Dividing the Loot

Posted on 04/18/2023 @ 8:31am by Civilian Annie Parker & Civilian Annabelle Parker & Civilian David Scarlet

1,794 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Mission 23:Pages...
Location: Orbit around Poseidon
Timeline: Current

The battle was over and all that remained was for a cleanup operation, a job mostly for the fleets and military ships. The Wyvern was still in good enough shape that she could fly and had control over all her systems. Scarlet set the ship to a holding pattern around the breen ship they had disabled. The salvage was theirs.

"Do I get a share?" Almost as if someone had been reading his thoughts, the comm buzzed with the voice of the captain of the Green Witch, the ship that had helped take the heat off them.

The voice sounded familiar, but he didn't bother to wonder or argue. "Depends on what you ask for. But you do have my thanks for taking the heat off us there for a bit."

The female voice chuckled. "It was better than letting the fleeters use me as cannon fodder to get blown out of the sky. Nice trick there with your cargo. Whatever that was I stopped reading lifesigns within a few minutes."

Scarlet nodded a bit to himself. Obviously not a fan of Starfleet. "The inside will probably be a bit crispy, but I'm good with giving a fair share." He looked back to see if Ellis had come back. What was considered a fair share in this instance? He was really just talking out of his ass. As soon as it was safe to do so, he was heading planetside to pick Annie back up.

Hopefully she'd accept the salvage as payment for the damage done to her ship and the cargo he'd used.

Ellis came back to the bridge after taking stock of things with the Wyvern, he was wiping off his hands with a towel after doing some other clean up work. "OKay I'm back what have I missed? At least you haven't gotten into another fight with an unexpected guest." the older man said with a grin. "What's next on the agenda, Captain?"

"Holding pattern until Poseidon has room for us to dock and get checked out. " Scarlet replied, ignoring the Captain part of Ellis' comment. "In the meantime we should touch base with Annie to let her know her ship survived and pick her and the kid up."

Before he could set up a comm link planetside, they got an incoming transmission from Poseidon.

"This is Poseidon Operations to SS Wyvern. We have cleared a docking port for you." The unfamiliar voice said calmly on the other end.

"Acknowledged Poseidon. SS Wyvern is also exercising it's salvage rights on the Breen ship we took down during the battle. We'll be tagging it with our transponder before heading to dock."

Scarlet glanced at Ellis as they were initially met with silence from Poseidon. He shrugged and locked onto the derelict ship before shooting it with the transponder signal. "I did warn them."

Finally the voice replied. "I've confirmed with my superior that while this is a little unorthodox, you may claim salvage rights on the ship. Someone will be in contact with you upon arrival to go over the details and arrange for removal of any classified equipment and data."

Scarlet grinned. They could take what they needed for security, he wasn't going to win that argument, but he'd be damned if they got it without paying for each bit. "Agreed, we'll discuss compensation once I pick up some passengers from the surface."

"Very well, contact us when you have returned." the voice responded then communications was cut.

Ellis looked at Scarlet, "It will be interesting to see what we get off that Breen ship. Those critters certalinly did scuttle off like roaches when the lights get turned on." the older man said. "So we're gonna go get Annabelle, Annie and Mindy. I like the sound of that." he laughed, his laugh sounding slightly squeaky.

Scarlet liked the sound of it too. He was no pilot and he was no captain. Just a guy who knew how to hold his own in a fight. Hopefully Annabelle wouldn't be bothered too much about the damage. Then again, at least he was returning a ship and not scrap metal.

He set a course for the planet, the docking port he'd left them what seemed like ages ago. "Do me a favour, send a comms down planetside and let them know we're on the way." A familiar voice on the comms would hopefully help set everyone there at ease.

"Okay will do." was Ellis's answer and he contacted Annabelle. "Annabelle, just to let you know we're headed your way, and the Wyvern is in one piece."

There was a few moments of silence and then there was an answer. "Welcome back, and does this mean we're going home?" Was Annabelle's question. "Is Scarlet there to answer?"

Ellis looked at Scarlet, the nodded towards the comm, "You best answer her otherwise I'll not be hearing the end of it."

"I'm here." Scarlet said crisply. "Your ship handled itself very well. We managed to take out a small ship, and will be claiming salvage rights." He paused for a moment before continuing. "There is some minor damage, and a missing cargo pod that was launched during the fight. Otherwise, it is still spaceworthy."

