Galactic Bandits 2

by Duke Campbell

  “Whoops,” Calico said. “But, at least we’ll be out of sight, right? Nobody will find us in all this noise.”

  Regan supposed he couldn’t argue with that.

  Just then Squit arrived, her tentacles full of plates of steaming food.

  That was insanely fast.

  Calico told everyone to step aside from the center of the room, then she pressed a button on the wall which brought up a table and chairs.

  Squit made some squishy sounds as she set plates around the table with her reaching tentacles, which Bob translated. “She knew we were in a hurry, so she made something quick.”

  “Thank you, Calico,” Regan said.

  Squit served up the plates and everyone took a seat, including the newly arrived Arkei and Posha, who was being carried in her robotic arm. He looked very excited to be joining everyone on the bridge. His lizard-like tongue came out of his mouth and licked his lips.

  The food smelled amazing. Regan stood from his chair to make sure everyone else had their seats first. That was when he noticed Calico remained in the pilot’s chair.

  Regan was about to say something when Straya spoke first.

  “You gonna join us?” she asked.

  “Well, I thought I’d better stay at the wheel,” Calico said, almost shyly.

  “Put the damn thing on autopilot and join your crew,” Straya said, turning back without waiting for a reply.

  Regan noticed that Calico smiled a bit before getting up from her seat. Was Straya starting to warm up to her?

  Miracles really do happen.

  Squit made a series of sounds as she took her seat and picked up her utensils.

  “She is thrilled to be part of this crew, and is glad you enjoy her cooking so much,” Bob translated.

  “I, too, am glad to be here,” Posha stated quickly then took a very slow bite. Regan was confused how the creature’s mouth could move so fast for speaking, but then so slowly for eating.

  But as soon as he swallowed, Posha started rambling again.

  “People say you don’t dream in the cryopods, but I believe that I did,” he continued. “I believe that if I had been there much longer, I might have gone insane. Those things are not pleasant and are so cramped too! I have only now started to feel nice and stretched. Yes, I am glad to have been released from that horrible cryopod. And I feel even better to work on a fine ship such as this, and with a fine crew as well.”

  When Posha took another bite, Regan took that opportunity to speak.

  “Posha, tell me,” Regan started. “What have you been doing since you went to look at the engine earlier?”

  Posha finished chewing his food and slowly swallowed it before explaining, “Well, I just did some tightening in places. This is a wonderful ship, but it has gotten little use, it seems, just an occasional ride here or there, so with these few jumps it has endured a breaking-in period. I have been digging around to make sure it is all running smoothly.”

  “You weren’t messing with the engine while we were in the FTL jump, were you?” Straya asked.

  “Yes, indeed I was!” Posha said excitedly. “If you are careful, it is quite simple to expose engine parts while the engine is in operation. It takes a steady hand, but yes, I was looking at the battery power and the antimatter modules, making sure it was all handling things as smooth as can be.”

  “And?” Calico asked.

  “And with a few modifications, this could be the fastest ship in the galaxy! It’ll take me some time though.”

  Regan liked the sound of that. But he didn’t like the sound of what came next.

  There was a subtle jolt that ran through the ship, followed by a blinking red light that Regan knew meant a call was coming through.

  It can’t be Salvato. Not yet.

  Regan looked at his crew, but of course he would answer it. Whoever it was already let them know they were there by slightly bumping into them outside.

  Regan pressed the button and stood before the screen.

  The screen appeared with a creature’s face that resembled a shark, but a thin shark with a strong jawline. The creature didn’t look at the screen, but at a monitor off to the side.

  “Well, well, well,” the shark-like creature said. “I didn’t expect to see your ship around these parts. The great Mephistopheles, leaving the comfort of his compound! How wonderful.”

  “I’m not Mephistopheles,” Regan replied sternly.

  The shark turned his face from the monitor and glared at Regan.

  “No, it seems you’re not,” he said with a twisted smile. “Yet you have his ship?”

  “That’s right,” Regan replied. “And how I came about it is my business.”

  “Oh, I see,” the creature said. “Well, one of my crew was kidnapped and absconded onto that ship. So that is my business! And your ship? It’ll make a nice payment for the inconvenience I suffered.”

  “I’ve got nothing to do with that.”

  “I don’t care who’s to blame anymore. All that matters to me is that I get what I’m owed!”

  The screen went black.

  Regan looked at his crew. They all awaited his order.

  “Dinner’s over,” he said. “Everyone to their posts.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Squit’s tentacles wasted no time in scrambling up the plates that were covering the table, touched the button on the wall to retract the table and chairs, then she dashed from the room, spilling nothing nor bumping into anyone.

  Regan noticed that she didn’t take Bob with her. This was serious business and apparently even Squit has limits on the cuddly time. It seemed like in only a flash she was gone.

  Everyone else hustled back to their seats and strapped themselves in. Calico’s hands gripped the controls, as she wasted no time in taking the ship out of autopilot and headed forward at an accelerated rate, but she didn’t kick it into gear as hard as Regan thought.

  The lack of immediate speed surprised Regan, and he considered asking her about her strategy, but held back. She knew what she was doing, and they were in a tight situation here. He decided to just let her work and to trust her right then.

