Chapter 14: Leaving Quard

It was morning aboard Ship. Jem arrived at the main bridge. Everything was quiet. The tactical display offered nothing of interest.

“Good morning, Ship,” said Jem. “Please report.”

“We are on course for the Quard system. I estimate our arrival in just over one day from now,” replied Ship.

Jem walked over to the food dispenser and fetched herself a coffee. She then took a seat on the sofa she’d sat on too often recently.

“Commodore, I detect your stress levels are high,” said Ship.

“I’m thinking about Brian and Laine. They left Ori Major four days ahead of us. I worry they might leave Quard before we arrive,” said Jem.

Ship didn’t respond.

Jem sipped her coffee and stared at the tactical display.

A while later, she spoke. “Ship, what is the status of your internal security upgrade project?”

“Upgrades are complete, Commodore,” replied Ship.

“Any issues detected?” asked Jem.

“Negative, Commodore,” replied Ship.

Jem sighed. She couldn’t continue without Brian and Laine. She had to find them.

“Ship, have you discovered how they escaped the orbital station?” asked Jem.

“Negative, Commodore. I also have not discovered how they arrived at Ori Major ahead of us. Their means of travel is faster than via hyperspace,” replied Ship.

“I guess we will find out when we meet them again,” said Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

The next morning I awoke. Laine was sitting beside me, grinning.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

“Nothing. I was just watching you sleep,” she replied.

I shook my head.

“Am I late getting up this morning?” I asked.

“No, it’s still early,” she replied.

I got up and visited the en-suite. I took care of my usual morning ritual and got dressed.

The sun was already coming up, and light was coming through the windows.

I wandered to the lounge and carefully peeked out the window. I saw at least four armed security detail standing guard.

“Coffee?” asked Laine from behind me.

“Sure,” I replied. I turned around and followed her to the food dispenser. She got two cups and handed one to me. We took a seat on the sofa. Laine sat facing me, with her legs tucked under her.

“We made it an entire day without being attacked,” she said.

“I know. We can’t stay here too long or they might try again. Your father could get killed,” I replied.

She sighed.

“We need to borrow a vessel. I’ll speak to my father when he is awake,” said Laine.

“I think that’s best. At least six Quard have died since we arrived here. Once we leave, things should return to normal,” I said.

Laine nodded.

“We have a ritual to attend tomorrow for the dead security officer. After that, we need to leave this planet before more Quard die,” I said.

About an hour later, Saria arrived in the lounge.

Laine fetched a coffee from the food dispenser and handed it to Saria.

Soon after, the ambassador appeared, looking excited.

“Good morning, everyone! I have something I want to show you,” said the ambassador.

He picked up a remote and turned on the wall display. He selected a newscast with subtitles in Ori.

“QUARD NEWS NETWORK, Last night, Quard security forces conducted a raid on an underground hideout used by Lagaid terrorists.

“Security forces reported the capture of multiple Lagaid operatives, from underground tunnels beneath our capital city.

“They recently discovered the operatives, and moved promptly to apprehend the Lagaid last night, reporting no casualties,” said the newscast.

On the display I saw a video of security forces officers dragging out unconscious Lagaid. I guessed they took my advice and used stun gas grenades. In the confined tunnels, the stun gas would be effective against an unprepared foe.

The newscast then interviewed Chief Inspector Ricks:

“We believe the Lagaid committed various crimes, including hijacking, terrorism, murder and sedition.

“They altered their appearance and hid from the public, except to commit their criminal activities.

“We successfully captured multiple Lagaid last night. We hope to get further information from them soon,” said the chief inspector.

The ambassador paused the newscast and turned to me.

“We got them all!” he exclaimed.

“Let’s hope so. There might be more Lagaid elsewhere. They used to have an embassy here on Quard. Lagaid moved freely about the city for years,” I replied.

“You’re quite the pessimist,” said the ambassador.

I shrugged.

“I base it on personal experience. Wherever I go, they turn up with alarming regularity. I’d be a fool to let my guard down,” I said.

“He’s right, father. We’ve fought them on multiple occasions,” added Laine.