There was the sound of a relieved breath being let out, then Annabelle responded. "Minor damage, missing cargo pod. That's okay, come pick us up, We are ready to come home. Also I want to hear from you, what went on. Face to face. Maybe over dinner?" Annabelle giving a bit of a smile.

Scarlet paused for a moment before replying. "Of course. We'll be there shortly. Scarlet out." He waited a bit and then shut off the comms link. He'd prepare a full report for her and go through her cargo logs to find out what the cost of the losses were. He hated paperwork, but he was good at it.

"Heading into the atmosphere now." Scarlet warned. "Might get a little choppy, but should be fine."

The Wyvern vibrated slightly until Scarlet managed to compensate for it. The damage they'd taken seemed to have thrown the stabilizers out of sync, but that could be an easy fix once they were docked.

Ellis looked at Scarlet and kept an eye on the ship's vitals, he trusted the man at the helm of the Wyvern, he'd already proven himself in the heat of battle. "You ought to ask Annabelle as to what she had to do one time to the Wyvern."

"Is it going to make me surprised this ship is still spaceworthy? Because if that's the case I'd rather not know." Scarlet replied as the inky blackness gave way to clouds and blue atmosphere. "I'm not afraid of ships, but I'd rather focus on keeping my boots on the ground."

Ellis nodded, "I don't blame you, but, you did really well and I thank you kindly." the older man watching as they dropped lower and lower until the landing area could be seen. "And you don't want to know what happened, however Annabelle handled things rather well."

Ellis brought up the viewscreens, it showing a small welcome committee. "Oh my look at Annie she is rather excited to seeing the Wyvern."

Annie most certainly was excited, waving her arm rather rapidly.

To Scarlet, this ship had been a tool and a weapon. It dawned on him then that to these people, this ship was quite possibly home. He frowned as that thought crossed his mind along with how cavalier he'd been during the skirmish.

The Wyvern landed gently on the landing site and he opened the loading ramp before getting up from the captain's chair as if it had suddenly started to burn. He hoped his time in that chair and any chair like it was over. He was still a soldier, not a captain. He walked toward the loading ramp to meet Annabelle and Annie as they came aboard.

"She looks good, thank you for keeping your promise." Annabelle said to Scarlet.

Annabelle watched as her daughter Annie ran up to give Ellis an embrace. The older man giving a chuckle, the smile smoothing out the man's craggy features, crouching down to return the little girl's embrace.

"She's got him wrapped around her little finger." the blond woman remarked. "So the Wyvern is in relatively one piece. You broughg her back as you have promised. Anything you would like to add? Like just what did you do?" Annabelle taking a look into David's eyes

"I combined the cargo you had in two of the pods and napalmed a breen." He stated in a matter-of-fact manner as if he was describing the chewiness of a freshly baked cookie. He met her stare. "Not sure how much is left of the ship, but I claimed salvage rights on your behalf. To make up for the lost cargo."

"Did you want to head back to Poseidon now or is there something you have to finish here?"

Annabelle looked around at Aquil, then shook her head. "I'm good, it is time to go home back to the station." giving a slight smile. "Annie got to have some fun on the beaches, like she'd always wanted, and she's ready to go home." looking towards her daughter who was talking rather animatedly to Ellis, then she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the ramp to get onto the Wyvern. She laughed, "Looks like the boss it decidedly ready to go back. She looked down as an orange one eyed cat rubbed against her leg, "Oh hello Buster there you are. Guess you are ready to go as well." scooping him up into her arms. " Lets go home." she then playfully nudged Scarlet with her shoulder.

" Do you want to drive or shall I?" Annabelle giving him a wink. She knew perfectly well it was called flying or piloting, but she liked to toss in old terms from time to time.

Scarlet quickly shook his head. "It's your ship. I just borrowed it." He motioned for Annabelle to take the lead up the ramp and followed shortly behind. He realized as he walked that the unfamiliar feeling of walking was compounded by the breen disrupter he'd acquired that was now slung at his hip. When did a weapon start to feel foreign to him? Or was that still just getting used to the new found sensations he was having?

He watched Annabelle walk up the ramp for a moment and sighed a little. This wasn't where he'd expected his life to lead, but he wasn't sure that was such a bad thing.

END




David Scarlet
Civilian
SS Wyvern

Annabelle Parker
Owner of Wyvern
Civilian

Annie Parker
Daughter of Annabelle
Civilian

Ellis
Right hand man
SS Wyvern

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