All That Glitters Ch. 23

"How far out could they fire on us?" Teusleh asked.

"Anything from three hundred kilometers to twenty kilometers dependent on if they are using rockets or missiles," the Pilot returned.

"Seeker heads?" Teusleh asked.

"Probably, sir," the Pilot confirmed. "We should be able to take out one or two such missiles, but there are four of those ships and we don't know how they are armed. Our sensors have limited capabilities, sir."

"All shuttles, lets boost our speed a little, the closer we are to the station the less likely those ships will be to engage us!" Teusleh ordered. The rescue fleet picked up speed, the one advantage and surprise they had in their arsenal.

Olivia Breault, Handren Station

Lt. Collette Beauchene sat in her command chair on the Captain's Balcony of the little ship. She was proud of her command and the people on it. The Comms O was currently listening in on conversations from the link and from the three Guard Channels currently in use. The guard conversations were telling.

"What do you mean you will not jeopardise your ships?" Planetary Control was asking of the defence ships on Guard Channel one.

"Sir, if Handren Station actually kidnapped their Captain, they have a right to get her back. We looked at the data they sent to us and it looks like the so-called arrest was on trumped up charges.

"Mr. Handren does appear to have interfered in a legitimate challenge, in contravention of New Hadria law, bumping the challenge up so that his own champion could engage the bodyguard, then changing the stakes of the challenge to one of life or death AFTER the challenge had been set and first blood had been drawn. Again in contravention of the law.

"We cannot oppose their right to rescue their Captain given what we received," the spokes person finished.

"They modified the recordings to make you think that you fool!" Control came back.

"No, they did not. They didn't have the time to do so after either attack. We will not let our ships be destroyed in a battle that has no merit! We will protect the station from being targeted by their vessels but we will do nothing to stop the rescue attempt."

"You will never again be allowed to work out of this system if you do not follow your orders!" Control came back loudly, but everyone could hear the anxiety in his voice.

"We do this under protest then, and Planetary Control is responsible for any and all damage to our ships!" the spokesperson came back.

"Done, but you follow your orders from now on! You will attack and capture that ship so the crew can be brought to justice. Is that understood?" Control demanded.

"Understood, but we do this under protest. That ship is a lot more capable than anyone had led us to believe. If I were her owners, I would be running away from twelve armed ships, but they have already damage two ships that have engaged them and taken no apparent damage of their own. You are going to have a much larger repair bill than you think, IF we are not outright destroyed in the next encounter!"

The bridge crew on the Olivia Brault grinned at each other. In battle, you wanted to be the side with all the advantages and, so far, the defence force wasn't.

Jean Beaumont, Handren Station

The Beaumont was the closest vessel to the shuttles and Lt. Adriene Aveline ordered her ship in to protect the rescue mission. The four ships of the attacking force were maintaining distance from each other in much the same manner that they would in atmosphere, a tactical error.

In atmosphere, aircraft manoeuvrability was a major factor in dogfights and four ship formations, which would break into two ship formations, were the norm. In space, that kind of formation was ill planned. That told Aveline that these pilots did not understand fighting in space.

"Tac O, tell me what you think of their formation," she asked.

"Ma'am, they seem to be piloting as if they are in atmosphere," he replied. "We could easily take out the lot of them with a single pass. Their vessels do not appear to be as maneuverable as ours are in space, but then those ships weren't originally built for space flight."

Adriene looked at the tactical display and saw that the attack formation was now only twenty kilometers from the shuttles.

"They've fired missiles at the shuttles, ma'am!" the Tac O shouted.

"Weapons freed, take out those missiles!" Aveline ordered.

The Weapons O lined up the reticle on the missiles in succession and engaged them with the 50mm. Each of the ships had fired one missile at each of the shuttles, expecting no defence from the vessels, so they were surprised when their missiles suddenly exploded far short of their targets.

The ships fired twice more, sending two missiles each at the shuttles, but the shuttles had now turned to face the threat and were engaging with their own 20mm bow guns. Between them and the 50mm rounds of the Beaumont, the missiles were destroyed.

