Quest for Vengeance: (AP Paranid Start) DID .

[Sabrina Bergin]

“Captain the Phoenix is engaging her jump drive”

“Follow her” Marcus ordered as he watched the Phoenix come to a dead stop and take even more damage, she has left it to late he thought as the Phoenix disappeared not in a burst of disintegrating matter but in a fading jump field. his own ships jump drive engaged they would be crippled and vulnerable and he had told Celine he would aid her ignoring the damage his own ship was taking he set course to follow her his mouth dry with fear for her safety.

“Damage reports” Celine demanded sealing the bridge from the rest of the ship as surprised as anyone they had survived.

“Ma’am we have lost hull integrity we have casualties but Della says they are coping” Reece replied shutting down his terminal his weapons systems were dead.

“We are on emergency power Celine I can’t get a fix on our position you jumped us without coordinates”.

That was not a criticism Celine noted merely a statement of fact, they were lost in an unknown sector and vulnerable till they got the mains back on line. Most worrying to her was that Loki who had initiated the jump was of line without his guidance repairs would take longer than she might have hoped.

“Okay people we have a busted ship make what repairs you can here I will try and do something about the leaks we’ve sprung, Illsa when you know it’s safe to do so deploy a marker buoy”.

Celine disengaged her seat harness and moved to the rear of the bridge and climbed into the EVA suit in the tiny compartment that housed the Evac pod, Moving around that she opened the airlock and moved outside the ship proper she looked about hoping to see a station or some other sign of sanctuary to no avail before attaching a tether to the hull and heading to a point she could see gases venting to space.

“Ma’am we need you to come back aboard now” Illsa ordered

“Nearly done Illsa I promise” Celine answered as she sealed the last patch and was gratified to see the vapour of escaping gas fade to nothing before she pulled herself back along her tether to the Bridge access lock. Her suit air was beginning to go stale she realised before checking her time display that showed she had been out here for nearly a stazura, no wonder her air was starting to go bad.

Stepping back on to the bridge she was astonished at the change the air was clean and those displays that indicated the ships status were now showing amber instead of red clearly the repair crews had not been wasting their time.

“Status” she asked seating herself at her chair that was still stuck in its last position.

“Well we are not dead yet Celine venting has been reduced to a level we can ignore and Merel in engineering says she will have main power back on line soon, the drives may take a bit longer but we do have attitude thruster control available” Reece answered placing a MRE pack and a beaker of water at her side.

“How about the jump drive once the mains are back”

“That’s a no Celine whatever Loki did he got us to safety but the drive is so much carbon residue now”.

“The same goes for our sensors Celine we are effectively blind“, Scott added to Reece’s report.

Celine took that in as she chewed on a nutrient bar it was a blow but they were alive against all her expectations, so she could accept that things were not as good as they could be but Loki had given them a chance she was determined not to squander.

“Alright we have a ship to fix she people how long till we can open the decks”?

“Della is working on that Celine and she says a mizura or so at the latest”

“Your lady seems to have matters well in hand Reece, we will await her success in that whilst we carry on with what repairs we can from here”.
Reece took her compliment as she intended and he turned to resume those repairs with a will radiating confidence in his chosen’s ability to do as she had promised.

“What do you mean you lost the track”? Marcus nearly screamed at his nav control officer as they emerged in Aladna.

“Sir they jumped and I followed their signature but it was disrupted perhaps by the objects energy field when it blew”.

“Then search the grid Dara I want you to check every sector we have eyes on then tell me when you have a trace, Paul contact Tina and Caleb tell them we are searching and advise we have called a TM to transport them home”.

Marcus pushed his crew hard over the Next Wozura jumping across the verse only pausing to refuel but they did not complain they all knew that the Phoenix had to be recovered she was Karl’s ship and they would not allow her to be lost. Marcus was ashamed to admit to himself that was not his only reason for pressing their search so diligently but that his personal wish’s coincided with Karl’s was fortunate nothing more.

“Marcus I have another possible trace of a jump event in the time scale we are looking for but it’s practically of the map we only have a standard satellite in the sector”.

Marcus looked at the sector Dara had pinpointed on his galaxy Chart it was at the extreme edge of their jump range at the moment so they would have to refuel before making that jump he selected a target station and had Dara lay in a course angered at the delay.
Dara ignored Marcus’s Temper as she laid in the course for the Blade and waited for the jump drive to engage she well knew the reasons for Marcus’s wish to find the Phoenix though he had not spoken of it openly it was a matter many of the crew were taking a keen interest in she had placed a fair number of favour points in the kitty as to whether the Lady might respond to his courting herself. They refuelled and made their second planned jump as soon as they had cleared the station then headed for the coordinates they had determined the jump event had occurred.

“Well Marcus if there was ever a sector that could be called the back end of creation this would be it” Dara noted as they flew on auto pilot heading for a point far of the ecliptic.

Marcus studied the scans they were making and he found himself agreeing with that assessment, “I’m puzzled Dara given that the Phoenix managed to jump here how the hell did she get that far from the gate”.

“That is a mystery Marcus but all sorts of strange things were happening at that ship she found gods know what effects it had on her jump it threw us of track and we were a lot further from it than the Phoenix”.

Marcus considered that what had happened at Gunnes was a mystery one minute that ship had been there and then it had gone disrupting everything in a wide radius those ships close to it had vanished without trace the Blade had survived only because their jump drive had been active when the event happened. He paused for a moment as he relived that memory in his mind they were closing on the Phoenix its shields glowing superheated by missile strikes and then space itself had come alive with lightning emanating from that other ship as something had reached out with a dark cloud of energy that had enveloped them as the jump field had engaged. He recovered himself as he remembered when they had emerged in Aladna and she had not been there recalled all to clear the pain that had struck at his heart at that thought, Now he had found her she was within his reach that was the only thought that gave him solace as they endured the long journey to the distant ship that contained all his hopes and fears.

“We have a problem Marcus we are no longer alone a ship has jumped in at the gate its beyond scan range but given the jump signature it is Capital class ship”

“Distance to the Phoenix” he snapped

“We are in com range just Marcus two sezura delay real time Oh Jesus” Dara cried out as she saw the extent of the damage the Phoenix had taken as she got telemetry back from their scans. “She’s hurt bad Marcus”.

“Alright bring us alongside and prepare to transport the crew aboard hail them and let them know we are here weapons I want missile lock on that ship that came in behind us”.

“Celine we have an incoming message it’s from Marcus I mean the Blade they are closing on our position they intend to get to range and transport us aboard they advise there is a capital class ship identity unknown moving on our position”.

[Sabrina Bergin]

Vengeance:

“Celine the Blade is in Range they ask we prepare for transport, they advise space is limited”.

“Okay Illsa have Della arrange the crew in groups for transfer. Reece I need you at your post for now, what’s our Current status weapons wise”?

“We have mains on line ma’am we have weapons we can bring it to them”.

“Hopefully it won’t come to that signal the Blade to begin the transfers and tell them we are ready for combat”.

“Signal acknowledged ma’am Marcus is alongside wait he is transmitting”.

“Marcus it is a pleasure to see you again”.

“I share that joy in greeting you also Celine we have a problem though we cannot get a lock on you to initiate transport” we can’t get a signal through”.

“Explain”

“I Can’t ma’am we can see you hell I can almost touch you but we cannot penetrate your hull to get a transport lock the Phoenix has the same readings as that ship you found”.

“Can we get people to you via EVA we could use the pods”.

“Affirmative Celine but we have a narrow window before that Capital gets here so move swiftly”.

“Alright people you heard the man Della” she called over the ship wide com ”Get all non-essential crew into the pods and head for the Blade we will follow when you are clear”.

Reece judged he had time and went aft Celine watched him go not doubting his intent.

“You have to go now Della I will follow in a mizura at most”

“I am not leaving you”

“Yes you are beloved” Reece said raising his voice for the first time ever that she could recall “I will not risk you or our child, board the pod Della each second we waste here imperils all of us, Know that I love you Wife he said stroking her cheek and pressing a tube into her hand”.

Della reached for him and held him close knowing in her heart he would not abandon Celine or the Phoenix no matter the cost kissing him for perhaps the last time she entered the waiting pod knowing with certainty what the container he had given her contained brushing the tears from her eyes she sealed the hatch and launched them towards the Blade.
Reece took his place on the bridge and none doubted the reason for his brief absence Celine looked to Illsa but the look on her face made the suggestion Celine was about to voice impossible to give words to.

“Illsa I would speak with Captain Marcus”

“The Link is open ma'am”


“Captain you have recovered the pods I trust”?

“We have my Lady we will move to take station between you and the”

“No Marcus you will not you now carry the Phoenix do not imperil them no matter what you will jump for home if your situation becomes untenable am I clear on this”?

“Ma’am I hear you I will follow your wish’s in this but if I may speak in private for”

“Illsa” Celine said with understanding cutting of Marcus’s words “the Captain of the Blade would speak with you alone”

Illsa said nothing as she left the bridge to use day cabin to take that message.
Marcus left the bridge and transferred the link to his own day cabin to find Illsa waiting for him. For a moment he could say nothing the sight of her once more filled his heart.

“My Lady I had hoped I might find you aboard one of the pods but I knew that was unlikely an event”.

“You presume much Marcus of the Blade”

“I do my Lady I presume to hope that I might prove worthy of your attention”

“I would never leave the Phoenix Marcus but that you knew”

“That my Lady is evident but I do not ask that of you, I ask only that you give me your forgiveness the Lady Celine has commanded that I must leave you to preserve the Phoenix”

“Then do that Marcus and know that in doing this you also do as I would wish, I am so sorry Marcus I truly want to be with you but fate conspires against us know that I love you and that I had chosen to accept you before all this”.

“Then my heart is at peace my Lady” Marcus said reaching to touch her face upon the screen ignoring the tears that coursed down his cheeks.

“As is mine my husband” Illsa said reaching to his image as the link ended

“Your orders sir” Dara demanded as he resumed his place on the bridge

“We take position to defend the Phoenix of course Dara the Lady Celine has ordered that we ensure the safety of the Phoenix we have aboard but we will draw the teeth of any who approach her”.

“Celine the Blade has taken position between us and that Capital” Illsa reported

Celine was not entirely happy with that but she should have expected no less Marcus would do as she had ordered but not before he tried to even the odds in her favour. She held back from cursing his decision aloud seeing the pride Illsa and the others took in his choice of action.

“The Blade has launched its drones ma’am we are recovering them”

So Marcus was giving them some teeth they at least would provide cover against a missile attack, it was as much as he could do she realised given the orders she had given him.
Celine said nothing as she turned the Phoenix to face the oncoming threat her eyes glancing briefly across the status displays as she engaged the mains there was a chance she might be able to thread the eye of the needle and slip past that carrier to reach the gate beyond but her speed was well down from what she was used to despite the repairs they had been able to make here. Of course if that ship launched its fighters then it would make no difference but Celine was beyond worrying about that now.

[Sabrina Bergin]

Vengeance:

Celine had to laugh at herself here she was waiting the arrival of that ship and cursing its slowness in approaching them. It was at the edge of the Blades scanner range which was giving them the real time telemetry their own damaged sensors were unable to provide.

“Celine we are receiving a message relayed from the Blade, they request instructions.”

Relayed that made no sense, “let’s see it Illsa”.

“Phoenix if you can hear me please stand down do not fire on this ship the Captain is intolerant of such acts”

“Elizabeth what the hell are you doing here”?

“Celine my god it’s good to hear your voice once more we had feared you lost. We tracked the Blade here and Matt commandeered this ship to come to your aid if you will dock he can explain better than I, please Celine this is vital”.

Celine closed the link and contacted Marcus ordering him to make the jump home if this was some ploy on the part of the ATF the Phoenix would still be preserved and the facts known. Marcus was not happy with that order but he accepted it only after registering his protests and after a mizura he jumped out of the sector if they were betrayed here Karl would know it she reasoned as she awaited the arrival of the ATF Carrier.
Reece studied what data he could on the approaching ship and powered down his weapons in disgust.

“Problem Reece”

“Twelve Giga joules of problems Celine I could fire at that thing all day and not tax its shield generators the thing is a monster”.

Celine could agree with that assessment herself as she approached it looking for a docking arm to aim for when it surprised her by opening a massive bay and signalled her to dock within it.

The Docking took a while as Celine carefully manoeuvred the Phoenix into the docking bay being careful not to scrape anything as she bought the Phoenix to rest in the docking cradle that she felt engage around them. She had Merel power down the mains as they saw a detachment of marines and officers approach the ship Elizabeth’s presence amongst them quelling their initial sense of alarm.

“Alright lets Go and greet our hosts People no side arm’s please from what Elizabeth said the Captain of this ships is a bit touchy”.

They used the Main ramp to exit the ship as that allowed them to walk directly onto the deck of the hanger where their hosts waited for them.
The Marines were in formation as they approached the man in charge snapped a crisp salute before moving forward to greet Celine. “Ma’am the Captain requests you join him in his quarters if you will allow we will connect up auxiliary lines to replenish your ship”.

“Thank you Lieutenant that would be most kind we are getting low on basics” she admitted.

The man signalled the Hanger crew with a nod and they moved into practiced action behind her as Celine looked about the Cavernous docking Bay.

“This is an impressive ship Lieutenant I don’t believe I know the class”.

“The Athena is a Kyoto Class Carrier ma’am, I am afraid I can tell you little more than that”

“Of course” Celine agreed as the man escorted them to an elevator that whisked them up several decks before stopping on a main level.
They were led to a sealed room at the end of a short corridor where after opening the door the man took his leave of them.
Within the room a steward led them further into what turned out to be a suite of rooms that were obviously private quarters.
Matthew Sladon as well as a man she assumed to be the Captain of the ship rose to greet them as they were ushered in. “Celine thank god when we heard you were lost sight of in Gunnes I feared the worst. But where is Karl I assumed he would be here with you”?

“Karl was injured a while ago Matt he is in our home sector receiving treatment”.

”Then I assume you handled the actions In Hatvikah’s and later in Gunnes itself Ma’am both were bravely fought you have my respect”.

”I have my crew to thank for that Captain and please call me Celine”.

That seemed to warm the man to her a bit as he asked them all to take seats and signalled the steward to fetch refreshments for them.

“Your ship Celine it defies our sensors that is why we were so cautious in approaching you when we detected your presence in this sector I did not think the commonwealth had that level of hull shielding technology available”.

“We don’t Captain we encountered a derelict in Gunnes whilst running a survey of the sector, we were scanning it when we were attacked and there was an explosion aboard the derelict that enveloped our ship as we were attempting to jump out of the sector I assume this affected our hull in some manner. It certainly affected our jump drive the thing was totally burnt out making that jump”.

“Would you allow my people to examine the hull of your ship Celine”? Captain Hemming’s asked and she could see how clearly he wanted to do that she suspected if she refused he might do it anyway and she would be interested in anything he might be able to learn as to what had caused the change.

”As long as such examination does no harm to the Phoenix I have no objections Captain”.

“Please Call me Anton Celine I assure you my people will treat the Phoenix as they would the Athena we have heard much of the Hyperion and they as I are impressed by its beauty as much as its ability in combat. With your permission I will ask them to make good the repairs you have made they mar its form somewhat, though I have no doubt you had little time to consider aesthetics when making them”.

“We will have to make our way to Neptune before we can return you home Commander Sladon here has orders that require we meet with representatives of the Senate regarding The Ravens last message from the Commonwealth. I would offer you the hospitality of my ship for the duration of the journey Celine we have made quarters available to you”.

“That would be welcome” Celine replied sensing that Reece was about to object to that and curtailing any response he might have been about to make.

“Tell me though Anton the ATF is regarded as less than comfortable with the commonwealth why have you decided to help us”?

“That Celine is in no small part due to commander Sladon’s efforts, he has warned that Captain Reaver believes the AGI plan a strike against both the commonwealth and our own sectors, I am ambivalent in my views on close association with the alien races within the commonwealth, that he is actively seeking a means to prevent such an incursion is enough for me to act as I think best for the security of Sol systems”.

“I can respect that Captain, I can assure you we have more recent evidence of the Xenon’s intention’s which we will be happy to share with you once we are able to get to our home system”.

“That begs another question Celine, the location of your home sector it is a secret that Captain Reaver has managed to maintain, it will however be necessary for you to disclose its location if I am to complete this mission”.

There it was the price of their aid made clear. Celine was being put to the test and she sensed that for all Anton’s apparent geniality this was the measure he would judge them and Karl’s actions by. Karl had ever been insistent that to defeat the Xenon would require the cooperation of both Terran and Commonwealth forces.

“I have no problem with disclosing that information to you Anton, I will however require your surety that you will keep the sector coordinates to yourself. Whilst we are confident in our ability to defend ourselves it would be unfortunate if others were to learn of it and consider rash actions. To that end I will have to initiate the series of jumps that will take us there any ship that takes any other means of arriving there is destroyed without question”.

