Captured by the Hawk

by Aurora Springer

  Captured by the Hawk

  by

  Aurora Springer

  A Space Opera Novella. Spaceships crash across the galaxy in the comic misadventures of spy Grey Kat and pirate Black Hawk.

  DEDICATION

  I am grateful to my Irish relatives for their inspiration and laughter.

  Praise

  “Captured by the Hawk is an equal mix of science fiction and romance, with space travel! It's also a fast-paced adventure. Grey Kat, or Katrina, is a high-born, fearless thief of secrets with a loyal space ship crew. The mysterious pirate Black Hawk plunders an evil interstellar empire. Sparks fly when they meet, followed by a cautious alliance. This book is well written, with good plot twists and a satisfying conclusion. Five stars!” Reviewed by JSReads.

  Disclaimer

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidence.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Copyright © 2014 Aurora Springer

  All rights reserved.

  Table of Contents

  1 Hassam Port

  2 The Rogue Star

  3 Com Thief

  4 Planetoid Repair Dock

  5 Ship Bound

  6 The Lifepod

  7 Planet Ulverkop

  8 The Shamrock

  9 Willawanga

  10 Battleship Ulysses

  11 Epilog

  1 Hassam Port

  A SLIGHT FIGURE CLIMBED down the ladder from the cargo hold in the rear of the Emperor’s Revenge. After a quick scan of the space dock, the brown-clad person slipped into the shadows. In her covert persona, Grey Kat crept out of the Revenge’s docking bay, alert for an alarm. She raced along the connecting passage toward the sector barrier with the secret codes tucked into a pocket of her dingy coveralls. Her mission to deliver the codes safely to the Solarian Intelligence Service, colloquially known as SIS, would fail if the guards spotted her.

  Excited voices rose from the space cruiser, and Kat paused to listen. Swiveling on her toes, she stared back at the Revenge. No one was visible, so she strode boldly around the corner and left the Emperor’s Sector. Kat ran along the passageway and darted into the crowds milling through the central hub of Hassam Port. Hearing no sound of pursuit, she exhaled in relief. Once her mission was over, she looked forward to removing the grubby coveralls, scrubbing off the dirt, and resuming her other life.

  Loud yells from the Emperor’s sector alerted her. She guessed the cruiser’s guards had detected her forced entry through the cargo bay. But, she was hidden among the crowds in the central hub. Weaving in and out of the lively groups of people, Kat headed for the safety of the Solarian Sector on the opposite rim of the hub. A crush of people blocked her path. Glancing at the overhead screen, the invitation to the tradeshow and circus showed the reason for the sudden popularity of Neiman’s Sector.

  A message flashed on the screen, “Warning, dangerous fugitive!” accompanied by a blurry image of a small brown figure. Her heart thumped and Kat cringed. She had missed one of the security cameras. The picture showed little of her face, but her brown docker’s gear was conspicuous among the gaudy clothes of the tourists in the hub.

  Shouting from the rear, and the heavy stamping of the guards’ feet propelled her into a narrow side street. Kat dashed to the end, dodged around the corner, and raced past the sleazy inns and brothels of the old portside town. Turning at the next intersection, she entered a broad thoroughfare lined with tourist shops. She trotted past busy cafes with tables spilling out into the street.

  Slowing her frantic pace, she matched the casual stride of a tourist visiting the old town. She strolled down the crowded street, scanning the passersby for a potential ally. At length, she spotted two junior officers of the Solarian interstellar fleet. The grey uniformed men lounged at a small table in a cafe, drinks in tall glasses in front of them. Kat sidled over to their table and leaned nervously toward the younger of the two officers.

  She offered the codes, whispering in a conspiratorial manner, “Take this package to your intelligence officer. It’s a gift from the Grey Kat.” The officer stared at her ragged clothes in disbelief. “Take it,” she insisted. “I’m in great danger!”

