Chapter 20

Kratta system, holding near zero momentum near the broken moons Timestamp: July 10th, 2296 06:30 Sol standard

Jack returned to the Astral Feather and parked his Scapa in his designated bay, stepping down to meet Spurius. He pulled the helmet off his voidsuit and saw the troubled look Spurius gave him.

“It was crewed?” Spurius asked.

“Yeah,” Jack said, somewhat uncomfortably.

Spurius put his left hand to his head for a moment and let out a sigh, “Fuck, it weren’t supposed to be.”

“I know. This could be a fuckin mess,” Jack said. “However, they were pirates that attacked merchant ships and killed people. I’m not shedding any tears for them.”

“I get that,” Spurius nodded. “Just ... doesn’t take that initial bite away. We were supposed to take on jobs blowing up drones and un-manned carriers. Not this...”

“Nope,” Jack concurred. “A couple of them floatin out there looked like they were barely twenty. Had a whole fucking life ahead of them. But if they were doing that shit, maybe it was good to end that life.”

“I don’t know,” Spurius sighed, finally. “I don’t know what to think.”

“Good,” Jack nodded. “That’s a good thing...” He patted Spurius on the shoulder for a moment. “Who all knows so far?”

“You, me, Cap and Officer Number One,” Spurius said. “Not sure who else. They told me so I had a heads up in dealing with you.”

“Oh?” Jack raised hi brows.

“In case you were beside yourself, maybe.”

“I guess the past has made me cold to that,” Jack shrugged. “Sometimes I hate myself for that way of thinking,” He saw Spurius nod and turn to his Scapa.

“Took one in the pit?” He motioned to the foam seal on the glass of the cockpit.

“Smashed right through the armored canopy and the glass,” Jack replied. “Nearly took my plumbing fixture off.”

“Flying knucklefuck,” Spurius said in shock. “You got some clover leaves and horseshoes in your colon?”

“Not likely,” Jack said. “The one round that damaged the Scapa, damn near damaged me.”

Spurius managed to smile through all the seriousness. “You’d be carrying your weenie to the Doc in your hand.”

Jack burst out laughing and mimicked holding something in his hands. “Fix me, fix me. Could you imagine her expression?”

“I can,” Spurius smiled again. “Ah, that takes a little weight off the shoulders.”

“Good,” Jack nodded. “Just gotta go through a bunch more reactions and hope for the same result.”

“Yeah,” Spurius started looking over the Scapa. “I’ll take care of things here. Come by if you need. Any of the others can do the same.”

“Thanks.” Jack shook his hand then headed off to get out of his void suit.

Before Jack could get to his cabin, a general meeting was called in the rec room. It was one of the few rooms large enough to fit the entire crew, that wasn’t being used for extra storage. Kyzran and D-17 would be the only two not attending since they would be responsible for maintaining ship systems and security from the engine room and bridge, respectively. Jack set his helmet on his bed and headed uplevel, stopping momentarily at the door to C deck to loosen the void suit where it was tight around his groin and butt. He passed through the door and saw Charm, Pri and Saito heading into the rec room. Kejeh was further down the hall, approaching with Zakia. Jack could tell that some of them were not aware of what had happened and perhaps thought this meeting was going to be good news.

He entered the rec room to see just about everyone there who should be there, except for Lucinia, Proculus and Spurius. Most of the crew either stood or sat in silence, with only Cardox and Sita having a hushed conversation.

“Heyyy, Jack boy,” Andor said loudly from across the room. “What’s this all about, huh?”

“The captain called the meeting Andor,” Jack shrugged. “She will be the one to explain why.”

“Alright,” Andor shrugged.

Jack leaned up against the far wall with a bit of distance between himself and the others.

“‘ey, you get sem, no?” Kazlaena said cheerfully as she came up to him, then eyed the fuel stain still on his void suit. “And in sa pee-pee suit too.”

“Got them.” Jack forced a smile and saw her look of concern.

“Jack? Is somesing wrong?” She asked.

Jack looked down at her sympathetically.

All he could think to do was reach out and take one of her hands, holding on gently.

“Jack?” Kazlaena looked up at him intently. “What is going on?”

Just as she finished speaking, Lucinia and Proculus entered, followed a moment later by Spurius. Jack saw Spurius stay by the back door while Lucinia and Proculus took a position by the large vidscreen. They exchanged glances before Lucinia spoke up.

“Our contract is complete,” Lucinia started. “Everyone performed remarkably in their duties and this system is free of a menace to honest void sailors. Those that live, work and pass through here can return to a level of normal operation. However, this job has brought on one serious development. The drone mothership contained a complement.” That statement brought mixed reactions from everyone.

Jack saw Kazlaena looking at Lucinia, trying to take in what was just said.

“Are you sayin the mothership had pirates on board?” Charm asked.

“It did,” Lucinia confirmed. “We have identified six crew, likely more inside the vessel.”

“Serve them fuckos right,” Sita said. “Fuckin killed people themselves so fuck’em.”

