"Approaching the indicated coordinates, Sir. We have multiple targets detected," Lucas said to the Collector as I walked up. The Collector motioned me to take a seat next to him. He looked fresh as a daisy even though I knew he'd hardly slept in the last three days. After all, it was his girlfriend we were trying to save.
"Very good Lucas," said the Collector. "Maintain stealth mode and give us a visual on the main screen."
"Yes Sir."
When the viewscreen lit up to show a sea of unfamiliar stars I hardly noticed how beautiful it was. I guess I was just worried about what we were getting into. I'd even stopped gaping at the scale of things in this ship; so it was nine miles long and packed with sudden death, so what? Stick to the job at hand, I thought as I drug my attention back to here and now. Lucas punched a few buttons and some of those stars began blinking on and off. Those must have been the targets he'd mentioned.
"Magnify," said the Collector. "Let's see what we've come so far to find."
My jaw dropped as the view on the screen changed to show us more detail. There must have been hundreds of ships out there! The largest looked like a giant pincushion, several more looked like steam-irons, and then there were hundreds of smaller, football-shaped ones, darting around like gnats swarming. I could feel my mouth go dry as I stared at the screen.
"Are we in scanning range yet?" asked Guiles Thornby.
"Just barely," said Fox.
"Can you locate Sarah in all of that?" I asked.
"Not yet, we're still too far out to scan the insides of all of those ships."
"Ten to one she's on that Carrier," Guiles said, pointing at the giant pincushion. "Although if they were smart they'd have put her into one of the smallest ships just to make her harder to find."
"If they were smart," said the Collector, "they wouldn't have risked kidnapping her in the first place. Let us hope that they have out-smarted themselves. Bring us into scanning range Lucas. Fox, be prepared to time-shift Murder Weapon a fraction of a second so that we can avoid any chance of detection. Those pirates will have excellent scanning gear of their own."
"We are secure from their scans," said Lucas. "Even if they could duplicate our own gear they couldn't get a spy-beam inside Murder Weapon now. I took the liberty of random-modulating our shields. Even the Museum couldn't overhear us now."
"But the power drain!" said Guiles.
"Nothing our generators can't handle," replied Lucas. "According to the Krell's preliminary report, the pirates don't have anything like the power necessary to scan inside Murder Weapon. They could find us, but not overhear us."
The Collector seemed to relax visibly at this news. Good, I thought to myself. He's going to drop this acting crazy and get back to normal!
"We must be ready at a moments notice," said Maxwell. "If we are to be successful we will need to move swiftly to rescue Sarah."
"We're having trouble getting reliable readings with the scanners Sir," said Fox. "Without using enough power to reveal ourselves we can't scan very deeply into any but the smallest of their ships."
"Have you determined exactly how much it would take to let them know we're out here?" asked Guiles.
"Not exactly, Guiles. We have to assume that the smaller ships have much less sensitive sensors than the others. If we don't, we run the risk of giving away our position... Or at least the fact that we're out here in the first place. I've asked the Science Team for an evaluation of the limits, but they are still working on it."
"Sir," said Maxwell quietly to the Collector. "We could launch a probe in full stealth mode. It could scan the pirates at full power. It's own position would be revealed, but ours would not."
"Not quite yet, Maxwell. That would give the pirates some indication that we were indeed in the vicinity. As of yet they are acting as if they are completely ignorant of our presence. I want to maintain that ignorance as long as possible."
"This is kind of like fishing with your bare hands," I said. The Collector looked at me and raised one eyebrow.
"Is it indeed?" He said. "How so?"
"Well, it's like we're just laying on a rock, or something, out in a river near a school of fish. Being very careful not to make any moves that would frighten them. When the one you want gets close enough, you have to move quickly to snatch him up out of the water. Of course, the rest of them will scatter as soon as you make a splash, but you do get the one fish... If you do it right. Personally, I'd rather be using a rod and reel. You can catch more fish that way"
"A good analogy, Tom. I understand what you mean. I'd rather we had the proper 'fishing tackle' myself, but what would we use for bait? And if we dangle our hook in the water we take the chance of frightening all of our little 'fish' away." The Collector said, rubbing his chin in thought. "We will give it a bit more time, but I think we are nearly ready to give up lying in wait. I, for one, am quite ready to cast out a line and see what kind of bait these hungry fish will strike. Maxwell, have the Science Team ready a stealth probe. Make it capable of time-shifting to conceal itself. I want every bit of information about their sensors, there may be a 'blind spot' we can take advantage of in their systems."
"Very good, Sir. I will see to it myself," Maxwell said, with one of those quick smiles lighting his android face like a flashbulb. He turned away and strode to the elevator. I watched him walk away with a twinge of jealousy. At least he had something to do. I looked around at everyone in the control room, busy at their stations. All this waiting was beginning to get on my nerves. I wished that something would happen soon. The pirates could be torturing Sarah right now, for all we knew.
"I'll keep that in mind, Maxwell. Launch the probe on my mark, time shift it as soon as it clears the shields. Fox, decrease shield strength to twenty percent."
"Sir?"
"I've been thinking about Mr. Darby's fishing analogy. I believe that the best 'bait' in this case would be the ship itself, but if we appear to be invincible our 'fish' may never come close enough for us to catch. I think that we have been 'baited' out here ourselves and I don't like the implications of that at all."
"Shields reduced," said Fox. "Further orders Sir?"
"Yes, all Scouts to their fighters," said the Collector as he turned to face the six alien Scouts. They stood and turned to leave the control room. "Be ready for immediate launch. Target those smaller pirate ships and use as many drones as each of you can control. I wish it to appear that we have much greater numbers than we actually do. I want lots of communications traffic between the drones and yourselves, in clear mind you, so that we can foster that illusion."
