New Neighbors

Chapter 9

Amy had just read the message from the Alpha Expedition about their arrival and the problem they had encountered there. So, there were to be two salvage ships coming to this system. Well they would get a warm welcome if they entered, and they should be here in the next 24 to 36 hours. Just as Amy was contacting Ted to tell him about the two ships, the perimeter drones sounded a detection alarm. Sensor data showed two ships on an inbound course. Amy knew that the ships just had to be the ones that Jones had warned her about, they were early. Amy told Ted to keep an eye on the ships, stay hidden, and maybe if their escort didn't show up they would leave. Ted acknowledged the transmission. Going to the bridge, Amy got an update on the status of the inbound ships. They had stopped approximately 100,000 km from the system border, outside the orbit of Pluto, and were just sitting there. Jake and Amy agreed that to just watch them might prove the wisest course, since the ships could always decide to leave.

The ships had been outside the system for almost 36 hours when they started in at a slow speed. As soon as the ships were inside Pluto's orbit Ted, still cloaked, hailed them and told them to identify themselves and state their purpose in this system.

The ships stopped again, then replied "Blythe, you know what we are doing here. Quit this mess and quit hiding. You know as well as I do that this system will be in space in a while and we need to get to that ship and salvage what we can before they find it. I don't know why they sent you here anyways. It is not like this system poses a problem, unless the Iberians show up again. Come out of hiding and get on with the mission."

Both the challenge and the reply had been monitored by Amy and Jake. Ted's reply was that he wasn't Blythe and that the ships needed to drop shields and power and prepare to be boarded. And they had best not provoke him. Amy and Jake watched as several of Ted's fighters appeared on sensors, but cloaked, and surrounded the ships. Neither ship dropped shields, that is until they got a shot across their bow.

"This is your last warning; you have two choices now. One, drop power and shields and have your captains in the landing area within 5 minutes. Two, do nothing and be fired on, we will target your power plant first then your engines. I will give you one minute to decide, starting now." Ted said. An automated count-down started immediately.

With 10 seconds left on the clock one ship dropped power completely, the second one tried to engage drives. The second ship was hit, at least their shields were hit, several times. Then five fighters appeared and so did Ted's cruiser, right in front of the ship. Ted once again told them to drop power, then locked on with missiles and main guns. The ship went dead almost immediately. There was a transmission, but not the same voice, from the ship saying they surrendered. Five more fighters popped into view around the first ship. Ted acknowledged the surrender and repeated his request for the captains to be in their landing area in 5 minutes and that any hostile action would result in the destruction of the ship.

Using the standard routine of two fighters entering first followed by a shuttle of Marines, the two ships were boarded without incident. Both captains were escorted to Ted's ship to speak with him in person.

"Gentlemen, I am Cmdr Smith. Now I'll ask again who are you and what are you doing here in this system?" Ted said in way of a greeting.

"I am Captain Lucas." the first answered.

"And I am Cmdr Toddus. I am sorry about the misunderstanding. My captain was hardheaded and had to be convinced to surrender. Unfortunately the discussion resulted in his death, so I took command." the second one answered.

"We were sent here to salvage a ship that is on the eighth planet. It crashed there about 10 years ago, but we just learned of it. Now, since I know that this system has only one planet that is inhabited, who are you?" Captain Lucas continued.

"As I said I'm Cmdr Smith and I represent this system's defense forces. You were warned not to proceed and to identify yourselves and your mission. It seems that the departed captain didn't understand these requests. Now who sent you here?" Ted replied.

Neither of the officers answered this last question. The conversation was interrupted by a report of a combat situation on board the second ship. Ted told the two officers that they would be staying, in his brig, until the situation was controlled. Cmdr Toddus asked if he could call his ship and tell them to quit this nonsense. Ted allowed this communication.

"This Cmdr Toddus, put me on the ship wide. This is Cmdr Toddus, all personal are to lay down your weapons and surrender to the forces now on board. If anyone else fires on these people the ship will be destroyed, and if it isn't then I will personally kill those that disobeyed my orders. Now drop your weapons and give yourselves up. I have been assured that anyone who does will be treated kindly. That is all" Toddus said, then looked at Ted who nodded.

It was about 15 minutes later when the officer in charge of the Marines on the second ship called to say that the situation was taken care of and requested permission to send the wounded over for medical aid. Ted asked how many of their men were wounded, the officer replied none but they had about 10 crewmen from the ship down. Ted said to send the wounded over. Ted had the two officers escorted to his ready room and informed them of the situation and what had been done.

Just as Ted finished talking the alert gong started. Sensors reported that a large ship that was identified as Iberian had just exited hyper space outside the system and was coming in fast. Ted immediately had the ship cloak, as well as the fighters. He told the Marines to maintain control of the ships they were on and moved to intercept the new ship. Both Lucas and Toddus were told to accompany Ted as he went to the bridge.

