DoD - Ch.92b - Treason (Patreon)

=::= Tanya's PoV; MV Persephone; Port Ecclestone =::=

As soon as I cracked the seal on the can the beer inside chilled itself to the perfect temperature, and I enjoyed a swig of the cool refreshing drink.

It was one of the local brews, and it wasn't half bad. In fact since we got to this planet it seemed like almost everything was better than we were used to. On the other hand I wasn't naive enough to ignore the fact that our modest luxuries were all bankrolled by the Vysalis government. And sooner or later that stockpile of wealth would be used up, then the four of us would be on our own.

And all my misgivings about this world and the frontier in general were crystallized yesterday when we got caught in the middle of someone else's gunfight. 

"How are you doing now Blix?" I asked our mechanic. "Healing up ok?"

He was slouched on one of the easy chairs across from me, but he couldn't have been doing so badly since he was upright and enjoying his beer.

The stocky redhead shrugged, "Not bad. That cute foxo medic knows her stuff."

"Hey!" Cherry pouted. "I know my stuff too! Next time you get shot I'll show you how good I am."

I rolled my eyes then looked at my second in command and asked, "You have the alarm set right?"

"Yes ma'am," Pots replied in his smooth deep voice. "If Lady Magniveen leaves her quarters the lights in here will blink twice."

I figured as much, but it was always best to be certain. I let myself relax slightly, and had another swig of my beer.

While I was doing that Blix asked, "So what's the plan? You wanted to hold off till we met the VIP. Now we've met her, we got caught up in her bullshit, and I got shot."

"Quit your whining," I told him as I rolled my eyes. "You got shot because you stood out in the open and let those idiots shoot you. You may have a knack for mechanics but in a firefight you think with your fists."

"Blix has a point though Tan. You wanted to meet the VIP, now you've met her. Are we going ahead with the plan now or what?" Cherry asked, before gulping down a mouthful of her new favourite drink. It was another local concoction, some sort of sugary fruit-flavoured mix spiked with pure grain alcohol. It was way too sickly for me but it suited her just fine. 

I noticed Pots was giving me a questioning look as well. All three of my crew wanted answers, and I knew they deserved them. The problem was, I hadn't been able to make the decision. Or rather, I knew what decision I was going to make, I just didn't know how the three of them would take it. 

After one more gulp of beer I set the can aside then sat up straight as I got into the right mindset for the conversation we were about to have.

"Ok," I stated. "I wanted to meet the VIP because I wanted to know who was so special that the Regent's Secretary would willingly fly all the way out here with a bunch of misfits like us. I wanted to know why Gwen thought this mission was so damn important, and why she was willing to accept all the limitations and restrictions the Regent imposed on her."

Pots asked, "And what did you learn? Who is she?"

Blix and I exchanged a glance. Gwen asked the two of us to keep it to ourselves yesterday, after we left the Demeter. She didn't want the information falling into the wrong hands, but I trusted my crew. 

"Rebecca Piper is the grand-daughter of Queen Isabella," I announced. "As far as we know, she is the sole surviving heir of our homeworld's royal family. She's the daughter of our missing princess."

Blix sniffed and had another gulp of his beer, Pots looked thoughtful, and Cherry's eyebrows shot up.

"No shit?" the petite pinkette asked with a half-smile. "A real life fucking princess huh?"

I nodded once, "No shit. Gwen and the princess talked it out yesterday. Gwen's convinced, and after hearing the evidence so am I. As for our mission, she thinks we're here to convince Princess Rebecca to return home with us, so she can be crowned and placed on the throne."

"So when do we break the news to our passenger that she's never going home?" Blix asked. He drained the last of his beer then added with a scowl, "I know I said back at the start I wanted to see the look on her face when that happened, but..."

Pots nodded, "She's not like the other nobles. I'm sure we all had some preconceived ideas of what to expect from Lady Magniveen when we came aboard, but she's been consistently nice and fair and patient with all of us."

"Yeah," I sighed. "That's only half the problem."

Blix gave me a look and asked, "What's the other half?"

I shook my head, "Why do you think the Regent gave us this mission? Think about it. Now that we know who the VIP is, what possible reason would he have for not wanting us to bring her back? Why wouldn't he want Gwen back either? Why would he pick the four of us, instead of literally anyone else?"

Cherry shrugged while Blix frowned and reached for another can of beer. I wasn't surprised that Pots was the one to figure it out first.

"If the princess returns, then there's no more need for a Regent," he stated calmly and quietly. "And by keeping this mission under the highest level of security, odds are nobody else back home even knows the princess exists. Sending Lady Magniveen out here with us means she can't tell anyone else or otherwise threaten his position."

"Bingo," I nodded. "The Regent is an appointed position, but he's held it for three terms already. He's buddies with half the noble elite, and as Regent he has access to more than enough funds he can bribe whoever's the next prime minister to ensure he keeps that position for life. I wouldn't be surprised if he's even got plans for his stuck-up asshole of a son to get the appointment after he's finally kicked the bucket himself. It's a cosy do-nothing lifestyle that comes with a shit-load of perks and benefits, and he risks losing it all if the actual princess turns up to claim her throne."

After a few gulps of beer Blix let out a loud belch then commented, "Fuck the nobility. So why are we talking about this anyways? Nothing we can do about that crap, it's not like we'll ever see home again."

I sighed, "This is exactly why we're talking about it Sergeant Bixby."

All three of them gave me a funny look, I hadn't been formal with any of them since the day after we left Vysalis-4. 

"You all know why we were picked for this mission," I stated. "We've all had disciplinary problems, we're all facing charges or jail time back home. It was a no-brainer, right? Offer us our freedom, give us a ship, and as much frontier currency as we could carry, in return for hauling Gwen out here and ditching her someplace. We get freedom in exile, and all we have to do is make an annoying junior noblewoman disappear."