  Almost unwillingly, he stretched out his hand and clasped the com. Then, he glanced at his companion and nodded. As she sped away, they lifted their glasses, sipping as casually as if nothing had happened. Good, she mused, they would deliver the secret codes to SIS. Now, she had to escape and switch her identity into the wealthy Mistress Trina.

  A line of blue uniformed troops advanced toward her from the far end of the street. Kat halted in dismay. Swinging around, she saw the Emperor’s guards emerging from a side street. How could she escape?

  Kat dashed inside a small art gallery, forced her way past the confused owner and raced across his living quarters. She leapt through the back door, and fled down a narrow alley. A six foot barrier blocked the end. Leaping to catch hold of the top, she scrambled onto the wall, and examined the other side. The space beyond the wall was littered with ancient rusty vehicles. She dodged around the clutter, vaulted the barrier on the other side, and crouched beside a smelly dumpster at the rear door of a shop.

  Kat waited until the distant crashing of her pursuers faded into an uneasy silence. She had evaded the guards. She stood quietly and brushed the dirt from her coveralls. Then, she marched boldly in the direction of the docks as if she owned the place. Indeed, she mused, parts of the spaceport were likely to be the property of her alter ego, Mistress Trina. Finances were not her forte. She aimed to reach the Solarian Sector, where her compatriots waited with their fast scout ship. Her best route led across the Independent Sector. Kat paused warily before entering the sector. Would her enemies be waiting for her there? Surely, they would avoid the lawless Independents. She peeked swiftly around the wall. To her relief, no one was visible.

  Slipping into the narrow passage, Kat felt a nagging premonition of disaster. Leaning against the smooth wall, she searched with all her senses alert for unusual motions or sounds. Still nothing! In a few steps, she reached the walkway, extending the whole length of the sector with docking bays branching off at regular intervals. Entering the Independent Sector, Kat glanced cautiously into the docking bays on either side. Her spirits rose, she was almost to the safety of her sector.

  Suddenly, she heard soft voices and the heavy tread of booted feet. She dived into the nearest bay, and crept behind a large container waiting to be moved into the hold. Two men strode past the container where she crouched in anxious silence. They spoke in low, cheerful voices as if their business had prospered in the port. Kat did not recognize their nondescript dark clothes, but they bore stunners in their belts. She watched them walk down the bay towards the ship, which was blocked from her sight by a stack of boxes. When they vanished behind the boxes, she turned quietly, intending to creep away.

  Her arm was grabbed roughly from behind. She squealed in dismay.

  A man’s gruff voice said, “It’s the thief.”

  Kat struggled to escape his grip without success.

  Footsteps sounded, and another man came up behind her. “The Captain wants to question the thief,” he said. “She stole something valuable from the
Emperor’s Revenge.”

  They dragged Kat, kicking and wriggling, down the docking bay and into the spacecraft.

  Everything she saw was colored black. A black ship crewed by black clothed men. They towed her, still struggling, through the ship’s passages to a storage room. No one spoke to her. One man searched her dirty overalls, and removed her knife. Then, he flung her into a small featureless room.

  She was left alone to stare around the windowless cabin and ponder her misfortune. One quick glance told her the door was the only means of escape. A simple bed platform on one side and a utility pot relieved the monotony of the white walls. Soon, the familiar noises and vibrations marked the ship disengaging from the dock, and lifting into orbit around the spaceport. She sensed the shift as the spacecraft left orbit and ventured into interstellar space. The vibrations damped and she felt the eerie shift as the ship entered hyperspace.

  After several hours of isolation, Kat grew increasingly uneasy. She paced up and down the small room, with questions churning in her mind. Why had they captured her? Had they identified her as Grey Kat? Did they mean to starve her into submission? She hoped that the young Solarian officers had taken the com with the stolen codes to their intelligence officer. They might easily have ignored her grimy figure and strange request.

  At last, an armed man entered her prison cell and left her plain food and a bottle of water. Kat smiled; they did not intent to starve her. She ate and drank, and then lay down on the narrow cot and slept.

