(Former Slave Market, Madrigal Base, Madrigal System)
With my spy sent off to go and get kitted out, and then start working with her hacker so they could get some kind of work relationship going, I settled back and waited for my last high priority interview to come in. Oh sure, there were still plenty of slaves to sort through and organize, but most of the surviving station crew were all set to doing much the same tasks they had been doing before, though under new management, and with some retraining going on to get them up to my standards. The various pirate crews, well, they were getting to help tear their ships apart and feed them into recyclers which would then produce ships for the Black Star Fleet. Most of the slaves that had been ‘transferred’ from the pirates to me were unskilled at anything except bedroom work, and so they were going to be getting training as well, same as the first slaves who had been part of Black Star.
The doors opened, and in walked a Marine. I could tell she was a Marine, just by the way she walked. But I could also tell that she’d had a rough time of it over the last twenty years. Alea Pakas had apparently been used as a bodyguard and ‘companion’ for several different pirate captains, but she’d also done some time in pit fights as a slave gladiator. The fact that she was still alive, even if she had scars, said a lot about her. Only problem was, her right arm was missing, just below the shoulder. Nasty fight had made it so they needed to take the arm to keep her from dying, but replacements were expensive, and with her owner short on funds, he decided to sell her.
She stood at ease, as close as she could with one arm, as I examined her. She was still in good shape, despite the arm, and her red hair was cut short, close to her head, which was an interesting look. Her face sported one nasty scar across her left eye, which had been replaced by a cybernetic one. She looked ready to drop into any fight I could send her to, so long as I gave her an arm and some weapons and armor.
“Sit down, Marine. I’m not a pirate captain looking to get you on your back. I am Mirikon Mollen, owner of the Black Star Company, and you. I’m also the Admiral in charge of the Black Star Navy, and we’re expanding the fleet, which means I need people who are skilled at their jobs. You are having this meeting now because the number of military trained people from the slave pens that weren’t psychotic assholes was literally down to just two people, and I wanted them on my team.”
When Alea had sat down in the offered chair, I continued. “I don’t know how much information you’ve got about what has been happening in the outside world, but suffice to say that the Black Star Company is the rising star of companies in the Confederacy at the moment, and the Black Star Fleet is the premier mercenary group in Known Space. Fact of the matter is, we’ve got plans that are making us build up the fleet, so we can take on responsibilities in multiple places at once. But before we get into that, we need to talk about you, and what we are going to do with you.”
Alea looked a bit confused about that, and said, “Master? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m a slave. You can just order me, or turn on that damn Stepford setting and make me.”
I nodded. “Yes, you’re a slave, but that doesn’t matter as much in Black Star as it does other places. And the reason we’re talking about you is because Black Star has done work with the Confederacy. As a Confederate Marine, I could work with a friend I have in the Navy to get you returned to them as a free woman. That is an option available to you, but we both know that after twenty years, you’d get sent to counseling, likely get a nice ‘retirement’ ceremony, a basic government-issue arm to replace the one you lost, and then be kicked out into the Civilian world where you’d be on your own, looking to see what work you can find. Sure, you might luck out and be taken back and somehow manage to return to combat status, but you were a Private when you were captured, and you’d be a Private now, with people twenty years younger than you are.”
Leaning back in my chair, I said, “So that’s your first choice. Go back to the Confederacy as a free woman, head out into Civilian life, and find your way. It isn’t a bad choice, if you’ve seen enough and want to just settle down, maybe get a job in an office somewhere answering phones. However, that’s just one of your choices. I’m here to lay out what your other choices are, if you’re interested.”
The Marine frowned, and said, “Well, it might be nice to see home again, or at least let people know I’m alive. But they’ve all moved on, probably thought I was dead. And they’d want to talk about it constantly if I was a civilian. So what are my other options, before I make a decision?”
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Smiling, I leaned forward. “Glad you’re at least going to hear me out. All right, so you’ve heard Option 1. Now here’s Option 2. Black Star is a big company, full of a lot of positions. We have people, both slave and free, who have gone through the same as you, or worse. Probably heard something about Jagloth getting an Exterminatus order, right? We have some of the survivors in our company. So you’ll have people around you that know what it is like to lose everything. And some of them have reinvented themselves, stepping into new fields. You want to learn to fly a shuttle? Maybe become a teacher? Pick up a trade? We’ll help you get the training you need. And, of course, we’d be getting you a new arm.”
