The Privateer

"There's something on the ship with us."

Danil Starlancer was tense, nervous. His eyes darted around the bridge, and a Confederation assault rifle was clutched in his hands. The reporter showed a distinct lack of muzzle discipline, pointing the weapon in whatever direction he happened to be looking.

The bridge of the commandeered frigate was spacious. Rows of seats with consoles in front of them formed semi-circles facing a raised dais that held the command chair. Captain Mims didn't bother with the fancy chair. He sat in one of the rows, eyes on the console in front of him. He wasn't wearing his helmet, and he glanced up with tired eyes as the Brilend hustled over.

Yvian stifled a yawn. After fighting through the riot, getting captured, getting rescued, and moving the bodies of the Agents and their crew, she was in desperate need of her bunk. Sitting in front of her own console, she did her best to watch the sensors for threats, but she had to stand up and walk around every few minutes just to stay awake.

The Captain watched the reporter approach, shifting in his seat. Yvian turned back to the sensor readings. Scoland Sector was always busy, but now it was absolutely teeming with ships. It was two jumpgates away from Brilend Prime, and seemed to be one of the more popular destinations for Brilends fleeing their homeworld. There was a heavy militia presence, but so far no one had paid their stolen frigate any mind.

When Starlancer got within ten feet, Mims spoke. "You know that blaster won't do you any good, right?" As the reporter glanced at the weapon, the Captain continued. "DNA locked. Won't fire."

"There's something on the ship with us," the Brilend repeated.

"The ship is secure, Danil." Mims leaned back in his chair. "We'll be at Kilgor Station in two hours. Why don't you sit tight until then?"

"Secure?" A hint of anger pierced the reporter's fear. "Something tore through one of the doors on the ship. Something with claws."

"I know."

"You know?" The reporter tightened his grip on his blaster even more. "Did you know it's been eating the bodies?"

"You looked at the bodies?" The Captain scratched his head and let out a breath. "Of course you did."

"They weren't shot, Mims." Danil glowered. "Everyone that died was either crushed or torn apart."

Mims shrugged.

"You didn't escape on your own," the reporter guessed. "Did you."

"No," the human admitted. "These weren't a bunch of Milita dunks. Agents of the Unknown are some of the most disciplined, dangerous, and well equipped people the Confed has to offer. Even I couldn't engineer an escape on my own."

"Which means someone came to your rescue." Danil checked the door behind him again. "No. Not someone. Something. Something that could tear through fifty armed agents by itself. Something the sensors can't pick up." His eyes narrowed. "Something that eats sapient flesh."

"You know," Mims remarked. "Snooping around when you think there's a monster on board doesn't sound like a safe decision."

"I'm a Chronicler of Lives," the Brilend reminded him. "Learning the truth is more important than my own personal safety."

"Huh." Mims grunted. "You seem sure of yourself. You were terrified of me just a few hours ago."

"It's like you said, Mims," Danil pointed his weapon at a bulkhead and pulled the trigger. "You never fail a contract." He set the useless gun down.

"That doesn't mean I won't kill you once the contract's complete," Mims pointed out.

"You won't." The Brilend was certain. "Stop deflecting. It's a Vrrl, isn't it?"

"Could be," the human allowed. "Where's your wife?"

"My family's still in the brig," said Danil. "Asleep, I think. Lissa Kiver is with them."

Mims tapped his wrist console. "Lissa, it's Mims. Can you bring Mrs. Starlancer and the kids up to the bridge?"

Lissa replied with a yawn. "What's going on?"

"Our intrepid reporter's got a decision to make," Mims told her. "It's not the kind of decision a man should make without his wife."

It took a few minutes for Lissa to wake the Starlancers and get them up to the bridge. Mims rolled some of the seats away from the consoles while he was waiting. Yvian felt herself perk up at the sight of Danil's wife. Crunch. The woman was married, and Danil was trained observer. She was sure he noticed. Yvian donned her helmet before her wandering eyes could embarrass her further.

Mims stood as the group walked in. Lissa wandered over to him and gave him a quick kiss. The human made his best attempt at a warm smile as he greeted Mrs. Starlancer. "We haven't been introduced. I'm Captain Mark Mims of the Random Encounter." The traditional Brilend greeting involved a clasping of each others' hands and a slight bow, but the human stayed where he was. It was probably the right call. Mrs. Starlancer stared at the man with obvious fear. The children stared too, wide eyed and hiding behind their mother.

