Chapter 28I - On the Rising Star

[LucianG]

Lucian glanced down at the pants that were for a far taller man than himself, and a shirt that appeared much larger, too. “Felgercarb, these aren’t mine. We must have gotten the wrong number after all! He glanced at his chrono and said, “Now I’m out of time. Just have them deliver them to my quarters. Good bye.” He hung the clothes on the rack and then made his way toward the door. As he reached the door, he turned and said, “Is your name Kelvin? The folks in the back were looking for you when I was back there.” Lucian smiled then stepped out of the laundry in to the corridor. Once outside, he leaned against the bulkhead and relaxed for several microns. As the door to the laundry opened, he turned to see a very red-faced Nyeeta walk out.

“You just left me in there!” she hissed at him. “I’ve never seen such a big jerk in my life! You’re supposed to be protecting me, not abandoning me!”

“Come on. Now, was Kelvin at the reception desk when you came out?” he asked her.

“No,” she replied uncertainly.

“Thought not,” he said smiling knowingly. He took off down the corridor, leaving her to follow. He heard her giggle behind him, so he turned and asked, “What’s funny?”

“That outfit!” she replied. “While the jacket’s not part of it, I think you borrowed a server’s uniform from one of the restaurants up top! You swapped one uniform for another.” And, with a quick glance, Lucian suspected she was right.

[LucianG]

In their slightly less conspicuous clothing, Lucian and Nyeeta were able to stroll through the corridors, avoiding the gaze of the members of the goon squads they passed along the way. A couple of the groups of red-suited “security agents” were escorted by black-shirted Fleet Security officers. Lucian suspected that Troian had the Black Shirts on this ship in his pocket. “Captain Urdea would have a field day fixing this group,” thought Lucian. He decided to stay away from both the red and black security personnel.

When they neared the communications center, he pushed Nyeeta into a maintenance closet, and told her, over her objections, to stay put, while he slipped down the corridor to peek around the corner at the entrance to the center. Right in front of the door, he saw two of the red suited guards standing with heavy assault rifles flirting with a young woman. Wary of being seen lest they use the rifles on him, he quickly ducked back out of view. “New plan,” he whispered to Nyeeta when he returned to the closet. “We’re going to have to get help in order to send the message to the Callisto. They’ve got the center guarded, with possibly more guards inside. With those heavy rifles, we’d never make it without a serious distraction. Fortunately, it looks like they are somewhat easily distracted.”

“Well, Warrior-Server, what’s your new plan?” Nyeeta asked sarcastically, still fuming at being left in the closet. “You do have one, I assume.”

“Yeah, I’ve got a new plan,” replied Lucian with equal disdain. “Unfortunately, as the old saying goes, the devil is in the details. The problem is, right now we have a whole lot more devil than details.”

[LucianG]

At about the same time Major Brie was being escorted to the brig on the Callisto, Major Lucian on the Rising Star was formulating a plan centered on finding Mar-nee’ and enlisting her help. As one of the Rising Star’s ship’s communications officers, she should be able to get into the center and send the message for him. So far, though, Lucian hadn’t been able to locate her. Her quarters wasn’t listed under either her name, her given name, or under her late husband’s name. He needed to access the ship’s database to be able to find her. “We’ve got to find a member of the ship’s crew who can help us.”

A short time later, Lucian found a maintenance Tech working on a malfunctioning blower assembly. He was clearly struggling with it, so Lucian told Nyeeta to stay out of sight for a moment. “Hi!” he told the Tech, “Need some help?”

Elar, the Tech, was quite happy to get the assistance from the stranger. Within a couple of centons, the unit was realigned properly, and he was spinning the clamp nuts back into position. “Thanks!” he said. “Not many people would stop to help someone like that.”

“Perhaps you can return the favor,” Lucian replied with a smile. “I just arrived aboard the Rising Star and I can’t find my friend Mar-nee’. Do you know her and could you tell me where I might locate her?”

“Sure, mister,” said Elar. “Ordinarily, I’d tell you the communications office, but the Captain’s put that off limits to everyone today for the Council meeting, so she’s not there. However, when I left the mess hall a little while ago, she’d just walked in with a couple of her girlfriends. If you hurry, you might catch her before she leaves.”

[LucianG]

He saw her, with her soft dark curls being a little shorter than he’d last remembered, as soon as they entered the cafeteria. He had Nyeeta take a corner booth while he approached Mar-nee’s table. “Excuse me, Miss Mar-nee’, my name is Sudell,” he said, stressing the name so she would not use his real name. “Might I have a word with you?” he asked, hoping that she would take a hint from his use of her late-father-in-law’s name, the man who had also been Lucian’s own father’s best friend in their youths.

There were tears welled in her eyes as she recognized him, but she managed to control herself as she said stammered, “Of course, Mr. Sudell.” She said to her friends, “Please excuse me. I’ve been expecting this business visit for some time.” She escorted him from the cafeteria. As Lucian neared the door, he thought he saw tears streaming down her face. He discreetly motioned to Nyeeta to follow.

[CaptStadia]

Stadia continued listening to the council meeting. She smiled as she got everything recorded.

A short time later, she went to the communication panel and keyed in a message to Trojan indicating she would like to have a conversation with him. Then she keyed in the recording she was making and set it up in a message to Major Lucian to be sent in case of her demise.

She stepped out of the barracks and headed for the Officewrs mess. When she entered, everyone was whispering. As she got her food, she over heard one of the warriors say that Major Brie and others had survived and were back on board the Callisto.

She sat down by herself and began to eat in silence.

[LucianG]

In the Council Chambers, the exhaust fans were on high. The little stink bomb had malfunctioned as it exploded, causing a stench, but not nearly as bad as it could have been. Everyone had to evacuate the room briefly as a cleanup crew sanitized the room. The crewmembers were going through every nook and cranny in the room, looking for anything else that might have been planted there by the culprit...or by others.

