Chapter 6. Fire, Blasts and Mysteries
09 Sep 2020Black Llama
August 26, 3306High orbit around Planet Hermitage 4
As my Taipan raced towards the spinning Adder, one of its cockpit windows exploded outwards in a rainbow of glass. Just seconds later a body flew out of the opening, tumbling into space away from the stricken craft. I altered the fighter's course to intercept, just as a volley of large-caliber railgun slugs tore into the Adder causing its power plant to explode.
My heart raced as I maneuvered - we had very little time and I had only one chance to get it right. I overtook Maggie's body, flipped the Taipan around and matched speeds as best I could. If she hit the fighter too hard she could be knocked out; that is, if she wasn't unconscious already... Under fire it would be impossible to EVA and help her. Standard flightsuits only give you a few minutes until you either suffocate or freeze to death.
Maggie hit the fighter on her side. For a moment I feared the worst, as she bounced back away from the Taipan's hull; I engaged vernier thrusters to follow her, and as I did she reached out and latched herself onto the fighter, then started banging on the hull. I punched the boost as I shouted over the intercom, "Skinner, fighter recovery! Warm up the FSD, nos vamos!"
Looking to my left I saw our attacker out in the distance. It had stopped firing, and the red dots which appeared in my sensors indicated that it was launching fighters. Lots of them. It was over 10 kilometers away, but there was no mistaking what it was.
An Imperial Interdictor.
-------
August 16, 3306
Zhen Dock, Xihe system
"Commander, what a pleasant surprise." A courteous Imperial voice, but its tone indicated that the speaker was anything but pleased.
I was standing under the port wing of the Flos ut Rosa, watching as a group of automata loaded cargo onto the ship, supervised by a few human techs in drab overalls. I had noticed Maggie's Courier docked two pads away along the curvature of the inner starport wall, surrounded by the other ships of her party, but I hadn't seen or heard from her ever since my arrival. At the sound of the voice, I turned around and saw an Imperial Navy officer, in impeccable white uniform, walking calmly towards me. I recognized him as one of the two nobles that had escorted Maggie after our dinner the previous day in Achenar. I put on my best friendly businessman smile and saluted by bowing my head: "Officer, how may we assist you? Here at Llama Spaceflight Ser-"
He interrupted me. "The Lady Crystalline has a high opinion of you, and certainly we are satisfied with the work you've done for our friends down in Mainani. Yet, we were under the impression that we wouldn't be having the pleasure of seeing you again so soon. Surely you must have important affairs to attend to in - well, wherever it is you do your business." He stood a few feet away, arms crossed, looking away from me. He was extremely courteous as typical Imperials are, but he could barely disguise his contempt.
Still smiling, I took advantage of a pause to say, "Thank you kind sir, at LSST we always aim to please. I didn't quite catch Your Lordship's name, though."
The Imperial turned towards me, his face a mask of stone. "I am Lieutenant Commander the Count Nicolaos Belgard". He was a full head taller than me, dark skinned, his silver-white hair carefully styled in what seemed to me an obvious attempt to look like Denton Patreus. "I personally am not a believer in coincidences. I sure hope yesterday's encounter did not give you the wrong impression, and that you're not following the Lady Crystalline around."
One of the techs poked out of the cargo hatch and signalled to me that loading was complete. "Not at all, Your Lordship - I'm just here loading some Biomorphic Companions for Zachariah Nemo-" Belgard interrupted with a gesture. "I don't care about your petty affairs", he said. "If you're done, we will appreciate if you continue on your way. We'll reach out if we ever-"
He didn't finish the sentence as a loud explosion echoed throughout the landing bay. We both ducked, looking around. My heart sank to my feet when I noticed that it was Maggie's Courier which had exploded. In the low gravity, some of the debris was still slowly descending towards the landing pad; one of the Courier's nacelles had embedded itself on the fuselage of the Imperial Clipper which was parked in the next pad. Belgard stood up, his face transfixed with rage. "Treason!" he shouted, then ran towards the wreckage. I started to follow him, but Skinner's calm voice came through my earpiece.
"Cap'n, you better get on board NOW."
I saw techs and security personnel running all over the place. Reluctantly, I climbed back on board and found Skinner in the cockpit, going through the launch procedures and talking to starport control:
"Gutamaya Bravo-Lima-Alpha, you are not, repeat not clear for takeoff. Disengage engines and wait for a team to secure landing clamps."
"Sorry guys", Skinner calmly responded, "but I'm lucky my ship didn't get torn apart by that blast - Relocating before we get all burnt up." She turned towards me. "I'll take her out no matter what, Cap'n", she said, winking, "you better go check out the passenger cabin."
Still in a state of shock, I walked aft towards the Rosa's business class cabin. Sitting in one of its chairs was one of the starport techs. After a moment's surprise, I managed to say "Qué carajo? You have to get out of my ship."
A familiar voice came back. "Really? Aww, I was hoping to buy passage in your very nice ship." The tech stood up, removed the helmet and goggles singing "Tadaaa!"
It was Maggie.
-------
August 23, 3306
Wang Gateway, BD-17 1955 system
The three of us -Maggie, Skinner and me- were sitting on the galley of the Rogue Star, drinking Home tea. Maggie was now flying a bright-red colored Adder which she had named Only Temporary. Between sips of tea, she was looking once again in her mobile at the files I had shared with her.
"Belgard said several times that his family knew my parents, that his uncle the Duke-Admiral knew them both" she said.
"Your father always said he was from Lave", I replied, "and back Home we needed all the skilled bioengineers we could get, so we didn't ask too many questions. I still have no idea where he was actually from, or where he studied, but two things I can almost assure you he did do in Lave: first, he joined the research arm of INRA in 3247. Second, he met your mother as they transferred out of Lave Station to one of INRA's remaining bases."
Maggie swiped the mobile's screen until an old photo which I had found on Lave showed up. In it, a group of young people smiled as they posed around an unmarked Python in a landing pad. Maggie's father was towards the left of the picture, wearing a lab coat. On the opposite side, a young woman which looked remarkably like Maggie smiled, wearing the white Imperial Navy uniform. "Your mother, at the very least, WAS an Imperial" I said, pointing at the screen.
Maggie shook her head. "I don't get this - you sure this isn't a deepfake? The Thargoids were long gone, INRA was dissolved around that time. What were they recruiting people for?" She turned off the screen and looked at me. "What now?"
"Bueno, I propose we find out. You know that many of those once secret bases have now been discovered by commanders from the Pilots Federation. We can go to Shinrarta Dezhra to get some coordinates, then go and find some clues."
Skinner set down her mug on the table, then leaned back on the seat. "And I thought I had found a quiet job. Is it too late to run away from you lovebirds?"