"The Way It Could Be" By Kevin Marsh (Part 1)

[KRM398]

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Prelude: In the Beginning

Samuel Jackson walked down the long hall into his lab. He shared it with 4 others who assisted him in experiments into wormhole technology at the University of Southern California. They had been at it for a few years now with only minimal success, they had proven the technology was possible, but the power levels used to form the original vortex was staggering. To that end he had a small reactor placed nearby for their use only. He had told the Government panel he spoke to that mankind would be extinct in 20 years if a way wasn’t found to let them spread out and have places of their own far from the questions and rules others tried to place on them. They were currently 10 years into the Terrorists Wars and bombs and fires were seen everyday all over the news. No part of the world was safe now and everyone wanted to be in charge, even though no one had a better idea what to do when they were placed there anyways. It was a vicious circle and he hoped someday to give them all alternatives, worlds of their own.

His current experiment was trying to form a limited vortex in a confined area. He had seen to it that a power grid was hooked to a round ring, mounted in a secure part of his lab, it was watched from behind thick glass windows while experiments were being done, but there was little need for that yet, no vortex had ever been created for more than a second. Today he was trying a new system, and a different frequency, and he was sure he was getting closer. He walked into the lab and looked out at the “donut” with all the power leads running to it, he motioned for all the tech people to finish up their scans and come into the protected area, and they did.

“Ok, Sam we’re ready,” said his assistant, Jane Brown.
“Good, activate the power to the core and start build-up.” He said. It took a few minutes for the power to reach a fair amount and nothing was seen.
“Increase by 10k more.” He said and the power grid pulsed even harder.
“We’re at 60% power now.” Jane said, something caught Sam’s eye, he wasn’t sure if it was a flickering or his imagination.
“10% more, and wait till I say, then surge it to full.” Sam said as everyone in the room turned to look at him.
“10% more, and the surge will take a minute to set up.. I’m not sure the conduits will take it.” Jane said, in a worried tone.
“Let’s try, my new figures say the vortex is very near correct, and it needs a power surge to “Break through” into our time and space, we’ll see in a minute.” Sam said, very seriously. Everyone was worried at this point, they never guessed when they came into the program that it might actually work, but then it never would have, except for this man.
“10 % more is active, Sam...What’s THAT?” Jane asked jumping to her feet and straining to see well. The donut was surging, and in the centre was a very, very faint blue. It might actually be happening, she thought.
“Now, surge the power, everything for 2 seconds and drop back to this setting.” Sam yelled as the power spiked and a second later dropped back. The light blue “Mist” in the centre solidified and was now what could only be called a “Blue window” what it was a window into no one knew, and it bothered them.
“Quick, how much force is on these windows, is it trying to pull us all through?” Sam called quickly looking to his team who were flying around the room accessing all the data.
“None, “was the final decision. “It actually isn’t having any effect on us, it’s just…THERE.” Jane said as a cheer went up. Sam checked every setting himself and grabbed the phone, he had a long list of people who wanted to know the second this became reality and he started calling now.

The wormhole experiments became an everyday occurrence and after a while the average person on the street even knew about them. Drones had been sent in at the lab and were later found orbiting the moon, or close to it. The small vortex they made had a limited range and was a scientific curiosity. Plans were made to see what it could be used for and after many successful experiments, it was considered ready for a practical use. A ship was build especially for this experiment and was placed on board an orbiting military vessel. It purpose was to monitor the experiment, even with the larger wormhole; something so large was in no threat. They picked their best man; a pilot of exceptional skill named Kyle Brennen and put him into the vessel. He did experiment after experiment in orbit until finally the time came.

Kyle entered the ship once more with a feeling of excitement, he had been in it many times before, but never with the scope of what he was about to do. All the data was in and it was time to make the first real step into Mans future. He was going to jump the new ship through a wormhole of his own creation and into a new system. Alpha Centauri, 4 light years away. The numbers were worked out and he was assured he could be there and back for supper. He grinned as he entered and was ready. The countdown commenced and after a minute the vortex was plainly seen. He opened the thrusters and went in, but not as planned. The ship shook and twisted; this was not the smooth jump he was told about, he called back over the comm’s that there was a problem and tried an emergency shutdown. It worked and a second later he was back in regular space, but where was he? There were ships nearby and reptilians came on the comm’s, he was sure he’d be killed and eaten any minute, but these were civilized creatures, merchants with a thirst for profit. The Teladi saw him as a lost brother, a friend from a new place, so they helped him save his ship and himself from certain death. They asked why he didn’t tell them he was Argon, but he kept saying he wasn’t, he was from Earth. They knew nothing of this place but were determined to help him regardless, especially if a profit could be made. There were others like him here and the Teladi had given him directions towards their areas. He was determined to find other humans and to survive this new place to see his home again, even if it took a lifetime.

Kyle worked hard; he fought against xenon invaders and pirates. He fought across sectors of space never before seen by Terrans. His only hope was to find the humans who lived here, these Argons. After many trials he found a place called Kingdom End, and a new race called Boron’s. They were an odd little people, but they were friendly and they accepted him as Argon also. He tried to see if they could help him on his quest and they told him of the Argon sectors right next door. He was happier than he could imagine, there really were humans here after all. He went right away and found first one of their far flung colonies, then slowly worked his way to their empires centre. In Argon Prime he found new friends and a new way of life. He never forgot his past and searched space for any news of Earth for many years. He tried to fit in, he married and had a son, but his dreams were filled with Earth and she just couldn’t stand the competition, so he stood and watched as his wife and son flew away, wandering if his search was worth it. Many years past and Kyle became friends with many good types of argon. He still searched, but started a company of his own to help with his research. Terracorp became a huge success with the help of a few good friends. His name was known and his reputation grew, till one day word came of new info he might need. He ran quickly to see this new evidence, but tragedy struck. He was kidnapped and had inhuman experiments carried out on him by a new previously unknown species. He barely survived. His son, now a young man finally found out the truth about his past and the father he never met, but it was too late. Even after a dramatic rescue he was comatose for years. Now, his son tries to prove his worth to all of argon while his father recovers from this the most unbearable damage imaginable. He recovers and they meet for the first time face to face but this reunion is short lived, as the final truth is told, Earth exists, and a new gate is built to find it. He rushes in and is saved from a lifetime of isolation. He has found home, and a son he never had the chance to know; now he could finally see the way to his own happiness from all the years of torment. Maybe now they could be friends, Earth and Argon, and he and his only son. Only time would tell.


A Time of Desperation Part 1
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Chapter 1: A Decision Must Be Made...


Ban Danna sat eating his lunch on board the Argon One. He was having a hard time deciding whether to call his friends in the Argon Senate, again, or wait even longer. The navy was in desperate condition and every enemy they had either real or imagined seemed to know. Pirate raids along their borders increased by a factor of 5 over the last six months and the Kha’ak, while defeated in large part, had not gone completely away. Add to that, the growing tensions along the border with Paranid, and the almost certain escalating war between the Boron and Split, the view from his seat had never been darker. He finished his meal and walked back forward to his office, it was time to remind his senate friends that the navy was the only thing holding the enemies of Argon from stepping foot on Argon Prime itself. It was not his first attempt but this one would be different, he had no choice, the time for patience had ended, the time of quick action was at hand, even if he could get enough funding to repair the fleet, it would take years to build the ships he needed, and he wasn’t sure he had years left before they would be needed.

The link opened and there sat an argon senator, one of the many Ban had come to know over the years. He looked up from his desk and smiled a soft smile and shook his head.

“Hello Commander Danna, I wondered when you’d call,” He said politely

“Hello senator, it’s good to see you so well, sitting safely there in your office while we defend you.” Ban said bluntly. The senators’ eyes went wide, Ban Danna was a real pro, he had dealt with the Senate and even presidents in his long history of being in charge of argon security, and he was the epitome of professionalism, until today.

“You surprise me, Commander; you usually speak much more…respectful to a Senator.” He said with his nose just a bit higher.

“I know, but the time for patience has ended, I have some new info I’d like to share with you today.” Ban said.

The senator sat back and waited, on the screen came a picture of what appeared to be a large and menacing ship, then another, and another. He opened his eyes wide to better see and leaned forward for a better look.

“And what am I seeing here, commander?” he finally asked.

“The first is the new pirate Marauder, the second a pirate Carrack, their newest heavy weapon, and the third, a pirate Reaver, the largest ship in their fleet.” Ban said with stern determination.
“And?” asked the senator slightly annoyed at the slide show. He knew what was coming.

“These pictures were taken by spy satellite just this week, in Elena’s Fortune. We all know we put an Argon Trading station there as a prelude to claiming the sector for it rich minerals. Indeed there are argon mines there as we speak.” Ban said forcefully.

“I understand that, commander, please get on with it.” The senator said, grumpily.

“These heavy pirate ships are a new and present threat to Argon itself and our colonies around Argon immediately. The firepower of one Reaver is sufficient to destroy a Titan if given the chance and we don’t have the resources to wage a new war right now.” Ban said in conclusion.

“We’ve had this discussion before commander, the Argon navy has done an exceptional job in the past and we expect nothing less in the future, but Argon Prime itself has taken severe damage in the Kha’ak war and repairs and rebuilding of the capitol and other cities takes president over rebuilding the fleet. I assume these new ships are not coming into argon space looking for a fight, just patrolling the outer boarders, so please keep the Senate informed and we’ll do what we can to send you a new appropriations package for fleet repairs in our next meeting.” The senator said and the link went black.

“Damn politicians.” Muttered Ban and he tried again, and again, with even less response. It appeared that the cities on Argon were more important than keeping them safe. If an enemy, almost ANY enemy launched a full attack right now the fleet would be overwhelmed in an instant. Only Ban Danna knew the full extent of the desperation, and he alone shouldered the burden of that knowledge. He sat back, wiping sweat from his brow; he had done everything short of yelling in their faces. Something he had considered more than once, but it wouldn’t have helped. They would have hung up even sooner, but it might have made him feel better, he thought with a smile. He had done everything possible, absolutely…he stopped to consider. He had never considered any option but outright naval appropriations from the senate before, but he DID have other options, as head of Argon Intelligence he had contacts in many wide ranging positions around the galaxy, but without funding his options were still, well, it was a short list to say the least. He opened his secret files and sealed the room, not even the call from the Lt in the outer office was being considered, and he looked at his short list and decided the time had come.

Chapter 2: The Meeting


A special room was set up, this type of meeting had never been done in all the years Ban Danna had been commander of Argon Intelligence and for good reason. The men under his command were often in deep cover, no one not even their wives and children knew they worked for Argon intelligence. It was the way the game was played, and Ban played it well. With the right equipment and the special room on board the Argon One, he was going to call in favors from around the galaxy in a way that might shock and dismay his senate friends, but Argon was more important than any one person’s feelings, and this must be done. The short list was figured out, by Ban himself, and only one other officer, a man Ban trusted with his life, was involved. Ban gave him the list and sent him out in search for these people. He knew where a few could be found, and the habits of the others, but it might take a little while so rooms were set up on Argon One in a section where security could be maintained. Argon one itself flew to Red Light and orbited the planet there, far from the prying eyes of anyone or anything. It took three days to gather these… specialists… and Ban kept them from seeing even each other. Finally one by one they were lead into the special room and seated in sealed cubicles with headsets on. The video link came directly from Bans office and each of them was a completely separate link from any others. It was time.

“Hello, ladies and gentlemen, it is with great honor I have sent for you today. You are the best agents in all of Argon and have done exceedingly well in all the situations you were needed. Today, you are needed once more and no one of you can do the job ahead, so this meeting was organized to bring you all, safely, here.” Ban stopped speaking in response to a question from one agent only he could hear.

“Hello, Ban, you must be having a problem with your officer friend, I am not a member of Argon Intelligence.” Julian said with a slight chuckle.

Ban smiled to himself.

“Julian, don’t you remember the day we met in my office, I asked you to join Argon Intelligence? I then sent you on your first assignment to Terracorp.” He said smiling widely.

”Yes, but that was just temporarily while I was in rehab, and you did it just to help my father keep track of me and give me a fresh start, which I still owe you for. “ Julian said with a big grin.

“And all the other assignments I sent you on? When I sent you to Kha’ak space, and to Omicron Lyre? You see Julian, you NEVER left Argon Intelligence, like many others, you live your life and come when called. You’ve done an exceptional job all these years and you have one of the most impressive records in all of Argon Intelligence, except, perhaps mine.” He said laughing. Julian was floored, he thought this all a big mistake, but Ban had kept him in Intelligence all this time.

“We can talk more later, but right now I have a job for all of you.” Ban was clearly back online talking to all the people present. Julian didn’t know how many was there, the room was filled with the sealed boxes like the one he was sitting in, and each had a separate headset for even more privacy. Someone right beside him could be shot and he’d never know it.

“The Argon Senate has refused my request for credits to repair the fleet or replace ships needed ‘till Argon Prime is completely restored. I have no doubt that since they consider the war over there won’t be a rush to do the work either. They are, as my contacts tell me, even designing new parts to the cities that will be truly beautiful and outrageous at the same time. Every senator has a project he or she wants done, and we are being told to wait. The problem is…we can’t AFFORD to wait, so a serious situation has arisen that calls for some well…Out of the box thinking.” He said with a chuckle. Julian had no idea what he was talking about, but he didn’t doubt for a second the Senate was filling their pockets at the navy’s expense.

“Each of you has what can only be considered a “specialty” you use them to make a living, in and out of the law, but that’s not a problem with me. I need your help and Argon will be forever in your dept, but we need the help NOW, before the pirate community or the Paranid start probing our defenses and finding weak spots, any questions?” He stopped and Julian could see his mouth move but no words, it lasted for quite a while, and many questions were being asked. Julian waited for his turn. Finally Ban turned to his monitor and asked.

“Yes, Julian?” he asked smiling, he knew the question.

“And how can I help Argon Intelligence or the Navy, I just fly ships and fight pirates: that’s not going to be much help I don’t think.” Julian said puzzled.

“Oh, come now Julian, you think I don’t know how well you’ve done over the years? I have seen reports of you sending ship after ship to the shipyards for sale and then buying better equipment and doing it all over again. You alone can equip a patrol of fighters on the Argon One a month, I think. Your specialty isn’t killing pirates, its convincing them to surrender their ships. You’ve done very well, and now that you’ve gotten all this practice, I want you to send some ships here, to the Argon One. Any size, any condition, just send them here. We are in desperate shape right now and even if they aren’t worth flying, one good ship for parts will save us many thousands of credits we can use somewhere else.” Ban concluded and waited for a response.

“I had no idea you watched me so closely.” Julian said smiling. ”Ok, I’ll see what I can do, but I can’t guarantee anything.” He said smiling.

“Guarantees are never expected, but I’ll be very disappointed if I don’t see a few ships here from time to time, the sooner the better of course, but this assignment goes on until further notice.” Ban said.

Julian nodded yes and an instant later the same officer came and lead him away, back to his ship and he was allowed to leave. Ban must be truly in bad shape to do this, Julian thought, but then, it could be fun. Julian had, arguably, a lifetime of experience with ships, from knowing how to hotwire a fighter in record time, to knowing exactly where to shoot to disable an engine or bring a shield down more quickly. Of course he had many friends in and out of the pirate community that he spoke to and even dealt with from time to time. He had even helped one go straight, sort of, by helping him test his new capture software. Julian had been allowed to keep a copy for himself but it was very expensive to use. His friend had started his own corporation and set it up under the name Benco. Since his name was Ben, Julian seemed to think it fit. This wasn’t going to help here though, 2 million dollars a pop wasn’t worth spending to get a medium or even heavy fighter, and Ban had purposely not mentioned paying for anything. That was the idea, get some help, free. So Julian started planning a few raids into pirate space to see what could be had.


Chapter 3: Old Friends and Enemies



Julian didn’t think Ban was entirely right about him, yes, he had captured many ships in his time in argon, but he spent the credits and kept going. Ban had acted like he was wealthy from it and he wasn’t. Certainly he could afford another ship if he needed, but compared to his friends, like Elena and Saya, running Terracorp with his father, he was a pauper.

He checked his weapons and switched to group 2...a pair of BPACs. This would work better to convince some people he was serious. The AHEPTs he usually used were a bit, well, quick on some ships. If Ban went to all this trouble he would do his best to help. He wandered who else was there and what their “specialty” was. After a big smile and a shake of his head, he decided he didn’t want to know. Ban may be more surprised than he planned if all goes well, and some local law enforcement might be really upset if the truth ever came out. Julian just laughed to himself and entered Elena’s Fortune.


Julian sat back behind an asteroid watching the south gate. It was used a lot by freighter captains and pirates after, well, freighters. He knew some of the people who worked here and from time to time someone would say hi, but they never asked what he was doing there. Some knew, others didn’t want to know but it was all good. He sat for over an hour and finally a pirate patrol came through. It consisted of 2 pirate buzzards, a nova, and 2 harriers. Not too bad, he thought as he approached them. Many people made serious mistakes in the first few seconds of battle; they almost always attacked the biggest ship and ignored the smaller ‘til last. It was a plan the pirates had used for many years, they had one heavy fighter with several medium and light fighters. The real firepower was in the MEDIUM fighters. They were always well set up and carried any good missiles in the group. To survive attacking a patrol alone the medium fighters must go first. Julian fired off two missiles; one at each buzzard and one exploded right away; the other had no shields and hit the high speed to get from in front of him. One harrier sprayed him with fire and his shields just budged a little, a nova raider was made for this and he wasn’t too worried. The second buzzard came back around, but Julian sprayed it with just a little PAC fire. It took the shields away again but didn’t destroy the ship. It returned fire, lowering Julian’s shields to half. That was enough; he thought and reduced it to ashes. The two harriers came in together, spraying and running away. He wasted one coming in and one going away. Now he had time to play with the nova, it was running towards him at top speed, but 98mps doesn’t impress a nova raider pilot doing 120. Julian hit the comm’s button and a grumpy Paranid came on the screen.

“What you want? Begging for life already?” he said. Julian smiled a big smile and the Paranid was not happy to see such glee from his prey.

“I was going to ask you the same thing, isn’t that funny? “ Julian asked laughing out loud. The Paranid was now more than unhappy; he showed signs of actual worry. Surely this person had destroyed 4 fighters and just sat there, laughing at him. He would pay for this! The comm’s screen went blank as the Paranid hung up; he then grabbed his trigger and dove right in. Julian saw it coming and, using the speed of his advanced fighter, just stepped to the side. He flew past the nova, spraying him with the PAC in his real turret; the shields started down but stopped half way.

“You will pay for this insult!” the Paranid screamed and the screen went black again.

Julian turned around and purposefully sent a long wave of fire just glancing off the nova, he smiled thinking that sound would be unbearable in a few seconds, he toyed with his new friend for a few seconds too long, an alert went off as he turned to see his radar. Another patrol was coming through, with a pirate Reaver in the lead. Damn, he had been too careless, he turned and ran towards the north gate just as a few PPC’s hit his shields, and he just made it. He wasn’t upset he had made such a mistake; a gate is like a dice game you never know what’s coming up next. The only thing he was upset about was, the next time he saw that nova pilot he was going to get an ear full about how dumb he was, but that he could fix. He entered Farnham’s Legend to a quiet cool space scene, and he was happy. If he had jumped into another patrol right now, he would have to hurry and kill them, his shields were not all the way back up and he didn’t know how long till that Reaver was coming through. He decided to make a patrol out of the circle he knew really well, Farnham’s legend, Bala Gi’s Joy, Olmancketslat’s Treaty, and Brennan’s Triumph. He would then be just a jump back to the trading station in Elena’s Fortune where he decided to make a temporary base for now. His first attempt was a failure but these things take time, and he had lots of that, he hoped.

Julian made a full trip and managed to shoot more than 12 pirate ships, but not a one gave up, He was beginning to think he’d lost his “touch” as he entered Elena’s fortune again. He started on the way back towards the trading station. He needed a shower and a hot meal; maybe grab a nap before going out again. It had been a long day and he was planning what to do tomorrow. He was half way there when a call came in.

“You dare return here!?” he recognized the voice of the nova captain he had missed; maybe this day wasn’t a total loss after all.


“I live here.” Julian said, lying.
“Well we have things to settle, you and I, prepare.” The Paranid said and Julian saw him come around the station and come straight towards him. “Idiot” he thought. The nova sprayed a long steam of HEPTs in Julian’s direction, all but a very few missed. Julian swung around and sprayed him well with his front PACs and then turned and let the turret have a few shots. The nova still had shields at 45 % but he was being more cautious now. Too late, thought Julian as he approached him again, the raider could easily catch him and he had no place to go, and, Julian quickly checked his scanners, no help in sight. The Paranid saw quickly he had made a grave error and called for assistance, but the call never went through. There was nothing but static on his comm’s, and he was noticeably upset he had never seen his set act like this before. He turned to see the raider right next to him and the pilot waving.” Insolent pig!” he thought. He spun around and sprayed it well, for a second catching Julian off guard. This guy was full of surprises; Julian reached out and shut down the comm’s jammer he was using.

“Jump out or die.” Julian said and the pilot was surprised the comm’s were up again.

“I’d rather die than surrender to you,” was the answer. Julian smiled a wide smile and then said.

“Remember, it was your choice.” He then made a high-speed turn and came running in at full speed, the PACs blasting away. A minute later the ship drifted to a stop and a tiny speck was seen floating away. “Good choice” Julian thought, and while no one was watching he remotely took control of the empty nova, giving it orders to go to Argon One, he then followed it to the west gate and made sure it got through safely. He was by now exhausted and badly needed some food. This day was over.



Chapter 4: The Work Continues


Things went on this way for several weeks, Julian was running up a score with Ban Danna by now, he had sent 5 harriers, 2 novas, and 4 busters to the Argon One in recent weeks. He smiled to think that this time Ban was right; this group together would make a good patrol. Ban hadn’t called but Julian knew he was due, and there were rumors around the station that there was a new pirate group in the X universe. It seemed that ship loads of supplies, from weapons to food were going missing all over known space. It wasn’t a big organization, not yet, but a few ship loads of stuff going missing doesn’t worry to many people, it happens a lot. Julian wandered how much of that stuff was going into argon, but didn’t want or need to know. He was just doing his job until relieved, and he wandered how long that might be.


One day Julian was sitting watching a gate and having a nutri-bar when a call came in, but this wasn’t Ban Danna.
“Hi, Julian, long times no see!” said the friendly face.

“Hi, Ben, how goes it with the new corp.?” Julian asked, knowing full well he was doing ok.

“Not bad at all, as a matter of fact, I got enough money to do some more experiments with other ships. Care to give me a hand? I’ll see you’re well paid just like before.” He said. Julian remembered the first set of experiments against pirate ship of all sizes, after a month testing they could successfully lower shields and take over the computer systems of all ships they tried. He wondered what this round of testing would be about.

“I don’t know if I can right now, what are you ready to test now?” Julian asked.

“Well, with the money I’ve been making, I bought and set out a bunch of special scanning satellites. From using them I got a lot of new info about Xenon ships and I think we can capture a few or at least give it a good try. If you can help same deal as before, I supply the software, you do the flying, and then you get to keep the software for your own use, along with 1 ship we capture of your choice.” Ben said as a recap.

“And the new software is for xenon ships of what size?” Julian asked out of curiosity.
.
“All sizes, we haven’t had a chance to test it yet, but we’re pretty sure with the info the sat’s gave us that xenon’s use a generic computer system. If it’s true then it will capture ALL xenon ships regardless of size.” He said with a flourish. Julian whistled to himself, xenon ships were the highest caliber around, arguably better than Boron ships because they were manufactured by machines not a single malfunction was tolerated. He had fought a few and saw some great looking ships but had never had the chance to capture one. Well, there was this N once, but that didn’t count.

“I’m kind of doing something right now,” Julian started to say then a smile came to his face as he thought some more.

“Where are you planning on doing the research this time?” he asked.

“Black Hole Sun, there has been a lot of xenon activity there lately and we have seen a good assortment of ships in sector at different times.” Ben said. Julian smiled a sly smile.

“I’ll do it, when do you want me there?” he asked.

“I’ll meet you at the equipment dock and give your ship the new software, then after a series of short tests we’ll be ready to go.” He said. Julian agreed and went looking for some E cells for his jump drive. Ban had said any ships of any type, maybe he’d get even luckier than he thought.

Julian jumped into Black Hole Sun with his Nova Raider. He went straight to the equipment dock and met his friend Ben there. He had a full crew on the ready and in an hour the new software was installed and tested, everything was ready.

“We’ll start out slow, we need to be sure the computers are all the same, so first a light fighter, then medium then heavy, after that we’ll just slowly try what we find.” Ben said. Julian agreed thinking that fighters aren’t too bad if it works fine, but if it doesn’t he can take them out quickly.

“I have an office set up here and sat’s in system monitoring in case we need to make adjustments on the fly.” Ben said, at this Julian didn’t feel quite as safe.

“Don’t worry; I won’t let anything happen to you, “Ben said smiling,” Now here’s the deal. You go out and wait for a xenon patrol, I’ll tell you what ships we want to experiment with and you kill the rest, then we have time to do our testing in peace.” He said smiling.

“Sounds easy don’t it?” Julian said laughing, as he turned to walk away Ben calls after him.

“Remember, you need to get within 1 km and hold that distance or get closer, no running in and out or we’ll lose the lock on the computer. Your ship’s transporter has been specially calibrated to this distance for extremely fine work, good luck.” He said as he turned and entered his little office. Now it was up to Julian to see what his brainy friend had done now.

Julian flew around the system for a while ‘til he got the call.

“A xenon patrol is returning through the south gate; get them before the make it to the north gate and escape.” Ben called. Julian was impressed, he had barely had time to even see the ships come in when Ben had seen them in his office; he really did have sat’s everywhere.

Julian made a quick turn and intercepted what was left of the xenon patrol before it got to the equipment dock; he knew enough to recognize the fact there wasn’t enough ships here for a full patrol; they obviously had already been in a fight and lost some in the other sector. There were 2 light fighters here and for now that was all that mattered. He took out the medium fighter with a missile and blasted the L into parts, now he had the Ns to himself. The only problem was, they were doing 300+, and he was doing 120. He had one idea, he switched to PACs again, and as they ran in he gave them tiny little hits till their shields came down.

“Don’t kill them, we need those!” Ben yelled.

“Well, I need to get within 1 km and they’re too fast, give me a second, maybe I can slow them down.” Julian said. Ben waited on the edge of his seat as Julian first hit one then the other with small limited amounts of fire. The first N exploded in a million pieces, but the second took a light hit and the hull dropped to 40 % his speed was now down to a useable amount, Julian had one more idea he loaded a mosquito missile and hit him just as his shield started back up, now he was 25% and only doing 90..this will do, Julian thought. He flew around and followed the little fighter as well as he could, it took a second to get to the exact distance he needed but he had a chance now, he hit the button and his ships computer came on, giving a system check and countdown. In a few minutes the little ship turned green, success.

“Outstanding!” yelled Ben over the comm. “You never fail to amaze me, Julian, you’re the very best.” He bragged. Julian ordered the little ship to the equipment dock, but before it got there Ben called. “I don’t want it, take it, we have work to do here.” Julian stopped the ship and sent it to the trading station instead. One for Ban, he thought. Ben spent almost an hour pouring over data from the sat’s and decided that the system worked but just barely, he made an auto adjustment from his office computer and told Julian they were ready again. “Next step up, M this time,” Ben said.

Julian knew he was ready but the xenon’s weren’t, he had to wait over an hour to get his next chance. A xenon patrol came through the gate from the xenon sector and started towards Treasure Chest, Julian checked them over and took out the Ns with missiles and disabled one L while destroying two others, now there were 4 M’s and he was determined they didn’t need THAT many to Ben’s immediate dismay.’

“What are you doing? This is perfect, just get them in range.” He yelled as Julian blew the first one up.

“We don’t need 3 firing at me while I’m following one around, cut me some slack here.” Julian said as he checked his shields, they were at 50%, for now.

“Oh, right, sorry.” Ben said and went for a while.

Julian spun around and wasted another and then made his first attempt on a ship, he just had it figured when the ship made a quick turn and Julian was too far away. He tried again and saw the pattern; this time just as the countdown started he ducked right along with the M and kept in range till the end, no small task. The ship turned green and drifted to a stop.

“Can I waste this other guy NOW?” Julian asked as the last M raked him badly, driving his shields almost to 0.

“Hmm? What? Oh, yes, for god’s sake, waste him,” Ben said, obviously busy with all this new data. It took Julian just a second to get rid of this pest and he didn’t even try sending the M to the equipment docks, he sent it straight to the trading station instead.

“We’re doing really great here, I’m so glad you said you’d help, Julian, I don’t know anyone who can do what you do with a ship.” Ben said, very impressed.

“Yeh, yeh, suck up now that you know we’re moving on to something that could kill me.” Julian said with a smile.

“Oh, you noticed?” Ben said and the comm went dead.

“Damn right I noticed.” Julian said to himself, he stopped by the trading station to see both his ships had arrived; they had; now if he just had shields again he’d be much happier.



Chapter 5: The Big Challenge


Julian knew now they were going to go after a heavy fighter, which would be tough because they had as much firepower as he had and some had even more speed. He sat for a minute watching his shields come up when he saw something on scanners, a lone fighter, heavy. He burst out laughing, he had forgotten in the fight he hit an L with a missile and disabled its engines, probably an overload, but it didn’t matter, it was disabled, it was an L and it was still active. He moved in to within 500 meters directly behind it and started the countdown.

“You’re a genius! I didn’t even see you go after this one.” Ben called laughing. Julian decided he would let this pass as he was sure Ben was about to add substantially to Julian’s reputation as a pilot. Good PR never hurts. The countdown commenced, and ended and another ship goes green, Julian sent it to the station with the others and returned to his spot, it had been a long and profitable day but he was ready for a break, and Ben knew it. The tests were called off ‘til tomorrow and Ben was ecstatic with the results. He even bought Julian dinner and talked about the tests to come.


“Ok, Julian what’s next, we did an N, M, and L; is the next step up a capital ship?” Julian looked up from eating; he couldn’t believe he was even thinking about that.

“No, but it’s not much better in between the fighters we got and the cap ships are two other sizes, and LX ultra heavy fighter, and the P’s, Corvette class. I don’t know if we can do any of those with the ship I have, they are all very heavily armed and my shields might not be able to hold while I wait for the countdown. Any way we can speed it up you think?” Julian asked.

“Nope, none at all, you don’t understand, the countdown isn’t about the time itself, the computer needs to find the exact spot to add our computer chip to their hardware. If we transported it just anywhere, it wouldn’t do its job. The placement has to be very precise.” Ben said waving his hands around to explain his point. Julian could see that this next set was going to be just as much of a test for him as for his friends’ new software.
“Well then, expect some problems, I may have to fly out to get my shields back up or I’ll be the one getting hauled away, and I don’t want to be a xenon slave now or ever.” Julian said letting Ben consider what he said.

“I won’t ask you to get killed or captured yourself, you know ships and what they can do, and I know the computers and what we can do. We’ll work out the differences as best we can, if it becomes too dangerous we’ll give it up ‘til we are better prepared.” Ben said, assuring Julian he wasn’t going to be left hanging.

“Sounds good, let’s get some sleep, tomorrow we’ll try again.” Julian said and they walked back to their quarters and got some rest.

Julian was up the next day and ready to fly before Ben even hit the deck. He was sure if he approached this problem right it would work. If he flew around and disabled the engines on a big ship they would still have their turrets to work with, but it gave them very limited targeting. With just a little luck, they might not have planned for this and there may be dead spots in their firing arcs. He could only hope. After a few minutes he decided to call Ban and see how things had been doing, he was sure he had been missed in Elena’s Fortune by now. The call buzzed through and a minute later Ban Danna was on the link.

“Hi Ban, how are things going for you?” Julian said jovially.

“Not too bad, where are you? I was informed you set up camp in Elena’s Fortune for a few weeks and then just vanished.” Ban said seriously.

“Not vanished, I moved to another location, and I’ve got a friend helping for a few days, we’re not doing to badly, got 3 xenon ships so far.” Julian explained.

“Xenon? Where are you working and who is this friend of yours?” Ban asked curiously.

“Black Hole Sun and he’s a computer whiz, we’re doing some experiments for him, and he’s helping me by giving me the ships for you. It’s a win/win deal.” Julian said smiling.

“I don’t think I even want to know what a computer whiz is doing that could help you out, but if it’s working, then I’m all for it. By the way, that’s good work you’ve done so far, we indeed did add a new patrol just from ships you sent and if what you just said is true, we may add another soon, well done.” Ban said smiling.

“You may have to come get these after the work is over though, I don’t want to fly all the way back through Split space dragging a xenon fleet, and they aren’t going to let me through their sector either, but it’ll be worth it I’m sure.” Julian said.

“Ok, then let me know when, but don’t ask anyone in Omicron Lyre about this or helping, I’ll explain later. Just call when you’re ready for pickup.” Ban said with a serious look on his face, Julian didn’t like it, this meant Omicron Lyre was not on Bans good side right now, this could not be good. Julian just nodded and Ban hung up. A few minutes later Ben finally came walking up.

“Good morning.” Julian said smiling.

“It’s a little early for me, but I’m ready.” Ben said. “Let’s go see what we can find, these ultra fighters, or P’s are up next. How hard are they to see?” Ben asked.

“Not too hard; there is usually one in every big patrol, but we may have to wait ‘til we find one, so it may take time.” Julian said.

“Or we could go in after one, if we have to.” Ben added.

“Are you insane?!? Do you have any idea what will happen when a heavy fighter enters xenon space?” Julian said loudly, attracting more attention than he had planned.

“I guessed they would come running over and attack, then you could pick out the one we need.” Ben said, seriously. Julian just waved it away as the ravings of a madman and continued to his ship.

Julian went to his predetermined spot in the center of the sector and Ben returned to his equipment and his office. It took a while for any xenon to come in but there weren’t any P’s or LX fighters among them. Ben said to let them go by, but they had other plans. They saw Julian sitting from a distance and came running over. He blasted three M’s and 4 N’s and the single L. He would have liked to save it but it wasn’t in the mood to cooperate. After the fight he returned to his spot and decided at least he was being paid, his law license was paying for itself today for sure. He called Ben in a minute, asking,

“Can we keep a few more of these M’s and L’s? We can split the money up and I have someone who wants a bunch of xenon ships for parts.” Julian said hopefully.

“I suppose we could, since we’re set up anyway, but who do you know who needs xenon parts? Do they fit a lot of ships?” Ben asked.

“Well, every ship has a few basic systems as you know, and Xenon’s have good quality equipment, besides it would be doing me a big favor.” Julian said.

“It’s not like I don’t owe you a few.” Ben said smiling, ”Ok, we’ll get a few more ships for your “friend” what kind we want?” he asked.

“L’s I think, maybe an M or two but definitely L’s.” Julian said.

“OK, no problem buddy, do a little hunting while we wait for the big guys, but I get the first one of those to pay for all this.” Ben said, and Julian agreed.

It only took a couple hours to get the first LX, but Ben had his and Julian had another L for Ban. No P’s had come in yet and the waiting was getting boring, they talked about old times when they both were at the same pirate base and how Ben had gotten the idea for his software, the time went slow but eventually the patrol they wanted came through.

“Xenon P Raider in the center of that group.” Ben called.

Julian saw the group, no problem it had at least 9 ships in it and it gave him the willies just thinking about this, but here we go, he thought. Julian moved out slowly to max missile range, he dropped a bunch of missiles on the M’s and all were destroyed but one. The L’s came running in and Julian got a few missiles on them to, none were killed but their shields were badly weakened. After that it was all turn and fight and turns and fight ‘til the last L was gone. There was another heavy there, a LX and Julian did a lot of fancy flying trying to stay out of his fire, but the back turret was giving him a hard time, so he ran out of range to get his shields up more and fired a long stream from max range ‘til the shields were all gone. He then hit it with 2 disrupter missiles and it drifted to a stop. Now was the big challenge, he had basically outran the P with the other ships in tow, but it was back, and the stream of APPC’s came past just as he jerked around. He dropped a hornet and did a high speed run around the side. For a second he was in the clear then the rear turrets started firing on him, and he noticed the difference quickly. He dropped another hornet from close behind and it actually made it through the turret fire and hit the engines solid. The P drifted to a stop. Julian knew he had been lucky, but it was about to run out. Ben called,

“Quick! Get in there and start the count we’re ready here.” Julian rushed the P and started the countdown but the turrets were on him in a minute and he had to withdraw now with only 90% hull. He sat back a safe distance looking this over, this magnificent ship was beating him on his best day and it was sitting still. He wanted it bad. Then he realized the meaning of the pause he had felt as he flew down the side of the ship. He started back but the turrets were there, so he flew up towards the nose, and after a few hits, the turrets stopped. He sat there for a second waiting on all Bezany to break lose, but it didn’t come. He turned slowly and flew right up to the middle of the P, at 700 meters he started the countdown, and 3 minutes later it turned green. He let out a yell that could be heard all the way to Argon Prime and Ben was quick to respond.

“I suppose that’s the ship your claiming then?” he said laughing out loud and Julian was ready to dance in his cockpit as the big ship swung around and headed for the trading station. Where, Julian was sure, it was going to be swarmed over by ship lovers and engineers of all kinds; he wanted to be there and left Ben laughing on the comm’s as he flew at top speed to be there when it docked.

“By the way,” Ben added as he was ready to dock.” I’d given it to you anyway, no way I would have ever seen that dead spot along the side, but now even I know, thank you Julian, I’ll see you in a while.” The comm’s link went dead but Julian didn’t care he was inside the station standing on the docks when his P Raider came in; He hadn’t been this happy in a long time and he was swarmed with people asking about how he had done it. Of course he just said he was very lucky, a 1 in a million chance, but he knew he could do it again now, it was just a matter of timing. He walked inside and looked it over, the HUD was a little different, but he’d seen remodeled xenon ships before this was not a problem. He noticed the absence of a pilot’s seat, again not a problem he liked the one in his nova raider, and he checked the storage and weapons and was nearly floored again. It was nearly fully loaded; the computer switch had saved nearly everything on board. He went immediately to the station manager and registered his new ship in his name and called a maintenance crew to install his seat and do a little remodeling. In no time he had what he was told very plainly, was a 12 million dollar ship of his own and with his jump drive on it and the big cargo hold he could go anywhere, and quickly. He was in love for the second time in his life. The first time was still pending, he thought laughing.


Chapter 6: The Big Payoff


He was sitting in his new ship when Ben stuck his head in.

“Wow! This thing is big, want to sell it?” he asked laughing.

“You’re not the first to offer.” Julian said, “But no thanks, I never liked the Argon M6 and this is the first xenon one I’ve ever been in. I really think I’ll keep it, for a long time.” Julian said, smiling widely.

