Chapter Thirteen

Border Line

Crush-Cha was monitoring the signal from the Jump Ring when Prim called over to him that they had an incoming call from the Songbird.

A little secret about the rings was that they communicated with a small, stealthy satellite on the far end of the jump point. The satellite was tiny, but it didn’t need to be large, only requiring enough power to act as an antenna for the Jump Ring’s sensors to connect to. In short, they got a decent set of readings from the area around the jump point’s exit.

Not only did it give the Watchman Drone more time to check incoming craft, it ensured that the Imperium would have an advanced warning about any future blockades before they finished forming.

It was something Crush liked about Nellie. You never caught her off-balance the same way twice.

“Captain Bitchy wants a word,” Prim called brightly. “Shall I tell her to stuff it up her ass?”

“Put her through, Prim,” Cara sighed. “And for the last time, let it go. She did not ‘get bitchy’ by refusing to allow you to borrow the Songbird.”

Prim ignored the reminder, grumbling and mumbling to herself as she jabbed a finger at the comm console to connect the line.

“Captain Hellena,” Crush didn’t take his eyes off the signal feed. “Are you seeing this?”

“Yes, Marshall Crush,” Hellena replied. “I think I can offer some insights here. If I may?”

“Any help is good,” Crush waved for her to go on.

“I can see two sets of weapon signatures I recognize on this feed.” Hellena didn’t waste time, immediately getting to the point. “There seem to be two cruisers from the Sping’s Breeze clan engaging a single cruiser from the Falling Waters clan. Not one of my father’s ships. This one belongs to a cousin of mine.”

“And the other signature?” Crush asked. There were four different sets of weapons firing off on the far side, but they were still too distant to tell anything more.

“Not one I know personally,” Hellena frowned. “Which is a problem.”

“Other than meaning we don’t know what is going on, why is it a problem?” Cara asked.

“Because I knew the signatures of every ship in the confederacy,” Hellena said simply. “That one is new, and the signatures don’t match any one house. It almost looks like a—”

She cut off as the satellite picked up a core breach in one of the ships.

The feed whited out as the sensors were overloaded by the explosion for several seconds.

“Incoming craft, small.” The Watchman reported to the Taking Liberties. “Identified as most likely an escape pod. Orders?”

“Let it through,” Crush replied immediately.

“Permission to come aboard once you recover the pod?” Hellena called.

“Granted,” Crush replied and closed the comms.

There was a small flash off the bow of the liberties, and their own sensors showed a small pod, scorched and already losing power as it began to tumble. “It’s going to lose integrity,” Sec warned. “That this is showing all kinds of hull stress, and it wasn’t exactly new.”

“Tri, get us over there,” Crush said quickly. “Quad, as soon as we are in range, lock on with the Grav Tow.”

“I wouldn’t,” Sec warned. “A stiff breeze will end that thing at the moment.”

“Wanna play catch?” Tri grinned.

“Do it,” Crush nodded. “Cara, Quad, with me.”

Tri started to move the Liberties ahead of the tumbling pod while Crush and the others headed down to the central cargo bay. He clipped his helmet in place, and they deployed around the back of the bay while four Centrum units moved into the center.

“Everyone ready?” Crush called.

Cara and Quad both nodded while the four Centrums nodded or waved.

“Do it,” Crush ordered, and the air was sucked from the bay before the outer doors opened. He saw the escape pod tumbling as it seemed to hang several meters behind the Liberties. The reality was that both the ship and it were still moving at speed, but they were, relative to each other, stationary.

“Slowing!” Tri warned, and Crush tensed as the pod began to move closer. Inch by inch, it closed until it started to edge into the bay.

“Watch the sides,” Crush warned, getting a dismissive chuckle from Tri before it finally cleared the rear doors, which closed.

“Airing!” Cara called, punching a green button next to the doors.

Crush moved forward a little as the hiss of air returned sound to the space.

The grav plating hummed as they pulled harder on the space, and the pod started to drop toward the floor.

“Securing!” The Centrums said in perfect unison, their metal bodies flexing as they clamped their hands onto the pod, stopping the spin instantly. One of them was knocked away, slamming into the far wall of the cargo bay, but the others deployed clamps, locking them to the deck plating.

Finally, they settled the pod, rotating it to clear the hatch.

“Good job,” Crush called. “You okay?” He checked on the thrown Centrum.

“All systems nominal,” It replied as it climbed to its feet. “No damage sustained.”

“Prepare to breach the Pod,” Crush called, seeing Cara start to grin.

She loved this bit.

The hatch on the pod opened as they approached, and Crush snapped his pistol from its holster immediately. Cara slid to the far side, rifle raised and ready as the Centrum units shifted to each side of the scarred hatchway.

A man stumbled from the Pod, blood flowing freely from one arm clutched against his chest. He had some minor burns on his face but otherwise looked in no immediate danger of collapse.

