Sholan Alliance - AU Bk. 02 Ch. 02

~~~

Back on Billy's ship once they were underway Vangie pulled Billy from the seat. "You are going to bed and I will contact you if we need anything. You are going to get at least six hours of sleep and if I need to I will give you a sleep med."

Billy wasn't going to complain since he felt like a limp noodle. Whatever the doctor had given him had sort of isolated him from everything. With that sudden release of tension and holding his rage back he simply didn't have any energy. "No complaints here Vangie. As it is you are probably going to need to carry me." He was holding onto Vangie's arm for support and he looked pale and shaky.

Vangie grinned at him and carefully picked Billy up and carried him to Billy's room. "Just wait, I am so going to tell Satasha I carried you into your room and stripped you down." He snickered as he did that. "If you don't mind I think I am going to collapse next to you."

Billy started laughing when he said that. "Fine, I am used to having a furry bed warmer." It didn't take him long to fall asleep curled up with his back to Vangie's. He knew he was going to be recovering for a while.

~~~

It was just about four days later when they dropped out of hyper and paused for a short time. There was a three way conference between the captains of the various vessels. The senior ambassador was there as well and she listened as the captains verified the plans. Even with the attack and capture of the pirate ship they decided to stick with the original plan. Billy and the combat fighter would go in first. Once they were assured of safe passage then the barque would come into the system. If all else failed they would all go into hyper to a pre-arranged location.

There they would remove all the Sholan's from the two ships and Billy would go in alone. He would deliver the message from the Sholan's and eventually the mother ship would arrive. Once it arrived they would then commence trying to negotiate some sort of treaty. Sally would remain behind with Vangie just in case the earth authorities tried to arrest Billy.

"...So we have agreed on the basic plan. I have given you the coordinates to the Swiss neutral tunnel. In theory any ship that comes into the neutral area has diplomatic immunity. This was set up during the last major war we fought." He sighed when he said that since it wasn't all that long ago compared to how long the Sholans had been in space. "I am going to head for that space and contact the Swiss department of foreign affairs. They deal with diplomatic issues and I can't think of anything more diplomatic than meeting a new species."

He scratched his chin and rubbed his temple since he was still getting headaches. They would come and go at times and the headache meds weren't working all that well. As soon as they landed he was going to get checked out. "At the moment I can't think of any other issues other than remain in stealth till I say otherwise."

Billy let the others talk for a few before he finally interrupted. "I am going to do a micro jump and Commander Czernak is going to come out of hyper at the same time. This will reduce his chance of being noticed. I am pretty sure that my ship will make a noticeable splash coming out of hyper. It should be more than enough to conceal his hyper signature." He glanced at the three screens. "Does anyone have any questions?"

Once he had confirmed that the questions had been dealt with he gave a firm nod. "Then shall we be about our business? Oh and remember 'live long and prosper' is not a valid greeting." He frowned slightly at Satasha when he said it. "I will be sending the revised coordinates in a moment. I will see you on the other side."

Vangie killed the screen and everyone hurried to their stations. Billy took the captains seat, Vangie the navigator, and one of the other warriors the engineering. Billy triple checked the coordinates he wanted and finally sent them to the two ships. He powered up his N-space engines and slowly increased the speed till he hit the hyper speed and flashed over. Moments later he detected the other ship enter hyper as well.

The micro jump went well and they dropped out of hyper almost exactly where he wanted. Even as close as he was he barely detected the other ship drop out of hyper. Billy had to smile with the excellent control the other ship had. Using a short burst he sent a very brief message to the other ship. "Correct coordinates, congrats."

Now that they were in N-space he started broadcasting the canned message he had created. For the canned message it was only him on the bridge. There would be time enough to show the Sholan's down the road. That and till he got a bit further into the neutral passage he didn't want to chance someone from one of the other nations trying to stop him.

