Chapter 27: Pirates

“Captain, would you like me to handle them for you?” I asked.

“Go ahead commander. Please deal with the pirates,” said Jem.

“Ship, this is Brian. Can you tell me the number of incoming vessels, identify if they are pirate vessels or not?” I said.

“Sensors can make out eleven incoming vessels. Their designs match those previously known to be pirate vessels,” replied Ship.

“Deploy a probe, configured as a pirate decoy. Move it to half the distance between this planet and the incoming vessels. Get it to greet the pirates using Tobis’ voice, and lure them in before deploying nano-bots,” I said. I hoped Koluna did not kick up a fuss about this.

“Confirmed. Probe deployed,” replied Ship.

“Deploy another probe, configured as a redshirt, to remain cloaked on this side of the planet. Then move to the far side of the planet, for protection. Use the redshirt probe to relay communications. I don’t want to risk your being located and damaged,” I said.

“Confirmed. Probe deployed. Moving around behind the planet,” replied Ship.

“Now we wait to see if they take the bait. Ship, can you maintain a secure connection with us down here? If so, can you relay a tactical view?” I said.

“Confirmed. We are using an encrypted channel and directional antennae from the redshirt probe to relay the communications,” replied Ship. On our display here on the island I now had a complete tactical view of the system.

I could see the pirate decoy was reaching its position. It winked into existence with the appearance of Tobis’ former vessel. Then it hailed the pirate vessels in Lagaid, using Tobis’ voice.

“That got their attention,” said Jem. The pirate vessels adjusted course directly towards the pirate decoy.

“Attention, one of the pirate vessels is responding to the hail. The voice print matches that of Tobis. It translates to ‘You are not Tobis. Who are you?’,” said Ship. Crap! How could that be?

The pirate vessels were approaching the pirate decoy. “Ship, can you get the pirate decoy to relay communications from me? Make it seem like I am aboard that vessel. I want to respond to their hail, video and audio please.”

“Confirmed,” replied Ship. A moment later the image of Tobis appeared on the display in front of me.

“Tobis! The last time I saw you, you were rotting in an Ori prison. How did you escape?” I said in Ori. I did not know Lagaid, but I knew he could understand my Ori.

“YOU!! How did you get here? What are you doing with MY vessel?” he yelled at me in Ori. On the tactical display I could see the pirate vessels speeding up towards the pirate decoy.

“Ship close the communication with Tobis,” I said in Tian. I hoped he did not understand Tian.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship in Tian.

“Ship, quickly cloak the pirate decoy. Move it away from its current position, deploying a wide cloud of nano-bots as it does so,” I ordered.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship. On the tactical display I could see the pirate decoy wink out and unknown to the pirate vessels (I hoped) it moved to the side, while deploying nano-bots in its wake.

The pirate vessels tried to converge on the last known location of the pirate decoy probe. As they did so, they came in contact with the cloud of nano-bots. From the tactical display, it looked like six vessels were infected with nano-bots. But at least five vessels held back.

“Ship, can you confirm six vessels are infected?” I asked.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“Ship, uncloak and activate the redshirt probe which is in orbit above us. Have it leave orbit and set a course to the remaining pirate vessels, slowly. Then have it hail the pirates again and patch it through here,” I ordered. I saw Laine nodding. I think she understood my plan.

On the tactical display there was now a Baglogi Star Cruiser leaving orbit and turning to face the pirates. On the display was Tobis again.

“Tobis, you just lost six of your vessels. Do you want to continue? I can destroy all of your vessels,” I said.

“How did you get there?? What do you mean I lost six of my vessels??” he growled at me. Then another pirate to his right said something in his ear. On the tactical display there were six vessels drifting lifeless. The other five vessels had changed course towards the redshirt probe and were moving to intercept.

“What have you done? I’ll destroy you for this!!” he yelled at me.

“Ship close the communication with Tobis,” I said in Tian.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship in Tian.

“Ship, have the redshirt probe cloak and deploy a cloud of nano-bots before changing course. Also have the other probe come around from behind and deploy a cloud of nano-bots from behind to make sure they don’t escape,” I ordered.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship. We watched the tactical display. More clouds of nano-bots drifted towards the helpless pirate vessels. They were unable to detect our cloaked probes or the nano-bots. Two of the pirate vessels started firing on the last known position of the redshirt probe, but of course it was no longer there. You could sense their panic as they moved about and fired wildly. One by one, the pirate vessels came into contact with the nano-bots clouds. One moment a vessel was healthy, and the next it experienced a hull breach.

“Attention commander. Tobis is hailing you, offering surrender,” said Ship.

I looked at the image of Jem on the display. “Captain? My recommendation is that we do not answer him. He has killed many and will kill again. We tried taking prisoners to Ori, and he escaped. We need to cut off the head of the snake. There may not be a chance like this again,” I said.

There was a pause. I guessed Jem and Koluna were talking off camera.

“Ship, do not answer their hail. They had their chance before. Finish this,” said Jem. Koluna was by her side and she looked in my direction and nodded. I was glad to have her on my side for this.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship. We watched the tactical display until the last of the pirate vessels went dead.

“Ship, is that it?” I asked.

“Confirmed. Sensors detect hull breaches and power failures in all pirate vessels. No remaining life signs detected,” replied Ship. It seemed the battle was over too soon. I would have liked to see Tobis suffer more for his crimes. I felt tired. It was then I noticed that Laine was at my side and held my arm. I still had more to do.

“Ship, deactivate all the nano-bots. Can you salvage enough material from the derelict vessels to manufacture a new shuttle?” I said.

“Confirmed. All nano-bots deactivated. Deploying a probe with maintenance bots to salvage materials,” replied Ship.

“When you build a new shuttle, can you include a shield generator and if it experiences a water landing, I would appreciate it if the shuttle could float on the surface,” I added. I did not want to go through this again.

“Confirmed. Additional requirements included. Design revisions complete. Estimate three days until completion,” replied Ship.

“Good work again commander! With any luck that was the last of the pirates,” said Jem.

“Thank you captain,” I replied.

“Captain, if we can leave the defence of the system to you, Brian needs to get some rest. He has broken ribs from the shuttle crash that need to heal,” said Laine.

“Oh no! We didn’t know Brian was injured. Please take care of him Laine,” said Jem. She and Koluna looked shocked. I didn’t feel too much pain after Laine used that scanner on me.

“I will captain. Out,” she closed the communications.

Laine helped me out of the room with the control panels and displays, and out of the building. We found the building where the pirates slept, and it was a mess. We decided we’d sleep outside. We looked to find out what supplies they had. There was fresh water and some rations. It did not look too appealing.

“I’m feeling tired. Can you find a place for me to rest outside?” I said. Laine nodded. We picked a place we could rest under the shade of a tree.

“You lie down here and rest. I will see what I can get for some relatively clean bedding,” said Laine. With her help, I lay down.

Lane woke me up later. I lifted my head, and she tucked something soft under it. “Thank you,” I said.

“Here is some water. If we have to, we can exist on just water for a few days,” said Laine. I took a drink. I did not realize it had been a long time without fresh water.

“Thank you again. If you call Ship, it may not have a shuttle ready soon but it might send a small probe down with a few supplies,” I suggested.

Laine smiled. “Good idea! I’ll do that.”

I rested more. When I awoke this time, it was getting dark. Lane was resting beside me. We must have been not too far from the equator, as it was warm here outside. I did not wake her up after all she had been through.

We were both awakened by the sound of thrusters firing above us. I looked up and saw what looked like a small probe approaching the island. It was slowing down and making final course corrections.

We watched as it landed perfectly in the area between the buildings. Ship was showing off.