Ringship Discretion

by Sean League

  Atticus spoke up. "What is all the commotion?"

  Angela looked back at him for a second. "I don't know, but follow me." She led them around to the left, out of the lounge area, to the captain's private area. The guards let them in and they sat at a large dark wood table with ornate carvings on the edge. It had a big crystal version of the Yorktown floating above the center of the table and it glistened as it rotated. Atticus leaned forward in his chair and looked at the wall of plaques and ship models of what appeared to be the captain's previous commands. He was about to get up for a closer look when the door opened and Captain Morel appeared. The Lt. saluted him as he walked in. He saluted back saying "LT." He looked down the length of the table to Atticus. "And you must be Captain Elliot." Atticus stood up. Ben and Amelia followed suit.

  Atticus nodded slightly. "Yes, Captain. Thank you for having us on board."

  The captain responded "No no. The pleasure is all mine. You have no idea how valuable the cargo you brought us is. Please. Sit."

  As Atticus sat down, "We were beginning to get that idea, with half of humanity trying to kill us."

  The captain sat down at the opposite end of the table without taking his eyes off them. "Yes. They don't want us to have the technology."

  Amelia said "The warp tech, you mean."

  Atticus gave her a look as to say "Shut up and don't reveal too much."

  Captain Morel saw this and responded. "Don't worry Captain. We will guarantee your safety. You may have saved all of us." He looked at Amelia. "I see you have figured out what the plates are for." He looked back at Atticus. "Let me give you a quick rundown on what's going on. A senator on Earth had a special division of the military set up to work on warp tech. After a number of years, we received intel that they had successfully tested the tech and they were going to start production of a warp capable fleet."

  Atticus spoke. "Let me guess. Senator William Romina?!"

  Captain Morel nodded. "Yes. I see he has been putting out propaganda labeling your lot as terrorists, but as you know, it's just a cover up to give him time to deploy his fleet."

  Atticus asked. "Fleet? Has he already built it?!"

  Morel answered. "We are not sure of how many ships they have completed, but we know they were not ready for this to go down now. We had sent special brain scanners to Earth that could defeat current implants. I believe you delivered those for us." Atticus nodded. Morel continued, "We had an inside man scan the Senator and part of the development team. Our plan was to equip a ship with the new warp drive and just warp it to the outer solar system, so we could replicate it."

  Amelia asked "So what happened? How did we get in all of this?"

  Captain Morel studied her closely as he responded. "We are not exactly sure what went wrong. We didn't have any communication with the group because we didn't want to give away the fact that we had or were trying to obtain the tech. This is also why they didn't dare transmit the information back. No one would have been able to track the warp ship if it had worked, so that was our best option." The captain leaned forward. "Somehow the Senator's group found out they had been scanned about a month after the fact. They figured out where we were building the ship and sent in a strike team. There was a firefight, but one of the team managed to get away with 12 plates."

  Atticus sat up straight. "But we only got 6."

  Morel said "Yes, our agent gave you 6 and 6 to another smuggling crew. It was too important to risk all on one ship. Fortunately, you left fairly quickly. The other team took a few more hours and were discovered. It took the government a while to find out that there were 6 more plates on your ship. They sent ships to intercept you, but here you are!"

  Atticus responded. "Yes. Just not exactly sure how we made it." He looked at Amelia and Ben with a slight smile. He continued. "What do you intend to do with the plates?"

  The captain pursed his lips. "Well, I was just hoping to use them to defend the outer solar system and keep our freedom. Maybe do some settling of other star systems, since we know of some habitable planets. However, the brass wants to first use the tech to invade and take out the threat. I am against that, but it doesn't seem to matter now. The threat is coming to us, thanks to you. I just hope we can equip enough ships to stop the onslaught that is coming. The big three corporations have apparently figured out what it is you were smuggling and have put everything on the line to wipe us out before we can use it. They are also looking to get their hands on the tech for themselves to counter the threat from Earth."

  The door opened behind him, a Lt. came in and whispered in the captain's ear. The captain gave him orders quietly. The Lt. turned and left.

  Atticus asked "I meant to ask. What is all the commotion outside?"

