“I spoke with Salvato while you were asleep,” Regan said.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” Calico said.
“Is that because you didn’t want me to know about the data cube you stole?”
Calico stiffened. She looked at Regan, then at the ladies beside him. She put her head down, as if admitting they had caught her again.
“Where is it, Calico?” Regan said without raising his voice. Again, he reminded himself about composure. He had to keep it cool, regardless of his underlying feelings.
Calico lifted her head and looked at Regan.
“Yes, I stole it from Mephistopheles,” she said. “I had to.”
“Well, that little theft gained us a significant enemy,” Regan said.
“Don’t act like you didn’t steal from his compound too.”
“Yeah, but only one stolen item has landed us in hot water.”
“You don’t know what I put up with to get that data cube.”
Regan stood up from his chair and approached the bars in front of Calico. He wrapped his hands around them and stared into her eyes.
Straya and Arkei were nervous about this action, knowing her claws could get to him through those bars, but they trusted their captain, and in this moment, he had to show Calico that he trusted her.
“Whatever your reasoning for stealing it, I need it off my ship now. If you don’t tell me where it is, you’re likely to get us all killed.”
Calico mulled it over, keeping eye contact with him. Even though her eyes were black, he knew now when they were sincere.
“Nobody will kill us,” Calico said simply. “So long as we have it, we are the bigger threat.”
“Give me a break,” Straya interjected. “They tried to shoot us down. They sent missiles after us hoping to blow us up. Some threat we are.”
Calico shook her head.
“They made it seem like that,” she said. “But those were just hull busters. Sure, we would have been taken out of commission, but only long enough for them to board us and raid the ship.”
Regan considered this. Again, he thought back to his discussion with Salvato, who said the data cube was unbreakable.
“Can the cube be damaged?” Regan asked.
“Of course it can,” Calico replied. “In fact, Salvato would never risk it being damaged, because if something were to happen to it, it would automatically broadcast its information for all to access. A dead man’s switch of sorts.”
So, Salvato is trying to play me for a fool.
“He probably told you not to tamper with it when you spoke to him,” Calico continued.
“He did,” Regan replied.
“He wants you to think he has the upper hand, when in fact he doesn’t.”
“What information is on it that’s so important to him?” Arkei asked.
“Information that could cause the entire Flavatto mob big time trouble,” Calico said. “Let’s just say their influence runs deep. And I’m talking way too deep. Deeper than anyone could imagine.”
“So… what? You want the cube as leverage? For what?” Regan asked, trying to find the angle.
“It’s not my leverage,” Calico continued. “It’s his leverage. Salvato’s. Blackmail in its most basic form. That’s what he is attempting. The boss of the Flavatto mob, Rubicio… Well, Salvato has been collecting dirt on him for a long time. He wants to usurp him. The cube contained the final bits of his puzzle. He was going to strike a deal with Mephistopheles for it.”
“Why does the name Rubicio sound familiar?” Arkei asked while squinting her eyes.
Calico grinned and nodded her head as if this were the bombshell. “He’s a councilman on the Universal Council.”
Damn. Mobs in politics in space.
“So the mob is running the council?” Straya asked, her eyes wide.
“Or the other way around,” Calico said. “Whichever way makes it sound more or less scary to you, think of it that way. But now you see why I had to steal it.”
“No!” Straya snapped. “You moron, that’s why we have to return it!”
Calico put her hand to her forehead.
“Where is it?” Arkei chimed in. “We don’t want to start a fight with the mob.”
“You don’t understand!” Calico tried to protest.
That was when Straya rushed the bars, coming face to face with Calico.
“No, it’s you who doesn’t understand!” Straya snapped. “If you don’t tell us where it is, I will do horrible things to you. I swear, Calico, I will rip your claws off one by one. I’ll cut that slutty tail off and choke you with it until your beady black eyes burst from your head. And that’s just the first of many fun ideas I’ve got in mind. Now tell us where it is.”
The two stared at each other.
“How will you contact him?” Calico asked.
“No more games,” Straya said. “Where is it?”
Calico finally nodded and retreated to her bench. “It’s in a capsule under the pilot’s station.”
Straya and Arkei hurried from the room. Regan stayed put, watching Calico.
“You like causing trouble,” he said to her. “And this time, for what? So you can toy with some mobsters?”
Calico looked like she might cry. She lifted her face up, frowned, and just shook her head, as if he could never understand what she was trying to do, or as if he hadn’t been listening to any of the things she’d been saying.
“I’m not all fun and games,” she said, her voice choked up. “Ever consider that maybe I want to expose the corruption in the Universal Council?”
Regan thought about this, but somehow it didn’t seem likely.
“You don’t strike me as the liberation type,” he finally said.
“Well, that was the idea! How else would I get on Mephistopheles’s good side? How else would I be able to access and steal the cube?”
“But why?” Regan asked.
Calico then straightened her back, her posture pristine. “I’m a princess, as I’ve told you. My family stands for honor and justice in this galaxy, and that crooked council is ruining everything that hardworking families like mine stand for. I will bring them down.”
