[AP] PRODIGAL SON, A Rogue's Tale - Book II

[Triaxx2]

I have those also. Three tine, four tine, and mucking forks with more tines than I can count, but those don't poke as well.

[Olterin]

Hmm, was "end of next week" to be this Friday ... or Sunday ... I wonder ... *Readies poking implement*

[Scion Drakhar]

NO-NO! NOT IN THE NAUGHTY BITS!

[Triaxx2]

Clearly you require my Active Bit Defender, with 10,000 volt automatic response system. To defend all your naughtiest of bits!

*Not responsible for consequences of incorrect installation. Active side is clearly labeled.

[Zaitsev]

*stare at the screen, refreshing this page every two minutes*

[Olterin]

*F5 mashing intensifies*

[Triaxx2]

*crack* *sproing*

F5 breaks off and flies away.

[Scion Drakhar]

77. Bad Omens


From stem to stern the Predator measured just over five hundred meters. At 20:07 the day after the assault on the Yaki shipyard five engineers and two marines sat at a table in the crew's mess. The mess was one hundred and fifty meters aft, and one level below the bridge. The crewmembers were drinking beer and loudly playing poker when they suddenly heard the sound of their young captain's voice.

"ARE YOU FRAKKING KIDDING ME?!"

All five crewmembers, engineers and marines alike, stopped speaking and turned toward the bow of the ship. A moment later they exchanged wide-eyed looks and nervous glances. One of them blew air through his teeth in a faint whistle. One of them cursed softly. Another swallowed audibly. The lone Split at the table kept his piece but looked down in grim resignation. One of the marines became hard and silent as her eyes adopted a thousand yard stare. Each reacted differently but for the same reason. They were worried. Throughout time and space, on all ships everywhere, the sound of an enraged captain is always a very bad omen.

********

Seldon reeled on her feet. She wasn't sure if she actually moved, but in the face of Drake's outrage she felt like a reed before a large wave. It was shortly after zero eight hundred and she was so tired that the world seemed thin, like a reflection in a pool of water. With barely an hour and a half of sleep behind her she'd been aching to go to bed all day, and that was before getting the news about Ricky and Sal. Her exhaustion was like a weight on her back. She felt like she'd have been better off if she hadn't slept at all. The weariness made everything harder. Every thought, action, and order she gave, every report and letter she wrote, every detail she was forced to recall seemed just out of reach, making her stretch and fumble to grasp it. And time dragged on. She kept looking up, thinking that hours had passed, only to discover that it had been just a few minutes since the last time she checked. And everybody needed something from her, and it was always right bloody now. Everybody but the kid. Which was both strange and something of a relief. Normally Drake was constantly asking her for something. More marines on this ship. Marines for that ship. Fresh marines for his ship. Updates on the state of his new recruits. Mixed with the occasional, "sorry, I just got three more of your kids killed." Yet today he'd been leaving her alone. But then, of course, Chinomu called and let her know that Ricky and Sal had escaped.

********

"I'm sorry," Seldon said. "Can you repeat that?"

Eri sighed. Seldon was looking rough. Through the vidcom she could see it plainly in the woman's face. Seldon was so tired that she was having trouble thinking and Eri'd just hit her with a pretty big curveball. "Ricky Machado and Salvadore Vassar escaped," Eri told her for the second time. "Two marines were killed along with the old man's chaperone. Another marine was injured. Machado and Vassar left the ship in an escape pod and crashed about a hundred and twenty kilometers south of R. Gunne city. I've sent the details to your inbox along with the captain's report and all the video footage he forwarded to me."

The other woman looked like she'd just been poleaxed. Unfortunately there wasn't any time for her to come to grips with it.

"Chief," Eri called to her.

Seldon blinked. Then spread her hands impatiently.

"You've also got men on the ground," Eri told her.

"Say what?!" Seldon was shocked. Deploying armed men onto Argon Prime could have explosive consequences. "How?!"

Eri checked her notes, more to give the woman a second to catch up than because she needed to. After a few seconds she met Seldon's eye again. "Gunnery Sergeant Randall took three men and went after them."

"What do you mean he 'went after them'?!"

Eri spread her hands. "They climbed into an escape pod and ejected after Machado and Vassar."

"Oh," Seldon reeled as if she'd just been hit by a combination of punches. "You've got to be kidding me."

"The two pods made planetfall about two point six kilometers from each other. Your marines hightailed it directly to the other pod but weren't in time. I've got their locations and they are in communication with the Conquest."

Seldon nodded. That was good news at least.

"There's more bad news, Chief." Seldon met her eye. Eri actually didn't want to tell her. The other woman looked completely overwhelmed already. "We don't know what happened but when Ricky and Sal climbed out of their pod they immediately killed four more people."

Seldon clenched her teeth. "Who?" she asked.

Chinomu shrugged. "The owners of the back yard they landed in and a couple of their guests. It's all over the news."

Seldon stood up and took a step away from her desk. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Alright," she said. "Who else in the fleet knows?"

"Right now? You. Me. A couple members of my staff. And anyone who happens to be watching the news from Argon Prime. It's gonna spread quick."

"Yeah," Seldon nodded. Then she turned and looked at Eri. "Wait! You said 'Sal' killed Teller and Reinar?!"

"Yep," Eri nodded. "With a knife."

"What the frak?! The guy could hardly stand up by himself!"

"The video feed from the brig is already in your inbox. It's pretty gruesome. I'll also tell you this for free: do not ever turn your back on that old man."

Seldon took another breath. "What a clusterfrak," she shook her head. "Alright," she said. "I'll tell the kid. Can you start workin' on a plan to get my idiots back to the fleet?" She met the other woman's eye. "Ideally unseen."

Chinomu nodded. "I can have a susanowa headin' that way in three mizura. Believe it or not we've got eyes on them. The captain of the Conquest is in orbit almost directly overhead. They're in a heavily wooded area. There's one hell of a shit show going on at the house where the assholes landed but your guys have cover and have not been detected. As long as they don't do anything stupid we should be able to pull them out easily enough."

"How do we explain the susanowa?" Seldon asked.

"Well," Eri explained slowly, "we're going to have to own those two escape pods. They'll track back to us anyway. So we can just say that we're there to assess our liability, which means seeing the damage for ourselves. Hell, we should do that anyway."

Seldon nodded. "Okay," she said. "Stand by with that bird. I'll probably be on it."

"Well," Eri said, "that's your choice but remember that at this time of day it takes thirteen hours to get from the gate to the ground, and that's getting longer the longer we wait."

"Right. Know offhand when it gets shorter again?" Seldon asked her.

"About five hours from now," Eri told her. "For the shortest trip you'd want to leave the gate at about zero five hundred. Then you'd only have about a six hour flight to the city."

Seldon nodded absently. "Crap," she shook her head, grimacing through the exhaustion. She turned back to the camera. "So no matter what we do we won't be able to get my idiots out of the area until after sunrise tomorrow?"

"No," Eri replied, "but I see where you're going. Don't worry about them being seen. I'll send a ship equipped with a transporter. As long as your marines don't reveal themselves my pilot should be able to beam them up without ever having to land."

"Oh!" Seldon almost laughed with relief. "Oh, that's good. Okay, in that case can you get them a message for me?"

"Absolutely," Eri told her. "What's the message?"

"Tell them to stand by and stay out of sight, and that we're coming for them." Seldon soured. "And tell Randall he's a moron."

"Will do," Chinomu said and reached toward the screen.

"Hey," Seldon said. The other woman met her eye. "Forget that last bit. I'll tell him in person. And ah... thanks for telling me first."

Eri managed a small smile. "I figured it'd be better for you to tell him than the other way around."

"Aye," Seldon's eyes went round for emphasis. "Ain't that the truth."

********

Seldon stared Drake in the eye. The kid was staring at her with an expression she could only describe as 'thunderstruck'. His eyes were wide. His mouth was open. And he looked like he was half expecting to be told it was just a bad joke. The eyes of every member of the bridge staff was directed at the pair of them as he stared directly into her soul. "Are you frakking serious?" he whispered.

Seldon held his eye and nodded. "Yes," she said.

He turned away. People all around the brig very quickly turned back to their duties. For a moment Drake just stood in the middle of the command deck and stared through the forward windows. Finally he turned and headed for his quarters. At the hatch he looked at her and beckoned.

'Oh great,' she thought. 'A private ass-chewing.'

A moment later she was standing inside the hatch to Drake's stateroom. The man himself was standing several paces away with his back to her. He had his head down and his hands on his waist. He was breathing in a strange, mechanical way that she found unsettling. "Both of them?" he asked and his voice was utterly flat.

"Yes," she replied.

For a moment there was only the sound of his breathing. "How?" he asked.

