Suzy Spitfire Kills Everybody

by Joe Canzano

Yeah, we might, Suzy thought. We might have a big one.

  Suzy opened a compartment and there was her Series 7 pulse pistol, right where she’d left it.

  She shoved it into Kryl’s face.

  “You’re not from New York,” Suzy said. “You lied to me—and you sold out Aiko.”

  Kryl rolled her eyes. “No, I didn’t. That’s not how it happened.”

  Ricardo said, “Suzy, wait—”

  “Shutup, Ricardo,” Suzy said. “I’m tired of all the lies and bullshit. I might look like my mother from the North, but my father was from Mexico, and I grew up in Diego Tijuana, and I know all about Los Pocos… Someone told Pablo what flight number Aiko took from Choccoban to Earth, and someone knew his fake name—and that person was on this station. So how did it happen, Kryl? Are you saying it wasn’t you? What’s your real name?”

  Kryl ignored the questions and pointed at the blinking screens in front of her. “Suzy, my program to control the hangar from here isn’t working. Do you know what that means?”

  “Yeah, it means we’re going to go down fighting, and it’s about time. Maybe I’ll fight you first.”

  “No! It means someone needs to go into the control center and open the hangar.”

  “Good. I was looking for something to do.”

  “Not you, Suzy!” Kryl said. “It’s got to be me.”

  “You’re not going anywhere,” Suzy said, shoving the gun even closer to Kryl’s forehead. “You sold out Aiko and now you’re going to sell us out, too.”

  “Sell you out? I’ve risked everything to save you!”

  “And why is that? Why would you do that?”

  “Because I was paid to do it!” Kryl’s face was red with rage now as she looked away and swore. “And because it was the right thing to do... Pablo’s father put me through school. Pablo paid me to spy for him, so I told him about the AI. Pablo thought Aiko could lead him to it—that’s all. So I told him where Aiko would be. Pablo just wanted to offer him a deal; he didn’t know all this was going to happen—and neither did I! I never met Maria and Ricardo before they came here and we do not have time for this! Do you want to get out of here or not?”

  Ricardo said, “Suzy, I think—“

  “I don’t care what you think!” Suzy snapped. “You’re just another one of Pablo’s pawns.”

  Kryl stepped toward the door of the cockpit. “This pawn is going to go and get the hangar open. If you want to shoot me, go ahead. If you have any sense, you’ll wait and do it later.”

  She started walking out of the cockpit.

  Suzy said, “Hold it, Kryl!”

  Maria said, “Suzy! Let her go.”

  Suzy whirled toward Maria, and they looked at each other.

  Maria had fierce eyes, but they did not look threatening now. She was not pointing a weapon. She just seemed to be saying, “Suzy, calm down and stop acting like a jackass. Again.”

  Suzy hesitated—and then lowered her pistol.

  “All right,” Suzy said through clenched teeth. “We can talk about it later. I’m going back to check the engines. Call me when we’re ready to leave.”

  She watched Kryl descend the ramp and walk out into the hangar. Then she stomped through the lounge and headed toward the back of the ship.

  She didn’t give a damn about the engines; she needed to clear her head. She needed to shake a boiling mushroom cloud from her brain. But it wasn’t working. Her chest was heaving, and she was furious at people for being so deceptive—and enraged at herself for always wanting to shoot first, ask no questions, and then shoot again.

  What the fuck is my problem? Why can’t I just stop and think for a second?

  Kryl was right, she thought with a laugh. The best time to shoot her would be later.

  She took a couple of deep breaths. It seemed to make her calm, but not for long.

  She was in the engine room now. The room had a sweet smell like a sparking wire, and it was crammed with flickering lights, oily machinery, and the two copper-colored hubs of the main fusion drive. She couldn’t wait to fire them up again. Nothing made her feel more free and unbridled than flying a spaceship. If they couldn’t get that hangar open, maybe she’d still fly it one last time. She’d fly around the hangar and then fire the missiles and blow the whole station to bits. Of course, this ship would also be destroyed, but it would be a good way to go. She’d go down doing what she did best.