Danil's wife made an attempt at a smile as well. "Ellian Starlancer," she introduced herself. "And this is Nona," she gestured at the nine year old female, "and Jodd." She put a hand on the six year old male's shoulder. "Thank you for helping us, and for...umm..." She flicked a glance over to Danil, then down at the kids. "Just thank you."

"Think nothing of it." The human dropped his poor imitation of a smile, settling back into the cold professional calm that was his default expression. "We have a contract, and I owe Danil a favor, anyway." He gestured at the chairs he'd set out. "Would you like to have seat?"

"Yes." the woman sat. "Thank you." The children sat on the floor next to her. "So..." She swallowed. "So what's this about?"

"You and Danil have a decision to make," said the human. He gestured at the reporter. "Your husband's been snooping around." The woman paled. Mims held up his hands in a placating gesture and quickly continued. "You're not in danger. Not from me. But there's a lot going on, and how much of it I can share will depend on what you decide."

"What do you mean?" asked Danil.

"You've been targeted by the Office of the Unknown," Mims reminded him. "They're after us, not you, but that doesn't mean you're safe. Sooner or later, more Agents will come."

"Are you a real human?" The girl, Nona, asked.

"Yes," said the Captain.

"Do you eat people?"

"Nona," Ellian chided.

"Are you sexually deranged?" Jodd blurted the question.

"No and no," said the Captain. He ignored Ellian's attempts to hush the children and turned back to Danil. "The Agents prefer discretion, but they've got authority to do whatever they want. At the very least, you'll be plied for information."

"Too right I will," the reporter nodded grimly. "And I'll tell them everything."

"One way or the other," agreed the Captain. "That means anything we tell you will make its way to the Confed government. Unless..."

"Unless?" Danil prompted.

"You can come to New Pixa." Mims nodded towards Ellian. "You and your family."

"You'll be safe there," Lissa took up the conversation. "More than that, you'd be on hand for the story of the century. There's a lot more to the Technocracy than the Confed knows, and we'll share it all."

"We could use a good reporter," Yvian jumped in. "Most of our people only know how to..." She glanced at the kids, and chose her next sentence with care. "We're not trained observers."

Danil and Ellian shared a look. It was Ellian who asked, "What's the catch?"

"The catch is," Mims folded his arms, "you won't be able to leave. Not any time soon, anyway."

"You won't be able to share what you learn with the Confed, either," said Lissa. "Information security is one of our biggest priorities, and your communications will be monitored."

"You'll be gainfully employed, and well compensated," Mims continued, "but you'll no longer be able to contribute to Spacedock Weekly. You'll be forced to start a whole new life."

"That's a high price for a little bit of safety," said Danil.

"We know," said Lissa. "We're not going to force you to do anything."

"It's not an offer that's made lightly," Mims added. "Aside from myself, you're the first non-pixens to be offered citizenship."

"Offered by whom?" Ellian asked. "Who are you working for?"

"Or is New Pixa working for you?" Danil wondered. "You say it's a country, but you're the only representatives that have been seen."

Yvian tried to exchange a worried look with Mims. He ignored her. Yvian flushed, glad she'd put on her helmet. One of these days she'd learn to control her expression like the human did. "I'm just following the contract," he said. "I was told to make the offer and I've made it. What you do with it is up to you."

"You're not trying very hard to sell us on this," Ellian pointed out.

The human shrugged. "Like I said, I was told to make the offer. It's a good deal, and the Pixen Technocracy is trustworthy, near as I can tell. But leaving your species behind is a big deal, and cutting yourself off from your current lives is a lot to ask."

"And in exchange you're offering secrets," the reporter mused. "Secrets no one else knows." He frowned. "Secrets I wouldn't be able to share." He let out a breath. "That's a terrible thing to offer a Chronicler."

"You'll get to tell the whole story," Lissa told him. "Just not right away."

"No thank you," Ellian decided. "We'll take our chances at Kilgor Station."

Danil turned to his wife. Much like Yvian sometimes did with her sister, the two of them seemed to have a whole conversation with a look. At the end of it Danil still looked conflicted, but he nodded.

"Alright." The human pulled a data cartridge out of his armor. "In that case, we'll give you the version the Confed gets to know about." He tossed the cartridge to Danil. At his expression, Mims raised a hand. "No lies, but we are omitting things we're not allowed to share. I can only give you the facts I'm allowed to share."

