Atlantis Rising (18 page)

“Good. Again, Gilas will be
dispatching some medical personnel to your department to help with training,
and to bring in some more advanced equipment,” Jon said. “You’ll be in charge,
so be nice.”

“If I must,” Andie said. “I
promise not to bite them too hard.”

Carex glanced over at Andie with
a raised eyebrow, “You bite?”

“I only bite the cute ones,”
Andie said.

She smiled and showed him her
perfect teeth. Carex scooted his chair away from Andie’s end of the table.

“OK, stop scaring the guests,”
Jon said, as everyone started chuckling.

Once everyone had calmed down
again, Gilas spoke up.

“We sent a communication back to
our base and are waiting for a reply. That could take a couple weeks depending
on how they respond,” Gilas said. “We had to report the engagement and the plot
by the councilor. I’m sorry but this also included you were here - too many
people know about you, anyway. I’m almost positive the councilor sent his own
communication, before he was arrested.”

“So what you’re telling me is we
could have a Eutharan fleet on our doorstep in how long?” Jon asked.

“We need you, I don’t think the
King and Queen would do something like that,” Gilas said.

The surprise on his face was
genuine.

“Yes, but we also need you,” Jon
said. “Would you need us so much if you controlled the station?”

“I …” Gilas started to say. He
stared at Jon for a second before he spoke. “I never looked at it that way.”

“I’m sure some of your people
will eventually. The councilor is one such example. Every race has their bad eggs
who think they can just take what they want. Why should your people be any
different?” Jon said.

“Sadly, we’re not,” Gilas said.
“My crew and I will never attempt to take this station by force. That I promise
you if I have to step down and join the ADF I will. I don’t like that kind of
mentality and I won’t put up with it.”

“I didn’t think you would do
something like that, Gilas. I hope the Eutharan Empire welcomes us with open
arms. That way we can kick the ever living shit out of the Invaru together,”
Jon said. “However, I always prepare for the worst. I want repairs on the
Atlantis
and Ghost Station stepped up. I want
Atlantis
ready in less
than a week. We might need her and I want to be prepared.”

“That will push the time table
back on the
Titan
,” Ghost said.

“Yep, we’ll have to pull most of
the personnel off of her, to step up the repairs to the
Atlantis
,” Brad
said.

“Do it. It only means we can hang
around a bit longer to help out however we can. Hell, pull my whole engineering
crew, and use them wherever you need them,” Gilas said.

“You heard him. This meeting is
adjourned,” Jon said.

“Station Command to Commander
Hunter,” Carla said.

Jon raised his hand for everyone
to wait as he responded, “Hunter. Go ahead, Command.”

“Sir, I have a report coming in
from one of the Engineering teams. They have detected two ships in orbit around
the twelfth planet,” Carla said.

“I’m on my way. Tell them to stay
out of sight and just monitor using only passive sensors,” Jon said as he stood
up.

on stepped into Station Command followed by his small entourage.
Carla was standing at the large planning table watching the two strange vessels
orbit the twelfth planet. The vessels were about the size of a large shuttle.
They didn’t look to be doing anything important while they orbited the planet.

“Status?” Jon said.

“Sir,” Carla said, “they haven’t
been doing anything. They’re just orbiting the planet.”

“Do we know what type of vessel
they are,” Jon asked. He stepped up to the table and looked over the hologram.

“I have no record of this kind of
vessel in my database,” Ghost said. “However, I have analyzed the scans from
our shuttle and they’re heavily armed and shielded.”

Gilas stepped up next to Jon,
“Ghost can you zoom in on one of them?”

“No, Sir,” Ghost said. “They’re
just outside my scanner range. The only reason we know they’re there is that
the engineers ran across them. This is telemetry from the shuttle we’re looking
at right now.”

“Carex,” Gilas said. “Have a
squadron of fighters put on standby, just in case.”

“Yes, Sir,” Carex said.

“I’m on my way to the launch
bay,” Terri said. She took off before Jon could say anything.

“I think that girl will give me
gray hair,” Jon said.

Gilas grinned, “Comes with the
job title. Mine is just now starting to grow back in.”

Jon chuckled.

Carex leaned in and stared at the
two ships. “Those look like envoy shuttles,” Carex said. “VIP shuttles.”

Gilas looked over the scans of
the two ships. He looked up at Jon as he spoke, “Yeah, they look like Eutharan
Envoy shuttles. Their armaments and shields fit the specs. I would say they’re
a bit larger though.”

“So what the hell are they doing
out in the middle of nowhere?” Jon asked. “And what are they doing unescorted
if they have VIPs aboard.”

“Well, that could be for a
variety of reasons, actually,” Gilas said. “Usually, they travel in the company
of a Destroyer. However, sometimes when they land on a planet, the Destroyer
will stay back. It is some type of protocol that I do not understand. They
could be waiting for pick up too.”

