Chapter 25

Kratta system, holding near zero momentum near the broken moons
Timestamp: 7 / 10 / 2293
06:30 Sol standard

Jack returned to the Astral Feather and parked his Scapa in his designated bay, stepping down to meet Spurius. He pulled the helmet off his voidsuit and saw the troubled look Spurius gave him.

“It was crewed?” Spurius asked.

“Yeah,” Jack said, somewhat uncomfortably.

Spurius put his left hand to his head for a moment and let out a sigh, “Fuck.”

“It’s going to be a fuckin mess for bit,” Jack said. “However, they were pirates that attacked merchant ships and killed people. I’m not shedding any tears for them.”

“I get that,” Spurius nodded. “Just ... doesn’t take that initial bite away.”

“Nope,” Jack concurred. “A couple of them looked like they were barely twenty. Had a whole fucking life ahead of them. But if they were doing that shit, maybe it was good to end that life.”

“I don’t know,” Spurius sighed, finally. “I don’t know what to think.”

“Good,” Jack nodded. “That’s a good thing...” He patted Spurius on the shoulder. “Who all knows?”

“You, me, Cap and Officer Number One,” Spurius said. “Not sure who else. They told me so I had a heads up in dealing with you.”

“Oh?” Jack asked curiously.

“In case you were beside yourself, maybe.”

“I guess the past has made me cold to that,” Jack shrugged. “Sometimes I hate myself for that way of thinking,” He saw Spurius nod and turn to his Scapa.

“Took one in the pit?” Spurius motioned to the foam seal on the glass of the cockpit.

“Smashed right through the armored canopy and the glass,” Jack replied. “Nearly took my plumbing fixture off.”

“Flying knucklefuck,” Spurius said in shock. “You got some clover leaves and horseshoes in your colon?”

“Not likely,” Jack said. “The one round that damaged the Scapa, damn near damaged me.”

Spurius managed to laugh through all the seriousness. “You’d be carrying your weenie to the Doc, in your hand.”

Jack burst out laughing and mimicked holding something in his hands. “Fix me, fix me. Could you imagine her expression?”

“I can,” Spurius laughed again. “Ah, that takes some weight off.”

“Good,” Jack nodded. “Just gotta go through a bunch more reactions and hope for the same result.”

“Yeah,” Spurius started looking over the Scapa. “I’ll take care of things here. Come by if you need. The others can do the same.”

“Thanks.” Jack shook Spurius’ hand then headed off to get out of his void suit.

Before Jack could get to his cabin, a general meeting was called in the rec room. It was one of the few rooms large enough to fit the entire crew, that wasn’t being used for extra storage. Kyzran and D-17 would be the only two not attending since they would be responsible for maintaining ship systems and security from the engine room and bridge, respectively. Jack set his helmet on his bed and headed uplevel, stopping momentarily at the door to C deck to loosen the void suit where it was tight around his groin and butt. He passed through the door and saw Charm, Pri and Saito heading into the rec room. Kejeh was further down the hall, approaching with Zakia. Jack could tell that they were not aware of what had happened and perhaps thought this meeting was going to be good news.

He entered the rec room to see just about everyone there who should be there, except for Lucinia, Proculus and Spurius. Most of the crew either stood or sat in silence, with only Cardox and Sita having a hushed conversation. Jack leaned up against the far wall with a bit of distance between himself and the others.

“‘ey, you get sem, yes?” Kazlaena said cheerfully as she came up to him, then eyed the fuel stain still on his void suit. “And in sa pee-pee suit too.”

“Got them.” Jack forced a smile and saw her look of concern.

“Jack? Is somesing wrong?” She asked.

Jack looked down at her sympathetically. It’s not going to be well, not at all. All he could think to do was reach out and take one of her hands, holding on gently.

“Jack?” Kazlaena looked up at him intently. “What is going on?”

Just as she finished speaking, Lucinia and Proculus entered, followed a moment later by Spurius. Jack saw Spurius stay by the back door while Lucinia and Proculus took a position by the large vidscreen. They exchanged glances before Lucinia spoke up.

“Our contract is complete,” Lucinia started. “Everyone performed remarkably in their duties and this system is free of a menace to honest void sailors. Those that live, work and pass through here can return to a level of normal operation. However, this job has brought on one serious development. The drone mothership contained a complement.” That statement brought mixed reactions from everyone.

Jack saw Kazlaena looking at Lucinia, trying to take in what was just said.

“Are you sayin the mothership had pirates on board?” Charm asked.

“It did,” Lucinia confirmed. “We have identified six crew, likely more inside the vessel.”

“Serves them fuckos right,” Sita said. “Fuckin killed people themselves so fuck’em.”

