Chapter 3
The intrepid space voyagers were once again on Freeport, sitting in the spaceport Restaurant. Their contact, who had by now introduced himself as Jabez, was broadly smiling, and he flipped Adam another credit chip.
"My friends," he began. "Order away you are my guests."
"Why thank you," Adam replied, picking up a menu. "We had a little excitement on the way over here." He pushed a viewer disk over to the other side of the table. (Reader note: Handheld computer disk.) "Have a look. Found anything you like, Ben?" he asked his partner.
"Well, I thought that the Zidagar Space Eel Surprise looked good," Ben observed, turning a page.
"Ben its a steak with a pound of purple dye in it," Adam chuckled. "Try the steamer clams instead all that paint isnt good for you."
"Oh my," Jabez exclaimed, putting his viewer down. "I wonder what could they have been after?"
"Oh, I had a vague idea," Adam drawled, leaning back in his seat. "Take this, for instance a copy of my sensor logs," he added, pushing another viewer disk across the table. "Its very interesting."
"R really?" Jabez asked, swallowing. He was still smiling, but beads of sweat were starting to form on his balding head.
"Weapons assemblies, Jabez," Adam stated, leaning forward. His voice was suddenly dead flat. "Prime grade Blaze guns, and good to go. Just how many Renegade ships are out there, waiting for their peashooters?"
"Now just a minute here, Mr. Sanderson," Jabez sputtered, looking insulted. "Ill have you know that-"
"First off, its Captain Sanderson, my friend," Adam retorted, his voice anything but friendly. "And second, my ship is quite valuable to me. Your actions placed my ship on a very dark list and I have no intention of letting that insult slide."
"Now, one quick way of returning my good name is quite obvious," Adam said. "Ben?" he asked, looking at his partner.
Ben sat up, ready to play his part of their script. "Knox is the UE fleet headquarters. I think theyd be quite interested in what we have to show them. We can make it there fairly quick."
Jabez was very pale now. "Gentlemen," he said, his tone wheedling. "Im sure we can come to some sort of understanding," he suggested. "Theres another option available."
Adam nodded approvingly. "I didnt think you were stupid, Mr. Jabez," he said, sounding pleased. "Its good to work with knowledgeable people. Right. One hundred thousand credits."
Jabez, who had positively wiggled with the praise, froze. "One hundred thousand?" he asked, weakly. He took out a bandanna and wiped his head which was looking considerably sweatier suddenly.
"Take it or leave it," Adam said. "Oh, and I dont want to find that youve stopped payment on the chip anytime, right?"
"Ill have to contact my superiors," Jabez said, rising. "Ill have it by 1700."
"No funny business, now," Ben frowned.
The two spacers watched Jabez leave, rather unsteadily. "Nice work, Ben," Adam smiled.
"Thank you, Captain Sanderson," Ben replied. "Now, I believe we have some time to kill...I think I will have the steamer clams and I think Ill take a bottle of Chianti "
Adam laughed, and picked up his menu.
1657 and the two were standing next to the boarding ramp of the Santiago.
"No sign of him?" Adam asked.
"Nope," Ben replied. "What happens when hes late?"
"We double the price," Adam laughed. "1658."
The bay timepiece said 1659 when a hovercar screeched to a halt, and Jabez jumped out, looking terrified.
"Im so sorry, gentlemen," he began, eyes wide. "Here is your money," he said, holding the chip out. "Now go away! And please, dont ever come back!" he added, bending over to catch his breath.
"Always a pleasure, Mr. Jabez." Adam said, patting the man on his back. Jabez didnt reply. "Now go stand behind the blast shield, buddy,"
Jabez got behind the shield, and watched the two pilots walk up the ramp. As the ramp sealed, he pulled a pocket communicator from his pocket. "Two-six to Lead," he said. "Theyre on the way. Good hunting."
He put the communicator away, and watched the ship lift off with a smug grin on his face.
"Die, you jerks," he said, and walked out of the bay.
Chapter 4
The Santiago roared into space at high speed. "Prepare for hyperspace," Adam said, rapidly flipping switches on the control panels.
"Hostiles inbound," Ben said, and pointed to the scanners. "Four Turncoats and a bunch of Kraits."
"Damn, theyre close. When the Kraits close, bean em," Adam ordered, and watched carefully. "Ill flip as soon as were up to speed."
The Renegades had been waiting in low orbit to destroy the Arada though this worked two ways the low orbit allowed them to fire immediately at the ship. However, the Arada had momentum working for it, so this ideal firing solution only lasted a few seconds. The Santiagos shields dropped to 27%, as the Renegades let loose with everything they had. Blaze weapons and needle missiles hammered them mercilessly. The Santiago turned a moment later, allowing its swivel cannons to track the lead Krait. The Kraits were even faster than the Mercuries, who had apparently decided not to pursue them to a Renegade stronghold. The tiny fighters easily kept in firing range, draining the rest of the Aradas shields.
The lead Krait split open with a powerful explosion scattering its pilot to the cosmos. "Nice shot, Ben," Adam commented, frowning. "Keep it up!"
A moment later the Arada did another 270 degree fake-out, and hit the afterburners. The Kraits, with their higher speed overshot the Arada in the blink of an eye, giving them precious breathing room. The hard maneuver also made enough of the needle missiles miss.
"Were clear! Jumping!" Adam yelled, over the warning sirens. The Santiago responded with welcome alacrity.
The Arada jumped into the next system, groaning slightly from the stress. Both Adam and Ben leaned back, sighing. It was an empty system, save for a dead planet.
"20% armor left, rebuilding," Ben commented. "Were you worried?"
"Naw," Adam laughed, stretching.
"Yes you were," Ben said.
"No I wasnt."
"Yes you were."