"It was Sal," she told him. "He had a knife. He used it to kill his guard and a marine."

"Where did he get a knife?" Drake asked. His voice was so cold it hurt.

"With his dinner," she told him. "He had steak."

In front of her Drake swelled as he inhaled deeply. He held it for a long moment and then let it out. "One old man," he said, biting his words, "who needs a cane to walk, was able to overcome both his guard and a fully armed space marine... with a steak knife?"

Seldon took a breath before answering. "Yes," she said. "He surprised them."

"I have no doubt," Drake said bitterly.

"The cameras caught it all," she said. "I sent the files to your inbox."

Drake nodded. Then he turned and walked around his desk. He opened the holographic display and a moment later Seldon was watching the footage from the Conquest's brig for a second time. As the clip began Corporal Teller led Sal and Corporal Reinar through the hatch. Sal looked just as frail and broken as he always did. He was leaning heavily on his cane. He grunted as he moved and grimaced with pain. She watched Tellar activate the intercom to Sin's cell. Then Sal pointed at a chair in the corner of the room. The marine turned toward it and Reinar turned to watch her instead of keeping his eye on Sal. Just as the woman bent over to pick up the chair, Sal struck. In the blink of an eye Reinar was done for. Less than sezura after that the marine was dead. It was a perfect ambush. Neither had seen it coming.

"Frak me," Drake said, shocked. He leaned back and ran his fingers through his hair.

"I take full responsibility..."

"Oh shut the hell up!" Drake snarled at her

Seldon blinked, stunned into silence. Drake had never spoken to her that way before. A moment later the man was standing again. He turned around and opened a cabinet. He withdrew a bottle and two glasses, poured two drinks and then set the bottle down sharply. Seldon winced again. For a moment the man just stood there breathing in that slow mechanical way.

~Seven beats in. Hold for four. Seven beats out. Hold for four. Seven beats in. Hold for four...~

Then he turned back to his desk and set one of the glasses in front of her. Then he collapsed into his chair with a heavy sigh. For a moment he continued to watch the feed. Then he inhaled again and held it for a long time. Finally, when he let it out, he said, "it's not your fault." Except Seldon wasn't sure which of them he was trying to convince. A moment later he drained his glass.

"It is, actually," she began. "I'm the one who..."

"Seldon," he fixed those frozen eyes of his on her, "I've known Sal, or at least known of him, for almost ten jazuras. They used to call him the 'blade' and the 'butcher of old city'. I've been hearing stories about him my whole life," he gestured at the screen, "and I would not have seen that coming." He refilled his glass. "Shit," he said, "just this morning that son of a bitch pointed out how I was never afraid to be alone with him. If I'd seen this?" He raised his glass at the screen. "I would have been." He took another sip and then looked at her again. "Sit down, will ya?" He gestured to a chair opposite him. "Have a drink." He gestured to the glass on her side of the table.

Seldon sat down and picked up the glass. She held his eye.

"It wasn't your fault," he said, sounding more confident this time. "If it's anybody's fault," he raised his glass again, this time with a bitter smile, "it's mine."

"How's that?" she asked him.

He shook his head. "I went soft on that old bastard. I liked havin' him around..."

"Really?" she asked, alarmed.

"What can I say?" Drake shrugged. "Havin' him under my thumb made me feel like a big shot."

Seldon shook her head. She was too tired to bother working that out.

Drake sighed. "I gave his guards the impression that he was harmless." He looked at the screen again. "That idiot... what was his name?"

"Reinar?" she offered.

"Yeah," Drake nodded and took another sip from his glass. "He didn't even realize he was in danger. Neither did your marine. That's on me."

"I think we'll have to share the blame for this one, boss," she told him.

On screen the camera feed was still playing. They both watched as Sal released Ricky. "Sunnuva bitch," Drake cursed.

"Yeah. He had command override authority," she told him.

"How?"

"We don't know. Chinomu's going to have Cornell look it over when it gets back here. Either way Sal had root access."

Drake scowled and shook his head. On screen Ricky was arming himself. There was a brief exchange between Ricky, Sal and Sin. Then Sal moved to the door controls. Drake looked at Seldon. "They leave Sin behind?" he asked, once again sounding shocked.

"Aye," Seldon said sourly. "Him we've still got."

Drake backed up the footage and turned the volume up.

"....to get us the hell out of here," Sal was growling. "You go through that hatch threatening me and it might buy you a sezura or two to get the drop on 'em."

Ricky nodded. Then he pointed at Sin. "What about him, patrón?"

Sal glanced at his son. Sin, looking confused and angry, spread his hands and shrugged. Seldon all but heard, 'what the frak?!'

"What about him?" Sal snarled.

"Huh," Drake grunted.

On screen Ricky seemed shocked. "Seriously?" he asked. "You're just going to leave your son behind?"

Sal turned to the controls by the door and started working. "I don't have a son."

"That," Drake gestured at the screen, "I did not expect."

"He was able to lock out the entire ship from there," Seldon told him. "Not for long but..."

"Long enough," Drake finished for her.

"Aye," she nodded. "There were two marines in the starboard compartment. Sal was right. They thought he was Ricky's prisoner and instead of shooting they tried to talk Ricky down. Then Sal tossed a grenade."

"A grenade?!" Drake's eyes went round.

"He didn't arm it," Seldon told him. Then she shrugged, "but the marines didn't know that. Turner dove on the grenade to save his..." Seldon stopped to control her emotions. "To save Corporal Yatar. Ricky then shot him in the head before going after Yatar. She got away with a bruised kidney."

"And then they were gone," Drake said.

"Yeah," she nodded. "They used an escape pod."

Drake sighed and rubbed his temples between the thumb and forefinger of his left hand. "Over a heavily populated area..." he commented drearily.

"Yeah," Seldon nodded. Then took a breath to steel herself for the next outburst. "So did four of my marines," she informed him.

Drake stopped breathing for a moment. Then he sighed dramatically and emptied his glass again. "Thaaat's great. Is there any good news?"

Seldon sighed. "Not really. There is more bad, though."

Drake met her eye. After a moment he sighed, then shrugged, "lemme have it."

Seldon took a breath herself. Then she drained her own cup. Then she met Drake's eye. "Ricky killed four people," she said bitterly.

Drake took a breath and then blew it out. "Any particular reason why?" he asked.

"Because he could?" she shrugged. Drake stared at her. His eyes were so cold that she had to resist the urge to shiver. "I only know what I saw on the news, Drake. The survivors aren't talking and the police didn't tell the camera crews anything. But knowing Ricky?" She spread her hands.

Drake rolled his eyes, "right."

"Randall was able to confirm that Ricky and Sal got on a monorail headed to the city," she said.

"Confirm?" he echoed her. She nodded. "How?"

"Apparently he was able to get eyes on 'em."

"Eyes," Drake stated, "but not bullets."

Seldon shrugged.

Drake sighed again. "Frak me," he growled. He was staring at the holoscreen. On it Sin and Sal were side by side, preparing to go through the hatch. Sal was covered in blood and looked deadly serious. Ricky was grinning and appeared to be having the time of his life. After several moments Drake nodded to himself. "This?" He gestured at the screen, "this is gonna be a problem."

"Tell me about it," she muttered. Then she reached over Drake's desk and took the bottle to refill her own glass. She'd barely tasted the first shot but the aftertaste was incredible. Under different circumstance she thought she'd probably enjoy it. After she took another sip she looked up at Drake. "Chinomu recommends sending a ship to 'assess our liability.' While it's there we can beam my idiots out of the area."

"Oh shit," Drake said, looking like he'd just taken another hit to the chin. Then he focused on her.

"It's alright," Seldon held up a hand. "They're out of sight and under orders to stay that way. They should be fine until we can get to 'em."

"Unless your Gunnery Sergeant has another brilliant idea," he countered, although he did relax a little.

Suddenly Seldon focused on him. "Are you all right?"

He looked up and met her eye. For a moment he just stared at her. Then his face scrunched up in a way that spoke of... embarassment? "I... maaay have frakked up," he said.

"How?" she said, suddenly alarmed.

"I told Thane that I'd be able to supply a mammoth's worth of nividium."

Seldon shrugged. "So what's the probl...?"

"A day," he cut her off.

For the second time in twenty minutes she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "What?"

"I told him I'd get him a mammoth full of nividium," he shrugged, "a day."

It took almost five sezura before Seldon realized that her jaw was hanging open. She closed it by clicking her teeth together and clenching her jaw. Then she leaned back. She drained the glass in her hands. When it was empty she refilled it and took another swallow. Then she met his eye. "I... don't even..." she shook her head.

"I know," he groaned. "Trust me. I know."

"You're gonna have to fix that, Drake," she said. "And fast."