  She decided to go back to the cockpit. There was an issue there with Kryl that needed to be resolved, but it could wait.

  She started thinking about Ricardo, and the way she’d snapped at him—and how she regretted it. After all, the poor guy had just been tortured. And he’d taken it well, and he’d probably had nothing to do with Kryl spying on Aiko. He probably was just a pawn, but that didn’t make him a bad guy; it just made him stupidly reckless. It just meant the two of them had a few things in common.

  She was still thinking about Ricardo as she walked into the passageway. She never saw the person lurking in the shadows.

  A hand reached out and grabbed her—it clamped over her mouth.

  An alarm went off in her head. In an instant, she realized the dagger at her throat could have killed her—but no, she was still alive. And that was because the guy wanted to talk.

  “Hey, Suzy, remember me?”

  It was Loomis. Damn!

  “They let me go,” he said. “Busted me down to private and assigned me to guard this ship. So I just relieved the guy down there, and I see Doctor Kryl leaving—but first I hear her arguing with someone inside, someone with a big fucking mouth. So I sneak in here to take a look, and what do I see? I see you stomping out of the cockpit and back toward the engines—and now here we are. Should I cut your throat and sound the alarm? Or should I sound the alarm first?”

  It wasn’t the hand over her mouth that was scary; Suzy was used to people trying to shut her up. No, it was the steel blade at her throat. She needed to act fast but it would be tricky. She really needed a break—and then she got one.

  “Hey!” Ricardo called out. “Let her go!”

  He’d come looking for her.

  The guy only glanced at Ricardo for a second—but that’s all she needed.

  Her hands flew up, grabbing Loomis’s wrist and twisting it hard. He shrieked as she whirled around and brought him to his knees. He dropped the knife and she kicked him in the face.

  She reached for her gun but he did the same—and he was quick. He got off a shot and it struck her pistol just as she fired. Her shot missed and the gun flew from her hand. Then Loomis dove onto his side and fired at Ricardo. Ricardo fired a shot and missed. A bullet struck Ricardo in the chest and he went down.

  Suzy screamed and kicked the gun from Loomis’s hand. Loomis cursed and tackled Suzy around the ankles and they both tumbled to the deck.

  In an instant, he was on top of her. He punched her in the face—a hard shot that rattled her jaw and made her head swim. He spotted his dagger, not far from her head. He dove for it, laying across her body as he groped for the blade.

  Suzy was pinned underneath him. Damn! He was wearing heavy body armor. She wanted to get a thumb into his eye but one of his forearms kept pinning her arms. Finally, she got one free—and then remembered the blade taped behind her ear. She ripped at it with her left hand—she had it!

  But Loomis had the dagger. He was lifting his arm to stab her in the chest. She reached up quick—and jammed the blade into his neck.

  His eyes bulged, and he froze. Then the blood spurted from his veins. He gasped and brought the dagger down—but it lacked determination, and she moved her head and heard it stab into the deck.

  She yanked her own blade out of his flesh with her right hand and used her left to hold his shoulder. Then she jammed the blade into his eye.

  He screamed and rolled off her. She grabbed the dagger and leaped to her feet. He was groping around in a pool of his own blood. He was seriously wounded but he was reaching for his collar and its embedd
ed link chip. In a flash, she straddled his back and pulled the blade across his throat.

  He fell to the deck but the chip was whistling.

  “What is it, Loomis? Is there a problem?”

  Dammit! Suzy was about to hit the button and try to respond—but then Ricardo was there behind her, reaching for the chip.

  “No,” he said. “Everything is fine. Just helping the doctor with a question. Over and out.”

  He shut off the radio. Apparently, he’d put on some body armor he’d found in the cockpit. The stun blast from Loomis had only knocked him down for a bit.

  She looked at him with wide eyes. He stared back at her in a breathless kind of way.

  They kissed hard, and he wrapped his arms around her. She groped his mouth with her tongue.

  She was covered in blood, of course—but it wasn’t hers, so what the fuck.

  They pulled away from each other. They were about to do it again—but then Maria was there. She was talking about something.