“Turn and turnabout Celine but that is not unreasonable I will ensure you have access to the bridge when necessary and I will respect your confidentiality as to your sectors location. Indeed if as you say you are confident of its defences given what you have seen of the Athena then I would be wise I think to take you at your word. Now Commander Sladon will show you to your quarters my duties demand my presence but if there is anything you require please speak to the stewards you have been assigned”.

[Sabrina Bergin]

Vengeance:

Matthew showed them to the quarters they had been assigned as well as giving them access cards to the ship that would allow them to move about in allowed areas without relying on intervention by the crew. She invited both him and Elizabeth to join her in her designated quarters. They did not match her own rooms on the Phoenix but for a military ship they were more than comfortable. The kitchenettes small cooler held a reasonable selection of wines so she poured them all a drinks as they waited for her to tell her why she had asked them to remain.

“Alright Matthew explain this ship and Captain Hemming’s participation in our rescue I am not ungrateful merely curious”.

“That is complicated Celine but if you understand that we of Sol are divided in our concerns regarding the war, there is one thing on which we all agree that is the AGI or Xenon as you call them. We feel responsibility for the harm they have done and intend to do, because of that collective guilt as it were people like Captain Hemming’s are prepared to put aside their own thoughts regarding the commonwealth to strike back and limit the harm they do. Karl suggests that he has a means to deal them a devastating blow that will reduce their ability to harm us or others in the future in what way should we not assist him”?

“Okay Matthew I will take that as your prepared response to that question now give me the truth”.

It was Elizabeth however who answered where Matthew seemed reluctant to do so. “Celine the Senate is divided they see our recovering economy as a means to win the war they are confident that once the threat we see the Commonwealth poses has been subdued we will be able to handle the AGI alone”.

“They are misguided then If Karl were to order the destruction of the complexes he has built here in Sol’s systems your economy would once more collapse perhaps finally”.

“He would not do that Celine” Matthew reasoned “those stations are making him rich and he needs the products they produce”.

“No he doesn’t Matthew the stations he built to make you strong as an ally in his war against the Xenon, if he saw that you were intending to stand alone he would have no compunction in destroying them as I have tried to make clear we are self-sufficient and have no need of them”.

“You are bluffing Matthew protested”.

“I would suggest you wait till you have seen our home sector before making such an assumption Matthew, Karl has but to transmit the codes to do as I have cautioned he might if your people turn aside from the possibility of a just peace that is acceptable to both sides”.
Matthew rose and left them considering Celine hoped her words and the consequences she had tried to point out to him.

“That was cruel Celine”

“I don’t deny that Elizabeth but I needed to make clear that there can be no half measures, no accommodations to please this or that faction if we are to survive what both Karl and I have seen coming”.

“You paint a bleak picture of the future Celine and you have become hard”.

“The future I have seen is not one I would wish Elizabeth and as to the rest well that happens when people you have never met try to kill you or your friends on an almost daily basis worse still when your brother is one of those trying to kill you”.

Elizabeth blanched at that and Celine regretted her words the woman had probably never seen such acts at first hand and to have it thrown at her like that was unwarranted. ”I am sorry Elizabeth that was unkind of me it’s just the last few months have been stressful”.

“Matthew has told me much of what has been happening Celine it is beyond me, he called on me only to ensure you knew that it was friends who were coming to your aid rather than another of those enemies, I find it hard to comprehend the motives of those who seek to prolong this war or fail to see the real threat you have warned of purely for the sake of their own aggrandisement”.

“I envy you that Elizabeth your innocence I mean life in the south is I am afraid somewhat more brutal than it is here in the Sol systems. There we are outnumbered by the other races and they have different goals than ours for the most part but it is a world I understand that has a potential for greatness I cannot explain in words alone”.

Matthew stood on the bridge of the Athena made its way back to the inner sectors still troubled by Celine’s warning. He regretted having to call on the ATF for assistance but once they had detected the jump signature of the Blade in this isolated sector he had little choice, Captain Hemmings was already under orders to investigate and it had seemed prudent to approach him and offer his aid.

“She is bluffing of course”

“I doubt that Captain Traders do not bluff “

“She is not a Trader your reports make that clear she is Argon a business woman first and foremost to destroy those stations would harm her”.

“She has suggested otherwise would it not be better to see if she is telling the truth before you make any irrevocable decisions her assessment of the effects on our economy should those stations be removed are accurate”.

“That alone stays my Commands and my own hand Matthew so let us take these Traders home and see if they are telling the truth”.

Matthew left the bridge and went down to the Hanger deck where the repair teams were still busy about the Phoenix. They had been unable to find out what had caused the changes to its hull, it still defied their instruments and scans. That had caused Anton no end of irritation. They would be arriving in Neptune soon and from there after meeting with the Senates representative’s they would make the jump to Karl’s hidden sector. That would be interesting particularly since Celine had been almost arrogant in her assumption that its defences were sufficient to match any threat. If matters were as Celine said then it might give the ATF pause before making any rash decisions.

“There you are Matthew came Celine’s voice from behind him I was about to go aboard the Phoenix to get a change of clothes would you care to join us”?

“Of course” Matthew replied suspecting that Celine also wanted to assess the state of the repairs that were being carried out first hand. Elizabeth’s presence was not surprising she had been at Celine’s side since The Phoenix had docked. From what he could gather it was their shared passion for art that formed the basis of their friendship.

“I am curious Matt the Spartan where is she”?

“She is in Mars for a refit Celine, hence my being free to be here”.
Celine did not pursue that sensing that she would get no explanation for why the Spartan was in need of a refit given it was a fairly new ship plus its proximity to the contested sectors explained that which Matthew would not.
As they walked up the ramp Celine had to press her back to a wall as a young man ran past her on some errand saluting belatedly and apologising as he carried onto the hanger deck.
She was startled to find quite a few more of the Athena’s crew crowding the corridors.

“Are so many actually necessary aboard the Phoenix Matthew”?

“That would be my fault ma’am Roberta” said walking to meet them and snapping a crisp salute as officer on deck was called”.

“I asked for volunteers to help with general clean up duties ma’am I had not anticipated the numbers that would respond”.

“Take it as a compliment Celine the exploits of the Phoenix are widely known amongst the fleet and they see this as a once in a lifetime chance to see the ship they have heard so much of at first hand”.

Celine was tempted to demand they leave the ship but looking at the volunteers she could see that they feared she might do just that so biting her tongue she moved to the lift that would take them to the upper levels.
Here the corridors were empty of strangers which was a relief.

“We have allowed no access to these levels Ma’am” Roberta explained

“Thank heaven for small mercies Roberta the place is in a bit of a mess”.
Noting the Bridge was still sealed Celine led them to Karl’s quarters before going to her own to change into fresh clothing.
She returned a short while later glad to see they had taken the opportunity to get the coffee going and poured herself a cup before joining them activating the status displays.

“Might I ask about the Kigawa Celine”?

“Reece saw fit to ensure its safety for me Elizabeth it is safe” Celine replied hoping he had been careful removing it from its frame which lay propped against the wall.

They took their time finishing their coffees as Celine studied the ships systems on her displays pleased to note that the only repairs still incomplete were fairly minor despite the apparent chaos on the lower decks. That was probably Just as well they would be docking at the Orbital defence station in the morning. She was considering asking that they be allowed to undock but she was reluctant to do so. Captain Hemmings had made them welcome and she was reluctant to give him cause to believe she thought otherwise. The fact he could have jumped here directly was not lost on her indicating that he had reasons for wishing the journey to take this amount of time quite possibly to give their delegation time to arrive here or to give him more time to study the Phoenix.
Closing up the displays she left the room and went forward to the bridge the doors opened as she approached the others followed a moment later.
The bridge was clean and tidy so she surmised one of the crew had cleaned up during their journey here.
The weapons consoles she was glad to note were locked down as was the helm. No doubt that was to prevent unauthorised access to their navigational data. There was a message light flashing on her own displays so she palmed its scan pad and read the brief message left by Illsa Station had confirmed the return of the Blade and Loki it seemed was back on line but was keeping his presence from the terrans.
That was a relief she had feared his absence might have been permanent and had come to regard him as part of the crew. She acknowledged the message and then deleted it.

Matthew said nothing as she joined them and led them below he had been aware that a message had been relayed to the Phoenix the signal from one of Karls satellites had been relayed through the Athena’s communications array after all. That it had been sent in clear was he knew deliberate to ensure that Celine received it promptly then he considered that line of reasoning it showed how much the ATF’s attitudes were rubbing of him to be so suspicious. He would he decided be glad to get back to his own ship but suspected that his own superiors would want him to remain where he was till they were satisfied he had fulfilled his mission.

[Sabrina Bergin]

Vengeance:

They all gathered for breakfast in the common dining room they had been told they could use when they had first come aboard. The crew of the Athena were polite enough to give them room to relax here and generally did not intrude on them unless they had reason to.
This apparently was one such occasion as a steward approached and asked Celine to join the Captain on the bridge at her convenience.
Celine told the steward she would do so shortly and he left them to take position a discreet distance away to escort her when she was ready no doubt.

“You are honoured Celine the bridge is an area I had thought he would prefer we not be privy to”.

“I think you judge the Captain to swiftly Reece and to be honest I am curious a ship of this size no doubt commands a fairly large number of bridge officers I expect the Captain also has his hands full negotiating the traffic in sector so it makes sense for me to meet him there. Also despite the preconceptions we had of him as a commander as an ATF officer he has been the soul of courtesy”.

“His crew have also been helpful in assisting with repairs to the Phoenix and for that I am grateful, I had thought we might have to spend our entire journey doing it alone” Merel added.

“Well I shall not delay him unduly I will speak to you later”.

Celine was led to an elevator she had not been on before and it took her up several levels. On exiting a marine was waiting on her arrival and escorted her to the bridge itself. Celine was impressed as she entered the bridge she was stood on a gallery above the main floor itself and below her she could see at least twenty crewmembers at stations that were arranged around the central command chair that could only be the Captains.
She saw Captain Hemmings stood near a console close to that dais he signalled she should join him once he was alerted to her presence.
The marine remained where he was as she made her way down to the main level, she could only be impressed at the air of calm efficiency she sensed as joined him at the centre of the room.

“I am impressed Captain” she admitted as he indicated she should take a seat near his own.

“Thank you Celine Like you I am sure I take a great deal of pride in my ship and crew”.
“There is much to be proud of Captain I admit to being stunned when we first docked aboard”.

“There you bring for my purpose in asking you here I wander if I might prevail upon you to dock the Phoenix at the station it is necessary for us to take on supplies and we have docking capacity for only one ship of TS or M6 size. Normally I would dock the Athena at the station but there are no available berths”.

“That would pose no problems for me Captain in truth it would be helpful to assess the effectiveness of the repairs made so far”.

Anton did not take that as her questioning his crew’s ability in those repairs sensing that she merely wanted to get a feel for her ship as he would after such repairs had been made to his own.

“Then if I might presume a further Celine we have a number of trainees aboard and our regulations prohibit taking them beyond Sol space. If you could transport them it would help me a great deal”.

Celine could understand his request given that he wanted his resupply
carried out quickly if he had to call in a transport to take them off it could delay that.

“Again I have no problem with that Captain but I would ask you to remember we have limited capacity even for so short a journey compared to the Athena how many trainees are we talking about”?

“Twenty four”.

“Well as long as they have no objection to being slightly cramped I have no reason not to we are docking there anyway. If you could have them assemble on the hanger deck and let me know when you would want us to be ready to leave”.

“That would be in a little over an hour we are moving to take a stationary position relative to the station where we will remain till you are ready to return”.

“Then I will take my leave of you and prepare the Phoenix for launch Captain”.

The Marine led her back to the common room where she told the others they would be docking the Phoenix at the station. Whilst not entirely happy with being used as a mere transport they did not question her decision. Reece actually agreed with it as he estimated it would have taken several hours more for the Athena to actually dock at the station itself which would only delay their return home further. So it was that an hour later as the trainees were being shown to the common rooms Celine was paying close attention to the local traffic which was being relayed to them directly from the Athena.

Anton had given instructions on the undocking procedure even then it was disconcerting to feel the entire ships cradle complete with the Phoenix rotating so that they were facing the entrance to the hanger bay when it stopped and the clamps withdrawn as the gravity field was cut.

"Now that I have to admit is impressive Reece said as the Hanger doors opened and Celine cautiously powered up the drives and edged them out into space following the marked path on their displays. As soon as the lights vanished Celine gave the Phoenix more power and accelerated clear of the Athena.

“I have a lock on the stations docking beacon Celine” Illsa announced.

“They obviously want us to dock as swiftly as possible, given the weight of traffic I am inclined to do just that”. Celine accepted the advised course and spun the Phoenix onto its new heading being careful not to exceed the sector speed limits.

The manoeuvre caught Elizabeth by surprise and she grabbed hold of her
seats armrests as space appeared to spin about them as it was displayed on the main viewer”.

“Sorry Elizabeth I forgot you aren’t used to such rapid course changes”.

“To be honest Celine if I had closed my eyes it would have been less disturbing I barely felt a thing it was the seeing space spin around that unnerved me”.

Apparently it had also unnerved the station traffic controllers as they asked to be allowed to establish remote docking control of the Phoenix sooner than Celine had anticipated. She allowed it and released control as she felt the Phoenix begin to change course under their direction.
The docking finally completed and with the drives spooling down Celine asked Reece to see that their guests disembarked promptly so that she could lock down the ship and meet with the Terran delegation.

[Sabrina Bergin]

Vengeance:

“Elizabeth a moment please Celine asked as she led her off the bridge to her day cabin”.

“Misha has made a request of me with which I am in agreement with I have told you of our concerns regarding the Xenon offensive. There exists a possibility that for all our efforts we might fail to prevent them. No please hear me out this is only a worst case scenario but if it was to occur we would signal you and ask you to board one of our ships which we will send to the station where you have your home. From there we will transport you to our home sector where we will have time to prepare to rescue as many as we can before we are forced to leave”.

“What you would expect me to abandon my home and my people I couldn’t do that Celine. Is this Karls plan then to simply leave us to our fate”?

“You misjudge us Elizabeth if that signal is ever sent I suspect that both Karl and I would already be dead along with the majority of our Capital ships and combatants. We have been forced to consider failure as a possibility. Whilst we will strive to do our utmost in the coming war should we fail we plan to save as many as we can before our sector is discovered and attacked directly. Misha has asked this be made known to you as she judges you to be family and is concerned that Kayle’s daughter should be given a chance of survival if matters were to unfold as I have suggested, ultimately the choice will be yours to make but I would ask you to give it serious consideration”.

“Who gave you and Karl the right as to who lives and who dies Celine”?

“We have Elizabeth we have a great many ships available and we can save thousands but we are not denying others the choice you are being given, we have informed all the races and your own Senate of this plan and we have left it to them to allocate spaces aboard their ships. We also intend to give the coordinates of the rendezvous point in good time to every jump drive equipped ship that is capable of the journey we have planned. There is no possibility of saving everybody Elizabeth but we will save those we can. Hopefully it will not come to that”.

“I will pray it doesn’t Celine”.

“I am sorry for placing this burden of knowledge on you Elizabeth. If we are successful that signal will never be sent. Now to that end I must meet the Senate delegation you are free to remain aboard till you have arranged transport home, I would take you myself but I suspect that I will be urged to return to our home station as soon as they have given me the message for Karl”.

Celine left her then to prepare to go on station and Elizabeth still stunned by what she had been told made her way to the common room wanting a stiff drink but settled for a strong coffee instead. Matthew joined her a short while later she suspected at Celine’s behest.

“You knew” she accused him.

“If you are referring to the evacuation plan yes I did, I had not suspected that Celine would tell you but I should have realised she would”.

“Have they made the same offer to you as they have to me”?

“No they haven’t I believe they have not done so because they knew I would refuse it Elizabeth, I am sworn to defend Sol and that I will do. The Xenon advance would not be a rapid one, we do have plans in place if it becomes clear they cannot be halted. Of course beyond a certain point defeat would become inevitable. The task then for the fleets would be to buy as much time as possible to save as many as we could”.

“What plans Matthew only a fraction of our people could be saved”?

“Well I am not privy to such plans at least not the details but I imagine the Neptune gate would be collapsed as would the gates leading to Aldrin that would give the people there the time to build enough ships to ensure their survival and it is possible that once the gates are gone the Xenon would be unable to reach them”. Similarly once the Xenon attempt to traverse our sectors they would be hampered by having to use the accelerators to progress further and we would be able to inflict heavy losses on them. The commonwealth would I am afraid likely be subdued and overrun comparatively quickly if all that Karl has warned us is true. They have Xenon sectors in the heart of their gate network with multiple options to attack adjoining sectors”.

“Elizabeth implied that they could leave and the Xenon could not follow them is that true”?

“I judge it is Elizabeth the Trader fleet has been on a journey for the best part of a thousand years beyond the gate network and they have the means to join it”.