Drake nodded.

"What the hell were you thinking?!"

"Obviously," he said snidely, "I wasn't."

"Goddamn it," she shook her head, "you and your bloody impulse control." She met his eye again. "How far behind are you?" she asked.

He accessed the terminal in his desk and flipped through some menus. "I'm a little over halfway there. I figure he'll be expecting about thirteen thousand units. Right now I've got a little over sixty five hundred."

"Hoo-boy," Seldon blinked and refilled her glass. Then she looked at her employer again. "So you've got one of the most powerful Yaki kingpins expecting you to deliver..."

"Yes," Drake snarled.

"You know this is how people get themselves killed, right?"

"Oh yeah," he said. "I was about to negotiate another twenty miners from the guild when..." He spread his hands.

"All this happened," she finished for him.

He nodded.

"Well," she said and drained her glass again, "I'll leave you to it, then."

He looked up and met her eye. "Hold up," he said. "I want you on that ship."

She nodded. "I thought you might."

"Take a look at those crash sites."

She nodded.

"And find me a lawyer. I need to know if I'm liable for Ricky and Sal's insanity."

"You mean will they hold you responsible for Ricky murdering that family?"

He met her eye again, looking even more exhausted than she felt. "That's exactly what I mean."

"What about Ricky and Sal?"

"What do you think?" Drake asked grimly.

"I'll see if I can find them."

"No," he said. "Get your people, find a lawyer, assess our liability and report back to me."

"You don't want me to...?"

"No," Drake shook his head. "Argon City is Sal's turf. He'll go to ground in Old City. Sending you after him in there," he shook his head, "it's too dangerous."

"Too dangerous?!" Seldon was insulted. Then Drake met her eye and her guts went cold.

"Yeah," he said. "Go on," he waved her away. "I've gotta buy twenty more ships and negotiate twenty more pilots from the mining guild." She started to turn toward the hatch when he called after her. "Hey?" She looked back. "Talk to Beni. He may know who to talk to for legal counsel. The government's probably gonna hit us with fines and I'd like to get ahead of any possible lawsuits by property owners. So scan the hell out of those crash sites. Then find me a good lawyer and make sure they know their job is to save me money. Then find out who we need to bribe to make all this go away."

A few moments later Seldon was on her way to the transporter to beam back to the Necromancer. She was so distracted by the questions involved in how to handle this most recent crisis that she was out in the corridor and over a hundred meters aft of the bridge before it occurred to her that she had just been discretely handed Rana's old job. "Aww frak me!"

********

Frak me.

Have you ever looked back at something you did and the only coherent thought you can manage is, "how the hell could I have been so stupid?" Yeah. That's where I'm at. I simply cannot believe that I committed to bringin' Thane a TL full of nividium... every day. What the hell was I thinkin'?!

Oh yeah! And on top of that Sal freed Ricky. Yep. The rickety old man who needs a cane to walk and gets winded just crossin' the room managed to kill his stout young guard and a fully armed space marine. Then he managed to override the ship's computer and let Ricky Machado out of his cell. After that the pair of them locked down the ship, killed another marine and then escaped... err... in an escape pod. Which I guess is appropriate. You know? Hearin' it said out loud like that? It sounds even less plausible than it did in my head, somethin' I didn't think was possible. Now they're at large in the greater metropolitan area of R. Gunne City, which means they could be anywhere in a city of five hundred million people coverin' roughly twenty thousand square kilometers. Oh, and they also killed at least four more people who's only crime was tryin' to help the pair of 'em get out of their escape pod. I've spent the last ten mizura with all the news feeds from Argon Prime up on just about every video screen in my office... which is a lot... and the only thing I'm reasonably sure of is that the police are "taking the threat seriously." Whatever the hell that means.

Right now all I really want to do is drink myself to sleep and completely forget about the world. Unfortunately I can't do that. I've got to get this nividium situation sorted out. I'm not gonna feel even remotely comfortable until my hauler is docked at Thane's shipyard while stuffed to the bloody rafters with nividium. Before Seldon contacted me that's pretty much all I'd been workin' on for hours. Right now I've now got my minin' fleet up and runnin' in Spires of Elusion. It was a bloody tedious pain in the ass.

The first thing, of course, was to jump up there and prep the sector. That meant deployin' satellites for maximum coverage so I'd be able to locate and deal with any threats before they became actual... err... threats. Frak me, I'm tired. I also needed to locate the nividium asteroid and prep it for my miners. Which basically means hittin' the thing with a nuke. So I jumped up to do just that, and once I'd confirmed it was safe I gave the mining fleet orders to follow me. The asteroid I have 'em workin' is actually quite a ways from either gate so it took a while for the fleet to get there.

While they were about it I took the time to actually look around and was surprised to discover just how pretty the sector is. Since I was waitin' on the goblins to finish deployin' satellites and waitin' on all of my ships to finish doin' what I told 'em to, I decided to look up the sector on the extranet. Turns out that the planet, despite havin' a name that is literally unpronounceable by human beings, is not only habitable it's so perfect that the Boron actually consider it to be a paradise. Apparently Argons do too, for that matter. There's a boomin' tourist industry that caters to humans. I found a lot of pictures showin' people enjoyin' the white sand beaches and tropical forests down there. Seein' 'em produced this instant and almost overwhelming ache for an afternoon of doin' nuthin' but lyin' under the sun, listenin' to the waves, and drinkin' fruity drinks with little umbrellas in 'em while watchin' mostly naked women swim in the ocean. Before I was done lookin' at all those pictures I decided that I'm gonna set up some R&R trips for my crew. I'll have to scout it out first, but if it's even half as good as the brochures and extranet sites say it is I expect Hayla will love it and I know my marines could use the time off. One of them in particular. Seriously, I think Seldon's on the verge of seriously kickin' my ass.

Now unfortunately, as pretty as this sector is, there is a catch. While the minin' crew was still truckin' over to the nividium field a few pirates popped out of the east gate and began makin' their way through the sector. When they saw all my freighters movin' across the sector they banked north to investigate or engage... hell I don't know what they meant to do. But they were flaggin' hostile and hostile pirates tend to do unpleasant things. Honestly, though? I don't know how these idiots survive to adulthood. The heaviest ship they had was an elite and there was only one of those. The rest were flyin' harriers and a disco. I mean I don't know if they just overlooked the Predator and Nyx or thought we'd just stand by while they shot at our ships, or maybe they just didn't realize that we were all part of the same company, or maybe they just didn't see us and thought the miners were undefended. Or... hell! I don't know. I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer but there are levels of stupidity even I can't comprehend. Either way, the short version is that Chinomu was aboard the Tartarus... tellin' everybody when they could use the bathroom or whatever it is she does... and apparently decided to use those pirates as a trainin' exercise. So I got to watch three of my susanowas wipe out half a dozen belligerent assholes in less time than it normally takes me to take a dump in the mornin'. So... yeah. Good to know my minin' fleet can look out for itself. It still doesn't change the fact that there's a goddamn pirate guild outpost a couple sectors over, but it is nice to know that my planes are flyin' and their guns are hot.

Right. So once the Tartarus was in position I ordered my miners back to work. At which point I discovered that they'd all ranked up. The first thing they all did was try and fly off to buy mosquito missiles. I'm guessin' to break up rocks? I don't know. But they all insisted that they needed 'em. So, not knowin' where the hell they planned on flyin' off to to get 'em, and considerin' that I produce the bloody things anyway, I told 'em all to stand down and called in a freighter instead. Then, once everybody was sorted with some freshly minted mossies from my Alpha Complex, I sent 'em all back to work.

Now, as I mentioned, there's only one nividium 'roid in the sector. It has a pretty decent yield, but then so did the two in Distant Clouds. But it also happens to be really big. Like: 'small-moon' big. Which the two in Distant Clouds were not. So, well, here's hopin' that there's a lot more nividium in that one rock than there was in the two in Distant Clouds. I'm still gonna have to tweak Thane and Gorda's perceptions at some point. I mean there's only so much bloody Nividium to be found. But hopefully I'll be able to deliver enough to avoid gettin' myself disemboweled. So, in the interest of NOT angerin' two of the most powerful warlords in the Yaki syndicate, I decided to speed things up a bit by doublin' the size of my minin' fleet. I was just about to purchase twenty more mistrals and hire twenty more pilots when Seldon asked to meet with me.

So... here I am. And now that I've gotten all that off my chest and liquored myself up some, I guess I should get back to work. I need to hire twenty more miners, buy and outfit twenty more mistrals, and I need to give Odin more orders. I want my new power plant up and runnin' in Savage Spur as soon as possible.

I need coffee.