The four ships split into groups of two. One group kept heading in the direction of the shuttles, while the other tried to turn and face the oncoming threat. They didn't stand a chance. The Beaumont fired on the two ships still engaging the shuttles, while the four shuttles engaged the two ships whose backs were now to them. The four ships exploded, the pilot's pods blowing away from the disintegrating ships.

The shuttles had re-aligned in their original direction and were now swiftly approaching the station.

"Handren Station, this the Wanderer's rescue mission. Open the bay doors or we will open them for you," Aveline ordered.

The station doors remained closed as they approached, finally opening just before they came into firing range of the 20mm guns.

"Rescue Mission, this is Handren Station. Be advised, your Captain is no longer on the station, she has been removed. If you cause damage to the station, you will be branded as criminals," came the voice from Handren Control.

"Now isn't that the pot calling the kettle black," Lt. Teusleh's voice came over the net.

Aveline smiled. She liked the man. Maybe they could get together after all this...

Jean Jacques Aucoin, Handren Station

"Raymond, we've looked at the data from the diner fiasco," Liea's voice came over ship wide. "It does look like Artura Handren was injured during the attack; however, he was not injured by our rescue. It looks like someone in the Handren Company took the opportunity to make an assassination attempt during the confusion.

"I'm sending what I have seen to you to transmit to Planetary Control, hopefully that will end this stupidity," she finished.

Raymond looked at what she indicated in the recordings and agreed with her. He saw a man near Artura Handren stand up and use his own blade on him while his back was turned to look at the confusion at the door.

Raymond didn't remember the person right off, but he knew by his placement at the table he would be a senior member of the company. The attack on Artura Handren was an attempted company coup.

He had comms bundle the data and send it to all over Guard Channel Three.

Rescue Mission, On Handren Station

The four groups of twelve heavily armed and armoured Marines came out of the shuttles at a run and rushed customs, the officers there abandoning their posts as the Marines swarmed them. Two Marines were posted inside the bay and two more were posted on the station side of customs with orders to hold the escape route at all costs.

The Marines stormed through the plaza, the guests scattering at the sight of them as they rushed along. They were headed to a predetermined point in the station, probably the security holding cells, but they wouldn't know until they arrived.

It took them twenty minutes to get to the place they wanted, only to be disappointed at what they found.

"Wanderer, this is Crash, we found her comp unit, but the Captain is gone," Lt. Mbibo sent out over Guard Channel Three.

"Roger, find out if anyone knows where she went. No need to be gentle, I'm pissed off enough to destroy that fucking station right now," the word came back from the ship.

"This is Planetary Control, Handren Station had already told you the Captain was no longer onboard the station. Return to your ship, NOW!"

"This is The Wanderer. Someone on that damned station knows where the Captain went. I want answers, and we will tear the damn station apart to get them! The sooner we have those answers, the sooner we are off that station, and the less damage the station will take! WE ARE NOT BACKING DOWN ON THIS! WE WANT TO KNOW WHERE SHE IS NOW!!"

The members of station security looked around nervously as the Marines began looking at them like cats looked at mice. The Security Chief broke first.

"They took her out of here more than thirty minutes ago!" he cried out, falling to his knees. "I don't know where they took her!"

"Who? Who took her?" Teusleh bellowed at the frightened man.

"I didn't recognize them, but they were not company members," he cried out.

"You're sure they were not members of the company?" Teusleh demanded.

"Like I said, they are not people I know, but they did have a signed note from Artura Handren," he wailed.

"Give me a certified copy of that note, or so help me we will trash this facility and your people with it," Crash threatened, opening her suit mounted pulse rifle.

The man jumped up like a frightened rabbit and pulled up the relevant data and gave it to her on a data chip.

"How many were they and which way did they go when they left here?" Teusleh asked, noting the stations security camera suite.

The Security Chief gestured to another who called up the information on the cameras.

"Record this for us," Crash snapped.

The team watched as the men pulled a half-conscious Noor along the corridors to the shuttle ring. They showed something to the customs officers who allowed them into the bay. A few moments later, the shuttle was shown leaving the station.

"That was twenty-two minutes ago on the timeline," the man manipulating the cameras stated.