“Well, I hope for Quard’s sake that we got them all,” he said.

“I believe that once we leave, your planet will go back to normal. Which leads us to our next item. I’d like to borrow a vessel to go looking for ours. After we attend the ritual for the security officer, we should leave,” I said.

“It’s not right that you have to leave. We can increase security. We might have all the Lagaid in custody,” he said.

“I don’t want more deaths because of us. And we need to find our vessel and resume our mission. I’m glad that we had the chance to visit, but it’s time to move on,” I replied.

He sighed.

“I will make the calls,” he said.

The ambassador left the lounge to make his calls.

I looked to Laine and Saria.

“I suggest until we leave we keep a low profile,” I said.

About an hour later, the ambassador returned to the lounge. He took a seat facing me.

“Brian, I made a few calls. It turns out, we don’t have a vessel parked and ready to lend out. All our working vessels are in use, or outside the Quard system,” he said.

I sighed. This was our best chance.

“I contacted freighter captains in our system. Several captains agreed to offer you passage, if your destination isn’t too far off their course. It’s a one-way trip, so you’d need to be certain you have someone to meet you at the other end,” he said.

“If that is the best you can offer, we will take it. Laine, please share the coordinates for the Yastri system with your father. He can contact the freighter captains to see if one of them will take us,” I replied.

“Yes, Brian,” replied Laine. She fiddled with her device. “Done.”

“Thank you, Laine,” I said.

“I’ll call them back and see what I can arrange,” he said. The ambassador stood and returned to his room.

Laine came over to me and put her hand on my arm.

“Don’t worry, something amazing will happen,” she said.

“Kreia is guarding the Yastri system. She can either transport us, or build a small vessel to transport us,” I said.

“That sounds good to me,” replied Laine.

“We could even stay in the Yastri system. We have a resort island for relaxation,” I offered.

“It would be nice to compare it with Carolus four. Saria and I got new bathing suits to try,” she said with a smile.

I turned to face Saria, who was listening to our discussion.

“Yastri three is mostly a water planet. We built a resort island there,” I said.

“If we have to wait for your vessel to find us, it sounds like a pleasant choice,” she replied.

“Yastri has serious defences, so no unwelcome visitors,” added Laine.

“And we can send message probes to the other Baglogi AIs,” I said.

Finally, the ambassador returned.

“Brian, I’ve secured passage to the Yastri system. The freighter captain had friends aboard the passenger transport you saved. He was glad of the chance to repay a debt,” he said.

I looked at Laine, who rolled her eyes.

“When do we leave?” I asked.

“There will be a shuttle at the spaceport waiting for you after the event tomorrow,” he replied.

“Thank you. We will be better once we leave this planet. You should keep your security detail until it dies down,” I said.

“I shall,” he replied.

Early afternoon, we heard a chime at the door. The ambassador opened the front door to find Sergeant Elevon.

“Welcome, Sergeant. Please come inside,” he said...

The sergeant stepped inside carrying a hard black case. Together, they returned to the lounge where we sat.

“Hello, everyone. The chief inspector asked me to drop by and give you an update on our raid last night,” he said.

“Please have a seat, Sergeant. We are more relaxed in my home,” replied the ambassador.

He looked a little awkward, but he took a seat and placed the case by his feet.

“I assume you have watched the newscast already. Last night’s raid was a complete success. Using stun gas in the confined tunnels caught the Lagaid off guard. We captured them all before they could respond, and without injuries to my teams.

“There were eighteen Lagaid, together with equipment such as weapons and computers. We will harvest intel from the computers, looking for more sleeper cells. We are separating the Lagaid, and will interrogate them for intel.” He said.

“Be very careful with your prisoners, Sergeant. They can be extremely resourceful,” I warned.

“Noted, Commander. I came to thank you for your recommendation with the stun gas. They had a large cache of explosives in the tunnels. Our bomb squad will be busy for weeks,” he said.

“Sergeant, continue monitoring for Lagaid communications,” offered Laine.

“Thank you, err,” he said.

“Ensign, Laine!” she added.

“Thank you, Ensign Laine. I enjoyed watching you fool those Lagaid into responding,” he said.