Part 22: Might As Well Jump

The Kilon Patrol Ship moved in close to the supply depot. The controller acknowledged that he already relayed the message to Alex and the Bucephalus. Kwame and Michael finished the loading procedure. So far everything was happening according to standard operating procedures.

Alex wasn't sure, but he thought the normality of it all was what was making him feel uneasy. It was going too smoothly. Alex told the controller that they were on a tight schedule, and that was true. But they'd finished loading ahead of schedule, and in all actuality, this security check shouldn't set them back too far.

Alex sat down in the pilot's chair for a moment. He tried to run the scenarios through his mind. If the Kilon security ship had something concrete on the Bucephalus, they would have brought in more ships, and just come in and arrested them. Nothing in Alex's mind told him this would be anything other than routine.

Still, it was better to be prepared. Alex grabbed the com, calling Kwame and Michael to the cockpit. While he waited for them, he let the dock controller know that they would need a few more minutes to make sure everything was secure.

Michael bounded first up the ladder, followed soon by Kwame, who, for a change, seemed relaxed, at ease. The work no doubt had something to do with that. It made things seem a bit more normal.

"What's going on, Boss?" Michael asked. He leaned against the wall of the cockpit, not a care in the world, with a look that Alex could only think indicated that Michael already knew what was happening.

Alex thought about that for a second, then pushed the thought from his mind. "We might have some trouble. There is a Kilon security ship waiting for us just outside the dock. They have requested that we dock with them and allow for a security check."

"So, what is the problem?" Kwame asked. "Did Byron's documentation not check out?"

"As far as I can tell, it checked out fine. This is, after all, a legit job. We were hired by a Kilon government contractor, there was no need to fake anything. But I want you two to be on guard. Make sure they don't start digging too deep. If you are asked a question, answer it, but give the most basic possible answer, only offer what they asked for, nothing more." Alex added a halfhearted smile. "And relax, we'll be on our way soon."

With that, Alex spun around in his chair, and signaled to the controller that they were ready to leave. The controller gave the ok, and the bay doors behind them opened to space. In the middle of all of the hustle and bustle of the spaceport, the was one Kilon ship, just waiting beyond the supply depot. Alex slowly guided the Bucephalus out, gently pulling near the Kilon patrol ship. The pilot of the Kilon ship contacted Alex, and initiated the docking procedure. The two ships were now linked.

"The docking port opens to the crew quarters," Alex said, rising from his seat. "You two stay here, and stay alert, I'm going to go greet our guests."  

After Alex climbed down from the cockpit, Michael and Kwame made their way into the pilot and co-pilot seats.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Kwame said as he called up a schematic of the ship.

"Me too," Michael said. "What are you doing?"

"I'm keeping an eye on the ship's systems. I want to know if the Kilons try to tamper with anything. When they docked, I noticed they established a link between their computers and ours. That does not bode well."

*****

As he waited for the Kilons at the docking hatch, Alex tried to mentally suppress the sweat that was beading on his brow. It was no use, thinking about it only made him sweat more. He was 80% sure that he had nothing to worry about, but looking guilty certainly wasn't helping his cause. He was trying some deep breathing when he heard the hiss of the hatch opening.

Commander Darlon lowered his head as he ducked through the hatch on the Terran freighter. He hated boarding human ships, with their low ceilings and higher gravity, but this time it didn't bother him as much. When he walked in, he saw the sweaty little captain, and that confirmed much of his suspicions. But he needed evidence in order to form a logical conclusion, a conclusion that he could present to the task force. All he needed to do was talk to this human long enough to permit his scanning team an opportunity to collect the ship's automatic logs. Those logs would let him know everywhere the ship had been, and when. He'd know very shortly if this vessel was involved with the pirate gang that called itself “Byron's Freedom Flyers”.

Darlon pulled himself up to his full height once he entered the ship, allowing his size in the cramped space to accentuate his authority. The little human looked nervous... yet defiant. Darlon gave him a thorough once over before speaking.

"I am Commander Darlon of the Kilon Expeditionary Fleet Starport Security Detail, requesting a legal search of your ship," he said, feeling quite proud of himself as he said it.