“Ain’t none of em were wearing void suits?” Charm asked.

“They’re pirates,” Cardox replied. “They don’t follow the law. Don’t think safety is their number one priority. Might be alive though if it were.”

Jack felt Kazlaena grip him tightly and he knelt, allowing her to press her head into his shoulder as she wept.

Jack thought.

Surveying the room quickly, he took stock of everyone’s reactions. Andor and Kejeh were expressionless. Cardox and Sita didn’t seem to care too much. Pri was hard to read but Jack noted some concern on her face. Saito had his head down in disbelief and Delilah had her hand over her mouth. Charm was at a table, leaning way forward and had her hands clasped together in front of her face, chin resting on her thumbs as she became a little emotional. Both Lexocanus hugged each other with Rusu seemingly more distraught than his sister. Lucinia and Proculus kept emotionless faces while Spurius kept his thoughts hidden.

“This may be hard to deal with for some of you,” Lucinia said. “It is understandable. If you need to speak about it, my door is open. So is the First Officer’s as well as Doctor Lyttons.” She looked at Jack as he tried to comfort Kazlaena and added. “If you feel better in discussing with other crew members, I encourage you to seek comfort wherever you may find it.”

“The fuck for?” Sita spoke up again. “They killed people. Sorry, not meanin to be a rude-mc-fuck-rail here, but I’m just painting a situation. They made their career out of robbing and killing.”

“Save opinions for another time,” Proculus cut in. “This is a difficult situation. All of us have carried the primary goal on board of destroying drones, not acting as bounty hunters or sanctioned vigilantes.”

“Understood,” Sita backed down. “Just trying to add some level of acceptance to those that may struggle with it.” She looked over at Kazlaena with a bit of a sympathetic look.

Jack was hardly paying attention to the room. All he could think about was what was going through Kazlaena’s mind, and what Lucinia must have been thinking.

“What happens now?” Delilah asked.

“InterSAR has been contacted, as well as a Star Guard Cutter from the Pranza system. We will be holding location until they arrive in a few hours and will have to give statements. We will then have to go to Pranza Secundus to dock at the main station. I would expect we will be confined to station or asked to remain in system for a time as the investigation happens. I will stand us down when appropriate so further counsel services can be utilized.”

“Could we face charges?” Saito asked.

“No,” Lucinia shook her head. “At worst, this will go on my file. The contract was certified, and all parties believed the mothership was automated. I would not expect anything permanent to come down on any of the crew.”

“Can I leave?” Delilah asked. “I need some time to sort this out.”

“You may,” Lucinia nodded. “Anyone who needs the time, by all means, take it now.”

Charm, Saito, Spurius and both Lexocanus followed Delilah out. Cardox and Sita left too but not after reaffirming it was the right thing to do. Andor bailed without a word and Pri came over to Jack, looking at the still weeping Kazlaena with sympathy.

“Hey, little Sherrif,” She knelt beside Kazlaena and began rubbing her back. “Present situation is tough. To shed tear for enemy is special quality.”

Kazlaena shifted from Jack and wrapped her arms around Pri, taking the Sikarran in a tight embrace. Jack set his hand on Pri’s shoulder, catching her supportive expression, and smiling when their eyes met. Pri wrapped her arms around the Vandean, brushing her back gently. She finally just held Kazlaena in a comforting grip and let her weep. Jack stood up and walked over to the far side of the rec room, motioning both Proculus and Lucinia to follow with a head gesture as he passed.

“What is on your mind, Second Officer?” Proculus asked.

Jack spoke without much formality. “This crew, these drones. They reek of a big fucking problem.”

“Black Nova?” Lucinia asked.

“If not them, then some subordinate,” Jack nodded. “Does any criminal activity in the League occur independently of Black Nova?”

“Doubtful,” Proculus replied. “Are you suggesting we may be in danger?”

“I don’t know,” Jack replied. “I think we got all the drones and took out the mothership before any real identification could occur on us,” He was silent for a few moments. “I don’t know though. I can’t say.”

“Is it possible that they may find out who we are from the police database, one way or another?” Proculus inquired.

“Anything could be possible with them,” Jack remarked. “We could be scuba diving in a mire of shit here.”

Proculus gave Jack a mixed glare while Lucinia scratched her head. “Alright, first, we’ll tend to the crew and make sure everyone has the support they need while handling this. With that in mind, we need to be at combat readiness in case of any threat. Second, we’ll investigate what kind of fallout could occur and see if there is any potential for repercussions. Focus on the crew first, agreed?”

