Noble Lie

The “All Hands” alarm blared through the ship three times. Jess stood at the ready in her armor, side-handle baton in hand. The boarding team stood behind her, the breaching airlock in front of her.

The slight shifts in artificial gravity, along with the hum of the engines increasing, told her that the ship was trying to run. She listened to the inter-ship comms for a few seconds. “Why do they always run?” she muttered, before switching back to local.

“It looks like they’re trying to run. Prepare for a forced dock.” She looked at the other troops in their armor. Some human enough to pass behind the armor, others with too many limbs, outlandish proportions, and one that stood no taller than her knees. “I don’t have to tell you to be ready for resistance. Watch for weapons.”

“Aye, aye!” they responded in unison.

The thump of the ship against their prey could be felt through the deck. The sound of the seizure clamps extending and tearing into the hull of the target ship carried through the bulkhead. It was followed by the sound of air rushing against the outside of their ship, cut off in a matter of seconds by the emergency seals inflating around the outside of the breaching device.

The light above the airlock turned from amber to green, and Jess pushed the button with her elbow. “Let’s go!”

The airlock doors opened to reveal the cutter on the inside of the breaching clamp finishing its creation of a round hole in the hull of the other ship. The disc of metal crashed into the floor of the target ship, which was about 120 degrees off from the orientation of their own.

With a precision that made it seem like they did this dozens of times a day, the troops poured through into the enemy ship, falling into the differently oriented gravity in such a way that they landed on their feet and on the move.

Most of the pirates they encountered gave up without a fight. The pirate crew was composed of several different species, but all of them seemed unwell. It was obvious that many of them were on the verge of starvation.

The troops met no resistance until they reached the bridge. The captain, a beetle-like creature, was communicating in an unknown language on the FTL comm-link, trying to regain control of the ship’s controls that had been taken over by the interdiction vessel.

Jess moved without hesitation, wading through the fire from beam and energy weapons to the captain. “Interstellar Piracy Interdiction Police. Step away from the comm and raise all your manipulators.”

The captain fired at her with a slug thrower. Through the armor, it was like being punched in the ribs.

“Ow,” she said, as she swung the baton and hit the captain where the head segment joined the thorax. The captain went down and lay unconscious, looking to Jess like a beetle playing dead.

The rest of the bridge crew stopped firing as they realized their weapons were having no effect. Her team was binding the last of the bridge crew as the follow-on team made it to the bridge.

“Report,” the Lieutenant said, pointing a tentacle at Jess.

“Captain here needs medical,” Jess said, pointing at the beetle-like creature that was beginning to stir. “No other injuries we’re aware of, but the entire crew are possibly sick and most definitely starved.”

“Noted.” The Lieutenant looked around the bridge. “When did you find the time to question the detainees?”

“Question? I haven’t questioned anyone.”

“Yet you have determined their health?” he asked.

“Yeah, Orbil, I looked at them.” Jess sighed. “You should spend more time around warm-bloods like myself. Of course, I should spend some more time around cold-bloods like you, because I wouldn’t be able to tell unless you were on death’s door.”

“Yes, as you say, then. I’ll see to it that medics inspect all the detainees.” He slithered over and took command of the scene. “The breach team is released, except for you, Sergeant.”

“What is it, sir?” Jess asked.

“Commander wants to see you in his office.”

“Will do.”

The commander’s office was decorated with nothing more than the flag of the Galactic Union, the flag Chicago, and a copy of the GU Resolution that formed the Interstellar Piracy Interdiction Police.

The commander, one of the dozen or so humans on the ship, was an imposing figure, despite his short stature, close-cropped red hair, and ever-rosy cheeks. He nodded at Jess as she entered.

“Commander McKinney, Sergeant Bexley. You wanted to see me, sir?” Jess stood at attention, out of her armor but still in the undersuit.

“Have a seat, Jess. We can drop the formalities.”

“What’s wrong, Mac?” she asked as she sat in the chair. “Did the state of those guys bother you as much as it did me?”

“It’s a damn shame,” he said, “and it gives some idea why they’re pirates, but that’s not what I wanted to see you about.”

“What is it, then?”

“Lieutenant’s exam is coming up. You ready for it?” he asked.

“Yeah. Piece of cake.”

“Good. Because when you pass, you’re taking Lieutenant Orbil’s place.”

Jess stiffened. “Wait. I’m off the boarding team? Screw that, I’ll skip the exam.”

“No, no. You’ll still be on the boarding team. We should have a Lieutenant there anyway.”

Jess relaxed. “So why doesn’t Orbil lead?”

“IPIP rules require armor for all boarding team members.” Mac shrugged. “Nobody makes armor that works for a squishy, tentacle-having, no-bones, squishing through tiny holes, canaramian.”

Jess tilted her head. “Mac! That sounded incredibly speciesist.”

Mac laughed. “He knows what I think about him.”

“I do,” Orbil answered from the door, “you stiff-jointed, topple-walking, non-stretching … uh … human. Damn, I ran out quick on that one. We still on for drinks later?”

“Yeah. See you then.” Mac waved as the lieutenant slithered out as quietly as he had entered.

“Where’s Orbil going?” When Mac looked confused, Jess clarified. “If I’m taking Orbil’s spot.”

“Orbil’s being promoted to commander and taking my spot.”

“What the hell? They can’t fire you!”

Mac sighed. “They’re not. I’m leaving to run for office on Earth. We’ve done some good work, and it looks good for my resumé, but….”

“It’s time to move on to greener pastures?”

“Something like that.” He pulled a pair of rocks glasses out of a drawer and poured them each a finger of Scotch.”

Jess downed her drink and set the glass on one of the coasters on the commander’s desk. “Just like that? I thought you were a cop for life.”

“I’m going to ask you a question, but I don’t want you to answer me, just yourself. And be honest.” Mac poured them each another shot. “Why did you become a cop, and why did you apply for the interdiction team?”

“Well, I—”

“Nope,” Mac cut her off. “Don’t answer me. Just keep it to yourself. The real reason. Every cop either says they joined because it’s a family tradition, or to ‘help people.’ I know your family isn’t a cop family, and if you think you joined to help people, consider how you felt when you thought you wouldn’t be leading the boarding team.”

Jess sipped at the drink and let the thoughts swirl. “Hmm. I always thought of being a cop as noble somehow, like the protector of others.”

Mac leaned forward. “Let me guess. Given the choice between protecting others from behind a desk and jumping into the fray to nab the bad guys, you’ll always choose the latter.”

“Yeah. Not the greatest of motivations.”

“Hey,” Mac’s voice was soft. “Sometimes why we do a thing, isn’t as important as that we do it. Every pirate we catch, every ship we capture, reduces risk for civilians. The job itself can be noble, even if we who do it, aren’t.”

“I guess ‘helping people’ is a convenient lie to convince myself that I’m still a good person,” she said.

“You are, Jess. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t have been worried about the condition of the pirates.” Mac chuckled. “Hell, if you weren’t a good person, you could get the same rush in the ring, fighting for money.”