The screaming pirates reached the barricade and vaulted over it. Ten guards lay on the floor. Digg scanned them. Seven of them were dead.
“Ten?” Shred asked.
Digg looked to his left just in time to see two more guards rush around the corner, their rifles spitting lead. Several rounds stitched up the wall behind him.
The pirates reflexively dropped and poured fire into the two guards. They fell quickly, their bodies releasing a crimson tide.
“Everyone up. You three check right,” Shred said, gesturing to three pirates. He looked at Digg and Hack. “Come on, we’ll check left.”
A comm screen popped up in front of the bosun. “Oy, Shred. Watch out, there are twelve guards, not nine.”
Digg and Hack looked at each other and shook their heads. Shred stopped and turned back towards the other pirates, shaking his head. “Thanks Sparky. We’ll keep an eye out for them.”
CHAPTER 15
The pirates herded the passengers and crew to the promenade deck at the center of the ship. One hundred and thirty-seven passengers and crew were pushed and shoved down on the couches or on the floor. The majority of these people were dazed. The shock and awe of the pirates’ invasion was too much for some to take. Some people just shut down, while most kept their heads down and complied with the orders they were given. A few brave souls had the courage to fight back. In no case did that this work out in their favor.
The surviving members of the bridge crew and Robert were shoved down onto the floor away from the rest of the passengers. They sat at the edge of the reception area, near the port airlock. Robert surveyed the faces of the bridge crew. They all looked traumatized. He noticed the captain was not among them.
The strikers hauled three wounded security guards to the starboard side of the reception area. They lined them up facing the passengers and crew. Robert’s stomach twisted. He had a pretty good idea what was going to happen next. Three strikers stepped up behind each of the surviving security officers. The pirates pulled out their pistols simultaneously and shot each man on the back of the head. Passengers sitting nearby were sprayed with blood. The three men slumped to the floor and rolled down a short flight of stairs. A few of the passengers screamed in horror.
A dozen strikers stomped around the edges of the crowd. They growled and hissed, and waved their massive guns and edged weapons around. Most passengers averted their eyes. These pirates mostly looked like undead skeletons with glowing eyes, however there were several other types, including a few gorillas and other ghastly creatures.
Robert surreptitiously glanced over the crowd. There was no fight in any of these people. These wealthy, pampered people had no frame of reference or context for how to deal with this situation. Then Robert noticed an old man. He had been in the pub with them when the pirates attacked. He looked defiant. There was another, a younger man. His eyes blazed with hatred and anger. Robert felt butterflies in the pit of his stomach. He had a bad feeling he knew exactly what was about to happen.
An armored gorilla carrying a large shotgun stomped past this man. He seized his opportunity. Once the gorilla’s back was to him, he charged at full speed and crashed into the gorilla’s spine, screaming and cursing as he went. The man’s force of impact caused the gorilla to stumble forward. The pirate quickly regained his footing and pivoted on the ball of his foot, bringing his shotgun to bear on the brave idiot.
It sounded like a roar of thunder. The deafening noise blotted out every other sound on the deck. The shotgun’s flash enhancer produced a bright fireball from the muzzle. At point-blank range, the single shot nearly cut the man half. His broken body flew back several meters, hitting the stone tiles with a sickening slap.
A young woman screamed. She reached out to him, but someone grabbed her and pulled her back down to the huddle. Her low sobs echoed off the ornate walls for several minutes.
Captain Lex stepped forward to the edge of the crowd. His face was set in stone; deep valleys furrowed his brow. “This is what happens to heroes. Unless you want to end up like this man, sit where you are, and. Do. Not. Move,” Lex said in his baritone voice.
More than a dozen scary creatures growled as they brought their weapons to bear on the crowd. They moved closer, sweeping the crowd with their weapons. Their inhuman growls were low pitched and sounded like they came out of the gates of hell.
The passengers stopped fidgeting and whispering. A deep state of shock flooded the room. No one dared to defy the pirates now. And no one wanted to look at the brave young man wearing a fine suit, nearly cut in half, blood and entrails seeping out onto the floor.
