SEC #3
As they waited , Captain Si made a bit of a frown at the mention of 'the reporter'. we have to be careful, who we let Know this information... The destruction of one CAp ship, and crippling of two others, left one ship in Soil space, at that time..By the Time the Hermes and Hades launched.. there were at least two.. we fought and captured one.. we are assuming the other fled
Before she could go on, The Admiral Came in with a concerned look, followed By Mara who looked tired and Stefi, who had her bag with her..her eyes checking everyone to see who might need a Med Tech, and settled on Lizzy.
Maria Brought 2 chairs over for the ladies, Hack stood, shifting his eyes from Si to Beth.
Listen....
Beth started up the replay once more.... Mara's eyes water as she looked to Hack and Si.. Stefi's breath caught at the mention of the Med Tech's name.
Mara asked ..that was.. They said his ship went down..pirates or something? I looked up the ship's logs at the Academy....they were sparse? only 3 months of cruise time...before...before...But my Dad?.. they said he was killed in a robbery on Moonbase?
Stefi spoke up...My father died in Brazil?... My Mom became a Med tech and was assigned to the Neutron..... I don't think anyone knows this was first Contact... They think The HAdes.. and The Hermes had the first encounter..
His eyes shifted to Si, as Hack asked, what did Maris say about all this?
..You were on Mars..which.. hearing this.. they must have had ships stationed in the Kiper Belt, to send that many troops .. the loss of 3 of those cap ships would have made a big difference... one of them could have ended Moonbase... we had nothing to stop them.. just 10 or so Transport/bases and the ESN 1A Electron and the 1C Atom.. they weren't even fully finished..
Hack went and fixed two cups of coffee handing one each to Stefi and Mara, then fixing his own..Lyri watched The Admiral as Hennings came in the door, a sweated up Hermes T-shirt and shorts with a towel around his neck... Beth? Call BAle...
Aye , Sir. Already Done...
HAck hands a coffee to Hennings who takes a seat behind the LAdies.. Bale comes in, he looks Mildly put off...This better be good? I was talking to the Uden Law-Wright..Bad Form having to leave him like that...
Hack handed his fresh cup over to Bale, and Fixed yet another... then pointed with the finger of the hand that held the mug to Beth...
Beth played the message again.
That's? That's Beth?....of all the gods....
Hack just nodded as he pointed to the computer for them to hear the whole thing.
Hennings looked at BAle,we could use this against GE-Fi...
how? all we have is this... no gun cams.... this is the reason we put cams on everything from Cap ship[ to a sailor's pet hamster
..Begging your pardon Sir, but the message is ESN coded? it has to stand up ?
Bale shrugged,..The Angels could take it apart.. it was sealed... which means it was tampered with it will take the 'Beth's' of the world to assure its authenticity , but the bug would be in the back of everyone's mind...
..what about that Disc my Dad had?
he didn't die because he was being robbed. Who the 9 hells robs a Pilot who just came back from deep space... he wasn't even cash-clashed.. he room was a Mess there was no disc..
Si spoke up,..so? They heard he was back when he turned Lizzy over to the Med Techs...they heard he was goign to earth to see ..the then... Captain Hennings... so they sent some one after...The news of the Neutron was scattered at best My Father billed it as the 'humans lack of experience' in The Black.... This make s more sense now, about The Hades...Thier Admiral wasn't a very brave man... but..as we have seen with EDT, they made it look like they couldn't stand against the lone demon vessel.. even with the Athena coming on line...
..we changed alot of outlooks when we captured the Demon ship by ourselves... Imagine what Earth would have been like, when they heard a Lone destroyer sent a Demon squadron packing?
Si makes a distasteful face as she said,..Lizzy has a ....date... with the reporter? She is thinking about releasing the Information....
Hack and Hennings had the look of eating a bad forkful of eggs at the mention of 'the reporter'.
