Cassandra

This is a stub:

If I ever find the blue book I wrote the start of this story in I'll put it here.

The Cassandra was a Valkyrie class destroyer. It fought in the Rim Wars.

The captain then stole it, along with some of the crew, and headed for the edge of the United Planets in search of adventure.

Could be placed in Bill's Universe

**Crew**

The Captain - a war weary joker. Has cybernetic legs.

The First Mate - a more serious sort of fellow

The Welfare Officer - a short woman with cybernetic eyes.

The Chief Steward - a dope smoking layabout

There would have been other crew but I can't remember.

**Author's Note:**

The basic plot was that they were on the run from the authorities, They stop over at a sparsely populated planet and get into trouble. The WO gets lost in the forest and the captain gets captured by baddies or something, That was about as far as I got,

Found some I'd typed - wow - I was 20ish when I wrote this... you can tell:

The Valkerye

Central Bar was a
busy free house in the heart of Sham City. Even though it was broad daylight
out side there was already a well established hard at work, drinking.

A man wearing the
duty uniform of a Force Commander in the UP Marine Flying Core walked in and
approached a booth. He was of average height and build, with greying hair that
was starting to receide at the side. Although grey haired he had a young
smiling face.

The booth he
chose was inhibited by a young pair of ensigns, which he shooed away. He sat
down and waited.

Eventually the
tall, round figure of the man he had been waiting for entered the room, and
signalled the other with a hand motion to the mouth, that meant ‘Drink?’

The first man
nodded to the other, who then continued to the bar. The taller man sat down and
put two pints of yellow liquid on the table.

‘Jay’, he said.

‘Ebo’, came the
reply.

‘Still in uniform
I see.’, said Ebo, pointing to the insignias on Jays uniform.

‘It’s handy, in
this town, saturated with forces personnel as it is.’

Jay sighed and
rubbed his tired eyes, ‘I see you haven’t lost any weight.’

Ebo shrugged,
‘Since the cease fire I’ve been driving a desk. I’ve piled it back on.’

‘Hows
everything?’

‘Fine’, again Ebo
shrugged and took a drink, ‘So what’s this all about? What’s your scheme now?’

‘Eb man!’, laughed
Jay ,’This is the best yet, you’re not going to believe it but I’m going to
steal the Valkeryie.’

‘Oh yeah?’,
smirked Ebo, then glanced around ,’Is it safe to talk here?’

‘Sure’, replied
Jay and took a matchbox sized piece of electronic equipment from his top
pocket, ‘I’ve scanned.’

‘This sounds like
a laugh’, said Ebo after a long pause, ‘Fill me in.’

Jay had been
poking absently at a scab on his arm,

‘Sorry man, I
haven’t slept in 36 hours. Right, this is it. The whole sector is being demiliterised,
everyone, and I mean everyone is at it. And I reckon they owe me the Valkeryie
anyway. Why should the navy get their hands on it? I captured the damn thing.
I’ve got all the paper work sorted out, I’ve bribed the port authority and I
have got so much dirt on the brass they would give me ten CSV’s just to get rid
of me.’

Jay took a drink
to clear his throat and continued.

‘The SBC
Callyfagio is leaving for the IF in two weeks. We load up the Valkeryie and pop
up somewhere around their. We’re not even in the UP anymore, they will never
find us! I’ve tied up the base in so much red tape it’ll be decades before the
NAC release one of our prizes has gone missing.’

Edo nodded as his
military brain filled in all the abbreviations. CSV meant a Confiscated Space
Vehicle, which was a catch all for all the ships that had been captured or
conscripted into service during the war. SBC stood for Super Bulk Carrier, the
Callyfagio being a vast deep space travelling vessel that among many other
things could carry smaller ships around tethered to its hull. UP was the United
Planets, and NAC was the Naval Auditing Commision.

Jay sighed,
‘After Juno they owe us a hundred ships anyway.’

‘What if we are
caught.’, asked Ebo, getting to the point as always.

‘That’s the beauty
of it.’, Jay was getting animated, ‘Since Brigadier Hong was poisoned, I’ve
been running the whole base! If I go, then Harper is in charge and he’s as bent
as a teapot, you don’t even want to know what he’s stealing!’

Edo nodded and
Jay continued, ‘The Rim War’s ten years, I reckon, has taken in more than four
hundred prizes. By the time the Navy Auditors arrive, half of them will be
missing! This is the sticks, and out here, noone gives a shit. Also, we are
both decorated heroes of Juno, we are beyond question.’

At Juno, Lt
Colonel Edo Sellian had been Force Commander Jay Trinilla’s commanding officer,
Jay had been a Major back then. During the three day battle the squadron had
been decimated. A stange silent long distance battle that had claimed life
after life. Edo had been so badly wounded he was taken permenatly off active
duty and posted to HQ as a Liason Officer.

‘Yeah, so what if
we’re caught.’, repeated Edo.

‘Well, we get
transferred to San Quell, which they have to by law, because we both have the
Galactic Cross. Click, the guy that used to be in the Jane Gangs and works in
the QM’s. Anyway, he guarantees me that there’s this guy called Hurts who runs
a tunnel there.’

Jay looked up
from his drink at Edo with a rather pensive expression.

Eventually Edo
started laughing in uproar, ‘What a load of crap!’

‘Yeah.’, laughed
Jay, ’I know how it sounds.., but..’

Edo laughed, took
a drink, and spluttered it across the table as he continued to laugh.

‘Yeah why the
hell not. I’ve had it with the Corp and I’m long past caring. I will clear it
with Mel and get back to you.’

‘Really’, gasped
Jay in surprise, ‘Right, yeah, clear it with your good lady wife, meet me here
in three days. I have to go and see her one last time before she is loaded onto
the SBC.’

‘Right, another
drink then?’

[Of course, Jay
hadn’t told his friend everything. For instance he hadn’t told him about the
156 million ukkies in an unmarked account. ]

ukkie – UCU
Universal Currency unit

[pad this out a
bit more]

Jay left the bar
and entered the bustling muddy streets of Sham City. The city was situated on
the planet of Brolleworld, leagally owned by the UP since the ceasefire. The
town had a shanty feel to it, and almost everyone wore a military uniform of
some description. Filled in craters were everywhere and gun emplacements
bristled from the tops of the taller buildings.

Jay walked
towards an air car and signalled the driver. The air car turned on the street
and crossed to him.

‘Back to the base
Jerry.’

‘Yes sir!’

Jay settled into
the back seat and quickly fell asleep.