Three Square Meals Ch. 059

"I've got some more Tyrenium for you," John replied, grinning at the smile that lit up Charles' face.

Charles put down his drink, and leaned forwards, fingers interlocked, and asked, "How much have you got this time?"

"I'm selling twenty tonnes. I'm feeling too weary to haggle, so same price as last time?" he offered.

Charles' moustache twitched with amusement as he replied, "Last time it was six-hundred-million credits for twenty tonnes of Tyrenium and you threw in a Kirrix gunship. Have you been fighting bugs again?"

Shaking his head, John replied in all seriousness, "Haven't had the time. Been too busy saving ten billion Terran Federation citizens from an out-of-control, secret military AI experiment."

"Six-hundred-million it is!" Charles said cheerfully, raising his glass in toast.

John laughed, and said, "I'll drink to that."

The men grinned at each other, but Charles' smile slowly died, and he said, "Come on then, let's hear the bad news."

After a long moment which John spent studying his old friend, he said quietly, "I know what you've been looking into."

Charles nearly dropped his drink, and he stared at John in shock. "I d-don't know what you mean?" he finally stammered.

John smiled at him affectionately, and said, "You're a terrible liar, Charles. Fine, I'll go first then. The Dragon March traitor: I know you've had your suspicions, and you were right. Admiral Norwood has betrayed the Terran Federation, and has convinced a group of officers to follow him."

To avoid spilling his drink, Charles put it down on the table as carefully as he could with his hand trembling violently. He leaned forward, and hissed, "Have you lost your mind?! Anybody could be listening to this conversation!"

John shook his head, and held his arms up as he looked around the room, saying, "Trust me, there isn't a soul in the Terran Federation who could hack into this ship now. Anything we say is strictly between us."

Surprised by the absolute certainty in John's voice, Charles looked around, then nodded, saying, "I had a feeling in my gut that something wasn't right. The losses we've sustained are far worse than even the wildest, most pessimistic predictions..." He sagged back in his chair, and added, "But I freely admit, I'd never have thought Leonard Norwood would have been involved. I guess it's always the ones you'd least expect."

"Easier to blend in the more innocuous you are," John agreed with a shrug.

"So what's the plan then?" Charles asked eagerly. "I've seen the casualty reports on all those ships. I want that bastard to pay for what he did to those poor men."

"Don't worry, he'll get what's coming to him," John replied, his expression bleak as he gazed off into the distance. His face lightened a little with a smile as he added, "Admiral Devereux said she'd pull some strings to help us meet with the Fleet Admiral. We've gathered some convincing proof, so once we can show him that, it'll be all over."

"The big push in the Dragon March is happening very soon," Charles warned him. "They've been mustering fleets in that sector for weeks now, so it can't be long."

"As soon as the repairs are done, we'll be on our way," John replied. "It'll only take us a day to reach the Dragon March, then we can finally bring the bastard to justice."

"I'll drink to that," Charles said with a smile, repeating John's earlier words.

The two men downed the last of their drinks, finishing off their glasses of whiskey with their dark toast.

*You better wrap it up, we're nearly finished with the repairs,* Alyssa thought to John.

*Any problems?* he asked.

*Smooth sailing,* she replied with a light-hearted laugh. *We've patched the hull, and got the new engine fitted. She's looking as good as new.*

John smiled at his friend, and said, "It's been great to catch up with you again, Charles, but we need to be heading out in a couple of minutes. Calara's got family serving in the Dragon March, so there's personal stakes involved in this for us."

"I understand," Charles replied with a nod. He stood up, then hesitated for a moment, flushing with embarrassment as he continued, "I'm sorry about cracking up back there. I started falling apart, and you already had enough to deal with."

John reached out to clasp the older man on the shoulder with a firm hand, and said kindly, "Forget about it. You were under a tremendous amount of stress, and everyone has their breaking point."

Charles held out his hand, and John took it, shaking it firmly. "Exceptionally well done, John," Charles said with an approving nod.

They separated, then walked out of the Officers' Lounge on the way back to the grav-tube. They dropped down the levels in silence, and John could tell that Charles had plenty more he wanted to ask about, but they had run out of time. They strode out into the Cargo Bay, and John saw that twenty tonnes of the Tyrenium had already been moved out to sit on the deck of the Docking Bay.

Alyssa walked over to join them, smiling as she did so, and said via telepathy, *I heard you conclude the trade, so I unloaded the Tyrenium to save time.*

Charles noticed the ore containers as well, and glanced at John saying, "I'll authorise the transfer of funds as soon as I disembark."

"Thanks Charles," John replied appreciatively.

The other girls had all started to flock around them now, chattering away to Charles and asking him all sorts of questions. John could tell the older man was loving the attention from all the beautiful girls, but they couldn't afford to waste any time, and they needed to hit the spacelanes as soon as possible.

Charles sensed John's urgency, and he stepped out of the Cargo Bay, giving him a final salute before he left. "Best of luck," he said to them quietly, barely audible above the sound of hydraulics as the huge hull door began to seal closed.

John smiled at Charles, and the two men saluted each other respectfully. The crew turned away as a group when the door finally sealed shut with a hefty boom, and they strode towards the open doors out of the Cargo Bay. There were dozens of armour plates stacked neatly on the deck, and as John walked by, he could see the crumpled, blackened, and cracked plating that had protected the Invictus' hull.

"That one was too close," he muttered, stopping to stoop down and take a closer look at the torn up armour. It had been removed from the rear of the ship, and he could see how horrifically mangled it was, after being hit with three Heavy Cannon shells.

"Yeah, no more close shaves like that, please," Dana requested with an exuberant grin.

John slowly stood, looking around at the girls, and said, "You'll get no argument from me there." Dana and Rachel each linked arms with him, and as they walked out of the Cargo Bay together, John said to them, "I think it's well past bedtime."

Alyssa nodded, and slipped her arms around Calara and Irillith as she replied, "That's right, but we've got a victory to celebrate before anyone gets any funny ideas about sleeping."

***

Jade closed the comm channel, and the alert and enthusiastic Traffic Control Officer disappeared from the view screen. Now that the Nymph had clearance to depart, she carefully coaxed the Invictus off the deck of the drydock, retro-thrusters flaring as she gently increased the power. She eased the assault cruiser out in reverse, then brought up the nose, so that the Invictus was facing towards a clear section of space.

*We need you down here, Jade,* Alyssa thought to her in a teasing purr. *Everyone wants to thank you for being such an Ace pilot!*

Jade bit her lower lip in excitement, and flagrantly flouting port speed, she pushed her left hand forward on the throttle control, cranking up their speed to maximum. She nodded with satisfaction at the massive thrust from the four engines, full power restored to the Invictus once more. The Invictus roared away into the clear blackness of space, and she arced the ship around to head for the closest Nav beacon.

"You're in a hurry!" Faye remarked with a tinkling giggle.

The Nymph let out a dirty laugh, and replied, "You better believe it!"

***

Unbeknownst to the cheerful Bridge crew, when Jade reversed out of the drydock, a small invisible shuttle slipped off the upper levels of the shipyard, and drifted down to attach itself to the Invictus. The stealthy ship locked into position on the assault cruiser's docking collar, securely attaching itself before the Invictus roared away into the blackness of space. Inside the onyx-coloured vessel, a sarcophagus cracked open with a foreboding hiss, icy vapour swirling around the plinth as a dark figure stirred within.