Atlantis Rising (16 page)

“There was only one of her kind
ever built. Even today some of her systems are ages beyond anything anyone
has,” Gilas said. “Is her AI still active like the stations?”

“Yes, her AI is intact and
functional,” Jon said.

“My god, He will rise from the
ashes of his home encased in armor the likes of which no one has seen in
thousands of years, an intelligent armor, of a technology long forgotten and
forsaken. The prophecies are coming true,” Gilas said.

“Look I told you …” Jon said.

“I know you don’t believe in
prophecy, but it’s true,” Gilas said. “No matter how you feel or how you think.
It doesn’t change the fact that they are. Even if you don’t realize it you
wield a large sword and carry a big shield.”

{
Commander
.} Bill said.

“Hold on a second Gilas,” Jon
said.

Gilas just nodded as he stared
out the observation window, watching the bots repairing the Atlantis’ hull.

{
Go ahead
.} Jon said.

{
Sir, you’re needed at the
docking platform where the
Titan
is docked. You had better bring
Commander Gilas with you
.} Bill said.

{
What’s wrong? We’re in the
middle of a conversation.
} Jon said.

{
Well, it appears some big wig
from the
Titan
is demanding entry into the station. Marc has taken
twelve security personnel and his team is en route there. The two techs working
on the
Titan
were the ones who reported the problem. They left as soon
as it started.
} Bill said.

{
Great, just fucking great.
Okay, we’re on our way. Control station, lock down the platform.
} Jon said.

{
Yes, Sir.
} Bill said.

{
Marc
,} Jon said.

{
We’re on our way, Sir
,} Marc
said.

{
Okay, secure the area. Don’t
take any aggressive action unless absolutely necessary. Just try to keep them
politely where they are right now. We should be there shortly,
} Jon said.

{
Yes, Sir, understood. We’ll
be there in about twenty seconds,
} Marc said.

{
Be careful, their weapons and
armor are a bit more advanced than ours. Jon, out,
} Jon said.

“Gilas, someone from your ship is
demanding entry into the station,” Jon said.

That snapped Gilas out of his
awe, as he paled, “Oh no.”

“Come on. We’ll talk on the way
there,” Jon said.

s Gilas and Jon entered the platform’s control room, the sounds of
yelling filled the room. A large Eutharan stood before a group of six marines
arguing with Sergeant Newl. His face was a mask of anger as he shouted at Newl.
The three marines behind Newl shifted uneasily as the argument continued.

“Sergeant Newl, you will stand
aside and let me pass! That is an order,” the man screamed in Newl’s face.

“I’m sorry, Councilor, I have orders
to not let anyone off the ship. That includes you and anyone else onboard. Even
if the ship was burning to the hull plates, I would have to contact Commander
Gilas to get permission,” Newl said calmly.

Marc had arrived just behind Jon
and Gilas. His men spread out in the room and down the corridor leading to the
station.

“If you don’t let me past I will
have you shot where you stand,” the Councilor said. The arguing men hadn’t seen
Jon or Gilas arrive.

“You do that on this station, and
I will find somewhere to lose your body that no one will ever find,” Jon said
as he stepped up beside Newl.

Newl visibly relaxed when he saw
Gilas.

The councilor spun on Jon and
yelled in his face, “And just who do you think you are?”

“I’m the man who will make good
on his promise, if you yell at me again,” Jon growled and his face darkened as
menace filled his voice. “Ghost Station Control.”

“Control here, go ahead, Sir,”
Bill’s voice said.

“Stop all repairs on the
Titan
.
Restrict all access to this platform. No one in or out unless I say so,” Jon
said. He stared right in the face of the councilor as he spoke.

“YOU have no right!” the
councilor screamed. “This is a Eutharan station, and I’m the highest authority
here.”

“I’m warning you, one … last …
time,” Jon growled. “Yell at me again, and I will remove you from this station
in a body bag. This is MY station! I control what does and doesn’t go on here.
Not you, nor anyone else. If I say ‘jump,’ you had better ask ‘how high?’ I
don’t give a rat’s ass who you think you are. On this station, I’m the law, the
judge, and the jury. Marc is the executioner. Captain Anders …”

“Yes, Sir,” Marc said.

“If this man yells at me or
anyone else in this room again, I want him removed from the station … one way,
or the other,” Jon said.

Jon’s eyes never left the
councilor as he spoke to Marc.

“That includes anyone who
supports him.”

“I …” the councilor started.

