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"Code of Honor"
Rating: PG-13 Again, a look into some of the Boomers’ illegal transactions, and Travis and Johannes sneak aboard Lysander. Bernhard speaks some German here...I’ve included the translations in bold, and Hoshi translates for Malcolm in the story. One word, “Jungen”, means “boys” or “lads”. Fourteen Malcolm didn’t remember much about their escape from Draylax; everything passed in a blur of sound and color. He saw Draylaxian Guards running past them in the opposite direction, all armed with wicked blasters the size of his arm. They seized the rabble rousers with a speed and efficiency of which Malcolm approved. If he’d been in any shape to do so, he would’ve assisted them in any way he could. Instead, he watched and thought, Some things to implement with the Centaurian Security Force. As if bidden, he saw his people in their gold-and-black uniforms working alongside the Draylaxians. Malcolm wanted to call out to them, but he knew that distraction was deadly in a situation like this, and it would call attention to Travis, Mona, Hoshi and the others. Still, the security persona within him approved of them; he was particularly impressed at Lieutenant Dumond’s firm but calm leadership on the front lines. I must tell Allemande to give her a promotion, Malcolm thought. That just reminded him of the bone he had to pick with the current CSF commandant. A disturbing idea came to him: Is Allemande with the conspiracy? If that’s true, then Sophie Du Pres might be in danger. Then his mind blanked out again. When he returned to consciousness, he realized he was lying on some sort of biobed with an intravenous line attached to his arm again. The line was attached to a blood-filtering machine similar to the one on Enterprise. “Malcolm? Can you hear me?” He turned his head to see Hoshi at his side and Travis next to her. Both wore worried expressions tinged with relief. He felt a stab of guilt. “I fogged out on you two again, didn’t I?” Travis’s smile turned genuine. “But you recovered a lot more quickly than before. The blood-filtering’s just as precaution. We’re on Mona’s Dante and she’s got facilities that Captain Sandosh doesn’t have on Vhrum.” Hoshi’s hand tightened upon Malcolm’s. “And I think this will cheer you up. It’s from Bernhard Mueller on the Schwarzwald. He and Johannes are all right, and...well, I’ll let you take a look at it and I’ll translate.” She handed him a PADD and helped him sit up. The message was in German, but Hoshi read it to him in English: Lieber Herr und Liebe Dame: Wir haben mit den Lysander getroffen. Die Frau Kapitaen wird ihr Freund nach Vega bringen. Der Freund weisst, dass alles nicht richtig ist. Wir hatten ihm viel geholfen...der M-B ist fast von seinem Blut gegangen. Er ist boese mit der Frau Kapitaen...richtig so. Unser Kapitaen hat etwas geplannt...ich weiss noch nichts darueber. Johannes denkt, dass wir einen Druck von Kommand haben. Bis spaeter, BERNHARD. “My dear Lord and Lady,” Hoshi read, with a grin at the salutation, “We’ve met the Lysander. The Lady Captain—obviously Thea Brunswicke—will bring her ‘friend’ to Vega. The Friend knows that everything isn’t right. We’ve helped him...the M-B is almost gone from his blood. He’s pissed at the Lady Captain, with good reason. Our Captain has planned something, but I don’t know anything about it yet. Johannes thinks that we’ll have a change of command. Until later, Bernhard.” “Our ‘friend’ is definitely Paul,” Travis said, his smile vanishing, “and it seems that Bernhard and Johannes have helped him with the metracel-blue addiction, and now Paul’s mad at what Thea’s done to him. I’m wondering if Paul’s thinking about taking over Lysander with Captain Hausberg’s and Captain Chao’s help.” “If so, we’ll be there to provide some kind of backup,” Malcolm said. “Given what we know of your brother and what Bernhard’s told us, I would bet that Paul would find a way to stop her.” There was a soft rap on the entrance to the medbay. Malcolm looked up to see Phlox standing there, carrying his medical kit in one hand and a jar of something translucent in the other. A shiver of revulsion went through Malcolm at the sight of one of Phlox’s “cures”. The Denobulan noticed it and smiled slightly. “I see that the blood-filtering is working faster to rid your body of the drug