As Baby Doll ensured her target was dead, she heard a sound to her right. She pivoted in that direction with her shooter at waist level. A girl around sixteen standard years old had been walking toward her from the prisoner group but briefly stopped in response to Baby Doll’s turn toward her. The girl was thin and dirty. She wore filthy yellow prison overalls. Her tangled red hair hung around her long, freckled face. She regarded Baby Doll for a brief second with a serious expression. She seemed to conclude Baby Doll was not a threat so continued her approach until she was looking down at the body of the guard that Baby Doll had killed. She regarded the corpse with no expression at all. Then she suddenly spat in the dead man’s face.
Like any good intel officer, Baby Doll took advantage of the opportunity for information gathering. She addressed the girl. “Anybody else we should concern ourselves with?”
The young inmate looked at her. She was clearly gauging the pirate’s true intent and what impact divulging information would have on her own future.
Baby Doll moved to counter her fears. “Regardless of what you say, you will be set free from here. If you run fast enough and hide well enough, they won’t be able to get you after we leave.”
The girl eyed her silently as she weighed her options. She suddenly turned and pointed at a fat, bearded guard sweating through his uniform shirt. He was in the group of prison guards that had spread out to the side to get out of the line of fire that had been directed at the pair of now dead guards. He had stayed close enough to watch the interaction between the young woman inmate and the pirate elf so had heard the conversation. Now he was trying to put distance between himself and those two. He backed into the group of guards behind him.
Baby Doll smiled at the cluster. That guy actually thought he could save himself. She spoke to the group in which the guard was now in the middle as she moved toward them. “Push him out here. If you don’t, I’ll just start shooting you all down until I get to him.”
“And I’ll help,” added Tactical as she closed up behind Baby Doll.
Suddenly, several hands were shoving the wanted man from in the crowd toward Baby Doll. Despite his best attempts to stay hidden, the man-made tide washed the guard out into the open. Soon he was in front of the group with several guards behind him with their hands out to ensure he stayed in place at the front. Now the marked man really started to sweat as Baby Doll eyed him with no expression on her face. He glanced briefly beyond Baby Doll to Tactical and then the surrounding area as he searched for an escape route. There was none. The man’s dark, wild eyes came back to Baby Doll and met her own calm, intense eyes. There was no escape there either.
“You can’t trust her.” The man decided that discrediting the young witness was his only chance. He talked fast with a staccato tone that bordered on hysteria. “She’s a dummy who can barely talk. Never laughs, cries, or yells. No nothing. All she does is stare. Barely acts alive.”
“I am alive. I am a person even if you don’t think so,” replied the girl as she took care to annunciate each word carefully. Her voice rose in pitch and volume. “And before we run away, I will tell them what you did, and then I will watch you die, you lying son of a bitch!”
The guard stared at her in disbelief. Apparently, this was the first time he heard her speak a complete sentence, and it was when she gave testimony against him. As nearby women prisoners in the prisoner group saw what was happening, a few left their gathering and closed in on the location. Soon three women formed a small group near the guard. They saw the possibility for satisfaction here. All spoke at once. “He is just as bad as those other two!” “Rapist!” “Goddamn pervert!” “He’s a bastard!”
The guard looked around again, an animal searching for a way out of a trap. Nothing there. His eyes came back to Baby Doll. She stared into his eyes and gave him a cold smile as she spoke. “It was he said, she said. Now it’s he said, she said… she said… she said… and she said. That’s four to one.” She started to center her weapon on target. Retreating into the guard group was not an option, so the man started to move toward the three women for cover. An energy bolt flashed by Baby Doll as Tactical was a heartbeat faster on the trigger. The single shot hit the guard in the side. He fell to the ground, screaming while clutching at a smoking hole just above his hip. The three women descended on him with kicking feet. The badly wounded man tried to protect himself but it was a losing effort. The two pirates watched for a few seconds as the kicking contest came to a quick close. When heavy prison boots go after a wounded man on the ground, the smart money is on the boots every time.
Inspired by the actions of the three women and one young girl, many women left the prisoner group and headed for the guard group. Soon three other guards came under attack as male prisoners and guards quietly shifted to get out of the way of the roving women prisoners. No pirate intervened. They understood the need for payback and heartedly endorsed it as a reasonable response to wrongs received. Soon the three guards were on the ground trying to shield themselves from the female mob.
Tactical addressed the groups of prisoners milling about as they watched the mob. “This is your best chance to run for it.”
She didn’t need to say it twice. Except for the prisoners attacking the three guards, the remainder quickly scattered in the direction of the broken fence or toward the front exit. Tactical looked at the guards not under attack. They had slowly moved to join the prison administration people as if there were safety in numbers there. The combined group stood defeated and showed no interest in helping the guards under attack or in trying to restore order. She offered them some advice. “Time to call it a day. Don’t try to rescue your comrades. They may be friends or even family, but you know they deserve it.” She paused and then added. “If things don’t change around here, we will hear about it. If we have to come back here, everyone dies—no bargaining, no reprieve. You all need to ensure the powers-that-be know that.” She gestured at the open pull-up cargo door. “You can leave, but if one shot comes at any of my people, we will rush in there and kill every damn one of you.”
