Chapter 30

By the time Destiny Group was 1500 km behind Emprika and the two bandit ships, they had separated into three groups. Iarracht and Marthanóir positioned themselves to approach Emprika's stern off the starboard side and above her. Dóchas and Phoenix positioned themselves to approach Emprika's stern off her port side but from below. Eagle, Taiséalai, and Fiontar traveling with the freighters slowed their approach to take up a static position a thousand kilometers behind Emprika. All of their ships were at Readiness Level 1.

Erin said, "Dóchas COC is assigning bandit I.D.s as DBAD1 for the ship along the port side of Emprika and DBAD2 for the ship on their starboard side." As Erin spoke, the monitors on all Órarduine ships updated with the new information. These assignments were quickly acknowledged by each Destiny Group ship.

"DBAD1 and DBAD2 are now alongside Emprika, with DBAD2 near the rear access hatch," said Joyce. "Spacing appears to be 200 meters between the bandits and Emprika."

Destiny Group was 15 minutes from Emprika when the Command Staffs heard the same voice that announced the cancellation of Emprika's distress call. "Emprika, I am the Captain of the ship on your port side. We heard your broadcast. Based on your declaration, we are invoking full salvage rights to the ship and its contents as permitted by our laws."

After a pause he continued, "Captain it was you that announced the Emprika's status as inoperable and needing assistance. Your declaration allows us to invoke salvage rights to Emprika and all contents. We are claiming Emprika as ours. In one hour, we will take possession of Emprika. We, as the new owners, expect you to make the following preparations for our arrival. When we board, we expect all passengers to be locked in their quarters. All weapons will be secured and stowed. All the crew members are to be standing naked with their hands behind their head along the walls of the main corridor."

There was a momentary pause before he continued with, "Captain, there is nothing you can do to stop us from taking possession of Emprika. Again, it was your broadcast that gave us the right to claim Emprika under the salvage provisions of our laws. By cooperating and preparing Emprika for our arrival, we assure you that all of Emprika's passengers and crew will be unharmed. All of you will be well cared for while you remain in our custody as we wait to be paid for your release.

"Resistance by anyone will be dealt with harshly. Any organized resistance will result in all of those still living becoming our property."

There was another pause followed by an angry reply, "You have no choice, Captain. We will board your ship! Any resistance and all of you will regret it. We have already dealt with one group on your ship. A group of inept Monque Spec Ops sought to interfere with our plans. Anyone standing in our way will meet the same fate. You will find them in Compartment 32 on Level 1."

The bandit paused for a few moments before adding, "Enough of this, when I close this dialog, you will not be able to contact anyone. Your external communication system will become inoperable. Remember, we will begin boarding in one hour. Now, prepare your ship for our arrival! Lock all passengers in their cabins! Lock all weapons in storage! Every crew member will wait naked with their hands behind their heads in the main corridor for our inspection.

"You have one hour to comply! Fail and the passengers and crew become our property. Let me be clear, as property, they will have the same status as livestock that we will dispose of as we see fit. Shut up and listen. You appear to be as incompetent as those in Compartment 32. We hope you fail for we are anxious to once again dine on live fresh meat."

Joyce said, "From the pauses, it seemed like there was some push back from the Captain of Emprika. The bandits must have done something to Emprika's transmitters since we can't hear the Captain's comments."

"I think it is time to complicate their plans," said Terry of Sarah's Clan as she smiled at Sarah.

Sarah said, "Calling Emprika. This is Destiny Group responding to your request for assistance. We will be alongside in 20 minutes to render assistance with your emergency."

"No assistance is needed," replied the bandit.

"Who are you to speak for the Captain of Emprika?"

"I am the Captain."

"Sir, we know you are not the Captain of Emprika. You are not even on Emprika. You are the one who falsely claimed salvage rights to Emprika. We heard and recorded everything you said to the Captain of Emprika."

"You are mistaken," snarled the bandit. "There aren't any problems on Emprika. Now go bother someone else with your nonsense."

"I am absolutely certain you are not the captain of Emprika. Your voice signature matches exactly the voice that we just heard claiming salvage rights to Emprika. Didn't you just demand Emprika's Captain prepare the ship for boarding by your people, and threaten them with enslavement if he failed."

"As Captain of Emprika, I can assure you that Emprika needs no assistance. Go bother someone else with your nonsense. Besides, there aren't any ships within light years of us, so your offer is meaningless."

