Curious Event ( Part Four)

Tay was barely asleep when her Comms went off. It was Roaden, whatever he wanted, ‘Chief, whatever it is, can it wait…’ Then she woke up properly, ‘Chief, Where the hell are you? I had the fleet looking for you, but right now I’m guessing you aren’t nearby. Tell those bastards that I will kill them if you are hurt and tell them I will do it slowly’

Roaden was watching the two Intec studying him, aware that every word would be recorded and studied. ‘Captain, don’t bother looking for me, we have more important things to talk about. I think we have seriously fucked up this time. The Intec are not what we thought they were and we need to take a step back. I have communications with their leadership and right now, and I mean really right now, we need to pull out of the attack. I need you to tell the Admiral to withdraw from the system. Now, Captain. Please, for the love of anything you have ever held sacred, stop this battle.’ Then his call was ended. The Comms officer had already sent the security officers down to her cabin before she had time to get dressed. They cuffed her.

‘So Captain, would you like to explain this?’ the Security Chief didn’t seem to have a sense of humor or even an honest curiosity about events. The aliens had called the captain, therefore the Captain was talking to Aliens, therefore the Captain was working with the Aliens, therefore the Captain was a spy. She suspected they trained him using lego. ‘Chief, I have a few moments before the Admiral calls you, so here is how it works. We are missing a man, an important and valued man. He just called me, as a prisoner of the enemy, and gave me a message. I might have more information but your office cut the call. I’m in charge of ship Intel and believe me when I say that we will be looking hard at your department very soon. ‘ The Security chief began to speak, only to be interrupted, ‘Chief, just wait. Trust me you are going to get a call.’

He didn’t get a call. He got a seriously pissed off Admiral, backed by Captain Sullivan and several Engineers arriving to find out what was happening to their Captain. One or two Marines had also appeared as well. ‘Why the fuck is Tay in here? Have you lost your mind? I have nearly twelve-hundred Intec combatants on this fucking ship and you, you bloody idiot, decide to arrest my Captain? Release her, go and get yourself a fucking toothbrush and clean the head. Never, ever go near my staff again. Is that clear enough? He turned to Sullivan, ‘Why do you have a fucking mall-cop working on this ship? What were you thinking?’ Captain Sullivan shrugged, ‘Sir, we had to crew the ship in a hurry. This is what I was given. He seemed okay at dealing with drunks and thieves. I didn’t know he was an idiot.’ The Admiral glared across the desk, ‘ I want him on combat duty. Send him back to rifleman. Or let him resign, eventually. Tay, my apologies, please follow me.’

Tay and the Admiral waited as a stumbling MP undid her cuffs, then moved away. Captain Sullivan stayed to restructure, in a dynamic and comprehensive manner, the department that had dared arrest the Captain. He silently laughed that he had been right, it hadn’t taken long before there were Captains and there was The Captain. Even if she hadn’t noticed, there had been four branches of the fleet ready to ‘rescue’ her. Then he began shouting, but professionally.

They stayed silent on the way to his quarters, as the Admiral recovered his composure and Tay thought about what she had been told. Soon they were able to sit in silence, both waiting for Tay to organize her thoughts. ‘Sir, Chief Roaden called me. He confirms what we thought, or at least that's what I took from the conversation, that we are being used as a big stick against the enemy. He asks that we stand down and withdraw from the system immediately. Sir, he’s an old soldier. I can think of a dozen ways he could have told me he was being forced. He meant it. We are doing something wrong here, something that smells. They called us child soldiers. Perhaps we are not the first. He asks that we withdraw and I am inclined to agree. It offers no threat now and I have many of their ships to study. Perhaps we could return their soldiers and crew? I don’t know, Sir, but I feel we need to change the narrative.’

Admiral Williams was bemused by his new Captain. She had led them through these battles, sometimes alone, sometimes not. She had a sense of things. Her advice on creating bounties had led to a civil war among the enemy, a tactic that even he found ruthless, and then moved to create a machine to extract the greatest advantage for the human fleet from the smallest sources, exposing their enemies darkest secrets. She had then taken a slight moment to re-imagine her new ship, turning it into rescue, recovery, and prisoner-of-war camp in one breath, keeping his ships in the field beyond any reasonable limit. She was, without doubt, the worst enemy the Intec faced, regardless of who got to point ships at them, and she didn’t see it at all. He took a leap of faith in her.

‘Captain, I will withdraw our people. We will send their prisoners to the planet and ask for a truce. Apparently we have much to learn. However, I want our chief, and any other prisoners, returned immediately in exchange. If they want to talk, well, all the better. Otherwise, I will wipe them from space. Call them and make the arrangements please,’

Roaden was waiting. He had been cut off, but he had had enough time to do his best. Did she trust him enough? She would have to go to the Admiral, then work another small miracle. He wasn’t a man to give up easily. Soon enough they would come and tell him. He lay back on his bunk, trying to imagine a universe as it looked like for the Intec. Hostile, unthinking, and vicious. A galaxy that hunted your family for sport. He had a bloody good idea of how humanity would have behaved. The Intec would be as nothing compared to how humanity would have reacted. Someone knocked on his door, then they opened it. It was his Interrogator. ‘Chief, we need you on the bridge. Please follow me.’ This time there was no guard.

Another Intec, another mask. Maybe he had met it before, but who knew. Its face filled the screen, ‘Chief Roaden of the Curiosity. Your message to the Human fleet has been obeyed, they have left the system and are leaving us in peace. They have sent shuttles of our people to the planet, those captured in battle are returned to us. They ask for you, they seek peace. I must be clear. We do not understand. No-one has offered us peace, at least not while defeating our Fleet. Please explain.’

Roaden wasn’t in the mood for speeches. ‘Sir, if they have done that it’s because my Captain has asked the Admiral to do it. We are on a short timeline here, since the HOF on Earth might not agree, or at least not for very long. They want you dead and they don’t want that to be complicated. Call my fleet, ask for terms. I don’t say surrender, just begin talking. No-one will move against you while that is happening.’ He waited for that to sink in. ‘Return all your prisoners and slaves as an act of goodwill. You are fucked if you don’t anyway, better to do it first. Announce that piracy is now illegal in Intec space, allow the human fleet to kill anyone that argues. Accept the loans, the advisors, and the diplomats that will arrive. We will guarantee your independence until you tell us to fuck off. At least, that’s how we do it on Earth. Your call.’

The Intec hissed again, ‘ And this ...system of yours. Does it work? We will be free of you if we agree?’ Roaden shrugged, ‘Sir, the alternative is that you die to our Fleet. We will not stop, not without a treaty that includes those things. I’m not saying it will be pretty, especially since you get to watch human ships destroy any of your pirates that refuse. You are concerned about Admiral Williams? He’s trying to make a good impression. We have many Admirals. We are the ones who came down from the trees and sharpened the rocks on our world. Everything that threatened us is dead. Do you want to risk that again? We only have three types of animals on our homeworld - protected, pets, or produce. Four if you include extinct. Call Captain Tay.’