Part 27: Often Go Awry

Alex brooded as he sat in the pilot's chair of the Bucephalus. He was still unsettled from the encounter with the Kilon Patrol Ship back at Miraxix Station. While they did escape, it was only a matter of time before the ship was discovered floating in space, and the truth of what happened reached the proper authorities. Alex could only hope that happened long after this job was finished.

In truth, he had no idea what would be waiting for him and his crew when they dropped out of hyperspace and reached the SPARK, whatever that was. Byron couldn't tell them, and they were woefully underprepared for the job ahead; stealing two shipments of mutonium from what was likely to be a very secure secret project under the watchful eye of the Kilon Expeditionary Force. The whole thing was likely to go to hell immediately; the situation back at Miraxix was a poor omen.

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Alex started worrying about Jade and John, sent ahead to infiltrate and gather information, neither of them prepared for that type of operation. He could feel his stomach turning in knots when his solitude was disturbed by Kwame climbing into the cockpit. He silently sat down in the co-pilot's chair, clearly not wanting to bother Alex.

Kwame. Alex's trusted right hand man. The glue that held the ship together. Even that had been rocked by this mission. Byron brought in some help for the job, Brimstone Squadron, a unit of starfighters flown by the remnants of the Sons of Abraham, the notorious terrorist organization. As it turns out, Kwame was once a member of the group, a group that was responsible for allowing Earth to come under the domain of the Kilon Federation. In a way, Kwame was somewhat responsible for Alex's life out on the fringe.

It was a desperate move by a desperate man. Byron had been very successful in the building of an organization that could undermine Kilon rule. Raiding Kilon and Terran shipping provided the resources to build a real challenge to the status quo. But his ambitions outstripped his abilities, and he attacked a target that was beyond his group's capabilities. They raided a mutonium shipment carried by the freighter Pillar of Hercules, and Byron lost nearly all of his men and ships. The ones who survived and weren't captured deserted him. The only crew Byron had left after it was all said and done was Alex and the Bucephalus.

Alex would have left too, if Byron didn't own the title to the Bucephalus. But when Byron proposed this plan, Alex seriously considered giving up his ship, the only home he truly had. But the payment for this job was something he couldn't pass up; if they succeeded in taking the two mutonium ships, Byron would free the Bucephalus. The odds of completing the job weren't good, in all likelihood they'd be killed or captured. But no matter what, they'd be free of Byron when it was done.

A sensor went off on the control panel, breaking the tense silence on the bridge. "Coming up on the SPARK... thirty minutes out," Kwame said.

The sound of someone coming up the ladder caused both Alex and Kwame to turn around. Michael bounded into the cockpit, full of energy, oblivious to the worry in the room. Alex nodded to him, then turned to Kwame. “Think that Kilon ship is still floating in the middle of nowhere?”

Kwame pursed his lips, then leaned back in his seat. “They should be. It was the same trick we pulled on the Kilon ship back at Yaga Minor. Disabled navigation, communication, weapons, left them with life support. I heard it took weeks for someone to find them. We should not need to worry about Commander Darlon raising the alarm.”

“You pulled that trick before, and you let the crew live?” Michael asked. He looked at Alex and Kwame, and from his expression it seemed like that was the craziest idea he’d ever heard.    

“Of course we let them live,” Alex said, “we’re thieves, petty criminals, but were not…” he trailed off, and looked at Kwame for a minute, “Sons of Abraham” flashing through his mind, “were not monsters, Michael.”

“No, you’re not,” Michael said. “But that crew was found, and likely debriefed. And a reasonable military officer would have analyzed such a debilitating attack, and developed a counter-measure. Come on, Alex, as a former fleet officer, you have to understand that.”

The color drained from Alex’s face. He turned to look at Kwame, who was also connecting the dots. Michael continued, “I’ve been thinking about this since we left Miraxix. Since this type of attack is uncommon, and since we were able to use it successfully in this instance, one would imagine that there is a high probability that the Kilon ships have been equipped with some sort of passive countermeasure, say a homing beacon separate from the main computer system, one that would activate itself should the ship be rendered derelict in the middle of open space.”

“He is right,” Kwame said, slumping in his seat. “I might have made our situation altogether worse…”

“No, you saved our hides back there,” Alex said.

“But it was my idea…” Kwame argued.

“…and I approved it.” Alex said. He turned back to Michael. “What are the odds that you’re right about this?”

“I think it is highly probable that the Kilons know we are coming.”

“Agreed,” Kwame said, straightening up in his chair.

“Fine, then what do we do about it?” Alex asked.

“I’m going to go prep my ship,” Michael said.

“How do you expect to launch it with all of that cargo down there?”

“Oh, I added an external launch port for it.”

“YOU MODDED MY SHIP?! What the hell, Mike?!”

“I did it weeks ago, in case situation, such as this, presented itself. If you’ll excuse me, Captain,” Michael said, and quickly disappeared down the ladder.

Alex was speechless, shaking his head, mouthing “he messed with my ship,” over and over.

“Alex,” Kwame said, getting his attention, “What about Jade and John?”

“For all we know, no matter what our status is, they could still be fine,” Alex said.  “We’ll need to figure that out when we get there. After all, the identities that Byron set up for them are not connected to us or this ship in any way.”

“The Kilons will not expect us to know that we’ve been compromised,” Kwame said, “We can use that to our advantage. Should we call in Byron and the Brimstone Squadron?”  

Alex considered this for a moment. Byron and Brimstone Squadron were located in a nearby system, ready to jump to the SPARK and provide assistance, make a diversion, whatever was needed. Alex had a preplanned code to use when they were needed. He started to talk out the situation. “If the Kilons are on to us, then they’ll likely be monitoring our communications, we won’t be able to explain the situation to Byron. If we call them and the Kilons aren’t waiting to arrest us, then they’ll blow our cover. If we wait to call them and the Kilons move on us right away, we won’t be able to call them at all.”

“I think we do not have a choice,” Kwame interrupted, “we have to call them in as soon as we enter the system.”

“Well, that’s gonna be step one… got any ideas for step two?”

“No, not yet,” Kwame said.

They were interrupted by another sensor on the control panel. “Well,” Alex said, “I guess we’ll be making it up as we go along.”