Chapter 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20
PREVIOUSLY: After scraping the access tube off the hull of their newly stolen battle ship, the pirates decide to head to planet called Baralland for supplies, little do they know that Red Klaw's agent hides in their blind spot...
WHISPER'S hyperspace engines are even faster than Val expects, the trip to Baralland takes half as long as he anticipated. To pass the time, they thoroughly explore the ship. While Val crawls through every section of the engines, Rue, Garr, and the girls spread out through the living quarters and recreation rooms. Like the medical bay, there is plenty of room for supplies, but nothing is stocked. Not even emergency rations.
Eventually everyone reconvenes on the bridge. Fay and May wander the perimeter of the upper deck. They discover a brass plate on the wall behind the captain's chair. In formal, elegant script is says simply: "WHISPER". In a tiny cabinet not far from that, Garr discovers a collection of small, dime sized, disks. They are attached to a thin, flexible, strip of wire.
As WHISPER speeds through hyperspace, everyone sprawls out around the bridge guessing what they might be. Val is the one who finally realizes they are com devices, "I bet they channel through the ship's intercom so you can use it anywhere!"
He folds the wire around his wrist so that the disk sits snuggly on the inside of his arm. Then he pushes the little disk, "Hello?"
His voice echoes through the disks the others toy with. Rue wraps his around his own wrist, "Do you suppose they work off the ship?"
Val shrugs, "I don't see why not."
"Could come in handy." Garr says as he squishes one tightly around his large wrists. The wire doesn't go all the way around, but it seems to fit securely.
Rue passes a com disk to each Fay and May, "Here, we'll give 'em a try when we reach Baralland."
Before they arrive, Val and Rue take a closer look at the two fighter ships in the battle bays. Both ships are fully armed and in pristine condition, they are worth quite a bit. "We could use a more...versatile ship to shore transport; I bet we could get a lot for these." Val suggests.
"I know just the guy." Rue grins.
As WHISPER exits hyperspace at the edge of Baralland's solar system, Laurine is not prepared for it. Her little ship is tucked under WHISPER'S battle bay, well inside WHISPER'S hyperspace bubble, so keeping up wasn't a problem, but when the stealth ship suddenly stops, Laurine has to scramble to hit the brakes. By the time she drops out of hyperspace, she's nearly blown past the entire solar system.
For a moment Laurine is terrified, fearing she has lost WHISPER completely. She checks her instruments frantically, then heaves a sigh of relief when she sees where she is, there's only one reason the pirates are in this solar system. Of all the planets here, there is only one that is barely hospitable. It is a lawless den of thieves, smugglers, and murderers. And is host to one of the largest, open, black markets in the universe. If it's illegal, dangerous, or bizarre, you can buy it in Baralland!
Red Klaw has a great deal of influence here, corralling the pirates will be a simple matter once she finds the battle ship again. Like most of Red Klaw's ships, Laurine's is equipped with polarized filter that allows her to see the stealth ship's chameleon skin. And she has the same filter on her space suit visor, so locating WHISPER shouldn't be too difficult, especially if they don't know she's looking for them. Smiling she reaches for her com panel.
Red Klaw's gruff voice answers her call, "Where are you?"
"They've come to Baralland."
"Excellent! Use Herrick." He sounds absolutely delighted.
Once they reach the planet, Val settles WHISPER into a comfortable orbit. Then he and Rue head down to the battle bay. Garr and the girls follow along behind them to see them off.
"You ever flown one of these?" Val asks Rue as they walk across the cargo bay toward the fighter ship.
"No, but I have flown all sorts of other ships." Val walks Rue into the starboard battle bay.
"Well this is about a thousand times more responsive than anything else you've ever flown!" Val helps Rue into the cockpit and runs him through a quick lesson. Then he trots across the cargo bay and climbs into the other fighter.
Laurine spots WHISPER just in time to see the two fighters launch from the battle bays. One flies straight and confidently, the other wobbles recklessly about. She suspects it's the human and the pilot heading down to the planet for supplies. That still leaves the two Habergeon and the Tarcillian, the odds are now more in her favor.
As the fighters scream toward the outer edge of the planet's atmosphere, she slips back into the blind spot just under WHISPER’S battle bay doors. She reaches out and punches a number into her communications console.
A rough looking, red faced man, appears on the screen. He looks perpetually angry, he snaps, "What?" As he recognizes Laurine his tone changes, "Oh it's you."
"Herrick. We have a job for you." She says smoothly.
"Yeah?" Herrick leans back from the screen slightly, his torso bulges with nasty looking, metal implants, and mechanical muscle.
"There's a human with silver hair and a Vahreen headed your way. I suspect they are coming to the Market, we need them stopped with extreme force!"
"What's in it for me?" Herrick, grumbles.
Laurine glares, this is a question he wouldn't have dared to ask Red Klaw. She leans close to the screen and uses her deadliest voice, "Our gratitude!"
Herrick eyes her for a second, he gets her unspoken message: Do this and Red Klaw probably won't kill you! Finally he smiles, it's a wicked and unsettling sight. "Why not, the boys could use some action..."