“Think long and hard before you
speak. It had better be in a calm voice. I don’t like people yelling at me or
anyone,” Jon said.

The councilor’s lip twitched as
he stared at Jon. Then in a calm voice, he spoke, “I don’t think you have the
power to do anything. I think you’re undermanned and out gunned. You’re a
pirate who has stolen this station and I mean to see you arrested and put on
trial.”

Jon grinned, “That wasn’t so hard
was it. You get a lot more accomplished speaking to someone instead of at
someone. As far as if I have the power or not, try me. I’ll eject your ship so
fast it will make your head spin. That is, after I offer asylum to anyone who
wants it, instead of being trapped on a ship that will have to limp home
without an operational fold drive.”

Jon crossed his arms, and stared
into the councilor’s eyes.

“Pirate! Captain Gilas I want
this man arrested,” the councilor said as he pointed at Jon.

“Excuse me?” Gilas said in
disbelief.

Gilas had actually enjoyed
watching Jon put his foot into the councilors back and shoving. Jon was smart;
he had to give him that point. It did make him a bit nervous that the councilor
was painting the entire crew into a corner. Gilas knew Jon had the power to do
just what he’d said. Yes, they could probably out gun them but they would never
get control of the station.

Not many people had studied the
history of Ghost Station as well as he had. Most knew that to approach it meant
death if you didn’t hold the key codes to the station. However, few knew that
even killing the commander of the station didn’t stop the station from going
into lock down.

“You heard me, Captain,” the
councilor said. “I want this man and all his people arrested.”

Jon raised an eyebrow as he
looked at Gilas.

“On what grounds should I place
them under arrest?” Gilas asked.

“Piracy,” the councilor said.

“I can’t do that. Commander
Hunter holds the key codes to Ghost Station. The station has accepted him as
her commanding officer. That isn’t piracy,” Gilas said.

The councilor’s face started to
color, as he looked ready to burst a blood vessel.

Jon held up a finger, “Better
watch that temper.”

The councilor glared at Jon, his cheek
twitching as he spoke, “I’m ordering you to place this man and his people under
arrest.”

“And I’m telling you it is an
unlawful order. I will not follow an unlawful order,” Gilas said.

“You will follow my orders or I
will remove you as Captain of the
Titan
, and appoint your second in
command as captain. If he won’t follow my orders I’ll work down the command
line until I find someone who will,” the councilor said.

It was very obvious to everyone
in the room he was trying hard to control his temper even though he wanted to
yell at Gilas.

“You’ll do no such thing,” Jon
said. “I have had enough of this. You don’t come onto my station and start
trying to bully people.”

“This isn’t your concern,” the
councilor snapped.

“Ghost?” Jon said.

“Yes, Commander?” Ghost said.

Everyone who didn’t know better
started looking around for where the voice had come from. It would have been
comical had the situation not been heated.

“Log the
Titan
as property
of the ADF. She will be under the temporary command of Commander Gilas, and his
second in command. She isn’t to leave the platform without permission from me
personally,” Jon said.

“You can’t do that,” the
councilor yelled.

His face livid, he was almost
hoping up and down like a small child.

Jon held his hand up to stop Marc
who was preparing to remove the councilor as he spoke, “I can, and I did.”

“ADF
Titan
logged in
database, Commander Gilas and Lieutenant Carex logged as commanding officers.
Titan
command codes transferred to Commander Hunter,” Ghost said.

“Thank you, please continue
repairs on the
Titan
,” Jon said.

“That … that is an act of piracy.
I want him arrested right now, Gilas,” the councilor said.

“Nope, it isn’t piracy. I’m just
impounding the vessel until the Eutharan Government pays the bill on it,” Jon
said grinning.

Marc and Gilas snickered as the
councilor’s jaw dropped.

“You have no authority,” the
councilor said.

“My parts, my labor, and my time.
I have every right. Gilas was so kind, that I knocked off part of the bill. I
was giving you my labor, free. But now, since you’re being an ass, I’ll just
tack that back on,” Jon said. “Ghost, can I get an estimate on the repair bill
for the
Titan
?”

{
Commander, I have no idea
what you’re talking about. What do you mean by ‘an estimate on the repair bill?
,’}
Ghost said to Jon.

{
The cost to fix the ship.
Just come up with some absurdly large amount. I don’t care, just don’t make it
too outrageous
,} Jon said.

“I had the bill for the repairs
at thirty five million prast. However, with adding the labor back onto the bill,
you can add another five million to that figure,” Ghost said.

