All That Glitters Ch. 18

Thenton's image addressed them from the hollo-monitor. "Commodore Marsh, normally I would quash this kind of idea as self-serving for the senior staff involved, but considering your morale problem, your idea has some merit. That your morale problem seems to be directed by outside sources is the only reason that I am not immediately denying this request.

"As such, I am allowing you to make this production with two provisos: the first is that all the original research used to create this news clip be retained without modification in the event that someone makes a legal claim that the news items are meant to clear the senior staff of fault. One of the Intel Officers can bring a copy of the data and allow you to enter it into Ms. Stewarts hollo-editing suite, from where all of the decisions on the story will be conducted. Witnesses will have to sign that no modification to the originals occurred, in other words, a clear chain of evidence, even onto the copies.

"Second, and something that you already noted but that I will restate, please be careful of how much information on the capabilities of the platform, The Wanderer, and other vessels is released. We do not want to give up the full capabilities of the Piscium defences in the event of a future attack.

"As long as you maintain those two conditions, then I will allow this. If it helps your situation, then it will be a useful endeavour. Good-luck, Fiona," Thenton finished, his image fading.

"Well, looks like the idea has some merit then," Fiona noted. "Cynthia, how far along are you on these news clips?" Fiona asked.

"I went through all of the data yesterday," Cynthia replied, "detailing the specific events in chronological order. This morning, I started matching specific actions and responses from both the point of view of the attackers and the defenders.

"It will take me the remainder of the day to get the full event into some kind of focus, and then I will need to pare it down so that I can create distinctive news clips on the event, such as the actions and responses from various attackers and defenders. I should be ready at the end of the day for you to see the full event, then it will take a day or more to pare it down. Your input on that will be essential once the full event is completed.

"I will also need to follow up with interviews on the specific individuals who still live, especially those who had decision making responsibilities. I will not be gentle with those individuals, as I am working this as a news event and not as a historical event," she finished.

True to her word, Cynthia finished the initial screening early in the evening. She immediately called all the specific people to conference room one, where they watched silently as the six hour clip ran through the four and a half hour event.

Fiona looked like she almost wanted to scream once the clip finished. "So much death and destruction, for what?" she asked of no one in particular. Fiona looked over at the Capt. Sutor, from Navy Intel. "You find out why they decided to attack us again?" she asked of him rather harshly.

"Nothing specific, ma'am," he admitted. "They were acting on orders from their leadership but, other than wanting to make an example of Liramor-23, there is nothing to indicate why they chose to hit Liramor-23 again. Looking at it from any other view than taking slaves and making an example is only speculation," he finished.

"Keep digging," Fiona ordered. "I don't care how long it takes; you find out why they hit us twice. Too many lives have been impacted by this event, especially those who were left behind. I lost good friends and good people to this attack and I want someone to pay for it."

The captain gave her a curt nod. He would do his best to figure it out, but he was positive those answers would be above his paygrade.

Conference Room Two, Liramor-23

Cynthia Stewart was thanking the Gods for their blessings. First, bringing her here to Liramor-23. Second, exposing her to some people who, in her mind, were true heroes. She was at the right point in her career and in the right place to exploit the situation for Interplanetary News and for her career.

Now, she sat across from someone who she thought of as a true hero, Commodore Fiona Marsh. But to do her job, she would have to be the bitch to a person who she truly admired. Sometimes, doing one's job wasn't easy. Fiona had also requested that none of the questions be scripted, which meant that Fiona's real responses would be captured during the questions.

Cynthia began with a few simple questions, setting the mood on the second Battle of Liramor-23.

"Why did the pirates come back to attack Liramor-23?" she asked.

"We really do not know," Fiona replied. "We are only just beginning to go through the intelligence we have pulled from the wreckage of the command ship, and that we gathered from the other ships.

"For now, their only purpose was to capture the platform, loot it, take prisoners as slaves, and gain some form of vengeance for their last defeat. If those are the only reasons they attacked us, this second defeat will likely be their last attack against us. They have already lost too much trying to take this platform," she finished.