“Then why don’t they just go now, why risk so many of their own if they are uncertain as to the outcome of this war they believe is coming”?

“That I am uncertain of Elizabeth but I have spoken to many traders over the years and studied as much of their history as I have been able to. I believe it is because they regard the commonwealth and Earth as having unique value in their estimation and would see us endure”.

“Would you go, if you were not part of the military that is”?

“I would” he replied simply

[Sabrina Bergin]

Vengeance:

Celine met Elizabeth in the corridor outside her room it was clear that she had been there for some time.

“Celine I came to apologise for my attitude earlier, I must have seemed ungrateful”.

“No apologies are necessary Elizabeth If I had been given more time I could perhaps have been more tactful in my phrasing. I ask only that you give my words serious consideration”.

Elizabeth said no more and they walked together down the access ramp where Celine was startled to see the young men and woman she had ferried here were waiting in formation for her appearance.

The young woman at the forefront snapped a crisp salute “Ma’am this training squad wished to thank you for allowing us to travel aboard the Phoenix”.

“The Phoenix was glad to be of service” Celine replied giving the Trader gesture of no debt incurred that could be taken for a salute of sorts. This seemed to satisfy honour to them and the young woman about faced and led her fellow trainees from the dock marching in crisp military fashion their boots striking the deck plating in unison.

“My gods they are so young” Elizabeth whispered as the young trainees left the docking bay.

“One more example why we must strive to end this war this same sight of our children joining the military at an ever younger age is now common throughout the verse”.

“Then I will pray that your endeavours to achieve peace are successful Celine”.

Celine glanced up at the sound of approaching steps and realised an escort was approaching “All is not yet decided Elizabeth as Reece recently pointed out to me we are not done yet, as long as we keep our hopes alive there exists the possibility of success”.

Elizabeth’s mood seemed to be lifted by those words and she kissed Celine in parting before walking off to find her waiting transport.

“Ma’am we are instructed to escort you to the station master”.

“Then lead on Lieutenant” Celine replied giving Elizabeth a parting wave as the two soldiers flanked her and guided her into the station core.

Matthew was waiting for them at the lifts beyond the docking bay and joined them as they made their way to the meeting.
The Meeting was brief and as they returned to the docks Matthew could not help but be aware of Celine’s anger. She had fortunately kept anger that hidden from the delegation who had insulted her without even knowing they had done so. Fortunately she kept her anger contained till she was back in her quarters where she gave vent to her feelings.

Matthew waited for her to finish swearing before he ventured to speak. “Celine they are diplomats they have no idea how insulting their words would seem to you”.

That is clear Matthew to refuse to accept my invitation to travel aboard the Phoenix to attend this meeting, did they not know I would take it personally”?

“I imagine their advisors were not properly briefed Celine the diplomats wish to appear not to be bowing to pressure from the commonwealth by traveling on a commonwealth military class vessel but at least they have agreed to attend I imagine the commonwealth delegates will make a similar demand so as not to appear belligerent in the means of their arrival”.

That statement seemed to have the desired effect and Celine waited a few moments before moving forward to the bridge to arrange their return to the Athena.
Apparently the Athena was still taking on stores so they sat waiting for clearance to undock for quite some time that did little to calm Celine and eventually she insisted on being given clearance to undock intending to test the ship properly which due to her agreeing to transport the trainees earlier she had forgone. Now however she would not be deterred and whilst she did not actually threaten to undock without clearance she made it clear she was considering it.
Once clear of the station Celine gave vent to her anger and they tore upwards clear of all traffic before putting the Phoenix through a series of manoeuvres that Matthew guessed would surprise the hell out of those watching. It reminded him once more of the Phoenix’s capabilities for an M6 she had far more acceleration and a tighter turn radius than he had suspected.

Her anger gone Celine settled the ship into a stationary position high above the centre of the system and waited for clearance from the Athena.
When they finally received it Celine settled the Phoenix into the docking bay with the same level of caution she had demonstrated previously obviously to the relief of the crew who waited on the hanger deck for her to slip into the waiting berth. Celine listened to a short message over the com as she powered down the ship then asked Merel and Matthew to join her as she made her way down to the cargo ramp.

It seems that Captain Hemmings is finally keen to get going she said cheerfully as they were escorted to the elevators.

“Ah Celine I was just commenting on how manoeuvrable your ship is it was quite impressive”

“My apologies Captain suffice to say the meeting with the delegation irritated me somewhat and I needed to vent of some steam”.

“I can sympathise Celine politicians usually have a similar effect on myself. Now Lieutenant Brandon here will show you to the helm control if you can input your jump sequence we can get going”

“By all means Captain Merel will need to adjust your shield harmonics slightly can she do that from here”.

“At the same terminal” Anton replied intrigued

Matthew was equally curious as Celine made no attempt to conceal the coordinates she entered into the terminal.

“Ready when you are Captain” Celine said standing aside from the terminal to allow the helmsman to access it after Merel made a minor adjustment.
Announcements were sounded over the ships com as Anton signalled for
the jump sequence to be initiated.

“What the hell” Anton said clearly as the Athena emerged not in a sector as he had anticipated but in a void.

“Sir we have a gravitational anomaly of our port side something is out there but we can’t see it clearly on our displays”. A technician reported

“An asteroid”

“There are no Asteroids here Captain Merel said sensing that for a moment Celine was as stunned as he was and speaking out to keep him from seeing that.

“It is an Ark Captain” Celine elaborated a moment later guessing the truth “a trader Home ship few people have ever seen one”.

Anton strode to one said of the bridge and looked out to where his scans indicated the ship was moving past them He didn’t see it at first till he recognised those strange energies dancing across its surface exactly the same as the records he had seen of the emergence of that huge ship in Sol system. So many months before.

“I am impressed Celine does it escort us then”

“I suspect it merely travels back to the fleet Captain they use this void to traverse vast distances. In truth I am as surprised as you that we have met it here, we will however have to wait for it to move beyond the range where its gravitational field affects us or it could have unpredictable effects”.

“I suspect that is to be avoided Celine very well tactical let me know when we are clear of its influence”.

Celine joined Anton at his station still surprised at the presence of an Ark here at this time or was it could this be what they had come across in Gunnes or at least a part of it anchored there by some mishap that had left only that part of it visible its journey impeded. Karl would know for certain but it was the only thing she could conceive off that seemed to offer an explanation. She gave no hint of her uncertainties to Anton or his crew as they waited for the massive ship to slowly fade from view.

“This place what is it exactly Celine” Anton asked

“Merel could you explain it please I never could get my head around it”

“Certainly ma’am Captain this is what we call the void or null space it is this which ships travel through between gates normally a gate is linked to a target gate that link ensures the safe passage of ships between them and the transit time is always the same no matter how far apart the sectors actually are in the galaxy under normal circumstances you would never know of the voids existence. Sadly those stories of ships that enter a gate and fail to emerge have blundered here and without a beacon they are forever lost”.

“This then is the Traders secret that you have developed beacons that you can use to navigate here and can home in on them”?

“No Captain all we can do is to interrupt the jumps completion whilst we are here time has no meaning we will emerge from here exactly ten seconds after we initiated the jump in Neptune as far as the passage of time would appear to an observer. It is the shield modulation that creates a beacon of sorts that lets us return to our passage between the gates”.

“So if we repeat the procedure exactly as you did we could travel directly to your home sector” the helmsman assumed.

“I would not advise such an attempt each gate has a distinct resonance that is influenced by a number of variables you have to know the exact resonance of the target sector gate to be certain of success. If you fail to get it right you would never be able to leave this place. Once an attempt is made to reacquire the pathway it must succeed on the first attempt or the signal is lost.

“What about following that ship that Ark that would act as a beacon” Anton guessed

“It would indeed Captain but aboard that ship they are unaffected by the passage of time here as we are, to them mere sezura sorry seconds will pass during their journey for us it could be decades”.

Black holes Matthew realised “those ships are utilizing an event horizon or one they create that’s what all that lightning type effect is about it’s a by-product or a visible effect it generates”.

“Indeed Commander I had not realised you were an expert in the field”

“Trust me Merel I am not I may have guessed the means in the broadest sense but how to utilise it safely is I suspect a whole different matter and even the concept of it is giving me a headache”.

“And you consider this safe Celine” Anton asked doubt clear in his voice

“It is far safer than you can imagine Anton trust me we use this means of travel on a routine basis and the Great ships have been using it for centuries, I tend to think of it like this!” she said reaching for a pad “Our start point is here in this case Neptune or any sector with a gate your ship has travelled through the target gate is over here and between the two we create an anchor point that lets us leave the corridor and move out to here away from the corridor but we are still attached to it once we wish to resume our journey we initiate a jump and the tether snaps us back along that corridor and deposits us at the event threshold”.

That what That Captain said that the Arkons time in the solar system was limited the tether was going to snap them back to their start position.

"Just so Matthew and it takes an enormous energy expenditure to delay that return which increases with the real space distance travelled".

"How far away is the Trader fleet then"

"Let us just say they are no longer in our Galaxy Anton. They have been traveling a very long time".

[Sabrina Bergin]

Vengeance:

Anton studied the crude sketch that Celine had made, it made a kind of sense to him as an overall guide, he was however uncomfortable with the possible dangers of this void and wanted to return to normal space sooner rather than later. A desire he made clear to Celine.

Merel turned back to the helm control at Celine's signal and pressed the jump activation control without entering coordinates to the helmsman’s dismay.There was no delay, no automated countdown as they were suddenly elsewhere looking out over a sector that was crowded with shipping and a large number of Capital ships within firing range of them.

“Incoming transmission sir” Anton’s com office announced

“Put it on screen Hayden”.

“Captain Hemmings your arrival has been noted Karl has asked if you would care to dock please follow the guide ship to our station. Berthing facilities are available if you would prefer to stay of station you may do so”.

The transmission ended as the Helmsman followed the designated guide ship towards the distant station following his signal of assent to that request. Clearly he was being put to the test here if he docked it would limit his options if he decided he wanted to jump out of the sector in a hurry but given the firepower as represented by the number of capital class ships that had been on station at the gate even staying of station would not give the Athena any real tactical advantage. Glancing to Celine he noted that she was looking to see which he would choose a slight hint of a smile making it clear she knew exactly what he was thing. This then was a test not just of himself but of the ATF commands commitment as a whole towards offering aid to defeat the AGI.

Anton could only accept their doubts were not undeserved the ATF had long called for a withdrawal from contact with the Commonwealth and to return once more to Isolation but he knew that it was impossible to put the genie back in the bottle there were people demanding access to the commonwealth and they would travel there regardless of what the ATF wished. He was in two minds on that score himself but if the AGI threat was real. His first duty was to protect Earth the rest they could sort out once that had been accomplished.

“Mr Brandon once we are in range of the station please request docking guidance. Well Celine do you wish to return to your ship” he asked turning to her?

“That won’t be necessary Captain Celine replied after receiving a message from Tina who was moving to a position on the Athena “I believe my Helm is intending to join us she will take care of that. I imagine she wants to see how much damage I have done to her ship in her absence. She is in that transport that’s approaching and will no doubt be requesting permission to transport to your hanger bay momentarily, given the dents I’ve managed to give the Phoenix of late I might be safer in your company”.

Anton laughed out loud at that remembering his own training as a Navigation officer and the unofficial course that taught you how to respond properly to a Captain that broke your ship. It was of course a matter that was never referred to by Helm officers or Captains thereafter of course, it seemed that the commonwealth navigation officers also had a version of that course in their training somewhere which was refreshing.

“Coms advise the Phoenix helm officer she is free to transport aboard at her discretion and advise the hanger deck that the Phoenix will be departing shortly thereafter”

“Message sent and acknowledged Sir the hanger chief advises the Phoenix is ready to launch on request”.

Anton acknowledged that and less than ten minutes later he watched the
Phoenix accelerating away from them at an even greater speed than she had demonstrated in Neptune.

Celine bit her lower lip as she watched Tina accelerate away from them clearly she was unhappy with the condition of the Phoenix but after only a few minutes of flight she made course to dock at the Stations dry dock.
The Athena docked some time later and such was the skill of the crew that the ship came to a final halt exactly aligned with the station docking arms clearly this crew was well trained and experienced in the handling of such a large ship.

[Sabrina Bergin]

Vengeance:

“I have a question Celine normally I require that we maintain a guard on The Athena’s access ports”

“We have the same policy when docked at a station other than one of our own please carry out your normal procedures I would ask only that armed members of your crew do not leave the docking area”.

“You speak as if you anticipate that we might be staying here for a while Celine”

“Only if you choose to do so Captain Karl intends to give you a great deal of information that I believe you will want to study and verify personally before you depart not least of which of course is the means of traversing null space safely. Should you choose to stay we will of course offer you and your crew the hospitality and full use of the facilities available”.

Anton used the access port nearest the bridge signalling his seniors to follow him His Marine escort led the way and took position at the access bridge where he could see a group including Karl Reaver waiting for him.
The woman next to him made the call of The Athena is on deck snapping a crisp salute that reflected her military training. Anton returned the salute pleased at the adherence to form shown and stepped forward to meet the greeting party indicating his marines should hold position here.

Karl stepped forward and shook Captain Hemmings by the hand before asking him to join him in the station offices where they could discuss matters in more comfort. He took a moment to give Celine a smile he saw returned indicating she had noted his obvious recovery. He also saw there was much they had need to speak of though. Hoping for her understanding he led them all to the station core offices where a large conference room had been prepared in anticipation of the Athena’s arrival.

“Please gentlemen make your selves comfortable Captain Hemmings I would ask you to excuse our lack of formality it is not intended as a sign of disrespect”.

“I assumed as much if you will call me Anton Karl there is an ancient expression that suggests when in Rome one should do as the Romans do” Anton replied as Karl directed him to a seat at the head of the large table that dominated the centre of the room, before returning to offer Celine his arm.

“My lady” he whispered “I know there is much to be discussed I ask that we might defer that till later”?

Celine read his wish not to reveal their dispute to Anton and allowed him to lead her to the seat next to his own.
Before seating himself he turned to address all of the terrans within the room.

“Captain Anton before we begin I would wish to express my thanks for your aid to the Phoenix and my Lady know that I consider myself in your debt if there is anything you require on station we will provide it”.

Anton signalled his acceptance of that before they began to discuss Karl’s immediate concerns. The amount of information that Karl was making available to them complete with the data cubes containing the detailed reports that information was based on was considerable and it was clear they would require at least a week to catalogue let alone analyse it.

"Karl it is clear that we need time to study this in detail I would ask that we could accept your offer to extend our stay here”.

“Of course Anton as I have said our facilities are available as there is no immediate need for urgency now and the hour is late perhaps we might adjourn this meeting till tomorrow”.

“I would be happy to do so Karl I will need to report to my superiors and advise them of my revised schedule”.

“I had anticipated as much Anton I would ask that you route your signals via our relay satellites through the void to ensure our sector location is not revealed inadvertently”.

“Is that really necessary now that you have identified its location to us Karl”?

“Regrettably it is Anton we believe the Xenon use such transmissions to detect craft entering their sectors”.

“Then we shall follow your wishes in this matter, we will speak again in the morning for the moment we will return to the Athena”.

Karl waited for Anton to lead his men from the room before turning to speak to Celine.

“Celine I feared you lost to us, word cannot convey the dread that filled my heart till we received word the Phoenix had been detected”.

“Aren’t you breaking your code in speaking to me alone” Karl she asked teasing him till he glanced to the door at her words.

Celine followed his gaze and saw Tina was stood before the doors her back to them. “So it seems that you do remember the rules Karl tell me then why did you not inform them that I had told you why I left the Phoenix”?

“I intended to Celine but there was so much to be done and so little time then after the attack in Aladna I was unable to, later when I had the chance, to be honest I was embarrassed at my failure in the manner I had presumed to treat you. I hoped that I might have an opportunity to apologise and explain but then you demanded I receive treatment and I was once more unable to rectify matters until you returned”.

“Do you know what harm that missing letter caused Karl” Celine snapped letting her anger show?

“I have been made aware of my failings by my crew Celine” Karl admitted his voice betraying that they had not been concerned with sparing his feelings in doing so.

“Alright then putting that aside for the moment I assume you knew what we would find in Gunnes”.

“No I hoped to find trace of its passage I did not expect you to actually find it, Helen asked me to conduct a search when I spoke to her in Sol, they had determined what might have happened to the ship and suggested a number of locations trace of it might be found”.

“So what if we had found nothing there where would you have searched next Karl”?

“There were two other possible sectors Celine one was Zyarths”

“And the other “

“Sector 101” he admitted after a lengthy pause.

“You would have gone there wouldn’t you no matter what why Karl prove to me you are not insane”?

“It’s an Ark Celine if the Xenon had found it they would have discovered the means to traverse the void possibly to determine the position of the fleet all those centuries of effort would have been for nothing”.