"You are not Captain of Emprika, yet. Your sensors are faulty. Check your monitors or look out your ports."

"Look bitch, I've had enough of your nonsense. Our sensors are far superior to anything else in the universe. They are all working perfectly. I demand to talk to the captain of your ship."

"You are speaking to Admiral Sarah in Command of Dóchas," was the reply in a very friendly voice. "We are just ten minutes from Emprika."

"You are really testing my patience. Why do you persist in your delusions? Just who are you?"

"We are Órarduine."

There was a pause then the bandit screamed, "Órarduine?"

"Yes. Chatting with you has been most interesting..."

Sarah's response was overridden by the bandit hollering, "You murdering heathens. You sent two of our finest crews and ships to a slow death." The bandit's rage grew as he spoke ending with, "For that you shall die!"

Sarah laughingly replied, "Not a chance. You are misinformed about your two ships and their crews. They chose the path that took them to their death. Initially, they attempted to enslave us. Their naive attempt failed. They tried to instigate a mutiny on the Iridien ships under the Command of Commander Egulle and failed. We informed the Durale leaders on those ships that we knew of both their plots. They were offered a chance to publicly admit their schemes to the Alliance of Worlds or we would expose their plots. They chose to run. Before leaving, they fired lasers at the two Iridien command ships, attempting to disable them. Their inept operation of their ship placed it on a collision course with a very large planet in the Sol system."

"You lie bitch!" screamed the bandit. "We Durale, never run from anything. All of you will soon be in our livestock pens. We shall enjoy playing with each of you until it is your turn to be spread on our dining table. We shall rejoice in seeing the fear on your face as we secure you to the dining table. Our pleasure will grow on hearing your screams as we sink our teeth into your flesh and tear pieces of meat from your body as we dine."

"You are hallucinating."

Rusty continued, "Your aggression toward the Monque passenger ship Emprika is an act of war."

"Who are you?" screamed the bandit.

"Admiral Rusty in Command of Dóchas. As friends of the Monque, we will render Emprika all the assistance she needs to free herself from your evil plan."

"You wish! You and your harem of back alley whores are incapable of overcoming us. We Durale wait for your arrival. By tonight you and those sluts will be spread on our dining tables, for we shall dine on your flesh today."

"Destiny Group," said Erin, "DBAD1 and DBAD2 weapons now armed and scanning."

Bravo Recon Group under the command of Nicola's Clan advised Destiny Group that the Spiders were now in place on all three ships. Communications links were established and active with each group of Spiders. A Ferret on Emprika was close to gaining access to the ship's systems.

"Siobhan, Maureen, Kelly," said Sarah, "are we ready to project a hologram of us onto Emprika's Bridge?"

"We are," replied the four clans.

On Emprika's bridge, the sudden appearance of their lifelike holographic images almost brought all activity to a standstill. Surprisingly there wasn't any attempt to draw a weapon against them. Even so it took several moments for their arrival to gain the Captain's attention, as he was deeply engrossed in a heated discussion with several crew members.

When the Captain looked their way, the four Órarduine together in Standard said, "Good day, Captain." They waited for the shock of their appearance to subside before continuing with, "Time is short so we will get right to the point. We are representatives of Órarduine Destiny Group. We have sufficient resources to block those who plan on boarding you from the two Durale bandit ships. The two groups of bandits also have agents on your ship that we can assist you in subduing. We need your authorization for that assistance. Do you want our assistance?"

"Was it you that we just heard the bandit screaming at?"

"Probably, we just had a discussion with the Captain of the ship on your port side."

"Based on his claims of severing our communications, we were surprised to hear it. Did I understand you to say you are Órarduine?"

"Yes, we are."

"I've heard of you," replied the Captain thoughtfully.

"Perhaps you know us from our meeting with the Iridiens, Monque and Atewa in Sol system."

"Yes, that is it. Based on that, we readily accept your assistance."

Almost immediately another officer on the bridge shouted, "No! Absolutely not. Captain, you are unfit for command," as he pulled a weapon. Before he could bring it up to fire, there was a flash of light. The weapon clattered to the deck with the man's hand still attached. The Captain turned almost white. Two crewmen wrestled the wounded officer to the deck and bound his elbows together.

"Captain, are you alright?" asked a crewman.

"I think so," replied the Captain slowly with a bit of a quiver in his voice. "If I had any doubt about needing your assistance before, I don't now."

