Pearl of the Stars | Far From Home
Retrieval

“You’ve located the Pearl of the Stars, Lieutenant?” Captain Frank Holding asked with eyes wide. “Are you sure?”

“Positive, Sir,” she replied, her face beaming. “I’ve plotted the fastest course, too, but even that is going to take us the better part of three weeks as we have to pass through thirteen star systems, one of them particularly vast.”

“Excuse me,” said Captain Williams, “but if you think for a second that I’m going to allow you all to walk out of here after what the Lieutenant put my Colonel through, then you have another thing coming.”

“The only reason we’re out here, Captain,” said Senna Karavel quietly, inclining her head in Rena’s direction, “is to locate the Pearl.”

“We’ve all heard stories about the Pearl, about her grace and magnificence in battle,” Rena replied with a nod. “What I say stands, however.”

“We’re leaving, Rena,” said Frank, firmly.

“Fine, but your Lieutenant stays with me.”

Jones glanced across at her Captain, their eyes locking for a second as she mouthed the word, ’no.’ Frank nodded gently in agreement.

“That’s not an option, Captain Williams,” he replied, softly. “Lieutenant Jones comes with us.”

“No.” Rena got to her feet, planting her fists firmly upon the table. “No, she does not. She will stay here and face the punishment for her crime.”

“What crime?” Captain Holding asked, stifling the urge to laugh. “Lieutenant Jones was right to do what she did. News of the Pearl’s whereabouts is more important than any other possible piece of information.”

“Your Lieutenant committed gross insubordination.”

“Then surely as she’s my fickling Lieutenant, it’s my choice as to how she is dealt with.”

Whilst the other Captains bickered, Senna Karavel made her way over to the far wall and flicked a switch upon the console that filled it.

“Ms Canston, this is Captain Karavel,” she said, loudly and clearly into her comms. “Do you copy?”

“Aye Ma’am, loud and clear,” the Rising Sun’s XO replied.

“What the fick do you think you’re doing?” Rena Williams demanded yet Senna ignored her completely.

“Do you have my current location?”

“Aye Ma’am, on screen.”

“Good,” she replied, smiling as she turned to look Captain Williams dead in her eyes. “Good. Now Ella, if I’m not back on board the Rising Sun within fifteen minutes I want you to throw everything we’ve got at my exact position, then quickly take your leave and follow the Nexus’ preloaded course. Is that clear?”

“Aye Ma’am, understood.”

“Looks like it’s your move, Captain Williams,” said Frank, gruffly. “Be a good girl and make the right call, eh?”

“Captain on deck.” Ms Canston greeted Senna with a smart salute as fourteen minutes later, she arrived on the bridge of the Rising Sun.

“Thank you, Ms Canston,” Senna Karavel replied, returning the proffered salute. “What news?”

“The Nexus transferred the route to the Pearl to our system, Ma’am,” the XO replied. “It’s a damn dangerous journey, if you don’t mind my saying so. At least three of the star systems we must traverse are more unstable than any I’ve ever seen.”

“It’s a risk we have to take to reach the Pearl of the Stars, Ella,” the Captain replied. “Grace is a friend. More than that, Captain Ifhans is our damn saviour. Had it not been for her we’d all have died at Ryban.”

“Aye Ma’am.”

Ella Canston knew that was one hundred percent true and she had no issue with going after the Pearl, in fact she considered it to be the correct decision. Her position of Executive Officer though, came with responsibilities. One of those responsibilities was to let her Captain know of any concerns she might have with regard to their upcoming journey.

“Are we ready to fly?”

“Aye Ma’am, we are,” replied Ella. “I trust the issue with Lieutenant Jones has been rectified?”

“It has indeed, thank you for that,” Senna replied with a smile. “Now I don’t know about you, but I think it might well be a good idea for us to make ourselves scarce.”

She paused and turned to one of her Lieutenants.

“Get me the Nexus.”

“Aye Ma’am, the Nexus.”

“Ready when you are, Frank,” she said once the connection was live.

“Ladies first,” he replied with a gruff chuckle. “Let’s get the fick out of here.”