The guards and bureaucrats looked at each other and silently decided to take the advice to call it a day. They moved to the cross-section while ignoring their three fellow guards still under attack. Staying in the courtyard was an invitation to be attacked themselves. Besides, it had been a long afternoon, and it was getting close to quitting time. The two pirates turned and walked back toward their force a short distance away. Baby Doll gave Tactical a side look. Tactical knew it was regarding her quick shot on the guard.
She shrugged. “I got bored, so I shot him.”
Baby Doll nodded and then stopped. She glanced behind her. The thin girl was still standing in her original spot next to the two dead guards, all alone as the crowd was fading away. She was watching the two of them with no expression on her face. Tactical and Baby Doll looked at each other and then walked back to her. “Have you got somewhere to go?” Baby Doll asked.
The thin girl shook her head.
“Any family?” Tactical joined the interrogation.
The girl turned slightly and looked at the roofs of the town in the distance through the open end of the U. She thought for a moment and then shook her head again.
She was lying about the family. There was somebody. Baby Doll went with a different approach. “Is there anyone there who loves you and misses you?”
“No.” The answer was immediate and definite.
Baby Doll followed up with another question. “What are you going to do?”
The girl thought for a moment and then answered in a resigned voice. “Walk to town and see what happens.”
Tactical weighed in. “I’ve heard better plans. If you want to, you can come with us while you work out your future.”
“You live around here?” the girl asked.
“No, we travel around in a spaceship,” Baby Doll informed her.
“What do you do?” The girl really liked to ask questions.
&nb
sp; “Mostly we fly around the quadrant, get in shootouts, and try to stay alive,” Tactical replied.
The girl said, “I’ll come with you.”
Both pirates nodded and Tactical said, “Be advised there is the distinct possibility you could get killed with us.”
“That’s okay,” the girl answered in a tone that stated getting killed was of only mild passing interest.
The trio started walking toward the shuttles. The girl was quiet for a few seconds but then said, “You should know what I done. It would be good to start out honest.”
“If you want to share,” replied Baby Doll.
The girl did want to share. “I murdered someone.”
“Did he or she have it coming?” asked Tactical.
“Yeah. Even the judge said he was bad, but that I couldn’t be judge, jury, and executioner.”
Baby Doll nodded knowingly. “We hear that all the time.” A pause and then she asked, “What’s your name?”
“Samantha.”
“Do they call you Sam or Sammy?”
“Yeah,” the girl confessed. She didn’t try to keep the disapproval out of her voice.
“You don’t like that?”
“No,” she said empathically.
“Then Samantha it is,” replied Baby Doll cheerfully.
As they were moving to the shuttles, laser fire came from overhead. The Nemesis shuttle with the wounded had taken off and departed back the route they had used to come inbound. The laser gun mounted on the upper hull began firing in the direction of the road. The shuttle’s altitude had allowed the laser gunner to see that reinforcements from the city were approaching the blown bridge so the gunner fired several warning shots over in that general direction. The shuttle radioed their comrades still in the courtyard with the news. It was definitely time to go. The raiders were moving quickly to the two remaining shuttles, and the shuttles would depart as soon as they were full.
As Samantha, Baby Doll, and Tactical moved to Predator’s shuttle, they joined the line of assault team members quickly climbing in. Tactical continued through the cabin to the cockpit. She slid into the copilot’s seat she had previously occupied and grabbed a set of headphones. She checked the frequency and then talked.
“Mason, it’s me,” she said in a no-nonsense voice.
“Go,” came the immediate reply.
“Raferty and Killian are hit. Killian is short a hand. They are in the shuttle to Nemesis. Tell Nemesis to stabilize them and get to Potenka. Follow-on instructions will be issued shortly but get things moving now.”
“Roger that.” Mason Reed was smart enough to keep questions to himself for now. Action was required now and second-guessing any decision, if needed, could come later.
Tactical switched frequencies back to her command net. “All shuttles, get me a head count before the last two shuttles depart. Nemesis shuttle first.”
She knew the pilots would be anxious to leave. She also knew the confusion of battle caused people to become separated from their teams. Leaving people behind was not an option. With the Nemesis shuttle already airborne, their count would already be done.
“Nemesis shuttle has nine wounded, three med techs, and three crew,” came the quick response.
“Roger that,” answered Tactical.
“Outlaw shuttle has seventeen assault team plus three crew.”
“Roger that.”
Baby Doll came forward and looked at Tactical. “Fifteen plus two crew.” She smiled. “And one passenger.”
Tactical nodded. She was the third crewmember as the copilot but was counted among the assault people. Everyone was accounted for. “We are cleared to depart,” she ordered over the radio.
Outlaw’s shuttle broke skids and lifted while pivoting to depart through the open end of the U. As she cleared the courtyard and climbed up, she also sprayed the reinforcements across the river with laser fire. Best to keep their heads down as nobody knew what type of weapons they would have with them. Predator’s shuttle was the last off the ground. The craft hugged the terrain as she departed along the same path as the other two shuttles. The craft never got more than five meters above the ground until well clear of the prison.
