Valterion: The Space/Arch? Mage

Maja’s Adventures 5

Location: Magicon Empire; Armortec Duchy; Cintman System; PAS Andala

Maja stands on the bridge of the Andala in shock. Sure, she expected it to happen sometime, but not so fast, and certainly not like this. The hologram of Emperor John Benson is still frozen right in front of the consoles.

Of course, it has to happen in the first week I’m taking command of a training ship…

Maja turns to Ellie who is her second in command during this exercise. It’s their first exercise on a real starship, and Maja worked hard during the past months to earn the position of captain.

The group started their real Peacekeeper training immediately after the survival camp. First, down on Cintman 3 with basic drills, then back up on one of the space stations where they learned what it means to be a Peacekeeper.

After that, training drifted more and more into the actual command track, and the fifty cadets learned about leadership, and most importantly about the different departments on a starship.

All this led to the climax, where the cadets take on real roles aboard a starship, during a practice mission. This includes a full crew consisting of other academy tacks, including a full contingent of Mages.

Now, the whole mission of rescuing the crew of a stranded starship – all part of the exercise – is merely a thought in the back of everyone’s head. The Emperor’s speech was too shocking. Especially the revelation that Peacekeeper cadets will be allowed to visit Earth as well.

Maja finally catches Ellie‘s attention. “Hey Ellie, can you ask command what we’re supposed to do now?”

I mean the Emperor announced a week-long holiday… Sure, we ignored it so far, but maybe now is different?

Ellie looks back at Maja with wide eyes. She’s still shocked by the speech. “What?” She shakes her head, and a bit of clarity returns to her eyes. “Oh, right. Yeah, I can do that. One moment, please.”

She starts tapping on her interface, and Maja sits down. She takes a moment to look around on the bridge. There are familiar faces all around. Maja wonders if Sara’s mom played a role in this. Simon is one of her Space Mages, Thomas is the tactical officer, and Shay is part of the boarding forces. The remaining officers are all people from her command course.

She catches Thomas’s gaze, there is an unspoken question in it. No, Maja didn’t know about this before. She shakes her head, and Thomas nods. She continues to send him a message asking him to meet her in her office in a few minutes. She sends the same one to Simon and Shay.

Meanwhile, Ellie calls for her attention again, this time using the proper form of address. “Captain, I’ve got a reply from command. We are to continue with our mission despite the holiday.”

Makes sense, the military has to be available at all times…

“Thanks, commander. Please inform the crew. I’ll be in my office.”

Ellie nods and Maja gets up. She nods at Thomas and Simon, and they both start to follow her. Inside her office, she slumps down on her chair. The others sit down opposite her, and Shay arrives soon after.

They stare at each other in silence until Thomas clears his throat. “Wow, did anyone of you expect this?”

Everyone shakes their heads.

“No, not at all. I mean sure, Sara’s dad worked on the vault, but I didn’t expect it to happen so fast,” Maja replies. “I certainly didn’t expect the competition.“

Simon is nodding eagerly. “I know, right? And did I hear this right? We might be able to join!”

“You did. I’m wondering if this is intentional, though.”

“What do you mean, Shay?” Thomas asks.

“Well, the competition is for students at the colleges… That has to be a cover for Sara so that she can join. And now the military cadets can join too. And well, here we are. We’re all friends of Sara.”

She might be right. A bummer that our communications are still blocked.

Thomas leans back in his chair. “Huh, I didn’t think of that before, but now… Yeah, you’re probably right. What does that mean for us, though?”

Maja clears her throat. “It means that we have to be the best! We have to pass this mission with flying colors. You have to get your departments in line, we can’t slack off now!”

That earns her nods all around.

“Aye, captain.”

Maja returns to the bridge and calls everyone to attention. There she repeats what she just said in private. The bridge crew is silent but soon starts nodding. Then she gets another chorus of “Aye, captain.”

Alright, let’s get started!

A few hours of flight later, normalcy more or less returned to the bridge of the Andala. The ship is steadily closing to its destination. First scans show a stranded freighter, just like the mission briefing said.

Maja currently sits in the captain’s chair and watches the scanners. Thomas and his assistant at the tactical console do the same, while the helmsman coordinates with Dina, the Andala’s AI. Said AI is actually an alter ego of Maja, which runs in the background. Maja is more than capable of filling out two roles aboard the ship.

The scanner refreshes and now shows a clearer picture of the freighter. Maja frowns.

Is that debris around the ship? And a hole in their hull? Am I paranoid or does it look unnatural?

She looks at Ellie. “Commander Zekic, do you have a moment?”

“Sure, captain, what do you need?”

“Take a look at this… What do you think?”

A mental command has the scan of the freighter appear as a hologram between the two women. Ellie steps closer and looks. She starts frowning as well. “I’m not sure, but it looks like they were attacked… We should proceed with caution. I’ll inform tactical and do some planning with them.”

Maja nods to dismiss her. “Thank you, keep me informed.”

She sends a ping to lieutenant Fraser at the helm through her Dina disguise. He finishes making some adjustments, then gets up and walks over to Maja and salutes. “Captain, Dina informed me you wanted to talk to me?”

“At ease, lieutenant, And yes, we’ve had some uncertain developments at our target. We need to approach more cautiously. Can you adjust our course so that we’ll approach on an angle and slow us down a bit until we know more?”

He nods once. “Certainly, I’ll do so immediately!”

He returns to his console and Maja leans back in her chair. She closes her eyes for a moment to think.

