20. The chase is on.

Daltas Hold. Located in the asterooid field of L-2, and originally built to provide easy access to the Lanthanic ore that was found in copious amounts, the station was now the nexus for production of weapons grade Xithricite for export to the Serco military, as evidenced by the hourly convoy of bots. The communal area was rather small, especially since most of the manufacturing space was taken up by the Xithricite refinery, with most of the residential area isolated in small clusters around the core where the main utilities were placed. Xang Xi had invested quite a large amount in the station, especially the trading areas, that boasted some of the the best supplied weapons and ships merchants apart from Corvus. And like the Corvus managed stations, not a lot of questions were asked.

It was perfect for Ardon, away from the direct influence of the Council, but still in deep grey space. Especially now, where they were looking for him. He had to make it up to them somehow, he had to bury all evidence leading to him and to the Council, and then present a solution to the Remley situation. He had a plan, and he was going to meet Fadhe in around six hours and discuss it with him. Until then, he was going to watch some blood sports, and maybe one of those new flesh movies. He needed to appear confident and relaxed when he met Fadhe, otherwise the freelance pirate would bolt, and take the rest of the money with him.

The TPG convoy glided through Sedina space, turbos flaring now and again from the Behemoths to let them keep up with the rest of the ships. The convoy was destined for Daltas Hold as so many other TPG convoys, and as such it was not only on time, but also contained several non TPG members. One of the ships, a TGFT Centaur Mk III was slightly damaged, a result of an errant hive bot that the convoy encountered during an Ion storm the convoy passed. The damage had resulted in a damaged thruster section on its left side, and the pilot had a tendency to overcompensate. Well, that was the story anyway. Ecka was fighting a lot to make the ship appear damaged while in fact it was only cosmetic. He drifted to the right side of the docking bay, and as he missed the bay, he hit the reinforced xithricite armour that surrounded the docking by for this exact purpose. The Centaur recoiled slightly and drifted back from the station, and as it did so, the bay disgorged eight EVA marine suits. Covered by the bulk of the ship, they moved towards one of the many auxiliary personnel docks. The lead suit unhanded a piece of equipment and interfaced with the door lock. The door opened after about thirty seconds, and the suited persons drifted inside. The same person interfaced with the door lock on the inside, and the airlock cycled and opened to the station. Six of the persons unsuited and revealed Waldoze, John, Pasquel, Lambin, Buzz and Mike. Creyn and Rowan were staying suited inside the air lock to keep the emergency exit clear.

Waldoze grabbed a large glue gun and motioned for Buzz to get the second glue gun. While the funnel shaped weapon didn't actually shot glue, it mixed a two component epoxy-based almost instant hardening foam under high pressure, that was enough to incapacitate anyone with a touch of the button. The large guns were very heavy, thus the two largest members carried them. Pasquel and Mike grabbed a pair of tasers that looked like "Buzz Lightyear" toy guns, and John grabbed the pair of stun batons. Together they unfolded and assembled the cloth wagon between them. Lambin carried the only lethal weapon for the snatch team, a lethal looking heavy calibre gyro jet rocket gun. Firing small homing missiles nicknamed bolts, it was mostly known as a bolter. Only in the direst of circumstances would Lambin let the characteristic "Boom-swoosh-Crack-fwump-Gung" sound be unleashed. Waldoze nodded to John, and the group started moving down the corridor of the station.

Ecka docked the Centaur in the docking bay, and slowly went through his post docking checks. He didn't bother go outside, but merely sent a message for reload of weapons in preparation for launch with the next convoy. The deck hands were familiar with the old miners habits, and had already made the ammunition ready. Ecka turned and gave the thumbs up to the three persons in the back of the cargo hold. The specially created holding facility was able to hold the eight EVA suited persons and still left room for medical facilities should they be needed. Mercy and Ifor were ready in full surgical kits, with Vardonx in an armoured combat suit with three millimetre GAUSS guns under slung each arm. Ecka hoped Vardonx would not have to be used, but he was not going to take any chances at all.

John walked confidently around the corner and directly into a trio of red clad workers with SDF marks on their tunics. He nodded at them and moved aside to let them pass. The looked down the corridor and saw what they thought of a cleaning crew, why else would they be carrying vacuum hoses? They ignored the five green clad persons and chattered amongst themselves in the Serco dialect. Lambin gripped his bolter even tighter. He had overcome his intense animosity towards the Serco when he joined TGFT, but it was still ingrained in him to be more alert when members of that particular military was present. Pasquel clapped Lambin on the shoulder for support, and the moment passed. They continued down the corridor to the left. They had been given the room number 681, the one right in front of John. They readied, and John knocked on the door, ready with the stun batons.

Ardon had just about drifted off to light sleep when somebody knocked on his door. Strange, nobody were supposed to know that he was living here apart from Fadhe, and he was not supposed to be here for at least an hour. Still, he got his pants on and walked over to the door and unlocked the door. He grabbed the handle and opened.

The door opened, and John tensed, ready for action. A young man opened the door, and John smiled at him. "Ardon Rala? Paeko Leta?"

"Uhm, no. Who are you, and what do you want?" he asked John.

"Hanseman Luchter, Corvus gambling and winnings committee," John lied. "We are looking for a person named Ardon Rala, or his partner Paeko Leta in relations with a somewhat large amount of money he has won on the last Deneb Run. We were told he lived here?"

"Who, Corvus gambling, Deneb run you say? Ehm, I am not supposed to say, but if you are bringing a lot of cash to him I guess it is ok. Paeko asked me to swap rooms, he is in my old room 536. How much did he win?"

"About six million credits. Thank you for your help. We'll go find him. And please don't call him, it is supposed to be a surprise," John smiled and winked to the young man.

John motioned to the others to go the one level up to 536 instead. They moved with as much haste as they could without drawing too much attention to themselves. It still took about ten minutes for them to arrive at the door, only to find it locked. Nobody responded to the knocking, and John motioned to Pasquel to bring the lock breaker gear out. Fifteen seconds later, and the lock clicked open. John and Waldoze peeked in. The room was small with a single large chair in the middle, the vid screen on one wall was showing two young women clad in what they had been wearing when they had been born, in some very anatomically challenging positions. They went inside to make sure that the room was empty, and quickly went out again. Well, John did. Waldoze had walked in to the chair in the middle of the room and seated himself to better see the show. John sighed and went in again to force Waldoze out of the room.

John keyed his mike. "PRIME is not in his room, and we have now lost his location. Aborting unless ordered otherwise."

Ecka swore under his breath, the effect was almost enough to blister the paint on his ship. "Your call J, but this may be the one shot we have."

John looked down to the floor and tried to focus on what was possible. "Roger. I have one shot left, and after that, the risks are too high."

"I agree," Ecka said, "but the moment you don't feel secure about it, you abort. You have control."

John looked up at his team.

"Thing just got interesting. Lets assume he went out with somebody, where would he go?"

Waldoze chuckled. "I know exactly where he is, The Priggly Pear, the best strip joint in Daltas." Buzz and Mick nodded and smiled at Waldoze. "Remember that one time with the girls that were....."

"That is quite graphic enough Waldoze. You know where it is, you led the way," John interrupted.

21. Almost there

Ardon had been pleasantly surprised when he opened the door. Fadhe had been outside with two girls clad in mini skirts and even smaller tops.

"I suspect you have called me here for celebrations," Fadhe slurred, his thick accent making the sentence barely legible. "So I have ordered a private show at the Pear, and these two delicacies insisted that I pick you up right away." He squeezed the giggling girls and motioned for Ardon to come with him. Not one to pass up an opportunity like this, Ardon closed the door after him immediately and grabbed one girl around the waist.