********

Seldon stared at the frenetic little man before her with a mixture of exhaustion and resignation. Beni Goleman had been an investment banker before Drake kidnapped him. He'd been a junior partner in one of Argon City's most reputable investment firms. Within financial circles he was considered to be a successful investor, even something of a genius in terms of manipulating the market. Unofficially he'd been a tool for some of the most notorious gangsters on the planet. Which meant that Drake was probably right. Considering the circles he'd traveled in Beni should be able to point her toward the legal representation Drake needed. Unfortunately Beni was in the middle of one of his regular bouts of hysterics. This time the issue seemed to have something to do with tissue paper.

"...it's my NOTHE!" He said sounding like his nasal passage was thoroughly blocked. "You don't UNDERTHTAND! That paper maykth my nothe break out!"

"No it doesn't, Beni," Taylor told him.

"It DOETH! You jutht don't thee it 'cauthe it happenth on the INTHIDE!" He looked at Seldon. "What are you people try'ng to DO to me?!"

Tasha sighed and looked at Taylor. "You should know that I'm seriously considering tasing him," she told the other woman. Beni's eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open. "Don't you have something to give him when he gets like this? Diazepam? Chloral Hydrate? Thorazine, maybe?"

Taylor gave her a reproachful look while Beni began shouting about how tazing burned his skin and thorazine made him drool on himself. Seldon was mildly interested in how he knew either of those things but was far too tired to ask. By then Beni had also picked up a chair and was holding it up in front of him like a shield. Taylor was trying to calm him down by talking to him like a nursemaid to a colicky babe. In short, the whole scene was working Seldon's nerves so badly that she thought she was on the verge of a headache.

"Why ith it alwayth VIOLENTHE with you people?!" Beni shouted at her. "You and that THYCHOPATH you work for! You're alwayth THREATENING me! I'm AN EATHYGOING GUY!! You don't have to THREATEN me! Jutht TALK! TALK to me! Ith that tho HARD?!"

"Beni put the chair down," Taylor told him. "Chief Seldon just needs to ask you a question..."

"Oh THURE! Thure thee doth! While threatening me with a thock baton! Do you know what thothe thingth DO to people?! Thethe are brand new panth! They're nice panth! They're made of four hundred thread count cotton and feel NITHE on my thkin! I DON'T WANT TO PITH IN THEM!!!"

Seldon took a deep breath, covered her eyes with one hand and started to massage her temples between thumb and forefinger. I'm gonna shoot him, she thought. I swear to God, I'm just gonna shoot him.

"Beni put the chair down," Taylor said again. "Nobody wants to hurt you..."

"THAT'TH not true! LOTH of people want to hurt me! Or did you forget about meeting with THAL VATHAR this morning?! THAL wanth to hurt me! Thin DEFINITELY wanth to hurt me! Drake usually wanth to hurt me! I even think YOU want to hurt me thometimeth! LIKE NOW!"

Seldon drew her sidearm and worked the recoil compensator. It produced a distinct, ominous sound immediately followed by the high-pitched whine of charging capacitors. Beni stopped shouting so suddenly that it was like somebody flipped a switch. He stared at her with the shocked, paralyzed expression of a man who'd suddenly noticed a crocodile between his legs. Seldon fixed him with a glare. "I need legal counsel in Argon City to handle property damage litigation. Who do I speak to?"

"Eliath Blackmar," Beni whispered.

Seldon safed her pistol and dropped it in its holster. "Carry on," she said with a wave, and turned toward the hatch. She'd taken less than two paces when Beni started screeching again.

"THEE?! That'th what I'm TALKING about! A GUN!! Thee drew a GUN on me! How do you people exthpect me to...?!" As the hatch closed behind her, and muffled the sound of Beni's caterwauling, Seldon made a mental note to recommend Taylor for a promotion.

"Good God!" she said with genuine awe. "How can one man make so much frakking noise?!"

A few mizura later she was crossing the hangar deck to meet with the pilot Chinomu assigned to her. Chinomu herself was on the other side of the universe setting up another squadron of planes and pilots, this time for the defense of Drake's new mining operation. At the thought of the nividium operation she was suddenly so dizzy that she stopped walking.

'A DAY?! she thought, horrified. 'What the FRAK were you thinking, Drake?!'

She took a breath and shook her head to clear it. She'd been told that her pilot would be waiting in the ready room at the base of the tower. She took another breath then lifted her feet to start moving again. Then turned at the sudden blare of a lift-truck horn and managed to jump back in time to avoid getting run over. She snarled at her exhaustion. A moment later she mounted the three steps up from the non skid to small platform in front of the ready room. Just as she reached the first window she glanced off to her left and saw Dal watching her. She met his eye and smiled. One of the caterpillars over his eyes arched toward his hairline. She immediately chuckled at the concern on his face. As the hatch opened she tapped the back of her wrist as if indicating a watch. He rolled his eyes and waved her on.

'Frak a drink,' she thought, stepping into the ready room, 'I owe that man a bar.'

"Drummond!" she barked, stepping into the ready room. Half a dozen heads turned toward her. "I'm looking for Lieutenant Drummond!"

"Ah, here ma'am," a young woman stood up from a table with several other pilots. "I'm Drummond."

"You ready to take me to Argon Prime?"

The pilot looked confused. "Yes ma'am, but..."

Seldon arched an eyebrow. "But?"

"Aah, well..."

Seldon spread her hands impatiently. The pilot looked at her friends. "Pilot," Seldon said, utterly without expression, "I am way too goddamn tired to drag whatever it is you are failing to say out of your pie-hole. So will you kindly spit it the frak out?"

"Yes, ma'am," Drummond said, seeming to snap to attention, "the best time to depart for Argon City is zero five hundred. That's when the planet's rotation results in the shortest distance from gate to..."

"I am aware, Lieutenant," Seldon cut her off. "I need to get there as soon as possible, so we will be departing as soon as you can get your head out of your ass and that plane warmed up. Do you understand?" Seldon told her.

"I understand, ma'am," Drummond replied, embarrassed at the chastisement. "I'll be suited up and ready to go in five, ma'am."

Seldon nodded and waved the pilot away. The woman hadn't exactly deserved the treatment but Seldon was cranky and too tired to care. She glanced at the pair of coffee pots on the counter in the corner of the room. Considering that the pilots flew a constant three-hour CAP rotation one of those pots was always full. After a moment she decided against the coffee. The shortest trip to Argon City from the gate was over six hours but considering that they'd be chasing the city it would be closer to thirteen. Which meant she'd be able to catch some shuteye once aboard the plane. So she turned and started for a nearby table.

'Of course,' she thought, 'I should try and arrange a meeting with Blackmar as soon as possible and that I can start right now. In fact I should really order the Conquest to start taking orbital scans of the crash sites to get a jump start on all of this, not to mention sending a message to Randall and...' She was still finishing the thought when she realized she had collected one of the pots and was pouring herself a cup of coffee. One sip nearly made her spray it all over the wall.

"Ble-ahk!" she gagged, immediately trying to scrape the taste on her tongue off against her upper teeth. She looked at the cup in her hand as several pilots laughed nervously behind her. "This shit is worse than the crap my marines make!" She immediately emptied the cup in the sink, then glanced at the pilots trying not to look at her. "And their coffee tastes like it was made in an old boot!"

One brave young lad laughed at her. "Well, if the marine can't handle the coffee then maybe pilots should be boarding ships for them, since obviously we're of tougher stock."

"Uh-huh," Seldon dismissed him, "that's why you stick polishers are always stealing from the CAG's pot, right?" By the time Lieutenant Drummond chirped her comm and informed her that the plane was warmed up and ready to go Seldon was on her second cup and most of the way through tracking down Elias Blackmar, Esquire.

********

Right. So it's now zero one hundred and I'm pretty sure that if Weasel ever hears the words 'mobile drilling system' again somebody's liable to get shot. Seriously. That little Teladi is almost as cranky as I am. And would you believe that a pelican TM actually has a limited cargo hold? Yeah, I guess it's the exception that proves the Teladi rule. I had him bouncing all over the universe huntin' for mining lasers and in that ship he could only carry a handful at a time. I'm thinkin' that I may buy him a chokaro, which is almost twice as fast and has eight hundred more units of cargo space. Then I'll dry-dock or maybe just sell that pelican. I've never been fond of it. It's just so damn slow.

I also think I'm gonna build some phased repeater gun forges. Aside from their mining lasers a good two thirds of my new mistrals are all but completely unarmed. With 'em under the protection of the Tarturus' fighters it's not a world ending problem, but it is an annoyance. In any case I now have forty mining ships workin' up in Spires of Elusion. Hopefully that will be enough to fill my hauler by the time Thane's walkin' his dogs tomorrow morn... err... later. Crap! No. No, I should be alright. I currently have just over eleven hundred units of nividium. I have forty miners up and runnin'... and I've still got a few hours. I hope.

