Chapter 9

When Colin returned to the Rose he discovered that he had another source of income. The two pirates he’d held were already condemned men and as such he was free to sell them and keep the profits. The next auction was a full property sale so he’d be able to unload anything he wanted to, and conveniently it was happening the following day.

“Colin,” called Rosie, “Captain Hallis would like a word if it’s convenient.”

Colin nodded and the image of Captain Hallis appeared before him, “What can I do for you Captain?” he asked pleasantly.

“It’s more a case of what I can do for you,” replied the corvette’s Captain. “The owners of the Viking Star have made reparations and rewards.”

“Already?” said Colin in surprise. Normally any sort of salvage claim took months if not years to go through the legal system, especially when more than one of the Great House’s was involved.

“Yes,” said Captain Hallis. “It seems to be a bit quick but it appears that House Rutgers applied some pressure and the company’s board of governors folded fairly easily.”

Colin nodded, “I take it you’ve turned a tidy profit on your rescue mission, then?”

“A fair amount,” admitted the Captain, “but it appears that you haven’t done too badly out of their generosity either.”

“Me?” asked Colin in surprise.

“You didn’t know?” asked the Captain. “Clearly not. You were the first ship on the scene and broadcast the distress message that called us to the stricken craft. In addition you removed several of the passengers from harm’s way at great risk to yourself.”

Colin shook his head dismissively. “I was lucky.”

“Lucky or not,” said the Captain, “they’ve presented you with a finders fee.”

Colin grinned and the Captain continued, “I’d asked for your contact details to be passed to the owners but I’ve no idea how long it will take to get a message through to you.”

Colin raised an eyebrow, which the Captain correctly interpreted. “They’re contacting me through the Navy headquarters on Montrose rather than directly.”

Colin shook his head, “I bet they’ve got a representative on Tor as well.”

“Several,” agreed the Captain, “but they’re working through their head office, so we have to do the same.”

Colin nodded, “Are you heading back home soon?”

“In about four hours,” confirmed the Captain, “You?”

“I’m off out there as soon as I’ve finished dealing with House Rutgers,” said Colin who had a sudden idea. “Captain, are you allowed to carry things, you know, freight, things like that?”

“What sort of things?” asked Captain Hallis, suspiciously.

“I’ve a couple of slaves I want to send back to Dundaff,” said Colin, “I was just wondering if you could do it for me.”

“It’s a little unusual,” said the Captain thoughtfully, “but not unheard of.”

“Would you be willing to make a detour for me?”

The man on the screen rubbed his chin, “I’d have to charge you a nominal fee,” he said, “Say a hundred credits.” He shrugged, “Yeah, why not, after all you’ve made us a fair parcel of credit. Send them over and I’ll take them home for you.”

“Thanks, Captain,” said Colin with a grin, glad that he had solved that little problem. “Now, do you happen to know where I can sell an obsolete replenishment vessel?”

“No,” said the Captain with a shake of the head, “You could always toss it into the sun.”

“I’d probably get charged for doing that around here,” responded Colin.

“True,” said the Captain and then with a friendly wave he broke the connection.

“Adele,” called Colin.

After Rosie had made contact with the second vessel Adele replied, “Yes.”

“Get the twins ready for departure,” said Colin, “they’re heading home on the Typhoon. You’ll have to be quick about it as they’re planning to leave in a couple of hours.”

“I’ll get it sorted,” responded Adele.

‘Two down, four or five to go,’ thought Colin. “Rosie, can you see to getting Tedi and Lesley transferred from the Petal to here when Adele has finished with the twins. We’ll be taking the two of them with us when we leave,” said Colin.

“What about Galo?” asked Rosie innocently.

“Not you too?” said Colin with a grin.

“I have no interest in him,” said Rosie with a sniff, “after all I’m only an image. But if you did plan on taking him with us, it would be wise to make preparations. I need to allocate a cabin, ensure we have supplies for an extra mouth, clothing, male grooming products.”

“Wouldn’t you need them anyway?” asked Colin suspecting that he shouldn’t ask.

“You use them?” she responded sounding surprised.

Colin shook his head, “Set aside a cabin for him and get your supplies.” He stared at Rosie and said, “I’m going for a shower.”

She just grinned back at him.

“There they go,” said Colin softly as the screen in front of him stopped displaying the image of the House Graham corvette. He tried to relax now that the twins had been moved on but deep down he had a feeling that he’d just created a whole load of trouble for his house and the reason was his own pride.

On the screen he could just make out his own shuttle making its way back after dropping off the twins.

Colin twitched as a hand descended on his shoulder.

“You’ve made those two happy,” said Yana, “no matter what else you think you’ve done.”

