the Free Fleet protected and the Union could be used to protect them. He reminded Monk of Henry for his drive and the way he treated his subordinates, but without the air of relaxed competence. Instead, Min Hae had the deadly calm of a serpent pointed at anyone that would dare hurt its family.
Monk had seen Min Hae in interview rooms. The cold efficient way in which he got subjects to talk had made him infamous amongst the Syndicate personnel. He had gained the nickname of Merchertevak, a bird native to Drvntrni that fired small poisonous needles at its prey, remaining unseen until the victim was paralyzed and it could begin its feast.
Well. He never hurt them, but everything else was free game. Monk had seen many of the files on most of the garbage that was mining and providing labour for the Free Fleet. Little if any of them deserved any kind of mercy, but Monk and the rest of the Free Fleet treated them fairly.
“Really? What was this transmission about?” Salchar asked, the other heads in the room focusing on Min Hae.
Min Hae was always finding useful tidbits of information and anything he had to say was valuable and possibly lifesaving.
“There's a person by the name of Gogs who wants to defect,” Min Hae said.
“Are we sure that he's telling the truth?” Henry asked, not trying to hide the unhappy look at trusting this unknown creature.
“That's what he's saying,” Min Hae paused in thought before continuing. “He's also the one that was able to find our little virus and for now has stopped it from spreading. He says that he hasn't told anyone, and if we grant him asylum he'll allow the virus to spread,”
“Does he know who we are?” Salchar said, his face not revealing his true feelings.
“He and the fleet he's with still aren't sure. Though they do know that Orvunut is out of the picture. Kelu is debating whether to send a Corvette to scout or not,” Min Hae said.
“But again Henry is right to be unhappy with this development for security reasons, I haven't shared anything or pushed for specifics in a way that would betray our actions and identity.”
He looked around the table, everyone trusted him implicitly and you could see it on their faces.
“There is one other thing he said of importance.” Min Hae said, pausing as if he was trying to figure out how to best say it.
“Just spit it out or we might be waiting an age.” Salchar said in a joking tone.
“Very well,” Min Hae's own tone serious, making a few people shift in their seats to see what was bothering the Intelligence department's commander. “The Corvette Kelu sent was to gather more reinforcements as we thought, though not from the nearest people. He sent the Corvette to report directly to Lady Fairgate. So whatever's coming will be a large force indeed,”
“How long will it take that force to get here?” Salchar asked, the joking tone from seconds ago had evaporated into the steely tones of someone that didn't want to hear more, but duty held him to continue listening.
“About eight months,” Min Hae said. “The Syndicate is slow and they will stop in every system they can, to pillage, trade and suck up as much free time as possible.
“How was Kelu on us so quickly then?” Henry asked.
“Kelu is this sector's enforcer. He must be connected into the FTL relay's that Lady Fairgate took over when she took the Union. He must be out of that range to send a Corvette to her. ” Min Hae replied.
“Now the question is how we get them to attack before they get those reinforcements.” Salchar said, silence only cut by Salchar's fingers tapping the table in thought.
“Hit them with cannons?” Henry suggested as Salchar shook his head, a small smile on his lips.
“While that will do quite a bit of damage to them,” Salchar said, the short lived humor dying on his lips. “They’ll just run out of range again. We need to make them think that we're weak,” Salchar said, his tone business-like in contrast to
Monk had seen Min Hae in interview rooms. The cold efficient way in which he got subjects to talk had made him infamous amongst the Syndicate personnel. He had gained the nickname of Merchertevak, a bird native to Drvntrni that fired small poisonous needles at its prey, remaining unseen until the victim was paralyzed and it could begin its feast.
Well. He never hurt them, but everything else was free game. Monk had seen many of the files on most of the garbage that was mining and providing labour for the Free Fleet. Little if any of them deserved any kind of mercy, but Monk and the rest of the Free Fleet treated them fairly.
“Really? What was this transmission about?” Salchar asked, the other heads in the room focusing on Min Hae.
Min Hae was always finding useful tidbits of information and anything he had to say was valuable and possibly lifesaving.
“There's a person by the name of Gogs who wants to defect,” Min Hae said.
“Are we sure that he's telling the truth?” Henry asked, not trying to hide the unhappy look at trusting this unknown creature.
“That's what he's saying,” Min Hae paused in thought before continuing. “He's also the one that was able to find our little virus and for now has stopped it from spreading. He says that he hasn't told anyone, and if we grant him asylum he'll allow the virus to spread,”
“Does he know who we are?” Salchar said, his face not revealing his true feelings.
“He and the fleet he's with still aren't sure. Though they do know that Orvunut is out of the picture. Kelu is debating whether to send a Corvette to scout or not,” Min Hae said.
“But again Henry is right to be unhappy with this development for security reasons, I haven't shared anything or pushed for specifics in a way that would betray our actions and identity.”
He looked around the table, everyone trusted him implicitly and you could see it on their faces.
“There is one other thing he said of importance.” Min Hae said, pausing as if he was trying to figure out how to best say it.
“Just spit it out or we might be waiting an age.” Salchar said in a joking tone.
“Very well,” Min Hae's own tone serious, making a few people shift in their seats to see what was bothering the Intelligence department's commander. “The Corvette Kelu sent was to gather more reinforcements as we thought, though not from the nearest people. He sent the Corvette to report directly to Lady Fairgate. So whatever's coming will be a large force indeed,”
“How long will it take that force to get here?” Salchar asked, the joking tone from seconds ago had evaporated into the steely tones of someone that didn't want to hear more, but duty held him to continue listening.
“About eight months,” Min Hae said. “The Syndicate is slow and they will stop in every system they can, to pillage, trade and suck up as much free time as possible.
“How was Kelu on us so quickly then?” Henry asked.
“Kelu is this sector's enforcer. He must be connected into the FTL relay's that Lady Fairgate took over when she took the Union. He must be out of that range to send a Corvette to her. ” Min Hae replied.
“Now the question is how we get them to attack before they get those reinforcements.” Salchar said, silence only cut by Salchar's fingers tapping the table in thought.
“Hit them with cannons?” Henry suggested as Salchar shook his head, a small smile on his lips.
“While that will do quite a bit of damage to them,” Salchar said, the short lived humor dying on his lips. “They’ll just run out of range again. We need to make them think that we're weak,” Salchar said, his tone business-like in contrast to
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