“In a war zone?” Jon asked.

Gilas shrugged.

Jon caught Brad and Mike pointing
at the hologram and whispering to each other. He watched them for a few seconds
before he spoke up, “What are you two whispering about?”

Brad’s face reddened a bit,
“Sorry, we were talking about extending Ghost’s sensor range to the whole
system. Mike thinks when we bring the mining stations back online it will give
her sensors throughout the entire system. I want to deploy a few listening
posts, just in case.”

“The mining outposts will get me
almost complete system coverage. I have a few blind spots at times, due to
planetary rotations,” Ghost said.

“Those ‘blind spots’ would be a
good place to deploy listening stations,” Brad said.

“Good ideas,” Jon said. “How
about you two go work on your plans in engineering.”

“We’re on our way,” Brad said.
Mike nodded his head as they both started walking to the transport tube.
Muttering back and forth about the sensor network and what how they could fix
the problem.

“Those two are going to advance
your technology quickly,” Gilas said.

“They’re pretty bright,” Jon
said. “Very intelligent when it comes to developing applications and
equipment.”

“Sir, I’m picking up an incoming
fold event,” Tactical said.

“Condition yellow,” Jon said. The
station brought its shields to full strength and powered up its defenses.
“Location?”

“Same area as the two vessels,
Sir,” Tactical said.

Jon watched as a larger ship came
out of fold just above the two shuttles. The shuttles turned and slowly made
their way to the waiting ship.

“Scans on the new ship coming
through now, Sir,” Tactical said. “It looks as though it has been in a fight.
I’m reading several hull breeches, nothing major though.”

“That is the
Advent
. She
is a light destroyer, and carries about thirty personnel … all female,” Gilas
said.

“Logging new ship as
Advent
Eutharan light destroyer,” Ghost echoed.

“An all-female crew,
interesting,” Jon said.

Gilas chuckled as Carex
snickered. “When you meet a female of our species you will understand why we
don’t allow females to serve on a ship with males aboard,” Carex said.

“Really, no females serve on any
ships that have males on board?” Jon said in wonder.

“Nope, let’s just say their
beauty is very distracting and can cause problems. The women in our culture are
very sacred. In a way, we honor and venerate them. Very few are allowed to
leave the planet,” Carex said.

“I don’t understand. You keep
your females locked up on your planet. Yet you say your people are dying and it
is getting harder to crew your ships. That just doesn’t make sense,” Jon said.

“It’s a two edged sword. The
reason they’re restricted from leaving the planet is that we are slowly dying.
The female population is not at the level it should be as females are being
born less and less often. So, our male population has sky rocketed,” Carex
explained. “That’s why we tend to protect those few females we do have. That
ship sitting there is a Royal vessel. Since it is an all-female vessel, it can
only mean one thing …”

Gilas’ eyes got wide, “No! You
don’t think …”

Carex nodded, “Yes, it’s a
Princess. I would almost assume it is
the
Princess.”

“What Princess?” Jon asked.
“Should we contact them and offer them safe harbor.”

“Are you ready for Ghost Station
to be brought into the light right this minute?” Gilas asked.

“Not really, I was hoping for
another week of preparation before that happens,” Jon said.

“They’re headed home. It doesn’t
look like anyone is pursuing them. So I would just standby in case they need
help. Other than that I would just stay quiet,” Gilas said. “My duty is
screaming to me to go escort them home. However, my ship isn’t ready yet, so
I’m kind of stuck.”

“Sir, the shuttles have docked
and the
Advent
is charging for a fold,” Tactical said.

Jon watched as moments later the
Advent
folded. He ran his hand through his hair as he sat thinking about
what Gilas and Carex had just told him. This was going to get complicated
quickly and he needed to prepare for it.

“See I told you gray was part of
the job description,” Gilas said. “Your position actually comes with extras,
while mine comes with a light delivery.”

“No shit,” Jon said. “This is
going to get very complex, very quickly. Bill, start scheduling scouting
patrols for the system. If they find anything, they are not to engage unless
fired upon first. I prefer they shadow anything they find, and stay out of
sight.”

“Yes, Sir,” Bill said.

“Keep me informed,” Jon said. He
turned and started for the transport tube then stopped. He turned to Gilas,
“Gilas do you mind if Carex is stationed here as an adviser? You guys know this
space better than we do. He can act as second in command while on duty.”

Gilas looked at Carex.

“I don’t mind, it will give me
time to get to know some of the people and learn a bit about the station,”
Carex said.

“Sounds like a done deal then,”
Gilas said.