“Hold position and identify yourself!” Crush ordered. “Now.”

“Second Officer Hays, I am not armed,” He winced but stood as tall as he could manage. “Formerly of the Summer Breeze cruiser Sunshine’s Kiss. I request aid and contact with Captain Hellena.”

“How many in the pod?” Cara asked, rifle still raised.

“Three, all injured. No weapons on board.” Hays replied. “I think, I think… it might be two now. Nick might not have made it.” He wavered, his legs starting to shake as he tried to stay standing. He passed out a second later, one of the Centrums catching him by the back of the neck before he could collapse.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Orders?” It asked, holding the man off the deck like a wet noodle hanging from a fork.

“Get him to Sick Bay,” Crush sighed. “And contact Hellena; she’ll need to come aboard quickly.”

/===<<<>>>===\

Crush crossed his arms, leaning against the wall as Hellena glared across the table at Hays. The man had come round about an hour ago, and it turned out the two knew each other pretty well. At least, if you include attempted murder as a reasonable gauge of knowing someone.

“You’re going to have to talk eventually, you little shit,” Hellena growled, her anger simmering behind her eyes. “You asked for me, remember?”

Hays sighed, putting his head in his hands.

“This wasn’t my idea,” Hays said slowly. “I wouldn’t spit on a turncoat like you unless I had to.”

“How strict are your rules on the treatment of prisoners?” Hellena asked Crush, her cheeks flushed. “Because I can pretty much beat it out of him.”

“Not necessary,” Crush smiled lazily as he glanced at Hays. “If he doesn’t want to talk, we’ll just load him back into the pod and let him go.”

“You’ll just—” Hellena chuckled suddenly. “Oh, yeah. Let’s do that.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Hays retorted. “I came to deliver a message to this… woman… and I will do my duty.”

“Get on with it then, Haystack,” Hellena snapped. “I, unlike you, have things to do today.”

“Don’t call me that!” Hays snapped, his hands clenching as he stood.

“Uh-uh,” Crush said, hand dropping to his holster. “You just sit back down before things get worse for you, Hays.”

Hays closed his eyes, visibly shaking as he sat back down.

“I was ordered to deliver this message by my captain, Reynolds,” he said flatly. “Word for word,” he cleared his throat, “Hellena, we need your help. The Falling Waters Clan and their allies freed Cyrus from his exile. Things are bad in the Confederacy, and we are on the brink of open war.”

“Assholes,” Hellena muttered.

“We will need aid if this escalates, and the Song Birds need to sing for the Confederated Planets again. Come home, Hellena.” Hays grimaced and spat on the floor. “End of message, and for the record, I think you should swing for turning against us all.”

“Well?” Crush asked a little later. He was standing outside the interrogation room with Captain Hellena.

“If we didn’t have those sensor readings to back up his story, I’d assume it is all bullshit,” Hellena frowned and crossed her arms, thinking. “It is possible that Dad still has enough supporters to pull this kind of shit, but it doesn’t make sense.”

“How so?” Crush prompted. It was normally better to let people work things out themselves, but a prompt or two never hurt.

“What do they get out of helping him?” Hellena asked. “Most of the families are married to each other somewhere along the way. My Dad proved he has no problem turning on family, but the others? What do they want out of this? Any civil war will only weaken the families.”

“Greed?” Crush offered.

“Yes, but that isn’t enough,” Hellena said flatly. “They can be greedy, vain, selfish, xenophobic pricks, but they are intelligent greedy, vain, selfish, xenophobic pricks.”

“Suggestions?” Crush asked.

“There is some part of this that we aren’t seeing. At least, not yet.” Hellena sighed. “We can’t really do anything until we know more, right?”

“Right,” Crush brushed a bit of dust off his sleeve. “Unless you want to head back to the Confederacy like they asked.”

“No chance,” Hellena chuckled darkly. “The moment they didn’t need me anymore, I’d be put on trial.”

“Good to know,” Crush grinned. “In that case, I might have an idea or two.”

The other survivors of the escape pod were in rough shape. Crush went by to check on them on his way back to the bridge.

The Med Bay on the Liberties was top of the line by current Imperium standards, but it was still nothing to write home about. Crush and his people just didn’t need that much in the way of medical assistance. The nanites swarming through their system fixed most things before they even became a problem. Where they couldn’t fix something, they removed it and regrew the tissue in a healthy state.

It was like a cheat code, but it had one drawback.

It only worked on people who were already drones.

“Why are Med Bay’s always white?” Crush shook his head as he entered the bay, seeing the three occupied beds with Auto-Docs whirring away and the rhythmic beating of three hearts being monitored.

They had room for another five patients in the other beds, but that didn’t magically fix people up. They either needed medical staff for this tub, or they needed better medical tech. Tech that worked on non-droned people as well.