"Lead the way, and lets get plastered." The bad news would have to wait, they wouldn't get worse anyway.

The entrance to The Priggly Pear was a set of double doors in midnight blue with fluorescent tubes in yellow snaking around small pictures of semi-nude men and women. The door was blocked by two large very obviously heavily implant-enhanced men that looked like bad news for anybody that wanted to make trouble. Normally they were bored stiff, the very presence of having them put a cap on most trouble, and only in very rare cases was it necessary for them to activate their war implants.

Today was not going to be one they were going to tell their grandchildren about. John walked over to the men, slowly but purposefully, and stopped about five meters from them. He flicked a stun baton out and showed it to them, triggering their reflexes. They moved towards him, and he lowered the baton, signalling to Waldoze and Buzz to fire. The glue guns sprayed the two guards with the epoxy, instantly freezing them in their position. John walked over to them and pressed his stun baton to their neck implant node, whispered "sorry" and pressed the activation button. First one man went unconscious, and after John had repeated the procedure, the other went too.

They put the two guards into the Priggly Pear's entrance, and Pasquel and Buzz took up their place instead. The others went inside the club, and were assaulted by the high music and the dark room with flashing lights behind. Only spots on the stage where a girl, Rose Waldoze recognised, was dancing around while a man was lying on his back, illuminated the room. A low haze of inhalant narcotics was separating the room in height, with somewhat cleaner air towards the floor.

"Dooooooozzzer," the keening voice belonged to one of the girls from the bar. She ran to him on very high plateau shoes and threw herself around his neck. "Where have you been? We have missed you very much Dozzer, you want a drink? A private show?" More girls were moving over to him now. John eyed him and ground his teeth.

"Listen Lily, I am really here to find a person, he may be with someone. Maybe you know him, Paeko Leta?"

"Oh yes, he is getting a private dance over there by Azalea, spending quite well. Maybe you are next?" She indicated a booth with a white piece of cloth barely concealing what was going on inside.

"Can't honey, work stuff to do. Get the flower girls and move to the that side of the room." He indicated the opposite side from the booth. She started to protest, but he stopped her. "I mean it Lily. I'll make it up to you."

She pouted her lips in a fake display of displeasure, but did what he asked her. Waldoze motioned to the snatch team, and they got ready. John walked over and tore the sheet to the side, expecting a fight. Not likely in that position John realised. He pressed the stun baton to the back of the busy mans head and activated. The head of the person snapped forward, and then lolled to the side. Waldoze stepped in and motioned to the girl that she should get lost. He pressed a scanner against the neck of the man, and starred at the readout. The DNA profile was clear, Ardon Rala. He nodded to Lambin and Pasquel, who started to load the unconscious person into the small wagon they had brought.

They were interrupted by a crack of a gun firing. The many hours spent in combat training took over, and the team spread out and took cover within miliseconds. The shot had come from the man on stage, and he was now rolling over the side of the stage towards the back of the room.

"Status," John shouted.

"Leg hit, just grazed it" Lambin called out.

"Lethal force authorised" John shouted, as another round went tearing through the room close to his location.

"Boom-swoosh-Crack, Boom-swoosh-Crack, Boom-swoosh-Crack, Boom-swoosh-Crack" the bolts fired in rapid fire mode stitched a pattern on the wall above the stage, towards the man. The bolts were not having tertiary explosions as they had not connected with soft material.

"Cover us, we are exfiltrating," John shouted to Lambin. He grabbed the cart and together with Waldoze, he pushed it fast out towards the exit. They met the worried Pasquel and Buzz outside, and told them what was happening. Waldoze grabbed his glue gun and slithered inside again with John at his side. The room was quiet, with Lambin standing to the side of the room, actively covering Mike, that was searching behind the stage.

"He got away the bastard," Mike called back.

"Ok, exfil now. Plan charlie." John called out.

"Two secs J., I gotta fix something first." Waldoze went over to the scared girls and squatted before Lily. He handed her the newly liberated credstick he had swiped from the unconscious Ardon and smiled at her. "If this doesn't cover it, tell me next time I come, ok? I strongly suspect that it does however." He winked at her and kissed her forehead before getting out with the others.

Plan charlie meant direct exfiltration to the Centaur. Since they were not exiting through the air lock, Creyn and Rowan packed the extra gear into the carry-alls, interfaced with the lock, and exited as quietly as they had come. They kept in hiding and moved to the girders that held the armour plates in place. They would be picked up, if all things went well, either by the Centaur as it launched, of by a specially modified TPG Raptor they had waiting in L-1 for that specific purpose, piloted by Ato Bashenk.

The rest of the snatch team moved as casually as possible down the corridors towards the launch bay. It was more difficult with the leg wound on Lambin, and the constant need for making sure that they were not jumped by the unknown man. They managed somehow to get all the way to the launch bay and safely inside the Centaur. Mercy took care of Lambin immediately, and the rest of the team either stored their gear, or helped putting Ardon into the confinement suit. Once inside, there was no escape, and that was how it should be. The suit was basically a plasteel exo skeleton with its motors locked. Ifor scanned Ardon's head for suicide implants, found the small explosive device covered with synth flesh in the small his neck, and disabled it. Finding no reason to remove it, Ifor left it in it's place. Besides, they wanted to tube Ardon up before he came to. Once intubated, he had no way of committing suicide. His every bodily need was taken care of by the suit now, he didn't even have to breathe.

Ecka undocked, roll-boosted to skim the armourplates, and opened the load bay for no more than ten seconds, which was more than enough for Creyn and Rowan to enter. Ecka signalled Ato as he boosted for jump distance, and Ato jumped into B-8 slightly ahead of the Centaur, ready to provide escort. The mission was so far successful. Chi breathed a little easier in the OPS room, and she left relieved that this ordeal was now over for her.

22. Ardon

Surbius was frustrated to say the least. For thirty six hours he had tried to question Ardon, and not a single answer. It was not that the man was not able to answer, he simply chose not to, and with no access to either truth serum, which had limited effect anyway, or any forms for sanction possibilities, only perseverance and time could bring answers. NP was questioning him now, while Surbius was going to get some sleep.

Even if they would get some answers, the outcome would be the same. After discussing it, the leaderships of TGFT and PA had decided to honour the deal with yoda, and so Ardon would be delivered to CLM HQ when they were finished with him.

This was off course unknown to Ardon, who still considered himself lucky that it was TGFT that had caught him, and not The Council. Especially considering that they had caught him without his knowing, and so had had the opportunity to remove his suicide implant. He was wracking his brain with scenarios of what could have gone wrong, and every time he drew a blank. Ok, so they didn't get Ecka to start with, but how the wily old miner had escaped was beyond him. The plan was fool proof, and when he saw the video from the attack, he was certain that they had done precisely as they should to cheat the APRS. Still, that was not what made the plan collapse. They still had the firm Corvus presence in Remley, and with the attack on TGFT HQ in Dau they would have sown so much destruction that nobody would care about some station deep in the bowels of Latos, thus paving the way for full take-over by Corvus and expansion of The Council's power. How The Anarchist had become so careless and stupid as to getting caught, was beyond Ardon. The one person he had trusted implicitly, had betrayed him due to incompetence.