"But you do not believe that this was the only reason?" Cynthia asked.

"I do not believe in coincidence," Fiona stated. "Something else is going on in the background, but that is only my thoughts. I have no proof of this at the moment."

"Speculation on your part then?" Cynthia surmised, getting a nod from Fiona.

"The people on the platform are saying you abandoned them when the pirates arrived," Cynthia levelled the accusation, her voice hardening.

Fiona barked a laugh. "Hardly, I was in the ship berth when the attack occurred. The platform had been locked down. We would have had to cycle through a dozen airlocks between there and the command level. It would have taken too long for me to get to command, so I took The Valour out. It was the easiest route as there was only one outer door to get through.

"My ship recently has had some improvements made to it, including a rather big rail gun. We proved ourselves useful by destroying one ship, helping to destroy another, and damaging a third. We also took out many of the combat shuttles and some of the torpedoes and missiles fired at the platform. We were far more of a contribution to the battle outside than inside." Fiona finished.

"What do we do when they come back?" Cynthia asked.

"They won't be back," Fiona stated firmly. "Between the aliens and two pirate attacks, the TGA has become interested in this system in a big way. The TUSN has been directed to provide additional support to us. We will no longer only have the two ships in this system."

That only two ships were dedicated to the system was a ruse that Fiona had Cynthia include in her earlier reports, along with not identifying much of the fighting capability of the platform. This time, that ruse had literally saved the platform.

"We were lucky in this attack that we had NS Churchill with us, and The Valour had just received its upgrades. Even with the severe damage taken by the Kologn and the Kindalla, we were able to hold off the enemy until help could arrive, first The Wanderer, with its guns, then the NS Wimple, which is the dedicated science vessel to this system, and finally the NS Claridge and NS Betelgeuse.

"Even with all that, we were very close to losing this battle, especially when the second wave of pirate ships came into the system. Fortunately for us, those were cargo vessels and far less capable than even our damaged naval ships." Fiona finished.

"You attacked the Combat Drop Shuttles attached to the platform. The ones who had delivered the initial assault force to Liramor-23. Why did you do that?" Cynthia asked, perplexed.

"The attack force had established itself on the platform," Fiona started. "Their intent was three fold: one, to open a bay for the arrival of the less capable but much larger Combat Shuttles; two, destroy the defensive capabilities of the platform; and three, to capture personnel to become slaves.

"Once the initial wave had penetrated far enough into the platform, there was no reason the Combat Drop Shuttles could not go back to their ships to bring back more assault troops. The Combat Drop Shuttles are more capable for the initial assault at getting troops to the platform. Many of the Combat Drop Shuttles successfully made the run to Liramor-23, they are far more maneuverable than the Combat Shuttles and that allows them to avoid being hit.

"The Combat Shuttles could carry up to eighty assault troops, whereas the Drop Shuttles could only carry a maximum of twelve per trip. But the Drop Shuttles would have made it back to the platform with additional troops. I made sure they could not do that. I destroyed them to take that option away from the enemy commander.

"He was then left with only his Combat Shuttles. The Combat Shuttles did not successfully make it to the platform. Eighteen of twenty-four Combat Drop shuttles made it to the platform, none of the sixty-two Combat Shuttles made the trip." Fiona finished.

"The last time, the pirate's cargo vessels had slaves on board. Were there slaves on these ships?" Cynthia asked, already aware of the answer.

"No. The intent was to capture as many people as they could from the platform. Because of this, they had emptied their holds of slaves prior to coming into the Piscium system. Those ships could hold as many as 500 captives each, some quite a bit more. They originally planned to leave with over 5,000 slaves when they sacked the platform." Fiona told her.

"There are over 8,000 people working on Liramor-23, what would they have done with the rest of them?" Cynthia asked.

"What they had already begun to do, kill them," Fiona informed her bluntly. "That's why the killed the patients in the hospital. Any who could not get out of their hospital beds were of no use to them as slaves, so they simply killed them. Their intent, apparently, was to destroy the platform and kill all those they didn't take with them.

