Dogfighter Gospel
created by Damien Phoenix and Phoebe
this chapter by Marcus Fong

Log Seven: Prisoner's Interlude


As brigs went, Jacob reflected, this was one of the nicer ones he'd been
in. Not particularly comfortable, but clean and quiet. Not to mention
plenty of privacy.

After landing his fighter on the Fleet flagship, he'd been met by a pair
of armed, serious-looking troopers and been politely, but firmly, escorted
to the brig. Queries about Nadia, Kenji or Ayako had produced no response.

Sitting back on the cell's small bed, he resumed staring at the smooth,
unmarked walls, trying to analyse his situation.

His career was probably shot, at this point. Fleeing a Fleet investigation,
firing on arresting officers and transporting weapons parts to hostile
forces weren't exactly the kind of things which looked good in one's file.
In fact, he noted distantly, the last of those was technically treason, and
could quite possibly get _him_ shot, let alone his career.

Of course, he'd ceased to care about promotion or rank the day he'd gotten
a videomail message and his universe had collapsed. But he still had to
live to fight, until he'd paid them back for what they'd done--

_Hmph,_ a tiny, internal voice snorted. _And will that happen the next time
you kill one of them? Or the time after? Or the time after that?_

Stoically ignoring it, Jacob turned his gaze to the cell door, its thin
seams all but invisible against its frame.

_They may as well shoot you,_ the voice concluded spitefully. _It's not
like you're really living right now._

Jacob sat silently, not having an answer to that.

He was spared from further introspection by an faint electronic click from
the door, which slid open to a well-lit corridor.

And then he blinked in surprise as Ayako stepped through, regarding him
with an expression that was relieved and tense at the same time. She turned
and nodded to someone out of sight behind the door, and it hissed shut
again.

Jacob gave his friend a quick once-over, reassured that she'd come through
the battle okay. She was still dressed in a flight suit as he was; neither
of them had had a change of clothes in their fighters. He shifted over
silently, clearing a space next to him on the cot.

"Have you seen the others?" Ayako asked, as she sat down.

Jacob shook his head. "The last I heard was Kenji's transmission telling us
to come in."

Ayako nodded, but the question hung in the air as clearly as if she'd
shouted it: _So what happens to us now?_

"I wish I knew, 'Yako," Jacob said aloud. Then something occurred to him.
"Why'd they put you in here with me, anyway? They can't be overcrowded--
there were plenty of empty cells on the way in."

Ayako shrugged. "When I came in after chasing off the last of those delta-
darts, I saw your Mantis already on the deck. I asked my reception
committee if I could be taken where you were."

"And they did?" Jacob asked, raising an eyebrow. He knew Fleet procedure
for brigs, having experienced it personally on a few occasions. Prisoners
weren't kept together if it could be avoided. Each cell was electronically
monitored, true, but there was still the possibility of violence or cooking
up stories together.

"Yeah, I know," Ayako agreed. "Your guess is as good as mine."

So what did it mean? It didn't matter what stories they manufactured,
because they were going to be shot anyway? Studying his childhood friend's
face, Jacob shivered slightly.

Ayako noticed, of course; they'd known each other too long. "What is it,
Jake--I mean, Jacob?" she asked softly.

He didn't reply, just traced a tiny circle on his own chest with a finger
and tapped its centre to make an invisible dot.

Evidently, she hadn't forgotten their old childhood signal. "No, Jacob,"
she said sharply. "You're not covering for me this time. I got us into
this, remember?"

And that was that; she'd already blown the game to whoever was watching
them on hidden cameras, and whatever slim chance Jacob might have had of
diverting blame from her was gone. "Dammit, 'Yako," he muttered. "Anyway,
since when have I covered for you? It's been all the other way since--" He
stopped.

"Well, I owed you for a lot of times before that," she pointed out,
smiling. "When we were kids, I was always the one getting into trouble.
Remember?"

He grinned back. "It was worth it just to see some of the stunts you
pulled." Memories danced before his eyes; playing with friends in a park,
laughing with classmates in the corridors at school, flipping through
university guides with Ayako, chatting about careers and speculating about
the days to come...

He shook off the past and focused on Ayako again, to find her looking back
at him with an odd expression on her face. She opened her mouth to speak--

And they both whirled to face the door as it whined and clicked open again,
revealing a pair of ship's Marines sporting nasty-looking rifles.

"Come with us, please."

                                  *

As they were marched along the corridors, Ayako sneaked a quick glance at
Jacob, trying to read his expression.

She couldn't, which bothered her but didn't really surprise her. How well
did she know Jacob anymore? They'd been so close, in the old days... but
that had all ended the day he'd lost his parents.

Oh, she'd tried to be the same friend after that, to be there for him. But
how could you be a friend of someone who just... wasn't there?

Academy had come and gone, and after graduation they'd been assigned to the
same squadron. But she'd found herself moving on, making friends and trying
to enjoy life at the same time Jacob was living for nothing but his kill
count and the next scramble... and finally, she'd requested and gotten a
transfer to a sister squadron aboard the Javier.

Now this business had thrown them back together, and Ayako wasn't sure what
to make of it.

She was mildly relieved when they arrived in a briefing room, a fairly
spacious, well-lit area normally occupied by fighter pilots just before a
mission. A holographic tactical display floated beside the squadron
commander's podium, and Ayako's heart leapt as she recognised Kenji and
Nadia sitting in front of it, their heads turned to watch her and Jacob as
they entered the room.

"Lieutenants," a voice rang out, and Ayako's eyes flicked involuntarily to
the man standing behind the podium, his posture arrogantly straight and
parade-perfect in a way she'd always associated with Fleet command. "Sit
down."

