Chapter 18

Edited by Steve

Tim and the girls headed out the door and to the lift, heading to the lounge. “Sarha, could you have Millie have drinks ready for us?” Tim asked. As the doors automatically opened, they saw Millie sitting the drinks out in front of each person’s place.

Tim sat down and started sipping his drink, “We are going to the pirate base camp. One hundred and fifty people are still in detention, not of their own free will. My question to all of you is, what do you want to do about it? Also, there seems to be one more frigate out there.” asked Tim.

“Tim, we know where they are. Do we know if there are pirates there also?” Asked Jeanne.

“Sarha, a question for you,” Tim said. He sat at his place at the table, and he waited for Tammy and Sarha to show up.

Sarha appeared to Tim’s right just as Tammy walked through the door and crossed over to take her seat. “The answer to the question, yes, there are ten pirates left to guard the prisoners,” Sarha stated.

“Tammy, did you and Sarha set a course to their home base? If so, how long before we get there?” asked Tim.

“Yes, we will be there in about two hours and twenty minutes. That’s if Sarha doesn’t take too long cleaning up this mess.” Replied Tammy.

“Sarha, did you get plans for the base’s layout?” asked Tim.

“Tim, I am showing the plans on the screen now,” Sarha said.

Each person looked at the screen against the far wall; it showed a camp about a two-mile square. There are ten buildings. The one in the lower-left corner seems to be the powerhouse. Four massive buildings are in the center, and the other four are smaller storage buildings. There appears to be a wall around three of the four enormous buildings. Also, two large disk shapes are in the lower-right corner, and twelve guard towers are along the outer walls.

Tim looked closer at the plans, “The three buildings with the wall around them must be where they are keeping the prisoners. The other building must be the pirate’s headquarters.”

“Sarha, I need a couple of things done. First, prepare to send a probe to look over their base. At the same time, we need the ship moved into a closer orbit when we get there. Can that be done without them knowing we are there?” Asked Tim.

“Tim, send the probe when we arrive at the location and move the ship into the position that you requested. Will be no problem.” Replied Sarha.

Tim turned to Pauline, “I think I need to control this ground assault.” Tim said.

“That’s fine by me.” Said Pauline. She is glad it is not up to her to plan this assault.

“Sarha, you said there was another frigate not accounted for. Please let me know if it shows up on your scanners immediately.” Said Tim.

“Sarha, do we have any idea about the terrain around the base?” asked Tim.

“I am checking for that information throughout their database; I have something. Placing it on the viewscreen, now.” Sarha replied.

Tim observed a small ditch area southwest of the base. It is about fifty feet from the base and covers the entire length next to the base. “I thought maybe you could use this as a cover,” Sarha said.

Tabitha, Tammy, Pauline, and I will serve on the exploration team. Madlyn and Jeanne will be on the ship, and you will be air support. “If the other frigate shows up, do nothing. We will need to know if they have any more prisoners.” Tim said.

Tabitha, we will use your ship to go to the surface; we will land about two miles from the camp, so they will not see us.

“Tim, how will we handle the other frigate?” Asked Tammy.

“The first thing will be to stop what we are doing, to see what they are going to do.” Said Tim.

“Tim, the other frigate, just showed up on the scanners. I am trying to get a scan of their ship now.” Said Sarha.

Tim and the girls got up and headed to the bridge. They took their seats and looked towards the front viewscreen, just waiting for Sarha’s report.

“Tim, it is too far away to get a good scan. But I can tell by the scan I am getting; this may be a bigger frigate than the other.” Sarha replied.

“What does she mean by bigger? I thought all frigates were the same.” Said Pauline.

“Some frigates are built to hold more cargo or soldiers than others.” Said Tim.

“I thought frigates were fighting ships, not troop carriers.” Said Tabitha.

“The military turns some of them into troop carriers for smaller conflicts,” Tim replied.

“Sarha, we are cloaked?” asked Tim.

“Yes, as soon as the ship showed up, I cloaked. That was what you wanted, right?” said Sarha.

“Yes, thank you.” Replied Tim.

“Tim, I am getting a better scan now; the ship has a large cargo bay. There seem to be many individuals in it, and there are too many for the scanner to count.” Sarha replied.

“OK, then we will let them dock and unload their cargo. After that, we will take up the recovery action.” Said Tim.

The probe sent out now shows the base and what was happening there.

Tim watched where the frigate docked. Knowing Tabitha’s ship would have to dock there also. He was waiting and watching as the prisoners were unloaded.

“Sarha, can you check to see if your hacking programming will work on that frigate.” Asked Tim.

“Tim, I will try; it may take a few minutes.” Said Sarha.

“That’s OK; it will take them a while to unload all their prisoners.” Said Tim.

“Tim, I have control over all the doors and the engines. Do you want me to try for more?” asked Sarha.

“No, that will do. But if you could, try to get all the files off their ship. Hopefully, there will be more information about their functional area.” Said Tim.

“Tim, do you have a plan?” Asked Tabitha.

“I am working on one now, and it will take a little longer with the other frigate showing up,” Tim said.

“Sarha, I need two mine probes per guard tower and four more for the power supply station,” Tim said.

“Tim, where do you want the probes for the guard towers placed?” Inquired Sarha.

“Place them both under the flooring, next to the door. The probes for the power supply, place two next to the fuel source and the others around the generator.” Replied Tim.

“Sarha, I will need at least one mine per each door at the pirate’s barracks; please leave the closest door to the wall to the prisoners alone.” Said Tim.

“I will need four more mines for the two large disk-shaped items,” Tim said.

