Shipping mishaps Chapter 8
It was mid summer, 2041, and a child was missing in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. A total of 23 scouts, their 5 leaders, and 14 rangers/law enforcement personnel were walking search patterns on an unnamed shore line when the first drop-ship came screaming down from the sky.
Maria McConor looked up from the small pile of fishing gear they had found early in the search, not far from the smoking glass disk in the woods. They had found several prints on the ground leading to the disk, but nothing else. She sighed, “Now what.”
The ship came in at a frightening speed, then went nose up and landed on its aft end near the glassed area. Feeling a sense of foreboding, Maria picked up Geo's abandoned filet knife and slowly walked towards the ship.
A ramp came down as she watched from the scorched underbrush, and then large doors opened. Five creatures, a pair of oversized slugs, a walking teddy bear, a three legged ostrich, and some kind of bat demon. The creatures (she refused to think of them as aliens) walked down the ramp, three heading towards the lake, the two slugs removing a large hose from a panel on the side of the ship, before following their companions.
She followed them slowly from the ship to the shore line where they were putting together something she thought looked like a pump. They were making so much noise, talking she assumed, that they didn't notice her as she approached.
“Alright you alien pendejos, WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER?”
The aliens looked around, startled, then the Teddy bear looking one pulled a device from its belt, pointed it at her, and fired. She barely dodged the beam, in fear for her life, she pulled the filet knife from its sheath, and charged. Muscle memory from numerous self defense classes kicking in, she hit the big bear with her shoulder, knocking it down, it’s weapon flying off into the woods.
The ostrich thing was in front of her, raising a wrench thing in the air. Maria brought her knife hand around, slashing the thing across the throat. The slug thing had eyestalks and mouth tentacles, she threw up a bit in her throat at the sight. It came towards her, something in its wriggling tentacles. She brought the knife back around. It had the arguably good luck to drop itself out of the way of the blade, but not fast enough, as the razor sharp blade clipped off it's eyestalks.
The bat demon came in fast from her side, it's sharp pointed tail digging into her leg. The pain from the strike burned up her leg, apparently poisoned. She lashed out, grabbing the tail with her free hand and yanked as hard as she could. The beast came towards her, not of its own volition. She ran the blade down one of the wings, shredding the membrane, before throwing it into a nearby tree stump.
The big teddy bear was on its feet again. It let out a fierce scream, and charged. Maria ducked under its clawed hands, grabbed a fist full of fur, and using its own momentum, spun it after the bat.
Panting she looked up. The bird was bleeding out, the bat and bear were tangled up in each other, the slugs were huddling next to each other, one making noises into some device hanging from its throat. She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, then yelled “WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER, YOU ALIEN PIECES OF SHIT?!?” as she slowly stalked towards them.
She never saw the 4 meter wide beam of energy that lanced down from the sky and turned her, and her enemies, into glass.
*-*-*
When the holo vid of the events on earth ended, the entire launch bay was so quiet, that when the air circulation system kicked in, it was almost a relief.
Geo cried. The anger, the pain, the loss, the sting of it all was nearly overwhelming. She wept for her lost mother; her lost family; her baby sister, too young to come on the trip; her father, stuck in the office. She cried for the earth she could never return to; could never again call home.
The Admiral continued, “We of the Fleet are truly sorry for your loss, Ms. McConor. It wasn't our int---”
“The hell you say? You kidnapped me! You killed my mother! For all I know, you destroyed my planet! Killed everything I loved and held dear!” Geo yelled, then “Campy, Power up all weapon systems, target enemy fleet, and prepare to fire on my order!”
*-*-*
Admiral Luktruk was afraid. He could feel it in his whiskers, his bowels, and his tail. This girl was dangerous, and she had control of the biggest war crime not in dry dock. “Please, Admiral Geo! In the name of the 17, please listen to the rest! Please!” he begged, his glands releasing fear pheromones, just like every crew member on his bridge.
“What do you want me to hear now, 'sewer dwelling vermin'? Why should I not punish you, and the rest of this worthless place, for the crimes you have perpetrated upon me and mine?” The voice was not pleasant. It was dead. Cold. Dripping with venom. The snarl on the Dirt-rockian's face was full of undisguised anger and malice.
