"As you know," Junior began, addressing the members of senior command in his first official staff meeting, "we are about to meet up with the other vessels in this fleet for the last leg of our trip to Earth Prime."
His face grim, he continued with a nod to Specialist Travis McComb, "This could go badly fer us if they haven't left the rendezvous spot and headed home yet, since we got ourselves declared killed by the government.
"Now, what we got us is a cargo bay full o' somethin' the BSU wants pretty bad," Junior said, "and a ship full of men who want to git home."
Several heads attached to members of senior command nodded in agreement.
"We gotta keep these rocks safe until we give 'em to the higher ups on Earth Prime, or we risk losing our only chip."
"Are you suggesting," asked an incredulous Commander Nilssen, "That members of the Earth Prime Protection Force would attack us, their own ship, to secure our cargo?"
"I ain't suggestin' nothin', Commander," Junior replied, hastily checking the man's rank by glancing at the insignia he wore, "I'm just sayin' we need to be careful is all."
"There is no record of an Earth Prime Protection Force vessel ever intentionally attacking another," Nilssen clarified.
"There ain't no record of people livin' on EcoHope 11, neither," Junior countered, "Or of this ship not bein' lost with all hands in some black hole."
"The scenario you suggest is impossible," Nilssen dismissed, "If you'd been a Benevolent States United citizen for longer you'd know that."
"I wasn't invited to be a citizen, Commander," Junior stressed the man's rank this time and, by implication, his own higher one, "I ain't been invited yet. But I know when a feller's got somethin' anonther feller wants he's got to be ready to protect that somethin', else he's got to be ready to lose it."
There was a slight pause before Nilssen relented with, "I suppose making the defenses ready won't hurt anything. A few action preparedness drills could relieve the monotony of the rest of the trip home."
"Thank you, Commander Nilssen," Junior smiled and extended a hand, "That's all I'm askin'."
Business concluded, Junior called an end to the meeting and walked through the command deck, still trying covertly to guess at what all the various displays were doing.
"How long until we reach the meeting place, Specialist?" He asked a random crew member.
"Approximately twelve hours, Sir," the man responded after a quick verification glance at his screen.
"Is there any way to tell if the other ships are there?" Junior asked.
"No, Sir," the man answered, "Not until we decelerate enough to bring the sensors back on line."
Chapter Thirty Four Interlude
File: Datanet Core Server Gamma Beta Delta Twenty Four, Galactic Current Events, Era: Modern -0, Headlines, Data source Benevolent States United Sanctioned News Feed
The cargo of the Benevolent States United vessel G5493, on a mission to secure a new energy source for the Faithful citizens of Earth Prime, has been found. As we reported Truthfully, at last contact, the vessel reported the investigation of an abnormal gravity well. This investigation was not sanctioned by the BSU and is in direct contradiction with the Truth.
The status of the crew, recently confirmed Faithful by official proclamation, is unknown at this time.
All properties, rights, titles and authority have been transferred to Benevolent States United officials until they can be reviewed and distributed to the Faithful.
Of note, there is a reported regulation shift of command rank. This action, taken in the field, seems to have been an attempt to undo the damage done to the Benevolent States United by G5493 under the command of the disgraced former High Fleet Colonel Martin Stevens.
This report and all related and non-contradictory reports are to be considered Truthful until the Faithful are notified of a more relevant Truth.
The G5493 slowed, pushing against the gravity of a nearby star cluster and firing the fusion thrusters facing the front of the vessel. Junior stared into darkness surrounding the large, green gas giant in front of them. Sails deployed, the G5493 ground to a full stop.
"Report," Junior said to no one in particular.
"Radio silence, Sir," a Specialist seated in front of him said, "I'm getting static but not much else."
"Maybe they packed up and went home," Junior mused, a second before three large ships came around from the far side of the planet.
"I spoke too soon," he said, "Specialist, I wanna talk with those ships."
"Opening a channel, Sir."
After a brief pause, an emotionless voice came over the speakers, "Un-Faithful vessel, this is the Benevolent States United Carrier G5494. Stand down and prepare to surrender cargo."
"Hey," Junior greeted the voice, "This is the carrier G5493. If I ain't mistaken about the chain of command, y'all ain't the ones givin' the orders round here."
The voice responded, "We are aware of your designation, but you are listed as Out of Command for the purposes of this exchange. Turn over the cargo and submit yourselves for reassignment immediately."
Junior turned to the Specialist who had opened the channel and asked for a connection to Dank and Specialist Travis McComb.
The three carriers indicated that their weapon systems were powering up and the voice announced, "We are prepared to destroy your vessel and recover your cargo from the debris."
"Hang on," Junior replied, "I'm gettin' it together now."
A beep announced that McComb and Dank were on an open channel from the command deck. Junior announced, "Dank, McComb, load the cargo up for our friends and send it their way."
Within moments, inertial cargo sleds were deployed carrying three separate bundles of ore, one for each carrier.
"Those containers are shielded, G5493," the voice announced, "We will not power down our weapons until we verify the cargo manually. Maintain position or we will destroy your vessel."
There were long, tense moments of silence following this as Junior and the rest of the crew watched the sleds get picked up and loaded into the cargo bays of each ship.
Dank and McComb entered the command deck and walked up behind Junior to watch the hostile ships out the view screen.
"Keep our weapons powered down," Junior told the crew around him, "And prepare the shuttles."
According to regulations, specially trained troops were cautiously approaching the cargo containers aboard the other ships. Each would scan for explosives, find none, and open the electronic hatches on the top lids of the bins.
At this point, the spring-loaded bottoms of the containers would pop, spraying several kilograms of Be-Esunium as far as the weightless environment would carry them, bouncing them off the walls, floor and ceiling, knocking into other cargo and, eventually, hitting a power conduit.
The last within five seconds of the first, all three ships went dark and the communications channel fell into profound silence.
"Power up weapons and launch shuttles," Junior ordered. The crews of the other vessels would be easily subdued by his own and, as soon as power was restored, Junior would have added three new ships to his fleet, all according to regulations.
Junior discovered he was quickly becoming a firm supporter of procedures.