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“Are you ready, Vlasa?”
“FTL coordinates are locked in, Captain.” Vlasa answered over the communications channel, “I stand ready to jump.”
“Jump on my signal.” Ariana replied, “Three, two, one, jump.”
Vlasa triggered the FTL controls on the captured pirate ship. For a moment, that both lasted an eternity and ended instantly, he felt disembodied. He existed in two places at once, and all the places in between. For some, this sensation was nauseating. For Vlasa, it brought feelings of perfect serenity.
Once the FTL jump completed, he immediately verified the ship's coordinates with astrometric measurements. Even though he had verified the calculations himself and Ariana had done them initially herself by hand, you could never be certain about a jump until you checked. Far too many ships had been thrown off course by malicious AI code hiding in their computers. Simple verification could go a long way.
Astrometric calculations identified several notable stellar phenomena and confirmed he had jumped to his intended destination. Ship sensors had also identified Seraph floating out in space at almost the same relative distance she had been before the jump.
“I am impressed, Captain. For all your talk about your lack of piloting skills, you have positioned both ships to within twenty kilometers of our previous formation.”
“Calculating FTL coordinates is just math, Vlasa. You remember what happened when I tried to dock last time?” Ariana answered.
“I rescind my previous compliment.”
“No take backs.”
An alert signal sounded from somewhere in the room. Vlasa looked around curiously, unable to spot any warning signals from the ship’s systems. After a moment, he found the source; a handheld lay wedged into one of the storage drawers.
“Captain, I am receiving a handheld call.”
“What? Everyone but Olivia’s on the same call already.” Ariana asked in confusion.
“Not to my personal device. One of the pirate's handhelds is receiving a call.”
“That’s not good.” Noah said, “Aren’t we in another middle of nowhere system?”
“Yes.” Ariana said simply, “I’m now picking up several ships on the long-range sensors. They are moving toward us.”
“It will be several minutes before the FTL has recharged.” Vlasa said, “Should I answer the call?”
There was a long pause before Ariana said, “There was an Echanic on their crew right?”
“Yeah,” Noah said.
“Go ahead, Vlasa. Pretend to be him.”
“I have no idea of this pirate’s name or the sound of his voice.”
“Not to be racist, but you all sound pretty much the same with that robot voice box,” Noah said.
Vlasa sat up straight and prepared to retort, but Ariana cut him off, “It’s rude, but at least to human ears, it’s true.”
“And Slu if we're honest,” Javi said.
“I must agree as well.” Squee rumbled.
Vlasa sighed, “Oh, very well.”
He picked up the handheld and pressed the accept call button still flashing, “Hello?”
“It’s Mitchell. Where’s Morris?” A strange voice said in reply.
“Killed,” Vlasa answered truthfully.
“I told him not to underestimate Ariana Harkins. Did you manage to get the Slu?”
“Yes.”
“Dead or alive?”
“Um, alive.”
“Nice work. And it looks like you were able to capture the ship intact too. Always need more ships. Come in for docking, and we’ll take care of that piece of filth.”
The call ended, and Vlasa put the handheld back down. He checked the sensor readings and identified which approaching ship the transmission had come from. The vessel was much larger than either Seraph or his present ship. Most of the escorts were smaller and in the same size class as his or smaller.
“So, what happened?” Ariana said her tone frustrated.
“They believed me to be a member of this ship's crew.”
“And?”
“I believe this ship was sent to apprehend or kill Javi.”
“Javi? Why?”
“They did not specify. And one more thing captain, the individual I spoke to mentioned you by name. He appears to have some respect for you.”
“Javi, who are these people?”
An uncomfortable silence followed. Eventually, Javi spoke, his voice quiet, “Now is not the time to explain that. But I can assure you we do not want to be anywhere near them. We must depart immediately.”
“I concur, Captain.” Vlasa said, “They clearly wish to do us harm. I am not sure how long our ruse will hold up as we have been instructed to come in for docking. We will be in range of their weapons for several minutes before the FTL has recharged.”
“All right. But later, Javi, we’re having a conversation” Ariana said, “Noah, go get Olivia out of bed. Vlasa, port back here and start calculating a new FTL course. I’ll take your place over there.”
“What do you intend to do, Captain?” Vlasa asked concerned.
“They wanted to dock. I’ll dock with them.”