Oh God. I just had this vision in my head of Thane awake and angry at me cos I missed my deadline. Wait. I never said when I was gonna start these deliveries, right? Oh hell. Semantics probably won't cut it here. Shit. I really did jump off the deep end this time, didn't I? Bloody frakkin' hell. How could I have been so stupid?!

Right. Right. One thing at a time. Okay. So while the ships and pilots were all doin' their dance I went and thoroughly mapped out the all of the northeast sectors. I deployed satellites and camera drones, scanned all the asteroids and identified all the gates and stations. I even found a sector I'd never heard of called 'Cathedral of Xaar'. In which I discovered two more nividium roids. Which is good. Unfortunately 'Cathedral of Xaar' is, as you can probably guess, Paranid country. Which means I'm gonna have to play nice with the three eyes if I want access to those roids.

You know, even after I deliver the mammoth full of nividium to Thane, I've still saddled myself with one really big frakkin' problem. Right now I only know of five asteroids with traces of nividium, and that includes the one in Spires of Elusion that I'm already minin'. Granted that's a big goddamn asteroid. But even so, how many loads do all five of these roids equal? Three? Five? Ten? The truth is: I don't know. At the moment I honestly don't have a goddamn clue. I thought Distant Shores would produce a hell of a lot more than sixty five hundred units. Honestly I thought I'd be minin' that one sector for the foreseeable future, not cleanin' it up in less than a day. So yeah! I don't know. Which means I don't know how much I can commit to. Which means, once again, I may be up shit creak without a paddle.

Bloody hell.

Right! Right. So anyway, while I was droppin' satellites I decided to deal with that pirate guild outpost in Guiding Star. I mean Icurrently have a lot of very valuable resources up that way and don't like the idea of the pirates frakkin' with 'em every time my back is turned. Plus, with my police license, destroyin' pirate ships and stations earns me some pretty good bounty money. I also like to remind Gil that I still haven't forgiven him for sidin' with the terrans. But honestly? Mostly I just really wanted to blow something up to make myself feel better. So, since nothin' says 'frak you' like a few dozen nuclear-tipped torpedoes, I summoned Ch't F'rst up to Guiding Star to do my talkin' for me. After the first salvo the idiots in that station figured out I was serious and, shortly after that, a dozen or so fighters launched like hornets from a kicked nest... or maybe rats from a sinkin' ship. Either way they didn't get very far. I've got to say, there's a certain appeal to sittin' in a heavily armed ship thirty kilometers away from your target while nuclear torpedoes slam into your enemy's stronghold and flail barrage missiles hunt down and destroy his soldiers. It was actually kinda peaceful, even a little soothin'. Well, it made me feel better anyway.

Of course, that was the highlight of my night. Now I'm back in Savage Spur watchin' Odin drop stations for me, and I'm doin' that to distract myself from starin' at the manifest of what's in the Sisyphus' hold. I know I'm tunnel sighted right now, and it's just really hard to see bein' so close to the problem, but rationally I can step back and see that I am gettin' a lot done. In a few hours I should have the nividium I need in order to talk to Thane without feelin' like a complete goober, and by the end of the day I should have a new power loop up and runnin' in Savage Spur. Which means I'll no longer have to worry about shuttlin' energy up here from Weaver's Tempest and I can start buildin' here in earnest. Hell, if I can keep my impulses in check I might even be able to trade with the Paranid.

Ugh! That leaves a bad taste in my mouth just sayin' it.

Well I suppose I'll... hold on.

...

Oh hell! That's just great. I totally forgot about that. I've had a salvage op runnin' in Senator's Badlands for the last day or so and the frakker just finished. That means there is now a hundred and twelve thousand units of very valuable salvage floatin' around in a sector full of pirates and I'm not ready to deal with it.

*sigh*

Shit. Well, I guess I better get on that.

********

The sound of the door chime wrenched Eri back to wakefulness. "Speak!" she groaned.

"Captain Chinomu," it was Lieutenant Suzeann Giorno, the Shirubāurufu's science officer, "there's a high priority message for you from the Tarturus."

"Put it through to the stateroom," she managed with a glance at the time. 03:34. She'd been asleep for less than four hours. Oh, she thought sarcastically, well at least I got a full night's sleep.

She made her way into the next room and collapsed into the chair behind the desk. She then bound her hair back and silently hoped she didn't have any sleep creases on her face. Then she opened the comm channel. It was Yahanis Olandis Ugalirias the eighth, Captain of the Tarturus and Drakhar's chief of operations for the Drakhar Enterprises mining fleet. The two of them had been working together for the past few days while Eri set up the Tarturus and Sisyphus defense squadrons. At that moment the Teladi looked almost as tired, cranky, and out of sorts as Eri felt.

"Yahanis," Eri greeted the Teladi.

"Erika Chinomu," the Teladi replied. "We need to disscusss the ssstupidity of one of your pilotsss."

Eri felt her face harden. Her eyes focused and she was suddenly wide awake. "By all means," she said dangerously, "elaborate."

Over the next several minutes Eri listened to the Teladi do just that. When Captain Yahanis finished speaking Eri was forcing herself to breathe slowly and steadily. She was livid, and not at the Teladi.

"I'm on my way," she said. The color of the scale plate on the Teladi's forehead softened slightly. It was still darker than the medium green that was it's normal color but she no longer looked ready to bite. A moment later they cut comms. Eri called the bridge and ordered the Shirubāurufu to jump back up to Spires of Elusion. On the way she skimmed through the after action report of an incident that had cost three ships and two lives. She accessed the gun cameras of the three man combat air patrol that should have warned the fleet of the approaching danger but did not. She listened to their radio chatter and heard the decisions that were made for all the wrong reasons. By the time the Shirubāurufu docked with the Tartarus her anger had become very sharp indeed.

********

Continued...

[Scion Drakhar]

... continued

Frenk Rhyner was feeling very pleased with himself. He'd taken out one of the pirate harriers all by himself and gotten a piece of the elite, although Jak Sakharna got the kill on that one. Then he led the CAP that saw that big TL drop anchor and fart out some lasertowers. He'd even managed to get the kill shot on one of the towers. All in all he thought of it as a good night's work. That is, he did until he saw the Queen Bitch come through the hatch into the pilot's ready room.

"Hey boss!" he raised his beer in a salute. "You look like you could use a drink. Somebody pour the CAG a beer... hey, what the frak!?" He cried as she knocked the mug out of his hand. It clattered across the deck and his beer splashed the two pilots to his right. All conversation ceased throughout the room.

"What the hell was that...!?"

"Give me your wings," Captain Chinomu cut him off and Frenk suddenly realized that the expression on her face, normally cool with indifference was now so cold that it would have chilled steel.

"What?" The word was out of his mouth before his brain could catch up.

"Give. Me. Your. Wings." Her expression was not just cold. It was dangerous. It was so dangerous that he became distinctly aware of the pistol in her armpit.

Frenk glanced around and realized that everyone was looking at him. He slowly removed the star and wings from the breast of his uniform. Chinomu's hand was outstretched and waiting. He looked at the pin and then reluctantly dropped it into her hand.

"A transport will dock with this ship at zero seven thirty. You will be on it."

"What?! Where'm I going?"

"I don't care so long as it out of this fleet." With that she turned away from him.

"Wait!" he grabbed her arm. "You can't just...!" Before he could finish she grabbed his hand and wrenched it forward. The movement locked his elbow. An instant later she stepped to her left in front of him while bringing his arm up and over her head. A moment later he was forced to leap off his own feet to keep his arm in the socket. He hit the deck hard enough to knock the breath out of him. Before he could recover, her knee settled on his neck. His arm was manipulated again, locked straight and leveraged to add even more pressure to the knee cutting off the blood supply to his brain. He was instantly woozy. He gagged and sputtered as he tried to free himself.

"Your stupidity," Chinomu said calmly, "cost us three ships and two pilots. You are lucky I'm letting you leave at all, let alone on a ship. But put your hands on me again and you will be swimming through the black. Do you understand me?"

"Y-yes, ma'am," he gasped, although he didn't.

The knee left his throat. His arm was returned to him.

"Are-uhm... are you going to take our wings too, ma'am?" It was Allie Taylor, one of the other pilots who'd flown the CAP with him.

"Can you think of a compelling reason why I shouldn't?"

For a long moment the only sound was the shifting of the other pilots as they tried to escape the CAG's notice. Then the woman turned and left the way she'd come.