  “Things are happening,” Maria said. “If you two are done killing and kissing I think you better come and see.”

  They raced to the cockpit but before they got there they heard the alarm.

  The hangar was being depressurized.

  “Damn,” Suzy said. “Let’s go!” She slid into the pilot’s chair and started firing up the engines.

  There was a loud roar as the ship’s heart came to life. Ricardo and Suzy kept flipping switches. They were almost ready to leave—but where was Kryl?

  Ricardo looked at Maria and Suzy. “We have to wait for her,” he said. “She deserves a few seconds.”

  Suzy wasn’t sure what Kryl deserved, but Kryl had set them free. Suzy would wait.

  “There she is!” Ricardo said.

  She was running toward the ship, but people were shooting at her—and the hangar was about to lose its atmosphere.

  Now the shooters were running for the exits—all except one. It was Blurr!

  He was right there, near the edge of the hangar. He was running toward Kryl and firing a gun.

  Suzy’s jaw dropped. Then she jumped from her chair.

  Ricardo said, “Suzy, no!”

  She wasn’t listening; she was racing down the ramp. She reached the bottom and saw that Kryl had been hit. She was face down on the deck.

  Suzy screamed and started firing at Blurr. Blurr was snarling and firing back. And then the gangway jerked to life.

  Suzy lost her footing and swore as she tumbled down onto the rising ramp. She let out a scream as it slammed shut. She was inside the ship now, and she felt the ship lurching and turning around.

  She pounded on the ramp, but it was closed like a clamshell. She leaped to her feet and headed to the cockpit.

  Maybe the depressurization would get him.

  Ricardo glanced at her as she came in. A wave of relief passed over his face but it only lasted for an instant—he was too busy steering the ship, hovering now above the deck of the hangar bay. The hangar was depressurized and the energy field that sealed the exit was deactivated. Suzy looked for Blurr below but she didn’t see him. Had he gotten out of the hangar in time?

  One thing was certain—Kryl was dead. Even if she’d only been stunned, she was not alive now. Suzy felt a sadness welling up inside her. Whatever bad things Kryl might have been, she was responsible for their escape.

  But then again, they weren’t free yet. They would still have to fight. Fine, she was ready.

  Then there was a flash of light and a roar of the engines as the ship whooshed out of the hangar and headed into open space.

  Chapter 36

  Suzy gave Ricardo a punch on the shoulder. “Move over,” she said. “I’m flying this ship.”

  “Suzy, you need to rest. Take the number two chair.”

  “I’m flying the ship, Ricardo. Get out of my seat.”

  “Hey, it isn’t your ship, okay? I stole it and it’s mine. Why should you fly it?”

  “Because I’m a better pilot than you.”

  “Oh, really?” He gave an indignant snort while studying the readouts. “There’s more to flying than technical skill, Suzy. Even if you are better than this ‘pawn’—and you’re not—you make bad decisions, and that makes you not so good.”

  “I’m not good?” she snapped. “So why are you here? Why don’t you go meet a nice girl and settle down?”

  “I did meet a nice girl—but that doesn’t mean she gets to fly my spaceship.” He glanced at a screen. “Crap! No time to argue. We’ve got company.”

  Suzy glanced at the dancing blips on the display. “A squadron of interceptors—six. They must be from the station.”

  “Yeah, and they’re going to catch us.”

  Suzy knew a military grade interceptor was just about the only thing that could catch the fully functioning Correcaminos Rojo—but apparently, there was a squad of them stationed on Super Station 6.

  Maria was in the cockpit now. “I thought they wanted us alive,” she said.

  “Maybe, maybe not,” Suzy said with a frown. “Ricardo, we need to fight! Who’s better at it than me?”

  He rolled his eyes. “Suzy, you take too many chances. You’re a smart girl but you don’t think—damn. Incoming missiles!”

  Maria strapped herself into a chair near an auxiliary console. Suzy swore and dropped down into the copilot’s seat.

  Ricardo flipped the ship over, arcing away from the missiles. The missiles made a countermove and continued their pursuit. Ricardo changed course rapidly, trying to shake them. No good.

