He landed in a heap atop the surprised boarder and struggled to disarm him. “I mean you no harm!” Agameg insisted as quietly as he could while he struggled to disarm the man trapped beneath him.
Ramirez dropped through the hatch narrowly missing the pair and pointed his handgun at the boarder, clearing his throat. “Hand it over.”
The boarder stopped struggling and handed his weapon to Agameg. “Don't kill me, I'm just a hired hand.”
“I believe you,” Ramirez said with a smirk before knocking him out cold with the butt of his sidearm.
Agameg injected him with a strong sedative before stuffing him into an access panel. It was a tight fit, but he'd wake up with nothing more than a headache and a cramped neck. Agameg lead the way down the corridor to a ladder.
“They really didn't bring many people for this,” Ramirez said quietly. “No wonder they locked everyone in their quarters.”
Finn patched into the ship surveillance systems using a small, two millimetre thick computer panel he had brought with him. He flipped through the different sections of the ship and nodded to himself. “Security is limited to berths and the bridge.”
Ramirez looked at the flat computer terminal then up to Finn. “That would have been real helpful a little while ago.”
“I didn't think of it,” he shrugged as he brought up a view of the bridge again. Ashley was being pulled out of the pilot's seat and two other new crew members provided by the Aucharians were being walked off the bridge with four boarders behind them. “It looks like they're on the move.”
“See if you can listen in on comms,” Ramirez inquired as they made their way down the hall.
He started the signal search so his small computer could pick up any active communications, and it finally did. “-it's the third moon around Varman.”
“We will be there in ten minutes sir.”
“Good, get the rest of the security team down to bay two. We're taking the Samson crew into custody.”
“Right away sir.”
“That's Wheeler,” Ramirez said. “Man I want payback in the worst way.”
The trio put on their vacsuit headpieces and entered the small launch bay containing the Big Surprise, a long collection of energy storage devices strapped together. “How do you wish to do this?” Agameg asked. “The Big Surprise will not sustain a full charge for long.”
“Well, maybe if we set it to detonate in fifteen minutes,” Finn offered.
“Yes, that would give the ship time to enter a stable orbit.”
“What if they land instead?” Ramirez asked. “If we detonate it while they're in the air it could end in a crash.”
Price and Finn just looked at each other for a moment. “I'll stay here,” they said at the same time.
“What about a remote detonation?” asked Ramirez.
“There is always a chance it wouldn't work,” Agameg explained.
“He's right, someone has to stay, even if they put it on a short timer and run for it so they don't get flash fried.”
“Okay, so someone stays while the other two go their separate ways and try to find out what's going on or rescue the rest of the crew,” Ramirez said.
“Go Agameg, you can shape shift. I'll stay here, wiring this thing to a timer is easy.”
“Good luck Finn. Give yourself enough time to escape.”
“Fantastic, now go get that guard's uniform and mix in so you're not noticed. I'll drop out of the rear hatch and make a run for it. Meanwhile, try to patch into communications and get word out to the Aucharians,” Ramirez said with a smile. “This is going to be interesting.”
Finn was left alone moments later and he wired the Big Surprise's detonator into his fifteen by thirty centimetre computer. The systems were primitive, so it was very easy for him to program it to operate on a two minute timer. When he hit the trigger the timer would start and he'd have to get off the Samson to guarantee his survival.
One corner of his panel was switching from one security display to the next, and he could see that everyone on the bridge had been escorted off the ship. They'd start moving people from the berth soon, and when they found out they were missing three there would be trouble.
He connected to ship communications and found the number for the Aucharian Minister of Defence. A moment later a serious looking fellow came up on a quarter of his display. “Minister of Defence's office. How may I direct your call?”
“Hello, I'm a crew member of the Samson. We have been hijacked, and-”
“Hold please,” said the fellow, looking startled.
Finn looked back at the security feeds and could see Ramirez lowering himself through the rear hatch. He was running for the nearest doorway as soon as his feet hit the ground. As Finn panned the exterior view from the Samson's outer sensors, he realized there was no one around to see Ramirez. He couldn't have had better timing. The security force and boarders were busy moving their captives to the larger ship's brig. He panned back and saw that Ramirez had made it through a sliding doorway.
“Holy crap, there's a whole other launch bay here with old gutted fighters and what looks like some kind of wreckage, but there's no one here,” Finn could hear Ramirez moving. He was sprinting short distances, stopping for a moment, then sprinting again. “I don't even see anyone on watch down here. I'm going to see what I can find up top. There's an emergency ladder here.”
“Okay, good luck,” Finn whispered as he watched the internal security display switch to Agameg. He had changed into the boarder's vacsuit and was carrying him down the hall. “What are you doing Price?”
“I am putting this fellow into an upright storage locker. He will be more comfortable there and no one will hear him when he wakes up, which will be soon.”
“How is his comfort our problem?” Ramirez argued in a whisper. “Drop him under some plating somewhere and try to be inconspicuous, willya?”