"The original Battle of Liramor-23 was the first time that pirates had attacked anything as large as this platform. Because of that failure the pirates wanted to send a message, not only to Liramor Holdings, but also to any other platform or station that decided to defend against pirate attacks. That message was simple, surrender or suffer severe consequences."

Cynthia paused for a moment as the realization of what might have happened dawned on her. Had the Piscium Defence Force not succeeded, then she would probably be a slave or dead right now.

"You are so certain that they won't be back?" Cynthia asked her.

"The intelligence we have gathered clearly shows that many private and commercial vessels previously thought lost for unknown reasons, were in fact attacked by pirates," Fiona told her. "They listed the ships they captured and how many people they took from those ships to become slaves, not by name, just numbers. The remainder - the old, the infirm, those injured in the attack - were summarily executed to instill fear in those they took as slaves. The numbers of slaves are staggering, in the tens of thousands over ten years.

"The point of this is that the TGA is now realizing just how much open slavery has been going on for the last decade. There are only six planets in human space that still conduct 'indentured servitude', a euphemism for slavery.

"Is there any place else they could be?" Cynthia asked.

"Unlikely," Fiona responded. "Slaves in those numbers indicate a planetary scale of slave use. The TGA is eventually going to have to get involved."

"Aren't you laying it on a little thick?" Cynthia asked her. "I mean, do you really think that the TGA will get involved in this?"

"We had 624 people killed and 1,194 seriously injured in a four hour attack," Fiona stated flatly. "Some of those injured will be out for months regenerating lost limbs or doing surgery and regrowth. All that from one attack.

"That the pirates were determined to hit us again, was a bit of a shock to the authorities. The TGA has a vested interest in preventing attacks of this nature on other isolated platforms and stations. The successful defence of this platform will help with that.

"There are only two ways to prevent future attacks: first, secure all of those isolated platforms/stations. There are just too many. The TUSN does not have the manpower nor the ships available to do that on a continuous basis.

"Second, make the slave trade unprofitable by taking on the pirates. That too is a difficult task but one that is far more manageable than securing all the platforms. However, the other way to make the slave trade unprofitable is to take it to those who are buying captured free Union citizens from the pirates as slaves. That will take time and will need proof and sustainable willpower to accomplish.

"That is where the press comes in. You need to research the problem and keep it fresh in the people's minds. Otherwise, this will be swept under the carpet and pirate attacks on this scale will continue," Fiona finished.

"Is the TUSN going to put you in charge of that?" Cynthia asked.

"That's not my task," Fiona informed her. "My place is here on Liramor-23, directing the platform and defending this system. There are others far more competent than I to find and destroy the pirates and end the slave trade."

Cynthia didn't say it, but she thought that Fiona was wrong, there may be people out there ready to take on the pirates and the slave trade, but she personally thought there was no one more competent or determined for the job than Fiona.

Central Ops, Liramor-23

"FTL event outside of the shipping lanes!" the Ops O called out.

Fiona, Capt. Dostier, Cdr. Hellebore and Cynthia Stewart came into Central Ops from the VIP mess.

"Transponder indicates its Probe 157168," the Ops O said. "It was not scheduled to return for several weeks."

Unless it found something, no one said openly.

"Where is the senior scientist on duty?" Fiona asked.

"Right here, ma'am," a woman in her mid-fifties called out. "I'll get the information off the probe and let you know what's up," she informed the director.

Twenty minutes later, most of the senior staff were present when the information began coming up on the main monitor in Conference Room One.

Images showed of at least ten large vessels in the green-gold livery of the Piscium A culture. Telemetry indicated that the imagery was taken a little less than four light years from the Piscium System.

"Shit," said Dostier. "We don't seem to catch any breaks, do we? The most aggressive of the two cultures is on it's way here."

"Ten vessels are a substantive force," Raymond Clark indicated. "We still don't know the capabilities of their weapons, so can't tell how much of a threat they are."

