Sholan Alliance Au Bk 04 Ch 10

Billy talks to Ike about ni-uzu

"What the hell you mean?" Ike had been told about the Leska link Billy had with Satasha. It had been the same evening Teo had proven telepathy existed. He couldn't remember if why it had happened had been mentioned. It had been a long time ago and so much crap had happened he could easily have forgotten.

Billy kept looking serious as he was talking, "I will contact the Fijishi and have their doctor talk to yours. They might not have mentioned it while you are still recovering. Too much stress can cause a relapse which is why there are tight restrictions on how much you can work. It was something discovered after Satasha and I had been infected. Currently the information is being kept restricted tightly. They don't want a fear of what it might mean hitting the population of Shola or their colonies. It isn't needed right now knowing there is an enemy out there who attacked without warning, killed everyone aboard what was a fairly heavy combatant, and appears to be hunting for their homeworld."

Teo leaned forwards slightly, "I'll contact them as well. I do have the authority to both request and demand the information. I read a little but once you had been shot things became too busy to look further into it. Thank you for informing us of this Yilly. What can you tell us as an over view?" To the best of her knowledge neither of her companions had any abilities like that.

He grimaced, "That is a very hard question to answer Teo. Long and short it does require both to have even a slight telepathic ability. You might want to have Ike and Amanda tested just to see. If you link female Sholan's lose the ability to get pregnant. We discovered that after Satasha became pregnant. With human females since they are fertile all year around they will eventually get pregnant." He winked at Amanda, he'd heard about her surgery, "You might have the children you have always wanted Mandy."

She flushed and whacked at the screen, "If I wasn't so pleased with your gifts I would ask Ike if he could arrange something horrible for you. Thank you though, the torque's were so beautiful. I have a bodyguard now to keep anyone from trying to steal it." Her guard almost laughed at that.

Billy's expression softened, "I wish I could have had them ready instead of the bracelets but they take time to have made. As far as the cost I have already recovered from the horrible price he charged us. They do look good on both of you." He didn't have one yet since they hadn't officially mated but they were ready. He had to wonder if he might need to have one ordered for Teo.

"Keep me updated on how all three of you're doing. Hugz for all of you and good choice you two. I didn't know Teo long but what I felt of her was solid. Oh, different note, I am now linked with Z'Marl. It happened right after Tasha delivered. The Sholan medical are trying to work on a method of birth control for humans and Sholans. It is going to take some time but it will keep us from popping babies out right and left. I don't mind being a father but I don't feel like having a kit a year for the next however many years."

