War Angel: part sixty

Richard flicked a switch and the lights on the bridge brightened. “That’s as high as they go, Jack. Are you sure about this?”

Jack shrugged. “No. But any level of image management we can engage in is important. If they think this thing is pristine, it gives us a little more of an intimidation factor. We don’t want to look like we took too much damage in that last fight.”

“I should have most of it fixed within the next twelve hours.”

“You have nine.” Jack swiveled the Captain’s chair around to face the front of the bridge, eyeballing the main viewscreen. “Okay. Let’s start broadcasting. Open it up.” Richard pushed a button and the screen burst to life. A pulsating sine wave began scrolling from left to right, a continuous hum echoing throughout the room. One minute passed, then two. Jack began to feel his palms sweat a little, and he reached down to dry them on his pants legs. Finally, as a third minute ticked away, the screen shifted to an image. There, in all his glory, stood F’ath M’isti.

Jack crossed one leg over the other. “Supreme Commander F’ath M’isti? This is Captain Jack Keys of the War Angel. I bid you greetings.”

M’isti gave a grunt that was half-laugh and half-snarl. “Captain. I assume you have called to offer your surrender?”

“I’m afraid not, Supreme Commander,” Jack replied calmly. “I don’t think that would benefit either of us.”

This time M’isti laughed fully. “Oh, I think it would be of a great benefit to you, boy. There are very few places you can hide from us. Not to mention all of the people we’ll kill if you don’t.” The Omegan smiled, sending a shiver down Richard’s spine. “You don’t really want those deaths on your hands, Captain.”

It was Jack’s turn to laugh. “I shot a man in the back in order to take over this ship, Commander. You really think I care about who you kill?”

“I do, Captain.” M’isti paused. “Or shall I call you Jack? You are a Keys. I know exactly what kind of man you are. The four pillars of life according to the family Keys: Be the very best. Uphold our family honor. Live a life of courage. Do the right thing.” Jack’s body went slack. “It’s that last part that tells me you’ll surrender… Captain.”

Jack stood from his chair, staring at the screen. He absently adjusted his uniform and slowly made his way closer to the viewscreen. “That’s… impressive, M’isti. You seem to know a lot about me and my family.”

The Omegan commander nodded. “Let us just say that… I have a history with your ancestors, boy.”

“Huh. Well, I’m not my ancestors, Commander. And I assure you, I am not going to surrender this ship.”

“A regrettable decision. Particularly for Mr. Drake’s father…”

Jack cut him off. “I am, however, going to offer you a deal, F’ath M’isti. One I think you’ll accept.”

“You have nothing to bargain with, Captain. You are wasting my time by stalling, and,” Jack saw him motion to someone offscreen, “I must now have Prisoner 1212 executed.”

“Do that,” Jack said, his confidence rising, “and you’ll never find the pieces of the gate.”

The Omegan froze. “What did you say, boy?” he snarled with barely contained rage.

“You heard me. You kill Patrick Drake, and I promise you that you will never find the rest of the pieces of Earth’s gate to Erestia.” Jack spun on his heel and walked back to the Captain’s chair, retaking his seat. “I mean, that’s what this is all about, isn’t it? Closing the breached gate on this end. But you have to put it all together first in order to do it.” Jack leaned forward. “I can make that happen, F’ath. But not if you start killing family members. We all take that a bit personally.”

Jack watched as the Supreme Commander of the Omegan forces gritted his teeth and flexed his fists. F’ath M’isti then stood and towered over the broadcast camera on his end. “You… are a clever one, boy. Captain. Perhaps a little too clever.”

“Careful, you sound like my mother.”

F’ath M’isti growled in response. “Let us say that I believe you. That I believe you have information that will help… complete our quest to your planet. Why should I not just take it from you?”

“You certainly could try,” Jack responded. “You certainly have us outgunned and outnumbered. But,” Jack said with a smile, “we’re faster. After raiding your ship, I have plenty of supplies to get me out of the solar system. Who knows what we’ll find out there? I’m more than willing to find out. Or…”

“Or?”

“Or you could invite us to dinner. We can sit down, talk this out, put an end to 120 years of war between our peoples. The gate can be put together and shut down, and whatever damage has been done to Erestia can begin to be repaired. Everybody wins, F’ath. Everybody.”

The Omegan clasped his hands behind his back and walked back to his own chair. “Interesting. Very interesting.”

“Live a life of courage, do the right thing. This is the right thing for both our peoples, Commander,” Jack said with all the earnestness he could muster.

F’ath M’isti sat motionless and silent. Jack watched his purple-skinned foe think, not pressing the issue. After a couple of minutes, the Omegan smiled. “All right, Captain. Let’s have that dinner and… chat. What do you propose?”

Jack nodded. “In twelve hours, we will meet whatever escort you wish to send at the largest moon of Mars - Phobos. From there we will proceed under flag of truce to wherever you would like to dine and… chat.”

“I accept those terms. You will be met and escorted to the Kan’Tar, where we will meet in person, Captain.”

The captain of the War Angel smiled. “I’m looking forward to it, Commander. Keys out.”

Jack turned to look at Richard. “What did you think, Clover?”

“I think that guy scares the living crap out of me, Jack. No way in hell he has any intention of honoring his bargain.”

“Oh, he will for a while,” Jack replied. “No worries for you, though. You aren’t going.”

“I’m not?”

Jack shook his head slowly. “Nope. Got a job for you.” Richard started to look relieved. “Don’t worry, it’s also ridiculously dangerous.”

“I feel much better,” Richard said dryly.

“Cheer up, man. You’ll still be safer than you would be inside the RGC and in the middle of our backstabbing contest.” Jack took a deep breath. “Don’t worry. I have a plan.”

“You had a plan last time, too.”

“Stop killing the mood, Richard.”