"Zoom in on that shuttle," Teusleh ordered.

They could see the name 'Blue Harmony 7' on the shuttle.

"Planetary Control, where and what is the Blue Harmony?" Teusleh demanded over the Guard Channel.

"You will not engage civilian ships in our sector!" Control shouted back.

"Control this is the Wanderer Rescue Mission. The Captain was taken aboard a shuttle marked Blue Harmony 7. We want to know where they went, NOW!"

"You will not threaten civilian vessels in this..." and the voice suddenly stopped.

The Marines looked around at each other and without instructions prepared their weapons for immediate use. The camera tech gave them a data chip and the Marines began to move toward the door, on a combat footing, checking before the entered any corridor and not using the elevators to get back to the main level.

The Wanderer, Handren Station

The Ex O, was watching the tactical plot carefully. While the Planetary Defence Ships had agreed to capture the ship, they kept their distance and had not fired another weapon against them.

The bridge crew was watching carefully as the Rescue Team made their way to the station. The momentary distraction of the modified aircraft attack created some anger on the bridge.

"Let's keep or emotions in check, people," he reminded everyone. "We all have our job to do, and that's the best way to get the Captain back."

Nice words, he told himself. Wish I believed them as much as they seem to have believed me!

"Wanderer, this is Crash, we found her comp unit, but the Captain is gone," Lt. Mbibo sent out over Guard Channel Three.

"Roger, find out if anyone knows where she went," the Ex O replied. "No need to be gentle, I'm pissed off enough to destroy the fucking station right now," he growled.

"This is Planetary Control, Handren Station had already told you the Captain was no longer onboard the station. Return to your ship, NOW!"

The Ex O lost it.

"This is The Wanderer. Someone on that damned station knows where the Captain went. I want answers, and we will tear the damn station apart to get them! The sooner we have those answers, the sooner we are off that station and the less damage the station will take! WE ARE NOT BACKING DOWN ON THIS! WE WANT TO KNOW WHERE THE CAPTAIN IS NOW!!"

The bridge listened in on the comp recordings coming from select members of the Rescue Team, they could hear the debate back and forth with members of station security and the team getting a notarized copy of the letter the group that took Noor had. They waited as the team made them recall imagery from the security cameras to see where Noor had been taken.

"Planetary Control, where and what is the Blue Harmony?" Teusleh demanded over the Guard Channel.

"You will not engage civilian ships in our sector!" Control shouted back.

"Control this is the Wanderer Rescue Mission. The Captain was taken aboard a shuttle marked Blue Harmony 7. We want to know where they went, NOW!"

"You will not threaten civilian vessels in this..." and the voice suddenly stopped.

"Shit, that's not good," the Ex O said out loud. "Nav O, have you got a plot out of here for us?"

"Aye, sir. Plotted and ready, continuously updating as we go. The Pilot has the plot, sir, and can engage within seconds of your command."

"Good, I don't like this silence," the Ex O muttered. "Comms, anything on the other Guard Channels?"

"No, sir. Everything went quiet," the Comms O confirmed.

"What the hell is going on over there?" the Ex O asked the question everyone was wondering.

"All ships, this is Planetary Control," a new voice came over the Guard Channel several minutes later. "Charges have been dropped against Raymond Clark, Liea Samson, and their bodyguard. The injury to Artura Handren was not inflicted by the rescue mission of the owners of The Wanderer. Proof provided by The Wanderer shows the injury was a deliberate assassination attempt by Marcario Handren, who is now under arrest.

"Charges have been dropped against Capt. Henadi Noor. Files from Artura Handren's personal comp show that he intended to collect the bounty on Henadi Noor of five million credits. He had not intended to share this bounty with the Handren Company. For this reason, he has been removed as the head of the company, should he survive his assassination attack.

"Wanderer, be aware. The Blue Harmony is a civilian cargo ship that is currently heading out of the well at high speed. You will not likely catch her before she jumps. Her destination has not been given to us.

"To all ships of the System Defence Force, The Wanderer is free to leave once she picks up her rescue team. However, The Wanderer is banned from ever returning to this system. Control, out."