"Thank you for that information Yilly. If you don't mind we are going to let you go. I have some calls to make and some fur to claw off." Teo wasn't happy with this information being kept from them.

~~~

Drone brought to earth

When the officer received the data dump from that pathetic salvage ship she moved it to a secure drive. Once done she opened the folder and started reviewing the information. She was only a few images in before she encrypted everything even though it was on a secure server. Since she was in the intelligence service she was familiar with most of the equipment in space. This wasn't anything she had ever seen or even related to anything. It was about three feet wide and maybe thirty long. Just looking at it she would guess it was a probe of some sort but much smaller than anything in their inventory.

After securing everything in her office she headed to her boss, "Need to talk to Commander Night urgently. If he is busy tell him this is a code black issue." He needed to know about this as soon as possible. It only took a few minutes before she was shown into his office.

"What do you need Lt Arwan? This had better be important." He had been on the phone with the Grand Marshall.

"Permission to use your computer for a moment and I do believe you will agree it is important." They had to deal with this immediately or that slug would start taking bids from all the other Hegemony's. When he turned the computer towards her she quickly logged into the folder she had encrypted, called up the information and turned it back, "I was contacted by one of my sources. They found this and thought it might be from the reptiles. I took a brief look at some of the images from the ship taken. They are very similar."

He glanced at her before starting to look through the information in the folder. By the time he was done he turned to her, "What are they asking?" He knew better than to think they would just hand it over. They could take it but that would cause problems.

She made a slight face, "They didn't but the assumption was there if we didn't cough up what they felt right they would ask for bids. The captain of the ship is a gutter slug with the morals of, never mind, he doesn't have any. About the only positive thing I can say about him is he is loyal to his crew. Beyond that I wouldn't hold my breath in space."

Her reply made him start laughing, "Known a few like that. I am moving this to a different server. Dismissed and I will take this from here." Once she left he called the Grand Marshall back, "Need to secure the connection, use encryption C6-DB-4." He knew that was secure currently. Eventually it would be broken but that was to be expected.

The Grand Marshal was slightly started but he activated the encryption and gave the other man a hard look, "What is so important?" He knew the other so it had to be important.

"It looks like a small salvage ship quite possibly recovered a reptile probe. I'm opening a connection to what they sent. This was sent to one of my junior officers." He opened the link for the Grand Marshal, "Based on what she said if we don't offer a high enough pay off for it they might start contacting other polities and ask who will bid the highest for it."

The Grand Marshal's eyebrows rose at what the other had to say. If so this was a good source to new technology. It also indicated the reptiles might have been scouting the system. If they had it wasn't good since they would know where the important and critical nodes were. Before bothering to respond he carefully scrolled through the data. It wasn't extensive but it was enough to realize it didn't belong to anyone from earth, "Ensure she knows not to talk to anyone else. Same goes for you. I'll take it from here." He disconnected.

He sent a message to communications to identify the source of the broadcast and send him a report. Once he was done with that he called the Sholan's back, "I need to talk to the Admiral Demopolus. This is urgent unless he isn't well enough to answer."

Ike was in his office and just getting ready to knock off when the call came in. They were still on light duty with a strict limit on the hours they could work, "Grand Marshal, how may I help you?" He glanced down at the corner of the monitor. A light was flashing and he frowned at the encryption level being used.

"Admiral, I need your help. I can't tell you why for the moment, but I need to contact the commander of the Fijishi. As soon I have clearance I'll call back." Before they had secured the probe the information about it had to be kept close to home.

Ike carefully looked at the man and he was serious, "As soon as possible Grand Marshal. I'm going to put you on hold while I make a call." He had been given access to call the Fijishi and especially now that Teo was his companion. He placed the call and was quickly connected to the Commander, "Afternoon Commander. I have the Grand Marshal of the European Union military requesting to talk to you. He can't tell me due to security restrictions. May I connect him to you?"

The Commander flicked his ears, "It would be get some new contacts in other countries. Let him know all communications will be via the Barque though. Patch him through."

Ike switched calls, "The Commander will talk to you. He wanted me to let you know all calls will be via the Barque. Give me a moment." He ended up having to call for Teo's assistant to patch the call through. If this became common he would have to learn, "What the hell was that about?"

~~~

Grand Marshal talks to Fijishi Commander

When the call was connected, the Commander gave the human a good look. He was actually surprised since the man looked to be somewhat on the short side and rather plump. His face was round and the short-cropped hair wasn't complimentary. If he hadn't seen the intelligence in the eyes he might have come to a different conclusion, "How may I help you Grand Marshal?"

The Grand Marshal gave the Commander a good look as well. Other than a white blob on his forehead and the tips of his ears the Sholan was a solid black, "Commander we have come across some information indicating we might have a reptile's probe. One of our salvage ships recovered something which isn't Terran. If I send you several images can you verify this, or at least say it isn't yours?"

That definitely received a reaction, "Send them to me now if you can." If this was true they needed to get the damn thing and evaluate it. Moments later three images appeared and he couldn't help the angry snarl, "Not ours at all. How do you want to handle this? Not trying to denigrate Earth or your tech but this is close to our level. It would be best if we were to take possession. Any information will be shared."