"Greetings, this is Capt. Billy Madlax of the SS Sandi. I have some important information for all the nations of earth. I encountered an alien craft that was damaged and not able to fly. I attempted to repair the vessel to no avail. In the name of humanity I took the alien onboard and delivered her to her mother ship. Aboard the mother ship my oldest girl Sally and I were treated well." He took a sip of coffee before starting to talk again.

"While aboard for a short time we were in secure quarters till Lt. Verzilon, Sally, and myself had been debriefed. We were also held there till the medical scans came back indicating that there didn't appear to be anything infectious for either species. Once we were cleared we were moved to regular quarters and with an escort allowed to see parts of the ship." He took another sip of the coffee.

"At no time did they ask for any secrets related to our planet or colonies. They did inquire as to why my drive signature was different from the others in this system. I informed them that I was testing out some modifications I had made. They did ask to see some parts of my equations which I did though I kept the proprietary secrets to myself. The Sholan's are at least 150 years more advanced than we are. Due to this I figured there wasn't much I could teach or show them that would impact on their technologies. The only equations I showed them were the ones I came up with and not for our primary drive systems."

Another sip of coffee and he continued. "While I was on board I was approached by the Commander of the mother ship about escorting the first contact team to earth. After some consideration I decided to accept his proposal. I am going to ask Switzerland for diplomatic immunity for the aliens till such time as any treaties have been signed. While enroute we were attacked by pirates and successfully repulsed the attempted boarding. We retaliated and took command of the ship."

He paused for effect as well as another sip of coffee. "The pirate ship I recovered and took command of is the Black Pearl. I also have the so called Jack Sparrow in lock down as well as twelve of his crew. The rest of the crew was killed trying to repel our boarding. I have captured the ship relatively intact and claim her as space salvage under the international treaties related to piracy. The crew and dead bodies will be turned over to the Swiss authorities for processing and prosecution."

Now he just looked tired. "In the process of the boarding one of the Sholan warriors was killed. I am waiting on instructions on how to properly honor his sacrifice. Also in the process of boarding and taking control of the ship we found six captives. All six are females and have been severely abused. They are currently aboard the barque that is carrying the first contact team. I am going to transmit their vital information once I have sent this. They have been treated well and my daughter Sally Madlax is aboard the barque. I have been in constant contact with her to ensure they are getting the proper treatment."

"Once we have landed I will have Doctor Desjean talk to a Swiss doctor of their choice. Please ensure that the doctor is female if possible. As mentioned the females we saved were severely abused by the crew of the pirate ship. The Sholan's have saved samples of the DNA from each of the females. It was collected in accordance with their standards for legal use. All evidence will be turned over as well. The computer data will be turned over as well upon landing. Captain Madlax out."

Once the recording finished Billy grinned at Vangie. "Now comes the fun part... I expect Earth to melt down before going up in flames. We have encountered aliens before but they are primitives and their planets off bounds." This was going to be very interesting and as odd as it might sound Billy was looking forward to the fun. "I figure we will be contacted within two or three hours. Heaven only knows who will show up to say hello."

Vangie frowned at him. "Yilly I have a feeling that you are looking forwards to all the fun and excitement. I almost feel like we are being made the butt of some joke." It was all he could do to keep his face straight as he muttered at Billy.

"Darn straight I am looking forwards to it. If nothing else this might make some of the more obstreperous senior officers keel over. It is good for advancement you know." He leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet up on the console and took a sip of coffee. Once he was comfortable his expression changed and his headache showed. The damn thing had been coming and going since the pirate attack.

"Headache again Yilly?" Vangie was starting to get a bit concerned since it just seemed to hang on. The meds he had for the headache helped but nothing completely got rid of it. "Once we land you really need to see the doctor." He shifted so that he was behind him and started massaging Billy's forehead and neck. That seemed to usually help a fair amount.

"Planned on it and maybe hiding for a day or so in a room with Satasha and sleep and cuddle." God he missed having her next to him. It had been nice having Vangie curl up next to him but it just wasn't the same.

Vangie grinned. "So is cuddling the only thing you are going to do?" His tail was twitching in amusement as he teased Billy. "I have a feeling she might object to just the cuddling."