“Ghost? Log Lieutenant Commander
Carex and Commander Gilas as part of the acting command team of Ghost Station,”
Jon said. “Commander Gilas will fall just below Lieutenant Commander Hawkins
and me in the command structure.”

“Logged,” Ghost said. “Commander
Gilas and Lieutenant Commander Carex, do you swear that while performing your
duties as personnel serving on this station, that you will do everything in
your power to protect this station and the people aboard?”

“Yes, I so swear,” they both
replied.

“Logged and noted,” Ghost said.
“Welcome to Ghost Station Command, gentlemen.”

Carex turned and walked towards
Bill, who had a big grin on his face.

“Thanks,” Gilas said as they
continued their walk towards the transport tube.

“Oh, don’t thank me yet. I plan
on using and abusing you while I can,” Jon said grinning.

Gilas laughed as they stepped
into the tube.

Five days later, Jon and Gilas
sat in a small room, with Oojoung seated across from them. Oojoung was
fidgeting. Oojoung’s gaze would flick to Jon and Gilas, and then back down. Two
armed guards stood behind the Buranis, watching him closely. Jon still hadn’t
decided what to do with him. He felt torn between shoving him out the nearest
airlock, and letting him go.

“Oojoung, it’s time we had our
discussion,” Jon said.

“Oojoung ready,” Oojoung said
quietly.

“I hope my men have been treating
you well,” Jon said.

“Oh, yes. Oojoung treated better
here than he has ever been treated,” Oojoung said. “Oojoung like the guards.
They very kind to Oojoung. Oojoung help teach some of them how to fight.”

“You taught some of them how to
fight?” Gilas said.

Oojoung nodded emphatically yes,
“Oojoung think guards need much training. Oojoung could have escaped many
times. Guards good, but not like Oojoung.”

Jon’s eyes flicked to the two
guards behind Oojoung, who were a slight shade of red. “Explain this for me if
you will,” Jon said.

“Well, Sir, we were given orders
to allow him to exercise under guard. He practiced some type of advanced
fighting skills. We got interested and asked him about them and he just started
training us,” one of the guards said.

“So, instead of guarding him you
were learning from him. Which could have endangered everyone on this station?”
Jon growled.

“No, Sir!” the other guard said.
“We only trained a few at a time the rest stood guard.”

“What if he had taken one of the
guards training with him hostage? Then what would you have done?” Jon asked.

“Um,” one of the guards said. He
looked over at the other guard as if searching for an answer. “Sorry, Sir. It
won’t happen again.”

“You’re damn right it won’t
happen again!” Jon shouted. “You two are relieved and confined to your quarters
until I talk to Anders. You’re dismissed. Send in one of the guards from
outside.”

“Ooh,” Oojoung moaned. “Oojoung
sorry! He no try to escape. Only trying to help, no want get guards in
trouble.”

Marc took this time to walk
through the door. “Who did you get in trouble Oojoung?” A puzzled expression
crossed Marc’s face.

“Poor guards all in trouble,”
Oojoung moaned.

Gilas had sat back watching the
entire thing play out. He knew the Buranis was dangerous. However, he knew he
had nowhere else to go. Oojoung was trying to make up for his past crimes by
being useful. It was a rare thing to have happen. Somehow, Oojoung had attached
himself to Jon and his family. That was another very rare thing to have happen.

Jon’s attention snapped to Marc,
“Your people were training with Oojoung instead of guarding him.”

Marc looked at Jon for a second
and blinked. He wasn’t quite sure why Jon was so mad about a little training.
“No they weren’t. They were guarding him while he was training a few of them.”

“You knew?” Jon said.

“Yes, I authorized the training
when I heard about it, when Oojoung offered his assistance,” Marc said.

“Of all the foolish things, what
if he had escaped …” Jon started.

“Excuse me, Sir, but if you think
so little of me and my choices, why did you put me into this position? I made a
judgment call, and frankly, I think it was a good one. Oojoung had been locked
away for days, he needed to get out and move about a little bit,” Marc said.

“You should have passed it
through me first,” Jon said.

“Should I have? Do you want me
running everything by you? How about Andie in medical? Should she run it by you
every time she pokes someone with a needle or removes a splinter? How about
Brad and Mike, everything they change or tweak on the ships or the station
should be run past you too I guess,” Marc said. “Maybe Terri should check with
you before she steps out of her room and goes and gets in her fighter.”

“You’re really close Mr. Anders,”
Jon growled.

“Close to what, are you going to
fire me? Or are you going to throw me out an airlock? Maybe, you will just
demote me and confine me to quarters. You need to realize that we’re all here
to help you, so that you don’t have to do everything yourself. This is why you
have a command staff. Ask Gilas if he micromanages his people? If you don’t
trust us to do the best job possible and make correct choices without your
input, then you have the wrong people in command.