********

Ugh. It is now zero four hundred. I haven't slept. I haven't eaten. I feel like I've been wrung out like a damp dishrag. It's been a really rough night and I feel like I've been in this zone for, hell, the last five hours or so, where all I've done is give orders to people who should already know what I'm gonna say and what I'm gonna tell 'em to do. I'm frakkin' exhausted. And the worst part is: I don't feel like I've gotten anything done. It's not true. I mean, rationally, I can see that it's not true. It just feels that way. But the thing is: it really feels that way.

Yeah... bloody hell. I don't think I'm gonna start another of those salvage ops any time in the near future. I mean they're a great way to accumulate a lot of raw materials but they are hell to deal with. In order to collect all that salvage I needed to send the Salvage Crew II (my stolen albatross) and the Endless up to Senator's Badlands to deploy gremlins. But, since that would only account for a little less than two thirds of the salvage, I also needed to take the Patriarch off construction duty and send Odin down to join 'em. Then, after everything was picked up, I had three TL's full of assorted junk that I then needed to do something with in order to free my ships up to be useful again. Which meant I had to sort through a hundred and twelve thousand units worth of energy cells, ore, silicon, cloth rimes, microchips, computer components, rastar oil, teladianium, quantum tubes and God bloody hell only knows what else and then find places for all of it. Now the silicon, ore, crystals, e-cells, and even the rastar oil was relatively simple. That I just dumped into my stations. It took frakkin' forever, required that I pull a few of my CLS freighters away from their duties, and for some reason I needed to hold the bloody hand of every one of my bloody freighter pilots in order to get the job done.

"Yes. I need you to fly back to the ship you were just at and collect more of the same stuff you just picked up and take it to the same place you just dropped off the last five loads..."

Yeah.

It was enough to make me cross-eyed, but eventually I got everything that my stations currently use all dumped into their warehouses. As for the other stuff, the quantum tubes, teladianium, microchips, and such? That I just dumped into the Endless' hold until I can figure out what to do with it. The idea of sellin' computer components and microchips station by station sounds just tedious as hell. So I think what I'm gonna do is, and I know this sounds crazy, but I'm thinkin' about buildin' the factories that make those things and then use the factories as outlets to sell all this junk.

Oh! Yeah. I almost forgot. Right in the middle of that mess I got a dozen messages all at once that all added up to: hey shithead, the pirates are frakkin' with your mining outfit again. Only this time it wasn't just a few morons in piece of shit fighters. Somehow those failed abortions managed to drop a frakkin' brand new goddamn pirate outpost, complete with bloody laser towers, directly on top of my goddamn miners!

Seriously!

By the time I got up there the susanowas had already dealt with the fighters but those frakkin' lasertowers were tearin' the crap out of my ships, and I mean miners as well as susanowas! How the hell did they do that?! What?! Nobody saw the big bloody ship fly up and deploy lasertowers?! Or did they have point to point jump technology that I still can't get anyone to sell me?!

Urrrrgh!

Right. So once the Predator was on station it was a pretty simple problem to solve, especially with typhoon missiles, but I still lost two susanowas and a mining mistral before the shootin' was all done, and that includes one of the fighter jocks and the pilot of that mining ship.

*sigh*

Right. At least I got to blow up another pirate guild station. At first I moved the Predator into position and let my gunnery crews vent on that outpost, but after a while I got tired of listenin' to the cannons through the hull. As good a ship as this griffon is it's just not made for dishin' out the kind of punishment necessary to smash a station, at least not in a timely fashion. So, since I really wanted my gunners to stop, and also really wanted that outpost reduced to shrapnel sometime soon, I decided to spend a few more nukes and told Ch't F'rst to jump on up with the cobra. Unfortunately I'd failed to provide my new cobra with a tender. Which meant that, go figure, nobody'd gone and refueled and rearmed my ship. Which meant Ch't couldn't make the jump.

Yeah. I have since remedied that.

Fortunately I now have two missile boats and called F'ght F'rm R'ng to have her do the job. It was mildly cathartic, but it did get me thinkin'. Or maybe I should say, it got me thinkin' again. I'm in a familiar situation. I'm spreadin' out and accumulatin' assets but I still feel bogged down when it comes to bein' able to respond to threats like these. I'd really like to put together some kind of rapid response fleet composed of a few fast, capable ships that I can deploy to solve problems like this for me.

I think... after I sleep... that I'm gonna get Ea't, H'nt, and Chinomu together to brainstorm. I think this may be even more important than a Shuri, although that's definitely comin'. I really do want a full sized mobile carrier, and I think the Shuri is just sooo shiny. But I'd like to have some kind of fleet ready to go smash anybody stupid enough to frak with my ships. Hell! I even have just the man...err... Split for the job. Ea't hates guard duty anyway.

********

Ricky found himself grudgingly admiring the old man. Sal was in a lot of pain. He was favoring his left leg and seemed to have hurt his right side during the crash. He didn't have his cane and was leaning on walls and handrails every chance he got. His breathing sounded labored and he wore a perpetual snarl that backed up even the hardest toughs as they moved through the city. Yet, despite all that, the old man didn't complain and he didn't try to slow them down to catch his breath or take a load off his aches and pains. In fact, if anything, the old man was the one telling Ricky to move faster.

"No, goddamn it!" Sal snarled at him. "The next left. Baker street."

"Well why don't you tell me where we are going, Holmes?" Ricky tried again. "If I knew that, maybe I wouldn't keep making wrong turns." It was the fourth time he'd tried to get Sal to reveal his plans.

"Right now," Sal growled back, "where we're going is less important than how we get there." The old man scoffed from the back of his throat and shook his head again, "especially since you decided to start a body count the instant we landed."

"Seriously, 'mano," Ricky rolled his eyes. He was thoroughly annoyed by the other man's harping. "You need to chillax. Do you really think anybody is going to find us down here?" Ricky gestured to the grimy streets around them.

"Not if you keep followin' my lead they won't."

Ricky scoffed loudly. Sal turned and glared at him. Once again Ricky was surprised at how forceful the old guy could be. Just a look was enough to command attention. "Are you really so stupid that you think the police don't monitor these streets?"

"Don't call me stupid, old man."

"Then stop actin' like it," Sal sneered. He turned and pointed to an intersection ahead of them. "Look."

Ricky looked. It actually took him a moment but he saw the tiny plastic bubble Sal was indicating. "A camera," Ricky said.

"Very good, genius. Yeah, it's a frakkin' camera."

"Then why are we heading toward it, 'mano? If you don't want to be..."

"Because it's pointed down market street, smartass. Just like it has been for the last twenty jazuras. And for the two blocks up baker all the cameras are pointed away. This is a safe route to a lift that isn't monitored by the cops."

"How do you know all this, Sal?"

Sal looked insulted. "Who do you think made it happen in the first place?" With that the old man continued lurching along the street. Ricky chuckled to himself and then followed.

"Okay, Sal," he nodded. "But how do you know these cameras are still not looking this way? I mean you said it's been twenty jazuras. That's a long time. How come nobody's fixed them?"

Sal turned and fixed him with that black stare again. "Now," he snarled through his pain, "you're askin' the right questions."

Ricky looked at the old man sideways. "What do you mean?"

"You say you're not stupid," Sal said, continuing down the street.

"I'm not, 'mano," Ricky said with an edge in his voice.

"Alright," Sal smiled at him. Somehow that smile was more intimidating than the snarl. "Then how would you do it? How would you make sure you had a route that no one watched and no one remembered?" With that Sal smirked, then turned and continued on his way leaving Ricky with the problem.

Ricky thought about it for a moment and then followed. After a block he finally turned to Sal. "You needed to... change the rules."

Sal glanced at him but said nothing.

"You had to deal with the guys that watched the cameras, so no one reported it. And you had to change the maintenance schedules. But you also had to change the way everybody does things." He met Sal's eye. "You had to change the way they taught the new guys to do the job."

Sal gave him a knowing smile. "Alright," he said, "maybe you're not so stupid after all."

"But..." Ricky frowned. "How did you make sure that nobody ever figured it out? I mean there's gotta be a map somewhere, right 'mano? Look at the map, look at the camera, and it's gonna be obvious, no?"

Sal looked at him again. "Did you know that they give cops intelligence tests?"

Ricky shrugged. "I never really thought about it."

"Well they do," Sal told him then winced as his foot caught a broken piece of the sidewalk. Ricky caught his arm and steadied him. "And," Sal went on, "if the guy takin' that test scores too high?" Sal met his eye. "They turn him down."

"Seriously?!"

"Oh yeah," Sal grunted. "The argument is that a cop with too high an IQ will get bored with his job."

Ricky frowned.

Sal snorted. "What do you think? Think that's the truth?"

Ricky shrugged. "I dunno, Holmes. Sounds like bool-shit to me."

