DJ's Mission (21 page)

Virginia cocked her head to the side. “I don’t
understand.”

“Simple. In two days, we will have no more need of
the Admiral. You blue-coats can do whatever you want to him after that. But
until then, you will be in the custody of the Sheriffs. Sorry about that, no
way around it.”

Even as he said that, Virginia heard the sound of
many boots running their way and she quickly hid the device where only a
thorough search would find it. “You seem like a decent person, too bad you’re
on the wrong side.”

Sgt. Allen laughed. “I was about to say the same
thing.”

A dozen SIS officers burst through the door and
snatched her up. They weren’t overly rough with her but then again, they
weren’t polite about it either. They groped and patted her down before
hand-cuffing her. Of course they spent extra time searching her breasts but
they didn’t find anything. All the while, she and the Confederate Sergeant
shared a secret smile.  It wasn’t long before they hauled her off and left Sgt.
Allen alone to ponder the complications and opportunities this might bring.

*   *   *   *   *

Roger Thomas held up a hand to forestall any
further questions from his guest as he took a call.

Commander Cline didn’t mind and took a step to the
side to study the technical data on the monitor out of curiosity and courtesy.
He wanted to see if there was anything displayed that he hadn’t already seen in
the information he’d studied. There wasn’t. Besides, it would be considered
rude to stand by and eavesdrop on the Admiral’s conversation. Not that he
wasn’t doing that, he just wasn’t being overt about it.

“I see,” pause, “Yes…that’s fine. I’ll meet you at
the Guantanamo room shortly.” Roger turned back to his guest and smiled. “Come,
duty calls but there is one last aspect of the Horus I want to show you before
I depart.”

Cmdr. Cline returned the smile. “Everything is
okay I hope.”

The Admiral nodded and turned down a side
corridor. The Coalition officer quickened his step to catch up. Roger kept
talking as he walked. “Yes, however running a system with almost one-hundred million
people spread over fifty different moons and fourteen orbital platforms can be
a bit like juggling cats.”

“Cats? What do you mean?”

“It can be done but you’re going to get scratched
in the process.”

Cmdr. Cline grinned at the mental image. “Interesting
analogy, can’t say I’ve ever heard that one before.”

Roger paused at a non-descript door. “I’m glad you
like it. It’s the only way I’ve found to describe to people some of the
reprehensible things those in power must do.”

“Huh?”

Roger pushed open the door.

Commander Alex Cline caught sight of his
aide-de-camp bound and gagged in a chair but before he could react, he felt the
barrel of a blaster in the small of his back. “Now commander, would you be so
kind as to join your lieutenant and we can get to the truth about your visit.”

Cmdr. Cline kept his movements slow as he raised
his hands but he fixed the Admiral with a withering gaze. “You’ll hang for
this.”

Roger just grinned. “I doubt that. But for the
sake of argument, if I ever do meet the gallows it won’t be for this or what
you’re about to go through.”

The Jovian in the SIS uniform sensed that Cline
was about to do something and drove the barrel of the blaster into his back.
“Don’t get any funny ideas. I apply less than five pounds of pressure on this
trigger and we’ll see how long you can live with a blaster bolt through your
liver.”

Cline relaxed and followed the dwarf’s
instructions. Once he was secured and gagged, the dwarf smacked him across the
temple with the barrel of his blaster. “Wimp! You’re a spineless coward!”

Roger cleared his throat. When his SIS commander
looked back at him, Roger nodded at the ebony skinned civilian tied up in a
nearby chair off to one side. “I see you brought your employer with you this
time.”

“Yes,” Pridgen smirked. “Mocha has some
information that I thought you would find enlightening.”

“Really now? How wonderful,” Roger said as he
rubbed his hands together. “This promises to be a very entertaining night.”

Chapter 16

After High Councilwoman Teana Carpenter and her two
SWAT escorts were done with the prison tour, they were shuttled back to Titan
City in style. It wasn’t a standard skimmer or taxi but a luxury limousine with
all the trimmings; heavily tinted windows, a fully stocked bar and real leather
seats. It was something the two police officers were unaccustomed to and made
them completely uncomfortable.

