The Pirate King (Part II)

Posted on Sun Jan 28th, 2024 @ 6:32am by Commander Grace Vetur & Lieutenant Zero

1,147 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: The Bandits of Black Rain
Location: Pirate Ship

[PREVIOUSLY]

Gibbs looked around the room before leaning forward slightly. "Mister Reinhart took it upon himself to lay his hand on her." He whispered softly.

The man gritted his teeth and repeated the name under his breath with a hint of disdain put in for good measure. "Mister Reinhart." He said before looking around the room. "Mister Reinhart!" He soon shouted. "Step forward!"

[CONTINUED]


Reinhart looked around at the others before walked towards the Captain. His eyes briefly locked with the Ferengi as he narrowed his eyes in anger, before turning back towards the Captain. "Sir... I..."

"Did you not hear my orders?" The Pirate Captain asked.

"I did, Captain." Reinhart replied.

"Did you not understand them?"

"No, Captain... I under-"

"So, despite my direct orders to retrieve this woman from the transporter room and deliverer her to this room... unharmed... you took it upon yourself to strike her." The Captain asked firmly.

"Captain... She...."

"Did you feel she needed to be intimidated? Was it not enough she was brought here, without her consent, and thrown in front of this lot? These madmen. These scallywags. These... insidious rogues. You felt the need to hit her in order to get her to go somewhere in an unfamiliar ship?" The Captain asked, his hand slowly easing toward the front of his belt.

Reinhart did not answer. He simply looked around at everyone present.

"No answer? Well... I see you've run out of excuses." The Pirate Captain said as he drew the Klingon disruptor from his belt and pointed it at Reinhart. "And I've run out of patience." He fired at the man’s gut and stood there as he watched him burn out from the weapons and disintegrate, leaving nothing but ashes on the floor.

The crew stood there silently. Their eyes shot around to each other, wondering if one of them would be next, before focusing on the Captain who showed no remorse or emotion to what he had just done. He simply returned his weapon back into his belt and stood there with his shoulders broad and hands tucked under his cloak. The Captain finally spoke, his voice booming again.

"Mister Gibbs..."

"Yes, Captain." Gibbs answered eagerly as he took a few steps toward the man and stopped by his side.

"See to it his belongings are auctioned off to the crew. Anything worthless gets tossed out of the airlock..." He said before looking down at the ashes on the ground. "Along with the rest of him."

"Of course, Captain." Gibbs replied as he nodded his head and began to walk away.

"Mister Gibbs!" The Captain shouted, frightening the Ferengi in his place.

"Yes... S-s-s-sir?"

"The PADD... if you please." He sides firmly before adding. "And take the men with you. Surely, they don't want to miss the auction."

Gibbs let out a sigh of relief before walking back towards the Captain to hand him the PADD. He nodded his head again and turned back around, motioning at the pirates gathered there, as he headed toward the door. Leaving the two Captains in the room.

Grace was disturbed by the way the captain summarily executed Reinhart in such a callous manner. It made her wonder how far she could trust this man's word. At the same time, there was something about his voice that was...familiar. She'd heard it somewhere in the past. The distant past. She watched him coolly. She didn't know what he wanted to negotiate, but she didn't think she'd like it. "Now that we're alone, would you please tell me why I'm here?"

Kilgore remained quiet, his eyes locked on her, taking in ever feature. A slight smile formed on his face as he slowly approached the table and sat down. He slowly placed his disruptor on the table as he settled back into the chair. After a bit of silence, he spoke up softly and asked. "Drink?"

"Why?" She watched him, too, trying to figure out what he wanted, and why he looked familiar.

He gave her an odd look, as if taken back by the question or even insulted, before raising a brow and replying softly. "Because you may be thirsty?" He brought his hands together, intertwining his fingers, as he set them on the table and continued. "It's customary to offer one a beverage when they are in your home or, in this case, onboard your ship. It would be rude of me not to."

She nodded. "It's just...unexpected after being kidnapped and threatened."

"I am guilty of having you kidnapped, but I always ordered you not be harmed which the late Mister Reinhart disobeyed. As you saw, I don't take disobedience lightly." Kilgore leaned back in his chair and gave her a bit a smile before adding. "Also, I have never threatened you. I would never threaten you, Grace. Especially since I have gone out of my way to deal with something on your behalf."

He raised his hand and gestured as the Ferengi, Mister Gibbs, walked quickly to the table. He placed a PADD on the table and immediately walked away.

Kilgore placed his hand on the PADD and slid it over. "Your receipt."

On the Romulan PADD, and in Standard Starfleet, was the former bounty of Grace and several members of her crew which was opened by the HTA. The bounty called for each of them to be captured and brought to HTA territory in order to be judged for past crimes against. After which, they would be sentenced for their crimes which may include life in prison or death. At the bottom of the page, it was marked as PAID with Captain Thane Kilgore's name and print.

"Last I checked, Starfleet while understanding in some cases, still doesn't like it when their Captains and crews are accused of crimes and don't clear it up. You know... to keep the good face of the Federation intact and all." He added with a smile.

Grace folded her arms and said nothing, her expression cool. She wasn't the Ice Queen for nothing. She did wonder what he knew--and how he found out.

"I remember that look very well." Kilgore replied as he stared back at her with a smile on his face. "That stubborn look you would put on, but you mind would continue to go a mild a minute. Processing information and deciding what was important and what wasn't. Your grandmother had that same stare in her eyes and you hated it all the same because you knew she would never break."

Her eyes widened for a moment before returning to their outward calm. She had recognized him. "How do you know my grandmother--and how do you know me?"


(To be continued...)

Mr. Gibbs
Captain's Aide

Captain Thayne Kilgore
Pirate King

Mr. Reinhart
Pirate

Commander Grace Vetur
Commanding Officer
USS Ontario

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