[Starhawk]

Alone in the Dark pt2
When my candle burns away and the dark of night replaces day,
Stand by my side, I will not fear when deaths’ grim voice at last I hear.
And when the toils of war at last are done; I will rise from dust to greet the dawn.
Death prayer of an Icaran

It had been less then an hour since the “Forlorn” had discovered the Federal Security ship Pontus adrift with only two survivors; both women and both raped and tortured to within an inch of their lives. And it had been less then five minutes since Doctor Mara Goldberg and her corpsman met the marine gunship in the docking bay with a stretcher and full life support kit.
“Make a whole damn it we’ve got wounded!” the doctor shouted as she ran to keep up with the stretchers as two marines pushed them so that her corpsman could get access to the two women and treat their wounds, thanks to modern science their bodies were in stasis and could not get any worse-at the moment at least- but if they were not treated before the stasis wore off then both of these women were likely to die in a matter of minutes.
As the two stretchers raced through the cramped corridors, naval personnel and marines who had not gone over with the boarding party stepped aside, some uttered quick prayers as the two women passed, others began crying, and still others simply looked on numbly unable to believe that anyone or anything was capable of inflicting the kind of needless suffering these women were going through, not to mention the last horrible moments that must have led to the deaths of every other person on the FedSec ship.

********

Meanwhile light years away a small community of independent minded people who had once been citizens of the now defunct Empire of Man were going about the normal work that met fringe colonists especially on tiny outposts like “Independence Bluff”. Several colonies just like it had popped up since the fall of the Empire and the Great War that currently engulfed the two largest human Empires began. These colonies remained independent mainly because Icara could not spare any ships or troops to re-conquer them at the moment,

Mostly farmers a few smithies (not even warranting the term factory by modern standards) and ranchers the 5,000 men, women and children of Indie Bluff as the locals tended to call it were hardly concerned with the galaxy at large, they had barely a scrap of modern technology as far as anyone else would consider it and they were proud of it, mainly because they were descendants of the Amish who had been forcibly removed from Sol during a war centuries ago, and long after what the Icarans called the “Final Sol war”; they were also proud of their lack of tech because as they saw it the rest of the galaxy had gotten to reliant on the stuff, even Icara; the Empire where “automation is the ultimate degradation of man” had tech that would have made their ancestors gape in awe.

It was on this world where Jeremiah Herschel and his family lived, he had always considered himself blessed with a beautiful wife, a daughter now nineteen and a son now seven and his job as a farmer in the community. Indie Bluff was a small world but it was home and he loved it’s long flowing purple grass and it’s thirty foot oak like trees and like many other elders he believed God had picked this world out for the Amish long before man had ever even realized those twinkling lights in the night sky had planets around them let alone that some day man would reach out to those worlds.