“Enjoy yourself, my friend, I have only one request.” Ben asked Julian turned to look at him and asked what it was.

“You left another LX sitting out there, can you go run the software on it, I doubt it will get through these shields that fast.” Ben said laughing, and Julian agreed. He had looked at the shields slots, it had 375 Mega joules of shielding, and he was sure that was enough. He launched and in 5 minutes there was another heavy fighter sitting in the station. He called the room and told Ben the ship was there.

“Sell it to your friend, I got mine and enough info to sell for years to come, if you feel up to it we can try tomorrow for a real capitol ship.” Ben said. Julian just blinked, he was serious, he wanted to try for a xenon capitol ship, and he was truly nuts.

“We have proven that we have the right combination of software and skills, all we need to complete the package is one cap ship then I can tell whoever asks it’s been fully tested, and you,” Ben stopped for effect,” will own a cap ship.” Julian looked at him strangely, he was serious, he made his money every day from the software and its applications for others, he was offering Julian a full cap ship if it worked, if not, well. We weren’t thinking like that. Julian thought.

“OK, one try but if I can’t do it alone, we give it up. I don’t want to die and I don’t want to lose this.” Julian said waving his arms around at the ship.

“I totally understand, and I already said I didn’t want you getting killed, you’re a friend, give it one shot, if it works, you’re a wealthy man, if not we go home ‘til some other time.” Ben said and Julian turned and nodded his head, it was agreed, tomorrow we would see.

The next day they were up and out, Julian asked if Ben could monitor him from inside the xenon sector, it was the only way to get to a cap ship he knew of. Ben said he could and told Julian to be careful. Julian had been up early and he thought he had a pretty good plan if everything fell into place it could work. If not then he had tried and that was all he needed. He approached the gate and was whisked through, the gate was well guarded, but he had the Raider tuned to the max and made a quick turn to the left and outran all the bigger ships there. He slowed down quite a distance away and began scanning the sector, there in the far corner was a xenon J and for some weird reason, it had no shields. He opened up the engines and except for a few N’s and an M, he got there untouched. As soon as he slowed down just a tad, the fighters were on him, but the turrets made quick work of them and left Julian to his work. He was surprised to see such a big ship with no shields, but decided that it was being worked on, so he had better hurry before they came back up. He flew towards it and the ships turrets came on, spraying HEPT fire everywhere. He ducked and weaved and finally got to the spot he wanted. He dove past the turrets and directly into the middle of the huge ship. He wasn’t surprised to see very little turret fire there. The turrets fired away from the ship and very few fired back over it. He had been right. He was 650 meters off the top of the ship and he started the countdown. Ben was ecstatic, he only knew Julian was in position and the countdown had started. He didn’t know how extremely lucky Julian had been. Even at that, it took 5 minutes to complete the process, and it worked! The J turned green on radar and Julian transported over a load of energy cells and his jump drive. The other ships were closing in, he hated to do it but he had no time, he ejected from his fighter, ordering it to dock. He doubted it had time, but he flew towards the J in his suit and went aboard. He ran to the command center and ordered it to jump to Black Hole Sun: North gate, the countdown for jump started just as the first fighters came into weapons range they were greeted by a load of fire from the J’s turrets and a big blue flash as it disappeared. In a second, he was flying towards the trading station and equipment docks. From inside something this big, he couldn’t see much space between them from here; he felt heart sick, he had dropped his P to get this. It wasn’t his favorite ship or even one he would have wanted, but he had it and his friend had proven his new software worked. Ben called screaming almost instantly.

“We did it. We proved that we could claim cap ships. I’ll be rich!” he screamed,

"You’re already rich." Julian said laughing.

"Yeh, but now you’re rich too, and I can sell my idea to all the major houses, no one will turn down a plan to deal with the xenon." Ben said smiling wide." and I have some info you’re going to need." he said to Julian.

Julian looked up from flying this monster; he ordered the ships he had docked to fly to him and sent 2 for E cells in Elysium.

"What?" he asked quickly.

"There’s an Omicron Patrol coming this way, just left the west gate of Treasure Chest, better get that going if you’re going to claim it." Ben said and was clearly grabbing all his stuff too. Julian knew by now he would have a shuttle ready and waiting, he didn’t want to be here when they arrived either.

"Where’s your P?" Ben asked quickly.

“I had to leave it behind, it didn’t have time to dock. “ He said. Ben was sorry for his friend losing his favorite ship but he had gained a lot, and so had Ben.

“I suppose the software went with the P?” he asked. Julian looked up for a minute, he had forgotten about that.

“Yes, I guess so, it’s not intact by now I guarantee it. So you don’t have to worry.” Julian said, but Ben was laughing and Julian didn’t know why. He looked around the bridge and found the radar, there just emerging from the gate was a lone P. Badly shot up, and smoking, but there it was.

“Unbelievable!” Julian said, as the Raider caught up with him and aligned for docking. He stopped the carrier and in a minute his favorite ship had docked. He thanked Ben and Ben waved goodbye as he closed up shop and started home. Julian called the Argon One and got Ban on the line.

“Yes Julian, what is it?” he asked.

“I’m going to deliver those ships I promised.” Julian said and before Ban could ask he said,” I need a clear gate and I've got 3 minutes to be out of here before an omicron patrol arrives.” Julian was serious and Ban called to clear the East gate, he wasn’t sure why, but Julian had never ask for a favor like this before, and Omicron didn’t need to know anything about this, this, whatever it was. Julian was frantic, one fighter had returned, but there still wasn’t enough E cells, he had no choice but wait, in a minute the other was there and he began setting up the jump, a second later a comm message came on speakers.

"This is the Argon destroyer: Hades, to xenon ship, hold your position or be fired on!" Shimanna! Thought Julian as he hit the button to begin the jump sequence, but he was out of time, then, suddenly, he had an idea.

"Argon Destroyer; this is Brennan’s Pride’, can I be of assistance?" Julian said much more calmly than he was feeling. There was a long pause, and the patrol stopped for a second to scan, and no, it was not registered to any Brennan, but that’s all it took. The blue flash told them they were too late. In a minute the sights of Argon Prime came into view in the command center and Julian sighed with relief.


“By the creator, I had no idea...” Ban stuttered.

“Hi Ban! How do you like my new base ship? I might be able to offer you a few extra fighters if you want.” Julian said being absolutely sickeningly sweet about it.

“Mind if I park next to you? I’d like to give you a tour of the ship if you’re up to it.” Ban started to laugh and before he even got on board the Argon news crews was there.

It was the biggest thing to happen to Argon Prime in recent memory and Ban was so proud of him he looked like he would burst. He even mentioned to the news crews that Julian was in line to succeed him as head of Argon Intelligence, something he never mentioned to Julian ahead of time. Julian was shocked, and honored but definitely not ready. Ban shock his hand and said he had gotten this great ship as an act of friendship, hoping to help Argon recover from all their losses. He had gone into xenon space to find ships that the Senate was not ready to give, to help defend Argon. He knew he was stirring up a bees nest, but he had the moment, and they didn’t. Ban said he expected to have this ship up and ready to do Argon patrols ‘til a replacement could be found. Julian could just see senators running to the vid screens to see this and start their calls for emergency funding. This ship would remind them always; they had failed Argon when they were needed, and Julian had not. Julian and Ban Danna were heroes, while there were rumors some senators were retiring early. It worked out for the best and Julian found out why the ship had no shields that day, it was brand new, not even completely finished, one engine was missing and it contained no shield generators at all. Once again the Ancients had smiled on him, and he in return, on Argon. As the news crews gathered around Julian and Ban on the bridge of this monster, Julian turned to Ban and said,

"I once said; I never paid you back for saving my life, consider it done." he said sticking out his hand. Ban took it with a tear in his eye and a huge smile on his face.

"Done!" he said to the cheers of a dozen news crews, and this moment made Argon history, played again and again, while Julian just smiled and went for his ship. It was finally over.



________________________________________

[KRM398]

Chapter 7: Back to Work



Ban was in a good mood, things had gone better than expected and his ships stores were at an all time high. Even the other ships in the fleet were well stocked giving them a feeling of relief for the first time in years. He wandered from his room to his office and sat at his desk, He decided that he’d check recent messages and reports before getting into his other routine jobs. People thought being head of Argon Intelligence was an exciting, suspense filled job, but it was just another military position, and no matter what anyone tells you, day to day operations are very routine and boring. “Thank the Maker.” He thought, he’d take boring any day.


He was reading over reports about pirate activity, And Ka’ak sightings for a few minutes. It seemed that the Ka’ak were making themselves harder and harder to find, that can’t be bad, he thought, maybe they’re all going home. There was a report of a new Marauder in Ore Belt, a definite escalation there, but nothing to serious, and a mention of some freighter captain being attacked by a Dragon. “A Dragon,” Ban thought laughing to himself, these freighter captains use more and more space fuel every day. He chuckled, there was a mention of a xenon patrol in Elena’s Fortune, a bit odd but not worrying, no cap ships were seen just a few scouts. He decided all and all a routine day, and closed the files. “If every day ‘til my retirement goes this well, I’ll be happy, “he thought, of course he knew he’d never be THAT lucky, but then it never hurts to ask. “A DRAGON” .ha, ha, it was his chuckle for the day.
Julian was in Great Trench; he had been in the area for a week and done pretty well. His corvette, the Brennan’s Pride’ was stocked to the hilt and the weapons system was maxed out. He couldn’t have it better if he planned it and of course, he had. Things were as good as they had ever been and he was thinking even further ahead. He had put off having a real life for so long he wasn’t sure what it would be like, but he knew one thing, he had some serious talking to do now that he had found his place.
His new job was very satisfying and even fun. He advertised he could provide rare ships to those who could meet his price. He had expected to hear from a collector once in a while, but the response was overwhelming. He found one Teladi who was dying to own every xenon ship in existence, a big job to be sure. Julian told him he could provide all the xenon fighters and maybe even a corvette, but had stopped short of saying he could get cap ships. He had done it once but then it was for a better reason than credits. Then there were people who asked for ships of other races, whether they expected Julian to pirate them or if they just couldn’t get them themselves, he was surprised at the prices someone would pay for something they were not supposed to have. Julian was wealthy for the first time in his life. He didn’t count all the stories from friends that he would someday own Terracorp; it wasn’t HIS: it belonged to his father and Elena together, as far as he was concerned. He had just sold a pirate Marauder to an Argon mercenary who paid way more than it was worth, so even considering it cost Julian 2 million to get it, the profit was respectable.
Julian checked his list, next was a xenon P to a Boron industrialist, Julian’s check on him said he was part owner in a shipyard, perhaps one day the Boron would have a P of their own, he thought smiling. He left the equipment dock and started towards the xenon sector next to 18 Billion. It was the closest and he wanted a chance to scope it out before deciding if he would try to get it there. He had refined his capture approach to let him transfer a jump drive and E cells to a captured ship and jump it out by remote, then he had no chance of losing his favorite “toy” as a few called it. Julian was quick to tell them it was a very necessary tool in his trade; for without its high speed and good shields; he wouldn’t have a chance of getting the larger ships. The truth was: He’d rather miss a chance at a big prize than loose this ship. It fit him to a “T” and he was determined to keep it for a very long time. Maybe pass it on to a son someday. He shook his head and smiled, until now he had never considered having a family, but then he had a lot to prove, and he had done it. Now Nature seemed to be pulling him back towards home, he was seriously thinking he had to go soon or he might lose the one he was truly in love with, he wanted to call and tell her he was finally ready, but these things should always be done in person. He laughed and shook himself out of it, back to work... he wanted this job done, if he got it by the next week there was a substantial bonus involved, and it never hurts your rep to be on time either.
Julian flew to 18 Billion and stopped at the trading station he wanted to see if any good sightings told him that a P might be seen outside of the sector, it would be a huge advantage to him if they had. He walked along saying hi to all the people who seemed friendly to him and stopped to talk to a Teladi who was swearing repeatedly at his ship.
“Having a problem?” Julian asked and the man nearly jumped through himself.
“Who are you and what do you want? I warn you, I am a master of the Martial arts.” He said whipping around in what Julian considered an awkward motion, he truly was lying
“Oh, please. No trouble.” Julian said quickly with a smile. “I heard you yelling and thought I could help, I know some things about ships.” He said smiling at the sheer truth of it.
“The computer has abandoned me here. It neither talks nor does its job, piece of Boron crap is what it is, I should have known better.” He said with a long line of expletives. Julian was amused but stepped forward to see that it was actually obvious to the trained eye this man was trying to fix something he had no idea about. Julian reached in and switched a few plugs and checked a negative connection that pulled off in his hand. He looked around and temporarily connected it with another that was still solidly hooked to the ship.
“There, try it now.” Julian said and the ship responded immediately.
“Thank you stranger, I am just called “The Dealer “ here, my real name is beyond your speaking, trust me, but now I owe you credits, what is it you require?” he asked. Julian waved it away and said,
“From one business man to another, a gesture of friendship, I am Julian Brennan, seller of rare ships. I ask only for information.” The Teladi look warily at Julian for a moment, how dare call himself a businessman who refuses profit, but then he IS Argon.
“What information is it you seek?” he said warily.
“I am searching for a xenon P, have any been sighted near here, outside of the xenon sector of course,” he added with a chuckle.
“To seek a xenon corvette is to seek death, but you are in the wrong sector. I have seen patrol after patrol come out of the xenon sector heading north, through Scale Plate Green. It seems they have an interest somewhere north of that even, but they travel through there a lot. Now go, Argon to your death if you must. You were warned.” Julian thanked him and handed him one of his vid-cards with his name on it and every few seconds it changed to show him standing by his ship. The Teladi was impressed to say the least, but said nothing as Julian bowed slightly and walked away.

Chapter 8: More Than Enough



Julian left the trading station and jumped into Scale Plate Green. He was on the search for xenon ships with more than enough orders, but he had not planned on this. As he entered through the East gate there was a furious battle going on, he was immediately called from a Teladi Hawk.
“Argon pilot, this is the Teladi Hawk: Capitalism, we ask your immediate response, the sector is under xenon attack and we have yet to be able to stop the xenon from dropping even more fighters here every few minutes. Active response will result in your being paid a fair bounty for every xenon ship you destroy.” The captain waited for a response, his scanners showed this argon was actually flying a xenon corvette, his skills must be outrageous. He could only hope.
“I agree, Capitalism, I am engaging immediately.” Julian said seriously, and the Teladi captain nodded in response.
“For Profit then,” He said and the link went dead. Not finding xenon ships here would be the problem, there were dozens. Julian wished he could save just a few of these; he could be an instant billionaire. There were dozens of xenon L’s and a few LX’s too. The sector was crawling with Xenon’s; this was the biggest battle Julian had ever seen with xenon ships. Just as the captain had said approximately every 15 minutes a xenon J entered and engaged anyone close to the gate, it then dropped off another dozen or more fighters and returned to xenon space. “Coward” Julian thought as he wasted yet another L up front and something behind him exploded as well. He set about attacking a xenon LX that jumped on him from the front, he looked around for a minute, the other ships were either overwhelmed in their positions or just too busy to look, he fired a heavy stream of PPC’s into the shields and they dropped quickly, but he held back just a touch and swung around to let the HEPT’s in his turret to get a shot, as he hoped the shields were completely gone now and a small bit of the hull. He swung back around and dropped 2 disruptor missiles on the LX; that was it for the LX. It drifted to a stop and Julian was thrilled. He had an order for one of these, he thought, laughing to himself. Having a business could be fun after all. He had a slightly unusual software package on board and as no one was watching he didn’t even have to exit his ship, he ordered the LX to the station and continued with the attack.
It was like walking through a warehouse full of ships, of course those ones weren’t firing at you, but with good reflexes, and a short break from time to time for shield recharge he was making good time in his area. He looked at his scanners and saw yet another drop coming through the gate, he was too far away to shoot at the J but he lobbed a few hornets in its direction, hoping for a miracle, but he didn’t get it. Some were shot down by turret fire and others hit the target but didn’t do enough damage to stop it. Or at least didn’t hit the right spot. It dropped another dozen and turned and left again. Julian was beginning to wonder why it came in and out so often, he knew for a fact it could carry at least 4 dozen fighters itself, why not stay ‘til it was hit harder, surely it could do more damage than the fighters it dropped? It didn’t make much sense, but he knew it would be back. The Hawk was doing ok in its area and was slowly moving his way. They had a good group between them and they were ripping them up pretty bad. The trouble was now another group was behind him; he left the first group to the Hawk, and turned to face the coming fighters. He dropped a bunch of missiles and destroyed several ships. This group had M’s in it and Julian took advantage of having a good assortment of missiles on board. The pirates he met this week had been good to him, he was well loaded, but with action like this he was going to be out soon enough. He moved away from a group of 5 L’s that were working together, that’s a lot of firepower at one time and he was being careful. The one to his left was less careful, making a pest of itself, so Julian removed it from the problem. He had 2 M’s on his tail but in a few minutes the turrets took care of them so he focused on working his way towards the south gate. When that J came in again, he wanted to be close by.
What happened next surprised him badly, and this isn’t always a good thing. He was finishing off an L when he took a hard hit. Much harder than he wanted, his shields dropped instantly to 25% and he pulled up hard and started running towards the Hawk. Maybe he could get far enough away from this LX or whatever it was to get his shields back up. A full volley of PPC’s came past and he decided that it wasn’t a LX after all. He checked his scanners and saw a new patrol coming in, 4 M’s and 4 L’s being led by a xenon P. This was nice of them to make deliveries, Julian thought but he was in no position to try it now. He got his shields up to 60% and dropped the last of his hornets on the L’s and the disrupters on a few of the M’s. He was running up a good total, if the Teladi were as good as their word he was making some serious cash, especially with the law license. He smiled, it was good to have one in every house, you never know. He continued to fire at ships around him, but it was clear this P was making him their personal project. He managed to finish off the rest of the fighters and tried 3 times to get behind it for a good engine shot, but this one was well tuned, a surprise in itself. Xenon’s seldom worry about maxing out a ships maneuvering or speed, this one was of course, the exception. It took a few more tries while they exchanged turret fire on each other to get a good shot. Julian hit him solid with his APPC’s in just the right spot and the P drifted to a stop. Julian laughed as he pulled back for shield recharge; this was just what he planned. He remembered getting his this way, now it was all timing. But he was wrong, he approached the P from the side just as he had done before but the turrets still were hitting him. He swung around and raced back. This shouldn’t be happening, he was sure he was in the right spot, the same one he used to get his Raider. It finally hit him; it was a standard P not a Raider! now he had to figure the arcs all over again. He scanned the ship, it had more turrets than his; it was very impressive the way it was laid out. He made several attempts to approach, until finally he was nearly to the front of the ship. Any further and he’d risk being close enough that the front guns might kick in. He moved in and a few shots whizzed by but didn’t hit him, he smiled. He moved a little closer, the turrets continued to fire but he was too far towards the front now, they flew past him just yards away, but couldn’t get a solid shot, at 600 meters he started the countdown and 5 minutes later he had it. He immediately sent it to the station and resumed his fighting. The Teladi Hawk was quick to respond.
“What you do argon? How is this possible? “The captain demanded.
“I do this for a living.” Was all Julian would say, and when he got the chance he beamed one of his vid cards over to the captain.
“A true professional then, it was our good fortune to have you here today.” He said and the link went dead. Julian was all smiles; this had been a very good day, and for the first time since the attack had started the J had not returned. The fighters were falling like flies and Julian was sure they had them beat. In another hour he was flying along side of the Hawk and was getting his reward.
“You fly well, for an argon, the Teladi Company Space Fleet thanks you for your assistance.” His payoff for destroying 23 ships was very nice, and the two ships he got were going to the shipyard for repairs in Omicron Lyre before he called the new owners to come get them. He was a very happy argon today, he thought.
He sat by the shipyard as the P entered the TL, he was well paid, and the LX would be ready by tomorrow. He decided to jump to Argon space and take some time off, he could afford it.

Chapter 9: Old Friends


Julian jumped into Home of Light and started towards the Terracorp HQ. He hadn’t been home for a few months and he was sure he was going to get more than a few questions asked. He smiled; Elena was always asking him what he was going to do in the future. He had always said he didn’t know, but this time would be different. He had a lot of the questions answered at least for himself, he was sure she would be pleased, after all she was the dominant business person in Argon, if she approved of his new business, it was a sure thing. There were no “maybes” for Elena; she was as professional as any advisor Julian could ever find. He approached the docking area and commed the station, in a second Elena’s face came on the screen.
“Julian! How nice to see you, where have you been all these months? Your father called and I didn’t know what to tell him, but of course he wasn’t too surprised, you’re a lot like him, you know.” She said almost babbling, she almost seemed she was talking fast before he ran away again.
“Hello, Elena, permission to come aboard? I have some great stories to tell if you’re interested.” He said smiling.
“Of, course, permission granted, you know you’re always welcome here.” She said smiling.
“It’s good to hear, it’s been a while.” Julian said as he slid into the landing tube and docked.
He went straight to Elena’s office to see what she thought about his new business, if she thought it was a success it would just reinforce what he had already thought himself. He walked in and she waved him to sit, she was on the com as usual probably making big bucks for Terracorp again, he respected her more all along for her determination and savvy. In his mind when business was mentioned she was the person he thought of first.
“How have you been?” she asked finally.
“Much better now, thank you.” Julian said
She smiled and nodded it was almost a surprise to hear him say something as a certainty, he was almost never sure of himself. It was a good sign, she decided.
“I want to talk to you about something.” Julian said, handing her his business card. She took it and sat back watching it change from scene to scene and smiling. He was a businessman after all, maybe not what she would have thought of but obviously he thought it was worthwhile.
“Nice cards, but can you make it work?” she asked almost not expecting an answer, but to her surprise he handed her a vid-clip with all his offers and sales on it. Privileged information to be sure, but he wasn’t worried, not about Elena.
“Are you sure you want me to see this?” she asked almost in shock.
“You’re my mentor in business who else would I be willing to show it to?” he asked seriously.
She was never more shocked than just now. Not only was he running a respectable business, he considered her his mentor, and she had never offered him a lesson. She handed him the clip back and sat back with a huge smile.
“I must say Julian; you’ve changed a lot in a few months and yes, I can see that your new business is quite successful.” She said, Julian nodded humbly and thanked her for her opinion.
“Your opinion means a lot to me; after all you’re the Queen of business in argon.” Julian said laughing. Elena started to laugh to; it was an expression she had heard before, but never in such a sincere way. This time she didn’t mind it at all.
“So what are your plans now?” she asked and for the first time she actually thought he might have an answer.
“The usual, settle down a little, when I’m not traveling for work. I’m fairly successful, but there are a few ships I want to get before I say it for certain. Maybe it’s time I start thinking about a family and staying close to home and friends.” he said with real conviction in his voice. She was really impressed it’s like he grew up in the last few months, he had never asked about family or wanted to discuss settling down ‘til this day, and she was more than impressed.
“It’s good to hear you say that, Julian I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to settle down or run around the galaxy for your whole life.” She said with a grin. Julian slid forward in his seat he had a very serious look on his face and she didn’t know what to make of it for a moment.
“I had a lot to prove, and a big dept to replay.” Julian said seriously, and for a moment she thought she saw a tear in his eye.” But it’s over now; I’ve repaid Ban for saving me from the pirates, and forgiven my father for the mess before, so now I can finally just be me.” He said, leaning back in his chair to relax after unloading all this out loud for the first time. He felt much better. Elena wanted to cry, or laugh out load for him, it was a mixture of emotion as she realized he had come home to make his peace with the world, and she was honored he stopped to tell her all about it, he was going to do fine now, she was sure.
“Is Saya around?” Julian asked finally but Elena just shook her head.
“Not at the moment, she’s out somewhere, if you like I’ll tell her you stopped in and ask about her.” Elena said, watching for any display from him as to his thoughts at the moment.
“I’ll be around Argon for a few days; at least, maybe we’ll run into each other.” Julian said, obviously disappointed. Elena sat back and smiled, saying she’d relay the message anyway as Julian thanked her for listening and walked out of the office. She was surer now than ever he was all better after the hard times he had had; now it was up to him what future he really wanted.
After Julian was gone Elena opened a comm channel and waited, in a minute it came back, audio only.
“Yes, mom, what is? it I’m on Argon Prime shopping.” Saya said.
“ And you couldn’t take a second out to use a real com station to answer?” she said a bit annoyed.
“ That’s why we wear these things mom, you should see the great stuff here today, and they’re having a sale too.” Saya was obviously engrossed in what she was doing, enough of that, her mother thought.
“ Julian was just here looking for you.” She started.
“ Why does he need some more help again?” Saya asked laughing, but her mother didn’t laugh.
“ I think it was a little more serious than that, but it’s not for me to say.” She said waiting. Saya stopped what she was doing, to think: Julian was never serious, and I wonder what happened.
“ I’d like for you to come home; I think we need to talk a bit.” Elena said seriously. Saya dropped what she was doing and responded.
“Ok, mom, if you think it necessary, I’ll be there within the hour.” She said, something was bothering her mother, this wasn’t like her, and so she hurried home.
Saya was home in record time, something was wrong and she needed to know what it was. Her mother wasn’t as young as she once was, and she worried about the long hours she put in. It never occurred to her what the talk was going to be about.
“Hi, mom, are you ok?” Saya asked as she came into the office.
“Yes I’m alright, but I think you’re going to need to sit down for this one.” She said smiling. Saya sat and her mother just shook her head smiling.
“Julian has started a very successful business selling custom ships.” Elena started, “and now that he’s considered a success he is thinking of settling down and spending more time closer to home. When he’s not out working of course.” She stated, Saya just smiled, He finally did it, he decided to stop all the foolishness, and settle down, she was happy for him.
“He even mentioned having a family some day.” Elena said watching for a reaction.
“Julian Brennan talking about having a family, I don’t believe it!” Saya said almost in shock.
“It’s true, he was very serious and he seemed very happy about it, so the question is, now that he’s decided to settle down who will it be with?” Elena said slyly. Saya’s eyes opened wide, there was a not so subtle hint here, she was sure. She could feel her face start to turn red as her mother waited for a response.
“That would be up to him, so I doubt we will have much to say about it.” She said, looking away.
“You might be surprised.” Elena said smiling to herself. Saya turned to look at her mother who was smiling way to wide.
“Ok, mom, what, you’ve got something on your mind so we’re not kids anymore, or I guess I’m not. So… out with it.” Saya said hoping her mother actually wouldn’t, but no luck today.
“Saya, he’s finally repaid all his debts to everyone in the universe, a big thing to him, and he came straight here to tell me about his future plans and looking for you. What do you think he was thinking? I doubt he was here just to see me.” She said with a chuckle
“You’re having far too much fun out of this.” Saya said, embarrassed , but it might be true, they had been friends for ages and she had noticed he was an attractive man some time ago, even did a little hinting, but he was buried in his problems, but if he got them all fixed then maybe now was going to be different.
“Did he say where he was going after here?” Saya finally asked.
“He said he was going to be in Argon for a few days, but you know if he came here first where he went from here.” Elena said.
“Report in to Ban, probably.” Saya said to herself.
“I don’t think it’s really like that, Ban has been like father to him all these years his father was away and Julian sees him like an uncle or maybe god father to , they’re really great friends.” Elena said.
“Maybe, this is a big change to see in a single day, after all this time.” Saya said looking away.
“If you’re not interested then do nothing, if he suggests anything just say your just friends, it all up to you.” Elena said. Saya looked up, “What if I’m not sure?” she asked but her mother just smiled as she stood and walked away.


Chapter 10: Home at Last


Julian flew through the north gate into Argon Prime. He had said his piece out loud for all to hear and it felt like the weight of the universe was off his shoulders. Well, he had said it out loud to Elena, he doubted it would go much further, but he still felt good about it. He scanned the area and found the Argon One sitting by the shipyard, he was very impressed to see the xenon J he had given the Argon sitting by the west gate. Ban was as good as his word; he was going to use it ‘til it was replaced. He started flying towards the Argon One just as Ban called, he almost snuck up on him, he thought with a smile.
“Julian, glad to see your back, and good to see your corvette in good shape yet, have you been doing any good since you left?” Ban asked.
“Actually yes, real good, can I come on board? I promise you won’t have to hide me in a cubical this time.” He said laughing. Ban just shook his head and smiled,
“Permission granted, of course, welcome aboard!” Ban said and closed the link.
Julian docked to the surprise of all but the dock chief; he had seen enough xenon ships in here the last few months not to be so surprised anymore. Julian stepped off the ship and greeted the Chief who came walking over.
“Hi Chief, how goes the war to keep the old girl flying?” (Meaning the Argon One)
“Well we’ve won the last few battles but the war goes on, this tub isn’t as new as it once was.” He said, taking Julian’s hand and shaking it with a big grin. Then pointing towards the Raider he asked,
“This ours now too?”
Julian just laughed out loud, “Not in this lifetime, what do you want from me?” he joked, the Chief just shook his head smiling, he knew better, but Julian and him had become friends, of a sort, and he wasn’t passing up the chance to kid him just a little.
“I’m going up to see the boss; you got someone here to escort me?” Julian asked
“Escort you to the office? That would be a waste of time.” The Chief said as Julian just slapped him on the back and started away,” Have it washed and waxed by the time I come back.” He said laughing.
“Not in this lifetime.” The chief quipped as Julian and he started their separate ways. Julian knew the way to the office by heart, it was true, and he was on board often enough he was considered an officer by all the men he met. So just to make everyone happy, if he was saluted he returned it, Ban had said he was always a member of Argon Intelligence, probably the least secret of all, but still a member. He would have to ask if he actually DID have rank here, he had never thought to ask ‘til now. As he walked in Ban waved him to sit, and then smiling he said,

“No Chief, you really don’t have to wax it but maybe a wash wouldn’t hurt.” He said smiling, Julian noticed quickly he didn’t turn the com off, it had never been on.
“Shame on you, spying on your own men,” Julian said with a big grin.
Ban looked a little more serious for a second and shook his finger at Julian, “It’s part of the job, you’ll see someday, I’m sure.” Ban had mentioned this before, so Julian jumped on it to his surprise.
“This job comes with benefits and everything? A man needs good insurance to raise a family you know.” Julian said laughing at what could only be considered a blank expression on Ban Danna’s face.
“My god, Julian Brennan talking about settling down with a family, I never thought I’d see the day.” Ban said leaning back to study him further.
“I think maybe in another year or so we should have a really serious talk about the benefits here, if you’re really serious.” Ban said smiling.
“Like you gave me a choice, you broadcast it to all of Argon lees than 6 months ago.” Julian said laughing. Ban smiled and looked away for a second remembering,
“Well, it was a spur of the moment thing, I wasn’t sure you’d ever consider it.” He said with a grin.
“So it was more of a threat to the senate than an actual request?” Julian asked as Ban sat red-faced.
“Not EXACTLY a threat, you are nearly qualified.” Ban stuttered and Julian smiled as he heard the word “nearly” getting a little more emphasis.
“It’s ok, Ban I’m not ready anyway, I’ve got a good business going and I have a few plans to see about, like setting up permanent residence here in Argon. I’ve pretty much lived out of trading station apartments up ‘til now.” He said seriously. Ban nodded, he was wondering what he had in mind, but he was glad to see the new attitude towards a more stable serious life style coming out. That was one prerequisite he hadn’t had before. He might just get this job after all. Ban thought.
“So, you thinking of starting up a new business here, maybe set yourself up a nice station to live in?” Ban asked smiling.
“I don’t know about that, right now my business is still about ships and I’m doing better than I ever imagined, but I do need somewhere to call home, so I’ll have to spend some time looking around to decide.” Julian said to Ban’s immediate glee, he was more happy for him now than he had ever been, this was the kind of young man Julian always had the talent and skills to be, but had put it off ‘til he had “paid his debts” whether real or imagined. He was glad to see the one person who expected this to be done was satisfied, because it was himself. No one else had ever expected him to repay their kindness, but Julian had thought it necessary, and now he was satisfied at last.
“So where are you going from here?” Ban asked.
“I think just to the trading station, I might get a nice apartment there before I decide what I’m doing. I like the idea of being here at home, but I’ve dealt with ships my whole life, so I’m not sure.” Julian said seriously.
“Well, let me know what you decide, and Julian I’m supposed to tell you Earth is setting up a communications channel so your father can call back here from time to time, and we are currently doing some negotiating. It looks like Earth and Argon will be friends after all.” Ban said with a grin.
“Good, it’ll be good to talk to him; can I have the comm’s frequency then please? When would be the best time to contact him do you think?” Julian asked. Ban was thrilled he was so ready to talk to his father.
“I’ll have the frequency added to your ship comm before you leave, you’re doing very well, I can see, I’m very happy for you.” Ban said standing and shaking his hand. Julian turned to go but stopped and smiled a sly smile at Ban who was wandering what he was up to now.
“Oh, and Ban, what is my rank here? It appears people salute me while I’m on board.” Julian said with a smile.
“They should, your promotion to Captain just went through; oh, about 6 months ago.” Ban said with a huge grin. Just about the time the ‘J’ arrived: What a coincidence,thought Julian as he walked away.
Julian waved goodbye to his friends on the docks and launched heading towards the trading station when he saw a friend on scanners, he slowed down and called across the distance to her.
“I’ve been looking for you.” He said smiling. Saya smiled a big smile and said.
“Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?” she said, she had said the same thing a dozen times before but he had hardly noticed.
“That it does, how have you been?” he asked, starting out slowly.
“Busy, Mom is slowly moving some of her Terracorp jobs over to me so I can help. It gives her a little more time and I think that’s good.” She said seriously.
“So you’re the next generation Terracorp executive?” Julian asked, more like a statement then a question.
“Possibly, but I’ll have to see, it’s not quite as easy for me as it is for her, she had all the business skills, sort of born in.” she said laughing.
“Well she is the Queen.” Julian said and Saya laughed at the sound of it.
“You better never let her hear you say that, she’s not to happy the way that’s been used a few times.” Saya said.
“From me, it would be with the greatest respect, always.” Julian said and she could see he was being completely honest.
“You really have changed fast Julian; it’s a bit of a shock really. “ Saya stumbled just a bit.
“I know, but you know I had to do it this way, I had debts to pay, and things I had to cope with. Anyway, it’s all over now and I’m home.” Julian said smiling. She felt somehow good about it all, she had waited for years to see this happen and he was everything she thought he could have been, it was just really sudden.
“I’m going to set up a nice place at the trading station, want to come along? You always had better taste in furnishings and stuff than me.” Julian offered. There it was, she thought, he had never ever asked her to help him pick out things or do remodeling of any apartment he ever had. He was thinking differently now, for sure.
“If you don’t mind; I’ll pass, at least for now.” She said, hoping he noticed she wasn’t leaving him out altogether.
“Ok, no problem, you have a standing invitation any time you want, when you’re ready.” Julian said and for a second it wasn’t just about remodeling anymore.
“Ok, maybe later, I’ve got to get going, Mom has stuff for me to do.” She lied and Julian knew it. She had patiently waited for years for him to grow up, now a few more weeks or months wouldn’t make any difference. He went to the station and got a nice apartment, nicer than any he had before, and set up his communication link so he could hear if, or when his father ever called. It was a temporary setup but it was a good one, at least for now.

