James Doohan Flight Engineer Volume 2 The Privateer

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towards the site of battle, and they were really forkin out the neutrinos.
They took her, Raeder thought. His mind froze on the thought and refused to go
any farther. He checked his fuel gauge automatically. Then let out his breath
in a huff.
What are you thinking, Raeder?
he asked himself.
You re going to go rescue her from a Mollie base, defended by a wounded but
still able destroyer, with four Speeds and a couple of workboats.
I think they ve got her, sir, Manning said into his long silence.
I think you re right, Ensign. We ll head back to base. Raeder, out.
I ll think of something, Raeder promised himself.
I am not leaving Sarah James in Mollie hands.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Shell me this lobster, Captain Holmes said to his security people.
The figure in the suit put up an uncoordinated resistance, still groggy from
the stun volt his rescuers had used to subdue him.
Is there a point to this? Holmes asked the weakly struggling figure. We re
in no particular hurry. So if you d prefer we can always leave you in there
until you run out of oxygen and let you come out on your own.
The helmeted figure slumped in the hands of the two security guards and the
third removed his helmet to an accompanying swish of escaping air.
It s a woman! exclaimed the auditor beside Holmes in high-pitched shock.
Holmes gave him a sidelong glance. It was the auditor s job to insure that the
minds of the crew remained pure and that no outside doctrine stained their
faith. He could even chastise the captain himself, albeit only in private.
That the pirate was a woman was an unwelcome complication. No doubt it would
send Auditor Faithful-to-the-Spirit
Williams into a frenzy of investigations. From this point on any man who
mentioned that he missed his wife was in for a bad time.
Williams turned to his captain indignantly. He took a breath to speak, but
said nothing, his hand went out in a gesture of repudiation towards the pirate
woman and Holmes could almost read his little mind.
Obviously, the captain said, this prisoner s identity must be kept secret.
He made a point of appearing to address the security force, but the way he
spoke was in answer to Williams unspoken distress. Petty Officer, he
continued, speaking to the highest ranking of the security people, choose
three other people whose discretion you trust and assign them to guard this
prisoner. You will all take up lodgings in the brig and you will not speak to
any of the crew unless directly ordered to do so until further notice.
Yes, sir! the young petty officer snapped. The man s dark face echoed the
shock and dismay on the auditor s.
If she s significantly wounded, let me know and I ll see about getting a
corpsman down here to look her over.
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Yes, sir!
Prisoner, you might as well divest yourself of your suit and make yourself as
comfortable as you can. Auditor,
Holmes turned to him, my office, I think.
Absolutely, Captain! Williams eyes shone with outrage.
This is very serious, Williams said as he paced back and forth across the
captain s small office. He stopped to give the captain, sitting calmly behind
his desk, an aggrieved stare. I don t think you realize just how serious.
Sir, Holmes reminded him gently. It is important for the sake of discipline
that you remember to call me sir,
auditor. He steepled his hands before him. And I am very well aware that
there is a possibility of this prisoner causing . . . ripples, if you will, in
the smooth running of my ship. But of more concern to me right now is how we
shall handle her interrogation.
Methods for dealing with Commonwealth whores are well established, Williams
snarled.
Holmes folded his hands as he stared off into the middle distance and resisted
the urge to sigh.
We have time, he said. It will be some time before the jump coil is
repaired. Let s take it slow.
What do you mean, you don t know? Raeder stared at Paddy in perplexity.
Weel, Sir. We had no orders other than to watch em. And their main lock was
disabled, and they ve been quiet and all. So we thought we d wait on you, sir,
so to speak.
So we don t know who they are, or how many, or how they re armed, is that
it?
We know how many, sir. There s five, sensors told us that. Though they ve got
some kind of shielding in the cargo area that we can t get through. They could
have an army in there, but I doubt it, since the energy signature indicates
they re only heating the living quarters. One of em we can see seems to be a
child.
A child? Raeder asked, startled.
One of the original crew?
It was possible, though there was nothing to say that some pirate might not
have a kid.
What the hell, he thought, we might as well admit we re Space Command. If
worst comes to worst that ship is how we re going home anyway.
And telling them might get the Welters inside the freighter with no one else
getting hurt.
Kavi and her family/crew waited anxiously for something to happen. When the
Speeds had left them here they d tried to escape. After allowing them to
accumulate a reasonable lead. But they d been swarmed by workboats and
messages that threatened dire consequences if they persisted.
Workboats weren t notoriously battleworthy craft, but then, neither were
freighters, so Kavi took them at their word. They might well be lying, but
then again, these were pirates and such would arm their bathtubs for the sheer
joy of it. It wasn t the first time she d wished for better sensors. In terms
of telling just what was actually out there they were as good as blind.
Ahoy
Province of Quebec
.
Kavi jumped, it had been hours since they d tried to communicate. She glanced
at her uncle, his mouth tightened.
She squeezed her eyes tight shut, then tapped her console.
This is the
Province of Quebec responding. She licked dry lips with an equally dry
tongue. Please identify yourself.
This is Commander Peter Ernst Raeder of Commonwealth Space Command. We demand
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that you open your ship for a legal inspection of your papers and cargo.
If he had announced that he was William Shakespeare and he wanted her to star
in his new play Kavi couldn t have been more stunned.
Space Command, Stes said, his voice hinting at a surprising degree of relief
under the circumstances.
Space Command? she demanded, glaring at her uncle.
Yes, ma-am, the com answered.
There s a big difference between busted and dead, Kavi, Stes said. I ve
been happier, but I can t remember ever being this relieved.
How do we know they re telling the truth? she asked him, despite the open
com.
Why lie? Raeder asked her. We ve got you right where we want you. Do you
really think that genuine pirates would waste their time with psychological
torture when they could indulge in the real thing? Oh, and you might remember
something. You might remember a certain convoy, and an attack on the convoy,
and the reason your ship wasn t captured then and every one of you bunged out
the airlock, or worse. Remember the new method of disabling enemy sensors I
found? The hammer method?
The family looked at one another, wariness on every face. Kavi tsked!
Commander what s-his-name was right.
Real pirates were into action, not talk. Which meant Stes was right too, they
were busted.
What are the odds of it being the same Commonwealth officer? Kavi hissed,
breaking the connection for an instant.
What are the odds of a pirate knowing someone disabled a spacecraft by
driving around and bashing it with a hammer? Stes said. Even pirates don t
think that crazy.
We re coming aboard, Raeder told them firmly. Whether you open up for us or
not, we re going to be on your bridge within the hour. But I warn you, if you [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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