Operation Orion - Kevin Dockery [17]
“Consul Char-Kane!” Jackson declared. “This is a surprise!”
“No less for me, Lieutenant,” said the Shamani Consul de Campe. It made sense for a diplomat to be on the ship, of course, but the SEALS officer was startled to recognize the alien official who had been their companion for so much of their first mission. “This vessel was my transport. When we were attacked by these pirates, I feared we were doomed.”
“Are you on your way to the Orion conference?” he asked.
“I was,” she said. “But we have more pressing problems right now.” Jackson gestured for her to go on, and she continued. “I heard what that prisoner said, and I know what he means.”
“What,” he asked.
“These pirates—they have occupied the hold of this ship for several hours. There are no survivors, but I am certain they have left a powerful bomb on board. It could detonate at any time.”
Four: Defusing
“Can you get your people off this ship? How many of you are there?” asked Jackson, wondering about the presence of the bomb. Was there even time for an evacuation? He reasoned that they must have a few minutes or more because the pirates hadn’t been preparing to depart when the SEALS had arrived. He guessed that they would have set the timer for some time after they were well removed from the ship.
Still, Char-Kane seemed very certain that some sort of charge had been set, and he knew her well enough not to allow himself much skepticism on that point.
Char-Kane shook her head in response to his questions. “I know of at least three hundred survivors in the main passenger compartments. And others, no doubt, are trapped here and there in the ship, wherever they could take shelter when the pirates attacked. Some of them will be running short of air by now. The ship’s central life support systems have been disabled, and damage has affected many of the compartments that are remote from this intact stern section. Unfortunately, I believe all of our shuttles were disabled in the attack; we have no way to move people off the ship except for the boats that brought you and your Team to our rescue.”
“Well, we have the two drop boats, but there’s precious little room on the frigate,” the SEALS officer reflected, thinking out loud. “Even if we could get them there in the drop boats.” He remembered, too, that the last time he had heard from the Pegasus, Captain Carstairs had been running in pursuit of the fleeing pirate ship. He could be a very long way away from them by now.
“The attack was sudden and very violent,” the Shamani woman commented. “We were badly damaged.”
“I could see on the approach that your ship took some hard hits,” the officer noted grimly.
“Yes. The pirates had many weapons. They caught us in a barrage right after we made the jump into this system. The captain died at the bridge. He managed to get enough power out of our failing engines to put us into orbit around the star rather than tumble so close to it that we burned up.”
“All right.” Jackson knew that the drop boats could shuttle only a couple of dozen people, at the most, off the derelict Lotus. “Get your people looking for the bomb. My men will help. You said they were in the main hold?”
“Yes. This way.” Char-Kane blinked suddenly, and Jackson had the unsettling impression that the aloof diplomat was trying not to blush. “Hello, Chief Harris,” she said as the SEALS NCO came up to them.
“Lady Consul!” Harris declared as Jackson remembered that the two of them had developed a rather strong friendship, or even more, when they all had come back together from the Batuu system. “I didn’t think I’d ever see—that is, you’re looking mighty fine.”
“And you, too, Sir Chief. But before we speak more, there is an emergency.”
Jackson quickly briefed his Team on the threat of a bomb. He thought briefly of pulling his men out of there in the drop boats but discarded the notion almost immediately. The Shamani were allies, and this ship included an important diplomatic mission. They would do everything they could to see that the explosion never happened.
“Okay,” the lieutenant said