"Raymond, you will take The Wanderer to confront these vessels and discourage any attack on this system," Fiona ordered. "From there speed, it will take them several years to make it here, so we have time to conduct more surveillance of the Piscium A home world.

"First priority: find out the capabilities of their weapons systems.

"Second priority: complete the interpretation matrix for their language.

"Third priority: complete the shake down of The Wanderer and the compliment of it's crew and staff. You will be going in harm's way and I want you prepared.

"Fourth priority: send new probes to keep a constant watch on this group of vessels. I do not want to re-allocate probes still working to search for other ships. This might not be the only group heading our way.

"I want a review of these tasks in six months. If all of them are completed, we go to make first contact with this group. Questions?" Fiona asked.

There were none.

Conference Room One, Liramor-23

It had been six days since the attack. Fiona had been directing the reconstruction of the platform, requesting the material needed for the task. So far, she had not run afoul of Liramor Holding's budget-minded auditors. She wondered when that would happen.

"Unexpected FTL event in the incoming commercial lane!" came the warning from Ops. Whenever the phrase 'unexpected FTL event' was heard lately, people's hearts began to race.

"Transponder indicates it's The Princess!" Ops informed them. A sigh of relief followed the revelation. Fiona noted the easing of tension among her senior staff. Ya, they were still on edge as, quite frankly, was she.

"Liramor-23 this is Annette Liramor on The Princess, requesting berthing if it is available," came Annette's voice.

"Princess, this is Central Ops. Welcome to the Piscium system. You are authorized entry to Construction Bay 11. Someone will meet your there to bring you to Ops." Fiona heard the response. She knew who that 'someone' would have to be.

Construction Bay 11, Liramor-23

The Princess slid into the bay, landing beside The Valour. The outer door closed, and the bay began its pressurization sequence.

Looks like I WILL have to invest in a commercial gantry for this bay, Fiona thought, as she waited for the sequence to finish.

"Pressure now at station standard," Bay Control finally signalled.

Fiona cycled the airlock and walked out to The Princess. The hatch opened and Annette flung herself out and into Fiona's arms.

"Oh, Fiona," she started tears in her eyes, "I'm so sorry for all this!"

Fiona was surprised and, for the third time that week, her own tears began to flow. The two held each other for the longest time before breaking apart and wiping tears from their eyes.

Fiona took Annette around on a grand tour of the damage to the station, primarily to justify the expenses she was incurring in the rebuild, but also to show Annette the extent of the damage to the station. Annette was shocked at the level of damage.

"It's one thing to read about it," Annette told Fiona, "but to actually see the damage for myself," she trailed off as she looked around one of the damaged areas. The exterior repairs to this particular area had been more or less completed, internally, the damage around this level was quite extensive and had only been looked at to ensure all the injured and dead had been recovered.

"I have placed a priority on all new ore processing ovens for this platform, as well as new upgrades on everything. We are brining in the latest of EVA mining suits. We have placed millions at your disposal to ensure that Liramor-23 is better than before the attack when all is finished. However, from the look of the damage, it will likely take months to complete," she finished.

"We can be back in limited operation early next week, unless you want us to wait on the new ore ovens?" Fiona asked. "Most of the damage was to the outer shell, which houses such things as gyms, recreation areas, messes, cafeterias, store fronts, and some personal quarters. The outer hospital wings were hit, but the main core of the hospital is deeper in the platform and survived relatively intact, excepting the loss of hospital personnel. That has hit us hard, had it not been for the two hospital ships leaving personnel behind to assist us, I do not know where we would be. Recruiting of hospital staff would be helpful for us.

"None of the mining operation's centers were damaged, nor the EVA suit-up stations, nor where the rock processing cages," Fiona informed her. "We have limited EVA mining suits because of the damage done during the assault on the platform, but we can field at least twenty-four shifts out of a required fifty-four.

"Many of the miners suited up and defended the platform from the attackers, 138 miners lost their lives during the defense and a further 164 were seriously injured. Forty-two of those have been sent planet side to receive more extensive medical attention than they could receive here.