Robert slowly turned his head towards the captain. He was a fearsome sight. It looked like he was studying a holo-screen, but Robert was unable to see it. The captain’s hand made a flicking motion with a finger.
“It seems we have a doctor in the house,” Lex boomed. He pointed his finger at Doctor John Drake. One of undead skeletons stepped into the crowd. They scrambled away as he stomped through.
Robert saw the blood drain out of his friend’s face. He looked wary, but he slowly rose to his feet, keeping his eyes glued to the beast approaching him. Robert thought for one moment the doctor might try to fight this huge pirate. He squeezed his eyes shut and silently willed his friend not to resist.
The skeleton came to a stop two meters in front of John Drake. A bony hand motioned for him to follow. John swallowed hard, and walked forward. The skeleton fell in right behind him. A bony finger appeared next to his head, startling him. It pointed towards Robert and the Pegasus bridge crew.
“Get over there with them,” the guttural voice ordered.
John nodded and mumbled an affirmative as he willed his numb legs forward. He sat down next to Robert, giving him and the bridge crew quick nods. He leaned in towards Robert.
“Dear, God,” John whispered. “Have you ever seen anything like this?”
“I’ve never even heard of anything like this. And unless the dead have truly risen, they’re wearing nano-cloaks,” Robert whispered back.
Robert had heard the reports of pirate attacks in the news feeds, but they never mentioned how large and inhuman they were. He hesitated to even think of them as human. One of the pirates looked like Lovecraft’s Cthulhu. His face tentacles squirmed and glistened in the soft light of the reception area. A constant guttural hmmm emitted from his throat, and he chanted something in an ancient tongue, enunciated by the occasional inhuman roar.
The airlock door on the far portside hissed open. Several three meter tall, yellow exo-loaders stomped in to the luxury ship, cracking the stone tiles with their heavy footfalls. Lex turned to face them. He gestured forward and aft in the exo-loaders started moving out to collect their cargo.
Drake whispered to Robert, “If they’re offloading cargo, does that mean they won’t take the ship as a prize?”
Robert shrugged. It was good question, but he had no insight to the captain’s thought process. He looked at the Pegasus bridge crew sitting on the floor nearby. They all seemed rather shell shocked, especially the first officer. What was his name again? McAndrews?
The passengers kept very quiet. Their eyes stayed glued to the deck. These monsters had taken all the fight out of them.
The gorilla in chest armor approached Captain Lex. “Captain, you suppose we have a little time for some R&R?”
The captain’s stone features seem to harden a bit to Robert’s eye. He gave a slight nod. “Make it quick.”
The gorilla turned towards the crowd, beating his chest and hooting. He grabbed a pretty girl in a tight red dress and dragged her towards the staterooms. Her husband or boyfriend stood to protest. A large hairy fist struck his eye and he collapsed to the ground. Likewise, two armored skeletons moved in. One of them picked a waitress from the grand dining hall, the other grabbed the young bartender from the forward pub. The bartender struggled. The skeleton backhanded him, dragging his limp body away.
Robert could sense John was seething. The
doctor seemed to be on the verge of jumping up and stopping the pirates. Robert put his hand on John’s forearm.
“You think your combat mods are on par with theirs?” Robert whispered.
Robert could see his pulse beating in his temples. John’s face reddened. “Are you suggesting that we stand idly by for this outrage?”
“What, exactly, do you propose?” Robert said. The chief engineer, Colin Burton caught the doctor’s eye.
“He’s right, Doctor. We have no options available to us at the moment,” Colin whispered.
John Drake took several deep breaths. His boiling anger subsided a little, but
Robert could see his friend was still seething. Perhaps I can distract him.
“I’d wager the captain hales from one of the mining camps in Pollux,” he said quietly, nodding towards Lex.
John seemed to consider this. “Agreed, the ritual scarring on his face and head are common there.”
