The Captain's Heart CH 69 (Patreon)

Gralgiran entered, and the Beta stepped away from the center of the bridge. “Update.” “We are at null momentum,” Mongartis Orbatilezan said.

Gralgiran entered, and the Beta stepped away from the center of the bridge.

“Update.”

“We are at null momentum,” Mongartis Orbatilezan said. “The trail of particles leads to what is at the limits of the sensors.” The beta nodded to Wiuramsfick Jiaowel Dierim, at sensor.

“We picked up a structure, indeterminate at this distance, but we have nothing on records anywhere near here. I confirmed power usage. There’s been no indication the scans were picked up since.”

“Indications of active scans on their parts?”

“None, Alpha.”

“Any communications from that location?”

“No, Alpha,” Jurani replied. “Nothing in any of the frequencies that carry information.”

“At what range will their passive sensors detect us at our current power consumption?”

“Passive doesn’t detect power until we’re about to impact with them. But they will be able to tell the broad band radiation propulsion emits out of the background at about one light year, but that will depend on the quality of their system.”

“Toom, options to approach?”

“Drift,” the pilot replied. “Wiuram, how close can I get to them if I only use one propulsor to slow us?”

“One array will—”

“Not an array. One.”

“Let me run the numbers,” the male replied.

“Can we even slow with just one of them?” Jurani asked, and the beta cleared his throat. “Apologies, Alpha.”

“It’s a valid question. Toom? It’s my understanding one propulsor barely generates any momentum.”

“Barely isn’t none, Captain. It’s all about how fast you need to get there, and what Sensor tells me about the when their sensors will pick up what I’m doing.”

“Okay, best I can work out is that unless they got their hands on state-of-the-art equipment, they’ll detect the emissions of one propulsor when we ram them.”

“I don’t think that’s the goal,” the beta stated.

“And I’d like to be there before they are done doing whatever they are and move away.”

“Alright, so, what’s the fastest I can get us to a light-year and a half, just in case they have better sensors than we think pirates would, from them, and be at a speed that lets us crawl to a stop before we hit them. Is five hundred kilometers acceptable?”

“I’d prefer they not to see us if they have cameras pointed in our direction.”

Toom and Wiuramsfick Jiaowel Dierim chuckled. “Unless we shine a light at them, Alpha,” the sensor officer said. “We are going to be nothing more than a dot among an infinite number of them.”

“All right. Time frame, pilot?”

“The fastest I can get us there, without margin for errors, is eighteen hours. You give me twenty-eight, and I can narrow out arrival position to a micron.”

“You have twenty-eight. Don’t stress the precision. You have command, Beta Mongartis Orbatilezan.” He stepped away from the center.

The beta took his place. “Acknowledged, Alpha. Sensor, remain alert for any indication they might have detected us. Pilot, be ready to come to a full stop is Sensor reports detection. Comm, monitor communication for anything trying to pass itself off as something else.”

Gralgiran entered his office and called up the hunter roster. Twenty-eight hours gave him time to activate as many packs as he thought he’d need, but he didn’t want to needlessly wake personnel who might be needed to defend the Bane if the pirates had ways to retaliate.

He sent instructions to the eighteen front line betas, then two of his three covert ops betas.

The door chimed.

“Enter.”

Toom walked in. “The course is set. We’ll be accelerating for the next four hours. Beta Mongartis will bring a pilot so I can rest and come back for the final part. I know you have to do a lot of Alpha stuff to get ready, but I’m sure that can wait an hour while I help distract you, and you can get back to this with a clear mind.”

“Thanks Toom, but the situation needs me to be ready at any moment. Once I’m done with this, I’m heading back to bed with Jer.”

“Alright, then I’ll hope Xeniila Haran shares your bed and you get to enjoy your Heart and your rest.”

“You too, Toom.”

His friend left and Gralgiran contacted Mechanical.

“Captain,” the female answered.

“Mechanic, what is the status of the boarding shuttles?”

“Ready to go. As per Beta Descinikal Dosirar, we are getting both of the stealth shuttles ready. They’ll have undergone full check before the end of the next shift.”

“Thank you.”

He called up the Beta’s plan; it was rudimentary, since he had just informed her she’d be involved, but her intent to reach the ship’s reactor was already there. Zorfiel would only file her plan once she had worked out all the details, but it would be with enough time for him to work with it, and around what his covert operations pacts would do.

With everything as prepared as he could for the moment, he headed to his apartment, his bed, and his Heart.

    *

“How confident are you?” he asked the males, looking over the indistinct image floating above his desk. He could make out the forms of the three ships, and that one was little more than the infrastructure, but unlike Toom and Aklapergadan Woumfaultorel, he couldn’t tell anything about what kind of ships they were.

“Definitive, Alpha,” the hunter replied.

“He’s going to want more than that,” Toom side whispered, then straightened. “Sorry, Captain.”

“But accurate.”