The girls watched the ship being offloaded. The pirates took their time, taking only ten captives at a time. They were brought from the ship to the second building within the wall. Each prisoner was shackled to the next, at both neck and legs. The girls kept count of the captives; so far, the count was up to one hundred and sixty more.

“Tim, I’ll have the mines finished, and on their way in fifteen minutes, they all will be cloaked.” Said Sarha.

“Let me know when all probes are in place.” Said Tim.

“How does it look down there, girls?” asked Tim.

“They are still transferring prisoners, Tim,” said Tabitha.

“Is there anything else going on?” asked Tim.

“A few pirates have entered the building outside the wall, and others have gone over to the second building.” Said Pauline.

“Ladies, if I could have your attention, we need to start working out the plan. I have changed some things. Madlyn, you will go down with us; some new prisoners may need your help. Go ahead and start getting what you may need ready.” Said Tim.

Madlyn got up and started to lift. “Tim, may I have some bots to help?”

“Only after the fighting is done. Then we will have Tabitha’s ship coming to the docking area.” Said Tim.

“Tabitha, Tammy, and Pauline will be with me. We will leave Tabitha’s ship, using the ditch area southwest of the camp for cover. I will scale the wall using a rope, and then each of you will follow. We will be doing this between the guard towers, so we must be incredibly careful.

Once over the wall, we will move to the smaller storage buildings, using them for cover. That should cover our approach from the guardhouse view. Once we are there, I will have Sarha set off all the mines. That should take care of the guards and power. At the same time, it will seal all but the front door of the pirate’s building. There is Tabitha, and I will wait for them to come out. Tammy and Pauline, you two will head to free the prisoners. Keep them inside the walls; if there are guards, please take care of them. Give their weapons to anyone that wants to help.

While we do the groundwork, Jeanne and Sarha will take on the frigate.” Said Tim.

“Sarha and Jeanne, once you have explored the mines, seal all doors to their ship. Please do not allow anyone to leave, but do not destroy their ship. They may have kept a few prisoners on board.” Said Tim.

“Ladies, do you have any questions?” asked Tim.

“Tim, how will we get all these individuals back to the ship?” Asked Tammy.

“After we finish the fight. Tabitha will go back and bring the ship to the docking bay.” Tim said.

“Tim, the ship will be two miles away, and a shuttle could be sent down to take me there.” Asked Tabitha.

“We’ll see,” Tim said.

“Tim, they have quit transferring the prisoners. All the pirates are going into the building outside of the wall.” Pauline said.

“OK, ladies, get suited up. Meet in the transfer room.” Tim said.

Tim and the girls leave the bridge to get their armor on. They all are meeting in the transfer room.

Tabitha entered the transfer point first. Being the first, she automatically checked both sides of the room, then moved to the right, knowing Tammy would be next.

Tammy was exiting the transfer point steps to the left. When both girls are sure everything is OK, they move on to their seats. Tabitha starts checking the pilot’s control panels and getting everything ready for take-off.

Tim and Pauline boarded and took their seats. “OK, Tabitha, let us go. Slow.” Tim said.

Tabitha used only the thrusters to keep from showing up on the pirates’ scanners and headed to their landing point.

Tabitha landed within two miles of the base, and everyone left and followed Tim. They reached the ditch area and followed it to the wall of the pirate’s base. Tim checked the two guard towers to see if they might see them. Seeing it clear, Tim threw a rope with a three-point hook on the end over the wall, testing it, making sure it hooked.

Tim and the girls climbed over the wall safely and kept low, sprinting to the supply building. Tim now examined the area thoroughly. He checked each building, watching for any movement. Not seeing any, he motioned for Tammy and Pauline to head for the prisoner’s buildings.

Tammy and Pauline kept their bodies in a low profile and ran across the open space. They made it safely there, then turned to signal Tim.

Tim signaled them back. Before starting the action, he waited five minutes until the girls were in place. Tabitha moved to the second supply building for a better line of fire to the barracks.

“Sarha, scan the ship again. Let me know how many people are on the ship?” Tim said.

Tim, my scan shows only five left onboard,” Sarha replied.

“Sarha, seal the ship’s doors and shut down the engines. Do not allow anyone to enter or leave, please.” Tim said.

“Sarha set off the mines now,” Tim ordered.

Tim watched as the mines were set off. All the lights went out when the power supply exploded. At the same time, all the guard towers were blown to pieces.

He and Tabitha watched the guard’s headquarters. They saw the lights go out and heard the mines explode. The doors flew open, and four pirates raced out.

Tabitha fired as soon as they exited the building, and she shot the first out with a three-round group straight to the chest. The second man stopped to look where the shots were coming from and spotted Tabitha beside the supply shed, and he fired in that direction.

Tim watched the men coming out, seeing the first fall, and knew that Tabitha’s skilled shot. Tim aimed at the second out, seeing him fire in Tabitha’s direction, and placed a bullet to his head.

He moved back to the other end of the building to see which window the guy had broken. He saw a leg coming out of the third window. Tim took careful aim. He saw the head, and he pulled the trigger. The body fell back inside the window. Shots were fired from the window in his direction.

Tim waited a few minutes. A few shots came from the building. He pulled a grenade from his chest strap and darted across the open ground. He pulled the pin to the grenade once he reached the window. He lobbed the grenade through the window. He pulled a canister from the strap. This canister was a smoke grenade. He threw it at the window. He entered the room soon after the grenade exploded.

He stood in the middle of the room. He sensed someone behind him and felt a sharp pain in his side. He Turned and grabbed the arm that was holding a large knife. He pulled the arm and knife away from his body. He threw an elbow to the man’s head. He kept his hand around the other arm, twisted the blade, and stabbed it into the man’s chest. He let the guy drop to the floor.