“MAC?” asked Giles.
“Marx Amalgamated Concern,” explained Madeline. “And ordinarily, Quinn, I would agree with you. However, recent events have given us a unique opportunity.”
“This is the part that I’m curious about,” interjected Aria. “What is this unique opportunity?”
“There are two factors that mean we have a shot,” replied Madeline. “First, thanks to the information provided by Rachel Gentry, we know exactly where Johnathan Marx is.” She gestured to her brother.
Jack brought up a holographic image from a projector in the center of the table. The image was of a planet orbited by two moons set closely together. “Johnathan Marx is currently living at a military starbase set between these two moons,” he announced. “From here, he is monitoring the events that have been taking place on Tarma. The base and the planet below it are staging areas used to launch his so-called intervention force. Right now, of course, his intervention force is out of system, slowly turning around because their reinforcement mission just got called off. That means, we have a window of opportunity: from now until that intervention force gets back to its base, Johnathan Marx is vulnerable to a quick strike.”
“Wait, boss,” objected Giles. “TheMaracaibois a kick-ass ship, don’t get me wrong, but we’re not strong enough to take on a military starbase.”
“Correct,” said Enoch Immanuel. “My ship, theJericho, is a capital-class warship. It will be the vessel responsible for the attack.”
“Didn’t see that coming,” murmured Quinn.
“But…surely that’s a suicide mission, isn’t it?” demanded Aria, her face filled with worry. “Father, are you talking about sacrificing yourself?”
Madeline glanced at Enoch. Although he kept a poker face, she could tell how pleased he was by Aria calling him “Father” and expressing concern for his well-being.
“The simple answer is no,” replied Enoch, with a hint of a smile. “This is where things get complicated.”
“Right, because they were clear and obvious before,” muttered Giles. “Boss, are we sure we want to blow up a starbase? That’s a few orders of magnitude larger than anything else we’ve ever done. Plus, there’ll be a fair few innocent people on board the bloody thing. I mean, I know we’re pirates and all, but this is a little more…cold-blooded than we usually are.”
“Agreed,” said Quinn.
“Your points are well taken,” acknowledged Jack, “and I’m glad you’ve made them. No, we have no wish or intention to take innocent lives. We’re focused on one man, and one man alone.”
Carefully and methodically, Jack, Madeline, and Enoch filled the others in on how their plan would work.