Danil fixed the human with a suspicious frown. "It sounds like you've had pretty specific instructions. How did you contact your employers?"

The Captain responded with a raised eyebrow. "Do you really expect me to answer that?"

Danil shrugged. "I had to try."

Mims continued. "That data cartridge contains most of what we know about the Vore. The Confed already knows a lot of it, but we were able to get footage of the attack on Dorado." At Danil's furrowed brow, Mims elaborated. "It's a Federation world. Heavily defended. The humans still lost."

Danil gave a nod and pocketed the cartridge. "What else?"

"The official stance of the Pixen Technocracy," Lissa told him, "is that all pixens are citizens, and under the protection of our government. Any attempt to unjustly kill, imprison, or enslave our citizens will be met with force, and the Technocracy will target not just the people committing the acts, but the people giving the orders, no matter how wealthy or powerful they may be."

"Such as when you assassinated the owners of the Trelg Pleasure Guilds." Danil rested a hand on his chin, thoughtful.

"Not us," Mims corrected. "We're independent contractors. I didn't give the orders, and I certainly didn't murder any rich people."

"The Technocracy, then." Danil tilted his head. "Is it alright if I record this?"

Lissa snorted. "Do you think we don't know you're already recording?"

"Maybe?" The reporter shrugged. "It's still better if you give me permission."

Lissa glanced at Mims. Mims shrugged. Lissa shrugged. "Alright. Permission granted, I guess."

"Thank you." Danil Starlancer leaned forward. "Now tell me about the Vrrl on board."

"Vrrl?" Ellian snapped her gaze to her husband. "There's a Vrrl on this ship?"

"I believe so."

"That can't be right," Ellian's eyes darted around the room. "The Vrrl are monsters. Only a human would..." Her eyes fell on Mims. She swallowed. "I mean not even a human..."

"Yeah, about that." Mims took a breath to continue, but Lissa spoke first.

"The Vrrl Starfang Empire was attacked, as well," she said. "They've declared total war on the Vore. To that end, they've entered a formal alliance with the Pixen Technocracy."

Danil Starlancer blinked. "They what? Can you repeat that?"

"The Technocracy has an alliance with the Vrrl," Lissa said again. "They've sworn to hunt the Vore wherever they can be found."

"They're prepping a fleet for Brilend Prime as we speak," the Captain added.

"That's..." Danil was at a loss. "No. There's no way the Vrrl could get a fleet there unnoticed. They don't... They don't have..." His eyes widened. "Mims, tell me the Vrrl don't have jumpdrive technology."

"I'm not the one to ask," said the Captain. "Come on out, Scarrend."

There was a shimmer a few meters behind Danil, between him and the door to the bridge. Scarrend Scathach let his armor's invisibility drop. He'd activated it a few seconds before the Chronicler of Lives entered the bridge. The light bending function was more along the lines of camouflage than true invisibility, but it worked as long as the Vrrl stayed still. It also negated his stealth function, making him easy for sensors to detect, but a quick look at her console told Yvian there was no one close enough to get a good scan.

None of the Brilends noticed the Vrrl at first. The Captain drew their attention by pointing his hand at the four armed monstrosity. "This is Scarrend Scathach, Ninth Hsst of the Priderender and our current liaison with the Vrrl Starfang Empire. Scarrend, this is Ellian and Danil Starlancer, and their family."

The Giant Murderkitty removed his helmet, revealing three eyes with slitted pupils and a muzzle full of fangs. "Don't worry, softpaws," his voice rumbled. "I've been told you're not on the menu."

Yvian wasn't certain who screamed first. She wasn't certain who screamed the loudest. She was certain that little Nona was the highest pitched. The Starlancers all scrambled away from the beast in a desperate, terrified rush. Ellian even grabbed the gun Danil had set down. The weapon didn't work any better for her than it did for Danil, but it did give Yvian a moment of panic at how the Vrrl might respond. Scarrends burst of laughter reassured her.

Yvian let out a sigh. She couldn't hear over all the yelling, but she got the impression the Captain and Lissa were sighing as well. Scarrend, on the other hand, was vastly amused, and making no attempt to hide it. His booming, continuous laugh was starting to get on her nerves. As Lissa moved to calm the terrified Brilends, the Captain muttered a single word.

"Asshole."