Jeremiah was working in the field with the rest of the men from his small town as they did every day but Sunday of the harvest season when a noise the likes of which he had not heard in years drew his attention to the sky, Jeremiah and the other men looked up to see a huge fireball tearing through the sky, the boom they had heard told them that this was no meteor but was under at least partial power because it had triggered it’s descent thrusters which meant a ship.
The men quickly dropped what they were doing and began running back to their village to get the women and children to shelter, Jeremiah felt panic as he thought of Icaran jackboots tramping down his fields and Icaran bayonets pointed at his beautiful family, not only that but he had heard rumors that Icarans conscripted men, women and even Children! into the navy if the ship making orbit had taken casualties in battle. He feared this less for himself then his boy Ezekiel who was a strapping and fit young man who would make a perfect spacer.
As the fireball led into a smoke trail Jeremiah strained his eyes as he tried to catch a glimpse of what kind of ship it was that was heading for his village and his family. If it was a civilian ship then they could hope that it was just an emergency landing and that whoever it was would not betray their position to Icara, if it was a warship in orbit then those could be armored marines coming down even now. As the thought of a warship coming struck him like a hammer Jeremiah ran even faster towards his village; where he now saw the women and children gaping up at the sky, though he did notice that some of the women were even now taking their children to the cellars.
Jeremiah finally reached his home and saw his wife Hilda and his daughter packing food and supplies while his son carried the boxes to the cellar, the Herschel’s unlike most of the other families had a cellar entrance inside their home instead of outside, this made it easier for them to store their supplies in the winter so that they did not have to go outside during the coldest hours to get food and other things. Hilda shot a nervous smile at her husband and waved him off to help his son pack the goods into the cellar while Mina their daughter continued to wrap bread and put it in the last basket.
After the supplies were packed Jeremiah came back to the kitchen and smiled nervously at his wife “Come on Hilda you and Mina go to the cellar now, Ezekiel and I will stay here and find out who they are and what they want, Hans and his wife and daughters are also going to be coming over any minute so you’ll have company in the cellar.” His voice was urgent but stern and if there was one thing in this universe Jeremiah Herschel could be sure of it was that his wife would not disobey him when he told her to stay safe.
“God be with you.” Was all Hilda said as she cried and embraced her husband before Hans and his family showed up, immediately Hilda lead Brenda (Hans wife), Leona (his 9 year old daughter) and Brunhilde (Hans 12 year old daughter) to the cellar.
“So Jeremiah you think that those heretic Icarans have come to our world?” Hans said quietly as the two men calmly took old fashioned sonic rifles out of their carrying cases and each man took his (a sonic rifle won’t kill you but it will sure put the fear of God in you as you feel like your brain is trying to escape your skull).
“I don’t know Hans but I hope it is just some civilian that had to put down for repairs or something, but Icarans have to be the most stubborn people I’ve ever met, and when they decide they want something they take it, all others be damned.” Jeremiah’s voice strained as he turned and saw his son taking his sonic rifle over to the window…..”If they come to take our sons and daughters they’ll have a fight though and let us hope they do not want to kill today.” Jeremiah said in a low voice so that only Hans heard him, the Amish of Indie Bluff did not use the Sustain treatments and so at most lived to be just over a hundred, and Hans and Jeremiah were already in their forties and so neither felt much fear of being taken in a press gang, but their children….they were just perfect.

What seemed like an eternity passed before the hum of an engine and the tramp of heavy boots could be heard, and Jeremiah expected to see an Icaran marine column coming down his streets at any moment instead he saw a single vehicle which reminded him somewhat of an old style earth “truck” but it was much larger and had at least one big gun in its bed, around it was clustered a group of men wearing ragged looking clothes and carrying cruel looking weapons, not all of which were firearms.
Jeremiah had only seen an Icaran once but he knew right away these men were not Icarans, not only were they dressed in shambles but they were short and most of them were black, while most Icarans were tall and either Anglo or Asiatic in appearance, only as they got closer did he notice that their black color was not their skin, at least not on all of them, it was in fact a series of deep wounds that had been filled with dark ink to give them a frightening appearance. Jeremiah did not have time to think further as all hell seemed to break lose at once, he heard in the distance the sound of screaming women and children, and the shouts and hollers of men, followed by noises he had never heard in his life (the sound of battle), sonic rifles whined as the villagers defended their homes, but slug throwers responded quickly the sound of shrieks of agony tore the warm morning air.

Jeremiah and Hans both fired their Sonic rifles at two of the men in the group that had just entered their village, both men went down screaming but to the horror of Jeremiah and Hans alike instead of taking cover or rushing to aid their fallen comrades the other men simply laughed and began firing back; other men in the village opened fire with sonic rifles as well and Jeremiah looked out his window just in time to see two of his neighbors burst into flames as the slugs from these beast-men hit them in the arm or leg. Jeremiah had never seen an inferno round being used and to him it seemed like Satan himself was attacking their small community.

As the fighting went on Jeremiah saw the raiders break away into small teams and begin breaking into houses, Jeremiah saw a young man of about twenty-years dragged from his home by two of the raiders, and then mercilessly chopped into small pieces by primitive looking axe-like weapons, what shocked Jeremiah more then the sheer gore and horror was that the poor boy remained alive for several minutes as the two raiders slowly chopped off limbs and parts of limbs and relished every moment of his pain.
Hans shouted and fired a shot into one of the raiders as he came towards the house he and Jeremiah were taking shelter in, the man went down screaming a horrible bestial short of scream and began flailing on the ground as the effects of the sonic rifle continued to play havoc with his body.
Jeremiah fired at another raider sending the man…..no WOMAN! Into violent seizures and a rather audible and noxious case of diarrhea which seemed only to make her friends even more anxious to get into the fray.
Jeremiah heard a woman’s scream and looked over to his neighbor’s house and saw several raiders go down into the cellar of Betty Holtz after a few seconds he saw a raider carrying what he sickly came to realize was Betty’s head, more shrieks tore the sky as men were ignited by inferno rounds or simply torn apart by blade and bare hands as the raiders kept tearing the village apart.