"Yeah," Blix shrugged. "Except you keep stalling and playing along with Gwen's mission. And that's put the both of us in danger twice. And the second time we got into a gunfight."

"I know Blix," I sighed again. Then I braced myself and came out with it, "Now that we know who and what the VIP is and what she represents, that changes things. Up till yesterday this was just us being pawns in some petty noble bullshit. I didn't much care what the Regent had against Gwen or the Magniveen family. Now that we know the truth, what Gwen's mission is really all about, that puts things in a new light."

I took a deep breath then stated, "The Regent is committing an act of treason against the crown. And he's using us to do it. And frankly, I'm not comfortable with that. All my demerits and discipline issues aside, when I joined the Vysalis System Defence Force I swore an oath to uphold the crown. And the crown isn't some fat balding noble partying it up on the public purse back home."

All three of them were staring at me again, but like before it was Pots who broke the silence first.

"What are you saying captain?" he asked with a slight frown. "You know we can't go home. We'll be arrested on sight if we're lucky. Or they'll just shoot us down before we even get close."

Cherry spoke up next, "What about the money? We were supposed to split it four ways. And the ship? This was supposed to be freedom and luxury for all four of us. Now you want us to give that up?"

I shook my head, "I'm not making decisions for the rest of you. I don't know, maybe we put this to a vote? I'm just saying, this isn't the mission I agreed to. I don't care about nobles fucking with each other, but I won't commit treason against the crown. I'm not going to be a part of that. I..."

There was a moment when I wavered, then I made my decision. "Gwen wants to meet with her highness again later today. I'll accompany her, and while we're there I'm going to come clean. I'll tell both Gwen and the princess what the Regent's secret orders were, and I'll let them both know that my loyalty is with our rightful leader, Princess Rebecca."

They were all quiet again as that sank in, and I looked over each in turn. Pots was looking thoughtful again, Blix had a frown on his face as he chugged the rest of his beer, and Cherry was pouting as she drank her sugary booze.

"If you three want to go your own way that's fine," I added. "We'll divide up the money evenly like we said from the start. Ship goes with whichever group's bigger. If it's you three against me and Gwen, we'll pack up and leave. She might not be happy about it but it's not like she'll have a choice."

"I'd like to meet her," Pots suddenly said. "Before I make my decision, I'd like to meet the princess. I want to know what she's like. If she's anything like the Regent then it's just trading one waste of space for another."

Blix let out another loud belch as he set the empty beer can aside, then he stated "She ain't no noble. If she wasn't so young I'd peg her as career military. I saw her fight yesterday, she handled combat like a pro. If she wasn't just a kid I'd almost think that girl's seen more action than I have."

"Same," I said with a frown. "She looks like a teen but she handled herself like a veteran. The rest of her crew all hid, while her highness took down five or six guys single-handed."

Cherry's eyes lit up, "Ooo a princess who can handle a gun and do murders sounds pretty good. I think I'd like to meet her as well."

"Don't get your hopes up," Blix teased. "I'm pretty sure she's already taken. I think she's got a thing going with that cute fox of hers."

Our chef pouted while the mechanic's expression became serious again. He looked at me and asked, "Why are we even worrying about this? You heard her yesterday, she doesn't want to be princess and she doesn't want to go back to Vysalis-4. Hell she's never even been there before, she was probably born on that scrapheap ship of hers."

I sighed, "I know that Blix. You're right, maybe the end result will be the same? The difference is how we get there. And speaking for myself, I'm not going to follow the illegal orders of a traitor. So that's where I stand. I'll come clean to Gwen and the princess, and if you all want to meet her I'll make that request. Then we'll see what she says, how she wants to handle things. Maybe she'll just release us all and we can enjoy the money and our freedom in exile, but if that's the case at least it'll come from our real commander in chief, not that jackass traitor back home."

My eyes swept over the three of them again and I asked, "Are we in agreement?"

Pots responded, "Let me meet her, then I'll make my decision."

"I'm throwing in with the ship," Blix stated. "If it's sticking with the majority then that's where I'm voting, whether that's team freedom or team princess. No ship means no home, no transportation, and no work. My share of the money will only get me so far on my own."

Cherry sighed and pouted dramatically, "Fine. I'll hold off a while more. I wanna meet this princess though, and see what she's like for myself. Maybe she'll be fun?"

The lights overhead flickered twice, warning us that Gwen just left her cabin. We had about half a minute to wrap things up so I stated, "Understood. Pots you'll come with me and Gwen when we go meet with the VIP again. I'll come clean with them about the whole thing, and let her know you want to meet her too Cherry. We'll go from there."

That was all we had time for as Gwen joined us in the ship's lounge. She frowned slightly at all the alcohol containers, but didn't comment on them. Instead she asked me, "Captain will you be ready to accompany me for another meeting with Captain Piper?"

"Yeah," I nodded as I got to my feet. "Since Blix is supposed to be convalescing we'll bring Pots with us this time, if that's ok with you ma'am? After yesterday's ordeal I think it's safest to have two of us acting as bodyguard for you."

She hesitated, probably thinking about how she wanted to keep Rebecca Piper's royal heritage a secret. However she quickly conceded that I was right and agreed, "Very well Captain. I'd like to get going, can you both be ready in five minutes?"

"Yes ma'am," Pots responded as he stood up as well.

"We'll meet you at the cargo airlock in five, Madam Secretary," I agreed. Then as I headed for the door I added over my shoulder, "Blix get your ass back in bed. You're supposed to be recovering from your injuries."

He made like he was going to salute, but instead flashed me a rude gesture then reached for another beer. Fortunately Gwen had already left so she didn't notice his insubordination, or the smile on my face.