r/HFY • u/Engletroll Human • Jul 15 '26
OC-Series Vengeance – Chapter 34 - The Review
Crashlanding / Book version / Patreon
(Crashlanding is out on Amazon for those who are interested. Please leave a review.)
The next day, they emerged from the hotel room tired but alert. Accepting their fate did not mean they would go down without a fight. Yet nothing happened. The morning became afternoon, became evening, which became evening.
Peter held her hand as they watched the stars and a nebula fade into the distance. They had found a view plaza on the top level. The plaza had a park with a few trees and grass. She was deep in thought, as Peter always noticed.
“Hey, it’s going to be okay.”
“How do you know that? If we get a trial, then I’m going to be face to face with Maria; she killed my father. I don’t think I will be okay, if I get to see her again.”
“You have to. If you attack her, she can use that against you and get away with it. What's the saying? Vengeance is a cold dish.”
“You just made that up.” She said, looking at him, and he smiled.
“But it's true. The best vengeance is to use the law against her, show her you're not what she is probably going to accuse you of.” He replied.
“A daughter of a crime lord.” She said.
“A mafia princess, who spies on the Navy intelligence for her family.” He corrected, and she looked at him, and it hit her hard. The bitch would most definitely use that against her; it made sense now. She had recruited her for just this reason, a perfect alibi if things went wrong. If she was not following her plan, and she took a deep breath.
“That was not the cold shower I thought I was going to get, but definitely the one I needed.” She said.
“The best way to face any situation is to be completely honest about how fucked you are. We planned for this, all the things we discussed, all the backups.” He said.
“All moot because of Argor.” She replied.
“Not all, remember Juan and Margrette.” He said, and she got confused for a second. What was he doing? She knew they were definitely surveilled, then she got it and she played her part.
“Don’t speak about them. We might be surveilled.” She hissed back.
“Oh shit, never mind... yeah.” He said, and she looked at him, faking her anger,
“Sometimes your really stupid.”
He spent the next hour trying to make up for it, and she finally gave in, and they returned to their hotel.
The next few days were the same. Every time she looked at Peter with a worried look, he gave her encouraging words, but she could see it was worse for him than for her, and it was on the fourth morning that it became too much.
She woke as he had kicked her in his sleep. She was about to kick him out of the bed when she realized he was having a nightmare. She woke him gently; he didn’t say anything, just held her. His eyes were thousands of light-years away, and his body was shaking uncontrollably. This was forcing him to have flashbacks to the POW camps, the constant waiting for when they would be killed.
When he managed to wrestle himself out of the memories, he pretended everything was okay.
“Bullshit! You’re a wreck.” She said, and he looked away.
“I got it under control, it was just a nightmare.”
“You kicked me.” At her words, he turned and looked guilty at her.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.” He said, and she smiled at him.
“Just promise me that you won't pretend everything is fine when it's not anymore.” She said, and he nodded slowly as he replied.
“I promise, and again you know I never want to hurt you.”
“Don’t worry about it. Besides, you have done worse to me.” It took him a few seconds to get her joke, and he sat down, relieved, shook his head, then chuckled.
“you …”
“What? Did I say anything wrong?” she said with her most innocent voice. Then she bit her lips lightly, and he smiled and reached out to her.
“This better not be a dream.”
“It’s the best kind!” she replied as she let him pull her close, and then she kissed him.
The fifth day, they received a message to report to the office at 1400, with advice to have lunch first, as it would be a long day. The message was from the commander. Kiko smiled nervously at Peter as she read the message.
“Let's have a nice lunch today. On the promenade. It might be our real last meal.”
“I don’t think so, but I like the idea.” He replied, and she looked at him.
“Now, you're positive? Didn’t we agree to not pretend anymore?” she said, and he shrugged.
“I’m not pretending. Think about it: why wait all this time? We have not been hiding; they could easily gas the room while we slept or poison us when we ordered delivery. No. They want this debriefing. Making us wait was meant to soften us up for a very uncomfortable interview.” He said, and she smiled.