The hunter glanced at Toom, who nodded for him to take the lead. It was the first time the male had interacted with Gralgiran as an active hunter, instead of the sensor officer, and it showed.

Maybe he needed to be part of the exercises, so they’d be used to him by the time they were called to action.

“May I, Alpha?” he motioned to the projection, and Gralgiran nodded.

The male manipulated it with the skill of someone who spent a lot of times working around images, turning it, and cutting our sections to set aside, then setting an identification algorithm on it, and moving onto another section of the ship.

“My assertion that the skeleton of the ship is a Shimbari ship is based purely on the overall design of the structure, so I might be wrong, but—” he highlighted the smaller ship attached to the complete looking one “—that’s a Storan Kiramor Atharyr, I’m certain of it. I server on the—”

“He’s not going to need quite that much,” Toom said, smiling. “Sorry, Captain.”

Gralgiran kept from chuckling.

“We tracked down the Huronadi’Halan, and that’s their preferred ship.”

“Weren’t those pirates eliminated?” Gralgiran asked, and the male beamed.

“Yes, Alpha, at least as much as any of the Halans can be exterminated, they’re like mushmic the way they’re always reappearing. But I’m not saying it’s them, just that it’s how I’m familiar with the design. It went out of production well over a century ago, but so many were put in service that a lot of them are still flying, if in need of constant work.”

“Which is what makes them cheap,” Toom added. “And we know how much the Halan like cheap.”

“Any idea what the other ship is?” It was the one the hunter had searches going on parts of the design.

“Kersosteran, clearly,” he replied, putting another part into its search.

“Of course,” Toom said with mild sarcasm. “Clearly.” He tilted an ear at Gralgiran’s look. “Their ships are not something I’ve ever gotten to know. There was never an inkling I’d fly one yet.”

All Gralgiran knew of Kersosteran ships was what he’d seen of them. More bulbous than streamlined. Something about them enjoying dens near the ‘surface’ was the best he’d understood from the one time he’d asked one of them why their ships look so…weird. He’d been young and not as diplomatic as time had taught him to be.

“I’m trying to identify which of their design it is, knowing that should give you more information to plan the trails of the hunt, Alpha.”

Gralgiran called up the information on the Arhithon Pride. “Can it be that?” he asked, making it visible to the working hunter?

He looked, then moved the images aside to bring up a floating keyboard and typed with an easy that impressed him. Gralgiran had never gotten the hang of those; without a well for his claws to tap the bottom of.

“Yes, enough common points. I’m confident in saying this design matches the ship we’re looking at.”

“Any way to know which of the Halan clans were dealing with?”

The hunter looked at him, momentarily confused. “I’m sorry, Alpha. Identifying the clans isn’t something I studied. But there are no marking on the Kiramor the database identified as one of theirs.”

“Thank you, Hunter. The information will be useful. Toom, Please stay.” Once the door closed, he continued. “I’ve denied Zorfiel’s request that you pilot the shuttle her pack will use to board the ship.”

“Reasons, Captain?” he asked, his tone neutral.

“You mean other than you being a civilian? The fact you’re the best pilot on the ship will let me approve your use on hunts that require that kind of skill, but I don’t see that here. It’s going to be a standard stealth approach that any skilled pilot can handle.”

“Understood, Captain.” The tone wasn’t forced. Toom never sought to be in the action, but he also didn’t shy away from it when needed.

“But you’re also going to be awake, handling our approach for fourteen hours, unless you’ve changed things.”

“I haven’t.”

“And I want you here in case these pirates have an ambush planned for us. The Bane isn’t a shuttle, and only an expert can get it to move in ways that can save lives when under fire.”

“Thank you, Captain. I appreciate your confidence.”

“You’ve earned it. Now go, unless you chanced things, you have six hours before you need to be at the helm. Go live.”

“How about you?”

Gralgiran sighed. “With the information you and Hunter Alkaprergadan Woumfaultorel brought me, I need to work out the assault plan. That’s going to keep me busy until we need to start hunting.”

“Remember to live, Gral. The hunt can’t be everything for you anymore.”

“I will. Thanks, Toom. Now go find someone to tire you out so you can get enough sleep.” While he figured out how these pirates might make use of both ships’ layout to defend themselves.

Outline section 

no Outline

Addition 

The hunt.

A pirate ship, the captured ship.

Infiltrating the two, taking down the pirates, rescuing the captured crew.

Final result, some pirates caught, mix of species, Including kelsirians, no humans. Some death on the side of the hunters.

This ended up sticking to the preparations more than I expected. Mainly because I felt some things needed to be accounted for as part of the approach and the hunt. Mainly how the <bleep> do you approach undetected when cloaking tech doesn’t exist. And then, wouldn’t it make sense they’d trying to work out what kind of ship they’d have to board? So this is what we got. Also slipped in the Toom is the best pilot on the Bane, which will come into play at some point.