"Commander, I am Alex Megálos, captain of the Bucephalus. As a Terran citizen, I invoke my Article One right to decline your request pending the issuing of a legal search warrant from a Terran judge."

"Captain, you are not in Terran space. Furthermore, in accordance with the Star Base Luna pact, Kilon military law supersedes Terran law. Should you object to our search, you are permitted to lodge a complaint with the the local security commander, once we have completed our search. Do not mistake my politeness for something it is not, namely a negotiation. I  will only trouble you for a few moments, then you will be on your way, of course, assuming that our search does not turn anything up."

Alex knew that the legal ruse would do him no good, but he did not intend to try to talk his way out of the search. He wanted to make sure that Kwame had enough time to get on top of the situation. He smiled at the Kilon, gesturing toward the interior of the ship. "Of course, of course, Commander. We will cooperate with your requests in a timely manner."

*****  

Kwame looked over the readout of the ship's systems, and frowned.

"What is it?" Michael  asked. He looked over the readout, and couldn't make out anything out of the ordinary.        

"They're trying to download our navigation logs."

"Why would they do something like... oh."

"Yes, Oh. They are trying to see if we were somewhere we shouldn't have been."

Michael was quickly connecting the dots. "Pillar of Autumn."

"Amongst others, but yes."

"Why would we not edit our logs?"

Kwame was now franticly working at his terminal. "You cannot edit your navigation logs, if you did, it would wreck your nav computer, probably get you stuck inside a star on a hyperspace jump. It is a bad idea to tinker with the nav logs."

"Ok, so are we sunk?"

"Not necessarily," Kwame said. He pulled up his holocom and tapped out a one word message to Alex.

*****

Alex was surprised to find how fun it was to be obfuscating. He answered every question that Commander Darlon threw at him, that was true. But he did not offer any information. He knew if he could just annoy the Kilon without obviously trying to stall, then eventually the Kilon would just go back to his ship and let them leave.

He just finished giving another non-answer when his holocom vibrated. "Excuse me," he said to the commander, "let me reply to this." Before the Kilon could protest, Alex tapped back one word. Putting away his holocom, he said, "I'm sorry, where were we?"

*****

Kwame looked at Alex's reply, and smiled. He worked even faster at the controls.

Michael was impressed, but still concerned. "So, are you going to stop the search?"

"No, I cannot stop the search."

"Then why are you smiling?"

"Because we have a plan." Kwame did not stop working, but he turned to Michael.  "Which reminds me, Alex is going to need your help."

"Help? Help with what?"

"He'll probably need you to help him get the Kilon officer off of the ship."

"You need to give me more information than that, Kwame."

"You see, they have accessed our computer in order to download our nav logs."

"Right, which is bad."

"We cannot stop them from downloading the logs. I have managed to slow them. However, in their rush to penetrate our system, they left a backdoor open to their own."

"And how does that help us?"

"They are physically connected to us... and close enough to be caught within our hyperspace bubble."

Michael thought for a second, then understanding began to dawn on his face. "What did message did you send to Alex?"

"One word... 'Jump.'"

*****

The computer engineer on the Kilon patrol ship was working as fast as he could. An ensign said to him, "The Commander wants to know how much of their nav logs we've downloaded."

"None so far," the engineer replied, "They are throwing up new firewalls every time I get through one. But it won't be long, they can't keep me out forever."

The engineer and the rest of the bridge crew were so focused on hacking the Bucephalus’s nav logs, that none of them noticed the hyperdrive coming online.

*****

"Jump?" Michael asked.

"Yes," Kwame replied. You should go down to the crew quarters, Alex will need your help.

Michael just nodded, and leapt to his feet. He started to climb down the ladder from the cockpit. "What did Alex say?"

"He said," Kwame answered, moving his hand over the Bucephalus's hyperdrive control, "'Go.'" Kwame hit the button.  

*****

The engineer finally relaxed a little. "I'm in; I'm into their nav logs."

"About time," the ensign said. He was a about to alert the Commander to their progress, when he looked up and saw the hyperdrive console was entirely lit up. "Oh no." was all he could could get out before the two ships lurched into hyperspace.