Chapter Forty-Five

The Nature of Soldiers

Crush had spent many of his formative years as a soldier. He was, therefore, a lot more prepared for what greeted them when they exited Transit Space in their target system.

Their arrangement with the Imperial Line patrol in the previous system had gone off without a hitch, and if there was one thing soldiers without much to do could be counted on for, it was gossip.

They were contacted this time not by just a single patrol ship but two. Both were more than happy to pay a decent premium for a little illicit hooch. Since booze was always a good seller, they had several types in the hold.

They made two patrol captains very happy, especially since they did not need to wait eight hours. The second delivery even came with an unexpected bonus: a captain with an eye for rare equipment and a relatively liberal attitude to Imperial Line property.

“Those are the Sagacity Learning Modules!” He gasped at seeing the machine that Crush had unpacked to get a look at while they traveled. The sheer mania of the dock agent/professor had unsettled him, and he wanted to ensure there was no mind-altering tech hidden inside.

“They are,” Crush said, “I made a connection in the last system that was generous enough to supply me with one.” There was no way he would admit to the others, considering the blatant greed the man was displaying.

“They refuse to allow the Imperial Line access to them,” his bitterness about the fact was clear. “They detest us for our merchant reputation.”

Crush was personally willing to bet it was for other reasons, like the protection rackets, underhand tactics, and barely legal contracts, but he kept those thoughts to himself.

“Our merchant said much the same thing,” Crush sighed. “A strange people.”

“But the best training system within several systems of here,” the captain was nearly drooling. “I must have it!”

That led to haggling, with Crush almost giving in just to get the man off his ship before he said the magic words.

“I’ll throw in an Imperial Line ID beacon,” he said desperately, “No more hassles by the blockade.”

“Well,” Crush did his best to appear hesitant but shook after a moment. He didn’t want the man to change his mind. “Done!”

Twenty minutes later, the Taking Liberties set course for the station minus one Learning Module, but up several other items.

“With this, we can just slip in completely unnoticed,” Tri marveled. “We’d barely need the distraction.”

“They might still notice the firefight going on in their corridors,” Cara laughed. “But I have to admit, it was a good haul.”

Berenice said nothing.

“What’s wrong?” Prim asked. “Think the boss could have gotten more?”

“Irritated, the best deal wasn’t done by me!” Berenice snapped. “I’m ashamed, I really am!”

“If you had done the deal, we’d probably have his ship as well,” Crush chuckled. “Let’s just be happy he insisted we dock before changing IDs.”

“How long do we have?” Andy asked.

“Seven hours, twenty minutes,” Crush said seriously. “Then the fun starts.”

“Does anyone else think it is strange the large capital ship is following us?” Sec asked. “I mean, that wasn’t the plan, right?”

Crush checked the scan, and it sure seemed like the capital was on an intercept course.

The comm line began to blink, and everyone looked at each other.

“Think you can keep them talking for seven and a half hours?” Sec asked.

“No,” Crush shook his head, “No, I do not.”

===<<<>>>===

Nellie went over the plans again and again, but it wasn’t making any difference. She had covered every contingency she could imagine the first time. This was just a way to calm her nerves that, frankly, wasn’t working.

Even with Remy, Salem, Brix, and a few others having examined the plan and called it good, Nellie just couldn’t escape one point.

This attack was a bad idea.

Breaking through was just not possible, meaning that trying would be an exercise in futility that could cost them the resources they really needed. Namely ships and people.

Of course, they weren’t actually trying to break the Line, just induce enough panic and chaos to allow the Taking Liberties to attempt a rescue of the hostages, but still… there was always a chance that something would go wrong, or worse, of losing someone.

The plan was to attack several points at once. Three, to be precise. The Emissary would attack jump point eleven, coming out across the system from the man leading the blockade, and hit the weakest collection of ships as hard and fast as possible. At the same time, Nellie would take the Harbinger through jump point three, opening fire on the ninth wing and focusing on taking down as many of the non-hostage-holding ships as possible, providing a very large distraction.

She was taking the Harbinger in there because, unlike the other attacks, this one couldn’t pull out at the first sign of danger. They had to survive long enough to give the Liberties a chance to do their part.

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Finally, Baz and Salem would join Dar and their best heavy cruisers in attacking the black port.

With the Ten Suns in the Confederacy systems and the Mauisarian system both reporting attacks, it would seem that they were probing for a weakness.

Once the ships began to take damage, they would fall back, with the Harbinger only retreating once they received a coded burst from the Taking Liberties.

All of that relied too much on things going according to plan for Nellie’s liking, and if the Ten Suns didn’t roll on the Line afterward, it would leave them a lot of damage to fix before the Line invaded.

It was time to make the difficult choice—long past time, all things considered—that she had avoided in the faint hope it would not be necessary.

She opened her communication logs, scrolled through the contact with Lucy from well over a week ago, and activated the comm line.

Nellie had tried her best to give Lucy time, but things were happening that could no longer be ignored in hopes of saving their relationship.

“Nellie! I—” Lucy started.

“You asked for time, I know,” Nellie interrupted, “and I tried to give it to you. I really did, Lucy.”

“I know, but—”

“If it were just the two of us involved in this, I’d let you continue to ignore everything. It’s not, and I am out of time.” Nellie sighed. “I’m sorry to do this—”

“Will you let me—”

“No, I know,” Nellie went on, “But I have to know if you have anything to help us with the—”

“WILL YOU LET ME GET A WORD IN?” Lucy yelled desperately.

