them an entire branch of his people had been isolated within the Aldrin Sectors and since the construction of the gate in Neptune they had been denied freedom to travel by the Terrans a situation that could not be allowed to continue.
Last edited by Sabrina Bergin on Fri, 3. Oct 14, 04:36, edited 1 time in total.
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Sabrina Bergin
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Karl touched a button on his desk preparing what he had to say to the Captain Sladon as he must think of him in this matter not believing himself the message he had been instructed to give the man.
“Illsa I need a secure link to the Spartan please”
“Copy that Captain I will forward the link to your office when it is active sir” Illsa acknowledged.
A few sezura later the display lit up with Captain Sladon appearing in person presumably from his own office aboard his ship.
“Captain Sladon I have been instructed to speak with you to ask that you keep any ships at least ten kilometres from these coordinates for the next tazura. That is approximately four and a half hours your time”.
“From your manner and formality I take it an event of some significance will occur at that time Captain Reaver is it ought I should be concerned at”?
“No Captain I can tell you that an unarmed vessel will be jumping to those coordinates and it is of a size that might damage any vessel that moved within the area I have specified I have been ordered to say little more than to add that it will be a unique event”.
“Now I am intrigued Captain you say you are acting under orders which is contrary to all I know of you personally and of traders in general and that a ship will jump in without the use of a jump beacon which suggests a technology we do not possess and that according to our scans you do not have aboard your ship. I shall give the necessary instructions Captain that you may be sure of, I look forward to being surprised”.
Karl closed the link, he was uncertain if the elders were wise in this but he was bound by his people’s laws to do as they bade him. He suspected they had been persuaded to intervene in this manner by the plight of the Aldrin traders. He went forward to the bridge to await their arrival wondering himself what to expect himself for the great ship to interrupt its journey was without precedent the threat to his people had been the cause of that due to this senseless war that they delayed the resumption of that journey to come here themselves spoke of larger concerns than their own. Thinking on that he sent word to Caleb and Misha that they might wish to witness this moment. Unaware of what was about to occur they both came to the bridge and waited just inside the bridge doors as the time slowly passed. There was some indication of its arrival as a vast area of space began to seethe with energies that seemed to appear spontaneously out of the void then it was suddenly just there appearing as if taking form from the very void itself those same strange energies washing over its surface as though it emerged from the depths of an ocean of such.
“I didn’t see a jump flash” Tina whispered as they all stared at the enormous craft that now lay less than two kilometres distant from them.
It was Caleb who recognised it first he had read the histories that spoke of such craft that had been constructed long before jump drive technology had made space travel possible in any real sense.
"It’s a generation ship" Caleb said quietly but with certainty hardly believing his eyes frantically trying to recall the names of the few that had been launched when the great plagues had ravaged the earth and threatened the species of man with extinction. Those had been dark times and yet man had survived and grown strong enough once more to reach for the stars. But by then the great ships had been a distant memory whose very existence had been remembered by only a few of those that survived those times. They were thought to have been lost for all time their courses unknown.
“They were originally called Arks” Karl corrected him “they bear the Elders of our people”.
“You say they that indicates there are more than one”
“There is Caleb but I will speak no more on the subject if the Elders choose otherwise then you may learn more, but I make no promises”.
“Misha there is a matter I need to discuss with you if you will” he asked leading her to his office where he closed the door behind them and indicated she should take a seat.
“Is there a problem Captain”?
“Not at all Misha I have been remiss in not speaking to you before now for which I apologise, suffice to say that I have spoken at length with Latasha of the Raven considering the actions of yourself and your comrades in the rescue of the Raven and its crew and we wish you to know that we consider ourselves to be obligated to all of you. Know then that from this day forward you are ever welcome aboard the Phoenix or the Raven and you may call on us in time of need. This invitation has been extended to all your comrades but I have waited to speak to you last of all so that I may extend my thanks to you personally”.
“There is no need sir we have but done our duty”
“That may be so Misha but still we consider ourselves indebted to all of you whether you wish it so or not and I also wish you to know that you will ever have a place aboard the Phoenix”.
“Your words give me comfort Captain and I thank you for them if that is all sir”
“That is all Karl” agreed as she left the room hoping his words had not pained her.
Matt stared in disbelief at the main display as the shockwave from the ships appearance buffeted the Spartan.
“Lieutenant how big is that thing”?
“Uncertain sir when it arrived it generated a pulse field that put our sensors of line they are rebooting as we speak”
“Was that intentional”?
“I think not sir the pulse was similar to a jump field distortion we probably got a bit close to its arrival point. A rough estimate as to size is that it is larger than most if not all of our stations by a significant amount based on the gravitational disturbance it created on arrival”.
It was his own fault then he realised noting that they were within the area of space Karl had cautioned them to avoid and the size of the thing was unbelievable.
“Very well Lieutenant let me know when you have a more accurate estimate as to its size and mass and when the sensors are on line see if you can run some scans on it”
Matt had a frustrating afternoon as repeated scans revealed little of the massive ships interior they had ascertained that it had large voids within it but little else they could identify. His technicians had concluded that there was something within the exterior of the vessel that was rendering their scan equipment ineffective. They were having better results with simple visual examinations of the ship. His engineering team had been studying what they had identified as the main propulsion units and apparently there was some question as to the actual type of drives and what they used to power them as they matched nothing known to them.
“Sir we have activity” Brent his tactical officer reported showing the activity on the main viewer “This is a feed from our satellite orbiting the vessel sir. There are a number of small spherical craft moving over the surface of the vessel at a range of five to ten meters from it, best guess is they are carrying out an eyeball examination of the hull and they definitely have tool arms attached a bit like shipyard repair drones”.
Matt studied those pods for a while and found himself agreeing with that assessment. He assumed that the vessel was able to carry out repairs which indicated that the vessel was designed to operate totally independently of support ships and stations. That chain of thought led him to wonder at the number of occupants it might have but he lacked the data needed to put a figure to that.
“Sir I am receiving a tight beam transmission from the vessel audio only they say they are sending a ship to dock with us and invite you and those you feel must accompany you to board it they advise that weapons are forbidden on the Arkon. I am detecting a similar transmission to the Phoenix sir” his com’s office noted.
“Sir I detect a vessel on approach to us and another heading for the Phoenix” Brent reported.
“Get me a com link for to the Phoenix he ordered” Karl’s face appeared on the viewer almost instantly as if he had anticipated the call.
“Captain I take it this call regards your invitation to visit the Arkon, how may I help you”.
“Just a question as to how many people I can take with me”.
“A fair point Captain between four and six though I would rather that you refrain from taking marines with you, as you will have been informed weapons are not permitted aboard the Arkon”.
“Illsa I need a secure link to the Spartan please”
“Copy that Captain I will forward the link to your office when it is active sir” Illsa acknowledged.
A few sezura later the display lit up with Captain Sladon appearing in person presumably from his own office aboard his ship.
“Captain Sladon I have been instructed to speak with you to ask that you keep any ships at least ten kilometres from these coordinates for the next tazura. That is approximately four and a half hours your time”.
“From your manner and formality I take it an event of some significance will occur at that time Captain Reaver is it ought I should be concerned at”?
“No Captain I can tell you that an unarmed vessel will be jumping to those coordinates and it is of a size that might damage any vessel that moved within the area I have specified I have been ordered to say little more than to add that it will be a unique event”.
“Now I am intrigued Captain you say you are acting under orders which is contrary to all I know of you personally and of traders in general and that a ship will jump in without the use of a jump beacon which suggests a technology we do not possess and that according to our scans you do not have aboard your ship. I shall give the necessary instructions Captain that you may be sure of, I look forward to being surprised”.
Karl closed the link, he was uncertain if the elders were wise in this but he was bound by his people’s laws to do as they bade him. He suspected they had been persuaded to intervene in this manner by the plight of the Aldrin traders. He went forward to the bridge to await their arrival wondering himself what to expect himself for the great ship to interrupt its journey was without precedent the threat to his people had been the cause of that due to this senseless war that they delayed the resumption of that journey to come here themselves spoke of larger concerns than their own. Thinking on that he sent word to Caleb and Misha that they might wish to witness this moment. Unaware of what was about to occur they both came to the bridge and waited just inside the bridge doors as the time slowly passed. There was some indication of its arrival as a vast area of space began to seethe with energies that seemed to appear spontaneously out of the void then it was suddenly just there appearing as if taking form from the very void itself those same strange energies washing over its surface as though it emerged from the depths of an ocean of such.
“I didn’t see a jump flash” Tina whispered as they all stared at the enormous craft that now lay less than two kilometres distant from them.
