Chapter 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20
PREVIOUSLY: While they did not find Red Klaw on the Galactic Marine space station, the pirates did manage to steal the prototype for the stealth battle cruiser WHISPER...
Several light years away from the top secret marine space station, WHISPER drops out of hyperspace. Val quickly checks his instruments; they appear to be alone in the middle of nowhere. He turns around to find the others gathered at the top of the stairs, on the gunnery deck. They watch at him anxiously. He grins, "No sign of marines anywhere!"
Rue and Garr let out a cheer! Although no one can see it, Fay and May embrace; at last, they are free! Val unbuckles his safety harness and trots up the stairs. Rue and Garr both slap him on the back heartily.
"Well done!" Fay compliments him.
He blushes slightly, "Aww, it was nuthin'." He turns to Rue apologetically, "I'm sorry about your ship though."
Rue throws a little glare in Garr's direction, then smiles, "That's okay, I think this is a suitable upgrade!" He pats the closest wall affectionately.
"Right! Let's check out the rest of the ship!" Val scampers up the stairs to the main bridge.
The others eagerly follow him. They start the exploration on deck 2, right out of the main bridge. They split up and wander along the walkway, peering over the railing to the huge cargo bay below and to deck 3 above. As they open each door, the lights come up automatically to reveal the wonders inside.
There is a gym with a variety of exercise equipment and a regulation sized blatter ball court. On the other side of the bridge is a large rec room with plush couches, tables, and a giant view screen. Beyond that is a large medical lab and a brig with four tiny cells.
Deck 3 is the main mess hall and crew quarters. The mess hall is a moderate sized cafeteria with long tables and a small kitchen. The quarters are modest and completely homogeneous; each has two bunk beds, four lockers, a wash room and one tiny port hole.
The fourth level, however, is a marvel to behold. It is the very top of the ship, the entire dome ceiling is transparent. In the center of the room is long wooden table and luxurious chairs to match.
There is a small galley behind the table with a dumbwaiter to the kitchen below. The rest of the level consists of five rooms; each one has a massive bed, comfortable sitting area, and lavish bathrooms. The rooms all have two windows that stretch up from the floor and curve along into the top dome of the ship. The view is breathtaking.
While the pirates pick and poke through every room, the sleek, mean looking, little ship that came through hyperspace with them, nestles up close under WHISPER'S wing. A small indentation under the battle bay's circular doors is WHISPER’S only sensor blind spot. Laurine, who is as familiar with the battle ship as the designers were, positions her own transport in just the right spot to obscure it. Then she props her visor on top of her head and makes the call.
Bringing Red Klaw bad news is often deadly, but if they lose track of WHISPER now, they might never find it again. She is going to need help taking it back. She scrambles the signal so that the pirates won't notice it, then takes a deep breath and hits the call button.
They are deep in space, a very long way away from Red Klaw's base on Mars. It takes a while to establish a stable connection. Johnson, one of Red Klaw's aids, picks up the call. He's a skinny, weasel of a man, "Yes?" He recognizes Laurine, but shows no sign of it.
"I need to speak to him. It's important!" She adds emphasis to the last sentence to avoid the usual run around.
Johnson hesitates, he obviously has orders to hold all calls, but he also knows Laurine wouldn't call if it wasn't serious. "Hold on." He says with irritation. The screen goes blank.
It's a moment before Red Klaw's face appears on the screen. He looks cheerful, "Laurine dearest, how was the demonstration?" Behind him, she can see Johnson quickly ushering a couple of bimbos out of the room.
She cuts right to the chase, "Some pirates infiltrated the station looking for you, they released the Habergeon, and stole the prototype."
His face grows cold, he leans close to the screen, "Darling, if this is a joke, it's not a very good one." His voice is icy.
"I am with the prototype now, I don't think they know I'm here." She finishes the report coolly, "Beside the Habergeon, there is a Tarcillian and a well armed human. I can't take them by myself."
"Where are the Generals?!" Red Klaw demands fiercely.
"The last I saw, they were still on the space station..." She hesitates, knowing how much the Generals mean to Red Klaw's plans. He's not going to like it, but he should hear everything. "The pirates did considerable damage before they fled."
Red Klaw is silent for what seems like an eternity. Laurine can almost see the fury seething off of him. When he finally speaks, his voice is calm and collected, "Do NOT loose that ship. Keep this channel open, I will be in touch." The screen goes abruptly blank.
If she didn't know better, she would have thought he took the news rather well. But she's pretty sure some poor, lowly underling is about to find Red Klaw's razor sharp, metal fingers around his throat for no apparent reason. Happy to be out here in the middle of nowhere, she settles in to wait for the reinforcements.
On WHISPER'S executive deck, the crew winds down their exploration. One by one they all come to plop down at the long dinning table. The view of the stars overhead is spectacular, for a moment everyone just enjoys it quietly.
"Well, now what?" Val finally asks.
Rue looks around grinning, "This ship is fast and deadly, it would certainly make our search for Red Klaw a little easier."
"I could... fly for you." Val offers tentatively.
Rue looks at Garr, who smiles, revealing a sharp set of teeth, he nods--better him than me! Rue looks back to Val, "We could definitely use you!" Then he looks over at the lovely set of shadows on either side of the table, "Ladies, how 'bout you?"
"Your mission is a noble one, Red Klaw is a threat to innocent life through out the universe." Fay replies.
"But our duty is to our Emperor." May continues.
"And we have been away for far too long." Fay finishes.
"You're from the Vicore system, right?" Rue asks.
"We are." They say in unison.
Rue looks at Val who nods, "I know it. It'll take us some time to get there from here. We'll need some supplies...?"
Rue frowns, "We just blew everything I had to smithereens, but perhaps we could--"
Before he can finish Val fishes in his pocket for the bar of gold that Rue used to bribe him to join this mission. He slaps the gold down in the center of the table. "This ought to get us started."
Garr and Rue both stare at him in surprise. "Don't you want to use that to hide from the marines?" Garr asks.
Val grins, "All of the gold in the universe wouldn't buy me anything as amazing as this ship! Besides, can you think of a better place to hide?"
"It's settled then!" Rue slides his chair back and gets up.
The others follow. They head toward the lift, the bar of gold forgotten for the moment on the table behind them. Val chatters excitedly as they go, "First we need to get that piece of access tube off the hull, then I need to take a closer look at the engines. I don’t even know what kind of fuel this thing takes!"
As they step into the lift, May notices Garr's shoulder where he was grazed by a marine bullet, "Oh, you were hit."
Garr glances over at his shoulder, "Huh." He honestly hadn't noticed.
Fay peers over at the wound, "We can fix that."