BSE Chapter 4-16

Knowing ships were arriving and watching them do so in real-time when they were multiple light hours away was an interesting experience for Alexander. Being able to communicate with Krieger and the rest of the active ships in the BSE fleet at the same time was a game changer.

It was Krieger’s idea to make it appear like the BSE ships were doing a random patrol through the system, and just so happened to be only a few light minutes from Captain Willard’s likely emergence point.

Alexander watched as the first STO ship seemed to hesitate upon arrival. This uncertainty allowed Krieger and the rest of the BSE fleet to maneuver behind the arriving ships. By the time the rest of their ships transitioned it into the system, Krieger had taken up a trailing position behind the STO fleet. If they were here to start something, they were already at a disadvantage.

With Krieger’s maneuvers, Alexander got to see firsthand why it was so important for ships to arrive close together or far enough away to form ranks. He knew on an intellectual level why it was important, but seeing it was different. You were essentially a sitting duck until the rest of your ships arrived because any maneuvering may place you in the direct path of another ship’s emergence zone. He made a note to speak with Krieger about jump-linking the entire fleet to prevent this sort of issue from occurring if they ever had to go on the offensive.

“I’m opening the internal comm line,” Krieger stated for Alexander’s benefit.

Alexander assumed some of the crew would be confused by what the Admiral stated, but that couldn’t be helped. After a conversation with his advisors, it had been decided to keep the existence of the comm nodes classified to captains and above. The node that Alexander was listening in on wasn’t even connected to the traffic control network, it was hidden in the same room as the Qcomm.

That conversation also included plans to start a new strategic control center and read the bridge crews in on the new technology once Krieger vetted everyone. He was sure that Krieger’s old crew were fine, but there were new faces on his bridge so it was best to ensure everyone was on the same page.

Until that happened, all the information his satellites and ships saw was routed to a terminal in the Qcomm chamber.

Alexander only received an anonymous ping on his tablet when he needed to review something. It was highly disruptive to his work, but it was the easiest way to ensure the secrecy of this project until the infrastructure and teams were in place to handle it properly.

“What is the meaning of this!” An irate man appeared on the Vanguard’s holo, which was forwarded to Alexander’s terminal. He assumed the person glaring through the connection was Willard. He had never actually met the man on his trip to Varlen.

Alexander was in observation mode for this meeting, so there was no signal being sent back through the connection to alert Willard that others were watching this exchange. It was just him and Krieger.

“I demand that you and your ships stand down. I am here on orders from STO Naval Command!” The man proclaimed as if it meant something.

Did the man not get the memo about Unokane? Even if he didn’t Krieger was about to fill him in.

“Captain Willard, you are in violation of BSE sovereign territory by bringing warships into our space without prior express permission. If you have orders to speak with BSE leadership, we will escort you to Eden’s End. We will not, however, be standing down.”

“That’s Vice Admiral to you, Krieger,” the man ground out. “Yes, I know of you as well, and your dishonorable discharge for misconduct.”

Alexander could see the man’s insignia denoting his new rank. If he had spotted it, Krieger had likely noted it as well and had purposefully antagonized the man because of the new rank. Alexander didn’t know much about Willard other than he was a disgraced captain sent to Vareln to be out of sight and out of mind. The fact that a bumbling prick like him had taken over for Fletcher wasn’t lost on either of them.

Either Willard had been responsible for Fletcher’s death, which seemed unlikely given the man’s lack of competence, or he was somehow involved. The question was, how much?

“You will address me by my title of Admiral, or you will be turned away,” Krieger shot back, one-upping the former senior captain.

The posturing came to an end when someone on Willard’s side cleared his throat. “Vice Admiral Willard, perhaps it would be best if we complete our task instead of antagonizing a neutral neighbor.”

Willard gave a scathing look to someone out of view before turning back to Krieger. “We will table this discussion for later. You may escort my task force so I can speak with Alexander Kane.”

The man didn’t even attempt an apology, oh, Alexander was going to have fun when he arrived. Unlike his visit to Asgard where he set aside his pride to ensure a deal happened, he didn’t need anything from the STO. If Willard thought he could come here and throw his weight around like it meant anything, he had another thing coming.

There was no further discussion between the pair after Krieger agreed to escort them to Eden’s End.

