Zhao Su-yin had the dubious honor of being in command of the ANS Kuài Bō, which meant 'Swift Wave' in Minotauran Chinese. The aging, and inappropriately named, tub was anything but swift, and, with a service history that predated her birth by at least a decade, was now only suitable for insystem patrol duty. The Navy had even gone so far as to strip out the Bō's FTL drive, leaving her stranded permanently in this system. Su-yin watched as a massive bulk freighter suddenly disappeared from her ship's sensors. The Bō might be old, but she wasn't myopic, her sensor arrays were the latest generation available. The Raytheon AN/SPS-233 was the most sensitive short range scan suite ever put into an Alliance Navy ship, it was even believed to be as good, or better, than the Darkaellan Imperium's latest short range sensors.
Su-yin's brow furrowed slightly as her thoughts turned to the Darkaellan Imperial Navy's technological superiority. Her resentment of their arrogant unwillingness to acknowledge that the Humanist Interstellar Alliance, which included all of the Terran solar system as well as Minotaur, New Detroit, Kinshasa, and Tai Sheng Kong (embarrassment though it might be), was in all other ways as advanced as they were, was a permanently inflamed canker. The fact that the fastest ship in the Alliance's fleet was still no match for the Imperium's slowest, simply rubbed salt into that open wound, and she wished - not for the first time - that they could achieve parity with the DIN.
She would reluctantly admit that the Imperium's officers respected interstellar law to the letter, and rarely flouted the regulations governing the transit of spacegoing vessels. She was all too aware that on several occasions, naval commanders in other systems had found themselves on the receiving end of the DIN's belligerence, but she'd yet to experience it personally. Not that being in the sights of a Darkaellan ship's advanced weapons systems was likely to happen, because, truth to tell, the Imperial Navy almost never deployed its ships in systems with well established, and functional, governments, and they never used transit loci. Their preferred tactic was to come in above the elliptic, and as deep as their FTL drives would allow, then make a polar approach. It was hard on ships, their drives, and it burned a lot of fuel, but it worked. Alliance ships used transit loci, for the simple reason that it saved a huge amount of reactor mass, and increased the working life of a ship by decades.
Ships came and went through the Minotaur-New Detroit locus that was her assigned patrol area, with enough regularity to warrant the presence of a tanker to service arriving ships that might be low on fuel. They were expected to stay well clear of the emergence zone where most ships appeared, with little to no warning, except for a short, intense burst of neutrinos. Six satellites were in place at cardinal points around the locus, each of which was capable of sensing neutrinos, as well as virtually all other forms of electromagnetic radiation.
"Captain Zhao, I have an ENS at locus, sector 32G. It's quite large, Captain, could be a military vessel in transit." Her sensor officer called out crisply, from his station on the bridge.
ENS was military jargon for Emergence Neutrino Spike, which was as close to the truth as one could get, without a couple of doctorates in high energy particle physics, to describing what happened when a ship popped out of FTL. She quickly decided that prudence was today's watchword, and snapped out her orders in a clear, calm voice.
"Bring the 233 on line, and start sweeping the area of the ENS. Tactical: Begin plotting probable courses for a ship emerging from the locus at sector 32G, and bring the main guns to bear on as many of them as possible. Helm: Bring us about to maximize Tactical's firing solution, but try to maintain an angle that will facilitate the need for a sudden pursuit; I realize that's asking a lot, but do your best." The bridge came alive with a chorus of acknowledgements from her crew.
The Kuài Bō's crew was at full readiness, when the incoming ship winked into existence less than 5000 kilometers from their position. Su-yin watched the monitor in front of her command chair, and stared at the information being relayed from the Tactical station in surprise. The ship wasn't military at all; from the looks of things, it was an old New Halifax Industries salvage ship, probably as old as, or maybe older than, her own ship. She pulled up the ship's IFF transponder data, and let out a silent whistle as she checked the listing of the ship's various modifications, which included fairly heavy defensive armaments for a civilian vessel.
"Tactical, I think we can stand down for now, but keep the guns hot." She turned to her second in command, and addressed him personally. "Piers, these people have a ship registered as a privateer, and they have an FTL drive with an ENS that puts them in the same class as an Imperial ship of the line, what am I missing?"
Piers Chang, who had served in the Navy almost as long as his captain had been alive, grinned impishly at her, and said: "That'd be the Jester, sir. Her captain, Cameron Marshall, was a company man who went privateer about five, ten years ago maybe. Way I heard, he cheated the Imperium out of a top of the line, military FTL drive."
