Federation Reborn 2: Pirate Rage (10 page)

But he had to risk it if they were going to get out of the vice they seemed to be in.

The skipper grimaced but nodded. “I'll pass along the order, sir.” Such discipline should fall into her hands, but the admiral was in a mood so she thought it was better and wiser not to provoke him.

Hard eyes turned on the icons around the Gaston jump point. “You've won this round,” he growled. “But the war is far from over. Make best speed for the B-448c jump point. Let me know the instant they react.”

“Aye, sir,” a tech said.

“In the meantime, let us take our discussion with subject 227, this Miss Mara in your wardroom, shall we captain?” the admiral said, waving for her to proceed him to the hatch. He turned to the XO. “Oh, you'll need to dig out the links and bridge life support modules for them. We'll need them hooked up to the navigational systems,” he ordered. “Pass the order to do the same throughout the fleet. Work with doctor Milgram to get it done. They'll need life support and food on each of those ships as well.”

“Are you …,” the XO caught himself and then bobbed a nod as the admiral glowered back at him. “As you wish, sir.”

“Good. Rick will help you get it done,” the admiral said with a nod to the grim chief of staff. Commander Roshou nodded back.

The captain scowled but instantly schooled her expression when the admiral glanced her way. She wasn't happy about risking her ship with untrained people, let alone slaves at the helm, but it seemed she like them were not going to be given much of a choice.

It was definitely going to be something of a … what did her grandmother call it? Oh yes, she thought, nodding mentally as she exited the bridge. “You have the bridge number one,” she said over her shoulder in passing.

“Aye Ma'am, the XO has the con,” the executive officer said formally for the record.

“Nantucket sleigh ride here we come,” Captain Bordou murmured as she made her way to the wardroom with the admiral.

Chapter 5

As a last defiant and rather spiteful parting shot, the Neo Mega City was bombarded as the Horathian ships broke orbit for deep space. Mayor Manx had long abandoned his capital tower in favor of holding office in the clubhouse of his favorite golf course on the outskirts of the city. Miss Briggs was there in attendance as they saw the bright flashes of lightning rain down.

Police force helicopters buzzed about impotently like flies. They could do little to nothing to interdict the fire, just watch helplessly and try to direct people to find what shelter they could. Fortunately, a good chunk of the city's population had trained for such evacuation and had heeded the warning klaxons.

Still, there weren't many places safe to hide from the KEW strikes.

Like a few of the other politicians, Mayor Manx had made a secret deal with the Horathians to tell them what he knew in exchange for their promise to spare his city. His jewel that had supposedly sealed the deal was the location of the Neo and alien water dweller's location and numbers. His police forces had rounded up and turned over some of them during the night. He was aware that Miss Briggs and the SWAT cat vigilantes weren't happy about it. They didn't sit where he was, trying to hold things together.

He dropped his putter as he saw the first rounds light up the night sky. “What?” There wasn't a cloud in the sky … at first he thought it had been a fire but then another flash … and another …

He realized his intention to protect his city had only delayed the inevitable. “My beautiful city,” the mayor moaned in despair, clutching at his head as the vertical lightning pummeled his capital tower into rubble. His putter fell to the ground forgotten.

“They promised!” the mayor wailed, shaking his head, hands on each cheek as he stared at the carnage.

“They promised what, Mayor?” Miss Briggs demanded, rounding on him from behind. She'd already had her suspicions about the Mayor. “
Who
promised?” she demanded when he didn't answer right away. He coughed into a fist, recovering himself.

“Nothing, nothing at all,” he drawled. Her eyes narrowed on him suspiciously, but he gave her his best innocent look. “We must do what we can,” he said. She nodded.

---<>))))

Doctor Helen Richards heard the news over the radio but was too busy to care at the moment. She had to focus on her own battle, the battle every patient and doctor faced against the faceless angel of death. Too many had already died, but she refused to give up or give into despair. She sucked in a cleansing breath, nodded, and then went back to work.

Her nurses and staff exchanged looks and then they too followed her example.

“Someone get with the engineers. Find Hank McCoy if he's still alive. We're going to need power restored pronto,” she ordered, not looking up from where her hands were within the patient's chest cavity. She pulled a line as she stitched an artery back together. “Having the right tools would be nice, but having light to see by even better,” she said with a hint in her tone of voice.

