Gnuto sat there stunned.

“Dimitri, we need to get to Gamma Obsidian, stat. but we have to check if we've been tracked. Get us ready to shift two AU starboard of where we are. Josef, get a crew going through the container. Check the stuff that's not the ore, carefully mind you. Look for a squawker. The power unit may be in the back of the ore. Go!" Blackjack ordered.

Campo was next, "Everyone else, get ready for a big jump. Secure loose items. Angelo, charge up the banks. We may need to jump twice fast."

Blackjack guided Gnuto to the couch. “The last I knew was that my uncle was attached to the Royal Guard. He shouldn’t have been on Campalis. I may be overly cautious here but that’s what keeps us alive. What exactly did Gus tell you to do if something happened?”

“He said to go to the spaceport and hide out at the cargo terminal. He'd try and get to me if he could. After two days I was to look for a cargo container that had equipment at the back of it and hide out in it. It would be food going off-planet to the space station. I was to then sneak on the station and look for some Marines."

Blackjack had a worried look on his face. He got up and went over to the comm pad, “Josef, there is a power unit for the squawker on the rear of the container. Hook that up to a beacon. Put the head end on the beacon also. We’ll drop it off before we shift. Get a few folks to help out.”

“Dimitri, program the beacon to pulse towards us once it detects a scanning pulse. Set the self-destruct to activate after it pulses."

Blackjack went back over to rejoin Gnuto, “OK son, here’s the scoop. Gus must have been out here hiding you for some reason. Do you remember anything?”

Gnuto thought for a bit, “We’ve been here a few years. I don’t remember anything before we got on the ship to go to Campalis.”

“Sounds like you have had a block put on you. Even more of a reason to be very careful then. Don't worry Gnuto, we'll take good care of you and we'll find out what's going on," Blackjack told him.

They had a worried hour waiting for the crew to find the head end of the squawker system in the cargo container. Finally, Josef reported everything was ready to drop off the beacon. Dimitri announced null gravity for five minutes to drop the ‘package’ off.

They set the beacon up and moved off to wait.

The crew drifted into the lounge once gravity was turned back on. Marti asked, "So what's the deal Blackjack?"

He answered, “It looks like my uncle Gus was on a mission to protect Gnuto here. I hope he went to ground. We’ll head back there once we get a message off to Dad and drop off the cargo. We’ll watch here a bit and see if we are being followed.”

They settled in to eat lunch as they waited. Gnuto was concerned along with everyone else. When they finished lunch and still nothing happened, everyone started to relax a bit.

Blackjack announced, “OK let’s jump then. Dimitri, please do three jumps to Gamma. Have Sophie make the points random. Everyone strap in because we’ll be shifting around.”

The first two jumps were a bit of a strain happening so close together. The last jump took an hour to calculate the path to Gamma Obsidian. Dimitri informed the crew that the jump would be longer than all the previous ones. By the time they arrived at Gamma Obsidian, everyone was ready for a rest, the longer jumps stressed the body more. No one felt like eating when they entered the system.

Blackjack wasn't planning on staying on the planet for more than half a day. When they entered orbit, it was too late to go down to the planet to take care of what Blackjack needed to do. The crew decided to not bother docking at the transfer station but to stay in orbit and relax for the night. They caught up on the news feed and got a few of the latest tri-v shows. Gnuto turned in with Blackjack and Campo, feeling unsure and anxious from the day's discovery.

###

After they woke up and had breakfast, Blackjack and Campo went off to get changed. “Blast them out or low key?” asked Campo.

“We need to make an impression, to make sure we are taken seriously,” answered Blackjack as they picked out the clothes they needed.

Gnuto's jaw dropped as they entered the lounge. Both were dressed in the formal parade reds of the Marines. Both had many medals and ribbons. Their gold trousers were sharply creased and pressed. The crew that was in the lounge jumped to attention and saluted.

Gnuto recovered enough to stammer "I thought you were pirates, not actual Marines!"

Blackjack was laughing as he answered Gnuto, “It seems that my Marines neglected to discharge any of us.”

“So was Uncle Mac active?”

“I think he was. We’re going to find out. I’m sending a message to my father for him to see if he could find out if he didn’t already know,” answered Blackjack.

Finn came in to let them know they were cleared for landing whenever they were ready to go. The three headed to the shuttle. Blackjack and Campo turned and gave Gnuto a wink. The remaining crew soon felt the jar as the landing shuttle left the Green Lady.

###

Blackjack and Campo cleared the spaceport and hailed a transport to the main recruiting post in the city. Once they arrived, they cut a swath through the few milling potential recruits. Every one of them watched the pair as they moved through the office. The two large men in full dress reds and medals outshone the other service members in their less formal combat uniforms.

They marched down to the Marine Recruiting office and knocked on the door.

“Enter!” came the voice from within.

Campo opened the door to let Blackjack enter first. The Gunnery Sargent rose to his feet and saluted Blackjack, then he growled,

“And what does the Captain want on my deck?” as he locked eyes with Blackjack when the salute was returned.

“Gunny, I need your help getting a message to my father, General MacDougal," answered Blackjack.

“Yes, sir. You need the backchannel then?"

Blackjack replied as he passed along the message slip, “If you would be so kind Gunny. I don’t want this going out through normal comms. We have a situation that needs a bit of quiet.”

Gunny nodded, “Expecting a reply sir?”

“Yes, Gunny. It should come back with a package within a week. I assume there is a working link station at the base?”

“Yep. Will the package have your access badges or do you need me to arrange that?”

“The General will be sending those down. Many thanks for the help. We both appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome, sir. I served with your uncle for a tour. I recognize Campo there also.”

They both nodded at him. “I guess now that you ruffled all those feathers out front, I’ll be busy this afternoon.”

Campo and Blackjack cracked a smile at him knowing that they impressed the future recruits as they entered the offices. "Glad we could help, brother," replied Campo as they turned and marched out. A few of the potential recruits made their way back to the Gunny’s office.

The pair made their way back to the Green Lady and sat down to lunch after getting changed. Barry asked, “Get the message off to the General alright Blackjack?”

“Yep, no issues. The Gunny at the Recruiting Office helped out. Can’t say the rest of the fellows there was very happy though,” he answered.

Barry was laughing as he pictured the two marching into the office, "Dress reds do have that effect."

Gnuto was busting, wanting to ask a few burning questions.

Campo looked at him and smiled, “We’re all still active Marines. The ‘pirating’ is a front we do so we can work undercover. Blackjack’s dad was the one that had the idea.”

“So you're like some super, secret undercover fighting force?"

Blackjack and the crew laughed at that. “Nah, we just do jobs that others aren’t able to do. You can’t always use a hammer to fix everything,” answered Blackjack.

“Will your dad be able to help?”

“He should, he’s Commandant of the Empire’s Marines. I hope he can at least tell us a bit of information about what Gus was doing there with you. I have an idea about letting Gus know how to get help if he managed to get out.”

That seemed to put Gnuto at ease. Blackjack asked Dimitri to get them clearance to leave Gamma Obsidian and head to their original destination to drop off the container and get paid. They would cruise out to the jump point and head to Undu Manic after they ate dinner.

Dimitri scheduled the hyperspace jump to take place while they were asleep since it would be almost an hour of transit time in total. That way, no one would be sitting around getting antsy while they jumped. He would adjust the speed inbound to the planet when they arrived in system to place them in orbit during the waking period of the transfer station.