'I'm afraid the price on your head is well known, Captain,' Lewis replied apologetically.
'What about everyone else? Is there anyone else who should avoid surveillance and law enforcement?'
'Anyone registered with the Samson crew, such as Security Chief Stephanie Vega, and Finn. They are all wanted for questioning with regards to your whereabouts. The Order of Eden also has an execution order on them, but the Carthans are directly opposed to them, something I considered when I suggested Tamber.'
'But I'm not on their list?' Ayan asked.
'No, as a matter of record, Ayan Rice is deceased. Since you're not even a genetic match to your former self, you can roam as you please, under whatever name you like.'
'Good. Someone's got to negotiate with the governments here.'
'What are you thinking?'
Ayan deactivated her command and control unit and regarded the room. 'Just because the Triton is currently trapped doesn't mean that I can't go negotiate a privateering contract for her and all the ships we have coming with the Carthans. If they’re against the Order of Eden, then they may not be cosy with the galactic court, and would rather have you and the Triton fighting for them than pursue you for something that's next to impossible to prosecute.'
'She is correct. If Jacob Valance were captured and put on trial for creating the base code for the Holocaust Virus and releasing it into a major computer system it would be prohibitively difficult to prove that he was directly responsible. Even if they managed to prove that, your innocence could be proven simply by citing the fact that Jonas Valent died months ago, and you are a copy with several years of separate experience.'
'How long would a trial like that take?' Asked Stephanie.
'By my estimation it could take several years. If I were you, Captain, I would take every step to avoid capture,' Lewis advised.
'Don't worry, I'll be avoiding it. How are your cloaking systems, by the way?'
'They're repaired, though they will not be effective in hiding me from the Triton’s attackers, considering they're in a planetary dust cloud. The particles would interfere with the gravitational compensation fields and my physical hull, rendering most of my cloaking systems useless.'
'You're not thinking of going to help him, are you?' Ayan asked with incredulity.
'What else am I supposed to do? It sounds like I'd be worse than useless planet side, and even if Oz's plan is going well he could use a hand.'
'You and I both know that if Oz can find a way to get everyone left on the Triton off the ship and into hyperspace or a wormhole, he'll leave her behind. If you're caught in the middle you might really be walking onto a ghost ship, everyone aboard could be on their way here already.'
'What’s he going to use? The hyperspace escape pods?'
'What would you do? What would I do if the Triton was practically lost?'
'I'd find a way to either get Triton clear or get the crew on other ships,' Jake replied quietly.
'Exactly, but we won't know what options are available to him until the refugees arrive.'
That word cut through Jacob, refugees. Depending on how many people had managed to escape the Triton they would face the same problems as any group of refugees; food, medical, and housing. If things went badly the whole crew could end up trapped on one of the habitable moons for a very, very long time. Jake was about to agree when Minh's voice came through the cabin's communications system.
'I got into my fighter just in time. They're here.'
Chapter 14
Lisa Ralston watched her squad leader closely as the inner airlock doors were pulled out of the heavy jamb and moved aside. It was her first boarding action and none of the drills had prepared her for the reality of it.
The interior of the earth ship was in perfect darkness. Her sensor kit picked up less than one lumen and no heat signatures ahead. To her surprise all the systems were cold, there was no power running through the surface circuitry.
'Is it true that this tub was built on Earth, Sarge?' Asked Nott, the most talkative of the squad.
'Intel says it's stolen. You getting anything, Ralston?'
Lisa rechecked her hand scanner as she stepped over the threshold. 'Just picking up fifty three life signs now, three decks down.'
'Can you get a read on what they're up to?' asked Sergeant Tate.
She looked at the thermal outlines and zoomed in on the image. 'It looks like they're sitting still in some kind of long hallway.'
Parker, their field technician, took a look over her shoulder. 'That looks like a main control room. The power plant is just past it.'
'Looks like they're the ones we're going to see. You're on point Nott.'
'Lucky me,' he grumbled, brandishing his rifle and stepping in front of the fifteen soldier unit.
'Control, this is Sergeant Tate reporting in. We have no contacts but we found a group of individuals three decks down in engineering. Proceeding there now.'
'Control to Tate. Our scans are picking up an emergency shaft. Marking it on your screen now. Proceed with caution.'
'Command, how many people were we supposed to be meeting here?'
'The last scan we took before they cut power indicated fourteen hundred souls aboard.'
'Now?'
'Pardon, Sergeant?'
'How many people are you reading aboard now?'
'We're still trying to determining that, stand by.'
'Great, just like Command to send us in with old intel and bad scanners,' griped Shelly Rapp.
Lisa couldn't help but grin at her best friend's crack. She was the first person she'd met when she arrived on Battlecruiser 1128, and they had been inseparable ever since. The nearest shaft wasn't simply for ladders as Command had assumed, it was a dormant horizontal and vertical ship transport car. Parker had no problem using a power cell to activate the door and open it.
Unlike the main deck there was no artificial gravity in the shaft. They made their way down towards the main engineering section, pulling themselves along using the emergency ladder rungs set half a meter apart. 'I'm guessing these shafts never have artificial gravity. The cars that move people around the ship must have independent gravity and momentum suppressors,' Parker commented.
'You don't say. More useless shit I don't need to know, thanks,' quipped Nott.
'Sorry Nott, I know you have limited storage space. I'd hate to overwrite memories of polishing your gun, disassembling your gun, cleaning your gun, assembling your gun, jogging, eating, sleeping, polishing your-'
'Anyone ever tell you you're too smart for your own good?' Nott interrupted.
'I don't hear anyone else complaining, in fact, I got promoted at the end of last tour, I don't see any new dashes on your collar, Private.'
'Stop poking him and get to work Parker. We're on the main engineering level,' Sergeant Tate ordered.
Parker drifted into the lift door and used his hand scanner to find the seams of the service panel beside it. He found it and had it open in short order. After repeating the actions he'd taken with the entrance above them, the hatch slid open smoothly. 'Whoever stole this ship knows how to take care of her. These systems are tip top. Even the electromagnetic backup rails are in good shape.'
'Who the hell steals a carrier anyway? Biggest pirate crew I've ever heard of was four hundred,' Shelly asked no one in particular.
'Someone more organized and dangerous than I've met. Steadman's in my ear telling me there's no one on the bridge. We get the pleasure of making first contact, so keep your head on a swivel and remember your training,' Tate instructed. 'Safeties off,'