“Opportunities for kindness should not be bypassed if one can help it. You never know who this person was to me in a previous life or if we could meet him again in the future.”
“Fine! Just hurry up!”
Finn just shook his head and watched Agameg carefully put the man into a large upright storage locker. He woke up just as the door was closing and it had to be forced at the last minute. “That's lucky,” he said to himself as he watched Agameg pat the locker door and walk towards the main gangway. He had taken the appearance of the boarding member perfectly, as far as Finn could see on his small screen. His mannerisms were unchanged, however.
“I am going to try and find out where the brig is and if there is anything I can do to help the rest of the crew,” he said quietly through his transmitter.
“Thank you for holding, I'm Lieutenant Harmon. How may I help you?” said a woman with a short hair cut as she came up on the sub screen of Finn's computer.
“I'm a crew member on the Samson. You know, Captain Jake Valance's crew. We've been hijacked by someone named Lucius Wheeler and are on our way to Nissa, it's the third moon around a planet named Varman.”
“I'm sorry Finn, I wish we could help but it clearly states in the privateering documentation that we can't dispatch a ship to aid you unless you are having difficulties during an active military engagement.”
“The crew is being taken prisoner right now! We're inside some kind of carrier that's cloaked. I can de-cloak it, but-”
“So you're in control of the vessel? I suggest you plot a course to the nearest military facility in that system so we can send infantry aboard to assist.”
“I'm not in control of anything except this big EMP bomb! It'll probably de-cloak the ship but-”
“I'm sorry, we can't help you and I'm not cleared to have detailed knowledge of your situation. Good luck,” she said before cutting the transmission.
Finn sat there steaming for a moment.
“They're not going to help us?” Ramirez said in disbelief.
“You heard it right, they'll take our help but whe
n it comes to saving us, it's none of their business.”
“What the hell is wrong with those people? No wonder their losing.”
Finn sighed and tried to shake it off. “Are you anywhere near a computer terminal?”
“Yup, there's an active one right here. It's in an empty bunk room. Smells like this place has been empty for years.”
“Can you patch me in?”
“I think I can, what's the computer you're using called?”
“Finn zero five.”
“Okay, here goes. Hopefully alarms don't start going off.”
Finn's screen went completely blank and for a moment he thought his computer was fried. As his heart began to sink it came back to life, giving him the basic information on the Triton and its location. His eyes went wide. “Sol System Defence Zhàn Class Close Combat Carrier Triton? Who is this guy?”
“What, this ship is from Earth?” Ramirez asked.
“Yes, but it's been registered to Lucius Wheeler through the Core Worlds. The records are public but they're a mess. One section says it was a salvaged wreck while the next says it was bought at auction as a bare hull. The computer system is marked as being manufactured on Mars, the reactors were developed at Io Research Station and the keel was laid down at the Saturn Ship Yards.”
“So you think this guy is from Earth?”
“No, I think he got his hands on this thing somehow though. It almost looks stolen but how you steal a combat carrier I can't even begin to imagine. Looks like an impressive ship though. Three main hangars, three launch bays and it says it's styled after an ocean creature called a stingray.”
“Can you get access to the security systems? Where are our people being taken?”
“Oh, let me see.” Finn tried to access a full layout of the ship and the corresponding database and to his surprise he got in. He brought up the brig's location and checked for anyone nearby. “The internal sensors are showing our people, I think it's our people, they're marked red with blue markers around them showing the security team. Anyway, they're being moved to the brig, it's four decks above you in the aft section.”
“I'll work on it. Can you somehow stop the ship's sensors from tracking me?”
“I'll try,” Finn tapped on the red blip that represented Ramirez and found he could mark him as a Triton crew member. “Well, you shouldn't set any alarms off I don't think. They don't have any computer security set up.”
“That's strange.”
“We have some strange activity in the lower emergency quarters sir.” Finn overheard through the Triton's communications system.
“All right, I'm sending someone to check it out,” Wheeler replied.
“Um, there are people on their way to check on the section you're in Ramirez,” Finn said.
“Okay, I'm moving on. Guess making me look like a crew member didn't work.”
“I think I just did it too late,” Finn replied as he looked up the ship's current location. All the navigational controls were locked out but he could see they were pulling into orbit around Nissa. “Okay, we're in orbit around Nissa.”
“What do you want to do Finn? Set the Big Surprise to blow and get out? What do you figure?”
“I'm going to hide out here and help you guys out. I'm not coming up on the Triton's sensors at all. Must be because I'm standing right behind this thing.”
“Isn't it's power draining now that the Samson's engines aren't running?”
“Only about half a percent every ten minutes. I'll keep my eye on it.”
“How much of a charge will that thing need to do damage?” Ramirez asked, the sound of him running was clear through his communicator.
“I won't let it go down past seventy percent. Besides, the Samson's main capacitors can still dump some power into this thing if they have to.”
“Sounds goo-” The sounds of gunfire interrupted Ramirez's transmission.