The Nexus followed the Rising Sun to the Jump Point that would take both vessels to the next star system on their journey to replace the Pearl of the Stars. As Frank Holding sat with his chin resting upon his hand, he breathed several heavy sighs of relief. He would never admit it to anyone else, not even to Senna Karavel, but he had started having serious doubts as to whether they would ever locate the Pearl and with her, Grace.

Lieutenant Jones had done her best to explain to him exactly how she had managed to replace the Pearl.

“Once I expanded the holographic display and the star system itself, it was as if more of the display’s functions became available. It now has the ability to show, in real-time, what is happening within star systems in what appears to be a radius of a million light years or so.”

Frank Holding was a warrior. He had never attended the Fleet Academy nor had he undertaken any officer training. He had earned his commission following a lifetime of serving on the front line and then by rising through the ranks.

He was a warrior, not a scientist. He understood as much about the physics of the Universe as he needed to and there were no Captains in the Fleet with as much expertise in battle as he.

With all of that in mind it was no surprise that he had no idea how the holographic display did what it did, especially considering that Lieutenant Jones was far from certain herself.

All Frank knew – all he needed to know – was that they finally had the Pearl’s location, and he was ficked if he was going to lose that damn ship again.

“Jump in five, Captain.” He was jolted from his thoughts by the communication and he responded that he was on his way to the bridge, and arrived there two minutes prior to the jump.

“Get me the Rising Sun.”

“Aye Sir, the Rising Sun.”

“All good your end, Senna?” he asked once the connection was made.

“Aye we’re ready here, Frank.”

“It’s a seven day jump to the next star system. Looks to be a Red Hypergiant. Pretty highly populated, too.”

“Hostile?”

“There’s nothing to suggest it, no, but erring on the side of caution would probably be worthwhile, especially as I don’t really relish the prospect of going into battle without an MRV. Our Jump Point out of that system is only about eight degrees starboard.”

“Full burn ’til we’re in range and then drop to jump velocity?”

“Aye. Took the words right out of my mouth, Captain Karavel.”

“I’m learning from the best,” she replied with a chuckle. “See you in a week, Frank.”

Acting-Captain Emily Johnson stared at the image of the woman on her screen. There were most definitely similarities between her and Hen Riley, there was no doubt about it.

“Commander Riley is your brother?” she queried. “If that’s the case then you need to know that he attempted to sabotage our mission.”

“That doesn’t sound much like my brother,” Calla Riley replied. “I can guarantee, however, that there is a perfectly viable explanation. If you let my companion and I aboard…”

“Just you, Ms Riley,” said Emily, flatly. “Your companion will remain within the confines of your vessel on the port deck.”

“As you wish, Captain Johnson. We’ll be on your port deck within four minutes.”

“He’s a double agent. The only thing is, the Alliance of Planets caught wind of his treachery and using some pretty nasty tech, they turned him into some sort of sleeper agent.”

“So the night Captain Ifhans was captured?”

“Yes, I do believe Hen had something to do with that. He chose La Verde for a reason and I suspect that reason is the narrow alley that runs directly behind the eatery. He arranged the kidnapping but something went wrong. He didn’t hand her off to the Alliance like they tasked him to do, he gave her to the Diamantra.”

“And that brings us to where we are now, in orbit around this rock.”

“It does,” Calla replied. “I’ll tell you now, you do not need to go down there all guns blazing. Danielle will release your Captain freely.”

“I’m... wait,” Emily paused for a few seconds, a slightly confused look upon her face. “Danielle? Danielle Casper?”

“You know Danielle?”

“Aye, she was one of our Fleet Captains, before an accident with our jump drives.”

“Never heard her talk much about her past, but I do remember the day her vessel appeared out of nowhere, just beyond the Jump Point.”

“Excuse me, ladies,” said Mr Holden, butting in. “I mean, I love a good chin wag as much as the next sailor but considering we have ninety vessels bearing down upon us, don’t you think that perhaps this could wait?”

“You’re correct of course, Mr Holden,” Emily replied, turning her attention back to Calla Riley. “It will be Captain Ifhans’ decision to release your brother or otherwise. We should, however, have said decision shortly.”

“Understood,” Calla replied, fully respecting the Council Fleet’s chain of command. “In which case we had better go and retrieve your Captain.”

“I’d rather you stayed on board the Pearl, if I’m honest.”