"Yessir," she found herself blurting before she knew it. She managed to
fumble a passable salute, and took the remaining seat next to Kenji; behind
her, Jacob saluted crisply and sat down on her left.

"I suppose I should introduce myself," the man said, sweeping their faces
with cool, calculating eyes. "Major Aaron Belles. Station commander at
Cadence Point." He gestured to Kenji and Nadia. "We took Captain Aino and
Lieutenant Kournikova aboard shortly after you joined the battle. While you
were out there, we debriefed them fully regarding... the details of your
situation."

Ayako tried to ignore a sudden, hot prickle of nervousness as Belles went
on. "Now, normally this would be a straightforward treason trial. Shipping
weapons components to enemy forces, firing on Fleet personnel in the
performance of their duties."

He paused to let out a short, entirely humourless chuckle. "Of course,
knowing who the Fleet personnel in question were, you might be excused for
the latter. But I've spoken with Command, and there isn't going to be a
trial." She held her breath, as Belles smiled thinly and continued. "We've
checked your story out, and the powers that be have decided to believe you.
Congratulations, Captain, Lieutenants; you're in the clear."

A wave of sheer, dizzying relief crashed headlong into Ayako, and for a
moment it was all she could do to stay upright and unmoving. Blinking her
eyes back into focus, she managed to catch the tail end of Belles' next
sentence: "...is a catch, however," he was saying.

"And what might that be, sir?" Kenji asked from beside her, his voice
smooth as ever but suddenly with a definite edge.

A flash of not-quite-anger crossed Belles's face at the interruption,
subsiding quickly into grim amusement. "Nothing at all out of the
ordinary, Captain. Just your new assignment." He tapped a button on the
podium, and the holographic display lit up with a star map, their current
position marked with a swirl of faintly glowing blue dots--representing, no
doubt, the Fleet task force they were currently in the middle of.

Another quick tap, and a spot in the asteroid belt some distance away
flashed. "I'm sure you remember your last meeting with our friends over
here." Belles straightened. "The encounter was reported as a battle with
asteroid pirates... but, as I'm sure you're aware, pirates aren't usually
all that enthusiastic about tangling with multi-carrier task forces. Nor,"
he added dryly, "do they usually win. Sabotage on our side
notwithstanding."

Ayako risked a glance at Jacob on her left, suppressing a wince at the
intensity she suddenly saw on his face; an expression she'd seen too many
times before battle. "In any case," Belles continued, "we've been
completely unable to trace any movement of forces or equipment into or out
of this sector." He swept an arm out in a broad gesture, including all of
them. "Your little contact, unintended though it may have been, has been
the first decent lead Fleet Intelligence has had which might help us track
this down. So--you've made your delivery, now you're going back to collect
your payment."

Ayako drew in a quick breath at that, suddenly feeling in over her head
again. Undercover? That wasn't a combat pilot's job. Of course, it was
probably right up Nadia's alley, and Jacob wouldn't care as long as he got
a crack at the other side. She shifted her gaze quickly to Kenji, feeling
faintly disappointed at his impassive face.

"What about equipment and crew?" Kenji asked calmly. "And are you going to
call those bounty hunters off us? They could potentially interfere with the
mission."

"Calling off the hunters might give the game away," Belles said flatly. "As
for additional crew, we're not certain who's reliable and who's not yet.
We'll do what we can regarding equipment, but for the most part you'll be
on your own--wait a minute," he corrected himself, and for the first time
Ayako thought she saw real amusement in his eyes. "My mistake: I _can_
spare you a couple of people. In fact, I've already cut their orders..."

                                  *

"They WHAT?" Kassidy St. Claire shouted, loud enough to rattle the fighters
parked all around the hangar deck.

"Keep your voice down, Kass," Jiang shushed as techs and pilots swivelled
to glare at the pair. "Those are our orders."

"You're kidding," Kassidy moaned, bringing one hand to her forehead in a
classically wronged gesture. "We just brought those guys in, and now we
have to _babysit_ them?"

Jiang shrugged. "It's important, Kass. Apparently Command isn't sure how
far we can trust any of them, so they needed someone to watchdog them. If
they do anything suspicious..." she trailed off, covertly keeping an eye on
her partner's face.

Sure enough, Kassidy brightened a little. "Then we blast them to hell and
back, huh? Maybe this gig won't be so bad after all... Right, Jiang?"

"I guess," Jiang answered, suppressing a smile. "Now let's pack and get
going, okay?"

                                  *

"How'd they decide that quickly?" Jacob said wonderingly under his breath,
as they filed out of the briefing room. "I was expecting it'd be weeks
before they collected enough evidence for a trial, let alone made a
decision."

Ayako didn't reply, since she was thinking along similar lines herself. She
turned to Nadia, about to ask what the other woman's opinion was, and
blinked. Was that a meaningful look Nadia exchanged with Belles, as the
door whisked itself shut behind them?

Interesting, but Ayako had already had enough surprises for one day. Better
to focus on the job ahead, she concluded, and kept her mouth shut as the
foursome trooped off.

In a few hours, they'd be back aboard the Gospel. And after that? _Well, at
least we aren't running from our own anymore,_ she thought.

She thought back to Belles's cold, parting smile, and a man in a white
jacket on Holliday, and repressed a shudder.

_I hope._


Author's Notes:

Whew. Another rough week. No time for prereading. You know the drill. Sorry
if this episode is rough in places. =P

Thanks to Kristen for inspiring the whole plotline over the last two
episodes, and to Phoebe for turning that inspiration into the basis for a
story arc.

Thanks also to Todd, for being a terrifically understanding admin when I
e-mailed for the extension at the very last minute. ^_^

Good luck to the other authors in the queue!