"We are to be overheard?" asked Dezy in her melodious voice.
"That should give them something to worry about," added Norr.
"Yes, start with fifty drones apiece. Call for replacements as needed. Assume the identity of Flight Leaders and do as much damage as possible, but keep up the chatter! Murder Weapon will be using minimal firepower to keep the destroyers busy and draw the fire of their large-scale weapons. As soon as Sarah is located Guiles and Maxwell will go in after her. The rest of us will have to keep the pirates distracted so that Guiles and Maxwell can rescue her. Understood?"
"We shall be triumphant," snarled Landerakh in his grating voice. I could see his fingers curl as if they were around the throats of some unlucky pirates already. I shuddered. I wouldn't want that alien for an enemy! "They will rue the day that ever laid hands on Mistress Sarah!"
"To your ships, my friends. Good hunting! Lucas, launch the probe."
I looked at Guiles as the Scouts left for their fighters. He was looking at the Collector as if he understood the crazy act that his boss had been putting on since Sarah had been kidnapped. I saw him nod as if he now approved what the Collector had been doing.
"Probe launched."
"Scan those ships and find us a weakness to exploit. We have to know Sarah's exact location before we can move against the pirates."
"Good, save the Flagship for last... If any of them can locate us it will be that ship."
"No sign of her yet, switching to the Flagship now."
Lucas whistled in surprise.
"What is it, Lucas?" asked the Collector.
"Thirty-four thousand ships, even if all but thirteen of them are small fighters. That's still a sizable fleet for us to have to take on."
"Hah!" exclaimed Guiles. "Maxwell could handle them by himself." Maxwell flashed another of his quick grins. "We could have stayed home and let him have some fun on his own."
"I might need a little help," said Maxwell. "If we wish to leave some of them alive, that is."
"Gentlemen..." began the Collector.
"Sir!" interrupted Fox. "The scan shows an area inside the Flagship that's been Time-shifted!"
"What? Impossible!" exclaimed the Collector."Unless..."
"They can't have time-shift abilities!" said Guiles. "Unless they captured a time traveler and forced him to help them."
"Or one sought them out as allies," amended the Collector. "It would explain the ease of their entry and exit from the Museum."
"All bets are off, now. They'd be holding her in that time-shifted area..." said Guiles.
"Where we couldn't scan for her no matter what," added Lucas.
"This does complicate matters," said the Collector quietly. "Whether ally or captive, that time traveler cannot be allowed to remain with those pirates. They could do untold damage to history if they can glean the secrets of a time capsule from it's operator. Scan at full power. It doesn't matter if the probe is revealed or not, now. The rules of the game have been changed."
"Changed?" hissed Guiles. "They've been tossed out the airlock!"
"Power increased on the scans, Sir. Sarah is not on any of their ships, unless she is in the area of time-shift."
"But we know she's here," I said. "Don't we?"
"Yes Tom, this is where my pet found her. She is here. She must be in the time capsule, inside that shifted area."
"Sir, the probe has been located. Our own position is still secure, but the probe is being hailed from the Flagship."
"Relay the signal here, Fox. We must pretend to be the probe, for now. We shall play the cards as they have been dealt, but everyone must take care. Not a word about the probe or our only advantage will be nullified."
"Ready to answer the hail, Sir. Relay through the probe is secure, it can't be traced to our position."
"Good, put it on the main viewer, Lucas."
As the image on the big viewscreen shimmered and changed, I wondered what the pirates would look like. I had accepted the aliens from the Museum as people without a second thought, but I didn't think that an evil alien would be so easy to deal with. I was prepared for monsters, for ugliness, weirdness in the extreme. I wasn't disappointed.
As the static on the screen cleared I could see into what had to be the bridge of the pirate flagship. The pirate Captain was everything I'd thought, and more. He was sprawled in some kind of command chair in the center of his control room, his tentacles caressing the chair as if it were a security blanket. He looked like something washed up on a beach, dead and rotting. His pale, greenish hide was wart encrusted and had stiff, bristly hairs sprouting randomly all over it. He had three eyes set in a triangle in his neckless head, at least seven tentacles that I could count, and his fanged mouth slobbered as he spoke.
"I am Akeptzaxodur of the Lexaptuorkellnast and you are my prisoners! Lower your pitiful shields and prepare to be boarded, scum! I have the guns of my entire fleet trained on your position, you are helpless before the might of the Lexaptuorkellnast. Surrender, and I promise your deaths will be mercifully quick. Oppose us and your tortures shall be endless! All will bow to the might of Akeptzaxodur! Surrender your ship now!"
"Confident sort, isn't he?" quipped Guiles as the pirate paused for breath.
"Hmmm," said the Collector. "Yes, he is."
"Let me handle this, Captain." came a voice from off-screen. It was mellow, warm, and mocking. Right away I disliked the owner of that voice. A human-looking man stepped into the picture from somewhere off to the side of the pirate. He was average sized, with short dark hair framing a mocking face that made me want to smash it in. He smiled, his eyes twinkling with cruel delight from underneath dark eyebrows. If he'd had a moustache he'd have been twirling the tips of it as he considered what to say next. He struck me as being totally insane, just by standing there. He looked as if he were enjoying the situation immensely.
"Bloody hell..." said Guiles angrily.
"Oh my giddy Aunt." said the Collector.
"Hello Father," said the madman to the Collector.
Copyright 1996 by Dan L. Hollifield
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