by Jake Bible
Yellow Eyes snagged the drive and was gone.
"Why did we not moltrans out?" Klib asked.
"Mainframe room," Roak said. "Shielded. Otherwise mainframes would go missing all the time."
"He's on the ship," Nimm said. "Checking the log now."
"We wait here?" Klib asked. "We should leave."
"Hold on," Roak said.
"We have coordinates," Nimm said.
"Now we leave," Roak said. "Nimm? Grab us from the lift."
"You'll need to be at least one deck up," Nimm said. "Otherwise we won't get a good lock."
"One deck up," Roak replied.
He and Meshara left the mainframe room and jogged to the lift without waiting for Klib.
"Hey!" Klib yelled. "Where are you going?"
She barely made it into the lift before the doors closed.
"Nimm? Reck? Hessa?" Roak asked. "What's the call with Klib?"
Roak dropped the RX31 and pulled his Flott. He aimed it directly between Klib's eyes.
"If you kill me, your sister will die," Klib said.
"I doubt that," Roak said. "Reck?"
"Pechu is no more," Reck said. "Took her out as soon as we had the coordinates. Her security system was surprisingly easy to use against her. You should see what's left. About to have some company, but I can handle them."
"What's the call?" Roak asked again.
"She may be useful," Meshara said. "At least for information."
"I agree," Nimm said.
"She doesn't seem to know a whole lot," Roak replied.
"Wait!" Klib yelled and held up her hands. "I do! I do know a lot!"
"Keep talking," Roak said.
"Chits! I know where the last of the syndicate chits are!"
"That's good," Reck said.
"We could use chits," Nimm added.
"The FIS is sending funds," Hessa said.
"Sending is different than having," Roak said. He focused on Klib. "How many chits are we talking?"
"Sixty-eight million and change," Klib said.
Both Reck and Nimm whistled with appreciation. Meshara looked unimpressed.
"Are they on this planet?" Roak asked.
"No," Klib said.
"Lucky for her," Reck said. "We keep her until we get the chits."
"I'm good in a fight," Klib said. "You are low on beingpower. You could use an extra set of hands."
"Why would we trust you?" Roak asked.
"Is Pechu Magafa dead?" Klib asked.
"Open the channel to her," Roak said.
"Open," Hessa responded.
"Reck, tell her," Roak said.
"Oh, Pechu Magafa is very dead," Reck said. "So are most of the Shilo thugs. Give me a couple more minutes and they'll all be dead."
"There. That's why you can trust me," Klib said. "I'm without a syndicate and out of a job. Who would I betray you to?"
"She has a point," Nimm said.
"She does," Roak said. "We'll keep you around until we have the chits. Prove yourself useful between now and then and we'll discuss keeping you alive longer."
"No," Klib said. "Sixty-eight million chits buys me a permanent spot on your ship."
"I could kill you now," Roak said. "We don't need the chits that bad."
"We kind of do," Reck said. "The ship is taking damage that we'll need to have fixed. And it won't be the only damage we take. We still have to get past those Skrang ships."
Roak thought long and hard. Well, as long and hard as time allowed before the lift moved up one deck.
"We keep her," Roak decided and holstered his Flott just as the lift stopped. "It's your lucky day, Klib."
Roak stumbled as he materialized in the Borgon's moltrans room. Klib had a KL09 pulled and aimed at him.
"I'm not going to the brig again," she said.
"I can take her," Meshara said.
"Hold on." Roak watched Klib a moment and nodded.
"No brig," he said. "Hessa? Put her in a med pod."
"What-?" Klib exclaimed before disappearing. Her armor and weapons were left behind.
"Whatever those thugs down there are sick with, I don't want it spreading," Roak said. He sighed. "Put us in one too."
"I already checked Yellow Eyes," Hessa said. "He is clear."
"Good," Roak said as he appeared inside a med pod. "How long does a scan take?"
"You're good," Hessa said and the med pod opened.
Roak hopped out and walked to the one Klib was in. Meshara and Reck were already standing there. Klib's eyes glared daggers at the two of them.