The most probable reason for their damage is pirates… But they didn’t say so in their distress call. It could be an ambush, but who in their right mind would attack a military ship? Hmm, Sara certainly met such an idiot. But I can’t count on it. There must be another reason…

The Andala continues to approach the freighter with caution. Once they’re close enough, Maja orders the communication officer to try to contact them. The young woman at the console does so and manages to form a connection. After a quick conversation with Maja, the officer puts the call on the main screen.

A projection of a middle-aged man appears, and Maja steps forward. “Good day, sir, this is captain Yarin of the Andala. We’re responding to your distress call, can you give us a rundown on the situation, please?”

The man stays silent for a few seconds of light speed lag, then he responds. “Hello, captain, and thanks for responding so quickly. We’ve had a run-in with a nasty asteroid floating around. It went by our sensors, unnoticed, and damaged our ship quite badly on impact… There is extensive damage to our engines… We’re unable to move, and the whole ship is unstable. We have to evacuate as soon as possible.”

Maja frowns a bit but mentally alters the video feed to show her with a normal expression.

That sounds wrong… Now that we’re closer it looks more like the explosion came from inside the ship. What game is he playing? I should play along for now.

“We’re happy to assist. What do you need from us? And why didn’t you use the escape pods if the situation is critical?”

The man’s smile slips a little. “Unfortunately, that’s not possible… You see, we’re carrying special cargo for Franklin Industries, I just forwarded you the bill of lading for it. We’re obligated to take the cargo with us if we ever had to evacuate the ship. Unfortunately, our sole shuttle was destroyed by the asteroid’s impact. This would have freed us from the contract, of course, but at this point, you’ve already responded to our distress call and our engineers deemed it safe enough to wait for your arrival and fulfill the contract. What I’m trying to say is that we’d very much appreciate it if you’d send us a shuttle.”

Maja nods. “We can do that. Hold tight, we’ll send you a shuttle as soon as we’re closer.”

A mental command cuts the connection, and the video cuts off. “Commander Zekic, lieutenant Nelson, please join me in my office. Lieutenant Fraser, you have the conn.”

Thomas and Ellie both nod in acknowledgment and Maja sends a message to Shay as well. Lieutenant Fraser gets up and takes over the captain’s chair. Maja enters her office, and the others follow her. Shay arrives soon after. Maja quickly tells Shay what the person from the freighter told them, then continues to voice her thoughts.

“Something’s off here… The damage can’t be from an asteroid, and well, my gut tells me not to trust that man.”

Ellie adds her thoughts. “And there is the part with that special cargo as well… Honestly, I think it’s a pirate attack gone wrong, and now they're trying to escape with their loot right under our noses.” She shakes a bit in anger at the end.

She’s got a history with pirates, and it would make sense. There is one problem though.

Maja shakes her head. “That’s the only thing that’s foolproof in his tale. I checked his bill of lading, and everything he told us about that cargo is true. I’m not saying that it isn’t pirates, but honestly, I wouldn’t bet my money on it.”

“Hmm,” Ellie is deep in thought. “So what can we do? We’re obviously not complying with his request for a shuttle.”

Maja looks at Thomas. “Can you do another scan? It would be best if you look for life forms. If it’s pirates, the crew has to be somewhere… If they haven’t killed them at least.”

“I can do that, yes. Give me a minute.” He continues under his breath. “Dina, can you connect me to my console, please?”

Maja smiles to herself and does so. Thomas smiles slightly. A minute later, he looks back up. “I’ve got something, but I’m not sure what to make out of it.”

“What is it?” Shay asks.

“There is a big group of people together in what I’ve identified as the mess hall. There are more people standing at the entrances. A few are at engineering, and the remainder is on the bridge.”

Ellie scowls. “That sounds like pirates have taken the crew hostage.”

Thomas shakes his head. “One would think so, yes, but the numbers are wrong… The number of people aboard the freighter is almost identical to the number of crew such a ship has. I don’t know what to make of it. If the pirates killed more than half the crew, why even bother with leaving the rest alive?”

Something clicks in Maja’s head.

It’s a mutiny! It has to be.

Maja conveys her thoughts, which causes another round of discussion.

“That’s certainly a possibility,” Shay replies.

Ellie frowns. “I still think it’s pirates… But does it even matter? We have to apprehend them no matter what.”

Maja looks back at Shay. “That’s your job. Can you plan out some scenarios?”

“Sure, I’ll have them ready for review before we’re close enough to the freighter. I’ll get right to it, if I may.”

“Yes, go ahead, we’re finished here. Lieutenant Nelson, can you alter our shields to be more stealthy? Best would be if they are undetectable. I don’t want to get closer unprotected but I also don’t want to tip them off.”

He nods. “Yeah, that shouldn’t be a problem.”

Maja dismisses him, then invites Ellie to sit down opposite her. “Are you alright?”

Ellie shakes her head. “I will be… The possibility of there being pirates hit me harder than I thought. Even if I know that this is only a training mission.”

“I get it… Truly. I’ll be there if you want to talk, anytime.”

Ellie gets back up. “Thank you, I appreciate it. But not now. We’ve got a mission to complete.”

Maja follows her out of the room. “True enough, those mutineers or pirates won’t catch themselves.”

Ellie chuckles darkly, and they return to their consoles. The freighter is now barely visible through the front-facing window. A ping for her Dina persona shows her that both Thomas and Shay are ready.

Alright then, let’s get this started!