A prast was a small platinum coin
used for all transactions between Empires. It would buy a meal, at a modest
restaurant. The Empires used other metals too. It was almost like bartering.

“That will be due in cash please,
no plastic or checks,” Jon said. “You do have that on you ... right?”

“This is absurd,” the councilor
said. “This is
our
station!”

“That’s what you’re not getting.
This is my station,” Jon said.

Another Eutharan exited one of
the docking tubes behind the councilor. Twenty marines followed him. Jon’s gaze
flicked to the new arrivals, which caused the councilor, to follow Jon’s gaze.

The councilor turned and locked
eyes with Jon, an evil grin splitting his face. “Lieutenant Carex, Captain
Gilas has been relieved of command. You are the new Captain of the
Titan
,”
the councilor said.

“Excuse me, Councilor?” Carex
said.

Surprise registered on Carex’s
face as he stopped dead in his tracks. The marines behind him started muttering
in low tones.

“I have removed Captain Gilas
from command. I want him and this man,” the councilor said as he pointed at
Jon. “Arrested and thrown in the brig.”

“Under what charges are they to
be arrested?” Carex said.

Newl stepped up between Gilas and
Jon and took a defensive stance. “This could get nasty, I wouldn’t want either
of you to get hurt,” he said in a low tone.

“Captain Gilas is charged with
insubordination, and Commander Hunter is under arrest for Piracy,” the
councilor said.

“Piracy? That’s a pretty serious
charge. What has he pirated?” Carex said.

“Are you questioning me?” the
councilor said. He spun to face Carex.

“No, Sir. I just have to have all
the facts for my report,” Carex said calmly.

“Very well, Commander Hunter has
stolen Ghost Station and the
Titan
,” the councilor said.

“Wow,” Carex said. He turned to
look at Jon as he spoke. “Commander Hunter did you steal the station and my
ship?”

“No,” Jon said.

“What?!” the councilor yelled. He
spun back on Jon and growled at him. “You did too!”

“I believe you, Councilor. Calm
down, and let me handle this,” Carex said.

“Fine!” the councilor huffed as
he crossed his arms. He was gloating at Jon as he saw his victory close at
hand.

Carex stepped up next to the
councilor, his men following him. He looked Jon up and down as if he was
searching for something, “I don’t see anything unusual.”

“Huh?” the councilor said.

“Well, I would think if he had
stolen the station and our ship, that his pockets would be poking out,” Carex
said.

“WHAT!” the councilor said.

“Councilor, frankly I have been
listening to this from the moment you stepped off the ship, and into this
control room. I’m sick and tired of your games. You have plagued my Captain and
ship for a very long time. You’re always trying to get some angle on the
Captain. You want to get rid of him, because he disobeyed a suicidal order from
you at the battle of Ballmeade, and saved the entire crew,” Carex said.
“Commander Hunter has done nothing wrong. He is in control of the station. That
is something the Eutharan people will just have to get used to.”

“Fine! You’re also relieved of
your position. I’ll find someone else who has the balls …” the councilor
suddenly was very quiet as Carex slapped him across the face.

“SHUT UP!” Carex yelled in his
face. “Marines, remove the weapons from his personal guards. If they resist
shoot them. You, Councilor, are under arrest for mutiny. We will hold you in
the brig, until such a time as we return home. We arrested one of your men
earlier and he confessed to the plot that you were formulating to remove
Captain Gilas from command. Your men will keep you company during your stay.”

Gilas nudged Jon in the side.

“That’s why he is my second in
command,” Gilas said, and winked at Jon.

“How dare you touch me …” the
councilor was stopped short a second time as Carex slapped him, again.

“Say something else, I dare you.
I’ll toss you in the brig bound and gagged. You have overstepped your bounds.
What is going on right now at this station is a military matter, and not a
political one. You have no jurisdiction, here,” Carex said.

The councilor started to open his
mouth, but shut it quickly when Carex reared back to let him have it again. For
a few seconds the councilor looked like a fish out of water, his mouth opening
to say something, but shutting quickly when Carex moved his hand.

“Get him out of here. If he says
anything, gag and bind him before you toss him in the brig. Round up all his
supporters and find them a nice cozy spot, too,” Carex said to one of the
marines.

Jon and Gilas watched the
councilor and his guards led away as Jon spoke, “Some people just don’t get
it.”

“You’re not telling me anything
new,” Gilas said. He introduced Jon to his second in command. “Commander
Hunter, this is Lieutenant Carex.”