Chapter 30: Chaos

When the former prisoner transport vessel left orbit and headed for the Quard system, it caused quite a disturbance. It did not respond to hails and proceeded through the many vessels waiting with a tachyon grid to catch Ship.

It took time to identify that it was the prisoner transport vessel. With no response, they speculated that the two Baglogi prisoners must have incapacitated the Lagaid crew and were taking the vessel back to Quard.

All was in chaos. Ship monitored the traffic on the Lagaid system network and relayed the highlights.

By now, the vessel left the system. Half the fleet pursued the vessel. The other half remained in case the Baglogi star cruiser arrived.

The hyper drive engines of the prisoner transport vessel cut in, and it winked out of the system. Soon after, many other vessels followed.

“Laine, what will happen in Quard when that many Lagaid vessels appear in their system?” I asked.

“Quard will mobilize its own fleets to meet them. They have enough vessels to match,” replied Laine.

“Sorry, I did not expect that. I only wanted to create a diversion. I do not want to push Quard and Lagaid into a war,” I said.

Our captured vessel and four others were gliding through the darkness in the opposite direction. The enemy focus was elsewhere.

“Are you hungry or thirsty? It has been days since I ate something,” I said.

“Sure. Let’s see what we can find that is palatable,” replied Laine. We looked around and found a galley. The food was distasteful, so we just got ourselves some water to drink. It made little sense to get so far and die of food poisoning.

At this edge of the system, it was quiet. No one saw the five vessels come to a stop. Then a Baglogi star cruiser uncloaked and docked with the lead vessel. We positioned the other four vessels to block the view from back on Lagaid four. A high-powered telescope would detect nothing out of the ordinary.

Laine and I hurried to the airlock and crossed over to Ship. We went through decontamination together and washed off all the Lagaid we could. The experience made me feel dirty, and I did not want to bring any of that aboard Ship. Soon we were back in clean jumpsuits and on our way to the main bridge.

We greeted Jem and Koluna with hugs. That was the most narrow escape yet. I was seriously considering retiring from this career and taking up something with a better life expectancy. This was getting insane!

“Welcome back commander, Laine. We are sorry it took so long to rescue you,” said Jem.

“You did great! You didn’t walk into their welcoming committee,” I said.

“We did just as you did that time you captured Tobis. We arrived on the far side of the system,” said Koluna.

“Well done! So before we leave, we need to work out our next steps,” I said.

“Yes, we do. How about a coffee and we sit and discuss it here?” asked Jem. We nodded and smiled.

We sat down in our usual seats with a cup of coffee each. It was my first cup since Quard, and I did not realize how much I missed it. I took a long sip and savoured the feeling.

I looked around and Jem and Koluna both had amused looks on their faces.

“You try going without coffee for a few days. I think this beverage is addictive,” I said. Laine nodded.

“Commander, where next and what do we need to do before we leave?” asked Jem.

“My actions have caused about half that Lagaid fleet to travel to Quard. I need us to lend a hand, to make sure they do not cause trouble for Quard,” I said.

“Agreed. We need to sort this out,” replied Jem.

“It would be a good time for the Baglogi to come to the aid of their ally Quard,” added Laine.

“Second, the Lagaid ambassador clarified that Lagaid and Baglogi are at war. This is more than dealing with pirates. They represent a larger threat, and the size of their fleet is significant,” I said.

“Ship, what are Baglogi precedents for being at war with another system? How does that change our legal status?” asked Jem.

“Accessing ... Baglogi have not been at war with another race for millennia,” replied Ship.

“If we are at war, then we are under different rules for how we treat prisoners,” said Koluna.

“I would agree, if it is possible we need to follow interstellar rules. But if the Lagaid are committing acts of piracy, then we can still follow rules on the treatment of pirates. Above that, if it is a choice between killing Lagaid or being killed, I will kill Lagaid,” I said.

“Killing in self-defence,” said Laine.

“Yes. But as Koluna pointed out, we know they are at war with us. If we can capture Lagaid crew as prisoners of war, we could transport them to a suitable planet and maroon them there. I don’t see other races holding prisoners on our behalf, unless we have evidence the Lagaid committed acts of piracy,” I said.