"What about her?" Roak asked.
"She is not good," Hessa said. "I do not know what it is, but it is not good."
"Can you help her?"
"I'll try."
Roak leaned over the med pod.
"We're going to get away from these Skrang then you're telling us where the chits are," Roak stated and patted the med pod. "Double cross us and you never leave this pod."
"I won't double cross you," Klib said. "I don't want to die like they did back there."
"Can't guarantee that, but we'll figure this out," Roak said.
He patted the med pod again.
"Gotta go escape some Skrang," he said and left the med bay.
Yellow Eyes was waiting for him.
"She's gonna die, huh?" he asked.
"Probably," Roak said. "I glanced at the med pod readings and her systems are already changing."
"Bummer, man," Yellow Eyes said.
"For her, yeah," Roak said.
9.
"Eight Million Gods," Roak exclaimed as he sat down and strapped into the pilot's seat. Not that he was piloting. "That's a lot of ships."
The view screen was filled with incoming syndicate fighters and ships. And all were firing on the Borgon.
"How far off this planet do we need to be before we can transport out of this system?" Roak asked as the ship rocked back and forth from the plasma impacts.
"It's not getting off the planet that matters," Reck said, "but getting the planet off us."
"The smog particulates will interfere with our transporting," Nimm said.
"Great," Roak said. "So we fight through these bastards then fight the Skrang?"
"I told you we would need the chits to repair the ship," Reck said.
"Yeah, if we live," Yellow Eyes said. He cringed at the stares he got. "Hey, just saying what everyone is thinking."
"I'm not thinking that," Roak said. "Hessa. Do what you do best."
"Time and date," Hessa said as the ship raced towards the syndicate armada.
"Not the time to be cute," Roak growled.
"You would know," Hessa replied.
"These two, right?" Yellow Eyes said.
"Everyone hang on," Hessa said.
No one needed to be told, they were already hanging on for dear life as Hessa took the Borgon straight at the incoming ships.
The ship's plasma blasters ripped into the base of a precarious tower of ships and the entire pile began to crumble and collapse. Hessa kept the ship on its course until the very last second when she banked and dove under a falling ship then pulled up hard as soon as she had cleared it. The Borgon just missed being crushed by a few hundred tons of broken cargo vessel as Hessa expertly piloted the ship directly through the barely intact superstructure of the cargo vessel.
The syndicate ships directly in front of the Borgon didn't fare so well.
Three were shredded as parts of the cargo vessel slashed through their hulls. Two were completely flattened as they tried to dive under the falling wreckage, but didn't quite time it right.
And one ship was blown apart by Hessa as it managed to get free of the cargo vessel's skeleton but ended up directly in the Borgon's crosshairs.
"You know, if we boosted the grav dampeners we could really just turn this view screen off and play cards or something while we wait to be free," Yellow Eyes said. "We wouldn't even have to witness this nightmare. It'd be like none of th
is is happening."
Roak glanced at the being and saw that Yellow Eyes' nubs were bone white as he gripped the armrests of his seat.
"You gonna be alright?" Roak asked.
"Thank you for asking, Roak," Yellow Eyes replied. "And no. No, I am not going to be alright. Just feeling a little stressed out. We've had so much coming at us that I-"
"Stop right there," Roak said. "I don't care if you are going to actually be alright or not. I just want to make sure you aren't going to puke everywhere."
"I was wondering the same thing," Reck said.
"You are some cold, cold beings," Yellow Eyes mumbled.
Hessa fired several missiles and destroyed three more syndicate ships. The shrapnel from the explosions crashed against the ship's shields and several klaxons blared.
"Turn all that off," Roak said. "We know how deep the terpigshit is, we don't need a bunch of beeps to tell us."
"Shields are down to forty percent," Nimm stated.
"That's not good, man," Yellow Eyes said. "That is really not good. We aren't even off the planet yet and we still have the Skrang to deal with and then whatever comes at us as we go get the chits then we have to make it from there to go get the ship repaired and-"
"Yellow Eyes!" Roak roared. "Knock it off!"