Billy grumbled at him. "I am neither going to kiss or tell what might happen other than cuddling." He finally leaned back and closed his eyes and relaxed till a communication from who ever came in. Before Billy realized it he had fallen asleep.

Vangie was definitely a bit concerned since Billy seemed to be getting worse the closer to the end of the trip they got. He wasn't sure what was going on but he had been in contact with the doctor. She was going to take a look as soon as she could. When the ships made it to ground or took off back towards the mother ship.

It was several hours later when the communications indicator started blinking. Vangie called to have some coffee brought up. "Yilly wake up the comm. light is on and flashing." He had to shake him a bit before Billy woke up.

Right about then one of the warriors came in with some coffee for Billy and cshar for the others. "Taking over engineering station captain." The warrior said. Vangie was already sitting at the navigation console. "I have an escape plot entered. At your command we can escape if needed."

Billy nodded and after careful consideration stayed in the position he was in. After reaching over and activating the comm. he picked up his coffee and took a sip. It was lucky he had just swallowed when the screen activated. On the screen was one of the enemies he had made during his time in. Both narrowed their eyes.

"Ah 'Captain' Madlax how nice to see you again. That was a fascinating broadcast you made." The male was tall and in very good shape. His hair was short and cropped close to his head. He had a number of ribbons on his chest as well.

Billy yawned slightly. "So nice to see you as well Commander Jeramiah, I see you have a command commiserate with your skills. Congratuations." There was most definitely traces of venom in his voice. It was obvious the two knew each other and disliked each other. "So what brings you out here? Well other than my canned message that is."

Vangie had to flick an ear as he wondered what the back story was. He didn't bother saying or moving since the two were focused on each other.

"Well I must say it was a very fascinating message. Meeting aliens and capturing the Black Pearl oh my." He glanced around Billy's bridge and raised an eyebrow when he finally noticed the two felines. Vangie was a soft charcoal gray and the other was a highland sand color. "Nice costumes boys. Gotta admit you did a good job on this Billy. Don't know what game you are playing at but I am sure the Space Corpse is not going to be amused." His voice was silky as he spoke.

Billy sighed and then shook his head. "You were always a stupid egotistical self centered bastard." When one of the Sholan's spoke to him he looked over his shoulder and replied in Sholan. "Keep pretending that you don't speak English. He is a dickhead and a dweeb but as long as we stay in the neutral corridor he can't do anything."

"What did you say?" Jeramiah demanded. He was sure that Billy had somehow concocted all this to make him the butt of some massive joke. "What did you do to your engines? The hyper signature is way out of the norm for your ship." He smirked. "Hope you didn't blow your tubes with that entrance."

Billy settled for a grin. "Just speaking Sholan to the pretend aliens you think I have on my ship." He took a sip of coffee and smiled in appreciation. "Thank you for having the coffee brought Vangie. It hit the spot." He turned back to the comm. screen. "My engines? I redesigned them while I was grounded. It gave me something to do while my tubes were re-crystallized. Oh wait, you aren't supposed to know about that."

Jerimiah was starting to get irritated by now. "I have instructions to bring you to the Space Command orbital station. Ensure all weapons are secured and your shields lowered to the minimum strength." He seemed to think he had the authority to order him to follow.

Billy rolled his eyes. "You are as stupid now as you were when I almost got you drummed out of the Space Corpse. I am in the neutral corridor and under international treaties and regulations I do not need to respond. If the Swiss choose to ask me to leave then you will have authority over me. Till such time as that happens then I am not required to obey your orders."

Jerimiah snarled at him. "You will obey the commands from your authorities and your space Navy. Come about or be fired on." He snapped a command out and a laser beam flashed in front of Billy's vessel.

Before Billy could do anything there was a brief ripple of space and a beam flashed out from the fighter. The weapons mount disintegrated if a burst of energy. Billy frowned slightly since that wasn't something he had expected or intended but he went with it. "Oh, meet my escort. Since I am currently being paid by the Sholan's to bring their first contact team to Earth they provided an escort." He waved at Vangie.