  In the morning, more food and water appeared, and her pot was emptied. Wrinkling her forehead, she wrestled with the decision of which guise to adopt when questioned. Should she appear as Grey Kat, the notorious code thief, or as the rich Mistress Trina Sligo? Either identity would make a suitable hostage. She decided her story would depend on what her captors knew.

  Finally, she had her interrogation. Two armed men escorted her through the ship’s narrow passages into a large cabin. A tall man stood by a table displaying star charts. A man clothed entirely in black. He wore black leather boots, black gloves and a black turban covered his head. Even his face was wrapped in folds of black cloth, exposing only his piercing green eyes. Kat stared at him curiously. Sexy outfit, she mused, and judging by his broad shoulders, he would strip well. But, why did he have that black mask over his face? Was it a cultural obligation, or was he hiding some hideous facial deformity?

  Her interrogator scrutinized her small figure with equal intensity. He saw a slim woman with alert tawny eyes and greasy brown hair. Her dirty coveralls were a faded, nondescript brown, almost matching the color of her skin.

  His voice was cold. “My men claim you are the thief who stole the secret codes from the Emperor’s Revenge. Where are the codes?”

  Tilting her chin in defiance, she stared back without speaking. Who was he to question her?

  “I am the Black Hawk. You are on my ship, the Rogue Star, and utterly in my power. I recommend you tell me what you know.” His deep voice sent a shiver down her spine.

  Kat had heard of the Black Hawk. He was a renegade captain of uncertain allegiance who terrorized interstellar space. His spaceship raided isolated ports and boarded lone ships. Some rumors claimed he preferred to prey on ships registered in the Emperor’s Sector. She could never admit to being the wealthy Mistress Sligo to such a rapacious pirate. Only her secret persona as the thief, Grey Kat, from the sleazy side of the docks was viable in this situation.

  “Ain’t got nothing!” Kat whined in the dialect of the seedier docks.

  His fierce eyes probed her. She flinched involuntarily and lowered her eyes, while stalling for time or inspiration. “Are you afraid of me?” he asked.

  Kat raised her head, gazing boldly into his green eyes, and sneered, intending to confound him, “What me? Why’d I fear a slick spacer like ye?”

  “What did you steal from the Emperor’s Revenge?” he accused.

  “Wha’ ship? Didn’t take nothing from no ship!” she spat out, pursing her lips as if in perplexed anger.

  “My men saw you creep out of the Revenge’s cargo bay.”

  Oh, no, Kat thought, I must be getting careless. I didn’t spot his men.

  “Ain’t bin in no ship. Ye put me back on dock,” she pleaded, chin tipped impudently. “Ain’t done nothing wrong.”

  “My ship has lifted from the spaceport. You cannot return to Hassam.” He stared at her for a minute, noting the unconscious challenge in her eyes and her defiant stance. “You intrigue me. You’re not afraid, and your replies are too prompt and recalcitrant for the usual dockside thief.”

  Kat remained silent. She locked her gaze onto his green eyes, and pondered her best approach in dealing with this confident pirate.

  “Are you ready to talk?” he insisted in a harsh voice, evidently unused to opposition. “What’s your name, thief?”

  It was time to switch her guise and bemuse him with the story of her life. She spoke, enunciating her words carefully, “I am called Grey Kat, and I am no common thief.”

  “Proceed with your story.” His tone hinted of derision.

  Making a swift transition from the lingo of the unkempt dock rat to the educated voice of a skilled narrator, she said, “With your permission, Sir, I shall begin my story. I was born into a wealthy family on the Planet Terra in the center of the Solarian Sector. My fortunate childhood did not last long. My family lost its wealth to the predations of a financial genius affiliated with the Emperor. We were forced to beg for a livelihood. My talents led me in divergent directions. I roamed the streets at night in the service of criminals. During the day, I learned the skills necessary to join the space cadets.” She paused, noting a gleam of interest in his shadowed eyes.