A speaker in the room clicked on with Arkei’s voice coming through.
“We have it,” she said.
Regan stood up, and so did Calico.
“I have to figure this one out,” Regan said.
Calico just nodded.
“And you’re coming with me,” Regan continued.
Calico blinked in surprise. Regan unlocked the door but lifted his hand to her before she left the cell.
“I’m not putting your inhibitor cuffs back on,” he said. “Don’t give us any reason to kill you. You know that Straya and Arkei won’t hesitate.”
Calico nodded. They both left the room.
On the walk to the bridge, Regan didn’t hurry. He thought about the things she said. She had claimed to be a princess before, but could it be true? Could she really have been a spy trying to bring down a corrupt government this entire time?
She would have killed you, dude!
Yeah, and she would have claimed it was for a greater good… if she were telling the truth. And Regan realized that if that was where Calico stood with her beliefs, then she wouldn’t hesitate trying to kill him again if he continued to stand in her way.
He wondered then if he should have put the inhibitor cuffs back on her. It was too late now. They were on their way. He’d have to play this one right. He wasn’t sure what to do, but his nerves were kicking into high gear. This wasn’t the situation he wanted to be in.
Regan and Calico entered the bridge to find Arkei and Straya on opposite sides of a small table with the data cube sitting on top. It was just like Salvato described it. The blue lights on the sides pulsed as if it were breathing.
“What do you want to do?” Arkei asked.
“To be honest? I just want to catch a damn breather and enjoy my space yacht. I don’t
give a shit right now about exposing any corruption.”
He was angry. This situation was big—bigger than a simple fight to the death with an abusive tyrant. A great deal was at stake here.
“Do we know how to contact him?” Arkei asked.
Calico shook her head. “No, nobody can.”
Straya gave her a piercing glare when she spoke. But Calico stood up tall and held her position.
“I’m serious!” she continued. “Either he contacts you, or you wait. And if he’s making you wait, then it’s likely because he’s planning an all-out assault on you.”
“Well, that’s no good,” Regan said. “There has to be a way to talk to him before he goes nuclear on us.”
The room fell silent, before Straya spoke up.
“I might know someone,” she said. “He’s an old friend. Well, actually he’s a real slimeball, but he’s good at intercepting distress calls and squeezing the poor saps for money. When they don’t pay up, he destroys their communications systems and raids their cargo.”
“Sounds like a really great dude,” Arkei said.
“I told you, he’s a slimeball,” Straya affirmed. “But if he doesn’t do business with the mob, I’d be shocked.”
“Where do we find him?” Regan asked, starting to rub his eyes in exhaustion.
“His home base is a gas station,” Straya said. “I can enter the coordinates.”
Regan dropped his hands and looked at Straya. “Is there any chance you owe this asshole money too?”
Straya smirked. “You wound me,” she said slyly. “But no. We have cleared our debts years ago.”
“Please rethink this,” Calico said. She was pleading with all of them, and her face was full of sadness.
But before any of them could answer her, a massive rattle ran through the ship and the alarms started to blare.
“Are you kidding me?” Straya growled.
“We’re under attack!” Arkei shouted, before everybody moved to their stations.
Chapter Nine
The ship jolted again. This time it was a heavier impact, sending all passengers on the bridge to a side.
Regan dove for his captain’s chair and strapped himself in. It felt as if a very large missile had made an impact with their ship. Salvato couldn’t have found them already.
“Anybody got a read on who’s attacking?” he shouted.
Straya, Arkei, and Calico all took their previous seats, forgetting the conflict that was brewing earlier. Right now everyone needed to do their part, and there was no argument about Calico resuming her seat in the pilot’s chair.
However, Arkei was quick to grab the data cube on the way to her station. She locked it inside a compartment next to her as she was strapping herself in. She slid the key into her pocket before bringing up all the data and view screens.
The radar revealed that an unidentified ship was right on top of them.
“How did they find us out here?” Straya asked.
“And how did they get so close without our radar picking them up?” Arkei added.
The force field was still in place, but the unidentified ship had a lock on them.
“We can’t go anywhere,” Calico started. She was flipping a bunch of control switches. The entire control panel seemed to be locked in place. “But our force field is keeping them out… for now.”
“For now?” Regan exclaimed.
“Well, any ship that can lock us in place like this will have the ability to break through our force field,” Straya said. “It’s expensive technology, and difficult to procure, but it’s certainly effective.”
“Is this a mob ship?” Regan asked. He tried to keep the anxiety out of his voice, but he knew it was creeping through.
The speakers kicked on, followed by a robotic voice blaring through with an unpleasant distortion.
“Attention! Attention! This is a representative ship of the Intergalactic Council. We have overtaken your communications system and your flight functionality. We demand you shut down your defense systems so we can board.”
The entire bridge crew shared glances, but it was Straya who spoke first.
“Shit,” she said.
“What?” Regan asked.
“We can’t let them in!”
“They will find a way whether or not we let them!” Calico shouted.