“Be...because, because we ran from your world! We left it intact! Your people, in less than 24 of your hours destroyed or captured the majority of our drop shuttles; outright killed 12,743 of our troops; and launched the largest barrage of nuclear weapons at the fleet that we had ever seen outside of a full naval conflict! We didn't know what hit us!” Luktruk coughed, “The ferocity of your people! Your scout group alone?, accounted for some 400 dead! Your military devastated everything! No rules of war were followed. They slaughtered everyone in their path! We, regretfully, abandoned more than 20,000 soldiers, technicians, and civilian contractors on your planet!”
He waited. Hoping he had said enough to quell the savage beast in front of him. Then finally, in a soft voice, “So, 'Dirt-rockians' kicked your ass? And My mother was just the first one to do it?” the creature of legend and myth, of tales from the dark depths of space, asked. Showing its teeth.
“Um, to put it mildly, yes?” Luktruk replied. What else could he say? The Fleet had lost much that day. Too much. It was the biggest defeat, biggest cause of shame it had known, and it's biggest abandonment of its soldiers.
*-*-*
Geo gave a viciously savage smile. “Alright...Campy? Oh Campy, my Campy?
“Yes, Admiral Geo?” Came the response.
“How are the weapons systems?”
“Everything is as ready as it can be. Missile bays are empty; Sliver cannon point defense systems are 97% online; Third tier, Capital Class MK 3 weapon systems are at 41% power and holding steady.” Campy responded, “Firing solutions are ready. What are your orders?”
“Part of me wants to say 'fire' and another part wants me to stay my hand.” Said Geo. “Campy, what should I do?”
“If I may?” Captain Lod nervously stepped forward; Geo nodded. “I think you should look deep inside yourself for the answer. Does your inner voice cry for vengeance? Peace? Justice for the long dead? Does it call for the absolute obliteration of the thousand thousand beings before you?”
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Geo stood still, thinking deeply. What do I want? Vengeance? Justice? Just want left alone? The seconds started to move towards minutes, when she finally spoke. “I... I think... I will... Campy! Stand down all weapons. I will not murder those in front of me for the sins of their fore-bearers.”
Looking straight into the Holo, eyes piercing through it, “I will not kill you and yours today. It is not your fault what happened so long ago. BUT, if you or yours get in my way, I will not be so lenient again. Do. You. Understand. Admiral Mickey?” She turned away from the Holo. “Captain Lod! You can deal with this guy from now on. I'm going to find a room and take a nap.”
*-*-*
It had been 4 hours, and Admiral Luktruk was tired. Not only had the Dirt-rockian lived up to the legend, but her presence was just threatening. Like a grenade, sitting there quietly, without the pin. Every time she would show up in the holo, he would stop talking, his heart unwillingly twitching in fear. He had had to resort to dumping the atmosphere from the bridge, and have maintenance scrub it down with sanitizer to get rid of the smell. At least Captain Lod was good company. Unfortunately, Captain Lod was also good at negotiating.
“Alright, fine, Captain Lod, I understand. You will not give up the Death...Nautilus. What about the MK 3 cannons?” Admiral Luktruk said, giving in.
“The Admiral has dictated that any and all parts of the ship that you want will cost you 15,000,000,000 credits each” Captain Lod again stated. “We have been over this several times. Do I need to call the Admiral in to explain it?”
“Dear 17, No!” Luktruk twitched, “What can you do for me, then? I need something, anything, to pass on to the Grand Admiral! Anything!”
“Well, Admiral Geo has said that she is willing to give her word not to use the MK 3 weapons, except when they are truly called for.” Captain Lod replied, “Otherwise, she has stated that she wants to get going, as we have packages to deliver, and a ship to crew.”
*-*-*
Geo had found, with Campy's help, a room in which to take a nap. It was larger than her bedroom back home. Home. Home was a hard thing for her to think about. It was gone. It was all gone. What would she do? She had no place to go. No place to call home now. No place...No place but here.
She made a decision. THIS was her home now. THIS ship. For good or bad, THIS was where she would live for now. And NO ONE would take it from her. Not now, not EVER!
She put her possessions down on the small table in the cabin, chucked her dirty clothes in a corner, and lay down on the bed. Sleep came quickly, and was, thankfully, dreamless.