Lex turned and looked towards them. His face gave nothing away. He peered at them for a few moments and turned back to his holo-screens.
Robert and John exchanged a glance. “Do you think he can hear us? He’s at least ten meters away,” John asked.
Robert was about to answer when Lex looked over again with a slight smirk cracking his stone face.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Robert said. Without a word, the two men decided it was time to stop talking.
Robert turned his attention back to the strikers. Yes, I’m sure those are nano-cloaks. There is just no other plausible explanation. These pirates know their trade. The fantastically horrifying costumes and the earsplitting slug throwing weapons, and the sheer violence.
Robert continued studying the pirates, looking surreptitiously around at his captors. Eight pirates stood in a circle around them. The skeletons were particularly fierce looking. He considered the undead with those glowing red eyes. It’s all part of the show. Above all else, these men are actors, and they are giving a masterful performance.
Granted, these men were killers, and some of them also rapists, no doubt. Robert didn’t mean to admire them. But he had to respect their craft. What am I feeling? Not admiration, or even kinship to these fellow players that strutted across the stage. I understand. I see this brutality. It’s not mindless as it would appear to the uninitiated. Every action, every howl and curse has purpose.
The pirates’ flawless stagecraft had allowed them to take this ship in under twenty minutes with only a few minor wounds to themselves.
The captain turned back to Robert and his companions. Robert steeled himself. John and the Pegasus bridge crew all noticed the captain’s attention trained on them. He walked in their direction.
“Bosun Shred, Master Gunner Boomer, please report to my location,” He said, allowing them to hear his words, nodding at the confirmations.
A few moments later, the two armored skeletons reported to their captain. Robert recognized the larger of the two skeletons. It had been talking to the captain outside of the pub when he and the doctor were dragged out. Robert worked to keep a smirk off his face. The larger skeleton seemed to have an almost effeminate walk.
“Take these men to the galley and have Quartermaster Reznik brief them,” The captain said gesturing at Robert and the group.
“Aye, Captain Lex.” Bosun Shred said. He turned to his charges. “Righty-o, on your feet.”
“Follow me,” Boomer said to the group of men. Shred fell in behind them, and they headed through the airlock onto the Hell’s Bane.
Robert heard a commotion on the far side of the reception area. He turned to look and saw three strikers ordering passengers to their feet. What is this devilry?
Ten or twelve passengers, their eyes stuck firmly to the deck, started moving aft down the starboard corridor flanked by the three strikers.
Boomer half turned towards Robert. “You are either incredibly brave, or incredibly stupid.”
Robert chuckled nervously. “To be perfectly honest with you. Right now, I’m just incredibly scared.”
Boomer laughed.
Robert noticed the Pegasus crew all looking back into their old ship. He felt a pang of sympathy for them.
CHAPTER 16
Striker Grunt ambled over with a simian gait. Grunt took his role seriously. He approached Captain Lex.
“Captain, we’ve got the first few groups of passengers out of the airlock already,” he reported. “Easy as drowning kittens.”
Lex simply nodded, his stony mask not cracking. Striker Grunt turned and sauntered back towards the passengers.
Lex opened a comm screen. “Sparky, I need a status report on this ship.”
“Captain, there is considerable damage. We are working on an estimate right now. I should have something solid for you in five or ten minutes.”
“I need that ASAP,” Lex responded.
“Aye, Captain. I’ll contact you the moment I have it,” the chief engineer said.
Lex grew uneasy. If the ship was not salvageable, they would strip what they could and leave. The only reason to space the passengers was if they were going to take the ship. If the ship turned out to be unsalvageable, he would normally just leave the passengers on board and depart. He was aware that spacing over a hundred people, wealthy people, and some of them minor nobles, was likely to have consequences. However, the risk might be worth the reward, if they could sell the Pegasus in the outer rim. She was a fine ship and would fetch a hefty sum.
The minutes dragged on, Lex’s uneasiness grew. He considered the reception area. A group of strikers returned to gather another dozen people. His ocular implant reported that eighty-six percent of the passengers and crew had been spaced already. He sighed. Lex never had a problem killing anyone while fighting for a prize, but he knew in most cases it was counterproductive to kill everyone.