In the process, they found three other devices.

"What the frack are those?" Troian asked. "And how did they get in here?"

"No idea, Sir, how they got here, but they're some type of transmitting devices. These two are short range, so they'd only work to a receiver on this ship, but the other would reach half the fleet."

Troian and a couple of the others looked at each other as the cleanup crew departed, with the devices in sealed bags. They were turned over to Fleet Security outside the room, so they could be tested and traced. The evac fans were still on high, sucking the air into the filtration system as fresh air was being pumped back into the room. A slightly acrid smell remained.

"That other one should reach half the fleet IF we weren't jamming all bands, right?" asked Troian.

"Yes, Sir," said one of the red-suited private security force members, privately unsure of that. The plan had been to jam all bands, but what if someone had been able to transmit on it? "Yes, Sir," she said despite her private doubts, "there's no way anyone could heard anything over it."

"Good," said Troian to the woman as he stared at her, as if seeing through her concerns. "That might be very embarassing...and deadly."

* * *

Meanwhile, on the Callisto, the number of private messages being sent in the direction of the Rising Star's sector of the fleet but still waiting to be delivered continued to increase. The jamming was stopping all such communications between the ships.

[LucianG]

A short distance down the corridor, Mar-nee’ stopped at a door and opened it, motioning Lucian to enter. When he did, she flung herself into his arms as her tears really began to flow. She said, “Lucian! Oh Lucian! Thank you for coming! They killed him! I know they killed him! Kaytoe is dead because they blew up his shuttle as he was trying to return from that textile ship. They said it was out of control….”

Her voice trailed off as she suddenly saw that Nyeeta had slipped into the room and was watching them both. As she looked questioningly at Lucian, he answered, “Mar-nee’, I’m really sorry about Kaytoe, but right now, we really need your help….”

[LucianG]

NOTE: I'm not sure what happened to the counter on this thread. We went from well over 100 readings to about 10, but in doing so, it received the "hot topic--flaming folder" icon. Oh well.

* * * * * *

A few centons later, after a couple of quick stops, a server walked down the corridor toward the communications center. He carried a cloth-draped tray with two cups by the right hand, and a pitcher in his left. As he approached the guards, they stiffened and held their assault rifles at the ready. One said, “Hold it right there. No one’s supposed to be down here.”

Lucian replied, in the most servile voice he could manage, “They told me that Councilor Troian wanted us to bring you something to drink. I got picked. If you don’t want it, I’ll get going.”

“I could use a drink,” said the second. “Cover him,” he told his partner as he set his rifle against the bulkhead.

Lucian poured a cup of the steaming beverage for the man, and handed him the cup. He turned toward the man with the rifle pointed at him and asked, “Do you want any?”

“Yeah, I guess,” said the first man, as he lowered his rifle to accept the cup.

[LucianG]

The shot, at low intensity, rang out from under the tray taped to Lucian’s hand. As the second man’s eyes widened in surprise, Lucian swung the tray and laser pistol laying sideways below it and shot him, too. Both men collapsed to the deck in pain, but neither was able to get off a shot as they fell. Lucian ripped the tray from his hand and stamped on the cloth that had ignited from having two laser bolts shot through it. He kicked the rifle away from the first man, and then grabbed the other from its resting place against the wall near the door. From his pocket he pulled a roll of tape that he used to tape the mouth of each man, and then he taped the men’s hands together behind their backs. As he did this, he whispered, “Sorry about that, guys. This will all be over soon and the doc will patch you up as good as new.”

Both men were moaning, but so far, the noise hadn’t been enough to attract any attention. He motioned Mar-nee’ and Nyeeta to come forward. Nyeeta was fuming, “I can’t believe you shot those men like that! That was pure evil if I ever saw it!”

Lucian said, “No lady, that was survival and getting the job done. That’s what Warriors do. We do what we have to do to get the job done."

[LucianG]

Lucian said, “No lady, that was survival and getting the job done. That’s what Warriors do. We do what we have to do to get the job done. Now be quiet, before someone else shows up. I’m sure that we’ve alerted whoever is in there, if anyone.”

“I doubt it,” said Mar-nee’. “The communications center is soundproofed. I doubt that anyone inside would have heard a thing.”

Lucian replied, “Let’s hope.” He knocked on the door, with the rifle leveled. When it opened a moment later, he pointed the rifle directly at the formerly unsuspecting man in the doorway, “Excuse me, but we have an appointment inside.”

Moments later, Lucian taped up the third man inside, while Mar-nee’ and Nyeeta dragged the two injured men in through the door. Once they were inside, Lucian locked the door as Mar-nee’ began to examine the communications equipment. “They’ve shut all the equipment down, except they’ve rigged the transmitter to broadcast on full spectrum, turning it into a short range jamming device. If anyone tries to get through to us, they’ll just be getting static,” Mar-nee’ announced as she inspected the setup.

“Can you correct it, and if so, how long will it take?” asked Nyeeta impatiently.

“I’m sure she can fix it,” said Lucian, “but the real question is, will anyone here on the Rising Star be able to tell? If so, we may have a room full of those thugs with guns in no time.”

“I can fix it and shut off that broadcast, but if anyone on the Bridge is watching, they’ll know it at once,” said Mar-nee’. “Like you said, it won’t take them long to get here.”

“What if we don’t turn off the broadcast?” asked Lucian. “Let’s keep it going, but narrow the spectrum a little. Do you think you could get a channel open to the Callisto like that without them realizing it?”

Mar-nee’ smiled the captivating smile that had always tugged at Lucian’s heartstrings since he’d met her. “Just watch me.”