death-warrant!”
“At least they got the ship here.” Klane pointed out.
Veltin nodded, looking out the port again. “Mostly intact, too. Some nice err…battle scars..in the process.”
Rames pushed his way through to look out the port.
The Ulysses sported a number of dents and scratches and gouges from its run-in with Tantalus Station, but the armoring on the cutter’s hull had fared a lot better than the station itself.
Rames hissed in irritation at the damage.
Veltin clapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry! It’s not like they’ll take it out of your pay. You’re a fugitive now. You don’t have any pay!”
Rames glared at him silently whilst they waited for the lock to finish cycling.
*****
On the Ulysses , Miko listened to the comments of his Marines as they waited in the huge medical lock for it to pressurize.
Over the past few days he’d talked with all of his men. They were understandably concerned with the turn of events that led to them being in the position of turning against the Empire. Mostly they were concerned about repercussions for their families. None of his men, himself included, were married, but all had kin. All that Miko had been able to tell them was that the captain thought this was the right thing to do, and that there was some kind of covert invasion of the Empire going on.
He took it as a measure of their trust in him as their commander that none of them voiced more than a passing doubt about the wisdom of their choice of allegiance. As far as they were concerned, they followed him and he followed the captain. That was all they needed.
If it had been blind, mindless loyalty then he would have been worried. But, despite the eternal jokes about soldiers and Marines being dumb, it was no longer really true, especially regarding Marines. All of them, Miko included, had been ground-pounders at some point. Whilst there were some less-than-intelligent soldiers out there, none of them ever became Marines. The selection process weeded out those with serious emotional, psychological or intellectual problems.
Miko knew the personnel files of all his men, few that they were, off by heart. There wasn’t a one of them that he wouldn’t trust to guard his back. If there had been, then that one would have been shipped off somewhere else quickly enough. Miko, though relatively friendly as far as commanding officers went, didn’t let that friendliness compromise the safety of his men or his duty.
On the station, the lock finished its pressurization routine and his men entered Tantalus Station proper. Considering his unauthorized undocking and the short, dangerous flight, Miko wondered if the Ulysses and everyone on it were now considered as hostiles. If so, it was going to make their getaway very interesting indeed.
“How are we looking?” He asked Malik, at comms.
Malik shook his head. “About a minute until the PDC’s get here. Tantalus is now demanding our surrender.”
“What about the warships?”
Malik sighed. “Best I can tell, Triton is about to undock. Shiva is still minutes away from being ready to depart.”
Miko nodded. “Put me through to Collins.” He told Malik. The Corporal nodded and adjusted a switch, then pointed at Miko in an unmistakable ‘you’re on!’ gesture.
“Collins! How’s it look in there?”
Collins voice came back a moment later. “Yeah, we’re good, most of the crew seem to be here. A few missing. Got the Cap and most of the bridge crew, plus all those freezer cases, as far as I can tell. We’re getting them into the lock now. I’ve got Vilen sealing the staging area doors so we don’t have any last minute party-crashers.”
“How long until they’re all aboard?”
“The lock cycle plus about a minute to traverse the umbilical, would be my guess. Say two minutes, tops.”
Miko glanced at Alvin on sensors. “Alvin?”
“That’s gonna be a minute or so too late. PDC’s are almost on us.”
“They won’t fire,
“At least they got the ship here.” Klane pointed out.
Veltin nodded, looking out the port again. “Mostly intact, too. Some nice err…battle scars..in the process.”
Rames pushed his way through to look out the port.
The Ulysses sported a number of dents and scratches and gouges from its run-in with Tantalus Station, but the armoring on the cutter’s hull had fared a lot better than the station itself.
Rames hissed in irritation at the damage.
Veltin clapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry! It’s not like they’ll take it out of your pay. You’re a fugitive now. You don’t have any pay!”
Rames glared at him silently whilst they waited for the lock to finish cycling.
*****
On the Ulysses , Miko listened to the comments of his Marines as they waited in the huge medical lock for it to pressurize.
Over the past few days he’d talked with all of his men. They were understandably concerned with the turn of events that led to them being in the position of turning against the Empire. Mostly they were concerned about repercussions for their families. None of his men, himself included, were married, but all had kin. All that Miko had been able to tell them was that the captain thought this was the right thing to do, and that there was some kind of covert invasion of the Empire going on.
He took it as a measure of their trust in him as their commander that none of them voiced more than a passing doubt about the wisdom of their choice of allegiance. As far as they were concerned, they followed him and he followed the captain. That was all they needed.
If it had been blind, mindless loyalty then he would have been worried. But, despite the eternal jokes about soldiers and Marines being dumb, it was no longer really true, especially regarding Marines. All of them, Miko included, had been ground-pounders at some point. Whilst there were some less-than-intelligent soldiers out there, none of them ever became Marines. The selection process weeded out those with serious emotional, psychological or intellectual problems.
Miko knew the personnel files of all his men, few that they were, off by heart. There wasn’t a one of them that he wouldn’t trust to guard his back. If there had been, then that one would have been shipped off somewhere else quickly enough. Miko, though relatively friendly as far as commanding officers went, didn’t let that friendliness compromise the safety of his men or his duty.
On the station, the lock finished its pressurization routine and his men entered Tantalus Station proper. Considering his unauthorized undocking and the short, dangerous flight, Miko wondered if the Ulysses and everyone on it were now considered as hostiles. If so, it was going to make their getaway very interesting indeed.
“How are we looking?” He asked Malik, at comms.
Malik shook his head. “About a minute until the PDC’s get here. Tantalus is now demanding our surrender.”
“What about the warships?”
Malik sighed. “Best I can tell, Triton is about to undock. Shiva is still minutes away from being ready to depart.”
Miko nodded. “Put me through to Collins.” He told Malik. The Corporal nodded and adjusted a switch, then pointed at Miko in an unmistakable ‘you’re on!’ gesture.
“Collins! How’s it look in there?”
Collins voice came back a moment later. “Yeah, we’re good, most of the crew seem to be here. A few missing. Got the Cap and most of the bridge crew, plus all those freezer cases, as far as I can tell. We’re getting them into the lock now. I’ve got Vilen sealing the staging area doors so we don’t have any last minute party-crashers.”
“How long until they’re all aboard?”
“The lock cycle plus about a minute to traverse the umbilical, would be my guess. Say two minutes, tops.”
Miko glanced at Alvin on sensors. “Alvin?”
“That’s gonna be a minute or so too late. PDC’s are almost on us.”
“They won’t fire,
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