I grinned at the woman, and said, “Of course, Option 2 might not be your thing. Flying a freighter or learning to tune an engine or becoming an artist might not seem too different from civilian life to you, except for you getting a better-quality arm out of the deal, and not needing to worry about a lot of concerns like taxes or cost of living. I’ve known Marines in two worlds, and I don’t think that’s something you’d go for, but I don’t want you thinking I’m leaving out any of your options, so I’m laying it out for you. But Option 3, well, that’s something I think you might like.” The door chimed, and I smiled, “And I have someone here to help tell you why that might be.”
The doors opened, and in walked Captain Virstina, dressed in her crisp new Black Star Navy uniform, looking worlds different from the slave who had left this same room a couple hours ago. There was a moment of shocked recognition as the two women saw each other, and the Marine shot up to her feet as the Captain walked into the room and then turned to give me a crisp naval salute. “Slave-Captain Ara Virstina reporting as ordered, Master.”
I nodded to Captain Virstina, and said, “I mentioned to Ms. Pakas here that there were two people from the Kyathaela Daven that we managed to retrieve from the pirates. After twenty years, I’m afraid it will likely be next to impossible to find any other survivors, but I thought that, as you are now a Captain in the Black Star Navy, you might like having one of your former Marines as the commander for your Marine detachment?”
Captain Virstina nodded. “Yes, Master, I would most certainly like to have even one member of my former crew under me. Did you give her the same options as you did me?”
I shrugged. “Almost. I thought I’d wait on the ‘join the Black Star Marines’ pitch until she saw you in uniform.” Turning to look at Pakas, I chuckled, seeing the state she was in. “Go ahead, Pakas, and ask Captain Virstina what you want to know.”
Pakas nodded once to me, and then looked back to Virstina. “Is… is it true? You’re a Captain on a warship, even though you’re a slave? An actual warship, in an actual navy, not a glorified pirate vessel?”
Captain Virstina nodded. “Yes, I am going to be the Captain of the BSN Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, the Black Star Navy’s first battleship. But it is a big ship, and I’ll need a Marine commander I can count on in order to make sure the crew, slave and free, keep in line. Do you think you’re up to the task, Marine?”
Alea Pakas, former Confederate Marine and slave to pirates, snapped to attention as best she could, and no doubt would have saluted if she still had her arm. Military habits never really go away, after all, even if there’s some rust on them. “Ma’am, yes, ma’am!”
I nodded appreciatively. “I take it, then, you are going to take Option 3, and become a Captain in my Black Star Marine Corps? Of course, on ship you’ll have to be called Major, because we all know there’s only one Captain on a ship.”
The Marine turned crisply in place, and said, “Yes, Master! I will join your Marines.” I could practically feel the salute in her voice.
Smiling, I nodded, and said, “Then Captain Virstina, if you would escort Captain Pakas to where the Thunderfury is docked so that she can begin learning about her new force, and can talk with the Marine doctors about what she wants for her new arm? And when you send out your next message to your sister, you might also send a message to her husband and daughter, if they’re living, and tell them the good news.” I looked at the Marine, and said, “I might suggest holding off on a video message until you’re in uniform, with at least a temporary arm to fill the sleeve. It will make them see you as less ‘victim’ and more ‘survivor’.”
Pakas nodded stiffly, and I could see she was doing her best to maintain that typical Marine composure. Not wanting her efforts to go to waste, I motioned to Virstina, who nodded with a smile. Together, the two women went out into the corridor, and the door closed behind them.
I waited twenty minutes for the two women to move down the hall and around the corner where they could avoid being seen by me as I left. The cameras in the hall showed the Marine’s composure start to slip, finally, and I turned off the feed. I had no need to watch that. Let her have a bit of privacy.
I stood, and slipped out of the room, myself, turning out the lights as I left. With the disposition of the slaves recovered from the pirates done, there were still plenty of things on this station that required attention. But for now, things were going smooth. The shipyards were up and running, and the station wasn’t about to fall apart. And we’d received our payment for the anti-piracy work in this sector.
There was a lot to do, but I’d been away from Nuevo Edo for a while, so it would probably be good to check in on things there, and see how the fleet was rebuilding. Tapping my bracer as I walked, I said, “Raven, what is the status of Fourth Group?”
“All sixteen gunboats crewed and ready, and training together. Three Assassins crewed. The rest of the Fourth Group is waiting on production time in the queue at the shipyard.”
“Transfer Fourth Group production to the Madrigal Base shipyard. Fourth Group will use Madrigal Base as their base of operations. Send the ships here to relieve First Group. First Group will return to Dimiya when they arrive. Have the Starlight Raven prepped for launch as well, and let the girls know. Detach the Shadowdancer to escort us. We’re going to check in on Nuevo Edo. It has been a while since I showed my face there.”
“Understood, Admiral. Deployment orders going out now.”