[KRM398]

Chapter 11: A Step at a Time

Julian awoke the next day ready to finish the one job he had pending. He ate his breakfast and went to get in his ship. He would jump to Omicron Lyre and let the man know his LX was ready. It was a fast 2 million, he thought with a wide grin, and it cost him 2 disrupter missiles. He strapped in and thanked the station docking crew for saying good morning as he loaded up. He had never noticed these little things before, but then he was never this wealthy and he wasn’t sure they weren’t connected, but he didn’t care, he was in a good mood. He had seen Elena and got a real professionals advice about his business and had seen and talked to Saya, who had still not run out and gotten married, or was having any serious relationships right now, so even though things were moving slowly, he considered it progress. Now he was going out to work for the day and he’d think about this stuff later.
It was afternoon, Argon time, when the guy finally showed up and picked up the LX. Julian was getting bored waiting but that’s what business is all about, so he stuck it out ‘til they left and sighed in relief. He checked his messages again and found a new one, a Teladi businessman who had heard about him from a friend. He called and asked to speak to him and was patched through.
“Ah! Mr. Brennan, I am glad you returned my call so soon.” He was very happy indeed.
“What can I do for you today?” Julian asked hopefully.
“I hear from friends you deal in rather unusual vessels. I have a need for a few if it can be arranged.” He said waiting.
“And what types and sizes do you need?” Julian asked.
“I want to make a statement to the scum that bothers me while I’m flying my TL... they have shot down my escorts on more than one occasion, and I have had enough of it! I require an escort that will strike fear into their hearts the moment they see them.” He said loudly. Julian just nodded and smiled.
“I can fill that request, but as an old fighter pilot I’m asking what people you’re worried about. After all different groups fly different ships and some are easier to deal with than others.” He said waiting.
The Teladi stuck his nose in the air with great arrogance.
“If they were mere pirates then I wouldn’t need you!” he said staring down at the screen, Julian tried not to smile; this man had some serious enemies to deal with so some serious firepower would be needed.
“I suggest 4 xenon L heavy fighters, perhaps even LX ultra heavies, they can turn a pirate nova into scrap metal with a good pilot in them, but they won’t be cheap, so you decide.” Julian said, typing in a set of numbers for each. The Teladi nearly laughed into the screen, this price was more than acceptable.
“Three L’s and one LX, all new and ready to fly.” He said loudly.
“Ah well, that’s different, this price didn’t include weapons.” Julian said very seriously. He typed again while the Teladi waited. He looked a little less arrogant now, but he had started it.
“Agreed, when can you deliver?” he demanded.
“All or the first installment?” Julian asked.
“All. Let’s not let the scum know I’m getting ready for them in advance.” He said wickedly, Julian smiled and nodded.
“One month, and I’ll call when I have them for you, all you need is to pick them up where I say, and until you’re ready this conversation never happened.” Julian said in a very businesslike tone.
“Agreed, for an Argon, you’re quite the businessman, I can appreciate dealing with a pro.” The Teladi said and then, “Good profits to you.” And he was gone.
Julian picked up his vid-clip and added the new ships to the list. Thank god some of these orders were for “anytime you can get them” he smiled, he was getting booked ahead. Julian decided to work his way back towards Scale Plate Green, the xenon were very active there and he was sure in a day or so he could have a few L’s at least. He had an order for 3 M’s, just anytime he could get them, but if he went for those; he might want to switch the rear turret to Pac’s. He thought. He’d worry about that later, he decided.
He ran through the gate into Nyana’s Hideout and started towards the gate to Scale Plate Green, he was half way there when his scanners picked up a xenon patrol coming the other way. He smiled to himself, he was sure if he took his time, he could get something here. He opened up on an M with a disrupter missile, and it took the shields out in the first shot. He sprayed the second with his PAC’s up front and it exploded. Another was killed by his rear turret. The L’s in the group were finally catching up, and Julian was glad he had finished the last M just now. The L’s dove in, spraying HEPT fire everywhere and Julian took a serious hit. He spun around and wasted the L responsible and was into the second when the PPC’s first hit. He was literally slid sideways, and his shields were almost gone. The line of fire was heavy and accurate; the P had waited ‘til the last minute to strike, and Julian was preoccupied with the L’s. He saw a set up here as he whipped around; leaving the turret to deal with the wounded L while he switched to PPC’s himself and opened fire. The stream hit the P broadside, it raked him from front to back and stole his shields all together, but his turret had done the same to the Pride. It was a race now and Julian was barely winning. In a moment the P exploded, and even the frag from it cost Julian some hull. He turned as quickly as he could ready to finish with the other L’s but the turret had done it’s job well, there was one slightly shot up L floating 5 km away and a lot of scrap in sector. Julian looked quickly at the scanners, he was bad hurt and a second patrol right now was going to cost him a quick retreat, but it was clear. He went to the L and claimed it and sent it to the trading station, he then started back to Omicron, and he had some serious repairs to get.
Julian was ready to go home, he had finished one job and started another, but it cost him way too much. After expenses he was not making anything today, he decided. He jumped home and went to his apartment to get a hot shower and some food. He was disappointed things had turned out this way, but you take the good with the bad, so he was ok with it. He sat looking at the entertainment screen when a call came in. He turned the sound off and clicked the link. To his immediate surprise his father was there.
“You’re a hard guy to catch at home.” He said jokingly.
“Yes I know, but we all got to work sometime.” Julian said laughing. His father was all smiles, he heard Julian was all better now and had gotten on with his life, but this was very personal to him and he needed to see for himself.
“I’m so sorry Julian; I have a lot to apologize for...” His father started,
“No you don’t, I understand how it was, hell, look at how tangled up in Argon business I was for a while, I can just imagine what you went through all those years.” Julian said looking at the floor.
“Thank you, Son, it’s good to hear you say that, it been haunting me every day since we last saw each other,” Kyle admitted.
“It’s over, and I understand, enough said, how are the negotiations going? Will you get a chance to come home anytime soon?” Julian asked, switching the topic.
“Maybe, we’ve agreed that Argon is really a colony of Earth, don’t even ask, it’s complicated. Anyway, the Earth council says we can begin trading with Earth in a few months, we’re still writing up the agreements, but it won’t take long to get that part done, and Ban is hoping we can get some military assistance from them. I talked secretly with Admiral Kovich and he said that he was against giving Argon any Earth weapons, but he did say that there were some older Earth ships they don’t use anymore if I want to ask about those, they wouldn’t have any Earth style weapons on them, but then we could use our own when they got there.” He concluded, shaking his head, “Its progress for sure, but we’ll see. I heard what you did for Ban, how in the Makers name did you get a xenon J into Argon? Or even better, how did you get YOU into a xenon J?!?” he asked laughing.
“It’s complicated,” Julian copied as his dad smiled and nodded,
“Fair enough, but I’ll sit down and explain all the different political things I did if you explain to me how this happened someday, deal?” he asked smiling widely.
“No deal, I don’t even want to know about all this politics, let’s just say a friend of mine has bred a computer virus with a transporter device and leave it go at that.” Julian said looking seriously at the screen. His dad looked at the floor thinking then at the screen and seemed to be talking to himself in the distance. Then he looked at the screen again and said,
“I got to go, limited amount of time allowed here, but we WILL talk about this some more.” He said with a wink and the line went dead.
“I’ll bet we will,” Julian said to himself as he turned back to his show.




Chapter 12: A Serious Request


Julian was happily working away the next week. He had gotten a little lucky, he picked up several ships, and it didn’t cost him any major repairs. That was the way he liked it, but he knew he had to make it while he had the chance, this still might turn out to be a fad thing, but he doubted it, the more ships he sold the more orders came in, he even turned down one because they didn’t give him enough time and he had other orders pending. As far as he was concerned it was the first real sign of a very successful business, when you have to turn them away. He smiled to himself as the Nova Raider he just sold flew away. They could have gotten a brand new one for what they paid, and it was fully repaired, but they lacked the faction to be able to buy it anywhere else. He knew he’d have to be careful doing this, but he checked them out and they were good people, they just were having bad times, so we do what we must. He totally understood that, he was just glad it wasn’t like that anymore for him. He checked his list and sighed, he was barely making a dent, but that was a good thing. He started towards Split Fire, there was a Marauder in there off and on, and he had more orders for those than he could take, it had actually become a bidding war between three people, and only Julian was going to be the winner here.
He wished he could find the pirate base making these, but over the years his faction with them had fallen ‘til only a few good friends would talk to him. He stopped and pulled in beside an asteroid. He opened the comm’s link and in a few seconds there was Ben sitting in front of maybe 6 computer screens, busily working away.
“Yes, what is it?” he asked without looking.
“Hi Ben, how’s the business going?” Julian asked, as Ben looked around.
“Good and yours?” he asked.
“Also doing well, I need to know something, you deal with a lot of different people, and can you get new Marauders from the shipyard?” Julian asked, hopefully. Ben smiled to himself and kept watching the other screen.
“Marauders? Is there a big market for that right now?” he asked chuckling to himself.
“Ben…Come on now, it was a fair question.” Julian said seriously.
“Well, maybe I can and maybe I can’t, who wants to know?” Ben teased.
“I don’t see anyone in this ship but me so maybe I do, you think?” Julian said sounding a little less patient.
Ben cleared his throat at the shift in tone of his friends’ voice.
“I’d have to make a call and see, and I’d expect a …little something for helping.” He said without looking at the screen.
“Like how much EXTRA did you have in mind?” Julian asked.
“Maybe 10%.. 5% if you’re a good boy next time I need help.” Ben said quickly.
“And when have I not been there when you called... BEN??” Julian started getting louder.
“Alright, alright, give me a minute to make a call, for gods’ sakes a man tries to earn a decent living…” Ben was off on a rant, so Julian just sat back and waited.
“Ok, that’s one Marauder.. Would that be A class or C class?” he waited and turned to look at the screen, Julian was totally confused.
“What’s the difference?” he finally asked.
“It says…”The new C class replacement for the now obsolete Carrack is…” Julian jumped in,
“It replaces the Carrack, but it’s not more than a few years old?” he demanded.
“Ahem! “Ben started again,
“the C class Marauder will replace the much hated Carrack with new classic lines and a better looking ship the pirate community can fly with pride. With 6 turrets and options including more freight capacity or more fighter bays the Marauder C will be the new standard in pirate power.” My god, thought Julian, the pirates have gone commercial, having pirate ship salesmen was really not much of a surprise.
“Well, come on man, I got people waiting here!” Ben said finally.
“Just 1 A class for now, but I’m sure I’ll be back.” Julian said.
“Cash?” Ben said.
“Sure.” Julian said.
“I mean, give me your cash now, and come on man...” Ben whined. Julian entered his account numbers into the ships computer carefully with a max withdrawal amount, no chances being taken.
“There,” he said” When can I get it?”
“Just a moment, it says delivery will be in 24 hours. Choose a destination.” Ben said. “Elena’s Fortune Merchant Shipyard.” Julian said.
“More cash.” Ben said staring at the screen, “you didn’t think you’d get it for 2 million did you, now hurry up this guys getting upset with ME.” he stated quickly.
“How much more?” Julian asked, and gritted his teeth.
“3 Million More, 5 million total and if you don’t hurry he’ll refuse the deal.” Ben said. Julian dropped his head and sighed, this better go through, and he added the extra money and waited.
“Done, he’s not happy he was kept waiting, but he says he’ll still deal if we want to next time. I said we had to scrounge a bit for the extra, he sort of understood, but he wasn’t too happy about it.” Ben said.
“Good, now give me the rest of the details on the C class.” Julian said smiling.
“You can’t afford it.” Ben said and the link went dead. Julian sat and chuckled for a minute, he was right of course, but he had clients who were going to be really interested to hear about this. As a matter of fact, Julian opened a link and waited, it took longer than expected.
“Julian what is it, I’m in the middle of something here.” Ban started.
“Just doing my job, tell me quickly did you know the Carrack is being phased out by a better ship?” Julian said quickly. Bans eyes popped out,
“Meet me in my office as soon as possible.” He said and the link went dead. Julian went for energy cells, while he was going this way might as well stock up.
He walked into Ban’s office like he owned the place, and Ban was waiting, but he wasn’t alone.
“Julian, this is Admiral Bolo Ni and Admiral Ho’t N’t, we were having a meeting when your call came in and they were very interested. So I allowed them to come along and hear. Good relations across our boarders after all are essential to good relations in the future.” Ban went on for a minute like he had scripted it and Julian wasn’t surprised to think he had, Politics, god he hated Politics.
“Admirals…”Julian said respectfully with a slight bow.
“Alright Julian give me your report and tell me where you found all this out.” Ban stated very formally.
“I was requesting information from one of my sources about the pirate Marauder, when he broke in and ask if I knew they were starting to build a much larger one, a Marauder C” Julian stopped for effect.
“I said: No I hadn’t heard and he gave me the spec’s in case I might know someone who is interested in a bigger ship. The C class has 6 turrets and several options, not the least of which is to choose more cargo bay room or more room for fighters. The exact numbers are still being worked out as we speak.” Julian concluded. The Admiralty whispered amongst themselves for a few minutes as Ban assured them the information was authentic. Then they all turned and looked at Julian as one man, and he knew this wasn’t going to be good.
“We require you to do us this favor.” The Split Admiral said. “We will pay for a new Marauder C and you buy it for us, after that we will be able to do testing on the armor strength and engine speed and our forces will be ready in case they are mass produced and we have to deal with them.” He said, Julian smiled respectfully and said he wasn’t sure he could even get one, they were the newest thing and there would be orders waiting. Not to mention, that even with the cash he might not be able to purchase a ship so large, there were factions to consider and pirate politics, also. They all nodded in agreement and a second later asked again.
“Will you at least TRY Mr. Brennan?” He nodded he’d try but wasn’t sure how high a price the new ships would be, even if they were in line with other cruiser class vessels, they might cost 20 million. He was assured that the price was not a problem, and he wished he could have said that earlier.
“Then I agree, I’ll have to contact my source again, it may take time, but I’ll report to Commander Danna immediately if I find out anything.” Julian said and they stepped forward and shook his hand, he was assured his account would cover the cost as soon as he found out what it was. He nodded and left the room, Ben was going to choke on this, he thought with a smile.

Chapter 13: New Things All Around

Julian jumped back to Elena’s Fortune and made another call, he liked it here, he was at home, and he knew Ban had not placed spy sat’s here because the pirates made a game of finding them and shooting them down. It became expensive real fast. He called Ben and waited, and Ben had made him wait too, he was quite sure.
“And don’t tell me you went out and got the money for a C class either.” Julian started to laugh; he didn’t know anyone who would start a conversation like it never ended.
“Ok, I won’t tell you, but I need to know the exact amount for a new C with some good options on it, and my client says price is no problem.” Julian said smiling. Ben turned from his screens to look at Julian smiling.
“No problem, wow, I wish I had clients like that, what government are you dealing for, Argon?” he asked.
“The PRICE, Ben, I just need to know the price.” Julian said loudly. Ben went back to his screens and in a few minutes called to Julian,
“Ok, we need to know the options wanted, the list is: 4 extra fighter bays or 1000 more cargo space.” He stopped for a moment.
“Extra fighter bays,” Julian said.
“Ok, now, 2 gig commercial shields or 3 gig pirate shields?” he waited again.
“Three gig pirate shields,” Julian said.
“And lastly, PPC’s up front with Kyon Emitters in the turrets or PPC’s all around?” he asked and waited.
“Both, Kyon and PPC’s,” Julian said.
“Cash or credit,” Ben asked, without turning around.
“They’re kidding right?” Julian asked.
“I don’t think so, they seem serious to me.” Ben said.
“Cash, “Julian said smiling.
“In who’s name,” Ben asked chuckling.
“Mine of course, “Julian said smiling, now we’ll see.
“Done, delivery date: 3 weeks from today and the cost is 23.5 million, in advance.” Ben said looking at Julian with a big smile. Julian entered his account numbers and Ok’d the deal. In a minute Ben’s eyes popped as he read the screen.
“Accepted, and your faction with the Yaki just went through the roof.” Ben said laughing out loud. The Yaki, he should have known.
“Thank you Ben, I’ll see you get something nice for this.” Julian said smiling.
“It’s ok, I already have, “Ben said and the line went dead. You little…, Julian thought, I wonder what the ship really did cost? He laughed and decided it didn’t matter, he didn’t pay for it. He waited the rest of the day at home. He had just made a huge deal, he might not have made anything himself, but he was going to get a big faction boost from it and he was happy about that. He didn’t want to call Ban right away; he didn’t want it to look too easy, after all. He knew what time Ban quit for the day and he called just a few minutes ahead of time to catch him in.
“Hi Ban we got through and the deal’s made. The ship will be delivered in 3 weeks.” Julian said smiling.
“Good everyone will be pleased it went so well, and you were worried your faction with them wouldn’t be high enough. See money talks a lot louder than reputation sometimes.” Ban said laughing. Julian told him of the options he had ordered and said he ordered it like he would for himself, so no one would be the wiser. Ban agreed it sounded good and he’d let the Admirals know to prepare, the new ship would be ready for testing in a month. Julian wasn’t the only one wanting to make things look harder than they are.
“You’ve done well, thank you Julian, good bye.” Ban said and the link went black.

Julian sat back and called a couple of his clients, they had been fighting for a few days now about a pirate Marauder. The one he had captured and sold was causing quite a stir and he needed a few more quickly. He just knew he wasn’t going to make as much this way, but at least the word would get around he was reliable. He spent the next few hours in a bidding war, he informed them he had “conned “a pirate into getting him a new Marauder, and no laser had ever touched it. They all wanted it, bad, and he saw quickly he was going to do better than he thought. After another hour the proud new owner was told he’d get the call the second it was delivered, and he was ecstatic. It had cost him a great deal, but he was determined to have it, no matter what. Julian was just as happy as him and had mentioned that there might be more available later, if he could bribe a few more people. He smiled to himself, these rich people want everything their own way and they want it right now, having to wheel and deal is just part of getting their way and the Teladi don’t want Paranid to have anything they want or vice versa. It was a good deal all around; he would deliver the new ship tomorrow and then wait a few days for him to brag around, and then say he was getting another. It might turn into a full time job without a lot of risk; he was not upset to think that. He sat back smiling and decided to have a cup of coffee and something to eat, he had just returned when the link buzzed again.
“Yes,” Julian asked waiting to see who it was.
“And men say us women stay on the phone all day.” Saya said laughing.
“I was just doing some business; just got done making a deal. How have you been?” he asked, being slow and patient might be the way to go, it was worth a try at least.
“Not bad I heard you’ve been in Argon a lot more the last week, to be honest, I thought you were just talking the other day. I mean, this is a real turn around for you, staying home so much more.” She was babbling a little and Julian just smiled, she was obviously having trouble finding things to say.
“There’s no pressure here, Saya, you don’t have to call if you don’t want to.” Julian said, giving her a chance.
“I wanted to call, I was wandering if you really had changed this much, I guess I’m still in a little shock, after all, I waited for you for a couple years after we first met and you didn’t seem interested, so I sort of gave up a while ago.” She said, embarrassed.
“I thought maybe you had, we never really talked like this, we always just made a joke of everything, sometimes honesty is better.” He said waiting.
“Honesty is definitely better, so here we are being honest. You really thinking of having a family soon, I mean, in another year or two. Well, you know, what I mean.” She babbled on for a second until Julian started to laugh.
“What’s so funny? Hey, you stop that!” she said laughing; she was the old Saya again for a minute.
“Listen to us, two people who cared for each other all these years trying hard not to admit it ‘til the other does, just like all those times in space. We came so close to saying things then we just turned away.” Julian said shaking his head.
“I wasted a lot of time working out my problems, I’m sorry if the timing is bad , or you’re not sure anymore., but I am, I watched you walk onto that ship the first day and my heart just jumped. You were the most beautiful girl I had ever seen, and that new pilot outfit didn’t help either.” He said, laughing.
“What do mean new pilot dress that WAS MY REGULAR...” she started again.
“Saya, the next time you want to impress someone new, make sure you wear the same outfit when you’re TANNING...” he said laughing. She stopped for a minute to think about it, and then burst out laughing.
“How long have you known?” she asked.
“The first day, and you had the nerve to wear it every time we met again for a long time, I wasn’t saying anything after that.” He said shaking his head and smiling.
“And you let me wear that thing in public for all those years and never said anything!” she yelled shaking her finger at the screen
“I wasn’t saying a thing, you and I both know you looked really good in that, or you wouldn’t have worn it.” He said smiling widely.
“You thought so, and never said, I thought you didn’t even notice.” She said sitting back, smiling to herself.
“Not notice that top? Impossible, and believe me a lot of other people noticed too. Like the Teladi you told me about.” Julian said.
“Well, he got what he deserved for what he said.” Saya said laughing. Finally it just drifted to a stop, they both had said enough for one night, and they knew it.
“I’m going now, but I’ll give you another call some other time, ok?” Saya asked.
“Anytime, and your welcome to drop by if you want.” Julian mentioned.
“Maybe, sometime, but not just yet, have a little patience, ok, Julian? Don’t give up just yet.” She said, and closed the link.
“Not a chance” he thought to himself, she had made the first step, and he responded honestly, now she had things to think about.


Chapter 14: Another Day, Another Credit



Julian was in Elena’s Fortune when the new Marauder jumped in through the west gate; it immediately made the turn and ran up to the Merchant Shipyard. He followed close behind and docked right next to it. As he walked off his ship he was confronted by a couple of men who walked over and asked.
“You Brennan?” the biggest man asked, Julian nodded, and he handed him the codes for the new ship and a business card.
“Hardigan said to say he remembers you from the old days, I guess you shot him down a few times.” He said smiling.
“Hardigan works with you now?” Julian asked.
“He’s in charge of the shipyard, I heard he lost so many ships they won’t let him fly anymore, so they gave him a desk job, and surprised everyone, and he’s good at it!” The guy said laughing and then he waved to his friend and just walked away.
“I’ll be damned, Hardigan found a place after all.” Julian thought smiling and walking to the comm link. He called the new owner and he was there as fast as the ship he owned could carry him. Julian was standing right next to the ship when he came running in. He stopped and looked it up and down, it was truly beautiful. He told Julian he would never buy another ship without him, and Julian accepted saying it was his pleasure. The ship backed out and Julian saw it heading for the west gate. This guy was babying it so bad, Julian thought he might get killed by pirates before he left the sector, and he knew the ship had no weapons on it at the moment. The guy made it out though and Julian was a happy businessman very early this morning. Julian looked at the card, it was a plain vid card with a picture of the shipyard on it, nothing fancy, but he was impressed old Hardigan was in charge; he made another call and waited.
“What you want?” came a familiar voice,
“Hardigan, you old pirate how have you been?” Julian said smiling. Hardigan tried not to smile, but barely managed it; Paranid, you know.
“Oh it you, what can Hardigan do for you today, you get your ship?” he asked Julian said he did and wanted another one.
“You are starting a fleet? Maybe get you a discount better than last time, just maybe.” He stumbled around.
“Good, a discount is good; I’ll buy all my ships from you for old time’s sake.” Julian said laughing.
“Ok, then another A class, your C class not ready yet, said 3 weeks.” Hardigan said loudly.
“Three weeks is good, just another A for now, when can I get it?” he asked.
“None ready today, maybe 2 days, then ready, you pay now.” He said and Julian asked how much.
“Discount like said, maybe better if you buy more, same as last time, 4.3 million, you pay now.” Hardigan was a hard man to deal with, but he was fair. Julian sent the money and the deal was done.
“3 days, delivered to shipyard, you take all deliveries there?” he asked. Julian said yes and he hung up without another word. “Same as last time, 4.3 million that’s not bad,” Julian thought then, “Hey wait a minute!; I paid 5 million last time, that little weasel!” Julian thought, he’d have something to say to Ben the next time he calls looking for favors, he decided. He was glad he got the new business card, and his faction was repaired, he liked Hardigan, even when he was shooting him down, he laughed at the thought.
He checked his orders; he had a lot more xenon ships to get so he might as well get at it. His corvette was fully loaded with E cells and it was early, so he jumped back to Black Hole Sun to look around. He was in sector over an hour before the first patrol came through, it was a big one, and he decided to break it up at the gate. He followed it from far enough away they didn’t rush him, they had their orders, so he was sure if he didn’t get too close they would go on. They got to the gate and the P went through first, then the M’s rushed the gate and the L’s came slowly wandering in as usual. He hit the first L with a missile and it drifted to a stop, but stayed red, odd but he’d deal with it later, he fired on the second, and got the shields down quickly, but it fought until destroyed. So he returned to see the disabled L with the attitude, disabled but still red. He popped a few short hits on it and after a while it went blue. He moved in and claimed it, that’s 2 he thought, and sent it to the equipment dock for storage.
By now, he was sure the others were realizing what had happened, he dove through and saw the patrol ahead of him, and they didn’t pay any attention and was moving on ahead. It was strange, Julian thought, they must know the others are gone, why aren’t they coming back, or attacking me? He wasn’t sure what was going on, but he decided it was time to move in, he hit one M with a missile and the shields went all the way down and it went blue. Another odd thing, that missile should have destroyed it, it was carrying heavy shields, the first time he had seen this big a change on a ship as small as an M, he thought, he dropped 2 more missiles on two more M’s and they were destroyed. Now that’s natural, he thought. The other L came around as he approached the patrol and sprayed him with fire, his shields dropped about 25% but he was right there, and the L didn’t last long. The P was still moving on and Julian was wandering what had happened to these Xenon’s to make them so “deaf and dumb” they didn’t look around, they just flew straight ahead and didn’t seem to care about anything. It was odd but it worked in his favor for the moment. He raced in and dropped a long spray of fire against the P, it turned and started to fire but Julian had the advantage, he opened up again and turned letting his turret get a few good hit in. Then he pulled back and dropped missile after missile trying to get through the turret fire, but no good, he couldn’t get a good hit on the engines. He switched over to PPC’s and laid down a heavy fire ‘til it drifted to a stop. He moved around to the near-front and moved in, taking a few hits as he adjusted his spot, then the countdown began, but not soon enough. The explosion shook him to the core. He threw the power on and ran past the P and out the other side, taking a little fire there as well. He had not seen it coming, as they past the north gate, a xenon Q had emerged behind him and their fire had nearly torn him in two. The ship was moving at 100, not good, and not what he liked, but enough for now. He had a P disabled but no way to get to it and an Argon destroyer was coming into the sector. He ran in that direction and scanned the Q; it was only doing 60, not too worried about him getting away, Julian thought as he passed the destroyer and waited for the fireworks to begin.
The Argon destroyer was ready and waiting for this, he had entered just as Julian was hit, and he still couldn’t see how he had managed to survive. For a minute there he was invisible in the glare from the explosion, and when he ran out and around the P the command crew on the bridge was awestruck, but he had survived. Now it was time to teach these Xenon’s a lesson about being in his sector, the captain decided. He loaded up missiles and dropped 4 hornets in the face of the Q. The big ship barely noticed, and he decided that it was going to be a war of shields instead. He ran to within laser range and opened up, but the Q has PPC’s on the front and the destroyer was hit hard as they past. It was hitting the Q full force and was gaining ground quick against its shields, but it was doing just as good a job on them. The Captain was starting to worry; he was just about even with the shields on the Q when it took another hard hit. This time it wasn’t the destroyer; the P Raider had regained his shields and joined in. His PPC’s were doing a good job and the Q was caught between two enemies and was in big trouble. It lashed out with all it had and PPC’s came on along the side, dropping the destroyers shields all the faster. The Captain was still confident they had him. The Q made a turn, keeping his attention on the Argon destroyer, but the little ship behind him punched on. It was doing a better job than the destroyer captain would have imagined from something that size. He obviously was an experienced pilot and knew his ship well.
Julian was gaining on the Q, it wasn’t as fast as he was, even now, and the Argon destroyer was plastering it badly. It was just a matter of time now, he decided. He wanted to get back to that P before the destroyer did it in, but he couldn’t see how he was going to do it. The Q was all but ignoring him; it had 1 turret firing on him as he approached, and all the rest was on the destroyer along the side. It turned as he turned and tried to keep the guns up front on it as much as possible, but the captain had an experienced crew and they danced around it trying to stay along side where they had the advantage. They were doing well and the Q’s shields were almost gone. Julian was right there ready to hit it some more with his big guns, this ship was going to pay for the damages they caused him, it was going to cost him plenty, and with the destroyer here his revenge was a sure thing. He weaved around a little to avoid the one turret of PPC’s that kept firing on him looking for a dead spot to be safe, as usual he found it a little closer in, and was surprised to see the huge engines right in front of him so he had to adjust his speed or collide with it. He found his dead spot and was blasting his son of a xenon when his mind snapped. “What the Bezany are you thinking? You’ll never get this close to a Q again!” he smiled to himself; this experiment was never tried, with good reason. He hit the button and the scan began. Immediately Ben popped up on the screen.
“What the hell are you doing? We never attempted this before.” He yelled.
“Me and an Argon destroyer are getting our asses kicked here, Activate NOW! “ Julian yelled Ben just shook his head and a minute later, with just over 50 % hull left the Q turned green. Julian screamed into the comm’s to stop firing, just as a few more HEPT’s hit from the destroyer. He immediately took control and shut down the Q’s defenses. It was ready to fire on an Argon destroyer, with Julian’s name on the Q as owner. The Argon Captain stopped his ship a few km away and said nothing, he and his crew was in shock.
“I expect a full report about what happened here.” He demanded after a few minutes to catch his breath.
“Call Commander Ban Danna and report this, he’ll give you all the info I can’t.” Julian said, smiling to himself.
“Ah I see, an intelligence matter. I look forward to his report as well. “Thank you for your assistance Mr. Brennan, we were in big trouble there for a while.” He said honestly, and started to turn his ship to leave. In a minute more a bright flash was seen where the P once was.
“Good shooting, Captain.” Julian said smiling. He started to dock to his new ship as the Argon Captain just growled into the comm’s,
“I still expect a report about this incident, and my Commander will, I’m sure, as well. I have your name and registration number, we will be in touch.” He said and the destroyer went its way, slowly looking the Q over as it went, still not trusting it to be friendly.
“Did we get it?” Ben called back a second later, Julian just nodded and Ben started a whole new set of info settings, asking a few questions about timing and smoothness, as Julian waited for him to finally be satisfied.
“I found out you ripped me on the first Marauder, you little weasel, and now here I am giving you even more help. It’s a sad day for friendship.” Julian said trying to be pathetic looking on the screen.
“I said I wanted a little extra.” Ben said in defense.
“You said maybe 5% because I ALWAYS help you.” Julian added.
“Oh, you heard that,” Ben said looking away, “Well ok, I’ll make it up to you then.” Ben said finally.
“How are you going to do that, I’m listening.” Julian said.
Ben looked around for a minute, still avoiding the screen and finally got a big smile.
“I’ll give you a big discount on my services, after all, look what you just got, it’s probably worth 20 million or more, and that one is for free, for the info.” Ben said with a flourish. Julian knew he’d figure a way out without actually paying anything, but as usual he had a point.
“OK, how big of a discount, from now on?” Julian asked.
“Well, I don’t know about from now on, maybe a 50% discount for a month.” He said smiling.
“A month!” Julian yelled.
“ok, maybe 3 months,” Ben said but Julian was staring hard at the screen, “Alright , alright, 1 year but you’ll never get a deal like this again I’ll tell you that!” Ben said acting like it hurt and closed the comm. Julian sat laughing on the bridge of his new ship, he better get this going, or Omicron might be back for it. He thought, and started towards the north gate and some serious E cells. He entered and sat a few km from the solar power plant and ordered his P to get a load of cells, while he waited he called Argon One and waited to get through.
“Yes Julian what new information did you find now? You’re getting to be most resourceful agent.” He said smiling.
“Did all your scientists on the Argon One ever get a chance to examine a working xenon Q?” Julian asked as Ban shook his head and smiling widely.
“No, I don’t believe anyone has to my recollection. Why? Do you know where we can see one?” he asked almost knowing the answer.
“Well, I’m standing in one, but my ship is out getting E cells for the return trip, if you want I’ll let them go all over it, but it cost me big time so this one will stay with me.” He said seriously. Ban could see he was being serious so he thought it over and decided it was only fair, he had given Argon an even bigger ship, so he approved it, saying he would be clear to jump into Argon Prime when he was ready.
“And one more thing, if an Omicron destroyer captain calls checking up on me, you can tell them whatever you like.” Julian said.
“What does Omicron know about this?” Ban asked immediately.
“He was a little busy getting shot at when I came up from the rear and scanned the Q, so he doesn’t know much, but he really would like to know how it went from killing him to friendly and belonging to me.” Julian said, laughing out loud, but Ban was NOT smiling.
“If I have to cover for you with these odd experiments, then I want you in my office as soon as possible, At least I deserve an explanation myself, and for the books.” Ban said and before Julian could say anything he closed the comm. ‘Oops’, Julian thought, he was abusing Ban’s help and now it was going to cost him, but then he did say he’d explain it later, so now looks like the time. His ship returned full of E cells and he transferred the jump drive over to the Q, in a few minutes he was in Argon Prime and everyone seemed a little less shocked this time around. He parked the Q at the shipyards, as per Bans orders and flew to the Argon One. As quickly as he could he got to Bans office and he was waiting with a few “friends.” Julian wasn’t too happy about the audience, but Ban insisted, so he had no choice.
“Ok, Julian these people are here to hear your explanation, you’ve done exceptional work, and this new ship just proves that whatever experiments you and your friend are doing are working very well.” Ban said, and several people started talking at once, asking questions about the process and how long it takes. Julian put up his hand as they all stopped talking and he stood up to speak.
“A good friend of mine from my pirate days has invented a process of scanning the computer systems of ship, finding their weak spots, and then transporting a specially designed chip into the computer to take control of it. The exact process is unknown to me, I’m only the test pilot, but so far we have successfully tested it against all known pirate ships, and N, M, L, LX P, Q, and xenon J ships. I have no doubt it would work on the K too, but that experiment was never done.” He said and sat back down. The room was deadly silent, Ban turned to his head engineer and asked if it sounded feasible, he just shrugged, and said no one had ever thought of it before. This was all new ground, but since he saw evidence it worked sitting all around him, he had no reason to doubt it.
“The Q sitting in dock at the shipyard is my payment for the experiment, I have volunteered to let any of you examine it so long as it stays my property, and yes, the chip is still inserted where the transporter placed it.” Julian stopped to see what they were whispering about and the engineers rapidly left the room. Ban was all smiles.
“Thank you Julian, I appreciate you giving us all this info, your friend has a very good product here, too bad he only deals with pirates.” Ban said, as Julian started laughing, he didn’t know what he said that was so funny.
“Ben will deal with anyone, he considers himself an honest businessman, and he got all this xenon info so he could deal with all the major houses, just ask him and I’m sure he’ll talk to you.” Julian said, as Ban sat with his mouth open, with all this new technology, he had no idea it was actually available, this was wonderful. Julian said he could sit up a meeting, and Ban approved, Julian had overdone it this time, but Ban was happy with the results.


________________________________________
Chapter 15: The Big Meet



Julian called Ben right from Ban’s office, it buzzed a few times and finally Ben answered it.
“I’m busy with a client, what do you want now?” Ben whined. Julian looked at Ban who seemed mildly amused.
“I’m in the office of Commander Ban Danna of Argon Intelligence and he would very much like to talk to you about this new capture process.” Julian said.
“Are you trying to get me arrested, you traitor!?!” Ben went off on one of his rants but Julian stopped him cold.
“No he wants to sign up for your service, at least I think he does, will you talk to him please, without going off the edge again?” Julian asked staring him down
“Wants to sign up, Argon?? Well of course I’ll be glad to speak to him, after all any friend of yours...” Julian rolled his eyes away and turned the screen to Ban who had to catch himself from laughing when it was on him.
“Hello, there, I’m Ban Danna and whom am I speaking to?” Ban asked politely.
“You can call me Ben I’m the owner/ operator of the new Capture Software I’m sure Julian has told you about.” He said smiling and counting his money.
“Julian has been very tight lipped about your process, so you can be sure your secrets are safe with him, what I would like to know is your fees and what conditions the use of it has.” Ban said seriously.
Ben took a deep breath and started his explanation; the distance from target, the countdown, the delivery, and the ownership of the captured vessel, Ban was more than impressed.
“Do you have a lower rate for fighter craft than capitol ships?” Ban asked.
“Who would want to capture fighters, they’re cheap, but I could make up something if that’s an option your interested in, but be advised, Julian as a test pilot is, well, exceptional in his job I’m not sure a lot of your pilots can do what he can do with a ship.” Then whispering, (he can’t hear this can he?) Ban just nodded yes as Julian sat with a huge smile.
“Nuts,” Ben said, “I already had to give him a discount, now he’ll be unbearable to work with.” He said almost to himself. Ban burst out laughing as Julian hid his face with his hand, Ban had never met anyone like Ben before, and he was unique to say the least. Ban sat back smiling and Ben came back on the line,
“I think a fair cost for fighter might be 250,000 if it interests you, after all a medium fighter costs that and my software exchange saves a great deal of damage to equipment, many ships are captured almost totally intact.” Ben bragged, Ban looked skeptically at Julian who nodded yes.
“Well then, I guess all we need is a few copies of your software and we’ll be all set then, on behalf of Argon, we welcome you to Argon Intelligence, Mr. Ben…, what’s your last name?” Ban asked.
“Ben will do, just Ben, I suppose you have people crawling all over Julian’s new ship? I’ll release the codes on my software he has on his ship and you can make as many copies as you want, since it only works with my equipment , I have nothing to lose and everything to gain, oh and by the way, credits are transferred BEFORE the ship capture, just to make sure.” Ben said and the link went dead. Ban was laughing so hard Julian had never seen him so crazy.
“This friend of yours must have Boron blood in him, his voice; his whole demeanor just screams it.” Ban said wiping his eyes, then calling the ship yard he informed the engineers to copy the software from Julian’s ship, they were thrilled.
“We try not to mention it.” Julian says with a chuckle.
“He’s outrageous, but then he must know what he’s doing, after all, you’re doing quite well with the software he gave you.” Ban said and Julian had to admit he had done well on larger ships, but he had never used it on smaller vessels because of the price, now he had an excuse to see about a few pirate Eclipse ships he hadn’t been able to get.
Ban stood and shook Julian’s hand and thanked him again, it was his polite way of saying the meeting was over. Julian went back to the shipyard and did a tour of his new ship, it had a fighter bay for 8 ships and enough room for a repair bay, and if it wasn’t so damn ugly he might think of living in it and using it as his repair base. He looked it all over as he flew around the yard and zoomed in with his camera to check out the design. He gave the xenon credit, he would never have thought of it, but it was really UGLY, he decided with a grin. He went home and told the shipyard he was going to store it there overnight, there was a charge, but he had an idea he would be getting a good price for it soon. He calculated the repairs needed and it would break him, but if he was lucky. He got on the comm’s link right away and called the Teladi xenon collector. He was so happy Julian thought he’d have a heart attack while Julian told him about the ship. Julian even told him it needed repairs but was flyable and he didn’t care, no one had a Q in their collections and he wanted the first at almost any cost. Julian was a happy man the ship was sold and he didn’t even have to repair it. He was set up for quite a long while now and the repairs his Raider needed suddenly looked like a drop in the bucket. He sat back with his coffee and just relaxed.
A few minutes later the coms buzzed and Julian answered, it was Saya calling to say she had seen his new ship on the news; it seemed they had a “Brennan watch” going after the J incident and everything he did made the it. He had no idea and to be honest really wished she hadn’t told him. She just laughed and said it was all part of being a celebrity, and he’d have to get used to it. He wasn’t too happy about that, he liked his privacy, and decided Argon Prime might now be the best home base after all, but she said not to worry, he would eventually just become another celebrity has been when someone else starts getting the limelight He thought that sounded much better and said he couldn’t wait. Saya said dragging big ships in was getting to be a habit, and Julian reminded her he was looking ahead, make enough now, not have to kill yourself later. It sounded good, so she just laughed and told him to be careful, the world was watching. He thanked her for the call, and she hung up.
“Well the calls are getting closer together at least” he thought, laughing to himself. It was like working his way backwards, she had cared for him when he wasn’t ready now he cared and she was just starting to think about it, if they ever got their act together, and then watch out world! Julian thought with a big smile, it made his day.
Julian was up and out the next morning doing his rounds, he used the new price list Ben had given him to get an Eclipse he had been watching. Ben tried giving him the speech that it was a deal just for Argon but Julian wasn’t buying it, so Ben decided that even at 250k it was worth the effort. Julian sent the ship to the Merchants Shipyard and went on; he wasn’t having any luck with medium fighters here, so he jumped back to Scale Plate Green looking to finish a contract there. He had one M and two L’s setting around but he was off for either contract, he needed another L and an LX for one and 2 more M’s for a boron freighter captain who needed new escort ships. Julian worked for a few hours more and managed to get the M’s and the man jumped in at the Omicron Lyre shipyard and got them. He was well pleased and said he was passing Julian’s name around at all the stations where he knew people would want ships. Julian reminded him he also did larger ships for collectors, and merc’s and he just nodded, he wasn’t in the same group as those and when it came to merc’s, he didn’t want to even know any. Julian just nodded to himself and smiled. There were all kinds and he dealt with everyone, so he would always have work, the way it looked now.
Julian decided he had done ok; he finished his work in Omicron and jumped back to Elena’s Fortune. He looked the Eclipse over and was impressed. It was easy to see why they gave everyone such a hard time, they were made very solid, and with their heavy weapons and turrets, they were a challenge for any fighter pilot to take. Julian made sure it was fully repaired, it didn’t take much at all, the software did its job well, and it was almost totally furnished, a good selling point, he thought. He went straight home, to call a few guys who had asked about the new heavy fighters and was surprised to see a message from Ban on his machine. He opened it and he said he needed to talk to Julian right away about the capture techniques he had used. It was too late now, so Julian made his calls and found a buyer for the Eclipse in less than 30 minutes. They are very expensive to begin with and fully loaded it was a sure sell. He even had to run back to the shipyard right away, this guy wasn’t taking anything for granted, he wanted it for “work” tomorrow, and he wanted it NOW. Julian wasn’t upset considering what he was paying, and made his way back home again after the deal. It had been a good day after all.