Colin smiled, “Those two maybe, but what about you? You’re going to be sharing the ship with two other slaves.”

“Possibly three,” replied Yana, “if Galo gets his way.”

Colin looked to the ceiling and sighed.

“No, I don’t fancy him,” said Yana, “but he seems determined to come with you and I think that this is the first time he’s ever felt that way. It will be interesting to see how his family reacts when he informs them of his intentions.”

“They’ll probably say no,” said Colin.

“From what I’ve heard it’s almost certain that his mother will,” she gave Colin a knowing smile. “I wouldn’t be so sure about his father.”

“No?” asked Colin.

“He’s some sort of officer in the House Rutgers military,” said Yana, which did nothing for Colin’s peace of mind. “Galo sort of hinted that his dad wanted him to do something useful but hadn’t pushed the point with his mother so far.”

Colin shook his head and sighed again, “That’s as may be,” he said, “and Galo may be joining us but Tedi and Lesley definitely are. How do you feel about that?”

Yana’s eyes opened wide in surprise, “I’m a slave, what I feel doesn’t matter.”

“Maybe not according to some people, but I want to know how you feel.” said Colin.

“To be honest I’m not sure,” said Yana. “Tedi is young and very pretty but she’s lost her father and I know you’re trying to free her. Are you going to drag her into your bed and replace me?”

Colin shook his head.

“I didn’t think you would,” she said. “Oh don’t get me wrong, I expect you to make love to her but I don’t believe that you’d treat me badly because of it.” She gave a shrug, which Colin noticed did interesting things to her ample bust.

“Lesley is a different thing,” continued Yana, “I’m not really sure what I think of, uhmm ... Should I say her or it?”

“As far as I’m concerned she’s a girl until she decides otherwise,” replied Colin.

“I think that’s my problem with her,” said Yana, emphasising the ‘her.’ “I’m not sure whether she’s one of the girls or an interloper.”

“Give her the benefit of the doubt,” instructed Colin and then it was his turn to shrug, “whether I’ll be able to do that and take her to bed is another matter.”

“I guess we’ll just have to see what happens,” sad Yana.

“That we will,” agreed Colin. “They’ll be here after the auction tomorrow and we’ll all see how things progress.” He glanced around the bridge, “and talking of their arrival have the cabins been prepared for them?”

Yana nodded, “All of the cabins are aired and ready for occupation. I’ve set aside a cabin for Galo as far from yours as is possible so the two of you don’t disturb each other.” Colin shook his head but remained silent.

Grinning, Yana continued, “I’ve put Tedi in the cabin alongside yours and Lesley is in the next one along. Adele and Zara are in the one between Galo and me.”

“Is that wise?” asked Colin.

“Who for?” asked Yana, “Galo or Adele?”

Colin shook his head and chuckled, “Forget I asked,” he said. “I just hope Galo knows what he’s letting himself in for.”

“I bet...” began Yana.

“Captain, I’ve got a corvette approaching us,” reported Rosie, “It’s got a House Vogel transponder code.”

“Oh shit,” said Colin as he twisted to study the screen before him. “How long until he’s within firing range.”

“Twenty-five minutes,” said Rosie. “He’s only just dropped into normal space.”

“How long till our shuttle gets back?”

“Ten minutes maximum,” said Rosie, “I’ve already informed them that we may have a problem and Adele is coming in as fast as she can manage.”

“Well done, Rosie,” said Colin. “Now bring up the shields and spin us to face the threat as soon as the shuttle has docked.”

“Power up our weapons?” asked Rosie.

Colin pondered the problem, it would take about thirty seconds to get the particle beams up to working status but doing so would be easily detectable as his own energy signature fluctuated. If he kept them off line it would give the approaching corvette at least one shot without a return. However, energising his beams could be considered a hostile act and that would allow the incoming corvette to claim he was operating in self-defence.

“No, don’t do that,” said Colin, “We’ll play it cool until we see what he is up to. You can target the first missile on him though, at least we’ll get some sort of shot in if he opens fire.”

He glanced around the bridge, “Tell the AI on the Petal to reposition herself so that we are between them and the incoming corvette.”

“I’m on it,” responded Rosie.

Fifteen minutes later and the House Vogel corvette was still approaching slowly. Adele was at the weapons console and Zara had started massaging the sensors.

“It’s an old Buccaneer class corvette,” she reported. “If it hasn’t been modified then it’s only got a single seventy-six point two millimetre beam.”

“Well that’s good news,” said Colin.

“That may be but it also carries sixteen Uran anti-ship missiles and they’re big and powerful,” said Zara.

“Could we out run it?” asked Colin.

“Assuming she’s operating at one hundred percent we’re about even,” said Zara. “And she’s got a military hyperdrive so we’re not going to outrun her in hyperspace.”