"Well it is bull-shit," Sal snarled. "But tell me, why do you think they do it? Why turn away somebody with brains?" They walked along in silence for a moment. Ricky looked at the old man. Every few steps Sal would glance at him. He looked amused. "So?" Sal asked him. "Any ideas?"

"To make them easier to control?" Ricky asked.

Sal nodded. "There's the bull-shit people get told, then there's the truth. The truth is almost always ugly. People don't like the truth. People want to be lied to. Cops are a great example. People want to be told that the cops are here to protect them, to keep the peace, to protect the innocent and give justice to the wicked. But that's the bull-shit, ain't it?"

Ricky nodded.

"The truth is," Sal went on, "if you're the mayor and all the cops in the city answer to you, you've got an army to do your bidding. So long as they're not smart enough to question the orders they're given. So, you pick the guys with bad tempers. The guys that like to hurt people. The guys that don't give a frak about peace, justice, or any of that shit. Then you give 'em guns, badges, and tell 'em who they're allowed to hurt and who they're not. Works great, right?"

"As long as you're not one of the people they're allowed to hurt." Ricky said.

Sal chuckled bitterly. "That's the trick, ain't it?"

"So," Ricky said, "you're sayin' that the IQ tests are there to make sure you don't accidentally hire that one guy who still believes in Santa Clause?"

Sal bared his teeth. It could have been a smile. "Exactly." Then he let go of Ricky's arm and leaned against the wall. "Here," he panted and indicated a wire mesh gate beside them.

"What's this?" Ricky asked.

"It's a gate," Sal said acidly. "I thought you said you weren't stupid?"

"You're gonna have to ease up on the insults, old man. I like you but..."

"Oh shaddap and open the gate, kid. We still have a ways to go and in case you didn't notice, I'm not gettin' any younger here."

Ricky shook his head but did as he was told. He didn't even know why. Sal was an asshole. He insulted Ricky nearly every time he opened his mouth. Ricky wasn't afraid of him. He was pretty sure a strong breeze could knock the guy down. The old guy was not exactly forthcoming with his plans, and talked down to him constantly. But for some reason Ricky found himself following the old man's lead.

A moment later they were both through and Sal gestured for him to close the gate again. Afterward they were in a narrow alley, and once more Ricky had to help the old man walk. At the end of the alley there were a series of garage doors, with corrugated gates and heavy duty locks. At the fourth of six Sal stopped him, then stepped up to the wall between the third and fourth door. He pointed up.

"See that piece of metal stickin' out from the roof?"

Ricky nodded. "Yeah, Popi. I see it."

"Pull it out. It might stick, though. It's been there a long time. Be careful not to cut yourself."

Ricky jumped up and caught the edge of the roof with one hand and grabbed the piece of metal with the other. It looked like some old hangar for a gutter system that hadn't been necessary in centuries. But when his hand closed on it he realized it was stout and solid. He wiggled it back and forth, freeing it from years of grit and corrosion. Finally he managed to yank it out. Once he had it he dropped back to the alley and looked at what he was holding. It was a flat prybar about twenty five centimeters long.

He looked at Sal who was already pointing at the wall beside him. "This one," he said, and tapped a specific brick. "Pry it out."

"You always micromanage things like this, Sal?" Ricky asked him. "I mean a leetle explanation goes a long way, you know?"

"I'm seventy eight jazuras old and my only friend is a psychopathic mass murderer. Forgive me if I'm playin' my hand close to the vest."

Ricky laughed out loud. That was a sentiment he could understand. He freed the brick from the wall and handed it to Sal.

"No," the old man said, "you hold on to it." He then reached into the hole in the wall and removed a key. He then used the key to unlock the gate. Then he returned the key to the hole and looked at Ricky. "Alright," he said, "now put it all back the way you found it."

"Si jefe," Ricky said. "De inmediato, jefe."

"Don't be a smartass," Sal growled, still leaning against the wall. Ricky laughed again. Several moments later he finished shoving the prybar back in place under the ancient roof shingles. Then he dropped back down to the alley pavement again and looked at Sal. Sal gave him a wry look. Ricky rolled his eyes, shook his head, and then grabbed the bottom of the garage gate and heaved it up. It took some work. It obviously hadn't been used in a long time. Once it was up Sal stepped through and gestured for him to close it again. Which required Ricky hanging from the bottom of the gate and bouncing.

"Shit, Holmes! This frakking thing needs some lubrication!"

"Make sure to lock it again when it's down."

"Si. Si." Ricky replied. Several mizura later he finally succeeded in closing the gate. "Okay," he said. "Now I can't see anything. I hope you have a frakking light in..." A small light flickered to light across the tiny garage. "...here." Ricky found the locking mechanism and twisted it. He had to jump up and down on the gate some more to get both bolts through the eyes in the frame. When he finally had it all finished he turned around. Sal was leaning against the far wall beside another gate. "Oh frak me, Holmes! You gotta be frakking kidding me!"

"Relax, kid," Sal sneered at him. "This one should be easy."

"How many more of these frakking things are there?" Ricky demanded. "And where the hell are we going, anyway? And why don't you tell me what's stopping me from just frakking kill you right frakking here, huh?"

Sal gave him a disgusted look. "I thought you told me you..."

"Enough with that shit!"

Sal stared at him for a moment. "You're a bright guy, Ricky."

"Don't frak with me!"

"I'm not frakking with you!" Sal roared and Ricky actually flinched. He wasn't expecting the power in the old man's voice. "I'm telling you the way it is," Sal said, this time softer, almost gently. "You are a bright guy, Ricky." Sal leaned toward him and raised his eyebrows. "You're bright enough that I think I just might be able to teach you a few things, if you're interested."

"Well why'nt you teach me where we're going?"

Sal grinned at him. "Do you like pirate stories, Ricky?" Sal asked him.

"Pirate stories?"

"The kind with buried treasure?" The old man smiled again. This time Ricky was sure of it. The smile was scary. But it was a good scary. The kind of scary you feel at the beginning of a fight, or maybe an adventure.

"Yeah, Popi," he nodded. "Yeah, I like pirate stories."

"Good," Sal said. "Cos I think I might know where a treasure is buried."

"You might know?" Ricky asked him.

"Yeah," Sal said. "I might know."

"What does that mean?" Ricky asked him.

"It means that fifty jazura ago five guys committed a heist. After the heist one of those guys got greedy and started takin' out the others. He killed all of his partners except for one handsome young devil who was too smart for him."

Ricky chuckled. "I'm guessing that was you?"

Sal smiled at him. "It mighta been," Sal said vaguely. Then he spread his hands and shrugged. "But I'm old, officer, and it was a long time ago. I'm afraid that I just can't remember."

Ricky laughed again. "Alright, Popi. I'm listening."

"Oh I've got your attention now, do I?"

"Yeah, Popi. You've got my attention."

"The take was bearer bonds..."

"What happened to the greedy guy, Popi?"

Sal met his eye. There was a blackness looking through them that Ricky knew all too well. Death. After a moment Sal arched an eyebrow. "Rumor has it the greedy guy got himself killed all those jazura ago and that maybe he was run through a meat grinder and turned into sausage."

Ricky laughed. Sal just watched him. "Oh, Sal," Ricky wiped the tears from his eyes. "You are one scary old dude, you know that?"

"May I continue? Do you have any more questions?"

"No-no, Popi. Tell your story. I'm listening."

"After Ray, eh... that's the greedy guy... after Ray got himself disappeared, I looked for the score but it was gone. I checked everywhere I could think of. I asked his friends, his relatives..."

"You asked huh?"

"You gonna let me tell my story or what?"

Ricky drew his fingers across his lips as if he was closing a zipper.

"A few jazuras ago I found out that Ray had a brother doin' some renovation on the Riverside..."

"The Riverside? You mean..?"

"Yeah. That Riverside."

Ricky whistled softly and shook his head. "Well," he shrugged, "if you wanted to hide something and make sure it was never found? That would be the place to do it."

"That's what I thought too."

"How much were those bonds worth?"

"At the time they were issued? A little over five million."

"And when did you find out about this?"

"Seven, maybe eight jazuras back."

"So you didn't need five million credits..."

"No, I didn't. But kid," Sal said pointedly, "we're not talkin' about five million. Those bonds were issued twenty eight ninety."

Ricky blinked. "Oh so I gotta figure interest and shit..."

"Yeah," Sal snarled at him. "You gotta figure the 'interest and shit'. Come on, jackass. I thought you weren't stupid. What's six and quarter percent of five million credits after fifty eight years?"

Ricky felt his eyes narrowed. "You really need to work on your bedside manner, Sal. You might be one tough old bastard but you are definitely not a people person."

"Oh I'm sorry," Sal sneered at him. "Did I hoight yer feelin's? Think about it, genius!"

"I'm not a frakkin' calculator, 'mano! How the hell would I...?"