“Hans I have to find a way to disguise the cellar entrance and protect our families’ can you hold them off for just a few more minutes?” Jeremiah asked in a voice that surprised even himself in it’s calm serenity…..he knew that he would die this day and that God would welcome him home, but he also knew that his family still had hope to live and he would do everything in his power to protect them for as long as God gave him time.
“Go…..God be with you Jeremiah your boy and I will hold them here.” Hans said with a grim set on his face as he saw Ezekiel take another raider down with his sonic rifle…..the problem was of course that sonic rifles did not kill and that those raiders would be fine in a few hours and most likely want revenge. But at least for the next few hours they would not be able to hurt anyone else.

Jeremiah raced out of the kitchen back into the main house and began looking for something….anything that would let him hide the entrance to the cellar that his wife and daughter and the family of his friend were hiding in. And then without even thinking he took a book case and moved it over to where it was a few inches away from the cellar door, he grabbed a rug and placed it over the door before sliding the book case on top of the rug, he just hoped and prayed that these raiders did not like books. He found himself taken aback when he heard himself laughing at the thought of those monsters outside tearing at a bookshelf to get the first copy of the Bible or his wife’s cook books. After a moment of delirious shock Jeremiah came to his senses when he heard the sound of a horrible scream coming from his kitchen. He grabbed a small axe from it’s place on the mantle and ran to the kitchen, sonic rifle in one hand axe in the other, he saw his son taking cover behind a cabinet and took a quick look around and saw his friend Hans laying on the floor, the whole left side of his torso had been blown open by a weapon the likes of which Jeremiah had never seen before.
It was in that moment that the kitchen door broke down and a figure burst through the door only to be dropped by a sonic blast from his son’s rifle, two more raiders came in and while one was brought down by a shot from Jeremiah the other raced for his son, without thinking Jeremiah flung his axe down on the figure as it raced by and as he heard the horrible crunch of blade meeting bone and flesh Jeremiah recoiled, leaving the axe buried in the skull of the raider who fell to the floor in a bloodied heap of gore and dead meat.
Jeremiah never even felt the dart that tore his head off and was mercifully spared the sight of his son being torn apart by vengeful raiders as they carved and mutilated the young boy......before leaving to tear the rest of the house apart.

