M.J. Markgraf
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Blue Star Enterprises Chapter 62: Book 1 Epilogue
🕑 Added 2024-08-05 12:00:12 +0000 UTCA third pirate ship jumped into the system. Much like the previous two who had arrived a few hours earlier, it was venting atmosphere, but to a lesser degree.
The Epsilonâs Dawn watched all this through its passive scanners, the same as it had when the fifteen-strong pirate fleet had been here a week ago. None of the ships had ever detected its presence in the system. It wouldnât have been a very good experimental covert ops ship if it had been detected.
âSir, the three ships are finally moving.â
Vitor quirked an eyebrow at that. âOnly the three? I wonder what our friends ran into? Wait for them to get deeper into the system's gravity and then set an intercept course. I want to find out first hand.â He couldnât have them running on him.
The chase was rather anticlimactic from the Dawnâs perspective. Three shots from the ship laser disabled the fleeing pirate vessels before they even realized they were being followed. It could have been pure luck, but Vitor guessed the ships were short-staffed.
***
âCome in,â Admiral Clemont spoke as a knock came at his door.
Vice Admiral Fletcher, the head of Navy Intelligence poked his head in. âDo you have time for a report, Admiral?â
Clemont cleared the report from his terminal and waved the man in. âI assume itâs important if you came personally?â
âIt could be. Our AI analysis hasnât determined if it requires action yet or not. Do you remember Project Cobalt?â
Clemont had to think for a minute. The Navy had thousands of projects going on at any given time and he couldnât remember all the code names. But this one did ring a bell. âThe stealth ship made from recovered alien tech? I thought they mothballed that project over a decade ago because of the difficulty and cost of producing the elemental carbon that made up the exterior?â
âOfficially, it was,â the man stated.
Clemont grunted. âLet me guess, it went into the black ops budget?â
âI can neither confirm nor deny that,â Fletcher shrugged.
âFine, itâs your ass on the line if they do a budget review. What of your non-existent ship?â
âIt was deployed for testing about a month ago from Varlen. The initial deployment was supposed to be just a shakedown test, but they jumped into a system that had a buildup of pirates. The Captain of the Epsilonâs Dawn decided to shadow the group of fifteen ships inside the system to see what they were up to. We believe the lead ship belonged to Arkonis Anazi.â
âAs if his bastard brother wasnât a big enough headache with him capturing stations and systems. Is this a prelude to another incursion?â Clemont asked.
âNo, I donât believe so, Sir. The report I got this morning says the pirates jumped out of the system heading farther from STO space. It's not unheard of for pirates to do that to skirt our border patrols, but they were already three systems out. And you donât normally see fifteen pirate ships together unless they are raiding something big.â
âRaiding something? Whatâs even out there?â
âNothing but a few leftovers from the Expansion. We thought maybe they ran into the Shican, but the pirates my people captured claimed they assaulted a planet and were driven off by a large ship and planetary defenses.â
âSomeone's building an outpost beyond the rim?â That seemed like a foolish venture, but every few decades, someone got it into their mind to strike out on their own. Most either came crawling back or never returned.
âI believe so. Varlen reported that a mercenary company by the name of the Hawks of Ganos was contracted a little over nine months ago. They were seen escorting a small freighter by the name of the Zephyr. That freighter and the Hawksâ scout ships have been seen multiple times since then in Varlen. It's pretty obvious that the gunships were keeping the route from Varlen to this Y6X-3H2 system clear for transport. An Alexander Kane purchased the old research facility on Edenâs End, formerly known as Y6X-3H2-4 so they must have deep pockets.â
Clemont frowned and pulled up the system, flicking it over to the holo display so he could get a better idea of its location. He zoomed in on the display until it showed the system along with the edge of where STO space ended. âThat system is almost two weeks travel outside of our border. Is it possible this person is funding pirates? Maybe the Anazi clan decided to cut them off before they could get started?â
âItâs possible, but unlikely,â Fletcher noted. âThe Hawks would have followed STO mandate for pirates. They are the premier mercenary company for Ganos so I doubt they would risk their reputation by doing anything illegal.â
âIf they are so important to Ganos, why are they still out there? Surely they got recalled when the planetary governor started crying about the pirates at his border. As if there werenât ten systems between him and the systems the pirates attacked.â Clemont shook his head.
âThey were, according to the Qcomm messages we intercepted. It seems like their original six-month deployment was extended before the recall order. They should have passed through Varlen a few days ago but they didnât. The pirate attack could certainly explain their delay.â
âWhat do we know of⌠what did you say his name was?â
âAlexander Kane.â
âYes, what do we know of him?â
âNothing. His background is a complete fabrication. I didnât even need the AI to tell me that. There was some issue between him and Omni, but Omni ordered all records to that deal sealed. The only other information we have is that he adopted a little girl from Petrov Station around eleven months ago and then left the station shortly after.â
âI donât like it,â Clemont stated as he sat back in his seat. âKane may not be a pirate, but Petrov station fell to Harlow around the same time. And now this man is attacked by Harlowâs younger brother even though he relocated to the opposite end of STO space? That is no coincidence. They want this man, why?â
âWeâre not sure. The AI doesnât have enough information to produce an answer.â
âGet it,â Clemont ordred. âPut the Epsilonâs Dawn to use and find out why the largest pirate family wants Kane.â
***
Harlow was in a foul mood for a variety of reasons. The first was his push into STO space had been stalled for the last few months. There had been a few skirmishes between his fleets and the STO, but the battles had been rather even since the STO Navy had reinforced their fleets with newer ships.