“Brian, you remember the return home protocol? We could use data port probes to attach to the Lagaid vessels. Once we have control, it would send the vessels back home to Lagaid,” said Koluna.

“Agreed, if it is possible, I will allow non-lethal means to deal with the enemy. I don’t want to maroon prisoners of war on a planet. What should we do here before we leave Lagaid?” asked Jem.

“Captain, I suggest we take no further aggressive moves against Lagaid forces here in their own system. Although we have a right to engage an enemy force, it is prudent to choose when and where. I would ask we take the five captured vessels with us. I can think of some ways to use them when we arrive in Quard,” I replied.

“Agreed. Commander, let’s go back to Quard,” said Jem.

“Ship, please coordinate our new fleet of Lagaid vessels. Plot a course for Quard,” I said.

“Confirmed. Recalling probes. Baglogi fleet will depart in two minutes,” replied Ship.

On the tactical display, I could see our vessel and the other five moving together in a tight formation. Soon after, the hyper drive cut in and we were on our way to Quard.

I was feeling tired. I’ve said before that when in a system you are working long hours, and experiencing potentially high stress situations. When travelling between systems, it took days and nothing much happened. After the stressful events in the Lagaid system were over, I felt like a switch was thrown and I needed to sleep.

I excused myself, and returned to my cabin. I was quickly in a deep and dreamless sleep. I am sure that anything that needed to be done between now and when we arrived would get done, but for now it would be without my help.

I awoke to discover that Koluna was shaking me.

“Wake up Bri-an,” she said.

“Whaa?? Is there an emergency?” I asked.

“No, silly! You have been asleep for over two days. You need to get up,” replied Koluna.

I felt my bladder about to burst and agreed with her. I rushed off to take care of things.

When I returned, she was sitting on the side of the bed, holding a cup of coffee out to me. I sat beside her and accepted the cup of coffee and took a sip. Yes, I’m addicted to this drink.

“Thank you Koluna,” I said.

“You’re welcome Bri-an. You look rested,” she said.

“How are Jem and Laine?” I asked.

“They are fine. I left them talking in the lounge,” she replied.

“That’s good then,” I did not know what else to say. I thought maybe she wanted to talk about something, but this was only my first coffee.

“Bri-an, I’m scared! We’re in a war with a huge system with many vessels, and they are going after us. I wasn’t even safe on my home world. I can’t go home, as they would come after me there,” said Koluna.

“If you went home, you might also put your parents in danger. These Lagaid killed Ori security forces to get to us. They aren’t afraid of anyone. They are ruthless and relentless,” I offered.

“That is not helping,” said Koluna.

“Sorry, I only just woke up. Did you notice that at each encounter we have kicked their asses? There are only five of us, including Ship. We have killed or captured hundreds of Lagaid. We wiped out dozens of their vessels. I plan to help defend Quard, and the Ori Confederation and any other allies we make along the way. Perhaps they will tire of losing and give up,” I said.

“I hope that day comes soon,” said Koluna.

“Well, we will work together to make it happen. I have a task for you, which could help make it happen sooner,” I said.

“What do you need?” asked Koluna.

“Prepare a message to minister Tarron and include all we have learned since our last update. Explain that the Lagaid government is behind the piracy and attacks on Ori shipping. Petition them to suspend their alliance with Lagaid until they make reparations to the Ori Confederation. They should stop all Lagaid vessels at the border and turn them away,” I said.

“Yes! I can do that,” said Koluna.

“When we arrive in Quard, we can send the message either via a vessel going to the Ori Confederation or ask Ship to build you a message delivery probe like the last one we sent,” I said. Koluna nodded.

“After that, please get with Laine. Ask her to prepare a similar message to give to her father. If we can get Quard and the Ori Confederation to block out Lagaid, it should put more pressure on them to negotiate peace,” I said.

“I like it, a diplomatic solution!” exclaimed Koluna.

“I will try every non-lethal option, but if they fail, we have the lethal option too,” I said.

“I know about that! Jem killed the crews on those captured vessels. They did not even know why they died,” replied Koluna.

“She was under significant pressure. I would probably have done the same if I were aboard Ship and you were their prisoner,” I said.