“Alright so what happened to it how did it get stuck here in the commonwealth”?

“From what Helen told me it was headed here to confirm the safe arrival of the traders within the fleet, they did not suspect that the gate would be destroyed when it was we were not privy to the plan for that. When it was the void was breached for a moment only and that part of the Ark you found became caught here preventing her return to the fleet until the Arkon returned to Sol orbit it had been thought lost within the void. In time the part you found would have disintegrated breaking its shackle and its journey resumed unaided but the threat from the Xenon demanded we enable it to return to the fleet before then”.

“The explosion you planned that to break it loose from its trapped part do you know how close you came to killing us all”.

“You were not expected to find it let alone meant to board the Ark if you did Celine. Misha was supposed to remote land the Tenjin on the fragment if it was found and detonate it once you were clear. If that had not been possible she was ordered to await the arrival of the fleet we would have ensured its destruction no matter what the cost”.”

“Then what went wrong Karl why did Misha detonate the charges on the Tenjin when she did”?

“She didn’t Celine Aaron did by accident when he activated the power circuits in that door it triggered a series of events no one could have predicted the ships AI detected the power surge and woke, it analysed the Tenjin and induced a total power failure by draining its power cells. It then determined the cause of its interrupted journey and managed to break free to resume its mission but it ejected the Tenjin first having determined it to be of alien origin and a potential hazard to the Ark”.

[Sabrina Bergin]

Vengeance:

Celine tried to put it all together a lost Ark that had been trapped by an accident that dated back to humanity’s first arrival in the commonwealth. Then there was the risk that same ship posed to the future of humanity if the Xenon were ever able to find it. Given the almost religious reverence the Traders held the fleet and its mission in she did not doubt that Karl or any Trader would have destroyed that fragment at any cost even if it had meant invading a Xenon core sector.

Celine also realised that had that been necessary he would have ceased preparing to defend against the coming Xenon invasion and launched that assault as soon as he was able to confirm its necessity effectively sacrificing the commonwealth and terran sectors to achieve that goal.
No wonder he had been so secretive any hint of that would have had the entire verse turning against him and traders everywhere.

“You would have risked sacrificing untold millions to what end Karl saving humanity as embodied in the fleet that cost is too high a price surely”?

“I agree with you Celine but consider this the Xenon are trapped within the gate network, their technology has mirrored that of those who created them. Our ancestors but that technology has a flaw it can never be used effectively beyond the gate network. The very drives that power their ships and ours are wasteful of energy and require fuel replenishment. Fuel that can only be manufactured within a gate network. The arks use a drive they developed after they left Sol when they realised this flaw existed it utilises a chance discovery that is mathematically unlikely to reoccur in millennia if ever.

“Unless they were able to examine that technology first hand they would recreate it is that what you are saying, that is your justification for preserving the fleet over the commonwealth”?

“No Celine rather because we determined the Xenon would not halt their annihilation of organic life with its destruction of the commonwealth and all the races but because they would continue with that single goal and we would have unleashed them upon the rest of the universe rather than ensure they were contained within the limited universe we are familiar with. There are other races out there beyond the void Celine we could not allow the Xenon free to discover them”.

“You are still holding something back Karl what is it you are not telling me, I decided that if I was to consider your proposal further I would demand there be no secrets between us”.

“I do not deny that I have knowledge you do not Celine but this secret is not mine to share. Would you accept that it no longer matters”.

His inadvertent glance towards Tina made clear this was a secret that even his crew were not privy to, more that he would prefer they not know of it. They also suggested however that the person whose secret he possessed was here on station. Had she not sworn to allow no more secrets she might have relented but her decision made she could not.

“I am sorry Karl I cannot”.

Karl nodded accepting that and she hoped understanding the reason for her decision.

“As you wish then my lady if you will follow me”.
Karl led them to another suite of rooms where there were guards at the doors something Celine had not seen the last time she had been on station though that had only been a brief visit she admitted to herself.
Karl came to a last door that strongly resembled that of a security vault and disappeared within after asking them to wait outside for a few moments.

Deciding to break the uneasy silence Celine braced herself and spoke to Tina directly for the first time since they had returned.

“I take it you were not pleased with the condition of the Phoenix Tina”

“I was upset of course Celine but I was also glad that you had returned I had feared you were all lost when Marcus reported that he had failed to follow you when you jumped from Gunnes and told us of the heavy damage you had suffered before you jumped.”

That was understandable it was not unknown for a ship to fail during jump if it was severely damaged, with no sign of them in Aladna it would have been easy to assume the worst.

“We should be grateful for his persistence then the Athena detected him as he jumped to the sector we emerged in and spared us a prolonged journey home”.

“I am not sure that Illsa will be grateful for making public his courting of her Celine”.

“Given her reaction to the arrival of the Blade in that unknown sector I would be inclined to disagree with you on that Tina”.

“Really oh that would be so wonderful they would make a great pairing”.

“I had thought he had his eyes set elsewhere”

“He has always been ambitious” Tina conceded “but as I had already met Caleb when he chose to court me he soon realised he had left it too late. Which reminds me I owe you an apology Celine”

“Nonsense Tina that is past you acted as you thought correct I would not fault you for that. There is one thing though what if I were to wish for some privacy to discuss certain matters with Karl”?

Tina flushed bright crimson as she sought to find the correct words to answer that question obviously such privacy did not indicate a final choice as regards Karl’s proposal to Celine or as her acceptance of it. “You merely have to ask Celine, our codes are not that rigid” she managed to answer aware that her cheeks were burning.

Celine might have been tempted to tease Tina about that blush but Karl stepped back into the hallway at that moment and indicated Celine should enter the room alone”.

Puzzled Celine entered the small room and sat at the only console within. The display came to life as soon as she did so and Celine was startled to see the face of the Fleet elder Helen obviously in her office aboard the Arkon.

“Celine I am glad to see you we were concerned when Karl told us he feared you lost, I will however be brief the energy drain in creating this link is enormous at both ends, he has explained your request to me and I am minded to answer it if you will swear that you will keep this knowledge to yourself, I can assure you that you will understand why once you are aware of it”.

“Very well Helen I can accept that”.

“Karl tells me that you are aware of how we can for a time return to the Sol system briefly and then return to our place at the fleet’s current position”.
Seeing her nod of agreement Helen continued. “You asked Karl what he would have done had it seemed certain that the possibility existed where the Xenon might be able to escape the confines of the gated sectors. In short there would be nothing he could do. Please let me finish” Helen asked seeing Celine was about to question that statement. “The fleet had a plan of last resort ready Celine should we determine that the Xenon were in reach of their goal of completing their conquest of the systems you know and might have the opportunity to discover the technology we use we had one final option to end the threat to life they pose. That would be for a large percentage of the fleet to make a final journey to our original home system and remove the safety measures that our power sources require whilst we were within a the system. This would create a singularity that would reach through every gate you know and consume everything within the sectors they lead to. I would ask you to discuss this with Karl alone Celine we are losing contact the power drain is too great to continue from our end. I will speak to you”.

The image of Helen began to break up then vanished completely before Helen could finish her sentence leaving her alone in the small room that suddenly seemed to close in on her. She did not move though the information Helen had given her robbed her of the ability to even move for a moment. It also proved how committed the traders both here and in the fleet itself were in preventing the Xenon from escaping into the wider universe. Helen had not said how many of the great ships might have to be sacrificed to enable that final act that would ensure the destruction of the Xenon but she suspected it would be most if not all of them. That led her to the next conclusion that without those great ships only a tiny proportion of humanity might remain and that their ages long journey might be doomed to certain failure.

That they could contemplate such a desperate act that would end a journey of millennia was knowledge she now wished she had not insisted on obtaining Karl had tried to warn her she realised but she had misunderstood his intent not for the first time. Taking deep slow breaths she composed herself before rising and leaving the room”.
Forcing a smile she did not feel she asked if Tina could excuse them and suggested they might speak in the morning after breakfast.
If Tina sensed anything of her distress she made no comment simply nodding her acceptance and left them alone.

“We need to talk Karl”.

[Sabrina Bergin]

Vengeance:

They did talk but not until much later, fuelled by a need for physical intimacy Celine had made love and been made love to by Karl with an urgent need to forget what she knew even if just for a moment. It was she suspected an instinctive reaction to the contemplation of extinction, a desperate urge to reproduce to perpetuate herself and humanity. Karl she sensed understood and accepted this and might also have been driven to respond to her almost violent passion by those same primeval motives.
Still burning with the heat of satiated lust Celine carefully untwined herself from Karl and laid back on the bed the sweat from her exertions cooling her burning flesh like a welcome breeze. She felt Karl move beside her and was about to ask him to wait for a moment so that she could recover a little before they made love again but to her surprise he merely touched his hand to her cheek then left the bed to return a few moments later with an open bottle of wine and two glasses.

Perversely the cooling she had welcomed at first now made her feel chilled and she pulled a bed cloth over her body as Karl sat on the edge of the bed close to her then placed a glass of wine in her hand. It was cold and tart but it quenched a thirst she had not been aware of till she took her first sip then she quaffed the full glass and indicated Karl should refill it. He did so as she noticed in the dim light the myriad of fine scars that now marred his skin. They formed a web of patterns her eyes tried to find a sense to but could not. At least they were mere striations now gone were the unhealthy areas of unhealed burns they had displaced. They completed him she understood that somehow they marked his struggles and did not diminish him, he had always been handsome but now he openly displayed the physique of the warrior he was. For a moment she considered grabbing him and losing herself in sex he would respond to such an advance she could sense it but he also sensed she had a greater need to question him to resolve that which she had failed to fully understand.

There were questions she was not yet ready to ask so she surprised him with her first. “How was I able to speak to Helen I assume she is with the fleet even now far beyond our systems”?

“She is Celine but that box Caleb retrieved it is a part of the Lost ark it is connected in a way only Aaron seems to comprehend to the Ark itself it is by this connection we can now speak to the fleet in real time using that lost now found ark as a relay it does however require a massive expenditure of energy”.

“Why is that”?

“It is the distance that a coherent signal needs to cross through the void, in truth Celine Aaron spent the best part of a day explaining it to me when he first suggested the possibility but all he succeeded in doing was to give me a headache”.

That Celine could understand Aaron seemed to grasp easily things that defied comprehension and his explanations could be elaborate beyond most people’s ability to understand them.

“It was when we first established a stable contact that Helen told me of the plan to destroy the Xenon” Karl continued sensing her unwillingness to ask that question and sparing her that at least. “Like you I protested their decision but having learnt of your loss as we believed then it was possible the lost ark had been snared at the next potential gravity well Sector 101. That was why I was so delighted not just at your safe return when you had been found but at your sighting of it as it traversed the void to return to the fleet on your journey home”.

“Then why the secrecy Karl now that danger is past is there any need of it”?

“More so than ever Celine we traders have for centuries had the comfort of knowing that no matter what we endured the great journey would continue regardless of cost to ourselves. It is why we are willing to give our lives so freely to preserve our race and our heritage in this coming crisis. If it became known that the fleet considered its own end to destroy the Xenon threat, to make nothing of not only their sacrifices but of all traders since the fleet first ventured into the dark it is possible they might have still might give in to despair. This I know for a fact as I almost gave into despair myself when they told me of their intent and I had feared you lost to me. I will tell you this plainly Celine that on learning of your safety I vowed that even should you refuse a bonding I will not willingly be parted from you again, in truth my heart cannot endure such pain as that thought gives me”.

Celine looked at him and saw his soul laid bare before her gone now were the secrets that had fuelled her doubts. There was no reproach in his eyes only a willingness to accept her choices even if they shattered all his hopes.

“I would be lying if I said that I had not also made that same decision Karl” She replied discarding her glass and pulling him to her ”.

“So Karl tell me what now how do I stop Tina or another of our crew dogging my every step now that I have made my decision. I can see situations where that attention could be unwanted”?

Karl said nothing he merely placed the rack of toast he had just prepared on their breakfast table and returned to their bedroom for a mizura before returning with a box that was made of an aged wood she failed to recognise. Opening the box he removed two simple silver bands covered in glyphs she knew had meaning but that she did not recognise.

“This is not a shackle beloved” he said handing a band to her and placing its twin on his own wrist. “My mother wore the one you hold and my father this one they have been in our family since before the first journey. Since time immemorial they have never been parted. They tell any trader that you are bonded by choice and that you are now the matriarch of my, our line. That even death cannot part us, I am obligated to tell you this does not bind you to me beyond your choice it merely serves to demonstrate our union before all for so long as you choose to wear it. I would ask you do me the honour of accepting this gift".

Celine understood then for the first time the full meaning of the trader use of the word gift to refuse to accept any form of payment for what was given be it a trinket or as Karl had demonstrated his very heart. She was humbled not just by that gift in the form of this bracelet but at his belief that she was worthy to wear what she was certain his most precious possession.

“Karl I am honoured beyond words I know what this means to you” she answered placing that bracelet on her own wrist without hesitation hoping she could live up to the expectations of those that had worn it before her and doubting that she ever could.

Celine and Karl just sat there for what could have been a moment or an age content for this moment to endure. Events however conspired to end it when Della entered the room and whilst clearing their table advised the terrans had enquired when the meetings might resume. Reluctantly they both returned to the other rooms to bathe and don appropriate clothing Karl promising they would be ready in a few mizura at most.

Della cleared the table and tidied the room a little after they had left before closing the door to their rooms and promptly discarding the trolley she had used before rushing to find Reece her heart nearly bursting with joy.

They met aboard the Phoenix at the summons from Reece, it was not odd that even here on this massive station of Karls it was only here they felt at ease.

“All right Reece we are all here” Tina said indicating the full crew were present in the now crowded dining room “what is so urgent you drag me from my duties”?

“This is meeting is called at the request of my chosen” Reece answered offering his hand to raise Della to stand at his side.

“Tina she wears the Sigil of the line of the Phoenix that once was the Swan you have work to do that demands precedence over your duties” Della said simply there was a collective indrawn breath from every trader man and woman born present at her words.

Tina looked to Illsa who had confirmed Celine’s word regarding Marcus she had hoped to be announcing that happy news but this demanded her immediate attention.

“I have a thought” Illsa said hoping Marcus would understand “both Celine and Karl would refuse to allow a ceremony to distract them from what they see as their obligations if however it was suggested that their attendance was to recognise my choice they might not argue against it”.

“There is no reason it could not be to honour both” Della suggested. “Illsa I thank you and Marcus both in considering this. It would take them
unaware”.

Marcus rose his face suffused with pride that was apparent to all “My chosen has suggested a course of action I can but endorse Tina please do all you can to convince Celine that we are the targets of your plans, she is I judge more able to discern subterfuge than Karl, no disrespect is intended to your lady in my words”.

“None is taken Marcus you are correct Celine must be guiled and I believe I know the means to achieve that end”. Tina smiled as she considered a phrase she had heard often of late from the Captain of the Athena. Turn and turnabout.

Anton put aside the latest summary of the information they had obtained from this last meeting. His engineers and even the Hanger chief had been devouring the full reports with unconcealed fervour since he had returned.
He had also learnt that the Chief had somehow managed to circumvent protocol in accepting delivery of a consignment of PSPs to replace the sub optimum SSC weapons load out in their mains. His anger at that had only abated when he learnt that the weapons were brand new and had incurred no cost to the ship or any obligation on his part. When he had pointed out this showed a weakness in his ship he had not wanted known the Chief had indicated that given the number of scans whilst passive they had endured since arriving in this system the traders knew full well their weapons configuration. There was a discreet knock on his door and on calling enter Matthew stepped into the room holding an envelope.

“This was delivered for your attention Captain given the identity of the courier I judged it important that you receive it immediately”.

“And this courier was”?

“Marcus the commander of the Blade the Dragon”

“The Dragon that took position to defend the Phoenix against our approach, I recall thinking his actions ill-judged why do you attach such importance to this note”.

“If my suspicions are correct sir then that man would have held his position regardless of cost to allow the Phoenix a chance of escape. I will know for certain I am correct if you could read it”.

Anton opened the letter surprised to find it was vellum not plas sheet as was most commonly used these days which indicated that the letters content held something of value for that fact alone. The script was hand written in an archaic style that whilst admirable prevented swift reading he read it through twice to be certain he had it right before relating its meaning to Matthew. Captain I would ask you to consider that I feel am obligated to you for the rendering of your aid to my intended. Mindful of this I would ask you to attend the ceremony of bonding between myself and my chosen Illsa of the Phoenix yours most respectfully Marcus commander of the Blade.

“That can’t be right it should be Tina he refers to” Matthew said confused.

“My understanding is that Tina Celine’s Helm officer was transported here nearly ten days before we chanced upon the Phoenix Matthew she could not
have been aboard the Phoenix at the time does that make a difference”.