Once on the bridge Ted had the second cruiser to head towards the Iberian ship also, but it would not get there until after Ted. The Iberians fired on the two salvage ships. Ted then opened fire with his missiles followed by main guns, he ordered the particle cannon to target the ship as well and to fire when ready. Both salvage ships were hit but appeared to have minimal damage. The Iberians were surprised when the first missiles hit, and even more surprised when the main guns of Ted's ship opened up on them. They were just recovering from those hits when they were hit by the particle cannon. The Iberian ship exploded outwardly from the particle cannon's blast and debris was all that remained. Both Lucas and Toddus were standing there open-mouthed in shock.

"Is that what would have happened to us if we didn't surrender" Toddus asked.

"What did you hit them with?" Lucas asked almost at the same time.

"We hit them with a particle cannon and must have hit them right in main power. And yes that would have happened to you also if you had fired on us. We do not play games!" Ted replied.

Ted had the fighters to search the area for life pods, he didn't really expect to find any. Next Ted contacted the two ships to see how much damage they had sustained. Both ships reported that damage was minimal as they had just barely gotten the shields up when they were hit. There were a few injuries but nothing serious. Ted ordered the ships to head for Mars, with the marines in control and the fighters as escorts.

Once the ships were in orbit, Ted and the two officers met with Amy, Jake, and AL. Amy asked if the two officers required help with their repairs and was told that they didn't even know what type damage needed repairing since they had not been back on board. Amy had Jake send a team to each ship to assess the damage. She also had the injured transferred to the base hospital. Amy offered to allow the officers to return to their ships if they wanted but warned them that any attempt to leave orbit or any hostile actions would be dealt with harshly. Lucas returned to his ship but Toddus remained. After Lucas had left, Toddus got more friendly and talkative. He explained that they were to meet two destroyers here and then not only salvage what they could from the down ship, but to see how hard it would be to take control of this system. In fact, his captain and Blythe had agreed to take over the system no matter what was found. They needed a new base in this part of the galaxy. The Iberians and the Protectorate were hunting them because of their attacking ships and stealing cargos.

"So you're pirates? What do you do with the cargos you steal?" Jake asked.

"Most of it goes to supply our ships. What we don't or can't use is sold on the secret market on several planets." Toddus replied.

"Well in our history pirates were usually either put in prison or killed." Ted added.

"Cmdr, there are several of us on my ship that would like to get out of the pirate business, it isn't a good life. We are always being hunted by someone. I suspect that when Captain Blythe gets here he will attack you without even asking what is going on." Toddus said.

"Well I don't think we have to worry about that. It seems that Captain Blythe met and upset one of our cruisers and is now a guest on that cruiser. I believe the captain said Blythe was currently occupying the brig, along with his most faithful followers." Amy said.

"What happened to the other destroyer? My best friend was on the Naseen, I hope he wasn't hurt." Toddus said.

"What was your friends name?" Amy asked.

"Cmdr Landers, he just got his first assignment as first officer." Toddus replied.

Amy looked at the report from Jones then replied "Well Cmdr Landers is alive and well. It seems that Captain Blythe and Landers' captain had a falling out and Cmdr Landers became the new captain of the Naseen just before Blythe upset our ships by firing on them. But that is all we know at this time. Except that Landers joined with our ships as a new friend, and Blythe is enjoying the brig."

"If I may your ladyship, I would caution you to keep a close watch on Blythe. He is as mean of a man as I've ever known. He would just as soon kill you as look at you. You say Landers joined up with your forces? Then I would like to do so also, and I think you will find most of my crew would join also. Even most of Captain Lucas' crew would probably join if given the chance." Toddus added.

"That might be possible. We will see what happens." Amy added.

"Admiral, the ships that Cmdr Toddus and Captain Lucas came on are both without AIs. If I might suggest, we could put new AIs on board them and assure that they remain harmless." AL interjected.

"Cmdr what can you tell us about Captain Lucas? Would he be amendable to joining us?" Jake asked.

"Captain Lucas is as honest as any, and is respected by just about all of us. He only continues to loot so as to remain alive. Anyone who tries to leave is hunted down by Blythe and killed. Blythe runs our group with a hand of steel." Toddus replied.

Amy asked Toddus to return to his ship and talk with his crew. Any man that wanted to join them was to request to be taken to Cmdr Thomas on the planet. If the whole ship wanted to join then to let either Jake or herself know and arrangements would be made. After Toddus had left Amy had a message sent to Captain Jones telling him about what had happened and to keep a close watch on Blythe.

It was the next afternoon that Amy was told that Cmdr Toddus wished to speak with her at her convenience, also Captain Lucas wanted to speak with her. Since Lucas was a captain she would see him first. Lucas arrived a short time later, once they were in Amy's Ready Room Lucas said he and his crew would like to see about doing some work for Amy and getting out of the pirate business. Amy asked about his ship, what had it been before being converted to a salvage ship. She was told that it had always been a cargo ship. Amy then explained what was involved for them to join with her group, but Lucas said that they wanted to work for her not join her. Amy again explained what was involved, they either joined or not but she was not offering any contracts. Since they had cooperated and not caused trouble, if they elected to not join then they would be given minimal supplies and escorted to the system edge - if they returned they would be considered hostile. On the other hand if they joined with Amy then their ship would be upgraded and they would have the use of the shipyard and the R&R facilities on the planet. The choice was theirs. With that Lucas left.

