CHAPTER NINE

Within a half standard, they were as ready as they could be. A course had been chosen, with contingencies should the enemy ships break their current formation, and Henny was ready with the weapons. Ginny took the precaution of starting some of the recording drones broadcasting back to Earth on a secure channel, in case they were blown up. Chances were the tough little drones would survive even hard vacuum, but it might be better not to take the risk. Peace was too important.

“I’ve got it!” Cat’s voice rose above Ginny’s thoughts and the normal hum of the bridge. Cat’s expression spoke of triumph and anger.

“Doc?”

“That bastard did poison them.” She looked over to where they’d secured the jit doctor against one bulkhead. He was still unconscious. “But I’ve located an antidote. It will take a while to revive them all, but they should be fine in a few hours, without any lasting injury. Without it, though, they’d have been dead inside of six standards.” Again, her cold glare turned on the jit doctor.

“How soon can you administer the antidote?”

“I’ll have to go down to the medical lab then patch into the ship’s environmental system. That’s how he spread it around in the first place, but he didn’t count on the fact that this particular poison is ineffective on humans. Or, perhaps, he discounted the possibility that we could pose a threat. We’re ‘only women’, after all.” The doctor sneered those words, and all the women on the bridge either bristled or laughed.

“Or maybe he wanted us as hostages.” Ginny considered the unconscious man. “Why didn’t he succumb? I guess he had some of the antidote in his system already? Or some other kind of counteragent?”

“Yes, ma’am. Had to be. The jit’suku sense of smell is highly sensitive. This is one of the few airborne compounds that can pass by them undetected. And, as you see, it’s very fast acting and potent.”

“Get down to the lab, Cat. I want these men restored as quickly as possible.”

“It’ll take a few hours. And they’ll be groggy for a day or two.”

Ginny nodded. “We can handle the ship for them. Maybe this’ll give them some idea of just who they’re dealing with.”

“If running their ship doesn’t, the battle we’re about to engage surely will.” Henny’s grim humor sounded from the weapons console.

“Better switch on their ship recorders if they’re not on already.” Ginny directed her comment towards the com station.

Tiggy nodded. “They were all on. I think the emperor must’ve activated them just before he passed out.”

Ginny stood beside Tigh, unwilling to displace him, just yet, even though she’d need the command chair in the battle to come. She touched his hand. “He’s a good man.”

“Captain, I can bring him to the medical lab with me and monitor his recovery.” Cat had come up beside her with an emergency gurney from the bridge med kit. It floated beside them on anit-grav cushioning that protected the patient and made them nearly weightless to move. If they could lever him onto it, Cat could move him easily.

Ginny sighed. “I suppose we can’t just leave him where he is. He is the emperor, after all. Someone should make certain he comes out of this unharmed.” She was torn. She wanted to be that someone but knew she had a battle to fight.

Cat put one hand on her arm, comforting her. “I’ll watch over him, Gin. You’ve got work to do here. Get rid of the enemy ships. I’ll take good care of your man while he recovers.”

Ginny spared a moment to place her hand over Cat’s. “Thanks, Doc. He means more to me than I can say.”

With a nod to the other women who’d gathered around to help, they lifted Tigh’s inert form onto the gurney and secured him in place.

“Justina and Penny, go with her. On your way, pick up my family from their suite and escort them all to the medical lab and seal them in. I know my mother and aunt can be of some help to the doctor. Then, see what you can do in engineering. We may need someone down there if the enemy ships get in any lucky shots.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.” The chief engineer and payload master saluted as they formed an honor guard—a heavily armed and alert honor guard—around the emperor’s stretcher. With Doc Heller guiding the sled, Ginny walked with them to the door, stopping only to place a soft kiss on Tigh’s stubbly cheek before opening the hatch and watching them slide through. She secured the door after they’d turned the corner, the women’s recorder droids hovering around the small group, and headed back to her duties with a heavy heart.

There was a battle yet to be fought, and Ginny Starbridge had never looked forward to battles.

But she always won them.

“Krysta, what have we got?” Ginny stood near the nav station, putting off the moment when she would fill Tigh’s empty command chair.

“They’re on course, as expected. No deviations.”

“Good. Can you plot a microburst that will bring us right up the middle of the two far side ships, with a clear shot at the afterburners of the lead?”

“You don’t ask for much, ma’am.”

