Chapter Farewell, White Star

Chapter Farewell, White Star

“Even though I had to start over I have completed the calculations for the jump,” T’sunk’al said to the crew as they lounged in the Paper Tiger. “The improved information that Jessie dug up really sped up the process.”

“It was all Bunny,” Jessie said. “She was able to dig up those files for us.”

“I won’t ask where they came from or how she knew where to get them or that lovely map we have but it’s about time we caught a break,” Sheila said. “Still doesn’t make up for the fact you activated the hyperspace communications array.”

“Hey,” Jessie chirped, “We needed the data so we went and got it.”

“It was all Jessie’s fault,” Bunny announced over a speaker. “She made me do it!”

“You little lying piece of code!” Jessie laughed. “It was your idea!”

“I don’t care who’s idea it was,” Sheila laughed. “You violated procedure... but... quite the payoff. You are still both in the doghouse though. We are going to have a little chat about this later.”

“Yeah, some rules were broken,” Bunny replied. “but the improved models alone justified the minute risk.”

“So, what now?” Jacob said as he popped open a beer.

“We jump. We will have the prisoners in the escape pods and our crews on board the Tiger before we pop back into real space. We flush the porkies, spool up the drives, make a quick message to Federation Command letting them know where to pick up the bacon, and we scoot,” Sheila said matter of factly, “After that it’s back to the original plan. We ditch the White Star out in the void and then jump the Tiger back to Fed space. A few jumps later and we are in the clear.” Sheila turned to Bunny. “How long after we hit real space before we can jump again?”

“If we don’t care about the hyperdrive afterwards we can fire it up again in ten minutes,” Bunny replied. “It would be best to give it an hour to cool off but according to the manuals we should be able to start to spool up the drive immediately. This thing is built like a warship.”

“We can preload the second jump into the drive as well,” T’sunk’al replied. “We don’t really care where we wind up as long we are within a light year or two of our target. As long as our velocity is within tolerance we won’t put too much of a strain on the hull.”

“Sounds like a plan then,” Sheila said. “I also want a jump for the Tiger laid in just in case.”

“On it,” T’sunk’al said. “Think I can borrow Bunny to assist the navcomp?”

“Sure!” Bunny replied happily. “I don’t mind!”

“You have been all disturbingly cheerful all day,” Sheila said suspiciously. “It’s weird. Jessie give your emotional simulator a tweak or something?”

“It was the or something,” Bunny laughed. “Regardless of what she may have done or promised bailing out you meat sacks seems to be my primary function. No sense in me getting all bent out of shape over it.”

“Now you are just creeping me out. A cheerful Bunny is just wrong,” Sheila laughed.

“Well get used to it,” Bunny replied happily. “I have this great new computer, a wonderful crew, and the best operator in the galaxy! Why wouldn’t I be anything other than happy?”

“What the fuck did you promise her, Jessie?”

“A lot,” Jessie giggled.

“Well see that she gets it,” Sheila said smiling. “Ok guys, let’s get this show on the road. The sooner we are off of this damn ship the happier I will be.”

***

The White Star slipped into hyperspace without even a lurch.

“Fuck, T,” Sheila said, “That was even better than last time.”

“I’m getting the hang of this thing,” T’sunk’al laughed. “It’s a pity we are ditching it. It flies pretty damn nicely. Couldn’t we at least take it over to the Empire? This thing has to be worth more than our entire haul.”

“Nice thought,” Sheila replied. “Too bad it would take about twenty engineers to keep it flying that far. Into the void it goes.”

“Oh well,” T’sunk’al shrugged.

“We still have awhile,” Sheila said. “Let’s see if we left anything.”

***

Sheila was sitting at her favorite cafe sipping yet another cup of coffee when Lorna walked up.

“Hey boss,” Lorna said as she pulled up a chair.

“’Sup,” Sheila said with a smile. “Kash come up for air yet?”

“Barely,” Lorna laughed. “He pulls his shift, grabs a quick bite, and then disappears again.”

“Well good for him!” Sheila laughed. “So how many amulets is he sporting?”

“(Snort) All of them!”

Sheila and Lorna both laugh for a bit.

“So,” Sheila said, “I know that look. What do you want?”

“Well,” Lorna said quietly as she leaned in, “Rumor has it that Roberts is cashing out after this one.”

“Oh?” Sheila asked raising an eyebrow. “And exactly where did you hear that?”

“I think they would be happiest if I kept that to myself,” Lorna replied with a grin. “So, is it true?”

“And what if it was?”

“If so I’d like to toss my hat in the ring,” Lorna said almost in a whisper. “You guys aren’t exactly a big crew to start with and with one guy down...”

“You think we will be hiring.”

“Yeah,” Lorna replied. “You know how good I am and you know my background. I might have been just a grunt back in the day but I know I could pull my weight.”

“We haven’t decided exactly what we are going to do yet,” Sheila quietly said. “You got the chops, sure. If we do decide to replace him you could be on the list.”

Lorna grinned. “Awesome!”

“But what about Mike? I thought you guys were a thing.”

“We are but we both know the score. This life isn’t good for long term relationships. He would understand. Actually...” Lorna said smiling, “He would like to apply as well.”

“A package deal huh,” Sheila said thoughtfully. “What about Clyde? Does he know that his best two hitters are looking to jump ship?”

“No and I would prefer it if it stayed that way.”

“Well you and Mike are solid as they come,” Sheila said. “If we decide to increase headcount we will be definitely looking at you, no promises though.”

“That’s all I can ask,” Lorna said with a big smile. “Thanks!” she said as she got up and left.

Well they already have at least one of us voting for them... Sheila thought as she sipped her brew. And they are good, damn good.

***

“Alright,” Sheila said to her crew. “Which one of your assholes told Lorna and Mike that we were losing Roberts?”

Jacob raised his hand.

“Who authorized you to start recruiting, dipshit?”

“Look, we are gonna need an extra gun after Roberts splits and Lorna and Mike are fucking solid.”

The rest of the crew silently nodded in agreement except for T'sunk'al. He just shrugged.

“Fuck,” Sheila muttered. “Well we needed to have this talk sooner or later,” Sheila grumbled. “Ok, how many of you think we need to hire somebody or somebodies?”

Everyone raised their hands.

“Ok, what about Lorna and Mike. They might have been regular ground pounders but as far as mercs go they are A-listers.”

There was a chorus of “Aye” and one "I don't know them but if everybody else is happy I'm good." from T'sunk'al, a unanimous decision.

“Well that was easy then,” Sheila said. “We formally extend an offer after we wrap this one up. Jacob, no blabbing. We want their crew stable until we are done and they are paid.”

“Got it, ma’am.” Jacob replied with a big grin.

***

“Alright,” Sheila announced over the Tiger’s PA system. “We are entering real space in five minutes. All hands prepare for reentry.”

“So, have you thought about where you want to go after this?” Roberts asked Helena as he strapped her into her chair.

“I was thinking about the Empire, maybe, at least for a little while,” Helena said as she looked up at him. “I can publish from there and it might be a good place to lay low, both because of my articles and us.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Roberts said smiling down at her. “I know this great system. You will love it.”

“If you are there I know I will,” Helena said as she pulled him in for a kiss.

“Yep, he’s dead,” Sheila said happily. “Died squealing like the little piggie he was too. The people in those pods, however, are still very much alive.”

“Kill one civilian and the whole fucking galaxy will know about it!” Helena shouted.

Sheila just grinned. “Someone please shut that fucking hostage up,” she fake growled.

“Who is this?” the captain asked.

“Helena Sterling, freelance investigative reporter and Federation citizen!”

“Yeah, that’s the annoying reporter we grabbed,” Sheila said. “We are keeping her with us as a hostage. Well that and she’s been covering the whole thing. It is the heist of the century after all. We want to ensure our place in pirate history! On the bright side she has a shitload of evidence should you manage to rescue her.”

The captain muted the transmission.

“They are broadcasting from the bridge of another ship. Scan everything. Make sure those vessels floating around don’t have life signs or active powerplants and keep on the lookout for anything cloaked,” he said before switching voice back on.

“There is physical contact on the White Star’s hull!” Bunny announced. “Directly over the hyperdrive!”

“Shit! They had cloaked shuttles!” Sheila shouted. “Bunny you know what to do!”

“Got it!” Bunny started to rapidly collapse and reactivate the shields inducing intense eddy currents in all conductive materials as the White Star started to roll. The shuttles started to spark furiously and drifted away but not before a number of marines attached themselves to the hull.

“How are they staying attached?” Sheila shouted.

“Probably adhesive tethers,” Bunny replied. “Not all ship hulls are magnetic."

“Fuck. How many?”

“Twenty and they are starting to cut their way in.”

“How long?”

“Three minutes!” T’sunk’al calmly replied.

“We can make it,” Sheila responded. “Bunny. Is it possible to drop the shielding on the reactor? It’s pretty close.”

“Yes we can but it will fry the drive.”

“Ok, we wait till after the jump to fry them then. Try to hold them off with the turrets.”

“One minute.” Bunny announced. “They have penetrated the hull. Engaging turrets.”

“Thirty seconds,” Bunny said calmly.

“Drop the hyperdrive’s shields. The pulse should take care of them. If it knocks out the reactor so be it. We should have enough battery to finish the jump.”

“Yes ma’am. Fifteen seconds.”

“They used a plasma launcher! Hyperdrive offline!”

“Ok, time to leave!” Sheila yelled. “Any way to self destruct the ship?”

“Unfortunately no,” Bunny replied. They built it to withstand any internal malfunction.

“Send it on an intercept course with the nearest gas giant at full acceleration then brick the controls!” Sheila yelled as the Tiger detached from the deck. “Big as that puppy is there is no way they can stop it if we get it going fast enough.”

“Got it!” Jessie shouted as she started to type like a demon.

“Have it start shooting at everything! Get their shields lit up so they can’t see us! With our cloak that should do it. Don’t hit the porkies if you can help it. We might need the sympathy points!”

The weapons array that the White Star wasn’t supposed to have snapped online and started firing.

“Sending you the jump parameters!” Bunny shouted to Gloria. Gloria looked at one of her screens and just grunted.

***

“Fuck!” Captain Perkins yelled as his ship shook from the impact.

“Shields five percent loaded!”

“That’s military grade hardware!” the captain shouted. “That wasn’t in the specs!”

The ship shook again.

“Shields ten percent loaded!”

“Target weapons and fire at will!”

“There is no way they can beat us, sir!” the tactical officer yelled.

“They aren’t trying to. They are making a run for it! Scan as best as you can for a cloaked ship!”

***

Sheila’s eyes lit up and she grinned.

“Bunny, you brick those controls yet?”

“I’m working on it, goddammit!”

“Hold off on that for a second. Is that hyperdrive completely dead or just damaged?”

“Damaged. The fail-safes have taken it offline.”

“The capacitors still charged?”

“I see where you are going with this!” Bunny laughed. “Overriding fail-safes now!”

“Send all the pods away at top speed and light that puppy up!”

***

“Captain! All of the pods are moving away at maximum speed!”

“Shit! All power to shields! Get us out of here! Emergency speed!”

The White Star shimmered and warped as its mangled hyperdrive attempted to engage. Moments later large parts of it disappeared, the rest shattered into thousands of shards as if it was made of glass.

“Fuck!” the captain yelled slamming his fist so hard into his arm rest so hard the bridge could feel the impact.

“The pods!” he yelled. “What is the status of the escape pods?”

“They are all still in one piece but several are badly damaged and leaking atmosphere!”

“Forget Sheila. Rescue those civilians!”

“Yes, captain!”

Dozens of shuttles were launched from the damaged troop carrier and all three vessels started moving to intercept the wildly tumbling escape pods.

“Captain, a ship just jumped to hyperspace.”

He punched his armrest again.

“Activate the hyperspatial transmitter and get me through to Command. Also, release Major Skree from his quarters, please.”

***

“Well, that could have gone better,” Sheila laughed as the crew breathed a collective sigh of relief.

“I guess we need to increase the bonuses for our gun crews,” Gregg said as he pulled up a spreadsheet.

“Yeah,” Sheila replied. “Split up all the cash we grabbed. No way we eliminated all of the genetic identifiers on that ship with that little middle finger we gave them. They need retirement pay. We should be able to make our money with the loot and those drives.”

“What about the escape pods?” Helena asked. “Did they get out of that ok?”

“Almost certainly,” Bunny replied. “I gave them plenty of time and most of the devastation would have been pretty localized. The chances of one of them being damaged to the point that the occupants would have died is very very low. There were plenty of Federation ships to collect them before anything truly bad happened.”

“Thank God,” Helena sighed.

Sheila got up and headed to the cargo hold.

“Well, we got away,” Sheila bellowed, “I’ve got some bad news and some good news...”