The last thing that Ardon couldn't explain, no matter how he analysed it, was how the H*** they had found his name, his whereabouts, and even if they had his room number, how had they known he would be at The Priggly Pear? Fadhe had invited him completely out of......wait. He had been betrayed by Fadhe, that was the only solution. That double crossing, back stabbing, money grabbing son of a w****. It had been him all the time. Him that had falsified the video, him that had warned off the authorities in Dau, him that had set him up in Daltas. Ardon was fuming with anger and rage.

"Ok, I'm going to talk."

NP snapped his head up and looked directly at the faceplate of the immovability suit. He keyed the intercomm to Surbius's room and hailed him.

"Mmhwat?" Surbius's voice drunk with fatigue and sleep.

"The bird is going to sing" NP replied, knowing that it would have the same effect on Surbius as a 100 gallon drum of espresso.

"On my way now."

NP waited patiently for Surbius, made sure all the recording gear was active and functioning correctly. He even poured a mug of tea and put it in Surbius's cup holder.

Surbius entered, crisp looking as ever. Not for nothing had the dress regulation been made on basis of what he wore. He sat and grabbed his mug as if it was the most natural thing in the world that someone had placed it there.

"So, has he said anything yet?"

"Just that he wanted to talk. We have waited for you."

"Excellent. Ardon, I know you can hear me. We want to know why."

Ardon gave a hoarse laugh.

"If you want information, you have to promise not to mindwipe me. Put me in a labour camp, put me in the deepest dungeon, but no mindwipe. I want your promise on that as 2iC of TGFT, or no deal."

Surbius didn't even flinch or reflect over the deal.

"I hereby as 2iC of TGFT promise that neither TGFT, TPG, UIT, PA nor any other guild or faction that TGFT is affiliated with, will conduct mindwipe on Ardon Rala. Satisfied?"

"As much as can be. As I assume that everything here is being one time recorded, I guess it is as good as it gets. The guy you want, the mastermind, is a guy named Fadhe."

After two hours, it became clear that the man named Fadhe was the evil mastermind genius that had led the Corvus masters around by their noses. Not that either NP or Surbius believed any of it, it became quite clear after a while that whenever Ardon said Fadhe, he in reality meant himself. And when he described himself, it was Fadhe's role he assumed. The entire plan was a power grab by Corvus, to expand into Latos by taking Remley from TPG. Ardon made one comment about the council of seven, but it was not clear who these guys were. And after he had said it once, he would explain it away as non-important. After six more hours of interrogation, NP and Surbius had confirmed everything they had found out, and that meant that Ardon was now officially worthless. They dosed him with sleep gas, and informed their respective guild leaders that the case was closed. Well, almost closed. Three things still remained to be done. Extradition of Ardon to yoda, the expulsion of Corvus at Remley, and the secret one.

Surbius paged Hortan, Vardonx, Lambin and John. They would take care of the extradition, and then he and Ms. Chi would take care of the expulsion of Corvus from Remley Orbital.

Hortan was lying on the very comfortable bench at Dr. Wyman's office. He was tired, he had been asked repeatedly for more than two hours now, about the slaughter of the convoy primarily, but also about his obsession with His Queen.

"So it seems that you dream less of The Huntress than you used to. In some fashion, that is good. It is a sign that you are getting over the obsession. I still believe that you should be on a strict no combat daily routine, and we'll change the medication to something else. With less side effects, but the moment you feel something is wrong, you come back here." He closed his book and started tapping on the side of the ledger with the pencil. "I am not sure that you are telling me everything, I believe that something is hidden. But with my help and your enthusiasm, we'll get it out and cure it, ok?" He smiled reassuringly at Hortan, and took his glasses of and let them hang dangling from a strap around his neck.

Hortan was certain that they wouldn't get it out. No way was he going to rat on Ms. Chi. No way, never. He would not lie, but he could shut up, even to the shrink. Besides, he felt better than he had for a long time.

"Sure Doc, but I feel good lately. And I would really like to let go of the drugs. They make me so drowsy. Why, yesterday I fell asleep mining my favourite, Mary-Anne. And that is the first time I have done that ever."

Dr. Wyman almost choked on the pencil he had started biting on.

"What, who is this Mary-Anne? You haven't mentioned her before?"

"I told you, it is my favourite Heliocene roid. I have names for them all. The big one in Helios B-14 is Helena, the small one behind is little shy Ariel." He chuckled. "She hides sometimes, and so I have to run around after her. The one all the way out in the deeps is Cassandra, or Cassie for short." Hortan beamed at the doctor.

"You have names for the roids...Girls names.." He started scribbling something on his ledger. "Have you had any girlfriends Hortan?"

"Ehm, not really. Well, not if you don't count My Queen."

"I think we have hit upon one of those small hidden things, mmh? Let me think about that one until next time. For now, lets try to get you on as little medication as possible. Just some uppers, ok?"

"You know best Doc," Hortan smiled and got up to leave. They shook hands, and Hortan left for his bunk. He was wasted. He would just swing by the Xang Xi merchant and see if they had received that new John Eldritch "Hive Skirmisher" action figure he had ordered for his collection, but then it was off to sleep.

23. The Atlas

John didn't like those diplomatic Surbius missions had assigned him to at all. First of all, he hated that he couldn't attack them the moment he laid his eyes on them. Second, he was not sure if Hortan was able to cope with this kind of work. No matter now, he would have to brood about this later. Now it was Krav Maga, and the slender figure in front of him. He was making ready to defend and counterattack with a lock or two. He would not attack in full force, he was much stronger, and he could punch her right across the room. He feigned an attack with his right fist against the head and was instantly locked. The twin "nose" punches that Chi put on his forehead confused him greatly, the elbow in the chest was textbook and took his breath away, and when she tossed her arm forward and connected with the inner thigh on his right leg, he knew he was defeated. They were only sparring, in a real situation, he would now be on the floor with a broken nose and a groin on fire.

She pulled back and grinned at him.

"What the, have you been practising without me? Don't tell, you have been training with Hortan, right?" he smiled as he realised how good Hort must be if he could improve Chi that much.

Chi stopped and frowned at him. "Well, not really John." She opened her hands in defensive posture. "I may have kept something from you." She struck again, this time moving forwards, and then when John responded, she tipped her torso back and swung her leg forwards to connect lightly with his right inner thigh. Getting him again, she retreated out of his reach.

"It was never Hortan, was it?" The truth dawned on John. It had been the other Krav Maga master at this station. He slapped himself on his forehead. "Points for not seeing the obvious. It was you, right? And you let him take the fame while keeping low. Ha, and I fell for it." She moved right and low, and went for a punch with her right hand to his knee, followed by the left elbow in his chest. She never got so far. Once she got inside his reach, he side stepped and jabbed her twice in the kidney region before slapping down on her knee, forcing her to loose balance and drop to the floor. He landed his body on top of hers. His elbows would have dug deep in her abdomen if it had been for real, now he merely landed on his arms. "Gotcha," he said.

They untangled and smiled at each other. It had been a good workout, both giving and taking, both exploring new options.

"So, are you going to deliver Ardon to yoda?" Chi asked.

"No, apparently they are leaving that to Hortan. As if he doesn't have enough on his conscience already. Lambin, Vardonx and me are going to escort him to Latos, but he is going to do the handover himself." John got his kit bag. "Thank you for the workout Ms. Chi. It was a pleasure as always. Don't worry, I won't tell about the incident with Hort if you promise to train again tomorrow." He winked at her.

"Extortionist, I always knew you were a shady character. Ok then. Tomorrow, same time?"

He nodded in reply and went to change into his flightsuit.