The inmates had scattered in all directions and brightly clothed men and women could be seen running below the speeding shuttle as they broke in all directions away from the jail. Most would be recaptured soon enough. Maybe some truly bad people might get away, but the pirates didn’t give a damn. Some truly bad people had been running that jail for a long time, and the authorities hadn’t cared about that, so it was difficult to work up any concern for public safety.
When the shuttle was thirty kilometers from the prison, it pulled upward and set a course for Predator. The rendezvous with the destroyer and the landing in the shuttle bay were uneventful. The Outlaw shuttle had gotten there first and was already pulled well forward in the bay to allow maximum room for the last shuttlecraft. As soon as the second shuttle touched down in the hangar bay, Predator broke orbit and departed.
After the shuttle landed and atmosphere returned, the assault teams reconstituted in the hangar bay. Tactical gave congratulations to everyone, and Logan began to find racks for them until they could be returned to their own ships. There were eight slightly wounded being attended to by Doc Windsor and his two med techs.
Samantha, Tactical, and Baby Doll walked to the bridge. As they entered the bridge, Mason Reed swung around in the captain’s chair to face them. “Raferty, Killian, and the other seven wounded from the shuttle are aboard Nemesis now, and she has pulled out of orbit at max speed headed for Potenka. The two of them are stabilized and not in danger of dying now. The other seven aren’t as bad off as our two captains and will not be offloaded at Potenka.”
Tactical nodded. “Sounds good. I’ll update all Flot 1 ships with the results of the raid and set up a rendezvous to return the death squads to Outlaw and Gunfighter.”
Baby Doll added, “We need to get two messages out for Doctor Bergeron and Catherine Putinsky.”
Tactical replied, “Since I’ll be doing messages anyway, I’ll get those two out also. Let Doctor Bergeron know they are coming and to Catherine Putinsky as a heads up.” She moved to her station. As she took her seat, she added an afterthought. “I’ll message Destiny too. We will need a team to cover them, and her teams blend in better than ours.” She began composing on her computer.
Baby Doll took Samantha to Reed. “Mase, this is Samantha. She’ll be with us for a while.”
Reed smiled at the young girl. “Mason Reed,” he introduced himself.
Samantha gave him the only look she seemed to have, the serious one. “Are you the captain?” She seemed to have only a serious voice too.
“No. I’m second in command. The captain was wounded and is getting medical treatment elsewhere.”
Samantha nodded and fell silent as she scanned the bridge.
Reed smiled knowingly at Baby Doll. He was acknowledging the two women’s kind hearts and was not the least surprised they brought someone back with them. He turned back to their guest. “Do you have any training or interest in a trade so you can keep busy aboard ship?” asked Reed.
“I was working in the infirmary in the jail, learning to fill prescriptions and simple stuff like that. The doctor always watched my work to make sure I did it good. That was okay.”
“Maybe Doc Windsor should have a talk with her,” Reed suggested to Baby Doll.
“Couldn’t hurt. Doc was in the shuttle bay looking after wounded but might be back in sickbay now. He will take good care of her,” Baby Doll said.
Reed nodded. “That’s a start. If medical doesn’t work out, we’ll figure out something else.”
Baby Doll turned toward the hatch to go to sickbay when she noticed Samantha looking toward the large portholes placed at intervals around the bridge. “Want to take in the view?”
Samantha nodded and moved to the nearest porthole. She got as close as she could without pressing her
nose against the clear surface. She stared for several seconds. She spoke without turning around. “That’s Bolindale, right?”
“Yep,” Baby Doll answered.
“Looks a lot prettier and cleaner from up here.”
“They always do,” Baby Doll said.
Samantha abruptly turned and headed toward the hatch. “I won’t miss it,” she said as she passed Baby Doll.
“We know the feeling,” Tactical quietly agreed from her ops station.
Baby Doll took her to sickbay. Doc Windsor was finishing up with a wounded woman and turned to the newcomers. He introduced himself, and Baby Doll laid out the proposed plan for Samantha. Doc agreed to give it a try and then called down to ship’s logistics for Holly.
He gave Samantha a quick checkup. One of the med techs grabbed some standard shipboard work clothes from a nearby closet for her. Samantha showered and dressed in the new garments. They were the slimmest size but still too big, so Samantha bunched up the pants at the waist with a belt. As she stood before Doc and Baby Doll, she stared at Doc’s medical garb.
“Can I wear those?” she asked as she pointed at his working clothes.
“Sure,” Doc replied. “You’re too slim for what we got on the shelf but we can tailor a couple of sets for you.” He looked up as a woman came through the hatch. “And there is just the person to do it for you. She is a whiz with clothes.”
He turned back to the girl. “Samantha, this is Holly. Holly, Samantha.”
Holly was a log dog aboard ship and, when in port, the best prostitute in Flot 1. She and Doc were, well, nobody was quite sure what she and Doc were, and everyone had the good sense to mind their own business regarding that. Samantha looked at Holly with her serious expression. “You’re beautiful,” she said in the tone of a definitive statement.
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