Chapter 28

Alan picked his way forward. At one time, the Friedensbringer was a proud ship, but after decades of neglect, she could barely hold her atmosphere. The pirates had removed dozens of bulkheads to make room for whatever booty they could cram into the ship. “How many people are on the ship right now Nadia?”

“About...” she paused and counted in her head. “Five.”

“Five pirates? That’s not too bad.”

“No, that is five total, including us. Bridge crew could not be problem.”

“Where is everyone else?”

“Vinston vas not people person,” said Nadia. “He had retention problems vith crew. His management method vas shoot now, ask questions later. So, ven they attacked a target, entire crew got on vhaleboats just to get away for a while.”

“Whaleboats? Is that what they were called?”

“Da.”

“Good description.” Just then, he found the bridge and stepped into it. The bridge was amidships and protruded from the backbone of the ship like a fighter cockpit. The bridge was filled with state of the art navigational gear that was crammed into cabinets that weren’t designed for it. In the end, the bridge looked like an electronic enthusiast’s basement.

Two haggard looking men were strapped into office chairs that were bolted to the deck. The original furnishings and fixtures of the Friedensbringer were stripped out decades ago. “Good afternoon,” said Alan. The two remaining crewmembers turned and looked at him with a tired expression on their faces. Alan continued. “This is your captain speaking. We will be departing for Earth in just a little bit as our last minute passengers board and get their baggage stowed. In the meantime, relax, plot a course for Earth, and try not to piss me off.”

The two men turned back to their instruments. “Aye aye sir.” This wasn’t the first change of command they had weathered. When you’re a pirate, you get used to it.

One by one, the F-733’s of the Strike Force Berserkers were manually pushed into the Friedensbringer’s cavernous mid bay and the side door closed. Once the fighters were locked down, the Berserkers started poking around the ship. There were storage compartments full of ‘booty’ but it looked like the primary cargo on the Friedensbringer was posters of naked women. They were plastered on the walls everywhere.

They got underway, and Alan sagged into the captain’s chair, a standard earth model recliner. He strapped in then said, “Raise the NSS Naha for me, I need to speak to their captain.”

“Yar.” Alan allowed the pirates of his crew to speak like pirates. “Arr, the captain of the Naha, matie.”

“This is Captain Vermillion of the NSS Naha,” came Pandora’s voice. Her voice was filled with the strain and exhaustion of the past hours.

“This is Captain Scarlett of the JSS Friedensbringer. This ship is under Western Alliance control and heading inward to Earth. I now declare this mission is over.” At those words, the bridge crew of the NSS Naha broke into loud cheering and high fives.

“Bless you Captain Scarlett,” said a nearly weeping Pandora. “You sometimes say the sexiest things.”

“How are you doing ma’am, do you need more help?”

“No, thank you captain,” said Pandora. Her voice was a sigh of relief. “We have all the help we need. Do you have Winston Scarver in custody?”

“Most of him. There was an issue with his device and some bits of his body got launched in your direction.” Alan could hear her crew roar with laughter. They now knew what the organic material splattered on the wall below the bridge was - Alan Scarver’s brain. “I’ve got to get back and turn this thing over to the Navy, then we have a shipment of water inbound.”

“Don’t forget to pick up the kids at my mother’s house,” said Pandora.

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Epilogue

Retired Admiral Wally Schirra stepped out of his cabana onto the sun warmed beach of the South Pacific. Palm trees swayed in the breeze and the water of the Pacific was glassy and calm. He turned and took Estelle’s hand and led her out on to the beach. They had just finished an afternoon of lovemaking that left them both dizzy and in shock at the passion they could still experience. It was like being a teen again. Estelle had taken after her daughters and began wearing nothing more than a sarong, her breasts were still beautiful at her age and Wally took extra care insuring they were always protected with sun block.

The court martial of Captain Lutz, an old pain in the ass, was over and Lutz barely escaped being executed for treason. But for stealing entire weapons systems and selling them to the Eastern Bloc and pirates through Winston Scarver, he was going to be in prison for the rest of his life. Gunny Bannon, the man who tried to kill Alan, Pandora, and Eris in the Camp Schmitt hangar bay, testified that Captain Lutz blackmailed him into trying to kill Alan and Pandora. Also, Colonel Antonina Matrona Markov of the Peoples Space Force testified that Captain Lutz requested a “live fire” testing of new anti-laser goggles by an Eastern Bloc ship on the U-700 carrying Alan Scarlett and his wife, causing the blinding of the pilot Commander Dom Russo.

Yes, Admiral Schirra endangered both of his daughters and his son-in-law to get Lutz imprisoned and Winston Scarver’s operation shut down, but it was worth it, and this tropical Christmas holiday was proof of that.

“Grandma! Grandpa!” cried Little Wally as he dashed up to them. He held up a seashell and said, “I caught a clam!”