“Marines, fighters?” asked Colin.

“The normal complement for a Buccaneer would be a platoon of Marines, if House Vogel has got any and there’s room for a flight of Katar fighters,” replied Zara.

“Adele, make sure the rail guns are online,” Colin kept one eye on the display screen and turned to the two women stood by the hatch. Tedi looked worried but Lesley was strangely calm.

“Do either of you know anything about operating a ship?” he asked.

Tedi shook her head negatively; alongside her Lesley did the same. “Sorry,” she added.

“It’s not your fault,” said Colin. “Take a seat in front of those consoles but don’t touch anything. Strap yourselves in just in case.” With the warnings finished he returned his attention to the approaching corvette.

Just outside the range of the Buccaneer’s missiles the corvette came to a halt. The two spacecraft continued to orbit the planet below, dead in space relative to each other.

“Message from the Vogel corvette Viper,” said Rosie. “You are required to return the children to their father, failure to do so will not be tolerated.”

“Ignore him,” ordered Colin.

Rosie nodded in acknowledgement. Adele glanced at him and frowned.

“He needs to recognise that I’m at least his equal,” explained Colin. “Once that has occurred we may be in a position to start negotiating. Until then we will continue to ignore him.”

Colin glanced around the bridge and then turned to Adele, “If he closes up, or sends his troops or fighters towards us don’t hesitate. Just take them out and scream for help from the locals. I know it won’t be forthcoming but it should mask our actions.”

He drummed his fingers on the armrest of his chair. “I’m going across to the Petal and deal with the pirates we’ve got. Hopefully Galo will have sorted out his status and we can begin making preparations to leave. Lesley, Tedi, you come too.”

He rose from his seat, “Yana, get our weapons and armour and meet me at the shuttle.”

The slave nodded and left the bridge.

“Adele, keep an eye on our friend and let me know if he tries anything.” He started walking towards the hatch. “I’ll be back tomorrow, after I’ve sold the slaves and the Petal at the auction. If I need anything I’ll call and if our friend suddenly gets polite patch him through to me, otherwise just sit tight.”

Zara called out, “Captain, don’t you think one of us,” she indicated herself and Adele, “should accompany you?”

Colin shook his head; “I want you two running the ship. I doubt if they’ll try anything against us and they’ll probably expect me to stay aboard just in case, so going off shouldn’t provoke anything.”

Neither Adele or Zara looked happy but Colin didn’t wait around to argue.

Early the following morning, following a restless night, Galo was sitting silently alongside Colin on the flight deck of the Petal as it neared the conclusion of its descent. Colin hadn’t been forthcoming concerning what was happening when he’d entered the ship and Galo had picked up on the tension. When Yana had waved him away as he tried to question her he’d begun to worry.

That worry had intensified when he’d heard Rosie report that the ‘Viper’ hadn’t moved when they broke orbit. Who or what was the Viper?

“Approach control, this is the Red Petal, we are twelve kilometres from touchdown,” reported Colin.

“Roger Red Petal, you are cleared to pad Blue five,” came the reply of the approach controller, “Contact ground control when you have gone cold and they will report your arrival to customs.”

“Thank you, approach, Petal out.” concluded Colin.

Galo couldn’t take it any more, “Is there a problem?” he asked into the silence.

Colin blinked and glanced across the cabin, “Not down here,” he said. “Up there,” he flicked a finger towards the ceiling, “well, maybe.”

“Anything to do with me?” asked Galo looking worried.

“No,” said Colin shaking his head before he went on to explain, “It appears that House Vogel is not very happy with me,” he continued, “They’re not prepared to do a similar deal to the one that’s going to set you and the others from House Rutgers free. Vogel seem to think that I should just hand over their people and the best way to achieve that is by insulting me.”

Colin managed to shrug despite the restraining harness he was wearing; “I’ve told them it’s not going to happen and they’ve informed me that they’ll follow me until I comply. There was an implied threat to use force in there as well,” admitted Colin, “and now one of their corvettes is in orbit close to the Rose.”

“Could you win in a fight with a corvette?” asked Galo.

“I’ve got the guns, he’s got the missiles,” said Colin. “If they ever manage to physically board the Rose we’ve had it.”

“What are you planning on doing?” asked Galo.

“Not a lot, at the moment,” replied Colin as he levelled out the spacecraft, prior to landing. “If you can think of something I’d be most interested in knowing about it.”

Galo thought about the matter but didn’t have anything constructive to add and as Colin was busy putting the ship down he held his tongue.

“Power down engines,” ordered Colin, “and then contact ground control.”

He started to remove his straps and glanced at Yana, “Ready?”