“Only in that I have made a false assumption as regards his chosen Captain but that is of no consequence what is important is that he has invited you to attend a formal ceremony to honour his marriage to Illsa of the Phoenix you already know in what regard the crew of that ship are held, to refuse this invitation could be taken as an insult not only to the happy couple but to the Phoenix as whole”.

“I take your point Matthew I can admire the actions of the crew of the Phoenix but this almost religious fervour they inspire disturbs me. Still your point is well taken to refuse could undermine the rapport we are striving to develop with Captain Reaver. We will attend if I must suffer this so must you. It might also be prudent to ask Celine what she might deem acceptable as a gift I am well aware how convoluted the notions of traders are in their usage of that word”.

[Sabrina Bergin]

Vengeance:

Celine was gratified by the warmth of Tomas’s greeting as she saw that he was in his office despite the late hour in Legends.

“I am glad that you are well Celine we heard some disquieting rumours”.

“No doubt Tomas how goes things with the news stations now” dismissing the reports of her demise they had been reporting. Celine suspected that Nial had been behind that in a clumsy attempt to cause a share price fall he really was so predictable at times. Tomas had handled that easily by releasing exclusive media shots of herself holidaying at an undisclosed luxury resort and denying strongly any rumours of a secret marriage to an unnamed Hero of the federation. There had been no such rumours till that point of course but seizing on to a new story the media had gone into a feeding frenzy at the news and her life was now a daily topic of discussion on the nets even reaching so far as Argon prime as they tried to identify the significant man in her life.

“It is unlike you to court publicity Celine and whilst I am delighted that you have decided to make things official between Karl and yourself I am suspicious of your motives”.

“Tomas I am hurt you could suspect me of having ulterior motives”.

“I know you Celine, so tell me what you are really up to”.

“Let’s just say I wanted their attention diverted for a while Tomas there are some things they were starting to get their noses into that I would rather they didn’t just yet”.

“You mean like the sudden contract to build ten station transports with the federation shipyard here in Legends Celine are you and Karl planning on a major expansion program you haven’t told me about”.

“Of course not Tomas for the short term they are for storage all our factories are topping out and if we don’t free up some space we would have to consider downsizing production”.

“That would be the cheaper option Celine”

“Not for the people who have jobs on those stations Tomas”.

“Okay Celine I won’t try and change your mind on that I know better but it will cost us in the long run and the shareholders would have a fit if they knew what you were doing”.

“That’s why I don’t intend telling them Tomas trust me I have information they don’t as yet in the very near future they will be grateful for this”.

“I get it you know a shortage is coming due to your contacts and you are going to corner the market when the price peaks”.

“Tomas how could you think such a thing”? Celine laughed easily knowing that the reasons for her sudden actions she had manoeuvred him into reaching on his own were the only truth he could comprehend and matched his conception of her as a hard assed business woman, it was after all exactly the sort of thing he would do.

“Alright Celine I can keep them prying too much I will have to drop the a few heavy hints on some of them but as you have consistently demonstrated your ability to make them rich I don’t think that will be a problem. On a personal note I would like to congratulate you on your wedding though I am a little hurt I wasn’t invited”.

“It was very private Tomas but don’t worry once I have worked on Karl a bit I am sure I can get him to do us some publicity features”.

“No doubt Celine but don’t push too hard on that your personal happiness is more important than the Company profit margin at the end of the day”.

“Tomas that is sacrilege” she joked “But don’t worry I agree with you now to business Karl wants ten fully equipped Super Mistrals and he wants them yesterday. Once he has taken delivery he will want more on a regular basis”.

“That’s a fairly hefty order Celine but it is not one I can extend that sort of credit for not even for your husband”.

“He’s not asking for credit Tomas Check your secure payments log the money is being held at the finance guild bank in an escrow account, of course if you don’t want the contract”.

Tomas did check the pre payments log before returning his attention to Celine a large smile on his face. “I am sure we can expedite this order faster than any of our competitors Celine, tell Karl we will be happy to oblige him. You know it would be nice if we could keep an order of this size in the family as it were”.

“You know I said the exact same thing to Karl Tomas he was considering the Caiman as an option but I said we could do it quicker and better than Family Pride shipyard. Look Tomas I’d like to talk longer but I have things to do here let me know when those ships are ready okay”.

“I will Celine but remember you are supposed to be on your honeymoon at least try and get some leisure time in”.

Tomas closed the link as Celine turned to Karl “Okay that’s Legends taken care of Queens Retribution next I take it. You know people will notice that you are buying up a vast number of super freighters Karl not to mention station transporters, and where is all the money for this coming from”?

Karl looked at her and smiled recalling his promise that he would keep nothing from her “I borrowed it an exorbitant interest rate from the Teladi Finance Guild” Karl admitted “of course they demanded surety against a lot of stations I own in Avarice and elsewhere in Teladi controlled space”.

Celine was stunned at the simplicity of Karl’s scheme he had got the Teladi to finance this whole plan and intended to off load stations he didn’t want or have any real need for now in the process it was brilliant and she told him so.

“I have my moments Celine now as you say on to Queens we have a lot of credits to spend and we are on a timer”.

They spent the rest of the morning striking deals across the verse it was a tedious repetitive process but finally they were done.

“Enough Karl I think we should take that advice Tomas gave us and have some leisure time just you and me”.

“There I can agree with you however I believe we should defer that till the day after tomorrow the crew are preparing a party and whilst Tina has not said as much I got the impression she believes we would want to attend”.

Celine sighed disappointed and slightly irritated if they were going to hold a party for Illsa and Marcus why not just announce it instead of all this sneaking about. A point she put to him.

“Its traditional Celine a woman is supposed to announce her bonding at such an event to her friends and family. Everyone knows it is what the party is for but it is considered unlucky to acknowledge it as such before the party begins”.

“I never got a party” Celine complained letting it seem she was sulking

“I promise you when you are ready we will have a party at your time and place of choosing Celine” he promised realising as he did so how deftly she had guided him into that.

“You tricked me” he accused though he was not unhappy about it.

“I know wicked aren’t I” she teased kissing him soundly “now let’s get some lunch I am starved for both food and company”.
Laughing at his response to that they walked hand in hand down to the main restaurant area used by most of the station personnel.
They arrived at the entrance in time to meet Matthew and Roberta and Karl invited them to join them at their table though Celine was certain the meeting had not been due to chance alone, she did not mind though she enjoyed their company as a rule. Roberta she noted wearing a smart civilian dress instead of her usual ships uniform. They had their orders taken by one of the crew designated for duty in the restaurant a point Matthew questioned Karl on suggesting he had expected a self-service style canteen set up.

“We tried that and it didn’t work Matthew the food was invariably dried out and lost its taste by the time anyone got to the counters this way the food is cooked to order and everyone takes their turn if they are not on active duty. Everyone likes it this way and are more than happy to take their turn including myself and Celine when we get a chance”.

“It is also a good way of meeting our people” Celine added it “shows them we are reachable and are not above doing the humdrum tasks that have to be done every day”.

“I can see it might have some merits but I doubt our military would ever consider adopting it”.

“They should it does wonders for morale" Celine stated as their orders were delivered to their table and served by Della which was an unexpected surprise. “I thought you were supposed to be taking it easy Della” Celine scolded her

“He’s got another week before he’s due to make an appearance Celine and I needed to speak to you without Illsa spotting me doing it” she said caressing her now noticeable baby bump.

“It’s a bit of a game” Karl explained to Roberta Illsa knows her crew mates are arranging the party but she pretends not to if however she catches them doing it she gets to call favour points on them”.

“Favour points”? Roberta queried

“There are some jobs no one really wants to do at times” Karl explained as he indicated they should begin eating whilst their food was hot “if Illsa catches them she can trade them out”.

“You will attend won’t you Celine she will be so delighted that’s why we’ve left it so late she’s certain she can catch us speaking to you about it she’s watching us all like a hawk and I had to trade a lot of points with Mala of the Witch to switch roster places without her finding out”.

“Your sacrifice will not be in vain Della let the others know we will be there, we had thought to stay at home this evening so as not to usurp her rightful position at the centre of attention but if you are sure”.

“Absolutely Celine, I must dash if she comes in now I’ll have wasted all those points”.

Della whisked the serving trolley back to the kitchens her mission accomplished.

Roberta was confused but she thought she had it right and asked Karl to confirm her guess “So Della had to buy this shift of this Mala using these favour points just so she could speak to you without Illsa being aware of it”.

“That’s it exactly Celine agreed”

“So how much is a favour point worth exactly”?

“That depends on what you want to purchase and how bad you want it, or how much you loathe the job you are scheduled for and want to swap out of, the negotiation is half the fun we are traders after all” Karl answered.

“Okay I get that but who keeps track of all these points and who owes what to whom it seems a slapdash system that could easily be abused”?

“Everyone keeps their own list Roberta and it’s left to an honour system, there are occasionally the odd one or two who will try to abuse it but they soon get caught out and punished by their crew mates, if they persist they are shunned”. Karls tone made it clear that was the same as the crew ejecting such a person from the ship.

“So how many favour points do you owe Celine Karl”? Mathew asked

“Unlimited Karl” answered wisely glancing to her and squeezing her hand “but as posted senior officers we are not allowed to trade favour points with crew it would give us an unfair advantage”.

“Actually Roberta I believe we already have a similar though unofficial system amongst fleet crew, or have you failed to notice an unexpected crewman doing a lot of unpleasant duties regularly aboard ship? It exists it’s just not formally accepted as it is amongst traders”.
Seeing Roberta’s look of disapproval Matthew pushed it a bit “Come on admit it you must have swapped shifts on occasion to do a friend a favour or because you wanted to meet someone special on occasion”.

“Alright Matthew it does happen it just seems wrong for it to be done on such a large scale and on a regular basis how can you get things done properly or expect efficiency in combat for instance”.

“No favour trading is allowed when on duty Roberta that is an absolute rule nobody breaks” Karl assured her “now wonderful as it is to have you both here why don’t you tell us why you chose to bump into us”.

“Actually Della has already brought the subject up Anton has received an invitation to attend and we were seeking advice on his and our behalf as to a suitable present”.

“I am glad then you did Matthew it is considered insulting to offer gifts in accepting the invitation you bestow the sign of your approval of the match by attending”.

“Hang on Karl I have seen you giving out gifts on numerous occasions”.

“We do Matthew but it is normally as a sign of gratitude for a task well done or as a gesture of friendship rather than in anticipating a gift in return”.

“So how do you distinguish which is which” Roberta asked suddenly remembering that dress.

“We make clear at the outset if we consider it a gift or a favour if its a gift we would make clear we would neither want nor expect anything in return” Roberta Karl answered surprised at the question.

“What’s the dress code Karl”?

“Well for Military men like yourself and Captain Hemmings Matthew you have the option of formal uniform, dinner dress or very smart. Ladies are meant to dazzle us mere men with their choice of clothing of course. Its traditional Roberta it is at such parties that young men and women from different ships get to meet each other” Karl added quickly seeing the glint of anger that flashed in her eyes for a moment.

“Plus what woman doesn’t want to have the men’s eyes popping out in appreciation” Celine added. The quick glance Roberta gave in Matthew’s direction confirmed another suspicion of hers but that was not for her to reveal. “Tell you what Roberta we have some excellent boutiques on station as you have the day of why not join me I need a new outfit if I am to attend and you might want to give yourself a choice”.

“I could do with some new clothing” Roberta admitted looking to Matthew for his permission.

“It’s your time of Roberta, I must admit I am surprised you have shops here Celine”.

“I don’t see why Matthew despite our comparative isolation we have a large population here and they require all the things they would in any other sector so we have the same economic model as the rest which means there are opportunities here for skilled people who can fill a market niche. They of course use other levels of the station not fleet ones like this where credits are used as normal.

“Doesn’t that pose a security risk having non trader or fleet personnel here Karl”?

“Not really Matthew we vet any immigrants carefully and they are only considered if recommended or vouched for by one of our families, we also control the only means of travel to and from this system and our security measures have proven more than adequate”.

Matthew did not pursue that it was enough to know that attempts had been made by those trying to locate this sector and more importantly dealt with.

[Sabrina Bergin]

Vengeance:

There were more than a few shops Roberta gathered as they looked down on the vast level that was allocated to them this could have been a plaza similar to the one on Caron Station where her family’s home was and the number of people wandering from store to store was far greater than she had anticipated.

“There are a lot of children” she noted as they strolled down one of the floors many avenues.

“They are mostly stationer families they normally shop together here and as we provide free transports to and from their home station they tend to take advantage of it, we provide crèche’s and child care services here as well to save them being left at home. Some of the stations simply don’t have the capacity for such things. Ah here we are”

Celine pulled her through an entrance of a store that from the outside had seemed no different from any other they had passed. This was however a high end boutique as her eyes were drawn to various displays and modelled dress’s that were all professionally posed and illuminated. There were quite a few customers in the store and Celine appeared quite happy to wait for an attendant to notice them. That gave Roberta time to browse which she was quite happy with. There was an amazing selection of clothes and matching accessories and she was pleased to note that whilst there were some that were out of her reach a large proportion were actual well within her price range. One dress really caught her eye it was just the right colour and looked beautiful though it was close to the upper limit of what she could really afford. Perhaps next time she thought sadly.

“May I be of service came the polite request from behind her. Roberta turned to find a slim young woman who could only be terran waiting patiently awaiting on her reply.

“You are Japanese”

“Hai I am Suki Kigawa may I enquire whom have I the honour of addressing it is rare to find a fellow terran this far from our home”?

“I am Roberta Hayden I am an officer with the USC Fleet”.

“Then I am pleased to meet you Roberta would you care to try on this garment I believe it would suit your colouring perfectly”.

“I would love to Suki but I fear the price is a little more than I can really afford to spend”.

“Excellent I love a challenge I insist you model this for me it will justify my creation of it”.

Roberta was given no opportunity to protest as the small woman gracefully escorted her to a changing room and returned a moment later with the dress insisting she at least try it before vanishing again.

“Suki there you are” Celine said warmly as her favoured designer approached

“Lady Celine you are a very bad person to do this to me”

“I’m sorry Suki you have lost me there what have I done to you”?

“I am trying to make my name in the fashion industry this is difficult yes. So why do you bring me a model for my designs who says she will not wear them, I have a photo shoot this afternoon all arranged this is very bad I will be ruined when people learn of this”.

Celine remembered an earlier promise to Suki to keep an eye out for young ladies that might be available to model for her and realised Suki had assumed Roberta accompanied her for that reason. She started laughing to herself and had to let that pass before replying to Suki’s reproach.

“Suki this is so funny I am sorry but Roberta is here to purchase a dress for a party this evening as am I not to model for you though I agree she would be perfect to do so. Of course I thought of you first to supply us with suitable garments now let’s go and see her shall we”?


“I want her to model for me she is perfect Suki insisted”

“Let me handle this Suki” Celine advised hoping she could.

“Roberta” she began as she entered the changing room.
Fifteen minutes later her answer was still the same flat no.

“Alright I give in Roberta but why not for Gunnes sake Suki is right you would be perfect to model her designs”?

“Don’t be ridiculous Celine you would be but I wouldn’t, I am not unattractive I hope but you are beautiful that’s why she needs someone like you to model her designs”.

“Ah so there we have it and that is where you are wrong Roberta what would people see if I modelled Suki’s designs? I’ll tell you what they would see me and me only they wouldn’t even notice what I was wearing and that is the last thing Suki needs and she is gifted designer and a good friend”.

“You are just saying that Celine”

“Am I do you know I get designers begging me not to wear their clothes to be trigraphed in if they are their latest designs for that very reason”.

Suki popped her head in then entered the room at that point “Please miss Hayden I have searched very hard to find the person who can make my clothes look beautiful. Celine she is already beautiful too much so, people do not see my work they see her she is no disrespect Celine a how do you say it a clothes horse, it takes a special kind of beauty that can make my clothes look beautiful and as if made for the wearer. Celine you know this tell her I speak truly”.

“I already have Suki do you remember Roberta”.

Roberta did remember and she remembered herself how wonderful she had
felt and looked wearing that dress. She also remembered the look on Matthews face when he had seen her wearing it she almost remembered hearing his jaw hit the floor at that moment metaphorically speaking of course.

“See she remembers we deal” Suki Insisted seeing Robertsa’s almost trance like state as she recalled that moment again“ you model a few dresses and make them look beautiful for me I will give you this dress and I make you look even more beautiful for this evening”.

“Hold on Suki you haven’t mentioned any credits yet” Celine cautioned

“Celine you are a bad person I have said this already you know I am poor and struggling to send credits home to my family”.

“Suki you fibber your uncle says the same thing every time I ask him to lower a price on one of his paintings”.

Roberta watched a slow grin spread over Suki’s face at the mention of her Uncle “Celine you persuade your friend to do this one small thing for me I will sell you one of my uncle’s paintings”.

“You said you did not have any of his works”.

“That was to stop you from pestering me I want you to buy my clothes not buy my uncles painting. So you already said I was a fibber”.

