Authors: Rodney Smith
“Thank you, LCDR Timmons.
LT Blake, do you have anything to add?”
“No, sir, it happened just like LCDR Timmons described it.”
“Thank you both.
This data you brought back is very interesting.”
Kelly asked, “Sir, could you tell us how the boarding and inspection of the Manchu Warrior went?”
“Well, we didn’t get anything out of the inspection.
Any evidence of the docking was wiped from the shuttle memory before our team got to it.”
“Sir, do we have anything further on the Indigo Consortium?”
“They’ve been flying below the radar screen up until now.
We are running the shipping schedule for all their ships through the computers to see if anything pops up.
We’re still looking, but nothing out of the ordinary has come up yet.
We’re doing the same thing with the consortium directors.”
A Lieutenant came into the room and spoke into the Commander’s ear.
The commander got up, left the room for a minute, and came back.
He conferred with the LT, then said, “LCDR Timmons, LT Blake, we have your next mission for you.
We want you to follow the Gurkha when it makes its next run.
It’s scheduled to head to the 6664 system and pick up a load of gold, too.
We want you out there again to monitor the visit.
You’ll get your official orders through Scout Force.”
“Commander Johnson, when are they expected to be at the 6664 system?”
“They are scheduled to arrive 2321.07.25.
You will need to leave in three days or sooner to get there in time.
When you get back to the Vigilant, the orders will be waiting for you.
Thank you, Captain, that will be all.
LCDR Wilton will see you out.”
LCDR Wilton led them out of the building and thanked them for their help.
They waited until they had walked a distance from building 603 before they spoke.
LCDR Timmons spoke, “Get the stores list over to Base Supply when we get back.
Are the special items I ordered last patrol still on board?”
“Yes Captain, they are still stowed in Engineering.”
“Let’s keep them.
They might come in handy this time.”
Kelly had to send his regrets to Candy.
Leave would not be possible until they got back.
He promised to call her as soon as he returned.
It took them a day to load supplies on board.
The next morning, they lifted ship and headed off to the Scutum sector, arriving four days later.
They coasted in at sub-FTL speed to make most effective use of their long-range sensors, scanning to maximum range so that they could slip into the area undetected.
It took another complete day, but they moved to an asteroid some several thousand kilometers from the one on which they had hidden last time.
The new asteroid had a peak with a shelf in front of it.
It was the perfect observation post.
They sat and waited for two days.
On the second day, they got initial indications of a ship approaching from the K’Rang side of the frontier.
As it got closer, the sensor system resolved the approaching ship.
It looked like their quarry from the previous patrol.
They compared sensor readings with those in the records.
It was the same ship.
As before, it moved through the K’Rang side of the frontier and waited in the neutral zone.
Kelly called up the data on the Gurkha and looked up when it was expected in the system.
It was several hours before the freighter was expected.
The captain took his seat and said, “Is our friend up to anything?”
“No, sir, he is just sitting there like before.
We are running a number of different scans on him to determine how he might be armed.
We can detect the signature of plasma generators and not much else.
He’s leaking gamma radiation from his engines like you wouldn’t believe.
They must have massive shielding to be able to survive in that thing.
It can’t have a very big crew.
Chief Miller thinks half the ship must be engines in that thing to have a radiation signature like it has.
He also says they can’t be all that efficient, so this guy may not be the latest model.”
“It's a shame we have orders to observe and not be detected.
I think we could capture this guy.
It wouldn’t take much to disable his engines.
We could stand off outside his range and take out any guns.
We could board this guy.”
“Sir, remember, I had a little experience with a K’Rang scout ship.
The one we went after self-destructed rather than be captured.
That was just a small two-man ship.
I don’t know how this guy would react, but I’d hate to be leading a boarding party as this guy vaporizes himself.”
“I know we don’t know much about the K’Rang other than their military.
Have you given any thought that this guy might just be some K’Rang smuggler?
Maybe all we are witnessing is a shady transaction between the Indigo folks and some K’Rang entrepreneur.”
“Could be, Exec, that is one of the possibilities that the intel folks thought of.
We also don’t know what the Indigo Consortium may be trading to get what they want from this guy.
Intel doesn’t really know how much of a mercantile class the K’Rang have.
I’m going back for coffee, I’ll bring you some.
Keep your eye on him.”
Three hours and two cups of coffee later, the Gurkha arrived in the Scutum sector.
The shuttle craft separated from the freighter.
Unlike the previous time, the shuttle did not take a leisurely approach to the K’Rang ship.
It made a beeline for the K’Rang ship at almost full speed.