Vardonx was slowly painting the name of Hortans ship on the side below the canopy of his Atlas with an airbrush when Lambin came into the dock. He had checked his own ship completely hours ago, and was now putting finishing touches on the side of Hortan's. There, almost ready now. Lambin walked over and looked at the pin-up girl wearing a TGFT propeller cap and not much else. She had covered the most intimate parts of her body with a stylised TGFT logo, and the name The Certain Death IX was painted below.

"Nice one Var, one of the best you have done so far." Vardons didn't reply, but merely nodded is thanks. He was deeply concentrated on painting small bottles around the name. Lambin had persuaded Vardonx to paint his X-1 in shades of green, mottled to look like ancient reptile skin, and even at a somewhat steep price; he had agreed to running naked through the messhall wearing only Ecka's tartan cloth over his head for cover. Ecka never found out who had done it, and Lambin wished for matters to stay that way.

Lambin checked his X-1, and settled in for the wait. Wouldn't be long now before they would be going.

It slowly dawned upon Hortan, that he was going to have to go back to CLM HQ again. He was thrilled and terrified. Mostly the later, since his dealing with CLM had so far mostly been "detect, run, get boomed". And he was not really all that keen on being the ambassador to CLM. On the other hand, if he was lucky he would be escorted again. He blushed.

"....utmost importance tae tell." Ecka looked at Hortan. "Dammit son, are ye even listening? Forget it then, just take the cargo and deliver it in person tae yoda. What is it with ya young uns these days? Is it testosterone week or something? I caught Mor singing this morning, can ye imagine that, singing? Twas bloody horrible too, and he had the absent face that ye do now. What is the guild coming tae." He grabbed his bottle and poured a dram, deciding that it was not enough, and poured some more. He looked at Hortan. "Well, what are ye waiting for? Get a move on now."

Hortan scuttled out of the room, and went by the cargo handlers to sign for the box he was supposed to deliver. It had already been loaded in his Atlas, and it was waiting for him in the launch bay with John, Vardonx and Lambin. At least they were there to protect him. He met Waldoze and Buzz on the way down there, they were also headed for the bay.

"So Hort, are you going to do the delivery?" Waldoze asked.

"Yep, it is expected I think, so I better do it. And where are you headed off to?"

"Just making sure some old debts are paid. Nothing to it, will only take a couple of hours I think." Buzz grinned like a madman and punched Waldoze lightly on the shoulder. "Only stepping in for a snack or two." They both laughed, and sent a bewildered Hortan away to the merchants launch bay while they moved to the combat wing.

The crate had already been loaded, and Hortan walked up to his ship. His escort was standing in by the side, below the canopy. Hortan raised his hand in greeting, and Vardonx stepped one step forwards.

"Hort, old swinger. The three of us have decided to make your ship more worthy of a TGFT diplomat. We want you to represent us, and so we have decided to spice your Atlas up a bit."

Hortan swallowed hard as they stood aside and showed the pin-up on the side. It. Was. Beautiful. How they had found a picture of His Queen, he would never find out he reckoned, but it was beautiful. He realised he was supposed to say something. It was difficult, his heart was thumping like he had been running a mile.

"I, ehm, what?, ah. Thank you guys. It is the best ever. How did you get a picture of My Queen? I mean, she is absolutely gorgeous."

Vardonx frowned, he had not used a picture of The Huntress, he had merely used his imagination of how he thought that pirate wench Hortan had thought about would look like. He had not tried to make a painting of The Huntress, but if Hortan was happy, he was happy too.

"I am glad you like it," Vardonx said. "I think I may have overdone it with the bottles, but it is kinda neat."

Lambin clapped Hortan on the shoulder and led him to The Certain Death IX. "Lets go then, ok? Back home in time for beers in the mess hall."

24. The Pirate Queen

It was quiet in CLM HQ. Most pilots were out doing whatever they usually did. Mystic was sitting in her new reclining chair with her feet up on the command console, a cup of hot Sedina chocolate in her left hand and the latest status reports in her right. She had slept for twelve hours straight after returning from Itani space, and was feeling sated and a bit like the day after a rough party. She sipped some more chocolate and turned the page. What the h***. She read the docking/launching report again just to make sure. Why had a TGFT member, let alone someone unknown, been allowed to dock here? She started worrying, that name, where had she heard it before. She put her feet down and started searching. She was mildly annoyed, her drowsiness gone completely. Ah, so that was Hortan, it was all over CNN. And he had been escorted by Azumi. And she had, what?

Mystic pushed the call switch and dialled for Azumi's ship computer.

"Yarr," the young woman answered almost immediately. "What is is Myst?"

"Az, that young man, Hortan you escorted in the station some days ago, why and where did you take him?"

"Oh him," she laughed aloud. "He was there to see yoda. Some deal yoda had made, but I don't know the specifics. He is coming today too, in around one hour or so."

"Thanks Az, page me when he arrives, I would like to meet the hero of Dau myself."

"Will do Myst. Trader inbound, I'm out."

What in the name of everything that was holy was yoda up to now? She had asked him if he was on top of the TGFT situation, and whether CLM would benefit. He had said yes, and that had been that. But curiosity got the better of her now. Mystic decided that she would just show up at the meeting with Hortan later, and see what he had to say. Yoda could have told her if he wanted to have secrets. Besides, why should he have all the fun?

Hortan launched his Atlas, and found his place between the two Centaurs. Lambin scouted on ahead, and was boosting as fast as the X-1 could go. The others went at a more rational pace, with Hortan deciding for 160m/s. They received the all clear from Lambin, and jumped for Azek, expecting to arrive at CLM HQ in about 30 minutes. Hortan called ahead to yoda to inform him that they were inbound.

Azumi received a message from yoda. "Hortan on the way. Make ready to escort on station. Bring the cargo crate that he is delivering." She was just about to set off in pursuit of another convoy, but that would have to wait. She turned the Pink Lady around and disengaged from the tempting target. Better make it fast, then she could have changed before he arrived and they wouldn't have to keep yoda waiting. She docked her Corvus Vulturius and jumped out of the ship with her PDA in her hand. She touched the small credit sign in the top, and the daily tally popped up. 1.4 million so far. She interfaced with the CLM mainframe and transferred the money to her account, minus the ten percent to the guild. She paged Mystic to let her know Hortan was inbound, as she had been instructed. She then walked to her room to switch into something less comfortable. Something with latex and leather, and not too much of it. Or that thing with the small skirt and the tight sweater. Choices, choices. She had about half an hour she reckoned, more than enough.

The SF undocked, as the TGFT convoy arrived. LNH and sharingan today, but they didn't even bother to boost out towards the Centaurs, the X-1 and the Atlas. The Atlas moved towards the docking bay, and LNH followed behind the vessel. When Hortan entered the docking bay, LNH fired a stream of neutron fire into the rear of the Atlas.

"For old times sake," he chuckled over the radio.

Hortan docked with only 10% armour left, the rear of the Atlas a smouldering wreck. He immediately opened the canopy in anticipation of Azumi's presence. He looked at the smiling dock hands that were eyeing the damages.

"That is gonna cost ya matey," one of the dockhands, a large man with a tattoo across the left side of his face that disappeared down his neck and under his coverall almost snarled at him.

"I hope you can fix it quickly, I have an appointment," Hortan started, his weak confidence waning further.

"I don't know if me and the boys can fix anything that massive in under, lets say two hours."

Hortan looked desperately at the man.

"Unless we can see a small incentive, if you understand," the large man rubbed his thumb and index indicating money with the second oldest sign known to humanity, the first naturally being used to tell other people that you were mightily annoyed with them.

"How much do you need?"