In the meantime, Alexander waited just long enough for a message to arrive via normal means before he sent a message to Pembrooke to get his take on Willard. He could have done that days ago, but Pembrooke wasn’t privy to the comm nodes either. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the man, Pembrooke had shown himself to be a team player so far. He planned to inform the man of the comm nodes eventually, he just hadn’t had time.

Alexander met Pembrooke in his new office a few minutes later.

“What can you tell me about Captain Willard, or I guess it’s Vice Admiral Willard now?” Alexander asked.

Theo frowned at that. “Vice Admiral? I assume you want to know if he’s connected with Fletcher’s death then?”

“That as well, but I want your full opinion of the man. I assume you know of him?”

“I do,” Theo said in distaste. “More than you know. Willard is an Omni informant. He’s how I first heard about you being out here.”

That was news to Alexander, but at least he now knew how Theo knew to find him out here and why the mand had made his way to Eden’s End.

Theo continued. “Ezekiel Willard is your typical rich idiot who thinks everyone who isn’t part of the nobility or upper crust of society, should know their place and be happy in a subservient role. Considering that point of view is outdated and frowned upon by most nobility, I’m surprised it still lingers on within Willard’s family. Then again, our esteemed Vice Admiral is a very shallow person. When I spoke with him before arriving here, I barely restrained myself from setting up an unfortunate accident for the man. Now that I see his incompetence has caused him to fall upwards in the STO hierarchy yet again, I regret not taking action.”

Alexander decided not to comment on that. “Considering the conversation he had with Krieger, I can understand your feelings. What else?”

“Not much to be honest. The man’s about as deep as a puddle in a desert. His only goal seems to be personal power, likely to show his family that he was successful without them. As if he wouldn’t be in an STO military prison if they hadn’t bailed him out when he got caught selling information to Omni.”

“And what about Fletcher’s death? You don’t think he had a hand in that, do you?”

Pembrooke laughed at that. “That socialite getting his hands dirty, I doubt it. Willard was more of a low-level informant than a man of action or someone who could be counted on to do dirty work. Even if he had wanted that responsibility, Omni wouldn’t have given it to him for a couple of reasons. The biggest being that he was still part of a rich family. Nothing hurts profits more than getting one of the big spender’s kids killed, even if they are the black sheep of the family. That being said, I wouldn’t put it past Willard to have arranged for the assassin to get to Varlen and then leave again once his work was complete. He helped get me onto the station without any issues so I have first-hand knowledge that he can and was willing to do that.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Alexander said with a frown.

“Why’s he here anyway?” Theo asked. “Seems like an unnecessary waste of time and energy, especially for a Vice Admiral.”

“He stated that he is here on orders from STO Naval Command, whatever that means.”

Theo frowned at that. “That doesn’t sound like anything good. If it was, they would have reached out to you via Qcomm. Do you think it’s about what the transport brought or the building you rushed to put up to hide it?”

Alexander hid his surprise that Theo had heard about the ship arriving and dropping something off. It wasn’t like he could keep a vessel that large a secret and people on Eden’s End liked to gossip.

“How did you hear about that?” Alexander asked in curiosity.

“A ship that big showing up out here, people talk.”

So it was exactly what Alexander had assumed.

Alexander chuckled lightly. “No, I doubt it has anything to do with that. If it did, I doubt they would have sent a few refurbished derelicts and a disgraced captain to take it back.”

“Okay,” Pembrooke stated. “I was curious before, but now I’m not sure if I wanna know what you have up there.”

“Probably better if you don’t. At least for now,” Alexander admitted.

“So what plans do you have for Willard? I can pretty much guarantee whatever he came out here to tell you will be anything but good. If I were in your position, I would get rid of him and those ships. Then again, they seem like sacrificial pawns, so whoever really sent them might want you to take that route.”

Alexander stared at Pembrooke in surprise.

“What?” the man asked. “It’s the most expedient option. Even if you aren’t going to go that route, you should always consider it as a possibility.”

“Fair enough,” Alexander finally admitted. “Although getting into a war with the STO is at the bottom of my list of responses right now. As for Willard, I plan on hearing what he has to say. After that, we’ll see.”

Pembrooke shrugged. “Anything you want me to do while our guests are here?”

“Actually, yes. See if you can speak with the crew and captains while they are here. Find out what they are like, or if any might be worth bringing over to our side.” Alexander might not be willing to wage open war with the STO, but he was perfectly fine with snatching experienced people away from them if the opportunity presented itself.