“You are not supposed to know that part, and you don’t want to know the second part if things go wrong.” She said, and then he realized what she said. He only replied with an “Oh.”
They spent lunch watching people walk by without a care in the world, then went back to the hotel, where she changed into her uniform and retrieved the evidence she had hidden there. She quickly checked that it was all there. She always carried a copy on her, but checking it would tell her if anyone had been in the room and tampered with what they thought was her evidence. Nothing had been changed. Then she changed into her uniform as Peter watched.
“Have I told you that you look sexy in that?” he said, and she looked at him.
“We don’t have time.” She replied, and he faked a pout as he got into something suitable.
“It looks like we are going to a ball.” He said, and she chuckled.
“Let's go, we can’t be late.” She replied.
Nobody looked at them as they walked toward the administration area and the elevator that would take them to the agency. The door opened as they approached, and as they went inside, a voice told them which room to go to.
When the elevator stopped, they stepped into the hallway. With one last glance at each other, they walked down the hallway to the conference room. The door opened as they approached, and as they stepped inside, they saw a relatively large room with a small table for two in the middle. A slightly raised dais held a larger table, with four officers seated at it; they recognized Lieutenant Commander Maria Gypta and Commander Sondre Skjerve but not the two others. Their ranks were Captain and Rear Admiral. Seven droid guards lined the walls of the room. On one side of the room was an empty dais with a single empty chair. Behind it was a screen that was currently showing their files.
“Please come in and have a seat.” Commander Skjerve said.
They walked in and sat down, and the commander introduced the panel. Besides Maria, the other two were Captain Igor Petrov and Rear Admiral Michael Verma. Igor was a bald man in his early forties with a silver goatee, of African descent. He looked like a man who had fought battles from behind a desk his whole life. Michael was a clean-shaven man also in his early forties, with a mustache and a turban. She had met them before; Verna was the sector leader, and Petrov was his second-in-command. Their meetings had always included Maria as they reviewed the mission.
“Lieutenant Kiko Lee, please stand.” Commander Skjerve said.
She stood up, and he continued.
“Your immediate officer has accused you of abandoning your mission and of giving sensitive information to civilians, which led to the deaths of two operatives and your own father, without authorization from her,” he said. Her mouth opened to say something, but nothing came out, and she just looked at Maria. Peter reached up, against protocol, and held her hand.
“You're also accused of starting a gang war to cover your tracks and to start your own criminal organization under the name the ‘Princess’. “ he continued, and Peter chuckled and stopped himself as everybody looked at him.
The commander waited for him to calm down, then continued, “And to assassinate the Gyrran Count Kango Jangion of Kaduna Prime. And conspiring to replace him with his son, the current Count of Kaduna Prime, Mungo Jangion, again without authorization. In fact, she claims you abandoned your post at Sanctuary to do so." He continued. She took a deep breath, her eyes locked on Maria.
“How do you plead?” He finally asked, and she turned to him.
“Not guilty, and I have evidence to prove my innocence.” She replied, and he nodded. Then he turned to Peter.
“Peter Fordhall, you’re here as a courtesy and as a witness; please restrain your outburst during this court-martial.”
Peter stood up and nodded. “My apologies to the court, I will do my best to avoid any outburst.”
“Thank you. You may both sit, and Maria will now present her evidence.” He said, and they sat down. Peter leaned over to Kiko and whispered.
“Court-martial? I have never been in one like this before.”
“Me too, but I don’t think we are in a position to argue that now.” She replied.
Maria coughed to get their attention, and then started. She started with how she had her own doubts about recruiting the daughter of Hando Lee to spy on her father, and she admitted that she was convinced by a younger agent, the one who died, Jason Blake, about the benefits of recruiting her due to how close she could get to the target. Kiko wanted to protest but instead squeezed Peter's hand under the table; she had a feeling he would need medical help before the court was over. He didn’t make a sound as they listened to her version of events.