"Oh. Sorry," Yellow Eyes said. "Was that all out loud?"
Climb, dive. Climb, dive. Fire, fire, fire. Climb, dive, climb, dive.
The ship shook hard.
"That one hurt," Nimm said. "Hessa?"
"I am monitoring it closely," Hessa replied.
"What hurt? What is she monitoring?" Yellow Eyes asked.
"I'll put you in the brig myself," Roak said, pointing at Yellow Eyes. "Zip it."
"Right. Right. Zip it," Yellow Eyes said. "Zipping it. It is zipped."
"Nimm?" Roak asked.
"Aft thrusters are compromised," Nimm said. "That last hit managed to briefly overload the shields directly over the thruster housing and…"
"And…?" Roak asked.
"We're going to lose maneuverability," Nimm said.
"Don't like that," Roak said. "We lose aft thrusters and we'll be nothing but a rocket shooting straight ahead once we leave the atmosphere."
"With Skrang ships directly in front of us," Reck said. "This should be fun."
Yellow Eyes moaned, but didn't open his mouth.
"Hessa, are we going to be able to clear off the atmospheric particles before we crash into one of the Skrang ships?" Roak asked.
"The thrusters aren't offline yet," Hessa replied sending them into a corkscrew climb while she fired all plasma cannons, turning the ship into a whirling devil of death.
"Right. Not yet," Roak said. "But will we be able to-"
"The thrusters are not offline yet!" Hessa shouted.
"You're gonna want to just let her fly," Reck said.
"No shit," Roak said. He settled into his seat as much as he could and watched.
A huge transport ship filled the Borgon's view screen. Hessa did not attempt to fly around it. No one said a word as they raced towards an inevitable collision. It was what it was.
At the very last moment, Hessa fired two missiles, tearing a massive hole in the side of the transport ship. Then she flew them directly into that hole.
Yellow Eyes couldn't keep it zipped any longer and began to scream.
Roak didn't tell him to shut up or try to stop the high-pitched screeching. He was too busy keeping his bladder under control as he stared at the flames, smoke, and flying metal that was the view.
Then they were free and out the other side of the destroyed transport ship and all Roak could see was sky. It was a smog-filled, brown and yellow sky, but it was a sky sans syndicate ships. Yellow Eyes stopped screeching.
"I knew we'd make it," he said.
The brown and yellow quickly became light blue then black and they were out of the planet's polluted atmosphere.
The two Skrang destroyers loomed before them.
"The thrusters are fine!" Hessa shouted before anyone could say anything.
Roak looked at Nimm and she shook her head.
"Great," Roak said.
The Skrang ships grew larger and larger.
"Why aren't they firing on us?" Reck asked.
"They're trying to hail us on comms," Nimm said.
"Ignore it," Roak said.
"They aren't scrambling fighters either," Reck said. "This isn't like the Skrang."
"They need us alive," Roak said. "Hessa?"
"Thrusters are fine!" she shouted again.
"Don't care," Roak replied. "How soon until we can blip away from here?"
"I don't know! Why are you always asking me?" Hessa snapped.
"Hessa? Do you need to take a break?" Nimm asked. "We are more than capable of operating the ship without you if you need a moment."
"A moment would be good," Hessa said.
"Okay. Great," Nimm said, her brows raised in surprise.
"Moment over," Hessa said. "I feel much better. Thank you for the suggestion."
"You sure?" Nimm asked.
"Yep," Hessa said. "Right as rain."
"Hey, we have movement," Reck interrupted. "A hangar door just opened on the ship in front."
"Here come the fighters," Roak said. "Be ready."
No fighters came out.
"They're still hailing us," Nimm said.
"We're still not answering," Roak said. "Nothing is coming out of that hangar?"
"Nothing," Reck responded.
"Except for lights," Yellow Eyes said. "See? Blinky, blinky lights."
"I'm dropping shields," Hessa announced.
That created a little bit of chaos on the bridge.
"What do you mean you're dropping shields?" Reck yelled.
"Do not drop shields, Hessa!" Roak ordered.
