Mitchell's Revenge

It took three standard days to get back to the shipyard. The Cygnus followed them back towards EQ2 and watched them dock safely. Admiral Bokkveld then headed his ship towards the transport hub orbiting CX9 on the outer edge of the Karhu system.

Lauri watched from the control room as Lucy manoeuvred Mitchell’s Revenge into the repair pod. He sighed as he examined the damage to the ship’s skin. This would take some time to fix. He hoped they had enough parts.

Business was tougher since the launch of the repair service. The Universal Starship Enterprise contract with the Karhu system military was one of the few things keeping the company afloat. Other corporations were holding onto their orders, waiting to see what happened next. They had been assured that U.S.E. had returned to their previously reliable software supplier, and that there was nothing to worry about. But still they held off.

The Tigerline court case had taken time, money and energy to fight. A lot of publicity had surrounded it due to the death of Tatiana Orlov. Speculation about what the IGM might do was rife. Erik was exhausted by it all. In the end they were found not responsible for the fault in the FTL drive. Tigerline had joined U.S.E. in suing BSC, the software manufacturer, and it looked like they had a good chance of success.

Lauri had never seen Tim so stressed. The business issues coupled with the kidnapping of his daughter aged him ten years. His blond hair was now entirely white, his blue eyes were bloodshot and the bags underneath them made him look as if he hadn’t slept for months.

Sibil had lost weight as a result of her frantic exercising in an effort to distract herself from the loss of her daughter. She burst into tears at the slightest mention of Anja. She looked terrible. Tim and Sibil were scheduled to visit the shipyard in the next few days. With Jake and Lucy sidetracked for repairs, they wanted to discuss both the business and a plan to rescue Anja.

Lauri’s reverie was interrupted by the appearance of Lucy and Em in the control room. Em padded straight to Lauri’s side and pushed against his legs, begging to be stroked. He reached down and stroked her head and rubbed her ears. A low rumble of satisfaction came from the panther.

“She likes you!” said Lucy as she walked towards them. Lauri grinned at her.

“You’ve really made a mess of my ship,” he said. Lucy nodded.

“We were out of options,” she said. “I don’t know how the Zond got away, but they must have been damaged too. If Anja was on board I hope the damage was minimal. As far as we can figure out, they’ve gone to Tarasov, and there’s an asteroid belt to navigate before you can get to the planet.”

Lauri nodded. “I looked at the charts too. That belt’s mined as well. So if you don’t know what you’re doing you won’t last long. Going there is not a good idea. The IGM’s holding the space around Tarasov too tightly.”

“I know,” said Lucy. “We’re going to have to wait for them to leave the Laika system for some reason. Have you learned much about the crew of the Zond?”

“A little,” replied Lauri, still stroking Em’s head. He found that the simple action of stroking her fur was helping him to think.

“The Captain, Maxim Volkov, was a talented pilot when he was young. Just like you,” Lauri went on. “I bet he still is. Their current pilot trained with a commercial outfit. He joined the Zond after a bar brawl with an IGM mercenary. He’s been with them ever since. From what I’ve read he’s very competent, but he’s not a risk taker like Maxim.”

“We need a reason for them to come back into the Karhu system,” said Lucy. “If we could get them out of their home system, maybe we could capture them and question them about Anja. Then we’d have something to work with.”

“That’s assuming they took her in the first place,” came Em’s voice in Lucy’s mind.

“You’re starting to sound like a mercenary!” said Lauri.

He began to pace up and down. Em trotted along behind him, waving her tail high in the air. The rear door to the control room slid open and Jake came in. Em bounded towards him and butted her head against his thigh. He scratched her ears. She rumbled some more.

“The ship’s a mess Lauri,” Jake said brightly. “How long are we going to be stuck here do you think?” Lauri glared at him.

“At least a week, depending on parts,” he said.

“You’ll have another repair to deal with in a few days,” Jake went on. “The Guardian Angel will be joining us. She took a few hits on the way through the Spansion Shipping Lane and lost her antennae down one side. She’s partially blind. She’s ugly too.”

“Isn’t that the ship that salvaged the FTL drive from Ripley’s Revenge?” asked Lauri.

“Sure is,” replied Jake. “I offered a repair bay for a few days. We should be able to find out the truth while they’re here. And by the way, their pilot is probably the best I’ve seen since I met Lucy. We ought to see if he could be persuaded to join us.”

“Pilots, pilots, and more pilots,” came Em’s voice in Lucy’s mind. “What do pilots like to do most?”

“Fly, of course,” said Lucy. Lauri and Jake stared at her.

“What?” they asked together.

“Em’s had an idea,” she replied. Now they just looked confused.

“If pilots live to fly, and their ships are grounded, even temporarily, they need something to distract them. When was the last time we hosted a pylon race?”

“That’s brilliant!” said Lauri. “If we set it far enough ahead, maybe we could get Volkov to compete. Lure him away from the Laika system.”

“And it’d bring ships and money,” added Jake. “Money that we badly need. Let’s put it to Dad when he gets here.”

“Now my work is done!” came Em’s voice in Lucy’s mind. “I’m going to have a sleep.” And she padded off towards her quarters.