It was Caleb who recognised it first he had read the histories that spoke of such craft that had been constructed long before jump drive technology had made space travel possible in any real sense.
"It’s a generation ship" Caleb said quietly but with certainty hardly believing his eyes frantically trying to recall the names of the few that had been launched when the great plagues had ravaged the earth and threatened the species of man with extinction. Those had been dark times and yet man had survived and grown strong enough once more to reach for the stars. But by then the great ships had been a distant memory whose very existence had been remembered by only a few of those that survived those times. They were thought to have been lost for all time their courses unknown.
“They were originally called Arks” Karl corrected him “they bear the Elders of our people”.
“You say they that indicates there are more than one”
“There is Caleb but I will speak no more on the subject if the Elders choose otherwise then you may learn more, but I make no promises”.
“Misha there is a matter I need to discuss with you if you will” he asked leading her to his office where he closed the door behind them and indicated she should take a seat.
“Is there a problem Captain”?
“Not at all Misha I have been remiss in not speaking to you before now for which I apologise, suffice to say that I have spoken at length with Latasha of the Raven considering the actions of yourself and your comrades in the rescue of the Raven and its crew and we wish you to know that we consider ourselves to be obligated to all of you. Know then that from this day forward you are ever welcome aboard the Phoenix or the Raven and you may call on us in time of need. This invitation has been extended to all your comrades but I have waited to speak to you last of all so that I may extend my thanks to you personally”.
“There is no need sir we have but done our duty”
“That may be so Misha but still we consider ourselves indebted to all of you whether you wish it so or not and I also wish you to know that you will ever have a place aboard the Phoenix”.
“Your words give me comfort Captain and I thank you for them if that is all sir”
“That is all Karl” agreed as she left the room hoping his words had not pained her.
Matt stared in disbelief at the main display as the shockwave from the ships appearance buffeted the Spartan.
“Lieutenant how big is that thing”?
“Uncertain sir when it arrived it generated a pulse field that put our sensors of line they are rebooting as we speak”
“Was that intentional”?
“I think not sir the pulse was similar to a jump field distortion we probably got a bit close to its arrival point. A rough estimate as to size is that it is larger than most if not all of our stations by a significant amount based on the gravitational disturbance it created on arrival”.
It was his own fault then he realised noting that they were within the area of space Karl had cautioned them to avoid and the size of the thing was unbelievable.
“Very well Lieutenant let me know when you have a more accurate estimate as to its size and mass and when the sensors are on line see if you can run some scans on it”
Matt had a frustrating afternoon as repeated scans revealed little of the massive ships interior they had ascertained that it had large voids within it but little else they could identify. His technicians had concluded that there was something within the exterior of the vessel that was rendering their scan equipment ineffective. They were having better results with simple visual examinations of the ship. His engineering team had been studying what they had identified as the main propulsion units and apparently there was some question as to the actual type of drives and what they used to power them as they matched nothing known to them.
“Sir we have activity” Brent his tactical officer reported showing the activity on the main viewer “This is a feed from our satellite orbiting the vessel sir. There are a number of small spherical craft moving over the surface of the vessel at a range of five to ten meters from it, best guess is they are carrying out an eyeball examination of the hull and they definitely have tool arms attached a bit like shipyard repair drones”.
Matt studied those pods for a while and found himself agreeing with that assessment. He assumed that the vessel was able to carry out repairs which indicated that the vessel was designed to operate totally independently of support ships and stations. That chain of thought led him to wonder at the number of occupants it might have but he lacked the data needed to put a figure to that.
“Sir I am receiving a tight beam transmission from the vessel audio only they say they are sending a ship to dock with us and invite you and those you feel must accompany you to board it they advise that weapons are forbidden on the Arkon. I am detecting a similar transmission to the Phoenix sir” his com’s office noted.
“Sir I detect a vessel on approach to us and another heading for the Phoenix” Brent reported.
“Get me a com link for to the Phoenix he ordered” Karl’s face appeared on the viewer almost instantly as if he had anticipated the call.
“Captain I take it this call regards your invitation to visit the Arkon, how may I help you”.
“Just a question as to how many people I can take with me”.
“A fair point Captain between four and six though I would rather that you refrain from taking marines with you, as you will have been informed weapons are not permitted aboard the Arkon”.
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Sabrina Bergin
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- Joined: Sat, 12. Apr 08, 10:53
Celine was furious with Karl he had done it to her again telling her they would be going aboard that Ark as he referred to it and giving her less than a few mizura to prepare herself properly. She barely had time to fix her hair before he announced the transports arrival and discarding the notion of wearing a dress which would take more time than she had to hand she had to settle for wearing her ships suit which whilst smart enough was not how she wanted to meet the leaders of Karl’s people who he obviously regarded as some sort of royalty. As soon as she heard the docking take place she donned her jacket and hurried to the airlock not wanting to be late as well as inelegantly dressed. She was a little surprised to find both Caleb and Tina waiting with Karl and Misha as they waited for the hatch to open. Misha was dressed in her normal ship suit that she wore every day with Caleb being dressed almost like an executive in the smart but plain suit he wore. The hatch opened and Karl stepped forward to greet their visitor as she stepped into the small room that led to the airlock proper.
“Ma’am welcome aboard the Phoenix”.
“Captain I am pleased to greet you, are all those you wish in attendance present”?
“They are he confirmed”
“Then we shall delay no further please come aboard the shuttle and we will carry you to the Arkon”
Karl indicated they should all go through into the waiting shuttle waiting to the last before he was followed through the airlock by the woman who had spoken to him so briefly.
The interior of the craft to Celine’s eye seemed Spartan with none of the fittings she might have expected as standard on any of the races transports. In fact it more closely resembled a factory transport given the rows of seating she found within. Karl settled her into one of the seats and surprised her by securing her with a safety harness advising the others to do the same before taking the seat next to her and strapping himself in. Unlike herself he seemed to find the condition of the transport to be of no concern at all. She was startled as the ship undocked from the Phoenix and accelerated away from it realising there were no inertial dampers which meant that they were unlikely to have generators to maintain a gravity field the thing was an antique she realised and she said as much to Karl who to her dismay agreed with her and was actually delighted at the fact. Shaking her head sadly she settled back in her seat hoping she didn’t throw up during the journey.
After what seemed an age she felt the transport land and was relieved to feel her weight returning as it did so. The crew seemed in a hurry to leave the ship though Karl seemed unfazed by their leaving before their passengers aboard.
“Please Celine I would ask that you follow my lead in this” Karl whispered urgently that showed clearly how important that request was to him as he helped her out of her seat.
Karl straightened his jacket then offered Celine his arm as he led her to the open hatch as they stepped on the surface of the dock the speakers announced the Phoenix had come aboard. Karl nodded respectfully to the crew of the transport who had waited in a line from the hatch who returned his greeting with a similar gesture. Celine had attended enough functions to recognise the military style formality though announcing Karl by his ships name was a custom she had never encountered before though she could see the pride he felt in being addressed in such a manner. Without speaking he led her to a group of people waiting at the edge of the docking a few paces away and once again gave that slight bow to them before speaking.
“The Phoenix is honoured to be welcomed aboard he announced formally, May I present my partner Celine and members of my crew”.
“Yourself the Lady Celine and your crew are ever” welcome was the response from the speaker of the group who bowed to Celine herself personally a gesture a squeeze of her arm indicated Karl thought she should not return before she could respond in kind.
They were led to a waiting hovering platform that lacked seats but had hand rails built into its base for them to brace themselves. The platform moved off silently at a slowly increasing pace taking them all from the landing bay deep into the heart of the ship passing through tunnels that allowed little chance to see more than glimpses of the ship itself. A discreet glance to Tina showed that she was struggling to contain her wonder at seeing the ship though only those who knew her well would be able to detect that in her. Caleb and Misha on the other hand seemed unconcerned and maintained a composed appearance as if they found nothing remarkable here. Celine gained some insight into the origin of this ship as they passed through a section of one tunnel where some maintenance was being carried out, beneath the panels that had been removed a rock surface was exposed to view.
The platform gradually decelerated coming to a halt at the edge of a large open square where the ceiling was some distance overhead. Their escorts as she had come to think of them led them into a nearby building that stood alone a short walk from the platform then to a large room whose doors were open and ushered them inside. The room was occupied by a lone woman seated at a large ornate desk as they entered the room she rose and walked around the desk to greet Karl in a warm embrace.
She pushed him back then to see him more clearly a warm smile on her face as she regarded him.
“You have your fathers look about you Karl and I admit myself envious of the Phoenix she is a beautiful”.
“You are too kind ma’am Karl protested though obviously delighted with the praise for the Phoenix.