Just then Squit and Bob came running in.
“What is going on?” Bob shouted.
Regan pointed at an empty chair. “Grab a seat, Bob, and buckle in!”
But before Bob could grab a seat, the ship took another strong jolt, the most significant impact yet. It sent Bob flying across the room, but Squit caught him with her tentacles, catching herself too. She then found a place where she could hold on while also keeping Bob strapped in, like he was a small child on her lap.
“This is your final warning!” the robotic voice declared through the speakers. “We will begin our boarding process immediately!”
“I told you!” Calico shouted. “They will break through and board this ship sooner than later!”
“Who will?” Bob asked again.
“Space Patrol Interception Troops, a division of the Intergalactic Council!”
Bob frowned, confused. Regan threw him a bone, saying, “The cops, Bob.”
“They’re about to raid us!” Arkei began. “We’ve got all kinds of illegal shit on this ship, so we’re screwed if they get in.”
Straya quickly turned toward Regan. She was frantic, but also in aggressive control.
“Captain!” she shouted. “They’re trying to break through in one of our hallways, which means they’ll be in a bottleneck. We can get there ahead of them and unload on their asses!”
Regan closed his eyes. He had to think.
A good amount of his crew were bandits. He was an undocumented species, and he was captaining a stolen vessel. He didn’t need to be told what would happen if the cops boarded. Not only would he be held in some intergalactic prison, but everyone on board would be named an accomplice.
Regan thought hard about an alternative. Whether or not they were crooked cops, sent after them by the mob or just doing their job, he couldn’t allow himself to give an order to kill them. The ramifications of such an action would only cause more problems down the line.
And as he was trying to think, several things distracted him. One was Straya, Arkei, and Calico arguing about how they were running out of time. Another was the constant banging and jolting of their ship from the other ship trying to break through—and it was breaking through. Then there was the relentless squabbling coming out of Squit’s mouth. With all the noise, Regan didn’t even notice that Bob had been shouting the entire time.
“She said she can do it!” Bob was shouting. “She said no one needs to get hurt!”
Regan lifted his head and opened his eyes. He heard Bob only in that moment.
“Calico, Straya, Arkei, zip it!” he commanded. “Bob, what is Squit saying?”
A blast sounded throughout the ship. Their enemy was getting closer.
“Long story short, she can hack into their ship and send them packing,” Bob said.
Regan didn’t think about it a moment longer. He snapped his fingers, pointed at Squit, and said, “Go get ‘em!”
Squit let go of Bob and the wall. She went crazy all over the bridge flipping a bunch of switches and command buttons. The noises she made sounded irritated.
Regan looked at Bob, who returned Regan’s glance with wide eyes.
“Apparently there are many things we should have done to prevent this from happening in the first place,” Bob said.
“Bullshit,” Calico said.
Squit growled at her.
“Nope, you could have adjusted your cloaking mechanism so that it looks like you’re somewhere else,” Bob said.
“We can do that?” Arkei asked.
“It’s a smart ship,” Bob started scratching his hair. “It’s got all kinds of technology just waiting to b
e used. You also should have turned off our internal communication devices when their use isn’t critical, as they can be tracked pretty much anywhere.”
“Shit!” Straya said.
“And, well, yeah, a bunch of other stuff,” Bob said.
“You said ‘long story short,’ Bob,” Regan said. “Let’s just leave it at that, shall we?”
“Aye, captain.”
Squit was moving with incredible speed across the room and finally got to a point where she had nothing else to adjust. She dashed from the bridge, squealing on the way out.
“To the boarding port,” Bob translated.
Straya, Arkei, and Bob all followed along.
Regan gave Calico one last order before leaving with them. “I need you in the pilot’s chair in case something goes wrong and we need to peel out of here.” He paused at the door and turned back to her. “I’m trusting you.”
Calico nodded.
“I’m with you, Captain,” she said.
Regan then turned to face Reverie.
“Stay safe,” he said.
She blew him a kiss and nodded.
Regan then followed the rest of his crew down the hallway toward the boarding port.
Squit’s speed was incredible. Her tentacles allowed her to reach great distances and take long strides.
By the time Regan got to the entrance of the boarding port, it looked like a tug of war. The blast doors had been opened part way, but seemingly jammed.
It was clear the cops were on one side trying to get the doors open, and Squit was on this side doing what she could to override their invasive commands. Great, so they had gotten on board.
Regan could see the midsections of robotic officers on the other side. They were frantic and eager to come busting through.
“How did they get on board?” Regan shouted. “I thought you hacked their systems.”
Squit made some noises, which Bob said meant, “They aren’t on board yet, and they won’t be. They are inside their umbilical line that is fastened to the outside.”
Regan nodded. Good to know.
So these blast doors are our last defense.
Squit used every one of her tentacles and was adjusting dials and pressing buttons on screens on all sides of the door. Regan noticed that some of her actions weren’t on screens or buttons at all, but on the wires themselves, which she no doubt had pulled out of their casing.
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