"The Queen"

[Joe Manning 0]

Joe was halfway into a yawn when the face of Rose LeMort appeared on Qob's forward viewer. He hadn't intended such a precisely timed yawn, but he didn't regret it either. The Captain of the Lucky Hand was a fairly young woman with a leathery complexion, a shaved head decorated with a tattoo of a barbed chain, and one eye covered with a black patch. Her appearance practically shouted 'merc' if not 'pirate,' and if the scowl was not chiseled into her face, it was fair indication that she was angry at Joe.

 

"What the hell are we doing here, Manning?" the woman barked in her gravelly voice (Joe wondered if she was faking it).

 

"A good morning to you too, my dear," Joe answered, pouring a cup of coffee from Troy's makeshift machine. "Care to come over for coffee and a chat?"

 

"I am not in the mood for games from you or your crew," LeMort snapped back. "I have been waiting eight hours for an explanation from you. We have had these filthy pirates in our sights, completely at our mercy, and instead of taking their ship we are fixing it? Healing their wounded? I stayed my hand because I assumed you had other plans for these pirates, or that Maxwell ordered it. Now I'm beginning to suspect that you're aiming to screw us all."

 

"Maybe one of those things is true," Joe shrugged and took his seat at the center of the Bridge. "Don't see why I should tell you. You haven't exactly been on board with any of my plans since this mission started. And I felt the first doubts that you gave a damn about Maxwell or the mission when you ran off on us in the middle of a battle."

 

"'Ran off?!'" LeMort shouted, her hands gripping the armrests of her command chair. "I was covering all your asses. My crew kept those fighters off your backs while you protected the Verbistul. We hunted down the flagship to ensure that they wouldn't come back to jeopardize the mission. We were the ones who put it on the line and engaged in one-on-one battle, despite their superior firepower. And now you and your crew are helping them get back to battle readiness? Tell me why I shouldn't believe that you're on their side, Manning ... or we might just start treating you as if you are."

 

"Careful, Captain," Joe replied in a tone of warning. "You wouldn't be the first bald woman to cross me this month. Things didn't end too well for her. Fortunately I'm on the same side as you ... if you're on the side of seeing this Zoalus job through. To that end, the Capricorn and her crew might serve some use. If they're fixin' to stab us in the backs, instead, I've got that covered. Just play along; one way or another, this'll work out best for all of us."

 

"For you, I don't doubt," LeMort replied bitterly. "If there is something you are aiming to get out of all of this, I'd like to know when my crew is going to be brought into the loop."

 

"When you show more of a desire to cooperate," Joe answered. He sensed someone hovering over his chair and realized that the 718 year old red-eyed engineer on loan from Verbistul was standing beside it. "Afraid I have to go, darling. Give some thought to what I said and we'll talk more later."

 

Before LeMort could respond, he cut the comm. He looked up at the engineer who blinked slowly back at him while he took a sip of the coffee. " ... yes?"

 

"There was an ... incident ... on the planet," the engineer answered, his voice as bored and disinterested as it could possibly sound.

 

Joe immediately stood. "What's happened?"

 

"The team was attacked by three drones. It appeared that the drones attempted to capture and carry off one of the team members. Before they could accomplish anything, a further five drones arrived on the scene and, surprisingly, opened fire on the other three drones." Joe had put his coffee down and was scrambling for his ODRI controls to contact Troy's team. The engineer continued, "No lasting damage appears to have been done and the team evaded any further detection. They have taken refuge in one of the structures on the planet and --"

 

"Whoa whoa, son," Joe interrupted. "Slow down. When was the team attacked?"

 

The engineer looked at his ODRI when an annoyed sigh. "... thirteen minutes ago. Nearly fourteen."

 

"Thirteen?!" Joe's eyes bulged. "Why in the hell wasn't I told?!"

 

"You were in your quarters." The engineer folded his arms behind his back, looking completely unfazed by Joe's fury. "Sleeping. The situation was resolved quickly."

 

"I was wide awake in my quarters!" Joe jabbed a finger into the engineer's chest. "This is unacceptable." He waved the finger around the Bridge at the other Verbistul crew. "I want at least two pairs of eyes on the team at all times. And the second they get into anything even resembling trouble, you better damn well make sure I'm informed of it. Without delay. Are you understanding me, son?"

 

The engineer stared back for a long moment with his red eyes and his blank expression. With a single nod, he answered, "Of course, Captain."