"Well, you are from TGFT, so you must be rich. I'd reckon about half a mill would do it for us."

"I'll give you half a million kicks in the ass if you don't fix it at standard Corvus prices. Or you can discuss it with yoda." Azumi was standing in the entrance to the bay, her small form perfectly enhanced by the latex lace-up dress she wore with the knee high stiletto healed leather boots. She was playing with a lollypop in bright pink, and looked over it with big eyes at the dockhands. She slowly pulled the lollypop out of her mouth and smiled sweetly at the men. "Is that OK boys?" she asked innocently.

The men stared at the pirate vixen, and the large man nodded. "Certainly, we were only joking. Now, if we can get started, we'll be finished in no time at all." He nodded to Azumi and started giving orders. The men busied themselves to get away from the young woman.

Hortan was standing with a slack expression on his face while he starred at Azumi, his mouth slightly open.

"Cat got your tongue?" She smiled innocently again, this time to Hortan who blushed immensely. To top it off, she popped the lollipop again and twirled her left pigtail. "Do you have the crate for yoda?"

"Mem, ah, shu. I mean, yes m'am. It is right here." He wrestled his gaze away from Azumi and looked at the cargo bay where they were unloading the crate and loaded it onto an small transport wagon.

Azumi led Hortan over to he crate, his eyes very firmly on the girls feet. He was going to get the crate, bring it to where yoda wanted it and run out of here. He dared looking at the calf of Azumi, but blushed immensely from the daring move, and so again starred at the stilettos.

"So, how's the Who?" The female voice came from the corridor that led down to yoda's chambers. Hortan looked and saw a slender woman with dark red hair, dressed in a pair of stretch jeans, a white shirt that was tied beneath the bosom with a red jacket slung on about as carelessly, as John would pre-flight check his ship. She was wearing an indecently large projectile revolver on her right thigh and a smile on her beautiful face.

Hortan was about to reply when the pheromones hit him. And hit him hard. His otherwise very analytic brain felt like it was turning slowly to mush, his unusually eloquent reply was drowned by the extremely important need to stand very still with his mouth open and stare.

Mystic walked over towards Azumi and Hortan, her smile turning slightly wider. "Still got it it seems." Mystic grinned at Azumi.

"And where is the rest of that dress?" Mystic nodded towards Azumi's skimpy outfit. "Looks like you started well, but forgot to finish. I'd might as well tell you that it doesn't bite on him at all."

Azumi looked confused.

"I don't think yoda has thought about a woman for ages, no matter how scantily clad," Mystic said.

"Oh, this is not for yoda, this is for me" Azumi replied and pointed at Hortan. "Well, and a bit for him as well. Even if it is a bit unfair."

Mystic looked at Hortan, smiled and extended her right index finger, pointed it under Hortan's chin and closed his mouth. "Yes, I see he is easy prey. Just use your head is all I ask."

Azumi nodded.

"So, what's in the box?" Mystic indicated the cargo crate behind Azumi.

OT: Dang.. if all the pirate chickies dress/look like that, I'm gonna have to make me a rat!

25. Unfinished business

The two fighters docked in Daltas Hold. Both were painted in TGFT regulation standard green. The two ships disgorged two pilots clad in identical flightsuits, the same colour as the ships. Waldoze and Buzz walked over to the dockmaster and arranged for two rooms where they could dress in somewhat less official clothes. Six minutes later, Waldoze was pounding impatiently on Buzz's door. Buzz opened and Waldoze was outside with a bottle of Helio Mists in his left hand, and an immense grin on his face.

"What took you so bloody long?" Buzz grinned back. He had changed out of his jump suit and into a pair of slacks, with a very colourful shirt open to the third button. He closed the door and accepted the bottle Waldoze presented him. He took a large swig of the bottle, grimaced as the fiery liquid hit his palate, flinched when it trickled down his throat and smiled as it hit his stomach with the potency of an Avalon.

"Ah, nice. What the h*** is that you're wearing? A skirt?" He indicated the skirt that Waldoze was wearing.

"Tis a kilt you daft trader. I made a wager with John, ok? And so, here I am, wearing Ecka's kilt, and hoping that he will not find out until it has been returned. Or I will be minced meat." Waldoze accepted the bottle and drank deep, his adams apple bobbing up and down several times.

"And?" Buzz looked expectantly.

"And what?"

"And what would have happened if you won the bet?"

Waldoze took another swig and grinned like a madman at Buzz. "I won the bet mate. Now less talk and more movement."

Buzz wracked his head for a reasonable reply, but failed miserably. In the end he merely laughed out loud and started walking after Waldoze.

"Oooh, the liquor was spilt on the barroom floor
And the bar was closed for the night." Waldoze sang at a very loud voice.

Buzz shook his head, nothing else to do but join in.

"When out of the hole came a little brown mouse
And sat in the pale moon light."

The two men walked down the corridor singing and drinking all the way. They came to their destination, a black door with blue neon lights. The Priggly Pear. The two large men outside directed their attention towards Waldoze and Buzz, and one of them reached back to get a stun baton out.

"Now now, we are not here to fight. We are here to shpend shome moneys" Buzz slurred, having drunk around half a bottle of Helio Mists. The first bottle was finished, and Waldoze was trying his best to make a huge dent in the second. The larger of the bouncers started to block the way for Buzz, but the 5k credstik Buzz put in his hand made him move aside. Waldoze staggered into The Priggly Pear without noticing the bouncers at all.

The music inside was very loud as last time they were here, with the same amount of lighting, and the same show on the stage. A girl Waldoze knew was called Dandelion was slowly dancing under the lone spot.
"Dooooooooooooooozzzzzzeer," the very loud shrill voice was calling him from the bar. Lily, the reason he was here. She came running on her usual plateau shoes and threw herself around Waldozes's neck and kissed him hard. She turned while hanging there and shouted to the room.

"Girls, this is the guy that ensured your retirement fund. Make sure he has a great time with his buddy Buzz here."

She planted another kiss on Waldozes's mouth and lead him to the front chair. Two girls entered the stage, Rose and Magnolia, and Buzz focused all his attention on the stage.

Waldoze leant over Lily and whispered, "Lily, honey, just how much was on that credstick? Not that I want it back or anything, just curious."

Lily looked at him and whispered back, "38 million credits, and some change."

Waldoze smiled immensely and leant back, dragging Lily with him. "Life is good,' he said, "life is sometimes really really good."

Mystic waved her hand in front of Hortan's head, no response, then snapped her fingers, same. Azumi walked over and pinched his ear, and that made him snap out of it.

"Me, Mah," he swallowed hard, "I, I fwal, pah."

Azumi leant over and kissed Hortan on the cheek, and that gave him the necessary shock to snap out of it. The result was a bit more than she bargained for though. Hortan fainted.
Mystic and Azumi caught him as he dropped, and were standing with his arms around their wastes and their arms holding his body and head, bent low over him as yoda entered the bay.

"Well, rip off my arms and beat me to death with the bleeding stumps. How the bloody hell did he manage to seduce the two off you in less than five minutes. He has got to be the best bloody hero ever to come out of UIT."

Hortan woke up, Mystic's and Azumi's faces merely centimetres away from his own. Their arms were holding him, and his arms were. He blushed even more than he ever had before, and tried muttering something.

"It is not what it seems yoda, he fainted after I kissed him," Azumi protested, letting Hortan down on the floor with Mystic's help.

"I am sure you swooned him Az, how could he resist? But you too Red? I am stunned beyond comprehension," the little man actually smiled.