“Please Karl this is an informal meeting call me Helen, if all of you will take a seat the meeting will be some time yet and there are matters regarding yourselves that must be settled before then”.
They seated themselves around the table as if summoned a pair of young women entered the room with an ornate trolley and placed coffee’s and light cakes on the table in front of them.
“Please help yourselves, now to deal with those matters I mentioned earlier Tina your Captain has expressed your wishes as regards young Caleb here we are minded to grant you both requests.
Caleb looked to Tina for an explanation but she merely inclined her head to Helen in gratitude her expression revealing nothing of what those requests might be.
“Now I must speak of a matter the council of Elders has placed in my hands, Misha I formally request that you grant us leave to attend the ceremony here, though we did not know your beloved word of his deeds on behalf of our people commands our respect”.
“If it is your wish then both Kayle and I would be honoured ma’am” Misha replied simply.
Helen bowed to her accepting the gift before speaking again “You should know Misha that Kayle’s name has already been added to the rolls of our people that his name and deeds will live on in our people’s history.
Misha understood that by saying that this it had already been done and not been reliant on her agreement that the Elders might attend the ceremony. She did not trust herself to speak lest she shame herself by losing her composure before others but gave a Serva kai to Helen that left no doubt of her appreciation of the honour they did Kayle.
That just leaves the two requests you have made Karl the first regarding the exception I have held back so that I might ask you to withdraw it, whilst I understand your anger I tell you plainly it will be refused”.
“Ma’am welcome aboard the Phoenix”.
“Captain I am pleased to greet you, are all those you wish in attendance present”?
“They are he confirmed”
“Then we shall delay no further please come aboard the shuttle and we will carry you to the Arkon”
Karl indicated they should all go through into the waiting shuttle waiting to the last before he was followed through the airlock by the woman who had spoken to him so briefly.
The interior of the craft to Celine’s eye seemed Spartan with none of the fittings she might have expected as standard on any of the races transports. In fact it more closely resembled a factory transport given the rows of seating she found within. Karl settled her into one of the seats and surprised her by securing her with a safety harness advising the others to do the same before taking the seat next to her and strapping himself in. Unlike herself he seemed to find the condition of the transport to be of no concern at all. She was startled as the ship undocked from the Phoenix and accelerated away from it realising there were no inertial dampers which meant that they were unlikely to have generators to maintain a gravity field the thing was an antique she realised and she said as much to Karl who to her dismay agreed with her and was actually delighted at the fact. Shaking her head sadly she settled back in her seat hoping she didn’t throw up during the journey.
After what seemed an age she felt the transport land and was relieved to feel her weight returning as it did so. The crew seemed in a hurry to leave the ship though Karl seemed unfazed by their leaving before their passengers aboard.
“Please Celine I would ask that you follow my lead in this” Karl whispered urgently that showed clearly how important that request was to him as he helped her out of her seat.
Karl straightened his jacket then offered Celine his arm as he led her to the open hatch as they stepped on the surface of the dock the speakers announced the Phoenix had come aboard. Karl nodded respectfully to the crew of the transport who had waited in a line from the hatch who returned his greeting with a similar gesture. Celine had attended enough functions to recognise the military style formality though announcing Karl by his ships name was a custom she had never encountered before though she could see the pride he felt in being addressed in such a manner. Without speaking he led her to a group of people waiting at the edge of the docking a few paces away and once again gave that slight bow to them before speaking.
“The Phoenix is honoured to be welcomed aboard he announced formally, May I present my partner Celine and members of my crew”.
“Yourself the Lady Celine and your crew are ever” welcome was the response from the speaker of the group who bowed to Celine herself personally a gesture a squeeze of her arm indicated Karl thought she should not return before she could respond in kind.
They were led to a waiting hovering platform that lacked seats but had hand rails built into its base for them to brace themselves. The platform moved off silently at a slowly increasing pace taking them all from the landing bay deep into the heart of the ship passing through tunnels that allowed little chance to see more than glimpses of the ship itself. A discreet glance to Tina showed that she was struggling to contain her wonder at seeing the ship though only those who knew her well would be able to detect that in her. Caleb and Misha on the other hand seemed unconcerned and maintained a composed appearance as if they found nothing remarkable here. Celine gained some insight into the origin of this ship as they passed through a section of one tunnel where some maintenance was being carried out, beneath the panels that had been removed a rock surface was exposed to view.
The platform gradually decelerated coming to a halt at the edge of a large open square where the ceiling was some distance overhead. Their escorts as she had come to think of them led them into a nearby building that stood alone a short walk from the platform then to a large room whose doors were open and ushered them inside. The room was occupied by a lone woman seated at a large ornate desk as they entered the room she rose and walked around the desk to greet Karl in a warm embrace.
She pushed him back then to see him more clearly a warm smile on her face as she regarded him.
“You have your fathers look about you Karl and I admit myself envious of the Phoenix she is a beautiful”.
“You are too kind ma’am Karl protested though obviously delighted with the praise for the Phoenix.
“Please Karl this is an informal meeting call me Helen, if all of you will take a seat the meeting will be some time yet and there are matters regarding yourselves that must be settled before then”.
They seated themselves around the table as if summoned a pair of young women entered the room with an ornate trolley and placed coffee’s and light cakes on the table in front of them.
“Please help yourselves, now to deal with those matters I mentioned earlier Tina your Captain has expressed your wishes as regards young Caleb here we are minded to grant you both requests.
Caleb looked to Tina for an explanation but she merely inclined her head to Helen in gratitude her expression revealing nothing of what those requests might be.
“Now I must speak of a matter the council of Elders has placed in my hands, Misha I formally request that you grant us leave to attend the ceremony here, though we did not know your beloved word of his deeds on behalf of our people commands our respect”.
“If it is your wish then both Kayle and I would be honoured ma’am” Misha replied simply.
Helen bowed to her accepting the gift before speaking again “You should know Misha that Kayle’s name has already been added to the rolls of our people that his name and deeds will live on in our people’s history.
Misha understood that by saying that this it had already been done and not been reliant on her agreement that the Elders might attend the ceremony. She did not trust herself to speak lest she shame herself by losing her composure before others but gave a Serva kai to Helen that left no doubt of her appreciation of the honour they did Kayle.
That just leaves the two requests you have made Karl the first regarding the exception I have held back so that I might ask you to withdraw it, whilst I understand your anger I tell you plainly it will be refused”.
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Sabrina Bergin
- Posts: 2239
- Joined: Sat, 12. Apr 08, 10:53
The words were a blow to him he had hoped to be granted the right to seek vengeance but had always known in his heart it would be refused. It would have set a precedent for a law that had been unaltered since the great journey had begun.
“I must admit I made the request without thought to the consequences” Karl admitted “I have since had time to speak with my Lady and I had already decided to ask it be withdrawn”.
“Then it shall be Karl your Lady is wise in this as are you to heed her advice now come let us attend the meeting the Terrans should be waiting for us”.
Helen led them through to a larger room where the Elder captains were waiting for them Karl noted Matthew and Roberta’s presence at a table facing the tiered ranks of the Captains and Helen indicated both he and Celine should join them at that table with his crew being guided to seats set a little further back. With matters arranged to her satisfaction Helen joined the ranks of the Captains speaking briefly to the Elder who had been awaiting their arrival before taking her place amongst them.
The Elder turned his attention to Matthew perhaps because his people alone here were unaware of the protocols the Traders used amongst themselves.
Captain I will address myself to you in part because your people alone here will be ignorant of our ways and as such you may place to great a hope in our ability or desire to grant you our aid. Please Captain if you will hear me out” he cautioned as Matthew prepared himself to speak out against his words. We have not invited you here to enter into a debate rather we seek only to inform you of our decisions in the many matters your people’s requests to ourselves have raised.
We have interrupted out journey into the great dark and come here primarily to honour one we have taken to be one of our own” he said inclining his had respectfully to Misha “as regards this war that is an affront to our beliefs we will ask our people already amongst you to give what aid they can in seeking it’s end, though in truth we fear matters have gone too far to hope for peace still to honour our ancestors who once called this system home we will make the attempt. We will now address the plight of those we had feared lost to us, whilst we are overjoyed at the renewal of our ancient friendship your people are guilty of acts against them that are an insult to us and for that reason alone many spoke out against giving you any aid at all. It is only through the words of the Phoenix and of the Raven on your people’s behalf that we have decided against withholding our aid altogether and leaving you to your fate. In conclusion we have no wish to imperil those who would have no part in the insanity that thrives here and as such Caleb we are minded to grant your request, in truth we are happy to share our history so that man may yet have hope that the survival of our race has been assured no matter what occurs here.