Not Teana. She poured herself a drink and lounged
in the luxury. When the limo pulled up in front of their destination, even the
two SWAT officers whistled. They were at
La Cucina di Rossi
, or the
Cuisine of Rossi, the most famous restaurant in the outer planets. The
legendary battle of the chefs, Mario Rossi and Antonio Mancini, had become
Terran folklore. Evidently, the two chefs had grown up friends in a small town
in Italy. Eventually, they both opened restaurants and were hugely successful.
Shortly before the war, the two had a falling out and decided to end it in the
kitchen. Contacting the media, they arraigned a cook off and let the public
decide which was the better chef. The winner stayed on Earth, the loser took to
the stars. Mario Rossi lost and moved to Titan. 

All this flashed through Spike’s head as they were
lead to a private room where an intimate table was set for two. Without asking,
the SWAT officers took up flanking positions on both sides of the only entrance
to the room.

Even as Teana sat down, a small holographic
projector sitting in the center of the table came to life. It was the Admiral.
“I’m sorry Miss Carpenter but I have been delayed by a matter of upmost
importance. Unfortunately for me, Monsieur Rossi has already begun dinner
preparations. His cooking is such a work of art that it would be a shame to
interrupt such a masterpiece. I insist that you and your escorts enjoy the meal
in my absence.”

No sooner had the message ended, when servants
moved in and cleared away the table but brought in slightly larger table and
more place settings. More servants arrived carrying the appetizers and their
delicate aroma filled the air. Teana looked at her escorts and pointed at the
empty chairs.

“Come. Eat. This is a once in a lifetime meal.”

It was obvious that Sponge Bob was ready. He’d
already cracked the seal on his helmet and was halfway to the table before
Spike responded. “No ma’am that would be against protocol.”

Sponge Bob stopped and nodded. “Spike’s right, we
aren’t allowed to eat or drink any meal that we didn’t prepare ourselves, for
safety reasons.”

“I remember those days but this is something
entirely different,” Teana nodded. “Now, I’m not trying to be demeaning by this
statement, but when are either one of you ever going to get a chance to eat at
a world class restaurant like this or have a special meal prepared by the best
chef in the galaxy?”

“Hmm…probably never,” replied Spike.

Sponge Bob added, “Places like this are way over
our pay grade.”

“Then it’s settled. Join me, and you can take that
as an order. Besides, I hate dining alone.”

Both SWAT officers reluctantly agreed, pulled off
their helmets and joined the High Councilwoman at the table. The servants began
bringing in the appetizers and cracked open an expensive bottle of wine. At
first, Spike refrained from drinking the bubbly but couldn’t help but enjoy the
meal. Hours passed and eventually, even Spike drank some of the wine. The three
of them ate, drank and laughed. Finally when the last course was served, Sponge
Bob leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. Seconds later he was snoring.
Teana laughed at him for all of about twelve seconds before she too was asleep.

Spike knew something was wrong but just couldn’t
think straight. He stood up and fumbled for his rifle but found that the world
was spinning. Taking a step or two to try and regain his balance, he did
exactly the opposite. With a crash Spike fell onto the table and slowly drifted
off. His last thoughts before falling asleep were concerning the armed men
which had calmly entered the dining room and surrounded them. He didn’t know
why that was important but he knew that it was. However his eyelids were just
too heavy for him to keep open, so he closed them and seconds later, he was
out.

*   *   *   *   *

DJ and Jax spent the whole day sitting in the
stolen limo skimmer waiting for darkness. It was tedious. It was painful. It
was long. Even though they both longed to walk around, being seen wandering
around Titan City would only jeopardize their mission and they both knew it. To
pass the time, they talked. At first it was trivial stuff, sports, women,
different bars, women…but eventually, they began to talk about their past.

Jax shifted his position slightly. “You know, this
might surprise you but I was once a lawman myself.”

That got DJ’s attention. “Really? Wow. I would’ve
never guessed that.”

“Yep. I was a deputy sheriff in a small town in
the southeastern section of Kentucky. One day, this pretty little blonde came
into town and got a job at the local diner. Once I saw her, she stole my heart.
We got married and had two beautiful daughters. For a few years my life was
perfect.” Jax fell silent and looked out the window.