The Grand Marshal bristled for a moment before he sighed. What the Sholan had said was true. They had seen what that damn enemy ship could do. The Sholan's had a much better chance of dissecting the probe and getting information from it, "I'll need to contact my government but would it be possible to have you dispatch a fighter in stealth to find the salvage ship and keep it from doing anything stupid? Not necessarily to make their presence known but to keep others away until I can get a ship to the location? The captain has been reported as being a low life and might offer it to one of the other polities." Their ships had stealth but it was going to take time to get a ship out there.

The Commander lowered his ears and hissed slightly, "We have those types as well. All for one and that's me type. Willing to cheat, con, and even sell the same item to several different people. Not a fighter but I can send a ship out to keep an eye on it. Do you have a rough location?" They talked for a while longer before they disconnected. Once they did he had a heavy troop shuttle launched. They did have stealth though not on the fighter level. It should be more than sufficient to hide from a salvage ship.

~~~

Grand Marshal talks to EU leader

The Grand Marshal walked out of his office and looked at his secretary, "Cancel all appointments and meetings today. Something critical and urgent came up." He kept going as he was speaking. Thankfully it wasn't a long drive to the Parliament. When he walked in he wanted to swear at the time it took to pass through security. This was urgent and needed to be dealt with now, not some time tomorrow once they were sure he was who he said he was.

Eventually he passed through security and was finally able to make it to the Premier's office, "I need to talk to the Premier and it is very urgent. Tell her that." He rarely came to the Parliament but when he did it was of national security. Just to make his point he stood in front of the desk while the man made the call.

It didn't take long before he was shown into her office, "Erick this had better be good. I had to delay a meeting to talk to you." She was looking tired and appeared to have a few more gray hairs than before this mess started.

"Ma'am, I wouldn't have requested a meeting if it wasn't." He pulled out three pictures out if his briefcase and set them in front of her, "These were taken of a probe, assumed probe, by a salvage ship. They talked to one of their contacts in the Intelligence branch. They do want money but that is not the matter for the moment. I know this isn't Terran since I checked. I contacted the Sholan's to see if it was one of theirs and they indicated it wasn't but appeared to be from the reptiles. The captain is held in very low regard and I wish to launch a ship to keep the salvage vessel from doing something stupid. Once we retrieve it I would like the Sholan's to take a look. They stand a much better chance of taking it apart and understanding what is inside. This has to be kept at the highest level. I need your personal authorization Ma'am."

She looked at the images even if as she was listening. She frowned slight, "Grand Marshal you exceeded your authority to an extent but you are right. We need to get our hands on this. I can understand why you would feel the Sholan's have a better chance of tearing it apart. Launch the ship in the morning. Call it a reconnaissance drill with the target area. I'll need to talk to one or two other people before I can say if the Sholan's can have it. Did they say what they would do with the information they glean from it?" This could be what they needed.

"I did exceed my authority but this was urgent enough I accepted what I was doing. I will cut the orders this evening to give the ship a chance to ensure they have enough provisions. The Commander indicated all the information would be shared. I do have a feeling it would be with all the Polities. It is understandable since they want a treaty with the world and not just anyone country." Right now all ships were kept fully stocked even though it was costing money. Money was easy to replace, the Earth not so much.

"Go take care of this and I'll deal with considering what we will pay for this and what to do with it." It was an obvious dismissal. This was going to be very interesting and she had to consider the best way to deal with it.

He left and headed back to his office to send orders to the ship he had in mind.

~~~

Taken down Pirate base

Once the heavy Sholan combatants had left with the medical ship they went to work. While the Terrans were starting to pick up wreckage the light repair ship went to work on the two damaged ships. The support and two supply ships had remained in hyper until the battle was over.

The Admiral placed a call to the senior fighter Commander, "Commander use your fighters to patrol the edges of the system. It is possible that ships might translate in from Hyper. If they do intercept them." He realized he was passing orders, "Pardon Commander, please do this while we are dealing with the inner system."