"Hessa, we will be completely exposed while facing off with two Skrang destroyers!" Nimm shouted.
Yellow Eyes didn't say anything. He simply kept staring at the Skrang destroyer and the blinky, blinky lights.
"Oh! I get it!" he cried out. "They're trying to tell-"
The view changed and instead of two Skrang fighters looming ahead of them they were staring at a brown and beige planet.
"-us that they're friendly," Yellow Eyes finished. "Oh, whoa…"
"Welcome to Zuus Colony," Hessa said. "I'll comm Bhangul and see if he has space in his hangar."
"No one do an Eight Million Gods damn thing," Roak said. "Yellow Eyes? What do you mean they were trying to tell us they were friendly?"
"They were blinking out code with those lights," Yellow Eyes said. "I guess I can read blinky light code."
"Hessa?" Roak asked.
"He is correct," she replied. "They were trying to tell us they were not hostile and we needed to go with them."
"Why?" Roak asked.
"The blinky lights didn't say why," Yellow Eyes replied and shrugged. "It's not the most efficient way to communicate, you know. Maybe they should have tried comming us… Oh, right…"
"Great," Roak said. "We shelve that for now. Hessa, why are we at Zuus? We don't have the chits yet to repair the ship."
"We do not have a choice, Roak," Hessa said. "The thrusters are obliterated. We'll need to install new ones. Not to mention the fact we don't have operational shields. We won't need to replace the generators, but we will need to recalibrate their entire force spectrum. That takes time and equipment, Roak."
"Both of which take chits," Roak said. "Which we do not have."
"The thrusters are obliterated?" Yellow Eyes asked. He wagged a nub. "You said they were fine."
"Did any of you believe that?" Hessa asked.
There was a resounding "No" from all except Roak.
"Hessa?" Roak asked.
"Yes, Roak?" she replied.
"Are you talking to Bhangul right now?"
"Maybe."
"By maybe do you actually mean yes?"
"Probably."
"
Great. And what are you two talking about?"
"We're working out terms."
"Terms? What terms?"
"Terms of the cost of repairs and whether or not we need to trade a job for those costs or whether he will allow us to repair the ship without paying up front since we're going to retrieve sixty-eight million chits."
"How is the conversation going?"
"Not too well. I believe Bhangul is tired of us sponging off of him."
"Sponging? He used that word?"
"Not exactly. He used a Dornopheous word that is hard to translate."
"The original Dornorpheous word contains more of an implied threat, doesn't it?"
"Oh, you know the word?"
"I've had it thrown at me a few times." Roak sighed. "Put him on the comm."
"-and if Roak thinks I am his-"
"Hey, Bhangul," Roak said. "How is business?"
"Roak? Oh, now you'll talk to me directly," Bhangul Whorp said over the comm. "Send that crazy AI to try to soften me up so you can come in for the kill, is that it?"
"Not it at all," Roak responded. "I didn't know we were coming here and I didn't know Hessa was talking to you. But now that I have you on the comm…"
"You didn't finish your sentence," Bhangul said.
"Do I need to?" Roak replied.
"It would be the polite thing to do, Roak," Bhangul said with a long sigh.
"Any chance we can come down and do a few repairs so we can chase down some needed funds?"
"No."
"Hold on, don't answer so fast. These funds we're chasing down, I can cut you in on them."
"Can you? How much of a cut?"
"Fifty percent? That'd come to about two million chits, Bhangul."
Silence was the response.
"Uh, Roak?" Hessa said. "I may have already told him about the sixty-eight million chits."
"I'll take fifty percent of that," Bhangul said. "Give me half and you can do all the repairs you need to on your ship."
"We both know that you're asking for way too much," Roak said. "It's a little insulting, Bhangul."
"Is it?" Bhangul snapped. "As insulting as you trying to tell me that you were only going to retrieve four million chits? Or as insulting as you always coming here whenever your ship gets a little banged up? A ship, I may add, that I gave you."
"Because the AI was quirky," Roak said. "Which turned out to be an understatement."
"Downright scary is what she is," Bhangul said.