“Oh, sorry,” Nellie winced. “I’ve just been dreading this.”

“I have good news,” Lucy said firmly, “And you have been very patient, so please just give me the time to tell you what has been going on!”

“I’d love that, Lucy,” Nellie admitted, “But I’m going to be very busy for the next few hours, and then…”

“What?” Lucy asked. “Shit, how long have I been working?”

“It’s been over a week, Lucy,” Nellie said numbly.

“WHAT?” Lucy yelled. “Oh, shit, I only asked for a couple of days. Nellie, I promise I can explain everything. For now, just tell me what you need.”

Nellie felt something cold and hard inside her crack a little at that comment. ‘Tell me what you need’ was the kind of thing that Nellie needed to hear right now.

“I am launching a huge attack on the Line, and I need to know if you still have that Imperium-class ship?”

“I do,” Lucy went on, “You tell me where, and I’ll attack.”

“No, the attacks already planned,” Nellie said. “I need to know that if we get ships following us, there is something to meet them on the other side.”

“I’ll be ready. How long do I have?” Lucy asked quickly.

“About five hours from now, plus battle time,” Nellie told her. “Lucy, do you have any of the ships you took left?”

“Long story, and part of what I want to explain, but no,” Lucy said apologetically. “It looks like I really suck at being a partner if I can’t literally be in your head; I’m really sorry. I’ll learn to adjust if you let me. I promise.”

“Okay,” Nellie hadn’t planned on the ships anyway, but it would have been nice. “We might have badly damaged ships and very little time to fix them. Can you help with that when we get back?”

“Absolutely,” Lucy replied instantly. “And one of the things I wanted to show you was a new repair and upgrade dock. Long story made very short, I will have even an Imperium-class repaired in a matter of hours, with enough space to dock two of them and several capitals at once.”

“That is just what we need, Lucy. Thank you.” Nellie said. “We’ll make time to talk after all this is over, I hope.”

“Me too,” Lucy said. “For now, let me just say one thing?”

“Go on,” Nellie replied with more than a bit of nervousness.

“I’m sorry for what I did. I’ll never make any major decision without talking to you again. Couples don’t do that. I was arrogant and a little stuck up. I was too used to always being right,” Lucy said seriously. “I’m going to be better.”

“Thank you,” Nellie said, feeling choked by emotions. “We really can’t get into it all now, but we will. I promise.”

“You do whatever you need to,” Lucy replied with conviction. “I’ll be here to support you and the fleet when they return. You did your part, Nellie. You showed me trust when I didn’t deserve it. Now, it’s my turn. Now, I get to show you I do.”

The comm line closed, which was good because Nellie was crying too much to actually say anything else.

She had been flying by the seat of her pants for weeks, or was it months? If Nellie was honest, it felt like years—all without a safety net, not with the Imperial Line or their blockade, although that was more than enough on its own. She had been flying solo in her relationship with Lucy.

From the moment Lucy became so obsessed with the egg, Nellie had been alone in the relationship, but there seemed to be hope for the first time in a long time.

Lucy was actually going to be there when they needed her. When Nellie needed her. At the very least, she was saying the right things. A hurt and angry part of Nellie was waiting to see if those things actually proved true, but it was at least a step in the right direction.

Of course, it would not be easy. Building a new relationship would take time and effort on both sides.

There was no going back to what they had because that level of absolute trust was probably not possible anymore. In time, however, they could build the kind of trust that a loving relationship needed to thrive.

Here, on the eve of battle, Nellie finally believed that might happen for the first time since she woke up with a new brain.

It was a relief and terrifying all at once. Giving your life for someone was a lot easier than putting your heart in their hands. One was just life, and the other was your soul in someone else’s care.

Nellie gave herself ten minutes to cry before wiping her eyes and getting a cup of HyperDrive. Ten minutes was all she could spare, even for this.

===<<<>>>===

Paren withdrew her tendrils of consciousness from the network, seeing Bunny pointedly looking the other way. He knew who made him and was a good boy. He never complained when she hijacked it to eavesdrop on things.

Lucy had finally decided to answer.

Well, yipee.

Paren felt bad, at least a little, about spying on Nellie, but someone had to look after her. Letting Lucy be responsible for that was not a mistake that Paren would make again any time soon.

Did she answer? What did she say?

“Nu-B,” Paren said. “She said all the right things. Apparently, she will be there to help if the attack goes wrong. Isn’t that just precious?”

You don’t trust her.

“No, Nu-B, I don’t.” Paren narrowed her eyes. “She betrayed Nellie once. She can no longer be trusted with important things.”

Maybe she has learned her lesson and will emerge as a better person on the other side of this!

They both laughed at that.

Jaded was a term someone had once used to describe Paren, but the truth was a lot deeper than that. Jaded was a teacup, and Paren was an ocean.

“When someone shows you who they are, believe them,” Paren told Nu-B. “I learned that lesson early enough.”

So what do we do?”

“We keep working, Nu-B. We keep working until nothing, and no one, in the universe would dare lift so much as a finger against the people we love.” Paren grinned. “And the Imperial Line will be where we start.”

He’s coming up the lift tube now.

“Thank you Nu-B,” Paren flushed a little as it felt like she was filled with butterflies. “Continue building the new ship; we will be taking a short break before continuing.”

Not that short, luckily

“Nu-B!” Paren laughed but nodded vigorously.