The Commander flicked his ears and gave him a purring laugh, "Not a problem Admiral, the Senior Commander ordered me to follow what you order. We'll do that and let you know if we find anything. I'm pretty sure having a fighter appear off their bow might urge them to stand down. Good luck Admiral. If you need help contact me." He disconnected.

Now that was done the Admiral checked on the status of repairs and the injured. He swore when he found two more had passed away on his ship and been placed in cold storage. It was hard not to let a warped grin out. Cold storage really mean placed in sealed bags in one of the fridges which was kept at just above freezing temp. He wasn't sure his crew would like the idea of a body or two resting next to some of their food.

He turned to the next report and kept working. It was going to take a great deal of time to collect as much information from the ships and station. They had brought along with a number of specialists who had information on where the hidden security drives were located. Before anyone started he had made several severe threats to those. Not knowing how deeply the Organization had penetrated he wasn't taking chances. His marines were going to be escorting all the tech's. Their only jobs were to disconnect the drives, insert them in a 'duplicate system' whatever that was. All he knew was it would make the drive think it was still connected to the ship. Beyond that he didn't care.

Once the drives were retrieved they would be secured and not touched again until they reached earth. With the central computer cores, they would be dumped and the data started being processed. He had sent a drone back immediately after the battle indicating the number of remaining pirate ships. Terra would send tow ships to pick them up and take them back. Even though the drones had been sent his people were digging into everything could find on the ships and documenting what they could find on the ships. Building even a light combatant cost a small fortune. Chances were good some were ships which hadn't made it to the breakers. Others would be converted captured ships.

At one point, he finally closed his system down and stood. He needed to move and eat before he did anything else. Chances were good his assistant would nag him to get some sleep. That was a good idea as well. Now that the battle was over he could spare some time to crash and take a shower.

~~~

Pirate space station

On the space station the Marines and Space forces were doing their best to search the base. What didn't help was they simply couldn't send all the former slaves with the Sholan's. They could only send the worst injured. The rest had to remain until a transport could arrive to take them back to earth. What really didn't help was some of the former slaves seemed to have started collect around the troops. They weren't sure if it was for security or simply because they had rescued them.

One thing the troops had done was to start stripping the quarters of the former pirates as better quarters for the slaves. One officer finally took charge of the former slaves. He had asked the troops to gather all of them in the dining facility. It was just after a meal but he wanted to ensure everyone was there. Once they had eaten he stepped up on a bench, "I need to talk to everyone. I need your help. I'm not ordering, demanding, or going to beat you to do what we ask. We are asking you for help and we need it. For the time being we are going to be here while we pick apart the station. I am going to assign some of my people to show you what we need help with. Most of it is cleaning up this cess pit. I'll not have anyone living in shit, stench, and crappy food. Can you help us?" He made it a question and not a demand. He wanted them to feel they had a choice in what they did.

When he asked all the former slaves stared at the office and weren't sure what to say. Some hadn't been slaves for long but many had and they had been beaten for being individuals. They were told what to do and beaten occasionally even if they had done what had been ordered. Finally, one old man stood, "Don't care about me, I'm old and death will be soon enough. Don't want others to be beat or hurt for fucking up. I'll do what is needed. Can't speak for the others."

The officer stepped forward slightly, "We are the military. We don't beat, slap, or abuse those we are helping. If any of my troops did something like that I would court marshal them myself and space them. I really am asking for help. We can't provide clean berthing, food, and clothing while doing what we need. We are doing our best to remove all the pirates and those who control them. All those scum deserve spacing or hanging." He looked over the crowded room, "Sure you have heard of the Pirate Jack Sparrow? Well he was hung several months ago along with what remained of his crew. He was taken out by a tramp freighter. If we can take him out and hang him what do you think is going to happen to those we captured after we pick their brains clean?" All the troops started laughing. Some did the hanging indicator, others drew a finger across their necks, while others made other gestures.