The four Órarduine said, "As a first step in assisting you, we would like to place several Security Teams on your ship. Is this acceptable?"

"Órarduine, you may bring as many people on board as you feel necessary to maintain order and remove this cancer we've acquired."

"They will be in the corridor behind the bridge shortly. To ensure communication with our ships, we would like for several of us to physically join you on the bridge. Is this acceptable?"

"I think it is a very wise move."

"If you haven't asked the passengers to return to their cabins, we would recommend that you do so now. You should have them secure their cabin doors as well."

"You heard their claims?"

"Yes, we heard what they said. We did not hear any of your responses. Their salvage claim is nonsense."

On board Dóchas, as soon as Rusty heard the captain accept assistance he said "FOC, cloaking off for all Badb ships and Star Fighters. Shields up."

"Aye, aye," came the quick reply.

Sally said, "Spider data says DBAD1 is a medium size cruiser with a crew of 380. Carries 20 small transporters. No other space craft. Ships weapons are laser and torpedoes."

"That is a little different than first reported."

"Yes. DBAD2 is the same size as DBAD1 but with a crew of 290. It carries 20 small transporters. Ships weapons are laser and torpedoes. It is laid out more as a transport than a cruiser. One deck is filled with rows of cages stacked four high. None are occupied."

As the Captain on Emprika began to issue commands, an Órarduine Security Team appeared in front of the bridge's primary entrance. Other Órarduine Security teams assembled in the corridor leading to the bridge. By the time the Captain finished speaking to the passengers Tiff and Emma had materialized on the bridge where the hologram had appeared. These changes startled many of those on the bridge, even though they had heard the Captain's acceptance.

"Captain, I am Tiff of Siobhan's Clan, and this is Emma of Keriann's Clan. We are here as a link to our ships."

"How rude of me, my name is Captain Marika. My apologies to those here earlier for not introducing myself."

"No reason for an apology. We are sure that the appearance of Sarah, Siobhan, Maureen and Kelly's holographic image was a shock."

"Yes, it was. Your own sudden appearance was only slightly less shocking. Did I understand you to say 'ships'?"

"Yes, sir," replied Emma.

"Holy shit," shouted a crewman, "our scanners are showing multiple ships all around us."

A look of concern flashed across the Captain's face. Before he could ask Tiff said, "Those are ours, our Commander had ours turn off cloaking after you accepted our offer."

"We have found only two bandit ships in the area," added Emma. "They are now about 200 meters off each side of you." While they were talking the Captain had moved to where he could see the monitor showing the other ships around Emprika. From his expression he was clearly shocked.

"Sir, our sensors are not showing any ships that close," said the crewman.

"Our sensors detected the bandit ships during their approach," replied Captain Marika. "Why aren't they showing now?"

"When the bandits claimed that they were alongside us, and there weren't any ships detected that close, we reset the system. After the reset the two bandit ships no longer showed on the monitors."

Tiff then said, "Captain, our Security Teams are in the corridor behind the bridge. Clearing the ship of the bandit agents will go faster if they are assisted by some of your crew."

Just as the Captain was about to speak another ship's officer came rushing out of an office with a worried look.

Turning to the officer the Captain said, "What's the problem?"

"Sir, we can't get the external hatch for the stern airlock to respond to commands. The engineers think it is jammed open. We can't see those areas as the cameras in the stern air lock are unresponsive. Ever since the alarm was tripped, the hatch will not respond to our commands.

"Just now our external sensors began showing multiple ships all around us. Four of those ships are much larger than us and rapidly approaching, from both sides of our rear quarter. We are trying to identify them now."

Emma said, "Those ships are ours. Dóchas and Phoenix are approaching on one side with Marthanóir and Iarracht approaching on the other. As to the hatch, our reconnaissance group saw at least eight people exit the stern access hatch nearly an hour ago. They were picked up by a small craft from the bandit ship we've labeled DBAD1."

"Emma, Tiff, this is Commander Moranshu," replied Captain Marika. "He heads our Security Department." Both Emma and Tiff bowed to the gentleman.

"You aren't Monque," replied the Commander immediately. "You aren't passengers. Just, who are you? How did you get here?"

The Captain started to reply but Tiff replied, "We are Órarduine. We arrived directly on the bridge a few minutes ago after receiving the Captain's permission. You have a good memory to know so quickly that we are not passengers."