********
Commander Dexter waited outside of the doors to the light cruiser’s tiny infirmary pacing as he waited for the doctor to come out and inform him of the condition of her patients, it was the first time Dexter could recall ever hearing of a doctor sealing off a ships infirmary, but considering the nature of the two women’s injuries he could certainly understand her reluctance to allow just anyone to stumble into the infirmary at the moment.
“Commander there ye’ are, I brought ye’ coffee.” Harriman’s voice boomed from behind Dexter causing the young Commander to jump a few inches off the deck and whirl around with a grimace on his face.
“Damn it sailing master I’ll have you hung next time.” Dexter said mockingly as he took the cup from the old Sailing master and looked at it, the jell was just starting to float to the top of the brownish water.
“Ah on the charge o’ tryin’ to kill a senior o’icer n’ doubt.” Harriman said with a shrug as he leaned against the wall and waved his hand with a callous indifference.
“Now there’s an idea….they still hang folks for that right?” Dexter said as he chewed a piece of jelled “coffee” mix and stared thoughtfully at the deck for a moment “Alex, who could have killed a Peacekeeper class ship like that and butchered her crew? The mantisorans don’t operate like that and pirates couldn’t kill a ship that big.” Dexter continued to stare at the deck as Harriman took a long slow breath.
“Well sir, if’ the’es any indies out here that could kill a Peacekeeper class, I’d o’ thought NavInt would have hea’d o’ the bastads…..unless it’s someone new.” Harriman paused for a moment before he finished “A new group of damned to hell Xenos.”
“Or humans Alex…..God knows there were people back in our own history who were sadistic Gan ni niang that got off on torture and rape.” Dexter shuddered as he remembered some of his history classes covering Praetor Li and his “appetites” especially toward young boys….until he conveniently died in a tragic accident involving his shuttle exploding..
“Aye……’tis true but to do what was done to that crew, I mean that was either pure enjoyment or pure hatred on their part……to do…that.” Harriman shivered as he remembered starring in numb horror at the camera feed from the marines.
The infirmary door silently opened and a marine guard, wearing the dark green tunic and black trousers of a standard enlisted duty uniform walked through them into the corridor, his face was pale and he almost forgot to salute Commander Dexter before heading off down the corridor at a slightly quickened pace.
A young woman stepped through the same hatch the marine had left open; she was wearing the white tunic of a naval medical officer and had just pulled a mask off with her left hand before saluting Dexter.
“Captain, Sailing Master, both patients are recovering, at least physically, God knows how they will be mentally when I bring them out of their comas.” Doctor Mara Goldberg had been from Jerusalem on the New Bethlehem colony she was tall dark skinned woman with dark hair and had what she liked to call a “very Jewish personality” which Dexter had come to realize meant, stubborn as a mule, often somber, and usually unshakeable, so when he saw her flushed face, and almost wobbling legs he immediately felt his stomach clench.
“How bad is it Dr?” He asked in as calm a voice as he could manage considering the circumstances.
“It’s pretty damn bad sir, the younger one’s got internal damage caused by what I’m guessing to be a bladed weapon that was…..” she paused as she heard Harriman choke down bile.
Naval officers of the modern era would see many a terrible thing, bodies torn and shredded or simply melded with deck plating because of heat, but ironically it was easier to cope with because war was not intentionally “cruel” you did not deliberately inflict pain on your enemy if you could kill them painlessly, and it was oddly impersonal in ship to ship combat, but to see a crew not just killed but tortured was too much even for the old spacer to handle.
“Alright Doc, we get the bloody idea.” Harriman choked out with a grimace before excusing himself and following the marine down the corridor.
“Sorry doc…it’s just hard.” Dexter said apologetically as he reached a hand out and patted the doctor’s shoulder. He had been “lucky” and not seen what had happened to the two women in person, the doctor had not only had to see it but had to try her damndest to fix the shattered bodies something Dexter could never imagine trying himself.
“Aw hell its fine…..anyway Captain if you would like to come in they are both fully clothed now, and I was about to bring the older woman out of her coma.” Goldberg turned toward the open hatch and gestured for the Commander to follow; after a moment he swallowed hard and followed her in.

The infirmary was dimly lit and the older woman was in the bed closest to the hatch, the younger woman was still surrounded by a curtain so no one could see her, Dexter saw a second marine in the room that had apparently had a stronger stomach then the one whom had left; the marine snapped a silent salute which Dexter returned grimly as he walked hesitantly to the unconscious woman’s bedside, the doctor followed him quietly and prepared a hypo injector with a medicine known by laymen as “thaw”. Doctor

Minutes passed before the unconscious woman began to twitch and move uncomfortably as the waking world began to pull at her, the woman’s eyes opened and after a second of shocked silence she screamed, a horrible scream that made Dexter’s blood run cold and his hair stand on end, the scream of someone who has had something beyond all imagining happen to them. She began kicking and throttling against the soft force of a containment field that held her body in place to prevent injury; Doctor Goldberg and one of her corpsmen rushed over to the bedside to calm the violent flailing woman; several minutes passed before the woman finally started to calm down and her senses returned to her.
Dexter stared at the woman for several long minutes, trying to force himself to remember who she was, she looked like someone he should know but he just couldn’t bring her name to his forebrain. Finally as she stropped struggling and relaxed the Doctor set the restraining field to minimal force and laid her hand on the woman’s shoulder.
“It’s alright, your safe.” Goldberg’s voice was soft and sweet but the woman still stared unbelieving and in shock.
“Can you hear me……..do you know who we are?” the woman still stared up blankly her mouth slack her eyes glazed.
Dexter stepped forward and forced his face into a mask of calm “Listen to me soldier…..you will answer me now.....do you know who you are.” His voice somehow kept it’s battlefield composure even as his stomach clenched at the thought of yelling at a woman in such a horrible condition.
Somehow his tone broke through the ice and the woman’s eyes went sharp, at first with fear and then something that looked almost like fear, at last her entire body seemed to relax as she finally seemed to truly be looking around her.
“Actually…..”the woman’s voice was a hoarse whisper and she began coughing almost immediately after she spoke, the young corpsman handed her a packet of water and she drank greedily for several seconds before the young man took the packet away from her to make sure she didn’t make herself sick.
After a moment she looked at Commander Dexter with what could almost be called a smile “Actually…..commander it’s not soldier” she paused and cleared her throat again “It’s Ma’am, I am in fact Rear Admiral Liza Adair.” Her voice croaked again but somehow she managed to keep her composure “Naval intelligence.” She finished the last word with a fierce cough before almost collapsing back onto the bed.
“Oh……damn……I apologize ma’am.” Dexter saluted briefly and all color flushed from his face, which seemed to lighten the battered woman’s mood even further.
“Don’t worry….about it.” She said slowly before falling back to sleep. Goldberg looked at Dexter and nodded to reassure him that she had merely fallen asleep ‘She’ll be fine sir….but she needs some real rest for a few hours.” Goldberg’s tone left no doubt in Dexter’s mind that she was not requesting him to leave but in fact was merely being very polite about telling him to get out.
“Alright doctor…..oh and please do come to dinner tonight with the rest of us in the wardroom.” He managed to smile when she nodded and quickly turned and left the room, his gut still feeling like he’d been kicked by a Spartan Kraken.