"Nope."
"Oh yeah you were!"
"And Im saying I wasnt!"
"Yes you" Ben started, but was interrupted by a warning siren. "Missile lock warning!" he snapped.
Adam rechecked the scanners. "Damn, there was nothing there before!" he growled. "Must have just jumped in." He frowned, seeing the assorted red lights on the control board. "Whats our defensive status?"
"Armor at 30%," Ben announced. "Evasive?"
"Do it," Adam ordered. "Scan him."
"It's a Voinian Corvette," Ben said. "We're dead." The Voinian Corvette was a small, yet powerful ship, loosely based on the hull of a Voinian Freighter. It had all the armor of the Freighter, but was equipped with powerful shields, upgraded neutron guns and missile launchers. It was also much faster than the original Freighter. It had hardly any cargo space, but then, this was a fighting ship.
"Santiago to attacking Corvette," Adam said, "Please break off your attack. We want to talk."
A female voice answered. "This is the Dragonclaw. You've been very bad boys. The UE wants your hides."
"Please," Adam said. "We're in no condition for a fight - we just escaped a Renegade ambush."
"What?" the voice asked, plainly surprised. "That's interesting, considering that I got hired to capture you for the smuggling of weapons assemblies for the Renegades."
"Well," Adam said, "We didn't part on friendly terms."
"I see," the voice commented. "Your ship looks like it's been run through a meat grinder."
"Anyway, we're on our way to Knox," Adam continued. "We have information that the UE would be very interested in." He let go of the transmit button for a moment.
"We do?" Ben whispered.
"Shut up!" Adam snapped. He pushed the button again. "So, could you not destroy us?"
There was a long pause.
"Adam, just jump! We've got enough fuel!" Ben pointed out.
"For one jump, genius!" Adam growled. "And we'd end up one system over, out of fuel, credibility, and ideas."
"Oh," Ben said, deflated.
"All right," the voice said. "We'll be docking with you in a few minutes - I want to talk to you - in person."
"Understood, Dragonclaw," Adam replied. "I'll be awaiting your arrival." He switched off the system.
"What was all that about?" Ben asked.
"Let me ask you something, Ben," Adam said, turning to face his partner. "Do you by any chance want to get us both killed?"
"What? No way!" Ben answered, somewhat taken aback.
"Then try to keep quiet when I'm trying to save our skins, all right? I'll explain everything in as much detail as you like, later, providing we're not both dead."
The Dragonclaw was very quickly on top of them. The two spacers watched a flexible docking tube extend out from an airlock.
"I'll go down to our hatch, Ben," Adam said. "You stay by the controls, in case I'm not as persuasive as I think I am."
"Roger that, Adam."
"I'm Adam Sanderson," he said to the crewman standing by the airlock, on board the Dragonclaw.
"Follow me," the crewman said to Adam. "Captain O'Connor is waiting for you."
He followed the man up a ladder, to a higher deck. They turned left, then stopped in front of a door marked PRIVATE.
"Ship's Master Sanderson to see Captain O'Connor," the man said into the comm on the wall. (Reader note: according to space tradition, a ship can only have one captain on board at a time. Therefore, when a second person of said rank is aboard a vessel, he or she is always referred to as "Master" or "Ship's Master", the former having fallen out of favor for the most part.)
"Enter," came the reply. Adam walked in, and heard the door close behind him. In front of him, a beautiful young woman stood up from her desk.
"Hello, Uncle Adam," she said.
"Hello, Maria," he replied.
"So, I see you found yourself a new ship, Maria," Adam said, now sitting on a second chair. "That was fast. What are you, twenty-two?" he asked.
"Twenty-four," she answered. "And you were about to tell me all about why you were the subject of an open bounty."
"An open bounty?" Adam asked, puzzled. "That seems a little excessive for a shipment of weapons assemblies."
"You're lucky I was in the area," Maria replied, seriously. "A hundred K's is something a lot of people will be gunning for."
"Well, I guess my plan got a little tangled," Adam admitted.
"Oh, no, Uncle Adam," Maria groaned, leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes. "What have you done this time?"
"It was a perfectly simple plan," Adam argued. "I knew it was an illegal shipment - I just figured I'd blackmail the Renegades with it, then take my info to the UE to get my good name back, then come back on a mission for them to either destroy the weapons or get them back! Simple!"
"Simple?!" Maria exclaimed. "Simple? You certainly got yourself into it but good," she commented. "So you now officially have half the known galaxy angry at you!"
"Well, 40%," Adam admitted. "but that's soon solved. "Can we have some fuel to get to Knox?" he asked.
"Sure," Maria said. "I can give you enough to get all the way there."
"Now wait a minute," Adam began. "You'd strand yourself."
"We got a matched pair of ramscoops," she replied. "We won't stay long."
"And what if the Renegades show up?" he countered. "How long would you last?"
"Long enough," Maria laughed. "Trust me."
"You're a rotten niece," Adam smiled. "Be careful."
The door swished open, and Maria nodded to the crewman on guard. "Escort Ship's Master Sanderson back to his ship, Jimenez," she ordered. "We're escorting him to Knox. He's given his word to stick close." (Reader's note: A shipmaster's word is his credit - if it is broken, it is useless. While pirates are rarely trusted, independent ship captains often go to unheard of lengths to keep their word.)
"Yes, Captain," Jimenez responded.
Suddenly a siren went off. "Bridge to Captain O'Connor," the comm said. "Multiple renegade fighters inbound - closing fast. Red Alert. Repeat, Red Alert."
"Sounds like there's another crimp in your plan, Sanderson," Maria said, grimly. But both Adam and Jimenez were running towards the airlock. "Initiate fuel transfer to Santiago," she yelled into the comm.