  The captain cleared his throat. "We are being blanketed by radar from an Earth ship."

  Amelia interrupted. "Yeah, we detected it just before we docked with you."

  The captain, not used to being interrupted tilted his head as he slowly looked at Amelia. Attie put his hand on hers. The captain spoke again. "They are very far out and it will take a while to intercept them, but they may be blanketing us to get a fix for their warp..." The room went red, an alarm sounded and over the intercom came "General quarters. General quarters. We are under attack. This is not a drill. Enemy ships off the port bow. General Quarters."

  Captain Morel leapt up from his chair putting his hat back on as he raced out the door. Amelia started to get up while watching the captain leave. She turned to Attie half standing. "What should we do?". Ben turned, waiting for his response.

  Atticus stood up and waved his hand. "Back to the Ship!" As they approached the door the Lt. Sparrow said "You can't leave until we have the plates."

  Captain Elliot looked at her, but said nothing and the three of them bolted down the corridor as fast as they could in their suits. Lt. Sparrow followed them. As they rounded the corner to the large elevator, the ship shook and a deep rumbling sound reverberated throughout the lounge. Everyone paused for a second looking around, then Atticus pushed the call button on the elevator. The Lt. said "That's not going to work. During GQ, this elevator is reserved for movement of pilots."

  The captain turned to her. "What?! Then how the hell do we get down?"

  The Lt. pointed down the corridor to the right. "There is a small elevator at the end of the corridor and down a set of stairs."

  The captain started walking. "Take us!"

  She repeated "We can't let you leave with the plates!"

  The captain stopped, turned, pointed his finger at her and in a commanding voice. "Then you had better change them out goddamn fast! I have had way more than I bargained for on this trip already! Let's go!"

  When they reached the end of the corridor, the ship shook again and a breeze began to blow up the stairwell. A new alarm sounded with strobes.

  The Lt. raised her helmet. "Hull breach!". They all stopped and put their helmets on and sealed them. Everyone checked each other and they started down the stairs. Another jolt and they heard an explosion. Everyone started scrambling down the stairs. When they reached the deck below, Angela pointed to the elevator. They ran to it and pushed the call button. As they waited, there were more impacts and a strange sound. Ben recognized it. "Someone's cutting through the hull!" The elevator finally opened and they got in. Angela waved her arm and pushed the FD button for the Flight Deck.

  Fifteen seconds later, there was a large explosion and the elevator went dark. Attie switched on his helmet light. "Looks like we just lost power. We've got to get out of this thing. Help me Ben." They pried the doors open and could see the floor of one deck and the ceiling of another. Attie looked at Amelia. "You go first." He pointed down. She laid down on the floor and scooted out with her feet first. The ship shook with another explosion and she dropped out the hole with a scream.

  Attie stuck his helmet out. "Amelia! Are you OK?"

  She moaned. "Yeah, I think I sprained my ankle."

  Atticus looked at the Lt. "Go. You
're next."

  She laid down and slid through. She hung by her hands for a second and dropped safely to the floor. Ben went and as he hit the floor, there was another explosion. Ben looked back at Atticus "Damn, that one sounded close!" Atticus nodded and started to turn to drop when they heard gunfire. Over the intercom came "Repel boarders! Decks 3 aft, 7 port side, deck 5 forward."

  With that, the captain dropped out of the elevator shaft. "Which way?! Where are we?"

  Angela pointed and ran. "Deck 7. The hangar is two decks down. A few seconds later they found themselves at a stairwell, lit by emergency lighting, but the deck hatch was sealed.

  The captain looked at Angela. "Can you open it?"

  She put up her hands. "Not without power. You two will have to open it manually."

  The captain looked at Ben and pointed. Angela and Amelia backed out of the way as they began to manually turned the hatch wheel. As the hatch opened, Amelia yelled "Attie!"