  She is the pilot of this ship.

  He assumed she was trying to avoid local authorities, which was a good move. And Regan thought if she could evade this new enemy and avoid the authorities, it would be an impressive display of navigational skills.

  Calico flipped a bunch of switches and turned various knobs with one hand while her other gripped the joystick tight. Straya and Arkei were also going through a series of calculations of some type. They were working together, but Regan wasn’t sure what they were all working toward.

  Then Calico finally lost her cool.

  “It’s too hard to get a jump lock here!” she shouted.

  Too much traffic.

  “He’s gaining on us!” Straya yelled, then she brought up the rear screen, revealing a ship catching up to them from behind and quickly approaching their side. It wasn’t a particularly large ship, but it resembled an armored bulldozer, like a space tank that could crush right through their ship.

  “We should blast it!” Arkei shouted.

  “We can’t blast anything!” Straya shouted back. “We still have to stay under Salvato’s radar, not to mention avoid space troopers!”

  Calico pushed the ship into a steady dive. Everyone’s seatbelt pressed against their chests and waists. The force was sudden and intense, and the tight straps even took some passengers’ breath away for a moment, but they kept them secure in their seats.

  Regan almost shouted, but kept it cool. He knew Calico had things under control, but he had to admit to himself that he was nervous.

  The small ship disappeared from the rear monitor, before blowing right by them from underneath, appearing directly in front of them.

  Regan had a feeling the ship’s captain was toying with them. His ship was fast. Faster than any of them expected.

  “Son of a bitch!” Arkei said.

>   “That thing has some serious speed!” Straya shouted

  Calico didn’t adjust her direction and continued charging the ship. It was a head-on situation, and it was happening too quickly for anyone to react, except Calico, it seemed, who adjusted the controls just in time to avoid crashing into the front end of the bulldozer ship. But the enemy ship dove out of the way.

  “And now we know!” Calico said with a smirk.

  Regan wasn’t sure what she was talking about, but she clearly had a plan in place as she quickly circled the ship around. Then he realized what she was doing. It was a game of chicken, as Calico was heading straight toward it.

  Regan wanted to make sure one of the ladies was paying attention to the traffic above them and the possible local authorities in the area during this dog fight they had gotten themselves into, but he noticed Arkei was on it. The hologram was up in front of her and she was isolating various cops in the area and checking distances to their ship.

  She would notify them if they were spotted. So far so good, it seemed.

  But what made Regan additionally nervous was the fact that Calico seemed to dig this situation. Regan could tell from the way she was hunched over in the pilot’s chair.

  Regan thought of War Games 2. He thought about the number of times he had challenged other players to games of chicken. A charge to the death. But this wasn’t War Games 2. The person in that bulldozer ship opposite them was real, dangerous, and charging them at a high speed. The shark-like enemy wanted them dead, and that was all there was to it.

  “Straya!” Calico shouted. “Direct all excess shields to the front of the ship!”

  Straya pressed a few buttons.

  The charge continued. Bob let out a ‘Woohoo!’ as if they were on a roller coaster ride.

  At least someone’s having fun.

  Reverie reached out and grabbed Regan’s arm, sending a wave of calmness through him.

  The ships were nearing each other. Either Calico was trying to kill them all, or was about to make a move. But she didn’t. Not yet. And neither did the bulldozer. The bridge was silent. The sound of the engines were all anyone heard then, outside of their own heartbeats.

  Just as Regan was about to shout at Calico to pull up, the other ship flinched downward. It was close, and even though they avoided the frontal collision, Regan was still sure it would puncture some part of the ship as it passed. He watched the bulldozer fly by the window, then speed by them on the monitors as well.

  Just after they broke away, Calico swung the ship hard to the right and upwards. They were heading right back for the main row of traffic above them. Their game of chicken took them quite a ways away, but at this speed they would return in no time.

  In the distance behind them, as he watched on the rear monitor, the bulldozer ship made a hard turn and was coming for them, gaining quickly.

  Whatever the move would be, Calico seemed determined to make it happen this time, as she was going faster than she was when she first tried to evade the ship. She had a better sense of what she was dealing with now. She kept it hard and fast toward the traffic.

  “Let’s rethink the missiles,” Arkei said.

  “We can’t risk it,” Calico said.

  “We can make it seem like self-defense!” she protested.

  “The situation is too hot, Arkei!” Straya shouted.

  “Besides, we don’t want to waste any missiles on this punk anyway,” Calico said, still driving them straight for traffic.

  Arkei then did a quick check on the monitor before her, and she was furious.

  “Why does this ship only have four missiles?” she shouted.

  “It’s a pleasure yacht!” Calico shouted back. Then she pulled the throttle hard and went right over the tops of a series of spaceships.

  If the local authorities aren’t yet hip to this action, they soon will be.

  “Calico,” Regan said, having taken a moment to collect himself after the rush that ran through his head during the recent charge. “Do what you gotta do, just keep us alive.”

  “Aye aye, Captain,” Calico said with confidence, as she continued to head for the traffic lanes.