"No yoda, it is not like that."Mystic started, and then stopped herself again. What was she saying, and why was she defending herself? Going for the old tactics of attacking when on the defensive she rose to her full height which was twice yoda's.

"What is in the box yoda, a present?"

"You can say that Red, I guess it is somehow." Yoda walked over to the box and ignored the prone Hortan with Azumi still holding his head. "If I am guessing correctly, we have a real honey pot right here."

Hortan got up in sitting position. "Mr. yoda sir, I am to deliver this crate to you from TGFT, as we agreed. And now I will please ask for permission to..." yoda waved a hand at Azumi and interrupted Hortan.

"Wah wah, yada yada. Azumi takes care of you, you have delivered, and I have no use for you now. So scuttle along."

Hortan got up and looked at his Atlas. It would take at least another hour for them to finish it. He was just going to wait in the cockpit then, because he could not stand here next to the enchanting..... Azumi grabbed his hand and pulled him down the corridor for about ten paces until he started to get out of the range of the pheromones. Then he realised that he was standing with his mouth open staring at Azumi. The by now familiar warm tingling sensation bubbled up from his stomach to his chest and cheeks. He blushed madly and tried to look anywhere else but at her.

She smiled, now she was in control again. "Come on, lets let you buy me a drink while we wait for the mechanics." She turned and walked down to the residential area, sure that Hortan would follow. As he did.

OOC: The rest of the song is

He lapped up the liquor on the barroom floor
And back on his haunches he sat
And all night long you could hear him roar
Bring on the god damned cat.

-Hort

26. Behind the mask

Ardon was awoken by an injection of an antidote that cancelled the sleep medicine in his veins. The drugs were still heavy on his mind, his thoughts feeling like thick mud pressing through a gravel filled barrel. He opened his eyes slowly, expecting to see Surbius or NP above him. Ah, he was still asleep, and having a nightmare too it seemed. The little green man with the terrible sneer was surely not for real, especially not with the larger than life redheaded woman behind him. And besides, what was the famous pirate Queen doing behind such a horrible creature. He chuckled and closed his eyes again. Suddenly he realised who the green man was. It could only be yoda, meaning this was not a dream at all, and that he was now officially up Shit Creek, without a boat even. He opened his eyes wildly and screamed.

"I guess he is awake now Red," yoda said cheerfully, staring into the panicked face of Ardon. The screams were contained inside the suit, but there was no mistaking it. Ardons face was twisted into a mask of horror. And probably rightly so.

"How is this going to be profitable?" Mystic asked.

"Red, meet the person responsible for the current Remley Orbital crisis. And, dare I say, the person that is going to ensure that I make a wallop of money."

The sympathy that Mystic could have felt for the prisoner evaporated like fog beneath a tactical nuclear weapon's detonation. She had seen the pictures from the station, it was horrible. She pushed the audio button on Ardon's suit and leant towards his faceplate, so she was absolutely sure that he could hear and see her. The ice that was in Mystic's voice was almost enough to make the dockhands, that were working on Hortan's ship, freeze.

"Whatever you feel like yoda, I am behind you all the way. This particular piece of scum has deserved the right to whatever fun you can poke him with. Really, whatever you can dream of yoda." She stared at the panicked face of Ardon, turned and walked away. She was not going to loose sleep over these particular horrors yoda was going to perform.

Yoda looked down at the panicked man, and bent low over the mike. He whispered exactly what he was going to do to Ardon, and how much it would hurt. He then set out to do exactly what he had told Ardon, starting with pumping him full of truth serum. He was going to milk him dry for information. And then he would play with him afterwards before selling him to The Seven.

Azumi took Hortan down to the vending machine, let him buy them a bottle of Nyrius Mists each, and then, for lack of anything better to do, took him to her small apartment. She opened the door and went inside. Hortan motioned to sit against the wall in the corridor.

"Are you going to sit there for an hour? I don't bite you know."

Hortan had to think for a few seconds before entering. This was the first time ever he was in a girl's room, and he was determined not to make a fool out of himself. He failed miserably, the first thing he did was to fall over a pair of utility boots, stagger across the floor and land on his back in Azumi's bed. As if the bed had been made of molten lava, he bolted from it, got up and stood unsure in the middle of the room. Azumi had walked into the small bathroom to get some glasses, and had missed his show completely. Her room was very much like his own, the bed and the small synthwood desk were the dominant features in the room. A frame with a picture of a family of five, mum and dad, two sisters and one brother was hanging next to a picture of a young girl in a light blue uniform. Her braces were marring the smile that would have been pretty otherwise. A poster of Eo was hanging on the wall with a throwing knife marking one of the larger cities.

Azumi came out from the bathroom, the dress switched for a flightsuit, the pigtails into a bun in the neck, and the coy smile now reduced to a smile. To Hortan, she was still beautiful, and he realised that he was seeing the real Azumi, not the dressed to kill Azumi. She walked to the chair at the desk and crashed into it. She turned and looked at Hortan, who had resumed looking at the poster, for some time.

"Aren't you going to sit? Or is it so uncomfortable to be in my presence?" Azumi asked.

"Sorry, I truly am. I just, I mean, I have never, well. This is awkward." Azumi smiled inside. It seemed Hortan's middle name was Awkward. "I have not been invited inside before, to a girls room that is, and I am a bit unsure of where to sit." Hortan eyed the bed nervously, and to his horror she pointed at that exact piece of furniture.

"Just sit on the bed, I only have this one chair," Azumi replied.

They sat in silence for some minutes, none of them having anything to say. Hortan would have been quite happy just sitting there for the remainder of the hour, now and again stealing a glimpse of Azumi, but she was continuously staring at him it seemed. To break the feeling of being a mouse in front of a pit viper, he decided to do what he believed Waldoze would have done, and make a bold move. He pointed at the pictures.

"Is that your family?" Azumi looked at the wall.

"Yeah, my younger sister Myfwani and my brother Jebu."

"And the picture of the girl, is that your sister too?"

She grinned at Hortan, "No, that is me at 15. Just entered flight school in the Itani Defense Force, proud as can be."

He grinned back, he remembered when he had flown the first time. He had been a pimpled young boy, but he had felt like he was on top of the world.

"What was your first ship?" he asked

"A centurion, standard issue. And yours?"

They chatted away about ships and flying, none of them noticing the time flying by. It wasn't until Hortan's PDA chimed that they realised that they had been chatting for quite a while. Hortan looked at the screen. John E. was calling. Accepting, he activated the screen for voice only, but hit the wrong button and got full immersion. The holo of John in his flightgear popped up.

"Hort, are you ok? Where are you, how long time do you have stay? Are you in trouble?"

Hortan reached for the visual cancel button, but it was too late. The small 3d camera in the front of the PDA panned and stopped at Azumi.

"What in the name of all the bloody hive queens bastard offspring are you doi...Oh. OH." John cut himself off mid-sentence. "Tell me later you bad boy. How much time do you need matey?" He grinned firecely and winked at Hortan.

"It is nothing like you think, we are just waiting for The Certain Death to be finished with the repairs, and it should be good anytime soon," Hortan protested a little too loudly. Azumi laughed out loud and looked directly at the camera.

"I think the Atlas-" when she said Atlas she raised her hands and made quotation marks with her fingers in the air "-is ready now." She smiled the innocent smile at the camera. Hortan saw how she had reverted to the Azumi he was used to. The moment had passed.

John laughed out loud. "Yeah, not for nothing do the call it the little death miss. You get him safely to his ship now, you hear? John out." The holo collapsed, and Hortan was sitting with the PDA in hand, wondering what he had done in a previous life to deserve all this.