[KRM398]

Chapter 16: Ban’s Big Surprise


First thing the next day’ Julian was on the way to see Ban. He had wanted to ask a few more questions and Julian was ready to tell him the details of using the new software. He parked his ship in the hanger and said “Hi” to his friends there, before going up to see Ban, it was nice to have friends here, but after all the times he was here, it wasn’t a surprise. Ban was having his morning coffee when Julian came in, he offered him some, but Julian said he had his already. It was time for Ban to get all the fine details about the capture software and how well it worked first hand, but after a while he just stopped Julian from going on any further.
“I thought this would happen.” Ban said shaking his head. Julian was confused but asked what he was talking about, this wasn’t that complicated to understand.
“Maybe not to you, you’re a specialist at it, but I’ve never even tried to use it and neither has any of my pilots, they are going to have the same problem understanding the details as I have.” He said stroking his beard in concentration.
“What we need is a real expert, someone who has intimate experience with the product and also is a professional pilot. Then we could take a few weeks and set up some classes, maybe teach Capture Technology to a handpicked few.” Ban trailed off for a minute while Julian was just looking around, listening.
He couldn’t see what the problem was, it’s not that hard to understand, he kept thinking, he looked over to see why Ban had quit talking, and he was sitting with another of his big smiles, looking at Julian. Julian wasn’t THAT dense, he immediately started to say he didn’t want the job, but Ban had a plan Julian knew nothing about.
“Captain Brennan, I have an assignment for you.” Ban started.
“Ban, don’t do this, I’m not really an officer, I don’t even know what an officer is supposed to do.” Julian pleaded. If it had been anyone else he would have never acted this way, but this was BAN, his godfather and he was sure he could get out of it, but not this time.
“Well that’s not a problem, Captain,” Ban kept repeating his rank like it would make him feel better.
“I’ll have a copy of the rules of conduct delivered to your desk with your new uniform.” He said with a quick chuckle.
“Uniform?” Julian parroted.
“Yes, as an instructor, you’ll need to show the trainees you have the authority to teach them , after all, you know the mind set of experienced pilots, they tend to think they know everything, don’t they?” he asked looking very pleased with himself. Julian just nodded and smiled a wounded smile, he was trapped by the one person he trusted not to do it, and he was not happy about it. Ban opened the comm to his receptionist, Lt. Gardna,
“Lt. give me the office number of a unit right next to the training rooms on deck 3.” He said snickering to himself. “And get Captain Brennan a new uniform, please and bring it here.”
“Captain Brennan??” The receptionist asked with a surprised tone.
“Yes of course, he’ll need it doing classes tomorrow, so please hurry.” Ban said, Julian sat back with the most disgusted look he had worn in months, but Ban was well pleased with himself. Julian had even considered Ban’s job when he mentioned it to the press a few months ago, but he had never served a single day as an active officer in the navy, well now that was something Ban could fix, and he did. A few weeks active duty isn’t a career, like he had done, but it would give him some badly needed experience.
‘ I’ll give you a uniform to take home with you tonight, and you can be here bright and early tomorrow to start training, here is a list of available pilots with what I consider enough experience to train, I’ll leave it up to you to choose whom you want for your new unit, choose 4 pilots from this list.” Ban concluded. Julian took the chip and smiled a very poor smile, but Ban just chuckled away, he was really enjoying this, Julian decided. The door behind them opened and the Lt. walked in with a vid-clip and a new Captains uniform. He handed them both to Julian who just said, “Gee thanks.” He wasn’t even pretending he liked this idea one bit. The LT was doing his level best to keep from laughing and even Ban seemed to look the other way as he turned and left the room. Julian was SO glad everyone was enjoying themselves at his expense, he thought.
“Decide tonight which 4 you want and call the deck officer, the number is on the pad. He’ll have them ready and in the classroom whenever you say tomorrow and you can begin. Once you think they have the idea, and then you can take them out and try field trials.” Ban said, Julian just nodded and got up to leave, as he turned to go Ban stood with a loud, “Ahem...” Julian looked back as Ban threw him a snappy salute, which Julian took as a reminder, so he saluted Ban back and left the room, this was all Ban needed to get a good laugh right out loud, ‘Poor Julian’ he thought, ‘He was so surprised, he even looked like it couldn’t be happening, well, we’ll see how well he carries on with a room full of pilots with the same attitude he has’, Ban thought shaking his head. ‘Enough fun back to work’.
Julian was upset to say the least, he didn’t want this job, he REALLY didn’t want it, but he realized that after all the favors Ban had done for him that it would happen sooner or later. He just wished he had seen it coming, but no, not this time. He went home and sat down to look at the info Ban had given him, the book of navy regulations and military conduct, the pilots list with a reference to their files so Julian could see who they were and what experience they had. If he was going to do this, he would do it HIS way. He knew enough about hot shot pilots to know what to expect, but they didn’t know him too well either, and he would be ready. After he had thought about it a while it was all funny. Ban was giving him a taste of military life while getting a little help too. He had asked Ban for a lot of cover from time to time, so he guessed a couple weeks breaking in pilots wasn’t too much to ask. He just wished he could have seen his own face in the office, no wonder Ban and the LT. had a hard time keeping a straight face, so he got his chuckle now.
Julian spent more time trying to get the uniform to look right than he did getting sleep the night before. At least it seemed like it; he was up late making up his mind and had ordered 4 pilots to be in room 312 at 09:00. He had to get there first, he had asked for pictures of xenon P Raiders, and regular P’s and a few others to show and tell for his instructions. He hoped they were ready, because he wasn’t ready to sit around and he wanted to get this first day over with. He knew without a bit of doubt it would be the worst. He was at his desk right across the hall at 8:30 and to his surprise, Ban came walking in. He smiled a serious smile and Julian caught himself, jumping to his feet and saluting. Ban smiled a little wider, that was better.
“Are you ready, Captain?” he asked. Julian said he was and Ban just stood straight and said the correct response was, “Yes Sir!” He was going to have his way for a little while at least, he decided.
Julian jumped back up and said “Yes, Sir!” loud enough to be heard in the classroom across the hall and Ban thought that was good enough, he also mentioned before he left that the collars were wrong, “fix it” before he left the room. He chuckled just a tiny bit and left again. Julian couldn’t believe he had come all the way down here to make him salute, but then he had asked for it, he decided that he could cover himself a little better from now on. Julian walked over to a window to try to see, ‘What’s wrong with these collars?’ He thought just then a Sergeant walked in a saluted.


________________________________________

Chapter 17: Class Begins

“Sir, the pilots you asked for are in the classroom, sir!” he said standing at attention. Julian snapped around and in his best stance, returned his salute and said,
”Thank you, sergeant, you may go.” The sergeant turned sharply on his heels and walked around the corner out of sight. Julian picked up the vid-clip and walked across the hall and into his new career, teaching Capture Technology 101.
He stopped at the door and listened for a minute the usual stuff was being said, “Who’s this guy kidding. And why haven’t I heard of this stuff before?” but Julian wasn’t too worried, they’d all see soon enough. He walked in with a snap in his step, roughly imitating the sergeant and placed the clip on the desk; the new recruits snapped around and for a second, seemed to get a smile that faded away quickly. Julian saw it and was not going to let it pass.
“Ok, what? I saw those big smiles, what is so funny?” he demanded. One officer stood up chuckling,
“Haven’t been an officer long, sir?” he asked and everyone got a chuckle.
“Ok, no I haven’t why?” Julian asked sharply.
“Because sir, the collars lay DOWN and the brass goes on top.” He said and the room burst into laughter. Julian walked into the men’s room across the hall and looked in the mirror; they were right, now it looked like the picture. He dropped his head and fixed it, now he had to face them. He walked back in to cheers and a young female whistling. He thanked them for the help and then decided the plan he had was blown, so he made the most of it. He slid everything across the desk to one side and sat down on the other. The room just smiled some more, this guy was no officer at all.
“My name is Julian Brennan, and you’re right I’m not a normal officer. I was asked, well, ordered to come here and give you lessons in capturing enemy ships and how to do it and stay alive. I have done it several times and I have as much experience as anyone else so here I am. Any questions so far?” The young woman stood up with a very sexy smile,
“Are you THE Julian Brennan, the one that was in the papers and on the news with Ban Danna a few weeks ago?” she asked and remained standing, waiting on an answer.
“Yes, I’m the same Julian Brennan that brought in the xenon J in that’s sitting out there right now, that’s just one ship I helped bring in here.” He said and she looked impressed and sat down. Another young officer stood up, the same one who was quick to tell him about his collars; Julian could see a pattern coming.
“Why do we need to learn how to capture ships? We have all the training to go out and destroy them, and I’m sure it’s quicker, so why waste all this time?” he asked standing with his arms crossed with a stubborn look on his face. Julian took a deep breath and asked.
“You ever destroy a pirate Nova?” he asked,
“Sure lots of them.” He said quickly.
“What ship are you flying now?” Julian asked.
“I got a new Buster, one of the newest ones out.” He said with his nose high.
“Hmm, ever think that if there were enough to go around a hot shot like you might have a Nova of his own?” Julian asked as the officer’s face fell a bit and the young woman officer started to laugh, saying,

“Got you there, Brad.” He looked around with contempt and she laughed at him all the more.
“Well that’s what we’re going to do, there are a lot of good ships out there and either their going to be shooting at us or we’re going to be shooting at them, so why not turn the tables on them? What I have to teach is very simple, it’s the equipment that’s complicated and we don’t control that. I’m going to give you all my experience in a 24 hour course and then we’re going out and practice it ‘til you get it right.” Julian said honestly.
“We’re?” Brad asked, with a smirk on his face.
“Darn right, think I’m going to let you Noob’s out of my sight before I know you’re not going to embarrass me? Not a chance.” He said and laughed, the room chuckled, even Brad.
“So the lessons begin NOW, we have 2 days to get you up and running and another week or so for practice, so let’s do it.” Julian said and walked over to the screen and activated it.
“Ok, the new software was developed by one of the foremost experts in computer technology. We all know the computers on our ships keep us flying in the right direction, or help us stop without slamming into a station, now imagine you’re on patrol and suddenly the computer stops helping. You’d have 2 choices; either pray a lot or jump and walk home. Without the computer the ship would fly forever in one direction, unless you’re REALLY good at geometry and can figure all the angles in your head, and then you might be able to get it stopped before you kissed a ‘roid.” Julian said laughing.
“But we will do the exact opposite; we will be the gods of the computer, but with a purpose. We will have the ability to stop the ship cold, many times with all the equipment in perfect condition. Like the J out there, nearly perfect, so Argon gets new ships, the pirates or xenon get less to shoot at us with and just maybe, maybe you get a ship worth flying for a change.” Julian said and the room applauded. He finally had their attention.
“Ok, as with anything else, there are rules, so listen up! You must have the ships shields down to at least 10% before you start the countdown, don’t worry, your computer will tell you everything it’s doing, don’t panic. Then you must be within 1 km at all times, so it’s well inside everyone’s firing range, either move around a lot or have good shields, in your case move a lot. “Julian stopped as everyone chuckled.
“Ok, the computer will scan the ship and place a special computer component in it at the right time, you have to stay within 1 km even closer doesn’t hurt, and wait ‘til it’s done.” A hand went up, no surprise, it was Brad.
“So we’re giving theses ships a haircut and the computer is having tea with theirs making friends, how will we know it’s over? One km isn’t very much and even PAC’s are really tough on 15 Meg in shield.” He said.
“True enough, that’s why you’ll be working in teams, 2 persons to a team, Brad will be in charge of team 1. Joan, you’re in charge of team 2, once we leave the Argon One these numbers will be your id, no names, no rank, and no uniforms. Pick out something that you’re comfortable in and have it ready. When we leave here, we are not members of the Argon military, we are Mercenaries looking for freebies, and we’re going to get some, you’ll see.” Julian said smiling.
“I can do free, free is good.” Brad said with a smile.
“It’ll be the first thing you ever got for free.” Joan said and they all laughed.
“Alright, that’s enough! We have a lot to cover, like the best spots to approach disabled ships to claim them, and how to avoid their turrets while you’re doing it. Now you ever see one of these?” Julian brought up the first picture, a perfect example of his P Raider.
“Yes I saw one in Elena’s fortune once while on patrol.” Joan said not looking too comfortable saying it.
“And what did you do when you saw it?” Julian asked.
“My patrol and I reported it to command who told us to get the Bezany out of there.” She said with a big smile.
“Good idea, just goes to show not all commanders are an inexperienced desk jockey: that was the right move, because that ship alone, without an escort, can take your whole patrol.” Julian said.
“We had a Nova in our patrol, I kind of thought we might have had a chance.” Joan complained.
“What kind of missiles did you carry?” Julian asked.
“I didn’t have any, they’re hard to come by these days, but I think the Nova had a couple dragonflies.” She said looking closely at Julian who just shook his head no.
“What you’re looking, at besides a beautiful corvette class ship, is 375 megs of shielding, and a full load of PPC’s up front, a P Raider has a turret with a standard compliment of HEPT’s and carries silkworm missiles, and they don’t skimp on how many they got either.” He said as everyone looked a little uncomfortable.
“Beautiful? It looks kind of dangerous to me, who would think that’s a beautiful ship?” She asked again, as three people in the room raised their hands, including Julian.
“OOPS,” she said and everyone got a chuckle.
“Don’t worry, pirate ships have nicer paint jobs; I won’t make you fly something this ugly.” Julian said as the room laughed.
“But even these ships have a weakness.” Julian started as Brad suddenly got to attention.
“Right here,” Julian points to the side just up towards the front from center, “is a dead spot, I call it that, because the front guns can’t turn and hit you here, and the rear turret can’t fire this far forward, safe zone.” He said as Brad smiled wide and nodded. Joan smiled and shook her head it suddenly didn’t look so dangerous after all.
“Every ship has one, even a J, and you’re going to learn how to first disable the ship so it’s not moving, then find that spot, that’s when you move in and start the countdown. After that, it’s send the bugger to the Argon One and go for another one.” Julian said.
“We don’t disable ships very often, I got one disabled maybe 2 weeks ago, but to do it on a regular basis just doesn’t happen.” The officer said. Julian looked at the clipboard for his name.
“Well, Frank, the reason you don’t disable too many is twofold, number one, your trained to kill ships and it’s not the same, and number two, it’s a completely different target. Once you realize we aren’t trying to kill them anymore, and then it seems pretty obvious what to do. Instead of firing to the center and hoping for lots of damage, we fire to the rear, get behind them if possible, and stay there. A few good hits into the engines usually causes an over load. It will shut down automatically and reset. This can take minutes, and we aren’t giving them that long. “Julian concluded. The room was impressed and Brad seemed noticeably more interested in listening than before, things were coming around, Julian decided.
“For every ship without a turret it’s good to stay behind them and fire into the engines, with a turret we hope to have a few missiles to use, but even if we don’t, a good hit or two in the engines gets the same result, we just need to find that safe spot and move in.” Julian said.
“And a Nova has a dead spot too?” Frank asked and Julian nodded, searched for and found the picture and rolled it to show the top looking from the side in towards the nose, an odd angle to be sure.
“Right there, too far forward, the front guns fire, too far along the side, the turret will get you, but front, the top side right or left, clear sailing, and a Nova for argon again. Remember this one well, if it doesn’t look like this when you start in your going to get hit, so maybe adjust your angle and try again.” He said as everyone slid forward in their seats to see.
“Any more questions,” Julian asked and no one had any, ‘a miracle’, he thought.
“Ok, remember we have 2 units 1 and 2, no one uses names outside of argon space, this is a classified operation, code named Capture, and we are going to do stuff that will make the rush you had last seem like it didn’t happen. Class dismissed.” Julian said as they all started to get up.
“Class here again tomorrow, 9 am, with a little luck the next day we fly.” Julian said to a series of cheers, as the group left smiling and nodding as they talked about the first lesson. The class hadn’t even all made it out the door when the PA came on.
“Captain Brennan, please report to Commander Ban Danna at once.” Julian just smiled and gathered his things and started towards the office.
“Good luck,” Julian heard as he walked out and Joan waved good bye and entered the turbo-lift with the rest of the class.
“Suck up.” Was heard as the doors closed, Julian just smiled and went his way.


Chapter 18: Vindication

Julian walked into Ban’s office with a quick, precise movement, much like the sergeant he was now constantly imitating. He stood before Ban and snapped to attention and saluted. Ban was more than impressed.
“Ok, the class is over, have a seat, Julian.” He said. Julian sat and waited, Ban must have something to say, or he wouldn’t be here.
“I was watching your class, and I must say you got control quickly. That LT. was on you pretty fast and you handled it well.” He said, Julian just nodded and thanked him. Ban was a little surprised; Julian was carrying this uniform better than he expected, he had always thought to himself the uniform had a built in attitude, so this just might cover it, he thought, but he looked good in it and at least one other officer had definitely noticed.
“You do understand the rules about fraternization with lower officers while under your command?” Ban mentioned. “Oh that was it,” Julian thought with a smile.
“The Lt was just being friendly, and believe me sir, that’s all it’ll be.” He said still stuck in his military mode. Ban turned his head and smiled as he hid it with his hand, this was getting funny, but maybe Julian was being serious, it was possible, he decided to go with it.
“You may go, then Captain, dismissed.” Ban said snapping to his feet as Julian did the same and gave him a good solid salute and left the room.
‘Ok, ‘ thought Ban, ‘He’s going to play this seriously, might as well go along.’ He hadn’t meant for Julian to become the Captain, he had awarded him the title for his service to argon and the intelligence office, but obviously he had overstated it yesterday and Julian for one reason or another was taking this assignment seriously. It would be interesting to see how well he held out after living the life for a few weeks, he thought with a big grin.
The next day was all about questions and answers; if they didn’t have any, Julian asked them and then gave them the answers when they didn’t know. Where do you always fire at? What is the best spot on a Nova to approach it for capture, and what ships do you approach from behind, every time. It went on and on, until he was sure it had sunk in. One by one he called them forward and showed them pictures of ships they would likely see, and then asked them to describe in detail how to disable it and how to find the safe spot. It took a while and he forbids anyone helping the others, with pure repetition he knew they had the basics down. As the class ended he told them all to report to the hanger bay the next day and a cheer went up, they were ready for their first try.
The next day they were in the hanger right on time, Julian was in his normal flight suit and made sure to meet them far away from his ship, they didn’t need to know about it just yet, it might distract them from their work. He thought with a smile. He walked up to them and they formed up into a line and snapped to attention.
“Ok, today we go out and see what you’ve learned, I’ll jump ahead into Farnham’s Legend and see what there, then work my way into Elena’s Fortune and down into Split Fire. I’ll call you by number when I want you and give you info you’ll need, like ship type and direction its traveling in. We’ll use the Military Tach 2 band for comm’s, no one out there should be using it but us, any questions?” he waited and there were none. “Ok, remember 2 groups, Joan you’re in charge of group 2 your call sign is 2a, Sam you’re her wing; your call sign is 2b, Brad you’re in charge of group 1 and are 1a; Frank your 1b.. if I have a question or an order for just one of you, I’ll use those codes, ok, get your ships and fly in two groups to Presidents End, stay away from each other but mill around a bit by the east gate, when I call I expect to see nothing but exhaust coming through the gate, now go!” he said and watched as they turned and started towards their ships. Joan stepped forward for a second and said.
“I’m sorry we left you get kidded like that about not having the uniform on right the other day, I should have stepped in and helped you. I can see now you’re a real nice guy and…” she was going to say something he didn’t want to hear, and Ban didn’t need to hear either.
“Lieutenant!” Julian said firmly, she stepped back quickly.
“Yes sir!” she said.
“Get your ass into your ship and get moving; That’s an order!” he said as she saluted and ran towards her ship. ”Maybe it’s the uniform.” Julian thought as he watched his team leave the ship. He and his corvette would be there to ID ships and help in an emergency, but he hoped that letting them see him in it wasn’t going to be necessary. He could do his job, maybe even soften things up a bit, and let them think they were doing it all. He walked into a different bay and was saluted by the Chief, he just smiled and returned his salute, as he walked by him and into his ship he heard a quiet,
“Nice to have you with us, sir.” As the chief turned and walked away.
Julian smiled a wide smile, and left the ship. He jumped into Farnham’s Legend and immediately saw a pirate patrol going through the east gate. It was going the wrong way for Julian’s purposes, so he said nothing and flew towards the south gate and Elena’s Fortune. He was just about there when a patrol came through with a Reaver in the lead, as glad as he was to see it already through Elena’s Fortune, he was not happy to be this close. In a different day this could be interesting, but today was different. Before it got a good shot at him, he did a short hop to Elena’s Fortune, it would continue on its patrol and with luck Julian’s team wouldn’t even see it. He was there just a minute when he saw a ship flying towards the Merchants Shipyard, it was a Falcon with a Harrier escort, perfect, he thought.
“Team 1; Go! Falcon on its way to the shipyard with 1 harrier escort, toast the escort and get that falcon.” He said and sat back by an asteroid to watch. The team came screaming in as ordered and made the turn, it took a second to find the target, but they were on it quickly. They caught them completely by surprise and the harrier went down in a second, Brad moved in as his wing took a hit from the falcon but he got a good hard hit into the engines and it drifted to a stop. He sat back smiling to himself as the comm’s came back on.
“What are you waiting for claim it before someone else comes along!” Julian yelled, Brad moved into position behind the falcon and what seemed like forever passed before it changed green on radar. Julian could only hope things got better. The ship immediately turned and started towards the gate and on to Argon One.
“Not bad, 1b are you ok?” he asked he said he was, he took a hit, but the shields just held.
“Ok, hang around that area and be careful, and 1b, get that cargo pod; if it’s illegal destroy it, if not pick it up, it may be your next missile, I’ll be in touch.” Julian said as he turned and flew towards the south gate.
“Alright! An aurora missile! 2 of them in fact! Thanks, sir!” he said quickly.
“Shut up and grab it, keep conversation to a minimum.” Julian said as he was sure they got a sour look, it had to be this way, things might get nasty quick, and extra people on the comm’s would stop him from giving important orders to save a life. He continued to wards the south gate slowly and in a minute another group of pirates were seen. This was going to be a little tougher, he thought. A nova, 2 buzzards, and 2 harriers a full patrol, but he was sure they were ready.
“Group 1 and 2 to south gate; eliminate the medium fighters and lights, its nova time people.” He said and left fly a silkworm missile, a little help couldn’t hurt. They came screaming in as group 1 returned quickly from the shipyard. The headed straight for the patrol and one missile was launched and hit a buzzard, its shields were gone, and it was finished quickly. Another was hit hard, but group 2 got there just in time to take a serious hit from the novas rear turret, one fighter was hit hard and the shields were gone, Julian ordered him back for recharge as the fight went on. The silkworm hit the nova and took part of his shields, no one even asked where it came from and that was good for now, he decided. The harriers went up quick and when 2b had his shields back they were ready to take on the nova. They flew around it at high speed and got a few good hits in, but they had to move away to recharge more than once. Julian could see trying to capture bigger ships was going to take time for them to master. Finally 1a got around the back and hit it hard with a long blast of fire and it dropped to a stop. There were cheers on the com as Julian sighed with relief.
“Who should claim it?” someone ask.
“He hit it, he can claim it, but be careful, remember...” Julian started.

“I got this down pat, no problem.” Brad broke in, Julian just sat back watching from a distance as he maneuvered towards the front and started in. He was at 1250 when the rear turret came back on, and he was out of place just a little. It raked him badly and he dove to keep from dying, and then ran back towards the station until he was out of range. It was clear his ship was hurt badly.
“Oh yes, that’s definitely the way NOT to do it.” Julian said, “2a you get in there and do it, slow and steady, no rush and if it starts shooting, watch the pattern, now go!” he said watching again. Joan moved in slowly and started her line up, she had seen Brad’s mistake and she wasn’t rushing in. The turrets fired a few shots at her but she stepped to the side and moved closer to the front. They tried again, but they couldn’t touch her, she was in position.
“I did it, I’m in the zone!” she screamed as Brad swore for a second.
“And it’s not green because??” Julian asked, she was clearly not saying the right things today she decided, and after 2 minutes it went green.
“Ok, the scan shows it’s only going to do 65, so 1a; you take it back and get repairs; we’ll talk later.” Julian said as Brad grumped and followed the nova back towards the west gate.
“Everyone else head towards the trading station, just mill around a little, you’ve done well thus far, we’ll give it one more try.” He said as they broke up and started wandering towards the station. He was in a good spot to see both the north gates and the south, if anything worth doing came through he’d see it, he decided. In a few minutes another patrol came through, this time with 2 falcons and 3 harriers, the call went out.
“North gate; 2 falcons and a few harriers, clean the lights and grab those falcons, go!” he said 1b sort of hung back, Julian had forgotten his wing was gone. ”1b; assist group 2.” He said quickly as Frank drove towards them. In the confusion that followed, the pirates thought they had angered someone somewhere. The Busters came zooming in and harriers were going off like bugs on a windshield. The falcons got some good shots in and shields dropped but they were being careful enough and it took a few minutes to disable them as the last of the harriers died.
“1b, and 2b claim one each, get them before someone else comes through the gate.” Julian yelled and they quickly moved into position and they too joined the Argon military.
“Ok, escort them back to Argon Prime, we did well today.” Julian said to cheers and whistles.
They formed up with their prizes and started towards the west gate when a full patrol of buzzards came through and saw them in the distance. They started in their direction at full speed, but a flight of missiles hit them from behind and not a one survived.
“Nice shooting, sir.” Joan said chuckling,
“Just get them out of here, and back to Argon One. I’ll see you on the docks.” He said and as they went through the west gate he jumped back to Argon One. He just docked and walked off the ship when a familiar voice spoke up.
“It is a beautiful ship, Sir; I’d take one like it in a minute.” He turned to see Brad standing there.
“I had to wait to see if my ship would be ready for tomorrow.” He said as an excuse for being there at this moment. Julian just shook his head and invited him in to see the rest of the ship, might as well it’s too late now he decided. Brad walked through it with eyes wide open, he had never seen anything like it, it had all kinds of room in it, and he could see why Julian was so protective of it. Julian said they needed to get back, he had a debriefing to do with them all and they would be waiting on the docks, Brad nodded but they didn’t even get out of the ship when the rest of the crew came running up.
“I knew it, I just knew it, and I knew there’d be one of these on board somewhere.” Joan was yelling as Julian and Brad came walking out, they immediately snapped to attention and Julian just smiled and saluted.
“Might as well have a good look then, since you’re all here drooling,” Julian said and it took just a second to see them rush on board.
“And don’t touch anything, we can’t afford repairs to Argon One either!” he yelled in the door, at this Brad laughed out loud, and gave Julian a quick salute, Julian returned it and Brad stuck out his hand.
“Welcome aboard, sir,” he said with some feeling and Julian smiled and shook his hand, this was becoming a team not just a group.
Julian had them form up in front of his ship; it was as good a place as any. He reminded them of the good and bad things they had done today and even with a few mistakes, they had brought in 4 heavy fighters. They all knew Argon didn’t fly falcons, but they would be used for something, and Julian had an idea about that, but he’d have to see. They all were dismissed and told to see their ships were ready for tomorrow and they agreed and walked away, this time Joan didn’t stop and try to hit on the Captain, an improvement, Julian decided.


________________________________________
Chapter 19: A Family

Julian watched them walk away and turned and started towards Bans office. He walked in and was told to wait by the receptionist He had stopped and switched back to his uniform and even considered getting a second one, this one had a little mark of some kind on the one cuff. He stood by the one wall trying to get this little piece of dirt off while the receptionist just smiled, he was wandering if this was even the same guy that was in here before, but he was just happy he was adjusting so well.
“The Commander will see you now.” He said as Julian walked in and saluted Ban Danna.
“Yes, Julian what can I do for you?” Ban asked.
Julian sat down and started.
“We just returned from our first full day of work, we did well, but I nearly lost a man.” He stopped to look away, “but he’s o.k. got 3 falcons and a nova, and destroyed several buzzards and harriers.” Julian concluded. Ban waved for him to wait as he opened his records and looked through them.
“Yes, a very good first day indeed, I’m impressed, how come you never did this well before?” he asked, joking.
“Because I never used the capture technology on fighters and there was only one of me.” Julian said seriously. This serious talk was starting to get to Ban he had made Julian wear the uniform and take this assignment because he was by far the best man for the job. Well, the uniform was sort of revenge for using his office to cover all those experiments before, but then he was using the technology now himself so he wasn’t too upset.
“Julian, it’s not necessary for you to go on like this, I admit the uniform was a little revenge on my part, but you needn’t wear it and try so hard to fit in, after all, you never really joined the argon military, I sort of recruited you.” He said smiling.
“Actually I don’t mind now,” Julian said as Ban’s eyes popped out.
“I‘ve sort of adjusted by now and your right, I never really gave you the correct respect I should have before, but we were sort of family. I’m just sorry I abused my connection and made you cover for me when it had nothing to do with you.” Julian said seriously.
“I appreciate the thought, and yes you did pull a few strings to cover you and your friend, but it’s all over so, I’d appreciate it if you’d stop trying so hard to make me feel bad. It’s very disturbing.” He said laughing. Julian began laughing too and in a minute they were back to normal, Julian was getting used to wearing the uniform on the Argon One and people seemed to appreciate that he was trying to show some respect. He decided that whether Ban asked or not, it was a good idea, these men and women gave their lives for Argon and if he was going to be one of them even part time he would show the proper respect. When he had finished explaining what he was doing to Ban it looked like he might cry, he had no idea Julian “got it” so well here. He was very, very proud of him today.
“I have one request,” Julian asked, Ban had to clear his throat to speak.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Argon doesn’t fly falcon fighters, but almost every mercenary unit does, for the good of my team I’m asking to get a few of the ones we bring in as replacements for the busters we’re flying now. The better the ships we fly the better the ships we can bring in.” Julian said and waited. Ban was impressed, Julian was thinking like this was a long term assignment, but he had only asked him to help for a few weeks, so he mentioned it. Julian had to think a minute about it, he seemed confused then just smiled.
“If I’m with the team or not the same applies, they’ll need better shields and guns for better captures, so the request stands.” He said finally.
Ban told him he’d consider it and Julian stood up, saluted, and walked out. “I should have gotten him to sign up for the Argon Navy instead of Intelligence.” Thought Ban, he really seemed like he was fitting in. He shook his head and smiled, he had no idea.
Julian went home and got a shower and some food. It had worked out better than he had expected. Of course Brad had just squeaked through, but he had made it. The falcons they brought in would help pay for a few things, and the Nova would undoubtedly go directly into service. Another 2 million argon didn’t have to come up with, he thought .His own business was slowing down badly because he wasn’t there to keep it going, he remembered the Marauder he ordered, it would be in tomorrow, so he left himself a note saying to check and get a buyer for it. There wasn’t a problem there; there were quite a few people who wanted one so this was a sure thing. Ban had hinted that Julian didn’t need the uniform if he didn’t want, but right now, he wanted to wear it. If people had to show respect towards him by saluting, he would return the respect by wearing the uniform while on board, it only seemed right. He had surprised Ban with his decision, but he actually thought Ban appreciated it after the explanation.
The next few days were going well, they brought in at least 3 ships a day, and everyone was getting along well. There was no in fighting about who was the best or who could cap the most; they realized they were doing Argon a big service and they all wanted better ships eventually. Ban got 2 more nice novas and some more falcons, even one harrier surrendered with a good blast of PAC’S, so Julian was very happy with the training so far. It was just a matter of time before Ban would decide that they could work alone, and Julian knew he would miss these people, they were now friends. Julian managed to get a good price for the A class he got and ordered another from Hardigan because now that the word was out he had more orders coming in. He knew as soon as he was released from duty that he still had other ships to get. He had an order for the 3 L’s and an LX and he had all but the LX now, it would be his first job as soon as Ban decided to let him go.
He got a good night sleep and was up and ready the next day. He was waiting as usual on the docks when a call came in over the PA, he was ordered to Ban’s office and he had a good idea what was going on. He had thought maybe that he had a few days yet, but it didn’t look like it was true. He entered the office and saluted Ban, even though he was in a flight suit, it was just becoming a habit. Ban looked up and waved it away. Julian sat down as Ban turned to talk.
“You did very well, with the training and field work we now have a good unit who can train others if need be. I thank you on behalf of argon and you are now released to go back to your own business.” Ban said officially. Julian smiled and thanked him; he got up to leave and almost saluted him again. Ban smiled as he left, he really was a good soldier after all this time, and he put it on his record as well.
Julian walked back to his ship somehow it just didn’t seem the same, by now he knew they were out working, and he was going to miss them but, he had work to do too. He climbed on board and headed for a solar power plant to get filled up, he had some jumping to do to get that LX he was sure. He got a full load and was off in a flash. He jumped into Scale Plate green just as a xenon patrol entered from the same gate, the fight was fast and furious, and not a single xenon fighter had survived, but Julian had taken a few hard hits and so worked into the asteroids to get his shields up. In the next 2 hours he managed to kill several L’s and a few M’s but not a thing surrendered and he wasn’t having a good day, he decided. Then a full xenon patrol came in from the south gate with a P Raider and 2 LX’s; here was the chance he needed and he wasted no time. He baited the M’s away with a mosquito missile; they rushed him to their doom. The L’s stayed with the P until one of them took a hit then they turned and ran towards him. He finished one off with a missile and one with PPC’s. Now he had the two LX’s to work on, he dropped a silkworm on one and it slid to a halt, a good shot, and the other danced with him a few times before he got a lucky hit into its engines too. It stopped and Julian moved in. It began shooting from it turrets but Julian had timed it just right, the countdown was under way even before he was in range and he saved himself sitting through part of it. The LX turned green and Julian decided to hold position until his shields came up.
Oh, if it were always only that easy, the P Raider seemed upset that Julian had shot up his patrol and came around with a vengeance. He took a good hit before he could get up to speed but then he dropped a long line of PPC fire all along its side, as he slammed on his brakes and tried his best to stay beside it for as long as he could. It worked with him slowing down at the right second and firing steady with the PPC’s he managed to rip it up and it exploded just as his ship started taking a little damage. He was happy with the outcome and sent the LX to the shipyard, then he ordered the rest to join him there and he repaired them all and called his client. He was sure he had been forgotten about, but Julian just informed him that even for a professional, a xenon LX was very hard to come by. He took that as a sign he had gotten a heck of a deal and took his ships and left. Now Julian had one more LX and he didn’t think he’d have any trouble finding a buyer for it, but that could be tomorrow, he decided. It had seemed like a long day to him, so he jumped home.
He wasn’t quite to the station when he got a call, Saya just smiled and asked if he was done working for the day and he said yes. She was happy about it and asked him if he wanted to go out and eat, it was just the right time of day for dinner and she had waited to see if he was interested. He jumped on the chance and she just smiled and said she’d meet him at the trading station after he had time to get a shower. He agreed and they decided what restaurant to meet at. Julian was very happy she decided to give him a chance and rushed to get ready. He wouldn’t rush her but it was looking good so far.
They met and had a good meal together, they talked and laughed, and she looked amazing in the outfit she was wearing. The old pilot’s outfit was history, and Julian saw the attractive mature woman he knew was under it before. She talked about her mother being thrilled that Kyle was going to come back soon. He had called her and said that he and Julian had talked. It had made him very happy and he said he hoped she would be happy to see him too. Of course she was and everyone who knew them knew they had been a couple once. When he was around, of course, and now he was going to come back to Argon for good and Earth and Argon would be friends forever. He had nothing to search for ever again, except some happiness after all this time. Saya had a tear in her eyes talking about it, she was very happy for the two of them, they were going to live a good life together when he returned, and it had made Saya think a little more. She asked if Julian was really going to stay home for good and he said yes, he even told her about how Ban had set him up and got him his first uniform, and how he decided that he would still wear it while on the ship. Of course now his group had gone out hunting on their own and he was back at work. He said he had finished one job today and was lucky enough to have another ship to sell maybe tomorrow. She could see that he was finally happy with the way his life had turned out, and she was finally ready to be a part of it. She held his hand and they both smiled, it was a long time coming and they were both hoping it was going to last a long time. He said there was no rush he was just happy she was thinking about it, and she said they might need to go slow, do a little dating until she was really ready. If they did decided to stay together later on the decision could be made about a ceremony or not or Goner Priest or not, but it was just a little too soon, so they decided that just dating for now was good. He invited her back to see his apartment and she agreed, and it was the early morning when she decided she wanted to be home when her mother awoke. She always worried about her if she wasn’t there, but she was quit to say it hadn’t happened often. Julian laughed and gave her another big kiss and left her go. He was as happy that moment as he had ever been.


Chapter 20: Misfits



Julian checked his messages the next day before going out, there was a new message on the machine, and he called it back to see what they needed. It was a Paranid who was looking for a pirate Eclipse, it couldn’t be a regular Eclipse, and it had to have the pirate paint job and everything. He wanted it and for a price Julian knew wasn’t going to let him just buy one from Hardigan. He said he’d look around and closed the link. This guy had a huge attitude about him even dealing with Julian at all, but he had no choice, it’s the only way he’d ever get this ship for THAT money Julian decided. Julian was going back to check on the LX to see if it was ready, and then he’d be ready to see about this Eclipse for this guy. There had been a few spotted around Brennan’s Triumph so he might be able to get one not too far away. The LX was ready and after an hour making calls it was loaded into a ship and was away. Now if he could get an Eclipse that easy, he thought. He decided to jump into Brennan’s triumph and look around, if not there then maybe Bala Gi’s Joy he thought.

He jumped into Brennan’s Triumph to the immense glee of about 5 pirate fighters; of course they weren’t as happy when he was ready to leave. Several were destroyed and one falcon was just sitting there. He claimed it and sent it to the Merchant shipyard in Elena’s Fortune. He then moved on to Bala Gi’s Joy. He found nothing interesting there either, so, on he went, this time on his old circle into Farnham’s Legend. He got into a little fight there with a patrol and they all exploded as his guns made quick work of them. He decided that he’d go through Elena’s Fortune into Split Fire and he could check if his Falcon had made it to the shipyards ok. He entered through the north gate traveling south, the falcon was just docking at the Shipyard, and he was sure it was worth a few extra credits, so he continued south.

