Metal Boxes (38 page)

“Send
Heller to check for the man in sick bay,” Stone said.

“Sick
bay?” Numos smiled. “I should have thought of that.”

Stone smiled back. “In my short time on the Ol
’ Toothless I had more men show up for sick call during general quarters than showed up at their station. I guess that doesn’t happen in the marines?”

Before he could answer
, Shalako snorted. “It doesn’t happen here either. I see the reports. If there were malingering on this vessel I would know about it.”

Stone just looked at
Shalako.

“I can detail a couple of
marines to Commander Wright, if you want, Captain?” Numos offered.

Stone nodded
, “Please do. She has been away from her goats entirely too long. It makes her grumpy. Please have someone with her until Agent Storovitch completes his investigation.”

“Yes
, Captain.”

The elevator doors parted into a large atrium
and the group filed off the elevator. According to his p.a. the command bridge was straight ahead. To the left was Admiral Shalako’s quarters, his ready room and a conference room. To the right was a series of other offices for senior officers. A ring of security forces in combat suits lined the bulkheads of the atrium.

“Lost, little boy?” Shalako laughed.

Hammermill asked, “How about I gag this old guy, Mister Stone?”

“Thank you for the suggestion,
Lieutenant Hammermill,” Stone said. “But, he is an admiral and he hasn’t been found guilty of any crimes. He is to be detained, but not abused. His quarters are that way. Can we sweep his quarters for communications devices?”

Bob said “Yes, Mister Stone. Jake and I can handle that for you. We can disable the comms on his
p.a. as well.”

“Good
. I don’t want him making any calls in or out. Stick him in there, Hammer. Then come meet me on the bridge. Maggot, there is a conference room over there. I suggest you and your team use that for your investigation.” Stone looked around, but Commander Wright was already gone.

He looked up at Allie. He was glad she was there. He really felt alone. Even surrounded by
Major Numos and ten marines in combat armor he felt naked. He grabbed Jay and Peebee around their necks and squeezed them. He reached to grab Allie’s hand, but she pulled it away.

“
Major Numos, I intend to enter the bridge. I am very confident I will not be welcomed there, but I do not want it to look like an invading force,” Stone said.

“I understand
, Captain,” Numos said. “Marines are not allowed on the bridge anyway. On the other hand, you have tasked me with your safety. I can’t do that out here.”

Stone nodded. He walked away from the group
and stepped up to a spacer third class standing at attention along the bulkhead of the atrium. The spacer’s faceplate flipped open in salute when Stone was exactly three meters away. The spacer was a young blonde woman encased in the best combat armor the navy had to offer. She held a loaded rifle in her hands, yet, her eyes looked as if she wanted to be anywhere but here.

“Spacer, do you know who I am?” Stone asked.
He spoke loud enough that his voice carried across the atrium.

“Yes sir. You are
Midshipman Stone, the captain of the Tooth…I mean, the Periodontitis.”

“Thank you, Spacer. Relax, would you? You’re making me nervous, okay?” Stone laughed. “I am already scared enough without you making it worse.”

The woman started to laugh, thought better of it and stopped. Then, she giggled anyway.

“You keep an eye on my back, okay?
” Stone smiled. “You and the rest of your buddies out here. Okay? It is a strange day, but things will get better.”

A red dot appeared on the Spacer
’s breastplate. It slid quickly toward Stone. He flung himself sideways as a shot rang out. The spacer was knocked over by the impact of the bullet, but Stone knew she wasn’t hurt. Navy armor could stand up to a hail of bullets, but it was not built to dissipate the impact force.

Stone rolled to his feet and dove behind a row of potted plants as a second shot spanged off the
deck where he had been a second before.

Marines
and navy personnel pointed their weapons in all directions, but no one fired.

Stone jumped to his feet at a human shriek and then a woman screaming. He was knocked off his feet by Peebee as she slammed into him and held him to the deck. Weapons clattered as they swung to bear on the drasco.

“Hold fire,” Stone shouted. “Cease fire!” He pushed against Peebee but was unable to budge her. “Peebee, get off me.” He finally wiggled free, leaving patches of his uniform behind and the odd patch of skin.

Across the atrium
, Allie had jumped at the shooter. Rather than use her own weapon she had pulled Stone’s survival knife from her belt and removed the shooter’s trigger hand. It was a tall, chief petty officer that Stone did not recognize. The man was standing staring at the stump of his arm, watching the blood spurt out.

Allie stood ready with the knife at the man’s throat
in case he twitched. The guns of the surrounding armored security forces pointed at the man.

One of the
security forces bent down, picked up the man’s weapon and tossed it aside. A huge gauntleted hand grasped the man’s wrist and wrapped a clamp on the stump. A touch of a button and the clamp squeezed the blood flow to a stop. Pulling a tube from a thigh storage bin, the person in the suit spread biogel across the stump. It picked up the severed hand and spread the rest of the biogel on the wrist. It dropped the hand in a bag and handed the bag to another navy suited figure. At a gesture, two other security forces grabbed the man and hustled him onto an elevator.

T
he security force pointed at another security force, swirling a finger at the puddle of blood on the deck. The second man sprinted to a closet and dragged out a wet-dry vacuum. In seconds, the vacuum was mopping, sweeping and drying the deck tile.

Stone heard a woman shriek
and he spun to face the sound. At the opposite end of the atrium a woman was holding her rifle above her head in surrender. Numos had the muzzle of Hammermill’s rifle pointed at the woman’s right eye.

But the woman was
not concerned about Numos or the other security forces rifles pointed at her. Her eyes were glued to Jay. The drasco was hugging the deck with her tail up over her head. The chromed point was inches from the woman’s chest.