We ourselves will depart once the ceremony has been concluded the journey of the Arkon has been delayed overlong by matters here and we would resume our task, Phoenix to you and the Raven we pass the burden of these times”.
Karl rose and made a deep bow to the Elders holding that mark of respect and acceptance of the task they set him as they left the room leaving only Helen behind.
"Captains if you and your people will follow me a meal has been prepared for you as is our custom and I will try to explain to you Captain Sladon the reasoning behind our choices here as you have been warned though there will be no negotiation of what has been decided”.
Helen led them back to her office where tables had been arranged and a buffet prepared for them. Matthew was feeling a bit bruised from the words recently directed at him so he approached Karl to understand why he had been the subject of such hostility.
Karl saw him approaching and indicated he should take a seat a little apart from the others his first Roberta her expression barely concealing her anger at the slight she felt done her Captain walking no striding barely a pace behind him. Celine watched as Karl took Matthew away from them so as to be able to speak in private but chose not to join them she knew the reasons for Roberta’s anger and felt it justified yet she lacked the understanding that would allow her to comment on the matter, for herself she had other considerations not least of which was the presence of Tina at her side who had strangely left Caleb to his own devices as he studied a book she had given him before assuming a position at the edge of her perception which she found both unusual and a little disturbing given the smile the girl could not quite supress that suggested she knew more than she did which was infuriating. Realising she would get no answers from Tina than the girl was prepared to give she decided to question Helen as to her odd behaviour. Tina she noted followed her but kept a discreet distance that again was as worrying as it was unexpected. Helen smiled at her approach and Celine was finding it difficult to put the questions to the woman that she wanted answered.
“Tina perhaps some wine for Celine and myself Helen suggested”
Tina went to do as asked without question and Celine found it disturbing that Tina of all people could so easily accept orders from this woman that she would normally consider only if Karl requested something of her. Helen obviously saw the cause of her concern and guided Celine to a small table to speak with her. Tina returned with the wine then stepped back beyond earshot yet still close enough to be summoned.
“I sense your confusion Celine speak your mind no one will intrude upon our privacy”
Celine turned to glance at Tina and saw she had turned her back to them and had assumed a stance as if to ward of any who came near, puzzled Celine turned to Helen who had seen what she had and simply nodded to herself as if nothing was untoward here. Celine sat down facing Helen creasing her brows as she tried to bring her thoughts into focus.
“Don’t do that dear or the creases will stay” Helen warned her "now you have questions I take it”?
“Some Celine admitted like why Tina obeys you without question and why is she acting so strangely”.
“The first is easy enough to answer Captain I am an Elder amongst our people chosen to interpret and administer our law. It is inconceivable that our wishes would not be respected”.
“You wield some power amongst them then”
“That is one interpretation Celine but it is far from accurate were I to attempt to use such power as you describe it for selfish reasons I would be removed from the council, we Elders may be challenged as to our decisions by any of our people our system is designed to prevent the emergence of a single ruler to determine our destiny”.
Celine could not miss that veiled reference to Karl and glanced to where he was seated deep in discussion with Matthew.
“That then is the reason you declined his request for an exception, that you fear he might seek such power”.
“No I refused it to remind him of the perils of being granted that option he is a charismatic leader Celine even now do you doubt that people would follow him were he to wage open war upon his enemies or that people like Latasha or Reuben would not ally themselves with him should he choose to do so. I would rather he not risk banishment Celine I hold some regard for him as I did for his father and it would wound me were that fate to befall him.”
“Yet if it did you would shun him wouldn’t you”
“I would Celine though I would take no pleasure in it our laws may seem harsh but they have endured the test of millennia”.
Celine could not argue with Helen on that point the endurance of their people proved that the laws they followed had been a key factor in that but that still left the other question she had raised she glanced again to Tina whose behaviour also demanded answers.
“You betray the fact that you were not raised as one of us Celine any of us would know the reason Tina is pleased for you and has chosen to act as your second. Karl has acknowledged you before us and this acknowledgement resolves many issues for Tina as regards your standing amongst our people, she I sense is happy he has finally done so which speaks clearly as to her regard for you”.
Celine thought it through finding herself angry that Karl could make such a decision without consulting her first, he had no right to assume that she would meekly follow him in this or any other matter no despite her feelings for him. Helen perhaps sensing that anger spoke again.
“Celine you misunderstand I think the scope of Karl’s intent and in doing so you might act other than is wise. I will attempt to explain that which is plain to me as it would be to any of our people yet clearly not to yourself. By naming you as his lady Karl has made clear to us the regard in which he holds you and assured our recognition of you as a person of rank equal to his own. His statement makes no assumptions as to the nature of your relationship as is proper. Even as a member of the council of elders I learnt long ago that whilst we enforce our laws we are powerless to determine the strictures of the bonds that govern matters of the heart that is a matter between the two of you alone. I tell you Celine that there is much you should understand about us before you can judge us or Karl and we do not have time for you to know all that you should so I would ask you to speak with Tina she is Trader borne and has declared her acceptance of you, ask her what questions you must to gain understanding she will not attempt to deceive you”.
“I must admit I made the request without thought to the consequences” Karl admitted “I have since had time to speak with my Lady and I had already decided to ask it be withdrawn”.
“Then it shall be Karl your Lady is wise in this as are you to heed her advice now come let us attend the meeting the Terrans should be waiting for us”.
Helen led them through to a larger room where the Elder captains were waiting for them Karl noted Matthew and Roberta’s presence at a table facing the tiered ranks of the Captains and Helen indicated both he and Celine should join them at that table with his crew being guided to seats set a little further back. With matters arranged to her satisfaction Helen joined the ranks of the Captains speaking briefly to the Elder who had been awaiting their arrival before taking her place amongst them.
The Elder turned his attention to Matthew perhaps because his people alone here were unaware of the protocols the Traders used amongst themselves.
Captain I will address myself to you in part because your people alone here will be ignorant of our ways and as such you may place to great a hope in our ability or desire to grant you our aid. Please Captain if you will hear me out” he cautioned as Matthew prepared himself to speak out against his words. We have not invited you here to enter into a debate rather we seek only to inform you of our decisions in the many matters your people’s requests to ourselves have raised.
We have interrupted out journey into the great dark and come here primarily to honour one we have taken to be one of our own” he said inclining his had respectfully to Misha “as regards this war that is an affront to our beliefs we will ask our people already amongst you to give what aid they can in seeking it’s end, though in truth we fear matters have gone too far to hope for peace still to honour our ancestors who once called this system home we will make the attempt. We will now address the plight of those we had feared lost to us, whilst we are overjoyed at the renewal of our ancient friendship your people are guilty of acts against them that are an insult to us and for that reason alone many spoke out against giving you any aid at all. It is only through the words of the Phoenix and of the Raven on your people’s behalf that we have decided against withholding our aid altogether and leaving you to your fate. In conclusion we have no wish to imperil those who would have no part in the insanity that thrives here and as such Caleb we are minded to grant your request, in truth we are happy to share our history so that man may yet have hope that the survival of our race has been assured no matter what occurs here.
We ourselves will depart once the ceremony has been concluded the journey of the Arkon has been delayed overlong by matters here and we would resume our task, Phoenix to you and the Raven we pass the burden of these times”.
Karl rose and made a deep bow to the Elders holding that mark of respect and acceptance of the task they set him as they left the room leaving only Helen behind.
"Captains if you and your people will follow me a meal has been prepared for you as is our custom and I will try to explain to you Captain Sladon the reasoning behind our choices here as you have been warned though there will be no negotiation of what has been decided”.
Helen led them back to her office where tables had been arranged and a buffet prepared for them. Matthew was feeling a bit bruised from the words recently directed at him so he approached Karl to understand why he had been the subject of such hostility.
Karl saw him approaching and indicated he should take a seat a little apart from the others his first Roberta her expression barely concealing her anger at the slight she felt done her Captain walking no striding barely a pace behind him. Celine watched as Karl took Matthew away from them so as to be able to speak in private but chose not to join them she knew the reasons for Roberta’s anger and felt it justified yet she lacked the understanding that would allow her to comment on the matter, for herself she had other considerations not least of which was the presence of Tina at her side who had strangely left Caleb to his own devices as he studied a book she had given him before assuming a position at the edge of her perception which she found both unusual and a little disturbing given the smile the girl could not quite supress that suggested she knew more than she did which was infuriating. Realising she would get no answers from Tina than the girl was prepared to give she decided to question Helen as to her odd behaviour. Tina she noted followed her but kept a discreet distance that again was as worrying as it was unexpected. Helen smiled at her approach and Celine was finding it difficult to put the questions to the woman that she wanted answered.
“Tina perhaps some wine for Celine and myself Helen suggested”
Tina went to do as asked without question and Celine found it disturbing that Tina of all people could so easily accept orders from this woman that she would normally consider only if Karl requested something of her. Helen obviously saw the cause of her concern and guided Celine to a small table to speak with her. Tina returned with the wine then stepped back beyond earshot yet still close enough to be summoned.
“I sense your confusion Celine speak your mind no one will intrude upon our privacy”
Celine turned to glance at Tina and saw she had turned her back to them and had assumed a stance as if to ward of any who came near, puzzled Celine turned to Helen who had seen what she had and simply nodded to herself as if nothing was untoward here. Celine sat down facing Helen creasing her brows as she tried to bring her thoughts into focus.
“Don’t do that dear or the creases will stay” Helen warned her "now you have questions I take it”?
“Some Celine admitted like why Tina obeys you without question and why is she acting so strangely”.
“The first is easy enough to answer Captain I am an Elder amongst our people chosen to interpret and administer our law. It is inconceivable that our wishes would not be respected”.
“You wield some power amongst them then”
“That is one interpretation Celine but it is far from accurate were I to attempt to use such power as you describe it for selfish reasons I would be removed from the council, we Elders may be challenged as to our decisions by any of our people our system is designed to prevent the emergence of a single ruler to determine our destiny”.
Celine could not miss that veiled reference to Karl and glanced to where he was seated deep in discussion with Matthew.
“That then is the reason you declined his request for an exception, that you fear he might seek such power”.
“No I refused it to remind him of the perils of being granted that option he is a charismatic leader Celine even now do you doubt that people would follow him were he to wage open war upon his enemies or that people like Latasha or Reuben would not ally themselves with him should he choose to do so. I would rather he not risk banishment Celine I hold some regard for him as I did for his father and it would wound me were that fate to befall him.”
“Yet if it did you would shun him wouldn’t you”
“I would Celine though I would take no pleasure in it our laws may seem harsh but they have endured the test of millennia”.
Celine could not argue with Helen on that point the endurance of their people proved that the laws they followed had been a key factor in that but that still left the other question she had raised she glanced again to Tina whose behaviour also demanded answers.
“You betray the fact that you were not raised as one of us Celine any of us would know the reason Tina is pleased for you and has chosen to act as your second. Karl has acknowledged you before us and this acknowledgement resolves many issues for Tina as regards your standing amongst our people, she I sense is happy he has finally done so which speaks clearly as to her regard for you”.
Celine thought it through finding herself angry that Karl could make such a decision without consulting her first, he had no right to assume that she would meekly follow him in this or any other matter no despite her feelings for him. Helen perhaps sensing that anger spoke again.
“Celine you misunderstand I think the scope of Karl’s intent and in doing so you might act other than is wise. I will attempt to explain that which is plain to me as it would be to any of our people yet clearly not to yourself. By naming you as his lady Karl has made clear to us the regard in which he holds you and assured our recognition of you as a person of rank equal to his own. His statement makes no assumptions as to the nature of your relationship as is proper. Even as a member of the council of elders I learnt long ago that whilst we enforce our laws we are powerless to determine the strictures of the bonds that govern matters of the heart that is a matter between the two of you alone. I tell you Celine that there is much you should understand about us before you can judge us or Karl and we do not have time for you to know all that you should so I would ask you to speak with Tina she is Trader borne and has declared her acceptance of you, ask her what questions you must to gain understanding she will not attempt to deceive you”.
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Sabrina Bergin
- Posts: 2239
- Joined: Sat, 12. Apr 08, 10:53
Matthew and Roberta took the seats indicated both were clearly angered at what they felt was the unjust attitude of the Elders towards themselves and Karl gave them a moment to compose themselves before speaking.
“I am sorry you feel offended Matthew but the Elder spoke truly when he described our people’s anger at what has been done to our brethren. That you were unaware of what was done to them is a fact I am mindful of else I would not have spoken on your behalf”.
“So I or my people are accused of a crime I know nothing of explain this crime to me Karl”
“The Aldrin Traders that your people have kept confined to those sectors south of Neptune. Whose ships were boarded as the Raven was, their jump drives stolen or destroyed the ships consigned to the dark when they resisted, what more would you have me tell you Matthew”?
Matthew put it together the freighters that followed the Phoenix they were from the Aldrin sectors. Karl claimed that they were his people knowing the man he did not doubt his word but it seemed impossible that his people could commit such atrocities. Karl as if sensing his doubt placed some data cubes on the table.
“It’s all there Matthew the ship names that were lost the families scattered, those that have defied the blockade in Althes to be here. We will wait and watch to see your peoples response to what will happen here when the ceremony is complete”.
Matthew took the data cubes he would study them later and forward them on to his superiors, it was disturbing to think that his people or some of them could have been guilty of such acts it explained the hostility he had been aware of at the meeting with the Elders of the traders. Karl he thought had regretted that he had been subjected to that but if all was as he stated then his people had cause for such anger.
Karl rose and walked over to Celine who was deep in conversation with Helen, Tina on seeing him approach gave him a brief acknowledgement before returning to Caleb’s side her duty done as she saw it. Seeing the hostile glance Celine threw his way he would have felt more comfortable had she stayed. He was not fool enough to doubt the reason for Celine’s anger she was the love of his life but she guarded her independence fiercely. She would regard his actions here as presuming more than she would consider acceptable.
“Karl please be seated” Helen told him forestalling anything Celine might have been about to say, “Captain Sladon was not comfortable with how we regard him or his people”
“You knew he would not be Helen was it necessary to make him feel so uncomfortable”?
“Perhaps not Karl but we judge his people by their actions not by their words, so far we have seen nothing to excuse what they have done and whilst we accept your word that he knew nothing of the lost ships himself there is no guarantee that this is not terran policy. But for the moment we have little time before the ceremony and we will be better able to judge that once it is completed. Now as you are aware we do not have the leisure to discuss this further the Arkon must leave within six hours, so I will arrange transports for you back to your ships within the hour. We will of course expect you to keep us informed as to what occurs here and in the commonwealth once we have left.”
Helen rose and gave them a brief nod before leaving them alone and leaving the room Celine waited for her to be out of earshot before turning to speak to him. She did not raise her voice.
“I would rather you had spoken to me before announcing to the Verse that you consider me your lady” she said coldly “Had I known you wished to show me off in front of your friends I would have worn something more suitable rather than simple ships clothing”.
Karl was stunned at her coldness to him she had obviously misunderstood his intent but this was neither the time nor place to explain that. “That was not my intent but I can see you believe otherwise Celine”.
She did not hear him or chose not to, that thought pained him was this perhaps merely an opportunity she chose to seize upon to end their relationship. That possibility filled his thoughts even when they had returned to the Phoenix as to why she would choose that course. Then he considered why they were here to honour Kayle and that led him to consider the possibility that despite their agreement to the contrary she had decided to take her revenge on her brother after all and had seen his public acknowledgement of her as an attempt to prevent her doing that. Perhaps she sought to spare him and his crew any repercussions by distancing herself from him and the Phoenix. It was the sort of thing she would do, that it would in all likelihood prove futile in the face of any determinations the Elders might make as to his involvement.
There was of course the possibility that she had chosen this time to end their relationship because she no longer cared for him or believed he did not care enough for her. It was a sickening blow to even consider such a thing and he felt the growing ache deep in his heart that threatened to overwhelm his senses feeding on his fear that he might lose her. Fear he could deal with however it had been a constant presence in his life since he had witnessed the death of the Swan. He pushed it away from his mind choosing to ignore it so that he could still function. Hardening his heart to all else he returned to the Phoenix in a sombre mood focussing his attention only on what was necessary for him to complete his task here.
He went straight to the bridge on his arrival back aboard and moved the Phoenix to the location he had deemed suitable then went below to join the others who were waiting for him. He spoke the words of the ceremony though they were as dust in his throat and was grateful when he ceded his place to Misha who stepped forward to take his place and with quiet dignity spoke of her love for Kayle and of her certainty that they would meet again when the gods willed it. She gave a deep Serva Kai to mark that vow then stood alone as the others departed so that she might be alone for a while.
Karl went straight to the bridge and looked to the Arkon a large opening had appeared in its side and one by one the Aldrin freighters went into. Not all did he noted as others, those that had chosen to remain for whatever reasons flashed out of the sector as their jump drives engaged at measured intervals.
Whilst that was occurring Karl had Loki prep the Venti for launch making sure it had sufficient fuel to reach commonwealth space beyond the war zones and enough ordinance to defend itself should the need arise. Satisfied that he had left no obstacle in Celine’s path should she choose to leave he called up the jump data for Neptune and programmed the jump requiring only activation the call he was expecting from the Spartan was not long in coming.
“Karl what the hell are your people doing those are Terran ships”.
“No Matthew they are Trader ships the ones who have chosen to leave, the others as you are no doubt aware are returning to the Aldrin sectors. They have been given the jump gate data that will allow them to leave those sectors should they find themselves targeted by those who have kept them confined”.
“I am sorry you feel offended Matthew but the Elder spoke truly when he described our people’s anger at what has been done to our brethren. That you were unaware of what was done to them is a fact I am mindful of else I would not have spoken on your behalf”.
“So I or my people are accused of a crime I know nothing of explain this crime to me Karl”
“The Aldrin Traders that your people have kept confined to those sectors south of Neptune. Whose ships were boarded as the Raven was, their jump drives stolen or destroyed the ships consigned to the dark when they resisted, what more would you have me tell you Matthew”?
Matthew put it together the freighters that followed the Phoenix they were from the Aldrin sectors. Karl claimed that they were his people knowing the man he did not doubt his word but it seemed impossible that his people could commit such atrocities. Karl as if sensing his doubt placed some data cubes on the table.
“It’s all there Matthew the ship names that were lost the families scattered, those that have defied the blockade in Althes to be here. We will wait and watch to see your peoples response to what will happen here when the ceremony is complete”.
Matthew took the data cubes he would study them later and forward them on to his superiors, it was disturbing to think that his people or some of them could have been guilty of such acts it explained the hostility he had been aware of at the meeting with the Elders of the traders. Karl he thought had regretted that he had been subjected to that but if all was as he stated then his people had cause for such anger.
Karl rose and walked over to Celine who was deep in conversation with Helen, Tina on seeing him approach gave him a brief acknowledgement before returning to Caleb’s side her duty done as she saw it. Seeing the hostile glance Celine threw his way he would have felt more comfortable had she stayed. He was not fool enough to doubt the reason for Celine’s anger she was the love of his life but she guarded her independence fiercely. She would regard his actions here as presuming more than she would consider acceptable.
“Karl please be seated” Helen told him forestalling anything Celine might have been about to say, “Captain Sladon was not comfortable with how we regard him or his people”
“You knew he would not be Helen was it necessary to make him feel so uncomfortable”?
“Perhaps not Karl but we judge his people by their actions not by their words, so far we have seen nothing to excuse what they have done and whilst we accept your word that he knew nothing of the lost ships himself there is no guarantee that this is not terran policy. But for the moment we have little time before the ceremony and we will be better able to judge that once it is completed. Now as you are aware we do not have the leisure to discuss this further the Arkon must leave within six hours, so I will arrange transports for you back to your ships within the hour. We will of course expect you to keep us informed as to what occurs here and in the commonwealth once we have left.”
Helen rose and gave them a brief nod before leaving them alone and leaving the room Celine waited for her to be out of earshot before turning to speak to him. She did not raise her voice.
“I would rather you had spoken to me before announcing to the Verse that you consider me your lady” she said coldly “Had I known you wished to show me off in front of your friends I would have worn something more suitable rather than simple ships clothing”.
Karl was stunned at her coldness to him she had obviously misunderstood his intent but this was neither the time nor place to explain that. “That was not my intent but I can see you believe otherwise Celine”.
She did not hear him or chose not to, that thought pained him was this perhaps merely an opportunity she chose to seize upon to end their relationship. That possibility filled his thoughts even when they had returned to the Phoenix as to why she would choose that course. Then he considered why they were here to honour Kayle and that led him to consider the possibility that despite their agreement to the contrary she had decided to take her revenge on her brother after all and had seen his public acknowledgement of her as an attempt to prevent her doing that. Perhaps she sought to spare him and his crew any repercussions by distancing herself from him and the Phoenix. It was the sort of thing she would do, that it would in all likelihood prove futile in the face of any determinations the Elders might make as to his involvement.
There was of course the possibility that she had chosen this time to end their relationship because she no longer cared for him or believed he did not care enough for her. It was a sickening blow to even consider such a thing and he felt the growing ache deep in his heart that threatened to overwhelm his senses feeding on his fear that he might lose her. Fear he could deal with however it had been a constant presence in his life since he had witnessed the death of the Swan. He pushed it away from his mind choosing to ignore it so that he could still function. Hardening his heart to all else he returned to the Phoenix in a sombre mood focussing his attention only on what was necessary for him to complete his task here.
He went straight to the bridge on his arrival back aboard and moved the Phoenix to the location he had deemed suitable then went below to join the others who were waiting for him. He spoke the words of the ceremony though they were as dust in his throat and was grateful when he ceded his place to Misha who stepped forward to take his place and with quiet dignity spoke of her love for Kayle and of her certainty that they would meet again when the gods willed it. She gave a deep Serva Kai to mark that vow then stood alone as the others departed so that she might be alone for a while.
Karl went straight to the bridge and looked to the Arkon a large opening had appeared in its side and one by one the Aldrin freighters went into. Not all did he noted as others, those that had chosen to remain for whatever reasons flashed out of the sector as their jump drives engaged at measured intervals.
Whilst that was occurring Karl had Loki prep the Venti for launch making sure it had sufficient fuel to reach commonwealth space beyond the war zones and enough ordinance to defend itself should the need arise. Satisfied that he had left no obstacle in Celine’s path should she choose to leave he called up the jump data for Neptune and programmed the jump requiring only activation the call he was expecting from the Spartan was not long in coming.
“Karl what the hell are your people doing those are Terran ships”.
“No Matthew they are Trader ships the ones who have chosen to leave, the others as you are no doubt aware are returning to the Aldrin sectors. They have been given the jump gate data that will allow them to leave those sectors should they find themselves targeted by those who have kept them confined”.
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Sabrina Bergin
- Posts: 2239
- Joined: Sat, 12. Apr 08, 10:53
Karl waited for a response to that statement but none was forthcoming which told him that the man had scanned the information he had given him even if only briefly.
“Be warned we will brook no interference with our ships. We have also repeated this warning to the commonwealth races. I will speak plainly Matthew it is by a hairs breath that we have not already withdrawn from both the terran and commonwealth sectors for all time.”
“I wonder you don’t leave now and return when the war is done with then Karl”
“At the moment we are gathered to leave, once we take that last step into the dark there can be no return”.
“The Arkon did” Matthew pointed out worried at the finality implicit in that last statement.
“It’s time here is limited Matthew soon the very forces that allowed it to make this journey will draw it back into the dark. It is not something that can be done often Matthew the power and materials required to achieve even this much will delay the journey by many years. Smaller ships can make such a journey only once. We will wait as long as we can to see if there is any cause to hope our task here is not yet done”.
Karl closed the link if Matthew was as smart as he appeared to be he would already suspect what that task was the rest would come to him once he realised that much. He turned his attention to the main display as the Arkon was once again wreathed in strange energies before it simply faded from view. Tina and the others watched in silence aware that they were now numbered amongst the few who had ever seen one of the great ships. Karl allowed himself a smile as he saw Illsa removed the sensor data cube and replace it with a new one no doubt within a Mazura every trader ship in the commonwealth would have a copy of that cube.
“Tina position us for a jump for Neptune and Illsa will you talk to Miss Van Dorne and ask her if she has a particular preference as where she would like us to dock once we get there. Then contact the Spartan and let them know where we are going”.
“Copy that sir I have an incoming call from the Raven for you”
“Okay put that through to my office, Tina you have the com”.
“Latasha what can I do for you”?
“Just a courtesy call Karl, I’m heading for Elysium first then back to Herron’s if you ever need any help you just call me okay.”
“Okay what about the Terrans how serious do you think they are about this peace initiative”?
“It’s too early to tell Karl this may just be a case of smoke and mirrors to let them get some breathing space to gather resources, so it’s just a question of waiting for them to prove otherwise they do have our contact details”.
“That’s all we can do for the moment then Latasha I will be heading to Neptune then Aladna hill I have some business to attend to there then I’ll be heading east again. Remember to give Reuben a call when you head east yourself”.
“I will Karl safe journey”.
With that Latasha ended the link and Karl went to his rooms to get showered and changed, Celine was not there which pained him, after getting changed he reheated a meal pack and sat alone in the kitchen to eat it. Settling down in the lounge he tried to relax but was finding it impossible to do so, twice he almost went to find Celine but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. If she had decided to leave the ship he had no right to try to prevent her doing so. Finding the room becoming oppressive he decided to go back to his office he had given much thought to how to avenge Kayle’s death and had come up with a short term measure that would at least allow him to concentrate on something that was within his power to achieve.
He settled himself at his desk and called up the latest information he had from his advanced satellites in Aladna hill. Cher t’gan was a very cautious man and it took a while for Karl to track the man down which he managed only after having Loki do a system wide check on personnel movements that showed irregularities with a name turning up on a station whilst still listed as not having left the station it was not listing as having left on any of the ships that had docked in the time frame involved.
Slowly but surely he created a list of the Alias’s and ship names the man used most and had Loki set to monitor the man’s movements with a view to determining where he was in Aladna hill at any given time and more importantly where he went to based on those ships stated destinations.
“Be warned we will brook no interference with our ships. We have also repeated this warning to the commonwealth races. I will speak plainly Matthew it is by a hairs breath that we have not already withdrawn from both the terran and commonwealth sectors for all time.”
“I wonder you don’t leave now and return when the war is done with then Karl”
“At the moment we are gathered to leave, once we take that last step into the dark there can be no return”.
“The Arkon did” Matthew pointed out worried at the finality implicit in that last statement.
“It’s time here is limited Matthew soon the very forces that allowed it to make this journey will draw it back into the dark. It is not something that can be done often Matthew the power and materials required to achieve even this much will delay the journey by many years. Smaller ships can make such a journey only once. We will wait as long as we can to see if there is any cause to hope our task here is not yet done”.
Karl closed the link if Matthew was as smart as he appeared to be he would already suspect what that task was the rest would come to him once he realised that much. He turned his attention to the main display as the Arkon was once again wreathed in strange energies before it simply faded from view. Tina and the others watched in silence aware that they were now numbered amongst the few who had ever seen one of the great ships. Karl allowed himself a smile as he saw Illsa removed the sensor data cube and replace it with a new one no doubt within a Mazura every trader ship in the commonwealth would have a copy of that cube.
“Tina position us for a jump for Neptune and Illsa will you talk to Miss Van Dorne and ask her if she has a particular preference as where she would like us to dock once we get there. Then contact the Spartan and let them know where we are going”.
“Copy that sir I have an incoming call from the Raven for you”
“Okay put that through to my office, Tina you have the com”.
“Latasha what can I do for you”?
“Just a courtesy call Karl, I’m heading for Elysium first then back to Herron’s if you ever need any help you just call me okay.”
“Okay what about the Terrans how serious do you think they are about this peace initiative”?
“It’s too early to tell Karl this may just be a case of smoke and mirrors to let them get some breathing space to gather resources, so it’s just a question of waiting for them to prove otherwise they do have our contact details”.
“That’s all we can do for the moment then Latasha I will be heading to Neptune then Aladna hill I have some business to attend to there then I’ll be heading east again. Remember to give Reuben a call when you head east yourself”.
“I will Karl safe journey”.
With that Latasha ended the link and Karl went to his rooms to get showered and changed, Celine was not there which pained him, after getting changed he reheated a meal pack and sat alone in the kitchen to eat it. Settling down in the lounge he tried to relax but was finding it impossible to do so, twice he almost went to find Celine but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. If she had decided to leave the ship he had no right to try to prevent her doing so. Finding the room becoming oppressive he decided to go back to his office he had given much thought to how to avenge Kayle’s death and had come up with a short term measure that would at least allow him to concentrate on something that was within his power to achieve.
He settled himself at his desk and called up the latest information he had from his advanced satellites in Aladna hill. Cher t’gan was a very cautious man and it took a while for Karl to track the man down which he managed only after having Loki do a system wide check on personnel movements that showed irregularities with a name turning up on a station whilst still listed as not having left the station it was not listing as having left on any of the ships that had docked in the time frame involved.
Slowly but surely he created a list of the Alias’s and ship names the man used most and had Loki set to monitor the man’s movements with a view to determining where he was in Aladna hill at any given time and more importantly where he went to based on those ships stated destinations.
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Sabrina Bergin
- Posts: 2239
- Joined: Sat, 12. Apr 08, 10:53
Assassins:
Tina made the jump to Neptune and moved towards the orbital supply base Elizabeth had chosen as her destination. During that period Karl did little but study the complex travel patterns of Cher t’gan the man certainly moved about a great deal and was careful to conceal his identity as he passed through the various stations docking bays as he made his trips in and around Aladna hill and to sectors beyond where he went to even greater lengths to conceal all trace of his passing.
The man was wary and it would be difficult to gain what he wanted from him but Karl already had a tentative plan in mind the details he would work out later once he got to Aladna hill. He looked up at the status board and saw that they would be docking within half a Stazura so he went down the corridor to see Elizabeth to let her know but as he approached her door which was ajar he heard Celine’s voice coming from within the room. Without breaking stride he continued on to his own quarters.
He hit the com link to the bridge and told Tina to handle the docking before going into the lounge and pouring himself a large whiskey. He activated the displays set into the table’s surface his thoughts in turmoil again.
Karl forced himself to concentrate on the intricate pattern of movements he had produced earlier. It was some time later he realised he had been looking at the man’s movements and had failed to ask the right question. The man was secretive and with good reason so why did he have to make all these trips risking exposing himself, in his line of work he should by rights be using third parties to do whatever it was he was doing personally. Okay so given that as a premise why was a man who valued secrecy above all else risk making these journeys Karl asked himself. On that thought Karl activated the live data feed from Aladna hill Loki had a marker on the ship he had deduced the man was using. It was heading for the south gate then it changed course as it did so he noticed another ship a Falcon hauler also changed course from the Solar power plant it had been heading for to the other one in the system. That could not be a coincidence he called up the information on that station watched as the Falcon docked and then he waited for some time for it to complete its business and leave then checked the station information again and saw that the Falcon had obviously been carrying a full load of crystals which it had sold for a significantly above average price.
Karl laughed as he realised what the man was doing all those furtive journeys were being made for no better reason than to control the flow of select goods to stations within Aladna Hill to manipulate the prices on a fairly small scale bur one that would still produce a significant return on high value low bulk items like crystals. The man obviously wouldn’t want to place a satellite in system for his own use which he could have done to avoid all those journeys because that would make him much easier to locate. What the man was doing wasn’t illegal by any means of course but Karl suspected that he did not want the origins of those goods questioned. That was how he would trap the man he had obviously been doing this for some time had probably started controlling the market in the system for some time enough for it to be an important source of income for him. Karl opened up a wall display and had the stations in Aladna hill listed on it then had Loki display their current resources listed next to them. The man had to be getting inside information from those stations to maximise his profits Karl changed quickly and poured himself a large mug of coffee before returning to his office which was better suited to handle the amount of information he needed to process. It took some time for him to narrow down the list of goods he would need to get the attention of this Split once he had done so he sent Della instructions on what he wanted unloaded here so that he could move onto the next part of his plan. Once He heard the cargo being unloaded he sent a list of destinations for Tina to have plotted telling her to call him when they were ready to leave. Stretching himself and stifling a yawn Karl turned and went into the small bedroom where he laid down on the bed intending just to have a quick nap before they undocked.
Tina glanced at the list as they came up on her display just as she was about to go off duty, She frowned as she began calling up the various destinations she had been given wondering what had gotten into Karl. He had promised them a shore leave in Aladna hill but this journey which would take them back and forth across the verse made it clear that was not going to happen. She completed the list and had all the jumps plotted and stored before she went down to the galley to let the others know their plans would have to be postponed.
As she entered the room she saw that Reece had prepared the meal and cursed herself for forgetting that she had been scheduled to do that today.
“I am sorry Reece I completely forgot it was my turn”
“Hey no problem Tina Illsa said Karl was keeping you busy and Della keeps telling me I need more practice, here he said handing her a bowl of the stew he had made”.
“Okay what gives”? Tina Della asked as they both joined the others at the table.
Tina grabbed a chunk of bread of the end of one of the loaves on the table and wondered what she could tell them the list of jumps she had plotted gave her no clue as to what Karl was up to.
“I’m not sure to be honest, Karl’s had me lay in a sequence of jumps that will take us back and forth across the entire verse so it will be two or three Wozura before we get close to Aladna”.
“Do you think he’s doing it because of Celine and seeks to delay her departure?” Caleb asked bluntly raising a question none of them was comfortable with.
Della answered that question for them “that’s not it Caleb I checked he’s had the Venti fully loaded munitions E-cells rations if she wants to leave she can do it at any time he’s made it easy for her”.
“We should not be discussing this at all Caleb” Tina said coldly trying to defend Celine’s privacy and to make it clear to him that they were in danger of intruding on matters they could have no part of. It was ironic she realised that in acknowledging her Karl had effectively ensured they could not interfere in whatever had come between them.
Caleb looked to her and saw how uncomfortable she was that this conversation was even taking place and with a nod of acceptance let it go.
“I’m sorry I guess for all your teaching there are some aspects of trader life I still can’t get my head around”.
“It’s complicated Caleb” Tina admitted giving his hand a gentle touch glad that he was not going to pursue the matter “I can tell you that we won’t be getting much rest once we undock so we had best make the best use of the down time we have now” before turning her attention back to her meal giving Caleb an appreciative smile for his appreciation of her dilemma.
Celine paused at the entrance to the crew galley where she had intended to ask Tina about the ships destination changes she had posted when she heard Caleb’s question.
Celine listened in shock steeling herself to enter the room and demand to know how they dared discuss her private life when she heard Tina’s response that effectively ended the discussion. Celine thought about that as she went back up to her rooms where she checked on the status of the Venti to confirm what Della had said and found it to be accurate he had allowed some space for personal cargo but otherwise she estimated she could go almost anywhere in the verse even from here that Karl had made it so easy for her upset her. Since they had left Sol’s orbit they had barely spoken to each other and he had been deliberately avoiding her as she had seen when she had caught a glimpse of him as he had approached Elizabeth’s rooms just prior to her leaving then had turned away from them when he had realised she was there.
Elizabeth she had also seen that but had politely made no mention of it and now she found herself wondering if anyone aboard was not aware of the rift between them then chided herself for being stupid the Phoenix was large but not that large and with such a close knit crew it was inevitable they would know.
Then she considered the crew and had to admit that whilst none of them had even mentioned it they had all been very attentive to her of late as if waiting for her to broach the subject which they clearly felt they could not raise. Tina’s response had emphasised that and Caleb’s remarks told her that it was this fine sense of etiquette they displayed between each other that prevented them even discussing the matter amongst themselves. In fact as she pursued that line of thought they had also avoided giving any indication as to their own thought or feelings as if they sought to offer neither approval nor displeasure at the situation in their dealings with her.
Tina made the jump to Neptune and moved towards the orbital supply base Elizabeth had chosen as her destination. During that period Karl did little but study the complex travel patterns of Cher t’gan the man certainly moved about a great deal and was careful to conceal his identity as he passed through the various stations docking bays as he made his trips in and around Aladna hill and to sectors beyond where he went to even greater lengths to conceal all trace of his passing.
The man was wary and it would be difficult to gain what he wanted from him but Karl already had a tentative plan in mind the details he would work out later once he got to Aladna hill. He looked up at the status board and saw that they would be docking within half a Stazura so he went down the corridor to see Elizabeth to let her know but as he approached her door which was ajar he heard Celine’s voice coming from within the room. Without breaking stride he continued on to his own quarters.
He hit the com link to the bridge and told Tina to handle the docking before going into the lounge and pouring himself a large whiskey. He activated the displays set into the table’s surface his thoughts in turmoil again.
Karl forced himself to concentrate on the intricate pattern of movements he had produced earlier. It was some time later he realised he had been looking at the man’s movements and had failed to ask the right question. The man was secretive and with good reason so why did he have to make all these trips risking exposing himself, in his line of work he should by rights be using third parties to do whatever it was he was doing personally. Okay so given that as a premise why was a man who valued secrecy above all else risk making these journeys Karl asked himself. On that thought Karl activated the live data feed from Aladna hill Loki had a marker on the ship he had deduced the man was using. It was heading for the south gate then it changed course as it did so he noticed another ship a Falcon hauler also changed course from the Solar power plant it had been heading for to the other one in the system. That could not be a coincidence he called up the information on that station watched as the Falcon docked and then he waited for some time for it to complete its business and leave then checked the station information again and saw that the Falcon had obviously been carrying a full load of crystals which it had sold for a significantly above average price.
Karl laughed as he realised what the man was doing all those furtive journeys were being made for no better reason than to control the flow of select goods to stations within Aladna Hill to manipulate the prices on a fairly small scale bur one that would still produce a significant return on high value low bulk items like crystals. The man obviously wouldn’t want to place a satellite in system for his own use which he could have done to avoid all those journeys because that would make him much easier to locate. What the man was doing wasn’t illegal by any means of course but Karl suspected that he did not want the origins of those goods questioned. That was how he would trap the man he had obviously been doing this for some time had probably started controlling the market in the system for some time enough for it to be an important source of income for him. Karl opened up a wall display and had the stations in Aladna hill listed on it then had Loki display their current resources listed next to them. The man had to be getting inside information from those stations to maximise his profits Karl changed quickly and poured himself a large mug of coffee before returning to his office which was better suited to handle the amount of information he needed to process. It took some time for him to narrow down the list of goods he would need to get the attention of this Split once he had done so he sent Della instructions on what he wanted unloaded here so that he could move onto the next part of his plan. Once He heard the cargo being unloaded he sent a list of destinations for Tina to have plotted telling her to call him when they were ready to leave. Stretching himself and stifling a yawn Karl turned and went into the small bedroom where he laid down on the bed intending just to have a quick nap before they undocked.
Tina glanced at the list as they came up on her display just as she was about to go off duty, She frowned as she began calling up the various destinations she had been given wondering what had gotten into Karl. He had promised them a shore leave in Aladna hill but this journey which would take them back and forth across the verse made it clear that was not going to happen. She completed the list and had all the jumps plotted and stored before she went down to the galley to let the others know their plans would have to be postponed.
As she entered the room she saw that Reece had prepared the meal and cursed herself for forgetting that she had been scheduled to do that today.
“I am sorry Reece I completely forgot it was my turn”
“Hey no problem Tina Illsa said Karl was keeping you busy and Della keeps telling me I need more practice, here he said handing her a bowl of the stew he had made”.
“Okay what gives”? Tina Della asked as they both joined the others at the table.
Tina grabbed a chunk of bread of the end of one of the loaves on the table and wondered what she could tell them the list of jumps she had plotted gave her no clue as to what Karl was up to.
“I’m not sure to be honest, Karl’s had me lay in a sequence of jumps that will take us back and forth across the entire verse so it will be two or three Wozura before we get close to Aladna”.
“Do you think he’s doing it because of Celine and seeks to delay her departure?” Caleb asked bluntly raising a question none of them was comfortable with.
Della answered that question for them “that’s not it Caleb I checked he’s had the Venti fully loaded munitions E-cells rations if she wants to leave she can do it at any time he’s made it easy for her”.
“We should not be discussing this at all Caleb” Tina said coldly trying to defend Celine’s privacy and to make it clear to him that they were in danger of intruding on matters they could have no part of. It was ironic she realised that in acknowledging her Karl had effectively ensured they could not interfere in whatever had come between them.
Caleb looked to her and saw how uncomfortable she was that this conversation was even taking place and with a nod of acceptance let it go.
“I’m sorry I guess for all your teaching there are some aspects of trader life I still can’t get my head around”.
“It’s complicated Caleb” Tina admitted giving his hand a gentle touch glad that he was not going to pursue the matter “I can tell you that we won’t be getting much rest once we undock so we had best make the best use of the down time we have now” before turning her attention back to her meal giving Caleb an appreciative smile for his appreciation of her dilemma.
Celine paused at the entrance to the crew galley where she had intended to ask Tina about the ships destination changes she had posted when she heard Caleb’s question.
Celine listened in shock steeling herself to enter the room and demand to know how they dared discuss her private life when she heard Tina’s response that effectively ended the discussion. Celine thought about that as she went back up to her rooms where she checked on the status of the Venti to confirm what Della had said and found it to be accurate he had allowed some space for personal cargo but otherwise she estimated she could go almost anywhere in the verse even from here that Karl had made it so easy for her upset her. Since they had left Sol’s orbit they had barely spoken to each other and he had been deliberately avoiding her as she had seen when she had caught a glimpse of him as he had approached Elizabeth’s rooms just prior to her leaving then had turned away from them when he had realised she was there.
Elizabeth she had also seen that but had politely made no mention of it and now she found herself wondering if anyone aboard was not aware of the rift between them then chided herself for being stupid the Phoenix was large but not that large and with such a close knit crew it was inevitable they would know.
Then she considered the crew and had to admit that whilst none of them had even mentioned it they had all been very attentive to her of late as if waiting for her to broach the subject which they clearly felt they could not raise. Tina’s response had emphasised that and Caleb’s remarks told her that it was this fine sense of etiquette they displayed between each other that prevented them even discussing the matter amongst themselves. In fact as she pursued that line of thought they had also avoided giving any indication as to their own thought or feelings as if they sought to offer neither approval nor displeasure at the situation in their dealings with her.