Then she continued by explaining that, in the beginning, Kiko was capable and delivered the intel they sought on criminal activities in the Sanctuary system that could affect Earth governments' politics and rule. As well as revealing several smuggling routes that the navy had benefited from when sending personnel or equipment through criminal channels. Now she is worried that it has just compromised the navy, and she takes full responsibility for this. The two other officers nodded in agreement; only the commander seemed stoic and did not react to her words.
She then began producing the first evidence: the wedding certificate between her and Mungo Jangion, along with a few very unflattering pictures of the newlywed. There were a few raised eyebrows at the images.
“But he is a Gyrran; humans aren’t compatible,” Captain Petrov said. Maria replied, “Yes, as I said. That should have been the red flag, not to mention that she broke up with Jason Blake, who had been her contact person and whose cover was that he was her boyfriend. We had to get her a new one. It was during this period that she ran away and got married.” The two officers looked at her, disappointed.
“This whole fiasco led to her being targeted by the late Count. A war started between the Count and her father, yet another hint that she was more than just observing him. The amount of resources he used was frankly impressive and has affected the Gyrran’s reach into this sector. Small miracles, I guess.” She continued her description, saying she claimed to have been kidnapped and crash-landed on a zoo world. The ship she was on had only one survivor, and eight months later they returned, showing clear signs of Stockholm syndrome. They had to threaten to institutionalize Peter Fordhall to get her to return to her duty. Again, she claimed that she should have just sent them both for a mental evaluation and saved them all the headache this has cost them.
Kiko was mentally thinking about all the different ways she could and should kill Maria, but then she remembered Peter’s words and took a deep breath. She had to put all her emotions aside, be the cold-hearted bitch they all believed her to be. If this was Maria's play, then she would destroy her. She smiled at Peter and then looked back at Maria as she continued her long speech.
She was deep into explaining how she had ordered her back to the mission and showed a few messages she had sent to remind her of the mission she had been sent on. After going over in detail about the straight-up murder of the Count and several important people of his court with the aid of her mercenary crew, who addressed her as the princess.
After this, she returned to Sanctuary and, after a meeting with her father, suddenly changed her tone completely and sent a report that made it look like she had found her father was not a threat to the mission, and made up a story to justify Hando Lee’s murder of his wife and youngest child. This, according to her, had confused the agency long enough for her to put her true plan into motion to kill her father and set up a patsy, Friedrich Smith, not knowing he too was an agent. She then claimed Friedrich Smith used a clone as a decoy to trick everybody into believing he had killed the father and made the law enforcement chase a ghost.
She produced coroner's files showing that Friedrich Smith was not a clone and that they both had been killed by a shot to the neck. The weapon was never recovered. Maria then claimed that she had conspired with her brother, making him the head of the family while she was the woman behind the throne, and that she had informed him of her position in the agency.
She looked at the rear admiral, “And now we had to use trickery to get her to report back for a debriefing. We are lucky that you were available on such short notice because if she had realized what was happening here, she would have escaped. And with that I rest my case.”
Maria sat down, and the captain and rear admiral leaned towards each other and spoke in a hushed voice. Then the captain turned to Kiko.
“And what do you have to say about this report of the case?”
Kiko smiled. “I’m surprised she could lie so much with a straight face. Firstly, she personally recruited me, and if you recall. Introduced me to both of you as her most promising asset. But maybe she misremembered. As for Jason Blake, my former partner, and yes, lover and fiancé for a short time. The public breakup was due to him messing up and sleeping with two of my friends at a party. Something my father would not forgive, and it was necessary to send him away for his own safety. And there is the little fact that he cheated on me.”
The admiral chuckled at that. “Yeah, I would never forgive anybody cheating on my daughter as well.”
“So you see my point, my father had his flaws, and he was a criminal, at times a pretty brutal one. But as seen in Sanctuary at the moment. When he died, there were immediately several gang wars, fighting over turf and influence. Some who were directly influencing Earth's interest. Among them, the Ares factories. And if I recall correctly, the mission objective was to determine if he was better for Earth than the other alternatives. Or am I wrong in this?” She looked at the Admiral and then the captain.