“That’s not going to happen, I’m afraid.” Calla Riley spoke in incredibly polite tones, yet there was definitely a forcefulness to her words. “If you expect me to await the decision as Captain Ifhans with regard to my brother’s fate, then I’m going to make damn certain she returns unharmed.”

Unseen by anyone else on board the Nexus, a Midshipman strode quickly down the corridor. The hour was late and as the vessel was traversing Jump Space, hurtling towards the next star system, the majority of crew members were doing what sailors did best when there was no immediate threat to their lives, and sleeping.

He touched the forged access card to the plate beside the door to the Virtual Reality Suite and it slid open with nought but the slightest of murmurs. The suite itself was empty as he knew it would be, and he made his way to the nearest pod.

Taking several long, deep breaths to compose himself, he keyed an access code into the pad and slipped into the pod. Had anyone been watching or monitoring what he was doing they would have seen nothing out of the ordinary for the virtual world that was springing up around him was no different to any other. From the outside, it appeared as though he was enjoying a wonderfully sunny, breezy afternoon at the park on Victoria III, watching children playing a game of football using their jumpers for goalposts, smiling as dogs rolled and tumbled in play.

Inside though, it was an entirely different story all together.

“The Pearl of the Stars has been located, Sir,” he said. “The Nexus and the Rising Sun are en route.”

“You are aboard the Nexus, yes?”

“Yes Sir, with Captain Holding.”

“Ah, Holding… I like Holding, he’s a good man, a fine soldier in his day.”

“Yes Sir,” he replied, more than a little nervously. “So I’ve been told.”

“Kill him, and take command of the Nexus yourself. The crew are of the Council Fleet, they respect both the chain of command and a damn beating.”

“Kill Captain Holding, Sir?” he asked, his eyes wide with fear as he stared the length of the narrow, polished oak table. He could see nothing of the man to whom he was speaking, save for the slightly balding top of his head that was just visible above the head rest of his chair. “Are you certain?”

“Indeed,” was the reply. “And sabotage the Nexus too, whilst you’re at it. Remove the core from the jump drive and hide it in a place no one will look until it’s too late.”

Ms Johnson, Mr Holden and Calla Riley entered the Diamantra compound. The day was scorching, the White Giant ensuring that temperatures were approaching unsafe levels.

Through a particularly strong heat haze two figures were visible and Emily picked up her pace.

As they neared, Emily could quite clearly see that Captain Ifhans was in a bad way. Her face bloodied and bruised, and she held her left arm awkwardly. In spite of that she appeared to be in deep, genuine conversation with the other woman, Danielle Casper.

“Ma’am, it’s good to see you,” she said as she drew even closer. “You had us worried.”

“I’m fine, Ms Johnson,” Grace replied, not sounding at all like one as fine as she claimed to be. “Thank you.”

“Ms Johnson,” said Danielle with a nod. She had never had much to do with the Pearl’s former pilot however her reputation was high.

“Captain Casper,” said Emily, returning the gesture and flipping a quick, unofficial salute.

“How is my ship, Emily?”

“She’s fine, Ma’am,” Emily replied with a smile. “Just the way you left her.”

“I’m glad.”

“She might not be in such a good way shortly though, Ma’am,” Emily continued. “There’s a fleet of some ninety Alliance vessels heading straight towards us.”

“Even on her best day, the Pearl can’t take ninety vessels alone,” Grace mused, inclining her head towards Danielle. “How big is your fleet, Danielle?”

“Not big enough,” she replied. “The best we can hope to do is to cover the Pearl’s escape.”

“I have no intention of running.”

“This isn’t your fight, Grace. The Quintus System does strange things to people; maybe it’s the influence of five different stars or perhaps another thing entirely. Either way, if you stay here for too long it will do strange things to you, too.”

“What you’re suggesting will kill you and those on board your vessels.”

“I’m tired, Grace. I’m too old and too tired to carry on.” She paused, smiling genuinely. “My crew is loyal. Just like yours will follow you to the very edge of the Universe and back again, mine will gladly take a flying leap if I ask such a thing of them.”

“I... I can’t ask...”

“You’re not asking, Captain Ifhans,” she replied, calmly. “I’m telling you to get back to the Pearl and head for the nearest Jump Point out of this hell-hole of a star system.”