That wouldnât last long, soon his first real warships would be coming off the secret shipyard he had built. Those ships wouldnât be deployed to the front right away though. He needed to consolidate his power among the family and finally take control of all the pirates from Haven. Once that was done, he could triple his fleet size and start hammering the STO fleets back.
His second annoyance had been dealt with. He rubbed the scar that the damn woman had given him. Anastasia had never come to terms with her role in turning over Petrov to him. He never figured her as the type to have the courage to try and stab a knife through his chest though. Technically it had been her hesitation that woke him up. After a brief struggle, he managed to turn the knife on the woman. It was a waste, she would have sold quite well, but he had been rather angry in the moment.
That just left his third problem. His bastard brother Arkonis had yet to contact him. He should have been back by now. Harlow reached out to his spies on the other pirate worlds and outposts, but they reported no sign of his brother. âIf that scum-sucking shit ran off with my prize, Iâll scour the fucking galaxy until I find him, then Iâll flay him alive and string him up as a warning to others not to fuck with me!â Arkonis running to one of his hideouts was a definite possibility if his brother had learned about how useful Kane could be.
His guards didnât comment on his outburst. They knew better. It had only taken a few removed tongues until they learned to keep their mouths shut, but they learned.
While Harlow would love nothing better than to chase his brother down personally, he had more pressing matters to deal with. He flicked through his comm and brought up a contact.
âWhat do you want?â the haggard voice on the other end responded.
âGet your ass up, I have a job for you.â
There was a grunt from the other end. âTen million, non-negotiable. And I want my payment upfront, Harlow.â
âFine, but if you fuck this up or think of running, Iâll come find you myself, Dalton.â
âWhatever. Whatâs the job?â
âFind my brother Arkonis. If heâs still alive, find out what he did with a man named Alexander Kane. If my brother is dead, find Kane and bring him to me alive.â
âIs that all?â the man asked in annoyance.
âThe information on his last known whereabouts will be in the info packet along with your payment. I want this done as fast as possible.â
The line went dead and Harlow ground his teeth. Dalton was a prick, even by pirate standards but he got the job done.
In an even worse mood, Harlow stomped out of the residence he was using as his base aboard Petrov. It was almost nice enough to make him forget he was in this shithole of a station, almost.
He made his way to the Qcomm room to see if his people had any luck with their little project. The station Qcomm was still offline, but he had access to the one his people stole and modified years ago. Otherwise, he would be just as cut off as everyone else in this station.
âGive me some good news, or Iâm sending one of you out an airlock!â he yelled as he entered the room.
He smirked when everyone shot to their feet and stiffened at his declaration. Harlow picked one poor bastard at random and pointed to him.
The man swallowed. âW- We managed to pull a few schematics from the system before they shut the network off.â
Harlow snapped and two of his guards dragged the screaming man away. It wasnât that he was upset, he was happy they managed to get anything, but he didnât want these slave engineers to think their work was up to snuff, or they might slack off. âHow many, exactly?â he asked another man.
This wasnât the first time he had tried pulling schematics from the net. His first test had been in a tiny mining outpost. Once they bricked that network and failed to gain any useful knowledge, he spaced that entire station along with the crew he sent over. Mostly to cover up what he had been up to.
âA- A dozen or so. We even managed to get a Class 4 engine design from Sinorus,â the man added hastily as Harlow turned his way.
Everyone knew the Sinorus designs were junk but an engine schematic was an engine schematic.
âCongratulations, the rest of you get to live another day. Transfer the schematics to my ship. I have business elsewhere.â It was finally time to trade in his cobbled-together ship for a new one his people were building based on the ship the Shican had gifted him twenty years ago. Who would have thought a drunken one-on-one fight in an interceptor vs whatever the Shican equivalent was would have earned him the respect of the elusive aliens? Turns out they respected personal strength and not the useless platitudes and peace gestures of the STO. As far as he could tell, the Shican didnât even have a word for peace in their vocabulary. Not that they spoke much.
It was no wonder the STO had never made any progress with the feline aliens. And they likely never would. He chuckled at that thought. His fortuitous encounter with the Shican twenty years ago was a secret he would take to his grave but only after he carved out an empire in his name.
Comments
mmarkgraf212
yes
Skulldragon7
Which screaming man was dragged away? Was it the engineer who spoke?
Shmooggie
New chapter new me. Woah, the STO is getting curious about our boy Alexander.
underdog121
Oh no, hopefully Alexander hasn't started to use the pirate shuttles yet. The Eclipse's Dawn might shoot them down
DaftWully
Good point. It takes a lot of time to train up an engineer, and killing them on a whim like that is a massive waste. Of course, Harlow has made it obvious he neither values or trusts these people, so maybe he is just getting whatever value out of them he can before killing them anyway. I wonder how he treats the people at his 'secret' shipyard?
Thomas V.
Man, thatâs not the kind of behaviour that leads to an even halfway effective workforce, let alone the kind of success Harlowâs been depicted as having. Ruling exclusively through fear simply doesnât allow you to carve out the knowledge and manufacturing base Harlow seems to have. It just *doesnât work* that wayâŚ
Aclys
I mean eventually, sure. But he feels like a main villain.
Zachary Patterson
Harlow walking deadman for targeting our mc...
Gabriel Melnik
Poor Dalton.