The K’Rang ship moved forward through the frontier into GR space.
The two ships docked, as before, and three personnel moved across into the K’Rang ship.
No cargo could be detected on the shuttle.
Three personnel returned to the shuttle after about 30 minutes on the K’Rang ship.
The two ships separated.
The shuttle turned away and proceeded at a much slower pace back to the 6664 system.
“Sensors to bridge, the K’Rang are charging plasma weapons.”
The captain hit the battle stations alarm and ordered, “Gunners, target the K’Rang ship’s weapons and engines.
Fire when ready.”
Before the crew could react the K’Rang ship turned toward the shuttle and fired its plasma weapons.
The shuttle took three hits broadside.
The shuttle floated dead in space with atmosphere leaking out into vacuum.
The Vigilant’s top turret opened fire and took out the plasma guns on the nose of the K’Rang ship.
The K’Rang ship turned and started to run for the frontier.
The captain said, “Helm, lift us up and get on the K’Rang ship’s tail.
Comms, jam any transmissions from the K’Rang ship.”
The helm hit the bottom thrusters and brought the Vigilant up from the asteroid.
He pushed the throttle forward to move the ship onto the path of the K’Rang ship.
Kelly had to restrain himself to stay off the controls.
The helmsman was being a little too cautious for his liking.
Kelly brought up the targeting template on his terminal.
The crosshairs lined up on the K’Rang ship as the helmsman increased power and turned the Vigilant in pursuit.
The lower turret gunners fired and took out the K’Rang ship’s engines.
The K’Rang ship drifted in space just short of the frontier.
Kelly keyed his intercom and said, “Sensors, watch for any indications of a self-destruct mechanism being activated.”
The captain came up on the intercom and asked, “Sensors, what do you see happening on the K’Rang ship?”
“Bridge this is Sensors, we don’t see any activity.
We can count 10-15 life signs on board.
They seem to be congregated in the bow of the ship.”
“Comms, patch me through to the K’Rang ship.”
“Captain, you are patched through on standard hailing frequencies.”
“K’Rang ship, this is the GRS Vigilant.
You are in Galactic Republic space.
You have fired on a Galactic Republic vessel without provocation.
Prepare to be boarded.”
The comms channels were silent.
The captain keyed his intercom, “Chief Miller, come to the bridge.”
Chief Miller appeared almost instantaneously.
He had to have run from the engine room.
“What can I do for you Captain?”
“Chief, where would a self-destruct mechanism be on that K’Rang ship?”
“The simplest place would be in the engine room.
Frankly, sir, that thing is practically self-destructing now.
It's leaking so much radiation that I wonder if the crew isn’t already radiation poisoned.”
“Is there any way to put the self-destruct out of commission from here?”
“We could target the engine room and try to destroy the engines before they can be overloaded, but it might just kill the crew if they don’t have good interior hatches.”
“Bridge, Sensors, we’re picking up a power surge over there.”
“Helm, back us out of here!
Full reverse now!
Forward shields on full.”
The Vigilant went into reverse.
The K’Rang ship shrank in the monitors.
“All stop!
Exec, if this guy is going to blow himself up, I’m not so worried about damaging him.
Do you think you could cut the engines from the rest of his hull.
I don’t care if he has good interior hatches or not.”
Kelly took over helm and aligned the turrets and fixed guns.
He moved the ship forward, pointed the Vigilant at the K’Rang ship, and opened fire, attempting to use the plasma and particle cannons like a saw to cut the K’Rang ship in half.
The nine cannons made short work of the K’Rang ship’s hull.
In seconds the ruined engine compartment was drifting away in space.
“Bridge this is sensors, the power surge has ended.
The engine area is without power.
There are bodies floating free in space.
The forward part of the K’Rang ship has lost all life support.
We are detecting atmosphere vented into space.
Captain, we read no life signs on the K’Rang ship.”
“Thank you, Sensors.
Damn, Exec, I hoped to take some of them alive.”
“Don’t lose any sleep over these guys, Captain.
If we hadn’t done anything they‘d all be vapor right now.
We should see what we can glean from this ship and the shuttle.”
“ Let’s go for the shuttle first.
Chief Miller, break out that gear stowed in Engineering.
Exec, you, Chief Miller, and Chief Blankenship get suited up in those EVA suits.
See what you can find.
Make sure there aren’t any nasty surprises.
Once you give me a thumbs up, we’ll bring the shuttle alongside and magnetically lock it to the hull.
Then we’ll do the same with the K’Rang ship.
We’ll haul them both back to Antares’ orbiting dock.
That will give the tech intel boys something to salivate over.”