The nurse standing there with the flashlight murmured an apology as she redirected the flashlight in her hands so the doctor could see better.

---<>))))

“Is it over?” Hank asked, looking up at the sky warily.

“Don't jinx it,” a guy said sourly.

“It's too quiet. Isn't it too quiet …,” shaken woman said, practically hysterical.

“Will someone please shut her the hell up? Ma'am, get a grip. Someone find me a phone, and we'll find out what's going on. The rest of you, get your acts together. This may be just the intermission! Remember your fallback positions. Keep your things packed and an eye on them. Medics, go through and check everyone. Someone find us some more food and water while I try to find out what's going on,” Hank growled.

His animal snarl was enough to send the woman into near hysterics again, but this time for a different source. He realized everyone was on edge due to the constant fear. It was why, despite his blue fur as a dead giveaway, he'd forced himself to go outside from time to time. The stink of fear was almost as overpowering as the sewage smell in the tunnels. His eyes constantly watered when he'd first gone in. Now he was nose blind to almost all of it.

Except the fear. That kept getting to him.

And to dye the damn fur with mud or dust whenever possible. Or at least wear a coat.

“Hey, Hank! We're getting a signal from Nohar! I mean command! It's, um, he said the enemy have pulled out! They are bugging out, his words! The navy has arrived!”

“Well it's about fracking time,” Hank muttered. “Only a month or two late and a couple million lives short, but they are here,” he growled.

He looked up to the sky and vowed to do something to make sure what he'd gone through, what the planet had gone through would never ever happen again.

“Hank, Doctor Richards is on the horn. She wants you to get power up. It seems it really is over,” Tony said.

“Work never stops,” Hank said, shaking his head.

“Hank?”

“I'm coming, I'm coming,” he growled.

---<>))))

Nohar heard the news but he was too tired and sore to celebrate. “Fighting is
definitely
a young man's game,” he rumbled, rubbing the small of his back. He'd had his soak in the regen tank years ago, gotten new limbs and a new eye, but he'd battered more of his body up in the recent conflict. “I am going to sleep for a
week
.”

“Sleep when you're dead. The governor's office called; they want you to help with keeping order,” the radio tech said.

“Are you …,” Nohar stared at the chimp. The chimp shrugged and just grinned at him. He muttered a curse. “You are serious," he accused, thoroughly disgusted. The chimp nodded, grin broadening somehow. “Wipe the smirk off your face. I guess we've been drafted.”

“Guess so. So what's first, Mister Planetary Security Leader?”

“Pretty much the same as before. Find supplies, secure them, ration them carefully, maintain order.”

“Understood. I heard some of the Gotham police force are still around. Same for Hazzard's. But Metropolis and Mega City got pasted.”

“Lovely. Triage then. Get Hank onto fixing what infrastructure he can: electric, radio, that shit. He'll bitch and whine, but he'll get started once he calms down and starts working the problem. We'll go door-to-door with the news if we have to, damn it. Draft every warm body to help. Get the usual people to handle daycare for the parents of the very young, but everyone else is going to be busting their ass like never before. We've got a winter to prep for or everyone will starve,” he said. The chimp winced. “Yeah, that's right; we're now looking long term, not just cleaning up the mess. Now get the squad leaders in here, get those orders out, and get me some paper and stuff to use to pass out orders and news. We've got to come up with a plan for this
yesterday
,” Nohar sighed.

“Yes, sir.”

“And damn it, don't call me, sir! I
work
for a living,” the yellow tiger growled as the chimp scampered off. He saw a middle finger waved back at him as a parting shot and then snorted.

“All over but the crying I suppose,” he said with a shake of his massive head. He noted one of the elephants coming in and nodded. “Glad you are here instead of out and about. I'll save the news for when everyone's here, but we've got our work cut out for us it seems …”

---<>))))

Mara did her best to keep her head down like the others as the cold woman and male came into the brig area. She was warm and dry, something she wasn't thrilled about. They'd confiscated her wetsuit; like many of the others, she was naked. She wasn't bound, and she had no nudity taboos like a stock human so she didn't cover her genitals or breasts.

They stood in a line with heavyset guards watching over them. The door to their cell was open, but everyone knew better than to try to move out it.

The pirate medics had gone over them carefully, even shaving her beautiful brown locks. It had been a cruel gesture; they'd even laughed at her tears and made snide jokes about her thinking she was human enough to fit in with them.