"Lets go Hort, they are waiting for you." He looked up at Azumi surprised. She was not demanding as he was used to, she was gentle with him, and almost nice. He stood too quickly, felt how the blood drained away, got nauseous and dropped to the floor, utilising his cheekbone as a brake by hitting the edge of the bed. He rolled over and grasped his face with his hands and started rubbing his cheek. It hurt like hell.

"Are you ok?" And now he could hear that she was concerned as well. He was not sure he could handle that. He got up and started for the door, went back and got his PDA, and walked over to the door again. Azumi was blocking him.

"Here, let me see," she insisted.

He let his hand down, and she whistled softly. A large bruise on the side of his face was slowly emerging. It looked like someone had ripped a claw from his forehead and down his cheek to his chin without scratching the skin.

"Better get you into your ship before you do more damage on yourself," Azumi decided, and Hortan nodded, following her as she exited and walked to the docking bay.

The head of the Council of Seven received the message from yoda.

"I have the man you want. I know what he knows. I want the money you stole from me. and then I want the same amount for shutting up. You know my account, when the money is there, you get Ardon."

He frowned. 270 million was a lot for one man, but they would probably be worth paying. He put it on the agenda for tomorrows meeting.

27. Digging the hole

He had expected to be teased all the way back to Dau, but neither Vadonx, Lambin or John had mentioned the PDA incident with word. Maybe this once, he would actually not be teased for something he hadn't done. He docked and went through his post flight routine as usual. Satisfied that the ship was in good condition, he opened the canopy and jumped out. They were standing outside, with mischievous grins on their faces. Lambin started clapping, and Vardonx joined him. John walked over to Hortan and started sniffing around like an old dog.

"Mmmh, nice flowery scent." He put his hands on Hortan's shoulder and looked into his face. "What the hell have you two been up to? I know she sounds rough and all, but she must be a real tigress, eh?" John turned to the others and nodded towards the streaks on Hortan's cheek.

The obvious thing happened, Hortan blushed deeply and tried to stammer a reply. John stopped him immediately.

"Now, I know you must be tired, I know I would, so you can tell about it later mate. Maybe you can even invite her to one of our parties?" The trio laughed loudly and sent Hortan on his way with Vardonx making claw movements with his hands and growling "rawr, rawr."

Hortan walked slowly towards his room, and then decided that he was seriously hungry. He decided to go for pancakes, his favourite dish. When he arrived, he saw Ms. Chi, Mor Isil and Ms Kanaka already seated, and so he joined them.

"What happened to your face Hort?" Miharu was asking him concerned.

Hortan blushed and answered, chewing on a pancake. "It was an accident. I slipped on Ms. Azumi's bed."

Mor Isil and Chi choked on their waffles, and Miharu reddened considerably.

"You did what what with whom?" Chi asked after drinking some coffee to help her swallow.

"I fell on the bed when I got up from it," Hortan said innocently. Mor started giggling with Miharu, while Chi was looking directly at Hortan, not really believing her ears. Hortan looked up, and with even for Hortan tectonic speed, his mind slowly realised what he had said. The implications hit him like a samo laden Moth going at full tilt with concussion mine assisted launch. He blushed from toe to head and stopped eating immediately. Chi smiled, now this was the Hortan she knew better.

"No, I mean, it is not, we were only talking, and it she only had one chair, and she said I should." Hortan was rambling, he knew it, but there was nothing to do. Mor Isil and Miharu started laughing loudly, and Ms. Chi smiled at Hortan while putting one hand on top of his.

"I understand Hort, I understand. You don't have to explain at all. I still hold you very dear." Chi had meant to support Hortan, and get him out of the embarrassing situation, but Hortan's face only reddened deeper to an almost crimson. "Shit," Chi muttered under her breath. New plan.

"I forgot to mention, you have to go to Surbius Hortan, and he wanted you right away. You better hurry."

"Oh, oh ok. Better leave then." Hortan rose and left hurriedly, his face the colour of arterial blood.

The Council of Seven was gathered. Only one big topic was on the agenda. Whether or not they were going to pay yoda.

"It is a lot of bloody money," Kragmier said.

"Aye, but if yoda decides to use the knowledge he has wrung out of Ardon, we are seriously fucked," kalb replied.

"I call for a vote on this." Gingerbread the Swift's high pitched voice was cutting through the chatter.

"Aye, I agree, the council will vote as per the ancient rules of SYN," Jolly Roger agreed. As commander, he would have three votes. "Vote now."

The result was clear, only one voted against.

"I suggest we clear the remaining trace to here then. I shall authorise the transfer from our account into yoda's. Gents, this has been a very expensive adventure. I shall not tolerate more mistakes." Jolly rose from his seat at the centre. "You may leave, Death Incarnate, you stay."

Hortan entered the small office where Naoko was sitting. The young woman was busy behind the holo screen, some four layer matrix that looked immensely difficult. She didn't look up until Hortan had stopped puffing from the running. When Ms. Chi said hurry, he did.

"Can I help you pilot Hortan?" She looked at his nametag and lack of distinctions or rank, not all that impressed.

"I was told that Surb wanted to see me," Hortan was a bit insecure now, surely she must know these things, being his secretary and all.

She checked Surbius's appointment list, no entry with Hortan's name. "Sorry, I do not have you on his schedule." She smiled and went back to her holo.

"Well, it must be a mistake, can I see him?"

She looked up at Hortan. "Lieutenant Surbius Bondevo is a very busy man, and he does not like it when he is interrupted during his daily routine. So no, make an appointment like everybody else."

"But, it was Ms. Chi that said it," Hortan protested.

"Lieutenant Chi from the Phoenix Alliance? Why didn't you say so? Go right in." She smiled to him, the charm turned on big time.

Hortan entered Surb's office, where the Lt. was planning something vastly complicated. He looked up when Hortan came in.

"Hortan? What can I do for you?"

"Ms. Chi told me you wanted to see me."

"Ehm, ok. Ah, I am not sure why she sent me, but now you are here I might as well fill you in. Tomorrow we'll make a convoy to Remley, and we need your XC. We are going to take the initiative now, and end this thing."

"Yes Sir, I'm ready. My XC "Target Practice IV" is ready Sir."

"Good good, and while we are at it, we are having a party tomorrow after the conclusion of the convoy. Make sure you are dressed up for the occasion, it will be a madhouse. Dismissed"

Hortan smiled, he knew exactly how he would dress up. This time he would fit right in. "Aye aye Sir." He snapped a salute, did an about face and left.

"It was an accident. I slipped on Ms. Azumi's bed."

ROFLMAO

You've outdone yourself with this one hort... best read i've seen on these forums

very well written.

28. Innocence is no excuse

The great convoy had lined up outside of TGFT HQ, ready for transporting everything that could be used for re-building Remley Orbital, including a complete TPG police force. On Ecka's signal the convoy headed out for the jump point and jumped. The combined ships of TGFT, PA and TPG was an amazing sight, the largest collection of Behemoths and Behemoth XC's ever assembled in known space. Hortan was at the very front, just behind Ecka's Centaur III, The Target Practice IV being the first cargo vessel in the convoy.

The first half of the combat ships had jumped ahead, almost forty light fighters led by Lambin and Mor Isil. Another forty fighters, light and heavy, were staying with the convoy all the way. The pirate activity was light, and after the few pirate ships had been swept away by the massed firepower, the route was free for the trade ship convoy to jump into the sector that contained Remly Orbital.

Ecka keyed his system comms.