After a moment, DJ asked. “What happened?”

“Her past caught up to her when my girls were four
and three. Out of the blue, she got a call and things went south from there.
One morning we had a terrible argument over nothing. She was crying but I had
to go to work. I went to work like normal but was arrested by my boss when I
arrived.”

“Why?”

“Kelly called in a complaint, saying that I had
hit her.” Jax turned to look at DJ. “I still believed in the system back then.
I knew the charges were false but now I had to prove it. Since this was such a
big deal in the area, the judge wouldn’t grant me bail and I spent the next
four days in jail, just waiting for my chance in court. When it finally
arrived, Kelly and the girls didn’t show the judge had to release me.”

He paused and looked back out the window. DJ could
see the tears forming in his eyes and calmly waited. After a few minutes, Jax
continued. “When I got home, I knew something was wrong. The door was unlocked
and it was cold inside, colder than it should’ve been. I was two steps inside
when I smelled it.”

“What?”

“Death. You know that toxic mixture of blood and
bodily gases a corpse gives off.” Jax continued when he saw DJ nod. “I found
Kelly and my girls in the bathroom. She had drowned the girls, before slicing
her wrists. The coroner put the time of death the same day she called in the
complaint on me. I later found out, that no one had done a follow-up interview
nor even talked to her. Not the sheriff, not the lawyers and not the local media.
No one had cared.”

“I’m sorry bro.”

Jax shook his head. “It was a long time ago. The
system failed me and it failed my girls; so, I decide that I would not abide by
the rules any longer. After their funeral, I left Kentucky and took to the
stars. I haven’t looked back since.”

DJ nodded. “That explains a lot about you.”

“Good or bad?”

“Neither. I always wondered how someone with your
skills and values ended up a pirate but now it all makes sense.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment…I think.”

DJ laughed. “You should, it was meant as one.”

“What’s your story?”

“Nothing as tragic as yours, I grew up in a little
farm town in the Midwest. Played football and married my high school
sweetheart. Since there weren’t many jobs outside of the farms, we moved to New
Phoenix and I got a job in factory. Nothing exciting but it paid the bills,
barely. When Megan told me she was pregnant, I was ecstatic but needed a better
way to take care of my family. The war was really rolling at this point, so I
joined up. After basic, I was transferred to the Marines.”

Now it was DJ’s turn to sit back and stare out the
window. But he wasn’t seeing the world, he was in the past. “At first Megan
loved the extra credits and travel that came with my postings since I was an
embassy guard for nearly two years. But when I got promoted to sergeant, they
sent me to the front. That was the beginning of the end for my marriage.”

“How so?”

“Well truth be told, I liked the Corps; the
camaraderie, the action, the fighting…pretty near everything. Hell, looking
back now I even enjoyed some of the hell holes the Coalition sent me into.
However, each deployment kept me away from home longer and longer. I knew we
were drifting apart. Hell, all we did was argue when I had a chance to get a
message through or made it home for shore leave. Only seeing my little girl
made the trips worthwhile.”

Jax nodded. He’d heard similar tales from some of
his men back in his pirating days. War is hell, on both those who fight and
those who stay behind. The true argument would be to whom is it harder on?

DJ pulled out a can of snuff and filled his lower
lip with the tobacco product. “Then came the mission on Epsilon Eridani Bravo.
You ever been to the Epsilon system?”

Jax shook his head.

“Good. Keep it that way. It’s a freaking pile of
rocks but it is rich in minerals, which is why the Confederates wanted the
blasted thing. My unit was sent to shore up the garrison’s weak spots. Trouble
was the whole garrison was weak. The years before I arrived, only the
trouble-makers got sent to Epsilon. To make matters worse, their commander was
some weak-kneed, sniveling, little coward named Jones. I didn’t think anything
about it at first but he did look kind of familiar but I just shook that off
and focused on our mission. Not that it helped, our second day on that rock and
the Confederates attacked. Luckily for us, they attacked only with one company
of ground troops.”