Chapter two
An hour later Dexter was sitting alone in the wardroom, it was naval tradition that a Captain usually arrive last but Dexter had wanted some privacy and besides he thought I’ve never stood too much on tradition anyway. He was wearing his standard duty uniform and had asked that all of his senior staff do the same at dinner; he always thought the tradition of full dress at dinner for the senior staff on the same ship was stuffy and for old men and Admirals….neither of which he was.
He let his mind wander for a few minutes as the thought of some shadow in the void of space hunting down and destroying a powerful Icaran starship and butchering its crew began to create a sense of dread in him he had never felt before in his life. As he realized almost for the first time that he was scared he actually smiled….a humorless smile that made his normally attractive face look almost like an old Nazi rebel death’s head. “Son of a *****….I’m scared of a ghost.” He said aloud as he forced the fear from his mind.
Just then the hatch opened and two officers stepped through, wearing the normal crimson red tunic and black trousers of a naval officer’s duty uniform; Ensign Blake in the lead and Ensign Paris following, both men walked in and saluted; Ensign Blake was tall for an average Icaran woman, she was also rather rough looking for someone her age, especially in the modern era of Sustain but she beamed a personality that made others pay attention to her when she spoke, Paris on the other hand was almost her exact opposite, he was short and had it not been for Icaran workout regiments being a required part of school, work and general life he probably would have ended up a fat man, his body was broad as a barrel and his face reminded Dexter a little bit of a pug’s, Paris was also quiet and his personality was almost non-existent but he knew his job and he did it well.
Both young officers took their seats and a moment later two more figures appeared in the door, Ensign Caldwell, his face sickly pale as usual and his nerves so on edge Dexter was surprised the young man didn’t constantly seizure, Caldwell managed a quick shaky salute before almost running to his seat and parking himself silently, Ensign Walker stopped for a moment and stared awkwardly at the display the other officer had just made, Walker was from a naval family, he was tall muscular and by the book, his hair was cropped closer then most spacers kept it, almost marine or army like and his piercing grey eyes conveyed his emotions in a way no one could seem to ignore. He saluted smartly and walked at a leisurely pace to his seat without a second glance at Caldwell.
Lieutenant’s Geer and McClain walked in side by side and Dexter grinned for a split second, he always thought the two would make an interesting couple with interesting kids, Geer was taller then most core world Icarans, and his muscles were clearly visible even through his dark green tunic and black trousers, marines joked that the man could knock out a tank, and anytime Dexter saw the man he almost believed it, Geer was not an attractive man but he wasn’t ugly, and his close cropped hair had a habit of making his pronounced ears look even bigger, but the young marine always had just an overwhelming presence of self confidence and vitality that made the man a virtual walking recruitment holo, his dark green eyes almost matched his tunic and he often joked that his eyes were issued by the marine corps…..marine green. He saluted yet stayed next to McClain, the woman was average height for an Icaran core world woman, and she had long brown hair tied tight in a style that many naval women preferred, her posture and expression was pure confidence and professionalism as she walked into the room, but Dexter also couldn’t help but notice that she always seemed to have this glint in her eye that reminded him of a schoolgirl who looked like she would pull a prank on you in a heartbeat if she ever got the chance. And Dexter couldn’t help but take note as the two officers took seats next to each other.
Sailing Master Harriman came in several seconds later, still buttoning his tunic and looking rather sheepish before saluting and taking his seat at the opposite end of the table from the Captain. Doctor Goldberg walked in silently, her white tunic and trousers standing out amidst the dark colors of the “armed service” officers. She smiled politely and took her seat with no sign of embarrassment on her face over being late.
This was their first formal dinner with this crew since launch as he had kept the crew to too strict a schedule over the past weeks for any sort of formal activities and Dexter couldn’t quite figure out how to start up a conversation.
“Good evening ladies and gentlemen.” Dexter said quietly, the other officers nodded back at him and he felt a little twist of irony that he faced battle with less anxiety then a dinner. After a few moments of awkward silence a line of mess staff came in with trays laden with food and drinks, including a bottle of Leosian brandy that Dexter suspected Harriman brought aboard.
After the plates were set and the glasses filled with wine Dexter made a brief toast and took a sip of his wine, he hated wine but because he was in front of his officers he forced him self not to make any nasty faces as the horrible flavor and aftertaste played out on his taste buds.
“Well I suppose we should get to the point, there’s a hunter out there and she killed one of our ships…..and butchered the crew.” Dexter paused and let the statement sink in for a moment “And I intend to hunt her down and kill her.” The room was suddenly filled with a sense of heaviness in the air, as if everyone wanted to protest right then and there but through sheer force of discipline were holding their tongues.
“Sir…..is that wise?” It was Blake’s voice, soft yet confident and unyielding even though if Dexter were the type he could ruin her career just for questioning him.
“Maybe not but we are going to do it anyway by time a capital ship arrived God knows how many more people would suffer…what I intend to find out Ensign, I want you all to give me your opinions on your departments…..are they ready for battle?” Dexter said flatly as he looked around the room at his officers.
“My gunners can handle it sir.” Blake said without even hesitating, she didn’t even flinch when the other officers stared at her for a second.
“My marines are……well marine’s sir; we’re always ready for a fight.” Geer grinned boyishly at Blake before turning a solemn face to his captain.
“My……uh….well my damage control parties sir, that is to say we could use…..some more practice I think…..I mean I believe sir.” Caldwell said shakily.