  Attie turned to look. There were three men in blue and black space suits coming down the corridor. A marine popped around the corner and opened fire at them. Flashes lit up the corridor as the first man's suit shattered, spraying debris in all the directions. The other two moved against the bulkheads and raised their weapons to shoot back. Attie jumped at Amelia to pull her into the stairwell. He grabbed her by the waist, and as he swung her around there was an intense burning pain that went through his right leg. He threw Amelia into the stairwell with the last of his momentum and collapsed to the deck. Amelia landed on her side, rolled and fell through the opened hatch. Ben tried to catch her, but didn't have the grip with the now over pressurized gloves.

  Ben turned and grabbed Attie's good leg to pull him back in, but bullets were ricocheting off the bulk heads as the marine continued to engage the boarders. Ben looked down the corridor as he tried to pull the captain into the stairwell. The marine was starting to pass out from lack of oxygen, but still firing. A second later a second set of hands grabbed the captain and they both pulled him into the stairwell. Ben climbed down and waved for Angela, who had helped him drag the captain in, to lower him down. As they got the captain down, Ben heard the clang sound of a grenade hitting the deck. He screamed "Lieutenant!" She dove head first into his arms and they both fell to the floor as the grenade exploded above. Ben rolled her off and got up as fast as he could to seal the hatch. Once he turned the wheel shut, he took the captain's M24 off his back and jammed it in the wheel. "That should hold them for a bit. Let's get to the hangar!"

  A cry came from Amelia. "Attie....Attie..."

  The Lieutenant bent down in front of her. "Are you alright?"

  Amelia focused her eyes. "Yeah. My shoulder. I can't.." She screamed. Then she said "What about Attie?!"

  The Lieutenant asked "Who's Attie? The captain?"

  Ben took the shoulder strap off the M24 and wrapped it around the captain's leg. "Yes....Amelia, Attie, will be OK. He got shot, but we can fix him up good." He then whispered to himself. "Come on Captain, stay with us."

  As Ben finished tightening the strap, the M24 he had jammed in the wheel moved. "They're trying to come through. We have to go now! Drag her or whatever you have to do!"

  Ben dragged the captain to the next hatch and started opening it. As soon as it opened he looked up to see Angela struggling to pull Amelia, so he jumped over and helped. When they got her to the hatch, Amelia actually began lifting herself with her right arm.

  She rotated herself to see Ben and the Lieutenant lowering Attie through the hatch. Attie's eyes were closed and his mouth open. Amelia pulled herself toward the hatch, then Ben grabbed her. She said "I think I can climb down with my legs, just help me." They got her into position and she lowered her self down. As she reached the bottom, sparks were bouncing off her helmet. She looked up. "Ben! They're burning through!".

  Ben looked up. "Shit!..Grab the captain. Which way to the airlock?!"

  Angela grabbed him and pointed with her head.

  Ben turned and tried to take Amelia's rifle off her back but she screamed in pain. He grabbed his knife off his suit and cut the strap. He reached up shut the hatch and jammed it with her rifle. As he turned back to grab the captain he heard "What the hell is going on guys? Captain? Ben?"

  Ben stopped. "AJ?!"

  AJ responded. "What the hell is happening? Are you alright?!.."

  Ben interrupted. "AJ, we need help! Meet us at the airlock at the end of the hangar. Grab a vehicle or something. The captain and Amelia are wounded."

  AJ said "OK. On my way!"

  Angela and Ben dragged the captain down the corridor, while Amelia limped and braced herself against the right wall. They were about half way down the corridor when it began lighting up with flashes. Angela looked back. "They're burning through!." Ben and Angela increased their speed and their helmets started to fog up from the heavy breathing. When they got to the airlock, they opened the hatch and put the captain in. Ben turned to see Amelia still half way down the hall, with sparks flying behind her as they burned through the hatch. Ben ran down the hallway and ran into her half bent over, lifting her on his shoulder in a fireman carry. She screamed in pain, but he ignored it and began running back. Angela ran half way to help and then she saw the hatch behind them fall to the deck. "They're through!!. Ben turned to look, unclipped his shotgun, gave it to her, "Here. Cover us!" and started running again.

  Angela cocked the shotgun and walked backwards awaiting the first one to come through. She saw a grenade drop. "Grenade!!" She immediately jumped behind a bulkhead and looked at Ben, who was putting Amelia into the hatch. The corridor lit up brighter than the sun and there was a deafening explosion.