"Do you know what stupidity is?" Sal asked him. "What it really is?" He raised his eyebrows expectantly. "I'll give you a hint: it's got nuthin' to do with IQ. I've met plenty a geniuses who could barely tie their own shoes."

Ricky stared at the old man and squinted. Sal continued to wait on him. "Why didn't you bring your son with us, Sal?"

Sal smiled at him again. Ricky actually felt a jolt of fear at the sight. It really was the old guy's scariest expression. "Now that," Sal said, "is a good question."

"Yeah? Well are you going to answer it?"

Sal stared at him, smiling a quiet, scary smile for a moment. Then that smile broadened and the old man showed him his teeth. "Cos he was stupid," Sal sneered, staring Ricky directly in the eye.

Ricky nodded, holding the old man's gaze. "Alright, Sal," he said, "I'll play your game. What is stupidity?"

Sal scoffed and shook his head. "That," he sneered, "was stupidity." He leaned forward, grimacing with some hidden ache. "Think!" he said. "Use what's between your ears! You've got brains! Use them!"

Ricky watched the old man and kept his mouth shut. After a moment he nodded. Six and quarter percent of five million was a little over three hundred thousand. Three hundred thousand every year for fifty years would be around fifteen million. Add that to the original five million and it would be enough to get them off the planet. He squinted. But no. It was five million plus three hundred thousand, and then six and quarter percent of that added to the next total. Sal relaxed and leaned back against the wall. He watched Ricky, weighing him. Measuring him. Judging his worth. Ricky squinted. "I don't know, Popi," he said. "But I'm guessing that it's a lot. What fifty? Sixty million credits?"

Sal sighed. "Stupidity is laziness, kid. That's all it is. It's being unwilling to think the problem through. You get frustrated, so you give up."

Ricky shook himself out. He was getting angry.

"Hey," Sal said to him. "I'm not a calculator either. And I'm not tryin' to insult you."

"Oh yeah?! Well it kind of feels like you are, 'mano!"

"Easy," Sal held up a hand. "Take a breath, okay. You asked why I didn't bring Sin," he arched an eyebrow, "but what you really want to know is why I brought you instead of Sin. Right?"

Ricky was angry. It was hard to think. But after a moment he nodded. "Yeah, 'mano," he said. "That's right. Why me and not your son?"

Sal held up both hands. "Don't get mad," he said. "But think about it. Could Sin have gotten me off that ship?"

Ricky flexed his jaw. Then he shook his head. "No," he said. "But that's not it, is it, Popi? That's not why you left him."

"What was he doin' right after I took out the guards?"

"He was making a lot of frakking noise, 'mano."

Sal spread his hands and raised his eyebrows.

Ricky nodded. "He was being stupid."

Sal smiled that scary smile again and nodded. "He was being stupid." The smile vanished and suddenly Ricky realized the smile was not the old man's scariest expression. Sal looked right through him and the look in his eye was hard and cold and vast, as if he were looking at something Ricky couldn't even imagine. "Sin was always being stupid," Sal hissed. Then he focused on Ricky. "One hundred and eighty two million credits," he said. "That's what those bonds are worth right now."

Ricky whistled softly.

"I'm old, kid," Sal told him. "I'm gonna be dead in five jazuras. As of right now I'm gonna be remembered not as the man I was, but as the man destroyed by idiots, includin' my own son." Sal's eyes suddenly seemed to burn with a black fire. "I'm not alright with that. You say you know who I am, but are you old enough to know who I used to be?" When Ricky said nothing Sal nodded. "I didn't think so." Sal sighed. He didn't sound so good. His breathing was fast and shallow, and just a little bit wet. "I've got an offer for you, Ricky," he wheezed.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," Sal smiled. "The more I think about it, the more I'm sure that I know exactly where those bonds are. And probably more, beside. But I can't get any of it without you. Now, once we get that cash you're gonna have to make a choice. You can take the money and run. You can kill me if you feel like it. I won't be able to stop you. Or," Sal fixed him with that black gaze again and smiled, "or you can take me with you, let me show you the way to real power, and become my legacy. Become what I am remembered for."

[Song Of Obsidian]

I must have a magic touch. I prodded and this was the result. Rawr.

[Zaitsev]

All the squees!

That is all.

[Sirrobert]

I found a typo. I mean Easter egg you left in there for us to find

Drake sighed again. "Frak me," he growled. He was staring at the holoscreen. On it Sin and Sal were side by side, preparing to go through the hatch. Sal was covered in blood and looked deadly serious. Ricky was grinning and appeared to be having the time of his life. After several moments Drake nodded to himself. "This?" He gestured at the screen, "this is gonna be a problem."

Presumably this should be Ricky


Also, that ending:
Dun dun Duuuuuuun.
Nice setup for a long term villain

[Triaxx2]

The more I see of Chinmou, the more I want to see her go about half a round with Vo and then have someone mop up what's left.

I mean, seriously, she pulled the guys wings, for doing his best against a significantly more powerful opponent. I don't know what she expected a three plane patrol to do when a light capital drops in and starts excreting giant space guns all over the place, other than try and hold them off until reinforcements arrive. So far her response to anything that doesn't go exactly her way has been to pick someone and summarily dismiss them. First Weamond, and now this guy. At this rate, she's going to run out of pilots willing to work for her. I know I'd have quit on the spot after she did that. Working my ass off to keep the capitals alive, and losing friends and 'family', and then she storms in, fires a guy for making the best out of a situation that could have been a hell of a lot uglier, and then gets violent when he tries to explain? Nope. Ain't no money worth those conditions. You can go fly your own birds.

[Scion Drakhar]

The more I see of Chinmou, the more I want to see her go about half a round with Vo and then have someone mop up what's left.

I mean, seriously, she pulled the guys wings, for doing his best against a significantly more powerful opponent. I don't know what she expected a three plane patrol to do when a light capital drops in and starts excreting giant space guns all over the place, other than try and hold them off until reinforcements arrive. So far her response to anything that doesn't go exactly her way has been to pick someone and summarily dismiss them. First Weamond, and now this guy. At this rate, she's going to run out of pilots willing to work for her. I know I'd have quit on the spot after she did that. Working my ass off to keep the capitals alive, and losing friends and 'family', and then she storms in, fires a guy for making the best out of a situation that could have been a hell of a lot uglier, and then gets violent when he tries to explain? Nope. Ain't no money worth those conditions. You can go fly your own birds.

Apparently I wasn't clear. She jumped down the lead pilot's throat for not reporting the pirate guild base/TL as it approached the mining fleet. In other words he just let it fly on up and deploy lasertowers without telling anyone higher up what was happening, presumably cos he liked the action and was hoping to set up more of it.

[Triaxx2]

I agree that was a bad decision. That said, it's also based on the Mammoth, which is the same flavor of ship Drake is using for mining. So for all he knew, the boss had bought another ship to assist with the mining and that was it. Of course, when it pings IFF as hostile, that's a clue, but by then you expect the capitals are already on the comms screaming for help.

Now? Now, I expect to see the pilots out there pinging anything that looks the slightest bit suspicious as potentially hostile and requiring fleet response, just so she doesn't come after them next.

[Sirrobert]

Well there needs to be a game reason that noone told Drake about that new Pirate base.

Though I agree it should probably have been the mothership's job to report those things. Not the pilots (though on the other hand, the pilots are the eyes of the carrier)
It's probably a little more subtle then '1 person ****** up', but I can totally see Chinmou not giving 2 shits about subtle and just blaming someone

[Triaxx2]

Irrationally blaming someone for uncontrollable situations does seem to be Chinmou's MO.

The chain of command should be: CAP reports to Mothership, Mothership reports to fleet. (Were the fighters based off the mining ship? Or off a nearby military ship?)

[Sirrobert]

The Tartarus, which is a new carrier ship. I can't remember what ship exactly though

[Scion Drakhar]

Tarturus = Mobile Pirate Base = TL

And yes, the CAP is supposed to guard the fleet by watching out for hostiles or suspicious activity and reporting them back to the mothership. Now in-game the bloody pirate base just spawned next to my mining fleet. Which was annoying. But in-story it did so by flying up, anchoring (I don't know... becoming non-stationary which gave it station level shielding) and deploying LT's. I was thinking that the lead pilot was a hotshot who wanted to fight and deliberately didn't do his job because he wanted the action. His decision got action. It also got two people killed. Which absolutely warrants a response.

[Triaxx2]

A) Perhaps shutting down the power to the engines allowed it to turn the power up on the shielding? And B) that's what makes sense and didn't get explained in character.

Mostly though, I just really don't like Chinmou. And be glad your story produces such strong emotions. I've seen a few authors get grumbly when the story doesn't provoke the emotions they want.