<div align="center">(https://i.imgur.com/1irJy83.jpg)<br/><br/><hr/>(https://i.imgur.com/mEJ0kpA.png)<br/><hr/><br/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">Chapter One<br/></span><br/><br/><br/><hr/>(https://i.imgur.com/OWyE66Y.png)</div><hr/><br/><br/>Ashur Vance stood on the bridge of the<em>Parallax</em>, hands clasped behind his back, watching the view screen before him.  Centered in the screen and magnified roughly a hundred times loomed a small freighter.  Its lines were clean, if a bit blocky, with a substantial cargo space.<br/><br/>In other words, a choice target to take as a prize.<br/><br/>Without taking his eyes off the screen, he spoke calmly to his science officer.<br/><br/>“Have you completed your scan, Indira?”<br/><br/>She glanced at him, then back to her screen.<br/><br/>“Yes, sir,” she said, clipped and precise.  “Light freighter.  Looks like a Roustabout.  Minimal armor and armaments.  Maybe an Owl on the prow. H-E missile on the dorsal turret could sting if we get lazy.  Should be a cakewalk.”<br/><br/>Ashur nodded.  Good.  Very good.  No need to get frisky today.  He hoped the Captain of the freighter felt the same way.  Death and destruction were such a waste and he didn’t want to damage his prize or its cargo.<br/><br/>Having checked on the enemy, it was time to see to his own house.<br/><br/>“Everything nominal, Hightower?”<br/><br/>The engineer, a huge slab of fat and muscle, nodded, engrossed in his diagnostics.<br/><br/>Ashur waited impatiently for a moment, but nothing else was forthcoming.<br/><br/>“I can’t hear your head nod, Hightower.  Report.”<br/><br/>“Nominal,” Hightower grunted without looking up.  His voice seemed gravelly from disuse.<br/><br/>Ashur resisted the urge to roll his eyes.  For perhaps the tenth time he resolved to speak about it with…<br/><br/>One of the bridge doors opened with a slight hiss.  A woman with the face of an angel and the bearing of the devil himself strode in, four of the crew’s best fighters on her heels.  She glanced at the view screen and gave Ashur a small, secret grin.  Whatever she was about to do, she clearly enjoyed it.<br/><br/>“All set, then?” she asked, pulling out her Arc Pistol and checking the charge.<br/><br/>Ashur returned the smile briefly, but he was already getting into what she called “Business Mode”.  It was time for him to work his magic.  If he did it well, perhaps the only thing hurt today would be the opposite captain’s pride.<br/><br/>“I am, Kass.  You can take your assault team to the launch bay.  We’ll know in a few moments whether you’ll be doing hot work today.”<br/><br/>She nodded and gave him that irrepressible grin that had always both stirred and scared him.  Without another word she gathered the three men and a woman who had followed her and made her way to the assault craft.  With her determined stride she would be launched well before he was done speaking to their prey’s captain.<br/><br/>Ashur took a long breath, then breathed out slowly.  The moment before making contact was always the tensest time for him.  Luckily, he was as good at his job as Kassandra was at hers.  He straightened to his full height, making every effort to cut a sharp, authoritative figure.<br/><br/>“Open communications, Indira.  Wide band.  I want his entire crew to hear me.  And prepare the grav gun.”<br/><br/>“Aye, sir.  Wide band open.”  She pressed a button, then reached over to pick up a visor and haptic glove.  Within a few moments she had donned both and gave a nod to Ashur, who then returned his attentions to the view screen.<br/><br/>Ashur’s eyes narrowed, his posture immediately became more bellicose.<br/><br/>“Unknown ship!  You have entered Sector 7 space, policed by the Arcas Cabal under the Treaty of Kamath!  Identify yourselves immediately!”<br/><br/>There was a long, pregnant pause.  The view screen flickered for a moment, then changed to show an Ysoki male, presumably the Captain.  He was bulbous and wobbly, with impressive jowls and suspicious eyes nearly pinched shut by rolls of fat.  He was flanked by a thin, reptilian Vesk and a human male who looked somewhat the worse for wear.<br/><br/>“Sector 7?  I’ve never heard of such a thing!” the Captain squealed.  “I have very important business on Absalom!  Do not attempt to detain me.”<br/><br/>Ashur took two menacing steps toward the view screen.<br/><br/>“Ignorance is no excuse,” he said evenly.  “Transmit your identification codes immediately or your ship will be confiscated.”<br/><br/>The Captain spluttered and started to say something, but was brought up short by a few whispered words from the Vesk.  Clearly unhappy, the Captain snapped at the view screen.<br/><br/>“Very well!  