Proculus nodded and Jack looked over to Kazlaena and Pri, seeing the Sikarran wipe at the Vandean’s face. He gave Proculus and Lucinia a nod and walked back over to the other two, kneeling beside Pri with an arm over her shoulders, running his hand over Kazlaena’s back slowly.

After Jack and Pri had escorted Kazlaena out, Lucinia looked at Proculus with a lot of concern.

“I’m going to have to warn sis about this,” she said.

“How did this get so out of hand?” Proculus scowled. “We should go after the party that posted this contract if this becomes a serious issue for us.”

“We will have to see just how large of an issue this becomes,” Lucinia said with caution. “They may not have known either and the wrong implication could create an even bigger problem.”

“Understood,” Proculus huffed. “You think sis could be in danger?”

“I don’t know right now. If we are in danger, she needs to be warned. If Jack’s concerns are warranted, anyone’s relatives could be at risk if any organization operating that ship are capable of identifying specific crew members.”

“Did we just put the entire crew at risk?” Proculus shook his head. “This could follow us for some time. They were just doing their jobs. They should not have to look over their shoulders for the rest of their lives because of it.”

“Easy Proco,” Lucinia set her hand on her brother’s shoulder. “One step at a time. The authorities will be here in a while. We need to maintain security until they get here, just in case. When they arrive, I will deal with it. I will find out what I can in return.”

“Alright, sister,” Proculus let out a deep huff. “Those who appeared less affected by it, I will get them to fill in where possible for those who need to take some time. We may be juggling duties for a bit but if that is what needs to be done, so be it.”

“Thanks, Proco,” Lucinia smiled faintly.

“Leave it to me, Lulu,” He spoke the one nickname she had borne since they were kids.

“Get out of here with that,” Lucinia gently pushed on his shoulders, suddenly feeling his embrace as he hugged her.

“Whatever comes of this, Scaros always stand tall.” He said quietly.

“They do, but not alone,” Lucinia said back. “We stand tall together, not just Scaros but the whole crew.”

“Agreed.” Proculus patted her back once and stepped away, heading off to organize the crew.

Lucinia waited until she was alone, running a hand through her hair as she felt the start of a stress headache. She let out a deep breath to steady her nerves and calm the butterflies fighting in her stomach.

Lucinia scratched her chin and took in a deep breath, nodding to herself as she thought about what she could do to uplift spirits. A couple of ideas came to mind...

Jack had parted with Kazlaena momentarily so he could get out of his void suit. It was becoming uncomfortable, and he was content to swap over to loose fitting pants and a shirt. He took a drink of water from a bottle he had on his desk and headed back down to Kazlaena’s quarters. He tapped on the door a couple of times to give her a warning that he was entering, then used the spare keycard she had given him long ago. It was quiet in her quarters, even her gadgets did not whirl or spin. He thought she was not present for a moment, before hearing a muffled cry from under her bottom bed. Jack got down low enough to see underneath and saw her laying with her back to him, facing the wall. She had her largest plush, a robotic character from one of her games, clutched tightly in her arms. Jack saw her tail pulled up in front of her, between her legs. Her ears were flat, and she occasionally shook or breathed in deeply.

“Oh, kiddo,” he said quietly, doing his best to pull himself under the bed.

He cracked his head off the center support bar and clenched his teeth, avoiding the use of foul language as he saw her look over her shoulder at him.

“Sa ok?” She asked, managing to still be her empathetic self despite her inner turmoil.

“Am,” he said softly. “You?” She shook her head and sniffled.

“No.”

Jack pulled himself up beside her and wrapped his arm around her and her plushie. “Talk to me sweetie. What are you thinking?”

Kazlaena went through another few moments of sorrow before managing to speak comfortably. “Sey w-were bad people. I un-understand sat. But sey d-didn’t deserve to die.”

“They killed other people,” Jack said quietly. “They didn’t shed any tears for those that died because of them.”

“M-maybe sey did. Maybe s-some did. W-we don’t know sat.”

“No,” Jack ran his hand over the back of her hand a few times, thinking about what she had said. “No, we don’t. Sometimes good people end up doing bad things. Sometimes bad people do good things. Makes life pretty unpredictable and often unfair.”

“I k-keep sinking about sem and what s-sey must ‘ave sought in seir last m-moments.” Kazlaena let out a long, deep breath.

“It would’ve been quick and likely painless,” Jack kept quiet about the reality of what they might have gone through.

“Like going to sle-sleep?” Kazlaena inquired.

“Yeah, sorta,” Jack nodded.

“C-could sat ‘appen to, to us?” Kazlaena asked softly.

“We have armor, defenses and scanners to keep us safe,” Jack did his best to sound confident. “You don’t have to worry about that, ok?”