On The Wings of Tepid Revolution

Chapter 3

A little under two hours later it was all over. The infiltrators had been eliminated. Tim had made sure of that by calling for Alex, who'd brought scanners. These expensive devices had been been fed data based on the specifics of the corpses and had not yielded anything. Everything was clear. Apart from Roger and his band of now-armed mutineers, Tim sourly noted. It didn't sit well with him at all, none of it did, but he wasn't the one in charge.

"Tim, some of my boys are hurt. I want them to be treated" Roger said.

"Sure. And I want you to go back into your cells, but we don't always get what we want now do we?" Tim snidely replied.

"You forget we still have weapons, Tim. So I suggest you play nice" Roger spoke.

Tim kept quiet, but he thought a great many things about the situation.

"Fine. But I need a guarantee from you. You do not try your shit again, or we're coming down on you hard. And this time, it won't just be you but your families as well" Tim warned Roger.

Roger's face registered no emotion, but Einhardt and Jake exchanged a look. Both of them had families on board and knowing that those would be locked up as well did not sit well with them. To his satisfaction, Tim heard them argue amongst themselves for a bit before going to Roger.

Once more Tim heard only snippets of the conversation.

"...won't do it. Family is.."

"..about my wife? I haven't seen her for..."

"Enough! Why would we do anything? We have what we.."

Tim didn't know what else followed as his earpiece once again demanded his attention. It was Laura, asking for more information. Sharing what he could, Tim let her know what the situation was and asked if he could go ahead with letting Roger's men get medical attention. The reply was one to the affirmative. With that, Tim ended the conversation and turned to Roger.

"Are there any heavily wounded?" Tim asked.

Roger shook his head. "Nothing serious. Why?"

"Then you will have to wait for a while. Priorities are with those heavily injured in whatever stopped us dead in our tracks" Tim explained.

Roger shrugged. "Fine. Then at least get us somewhere where we can meet our families" he said. Thinking for a moment, Tim nodded and led the way. He figured one of the common rooms would be the best place for this. Instructing Alex to move ahead of the group of mutineers so that he could clear the way, the band of men made their way through the ship. While walking, Tim informed Laura of the change in plans so that she could arrange for the families of the mutineers to come see them, as well as some additional security.

Going back up the stairs Tim had gone down on his way to the disturbance, they passed personnel sent to clean up and repair the damage. Apparently the damage to the rest of the ship had been satisfactorily dealt with for now. Among them was the chief engineer, Coby Andrews.

"So it's true?" he asked.

Tim nodded as he halted for a moment to talk to his fellow senior officer.

"Think it's a good idea?" Coby continued.

"Not like we can't do much about it" Tim said as the mutineers filed past. "If we go through their families or go back on our word in any other way, they'll get violent. Those weapons they took are nothing to scoff at. And I'd rather do this than risk getting even weaker."

Coby conceded the point, also unwilling to risk any lives to get the mutineers if it didn't prove to be absolutely necessary. "I best get going. Those boarding craft do a lot of damage when they attach to ships" he said, "and I do intend to get some sleep tonight."