this time,” Phlox said, with obvious relief and pleasure. “It seems that Captain Obersky has access to supplies and knowledge that would help us immensely.” “How long until I’m able to get on my feet again?” Malcolm asked. Phlox checked his readings, then replied, “Only a matter of hours. By the way, we’re traveling in tandem with Vhrum. Saan Ju’reel and his brother insisted on being transported to a safe place on Draylax, where they can find supporters. They’re determined to re-take their planet; Captain Sandosh agreed, then we rendezvoused with you after they returned to the surface.” Travis nodded. “Ju’reel was a guerilla warrior in his younger days, Malcolm...I think you and he would’ve gotten along more if we’d had more time. At the moment, we’re hooking up with the Lysander in two hours.” “So we’ve got two hours to plan,” Malcolm said. He sat up and relished the fact that the room wasn’t spinning around him. “Let’s do it.” The Dante and the Vhrum came out of a steady warp 2 and into impulse exactly two hours later. Malcolm, Travis, and Hoshi stood ready at the door to the docking bay, outfitted with body armor that Mona had “gotten from a friend”. Ophelia stayed on her bridge, but she’d kept her comm channel open so Malcolm and the others could hear what was going on. “Dante to Lysander. Please match comm freq to Band Two, two-fiver-eight-sixer,” Ophelia said. The response was immediate. “Lysander. Ophelia, you rascal! I wasn’t expecting you out here! On a cargo run?” “Ran into some trouble on Draylax. Seems like there was a change in management,” Ophelia replied mildly. “I barely got out of there without being arrested.” Thea sounded suitably concerned. “Another hostile takeover? We heard about what happened on Aldeberan...I’m glad Ravi managed to keep his consortium intact. I hope Ju’reel will be able to do the same.” “Have you heard anything from Vega or Alpha Centauri? Is the grand meeting still scheduled or did Asagawa Enterprises get cold feet from what’s been going on?” “It’s still scheduled, as far as I know. In fact, Uwe Hausberg and John Chao have agreed to go in convoy to Vega. You and Sandosh are welcome to join us, if you want. Safety in numbers and all that.” “Of course. I’ll have to talk to Uwe and John about convoy assignments and security, but I’d like to join, if you’re willing to shlep us along with you. I’ve got a full shipment of adremite and syber solution to trade; know anyone who’d be willing?” Thea paused for a heartbeat, then answered, “I think I can set you up with some potential buyers, Ofee—wait a minute. I’m getting a transmission from Uwe...” There was a pause, then she said, “Uwe’s offering to send a couple of his guys to help with swapping some of your adremite and syber with some foodstuffs headed to Vega from his cargo bays. I think I’ve got some high-protein drink powder in my bay to round it out, make it look legit.” Travis looked like he’d eaten something rotten and Malcolm gave him a look of sympathy. They’d heard about Boomer captain swapping cargo to hide transactions, but this was the first time they’d actually witnessed it, and now they were accessories to the crime. “Sounds good, Thea. Activate your docking connections and we’ll get this done quickly and quietly. Tell Uwe we’ll welcome any help we can get; have him coordinate with Mona. I’ll get some of my newbies to help with the transfer. They won’t know the difference.” “One word of caution, Ofee...make sure your cameras are off. Don’t want this to get out and cause trouble.” “Don’t worry...I haven’t gone this far by being stupid. Dante, out.” Ophelia switched frequencies. “Did you all hear that?” Travis glanced at Malcolm, who nodded. “Every word, Ofee. We’re at the cargo transfer lock right now.” “Uwe’s got his remote scanners activated...I can’t put mine on and seem legitimate. He’s sending your two men to you...and if we can get you on Lysander, you’ll be able to get Paul. We’ve probably got an hour maximum, so you don’t have a lot of time.” “We’re under a deadline,” Hoshi said. “Okay, we can do this.” Malcolm grinned at his wife’s look of determination. “One hour, Ophelia.” “Good luck. Opening transfer doors now.” And the door slid open to reveal the narrow connecting passageway to Lysander’s cargo hold. Hoshi glanced at Malcolm, who nodded in approval. She stepped into the transfer