“Jay
,” Stone called softly. “That is enough. You come back over here with Peebee and me.”

Jay’s spike inched forward and gently tapped the woman at the base of the throat. It was so gentle the woman could barely feel it, but it was too much and she lost bladder control. Jay pulled back her tail and opened her mouth to sniff the woman from head to
foot. To anyone unfamiliar with drascos it looked as if Jay was searching for a place to take a bite.

Jay shook her head as if in disgust. She did
not turn her body, but continued to watch the woman as she walked over to Stone.

Major
Numos tapped open his comms. “Hellboy, shag your can up to the bridge atrium area. We have a prisoner for you to lock away in marine country. It is a female, so bring a corresponding marine type. A second prisoner has been taken to the sickbay on…”

“
Baker Deck, Major,” a voice called out.

“
Baker, Lieutenant Heller. Get someone to pick him up as soon as he has gotten the doctor’s clearance. It might take a few minutes for the doctor, they have to reattach the man’s hand.”

Everyone in the atrium could hear
Lieutenant Heller’s response. “Yes, Major. I am on my way to the Atrium now. I have Corporal Omaha with me for the female prisoner. I dispatched two men to sick bay on Baker. Missing hand, huh? Sounds like Vedrian has been busy.”

“Roger that, Heller. Our little Allie has been dismembering the competition again
. Numos out.”

Stone looked at Allie.

She shrugged.

Numos looked appreciatively at Jay and Peebee. “Mister Stone, those things are fast. They beat every
marine by two steps.”

“Yes,
sir. I imagine it comes from being bred on a planet where if you don’t move fast you get eaten.”

Numos grinned. “It is the same all over, Mister Stone.

The security force member who had administered first aid to the male shooter stepped up to Stone. The suit’s visor flipped up at exactly three meters away in a salute, revealing a woman.

“I am Senior Chief Garza, Captain. I apologize. Those two are…were
Admiral Shalako’s personal valets. They are…were authorized to be armed and to be here. I didn’t think they would attack you. I offer my resignation.”

Stone shook his head. “No Senior Chief. I need you here. Your team responded as well as can be expected. However, I want this
deck cleared of all weapons except for marines, your detail and the EMIS agents.”

“
Captain?”

“
Senior Chief, I found out today that I don’t like to be shot at. Bridge crews are required to be armed during general quarters, isn’t that correct?”

“Yes
, Captain.”

“I want you to take only
navy security forces with you. I want to you to go into the bridge and collect every weapon there. I am broadcasting this to the bridge crew so they know you are coming. Trust me; this is for their own good. I am taking my drascos with me in there and you saw that they are getting hungry. Any more attempts to shoot me and I will let them eat. I am also taking marine bodyguards with me. They are also hungry, if you get my drift.”

“Yes
, Captain.”

“The bridge crew is listening, do you think they understand?”

The Senior Chief looked at the overhead video cameras and nodded. “Yes, Captain Stone. I am sure they understand.”

“Good, clear this entire
deck of weapons.”

“
Aye, aye, Captain.”

The door to the bridge slid open. A
full commander stood in the doorway holding a blaster in his hand. “Captain on the bridge,” he shouted. He handed his blaster to the navy rating at the door and stepped back inside.

One by one the bridge crew brought out weapons and handed them to
naval security. Most of the bridge crew carried more than one weapon with them. From the doorway the Senior Chief ran a scanner around the bridge. She did not step into the bridge proper.

“All clear, Captain.”

“Thank you, Senior Chief.” Stone walked to the bridge hatch. He stopped in the doorway. He was not sure he really wanted to go on the bridge. He half expected to be shot, half expect to be jumped on and beaten, and half expected to be arrested for impersonating a captain. Instead he faced a room of officers, all very much senior to him.

The
commander stepped up to Stone, came to attention, then parade rest and then back to attention.

Stone wanted to reassure the man, but he did
not know what to say. He had never even been on a bridge before, much less been in charge. How was he to respond? Here he was facing a man whose rank was so exalted Stone had not ever expected to reach its heights. Yet, Stone was technically in command of the man and every other officer here. He almost came to attention himself.

“Um
…Commander, do you know who I am?” Stone asked.

“Yes. You are
Midshipman Blackmon Stone and according to my database you are both simultaneously dead and in command of the Periodontitis.”

“Yes,
sir,” Stone said. “That about sums it up. You don’t know quite what to do with a midshipman who is a captain, do you, Sir?”

The man smiled
“No Captain, this is a first for me. Do you want to take the con?”

“Sir?” Stone asked.

“Ah,” The commander looked about him. “I am Commander Melendez. I am the commander of the central tower and first officer on the U.E.N.S. Periodontitis. That is, I am in charge unless you are here to relieve me like Admiral Shalako?”

“No
, sir,” Stone shook his head and winced at the pain.

Melendez looked at Stone’s face. “That is going to be a real shiner unless you get medical to check
it out.” He called over his shoulder, “Goobie, find out why that doctor isn’t here yet.”

“Thank you, Commander.”

“Does that hurt?” Melendez said.

Stone shrugged, “Not as much as this.” He held up his arm where he had lost a layer of skin when he scrapped it across Jay’s side in the hanger. “Or this.” He twisted around to show the tatters and scraps where Peebee had sat on him in the Atrium.

“Ouch,” Melendez said. “You definitely need to put something on those. And we are going to have to get you a new uniform.”

Stone nodded. “Yes
, sir. I didn’t show these minor injuries to you because I was expecting sympathy. Fact is, these are all my fault in one way or another. I just point this out because when I step onto the bridge I am bringing my drascos with me and they are the ones that did this damage.”