Roberta pulled a partition across the room leaving the two women shaking their fingers at each other. She looked at the dress hanging from a rail in front of her and had to admit it looked rather ordinary now. Telling herself she should at least try it on she changed and took a moment to tidy her hair before looking through to the other side of the partition both Celine and Suki were now sat on chairs waiting expectantly for her to step through.

“Oh my word” Celine said as she did so. Suki said nothing at first just started grinning and clapping her hands in delight

“see I told you Celine now she is beautiful and so is my dress you said was so horrible”.

“Only on me were my exact words to be fair Suki”

“Whatever look Roberta I will show you” Suki said turning a viewing mirror around but only revealing the part that reflected her face. See here you are very pretty yes but this is you. So who then is this”? Suki cleared the rest of the mirror and even Roberta had to admit the effect was amazing. Now she did indeed look like one of those fashion models, she barely recognised herself.

“I can show you how to look like this all the time Suki promised”

“Now Suki that is an outright lie, we were discussing a Kigawa last I recall”.

“Excuse me please” Roberta said interrupting them “I have a possible compromise solution subject to a test”.

Karl waved to Celine as she walked towards them from across the Plaza where some sort of media event was going on no doubt part of her plans to keep Tomas sweet on the deal they had brokered she was however carrying a fair amount of baggage so Matt and himself walked to meet her and take some of her bags from her. “I told you Suki was lying Karl she has a Kigawa as I suspected but I want you to look at it first to see if you want it”.

She led them both back to where Suki was busy arranging the media shoot. She indicated they should seat themselves to one side of the temporary stage.

“What’s this all about Karl” asked

“Suki wants her new range publicised in time for the next fashion show In Argon prime so I did a deal she gets the Photo shoot I get a chance to bid on the Kigawa if you like it”.

They did not have to wait long as the various models appeared in swift succession wearing a range of clothes that they seemed to be able to change into in seconds in the curtained of area beyond the stage.
They must have been near the end of the shoot as after about twenty minutes the models disappeared and the stage began to be dismantled.

“How on Earth did you arrange to get those models here” Karl asked Suki as she approached them.

“It was very difficult Karl I had to promise them many things one was that you might allow them to travel on your Phoenix not very far of course”.

“How far Suki”?

“May be for a short trip to Argon prime”.

“The Phoenix is in for repair Suki it will be at least a week before it goes anywhere”

“So your lady has said but the fashion show is not for three weeks the ladies will wait I have arranged accommodation at the Sea Crest Hotel for them. It will be marvellous publicity for my show”.

“Celine did you encourage this foolishness the Phoenix is not a taxi service”?

“I did Karl and I think you might reconsider when you see the list of passengers, who wish to travel to Argon prime”.

Karl looked at the data pad with growing disbelief at the names present. There was also a note Celine had added at the bottom, which said she would explain everything later Celine had trapped him and she knew it, he knew she had been working on this for some time and he had thought it an idea that whilst desirable would never come to pass.

“Alright I know when I am beaten Suki you will have your dramatic arrival at Argon prime. Now when will I see this Kigawa Celine wants me to see”?

“Oh tomorrow maybe the day after if that is acceptable Karl I have much to do today and the hour is late”.

“That will be fine Celine” assured Suki as she glimpsed Roberta across the plaza and signalled her to wait where she was, “We had best be moving as well Karl or I will not have time to dress myself properly for Illsa’s party tonight”.

They made their good byes to Suki and joined Roberta before returning to Celine and Karls quarters where Celina immediately deposited her purchases in their bedroom and made some light snacks promising that a meal would be forthcoming shortly.

Celine made sure all was in order before joining them in the lounge and turned to Matthew “you have been very patient Matthew in awaiting an explanation as regards Suki’s request that we transport her and her guests to Argon Prime. Obviously you are wondering if this impacts on your mission so I will explain it and leave you to judge.

“Some time ago I was struck by the thought that we should be doing more to help promote public awareness and recognition of a need for a peace between Argon and Terra. It has taken far longer than I had hoped but at least it has produced a tangible result Suki has asked that we transport a group of Terran artists and Philosophers who wish to speak to their Argon counterparts at a conference arranged for that purpose. They are travelling with the approval of your senate council and have all the necessary authorisations which they will present to yourself or Captain Hemmings tomorrow”.

[Sabrina Bergin]

Vengeance:

Captain Hemmings would not like That Matthew realised he would see it as an attempt to sidestep any ATF input into a peace process, the problem was that whilst he could applaud such an initiative it might cause Hemmings to reconsider his tentative support of the Traders. “This is ill timed Celine, well intentioned I don’t doubt but it could alienate Hemmings”.

Celine could see his point the ATF could if they choose be a major obstacle to Karls plans. She considered going ahead without informing the man but that would be a deliberate breach of the trust she was trying to engender.

“Matthew rather than risk that that I would ask you to inform him of this initiative and tell him we insisted you do so I see no reason to attempt subterfuge”.

Matthew waited for the explosion that he was certain was coming. Anton knew exactly what was expected of him but he decided not to adopt the expected pose of outrage the man’s preconceptions led him to anticipate.

“I doubt this initiative will have any great influence regarding the peace initiative commander but thank you for bringing it to my attention. Now if you will excuse me I believe we both have to ready ourselves for the party this evening”.

Anton chuckled to himself after Sladon had left his office. He would make the expected report of course but since the whole point in allowing this group of peace campaigners to arrive here at this time was to see if either the Traders or the USC would reveal this initiative to him he judged it to have already served its purpose admirably. He doubted this group would have any real effect on the peace process itself but if it stopped them stirring up war protest marches in Home space that was all to the good, let the Argons put up with them for a while.

“This is never going to work Celine”

“You picked the test Roberta you can’t back out now, besides the girls want to attend as well they want to mingle and be seen with me and Karl thinking it will make their careers”.

“Won’t it”?

“I doubt it, but it will get them some increased exposure for a while which is all they really want from it”.

“I didn’t think you so cynical Celine”.

“It comes with experience Roberta now hold still or Suki will puncture you with that needle”.

“Finished” Suki said stepping back to admire her work a few moments later.

“Alright let us go and amaze the men ladies” Celine announced.

“This could be a boring party Anton” said in an aside to Matthew as they entered the large function room and were escorted to where karl awaited them seeing only trader menfolk and some of the off duty crew from the Athena interspersed amongst them at the bars or tables within. Anton sat with Karl at the bar both drinking a light ale as they waited for the ladies to arrive Karl had he thought been a little startled but pleased to see him in informal dress rather than his Captains uniform which made him suspect that Karl had seen to his motives in doing so.

Ah here come the ladies now Karl said aloud as the doors were held open the ladies entered in small groups seeking out friends already present.

There was a sudden silence as Celine entered escorted by a group of strikingly attractive young women with Suki amongst them which confirmed his suspicion they were the same models he had seen earlier. This could make things interesting Karl thought as he noticed that nearly every young man in the room had taken notice of their arrival and could hardly keep their eyes of them.

Fortunately Celine escorted the models to a table near Karl and Anton and signalled they should join them. They did so and Celine introduced them which kept the young men in the room at a distance for the moment.

“Celine ladies I am honoured to be in such attractive company” Karl greeted them all as he signalled for service at the table.

“We bullied Suki into asking if we could come along Karl” the young lady sitting to his right explained giving her name as Simone O'Farrell from Earth “I hope you don’t mind we’ve been stuck on either a transport or in a hotel room for days and we just want to enjoy ourselves a bit”.

“I don’t mind at all Simone so tell me how long have you been a model”?
Oh only since last fall and its only temporary I’m actually taking a gap year from university and the modelling lets me travel and earn credits for my tuition fees at the same time”.

“That sounds like a good means of achieving both what are you studying”?

“It’s generally called astrophysics but what I’m actually working on are applications of gate technology that’s why I leapt at the chance of this particular job I can study a lot more working gates than the ones we have in our home sectors”.

“I thought they were all the same Karl” lied

“Most people do but that’s because they just use them as doors between sectors but my research indicates there is a lot more going on than that”.

Karl listened attentively as she spoke adding greater detail as she did and he could see that she was close to discovering the existence of Null space. Making a decision he asked her to accompany him. Aaron was at the bar drinking a beer and was startled at Karls approach even more so to be introduced to Simone.

“Simone please meet Aaron he is the engineer of the Phoenix and an expert in gate theory”.

“Really” Simone replied sceptically taking that remark to be a challenge as she sat next to Aaron Karl waited five minutes before leaving them arguing over exotic particles and the like.

“What was that all about” Celine asked after he had returned and seeing Aaron and Simone in animated discussion

“She’s doing some potentially dangerous research I just didn’t want her making any mistakes”. Karl explained his concerns about Simone’s research and Celine had to agree with his decision.

Matthew joined them a little while later and he seemed to have chosen to follow Anton’s example and was dressed in a modern cut suit that made him look like one of Celines executives he looked a little distracted though.

“Problem Matthew” Celine asked in a deceptively pleasant manner that Karl knew all too well.

“Not really Celine” Matthew said taking the vacant seat next to Karl and taking a drink of the tray a steward bought to the table as he did so “I seem to have misplaced my first I mean Roberta”.

“I’m sure she will turn up in due course Matthew” Celine suggested before changing the subject and speaking to the others present for a while. Celine paused as she saw the anticipated movement at the door "I see Illsa will be arriving in a moment and the party can properly begin she said aloud as Tina entered the room along with a number of the phoenix crew who had been absent till now.

Karl had told her this was the normal sequence of events that Illsa would escorted by her crew mates be shown to the table of honour as it were but he must have got it a bit wrong as Tina led the crew to their table and asked Celine to join them. Not wanting to mess things up for Illsa Celine did so only to have Tina seat her next to Illsa. Too late she realised what was happening.

“Excuse me gentlemen I will have to re-join you a little later it appears my crew have decided to take certain matters into their own hands”. Karl said watching what was happening as startled by this turn of events as Celine was.

“Do you know what’s going on here Matthew Anton asked as Karl left them?

“I’m not sure sir it’s not proceeding as Karl said it would”


“Perhaps I can explain Sir Roberta” said from Mathew’s right

“If you would please Lieutenant Hayden” Anton replied indicating he had recognised her whilst Matthew had not.

“Illsa will be announcing her bonding with Marcus but Karl and the Lady Celines crew felt they should take precedence in announcing theirs as is proper. It is considered something of a coup amongst traders if the party can be arranged with neither the groom nor bride as we would name them being aware of it”.

“Thank you Lieutenant Hayden or if I may call you Roberta that is a concise and accurate briefing and may I say you look absolutely stunning”.

“Why thank you sir”.

Matthew turned already knowing what he would find and feeling completely foolish but still finding it hard to accept that the stunning woman he had thought to be one of Suki's models sat next to him was indeed his first officer even now he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.

“It would appear Karl and Celine are not the only victims of a coup this evening” Anton added raising his glass to her.

Matthew raised his own glass to Roberta to acknowledge that and then turned to watch the ceremony unfold.
Karl and Celine were escorted by their crew to a position in front of the table who then stepped back as a priest stepped forward and spoke the words of the oath that they had agreed would bind them then after a few simple questions he placed a ribbon around their entwined hands and then they stepped aside for Marcus and Illsa to make their oaths.

The oath ceremony over the air was filled with a haunting piece of music that Anton was sure he recognised then the two couples took to the dance floor. Anton recognised it then it was a wedding air that was once played at such ceremonies on Earth itself. It was incredible that it had survived and retained its meaning to the Traders through all the years of their travels.
His reverie was interrupted by the arrival of a woman he did not recognise who first spoke directly to Roberta who obviously did.

“Roberta this first dance is Ladies choice I suggest you make yours before another takes your place on the floor” she then turned to him extending her hand. “Captain Hemmings my nephew speaks highly of you. If you would do me the honour”.

[Sabrina Bergin]

Vengeance:

Clara led Anton onto the floor as other woman began to do so pleased to see Roberta taking her advice. Anton was not a good dancer but this woman was skilled enough to keep him from appearing so.

“My name is Clara I am Karl’s aunt by the way” she explained “I thought we should meet after Karl spoke of you and your aid in returning the Phoenix to us I would offer you my personal gratitude for that”.

“But you also wish to speak to me for other reasons I have no doubt tell me Clara how is Commander Bannon”?

“Kris you mean oh he’s back in Interworlds the fleet wouldn’t give him leave to come here on such short notice”.

As the music faded away and Karl led Celine from the floor, Clara led Anton to a table that offered some privacy. Once they had been served refreshments Clara began to tell him why she was here which was to ensure she had a chance to speak to him directly.

“Very well Clara if you would care to do so”

“The traders have some concerns as to how some branches of the terran forces perceive our intentions in pushing for a cessation of hostilities and our motives in doing so I would wish to answer some of those concerns”

“You are direct Clara I take it you speak for the council of Elders and by certain branches you mean my own the ATF”

“I do Anton on both counts”

“Very well Clara my command has some concern that your group, the traders will attempt to interfere in matters of politics in our systems during these coming negotiations”.

“That seems a reasonable cause for concern so we have prepared a summary of our part in the negotiations which consist of asking only that Traders traditional rights be respected as they were before the war, we will respect the sovereign rights of both commonwealth and Terran to determine their own futures. In short we choose not to be involved in the negotiations directly or indirectly”.

“That is rather a sweeping statement Clara”.

“It is meant to be Anton the war in the contested sectors is alien to us as you have been told, we will strive to help bring about a mutually acceptable peace, if it ends and Terra then chooses a course of isolation from the rest of the universe which we would consider unwise so be it. We will not involve ourselves in your affairs it is not our way”.

“This is a document of intent from ourselves politicians tend to like things in print I’ve noticed, we would ask you to bear it to your people on our behalf”.

“What if Karl has other views than those you have stated you must appreciate it is a question I am required to ask”

“I would be disappointed had you not Anton Karl is a good leader in dealing with what is coming but beyond that task he is a trader and will obey our laws. Should he not then he would no longer be a trader”.

“That Anton knew the meaning of and having had time to judge the man he doubted he would go rogue”.

“Then I shall bear your words to my people Clara”.

“Excellent now let us join the others it is a while since I have been at a bonding party and I have much I wish to discuss with both Karl and Celine. Might I ask you to be my escort for the rest of the evening unless of course you had other plans”?

“I would be delighted Clara as to other plans I suspect my wife might disapprove of such”.

Clara laughed at that as she was escorted back to Karl and Celines table and Anton decided this evening might not be as dull as he had feared it might.

“I am sorry Roberta I totally failed to recognise you”

“You did indeed Matthew and for the second time today no less”.

Matthew remembered the Photo shoot and seeing this stunningly beautiful woman on the stage there even at such close proximity he had no inkling it was her and admitted as such.

“Roberta the transformation is incredible had I not seen it myself this evening I would not have believed it possible”.

“That’s Suki’s doing she wants me to model for her it is flattering but it is not a life I would choose”.

“That is just as well it would be wildly inappropriate for you to become an Argon Fleet pin up”. The music ended and they both found a secluded table by unspoken agreement to continue their discussion.

“Matthew I have a confession to make. I have very strong feelings towards you, well more than very strong actually I did not want this to happen but it has. If this is unwelcome to you I can understand”.


Matthew was stunned by her words and even though a part of him wanted them welcomed them more than anything it posed difficulties. Roberta however took his silence to mean he did not share her feelings and she made as if to leave cursing herself for daring to hope but he pulled her back with a strength that startled her.

“Please stay Roberta I do care for you more than a Captain should more than I have dared to admit to myself but this will create problems for us ship board romances are frowned upon as you know”.

“They are not impossible though” Roberta pointed out looking to where the crew of the Phoenix were gathered at their table with Celine and Karl in happy conversation with all of them.

“Regulations forbid”

“I know what they forbid Matthew but they do not have to apply off ship do they”.

“Could you do that Roberta be just my first officer aboard the Spartan nothing more”?

“If it meant that I could choose to love you yes, do you know how hard it has been for me not to reveal in word or gesture how much I have come to care for you, if I could not then I would resign my commission then nothing would stand between us”.

“You couldn’t Roberta you love the fleet as much if not more than I do”

“I thought so once Matthew but I was wrong I have had a lot of time to think on things and given a choice then I know the life I would have chosen”.

“What about in combat”

“What of it Matthew Celine fights at Karls side and they and their crew engage in combat well aware that they or ones they love might be killed, they do not flinch from battle Matthew as I know you would not, you care as much for our crew as Karl does for his”.

She was right in that he could not deny it, neither could he deny his need for her a need he recognised had been growing stronger as the months had passed since they first met on Mars station but that he had been denying even to himself.

