Snippet #2092741

Before Eli could get a response from Ulric, there was a click in the comm. channel, forcing Eli to pick up the call.

The voice of a young woman filled the air around the comm. unit. "This is Elizabeth Waltz, does anyone read?" There was a gap in the transmission.

"Repeat, this is Elizabeth Waltz, on board a pirate craft. Any nearby vessels, do you read?"

Eli paused, that name sounded so familiar. As Eli looked on, he noticed a label on the underbelly of a resting fighter craft. The label had the word “Waltz” on it. Of course, she was the daughter of the deceased CEO of the Waltz Corporation. Her name was literally plastered throughout the news during the time of his death, which was approximately around the same time the Salient departed from Rust City, Mars.

Her sudden presence puzzled Eli, who wondered what the heiress of a multi-trillion dollar corporation was doing out here in the middle rim worlds…on a pirate vessel?

There was a girl with me…Elizabeth, if I can't make it then she becomes priority.

Eli understood now, she was the other prisoner that Ulric referred to. He quickly dispatched a response in case her channel might die.

“This is Captain Colter, United Federation Marine of the F.S.S. Salient. You were the other prisoner on board the pirate frigate? Never mind that now, our ship is directly in view just fly to it I’ll tell the guys at control to let you have clearance. You might wanna’ hurry; more pirates are on the horizon.” And with that, Eli closed the comm. and resumed Ulric’s channel as he walked to the control room of the Salient’s hangars.

In a couple of minutes he was in the domed room superstructure which rested at the very top of the Salient’s hull. The dome regulated all incoming and outgoing traffic through the hangars, by monitoring docking speeds. Should a ship come in too fast, they would have to throttle down in order to dock in the hangar otherwise they might collide with other inactive fighters and gunships. If not that then they would have to spin and do a go around and attempt to re dock in the hangars on the opposite side of the Salient.

As Eli stepped into the room, he saw that everyone was on their feet rushing back and forth. The control dome realized that they were under attack, and they were prepping the fighters or scrambling them on a second’s notice.

“Ah Captain, what can I do for you?” a gruff looking man with a grizzled chin, probably in his forties, approached Eli toting a warm smile. He was the control director, Victor Keschek, and he had known Eli from the start of the trip, as he was one of the first crew members aboard alongside the Admiral. Command had handpicked a number of experienced officers to keep the recruits in line on this mission. Victor and Eli shook hands for a bit before the Captain got to the point.

“How you doin’ Vic? I’ve got Elizabeth Waltz coming in on a pirate craft, she’ll need clearance,” At the mention of her name, Victor scoffed as if the Captain was playing a joke on him, but then he saw Eli’s countenance and realized he wasn’t kidding.

His mouth dropped agape, “THE Elizabeth Waltz? The one from Waltz Enterprises?” he scrambled over to the control console, “What the hell is she doing out here?” he pressed some keys on the haptic interface that glowed into being when he approached it.

“She was prisoner aboard the frigate I was sent to clear. Chances are she might have been abducted by these bastards.” Eli’s face descended into a scowl as he thought about those words.

Victor glanced at Eli “Yeah, no kidding, they were probably going to ransom her. She commands the entire fortune of the company, anybody with that kind of wealth is bound to have some enemies, and maybe some captors...”