He brought up his contacts and scrolled through until he found his favorite ball or irrepressible energy and avarice.

“What’s up, Crush?” Berenice’s beaming face appeared in the corner of his vision. She was the only one of the Marshalls not to call him boss, but he supposed she was only tangentially a Marshall anyway.

“Medical tech,” Crush said simply. “The Imperium needs much better tech, or at least people.”

“What about the blushing and beautiful Andy?” Berenice winked. “He unavailable?”

“He’s been assigned to help check in the new arrivals,” Crush said, trying not to grind his teeth.

“Sick of people borrowing your Marshalls?” Berenice teased, but she wasn’t wrong.

“Medical tech,” Crush said, trying to stay on topic.

“I’ll add it to the top of the list,” Berenice said, pulling over a physical list and making a note. “Done.”

“Berenice?” Crush asked.

“Yes, Crush?” Berenice replied.

“How busy are you at the moment?”

/===<<<>>>===\

Crush leaned forward, resting his arms on the table in the small HyperDrive shop that was almost Nellie's official residence lately.

“It seems like a valid security issue,” Remy nodded, standing beside Crush. “I think it would be prudent to ensure things fall on the more stable side, if possible.”

“Remy, this is not our business,” Nellie shook her head. “That is their own space; let them get on with it.”

“Not exactly,” Remy nodded to Crush. “We are still, technically, at war with several of the clans within the Confederated Planets. It may not be a shooting war at the moment, but that is only because they are too busy. If we leave this matter to fester, they are bound to continue hostilities.”

“I’m surprised you are involved in this, Crush,” Nellie gave him a look. “Didn’t someone tell me they were done with being a soldier?”

“This isn’t a military matter,” Crush said, having thought this through earlier. “I see it as pursuing a suspect.”

“Pursuing a suspect?” Nellie asked.

“We have a long list of charges to try Cryus and his commanders with,” Crush said, having drawn them up himself earlier. “Threatening behavior, attempting to obtain goods of monetary value with menaces, attempted murder, resisting arrest, fleeing justice, evading lawful detention, illegal use of weaponry, behavior likely to cause a disturbance, and loitering.”

“Loitering?” Nellie smiled.

“Loitering with intent, technically,” Crush replied. “But I was feeling generous and offered the lower charge on that one.”

“So you want to go over there and, what? Arrest Cyrus?” Nellie asked.

“That would be the general idea, yes,” Crush nodded. “And any of his senior advisors that are implicated during questioning.”

“And you will be acting as Marshall’s of the Nanite Imperium, not soldiers?” Nellie asked thoughtfully.

Crush already knew he had won, just by the slight smile she was trying very hard not to show.

“Exactly,” Crush agreed. “Purely a police action.”

“Who do you want to take?” Nellie asked.

“About that…”

With the official okay from Nellie, Crush hesitated before asking if he should check with Lucy as well. She was a Queen as well, after all.

“Crush, I received the info burst,” Lucy replied instantly, much like he had expected.

The finally carved, gem-like eyes suited her, Crush thought absently. He could remember his first meeting with Lucy—the first face-to-face, as it were. At the time, her human appearance had been a little uncanny. She looked human, but everything else about her was just… not. This look was much more natural. In a way, it made him more relaxed.

“Any objections?” Crush asked.

“None, but I have a bit of technology I want you to take with you,” Lucy replied. “I am sending the information to Sec now. It will allow you to create anything you might need while you are gone.”

“Thank you, Queen Lucy,” Crush said carefully.

“You don’t have to call me Queen,” Lucy sighed heavily. “I really am trying here.”

“Okay,” Crush shrugged.

“Pardon?” Lucy looked surprised.

“Lucy works for me,” Crush smiled. “Never was much of a fan of titles.”

“Thank you,” Lucy smiled. “And Crush?”

“Yes, Lucy?” Crush made sure to say her name as it seemed like she needed a boost at the moment.

“Be careful, okay—no suicide missions. I want an emergency relay on the Liberties, and if you get in trouble, I’m bringing the Emissary to get you and your people out. If I beat the Harbinger there, of course.” She smiled.

“Already having one fitted,” Crush frowned as something occurred to him.

“You look worried,” Lucy said.

“I just realized I have to tell Vicky next,” Crush sighed. “She’s going to be pissed.”

“A little advice?” Lucy offered.

“Sure,” Crush never turned down advice. It didn’t mean he would follow it, but he would at least listen.

“Just trust her to understand and be honest,” Lucy looked pained for a moment. “It’s a lot better to trust in your partner than try to make up for not trusting them.”

“Good advice, thanks,” Crush smiled lazily. “Think that will stop the shouting?”

“Absolutely not,” Lucy laughed. “But it will at least make her feel better afterward.”