  Suzy was in a rage—but she took a few deep breaths and let it dissipate. It just wasn’t a good time to tackle the guy in the pilot’s chair.

  “Energy guns are ready,” she said, trying to sound as non-furious as possible.

  Up ahead were two interceptors. Behind them were some flying warheads.

  So much for taking us alive, Suzy thought. Obviously, Blurr had decided to change that plan.

  The missiles were designed to pursue—but the Correcaminos Rojo had an auto-defense system that would try to jam that ability. Meanwhile, the missiles had another system designed to neutralize the defense system, and so every battle was fought long before the fight—in rooms occupied by software engineers. In the end, sometimes it just came down to moving out of the way.

  Ricardo zigged and zagged. Suzy fired the energy guns as the missiles passed under the hull. In a flash of light both missiles were destroyed.

  There was also an explosion in the cockpit, and Maria let out a scream.

  Suzy gasped; she could see Maria’s console was burning. Maria was still strapped in, using an extinguisher to stop the flames. Suzy started to move toward her but Maria said, “No! I’ll be all right! Fly the ship!”

  Ricardo rolled the ship over and flew right at two of the enemies.

  The interceptors fired their guns. The Correcaminos Rojo shook from an impact.

  Suzy cursed and returned her attention to the battle. “Minimal damage to the screens,” she said. “Those were not full charges. Missiles are also not full power… They are trying to disable us.”

  “God dammit!” Ricardo said, pointing at a display. Ten more interceptors were closing fast.

  Then Suzy had an idea.

  “Ricardo, I’m looking at the data. These ships are only a fraction faster than us. The same thing with the missiles.”

  Ricardo swerved the ship away from two more interceptors just as they fired their guns. The Correcaminos Rojo shook once again.

  “What’s your point?” Ricardo said.

  “My point is that it’s all about the acceleration. Flying through space isn’t like driving a hover-car—you don’t need to keep your foot on the gas. Once a ship in zero gravity gets up to a certain speed that’s where it stays. So we only need to get up to a higher speed than everyone else for an instant.”

  Ricardo cursed and fired the guns at an interceptor—and missed. Then he jerked the ship hard to starboard to avoid another
blast from two more. He glanced back at his sister, who was looking pale.

  “I know all that,” he said. “But we can’t do that, right?”

  “Sure we can! Let’s divert every bit of energy to the engines. I’m talking about life support, deflector screens—everything. I think it will be enough.”

  Ricardo was gripping the controls with white knuckles. “Are you crazy?” he said, swerving the ship once again. “That’s a suicide plan! If they hit us with anything we’re done—even a low impact charge.”

  “I’m not going back there, Ricardo. We’ve got nothing to lose.”

  He gritted his teeth and looked at the displays. His eyes were wide.

  “Okay—do it!” he said.

  But Suzy was already doing it. She was zipping through menus and making selections.

  “Head for open space,” she said. “When I hit the switch everything will be tied in. Just make sure no one’s taking a shot at us when I hit the button.”

  “Thanks for the advice.”

  Suzy wasn’t a mathematician, but she had good instincts for numbers—yeah, Dad, it’s all about the math. The interceptors were small. They were each a fraction faster than the Correcaminos Rojo but they had much less power dedicated to deflector shields and life support and other miscellaneous systems. So when Suzy tied those things into the Correcaminos Rojo’s engines, she had a feeling they would come out on top—even if the interceptors did the same. And they probably wouldn’t do the same, because it just wasn’t worth as much to them. At the end of the day, they were just doing a job—not fighting for their lives.

  Suzy had good instincts for people, too.

  Ricardo was trying hard to avoid getting surrounded. He was trying to get the ship aimed toward clear space. But then two interceptors appeared behind them—and they launched a pair of missiles.

  Damn! The missiles were a bit of a wild card. Suzy wasn’t really sure if they’d have enough acceleration to outrun those. She was just guessing. But she thought they did—it would be close.

  “We’re in the clear!” Ricardo said. “I mean except for those missiles.”

  “What missiles?” Suzy said.

  She hit the switch.