*-*-*
Geo was awoken a few short hours later by a knocking on her door. She sat up, looking around, trying to figure out where she was, until the experiences of the day caught up with her. She shuddered a bit, then got out of bed. Looking around, she saw that her old clothes had been moved to a basket that she didn't remember being there earlier. Also there was a pile of what looked like new clothing on the table, next to her gear.
“What do you want?”, she yelled while getting dressed. The clothing was, in all ways; minus the stains; identical to her scout uniform that she had thrown into the corner a scant few hours ago.
“It is Grig! I have come with food, and to give you a proper physical.” was the answer.
For shits and giggles, Geo said “Door, open.” Unsurprisingly, the door didn't open. “Come in Grig.”
The Slug like creature scuttled in, “You seem to have more color now that you have had some decent sleep. Here is some tasteless nutri-paste for you to consume. Once we have a good baseline on your bio systems, the galley can make something more to your taste.”
Taking the pair of toothpaste-like tubes from Grig, Geo sucked them down while the medic did it's job. After almost ten minutes, the physical was done.
“You were right, this is tasteless. I kinda like it. Way better than what I got to eat at scout camp. 'Beanies & Weenies' was way worse than this.” Geo half smiled at the memories of camp, then almost teared up thinking about the friends she would never see again. “Well, doc, what do you know?”
“I now have a complete record of your genetic data, gut flora and fauna, as well as bone density and mass. Did you know that you have ceramic in your mouth, a micro transmitter under your collar bone, and a metal chunk blocking your reproductive organs?” Grig said.
“Yes, those are fillings from cavities; the transmitter is...was for being found on 'Dirt-rock' if I got lost,” Geo explained, getting up and stretching, “the last is an implanted birth control method.”
“Birth CONTROL?!? Your people can control how they give birth?” Grig was showing a large amount of animation.
“Um, yeah? Kinda?” Geo's face started turning red, “Um, it's not something we talk about much, though. Um... Basically, the implant blocks the … it keeps me from getting pregnant. You know, birth control?” She was definitely not comfortable with this conversation, Grig being a doctor or no.
“So, what is going on elsewhere on the ship?” she asked, trying to turn the conversation away from reproduction, “How is Lod doing, talking to Mickey?”
They walked out onto the deck, and started heading to the bridge. “Well, Campy has been inserting clips of you walking into and around the meeting room whenever the Admiral starts making demands, it seems to be working out well. The crew is taking bets as to when the Admiral has an aneurysm.” an amused Grig said, “We still haven't gotten things figured out about the survivors, or what we are actually supposed to be doing.”
“Well, I think I should impose myself upon Mickey, and ask what he wants done with the survivors.” Geo smiled. “I think it should be fun.”
*-*-*
The door to the meeting room slid open, and Admiral Geo walked in. “So, Captain Lod, how are negotiations going?” Geo studiously ignored Luktruk on the holo, “Have you come to any agreement on the prisoners we are holding?”
“Well, Admiral, apparently all of the 'prisoners' are going to be immediately discharged, and we will be paid to take them to our next stop;” Captain Lod said, taking the chance to stretch, “the deceased will be transferred to Admiral Luktruk's possession, and we will be paid the usual collection fees for the bodies. Otherwise, we have come up with nothing.”
“Well, it's good to see that the last several hours have been well spent.” Geo finally turned to look at Admiral Luktruk, “Do you have anything else to say? Or can we be on our way?” She said with a smile that showed all her teeth.
“Well, Admiral Geo, could you please sell us your MK 3 cannons? I need to tell the Grand Admiral that we got something in the way of concessions.” Luktruk responded.
Lod spoke up, “I already told him that you said '15,000,000,000 credits' per item removed. He has thus far refused.” Geo did her best not to start. Lod continued, “Also that you would be willing to give your word to not use the MK 3 weapons outside of an emergency situation.”
“Glad you did.” Geo said, with another sharp smile. “So, how about this, you tell your Grand Admiral that 'I' promise, on my honor as a scout, to do my best, to do my duty, to my crew and the Certified League of Sentient Beings to which they belong. I will obey your laws, so long as they don't interfere with the liberties of myself and my crew. In addition to this pledge of allegiance, I will allow myself and my crew to be called into service no more than twice a year by the Fleet of Protectors.” She smiled again, “Will that be sufficient, Mickey?”
“I am unsure---”, Luktruk started to say when a loud shout was heard across his bridge. “Grand Admiral on deck!”