Homestar Saga

Chapter 5: Tact and Diplomacy

Yvian checked the sensor readings. Two medium fighters and a corvette were following at a distance of eight hundred kilometers. IFF labeled them as Confederation Militia. "What do they want?" she wondered.

"Nothing good." Mims scowled. "If they had legitimate business, they'd have hailed us already. They're waiting til we're out of sensor range of Hysek Station."

"So what do we do?"

"Nothing yet." Mims started typing. "I'm checking for warrants. Get on the Nexus and look for any news that's popped up in the last twenty four hours. Beyond that, we'll have to wait and see what they want."

Two hours passed. Mims confirmed they didn't have any active warrants. The girls didn't find any recent news articles that were relevant. Mims sent Lissa to change into her voidarmor. She'd been back for twenty minutes when the Confed sent a hail.

"Wandering Lady, this is Captain Skell of the Confederation Militia. Lower your shields and prepare to be boarded."

"Captain Skell, this is Captain Yvian Kiver of The Wandering Lady. What seems to be the problem, officer?"

"Lower your shields and prepare to be boarded or you will be fired upon."

Yvian looked at Mims. "Can we take them?"

"We could," the human allowed. "But the Confed doesn't take kindly to people shooting at law enforcement. The second we fire on them our IFF gets sent to every ship in the Confed. We'll be registered as pirates, and our ships'll get impounded at the next station we dock."

"So what do we do?"

"We'd better do what they say."

Yvian sent an acknowledgement to the Confed ships and decelerated The Wandering Lady. When it came to a full stop, she lowered shields and opened the docking bays.

Captain Mims donned his helmet. YVian saw her worried reflection in his mirrored visor. "You two had best meet them in the cargo bay. I'll stay out of sight til we know what they're after."

"You sure that's a good idea?" Lissa asked. "They've scanned us by now. They know there's three of us."

"I've got a plan for that," the human told her. He started to walk away, then paused. "Be careful. The Militia's got a lot of power and very little accountability. They will kill you if you piss them off." He disappeared down the corridor.

Yvian and Lissa went down to the cargo bay. Yvian had considered bringing her sidearm, but in the end they decided to leave their weapons on the bridge. They did not remove their voidarmor. Yvian didn't want to antagonize the Militia, but she didn't want to be helpless, either.

They waited. Lissa looked nervous. Yvian was a little nervous herself. The Militia couldn't really be like Mims said, could it? The Holoview always portrayed them as noble, heroic even. There had been some stories on the Nexus that said otherwise, but not very many. Most of the Nex agreed with the Holoviews. Everything she'd heard growing up told her the Militia was to be trusted. Captain Tharn had been an asshole, but he hadn't been a criminal. Ok, technically he was. He'd stolen one of their ships and lied in his Enforcement Report. But he hadn't been a pirate.

On the other hand, Mims had never lied to her. Nor had he exaggerated. He'd always spoken as precisely as he could. If he said the Militia were dangerous, then they were. She would be a fool to think otherwise.

The telltale hiss of pressurization warned her that the Militia had landed and closed the docking bays. She listened to the clomp of boots as they ascended the ramp to the cargo bay doors. She exchanged a worried look with her sister. They both raised their hands to show they were unarmed.