“Ain’t none o’ them were wearin void suits?” Charm asked.

“They’re pirates,” Cardox replied. “They don’t follow the law. Don’t think safety is their number one priority. Might be alive though if it were.”

Jack felt Kazlaena grip him tightly and he knelt, allowing her to press her head into his shoulder as she wept.

Jack took in a troubled breath.

Surveying the room quickly, he took stock of everyone’s reactions. Andor and Kejeh were expressionless. Cardox and Sita didn’t seem to care too much. Pri was hard to read but Jack noted some concern on her face. Saito had his head down in disbelief and Delilah had her hand over her mouth. Charm was at a table, leaning way forward and had her hands clasped together in front of her face, chin resting on her thumbs as she became a little emotional. Both Lexocanus hugged each other with Rusu seemingly more troubled than his sister. Lucinia and Proculus kept emotionless faces while Spurius up and left after a moment.

“This may be hard to deal with for some of you,” Lucinia said. “It is understandable. If you need to speak about it, my door is open. So is the First Officer’s as well as Doctor Lyttons.” She looked at Jack as he tried to comfort Kazlaena and added. “If you feel better in discussing with other crew members, I encourage you to seek comfort wherever you may find it.”

“The fuck for?” Sita spoke up again. “They killed people. Sorry, not meanin to be a rude-mcfuck rail here but I’m just painting a situation. They made their career out of robbing and killing.”

“Save opinions for another time,” Proculus cut in. “This is a difficult situation. All of us have carried the primary goal on board of destroying drones, not acting as bounty hunters who kill pirates.”

“Understood,” Sita backed down. “Just trying to add some level of acceptance to those that may struggle with it.” She looked over at Kazlaena with a bit of a sympathetic look.

Jack was hardly paying attention to the room. All he could think about was what was going through the Vandeans mind, and what Lucinia must have been thinking.

“What happens now?” Delilah asked.

“InterSAR has been contacted, as well as Star Guard. Both are heading here from the Pranza system. We will be holding location until they arrive in a few hours. InterSAR will inspect the mothership while we will have to give statements to Star Guard. I expect we will then have to go to Pranza station and await further instructions from Star Guard. Anticipate being confined to station or asked to remain in the Pranza system for a time as the investigation happens. I will stand us down when appropriate so further counsel services can be sought.”

“Could we face charges?” Saito asked.

“No,” Lucinia shook her head. “At worst, this will go on my file. The contract was certified, and all parties believed the mothership was automated. I would not expect anything permanent to come down on any of the crew.”

“Can I leave?” Delilah asked. “I need some time to sort this out, get my mind right.”

“You may,” Lucinia nodded. “Anyone who needs the time, by all means, take it now.”

Charm, Saito, and the Lexocanus followed Delilah out. Cardox and Sita left too but not after reaffirming it was the right thing to do. Andor bailed without a word and Pri came over to Jack, looking at the still weeping Kazlaena with sympathy.

“Hey, little Sheriff,” She knelt beside Kazlaena and began rubbing her back. “Present situation is tough. To shed tear for enemy is rare and special quality.”

Kazlaena shifted from Jack and wrapped her arms around Pri, taking the Sikarran in a tight embrace. Jack set his hand on Pri’s shoulder, catching her expression, and smiling when their eyes met. Pri wrapped her arms around the Vandean, brushing Kazlaena’s back gently. She finally just held Kazlaena in a comforting grip and let her weep. Jack stood up and walked over to the far side of the rec room, motioning both Proculus and Lucinia to follow with a head gesture as he passed.

“What is on your mind, Second Officer?” Proculus asked.

Jack spoke without much formality. “This crew, these drones. They reek of a big potential problem.”

“Black Nova?” Lucinia asked.

“If not them, then some subordinate possibly,” Jack spoke. “Does any criminal activity in the League occur independently of Black Nova these days?”

“Doubtful,” Proculus replied.

“This little drone and mothership operation is big dollar.” Jack stated. “Who was it that was using a stealth vessel of that capacity to hunt bulk ore freighters? What was the gain for them?”

“Are you suggesting we may yet be in danger?” Proculus’ voice carried some concern.

“I don’t know,” Jack replied. “I think we got all the drones and took out the mothership before any real identification could occur on us,” he was silent for a few moments. “I don’t know though, I can’t say. They may have made our identities right away if they were collecting such things.”

“Is it possible that they may find some other way? Like say, from the Star Guard database, one way or another?” Proculus inquired. “If this was something more?”

“Anything could be possible with them,” Jack remarked. “We could be scuba diving in a mire of shit here.”

Proculus gave Jack a mixed glare.

“Was there another vessel in the area?” Jack asked.

Lucinia thought for a moment, before her eyed widened. “There was none, Jack. Just us.”

“Are you suggesting...?” Proculus paused for a moment. “They’d have to be outta their minds to attack a vessel of this capacity with what they had.”

“Do you really think they intended to attack us from the cover of the asteroids with just a few drones?” Lucinia questioned Jack, scratching at her forearm and elbow.