“This will be difficult Roberta”

“Bobby Matthew on station or on Leave that’s how we’ll define the difference, My brother always called me that and at first I hated it but I came to realise it was the name he called me to show how much he loved me”

Matthew was touched he had known how much she had loved him he felt he would have to work hard to live up to all that the gifting of that name meant. He squeezed her hand and together they joined the crew of the Phoenix the numbers around the table had grown as had the number of tables as more people gravitated towards them even Aaron and Simone had given up on their discussions or at least suspended them for the moment. As the hours passed it became apparent that the only people remaining in the room were all seated around those tables everyone present feeling the warmth of fellowship that encompassed all of them. The waiter staff had long gone so the men were taking turns to fetch drinks and beers as necessary it was on one such occasion that Anton had pulled Matthew aside.

“Matthew I know that you have behaved as I consider appropriate on board the Athena I would expect such behaviour to be maintained. No please hear me out, Roberta is obviously devoted to you and I sense you reciprocate those feelings. However as the Captain of the Athena it is my duty to ensure regulations are adhered to by all. Now I anticipate we will be here for another week at the most at which time my task here will be completed and I will return to my previous duties or wherever my command deems the Athena is required as you will to your own ship. Till then I shall be having the weapons reconfigured and you might be wise to ask Karl to arrange temporary accommodation ashore to escape the chaos that is about to ensue.

“Sir I can assure you that”

“Please Matthew pay attention now did I ever tell you about my wife, no of course not we first served together on the Cadiz my first capital command a Tokyo damn good ship anyway My wife and I served together for eight long years till she decided she wanted a family. The point I am trying to make is that you are a damn lucky man as I was it does require discipline but it is possible to serve together and you should make the most of opportunities where you can be just yourselves.

[Sabrina Bergin]

Vengeance:

Clara was busy in the Kitchen in the morning and Celine was happy to let her indulge herself, it had been a pleasant surprise to find her at the party last night and she was still uncertain how the crew had managed to fool her and Karl so adroitly. It must have taken a lot of involvement with the Stations personnel to make all the arrangements such as arranging transport to get the appropriate family members here in time. It had been a wonderful evening though and she was glad the crew had made such efforts for her and Karl it banished any lingering doubts she might have kept hidden even from herself that they truly accepted her for the first time in many years she felt truly at home and safe.

“Come on sleepy head Clara’s cooking breakfast”.

“Celine Clara is always cooking it’s a passion with her can’t we just stay here a while longer”

“Tempting though that is Karl, no we can’t I think she wants to talk to you and I don’t want to upset her so get up and get dressed”. She leaned over and kissed him fending of his attempts to pull her back into bed with him and told him to make sure he shaved as well before joining Clara in the Kitchen.

“Celine there you are my dear please be an angel and pour me a fresh coffee will you. I thought you might be a while longer it was a rather a late night for all of us”.

“I noticed you spent most of the evening in the Anton’s company “Clara Celine teased.

“That was necessary Celine you know there is only one man in my life as in yours”

“Necessary” Celine queried picking up on that

“He’s a very dangerous man Celine do not be fooled by his urbane charm he was sent here to assess our strength and weakness’s he is a key player in devising ATF policy”.

“You said dangerous though Clara”.

“He’s a true patriot of Terra Celine he will do whatever it takes to ensure its preservation regardless of cost to others or himself that is what makes him so dangerous”.

“Then why invite him here”

“Because” Karl said embracing her from behind as she poured coffees for all three of them the very thing that makes him so dangerous also make him a potentially valuable ally to us”.

“Karl stop that” she scolded as he started to nuzzle her neck making her regret her earlier decision to leave their bed.

Karl relented and pecked her cheek before sitting down at the table taking the coffee mugs with him.

“So Clara did he seem interested in what the council proposed”?

“Of course he did Karl as you said he would and I believe it will prevent any immediate acts of stupidity but he will want to see events unfold as we predict or he will reconsider his stance”.

“Alright let’s put all that aside for the moment and just enjoy a family breakfast”. Clara suggested putting full plates on the table for all of them.
Celine was happy to accept that advice and it was pleasant just to relax for once and enjoy the moment talking about minor issues for a change rather than matters of war and strategy.

Clara did however query what Matthew had wanted to speak to Karl about after he had been spoken to by Anton.

"It was a personal matter Karl said nothing to do with other matters. Alright” seeing both women now definitely wanted to know what that was. “Anton had given Matthew some advice and he decided to act on it I assure you it is none of our concern”.

“That Advice being” Celine demanded to know refusing to let him avoid answering fully

“In short he told them to get a room apparently he was concerned at possible regulation infringements on his ship. This is really not our business” he said blushing slightly in response to his awareness this was an intrusion in areas of a personal nature. “I would rather it not be a subject of gossip they are our friends and I think we should respect their privacy”.

“You are absolutely right Karl this is a matter between them alone”. Clara agreed “So when will the repairs to the Phoenix be complete I would rather not be forced to use one of your transports to return home they lack the comforts I am used to”.

“You are becoming spoilt Clara but of course the Phoenix will be at your disposal I am told the repairs will be complete by the end of the day so tomorrow or the next day we can give her a test flight unless you would prefer to extend your stay beyond that.”

“I might wait till you make your trip to Argon if you don’t mind Karl there are some people I will need to see there before matters come to a critical point how are things progressing with that Split woman”.

“She has made some outrageous demands Clara I am tempted to tell her where to put them”.

“I would rather you didn’t do that Karl Rhonkar is the one we have to convince out of all the other races their forces could make a significant difference, are you still getting counter offers”.

“I am but they have nothing we want and could pose a threat to the peace negotiations themselves, if I knew where they were based I would remove them as a threat altogether”.

“They will I suspect show themselves soon enough Karl you are taking precautions I take it”?

“I am I have several patrols ready to jump in to deal with any attacks on our facilities Clara I have things in hand stop worrying”.

Celine was certain that she would continue to worry but she stopped badgering Karl and they finished their breakfast talking of more pleasant matters. One good thing was that both Karl and Anton had determined that the remaining meetings were best left to their respective technical staff which meant they should have a little more time together. That hope was soon dashed though when he told her they were scheduled to take a tour of the fleets newly operational ships.

“Why not invite Anton to go with you Karl we’ve shown him practically everything else and it might not hurt to show him our full strength. It may influence his decisions regarding ourselves. Also I suspect he wants to ask how we managed to acquire Terran capital ships I doubt he intends leaving this sector without an answer to that” Clara pointed out. So they did as Clara suggested and they visited the newly commissioned ships Anton had as predicted been eager to join them and said nothing as aboard each ship the crews paraded for inspection for Karl and Celine. They were he noted in his report he made later that evening highly disciplined and well trained and compared favourably with Fleet personnel. He also revealed that Karls Fleet did indeed consist of Terran Capital class ships constructed here at Reaver’s shipyard where they had been able to reverse engineer abandoned and derelict ships salvaged from the contested sectors amongst other places to obtain the blue prints. Those ships combined with the commonwealth ships they were also manufacturing provided Karl with a unique and powerful force that he strongly advised would prove difficult if not impossible to defeat in a combat situation. That he suspected was why he had been invited along for the inspection tour, Karl was demonstrating clearly that he had the ships and the men to protect this sector against any enemies. Anton hoped this report would end the calls from some of the more rabidly aggressive amongst the senior command staff to impose their control here.

That report complete and transmitted he reviewed his orders as to the need for the Athena to remain here and decided it didn’t he sent orders to the Tech team that had taken residence on station and advised they should arrange for the waiting transport to return them to the fleet once they had completed their work here. He sent a similar order to Commander Sladon advising that his ship would be sent here once its refit was complete. He was going to send a standard signal to Karl explaining his departure but instead decided to follow the example Marcus had demonstrated. Karl received the envelope the following morning just as he was alerted to the news the Athena was leaving the sector.

He was quite relieved at that news Clara was right the man was more dangerous than he appeared. Given time to study the sectors ships movements he might have realised that they were keeping information from him. At least now they could recommence construction once they had ensured that Anton’s ship had not left any unwanted surprises behind.
The delay in that had been irksome but given the Athena’s imminent arrival they’d had limited choices in the time available.

The other thing he did was to have the Phoenix loaded up and the crew notified they would be leaving the in the next day or so to make a series of jumps to determine the current level of readiness at the various complex’s that were stockpiling weapons and munitions he would not be comfortable till those reserves were here in sector where they would be safe.

[Sabrina Bergin]

Vengeance:

Karl sat in the lounge eating some toast and sipping his coffee as he dealt with a few minor matters and arranged for his station manager to deal with the rest determined to take some time for himself and Celine to relax together. To that end he had persuaded her to have a lie in. He was surprised when after advising he did not want to be disturbed unnecessarily he heard the door annunciator indicate he had a caller. Fastening his robe tight he opened the door startled to see Suki waiting to be admitted.

“Oh I am so sorry Karl I had thought you would be expecting us”

Karl then saw she was not alone and asked them both in asking them to make themselves comfortable whilst he made himself more presentable.
He returned a few moments later and apologised to Suki explaining that he had indeed forgotten he had arranged to meet her this morning and offered them tea or coffee.

“Coffee will be just fine Karl” Suki replied for both of them.

Karl returned a moment later and placed a tray with a fresh pot cups and cream before them and asked them to help themselves.

“It is clear we came earlier than you anticipated Karl I had hoped to catch you before you began your working day. My uncle was most insistent on meeting you”.

“Please think nothing of it Suki fortunately I had decided to have a rest day and I am pleased to meet you sir both Celine and I admire your work immensely”.

“You are very kind to say so Karl and I am gratified that you display my painting rather than lock it away in a vault as some do”.

“I doubt you paint in order for your works not to be seen that you must find insulting”.

“You are very astute Karl this is why I have almost stopped producing works for sale and try to hide those I do paint where art collectors have little hope of finding them. However I have prevailed upon my niece to arrange this meeting in the hope that you might do me a service that I suspect you might be the only one able to grant”.

“Please explain” Karl prompted wondering what Ishimo thought he could provide others could not.

“I have studied the traders and the many myths that surround your people Karl ever since I was told your lady had purchased one of my works and sought to speak with me about other works at first I dismissed her as one of those collectors I am gratified that I have discovered she is not she seeks out my works because she like you appreciates them as I intended. This prompted me to seek information regarding your people’s history and from this was born a hope. With all such histories myths or misconceptions arise by those that do not grasp the truth of them. There is often however a small grain of truth in such myths it is my hope that the grain I seek is also the truth. The most common thing that is said of your people is that you originated far back in the distant past long before the commonwealth as we know it existed and that you have held in trust relics and reminders of your past aboard your Arks”.

“We make no secret of this Ishimo. We seek to preserve the history not only of ourselves but of humanity so that all that we have been might not be lost.”

“Then you give my search hope Karl, I have searched for the history of my people in the hope of finding inspiration but I have failed it is true we have images of the past but they do not inspire me. We have lost touch with who we once were Karl it is my hope you will allow me to reconnect with the distant past of our people in order that I might inspire myself and my people to understand ourselves and our place in the universe better. We are not the people we once were this I am certain of though people judge me eccentric for believing so”.

“Ishimo I have no doubt that as much as was possible to be retained of your peoples history was gathered and is indeed aboard the Arks but they are forever beyond our reach however, “Karl continued seeing Ishimo’s fears that his hopes were futile” there are amongst our people those who remained and became traders as we are now called families from all the races that once existed. If you will give me a little time I will see if one such family would be willing to share their history with you. You must understand this is not something I can promise it is for the family itself to determine if they will allow it”.

“Then you give me hope Karl I assure you I seek only inspiration for my art nothing more”

“A point I will make clear too them Ishimo, but as I have said I can make no promises”.

“I can ask no more and thank you for seeing me I will impose no further on you”

“Might I ask you to stay and take lunch with us Ishimo, my lady and I would be honoured if you would do so she has long wished to meet you in person”?

Ishimo said he would be pleased to so Karl left them for a moment and informed Celine they had guests for lunch as she finished dressing. When he told her who the guests were she just glared at him, accusing him of doing it again though she did not elaborate she did however appear a mizura later and after welcoming Ishimo and Suki retired to the kitchen to prepare that lunch. Karl had to admit Celine had outdone herself with the lunch she provided and they all spent a pleasant afternoon in each other’s company. She had also avoided any attempts to make any enquiries as to pictures Ishimo might have produced recently a point he put to her whilst they cleared and cleaned the dishes.

“That would have been unacceptably rude Karl they were our guests. If you think about it I am sure you will see why”.

He knew she had not forgiven him for surprising her earlier and he honestly felt he was not at fault he thought she would have approved of his inviting them to join them for lunch a point he put to her. Celine sighed at that excuse “I know it’s not deliberate Karl but you do seem to spring things like this on me with little or no notice, I’m beginning to think the gods do it just to irritate me it’s the only explanation I have left”.

Karl put away the last of the dish’s and sat her down in the lounge with a glass of her favourite wine thinking on her words he could see what she meant and it did seem she was I thought we might take a shuttle and go down to visit a beach I found on the right but failed to see what he could do to avoid such events occurring in the future. They sat there for a while just enjoying the moment before she asked him if he might be able to help Ishimo.

“It all depends I have sent a message to some of the families that might be able to but as I told him it will be for them to decide, I believe they might but I cannot be sure that is why I made no promises”.

“You shared your family’s history with me Karl even before we decided to be together”.

“That is true but it is one thing for me to decide who to share that with and to expect another family to reveal so much of themselves to a stranger no matter how well regarded by others”.

“So what shall we do tomorrow then Karl assuming you intend we have a little time to ourselves”?

“I thought we might grab a picnic Hamper and visit the resort on planet there is a very secluded beach I know of Misha found it for me whilst I was recuperating”.

“Now that Karl is the best idea you have had in ages why don’t we discuss it in more detail”.

The com alert came at a moment that had them both cursing the lack of consideration it showed on the part of the caller. Celine reached for the com selecting audio only her voice clearly showing her irritation. “What”?

“My apologies’ ma’am” was Misha’s response sensing Celine’s anger “Karl said I was to notify him immediately its Della's time”. The link ended Misha obviously guessing that the call was unwelcome.

“Damn” Karl said getting out of bed beginning to believe Celines theory the gods were indeed toying with them.

“We need to get dressed and quickly” he said trying to convey his regret and the urgency needed at the same time in those words.

Celine did not question him and dressed but instead of heading for the hospital levels they went straight to the waiting Phoenix whose drives were being powered up as they ran up the boarding hatch. They barely made it to their seats on the bridge as Tina tore loose from the station and ignoring their own safety protocols initiated an immediate jump.

“Now Karl will you tell me just what the hell is going on” Celine demanded

“Della is having her child “he explained which explained nothing at all they should be on station and Della should be in the maternity unit there. Tina was pushing the Phoenix at maximum thrust and Illsa was fending of urgent enquiries from the sector patrols who had noted their arrival and were in pursuit demanding they heave to for inspection. It seemed as if some mass insanity had gripped the entire crew as Tina announced they had arrived and assumed a standard in sector speed.

“Now comes the hard part we have to wait” Karl said

“Karl, anyone care to tell me what the hell is going on I get dragged out of bed at god knows what hour and we jump halfway across the universe and I still have yet to be told why”.

“My apologies my lady Della’s child will be the first born to the Phoenix we bring her here to give birth in sight of our home sun so that our forebears may bestow their blessings and know our line endures” Tina explained.

It all made sense as soon as Tina gave that brief explanation her anger evaporated instantly “Where is she Tina”?

“She awaits us in the med bay my lady if you would” Tina said offering to lead the way Celine noting that none of the men attempted to follow them.

“Tradition” Tina explained as they entered the lift “and to be honest the men would only get in the way but Della was most anxious that you be present”.

Celine accepted that but she was uncertain if Della was doing her any favours she was well aware that child birth was necessary but she had long avoided participating in it even as a witness she just hoped she would be able to endure the ordeal that was coming.

They entered the Medical bay and it was no surprise to her that Misha was acting as Midwife. “You arrive in good time my lady the baby is coming” Misha announced turning her attention back to her patient “that’s it Della relax the baby knows the way now just rest until you are ready to resume take slow deep breaths”.

“My Lady” Della managed to say as she grasped Celines hand in a grip that was surprisingly strong for such a slight woman then events took over and the baby as if waiting for her arrival decided he would be born right there and then.

Within moments Della was holding the baby in her arms, “He is beautiful” she whispered

“Yes he is Celine agreed as Reece was finally allowed into the room to greet his new born son Celine and the others withdrawing to give them privacy. Celine found it a sight she was certain she would always remember of that giant of a man carefully cradling his son.

[Sabrina Bergin]

Vengeance:

They waited in solitary orbit about the sun for two days till Della in sight of the crew presented her son to her ancestors on the observation lounge. The ancient ritual complete they prepared to make their way home in more leisurely fashion than they had left.

There was one matter Karl had to deal with before they left Antigone and he had both Aaron and Simone stood before him in his office before they left to meet up with Reuben in Home of light. Karl had accepted the explanation he had given that Simone and he had already been aboard when the Phoenix left home station so suddenly but that was not the part that irritated him.