Finn switched to the deck layout view of the Triton so he could find Ramirez. He had made it two decks up and run right into the pair of security officers that had been sent to look for him. “There are two of them!” He informed him.
“Thanks, could have told me a little earlier!”
“Sorry, I was busy looking at everything else.”
Agameg Price
He had never been more nervous in his life. Agameg had fallen in step with a few other crew aboard the Samson as they left the ship, not sure of where he was going or what he was supposed to be doing. It was difficult to ignore the conversation between Finn and Ramirez. Trying not to react to it in the slightest made him even more anxious. When he heard that Ramirez was off the Samson and exploring his eyes went wide. That could be very helpful to him, as long as he could manage to maintain his façade. He was overjoyed that both of their efforts were going well, that Finn established an uplink to the Triton's computer system. The information he was overhearing could be immensely helpful.
It was obvious that the fellow with long, scraggly black hair down to his shoulders was in command, and just the fact that his hair seemed so random and loose made imitating him convincingly impossible. He was never good at hair.
It was difficult not to smile at Ashley when she looked right at him, and the corners of his mouth did take an upturn. He jerked his eyes away from hers, she couldn't know that it was him.
“Are you all right man? You don't look so good,” asked the security officer marching beside him.
It struck Agameg that he had only heard the voice of the man he was imitating twice. Once when he dropped on him, and once when he was busy stuffing him into a storage locker. He made his best attempt regardless. “Something I ate. I'm fine,” he said gruffly, like he was a little choked up.
“Too bad we're short on people, otherwise I'd just send you to your rack.”
“Just get something for it out of the emergency medkit when we get to the brig. You'll stand watch. How's that for taking it easy?” Wheeler asked, not looking back at Price.
He just nodded his reply, hoping the Captain didn't expect a response.
Before long they arrived at the brig. There were twenty cells plus one special containment unit at the end with extra fortifications and controls. There was also a security desk for two closest to the main hatch. A pair of guards walked the newer Samson crew members, Agameg didn't know their names yet, into separate cells while Wheeler waved Ashley into another cell closer to the exit. “Are you sure you wouldn't rather spend some time with a real Captain? My quarters are a lot more comfortable.”
“Not in your wildest dreams grease ball,” Ashley sneered.
Price nervously sat down in the watchman's seat and focused on looking at the brig status screen. There were controls for dispensing food, a prison smock, cleaning the cell, cleaning the inmate, and disposing of other waste. There were also alarms, communications controls, and several other systems he didn't know just what to make of yet.
“All right, you're on watch, don't open those doors for anything. I'll give you a tour of the security systems later,” Wheeler said as he lead the three security officers out of the brig.
One of them turned around for a minute, walking backwards as he did so. “And break open an emergency kit, get some motion meds or something, you look a little green.”
Price nodded and checked the colour of his skin. It was a little pale, maybe slightly pasty but to his relief it wasn't green. He overheard Finn tell Ramirez that there were security officers on the way to him and, unsure of what to do, he tried to bring up the ship's deck layout to find out where he was.
From the sounds of it Finn had things well in hand as far as monitoring communications was concerned. It was a good thing since the last thing Agameg wanted to do was break his cover.
“You know, you're kind of cute,” Ashley said from behind him. “You Regent soldier boys clean up pretty good.”
Price tried not to react, he knew she was just flirting to get an edge on the only guard taking care of the brig.
�
�You know, if you let us out of here I could do something for you in return.”
“This is awkward,” he muttered under his breath. A thought struck him, to keep things looking real he did have to react. Humans often blushed when they were being embarrassed. He tried it, to change the shade of his skin just slightly.
“I'm sure that if you don't fancy me, one of the boys in here would be happy to show his gratitude,” she said with a wry grin.
Agameg's concentration was completely broken and his attempt at blushing turned into an all out colour switch. Suddenly he was a deep, exaggerated shade of red from fingertips to his passably simulated hair.
“Whoa!” Ashley exclaimed. The other two prisoners were similarly startled. “Agameg?” She asked in an excited, hushed whisper.
He took control of himself and brought his appearance back to a semblance of the fellow he had been imitating. “Shh! I want to stay hidden until the rest of the crew are delivered here. Then I can release you all when they're not looking.”
Ashley hopped excitedly.
“Be calm! I cannot pretend if you're distracting me,” he said woefully.
“Okay, okay. Your ear is a little, well, on your neck actually.”
“Thank you,” Agameg said with a smile. “I will watch for people coming on this deck, please help me with my disguise?”
Ashley nodded. “You've got it.”
Docking Procedures
The Clever Dream broke atmosphere and Alice couldn't help but sigh with relief. “Scariest delivery ever. Remind me to screen future drop offs for beings who like to eat humans.”
“That was an intimidating fellow. There's little information available on his people. Even the Hart News database only contains a few entries with regards to raids and I don't think you'd want to see the footage. It is too graphic for them to broadcast during regular programming.”
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