Su-yin's brow furrowed slightly as her thoughts turned to the Darkaellan Imperial Navy's technological superiority. Her resentment of their arrogant unwillingness to acknowledge that the Humanist Interstellar Alliance, which included all of the Terran solar system as well as Minotaur, New Detroit, Kinshasa, and Tai Sheng Kong (embarrassment though it might be), was in all other ways as advanced as they were, was a permanently inflamed canker. The fact that the fastest ship in the Alliance's fleet was still no match for the Imperium's slowest, simply rubbed salt into that open wound, and she wished - not for the first time - that they could achieve parity with the DIN.
She would reluctantly admit that the Imperium's officers respected interstellar law to the letter, and rarely flouted the regulations governing the transit of spacegoing vessels. She was all too aware that on several occasions, naval commanders in other systems had found themselves on the receiving end of the DIN's belligerence, but she'd yet to experience it personally. Not that being in the sights of a Darkaellan ship's advanced weapons systems was likely to happen, because, truth to tell, the Imperial Navy almost never deployed its ships in systems with well established, and functional, governments, and they never used transit loci. Their preferred tactic was to come in above the elliptic, and as deep as their FTL drives would allow, then make a polar approach. It was hard on ships, their drives, and it burned a lot of fuel, but it worked. Alliance ships used transit loci, for the simple reason that it saved a huge amount of reactor mass, and increased the working life of a ship by decades.
Ships came and went through the Minotaur-New Detroit locus that was her assigned patrol area, with enough regularity to warrant the presence of a tanker to service arriving ships that might be low on fuel. They were expected to stay well clear of the emergence zone where most ships appeared, with little to no warning, except for a short, intense burst of neutrinos. Six satellites were in place at cardinal points around the locus, each of which was capable of sensing neutrinos, as well as virtually all other forms of electromagnetic radiation.
"Captain Zhao, I have an ENS at locus, sector 32G. It's quite large, Captain, could be a military vessel in transit." Her sensor officer called out crisply, from his station on the bridge.
ENS was military jargon for Emergence Neutrino Spike, which was as close to the truth as one could get, without a couple of doctorates in high energy particle physics, to describing what happened when a ship popped out of FTL. She quickly decided that prudence was today's watchword, and snapped out her orders in a clear, calm voice.
"Bring the 233 on line, and start sweeping the area of the ENS. Tactical: Begin plotting probable courses for a ship emerging from the locus at sector 32G, and bring the main guns to bear on as many of them as possible. Helm: Bring us about to maximize Tactical's firing solution, but try to maintain an angle that will facilitate the need for a sudden pursuit; I realize that's asking a lot, but do your best." The bridge came alive with a chorus of acknowledgements from her crew.
The Kuài Bō's crew was at full readiness, when the incoming ship winked into existence less than 5000 kilometers from their position. Su-yin watched the monitor in front of her command chair, and stared at the information being relayed from the Tactical station in surprise. The ship wasn't military at all; from the looks of things, it was an old New Halifax Industries salvage ship, probably as old as, or maybe older than, her own ship. She pulled up the ship's IFF transponder data, and let out a silent whistle as she checked the listing of the ship's various modifications, which included fairly heavy defensive armaments for a civilian vessel.
"Tactical, I think we can stand down for now, but keep the guns hot." She turned to her second in command, and addressed him personally. "Piers, these people have a ship registered as a privateer, and they have an FTL drive with an ENS that puts them in the same class as an Imperial ship of the line, what am I missing?"
Piers Chang, who had served in the Navy almost as long as his captain had been alive, grinned impishly at her, and said: "That'd be the Jester, sir. Her captain, Cameron Marshall, was a company man who went privateer about five, ten years ago maybe. Way I heard, he cheated the Imperium out of a top of the line, military FTL drive."
"Cheated? The Imperium? I have got to meet this man. He sounds like -" She was cut off by her communications officer.
"Captain, I've just received a message from the Jester. They're requesting permission to transfer a crewman into our custody, detained for willful destruction of property, assault with a deadly weapon, attempted murder, and smuggling proscribed substances. They also requested that we notify the local USPF office on their behalf." The comms officer reported.
"I may just get to meet Captain Marshall after all, Piers. It would seem as though the crew of the Jester have had an eventful transit, and need our help." She said, with a note satisfaction.
"Indeed, sir. So it would seem." Commented Piers, standing at his captain's side.
Su-yin leaned back in her chair and smiled. It was going to be an interesting day after all.
"Captain, I've just received a message from the Jester. They're requesting permission to transfer a crewman into our custody, detained for willful destruction of property, assault with a deadly weapon, attempted murder, and smuggling proscribed substances. They also requested that we notify the local USPF office on their behalf." The comms officer reported.
"I may just get to meet Captain Marshall after all, Piers. It would seem as though the crew of the Jester have had an eventful transit, and need our help." She said, with a note satisfaction.
"Indeed, sir. So it would seem." Commented Piers, standing at his captain's side.
Su-yin leaned back in her chair and smiled. It was going to be an interesting day after all.
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