  Regan unbuckled the belt strapping him in and raced for the bridge door. He opened it, stunning the crew that he had left his seat. He didn’t have time to negotiate or explain things to them, so he closed the door behind him.

  As he was sprinting down the hallway, trying his hardest to keep his balance, the ship’s internal communications line switched on. Calico’s voice was coming through.

  “Captain, this is no time to be running around the ship!” she said.

  “You do your job and keep us alive!” Regan shouted. “I’m headed to the cargo hold! I think you know what I have in mind, so try to stay right in front of him.”

  “Sir, with all due respect, I don’t think we have that kind of time!” Calico shouted back.

  Just then, a door at the end of the hall opened and Squit came barreling through it. Her tentacles were reaching all the way into the hallway, carrying her body massive distances with each stretch. She swooped up Regan. Then the two were off, moving significantly faster than Regan ever could have on his own.

  “Calico, I found some help,” Regan shouted. “Squit’s giving me a lift. I’ll be there in no time.”

  “Our enemy will be on us any moment, so do what you gotta do quickly!”

  “Just keep him behind us!”

  Before long they were in the cargo hold and Regan knew the first item he would discard, which was the lifeless cryopod. He felt bad about sending the pod down, but he had no choice.

  “Squit, get these doors open,” Regan ordered.

  Squit made a squishy sound, and after dropping Regan down, she went to a control panel on the wall. It didn’t appear to him that she pressed any buttons. She just put her tentacle flat against it. And soon after, the cargo doors began pulling open. Regan knew that the force field around the ship would keep them safe and sound inside the ship, but looking out at their quickly approaching enemy was still intense.

  It almost reminded him of when he sent the drill into the top of the pirate ship. He told himself that worked, so this would work too.

  The ship was right behind them. And several times it tried to jolt right or left or up or down, but Calico was on top of it. Her skills were quick, as she was keeping the ship right where Regan wanted it.

  Regan sent the cryopod toward the door, having the hover system at its base carry it quickly. It fell from the open doors directly onto the bulldozer ship. It smashed onto the ship’s top and made a small explosion which jolted the bulldozer downward a bit, but it didn’t have the impact Regan intended.

  The bulldozer, now aware of what was going on, quickly pulled up, aiming its lasers right at Regan and the open cargo door. It began to fire as Regan dove to the ground. But the lasers all stopped at the force field.

  Regan and Squit would be safe, at least while the force field held.

  He looked around the room for something that would make a bigger impact. While Arkei and Straya had looted a bunch of weapons, most of them were loose on platforms, not boxed up. Single weapons wouldn’t cut it.

  Not to mention they would kill me if I threw their new prized weapons out of the ship.

  Then Regan saw something. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he saw a crate that had a blue glow inside of it. He dashed up to it and saw that it too was on a hover base. It looked heavy. It was next to many exposed mechanical parts.

  Regan thought only of getting away and sent the box fast toward the opening. Again, it dropped onto the ship right behind them. Again, the impact was direct, but the response was unexpected.

  It created an implosion that was incredibly fast and silent. The entire enemy ship jolted, but only partially. It was as if it took a hard hit then went into silent slow motion.

  The blue explosion below him was somehow erupting in a stasis state. It was like the entire universe was holding its breath.

&n
bsp; Then the explosion finished with an incredible burst. The same color of blue that was glowing from the box erupted from the enemy ship, warping more than just its shape. It seemed to warp the ship’s very existence.

  What the hell did I just drop on them?

  The implosion sent out a shock wave, sending Regan flying. Just before he hit the ground, a leaping Squit caught him. She stretched her tentacles in all directions, catching Regan and herself as they landed. Regan was tucked inside as Squit rolled and bounced until they reached the safety of the hallway door.

  She reached out and shut the door as they exited the hold and entered the hallway. Squit then dashed for the hallway, Regan still in her grasp.

  Regan noticed the lights in the hallway were flickering as they ran by. Whatever he had done, the impact was being felt wide.

  Before they reached the bridge, Arkei charged toward them.

  “What was that?” she demanded.

  “Um… well…” Regan wasn’t sure how to respond.

  “Captain!” Arkei screamed. “That blast set the entire area off kilter!”

  Oh shit.

  “It was a crate of something. Something glowing blue,” Regan said.

  Arkei looked flabbergasted. She wanted to scream, it was clear, but she didn’t. She flexed her robotic arm and looked at him as if she could punch something. Regan hadn’t remembered seeing Arkei this upset with him before.

  “A crate glowing blue?” Arkei asked, taking a deep breath and calming down. “Captain, it sounds like you dropped our antimatter modules onto the enemy ship.”

  Regan remembered what Posh was talking about during their meal regarding exposing parts of the drive to work on it.

  Shit, did I seriously do something that stupid?

  Arkei didn’t say another word, just turned and walked away. Regan hurried after her, wanting her to say something. He was very much not a fan of the silent treatment, but he knew he earned it.

  When they reached the bridge, he got a good look at the true impact of what he had done: spaceships bobbed about everywhere, the highway in complete disarray. The explosion had rippled through the entire sector it seemed. Some ships were still in operation, but many drifted off without direction.