Striker Grunt came back to the captain. “The last batch is headed out now,” he said, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
“Very well. Gather everyone and head back to the Bane.”
Grunt nodded, then turned and bounded back to the other strikers. He hooted and beat his chest.
A comm screen popped up in front of Lex. Sparky’s face was covered in grime and sweat. “Sorry Captain, but these engines are banjaxed. It will take more than a day, possibly two…”
Anger creased Lex’s face. “This would’ve been good information to have ten minutes ago,” he said darkly.
Sparky put his hands up placatingly. “Again, sorry Captain. Between the damage to the Inferno and the engines on the ship, we been running ragged.”
“I know, Sparky. Lex out.”
Lex opened another comm screen. “Deke.”
The raider’s craggy foreman appeared on screen. “Yes, Captain?”
Lex could see that his foreman was currently operating in Exo loader. “We’re not taking the ship with us. Get everything not bolted down, and anything valuable that is bolted down. Concentrate in the med bay and engineering. Let’s try to make this worth our while. You have eight hours.”
Deke answered in the affirmative and his screen blinked out.
Lex called Captain Frisbee. He answered promptly. “Doxy standing by, Captain. What are your orders?”
“I want you to dock on the starboard side. Get all your raiders in there and grab everything you can. We leave in eight hours, so be quick.”
Captain Frisbee nodded crisply. “Yes Captain. I’ll call you in two hours with a progress report,” the aged Captain said. His comm screen disappeared.
Lex turned and headed back to the Bane. He had a feeling in the pit of his stomach. This prize is going to capture a lot of attention. While a little notoriety was not typically a bad thing for a pirate band, the wealthy relatives of these people would probably press the Imperial fleet into action. That as not the type of attention Lex wanted for his own band.
***
Captain Lex stood in the dim light of the bridge on the Hell’s Bane and looked out at the ships in his
viewport. Doxy, his Behemoth class bulk freighter, was busy taking on captured cargo and parts from the Pegasus. Two yellow exo-loaders using portable tractor beams maneuvered the security ship called Paladin Five into the gaping maw of the aft cargo bay. The small ship sustained moderate damage. His engineers would need a little time and plenty of nanos to repair it. The Doxy’s clamshell doors sealed shut, enveloping their new prize.
Lex allowed himself a slight smile. His crew and his ships did well today. There were only a few very minor injuries among the crew. His being the most noteworthy.
The minor damage to Hell’s Bane was nearly gone thanks the nanos. The Doxy went completely unscathed. The Inferno suffered moderate damage when the security gunship self-destructed near her. That would take more work and more nanos to fully repair. Regardless, she was fully spaceworthy, if a bit slow for the moment.
A holo-screen popped up in front of Lex. “Captain, we’ve cleared the prize. We completely stripped engineering and the med bay and all the ship’s stores have been secured. Quartermaster Reznik is compiling a full inventory as we speak,” Chief Engineer Sparky reported.
“Superb,” Lex replied.
“Captain, permission to take a skiff over to Inferno to assist with her repairs. One of her engines is cocked up. I can help Willie get her FMC in a jiff.”
“Granted. We might need Inferno’s legs. Get her up to speed,” the captain said.
Quartermaster Reznik stalked on to the bridge and approached the captain. He held up his data pad. Reznik was one of three Reznoonians in Lex’s fleet. They were the first race subjugated by the Empire. Short in stature compared to humans, they looked like scarecrows with black eyes and spiky hair. They were well known for being skilled and ferocious fighters.
The Reznoonians had just perfected the steam engine when the first Imperial ship landed. The diminutive alien race tried to resist. They were simply overmatched by the Imperial war machines. It didn’t take long for the Empire to realize the Reznoonians would be an asset to their world building plans. They were smaller than humans, on average, but they were very strong. And their planet was very close to Earth in many ways.
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