Next she met with Cmdr Toddus. Toddus didn't waste any time, he immediately told Amy that except for two men the whole crew wanted to stay here and work with Amy and her group doing what ever they could. Amy explained the process again and said she would make arrangements for the crew to be screened and housed. Toddus then asked if there was any way to get their families from the pirate base and bring them here to live? Amy told him she would think on this and see what they could work out. She welcomed him to the group and he left to tell his men.

Amy contacted Jake, Sam, and Ted and brought them up to date on the happenings. Both Jake and Ted agreed that Toddus' joining wasn't a surprise. Sam said she would make the arrangements for the screenings and get Cmdr Thomas to arrange the housing. Jake suggested that since Toddus was joining that his ship be upgraded completely. Amy told him to go ahead with that idea.

Amy and Jake were just sitting down for a nice quiet dinner when Captain Lucas called. Amy had the call directed to her quarters, since that was where she was at the time.

"What can I do for you Captain?" Amy asked.

"I have been talking over your offer with my crew. They all want to join up but they do not want to leave their loved ones behind, their families are more important, especially the children." Lucas replied.

"Well in that light I think something can be worked out. Why don't we meet in the morning and see what we can come up with to get their families here. We need more females and children here to make it a real home. Please bring all the information you can find on the system and the planet where the families are located when we meet in the morning. Also, have Cmdr Toddus join us with any information he might have. Is there anything else I can help you with?" Amy replied.

"No Madame, that should do it. My crew and I thank you for this" Lucas replied, then signed off.

"This should be interesting. I wonder what Lucas' reaction will be when he finds out that Toddus has already joined and asked the same thing?" Amy thought.

The next morning Amy, Jake, Ted, Sam, Lucas, and Toddus had their meeting as requested. Amy started it off by once again welcoming Toddus to the group, just to see Lucas' reaction. She was surprised when Lucas looked at Toddus and told him that maybe Toddus had more sense than he thought, and smiled.

"Well, now that we have that out of the way, what can the two of you tell us about the system and planet where your families are? What type defenses will we have to deal with? How likely are the families to refuse to join us?" Amy asked.

"If we do not fix up our ships too much then we should be able to slip in without being challenged. There should only be minimal resistance once we are on the ground, nothing my own crew could not handle. The Protectorate and the Iberians have been looking for us for ages and have never found us. The base is inside an asteroid belt and well hidden. We use some of the asteroids to hide what we get from raided ships until we can sell it. The biggest problem would be if Captain Blythe has returned" Lucas explained.

"Blythe won't be a problem captain, Admrl Amy explained that he is not likely to ever show up again. It seems that he is a guest on one of their ships and has a very nice cell in the brig." Toddus interjected.

"Yes, I explained that yesterday Captain. Blythe probably won't see space again, not as a free man any way. He really upset one of my captains and has been placed somewhere he can't get away from. Based on Cmdr Toddus' information yesterday I have already sent word that Blythe is dangerous and not to be trusted." Amy added.

"In that case if you can get me to the surface of the stronghold I can just about guarantee that everyone will join with your group. After we remove Blythe's faithful that is. If I might suggest, I noticed yesterday that your ships have a very good cloaking technology. If we had one of your ships follow us in cloaked then we would have the advantage." Lucas said.

"How long before my ship will be ready?" Toddus asked.

"It can be ready in about a week, we just need to install the new AI and do some more minor repairs." Jake answered.

"You have AIs on your ships? They can't be trusted. All a Protectorate ship has to do is come within hailing distance and they can take it over. That is why we won't use them." Lucas injected.

"Our AIs are different. We have already come across a couple of Protectorate ships and had no problem with their AIs. In fact the AIs seemed happy to cooperate with us after being contacted directly." Ted said.

"Well all I know is that I ran across a Protectorate destroyer with a Captain Turrini on board that just about caught me one time because I had an AI on the ship. We only got away because we disconnected the AI." Lucas said.

Amy and her mates just looked at one another and smiled on hearing this statement. It was decided that they would undertake the rescue in two weeks. This would give them a chance to install the AIs and do the needed repairs. It would also give Amy a chance to inform Kate and Jones about it.

There was a public welcoming celebration that afternoon planet side for the newest members of the group. Both crews were there as their ships were in the shipyard for upgrades and repairs. Even the engines were being upgraded so the ships would be faster and able to keep up with Ted's cruiser. During the celebration Ted received a call that Earth wanted to talk with him, so he had to leave.

It was two days later when Ted returned and told Amy what was going on with the request from Earth. They had noticed the extra activity in the area around Mars and were concerned. Ted had reassured them. He had also brought back a new captain for the cruiser, plus there were now about a hundred more people at the orientation center on the moon, mostly families. This made Amy happier.