"Fighter 23 that is sufficient unless there is any further attempt to take the ship over." The fighter changed positions to the other side of the intersystem patrol ship.

The commander looked furious. "That was an act of war and will not be taken lightly. Prepare to be boarded and surrender your ship." He started issuing commands to prepare to move closer and board.

"Commander we will be going into the neutral corridor to board. That alone will cause an international incident. I strongly recommend against this action. I would also like it logged as well." The first officer was tired of the ass commanding the ship and wanted this noted.

"Fine it is logged and you are relieved. Go to your stateroom and remain there." The first officer was looking rather ticked as well but for different reasons.

"Yes sir, I stand relieved." He turned and walked off the deck of the bridge.

Billy watched the action on the other ship and finally sat up. "Commander I am going to continue my course. If you take any further action against me I will consider it an act of piracy and will defend myself. If you choose to back off I will not make a complaint against you with the Swiss. If you keep this illegal action up I will take it to the international courts and press charges."

Vangie activated the drives and they started moving forward. As they were starting to move forward various weapons sensors started sounding. "Sir we are being hit with targeting systems from the other vessel." As he was talking they were powering up their weapons systems.

Billy was in the process of taking control when the comms were taken over. On the screen was a very large male who was most definitely Nordic in looks. In a very heavy accent he spoke. "This is Captain Jorgensen. Stand down all weapons or we will be forced to defend our territory."

Billy listened and a slight smile crossed his face. "Gladly Captain Jorgensen. We are powering down my weapons as I speak. I wish to introduce you to my acting first officer Senior Warrior Askeron and engineer warrior Shojim. They are Sholan's and part of the escorts for the first contact team."

"Captain this is a Space Corpse matter and I demand that you stand down and allow me to do my job. This man is obviously demented and unstable. I need to take him into custody to ensure that he doesn't harm anyone including himself." He was trying to look very official as he was speaking.

Billy kicked his feet back up and watched the show. He sipped on his coffee and wished he had some popcorn and this would be great. The Swiss Captain looked down his nose at the Commander. "You do not understand. This is our territory and we will deal with this ship and his allegations. If they prove to be false he will be dealt with in accordance with all treaties. Till then he is under our escort and protection. Move your ship."

"Damn but this is better than some movies I have seen." He shook his head and took another sip of coffee and simply waited. The two traded threats till another Swiss ship showed up.

"Commander that is a battle ship and we are being targeted. They are demanding that we lower shields, power down all weapons, and if needed they will force a boarding." The junior officer was looking very pale when he informed his commander of that.

That definitely got his attention and it took him a few moments before he slumped and he ordered his crew to stand down. "You have not seen the last of me Madlax." That was a snarl and then the connection was broken.

Billy became formal and looked at the Captain of the Swiss ship. "My weapons are secured and I have shields at normal strength. Is there anything else you need me to do?"

The Captain looked at him and nodded. "Have the stealthed vessel lower their shielding. I am providing protection and escort to a secure landing facility. From what I understand there is another vessel as well. Have them come out of stealth or where they are and then we will leave."

"Understood but the escort vessel will need to briefly jump into hyper space. It has been waiting for us to signal it is safe. It will take about an hour or so." Once he got confirmation from the Captain he nodded at Vangie and he sent the signal. There was a flash as the fighter went into hyperspace and vanished from the sensors.

While they were waiting the last warrior on board came forward and gave them some food and relieved them as needed. It was just about an hour and a half when the barque came out of hyper space as did the fighter. It was not cloaked at the moment and Billy had to appreciate the view on the screens. He had seen it on the mother ship but space was its environment and it showed.

"Captain Jorgensen these are the two vessels I have been escorting. The fighter was also an escort for the Barque. Her primary mission was to ensure the first contact team made it back to the mother ship if something happened. If you will escort us to the landing area it would be greatly appreciated. Please have sufficient soldiers or police to take charge of the prisoners."