Doctor Milgram had apologized for the cruelty but had explained it had been necessary for hygene purposes. And he'd been right, eventually it would grow back.

They hadn't brutalized her, nor had they molested her, much to her surprise, though a few had tried. The good doctor had stopped them. Apparently such things were beneath some of them. A few days ago Doctor Milgram had started a new routine. The medics had injected her with something to help calm her, or so they said. They'd done it with everyone. It had given her a bit of a euphoria and had helped calm her nerves.

The heavy step made her pull her awareness back to the here and now with some reluctance. She had to pay attention; it was important.

“We'll get the dosage right, sir,” Doctor Milgram voice said, floating down the hall leading to their brig cell. “It's all about weight and their metabolism. We have the models; we're just tweaking the numbers a bit. They have been losing weight, but that seems to have been stabilized for the moment,” the medic said softly.

“Keep them that way. Happy but alert. If you have to, dial down the dose a bit,” the admiral murmured.

Mara's sharp ears caught that but wasn't sure what it meant. Drugged? The medicine? She wasn't sure.

The stern woman with the hair bun stepped up to the bars. She was replenished in an ink black uniform trimmed out in silver. The silver haired male behind her had his uniform trimmed in gold. She had marks on her sleeve and a shape on her collar. He had more marks and a star on his collar.

“My name is Captain Bordou. I stand next to Admiral Von Berk. You will think of him as god of your miserable existence. You will do exactly as you are told, no more, no less. If you comply, your friends and family will not suffer and will eat. You will get your medication on time. They will get their medication on time. If you are defiant, if you fail, you and they
will
be punished.” the woman intoned harshly. “And we'll make sure you watch to prevent you from any stupidities in the future.”

Which one of you is subject 227? Mara?” the captain asked. Mara flinched then raised her hand. “You are said to have some experience in navigating, yes?”

“Yes.” She tried to keep her tone neutral. She would be damned if it would be subservient though.

A heavily muscled Horathian guard standing near her poked her with a baton. She flinched away. “You will answer with a respectful sir or captain,” he snarled.

“Yes, Captain,” she said.

“Good. You can start then,” she said.

Mara grimaced, unsure of what to do. Fortunately, two of the goons knew what to do with her. She was grabbed by each arm and dragged from the group. “She will return if she does her job properly. If she does you will eat,” the Captain intoned.

---<>))))

“Do you think this is worth the risk, sir?” the captain asked.

“Yes. No risk no reward. Are your orders clear?” the admiral asked.

The captain grimaced but nodded. She didn't like giving slaves preferential treatment but understood the need. They were necessary. They were the golden geese that would lead the fleet out of the area and possibly the entire navy to victory. “Yes, sir. But it ties the hands of our people. If they can't punish infractions properly, it will give them incentive to resist or mutiny,” she reminded him.

He nodded. “We'll have to find softer measures to deal with that then. Your reference to their children being used as hostages was a good pointed reminder of what is at stake for them. We'll start training them individually, working them in gradually I suppose.”

“Yes, sir. The other ships?”

“Once they have been trained, we'll transfer the rest to the other ships at our first stop.”

“Aye aye, sir.”

“Carry on then, Captain.”

---<>))))

Mara was taken to the bridge where she was roughly put into the number 2 helm station. The air was dry making it rough to breathe. Still, the images the repeaters sent to her eyes arrested her attention. “John, it's just as you said it was,” she murmured, admiring hyperspace. She was backhanded for speaking out of turn.

“Enough of that. We need her intact and undamaged,” an officer barked, glaring the human who'd assaulted her down. The man glared but then turned away.

The other officer knelt. “You're going to learn how to helm the ship this shift. We'll be watching. If you do it right, you'll eat. Fail and you won't eat and you won't swim.”

She winced. She needed to swim; her gills were already dry.

“Understood?” he asked. She nodded. “Out loud?”

“Yes, sir,” she said.

“Good. Here is what you need to know,” he said, starting to point out the various features of the controls. “You don't have implants, so you'll have to learn to do this by hand …”

---<>))))

Captain Mayweather grimaced as the pirates made their retreat. The geometry for interception was wrong; her reinforcements weren't large enough either. They missed the interception window by a razor-thin margin. “At least they are gone. Now it's a question of if anyone else is in a position to catch them.”