Dexter glowered at the young man for a moment as did just about everyone else in the room besides Goldberg who simply shrugged and Paris who was totally oblivious to the social nuances at play.
“Well mister Caldwell I guess after dinner you should get your DC crews together and get them into shape now shouldn’t you?” Dexter said icily as he glanced at Harriman, the old spacer nodded almost imperceptibly letting Dexter know he would help kick Caldwells DC teams into shape.
“Alright, what about the rest of you can your departments handle battle?” Dexter watched the other officers in the room nod, no one spoke for a moment because everyone besides Paris seemed to notice just how big a boot stamp Caldwell would have on his posterior the next morning.

After an hour of serious discussion regarding the departments and their capabilities the dinner finally relaxed into a more casual and friendly meal between fellow officers, not just senior and subordinate officers. Geer even led the officers in singing an old “sea shanty’ about a sailor named Jack; after dinner broke up and the officers went back to their various duties, Dexter, Harriman, Geer and Goldberg remained in their places for.
“So, seriously how crazy am I for considering this Alex/” Dexter said with a grin as he looked at the three senior officers in his crew.
“Well, sir’ they ha’e a big advantage ov’r us in terms o’ tonnage an’ mass, if they actually are a battleship like that poor spacer on the Pontus said.” Harriman shrugged as he continued to ponder his answer.
“Do you think he was mistaken sir?” Geer said in the same unperturbed tone he always seemed to have.
“I’m not sayin’ he’s mistaken, just that it’s possible, not to criticize FedSec: space but it’s a new branch of a new security force, they still ha’e a lot of green people who may na’ know what’s really shooting at them when stuff starts exploding.” Harriman turned back to face Dexter, who had by now steepled his fingers under his chin as he thought the situation over.
“New or not FedSec:space technically has jurisdiction with law enforcement in the provinces since their creation, just like FedSec:ground has authority over the army and marines in matters of internal law enforcement.” Dexter spoke to no one in particular as he brought up the only argument that would allow them to save face if they withdrew from the region and allowed the pirate to continue it’s raids and massacres until a full navy or FedSec:space task force arrived to deal with it.
“Aye, but there are at least a dozen independent colonies, and about a hundred merchantmen prowling this region, not to mention five Icaran worlds within striking distance of here…..if we wait for reinforcements thousands of lives could be lost….or more” Harriman said grimly as he took a sip of brandy.