  “I wish to know what you have done, not your life history,” he demanded in an attempt to forestall her digressions.

  “You can’t keep me in prison here,” she countered in her sweetest tone, despite her fear that he had kidnapped her for a reward.

  His eyes scanned down her slight figure, lingering over her slender anatomy. Kat stiffened defensively. What was he thinking? He lowered his gaze to the table, as if he pondered some unwelcome decision. After a moment’s silence, he raised his penetrating green eyes to her face, and said, “I realize you are more than a scrubby dock thief. We can provide better accommodations for you on the Rogue Star.”

  “Thank you, Captain Hawk,” she murmured politely, unsure what he meant by suitable accommodations.

  He called the guard and spoke quietly to him. She could not hear what he said, although the guard looked surprised. He shook his head as if he had an objection.

  Black Hawk glanced back at her. “Take her away, feed her, and bring her back at the same time tomorrow.”

  2 The Rogue Star

  THE GUARD MOTIONED her out of the Captain’s cabin, his weapon ready as usual and escorted her to the new, more suitable berth. He led her along narrow corridors into regions Kat did not recognize. She surmised they were the officers’ quarters from the quality of the furnishings she glimpsed through a door left ajar. Kat was prepared for a standard ship’s berth, but not for what she saw when he unlocked a door and urged her inside the cabin.

  Rotating in a circle, she scanned the room in amazement. Surely, it was a woman’s bedchamber. The bed had a pink coverlet and pillows and an ornate mirror hung on one wall over a chest. The chest was constructed of polished wood, a scarce commodity in this age. A turquoise hair brush, comb and side mirror lay on the top of the wooden chest. A thick rug in pale blue with white spiral patterns covered the floor. A tapestry woven with flowers in glowing colors hung over the bed. Few people living on a planet’s surface had such luxuries in their bedrooms. Richly furnished cabins were even rarer on spacecraft, as she was well aware in her guise as the wealthy Mistress Trina Sligo.

  While she stood at the edge of the room, afraid to step on the rug in her filthy boots, the lock clicked and the door swung open. An older woman walked inside, dressed in the sam
e somber black as the crewmen and their captain. The woman explained, “I’ve come to show you where things are.”

  “A woman slept in this room,” Kat said, still mystified by the luxurious furnishings. “How many women are on this ship?”

  “Not many,” the crewwoman replied curtly. “A special lady slept in this berth.”

  “She had expensive tastes or wealthy friends,” Kat remarked. She was astonished by the splendid fabrics and brilliant colors in the cabin. They were a bright contrast to the stark black clothing favored by the crew.

  “Captain Hawk said you can use her things. You can even wear her dresses,” An expression of disapproval crept over the woman’s face. “You’d better wash first. Come in here, girl!”

  Kat edged around the luxurious rug to an inner door. The enclosed alcove held a fresher. Wonderful! Kat smiled with pleasure at the chance to be really clean for the first time since she had left the scout ship. She had skulked around the docks for five days while waiting for an opportunity to break into the Emperor’s Revenge. The crewwoman gave her soap and towels and urged her into the alcove.

  As she stepped eagerly into the fresher, Kat recalled her brown stained skin and hair. The brown dye would wash away. It was already starting to fade. After the shower, she would resume the classy face of Mistress Trina Sligo. Would Black Hawk be astonished by her altered countenance? Still, she had little to lose. They had not mistreated her as the thief, Grey Kat. Why should they mistreat the wealthy lady? She remained wary, yet resolved to wash herself clean of the dirt and brown stains.

  When she had washed, she wrapped a towel about her naked body and stepped into the bedroom. The crewwoman was waiting and remarked in surprise, “Your skin has washed much lighter. Was it dyed or merely grimy?”

  Katrina smiled and murmured, “I wore a dark shade for concealment.” She looked around the room and asked, “Do you have clean clothes for me to wear?”