lock, then stalked her way to the man who waited for them. The man wore silver and green, Thea Brunswicke’s colors. He inclined his head towards Hoshi in a gracious manner. “I am Sora Kinagawa,” Hoshi said without fanfare. “My captain wants to swap the cargo as quickly as possible.” “Hank Gherin. Pleased to meet you, little lady,” he replied, with just a touch of sarcasm. Hoshi’s eyebrow went up at the condescending tone. “Then I guess Captain Obersky shouldn’t be kept waiting. You got your people with you?” “Of course.” She beckoned Malcolm and Travis forward. Malcolm’s mouth twisted in a smirk as he surveyed Gherin, while Travis peered at him from under the brim of his hat. “Come on, you two. The sooner we do this, the better.” Gherin nodded and led them deeper into the bay. The next hour passed quickly as they hauled crates and containers from Lysander to Dante. Then two men came into the bay. Hoshi glanced up, then squealed in delight. Before Malcolm could react, Hoshi had flung herself at the taller of the two; Bernhard Mueller’s reaction was automatic: he caught her around the waist and stumbled under her unexpected weight. Then Hoshi planted a noisy kiss on Bernhard’s lips, much to the delight of the other cargo haulers, who whistled and catcalled. “Hallo, mein Lieber,” Hoshi greeted with a saucy grin. “Geht’s Dir gut?” Hello, my dear. Are you all right? “Sehr gut, mein Liebchen,” Bernhard replied. He still held her up so her feet barely brushed the ground. “Und was hast du jetzt gemacht, Liebchen? Ihr Freund sieht sehr boese aus.” Very well, Love. And what have you done now? Your friend looks really ticked off. Hoshi glanced over her shoulder at Malcolm and deliberately shrugged, then turned back to Bernhard. “I wouldn’t worry about him, my love. He’s just jealous.” Malcolm scowled and glowered at both of them, much to the delight of the other men. As far as they were concerned, they were witnesses to a grand drama, and the rumor mill would spread far and wide on the Lysander. So there was some kind of love triangle on Dante; this was more exciting than anything on the Lysander. And of course, no one had noticed that Travis and Johannes had slipped unobtrusively out of the cargo bay and into Lysander. Malcolm cleared his throat pointedly; Hoshi pouted and sighed, “All right, you can put me down now. We’ve got a job to finish. Go ahead and borrow my friend to help with Schwarzwald’s cargo. I’m sure you two have some catching up to do.” “Indeed,” Malcolm said icily as he glared at Bernhard. His cold tone held no trace of his usual accent. “We definitely have to talk.” “We still have an hour, remember,” she chided both of them. “Don’t dally too long.” Bernhard grinned and inclined his head towards the entrance to Lysander’s second launch bay. Malcolm gave his wife another heated glare as he followed Bernhard. He could still see Hoshi through the open hatch, and Bernhard glared at Gherin and his men, who shrank from his sight. Apparently, Bernhard had already made some sort of reputation among the Boomers. “They won’t touch a hair on her head or they’ll deal with me,” Bernhard assured Malcolm in a low voice. “Her connection with me will keep her safe.” “Thanks, Bernhard. We got your message.” “Johannes is briefing Travis now. Paul’s holed up in ‘guest quarters’.” Malcolm heard the quotation marks. “Not all of Thea’s crew agree with her methods, sir, and Uwe—Captain Hausberg—has his own connections. We’ll get Paul out of here.” Malcolm nodded, but didn’t say anything, for they’d reached Schwarzwald’s cargo bay. Bernhard drew himself up to his full one meter two and bellowed, “Alles in Ordnung?” All in order? The reply was immediate. “Jawohl!” “Then let’s get busy, Jungen!” Bernhard nodded at Malcolm. “We’ve got to give Johannes and Travis as much time as possible.” “So we’ll make sure the cargo is double-and triple-checked, eh?” So they worked for nearly half an hour, hauling the foodstuff with pure muscle, with an occasional anti-grav sled. Malcolm lost track of the time, and when the last few containers were being loaded on a sled... ...the lights went out. “Verdammt noch schon!” Bernhard swore somewhere off to his left. “This is not good,” Malcolm muttered to no one in particular. And of course, that was the underestimate of the century. |
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