Note: I have dropped in on Tana's little ship and her crew a few times before. If you would like to read the sequence here are the previous flash fiction pieces:
Flash Friday # 106 -- The Replacement
http://zette.blogspot.com/2014/08/flash-friday-106-replacement.html
Flash Fiction # 141 -- The Outpost
http://zette.blogspot.com/2015/04/flash-fiction-141-outpost.html
Flash Fiction # 161 -- Illusion
http://zette.blogspot.com/2015/08/flash-fiction-161-illusion.html
Flash Fiction # 211 -- Teamwork
http://zette.blogspot.com/2016/08/flash-fictoin-211-team-work.html
Flash Fiction # 299 -- Catchin Can -- 7 Part story starts here:
https://zette.blogspot.com/2018/04/flash-fiction-299-catchin-canpart-1.html
Flash Fiction # 387 -- Catchin Bait -- 3 part story starts here:
https://zette.blogspot.com/2019/12/flash-fiction-387-catchin-bait1.html
"We have raiders," Captain Dundas said as we came into the room.
I hadn't even had a chance to sit down, and now I wasn't sure that I wanted to. The idea of raiders made me want to go get in my fighter and just attack things.
"Like we don't have enough trouble with aliens?" Lisel growled.
Being at Catchin, he had an impressive growl when he wanted to use it. Mostly he kept that sort of sound to himself because humans got nervous when Catchins got angry. Even as well as I knew Lisel, the sound still put all the hairs on my arms up at attention, and I had to fight not to move away from him.
A glance at Krisin saw the anger of his own, and it was probably not safe to move closer to him, either. Captain Dundas had turned to stare at her computer screen, and from the growing scowl on her face, I could tell that this was not much better.
"I suppose it's too late to retire?" I said.
"You and your crew are going to go take shore leave on Dayer's Station," she said without looking up. "And I expect you to have a good time."
"You expect us to find trouble."
"That's the same thing, isn't it?"
She looked up with a quick smile, but it faded soon after. Something beeped on her computer, and she snarled at it, looking -- and even sounding -- like Lisel. Then she looked at us and waved a hand.
"Sit down. You need to know what is going on."
I really didn't want to know. I could fight aliens. I did not like to go up against humans because you just could never know which ones you could trust. I trusted Dundas, Krisin, and Lisel. That was as far as I was going to extend that feeling.
"Sit down, Tana," Krisin said and shoved me into a chair. "We aren't likely to be this comfortable again for a while."
I didn't argue. "What do we need to know?"
"Three stations in this sector have suffered significant damage with horrendous loss of life," she said. I blinked, shocked by the news. "It is not out in the lines yet, but it will be soon. We are heading to Dayer because it has not been hit. So ..."
"So we don't know if that means they are about to be hit, or if it means they are a base for the rebels," Lisel said. He sat as well, his large frame nearly overflowing the chair. "Do you really think it wise for me to go in?"
"You are our wildcard, Lisel," the Captain said. She leaned back finally and shook her head. "But I am not going to order any of you three into this trouble. I just can't think of anyone else I would trust with learning anything helpful."
"That's a damned horrible thing to say to us," I said, but then I gave a quick laugh. "Yes, I know. We have a tendency to find trouble, so we are probably the best you can put out there. What about the rest of the crew?"
"You three are going to be off on a job for me, ahead of the others. While you are out, we are going to take an emergency run to one of the other stations, stranding you there."
I swallowed. "How long?"
"Seventeen days, minimum."
We all stared at her in silence.
"We can't leave Belgium tied to the station," Dundas said. "And we don't dare give a sign that we suspect any real trouble."
"Put our fighter off for repairs," Lisel said. "Give us a chance if things go to hell."
"Not a bad idea," Dundas agreed. "Can you fake a problem?"
"Yes," Krisin replied. "I'll do a bit of 'repair' work of my own. How long do we have?"
"Five hours."
I stood. I wasn't sure if the Captain had meant to dismiss us, but we didn't have much time. "Do you have reports for us to read?"
She keyed a chit out of her computer. "For you three, only. I don't want to panic on the ship. And I don't want anyone who might have rebel tendencies to maybe make a jump to the wrong side right now."
I took the chit and looked at my two crew. "We need to go check out the fighter and the trouble Kristin saw on that last flight."
Both of the crew nodded. Dundas stood. I had not expected her to offer her hand. "I am sorry to do this to you three," she said and shook each of our hands in turn. "Don't let me regret it."
Those were not exactly inspiring words. I felt a new chill. Severe damage to other stations? Rebels? Was she certain of it?
Lisel and Krisin said nothing as we went out into the corridor and headed for the lift. We had it to ourselves, a long, slow drop down to the bays.
"If either of you wants to drop out of this," I began.
"And leave you out there on your own? The station wouldn't stand a chance if you got angry," Lisel replied.
Coming from a Catchin, a species known for their rages, that was amusing. I laughed. Besides, I had come to suspect that the Catchin Rages were a myth they created for themselves to keep humans from bothering them. Humans meddled in everything. They had made the Catchin race itself, but sanity had stopped them short of making the species too powerful for humans themselves to survive.
The bay master glanced our way and frowned but didn't question us. Trillin was used to seeing us and had learned not to interfere. We were the Captain's darlings. That came with help and with a price. We could go and do what we liked, but others in the crew often resented us.
But we got things done, and we'd saved the ship more than once. We just didn't work well with others.
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