"Attention all Corvus personnel. TPG is now on station to take over security and responsibility. We acknowledge your great help in this matter, but this station is TPG property, and as such TPG territory. All Corvus personnel must board and leave this station immediately. Failure to do so will be interpreted as an act of war. You have thirty minutes."

The first three TPG extra armoured Centaur troop transporters were already docking with Remley, ready to disgorge their cargo of 20 heavily armed marines each. After them six regular troop transport Behemoths contained the new TPG police force, that would ensure that the Corvus personnel only left with what they had brought. No problems were anticipated.

Ferrin Galders conceded defeat, and gave the order to evacuate station. The stuff he had pillaged so far, was safe in Sedina already, but he hated the idea of leaving with his tail between his legs. Maybe he could leave an unpleasant gift to the future owners. He knew precisely what to do. He got up and started to walk out of his room towards the fusion plant that was essential for the station. He opened the door and was surprised by a man standing outside. Dressed in a robe with the hood over is head, he looked very menacing.

"I guess my search has ended," the deep whispering voice came from within the robes.

"What do you mean?" Ferrin asked.

The robed figure slowly raised his bone-like hands to the hood and removed it from his skull-like face. So gaunt that his face was permanently set in a fearsome grin, Death Incarnate fit his name perfectly.

"I mean, I have been looking for you."

"Oh, who are you, and why do you look for me?"Ferrin was starting to feel uneasy. This day was proving to be a crap day so far.

"I am Death, and that is why I have come." Death Incarnate stabbed forwards with his ancient wave-formed Death Cult Keris, hitting Ferris squarely under the ribcage.

The Corvus Spy Master looked down as his life blood was pouring down over the blade, and then up at Death Incarnate again. The blade had been placed perfectly, slicing the heart in half. He was loosing conscience rapidly, and dropped to the floor with a thump. Death re-sheathed the keris, reached for a hidden pocket and took a small incendiary device out. He waited for the fifteen seconds it took for the blood to stop flowing, and then placed it in Ferrin's mouth. He turned and walked down the corridor, pushing the small button on his watch after ten metres and heard the satisfying muffled explosion. Mission accomplished, he would board his Vulture and leave with the Corvus troops.

The sounds coming from the Warthog Mk II were frightening. Any other hog pilot could have hummed while flying with a cheerful effect, but when the pilot was yoda, it was scary. He entered the agreed upon sector and dumped Ardon's suit as he should. The Warthog in SYN colours picked it up almost immediately, and boosted away. Yoda chuckled, Ardon was relieved when yoda had stopped playing with him, but that had turned to horror when he was told whom he had been sold to. That was the best part really. He was now free to focus his attention to his other pet project. Resuming command of CLM. He had already spoken to Red, and she was ok with the idea. Besides, who could face his fabulous charm and not agree? Grey space was going to be a much more dangerous place now.

It took slightly more than thirty minutes to clear the station for the CLM personnel, mostly because of the discovery of the man with no head in the residential area. A man called Ferrin Galders, actually the guy that had suggested that Corvus came here in the first place. Someone had really wanted him dead, and the information he knew destroyed, because the incendiary device placed on his head had burned the head and the upper torso to ashes before the fire fighting equipment had extinguished it. Corvus infighting was the best bet.

The convoy disgorged all the things necessary for Remley to resume normal business, and the TPG police was once more patrolling the corridors. Mission complete, Ecka led his own TGFT contingent together with the PA ships to Dau K-10 for the celebration of a job well done. The party was going to be held in the TGFT mess hall, and all of PA was invited as well. Hortan docked his XC in the cargo handling area, and practically ran to his room. He was going to change into the best outfit ever!

He was not accustomed to wearing these kinds of clothes, and so he was a little bit late when he walked into the hall on six inch stilettos. The mess hall had been humming with small talk, the almost hundred persons inside mingling and chatting. And, Hortan discovered to his horror, all in their dress uniforms, the room a sea of green and light blue. Hortan half-turned to leave as silently as he had arrived, but it was too late. The humming had stopped, the silence in the room was deafeningly loud. Hortan looked over his shoulder and saw the full attention of all of TGFT and PA on his frail frame. He understood why. The banana skirt and the coconut top he was wearing along with the two foot high plateau high heeled shoes were neatly framed by the garishly coloured very large wig on top of his head and the pineapple handbag.

The silence stretched for an eternity, with Hortan making the obvious Ostrich move and freezing completely. Killdog Deathwad turned to Vardonx and grinned, speaking a little too loud on purpose.

"Well, I guess the entertainment has arrived. I have heard about you TGFT guys parties, but this beats everything." The entire room erupted in laughter at Hortan's mishap, and they started talking again. Ecka, John and Vardonx walked over to Hortan and looked at him up and down.

"Very nice Hort, very nice," Vardonx said.

"Stylish even, especially the pineapple bag. What the hell are you dressed as, the fruit salad?" John managed between guffaws.

"The poole be yon there Hortensia," Ecka wiggled his eyebrows and pointed to the place where he had performed some weeks ago. They all started laughing even more loudly.

"I didn't know, Surbius said to dress up, so I thought" Hortan was desperate to leave, but they grabbed him and pulled him towards the bar.

"Weel, ya ken, innocence is no excuse son, so ya better do yer best." Ecka pushed Hortan towards the pole and laughed.

Fortunately for the mental health of Hortan, Chi decided to walk over and rescue him.

"I think he better come with me, ok? Come on, lets go get a drink Hort, it is safer up there."

Hortan was relieved, and followed as inconspicuously as he could, which is hard to do with bells around your ankles. At least the presence of Ms. Chi saved him for further attempts of fun on his behalf. Once more she had rescued him.

After around an hour had passed, Mor Isil rose to the the stage in the rear of the room and asked for attention.

"I know I have been more than unusually inattentive these last few months my friends, but I have a perfectly good explanation. And no Waldoze, contrary to what you are so elegantly insinuating with your shouting, I have not been doing drugs. Only if you see love as a drug. For in that case, I have been drugged well and truly, and I am now deeply dependant on this particular drug. I have found the love of my life, I have found the reason to get up in he morning. I have found the woman to share my days with, and as I have already asked her once, I shall do so again." Mor got to his knee and starred intently towards one person. "Miharu, will you marry me."

Miharu blushed, not because of Mor, but because of the entire crowd that was now starring directly at her awaiting her answer. "Yes Mor, I will."

The entire room erupted in a cheer, and people started moving up to shake Mor's hand and hug Miharu. All the girls admired the gold ring with the emerald, Mor had given her.

Hortan was perfectly happy to stay unnoticed in the bar. He would come around later instead, when he was decently clad. John and Waldoze came over to get a drink, and John turned to Dozer.

"You know what that means, right?"

Dozer gulped down a very large shot of Helio Mists shot and smiled broadly to John and Hortan. "Aye, stag party. And I know the perfect bait." He winked at Hortan and got himself another drink.

Hortan had a feeling that somehow, he was going to be involved in this. He poured himself a drink of Helio Mists, the first in a long time. Oh well, life as an ore miner was still good.

Ok, that was it. Thanks for reading, thanks for the feedback. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

Hort is out for this time

Great storytelling Hortan, had me coming back to check for updates daily.

Cheers in Helio Mists!

First class story.

Chuffin marvelous.

Outstanding story! Can't wait for your next one....

There is going to be a 'next one' right?

This was really well done Hortan. And you set a nice standard of daily updates, which ideally everyone (but me) would follow :) Get to work on your next one!

"but me"
And me :3

Really nice Hortan :-)