He had barely crossed the center of the sector when a group of fighters approached. He looked at radar they were friendly so he thought nothing of it, as one past a missile hit his rear end and the turret came on, he tried to turn but the ship drifted to a stop. His engines were off line. He worked feverishly to try any trick to get them up again quickly and it didn’t work. He was totally disabled and at their mercy. He opened comm’s and surrendered to these pirates who had him so helpless, he was going into slavery or worse when they saw who he was, so maybe if he could stall until the engines came back on line.. The sound on the comm was deafening there was hoots and laughter and in a minute his ship turned on its own accord and started towards the west gate. He was totally surprised and this was just the beginning, as the hoots started to clear there came a familiar voice on the comm.

“We did it, we did it, and we capped the capper.” Ha, ha, ha, the laughter went on. Julian couldn’t believe it, he was captured by the very people he had trained to do it, he was upset, and thrilled for them at the same time, Ban was going to fall down laughing over this, he decided.

“Ok, you misfits, you got me, but you’re just lucky I shut down my rear turret when I saw it was you.” He lied.

“Biggest bunch of BS I ever heard, that thing was all around me right up until the cap, you story teller, you” Joan said laughing hysterically. They got him and all he had to say was it was well done; now he had to ride the ride to the Argon One on remote and talk to Ban about getting his registration back. Now it was his turn to laugh out loud. As he entered Argon Prime he gave Ban a call, he answered and asked what was going on.

“My capping crew caught a big fish.” Julian said with a huge smile.

“Can you transfer my ship registration back to me, please?” he asked. Ban Danna was laughing so hard Julian thought he’d have to run to the bathroom, it was priceless, the teacher caught by the students, it was the best test anyone could have ever came up with, and it was plain that Julian was taking it well so a good laugh was in order. He assured him that argon intelligence would not keep his corvette and Julian thanked him as the ship docked. The capping crew ran in as soon as they docked and met their ex teacher as he got off the ship, and he shook their hands and admitted they had done well.

“The next P you cap maybe you can keep, this one is mine.” He said and the chief came over and shook his hand and told him the registration was all fixed. Julian just nodded and offered to buy them all a drink, and even the chief accepted. They went to the ships bar and they stood around and had a drink together. It had been a great trick, but Julian did inform them if they had not been friendly it would not have been so easy. They agreed saying that it was the perfect setup, they were in there working and this green falcon came in and docked at the shipyard. They knew someone had gotten it, but they didn’t know who, until the Raider came through the gate.

“We knew if we could surprise you and disable your engines we could do it, and we were careful not to hurt anything,” Brad promised. Julian just smiled and thanked them for the thought telling them if they worked that well together every time Argon was going to have a lot of good ships.

“Did you notice we’ve all got falcons now? Commander Danna said it was your last request before turning us lose to work alone, we really appreciate it sir.” Joan said and snapped to attention and saluted, Julian returned it and then said,

“No more, I’m not your commander now and I’m not even in uniform, so that’s enough saluting for tonight.” They all agreed and they had another one for the road. Julian was happy these people thought so much of him, he liked them too and they had become friends, anyone else who would have messed with his ship he might not have been so happy afterwards. He finished his drink and said he’d see them around and he went home, he hadn’t gotten that Eclipse yet but he didn’t mind he had a good time with a few new friends.


In a few more days Julian was ready to see about another P. He had gotten an order saying if he could have one within a week he’d get a big bonus, he liked that idea and he had a good area to see and grab a few xenon ships on a steady basis. He loaded up with cells and jumped into Black Hole Sun to see what was there. He spent an hour there flying around and nothing, so he decided to move over to Nyana’s Hideout and on to Scale Plate Green. This order was a rush and with his luck it might take a day or two to get one intact, he thought. He went through the gate into Treasure Chest just as the argon Destroyer who patrolled there, was making his rounds.

“Ah, there you are Mr. Brennan, we have been watching for you.” The captain said.

“Why’s that?” Julian asked.

“It appears Commander Danna’s report left, well…something to be desired in the detail department.” He said with a chuckle.

Julian could see a problem here, but he had already sent them to Ban and they still weren’t happy with the results.

“My commander wishes to speak with you in person, in Omicron Lyre, I suggest you plan on being there a while.” The destroyer captain said smiling.

“I’ll have two of my men escort you, if you don’t mind.” He said and even before Julian could speak they were launched.

“I’d be honored.” Julian said with no choice.

The two Nova’s lined up on either side of him and flew with him to Omicron, he could easily have ran away from them, his corvette was a lot faster than they were, but it wouldn’t have solved the problem and he needed access to this area to do his work. It was by far the best area he had found for xenon hunting yet. He was told to dock at the shipyard and when he did he was escorted again, this time by three soldiers to a small office where he was told to wait, and wait he did. He lost track of how long he sat, even his butt got tired, and he got up and walked around, stretching. He had seen things like this before, they were trying to wear him down before the questioning, he was getting more and more upset as the time went by, but caught himself, this was what they wanted. He wished he knew why Ban and Omicron were so mad at each other, he was never told, but he might be able to find out soon enough. Finally the door opened and an officer walked in with a guard, who stood by the door.

“Mr. Brennan, its good have you here at last.” The officer said.

“And I have the pleasure to be speaking to?” Julian asked shaking his hand.

“I’m Commander Brighton, as far as you’re concerned I’m equal to your Commander Danna in this sector.” He said sitting down behind the desk.

“I have a few questions about your obvious interest in my area. It seems you have a rather unusual habit of trying to capture ships previously considered uncaptureable. I am very interested in how you’ve managed it. I even have an eye witness that says you captured a xenon Q right in front of him and his crew and he didn’t even know how you did it.” He said finally, sitting back to wait.

“I had no intention of capturing that ship, but your destroyer and I were both taking heavy fire, so I dove in with PPC’s and dropped everything I had into the engine area. I guess I hit an important electrical conduit because the xenon computer went dead and it stopped firing. Under salvage laws, it then belonged to me and as I’m sure you’d admit, such a ship is a rare capture. I’d have been insane not to claim it when I did.” Julian said, leaving out a lot of detail he didn’t want to give. The Commander sat back and weighted this carefully. It WAS reported that Julian was hit hard, and the destroyer captain had said that he was taking a beating badly. Could it be as he was saying that it was just a rare occasion? He would have accepted that except for one thing, it was not the first time he had been seen.

“And the xenon P your flying is that another rare occasion? Or the xenon J that was reported some time ago, I saw it sitting in Argon Prime on the news, they seem to think you have quite a talent for such things, but we are professionals, you and I we know talent is only as good as the equipment we use, so I ask you again, how are you managing these incredible feats? I warn you, I have the right to hold you under suspicion of Piracy for an unknown amount of time.” The threat was real, as an old pirate he knew that officials had a lot of leeway with the laws about pirates.

“And fighting and capturing xenon ships is piracy exactly how?” Julian asked, the commander had to consider that his argument was not valid here, but it was still HIS jurisdiction, and he could stretch it as far as he wanted.

“Perhaps you’ll be more talkative in a few days.” The commander stood and started to leave.
“Alright, wait,” Julian said, the commander came back with a big smile and sat down.

“I’m a professional ship dealer, and as such I have details about ship design that are not normally known, like where to shoot to purposefully destroy a computer, or disable an engine. “ He handed the commander a card. He took it and nodded.

“So I was right there is a very specific amount of equipment and targeting that we all don’t know about. Is there special equipment you use on your ship, or is it mostly training. I realize the Commander Danna was helping you cover this up so I’m sure that special training is involved as well.” He said with his nose high.

“Yes, I was specially trained to do this as a chance to see if argon could help supplement its military with captured ships. It failed of course because we lost too many people trying to learn and we didn’t have the extra ships to waste. The only ships really susceptible to this are xenon ships and we all know we can’t fly those in the argon military.” Julian lied.

“Just as I suspected, just another failed attempt to keep from paying the prices we are asking for our new ships. We have told Commander Danna that Omicron Lyrae will not extend credit to them indefinitely, and he has been quite belligerent about it. We may well decide to secede from the Federation if these things don’t improve.” He said seriously. So that was it, no wonder Ban was so upset with them; they’re starting to sound like a bunch of Teladi.

“As you can see sir, as a simple ship dealer, I come here looking for xenon ships to sell, if you check your records you’ll see I spend a lot here at the shipyard and equipment dock. I certainly agree Omicron has the finest shipwrights in the galaxy, and if I’m allowed to continue hunting here then you will make a good profit as well.” Julian hinted. The commander turned to a screen and pulled up some info, he nodded once or twice and shut it down.

“You have been more than helpful, Mr. Brennan, and since its true that you do spend quite a bit here and you are specializing in xenon ships, something that certainly doesn’t bother me a bit. I am inclined to accept your report on this, and please do keep hunting in the area, you helped save one of our destroyers the other day and with all this new info I accept you as a friend of Omicron, you may go.” He said waving Julian away; as a soldier guided him quickly back to his ship.

“Idiots,” Julian thought but now that he knew what was going on he’d have to be sure to be friendly any time he could or lose his best hunting area. He hated politics but it seemed it crept into everything.

[parameter]

Much respect to you, krm398.
That was a nice piece of story telling! I had to read it all the way through. I was sad when I realised I had reached the end of your story. Cannot wait for Part 2.

[KRM398]

Part 2 ...coming soon..

[KRM398]

Chapter 21: Tensions Rise



Julian got back to his ship and said nothing ‘til he was out of Omicron and back into Scale Plate Green. It was not argon space, so he was confident that there weren’t any spy sat’s here. He called Ban and reported the incident saying he had managed to keep the capture software a secret and they thought that the project had completely failed. Ban just nodded seriously, he was very upset Julian had been brought in for questioning, and there was no excuse for it. Julian however told him to say nothing, he had handled it, and Omicron accepted him as a friend so he could continue working in the area. Ban said ok, but suggested he find another place to hunt before they turned on him again. Julian agreed and closed the link. He was still here and needed that ship, and then he’d start checking around for another place to hunt.


Julian was in the sector for quite a while and was thinking of going home when the first P patrol came in. He immediately attacked the M’s with missiles and they all exploded. Then he turned on the L’s and three out of the four exploded while one drifted to a stop. The P came around and fired a long salvo at Julian but he pulled up at the last minute and most missed him. He came around and dropped a good hard hit into the engine area and it drifted to a stop a few km away. After all that had gone wrong today, this was actually working out. He moved in and claimed it and sent it to the shipyard. Then he went back and got the L. ‘A little extra never hurts’; he thought and escorted them back personally. He was docking at the shipyard and had given orders to have them repaired, when the comm link came on.

“Back at work, I see, and doing quite well too.” The commander said, he really was watching closely, Ban was right.

“I got lucky, I was after the P, I have an order for it, but the L came along for the ride.” Julian said smiling,” More for me and more for you.” He said, hoping to keep him happy.

“Indeed, it just proves that I was right about you, continue on, Mr. Brennan, and good luck.” The comm link closed and Julian was beginning to see that the new leader of argon military in Omicron was a Teladi at heart, with his attitude, the Teladi would own the sector in months.

Julian waited until the repairs were done and by then the new owner of the P was there waiting impatiently. He loaded it on his ship and paid Julian and was gone. Julian finished repairs on the L and had it dock to his corvette, he wasn’t leaving too much sitting around here,” it just might not be there tomorrow with their attitude,” he thought.
He jumped back to Elena’s Fortune and docked the L at the shipyard and went home, he was tired and now he had time to consider where else to find xenon ships. He made a fresh pot of coffee and was just sitting down when a buzz was at the door, he opened it to a somewhat embarrassed Ban Danna.

“Can I come in?” he asked, looking all around.
“Of course, please do,” Julian said and he walked in a sat down, Julian poured him a cup and they both sat for a second without talking.

“After today I’m sure you have a better idea how bad things are between Argon Prime and Omicron.” Ban said sipping his coffee.
“Yes, Commander Brighten said that they were refusing Argon Prime any more credit for ships and you weren’t too happy about it.” Julian said as Ban’s eyes popped wide open.

“Commander Brighten? He’s supposed to be the argon military commander in Omicron, and there is only one Commander of Argon Intelligence, he’s supposed to be a Captain.” Ban said growling to himself.

“Well, He said he’s a Commander now, I don’t know anything about that, but I hate threats against Argon no matter who they’re from.” Julian said.
“I agree, he’s obviously taking things into his own hands out there, I should have made more trips to the colony to keep an eye on him, Commander indeed!” he said upset.

“Then you’re really going to love this, he said that if things continue to get worse between Argon and Omicron they may secede from the Federation.” Julian said as Ban jumped to his feet.

“So that’s his little plan is it, starve us out of ships and build up his, then secede, unbelievable!” he started walking the floors, growling to himself about treason and treachery. Julian sat back waiting, he knew he needed a little time to blow off steam; finally he stopped pacing and apologized for his rudeness and say back down.

“Don’t apologize to me, I was ready to clobber him when he was in the room after the way I was treated, but he kept a guard there at all times, so I just sucked up and got out of there as fast as I could.” Julian said as Ban nodded.

“Smartest thing you could do, I’ll have to mention this to the Senate tomorrow, they’ll be in session and they need to know he’s declaring himself as Military Commander of Omicron, its next to being a dictator the way you’ve described it, and he’s in it for the money too, that’s why the prices of ships from there have skyrocketed, the treasonous scum!” Julian had never seen him so upset, but treason is a serious business, and commander Brighten was now in deep with Argon Intelligence. Ban started for the door and Julian walked over with him, he apologized again for his behavior and Julian told him to forget it, he was welcome here anytime. Ban shook his hand and walked quickly away.


Julian returned to his coffee and sat thinking, he had many friends who he knew from before or from selling ships, he’d do a little checking around. He opened the comm link and after talking to several people, he got his first clue. The Boron settlements on the frontier had seen a steady rise in xenon attacks, with many Q sightings and xenon P patrols leaving their sector and advancing into boron sectors many gates away. It sounded like he might have a new place to hunt, he really wasn’t looking for Q’s but then if he got lucky he might get one sometime. The 40+ million made it almost worth getting blown to bits over he thought, smiling and went to bed.

Julian was up and out the next morning with one plan, to load up with energy cells and go out to the frontier and see for himself. He knew it was a long ways out there, but thank god for jump drives, he thought, it would save him from a week of flying from gate to gate. He was ready and jumped into Ocean of Fantasy. It was very quiet there, so he stopped at the trading station to see what everyone said there. He entered a small bar and saw many boron and a few other races setting having a drink, he ordered one for himself and asked the bartender,


“I hear that there are a few xenon sightings around here, is that true?” he asked, the bartender eyed him up for a second and responded,

“A few doesn’t begin to cover it, this sector was attacked just a week ago by 3 Q’s and escorts, we lost a destroyer and a TL that was too stubborn to jump, so yes, I’d say we have seen a few Xenon’s. They seem to make it a point to send scouts and P patrols in here every few days, sometimes twice a day. Why? What’s it to you, you looking to get killed while you’re still young?” he asked smiling. Julian handed him a card which he stared at for a second shaking his head, “Like I said, looking to die young, well you’ve come to the right place, the only sector more active is Menelaus’s Paradise, and they see patrols traveling between the xenon sectors every day.” He said handing the card back to Julian, but Julian just told him to keep it. This was a long ways out and this was the first time he had a chance to advertise here. He finished his drink and went back to his ship, if this other sector was even more bothered by Xenon’s, he’d go there and see for himself. He flew away, it was two sectors north and he needed E cells for his return trip, so he watched as he flew and was happy to see solar energy plants in Bluish Snout, this was working out well, with a shipyard right next door, he could do some hunting and make a little faction with the Boron, he hadn’t been in their areas for a while, and good PR was hard to come by.


He entered Menelaus’s Paradise and flew around, there was a equipment dock there, which certainly didn’t hurt, and a trading station of course and the east gate went directly into xenon sector 597, there was no wonder that Xenon’s were seen here regularly, it was right between three xenon sectors, 597,596,and 534. If there was ever a better place than Scale Plate Green this must be it. He decided to bring another jump drive with him next time, if he was going to work here it was just a matter of time ‘til he lost one, and it was a very long ways back. He knew this was it so he left and jumped home. It took a lot of cells every time, but there were solar plants on both ends of the journey, so he was ok with that. He had been thinking for a while about getting a ship large enough to carry his business around in, with a repair bay and docking for maybe 6-10 ships he could make these long jumps and bring ships back here to sell without a lot of hassle. He was really going to be curious to see the new Marauder C class. He had lost track of the time and called for an update.

“What you want? Oh, it’s you Brennan, you want order more ships? You’re A was delivered and you not order again.” Hardigan said, Julian just smiled and told him he was busy, and asked about the C.

“C not ready, 1 week then send to shipyard like others, you want order now?” he kept asking, Julian had to think; he had ordered several A’s and sold them but he had been so busy lately he’d lost track of nearly everything. He ordered another A anyway, it would sell no problem but he closed the link and opened his ship registration list and by the Maker there was another A-Class sitting at the yard. He felt upset, he was getting tangled in this Argon vs. Omicron politics thing and losing track of his own business, well with the new place to hunt he was going to get away from all this, he decided. He called a few people and had no problem selling the A at a good price, now he left himself a note that the C was coming in less than a week and another A was going to be there in 2 days. Now whatever he got into when he was out, he’d see his notes when he came home, at least it sounded good at the time, he decided.


Chapter 22: Business Booms


Julian was in Menelaus’s Paradise the next day when a Q patrol came through. He stayed well out of the Q’s range and dropped a few missiles on the L’s and LX’s trying to lure them away. It seemed to work as first two L’s responded and came running his way and a LX left the group flying towards him as well. He fired into the LX as it approached and it exploded in a brilliant flash. The nearest L was hitting him and the turret dropped part of the shields. Julian changed from PPC’s to BPACs and raked it badly, the shields were gone, but it fought ‘til destroyed as well. The next L was more easily disabled and Julian smiled. The Boron defense force was after the Q and Julian decided to let them have it, he wasn’t ready to try doing one of those at the moment. He was claiming the L when a few shots came flying by and he pulled up just as a full load of PPC’s went right past. The P he had lured the fighters away from was here and it seemed little upset. He scanned it and saw a regular P it was not the Raider class he had seen a lot in Scale Plate Green. It had more weapons but was slower. He could deal with that, he decided, and with a few more shields than it had he definitely had the advantage. He worked it repeatedly for a few minutes, dropping the shields and then letting them return. He had never seen a ship so hard to disable, it was like they were making them heavier every time he saw one. After a few more tries it finally drifted to a stop, he was happy it was over, the Boron patrol that came by wasn’t sure what to think when it turned green just before they got to it, but then they were easy to get along with so they didn’t ask any questions either. Julian sent it to the equipment dock and sent the L to the shipyard. He was sure in good condition like it was he could sell the P right away.

He stopped at the equipment dock and entered the big ship, to the amazement of several Boron working there. One floated over and stuck his head inside while Julian was checking it out, he said hello and asked what Julian was going to do with it now that it was here. Julian handed him a card and said it was for sale just the way it was and the boron smiled widely and said he wasn’t interested but he knew someone that probably was. They talked and he called his brother who came immediately from his IRE production station. He had been considering getting a bigger defense force for quite a while, but new ships were very expensive and then you needed to buy the weapons separately. He talked to Julian for a while and they dickered back and forth, finally Julian relented and the P was sold before he even had to get it repaired. It was loaded and the boron was thrilled he had gotten it for a price he could afford. Julian told him to put the word out to all the other Boron around, he was going to be in sector a lot from now on and he’d have different ships for sale. He agreed and took his treasure back to his station. It cost Julian nothing and he gave a new friend a good deal and got a load of free advertising. Things were just getting better and better.


Julian used his trading system extension to order the work done on the L he sent to the shipyard. The boron in charge said it would be completed the next day easily and Julian mentioned it would be for sale. He just nodded and left the link. Julian’s ship was fully loaded and he had parked a buster at the trading station with another jump drive on it just in case. He was all set up and he was ready to go home and relax. He had worked a whole day and Argon and Omicron hadn’t bothered him once, of course, he was on the other side of the galaxy, but he’d hear about all this later he was sure. He jumped back home and just walked in when he saw the comm light blinking, he opened the message, and it was Saya checking to see if he was home yet. He smiled widely and returned her call.

“Hi there, I just got home, how are you?” Julian asked as she came on the screen.

“I’m fine; I only called a little while ago, so I guess I didn’t miss you by much then.” She said smiling.

“Nope, you’re getting better at figuring out my schedule, just a few minutes and you’ll have it.” He said laughing. Saya chuckled and got a little red-faced, he didn’t seem to mind her watching for him at all, and she was glad.
“So, dinner you think, or maybe a show if you’re not too tired.” She asked as he smiled even wider.

“I’m never too tired to be seen out with you, “Julian said and he could see she was embarrassed.

“What’s the matter, don’t tell me you’re embarrassed to be seen with ME?” Julian asked waiting.

“Not likely, I’m just not used to you saying things like this yet, I dreamed you would someday, so don’t stop now, it just takes a little getting used to.” Saya said laughing.

“I’ll keep right on saying these things as long as you want to hear them, now where do you want to go?” he asked.

“Maybe just dinner, I’m not in the mood for a show after all these compliments, so maybe just a quiet, romantic night out.” Saya said smiling wickedly, and Julian was fast to agree.

They sat and talked about her work, and his, and they avoided bringing up the growing conflict between Argon and Omicron. If it turned bad they both knew Julian would likely be in the middle of it again. He was the “All Argon Hero” and Ban wouldn’t hesitate to call him if needed. Julian was personally worried about it; argon was very short on ships. Even with the capture crew working daily they might just now have a full squadron on the Argon One. He knew Ban hadn’t said anything about it, but coming and going from the Argon One he had noticed that the bays were empty for the most part, and for a carrier, that was not good. He forced himself to not think about it, here he was out with one of the most beautiful women in Argon and he wasn’t showing her enough attention, he must be going brain-dead. The thought made him smile and she smiled too, he wondered how well she could read him, it had seemed like she could more than once, and he was thrilled they got along so well.

“You’re worried about Ban aren’t you?” she said finally.

“Yes, I guess it pretty obvious, I’m sorry, I promise, no more worries tonight, we don’t spend enough time together now, so I’m not going to waste it worrying.” Julian said laughing, Saya laughed too and said she understood, her mother had finally found out how bad things were the other day and now she had people in Omicron watching to see what was going on too. She told them that Terracorp would not get into the middle of a war between Argon and Omicron, and since she sold them almost all their engines, they had to take her seriously. Julian smiled; a little extra pressure for the new Commander of Omicron, good for her. They finished their meal and walked quietly back to Julian’s apartment. Saya mentioned it needed a woman’s touch and Julian offered to let her do whatever she liked to the place, so long as it wasn’t something pink and frilly, he said laughing. She gave him a serious kiss and whispered that she had some things that were pink and frilly; didn’t he want to see those? He immediately decided that pink and frilly was not so bad after all. They laughed and spent another wonderful night together, and this time, Saya was there for breakfast too, and Julian was a happy man once more.

[KRM398]

Chapter 23: A Big Score


Julian had never gotten that dang Eclipse the guy wanted so he figured on making a short hop close to home the next day and see if he could find one, With the new prices he could get one in good shape and make a million off it, but more importantly, he would prove that he was reliable when people gave him orders. He was in Presidents End working towards Elena’s Fortune when he heard a frantic comm message coming through. It was garbled, and Julian recognized a jammer at work.

“To all Argon ships, this is an emergency! We need all argon ship that are armed, in Elena’s Fortune immediately! There is a pirate attack force destroying the trading station, all ships respond.”

It was Joan’s voice and that meant the capture team was in the middle of it. He through the fuel into his thrusters and jumped on the seta drive, he was in Elena’s Fortune before the sound of the message died. What he saw made his stomach turn. There was wreckage everywhere, obviously many ships had not escaped, and a large group of heavy pirate fighters lead by a Reaver was attacking the station. It shields were getting low and everyone who tried to escape was being mowed down like flies. This was the most serious pirate attack he had ever seen or been in for that matter, he wondered what had gotten into them.

Julian immediately made a call asking if anyone had gotten through to Argon Prime, no one was even sure, but they were very glad to see a ship with more firepower behind it coming to help.

“Boy, are we glad to see you! This monster came right through the gate and straight towards the station, we threw everything we had against it and barely dropped his shields, we could sure use a hand here.” She said sounding very desperate.

“Is anyone hurt badly?” Julian asked.

“Yes, Brad as usual got in there first and got hit hard, he’s over at the shipyard trying to get put back together, but it’s pretty bad.” She said. Julian suggested since no one was sure the message got through to Argon Prime they send back the ship in the worst condition and keep the fight going ‘til reinforcements arrive. For the first time since Julian met him Brad was ready and willing to go, so he made a run as quickly as his wounded Falcon could go for Argon Prime while Julian approached the station.

“Ok, he’s got a lot of firepower, but if I make a move on him he’ll have to respond, maybe we can buy the station time to get some shields up. You guys help keep the fighters off me and for gods’ sake stay away from that Reaver as much as possible, every one ready?” he asked and they all agreed. Julian moved into maximum PPC range and dropped a long line against the back of the Reaver, even with its huge shields; this didn’t take long to see results. Three novas came running over and Julian took a second to blast one to bits, Joan was there and disabled another, a few km away, and Frank blew the other up before it could hurt Julian’s shields. Julian moved back in and dropped everything he had against the Reaver, and it had no choice, it turned and started after him. It was funny, thought Julian, ‘that thing has a speed of maybe 60 and it thinks it’s going to chase me’, he slowed down after a second for it to think it could catch up, and it kept coming.

“Tell everyone in the station to stay put, we’ll get reinforcements soon and I’ve got this big bugger in tow, he has to get me or die, so we got business.” Julian said and made a high-speed turn and stopped dead. In a few seconds the Reaver was just entering range again and as Julian held his trigger down he saw the same from his prey, they were both firing PPC’s at each other hoping for a big hit, but Julian had this figured from a different day, he held that trigger until the first balls went past and then threw the fuel to his engines and dodged and weaved until he was too far away again. The long stream he laid was devastating, it slammed into the Reaver and nearly half his shields were gone by now. They danced this dance of speed and death for several minutes ‘til the Reaver started to think this was a bad idea. It turned suddenly while near the north gate and started towards it. Julian wasn’t about to let it go. He dropped 4 hornet missiles against the rear end and to his immediate surprise the Reaver dropped to a stop, almost within range of the gate, but not quite. Joan let out a yell and said, “Cap it! go ahead, cap it!” Julian knew it was possible but not in the conventional sense, he warned the team to stay away and moved into weapon range again. He then commed the disabled Reaver and the link lit up to a very upset Teladi Captain.

“Captain, you fought a good fight, maybe even the best I’ve ever been in, but now you must say goodbye to your crew and all their families, it’s time to pay for all your sins.” Julian said to a very frightened Teladi. He then dropped at least 10 good hits of PPC’s along the rear of the big ship, by now the shields were all but gone.
“One more like that and you’ll be fried Teladi, there’s no profit in death, is there, Captain?” he asked, as it was plain this officer wanted very much to stay alive.

“What do you suggest, Captain?” he asked, it was the sign Julian was waiting for.

“I suggest that if you take a shuttle or fighter right now, that maybe you and your crew will be gone through the gate before Argon One gets here and watches me kill you all. I see no reason to waste such a large craft just to get you, so you have a minute to think, and then I finish it.” Julian said and dropped just one more small shot. The link went dead and Julian thought maybe he was getting his engines back on line, but just as an Argon Destroyer came through the west gate, a medium fighter left the ship and the turrets stopped firing. Julian moved cautiously forward, this ship had the power to waste him in a second, but at 900 meters the turrets hadn’t come on, and he started the countdown. It took all of 5 minutes to go green to an astonished capture crew and a destroyer captain who said he’d never forget it. Julian had a long sigh of relief to let out too, it was very close to time the engines would have reset, and he’d have been toast if anyone was on board. He flew away from his prize and made a quick turn and the computer gave him permission to dock. He had done a near impossible feat, but even a Reaver Captain wants to live, you just have to have a good sales pitch, Julian thought. He turned the ship and went back to Argon Prime and docked at the shipyard, the destroyer followed along as his escort, and once docked the computer was wiped clean of any sneaky auto destruct the pirates might have installed. Ban came over to him this time, he had seen reports of the amazing firepower of this ship, and he wanted to see it first hand, as well as get a few words in front of the news crews again. Julian thought for sure he was going to run for office, but he gave him a serious stare and disagreed. The Argon Military was his life and he was proud of it. Julian presented Ban with the new ship as everyone there went into shock, but he was quick to say he wanted it back when Argon got enough new ships of their own, this might just do for a working base, with a few modifications, he thought. Ban accepted of course and Julian got in a few good words for the capture team when no one was around. They had cut down considerably on the number of pirate fighters in the area and helped save the station. Whatever this big attack was about, Julian was sure it wasn’t over yet, and Ban shook his head sadly and agreed.

They stood on the bridge of the Reaver and talked for a while after the news crews were gone. Ban put his hand on Julian’s shoulder and told him he knew how close he had come to being killed. Julian just smiled and said not to mention it to anyone, they thought he was a miracle worker, but he took far too many chances, for a guy thinking about settling down. Ban just laughed and said he was always in the wrong place at the wrong time, if he had jumped to Menelaus’s Paradise today then he would have missed this all, and very possibly the station would have been destroyed, but the Maker guides him, as Ban says, and he was there just in time. Julian told Ban seriously that he was trying to stay out of Argons troubles, but he’d be there if it was a real emergency. Ban knew it was true, he was a true Federation Guardian, not just one who bought the title, and he earned the respect of everyone who knew him. Ban thanked him again for saving the station, and Julian said to watch it closely, this was just the first. Pirate clans don’t usually try such big jobs; they make their money with quick, easy strikes. This was completely unlike them and it worried both Ban and Julian wondering what would be next.


Chapter 24: One Step Closer


A week went by and nothing interesting happened. Julian made a few deals and his account looked better than ever. The deal with the Q had set him up well, but he had been doing well on his business since and except for repairs, he was making out like a bandit. The day came he had waited for and he was out in Elena’s Fortune when the new Marauder C class came in and made its way to the shipyard. Julian flew along and looked at it up close. It was very good looking and a serious warship indeed. With the extra landing bays he ordered, it looked a lot like a mini-carrier, and Julian really liked it. He docked and got the codes and waited until the worker left then he took a leisurely stroll around the big ship. He was very impressed at the workmanship and quality of materials inside. The captain’s quarters were spacious and the bridge was fully automated. It could easily have a crew of 6-10 but in a normal day it could be flown by one good pilot and all the weapons systems would run on automatic, like the turrets on his Raider. He really decided to see about one of these. This one didn’t have the repair bay in it, but it had the room to put it in, and the fighter bays were well lit and roomy. He was sure he could land his Raider here without any trouble. He went back to his ship and reluctantly called Ban Danna. He told him the ship was delivered and they could come pick it up. The word was passed on and Ban called Julian back to say a crew was on it’s way to get it. He had also been given a nice bonus for acting on the Navies behalf and Julian was surprised, he could do a few more of these and afford his own soon. He gave up the codes to the ship and returned to his Raider, which just didn’t seem as nice as it had always been. He knew this was going to happen, he had just seen his new favorite ship.


Julian shook his head sadly and decided if he was ever going to get a C for himself he needed to get back to work. He was still worried about the pirates and the capture crew, but he was confident they could handle themselves. He jumped from Argon Prime into Elena’s Fortune for a quick look around and then out to Menelaus’s Paradise for some serious hunting. He was there most of the day, and he talked to a newspaper person and ran an ad saying he was there to sell xenon and pirate ships for whoever wanted them. He gave his home link and his ships com link so no matter what anyone could get him in a second. He was sure that he’d get some business out here and he was going to get ready for it. He got an M and another L while he was there and sent them for repairs and jumped back home. He entered Elena’s Fortune again and switched to Military Tach 2 and gave a call.

“Anyone home?” he asked, to an immediate response.

“Are you watching over us, Captain?” Joan said laughing.

“Now why would I do that, your big enough to take care of yourselves aren’t you?” Julian joked.

“I think so, but here you are, and we saw you sneak through here earlier today and you didn’t say anything then.” She replied.

“Just trying to stay as much out of this as I can, see anything big and ugly today?” he asked.

“Yes, earlier we saw a full Carrack patrol come through, it went right up into Farnham’s Legend and didn’t return, seeing it go didn’t bother me a bit I’m not afraid to admit.” She said seriously.
“Well, they must be short of Reaver’s then, this was his regular patrol route, I saw him here several times, but he never stopped to attack anything before.” Julian said seriously.

“So, you think this new Carrack is going to be a problem soon?” she asked.

“Maybe, make a good report of it and try to keep a few extra missiles on your ships for defense. Remember...” he started.

“Yes sir, take out all the medium fighters first then worry about the fastest next, we remember.” Joan said chuckling.

“Well then, I guess you don’t need me around, I’ll be going, and you guys have a good day and make a report of that Carrack.” Julian said and started towards the west gate.

“And you have a good night, and say hi to whomever that gorgeous brunette is you’ve been seen out with.” Frank chipped in as Joan tried to hush him.

“Seen out with, Ok, what’s going on, and who said I was out with anyone?” Julian asked stopping for a minute.

“Brennan Watch was on the links last night with pictures of you out with some beautiful lady, it just said the two of you have been seen out on occasion. The picture was very nice, good job, Captain.” Frank said even while Joan was trying to get him to shut up.

“OK, well thank you, Frank, I’ll tell my fiancé that she photographs well.” Julian said smiling and left the system. He returned to his apartment and decided to give Saya a call, it buzzed a few times before she got it.

“Well, hello there, miss me already?” she joked.

“Almost all the time, have you seen the Brennan Watch lately?” Julian asked as Saya just laughed out loud.

“Yes, and my mother saw it too, and believe me she’s almost as happy as I am, she waited a long time to see us together, and she’s thrilled.” Saya said shaking her head.

“How about that, I didn’t realize I could make two women this happy at the same time.” He joked as Saya gave him a dirty look.

“Maybe you just never gave yourself enough credit before.” She said, and waving closed the link. Julian laughed for a minute and went and made some dinner, he was sure it wouldn’t be as long between Saya’s visits from now on.

This Marauder kept coming back into his head; he opened his account and decided he could afford it if he was careful for a week or two. He called the link and ordered his new ship, loaded with a repair bay and all the fighter bays it could hold. He even got a good discount for ordering two of the big ships and the discount pretty well paid for the repair bay. He was happy, and now all he needed to do was put back all the credits he just spent. He liked his account with enough in it to take care of him for a long while, he had never had that kind of security before, and he wanted it back. He ate his dinner and was just sitting down when he noticed the comm link had messages. He hadn’t looked when he first came in and now he decided to check before settling in for the night.

“Ah, Mr. Brennan, good to see you again,” it was a Paranid trader, he had dealt with a few weeks ago, and he was actually smiling, for a Paranid, no small feat.

“Hello sir, good to see you in such a fine mood today, what else can I get you?” Julian asked hopefully.

“I called to say those ships worked wonderfully. My biggest rival was very surprised when his people jumped my convoy again. I wasted every ship with nearly no damage, and I’ve decided to see you about something even more powerful.” He said, waving his arms with excitement. Julian was happy he was having such a good time spending his money and with a little luck his rival might be calling soon as well.

“Whatever you need, I’m sure I can supply, it might take a while, but I can probably do it.” Julian said as the trader leaned closer to the screen.

“I require two new corvettes, the same style as my fighters, with a little luck I may be owner of a much larger piece of real estate to do my dealings in soon.” He said seriously.

“That shouldn’t be any problem, the xenon have two very fine corvettes called P’s; One the standard P is slower but very heavily armed, and the other is an attack ship of great speed and shielding with slightly less firepower. Which do you think you’ll need?” Julian asked smiling.

“Sounds delicious, hmmm, speed or firepower, I can’t decide, I can see advantages to both…very well then one of each, as soon as you can be ready and keep this conversation a secret like before. I know now you can be trusted and your wares are indeed exceptional.” He said very seriously.

“Within the month, for sure and as a good client, perhaps some new PPC’s to go with those, no charge.” Julian said with a smile. The Paranid was ecstatic.

“Deal and you have all my business from now on and a few of my friends will be calling as well.” He said and the link went closed.

‘And I was worried about buying better equipment.’ Julian thought with a big smile.

Julian answered a few more calls and even had the two ships sitting in storage sold on the spot. His business was doing well and for a change he was very happy that he was an Argon businessman.
________________________________________

[KRM398]

Chapter 26: Bans Dilemma


Julian was in Menelaus’s frontier the next day doing a little shopping; he had two new M’s sitting at the equipment dock and was on the lookout for a P. There was a Q patrol by the west gate and a few Boron fighters were harassing the convoy. Julian thought this might just be a good time to have a shot at one then. He flew in at high speed and dropped two missiles on the nearest P. One was shot down but one got through, it turned immediately and started pursuing him, as he led it away from the main convoy. What happened next was totally unexpected, the fighters that were following the convoy split into two groups. One stayed and fought the Boron’s and the other half turned and followed the P towards Julian. He swore to himself, this was a lot more than he wanted right now. He dropped a few disrupter missiles into the group and two M’s were destroyed.
He switched to silkworms and another M died quickly. He tried hitting an L with two silkworms and they just about took its shields out, so another was launched from close range and with a little help it blew up as well. He was gaining, but so was the P he was after, it got a good shot at him with its turrets and dropped his shields by half, he immediately withdrew to recharge, but a LX was there hitting him with HEPT fire. This wasn’t looking good. He turned and dropped a line of PPC fire into it and it stopped dead. Julian now withdrew a bit longer and got his shields up to 75%. The next L came up and Julian wasted no time killing it, but his shields took another beating. This time the P was right on him and he took a long hit from its guns, he turned and fired with everything he had and the P did the same. It drifted to a stop, just meters from him, still firing, but he couldn’t get out in time. His ship was coming apart and he had no choice, for the first time in years, Julian watched his ship getting blown to bits while he walked away, literally in his spacesuit. He looked around and saw how far it was to the station and decided to do the next best thing. He flew over about 3 km to the disabled LX, he was a little rusty, but he thought he had a better chance here than with a way to long trip to the equipment dock. He found a panel and got inside and was happy to see circuits he recognized, at least something was going his way today. He jumped the controls and went inside, it wasn’t a full conversion like the software did, but it was flyable, so he turned to leave the other ships sit, but stopped just long enough to finish off the P that was being torn down by a few boron heavy fighters. If he was going to lose it, might as well get something for it. He then flew back to the equipment dock and ordered the parts to totally reclaim the LX. It was scanned and all xenon programming was erased, and he retrieved the extra jump drive from the old buster he had parked there. He also got another copy of his software from it and in a few hours he was set up again. The ship was smaller, and more maneuverable, but it was a good one, so he went back out to see if there was anything left from the fight.

He was always surprised that military people didn’t pick up things after a fight, but it was some sort of code or something. He wasn’t nearly as particular, so he got a good assortment of missiles and even found one L disabled that the Borons didn’t kill. He ordered it to the shipyard and decided it was time to go home. The jump was smooth and he docked to the smiles of several people on the docks that got to know him by now. They were happy to see his new ship, but sorry the Raider hadn’t made it. It had served him well and he would never forget how well it worked, maybe he’d get himself another sometime, or give a regular P a chance, but for now he was well covered, he thought.

He went into the apartment and checked his machine, there were messages so he sat down to see them. One from a customer saying thanks for the good deal, he had stumbled into some poor slob who gave him way more than the ship was worth, so they were ordering another L. Julian shook his head smiling, everyone’s a pirate at heart, it seemed. The next message was from his dad, he swore to himself; he had missed another one, but he was only allowed to use the comm link certain times and they were always missing each other. The third was from Ban, he wanted Julian in his office in the morning for a meeting, so Julian made sure his uniform was laid out in advance. He was all caught up for the moment, so he got a meal and a good night’s sleep.

Julian was in Ban Danna’s office first thing in the morning; Ban looked up as Julian walked in, in his uniform and saluted. Then he sat down and they started talking.

“I see your still going to wear the uniform; you know it’s really not necessary.” Ban stated.
“I know, but I have friends here and since I have rank, they are forced to salute me, it’s only right when I’m on board to wear the uniform, it’s ok Ban, don’t worry, I don’t mind.” Julian said with a smile. Ban just nodded and let it drop.

“I seem to have a problem so I wanted to ask you about it.” Ban started, Julian eyes popped, he was honored Ban had called him in for advice, it must be about captured ships, he thought. Julian nodded and waited.
“I had a call last night from your father, he’s got Admiral Kovich ready to sell us a few of the older Earth vessels but he demands payment up front, and to be honest, we just don’t have the necessary cash to make the deal.” He said shaking his head.

“So I wanted to ask you something, if I can sell the J for a good price then I might be able to get several smaller Earth ships for our fleet, does this sound fair to you?” he asked looking straight at Julian. Julian thought and then nodded - several for one sounded like a good deal to him at this stage of the game.

“Sounds good, but why ask me? The J belongs to Argon and you’re in charge of all that, not me.” Julian said.

“You risked your life to get that ship and no matter what you said to the press it belongs to you until you say it doesn’t. I had every thought to return it to you someday, maybe it would be a nice retirement for you, but things are just too bad right now.” He concluded.

“Then sell it, and get the Earth ships, if I were you, I’d strip the weapons off first though, it has some good heavy guns on its turrets you’ll need for the new ships.” Julian suggested.

“Good idea, so can I then say it’s for sale then? Maybe see what I can get for it?” Ban asked, but Julian was deep in thought.

“I have a better idea than that.” Julian said smiling, “Get your people over there to start unloading all your stuff, and get the engineers to pull the weapons out too, I might have a collector who will buy it, and this guy’s loaded, if I can convince him then you’ll get a lot more than from the ship yard.” Julian said and Ban smiled and nodded. Ban called over and told the ship’s crew to start unloading everything back to the Argon One and gave the engineering crew the order to take out all the turret weapons. It was up to Julian now. Julian opened a link to his Teladi collector, the same one that had bought the Q weeks ago at an enormous price. He opened the link and he was all smiles.

“Did you find me something interesting again, Mr. Brennan?” he asked smiling widely.

“Absolutely, as a matter of fact, this ship is a one of a kind, all new, never had a laser on it and its FAMOUS to boot.” Julian said smiling as Ban chuckled silently.

“Famous in what way?” he asked, very interested.

“Did you see the news a few weeks ago, about me giving Argon a brand new J class carrier? It was all the news talked about for days, I’m sure you saw it.” Julian said waiting.

“Yes, indeed a beautiful ship, and definitely a one of a kind, but it belongs to Argon now, everyone knows that.” He said leaning close to the screen with a sly smile.

“Well, I decided I got all the advertising I could from it, so I’m taking it back and it’s up for sale right now to you. Remember it’s never had a shot fired against it and it’s famous because it’s the only xenon carrier ever to be allowed access to Argon Prime in HISTORY!” Julian said loudly. The Teladi was chuckling to himself and looked like he might have an accident any moment.

“I swear, Brennan, you must have Teladi blood in you all that free advertising, its brilliant! Now we must act quickly before your friends find out you changed your mind.” He said smiling.

“I have set it up so that the ship will be completely empty this time tomorrow, and all you need to do is jump in and claim it, then quickly jump away. I’ll deal with Argon Intelligence after you’re gone, and don’t worry; I have some serious connections here, so I’ll be alright.” Julian said as Ban looked like he would burst out laughing any moment.

“And the price is?” The Teladi asked hopefully.

“I was told that a new carrier was worth 50 million credits, and with all the free advertising you’ll get from ownership, maybe a little more, you think?” Julian asked; The Teladi was thinking hard, he wasn’t sure he wanted to pay so much but he wanted that ship, in his lifetime he’d never get a chance like this again.

“52 million and not a credit more!” he demanded.

“Sold,” Julian said, “I’ll see to it the carrier has a jump drive on it for you, you’ll need some E cells and jump it home from here. I guarantee your safety, so please, payment in advance.” He said smiling the Teladi nodded and Julian got a notice the credits have been transferred. “Fly it in good health, my friend.” Julian said as the link went black.

“He may have a point; I’ve never seen such a load of BS being used so quickly, why didn’t you just say we were going to sell it anyways? Now he thinks he’s going to steal it.” Ban said laughing.

“It wouldn’t be worth 52, million if it weren’t for the excitement of owning something someone doesn’t want you to have.” Julian explained as he transferred the credits to Ban’s account. Ban thanked him and opened a link to Earth.

“Hello, my friend, I have good news.” Ban started as Kyle came on the link.

“Sounds wonderful, what it is?” he asked.

“I just came into 50 million credits you can use to get us some Earth ships with, will that be enough do you think?” he asked seriously.

“I was talking to the Admiral again and he’s softening up a little, there are several medium sized ships we can have at about half the normal cost, so yes, we can get maybe 4 good ships with that amount.” Kyle explained.

“Excellent, I was just meeting with Julian and we worked this little deal out, do you want to see him?” Ban asked, Kyle was very happy to have finally caught up with his wayward son and said yes. Ban turned the viewer so he could see and Julian waved and smiled at his father who seemed a little surprised by the uniform.

“Joining the Argon military while I was gone?” Kyle asked with a confused look.

“Been a member for years, you asked Ban to keep an eye on me, so he got me into argon intelligence a while ago, I just found out why people on board were saluting me all the time.” Julian said laughing. His father smiled and shook his head, he did ask Ban to keep an eye on him, but this might have been a little more than he expected.

“Well, he and I will have to talk about this when I get back.” Kyle said smiling. Julian turned the screen back around, so Ban could be seen.

“I think we can do pretty well now, and after I get this deal made I’ll call and let you know when we’re going to jump in, and then you can have someone there to meet us. If you’re having the problems you say with Omicron, then we don’t want to try flying a fleet through their space.” Kyle said and Ban nodded.

“I’ll have E cells and jump drives waiting when you come through, we can get them loaded and be gone before Omicron knows what’s going on. I don’t want them knowing your bringing ships back until you’re already here.” Ban said and Kyle agreed.

“Should only be a few days, I’ll call, and I’ve seen a few very nice ships I think I’ll be bringing back along now, so be ready with some good weapons and you’ll be all set.” Kyle said and the link went black.

“I’ll use the extra to get some HEPT’s for a good start, and some missiles, but by then we’ll be broke again until the senate reconvenes.” Ban said smiling,” but things will look a lot better around here and it’ll be good to have your father back.” He said as Julian agreed. He stood and saluted Ban and walked out. He had done his best for Ban now he needed to get back to work.



Chapter 27: Kyle Returns


Julian did pretty well the next few days, he got a new P and stored it at the shipyard in Ocean of Fantasy, and another L and decided that the new LX was doing a great job for him. He was able to duck and weave through fire the Raider couldn’t have and he was pretty happy with it now. He was waiting to hear the news his father was returning, and he was going to be happy to see him once more. Elena was having a party for his return, just the immediate family, and a few close friends and he was sure that everyone was going to have a good time.

He was still patrolling when he heard a call come in, a freighter captain was being attacked near the west gate, it was a long ways from where he was, but he thought it was worth a shot. He threw the seta on and was flying in that direction when the radar screen went wild. There was a Q patrol with 2 P’s and maybe a dozen fighters, and for what it was worth, it looked like they were trying to claim the gate. Every ship that approached was being shot and they weren’t even going through, he started to slow down, this was more than he could ever handle alone and he just defended himself from the fighters that came running over after him. The Boron sent a wing of fighters and a corvette over but even then they didn’t take the gate back. It looked like the xenon was going to win this one when a new Hammerhead came through the south gate. Now this is more like it, Julian thought, and he opened up on a P to try to get it away from the convoy again.

He remembered the last time, all too well, and when a few fighters came running his way, he was ready. He dropped missile after missile and all the fighters disappeared in a cloud of smoke. He now had a P all to himself. He danced around it for a few minutes avoiding the turrets and using his HEPT’s to bring down the shields, finally he got just the right shot and it stopped dead, still firing from its turrets. Julian was all smiles, he moved into the usual position and claimed the big ship, sending it to the shipyards like the first, he was going to have this job finished today and get home early, and he might have a new message from his father by now. He followed the ship to the shipyard, did the repairs and remembered his deal, a few PPC’s for free, the good thing was they both had a full load and one ship had 2 more in the storage, He had hit the jackpot and removed all the guns he could carry and still make it home. The client came and went away a happy man and Julian was well pleased too, this job almost paid for his new ship and he would be checking on that the minute he got home too. He carefully figured the E cells needed and made sure he had a cargo full of free weapons for Ban. Those Earth ships were going to need everything they could get. He was ready and jumped back into Argon and docked as quietly as he could with the Argon One. He waved at the chief and said he had a few goodies for the Navy and told him to unload them for him. He went to Ban’s office to say hi, and see if he had heard anything about his dad’s return. Julian walked in as Ban was sitting watching his security screen.

“Hi, Ban, did you hear anything from my dad yet?” Julian asked as he sat down.

“Yes, he’ll be back tomorrow and I have a ship all loaded with jump drives and E cells, he’s bringing home three new ships, a light carrier and two heavy cruisers.” Ban said with a big smile. “Now, what is this all about?” Ban asked pointing at the screen, he turned it as the chief and two other men were carrying things from Julian’s ship, very large heavy things.

“A few gifts for the new Earth ships, I hit it big today and finished a big job, but more importantly, I got a P full of APPC’s so I thought I’d share the wealth a little.” Julian said with a big smile.

“Well, ok, if that’s what happened, but if I find out your buying stuff to drop here I’ll refuse your help from now on, I swear!” Ban said seriously. Julian just smiled and said,

“I can get the good weapons from ships a lot, and I usually let some go with them, so the new owners don’t have to buy extra stuff, it makes me look good, and they save money, and of course buy from me again.” Julian explained, Ban wasn’t sure he believed him, but his generosity had been very helpful before and he dared not turn it down right this second.

“Ok, then, but no more, you’ve got a business to run and a new life ahead of you, and we all know how much it costs to set up housekeeping.” Ban said laughing. He obviously had heard Julian and Saya were seeing each other, this man knows everything, Julian thought smiling.

“Tomorrow, eh, I’ll have to make sure I’m in town tomorrow when he comes in, I want to see these new Earth ships.” Julian said smiling.

“Me too, your father says that the Admiral was giving him a great deal and we might be able to negotiate a few more later, but for now this will make a huge difference around here.” Ban said smiling widely.

“Not to mention getting the J out of Argon Prime couldn’t hurt your reputation with the Senate either.” Julian said laughing, and Ban joined in.

“I’ve already heard about it, they thought getting it out of here was a personal favor to them, and I wasn’t going to tell them any different.” Ban said and Julian just shook his head and laughed, He nodded and waved goodbye as he went back to see that the work had been finished on the docks. He waved at the Chief and took his ship home for the night. He walked from the kitchen with his cup and sat down to use the comm link, he called to see when his new C class would be ready, and it buzzed a few times and then was answered.

“What you want, we’re closing for the night.” Hardigan said in a nasty tone.

“Hi, just calling to ask about my C class when will it be ready?” Julian asked. Hardigan looked disgusted that he had to stop and check but in a second he turned back.

“Another 2 weeks, having a problem getting the repair bays in but be ready in 2 weeks, now go!” he said and closed the link. Always nice to hear a friendly voice, Julian thought with a chuckle.

The next day Julian was determined to stay close to home. He was on the comm links for a while and sold the two L’s he had sitting and got another order for M’s from a freighter captain. The xenon M was getting to be the ship to have for freighter escorts, they had a lot of speed and good weapons and most of all, heavy shields compared to some other craft. It made them a good choice for long distance haulers. Julian didn’t make a lot on them, but then he was getting good advertisement this way and sooner or later an order for something big would be coming in.

It was noon when the call came in, Kyle and his escorts had jumped in and were getting their supplies, he’d be in Argon Prime in less than an hour. Julian jumped in his ship and went out to watch for the convoy coming in. He didn’t have long to wait. The East gate opened up and a shiny silver colored ship came through, then another and another. The convoy went straight to the shipyard and docked, as did Julian and Ban. It was a reunion that had waited a long time to happen. As Kyle got off the ship, Julian came running over and gave him a hug. They were both teary as Ban walked in with his security team in tow.

“I’m so glad to see you, old friend, it’s been too long.” He said shaking Kyle’s hand vigorously.

“Thank you both for being here, I am more than happy to be home, that is here. “ he said laughing, and everyone knew Earth was once his home but now he was an Argon through and through.

“Good looking ships, dad, what weapons do they carry?” Julian jumped in at once, as everyone had a laugh.

“We can talk guns and shields later, right now, I have to get these men back home. Ban mind sending an Argon shuttle back with them? They need a ride.” Kyle said. Ban just laughed and said,

“I’ll trade an Argon Shuttle for three capitol ships any day.” And he turned and gave an order to his one escort, who immediately walked quickly away.

“Follow that man and Thank You, Gentleman for helping us here in Argon.” Ban said officially as the men walked away, trying to catch up with the argon security man, as he walked towards the shipyard office.

“I have about a hundred questions for you about this capture software that Argon is using.” Kyle said as he and Julian started walking away from the big ships.

“No problem dad, I’ll be glad to tell you whatever you want to know, it’s just good to have you back.” Julian said and slapped Kyle on the back as they walked away.

They all went back to Bans office and sat and talked all afternoon, Kyle was told all about the software and Ban informed him that because of it, he now had a full squadron of fighters on board the Argon One for the first time in over a year. Kyle just laughed and said the capture team had more work to do; that one of the ships he brought back was a light carrier, so it needed 20 ships of its own. Ban just smiled and said it would take a little time, but he was confident with the Senate reconvening and Kyle back to help him push them a little that he’d be getting a lot more funding soon. Everyone just said they hoped so, these emergency conditions couldn’t last forever, but Ban was glad he had started the Capture Team when he did. He told Kyle how he had gotten Julian his first uniform and how he now refused to come on board without it. Kyle looked very proud of his son and the day ended with the three men shaking hands and going their separate ways. Now that he was home, Kyle and Julian would have a lot more time to talk and he would see how well Julian had actually turned out once and for all.

________________________________________
Chapter 28: The Party



That weekend Elena threw Kyle a coming home party at Terracorp HQ. Julian was told just the immediate family and a few friends would be there, but dress nice. He just laughed and showed up in his “good” clothes. Something Saya was trying to teach him about. Kyle also was well dressed and a “few friends” seemed to include all the news crews on Argon Prime and a few senators as well. Julian was standing talking to Saya about how happy he was that the whole family was home when Senator Haines walked over and started pumping Julian’s hand.

“I saw the story about the Reaver you donated to the Argon Navy not long ago, and I must admit, you’ve done an exceptional job during these trying times.” She said smiling widely. “We might have to consider cloning you to get more like you someday.” She said jokingly.

“I’ll take care of cloning Brennan’s, if you don’t mind.” Saya said with a smile and leaning over gave Julian a quick kiss. Immediately the senator laughed and nodded, enough said, she walked quickly away.

“Shame on you, getting all territorial like that,” Julian said and hugging her again whispered, “Thank you.” Saya laughed and they walked around holding hands and talking to everyone who asked. Saya was ready to let everyone know she and Julian was a couple now, and even senators should stay away. Julian was on the other hand surprised by this sudden “Ownership” she seemed to want, but it didn’t bother him a bit to think about it.

Kyle and Elena were not quite as obvious, but to the trained eye Elena was watching Kyle closely as a few ladies seemed curious about what HIS future was going to hold. To Julian and Saya it was no mystery, Elena had waited just as long as Saya and now the Brennan men were home to stay.

Kyle and Ban were busy working the room. Kyle could be heard loudly saying “You’ve got to be kidding!” as a few senators tried to explain the lack of money for the Fleet. Ban was in his glory and with Kyle at his side was sweeping every credit from every source in the room. Elena was standing by chuckling as several people seemed to leave the party early before they were attacked in the name of the Argon Fleet. During all this fun and happiness no one was worried about what might come tomorrow. Elena hugged Julian and welcomed him into the family, officially. He thanked her and said that Saya was in charge of all the arrangements as far as he was concerned. They weren’t even sure the exact details yet, but he had never been happier. Saya just kept smiling, she told her Mom that she was happier than ever before and Elena just nodded and hugged her, saying she was never more pleased. In a few short hours the party was over, Julian and Saya went to Julian’s apartment, leaving Kyle and Elena alone at last. It had been a long time coming and everyone was finally going to be happy.

The next day as they sat eating breakfast together, Julian looked up and laughed.

“Think it’s safe to go home again?” he asked chuckling. Saya gave him a dirty look and said.
“Their older than us but they waited on each other a long time. I’m sure they’re being very subtle about this, you know how quiet my mother likes to be.” She said smiling, but Julian wasn’t sure that was going to be the case now. She had been very quiet and subdued in public, but in her office she was a dynamo. He just smiled and said nothing.

“So maybe you should think about moving a few things in here.” Julian suggested and Saya looked up quickly, with a big smile.

“Maybe we should start thinking about getting a permanent place first.” She said and Julian just nodded, he knew this was going to come up.

“I really can’t decide what to have here, my business is all about ships, and I ordered a new ship with full maintenance and repair bays for work, but what other business I want to be in just hasn’t occurred to me yet.” He said honestly.

“You ordered a new ship for a base for your business? Isn’t that a little excessive, I mean, you can have repairs done anywhere, so why have a special ship just for that?” she obviously did not understand the whole plan, so Julian took a minute to explain it to her.

“Owning my own repair ship will give me all the chances I need to travel from sector to sector and gather ships, even while I’m working on another one the last will be getting repaired and I won’t have to pay anyone to do it, it’ll all be built in. Then every time I move from sector to sector, then my whole business is right there, no worries about politics or where I left stuff sit.” He said in closing.

“Well, it’s your business, but I still think a more permanent base here at home would be nice before we start thinking about having a family, after all, kids need a stable environment to grow up in, and jumping from sector to sector just isn’t that stable for anyone.” She said giving him a good stare. He just chuckled and left it drop, he had a few ideas about a home base, but he liked to pick on her when she was trying so hard to be serious. She was so cute when she was getting upset with him, it was funny.

“The new ship will be here in about a week, so I’ll give you the grand tour and see what you think. It’s got lots of room, and the captain’s quarters are very large, maybe even bigger than this.” He said waving one hand around, Saya looked around for a second, this wasn’t a bad looking apartment at all, but if he thought they were going to live on a ship…then he had another thought coming!

“I better get going then; I have work to see about for Terracorp.” Saya said finally, it was plain she wasn’t looking forward to leaving. Julian stood up and gave her a big hug and kiss, and said he’d see her later; he had to get to work too. She had no idea of course how well he was doing, but he’d tell her all about it in time, when he thought she was ready to actually listen. She was definitely not going to want to travel all the time, and even the few stations he considered buying weren’t a problem at the moment, so maybe he’d give it a little more serious thought. He had thought about something in Argon Prime, but it was just too crowded for his taste, so he had already looked around and decided that Ringo Moon was a nice close sector. They could visit anytime they wanted and it was close to Argon Prime and Terracorp…maybe he’d just go do it, after all it would mean the world to Saya, and he thought he was ready now for something a little more permanent.

He left her get out of the system before he approached a mammoth that was near the south gate he asked to rent it and was very happy to be recognized by an old client. He got a deal and flew ahead to the shipyard and waited. He had been here a dozen times before, comparing prices and station wares. He was all about ships and there were several stations that would fit right in with that, but he wasn’t ready, ‘til today. The Mammoth docked and Julian made his selection, a mosquito missile factory. He used them a lot and if you lived and worked in Argon you did too. They were always in demand and traded everywhere; it just seemed to make sense. The mammoth followed him into Ringo Moon and Julian pick out his favorite spot, there was a little cloud and the light made it look blue in space, the whole sector was nice to see and he would be happy calling it home, he thought. The station was delivered and he went on board. It was big and empty, but he felt good just being there. He got on his trading system extension and ordered two mercury freighters with the works. If he was going to run a business, or let Saya run it, they needed good equipment to start. He spent the day going over the station files and setting up trade runs for the ships and by late evening he was ready to make a call, he had just moved his stuff in from the station and said his goodbyes there, but now he had people to tell before someone thought he had left town again. Like that was going to happen now, he thought smiling. The link buzzed a few times and Saya answered it with a big grin.

“You’re getting positively absurd about having me around aren’t you?” she said with a huge smile.

“Absolutely, and I have a complaint too.” Julian said and started to smile as Saya’s face turned red.

“A complaint!! You scum! What do you have to complain about, and don’t tell me you liked that old senator hitting on you during the party.” She said loudly. Julian was wondering if her mother was laughing or giving her the evil eye right now.

“No, you did well at the party, you saved me from some painful experiments and finally made it clear to all of Argon that YOU’RE taken.” Julian said laughing again. Saya stopped for a minute and shook her head it wasn’t the way she saw it at the time but it did work out that way.

“Ok, then I’m doing everything just right…” she paused for effect, but no comment from Julian, “so what’s the complaint about?” she asked more out of curiosity than anything else.

“You women are SO expensive to have around, do you have any idea what a mosquito missile factory costs with towing and...” Julian hadn’t had time to finish his rant before she cut in.

“You did it; you actually bought a station here at home? Fantastic, I thought maybe after you said about the ship, that you expected me to live on that and travel all the time. I was really getting ready to give you a good piece of my mind when you mentioned that.” She said laughing out loud.

“Well, anytime you’re ready, the station and me are in Ringo Moon, I always liked the looks of the place, and if you scream real loud maybe your mother could even hear from here.” He said being a complete idiot for a second. Saya’s face got really red as Julian realized she might not be in the room alone, so he stopped and whispered “sorry’ before she got a huge grin.

“So it’s up and running then? Our own little business, and don’t think I didn’t notice it’s a military supply station too.” She said waving a finger at the screen.
“Really, I thought it was a freighter supply business, do you realize how many of these freighter captains use a day... I have the book and everything!” Julian said getting silly to say the least, but the link was dead and he knew Saya was on her way. He might want to apologize for that one comment if anyone heard it, he decided. A minute later the link buzzed and Kyle was there.

“Congratulations on making a young woman very happy.” He said with a wide grin.

“Which one?” Julian asked with a wink.

“We just better not say anything about that, if I were you, and I’m happy you finally decided on a business of your own, don’t let anyone ever tell you any better, having your own place and a permanent home is just what we all what, eventually, and the missile fab was a good idea. But don’t be surprised if Saya doesn’t show up with clothes this time.” Kyle said laughing as a pair of socks bounced off his head. He laughed loudly and waved at his son, the link went black. It’s about time, Julian thought, he missed her every minute she was away and she knew it... his life was finally going to be complete.

[KRM398]

Chapter 29: Kyle’s Plan



Things flowed into a very steady pattern for a few days, as Kyle started getting Elena away from Terracorp a little more often and Julian and Saya set up housekeeping at the new factory. Julian was so happy he almost forgot his new C was being delivered, almost... He told his dad about it and the two men were in Elena’s Fortune when it came in.

“Very nice,” Kyle said as Julian followed it to the station.

“And you convinced Saya this was a repair ship? You’re more talented than I thought.” Kyle said smiling as Julian chuckled to himself.

“I had to convince myself first, it was a little expensive just for a good carrier ship so the repair bays were added so I never have to pay for repairs ever again.” He said, Kyle just nodded as they went on board and looked around. Kyle was impressed with the overall size and design. It was well worth the money, but he knew Julian would have a hard time convincing Saya of that.

“How about the repair bays, what can you do with them?” Kyle asked as Julian led him into a fighter bay.

“The repair bays are state of the art, their fully automated with repair bot’s that can do repairs inside or outside the ship. Even to other ships within a 2 km radius. I could rent myself out or come to the aid of a badly hurt TL in pirate space, just about anything so long as I have lots of E cells on board.” Julian said as Kyle was seriously impressed.

“Ban needs to think about a few of these in the future, one with the repairs and a few all powered up for fighting, it seems like a serious combat ship as well.” He said looking at a control panel and checking the ship stats.

“With the computer system in full operation, it’s almost fully automatic, all the turrets and even navigation can be run on autopilot, but if it’s down or needs to be repaired a crew can fly it manually.” Julian said knowing he had no intentions of hiring a crew with the auto repairs working, he’d fly the ship himself, and it would keep itself repaired.
“So this is officially your ship business in one place, with full repairs and carrier space, not a bad idea. It simplifies the whole fight/drop at station/ fight/ go get and sell routine to just go get and sell.” He said laughing. He now knew Julian must be doing exceptionally well to be able to afford one of these for his business. Even what Elena had said about his new business hadn’t prepared him for the scope of this deal. He was very proud of Julian, and he could see how Ban had decided to build a capture team of his own, after all Kyle had lived nicely on a capture business before Terracorp, it just wasn’t this easy for him, but that was a different time.

“I guess it’s time to go home and face the music.” Julian said with a chuckle, as Kyle slapped him on the back and said,
“Just drop me off at Terracorp, I think the two of you need to be alone for this one.” He said laughing. Julian dropped away from the station and started towards the west gate, he called, and his LX came running and in a minute docked. Kyle could see that carrier operations were not going to be a problem for Julian, as they entered Light Home, Elena called and congratulated him on his new ship, and Kyle reminded him to drop him off on his way. Julian just smiled as he swung past Terracorp and at 4km told his dad goodbye. Before he could say anything he was beamed into the Terracorp HQ right into Elena’s office.

“I order things with ALL the options, “He said laughing on the comm as Kyle shook his head and said good luck and closed the link. Julian was in Ringo Moon in a few minutes and waited as Saya said she was ready to come on board, he beamed her in and they walked around the new ship as Julian mentioned all the features, like the repairs and the ship to ship drones for emergencies, as well as a good strong defense in bad times, he couldn’t expect to be out running without the ship being able to defend itself. She listened patiently until he had finished and then turned with a weak smile.

“Now that we own two businesses, don’t think you’ll get away with a purchase this big again without my ok.” She said with a little better smile this time,” and don’t think I’m going to use my profits to help keep your business going either. Either it stands on its own or you give it up.” She said seriously, at this Julian handed her the vid-clip with all his orders and sales for the last few months on it. Even though her eyes popped for a minute she fought for control and slapped him in the stomach with the clip.

“Smart-aleck,” she said laughing,” why didn’t you tell me we were doing this well? You made me look like an ogre or something.” She said as Julian pulled her close and gave her a big hug.

“You could never look like an ogre to me, you’re so damn cute,” he said and mussed up her hair, the following was a slap and grab and wrestling match to end all goofing off, which lead to other things right there on the bridge of the new ship. Julian was a happy man and Saya knew even if he quit dealing ships in a few months they would be set up for quite a while. Everyone was just as happy as they could be, for today at least. Julian loaded up the new ship with E cells and was ready the next day. It was time to get out and do some work, if he was to keep this business going.
He was up and away the next day as soon as his breakfast was over. He had decided long ago being there for the morning meal was important; it was one of the things he missed about his dads’ travels. He decided to move around a bit, he knew that there were many good spots for ships to be found and he could do very well on many of them. He had his ship set up to capture in case it was attacked, but with 3 gigs in shields he was sure that it was safe. He got his first try sooner than he thought, he jumped into Ceo’s Doubt looking for pirate ships and found them right inside the gate he entered, this was getting to be a habit, he thought.
The ships opened fire on him as soon as he was out of the gate and his defense system kicked in right away. There were two heavy fighters and four medium fighters, the fight ended in a very few minutes with a bunch of dead fighters and a floating Buzzard Vanguard.

“One for me” Julian thought, this new ship might work out better than he planned.

He worked his way towards the south gate, there were more pirates in there than almost anywhere in space, and he wasn’t that crazy yet. He picked a good vantage point away from the trade lanes and waited to see if anything really good was coming in. If he saw an Eclipse or Blastclaw, he’d have lots of time to drop away and get them, he decided, and all the ships that came to visit here would add faction with the Teladi, and he was doing pretty well there anyways. He spent the day there and never left the ship. As pirates came through the gate, they immediately saw the cruiser and attacked, at one time he had 6 ships hitting him and the shields started to drop, but he had two different sets of weapons on board and there is a terrible difference between alpha Kyon emitters and Beta, so things turned around quickly. He had two new ships at the end of the day, as well as a good amount made from the law license, he was not hurting he decided and jumped back home. As he approached, he commed the station and Saya responded.
“Welcome home, did you get me anything?” she asked laughing.
“As a matter of fact, yes”,
Julian said and sent a new Buzzard over to the station.
“Number one for station defense,” Julian said laughing and Saya was well pleased.
“I didn’t think station defense was a big deal, with a destroyer in the system, and don’t think I didn’t notice the oversize shields you had installed either.” She said laughing.
“Only the best for my new wife,” Julian said and she got all flustered.

“I’m coming on board now; I’ll see you in a few seconds.” Julian said and beamed over.
Saya closed the office for the day and they had a nice dinner together. He told her how well the new ship had worked and how he used different weapons depending on the way the fight went and she just smiled and nodded. It was plain to her, he was using this for more than a repair bay, but then he had done well today, if he kept going like this she wouldn’t have any complaints. They sat watching the entertainment channel and there was another Brennan Watch announcement, this time it was his dad and Elena, out on the town together for the first time in a long while. Saya laughed and said,

“See, I told you they’d find someone else soon enough.” And Julian smiled; he didn’t care just so long as it wasn’t him.
It was later that night when a call came in from Kyle, he had a plan to make Argon Business owners chip in to help the Fleet and he wanted Julian’s help. He was going to call a press conference and make an announcement saying that Terracorp was going to donate new jump drives and E cells to the new Earth ships to help Ban save money, and he wanted Julian to put together a package of stuff to donate too. Then he’d make a big thing about how all of argon should donate something depending on what they made or had and Ban would gain a lot while waiting for the Senate to get off its hands and do something. The plan sounded good but Julian asked him to wait a week, so he had a chance to get a few things gathered up. He was hardly off the link when Saya said he could donate some mosquito missiles from the factory, but she didn’t want him going out and buying a lot of stuff, it was her job to watch the family expenses and she was holding a tight line. Julian just laughed and said in a week he’d have enough stuff off of ships to make a nice donation, this time Ban wouldn’t be able to refuse. She nodded and smiled, she didn’t want him to think she was being cheap, but she knew he’d give Ban his last credit if someone didn’t watch over him. Julian immediately called Kyle back and asked if he wanted to “Go for a ride” tomorrow and he jumped at the chance. He said he’d meet him at Terracorp and the time was set. He made sure the C had lots of E cells and then they retired for the night.


________________________________________
Chapter 30: The Pile Grows


They were away from argon space the next day as planned, Kyle insisted on flying so Julian just sat at weapons control and they talked. He mentioned he got a couple of Buzzards at Ceo’s Doubt the day before and Kyle said to let it cool down. He jumped them into Menelaus’s Paradise, he wanted to see a new Q up close, and Julian said if they got any good ships today they could strip the weapons off and add to the pile for Ban. Kyle agreed and in a few hours they were sitting and laughing, as a couple of xenon M’s made their best attempt to bring down the shields. Kyle just laughed as Julian sat popping alpha Kyon emitters at them ‘til one became disabled, and then the rest were destroyed. Julian ordered the little ship to dock and Kyle was impressed.

“I used to have to go out and claim them manually.” Kyle mentioned as Julian just smiled widely.

“Most people still do, but not everyone.” Julian said as his dad shook his finger at him.

“It’s not piracy if it’s only used on xenon ships, or pirate ships,” and after a little pause, “Or maybe Kha’ak ships.” He started to laugh as his dad asked him if he ever claimed a Kha’ak ship. Julian said he did but it was from fighting, he never tried claiming one using the software, he was sure that Ben would come up with something like that soon enough.
They had hit an M with a mosquito missile and started the fight, but now a few L’s came running in.

“I’d suggest you go a little bigger this time, these shields won’t stand for long with all those HEPT’s hitting them.” Kyle said and Julian agreed. He switched to HEPT’s and Beta Kyon emitters and the fight was much more even. The L’s dropped like flies until the last and it too was disabled and claimed. His dad scanned it and announced it still had 2 good HEPT’s on board so Julian said they would go to Ban and they agreed. They had a fine father/ son outing playing with Xenon’s until Kyle said they better get back. Elena had made him promise he wouldn’t run around the galaxy all the time, but he just couldn’t sit forever and look out the windows, he was sure she understood that, but he wasn’t going to push it. Julian agreed and in a few minutes they were back in Home of Light and Kyle thanked Julian for taking him along,
“We’ll have to do it again sometime.” H e said before beaming over.
Julian went home and got a hot shower and was sitting down just as Saya got dinner ready.
“I’m surprised you and your dad got back so soon.” Saya said with a big grin.

“We both made promises, and the Brennan men are as good as their word, I’ll always try to be back around the same time, if there’s something big I’m working on and can’t make it on time, I’ll call, I promise.” He said seriously and Saya could see that never having his dad around had really stuck to him, he was making sure he didn’t have the same problems with his family this time around.

Kyle also was sitting down to eat and Elena asked if they found anything for Ban today. Kyle said they did, Julian was going to donate the 2 HEPT’s he had gotten today and some mosquito missiles from the factory too. Elena asked if that wasn’t enough, with the 4 new jump engines they were donating, and 5k in E cells, it would look pretty good to all the other stations. Kyle admitted it would help, but he had given Julian the week he asked for and he was sure he wanted the whole week. He was going to go as big as the time allowed him, and Kyle mentioned that depending on what he did they might want to add something else to the “Pile”. Julian wasn’t going to stop until the week was over and Elena just laughed, he still thought he could change the world all by himself, and Kyle agreed, but then he himself had done it in the past and he understood. He just didn’t want to mention it to Elena, he wasn’t sure she would understand.


Julian was in Menelaus’s Paradise again the next day and was having fun flying around and tempting Xenon’s to attack him. He had never had a ship this large and the shields were very impressive. He got another M with the AKE’s and another L with a few well placed missiles. This was even better than his old Raider he decided, but the real test hadn’t come yet, in another hour a full Q patrol came through the east gate and Julian was glad he had just moved. Even this ship would be hard pressed to fight a Q much less and entire patrol. The boron security patrols ran in and started the fight, another Hammerhead was called in, and Julian made a close pass to help take out the fighters. He was thanked for his help as two L’s went pop and a LX was disabled by missile fire. He was well pleased with himself as he pulled away, but was hit hard by PPC fire. He had gotten the fighters to attack him, but now the P was involved too. He opened up on it and the fight started. It was using its big guns and Julian switched to his, he had a good supply of missiles and was dropping a few to help out, but less than half got through the turrets. His new ship’s shields went below half for the first time since he had owned it. He laid down a good barrage of fire and the P lost its shields too, but kept on coming. He was right on Julian’s butt and he saw quickly he couldn’t outrun it, or at least he couldn’t in time. He looked at the radar and smiled, it was right behind him as he was pulling slowly away, but he dropped his speed to match it for a minute, he had a plan, let it chase him, he was better equipped than this ship ever knew. He hit the countdown while his turrets kept the shields down. As he slowed down, it ran even closer, and Julian winced as the heavy fire continued, but after a few minutes the P turned green and Julian could breathe again. He had proven the new ship could pay for it, and that the repair bay was doing its job, with no shields and 90% hull he ordered the P on board. He was as good as new in a few minutes and the shields were coming up, but he had to send the LX for more E cells or he wasn’t going to have enough to jump home. He smiled as the hull returned and he was a very happy ship owner. He gathered the rest of his prizes and decided he had enough stuff for his dad’s announcement. The P was loaded, and that alone was going to impress people. He had another M for his customers and an L and LX. He decided this was very possibly the best day ever and he jumped home smiling to himself; wait until Saya hears about this, he thought.

He jumped into Ringo Moon and called his dad, he answered immediately and Julian told him he had a really good day, and his half of the pile was big enough. Kyle just had to ask what he had and his eyes bugged out as the list was read.

“I’m sorry I missed that, how many ships did you get today and where at?” he was amazed. Julian told him where he was hunting and about the Q patrol and the boron sector teams working it with him, he had a new P to sell and he stripped it all for Ban along with the 2 HEPT’s from the other day and the missiles he thought he had something worthy to add. Kyle just shook his head and smiled, he knew he was going to do something like this , now he had to get a few more things to make his side look better, he just hoped that all the station owners felt the same way. Julian could see his face and knew what he was thinking, he had overdone it again, but he had a plan too. He mentioned pooling all their stuff together and standing together and giving it to Ban as one gift from the two of them, then it didn’t matter who had what, and the list would be very impressive. Kyle smiled and agreed and the time and day were set. It was going to be a surprise for Ban and all of argon, so they decided to get it done quickly.

The day came and Julian and Saya were getting ready for the ceremony. He looked at the closet and asked if he should wear his uniform for it, but Saya just laughed and said no. He was going there as an argon businessman, not a member of the argon intelligence office, it was important he look the part and he agreed. They jumped into Home of Light and landed at the station. The news crews were all there and Ban had just arrived wearing his best uniform. He was asked what was going on, the news crews were asked here by the Brennan Family and they figured it had to be something important. Ban told them he didn’t know anymore than anyone else, he was asked to attend too, and they all had to wait to see together. Kyle waved Julian to the front of the room and said a loud “Ahem!” the room came to a quick silence as Kyle started his speech.

“It is with great honor we gather here today, as my son and I are both successful argon Businessmen we stand together as a symbol of the argon business community. I now ask Commander Ban Danna to come forward.” Ban knew it was something like this, but he needed all the news coverage he could get and he was happy to be there for whatever Kyle had planned.

“The two of us know how badly the Argon Fleet has it these days, and after some discussion we have decided to present you with this, token of our thanks for being there to serve and protect the argon business community all these years. Many people don’t know that the fleet is currently flying some ships with nearly no shields or barely any guns on board. We feel this is a disgrace for the years of service you and the fleet have put in, so we have organized a donation to help with some of these shortages, and we ask all argon businesses to do the same. Donate whatever you have, food, weapons, ships, whatever so we can all sleep well knowing that argon is safe and secure in the hands of the Argon Navy.” He said with a flourish as the news crews took many pictures of Ban accepting the vid-clip with the list on it, he shook Kyle’s hand with tears in his eyes and walked over to Julian and shook his as well. Julian leaned forward with a big smile and said, “Got you this time.” As Ban laughed, he knew a lot of the weapons here would have come from him, but the jump drives and electronics here had come from Terracorp. It was a sizeable list to say the least and he accepted it in the spirit that it was offered. He could clearly see Kyle’s hand in this, but the news crews ate it up. The Family Brennan once again taking the lead in helping argon be strong. Ban made a note to never underestimate these two again, but just smiled and mingled ‘til the party was over.

[parameter]

Aw! Finished it as soon as I saw it

Engrossing read right up to the end. Julian almost has his chips cashed but floats away to the LX, both Brennan's end up with the girls of their dreams! Well, Saya is in mine..

I mentioned to 'The Zig' that some of you should consider setting up an sci-fi ebook club. Anyway, great work! When is Part 3?

[KRM398]

TY Parameter, sorry was busy writing a set of time line storys for the XTM forums..come see sometime..under "the Deadelus Node".. ok Part 3 is coming now.

[KRM398]

Chapter 31: Wheels and Deals



A week went by after the announcement and the Argon news slowly showed other businesses giving to the Fleet. Ban had more supplies now than he had for years and even had all three of the new Earth ships up and running. They weren’t fully loaded, but then nothing in the fleet was. It was more important to have them being seen after all that Kyle and Julian had done. It was a good show of how well things were going to have a new ship fly past from time to time. His fighter pilots had missiles for the first time in ages, one station had donated 100 Wasp missiles, and they went right on the fighters. Julian had donated 500 mosquito missiles and Ban didn’t even look to see what else he snuck in while he was making his delivery. He would try to stop him from overdoing it again, but then that is what Saya was for now, he thought chuckling to himself. Ban could set back and wait, things had been quite quiet for a while, and he was glad. He was in better shape than he had been in ages, but he wanted more before things turned around again.

Julian was getting into the habit of asking his dad to come along while he was working and Kyle never refused. Elena realized that they had never had an opportunity to spend time together before so she didn’t mind. Kyle was having the time of his life and Julian was doing better than he ever imagined. With all the different weapon settings he had he decided he could use the C for almost all his capture work, after all ships flew right up to it and attacked, he got novas and falcons almost every day, and the ship actually repaired itself, so it took it all in stride.

No one had seen or heard from Ban since the announcement, but they both knew he was doing much better. The news mentioned every time someone donated and the business owners got a nice bit of free advertising from the news. It was a win/win so everyone was happy.

Julian was just dropping Kyle off when they got a message from Ban, he wanted to see Kyle as soon as possible so they flew straight there. Ban was in his office a little late tonight waiting, but he didn’t seem to upset. Kyle and Julian walked in and he offered them a seat. Ban said he finally got a credit check from the Senate and he had a little problem. The last few years almost all the combat ships were built in Omicron and he wasn’t about to send that “idiot” any more money than he had too. He asked Kyle to contact Earth about a few more ships. They would be as good or better quality than anything he could get locally, but he was going to order his fighters from the Argon shipyards. It was almost the only plans they still had so he was sure that he could get at least those here. Kyle mentioned the C Julian had and said he had spent a lot of time on it and it was a fine craft, he might want to consider ordering a few of those as well. Ban said he’d consider it, and they shook hands and started on their ways. Kyle promised to call Earth early tomorrow and try getting another deal with Admiral Kovich. He wasn’t as bad as everyone thought, he was just very careful. Ban smiled at that and said “Good, it was nice to have friends again. Julian asked him where he was going to get his corvette class at. If he wasn’t dealing any more with Omicron he’d be very short of options. Ban shook his head and got a disgusted look, the last time he tried getting corvettes from him he asked 12 million credits each.”12 MILLION” he said loudly, “absolutely out of his mind.” Ban said and Julian laughed,

“I can get 3 for that, well, almost.” He said smiling and Ban looked up at him questioningly.

“3 what, I mean what design can you get?” he asked and Julian informed him he was getting big discounts now on the Marauder A class, it was one of the biggest corvettes out there, and he knew of at least one person who had one modified with 4 shields and called it a frigate. Ban waved for him to stop a second as he pulled up the files. The Marauder was not that much different in design than Argon ships, he might just want to give a couple a try for that kind of price.

“Exactly what price are we talking, with the guns and shields?” he asked and Julian had to think for a minute.

“The last few I bought were for 4.3 million, equipped, that’s with APPC’s up front and either HEPT’s or Kyon emitters in the turrets, so that’s the quote I’d have to give you right now.” Julian said smiling, Ban was impressed, and he couldn’t touch that price for an empty ship, so he asked Julian to order him three for a trial. The funds were transferred and Julian said he’d order them the next day. Things were finally going Argons way after all this time, Ban said, and they all went home.


With all these new business offers’ flying around like spaceflies, Ban was hoping to add a lot of new ships quickly. If Julian hadn’t mentioned it he was just planning on flying a lot more heavy fighters, but one of these new corvettes would do quite nicely if they lived up to their hype. He got a good night’s sleep dreaming of new ships and good friends.


Saya was surprised the next day when Julian didn’t leave for work. He had been very successful with the new ship and had made a serious attempt at paying for itself. He was at the desk when she walked in the next day ordering the new corvettes for Ban. She was more than pleased; he was acting more like a real businessman every day.

“What are you doing, this is supposed to be MY desk remember.” She said with a big smile.

“Business, Ban wants to order three new corvettes from me and I’m just making the call. Be done here in a minute.” He said seriously, of course she didn’t care if he used the desk or not and he knew it, she stood looking over his shoulder as he commed the shipyard.

“What you want, oh Brennan, what now? Order more, big discount, pretty sure.” Hardigan stuttered, as Saya almost laughed out loud.

“Hardigan, you old pirate, I’m going to take you up on your deal, I’ll order three new A class Marauders and you give me a big discount, just like you said.” Julian said loudly.

“I said discount, maybe not so big but still... “He started and Julian started to laugh.

“Ok, three A class with usual stuff, maybe 4.1 million each, good discount, my word good here, see?” he stammered, as Saya nodded in agreement.

“Good, you’re a good man, Hardigan, we have a deal, and maybe just maybe more later, maybe even more C class. You treat me good, I treat you good.” Julian said, wondering why he was starting to talk like him, he just smiled.

“Ok, good business then, three A class, maybe 4 days delivered then we talk about new C then, ok?” he asked and Julian said yes and closed the comm.

“So that was your pirate friend.” Saya asked smiling. “Doesn’t seem like the brightest light in the house does he?” she asked smiling. Julian was quick to remind her that Hardigan started out as a pilot but he was so bad they moved him into a desk job. If it wasn’t for his likeable nature, he might just have been spaced for loosing so many ships, but they didn’t want to lose him, so now he was a successful businessman, in pirate terms at least. She nodded, in pirate circles losing a lot of ships was not a way to a long life, for sure.


“Let me make another call or two and the desk is all yours.” Julian said and Saya walked around and sat down, he was really enjoying himself, and she was more pleased then she could ever let him know. Julian called a couple people about the new P he had in his ship, there were several people who told him to keep an eye out for one and it only took a few minutes to find someone who wanted it right away. The price was agreed to and Julian told him he could pick it up at the station. He closed the link and started again, this time selling the new Buzzard Vanguard he was carrying. He was determined to empty out the carrier before going back out and it didn’t take long to do it. It wasn’t even lunch time yet and he had made some serious deals, now he was beginning to see how Elena felt, he thought with a big smile. Finally he stood up and waved to the desk.

“It’s all yours,” he said with a flourish.

“After all the credits you just made I’ll feel bad seeing what I’m doing here.” She said with a wink. He gave her a quick hug and started for the door. It was too late for a big trip today, so maybe just do something local, he thought and jumped into Elena’s Fortune to visit some friends.

As he entered the system he didn’t see any fighting going on, so they were probably just sitting around waiting, he remembered the last time he came through here and switched to Tach 2 channel and said,

“And don’t any of you think about firing on THIS ship.” He said loudly as a few voices started chuckling in the distance.

“I heard you lost the P, what a bad deal, but I see it didn’t slow you down any.” Brad said laughing.

“Nope, this is the new C class Marauder, look well, the pirates will be selling these soon and you just might see one or two.” Julian said, slowing down by the trading station.
“It was very nice of you to buy one just so we could see it and maybe get a little practice,” Joan said as Julian jumped in,

“Don’t even consider it, ever, this is my new baby so behave yourselves.” He said laughing.

“What are you doing in here today, trying to put us out of work?” Joan asked, and Julian said he had spent a big part of the day working at his station and just thought he’d swing by to say hello, and maybe see if any good pirate ships were in Split Fire.

“Well, be very careful, there’s a lot of traffic in and out of there and there’s a pair of Carracks patrolling from there up through here and into Farnham’s Legend.” They warned.

“A PAIR, together?” he asked and they said yes, they saw them together once and then separate but close to each other a few times, it was making their job here even more dangerous.

“Definitely stay away from those if you can, even 4 fully loaded falcons would have a hard time with a Carrack, and there isn’t a very big dead spot in their firing arcs either, so don’t even think about it.” He said seriously and they all chuckled and said ok. He pulled over by a big asteroid and switched channels; it was time to see if he could find out what was going on.


Chapter 32: The Legion


Julian gave Ben a call again, if anyone would have an idea what was happening he just might. It buzzed a few times and was answered.

“Hello, there, haven’t heard from you in a while. Nice girlfriend there, bud, good job.” Ben said laughing while watching another screen.

“See, everyone says that, you need to be more original.” Julian said laughing.

“Oh, I saw her out with you on the news, they really like you over there don’t they?” he said not expecting an answer.

“Ok, enough small talk, I need a little info, can you tell me why the pirate community has started making all these big moves lately? I mean we knew these guys for years and stealth was their thing, now their all out in the open, and traveling in big groups. It doesn’t look good.” Julian said seriously.

“OH,” Ben said quietly, “That would be the Legion.” He said without looking around at all. Julian snapped to attention,
“The Legion, what’s that?” he asked.

“Well if you want to quote Harmony, He says...” Julian cut him off quickly.

“Harmony’s back? What’s he doing now?” he was a little upset, he knew this guy and he was forced out of the clans years ago for starting trouble.

“If I could FINISH, I’d tell you.” Ben said loudly.

“Harmony says its time all the pirate clans unite under one leader, and then they can show the major houses that they mean business and then they’ll negotiate for deals with all of them. If it works out, then no one will be firing on pirate ships because they’ll all have business deals with them. It would mean peace between the houses and the pirates for the first time.” He said in closing.

“And who will be the new super pirate leader?” Julian knew the answer to that.

“You know him as well as I, did you ever meet a pirate who could talk someone out of their loot before?” Ben said smiling.

“He’s got a gift that’s for sure, but to be honest, if he can pull it off this might be good for everyone.” Julian said smiling.

“Or start a war with all the houses.” Ben said and the link went black, this was NOT good, he almost knew what was going to happen next, but he didn’t want to think about it. He turned around and without saying goodbye to the capture team, went straight to Argon Prime.

Julian pulled up beside Argon One just as Ban commed him, he was all smiles for the first time in ages and Julian really didn’t want to do this, but.

“Julian my friend, how are you today? I have all those weapons you donated on ships now and except for a few heavy shields we have on order, we’re in fine shape for the moment.” Ban said all smiles.

“Hello, Ban, Can I come on board for a minute, I have something I need to tell you in person.” Julian asked and Ban’s face dropped quickly, he knew Julian well and he was not happy he had to be here right now. Permission was granted and Julian beamed right into his office, and Ban asked him to sit down.

“Alright, Julian, I can see that look, what did you find out today?” Ban asked seriously. Julian apologized for showing up right when things looked so good but he had heard why the pirates had suddenly started making all these big moves. Ban stopped him for a second and activated bug jamming and sealed the room, being head of Argon Intelligence was a stressful job, Julian could see.

“Alright, now what’s going on, and where did you find out?” Ban asked. Julian said he questioned Ben and he asked around a bit. An old pirate called Harmony was back and was convincing all the pirate clans to unite under him. He wanted to build an army that the major houses would have to deal with then offer to sign deals so that pirates and all the houses would be at peace for the first time. Ban thought for a second and got a big smile, he didn’t know why Julian was so upset, this could conceivably work out better than ever before, but something else was bothering him he could see.

“I agree that if it works out that this could end years of bickering with the pirate clans, but if it goes bad, then all the clans will have a united military for the first time, and not a single one of the major houses will be safe.” Julian said. Ban disagreed, even with all the clans together, they didn’t have a navy big enough or well armed enough to war against a major house, any of them, he knew well that the 6 clans had fought against each other for years and their resources were always low, they certainly weren’t a threat to argon. Julian stood up and started pacing the floor, and Ban waited for him to decide to speak.

“For one thing, there aren’t 6 clans, there are 8, and they don’t always war against each other. The Yaki are the top of the line pirate technology guys. If its high-tech, they build it and they have a number of sectors that were once unexplored that they own and have factories in now. They supply the high tech and the other pirates supply the money, together they can whip out ships at record speed and with the very best quality. There’s also a pirate HQ, far from all the major houses where the pirate clans all meet to work out their gripes, what you see is only what they want you to see, where do you think I’m getting the Marauders from? Yaki’s... And they told me, no problem; they can have the three you want ready to be delivered in 4 days. Could the argon shipyard say that?” he asked as he sat down. Ban was not smiling nearly as wide now, he was working with outdated info and that alone was upsetting, but now the word was out he had some serious things to think about, and at least one other agent he wanted very much to have dragged in here by his throat. He stood and shook Julian’s hand and thanked him for the good info, he was once again on the cutting edge of the intelligence game, and Ban was glad he was on his side.

Julian nodded and beamed back to his ship and went home, this might all be just a lot of trouble about nothing, and he hoped that Harmony could pull it off. Of course it would put the capture team out of work but it would give Argon new places to buy ships at better prices and rip the rug right out from under Commander Brighten, he thought smiling.

[KRM398]

Chapter 33: Happiness and Heartaches


In a few days’ things seemed back to normal. Julian delivered the three corvettes and Ban said after a good shakedown he’d decide if he wanted any more. He did a walk-through of one and was very impressed, smiling he said,

“I’ll have a dozen Lieutenants fighting over who’s going to get these three, I’m sure. They look very nice indeed, I’ll let you know for sure in a few days,” and he left the ship, with a big grin.

Julian stopped by Terracorp and talked to his father for a while. He had gotten through and ordered 4 more earth ships and they were being prepared. Two would be ready tomorrow and two more in a few days. Ban was happy to hear it and with the new corvettes, he was beginning to smile a little more, Kyle said. Julian said he was happy things were working out. It had been pretty quiet and he was hoping that meant that the pirate clans were ready to talk peace. Of course Ban didn’t say if he had been approached by any of them yet, but that wasn’t a surprise either, he took his job seriously and he would reveal things when he was ready. Julian told his dad that he’d be around the next day to see the new ships and Kyle said he was going to jump in with the TL and see to the jump drives and E cells himself. It was just something to do and he wanted to see the new ships right up front. Julian just laughed and said he’d see then when they reached Argon Prime; he wasn’t that much in a hurry. They laughed and Kyle said he’d see him tomorrow, as Julian left for home.

The next day Julian was in Bans office waiting on word of the new ships when a call came in. Ban grabbed it to his horror.

“Argon One: This is Supply One, we’re under pirate attack. It’s a Carrack and escorts. They were waiting for us. Please respond!” Kyle sounded bad as the signal snapped and popped. Ban returned and said to avoid them as best they could, help was on the way. He immediately sent one of the earth cruisers in to aid them. The fight was fierce, and Kyle reported the cruiser was losing shields. Ban sent in the second earth cruiser he had on patrol in Argon Prime. It was the deciding factor and the battle was finally won. Julian was pacing the floor waiting to see if his dad was ok when the ships jumped in. The two earth cruisers were hit hard, and Julian could see damage to the hulls from the window in Ban’s office. The TL was hurt badly, it was limping along at less than half speed, and in a second the two new earth ships jumped in. It was horrible, there were fires along the side of one and every antennae, and obstacle was gone. The other was clearly on fire in the engine room and was barely moving.

“My god,” Ban said dropping his eyes and returning to his desk. He dropped his elbows onto his desk and hid his face in his hands for a moment, then said.

“I spent nearly all the senate funding on these 4 ships and now, with all the repairs and damage to the two we already have on patrol, we won’t have enough to repair them, much less arm and shield them.” He said and Julian had never seen him so clearly depressed. The call came in that the TL had docked and Kyle was on his way up to the office. Julian waited by the door to see him the second he entered. He just had to know he was alright, this was way too close. The door opened and Kyle stepped in, his clothes smelled of smoke and he looked positively beat, but he was alright. Julian gave him a big hug and walked him to a chair. They all sat for a minute, just looking at each other, in a look of sheer disbelief.

“What do we do now?” Kyle finally asked slowly.

“For one thing, I’ll spend the last of my funds repairing the first two cruisers. It looks like we’re going to need them more now than ever.” Ban said shaking his head.

“And what about the other two? The new ones?” Kyle asked as Ban just shrugged and sat back, he hadn’t a clue.

“If Ban will let me, I can help.” Julian said after a minute. Ban looked at him and smiled, he never gave up, he thought, no matter how hopeless.

“Alright then, tell me how you can help this time, I’m all ears.” Ban said and the sadness in his voice made the joke seem almost painful.

“I own a repair ship; I can repair other vessels within 2 km of me with repair drones. I’ve never done it, but I have the capability in my new cruiser. It was something I thought I’d need in my work.” He explained.

“I don’t think I’ll have anything to pay you with,” Ban started but Julian stepped in.

“Just pay for the E cells and any drones I lose and I’ll do a ship just for practice. It won’t cost you anything else and I’ll get experience too which I need.” Julian said and Ban just smiled and shook his head.
“Fine, then how do you want to do it, I need anything done I can get so letting you practice is ok with me.” He said sarcastically. Julian swallowed hard, he hoped he could do this now that he offered, he’d have to stay up all night studying to he knew what to do, but he didn’t say that.

“Have one parked out of the trade lanes along the edge of the system, I’ll be here tomorrow with my repair ship, and soon as I load up with E cells I’ll start the repairs. Then we can see if it is any slower or more expensive than the shipyard.” Julian said and patted his dad on the back and walked out, leaving Kyle and Ban just sitting there, in disbelief.

“He’s a good man, “Ban said after Julian left.

“Yes, he is, and I’m very proud of him.” Kyle said with a weak smile.

“At this moment, he’s a model for us all,” Ban said as he slid back up to his desk and started ordering repairs and the other ship into position for Julian for tomorrow. Kyle stood and nodded, he was going home to try to explain to Elena what had happened to the little excursion he was going on for a few minutes. He wasn’t at all happy with the prospects of that, but it needed done. He went home for some rest and was sure he was going to be with Julian the next day no matter what. He wanted to see this miracle he seemed to think was going to save the day.

Saya knew she heard Julian come in, but he didn’t come into the kitchen looking to eat. It was lunch time and she was there preparing herself something so she went looking for him. She found him at her desk staring at the screen and flicking through some kind of catalog or something.

“Hi, there, coming in to have a bite with me?” she asked but he just shook his head no and kept on reading. She knew now something was wrong, so she walked over and spun the chair to make him face her.

“Alright what is it, what’s wrong, is everyone alright?” she asked in quick succession.

“That’s a matter of opinion,” Julian started, then smiled a weak smile and said,” The new Earth ships were ambushed by a pirate patrol. They were nearly destroyed and the TL with dad in it too. Ban is heartsick. He put everything he had into these 4 ships and the first two are nearly gone. I offered to help do emergency repairs on one, but I haven’t taken the time yet to learn how, so it looks like I’ll be using your desk for the night.” He concluded, as she grabbed and hugged him for a minute.
“Is your dad alright though?” she asked and he just nodded yes, and turned and started reading again. Saya was almost in tears herself, this meant a lot to Ban and all of Argon, and they nearly lost them the first day. She went and brought a cup of coffee and a sandwich to Julian, then went into the kitchen and used the comm station to order another new desk. He needed his own too, it was just about time.


Chapter 34: Small Wonders


The next day Julian was in Argon Prime with a full load of E cells he brought with him. He found the earth cruiser sitting at the edge of the system between the east and south gates. It was still really early, but he wanted to get started while everything was fresh in his mine. He moved into position and set the controls on the computer. It said “commencing scan” it took a few minutes and the results were shown, it made Julian half sick. It was a wonder this ship had survived. It had one working engine, many bad electrical problems, and life support was barely functioning. Probably why Ban had dropped it here and pulled the crew off. It was basically a floating derelict, so it would serve very well for his first practice ship. He remembered his instructions saying electrical repairs first, so he set controls for 6 drones to do electrical and released them. Now he would see what they were really capable of. If he hadn’t known they were fixing things what he saw next would have worried him badly. The drones flew to the designated spots and opened panels carefully and actually went inside many, and lights and electrical flashing was clearly seen from the control room. ‘Please let them be fixing something.” Julian thought, he was here very early just so he had time to screw up before anyone else could see, but the computer controls started to change, from 70% electrical failure to 65% then a little while longer, 60% he was thrilled. Not only were they fixing things, they were actually pretty fast. He was all smiles and decided maybe he’d have to grab a cup of coffee and relax instead of standing here worrying.

Kyle flew through the gate into Argon Prime and started looking for Julian, he knew him well enough by now to know he’d be here very early to get some practice in. He wanted to be there to see these new repair bots in action. It was his idea that Ban buy a ship like it for emergency repairs, and he thought for sure they would need him in Heretics End the day before, but luckily everyone had made the jump. Now he saw the cruiser and Julian sitting alongside. He approached as fire seemed to be coming out of a couple of panels along the one side. He moved in closer just as a drone popped out and closed the panel and moved on to the next. It then opened it and dove inside, and more fire and sparks could be seen. It was quite surprising, and he just hoped they knew what to fix. He docked with Julian’s cruiser and went to the bridge, there he found his son, dinking a cup of coffee and watching a computer screen, making a change or giving an order here and there. He watched from behind for a minute and then smiled and asked.

“Are you sure they’re fixing things, it’s pretty serious looking out there.” Julian turned to see him and just smiled, and offered his dad a cup; they stood as Julian explained what was happening. The drones had exact instructions given by the computer to fix certain things, they might even cut things to get into the main problem, but then they repair their way back out, making better time than trying to fiddle around with things in the road. It was all quite impressive, and Kyle stood drinking his coffee as Julian switched from electrical to engine repairs. All the drones returned to the ship and retooled, then went back to work. The electrical system was up and running and with it life support. Now Ban could think about his crew when he finally got up, Julian said and they both had a good laugh. In less than 3 hours Julian had repaired a ships electrical system that was 75% destroyed, and it was up and running. His father was more than impressed, and so was Julian, he had no idea that these new bots were so fast or that they had an AI that contacted the computer 10 times a second for more instructions. They were actually talking back and forth all the time and the computer was scanning and changing their orders every second, all very high-tech and extremely amazing to see.

When Ban got to his desk he was not surprised to see Julian over by the cruiser working. He knew he’d give it a shot, any help was appreciated, but after all what could a few drones and one man do against a totally destroyed ship? He was hoping against hope he at least got the life support going, then Ban could put a few engineers on board to start working inside later on. It was going to be a big job and he was going to have to go slowly until more funds came in, but that was just the way things had been around here for quite a while, he commed Julian to say hi and see what he was up to.

“Well, good morning Ban,” said Kyle as the screen came on,
“We’ve been here a little while now, can you send us over some more E cells? We’re getting low, but you’ll never believe what we’ve gotten done so far.” He said smiling widely, and Ban knew it was true, he ordered E cells delivered and went over to see for himself. He watched as the drones went about their business and saw some severe sparks fly more than once, but the computer kept saying that repairs were being done, and at break neck speeds too. If this was all true, the next thing he was buying was another of these ships. It beat the repair docks on the shipyard by a mile.

“This is very impressive, can we get the electrical systems back on line, I want some engineers to go inside and help.” Ban said as Julian turned and snickered.

“Life support is up and active and the electrical system is fully repaired. If you like they can crawl around and check, but the computer said it was done an hour ago. We’re doing engine repairs at the moment, ETA on repairs... 1 hour.” Julian said checking a few settings.

Ban looked at Kyle with amazement and he nodded - it was true.

“Absolutely amazing, thank you Julian for coming forth with this new technology, it’s truly incredible, and believe me, we’ll be using it more from now on.” He said and with that he turned and went back to the Argon One.

“You just helped turn a very bad week around, I think.” Kyle said as Julian turned all smiles. He was very, very tired but he was getting a lot done to undo what the pirates had done the day before. It made him feel good and he could sleep tonight after this was all complete. In three hours the new ship was again starting to look new. The hull plates were being repaired and all the systems were on line including all the engines. It had been a long hard day but he had done it, and as the ship started up and moved away, he thanked Ban and Kyle for the good words. All he wanted now was some serious sleep and he said goodbye to everyone and went home to get some.

Julian was up and at work the next day feeling much better. He had a thought that he might be able to use these new repair drones to fix derelicts he knew about all over the place. He could almost always find a freighter that had been disabled or nearly destroyed and sometimes a few fighters. It might add a new level to his business and since it only cost him time and E cells, he could do work that others would have passed by. He had a couple spots he wanted to check today, he knew ships were there but had never bothered to see what kind because they were just, well, junk, the same as everyone else thought, so this might change a lot of minds real soon.

The first one he knew wasn’t very far away; he had seen it like everyone else, a thousand times. It was a TL that was caught by a pirate patrol in Farnham’s Legend and had slowly drifted out into deep space. He went there first and was surprised that he didn’t see a patrol around; he went straight to the wreck and began his scan. He was surprised at the condition the scan showed, this wasn’t as bad as the cruiser he did the other day. He started the electrical repairs and was well into them when the first pirate patrol entered the system and attacked. It was a few fighters, and he wasn’t too worried, he set the weapons for defense and a few minutes later they were all gone. He checked his progress so far and was happy to see that the electrical was nearly useable, not completely fixed, but still good enough to move. It had 2 good engines, so he decided to let those repairs go until he got it home. In another hour it was ready to move and he was nearly out of E cells anyway. He ordered it to his home base and escorted it home. It took a while, it hadn’t been set up for speed either, so it took a couple hours to get there, but it made for a really good couple days once he would have it finished. Saya saw him coming through the gate and then the TL with him. She was very excited and Julian told her it was just one of those free things he was hoping to find from time to time. She was so happy, saying that a TL class would always be wanted by Argon businessmen, if they could fix it and sell it just a little less than the shipyard it was a sure sell. Julian agreed and said he expected to have a few more hours of repairs to do first and he had it stop close enough so he could beam, energy cells from the station into his ship. Of course Saya yelled he was taking her E cells, but they both laughed as she had already seen the profit from this job coming.

Julian worked late that day and the ship was ready. He was beginning to wonder how many hours he could put on these drones before they started to break down on him, but after this job he decided he could afford all new ones if he wanted. Having a few more wouldn’t be a bad idea either, the more drones the faster the repairs. So he called Hardigan and asked about them, he said he could buy new drones in groups of ten just like the original, but they were warranted for hundreds of hours use. Julian was happy to hear that but decided to order a new A class to sell and have them just load the drones on it when it was ready. He had a few plans he wanted to do when he had the chance, and these would be needed.

[KRM398]

Chapter 35: Many Good Returns



Saya actually had a buyer for the new TL before Julian had it finished. He laughed and asked her if she was moving in on his ship sales and she said if they worked together they could be one of the most successful families in Argon, like that worried Julian at all. But this new drone business was great. He could finally bring in all the ships he had ignored like the TL... and make good money from it. He silently thanked the Yaki for coming up with this, he was going to make a real business out of salvaging ships and with his other ship sales, mostly from the shipyards now; he was set up for life or would be soon enough. He placed an ad at all the stations asking for info about lost or disabled ships and offered his services. He knew he’d find a few kooks this way but if one lead in three panned out he’d be ok with that.

His first lead was a Teladi who said he owned a ship Julian could have for salvage, but he demanded 10k for the location. He did say it wasn’t too bad, it wasn’t in a pirate sector or anything, so Julian decided to take the risk. He went to the exact location and found disabled Mercury setting there. He moved in and scanned it and laughed. If the Teladi wasn’t so afraid of being shot at again, he could have had the repairs done in an hour himself, but obviously he wasn’t that worried about it. Julian spent less than an hour there and loaded a very nice Mercury on board. He might want to keep it here, he thought, better than sending his LX for E cells on a big job. He smiled, for maybe 12k he had a good transporter, he’d take that deal.

There was something he wanted to see, quietly… he jumped into Presidents End and looked around, it was pretty quiet so he moved over to one of the hulks left from the Kha’ak attack and scanned it. The scan said the electrical system was fried and one engine was badly damaged, but the hull was a complete waste. He moved away from that one and stopped at another. Argon had lost a lot of ships here, and he was just checking to see what he might do that everyone else had just given up on. He ran the scan and it wasn’t nearly as bad, the ship had taken some big hits, but the hull was at 60% and the engines were ok, but a few mounts were busted, giving the engines a twisted look, and the electrical system was pretty bad. But considering the enormous cost of one of these Titans it just might be worth it. He was deep in thought when the comm’s link buzzed, and of course Ban was there.

“I don’t think you’ll have much luck there, these ships were very badly shot up in the battle.” He said sadly.

“But we never had this kind of technology before either,” Julian said, as Ban’s eyes opened wide.

“Are you saying their repairable now?” Ban asked.

“Not all of them, but this one could be, it’ll need a lot of work, but maybe it would be worth it.” Julian said smiling.

“Well, we have a list of old military ships that were either destroyed in battle with the Kha’ak or Xenon’s or whatever. It goes back a few years if you’re interested, I could give it to you for a favor some time.” Ban said smiling, and Julian could see it coming.

“Ok, like what?” Julian asked.

“If you can salvage a few good ships you can have them but I get my pick of any before you sell them to anyone else.” He said smiling.

“I accept, and I’ll give you any military fighter I find too, for the info... I can make something and you can get something in return.” Julian said as Ban smiled and a file was downloaded to the computer. Julian waved and Ban’s link went closed. He opened the file and was really surprised that Argon had kept track of all these old ships; they obviously were hoping to salvage parts or something at a future time. He decided that this might just be a part-time job by itself, he smiled and entered it into his repair computer as a work list, then he could check it as he went and remove anything not worth bothering with.

He decided to give it a try and ordered all the drones to repair electrical systems. It needed a lot and this would speed up the repairs a bit, but his E cells dropped quickly. He ordered his new freighter into The Wall to get more cells as the day continued. He was lost in his work when Saya called later. He had not watched the time.

“Hi, you coming home now or later?” she asked with a big smile and Julian said he would be home as soon as all the drones returned. He was working on another big ship but it would take some time to finish. She nodded and he said get dinner ready, he’d be there shortly. It was important to him to be there when she wanted, it was just something he had decided long ago, and he wanted to be reliable to everyone.

“Ok, then 1 hour and I eat with or without you.” She said laughing and closed the screen. Julian checked his progress as the drones finished their last assignments and returned. He had 75% electrical done but the engine repairs were going to take a while, he wanted to see these drones repair a 20 ton engine while fixing a mount, he thought with a smile and he jumped home for the night.

He had a good evening as they sat eating, Saya asked him what he was working on now and he told her. He thought she’d choke on her food as she asked him if he was kidding. He said no, up until now a lot of ships were left sitting around because it cost too much to fix them, but now he had a chance to save a few and then sell them. Ban had even given him a list of all the ships they knew of that were still out there and Julian had said he would give Ban a first pick from any he got done. Saya decided that was a good deal, even though she wasn’t sure there was a big market for military ships outside of Ban and the Navy, but Julian knew about ships better than she did, and he was confident, so she left it go.

He returned the next day and was back at work when the comm link buzzed, it was his father looking for him.

“You didn’t say where you’d be working, so I decided to give you a call.” He said with a smile, Julian told him and he just shook his head, like everyone else, he had decided long ago that Presidents End was a scrap yard, or maybe a graveyard, but either one didn’t seem to be occurring to Julian. Kyle jumped into a shuttle and met him there. They stood and talked and Kyle was there when the engines were repaired. They were both very surprised when the one engine was cut loose and three drones held it while one did the repairs. They had never seen AI working so well together.

“Makes you think about the xenon doesn’t it?” Kyle said and Julian just nodded. These were a lot more limited than the xenon, at least Julian hoped so.

They talked and the day went on, but by late afternoon the computer said the ship repairs were done. Julian was thrilled, but his father was a little upset looking.
“There’s something you now have to consider,” he started,” it’s been a long time, but without life support the old ships here were just refrigerators. Now that it’s been restored, well…” he left it at that. Julian swallowed hard he hadn’t thought of all the dead soldiers he would be bringing back, sort of, by opening up these old ships. He called Ban immediately.

“Yes Julian, how’s it going?” he asked smiling. Julian told him they were ready to take control of the ship. Life support was restored, but he wanted Ban to remove the bodies so the families could have them put to final rest. Ban just nodded and in a short while a military freighter moved in and docked. They were on board only a short while when they called out.

“So why we here, There are no bodies on board this vessel; we just did a complete check.” The officer in charge said.

“Thank you for coming then, we were sure there should be soldiers on board, so we called you in, we probably should have checked first.” Julian said, but the officer was forgiving, it was their job, and if Julian found any ships with dead on board he was to call them at once. They gave the families the rights first then the Navy had special graveyards for the “forgotten dead” so they would always have a place to go. Julian and Kyle both smiled, it was good to see that they would be taken care of, but Kyle looked troubled.

“What’s the matter dad?” Julian asked.

“Just doing too much remembering, I think.” Kyle said. Julian laid a hand on his shoulder and nodded, he had gone through a lot, maybe he shouldn’t be here, but Kyle said these areas were never going away, so he just had to get used to it…but it wasn’t easy. He went to his shuttle and returned home for a rest. Julian almost cried for him, it was asking a lot for someone who had been tortured and experimented on to forget, he did a hell of a job though.

Ban called back a few minutes later.

“So have you been on board yet, what did you manage to salvage from it?” he asked. Julian said he didn’t go on board yet, his father was having a hard time after the freighter came, thinking about all that happened so he was giving the ship a moment of silence before continuing. Ban was really proud of him; he realized the sacrifices of the military and gave them great respect, but at least this time it wasn’t needed.

“Give me a second, “Julian said as he scanned the ship.
“It has one good shield generator and three HEPT’s still in two of the turrets, other than that it’s empty, but ready to fly.” Julian said looking at the screen.
“Hmm, not too bad considering, go ahead and take this one, and see if you can make a good deal for it, I’ll wait and see what else you can get, I may have to start a “Tab” if you don’t mind, ‘til I get more senate funds.” He said sadly and Julian just nodded, if that’s what it takes to help out, ok with him, he thought. He ordered the new ship home and surprised Saya and the sector patrol ships badly when it entered with Julian.
“Where’d you get the old ship?” the destroyer captain called as he parked next to his station. He told him the story and said he’d be bringing in a few old ships from time to time, and he just nodded. He was glad Julian had the Argon Military check for dead, it was important to all military to have a little respect and Julian said he understood. The captain saluted him and said he couldn’t wait to see what else he brought in, and laughed. Saya was a little less happy having a battleship sitting next to the station when she asked him what he would do with it he said sell it, but what if no one wants it? She asked and Julian smiled and said,
“Station defense?” he laughed but she just shook her head and smiled, this was not her idea of station defense, but you had to admit the idea was appealing…Julian stopped for the day and made a few comm calls and it was gone in two days, surprising Saya to no end, when she asked how he knew it would sell he said,

“There are people out there building their own fleets, ether for defense or for other more sinister reasons, but they are all honest businessmen who have for a reason or not started a “collection” and they will always be looking for something big and powerful. She asked him what it cost to repair it and what he made on the deal, he showed her the vid-clip, and she just smiled widely and walked away
________________________________________
Chapter 36: Whale Hunting


Julian started out the next day with his father by his side, he was ready to check some of the other places on the list, and true to military form, and they were all a long list of serial numbers and locations. Kyle said he’d have checked first to see what class each one was but Julian just smiled and said it was an “adventure” just seeing what you could find and what shape it was in. His dad laughed and said he couldn’t make a business out of this; he was having too much fun. They both had a grin as the ship turned and started out into dead space, towards the next wreck. It was seen a minute before they got to it, and Julian scanned and found a Nova sitting.

“This will be one for Ban.” Julian said and Kyle asked him if was even worth salvaging. Julian scanned it and found the engines were in bad shape but the rest was pretty good.

“Someone hit it from behind and did engine damage, so they left it here.” Julian said as he started the drones and released them. It actually took less than an hour to get it up and running. There was a part missing, or actually destroyed, but the other engine was more than enough to get it on board. One for Ban, thought Julian, this would help pay for the list he gave him. They jumped into another system and started their search, it was way up in the one corner, and it wasn’t hard to see. They flew towards it for a few minutes before Kyle finally spoke.

“It’s an old carrier, this thing looks like a whale, just sitting there.” He said laughing. Julian smiled; he was determined to at least get a good scan of it. He got into position and started the scan, it only lasted a second and the results came up… Julian was amazed it was barely hurt, but it was all in the wrong place, the electrical system was in bad shape. It had a fire some time ago and the carrier couldn’t repair it in time. He was sure that there would be people on this one for sure. He did a bio-scan and found evidence of DNA in several places... . He called for the recovery crew as his drones started to work. It took over an hour for the crew to get there and Julian had enough control by then to let them in, they thanked him and the long job of hauling out the dead began. “If they knew they were here, why didn’t they come get them and give them a decent burial?” he asked and the captain in charge said with the war and all the troubles of the last few years there just wasn’t time to do all the repairs needed to let them gain access to some of these old ships, so they were marked as Mass Graves and the families were informed. Now that Julian was using the new technology to reclaim them, then many families would have closure for the first time. Julian smiled as he thought that closure was always needed. He had seen that himself. The last few were removed and identified and Julian was thanked again, then the ship left for Argon. He worked for another hour when the call came in, this time it was Ban and both Julian and Kyle were not surprised.

“That ship was the old Atlantis; it was lost after a fight about 5 years ago. I’d really like to have that one back if you don’t mind, we don’t have any carriers compared to what we once had and it will serve until replaced and then be used as a museum for the war dead. We’ve been talking about it for a long time, but we didn’t have a ship of the right size to use, and right this second, we need it active too. Is this ok with you Julian, I’ll see to it your paid for it when we get more appropriations, I promise.” Julian nodded and said it was his pleasure. He’d hold position until Ban could get another ship, out here to put a jump drive on it and take it home. Ban agreed and Kyle slapped him on the back smiling,

“That was a fast sale.” He said laughing and Julian said he wished he could set the price, he knew Ban would overdue it and he would be willing to take, much less than it was worth to help out.

“I’ll see to it he knows, and I think he’s more worried about giving you a good deal than trying to get stuff cheap, but I’ll make sure he doesn’t hurt himself too badly. Its good of you to be doing this, these old ships are needed now worse than when they were lost, so it’s like a savings account of ships.” He said and they both smiled. The Argon ship arrived and took control of the Atlantis and it jumped away. Kyle and Julian jumped back home and Saya was waiting as usual to ask how things had gone.

“Ok, I gave Ban a carrier today, so tomorrow I’ll work for us.” Julian said trying to hold a straight face. Saya’s face fell and for a minute it was like she could see right through him and finally he had to admit that the Argon Navy had a “Tab” with his company and the ship was on it. She smiled for a second then thought some more, if it had been anyone in charge but Ban Danna this new arrangement would have stopped real quick... , but she just shook her head and they went out to eat for the first time in awhile.


Julian was out in the morning, ready to do some work. He decided to jump into Scale Plate Green first and look around before moving on. He didn’t need the Omicron shipyards now and he wasn’t too worried about ever speaking to Commander Brighten either. He’d leave that mess up to Ban it was his place, all Julian wanted was to make a good living in peace. He was in sector for a few minutes when a P patrol entered through the south gate. “Show time” he thought and made a wide swing around them and started to gain on them from behind. What happened next he would have bet his small fortune against? The Patrol stopped dead and the P turned to face him as he approached, and not a single ship fired a shot, not one. He stopped just outside of weapons range and sat, staring in disbelief.

“Why you do this again, we wish to understand.” Came through his comm’s and Julian for the first time in his life was forced to recognize the one thing everyone knew, Xenon’s are intelligent. He had avoided thinking about it for years, they were a silent threat, but now they were not nearly as silent.

“Are you receiving this, son of Brennan, we ask again, why do you attack us when we mean you no harm?” it was a mechanical voice but it had inflection, maybe even feelings, he was in total shock but he answered in all honesty.

“I love your ships, they are well designed and beautiful to see, I wish to own them and sell to others who like me, want to have the best available.” He wasn’t sure why he even said that but it was as near the truth as he could think right now.

“I can tell by your voice that you speak true, this is no longer necessary, we have evolved beyond needing to fight over these machines, please go, we will report and be in touch.” The P said and they all turned and went through the north gate. He sat for a long time, he was totally confused, and happy in a way he had never been before. He had actually spoken to a Xenon, and he was just one of a handful in history to have done it. He started to smile, he wanted to tell his dad, and Ban, and hell…the whole universe. The Xenon’s were asking for peace and they were talking… for the first time in history things might be getting better. He was all smiles as he called ahead to his father and told him to be ready. He was coming to get him and then called and told Ban Danna to get out a bottle of his best, he had important information he would DEFINITELY want to hear. Julian had never been so happy to have a meeting in his young life; he just hoped it was true.

Julian picked up his dad at Terracorp and rushed into Argon Prime. Kyle was asking a question a minute but Julian said he had to wait for the meeting, he wasn’t sure why he made him wait, but he had never seen his son in such a state of glee. It had to be something incredibly good, and he was sure ready for that. They walked as one into Ban’s office and Julian snapped to attention and gave Ban a solid salute, even though he wasn’t wearing his uniform at the time. He held it for a second ‘til Ban, with a puzzled look returned it and waved for them to sit down.

“Commander Danna, “Julian started officially, to Ban’s immediate surprise.

“I come here today with news of a new discovery, in my normal search for xenon ships today; I was stopped and approached by a xenon P patrol. They never fired a shot, and asked why I continue to fire on them when they mean us no harm.” He stopped as both Ban and his father dropped back into their chairs with a thud.

“The ship that spoke to me, even said he knew who I was, only he called me “son of Brennan”, Julian said looking at his father’s red face and laughing. “The xenon have evolved into a peaceful entity, and they have stopped to make it clear they want no more war, they even asked why I do this, and I said because their ships are the best, and I want them for myself and to sell, they said they didn’t care about the machines that much and he/they would report and they would be in touch with me again.” Julian concluded as he sat back down giggling to himself. Ban was floored and at the sound of “son of Brennan” Kyle looked completely lost. They sat for a few minutes while Julian sat, all smiles, waiting on it to sink in; finally Ban cleared his throat and asked.

“You haven’t been, well, you know…drinking this morning have you?” he asked with all seriousness. Kyle said nothing but turned waiting on an answer himself.

“Hell no, I haven’t touched anything like that since rehab, cut me a break here, this is great news.” He said getting upset.

“Oh, I agree if even a portion of what you say is true, then this could be a terrific breakthrough, but we need some positive evidence of something this huge, I’m sorry Julian, you’re a good agent, but this needs confirming.” Ban stuttered. Julian sat or a second a bit upset, he had never had his word questioned here before. Finally he spoke.

“I’m confused why you’ll take my word about pirate raids or possible war even, but can’t on this…if you need positive confirmation as you call it have someone retrieve my comm messages from my ship, just the last hour should do and we can all sit here and listen to it together.” Julian said a little embarrassed. Ban looked very serious, but he turned to his control screen and made a few adjustments, at first he heard…”dad great news be ready...” then he tried again, it was sure by now Ban could check his ships computer from right here, not a big surprise. Then he finally found the spot he wanted and the whole message, and Julian’s response was heard loud and clear, Kyle sat back with a big smile now, he believed, Ban was being very serious, but it was plain he couldn’t question it any longer. He finally sat back with a long few long minutes to think, and then he shook his head and smiled.

“I owe you an apology; I should have known better, “He said standing to shake Julian’s hand,” But something this enormous had to be verified, even by you. This new info has the possibility of changing everything we do, or even plan. Can you imagine if the xenon were to become friendly? The thought boggles the mind.” He said smiling and shaking his head. Kyle turned and patted Julian on the back laughing.

“After what I did to the xenon all those years, I’m surprised they recognized me or you, they must keep track of every detail to have this kind of info.” Kyle said smiling.
“It does make sense, after all, you did a huge thing in helping to destroy their MO, and stopping the war, so if they were as intelligent as they seem, they would remember something like that.” Ban said,
“And it’s not like I cut them any slack either, my business has sold over 25 xenon ships since I started, but I would have thought they would be mad at me for killing a lot of them.” Julian said shaking his head.

“We all kill Xenon’s every day, it’s a sad thing to admit, but we have shoot to kill orders on xenon scouts even in our sectors., and it’s true, my reports say they haven’t actually started a fight in months, but we didn’t see it and we keep killing them anyways. I might have to stop this practice to see what happens, if they are here to speak of friendship, and then we may be wasting a huge opportunity here.” Ban said finally.

“And what if they contact me again? What can I say or do, that won’t mess thing s up?” Julian asked, not so sure of himself now.

“Just be honest, ask questions if they will allow it, if they want a formal meeting then tell them we are ready when they are. If this can be arranged, then we can have a huge and impressive ally.” Ban said smiling now. Julian and Kyle walked out and returned to the ship. Julian was still a little shaken by Bans thinking he was drunk or on drugs, it upset him badly and Kyle could plainly see it.

“Ban has a huge responsibility; we don’t give him credit for all the pressure he’s under.” Kyle started,” In a situation where the very safety of Argon could be at stake depending on the outcome, he HAD to question your word, it was too important not to.” He concluded. Julian just smiled and shook his head yes, it was still a huge thing, but now he had to think how he was going to make a living without hunting Xenon’s. He mentioned it to Kyle who immediately broke out in laughter.

“There’s always the salvage business, and let’s face it a few TL’s or Titans and you could retire nicely.” He said and Julian chuckled and said he was right there. It had been a strange day and Julian decided he just wanted to go home and think about it. When, or if the xenon even talked to him again, he would be ready.


Chapter 37: Old Enemies, New Friends


Julian spent the day sitting around home just staring into space, Saya was worried about him, but decided he had seen and heard a lot for one day. She called and talked to her mother and she agreed he just needed some time to adjust. After all he was happily killing Xenon’s right up to the minute they asked why. He had a little soul-searching to do. It took a few hours then Julian started coming back to himself, it was clear he had made a decision, and he told Saya he wouldn’t fire on any xenon ships unless fired on. They could still make a good living at the station and maybe they would invest in another later on to make sure. He still had the salvage business, a money maker to be sure and the shipyard he dealt with was still working, so he had access to A and C class Marauders to sell. He might just ask what else they had. It could be a great new idea he hadn’t considered before. He smiled and held Saya while she smiled widely. He was going to be ok after all.

A week went by and after a little break; Kyle and Julian were out in search of new ships to salvage. It had become a father/son business of sorts and it gave Kyle a chance to get away and he and Julian a chance to talk. They found an old ore freighter and Julian was working the controls when his father tapped him on the shoulder. He looked up as Kyle pointed out the window. There was a full xenon patrol just sitting there, watching the process.

“Xenon patrol, how can we help you?” Julian asked at once to Kyle’s immediate surprise. Nothing happened for a minute then a call came in, “What is this called?” it was mechanical, but definitely curious. “Salvage, we are gathering old ships for reuse or for materials, it’s our way of cleaning up the universe and saving materials.” Julian said in a matter of fact voice.

“We do this as well, we have many shortages in our sectors, this is an advanced concept, and we were surprised to see you use it.” The ship said, as Kyle started to smile. They were actually talking to Xenon’s like they were just anyone else, and he quickly looked at the radar, they were there and they were BLUE, friendly. He was more than surprised.

“Any other questions we can help with?” Julian offered.

“Thank you, no, we need to travel, this conversation had ended.” And the ships flew quietly away.

Julian turned to see his father smiling widely; he never would have believed it if he hadn’t seen it for himself.

“New friends,” Julian said and continued to finish the work, his dad couldn’t believe how quickly he had adjusted, it was a good sign of things to come, he decided. They finished the work and got the new freighter on board in plenty of time to make it home for dinner. The women had gotten so used to them trying hard to be there it was now an unwritten law, be here or explain why, both the guys were happy at the outcome of the day and Kyle had a new story to tell Elena, who was very happy to see that Julian’s first report seemed true. Saya stopped Julian from selling the freighter, saying she wanted it for her business. It was booming and she was having a hard time keeping up. Things were as good as anyone could expect and the pirate threat seemed far away for a few days. It was very quiet again, and Julian was more than glad.

Julian stopped at the old shipyard in Elena’s Fortune the next day to pick up his new drones before he forgot and left them on the A and sold them. He had been busy all week and he was doing really well. The last freighter cost him 10% of what a new one would and Saya was sure it would pay for itself in a week. The business was doing well and they were both happy. He was sitting 1 km away as the new drones flew over to his ship when a comm message came in.

“Hi, Captain, is it true that the Xenon’s are asking for peace? We were told to let any xenon ships pass here without firing unless we’re fired on.” Joan said.

“It looks like it, they were all around my ship yesterday asking about salvaging. They seemed impressed that we were smart enough to do it.” Julian said with a chuckle.

“It’ll seem really strange for a while not blasting every xenon we see.” Brad piped up.

“You’ve been lucky the ones you saw were so easy, but then if they’re going to be friendly, maybe someday we can all just buy a new P from them.” Julian said laughing.

“And what would the xenon want with our money?” Joan asked and laughed as they went back to work, it seemed like a good idea, and Julian jumped to his next set of co-ords to see what he could find. He made a turn and started back behind the gate he just came in through. The wreck was a Nova Raider and it really wasn’t that bad, he had it done in an hour and was ready to go again. He turned towards the gate and started to leave when a call came in.

“Son of Brennan: We have made a decision, you may trade in one sector for empty ships, we will not put our people in those you wish to purchase, is this acceptable?” it asked and waited. He said it was and asked what they wanted in return, he should have seen it coming after the other conversations he had before.

“We ask for material compensation, ton for ton or ship for ship, we are told you salvage ships for materials, we will accept these or other materials for finish ships, is this acceptable?” he was asked again, he said it was and they sent him a set of co-ordinates to their shipyards, he was all smiles and decided to load up as much as he could find and see what they had to offer. It seemed dangerous, but he had shown good faith before and so had they. It was definitely worth a shot.

Julian called Ban and left him know he had been called again and what was said, Ban was cautious, but admitted that the good far outweighed the bad, after all Julian had been in xenon sectors more than once and survived and they were not friendly at the time.

Julian jumped into the next sector on his list and found a super freighter sitting badly shot up. He reminded himself the Xenon’s were after materials, so he repaired it just enough to get it on board. He then decided it was time to try, he left Ban and his dad know he was off to a xenon shipyard and they both said good luck and Kyle reminded him the exact amount of time it takes to do an emergency jump. Julian smiled and nodded and entered the xenon sector 472. What he saw made his skin crawl, he was flying past one J and K after another, and they opened a path from the gate to let him in. He made his way to the shipyard in the center of the sector and when he was still 5 km away the call came in.
“We acknowledge your presence, son of Brennan, what do you require?” It was a different voice for sure, full of authority and with a slightly deeper tone.

“I come to trade, I have materials for you in exchange for ships, that is correct, isn’t it?” he asked, trying to keep his voice from breaking, if things went bad here, he would never see Saya again.

“It is, scanning… we see materials on board, they equal this trade.” The computer screen lit up and on it was a list, 6 M’s, 3 L’s or 2 LX ships, obviously not enough for a P... he’d have to remember that, he decided.

“Choose…” and he clicked on the 2 LX models and instantly the voice said,
“Trade complete, you may go.” Julian was confused; he had neither dropped the freighter and fighter nor gotten anything back. He opened his ship freight list and there were 2 new LX fighters, no other ships were on board, they had a hell of a transport system here, he decided.

“Thank you, I am Julian Brennan, you may use that if you wish.” Julian said as he started to turn.

“You have a primary designation…we weren’t sure, it answers query #123, thank you…Julian, we will meet again.”

Julian jumped back home and called Ban and told him all went well and he traded a shot up super freighter for 2 new LX fighters successfully. Ban was all smiles, it looked good for future dealings with the xenon, he asked what this query 123 was and Julian laughed, it appeared the Xenon’s never knew people had first and last names, they identified them by their last name only.

“Of course, probably off of the info they got from ship registrations, it’s always a serial number with the last name of the owner. “He said smiling, “we all learned something new today.” He said and closed the comm. Julian went inside his station to do a little business, he had two new ships to sell, and he was happy, until he got there. Saya met him with fire in her eyes and a fist as each hand, she was furious to say the least and Julian thought she was going to beat him to a pulp. He kept asking what was wrong until she broke down and started to cry.

“What’s wrong…? you didn’t think it important enough to tell me you were going alone into a xenon sector to see if they would trade or kill you. I had to find out second or maybe third hand, if my Mom didn’t call to tell me not to worry, I’d never know what happened to you.” She said as she grabbed him close and started crying on his shoulder. He knew he screwed up big time, but it was too late to apologize now. He held her for a while saying he was alright, it was going to be ok, they really were being friendly and he was in no danger there. Something he was a little worried about himself for a minute there. It took a little while to settle her down and Julian swore he would never do anything like that again, but she was not convinced.
“You probably thought you’d be right back and then we could have a big laugh about it over dinner,” she started,” But having you disappear into a xenon sector isn’t in MY plans for the future, and yes I would have told you not to go, so let’s just drop it for now. You owe me a big night out after this one, and I’m never going to forget it either.” She said, hugging him and walking away. Julian went and sat at his desk as she went into the kitchen, he screwed up big time and it was going to be a long while before she forgot it if ever, he turned to the com and started looking for buyers, it was too late to say anything else, maybe ever.

[KRM398]

Chapter 38: A Different Agenda


Julian was working a few days later and a call came in, he expected it to be from the xenon, he had seen a patrol just minutes ago, but this time it wasn’t.

“Hello, old friend how goes the fix up business?” Ben asked with a big smile.

“Pretty good, got another old TL here I’m working on,” Julian said smiling back.

“This one going into the xenon sector too, or were you planning on just selling it?” Ben said as Julian stopped short.

“How would you know about that? I didn’t even tell my wife until I got home.” Julian said mystified.

“I’m sorry, I thought you were smarter than this, you really don’t have a clue about my work do you?” he asked laughing. Julian hated being talked down to, even when it might be true, but this was just bragging, which he was sure was the whole purpose of the call.

“Ok, so your using the capture chips to read the comm’s of all xenon ships, right, that way anyone coming or going and you see, so long as you were monitoring the xenon at the time.” Julian guessed.

“Oooh, so close… but maybe I’ll tell you all about it someday, I have a lot more work to do, but I was sure you’d be happy dealing with the xenon shipyards, CAIO BABY!” Ben said and Julian hated when he did that and cut him off. He was giving him a puzzle and Julian was bad at puzzles.

Julian continued with his work and tried deciphering the puzzle Ben had given him, it was obvious he had set up the chips to send him info about the ships they were on, as well as let them capture them. He seemed to be able to read all the scans from xenon ships both in and out of xenon space as well as their comm’s, but why go to all the bother, he had the computer info he needed to set up the capture software and it scanned and worked through the ships computer. He was just bragging and it gave Julian a headache, so he decided to worry about it later. He was a good distance from the nearest shipyard, but Julian decided it was better to take the ship there than try to follow it all the way home. He had come out without an extra jump drive and he was way too far away to let a good TL run back on autopilot. He followed the new ship to the shipyard and had no problem selling it, and then he jumped home for some dinner. He was going to be home a little early but he was working hard to make up for a big goof and he was sure Saya would appreciate the thought. He was at his desk after dinner talking to a client when his dad and Elena came in, he waved and finished his deal and walked over to shake his hand and say hi.

“Thought we’d drop in, since work day is pretty well over, and see how things are here.” Elena said, she noticed Julian still was finishing up and she knew it was a sign of a good businessman. Kyle was making her spend more time out of office because of all the years she spent working over time while he was away, besides as he said, Terracorp made more money than they would ever spend. Julian gave her a hug and said things were ok, and Saya walked in and hugged her Mom too. They sat and talked about things in general and Kyle asked if Julian had heard from Ben lately and he said yes.

“He calls up sometimes when he’s having a really good day and brags, he always did that.” Julian said smiling.

“Well, with his capture software and all the business he just got from Ban, he’s got to be a wealthy man.” Kyle said smiling.

“I’m sure he is, but he’s one of those guys who will turn a million into a new experiment, so money just runs through his fingers.” Julian said and they all laughed.

Kyle and Elena were on their way out to eat and asked if the “kids” wanted to come along, Saya said sure, and she and Julian went to get dressed. It looked like maybe he was getting a little help for all the good things he at least tried to do, Julian thought. It was a good evening and Saya and her mother laughed and everyone had a good time. It would definitely be in the Brennan Watch the next day; they waved for the cameras and toasted their friends. It was just the kind of thing Saya was looking for to get her mind off of the terrible thing Julian had done. Her Mom asked her if she had forgiven him yet, while they were alone and she just smiled and said she was making him squirm a bit first. She got a finger shook at her for it but she promised she’d let it go soon, she didn’t want him thinking anything this serious wasn’t necessary to tell her about. Elena just shook her head and reminded her that they were a perfect couple and people had broken up over less, so Saya admitted maybe it was time. She never wanted to start a competition with Julian over trying to hurt each other, too many couples make that mistake and they never survive it.

They finished their dinner and everyone got ready to go home. Julian was standing talking to Kyle when the ladies came back from “powering their nose” (in guy terms they wanted to be alone a few minutes to talk). Saya seemed pretty happy about everything, so Julian was just happy to see it. They were on their way out when a news bulletin caught Kyle’s eye. He stopped and tapped Julian on the shoulder. They stood watching as pictures of a large pirate fleet were shown attacking several stations. It was Omicron Lyre and Commander Brighten had his hands full now for sure. Julian shook his head and the two ladies got their men by the arm and lead them away from the screen. It was time to go home and this wasn’t what anyone was planning on talking about there. The men got the message and said they’d see each other tomorrow for a new salvage trip and they went their different ways. They went home and Saya took a few minutes to say she forgave Julian for what he did, but she wanted him to think about THEM and their future too and not just what was good for Argon. She wanted a family with him someday and she wanted him alive to see it. He admitted it was thoughtless of him to let Kyle and Ban know what he was doing without calling her too, or even first, and she could see he had suffered enough.

The next day Kyle and Julian were back out working. They had jumped in looking for a ship to salvage, but had found several. It looked like a small battle had taken place here some time ago. There were several fighters and a cruiser class ship drifting in the distance. Julian decided to get some of the fighters first and it didn’t take long to get three on board. Then they moved into position for a scan of the cruiser. It was an older model from the xenon war and Kyle said he had seen them before. They were the predecessor to the Titan of today and they were a good solid made ship for the time. Julian checked the scan results and said it was salvageable and Kyle just nodded, he was really interested in this ship, he couldn’t see why but he was. They worked the afternoon and didn’t quite get it ready to go, so a new day was planned to finish it tomorrow. Julian wasn’t worried about anyone taking it now he had gotten a little work done, it needed lots more, and it wasn’t ready to even think of flying. So they jumped home and said they would meet again to finish it tomorrow, Kyle had a strange look on his face like a long lost memory was bugging him, but Julian said nothing. His dad had served in the xenon war and maybe the name of the ship had brought back bad memories. He just hoped he felt better about it tomorrow.

It was noon the next day when the ship was finally ready to fly. Kyle said he remembered to bring a jump drive with him, so they beamed it over with some E cells. It was ready and Kyle said he wanted to fly it back himself. Julian didn’t ask any questions, he just smiled, but they scanned it first and there weren’t any bodies on board. Kyle reminded Julian that for a long time the xenon had taken prisoners and used them as slave labor, so for this old ship not having dead crew was not a big surprise. They agreed to jump it into Argon and dock at the shipyard. Kyle jumped in first and Julian was right behind. As they docked Ban called over.

“My God! Where did you find that?” he asked with wide eyes.

Julian said they were slowly running down the list he had given him and it just happened to be next. Ban told him it was one of the last of the old cruisers, and it had a big reputation from the Great War. It was said that a battle it was in was guaranteed a victory, but of course this just proved it wasn’t true. He asked about a crew and Julian said no bodies were found and he nodded, it wasn’t unusual, he agreed. He thanked Julian for bringing it in saying some collector would probably grab it up quick because even Julian wouldn’t see many of these, even for salvage. Julian nodded and the link went black, these old ships seem to make people remember the old days in a bad way, he was sure that it would be a war memorial or something before it was over, but it wasn’t his war so he was glad to see anyone who might want it.

He walked out of his ship and down the walkway to the old cruiser. It was gathering quite a crowd, and he thought for sure he could sell it right there, but to his surprise Kyle was answering questions and telling everyone it wasn’t for sale. Julian was a little confused to say the least, and Kyle could see his face behind the crowd. He just nodded and kept talking. It was a while later while they both stood on the bridge of the old ship Kyle told Julian he wanted it for himself. Then he told him a story about the Great War and how he had helped destroy the xenon MO. This ship was in that battle and had been badly hurt, but when everyone thought it was a lost cause this old ship came through again, it kept many xenon ships busy while Kyle and some others did their jobs and saved the day. If not for this old ship, Kyle might not have been the hero he was made out to be. He owed it to this old friend to see to it that it was cared for from now on. The story almost made Julian want to cry, he could see it all the way his dad told it, the sheer numbers, the desperation and the heroics were all there. He gave his dad a hug and said it was his, it was up to him to get it cleared with Elena, and they both laughed and Kyle took his new toy home.



Chapter 39: The Next Stage


Julian dropped away from the shipyard as his dad went through the gate into Light Home, he called Ban again and told him he had a delivery as per their deal, any fighters belonged to Ban to use as he wished, when he saw the ships leave the cruiser and come over, his mouth fell wide open. He hadn’t seen these ships in many years it was possible they were antiques and collectables, but to him they were old friends. He had flown them himself many years ago, and he decided they were not going to any shipyard; he might just keep one for himself. It was his call and that old Elite looked like it did the day it was first made. He got up from his desk and as Julian went home, Ban went to the fighter bays to look at the antiques himself. He was having a good time telling tales and sitting in the old Elite, when he decided this one was his. He had served long enough to keep his own ship on board and never had, but this was different and it was staying, he decided.

Julian went home and as usual Saya asked him what he had done today. He smiled a wide smile and told her the story his dad had told him about the old ship, and that he had kept it himself as a souvenir of the Great War. Saya looked like she would cry too, and they held each other for the first time in a while and it felt just right. She whispered she was sorry and he said the same and in a while the whole mess was forgotten, at least for tonight.

The next day Julian was working alone, Kyle had to spend some time at home after bringing in a battleship the day before. Julian smiled and started his search for the next ship. He found it and it was another old freighter, it was in bad shape and he decided it wasn’t worth taking home so he loaded it and went looking for something else. He was working on a second old ore freighter when a call came through.

“Well, look what we have here, a salvage grubber. Hey, man got anything good we could use?”

Julian quickly looked at the radar and saw a pirate patrol had jumped in behind him, it was a Carrack and several fighters, and he wasn’t too happy they caught him off guard.

“Nothing here you guys could be interested in, except maybe some rust and mold.” Julian said while starting slowly away from the wreck. He ordered the drones back and was trying to wait for them when all hell broke loose. The Fighters rushed in and his turrets caught them by surprise, he was well armed, for a salvage grubber, he thought. They started popping all around him as he got the last drone on board and gained speed. The Carrack was too slow to catch him, but it got a good couple shots in before he was too far away. Julian called the ship and asked,

“Have you spoken to Harmony lately?” the attack immediately stopped.

“You’re one of us? Why didn’t you say so?” the Carrack’s captain asked.

“I was once, but now I’m straight, I heard Harmony was back and getting everyone together, is it true?” he pushed it a little, but he got an answer.

“Yep, and his ideas make good sense, if you ever thought of rejoining, this would be the time, and the way you handle that cruiser, you’d have a Reaver in no time. There might be a little skirmish here and there, but we all just want to show we mean business and then settle this all. It’ll be great to be able to deal right out in the open without being shot at all the time, and we got offers already from a few places, so it looks good so far.” He said smiling. Julian smiled back but couldn’t help thinking he wasn’t a threat, but they attacked him just for fun. Pirates are pirates and any new deals they make, probably won’t hold long.

“Next time you see him, tell Harmony, Julian Gardna said hi and he hopes that things work out.” Julian said and then jumped away. Acting friendly or not, he didn’t trust this Carrack to get too close to him, at least he got all his drones back, he thought. Julian went somewhere else to let the pirates have that sector, he managed to find another fighter and a corvette that had seen many better days. He managed to get them repaired and on board in lots of time so he could drop them off for Ban and make it home for dinner. He was just getting treated better from his last goof and he wasn’t ready to do it again, he thought. He jumped into Argon Prime but the Argon One wasn’t there, he looked around and saw the Argon 2 as he liked to call it, the small carrier from Earth his dad had flown in. He gave them a call and they said that Ban had jumped away an hour before and they hadn’t been told where he went. He told them he had a deal with Ban for any fighters he found and he had two ships they could have, he dropped off the Buster and the corvette and they thanked him. They said they were waiting on ships of their own but they weren’t too sure when they would get any, at least for a day or so they would have something on board, the captain said and laughed. It was sad to see a good ship like that with nothing to use, but that’s the way things were for some time. He went straight home and a good hot meal and some relaxation.

Julian was wondering about something, so the next day he didn’t rush right out, he waited a little while and called the pirate shipyard. Hardigan got on the line with his usual stumbling pitch.

“What you want now, make me a deal; get you a discount, maybe better than last time?” He said and Julian smiled widely.

“I want to know if I get discounts on Busters and Novas there too.” Julian asked as Hardigan actually smiled for a second.

“Small ships, but big discounts, this I say, so you want some ask quick before discounts go away.” Poetry from a Paranid, how weird was that, thought Julian, and Julian chuckled to himself, in his own way Hardigan was a good salesman, not because he had a good pitch, but because he never gave up, and for him it worked.

“Ok, what can I get some regular old Busters for, nothing fancy, just normal set ups?” Julian asked and Hardigan turned away for a second to see.

“Ok, regular Buster ships are cheap, we sell to you for 300k, all set up; good deal you think, yes?” he stammered. Julian asked with what on them, 300k was a really good price for a medium fighter if they weren’t empty. It turned out his reputation was helping; he got Busters with generic setups on them, 2 APAC’s and missile launchers, capable of firing disrupter missiles and 10 Meg in shields for 300k, not a bad price at all. He said ok, and ordered 5, Hardigan was very happy.

“With 5 Busters, get 1 free Harrier, big deal, we give more, ok, you pay now.” Julian transferred the credits and Hardigan said he’d have the ships delivered in 2 days. Julian closed the comm and looked up to see Saya standing there watching.

“Ordering new ships for Ban?” she asked and Julian said “No, these were for a different friend” and she just nodded and walked away, and Julian smiled, he was telling the truth, and he and Ban would have to talk about this later, he was sure.

He got up and went out, he went straight to Bans office to tell him what he did and why. It was time he tried to get Ban a little more help if he would let him. Ban was happy to see him and asked him to sit.

“I made a deal this morning to help you out, actually to help out the Argon 2,” Julian said with a chuckle.

“The What? Oh, you mean the Earth carrier. Why? What did you do now Julian, I warned you not to go overdoing things until we get more funds?” Ban said seriously.

“And we have a deal for fighters and you have a “Tab” with my company, so I just found out my reputation gets me Buster fighters at the shipyard for 300k.” Julian said smiling. Ban thought and shook his head it wasn’t a bad price, he thought.

“And for that they have 2 APAC’s on them and 10 Meg in shields and pirate missile launchers, capable of firing disrupters.” Julian said with a flourish at the end.

“Well, I must say it’s a good deal, and yes the “Argon 2” does need ships, but it will be a while before I could pay you for any.” Ban said looking hopeful.

“Well, we have 5 Busters coming in 2 days for your inspection, see if they fit your specs and give them to one of your ships to use and let me know if you’re interested in more. Things are going pretty well for me right now and this will help you, I think, to get that little carrier up and running.” Ban looked serious for a second, he had planned on getting fighters for the Atlantis next, but Julian had made a personal project out of the “Argon 2” as he liked to call it, so maybe this wasn’t so bad. Besides he needed to name the new ships too and this name seemed to stick, he thought with a smile.

“Ok, then I’ll have a few pilots try them out and I’ll let you know, and since everyone seems to like the name I’m going to officially call the carrier the Argon 2.” He said smiling as Julian started laughing and shook his hand.

“Oh, while you were out I dropped off a fighter and an old corvette on the Argon 2 yesterday late, so they might not have time to report it yet.” Julian said, and Ban smiled, his deal wasn’t for corvettes, but it was obviously an older one and he would gladly accept it. Julian left the Argon One and was back out looking for more ships in a flash, and Ban decided that the Centaur MK 1 was just going to be an escort for the Argon 2. It made sense and the captain was thrilled to hear that some new fighters would soon be available. Ban just kept the fact that Julian had personally asked for them to get them himself, friends are great, but there needs to be some kind of military discipline here, he thought smiling.



Chapter 39: The Plan of a Lifetime


Julian jumped out the next day and decided that Ben’s puzzle was working overtime and it was too distracting. He stopped in the first sector he came to and gave him a call, he needed this off his mind so he could get some work done, he decided. Ben answered with a big grin and said,

“Got you didn’t I? Have you figured it out yet?” he asked with a smile.

“I hope not, but here goes.” Julian started.

“You have me help to gain info on all the ships we capture, the chip you put in are really high powered scanners and transmitters with the capture software to cloak their real job.” Julian stopped as Ben smiled.

“And the real job is?” he asked like a teacher to a little kid.

“To gather info on everyone, not just Xenon’s and pirates so you can manipulate them somehow, that’s as close as I can get. If it’s true, you better be aware that tampering with the economy will probably get you killed.” Julian said, seriously.

“Close, actually not too bad, you gain a little more respect here, but you still don’t get it, it’s not about the economy. We have seen the worst that people can be, you and I and I swore to make them better people then they could be on their own. What happens if, say Argon gets scans from its satellites that say that the xenon are friendly?” he asks and waited.

“They wouldn’t miss the chance to make a new friend, that’s for sure.” Julian said thinking hard.

“And if the xenon got the same message at the same time?” he asked. Julian looked up suddenly, he couldn’t be serious.

“Then they would act the same, thinking Argon was asking for peace, and Argon would go along because the Xenon’s ask first.” He said, amazed.

“Been to any good shipyards lately?” Ben asked and burst out laughing.

“Not even you can keep up with all the info you’d need to keep this system balanced, it would take gigabytes of info per second to keep the balance going. Like what if a xenon patrol decides to open fire on a freighter for ore, and then argon has to think they want war again, just one little incident…” Julian started.

“All based on info from outside sources, no xenon will break the peace when their leaders tell them they have it covered, like getting their resources from outside and making friends to keep the supply going. If friends help friends do anything they need, then no one has a reason to think any different.” Ben explained.

“Yes, but even you,” Julian started to say.

“Alone, no, I couldn’t begin to keep up, but with expert help, working around the clock, and an advanced set of scanning sat’s, some camouflaged and others hidden, then they will all believe what the info tells them, for many years to come. Peace is at hand, my friend, even if everyone doesn’t understand why; they will embrace it to rest from all the wars. Maybe a few generations of people, who never know war, then if my system should someday fail, they won’t want to go back, why war when peace is so much more easy on everyone, and addictive.” Ben said, and for the first time since Julian had known his “brainy” friend, he saw his true potential, it was staggering.

“Now that you know, the future of Argon and all the houses is up to you.” Ben said finally. Julian looked up with a puzzled look.

“If you go rushing to your friend, Ban Danna and tell him this story, he’ll get upset that someone would have the audacity to try to “force peace” on everyone, and he’ll tell the other houses and the hunt for my sat’s will begin, in a few weeks they will be right back to screaming and killing each other for the stupidest reasons and my life’s work will have failed. Will you do that to me old friend?” he asked seriously. Julian dropped his head, he had a responsibility to Argon, but what of Saya and his father, and all his friends and the new family he had yet to start, what of them? And a chance however slim, of universal peace, even for a few years?” he dropped his eyes and smiled, he voted for peace.

“Show me it can work, and we have a deal.” Julian said seriously.

“Been to any good shipyards lately?” Ben asked again and started laughing and the link went dead. Julian sat for quite a while, “Peace with the xenon was a reality, and he was the proof of it, now if he could just settle this pirate war…” he thought and he smiled and went to work. Now he knew, and if his life or family was to rely on anything besides himself, then he trusted Ben to help him. He had never been a trouble maker, he had always negotiated between friends and settled many spats, but his true work was just happening, mediating peace in the whole X Universe from behind the scenes, Julian knew he had the potential, and he wished him well.



Chapter 40: Universal Peace



In the weeks that followed Julian kept one eye on the news and another on his new life. Without Xenon’s to hunt he had a booming business, and he realized that he was one small cog in Ben’s peace machine, but he was not alone. Julian started seeing a Split Merchant there, selling ores and silicone. Then there was a Paranid trader who brought electronics and other finished materials for trade.

In a month or two many new xenon ships were seen running the trade lanes and it would be hard to tell one from another. Julian smiled a lot more now. He knew things were coming together and he was proud to be a part of it, even if only for his silence. He made new friends and leaders from all the Houses were seen at social events on Argon Prime and Ban Danna was even invited to speak at Paranid Prime for one function. He was astounded, but as Ban would say,

“The Maker protects us,” and except for a small misunderstanding of who or what that might be, he wasn’t far from right.

The pirates hit several big targets and then suddenly stopped and asked for meetings with all the different houses and got them. Harmony was seen on all the news and treaties and trade agreements were flying like the wind. In a few months the dreaded Pirate Wars were over and for the first time ever they were welcome in Argon Prime. They had to watch what they brought in, they could sell any legal merchandise, but it was all spelled out carefully in writing.

Of course, old habits die hard and a load of spaceweed or spacefuel was caught from time to time, but they got a slap on the wrist and not killed for it. Things became boringly peaceful, but no one complained. The Argon Military was at an all time ready status, just in time for decades of peace. The news now spoke of social events, weddings of famous people and entertainment instead of death and destruction. Julian was glad he made that decision many months ago.

It took him a while to see how Ben was doing it and he remembered him once saying that he had a plan for a new computer, if he ever got the millions needed to build it. Well, he had the money, and somewhere out there in space was a massive machine cranking out peace, the most addictive thing in the universe, and Julian helped put it there.

He and Saya lived the life of the wealthy and famous and he loved her more every year. They tried long and hard and eventually they had children, a set of twins, a boy, and a girl. They joked that the Brennan men were still alive and well, and Kyle said that he was glad to see the day they would grow up in this new world. Earth had become an everyday thing and Kyle and Elena had a place there as well as one in Home of Light. Julian never stopped working, but now did it for the fun of it and the list Ban gave him was added to by his own discoveries. He was the happiest man in the universe and his only thought was, how long could it last.

How brilliant was Ben to keep it going so long and when would his life end like everyone else’s. He could see Ben setting up his machine to run without him, but people were exploring and setting up colonies all the time, how could he keep the location secret forever? His only worry now was for his children, Julia and Kyle were his whole life, and he wanted peace to last forever for them, what would their lives be like in another 20 years? He would be there, of course, but he would always worry. His beautiful family and he was the father he never had. It was something to think about, or worry for, the Future was always an unknown, even if the Maker Watches over us.

TADA!! ty for reading..kevin

[parameter]

Tada indeed!
I could not stop reading, again! I only get infrequent chances to check the forum out and must say it was a sincere pleasure to find this piece of lliterary 'mind control' waiting.
You have talent!

[KRM398]

TY for the kind words, I love the X games very much, and I have all of them, I just wanted to write for a more mature game, one where being 21 was a time of maturity, and noy blind obediance. I have a long series of storys using this one as the start, maybe I'll post some others from time to time..ty again. The Saga continuses...lol