“Aaron you should have informed me, Celine or Tina at the first opportunity that Simone here was aboard the Phoenix you did not. I’m sorry Aaron I am going to let Tina determine the appropriate punishment for this. Suffice to say I am disappointed. Off you go the pair of you”. Oh by the way Simone I had opportunity to speak with your mentor before we left home station I will leave you to explain that to Aaron”. Karl told her as he dismissed them both and returned to more pressing matters.

Aaron was not surprised to find Tina waiting for him on the crew level complete with a cleaning trolley. She said nothing just left it there for him to begin his punishment.

“Wait I’ll help” Simone offered reaching for a cloth

“That’s alright Simone you don’t have to I should have wondered why you someone like you was so eager to befriend me, I worked it out what Karl meant you don’t have to pretend you like me anymore”.

“It wasn’t like that Aaron I didn’t seek you, out if you recall I had never heard of you till Karl introduced us”.

“You took advantage of that though didn’t you so please just go away Simone”.

Simone could not argue that part of what he had said was true but he had come to mean more to her than that, so she decided to tell him the truth for all the good it would do now.

“Alright Aaron yes I did I am an expert in gate theory you know that and my lecturer when he learnt I would be visiting the south with the help of trader pilots for this modelling job he asked me to find out something very important that he told me could save hundreds of lives. So I said I would learn what I could. Tell me Aaron do you know how many of our ships have failed to reappear after a jump how many lives have been lost. No you can’t but I can tell you how many trader ships have been lost none Aaron. My Father disappeared on one of those lost ships so tell me how I could refuse to try and find out a way to save untold others. Then once you’ve done that ask yourself why I kept wanting to see you even after Karl told us terrans the secret of safe gate travel you idiot?

Simone stormed of throwing the cleaning cloth in his face leaving him staring after her as she fled down the corridor. Celine found her in the common room trying to hide in a corner. Seeing the girl’s distress she fetched two cups of coffee and sat down at the table and waited for her to acknowledge her presence. Simone hooped Celine would go away but it was clear she had no intention of leaving so she wiped her eyes and looked up at her expecting to see anger in her eyes but instead saw only sympathy.

“Here dry your eyes” Celine said handing her a tissue

“He’s going to hate me isn’t he, you all are and Karl will send me home and I will never see him again” she sniffed drying her cheeks?

“Now you are being silly Simone, I don’t hate you but you should have told Aaron the truth by not doing so you have hurt him very badly. I doubt Karl will send you home he promised Suki he would take you to Argon prime and he never breaks a promise”.

“You knew all along didn’t you why didn’t you tell Aaron”?

“Because we realised that you did care for him and we hoped or rather we assumed you would tell him yourself once we gave your people the information you were asked to find. We hoped that in you he had found a friend. You might have noticed he does not engage or make friends with people easily”.

“I know he’s shy Celine”

“There’s a lot more to it than that Simone but that is for him to tell you not me, I do have a possible solution though if you really do care for him”.

“I told you I want to be left alone Simone”.

“I am not here by choice Aaron Celine told me the punishment was intended for me as well”

Aaron could not go against Celines wishes so they worked in silence till Tina told them to get cleaned up for dinner with Tina telling Simone to use the showers on the lower crew deck. Aaron was going to object to such treatment till he saw Simone signal she would rather he didn’t. When they got to the dining room it was clear the others had already eaten and left so they collected the meals that had been plated up for them and ate in silence.

“Are your family avoiding just me or are they angry at you as well Aaron”?

“They’re not really angry just disappointed I should have told Karl you were on board so it’s my own fault really”.

“No its mine Aaron if I had been more honest with you none of this would have happened but I was worried that if I told you the truth you wouldn’t want to see me and now I’ve caused you problems with your family”.

The conversation paused as Tina came into the room and came to speak to Aaron “Look Aaron you’ve finished your punishment shift so it’s all done with okay, so when you’ve finished in here let me know it’s my turn for clean-up duty”.

“That’s okay Tina I’ll do it for you” he offered glad that she wasn’t really mad at him watching her leave them alone.


“You really like her a lot don’t you Aaron”?

“Tina of course but not like that she’s family”

“No it’s more than that I can tell but I don’t think she likes me very much, I can’t say I blame her”.

“Tina’s not like that Simone if she was angry I mean really angry with you she would have said something she’s not slow in coming forward about that sort of thing.“ Did you mean what you said earlier” he finally got up the courage to ask her “about liking me I mean”?

“Truthfully Aaron I think you are the first proper friend I have ever had”. Seeing his look of disbelief she decided to tell him the truth”. Alright I can see you don’t believe me because you see what all the other boys have seen when they look at me a pretty girl”.

“You’re more than pretty” Aaron protested

That’s why I’ve always been lonely Aaron you can’t imagine what it’s like to look like I do the boys all try and date me at first then they run away when they realise how much smarter I am than them and that I am not interested in, in well you know what” she said blushing furiously.” The worst thing is then they tell lies about me to everyone else because I wouldn’t let them”.

“That’s awful” Aaron agreed “I mean I’m smart but I’ve never had that sort of problem, well being lonely I have I guess except I have Tina and the others”.

“I can tell they love you Aaron but you can’t say you’ve never had a girlfriend you are kind of cute”.

This time Aaron blushed as he realised Simone was being serious. “I guess it’s something to do with being so smart I think it scares people away”.

“Let’s tidy up we can talk while we work”. Simone suggested

The cleaning did not take that long but they stayed in the dining room talking through the night a fact they only became aware of when the others joined them for breakfast. Aaron was pleased that they all made Simone feel included which meant they weren't really mad at her and they discussed the meeting with the Cormorant with eager anticipation explaining that they all had family aboard and they would want to see Della and the baby which led to even more explanations. Simone felt some relief at that she had feared that Karl might have decided to drop her of back at their sector and she was delighted that he was letting her go with them.

[Sabrina Bergin]

Vengeance:

“You cannot be serious Celine”

“I am very serious Karl if we just abandon her at home station it would hurt them both unnecessarily and I honestly believes she cares for Aaron. All I am saying is give them a chance to work it out you know Aaron can be shy in the extreme around girls”

“She is a model and a woman who would be attractive to any man Celine not some young girl and they set her to spy on us, I suspect on Aaron directly. Aaron won’t easily forgive that”.

“Would it surprise you to learn she is actually younger than Aaron Karl”?

That did surprise him he had not looked beyond the image of the woman he had first met at that party but even so he was reluctant to change his mind to delay meeting Reuben to get her of the Phoenix.

“Celine you have obviously taken a liking to the girl tell me why and I will think about it”.

“Because I know what it is like to grow up looking as she does Karl and how lonely she must be at times. The gods doubly cursed her they made her beautiful by any standard and smart as hell into the bargain, maybe as smart as Aaron. She's smart enough to come to loathe the type of people her looks would attract. She’s also intelligent enough to understand that Aaron is just like her, that she may have lost a chance to find a true friend one that sees her not just the way she looks. Why else do you think I found her alone crying her eyes out at the thought of Aaron coming to hate her”?

That startled Karl as much as Celines intervening on Simone’s behalf till he considered that she had probably suffered similar problems to the girl due to the way she looked and how men must have perceived her, that gave her an insight he lacked. There were also Aaron’s feelings to consider if he was truly attracted to the girl he might be doing him a disservice. His earlier decision had he conceded been made in the heat of the moment.

“Alright Celine she can stay but if it becomes clear that Aaron is uncomfortable with her presence aboard I will take her back to home station agreed”?

Celine agreed to that but she also had Karl inform Tina that they would not be going to the home sector after all in the morning to prevent any misunderstandings.

The jump was uneventful but on entering Home of light Scott reported a group of pirates closing on the Cormorant’s position ahead of them. “Illsa alert the crew make sure Della knows to secure herself we may be involved in combat”. Karl had not expected this did not want it mindful of the infants presence aboard but there was little he could do if the hostiles continued closing on Reuben’s ship they would have to engage them.

Illsa sounded a general warning that would give Della plenty of time to ensure the baby was safe, a moment later Reece came rushing into the bridge to man his console confirming that they were secure as Tina given the nod by Karl accelerated towards the pirates.

“Frank what are we dealing with”?

“We have the standard Pirate formation Karl two Nova’s a falcon and a blast claw I can’t see a carrier for them in sector though”.

That was unusual for pirates in a core sector enough so for Karl to hold back from engaging them immediately “are they moving to attack the Cormorant”.

“No sir they are holding a steady distance now”

Karl studied the sector display his instincts telling him this was all wrong that he was only seeing what he was intended to see. “Illsa flash message immediate to the home fleet I want a strike flotilla at the east gate immediately, then contact the Cormorant ask Reuben to do an in sector jump to the North gate and advise we are expecting an attack in force”.

“You suspect a trap Karl”

I do Celine the group following the Cormorant are obviously a distraction nothing more I suspect their TM is in presidents End or Farnham’s or some where they can jump to easily.

“If I were planning this I would have an attack group come through the east gate just as we neared the Cormorants position. If they did I suspect those fighters would about face and engage us whilst we had a heavy force coming in behind us. I could be wrong of course”.

“If you are it makes no real difference Karl but I would agree on erring on the side of caution. If it is a trap I would suggest springing, it the moment the Cormorant makes its jump there are enough sector defence ships to the north to ensure its safety and they have gone to a lot of trouble to arrange this it would be a shame to disappoint them”.

Karls answering grin was almost feral as he asked Tina to board her fighter he resumed closing on the fighter group ordering the Tenjins to launch when ready. As they closed on the pirates four M6’s with escorting fighters emerged from the east gate and headed directly for the Phoenix. Instead of turning to engage them directly Karl altered course to take them clear of the in sector traffic as the Cormorant disappeared from their displays.

“I have ID on the targets at the east gate Karl they are Beryl”. Scott warned

“”Alright then they are definitely going to attack I intend to keep them near the east gate and see how they like being ambushed. Scott deploy the Keris drones it’s time we gave them a try-out have Misha and Tina engage the fighters to the North. Weapons are free, when our ship’s jump in I want to target that heavy Dragon it’s the only threat we have to worry about”.

Celine saw his intent then as he switched the forward turret controls to her console as Frank began launching countermeasures for the missiles that already had been launched at them.

“Fighters have launched” Scott announced as their Tenjins accelerated away heading north to disrupt the original fighter groups intention of distracting them from the real threat.

The reserve attack group jumped in exactly as Karl had hoped with the hostiles still within striking distance from their entry point and with the Phoenix barrelling down on them at full speed. Even though they had evened the odds Karl knew they faced a potentially dangerous enemy with their escape route denied to them they would be more determined to engage the Phoenix and give themselves room to manoeuvre for combat. Proximity alarms started sounding as they closed on the lead Dragon that had elected to lead the charge towards them. The fighters that had escorted the heavier ships moved to attack range and Reece opened up with the mains carefully selecting his targets to eliminate them singly rather than score multiple hits, Celine was targeting those that survived his initial strikes on them and was gratified as they disintegrated under her guns before their shields had a chance to regenerate. Those that weren’t destroyed were left crippled and could be ignored as the Phoenix left them in their wake where the rear turrets added to the damage they had already suffered. Karl altered course slightly taking the Phoenix below the Dragon where its lack of turret coverage allowed Celine and Reece to launch a devastating amount of fire that they could see shattered the shields and was ripping into its hull the fragment hull plating impacting on their own shields as soon as they had passed the Ship Karl changed course again to lead the next target away from the main group. His reserve force was already engaging those ships from the rear and wreaking havoc amongst them.

The captain of the heavy Dragon was probably aware of Karl’s intent but given the danger he faced from behind he altered course to pursue the Phoenix probably hoping to inflict enough damage on them to make his reserve ships break of their attack on the main body of his attack group and come to the aid of the Phoenix. What Karl hoped the man had overlooked was that Tina and Misha were accelerating directly at his heavy Dragon Karl told them to use the Hammerheads they carried when they were certain of hitting the Heavy.They would be close to the heavy when that happened but he was counting on their better shielding to cushion them from the resulting shock wave.
As the Tenjins approached seeming to be heading directly for the Phoenix Frank launched a salvo of Wraiths at the Dragon they would be unlikely to get past his forward guns but they should blind his sensors long enough for Misha and Tina to launch their hammers undetected.

[Sabrina Bergin]

Vengeance:

Space erupted in fire their displays cutting out under the sudden overload. The shockwave hit them almost instantly and the shield generators screamed in protest as they were hit by the shockwave for a moment Karl thought they might fail but then the generators noise dropped and stabilised as the Phoenix was flung sideways at a rate even the compensators could not fully cope with. Karl waited till the displays came back online and eased the Phoenix into a long looping curve that would bring them around to face the remaining hostiles, to his surprise there were none present the two remaining Beryl corvettes had bailed fearing the Tenjins that had carried on towards them intended to launch a similar attack on them and given the damage his flotilla had already inflicted on them they faced certain destruction. Tina and Misha who had launched all their Hammers at the Heavy were chasing the remaining fighters back through the east gate reducing their numbers as they did so, Karl called them back once the remaining hostiles seemed certain to reach the gate to secure the area.

“Compliments of the Blade sir they have tagged the Corvettes for recovery and are moving to take prisoners” Illsa said with unconcealed pride.

“Very good Illsa have his group establish a security zone and coordinate with the Sector defence forces heading this way then he is welcome to join us on station I think we will require his strike groups presence in sector for the time being”.

“You’re thinking they might have a second attack waiting” Karl.

“It’s possible Celine they don’t normally rely on a single strike Marcus’s force may well deter them from a second. Signal the Cormorant ask them to dock at Terra Corp we will follow them into dock once we are certain the area is secure”.

There was a brief flurry of signals back and forth which he left Illsa and Celine to deal with as he studied the status displays noting that they were running on the auxiliary power generators.

“Is there a problem I should know about Aaron” he asked hitting the com link

“Aarons a bit busy at the moment sir” Simone answered “we’ve had a bit of a fire down here the mains will be off line for a few minutes”.

“Do you need any help Simone”?

“If it’s not too much trouble sir Aaron thinks not but it might be better safe than sorry”.
Karl made his way down to engineering with Reece close on his heels becoming aware of the smell of scorched teladanium as he opened the access to the engineering level. They both reached for face masks as smoke billowed up towards them, Reece securing the hatch after them as they made their way down the ladder to the deck proper. Karl followed the sound of hammer blows where sure enough he found Simone holding onto a safety line with Aaron presumably suspended on it in the power well. The shattered and smoking panels on the floor indicated some sort of explosion had occurred. Reece moved forward and took Simone’s place in holding the line allowing her to step back and rest for a moment. The hammering ceased and Aaron called to be pulled up as the ventilators sprang to life and began clearing the smoke the overhead lights glowing brighter as the mains came back on line.

Aaron landed in a heap on the decking and pulled of the hood of his hazmat suit his face drenched with perspiration. “Captain there was no need to come down we had matters well in hand”.
Karl removed his own mask and looked to the shattered panels making it clear he wanted to know what had happened.

“The primary power couplings blew sir the generators were overloading so we switched in the auxiliaries to take the load so we could pull the blown units and get the new ones in”.

Karl did not let his anger show he merely helped them to their feet and told them to get the mess cleared up and to report to him in his office when the repairs were complete before returning to the bridge. Reece glanced down into the drive core and noted the damaged access panels but said nothing as he left them to check on Della.

“He’s upset isn’t he”?

“He’ll understand we didn’t really have a choice if the shield generators had not been boosted they could have failed altogether Simone”.

Simone was uncertain of Karls understanding no matter the facts but she held her peace and helped Aaron clean up the mess. All too soon she found herself once more in Karls office feeling as uncomfortable with that now as she had the first time.

“Aaron I believe you know my views regarding guests aboard the Phoenix being allowed access to critical areas so I need say no more on that. That leaves you Simone, what am I to do with you. I have a proposal for you I assure you it was not my intention for you to be placed in harms way for that I apologise as you have noticed being in the commonwealth has risks being aboard my ship can at times increase those risks. Given the attack we have just endured you might want to consider asking me to return you to Home station. If however you insist on remaining aboard I would take you on as temporary crew with normal guild rates of pay until you decide to leave. This however would mean that I would expect you to follow my orders without question that is the price you will pay for staying I will accept no less. Let me know what you decide. Aaron Tina has a mop with your name on it find it. That is all”.

“You seem to be making a habit of this Aaron” Tina suggested indicating the waiting cleaning trolley “I’ll give you a call in good time for dinner”.

Tina was as good as her word but asked Simone to follow her to her quarters and told her to make use of the shower instead of the lower deck ones. “You need a change of clothes Simone here these should fit we are of a size I think and yours smelt so badly of burnt plaz I had to throw them into a bin. We’ll be docking shortly we’ll get you some new ones on station”.

Simone was stunned at Tina’s sudden change towards her almost as much as she had been by Karl’s proposal earlier. “Not what you expected I suppose come on Della cooked dinner you are in for a rare treat”.