"Well, that was a surprise," the Ex O stated for all.

Forty minutes later, the ship had picked up the Rescue Shuttles and was heading out of the system toward the designated rendezvous point, the Valour Class vessels trailing in case Planetary Control changed it's mind, yet again, or the local Defence Force tried something stupid. They made the jump without issue.

Johal Compound, Terra

Hanalei Anar sat taking breakfast with the six young women who normally lived in the Johal Compound. Saabira Asghar, the Matriarch of the compound, sat with the three guards, going over their duties for the day. She wasn't technically the Matriarch, as she wasn't married to Andjuran, but she was the senior woman in the compound.

With Andjuran away from Terra, they were down to only three guards in the compound. The guards were all dressed the same, in temple clothing with ceremonial, put very much functional, swords at their left sides. They also had stun guns in holsters on their right hips and each carried a stun baton.

It had been several months since Andjuran left and Hanalei had been quietly looking through his office, sending information to her controllers via her comp. Despite the risks she took to acquire it, she had received much praise for the information she had provided.

The quiet conversation between the young ladies was suddenly interrupted by three strong bangs on the door that lead to the tiny Temple of Andanii in the courtyard. Everyone looked around, until the Matriarch got up and approached the door.

She was two steps from the door when it exploded inwards, bits of metal flying around. The Matriarch was blown off her feet and propelled backwards from the blast, a large shard of metal between her eyes. She died before her body hit the floor.

The guards reacted late, but each stood to block the assailants from getting further into the room. Two had drawn their swords and the third had drawn his stun pistol, to no avail. The three were unceremoniously mowed down in a hail of pulse rifle fire.

Hanalei acted immediately at the explosion of the door, getting the other women up and running out of the room toward the stairwell to the basement. Her screams to run faster fell on deaf ears as the ladies were running as hard as they could.

Hanalei pressed the emergency call button on her comp. A moment later a disembodied voice came over her unit. "Are you in danger?" asked the voice.

"The compound is under attack by at least six men armed with pulse rifles," Hanalei yelled, then ducked to a crouch as a pulse blast hit the wall near her shoulder. The ladies all screamed as they rounded the corner and headed for the metal door to the basement.

"There is a secure room in the basement, we are headed there," anything else she wanted to say was cut off as one of the women in front of her went down with a pulse blast between her shoulder. The ladies screamed again but Hanalei pushed them onwards, the woman who had gone down obviously dead as half her back was exposed down to her organs.

The ladies crashed through the door, Hanalei last and ran down the stairwell as Hanalei barred the door behind her, swiftly following the others.

The ladies all ran to the secure room and one of them unlocked the door which swung inwards on well oiled hinges. They rushed in and closed the heavy door just as they heard the door to the stairwell blown off it's hinges.

As the door sealed, Hanalei's comp went dead, unable to link to the net from inside the sealed room. The ladies all huddled together as they heard the attackers banging on the secure door. Having seen two metal doors already blown off their hinges, Hanalei wondered how long they would be safe in the supposed safe room...

Central Control, Liramor-23, Piscium System

Fiona was talking to Fayad at Ops when an alert was called out from the science station.

"Ma'am, I think I have an FTL signature from four hours out, light," Science explained.

"You think?" Fiona asked.

"Not sure, ma'am. It was a brief flash, suggesting the ship, if that is what it was, was pointed away from the platform when it emerged, which would send most of the wave front away from us, but you can't hide that kind of signal ma'am."

"Call it back, up. Let's see what you saw," Fiona asked.

They watched on the main monitor as the recording was replayed. It was clearly an FTL spike, and yes it was pointed away from them.

"Can we identify the location?" Fiona asked.

"Yes, I already have the fix on the original location, but they have had four hours to maneuver, ma'am," came the response.

"Can you see a ship out there? Our sensors should be able to see one if it is there," Fiona said.

"Not if it is a military ship, ma'am. They are coated to absorb sensor pulses. We wouldn't see such a ship at more than 500km, certainly not at that distance," Science informed her.

"So we likely have a military ship then. Send that to the conference room," Fiona ordered.