“I know, but Blake was right, it’s a damn battleship maybe bigger, and it destroyed a FedSec:space enforcement vessel larger, and better armed then we are, with a large FedSec:ground detachment aboard.” Dexter allowed his private fears to be known only among these four officers, to the rest of the crew he would always be the gung ho superman that he portrayed himself as; of course that “act” was only partially false, because Dexter had always been self confident and brazen, which is why he was blessed and cursed with the rank of Commander at such a young age.
“Sir…again not to insult those FedSec troops but FedSec:ground are peacekeepers, designed for limited engagements with primitive militaries or rioters not armored combatants skilled in infantry warfare. My marines could have probably neutralized the FedSec:ground detachment aboard Pontus with minimal losses.” Geer frowned as the thought of his marines being butchered like the FedSec crew on Pontus.
“Granted Lieutenant but we can’t be sure of that, and there’s another point I haven’t brought up, one of the survivors is Rear Admiral Liza Adair, NavInt which just brings up a whole load of new questions.” Dexter looked around, only the Doctor and he had known the identity of the older woman, the rest of the crew thought she had just been a Naval training officer. The Marine Lieutenant looked shocked for the briefest of moments before his face returned to the confident mask of steel it always was, Harriman just squinted thoughtfully.
“Well I am not a combat officer, but if I’m not mistaken NavInt having one of its highest ranking officers out in the frontier suggests something very big going on, so why did they not dispatch an entire FedSec:space and ground combined task force; why only one ship?” Goldberg crossed her arms and looked at the combat officers quizzically.

“Or a whole damned naval squadron, nothing says “peacekeeping” like a squadron of super dreadnoughts that can wipe out your solar system.” Harriman continued to glare at the table as if he could make it answer his questions.
“Only one way to find out ladies and gentlemen and that is to speak to Admiral Adair when she awakes; which reminds me doctor what is the progress on your patients?” Dexter had unbuttoned his tunic as soon as the other officers had left and now he played with one of the buttons; nervously awaiting the doctor’s answer.
“As you know sir rape is a rare crime in the Empire, not only is our culture totally geared against such actions but it’s impossible to get away with it now a days with DNA and RNA identifiers……so we are not exactly equipped to deal with such atrocities on an average medical basis.” She frowned thoughtfully “Fortunately, both of them have recovered physically, mentally on the other hand….Adair seems to be far stronger mentally and has already begun to force herself to recover with what little help I can offer, the young woman who Adair identified as FedSec:space spacer Allyson Landry, age fourteen.” Goldberg paused again as she heard the marine across from her gasp, he hadn’t realized just how young the girl was.
“Please continue doctor.” Dexter assured her as he poured another glass of brandy.
“She seems to be far more withdrawn and broken mentally, I’ve tried to help her but whenever someone touches her it gets ugly, she bit Corpsman Bran when she first woke up and realized that Bran was bathing her.” The doctor’s frown only deepened “Bran’ll be fine we already re-grew her right index finger and healed the skin and nerve damage, but Landry is a whole different story and I can’t figure out how to help her.” Doctor Goldberg sagged for the first time that Dexter could remember and he realized that it was getting late and everyone needed to rest or get about their duties, and he needed to get to bed before the alcohol he had consumed sank in.
“Alright doctor, do your best as always, Geer I want you to start your marines on counter boarding practice and CQB drills with the rest of the crew starting tomorrow morning, if they try to board us I want my naval crew able to at least put up some fight without burdening your marines.” Dexter noticed his voice had gotten somewhat sluggish and hurried his final orders and good nights before leaving the wardroom and heading to his quarters to sleep off the two glasses of brandy he had drunk cursing himself for not developing a “navy man’s tolerance” to alcohol and worrying over the next few days.

To be continued: