The Stellar Wild - Chapter 11
When we last left our heroes, they'd just escaped what presumably was indefinite detention at the hands of the Naval Intelligence Division. Now that they're underway, it's about time Cole and Edward got some answers from Miranda.
Miranda stood silently, looking between Cole and Edward as she tried to figure out how she wanted to word this.
Now that they were in the relative safety of superluminal travel, she'd had a chance to review everything she knew, and even she had to admit that her claim sounded more than a little outlandish. After all, what had really happened? They'd been hailed by the ground control station and told they weren't cleared to leave. They'd also been told that all of them were involved in an ongoing investigation. That was it. They hadn't been pursued off-world by fighter-interceptors, and the air defense grid hadn't activated to shoot them down. Beyond that, what that investigation was, and what it meant for them, was still a matter of debate. A debate that Cole is no doubt going to have with me, she thought, making a face.
"Well? We're waiting," Cole said, crossing his arms over his chest. Edward turned his chair to face her as well, resting his arms on the armrests as he awaited her answer. Taking in a breath, Miranda reached around to the small of her back and retrieved the small remote console she'd put there. She handed it to Edward.
"Open the console and find the folder Dutybound," she said. "I made several back-ups and distributed them to my cold storage as well as this console, and hopefully you'll understand why once you see the video logs." Cole looked at her skeptically, but he decided this would best answer his questions. Edward scrolled through the file manager until he came to the folder she mentioned. He opened it up, and loaded the video logs from the Dutybound's internal surveillance.
The video player buffered for a moment before it began recounting the last mission of the ship. The usual activity at the beginning was innocuous. Cole recognized the Marine uniforms of the grunts loading the single container on the ship. They got underway, and it was more of the same. The majority of the footage consisted of regular operations aboard a freighter, except it was manned by Naval pilots and Marines. It wasn't until the pirates boarded the ship that his expression changed; his features darkened, and he clenched his hands into fists as he watched the raiding party gather the crew together in the bridge. When they pulled their triggers and executed them, he cursed quietly.
What happened next drew his attention, though. First, it was the fact that the boarding party was aware of the cargo; there was no complaining or confusion about there being only one container aboard. He'd spent enough time out in the depths of space and made enough disreputable friends to know that pirates didn't go in on a job unless they were desperate, or they knew the haul was going to be big. These guys knew exactly what they were going to find. He watched them load it up, and that's when something else caught his attention. The two that were sent back to rig the ship to jump didn't want to be there. They were complaining about it the entire way to the bridge and most of the time they spent hacking the navicomputer. Once the footage ended, Cole leaned back in his seat, brow furrowed.
"What was in the cargo container," he finally asked, turning back to look at her. "Whatever it was, they knew what they were looking for, and they found it."
"That ship was carrying a nuclear planetary defense payload," she responded.
Edward spun in his seat, tilting his head. Cole's eyebrows shot up, and he leaned forward.
"They stole a fucking nuke?" He couldn't believe what he'd just heard. Planetary nuclear payloads were designed to protect against large-scale incursions, and they packed a hell of a punch. If a bunch of pirates got their hands on a weapon that powerful, they could easily hold an entire planet hostage; the damage caused by such a weapon would be enough to severely impact the ecology of any habitable world.
"The two that were sent back to the bridge," Edward cut in, looking up at Miranda, "clearly weren't interested in what they were doing. They were ordered to do it. And there's something else that doesn't add up." He turned back to the remote console and pulled up the video log, scrolling back to the initial moments of the raid. "See their gear? Their outfits? These aren't some scumbag pirates trawling the Nether for an easy score. They're mercenaries, and well-financed ones by the look of it. This was an organized raid."
"They were targeting the ship for its payload," Cole said, looking at Edward before looking back at Miranda. She gave him a nod, knitting her brows together.
"Whoever hired these people to capture the vessel was aware of what it was carrying and was aware of its travel plan," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "This mission was classified top-secret-compartmentalized; you know what that means, Cole. There were only a handful of people that knew about it, and it was only logged in a few places, all of which used a civilian cover for the vessel."
"Someone had to tell them where to go and what they were looking for," he said slowly, the pieces now falling into place.
He suddenly felt extremely sheepish; he'd been prepared to toss her back to the wolves merely because he disliked her, and there it all was, laid out in front of them. She'd practically saved their lives.
"Whoever it was had enough pull to move my commanding officer to another assignment in time for me to get back, enough pull to put one of their stooges on the debriefing to make sure it was buried, and there's no doubt that none of us were making it out of there," she continued. "I know we're not on the same page, and we can go our separate ways later, but I had to get out of there, and you two were my only ticket to safety."
For a long moment no one said anything else. Cole was still processing everything that had just been pieced together for him, and Edward was likewise doing the same, though, for the android, the question was who would be in a position to execute such a plan, and what was their purpose? Miranda let out a sigh and let her shoulders slouch a little, but she didn't stay on the bridge. Instead, she turned to head up the stairwell to the bunk she'd claimed before. She figured it was going to be her home for the near-term, and she might as well get some rack time while she had the chance to. Her life wasn't going to be the same, and it always helped to approach new situations with a clear head.
She found it much the same way she'd left it. The covers on the bed still sported a slight indentation from where she'd laid on them on the way back from the Dutybound. There was something strangely comforting about that fact, and she slid down onto the bed, sitting there for a second as she tried to organize her thoughts. Much to her chagrin, though, it was futile. All she kept thinking about was the fact that her life wasn't the same and would never be. She'd decided to make a career out of Naval Intelligence; she'd worked out plans about serving her entire life, maybe meeting some equally ambitious officer and getting married, having a child to carry on her legacy, and then dying peacefully at least a century from now. She'd already assumed that she'd be lauded for her numerous accomplishments, and her name would go down in the history of Naval Intelligence as a capable, competent officer who accomplished impressive feats of mental and physical endurance during her time. Now there was nothing. Now there was just the looming darkness of the unknown, gazing at her with an almost mocking expression.
She drew her legs up to her chest and scooted back on the bed, pressing her back against the wall and shutting her eyes.
Laying her forehead against her knees, she wrapped her arms around her legs and hugged herself as she tried to get a hold of herself. Now that she was out of immediate danger, the real gravity of her situation brought her crashing back down to earth. She was barely keeping herself together, and her tentative grip on her composure was slipping away. Thankfully, there was a knock on the door, and it drew her out of her despair long enough for her to compose herself. She rubbed at her eyes, killing tears that had tried to form.
"Come in," she said finally, standing up off the bed. Cole opened the hatch and paused for a second, looking her over. It didn't take a psychic to recognize someone in severe emotional distress, and she was about as difficult to read as a kid's book at the moment. He held up her remote console before stepping into her bunk, handing it over to her.
"Figured you might want this," he said. She gave a short nod and took it in hand, stuffing it into the drawer on the right side of the desk.
"Thanks, Cole," she said mechanically, turning back to the bed and taking a seat on it. Cole turned to leave, but he paused in the doorway. After a second, he spoke again.
"I'm sorry," he started, looking down at the ground as he sorted his thoughts. "I treated you like absolute garbage, and you ended up saving mine and Edward's lives. I just wanted to say I'm sorry, and thank you. Thanks for saving our lives, Miranda." She didn't say anything in response, looking up at him with a strangely puzzled expression. After an awkward moment of silence between them, Cole turned to head back out the door, shutting it behind him. She drew her knees up to her chest again, closing her eyes and resting her head on her knees again.
"You're welcome," she whispered into the empty space.
Well well, looks like it's finally become clear why she sprung them from a military installation! There's definitely a plot afoot here, and it seems they stumbled onto it without even realizing it. Fortunately for the crew of the Hound, they're all a lot smarter than the average bear. What's going to happen to them when they finally reach Typhon? Find out in the next chapter of The Stellar Wild!
Follow my blog for future chapters. As always, upvotes, resteems, and comments are appreciated. Let me know what you thought of this chapter in the comments!
Man, this story has progressed really nicely. The serial nature of the series provides readers with a sense of kinship with the crew of the Hound. I'm all in with this. I'm excited to see how this whole universe expands. Keep up the great work!
Thank you very much, sir! I'm really excited where they go from here. I've got a number of characters I plan on introducing, and story arcs that will not only effect the crew, but the galaxy at large.
Included in Steemprentice Spotlight :)
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