“Only what I know you’re capable of, Ensign.” Though a younger officer, Krysta was one of the best. If anyone could plot the impossibly tight maneuver at this close range, it was her. “When you have the solution, ping it over to me. I’ll pilot it myself.”

“Aye, aye, ma’am.”

Krysta was a shy creature, but she was in her element plotting the impossible courses Ginny often demanded. Krysta had always been an ace up Ginny’s sleeve as she captained the Sarasota through improbable scenarios. A more talented navigator Ginny had never met. She’d need all of Krysta’s skill now, if they were to survive the upcoming battle in an unfamiliar ship.

The three enemy ships were close now. With the burst, they’d soon be in the thick of things. Ginny offered up a silent prayer for their survival. More than just their lives were riding on this skirmish. The fate of two entire galaxies hung in the balance.

Ginny couldn’t put it off any longer. With a resigned sigh, she sat in Tigh’s big chair. She didn’t have time to dwell on the mixed feelings being in command of this top-of-the-line ship stirred in her heart for, a moment later, the console pinged, and she had to review Krysta’s solution.

“Helm control on my mark,” Ginny intoned. She wanted to get a feel for this ship before she piloted it in combat, but there was precious little time.

She gave the signal, and the controls dropped from above, startling her. On a human built ship, they’d have either popped up from below or swung in from the side. Adjusting her seat and posture, Ginny took the reins. It wasn’t something she did often, but she’d started her career as a pilot and had always had a penchant for flying anything new or different. In this instance—flying an unfamiliar ship under battle conditions—Ginny knew she was the most able of her crew to give it a go.

The stick was hair trigger, she soon learned. The slightest motion of her fingers or arm spun the ship quickly. It responded faster than anything she’d ever flown, but then, the jits were master shipbuilders, and this was the emperor’s own flagship. It had to be the best of the best.

“Whoa, girl.” Ginny used all her concentration to learn the feel of this ship in the few minutes allotted. She couldn’t do too much maneuvering because the enemy ships, no doubt, still assumed they were still on autopilot. And there was one more thing she had to be certain of before she took out three jit’suku ships. “Tiggy, have you got evidence secured? Are we certain those three bogies are really bad guys?”

Tiggy spun in her seat, her eyes hard as diamonds. “Oh, there’s no doubt about it, ma’am.”

Ginny recognized that tone. The com officer was royally pissed off, so whatever she’d found in the com logs had to be damning, indeed. But Ginny needed to hear it for herself before she took irrevocable action.

“Play it, Ensign.”

“Aye, aye, ma’am.” Tiggy spun her chair back around and brought up the records, playing the audio on the bridge speakers so everyone—including the recording drones—could hear. A series of tones played out first. It was some kind of recognition code used routinely in secure communications.

“Doctor?” A strange male voice sounded throughout the bridge.

“Doctor Gruber. It’s good to hear your voice again. Everyone’s out. It’s safe for visual confirmation.”

The com screen showed a holographic image from the lead ship of the three now closing on them. A man dressed in beribboned finery stood in front of the console while the com officer put the message through. As if the fop was too important to push his own buttons, Ginny thought. The man looked like a fool.

“Good work, my friend. Captains Sirkin, Redolan and Merther assure me we are in position to intercept you. We will proceed as planned, staging the scene so our people will believe the human whores at fault for killing our weakling emperor and his collaborators. Groveling before the humans. It’s disgusting.”

The man couldn’t seem to keep his opinions to himself, though he should know better than to voice anything so incriminating on a com channel. Even the most secure com could be hacked. But, in this case, the idiot’s rantings were all the proof Ginny needed to justify her actions.

“They are even worse up close than you can believe, Goran,” the doctor said. “These females are barbarians.”

“Barbarians, eh?” Henny smirked. “He must be talking about me.”

“Don’t flatter yourself, Hen. That man hates us all,” Tiggy observed.

“I’ve seen enough, Ensign,” Ginny said, bringing them back to order. “Log the evidence and put it under seal. We’ll need it when we reach Solaris Prime.” If we reach Solaris Prime, she thought carefully to herself.

“Coming up on microburst window, Captain.” Krysta watched her screen, as did Ginny.

“Henny, I want you to come out shooting when we burst through the middle of their formation. I’ll line you up for a simultaneous port and starboard shot. Can you handle the jit controls?”

“No sweat, ma’am.” Henny was as calm and professional as always, though her eyes glittered with battle fire. “Get me close, and I’ll fry their asses.”

“Disable if possible,” Ginny instructed. “Kill only if necessary.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.”

“All right then.” Ginny looked around at her crew—her friends. “We get one shot at this. Let’s make it count. Krys, count us down.”

As they’d done many times before, the women of the Sarasota acted in unison to save all their lives. Krysta gave Ginny the signal, and she hit the afterburners for a hop into the midst of the three-ship formation. The moment they were clear, Henny hit the guns. Port and starboard broadsides took out half the weapons arrays of two of the ships and knocked gaping holes in their hulls. They were out of the fight for at least as long as it took to stabilize their hulls, which would most likely take hours.

Henny could easily pick them off now, and if they’d still been at war, Ginny would have given the order, but as things stood, she didn’t want to take any more lives. There would be justice for these men, but it would be Tigh—God willing—who meted it out. All Ginny had to do was disable them long enough to get her own ship to safety, but there was still one fully functioning warship now powering up for a counter-strike.

“We’re clear. Henny, track weapons. I’ll try to give you a vector to the third ship’s engines.” The two disabled ships weren’t going anywhere fast, but they still had a few weapons. Ginny would have to keep clear of what they had left while engaging that third bogie.

But this one was craftier than the other two. Or maybe, it was just because this captain had a few minutes to prepare. Ginny had lost the element of surprise, but she’d also evened the odds—as long as she stayed away from the functional flanks of the ships they’d already disabled. It took some tricky flying, but this ship handled like a dream. The more she flew it, the easier it became, and she started to enjoy the feeling of almost being one with the ship as she maneuvered after the leftover ambusher.

She chased him away from the other two, trying to get him out into the open so she wouldn’t have to worry as much about those semi-functional ships. He was crafty though. The other captain refused to blink when she played chicken with him. Ginny was forced up and over, taking strafing fire to her belly as she sailed past.

But then, Henny pulled one out of her magic hat and sent a torpedo up the tailpipe of the enemy ship as they passed.

“How in hell did you manage that trajectory, Hen?” Ginny was so surprised, she voiced the thought even as she dove past and out of range of the enemy beam weapons. She had to get into his blind spot to avoid projectiles.

“Captain,” Henny was grinning, “this ship has a few unexpected abilities. Rotational and extendable weapons pods, for one thing.” She flicked a few switches. “Sorry I didn’t figure this out before. I’ll have that third bogie down in just…” They all watched a flight of torpedoes speed out from their ship at an impossible angle toward the retreating enemy. “…about…” The torpedoes were going to make it, though the other captain did his best to turn. His ship was too slow. “…now.”

Screens lit with the explosion as multiple targets on the enemy ship went up in flames quickly extinguished by the vacuum of space.

“I think that’s done him, Captain.” Henny checked her screens, as did the others.

“Confirmed, Captain,” Krysta said with satisfaction. “All three bogies are dead in the water.”

“Com?” Ginny asked as she kept back from the battlefield. She had a few choices for what to do now. She pondered what the wisest course of action would be, but much depended on what the enemy captains did next.

“Signal tones only, Captain,” Tiggy replied, “but on a sub-channel. They’re looking for their man.”

Ginny thought through her options, deciding on a course of action.

“Signal them back.”

“Ma’am?” Tiggy turned to look at her.

“You heard me, Tig. Put us on wide lens. I want them to see exactly who just kicked their ass.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.” Understanding dawned on all their faces as Tiggy turned back with a grin and implemented the order. “You’re on, Captain.”

“Captains Sirkin, Redolan and Merther, this is Captain Starbridge.”

“Get off the com, woman.” One of the captains’ faces appeared on her screen as he answered. Smoke billowed behind him, so she guessed he was on the second ship. That one had sustained severe damage near the bridge.

“I’m sorry I cannot accommodate your request, because right now, I’m the only one available. You do realize you’ve committed treason against your emperor. He’s not going to be very happy with any of you.”

“I will take my chances with him before I deal with a bridge manned by females.” A second jit face popped up on her screen, next to the first.

Ginny didn’t rise to the insult. “Have no doubt, you will deal with Tigh when he recovers from the poison your collaborator tried to kill him with. For now, I just wanted you to realize you—all three of you—were defeated by a ship captained and crewed by supposedly inferior humans. Female humans, at that. Take a good look, men. And remember, we could have killed you. Instead, the Valkyrie and her crew spared you today. I hope you’ll remember that when you face justice before my husband-to-be.”

“You’re the one, then.” A third face joined the other two. “The captain of the Sarasota. The one who blasphemes our beliefs.”

“Tiggy, send our friends the data files Tigh gathered from our archives about the Valkyrie.” Ginny maneuvered away from the scene of battle. “Gentlemen, a little reading for you while you await justice. My call sign was never intended to be any kind of insult to you or your religion. The legend of the Valkyrie is an ancient tale from Earth. Until Tigh showed up, we had no idea my call sign was what had your men gunning for me. I won’t apologize, but I thought you should know.”

Two of the three captains looked skeptical. The other dour puss seemed intent on mistrusting every word she spoke.

“I’d love to stay and chat, but I have a schedule to keep. If you’re not here when Tigh wakes up, may your Goddess have mercy on your soul. We know who you are, and all evidence has been duly logged. End transmission.”

Tiggy hit the control, and the screen blanked.

Ginny maneuvered the big ship into open space and turned control back to Krysta, who put them back on course.

“I’m almost sorry to give back the helm. This baby flies like a dream.” Ginny stood from the command chair and stretched her legs. “Tig, any news from Doc?”

“She’s been busy, Captain. She put your family to work, and they’ve searched all decks, picked up a lot of the men who fell at their posts and took the injured ones to sickbay. Antidote has been distributed through the air system, and a few of the younger ones are beginning to come around.”

“All right.” Ginny wanted to see Tigh. It was an imperative in her blood. She had to see him now. “We’re not completely out of the woods here. We have one traitor in custody, but there may still be more. We can’t let down our guard. Krysta, you have the helm. Henny, I want you to intensify scans. Tig, keep an eye on com both inside and outgoing from this ship. I don’t want any more secret signals.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.” Tiggy set her controls.

Henny shot her captain a questioning look as she headed for the hatch. “I’m going to seal you in here. I don’t want anyone else gaining bridge access until Tigh’s awake.”

“What about you, Captain?” Henny asked. “You should have an escort. Like you said, we may not have all the conspirators.”

“It’s a chance I’ll have to take, Chief. I’m going down to Medical to check on the emperor.”

Ginny sealed her crew in the bridge and headed for medbay at double time. A few groggy jits slumped against the walls, but few were moving at any speed. When she hit the medical area, her mother met her at the door. The patients were lined up in the hall.

“How is everyone?” Ginny asked after her mother let her in.

“A few broken bones, some contusions from folks falling on things, but nothing serious. Most of them are starting to come around. Doctor Heller has the emperor and Councilor Torm in the far corner.” She pointed behind her as she secured the door, and Ginny set off in that direction, finding Tigh easily enough.

She stood next to his bed, taking his big hand in hers. “Tigh,” she whispered. “My love, wake up.” She leaned down and kissed his cheek, whispering encouragement in his ear. She stroked his hair with one hand, waiting long minutes by his side, until he began to stir.

“Ginny?”

“I’m here, Tigh. It’s all right.”

“Where am I?”

“Medbay. You were gassed. All the men were.”

Tigh’s eyes narrowed as he struggled to focus. “Are you all right?”

“Doc said this particular poison doesn’t affect humans. My crew is fine. We took over the bridge and captured one traitor.”

“The doctor.” His eyes clouded with memory of betrayal.

“Yes, Tigh. I’m sorry. He signaled three ships. We had to fight our way out.”

“Who?” His eyes closed wearily. “Do you know who?”

“We have com evidence of communiqués with a doctor named Gruber, and I spoke to Captains Sirkin, Redolan and Merther myself. It’s all logged. And I’ve got drones following every one of my women.” She waved a hand upward to the small drone that still followed her every move, recording all.

“Human tech?” Tigh tried to focus uncooperative eyes on the small hoverdroid over her shoulder. “I didn’t know you brought those on board.”

Ginny gave him a small smile. “Just a little insurance, in case things went bad. Henny activated them when she realized you’d all been gassed. We converged on the bridge. Thank heaven you’d given me access. Your doctor had himself locked in.”

“Emperor,” Doctor Heller said as she walked over and caught Ginny’s eye. “I’m glad to see you coming around.”

“How are the men?”

“All doing well. The younger crew members are already bouncing back. This agent appears to affect the older men more strongly. I have some concern for Councilor Torm, but his vital signs are good. It may just take him longer to come out of it than the rest of you.”

“Please watch him closely, Doctor. He is a dear friend and one of the few men I can trust without question.” Tigh looked back at Ginny. “I thought all the men on this ship were trustworthy, but I was wrong. I’m not sure who we can trust with your safety, Gin. You and your crew.”

Ginny squeezed his hand. “It’s all right, Tigh. We knew going in that this wasn’t going to be an easy mission. We’re used to looking after ourselves.”

“Thank the Goddess you were immune to the gas.” Tigh’s eyes closed as he struggled with consciousness. “But what about the babies? They are half jit’suku.”

Ginny’s gaze shot to the doc’s. Cat had that little frown between her eyebrows that meant she was thinking. “It’s possible they were affected when you breathed in the contaminant, but you’ve also been breathing the antidote for some time, so they’d have received it the same way. Did you feel anything, Captain? And abdominal pains or cramping?”

“No, nothing.” Ginny’s pulse leapt with worry.

“While you’re here, I’ll run some scans, but chances are anything that might have entered their systems has already been negated. The agent knocks out jit’suku fast, but its poisonous properties take hours to be fully realized. We got the antidote circulating within less than an hour of initial exposure.”

“Please run your scans now, Doctor. I believe neither Ginny nor I will rest easy until we are certain our babies are all right.”

“I understand,” Cat said. “If you can sit up, sir, we can use this medbed. All the others are occupied.” Tigh moved slowly, but he managed to get out of the way enough for Ginny to sit on the medbed. The doctor set the scanners and spent a few minutes fussing over the jit’suku designed equipment. She ran two scans, finishing up with a blood sample. “It’ll take a few minutes to figure out how to get the blood analysis results. Sorry, ma’am. I’m learning as I go with this equipment. But the scans are clean. The babies are fine, swimming around happily inside from what I can see.”

“Thank the Lady,” Tigh said with feeling.

Ginny breathed a sigh of relief and gave Tigh a hug. He was sitting up stronger now, getting better by the minute. He wasn’t completely steady on his feet yet, but he was improving rapidly. Councilor Torm woke up a few minutes later, though the poison had affected him more severely than anyone else on the ship, due to his age.

 

A short time later, Ginny and Tigh reclaimed the bridge. Tigh brought in a few members of his bridge crew to relieve some of the ladies, but he and Ginny were both wary now, unable to trust any of the jit’suku crew members completely.

Their fears proved out a few minutes later when Krysta erupted from her seat at the nav console and grabbed her co-worker by the throat. She lifted him off his feet and into the air, using all her martial arts skill and what Tigh now realized had to be a cybernetic arm of some sort. The man flailed, unable to breathe as she held him with superior strength of an implanted arm that looked very realistic otherwise.

“What is it?” Ginny demanded.

“He just tried to reroute com through his panel, ma’am.” Krysta spoke fast, fending off the man’s attempts to dislodge her mechanical arm. “He’s one of the conspirators.”

“Stuff him in the brig!” Tigh surged to his feet, as those loyal to him moved in.

It took several men to subdue the navigator fully, taking the burden of the big man from Krysta. Tigh watched with grim approval as they secured his hands and dragged him from the bridge. Tigh then turned to the female navigator as he reclaimed his seat. The sad truth was he was still weak from the poison and needed to sit.

“Are you certain, Ensign?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. When I took over at nav, I noticed we’ve been on a very strange course. While on this station for the past hour or so, I traced the navigator’s logs and realized he was taking us on a circuitous route. I thought at first, it was a security measure, but now, I suspect it was so we could be in ambush position when the doctor gassed everyone.”

“Can you plot us a faster course, Krys?” Ginny asked.

The ensign nodded. “Aye, aye, ma’am.”

“I think we ought to get to Solaris Prime as soon as possible, don’t you?” Ginny asked Tigh as she stood at the side of his command chair.

“I think you’re right, my love. The sooner we get home, the better.”

 

Tigh sent word ahead and dispatched a number of ships he thought were loyal to him to escort the three traitorous vessels back to the nearest military base. Tigh both hoped and feared the revelation of the plot against him would make it clear just what side the rest of his men stood on. If there was one thing he couldn’t abide, it was a sneak.

When they finally reached the Solaris system, an honor guard made up of both military and Zenai ships awaited them. Tigh was taken aback by the presence of the brotherhood. They rarely involved themselves in matters of politics, but then, word of Ginny’s call sign had probably already gotten back to the Zenai. Tigh wondered what sort of reception the human Valkyries would meet from his old teachers.