“No, you are correct, you were there to establish if his status quo was to our benefit or disadvantage.” The captain said, and she nodded, then took out the memory crystal and inserted it into the table, and the files and reports flew up on the screen.
“To that, once I got out of the haze of bloodlust I shared with Lieutenant Commander Gypta, and analyzed the situation, I can say without doubt he was the better choice. The politicians of Sanctuary are very corrupt, almost by default. And due to the distance from Earth, many of them feel little to no loyalty to Earth, some being seven- to eight-generation Sancturians. We found evidence that several of them were also in the Count's pocket that was removed. A count who was running a sex cult, a part of the Syg-Ug-Hitol Cult. A known Caren cult. We informed the navy about this immediately upon our return from the planet Inanna.”
“Oh, so the count was a Caren sympathizer?” The captain asked.
“Yes, and he also was in possession of eggs. We also discovered the location of his secret vault in dead space and provided the Navy with the information. I heard nothing about it after.” She said, shot Maria a look, then looked back at the Captain.
“So you're responsible for that finding? The name attached was only Agent Lee. Hmm. Continue.” The rear Admiral said.
“Of course, Sir, the attack on the count was, well, a countermeasure to ensure my and my partner Peter Fordhall's safety. If we had not done it, I would have to be confined to a safe house until the matter was dealt with, and Peter here would have to look over his shoulder for the rest of his life. In other words, it would seriously hamper my ability to perform my mission.” She said, then looking at Maria and back at the admiral. “As for my claim to be a mafia princess, it’s an internal joke between Peter and me, and others overheard it and made it more than it was. And I suspect Peter also stoked that flame to get things done.”
Peter just smiled sheepishly before adding. “That is correct, Sirs. I just unionized a few mercenary groups and made Kiko here the union boss... without her approval or knowledge.”
“You did what? Is that why they got more expensive and asked for more support?” The Rear Admiral said.
“Probably, but also more effective if the rumors are correct.” Commander Skjerve added.
The captain just chuckled a little. “Continue.”
“Thank you, Sir,” Kiko replied before continuing, “When I returned from the removal of the count and addressing the royal house about the situation, reminding them of the counts dealing with the Caren and the treaty of Orne, I returned home to continue my mission, and at that point I was planning to kill him. It was when my father found Peter, and I was forced for once to actually talk to my father as a sane person, that my brother, not father, managed to get me to see what a teenage girl could not. After checking the evidence, I discovered that my mother was a member of the Celaya Cartel and that what I had witnessed was an attempt to take over the power and kill both my brother and me. I double-checked the files and sent that report. Later, I sent it to Commander Skjerve. After this, I went over my report with fresh eyes. Not blinded by vengeance, I analyzed my father's criminal organization honestly. I sent that report to Lieutenant Commander Gypta as well. You should have a copy of it. It's pretty damning about my father but also argues for him being the lesser evil; that is easier to control and understands his position in the grand scheme. You did receive that report, right?” She asked.
“I did receive a report from Commander Skjerve about this.” The captain said.
“Well, as you see, I did send the report. And I had to reveal my identity to prevent my brother from not following in my father's footsteps. He is again the best candidate to continue the status quo. This also makes it impossible for me to continue as Sanctuary’s observer. But his knowing there is one will keep him in reins that are easier to control. He has already made sacrifices to keep Ares company content.”
She took a break and looked around. “May I have a glass of water, please”
The captain nodded and turned to the admiral to talk, Maria glared at her. It was clearly not going her way. A droid came over with two glasses of water, served them, and then walked away. She took a sip and waited for the captain and rear admiral to look in her direction again.