"Knowing that you are not passengers is easy because you are nearly two heads taller than the tallest passenger, and for that matter that probably holds true for the crew as well. You said, Órarduine, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"What is the resolution on the hatch?" asked the Captain.

"Engineering says they will need to have a group go outside to close it. They are getting ready now."

"What's the status on the bandit ships? Our external monitors weren't showing any ships until just before I came out here. None of those ships are very close to us."

"Commander," said Tiff, "our ships dropped their cloaking shortly before we arrived here on the bridge. However, there are two ships alongside at about 200 meters from your ship. Based on their actions, we are referring to them as bandits and have labeled them as DBAD1 and DBAD2.

"It is the Captain of DBAD1 that Captain Marika has been talking to."

Captain Marika said, "As to the bandits, while you were overseeing the efforts related to the stern hatch, we had a call from a group who plan on boarding us about 50 minutes from now. Their intent is to take possession of Emprika and its contents by invoking salvage law."

"50 minutes. Salvage law? Did you issue orders for our crew to arm and get positioned to repel them?" asked Commander Moranshu.

"I was discussing that issue with several officers when the Órarduine contacted us and offered their assistance. The bound officer lying on the deck tried to prevent us from accepting the Órarduine's offer to help. The Órarduine also offered assistance in finding any of the bandit agents on board. Based on recent intelligence reports from the Iridiens, and their relationship with them, I accepted their offer. My acceptance didn't set well with the officer lying on the deck. Based on the information the Órarduine have since provided, it is likely a good thing the command wasn't given. They believe that the bandits have multiple agents embedded in the crew.

"We now have several problems besides no propulsion power. Our sensors aren't showing the two bandit ships next to us. Our external communication systems are not working. We have an air lock open to space. These new problems tend to confirm that the bandits have agents on this ship.

"There are Órarduine Security Teams waiting in the corridor to assist you and your staff in securing our ship. With the Órarduine's assistance we just might survive this."

"Okay. The last minute crew replacements would be an easy way to slip agents into our midst. We had quite a few of those just as we started this voyage. Our security monitors have noted some of them in unusual areas."

"If we may offer a suggestion," said Tiff, "you should look closely at those with access to, or in, the communication, propulsion and navigation departments. Based on your comments about sensor performance, perhaps those who had access to them should be closely scrutinized as well. Besides the communication and propulsion issues, we were advised that this ship has significantly deviated from its planned route." Tiff's comment resulted in a surprised look on the two officers faces.

"Just fucking wonderful," commented Captain Marika. "I'll bet the tracking beacon is disabled as well."

During the conversation with the Captain, no one noticed a crewman get up from his station. He then moved slowly across the bridge toward the door. As he moved across the bridge his attention was focused on those talking with the Captain.

Just as he reached for the door handle, a hand grasped his shoulder. The surprise caused him to jump and nearly scream. Cathan spun him around as she said, "Who gave you permission to leave the bridge?" The sound of her voice drew everyone's attention.

The crewman slipped from Cathan's grip as he looked up. His first thought was, 'who is she?' He immediately took a step back as he realized that she looked just like the Captain's visitors. He took another step back as he considered how to escape this Amazon blocking his exit. Cathan matched him step for step until he backed into a console.

With him backed up against the console Cathan looked down as she said in a commanding voice, "Which group are you working for? Slavers or bandits?"

Commander Moranshu started to interrupt but was nudged by the Captain who shook his head 'no'.

"So you are working for the slavers." The crewman's face turned white. He thought 'how did she know, I have told no one'.

"You have more character than that, so why did you sell your soul to them?"

The crewman began to slump but two of Cathan's team grabbed him, lifting him to his feet. "So they promised to free your family if you helped them with this harvest." The crewman barely nodded. His eyes were wide with fear as his thoughts raced trying to understand how she could know. Then as if a light was turned on, reality registered, his eyes filled with tears as he realized he was a fool. It was an empty promise. He wondered why he hadn't seen the truth before now as he realized that he would never see them again. His short sightedness and stupidity had condemned those on this ship to slavery or worse.

"You were conned. You have no special status with them. How many agents are there on the ship?"

This time the crewman responded with, "I don't know." Cathan frowned. Before she could speak he added, "The only ones I met were the two who recruited me for this. I haven't seen them since. Every communication has been by coded notes. Every time, a note just appears in my pocket. Once I opened them, the writing would disappear after a very short time."