I am Hiska Deen, Captain of the<em>Bellona</em>.”  He stabbed a button with one chubby finger.  “I have sent our transponder codes.  Now let us pass!”<br/><br/>Ashur gave the Ysoki an unctuous smile.<br/><br/>“I thank you for your compliance.  Please stand by for inspection.”<br/><br/>The Captain had just begun an indignant squeal when Ashur nodded to Indira.  The science officer pressed a button on the visor, then reached out with her gloved hand as if to grab something.  As she did so, a laser tracking beam emanated from the prow of the<em>Parallax</em>, seeking out the opposing ship.  Once it found the ship, Indira closed her hand briskly and the laser range finder was replaced by the deep, thrumming sound of the graviton gun firing.  In a split second, the<em>Bellona</em>was trapped fast, much to the dismay of her Captain.<br/><br/>“What is the meaning of this?!  You have no authority to board my ship!  I’ll…”<br/><br/>Ashur moved two steps closer to the view screen.<br/><br/>“Be silent, Hiska Deen, or you will find out just how sturdy your hull is.  Have you ever been in an imploding ship?  I haven’t… but I can’t imagine it’s very pleasant.”<br/><br/>Hiska Deen huffed and gesticulated, but didn’t resume his demands.<br/><br/>“Very wise,” Ashur said soothingly.  “Don’t fret.  Our inspection team is even now on their way.  If you don’t impede them, this will be over quite quickly.  If you gather your crew on the bridge it will be most efficient.”<br/><br/>He reached over and cut the communication link.<br/><br/>It was now in Kassandra’s hands.<br/><br/><hr/><br/><br/>Those hands were checking ammunition and testing communicators even as Ashur was thinking about them.  She was no stranger to operations like this.  Go in, complete the mission, get out.  Most of the time it was boring, but occasionally someone would get silly notions and make it harder for her.  She almost looked forward to those times.<br/><br/>This time, though… no.  She simply wanted to be done with this so she could finally… FINALLY… pursue what she had worked so hard for.  Nearly a decade of waiting.  Cajoling.  Pleading.  Now it was finally time.<br/><br/>But after the mission.<br/><br/>So she used the time in the assault shuttle to make sure everything was perfect.  Every.  Little.  Thing.  She looked at her troops.  Her normal insouciant smile was gone.  In its place was a thin line of determination.<br/><br/>“I want all of you to keep sharp.  No bullshit, no loot, no mistakes.  Get in, get out, get paid.  You understand me?”<br/><br/>All four nodded soberly.  They knew better than to fuck around when Kassandra had flipped the switch.<br/><br/>She nodded, satisfied.  All four of them would do their job.  Do what she told them to do.  That’s why she nabbed them in the first place.  All that was left was to board and get what they came for.<br/><br/>After what seemed an eternity she saw the grav gun engage and the telltale shudder that spoke to the target ship’s status.  It was pinned just as neatly as a bug to a board.  She gave a wolfish smile.<br/><br/>Time to go.<br/><br/>“Take us in, pilot.  Fore access point if you please.”<br/><br/>“Fore access, aye,” she heard through the communicator.  “Beginning approach.”<br/><br/>The assault shuttle swung around to the far side of the ship to avoid the grav beam.  If the forward bridge ports were the eyes of the beast, she’d latch on like a Gafferfish under its chin, pop the access hatch and be right where she needed to be.  Worst case scenario, she’d cut their way in.<br/><br/>That proved unnecessary.  The pilot seemed to know exactly where she wanted him and landed like a lover giving a kiss.  Perhaps if she saw him later she’d give him one in thanks.  But now was the time for a different kind of action.<br/><br/>She took her position in front, then nodded to one of her men who pressurized the seal and popped the hatch.  Without a word, the five of them flowed through the man-sized hole one at a time and formed up inside the enemy ship.<br/><br/>They found themselves in the foremost portion of the cargo bay.  Behind them were stacks of storage boxes, most filled and sealed but some gaping and empty.  Before them was the main stairway that led to the bridge.  Kass strode up and her team followed in silence, the only noise their footfalls on the metal steps.<br/><br/>A few moments later they entered the bridge to find what appeared to be the entire crew of the vessel standing in wait.  Good.  That meant Ashur had sufficiently cowed the Captain.  That would make things easier.<br/><br/>She looked around at the gathered crew and stood, hands on hips, her lips in a small moue of distaste and impatience.<br/><br/>“Which one of you is Dannilov Ebonhawke?”<br/>