BAle said,..it would not be a great thing?.. Ge-Fi will simply say its Fake? he'll laugh at it..maybe even disparage those who fought on board... alot of the people on Earth will buy that?.. the EDT and EVOLs will just step up the retoric
It is quiet.. as people sips coffees and Lyri speaks up...Sirs?... Ma'am.... Then? Let them?
they all look at Lyri,Look? we have Lights Out on Earth.. we have Stoly the Older....Hunter they have groups who are training and being recruited , Ge-Fi still can't stop volunteers from sailing to Fuji to be trained on transportbases or Fuji Academy... There has been records of salvage ships pulling Demon Debris from The Kiper Belt..people will ask questions... new light will be shown on Captain Mara's Death and Lizzy's life?... Maris is on Fuji.. he'll be called to answer questions every damn day.. and Ge-Fi will have to either address the message.. or leave it go?...If he address it.. it spreads the news more.. if he ignores it.. the message continues to flow... Just like when we hit the Villages in The Oil Lords..
Hennings sits up,..she's right? we spread propaganda in the middle east.. when the Oil Lords ignored it..people spread it around..when they tried to shout it down..people began to believe... Ge-Fi, can't hide from the truth.
..The Best thing? Maris doesn't have one damn clue?.. The message was sealed.. it took Lizy's chip to open it. Had Lizzy died? it would have never been opened..ever...
Hack snorted,..so? the simple act of changing her name, opened up a can of Largs
..So..what do we do?
..First? Lizzy has to wait for the right time to loose this to the public... before that happens.. we need to draw JAck back here...
Hennings laughed ,back here? With Shadow and 80% of the Hermes wanting to beat him to death on sight...what do yhou think will happen when this gets out?.... I mean.. there are folks on Earth that will believe what they are told?...but the people of the Hermes won't....
Hack Taps his cup with a finger that is slipped inside the handle ...Nil?.... Your hair is Blonde..is it not?
what?.. Oliver?.. No..Its Black!... why would you even say that?
he nods slowly, with out looking at her he says,I Bet you wish Shadow had died on The green Moon?.. would have let you take command of the Hermes fighters...right?
She stood up..her face red as if she was to slap him..but held back.YOU KNOW BETTER!..he's like our son!
Hack Looked around nthe room..people's mouths hung open...
Alright people?..everyone here has seen , My wife and I have had a disagreement, to the point of raised Voices.. soemhthing.none have you every saw..am I correct?
people looked dumbfounded,, except for Beth, who had a growing , dark smile.
Si looked at her husband and Tilted her head... then to beth as she saw Hack smiling at Beth...Oh gods..... no....
Hennings jumped up...Of Course!!.. Maris didn't take the Academy Job for the limelight? had he wanted that..he would have taken the Neutron..the first ship out and all that!.. He was afraid to die..and Ge-fi set him up.. with the chance to be Near Nil!...but that all ended when Oliver got command of the Hermes!
..You Call Jack on a clsoed COM...maybe?.. from the OC club..or the Ambassador's quarters... you have access to any damn COM you want?... You tell him we had some words? which..everyone here saw..so tis not a lie?.. You tell him want to Transfer to Fuji , to be the Uppers Wing Commander,and..I dunno? help the PG make better fighters? But you need him to come out and help take you away
and when he shows up?
Hennings Grinned,..you take him to one of the Visitors Quarters, where we'll have the SM and some troopers arrest him... Ge-Fi or not? treason isn't somehting you can laugh off...
..he's not going to come all the way out here for me....
I would?... Shadow would? 99% of the crew would... what do you think a man, who wanted you so much, that he sent his expecting wife out to die would do?
Bale clears his throat to add,..if you mention that you have uncovered something about the Death Of Captain Mara, and the death of the Neutron..that will almost garuntee, he will come out here.
Si looks frustrated,..THIS!..This is why the LC's in a bad mod most of the time... dealing with things like this...
Hennings grinned,..he might be in a bad mood because of these.. but he loves doing them.
Right then.... off you go... call your hero to come save you....
Nil give shim a warm kiss then playfully slaps him.....now they can say i struck you... she leaves the SEC and Hack looks over everyone in the Room...alright?..no one says a word about this, Until Jack show up here.. once we nab him... all bets are off.. Ge-Fi and Maris won't be able to work on a story together, and Ge-Fi's lies will start to unravel... Everyone..Carry on.... Beth..Have Shadow and Roy find me.... he gives Lizzy a hug, as well as Stefi and MAra.
Then he leaves
everyone looks at each other and Beth said,well... at least its never boring?