projections of the
saboteurs up for study. He went through each profile, including any
family members they had on station and other connections. He
outlined the support group first, saving Beezus and Bjornson for
last. When he put up Bjornson’s close-up shot, one of the older
guys, a former Master Chief named Hank, started to scowl and
squint.
“Can you remove the facial hair and make him
a brunette?” Hank asked out of the blue. Any good image program
could modify holograms to some extent. Luckily, The Rabbit
Hole was equipped with software that was better than most. Chip
made the mods and Hank nodded. “I think you’ll find that this
Bjornson fellow is really a pirate brat named Robert Morgan. His
father ran the Aleuseus Seven out of Isengard , that
little moon that was a pirate base for two decades before the
action at Last Spiral Station cut them off. His dad called
himself Captain Morgan , but his real name was Bill Monroe
and he hailed from Nine Rings Station over by Halcyon
Prime.” Hank sat back and slapped the table. “I thought I’d seen
the last of them when we cleaned out Isengard . I was on the Odysseus for a few years, back when human pirates were more
trouble than jits. I was part of the escort for Captain Morgan and
his family when we took the moon. His son, Robert, would be just
the right age now. I’d swear your Bjornson is really Robert
Morgan.”
Chip called up Hank’s service record on his
implant and confirmed his duty assignment on the Odysseus .
It looked like they’d just caught a big break.
For the sake of the group, Chip made a show
of pulling up the information on Bill Monroe aka Captain Morgan and
his family. Sure enough, the pirate captain had recently been
released from prison, supposedly reformed. His son had received a
lighter sentence because it had been decided that he hadn’t been
heavily involved in his father’s illegal enterprise. Robert had
been too young when their moon base was taken. Or so the court had
concluded.
It wasn’t too hard to draw the connection
between Robert Morgan and Bill Bjornson. One had ceased to exist
mere weeks before the other showed up, seemingly out of nowhere.
And their facial structure was nearly identical. Morgan had changed
his hair color, but other than that, he hadn’t done anything too
radical to remake his identity. Mostly it was the paper trail that
had been faked. Easy enough to do if you knew the right
criminals.
And Morgan had been the head of one of the
biggest pirate empires ever. He would definitely know who to pay to
fake his identity.
“Judging by this, it’s pretty obvious what
they have in mind now. Capture the station and turn it into a
pirate hub,” Chip concluded. “If that’s the case, they probably
have a ship or two lying in wait somewhere beyond sensor range. And
they won’t go easy on the populace of the station. Pirates aren’t
known for their mercy. All of us will be killed first, simply
because of what we are. Soldiers won’t be welcome in a pirate
stronghold, retired or otherwise. The women will be at most risk.
The civ men will be made to serve. I’ve seen reports of what
Captain Morgan and his crews did in their heyday.”
“I saw it first hand,” Hank interjected. “It
wasn’t pretty.” His grim expression said much more than his simple
words.
“Julian, what about air support? Can we beg,
borrow or steal any?” Chip asked the pilot. Julian had been
sidelined from active duty for now, but could still fly circles
around most combat pilots.
“There are a few fighters in the repair
facility on station that could be made ready with relative ease. I
could fly one and Smiley, Jake and Roscoe could each take one.” He
nodded to three of the men sitting near him, who were retired
combat fighter pilots. “As far as bigger ships go, there are a few
docked that might be of some help to us if they knew what was
coming. I’ll make contact with the captains. Some will run at the
first hint of
saboteurs up for study. He went through each profile, including any
family members they had on station and other connections. He
outlined the support group first, saving Beezus and Bjornson for
last. When he put up Bjornson’s close-up shot, one of the older
guys, a former Master Chief named Hank, started to scowl and
squint.
“Can you remove the facial hair and make him
a brunette?” Hank asked out of the blue. Any good image program
could modify holograms to some extent. Luckily, The Rabbit
Hole was equipped with software that was better than most. Chip
made the mods and Hank nodded. “I think you’ll find that this
Bjornson fellow is really a pirate brat named Robert Morgan. His
father ran the Aleuseus Seven out of Isengard , that
little moon that was a pirate base for two decades before the
action at Last Spiral Station cut them off. His dad called
himself Captain Morgan , but his real name was Bill Monroe
and he hailed from Nine Rings Station over by Halcyon
Prime.” Hank sat back and slapped the table. “I thought I’d seen
the last of them when we cleaned out Isengard . I was on the Odysseus for a few years, back when human pirates were more
trouble than jits. I was part of the escort for Captain Morgan and
his family when we took the moon. His son, Robert, would be just
the right age now. I’d swear your Bjornson is really Robert
Morgan.”
Chip called up Hank’s service record on his
implant and confirmed his duty assignment on the Odysseus .
It looked like they’d just caught a big break.
For the sake of the group, Chip made a show
of pulling up the information on Bill Monroe aka Captain Morgan and
his family. Sure enough, the pirate captain had recently been
released from prison, supposedly reformed. His son had received a
lighter sentence because it had been decided that he hadn’t been
heavily involved in his father’s illegal enterprise. Robert had
been too young when their moon base was taken. Or so the court had
concluded.
It wasn’t too hard to draw the connection
between Robert Morgan and Bill Bjornson. One had ceased to exist
mere weeks before the other showed up, seemingly out of nowhere.
And their facial structure was nearly identical. Morgan had changed
his hair color, but other than that, he hadn’t done anything too
radical to remake his identity. Mostly it was the paper trail that
had been faked. Easy enough to do if you knew the right
criminals.
And Morgan had been the head of one of the
biggest pirate empires ever. He would definitely know who to pay to
fake his identity.
“Judging by this, it’s pretty obvious what
they have in mind now. Capture the station and turn it into a
pirate hub,” Chip concluded. “If that’s the case, they probably
have a ship or two lying in wait somewhere beyond sensor range. And
they won’t go easy on the populace of the station. Pirates aren’t
known for their mercy. All of us will be killed first, simply
because of what we are. Soldiers won’t be welcome in a pirate
stronghold, retired or otherwise. The women will be at most risk.
The civ men will be made to serve. I’ve seen reports of what
Captain Morgan and his crews did in their heyday.”
“I saw it first hand,” Hank interjected. “It
wasn’t pretty.” His grim expression said much more than his simple
words.
“Julian, what about air support? Can we beg,
borrow or steal any?” Chip asked the pilot. Julian had been
sidelined from active duty for now, but could still fly circles
around most combat pilots.
“There are a few fighters in the repair
facility on station that could be made ready with relative ease. I
could fly one and Smiley, Jake and Roscoe could each take one.” He
nodded to three of the men sitting near him, who were retired
combat fighter pilots. “As far as bigger ships go, there are a few
docked that might be of some help to us if they knew what was
coming. I’ll make contact with the captains. Some will run at the
first hint of
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