  Ben yelled "Come on Angela!!"

  She whipped the shotgun around the corner and fired two blasts into the smoke and ran. As she approached the airlock, she looked back and saw one man down and another stepping over him around the corner. She turned and fired while backing up. The space-suited man instinctively backed into stairwell, but stuck his rifle around the corner and began firing. Angela saw sparks hit the transparent hatch and felt the tug of a bullet on her spacesuit. Ben pulled her back and slammed the hatch shut. Bullets continued to ricochet off the transparent metal.

  Once the hatch was closed Ben grabbed the shotgun from her and turned it toward the outer airlock. "We don't have time for this shit!"

  She yelled "Wait! I can do an emergency instant depressurization." A second later, Ben felt his suit puff up and he almost dropped the shotgun. Angela said "Go!"

  Just as Ben opened the outer door, AJ drove up in an aircraft tractor. Ben looked at him like "What the hell is this?" AJ said "It's all I could find!"

  Ben pointed to the captain "Help me!."

  AJ jumped out of the vehicle and as he came around, he saw two space-suited men walking up to the other side of the transparent airlock. "Ben! Behind you!."

  Ben looked. "Its OK, let's just get them loaded. They won't be able to open the hatch with the pressure differential." Ben and AJ put the captain on the back of the tractor while Amelia hobbled over. They lifted her onto the back next to the captain. Ben grabbed a set of chocks off the tractor and jammed them in the open hatch door. He jumped into the driver's seat. "Let's go." AJ, with his M24 drawn, backed up into the passenger seat and Angela jumped on the hood. She yelled "Go!"

  As they drove away, AJ could see them burning through the airlock. Ben headed for the Discretion, but in front of him, the far hangar wall was lit with sunlight. He turned his head suddenly realizing that the hangar door wasn't there anymore. As he drove past a half melted fighter he realized that the hangar had been raked with laser fire. He looked out into space. There were huge chunks of starship floating past and massive flashes were erupting in every direction. Amelia yelled "Hey!..HEY! STOP!"

  Ben hit the brakes just before he hit the Discretion's landing strut. Angela slid off the front of the tractor, but landed standing up. The captain and Amelia slid into the backs of Ben and AJ. Angela yelled "Where the hel
l did you learn to drive?!" Ben shrugged and then turned to get the captain.

  AJ yelled "They're through!" and he started firing his rifle at them.

  Ben yelled while pointing to the deck. "AJ, get behind the vehicle while giving us covering fire!"

  Ben and Angela hauled the captain up the ramp and put him in the airlock. When Ben looked back he saw that Amelia had fallen off the tractor. Ben ran down, patted AJ on the shoulder as he went by and grabbed Amelia. He hauled her up the ramp and put her in. "AJ! Get in the airlock and give me the rifle." AJ, stopped firing and handed him the M24. As AJ got in the airlock, Angela grabbed another M24 that was inside the door and ran down next to Ben. She said "AJ, close the hatch and pressurize. There isn't room for all of us. We will come in on the next go round." AJ complied and shut the hatch.

  As the airlock pressurized. Amelia reached out to Attie's helmet. She put her helmet against his. "Attie...Attie! Don't leave me! I love you Attie. Attie! Can you hear me!?"

  Ben and Angela kept firing. They could barely see the dark suited men at the other side of the hangar but they could see that they were taking cover. They hadn't realized that the men were even shooting back until a piece of the hood on the tractor suddenly flew up. That made both of them duck for a second. "Shit Ben, that was close!"

  Ben looked at her and he put his hand on her shoulder. "Thanks for helping me with the captain." She nodded, looked up over the hood and fired another burst.

  Ben did the same, but something was different. The hangar was getting dark. He looked out the huge hole into space to see a massive ship blocking the Sun. "Shit! It's a BB cruiser!" The front of the ship was almost parallel to them and its long crossed membered central shaft was moving from left to right. "Come on, we have to go! If they bring those lasers to bear, we're dead!"

  AJ came of the radio. "We are in! And the hatch is shut."