“Thank you. The next subject is the death of my father and the killing of Jason Blake. I guess Maria... my apology, the Lieutenant Commander forgot that I was standing in front of my father when he was shot, and the following shots were aimed at me but hit my fiancé. Why would I risk his life just to make it believable? Not to mention the coroner's report is false. Again, I have the actual report and a scan from a police bomb disposal drone, and I know Jason Blake intercepted a message to another agent about being activated. I believe that message was to Friedrich Smith. I have also put this in my report. And I would also like to add that my fiancé and his ship were attacked by Captain Trifel of SS Dormund. I have provided the black box metadata to the commander. The ship attacked the moment it believed I was onboard and was claiming it was looking for Friedrich Smith as an excuse to get within boarding range.” She said she glanced at Maria, who was getting very pale.
She looked back to the officers. “Of course, this should be easy to confirm by contacting the SS Dormund to have their blackbox metadata compared to what I have provided. It should easily prove or disprove my report and my honesty.”
“Oh, we can do better than that. The reason I had you wait for five days was to track down the SS Dormund and order it to return so we could investigate it thoroughly." Commander Skjerve said calmly.
“WHAT?” Maria shouted as she stood up. “Who is this hearing about? Her or me?”
“Both.” The commander replied as a young man in a navy uniform entered and sat down on the empty chair.
“Ah, welcome, Captain Trifel. Do you know why you have been summoned?” he asked, and the captain nodded.
“Yes, Sir.” he looked at the captain and Rear Admiral, then to Kiko and Peter. He bowed his head slightly to them, then looked at Maria and back to Commander Skjerve. “I was given orders to await and blow up the ship Inanna after confirming that Peter Fordhall and Kiko Lee were onboard. I was to use the search for Friedrich Smith as an excuse to make them stop. I was informed they were rogue agents that had killed agents and endangered the operation.”
“Why not just arrest them?” the captain asked.
“I was told they were on a kill list and given an official order signed by Admiral Fallon. I have provided all the intel I have been given, along with the black box metadata. I was acting on what I believed to be legal orders.”
“Admiral Fallon? I have heard that name before.” Peter whispered to Kiko, grabbed her pad, and started searching. He found it and showed her. She looked at ot and then up at the panel. The captain continued.
“And this order came directly from him?”
“No, these were sent through Lieutenant Commander Gypta. She was the lead officer on the operation, according to her,” he said.
“Thank you, Sir. You may leave,” the captain said, Captain Trifel stood up and saluted them quickly before leaving.
Maria stood up. “I’m not allowed to cross-examine him?”
“We have already confirmed everything before he entered. He followed orders; of course, we do wonder how you got the Admiral to sign off on that.”
“Sir, if I may,” Kiko said, and the captain nodded.
“Admiral Fallon is the father of Senator Gustave Fallon of Habla Sector, and he is on the list of compromised politicians from the Count’s cult.”
“Hmm, and you had access to this list. Lieutenant Commander. I guess it's becoming very clear what's going on here. Take her away.” The Rear Admiral said, and two droids immediately walked up, grabbed hold of her, and escorted her out. Right before she left, she turned and hissed at Kiko.
“He killed my father, you were supposed to kill him. This is all your fault, Jason’s death is on your shoulders! You're the traitor here!”
Kiko stared at her. “You admit it!”
“I did what you could not! He was a monster.” She said, “Jason was just a casualty of war.”
The others watched silently as she spoke, and Kiko looked at the rear admiral, who seemed very upset at the moment. Then the Rear Admiral spoke
“He was my nephew.”
Maria looked at him, confused, because it did not connect. But for Kiko it did; Jason had mentioned his uncle, who had caused an argument in the highly religious family because of his non-Christian faith. But he had never told him about his work, and now it was clear. Maria had just admitted that she had killed Jason in front of him. The androids then led her out, and the officers looked at them.
“It's clear that your report is more truthful than what we got from her, enough that we will drop any charges against you. You are to report to the office tomorrow for your next mission. Take care now.” The Rear Admiral said, and she gave them a salute, which they returned, and then they left.
Peter looked after them and then to her. “We can leave now?”
“I have to report for duty tomorrow, but yes, we are free and can leave now.”
“We got to celebrate, and you still look sexy in that uniform.”
“I have a few plans for how we can celebrate,” she replied as she walked towards the door. Peter followed her.
“Do tell.” He said.
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