Galactic Bandits Compilation

by Duke Campbell

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  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 h
elp,” 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.

  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.

  It had scattered the traffic lanes.

  “Let’s do that again!” Bob said, pumping a fist.

  Squit took her seat next to Bob. Arkei was already strapped into her seat again. Regan was the last one standing, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to sit down. He didn’t feel much like a captain at that point. He felt reckless and overly confident.

  He looked at the ships scattered about.

  “Will they be okay?” Regan asked.

  “They’ll be fine,” Straya said. “A jolt to their electrical systems is all.”

  Like an EMP.

  Calico tried to find a bright side. “At least with all the chaos, nobody can trace it back to us.”

  She was only met with grumbles. Regan appreciated it, though.

  Regan was about to take a seat when the red light went off. It was a call. And like everyone else in the room, Regan assumed it was Salvato.

  Regan pressed the button.

  Luckily, it was Tookie, who had a new greasy sandwich in his hands and crumbs sticking to his tongue. As disgusting as Tookie was, Regan welcomed a friendly face.

  “Tookie!”

  “Well, I’ve seen you all look better,” Tookie commented, squinting at the sight of them.

  “I hope you have some good news for us,” Regan said, taking his seat.

  “I do. I got his location. Salvato is at the Unmined Jewel casino. It’s an asteroid in the area. I’m forwarding the coordinates to you now.”

  Regan buckled his seat belt and put his hands behind his head, looking at Tookie with a smile. It was time to get back on track.

  “Thank you, Tookie,” Regan said.

  “Good luck, human,” Tookie said before signing off.

  Regan looked at his crew, none of whom were operating the controls at that point, still adjusting to the impact from the blast.

  “Team, I messed up back there,” he said. “I acted too quickly.”

  “Captain,” Reverie said. “We’re still alive, and our enemy who was trying to kill us is not.” She reached out and touched his arm as she said this.

  The other ladies nodded. Even Arkei, though she said nothing, gave Regan a nod of understanding.

  “Can we get to this asteroid casino?” Regan asked.

  “Actually, the blast likely rendered many authorities non-operational for a while,” Straya said. “And it put many radar systems down too, so we can just cruise up there.”

  “I have the coordinates entered, and it’s not that far away,” Calico said. “I think we can make it just fine.”

  Regan nodded and commanded, “Let’s go kick some gangster ass.”

  He took a deep breath and leaned back into his seat.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  The accidental distraction caused by Regan allowed their ship to easily navigate toward the Unmined Jewel Casino, though he still felt guilty about how it went down. Since giving the order to head to the asteroid, Regan didn’t say much.

  But he knew it wouldn’t be
long before one of his crew members said something. Arkei had been furious with him in the hallway, but Regan knew he hadn’t heard the last of it. Though he was the captain, the girls wouldn’t leave it at that. Of course, it was Straya who took the jab.

  “So, Captain…” Straya started. “I understand that you had to take action to get us out of a dangerous situation, but did you really dump all the antimatter modules?”

  Regan wasn’t sure he knew the answer to that question, but considering they were all contained nice and neat in a crate, he doubted any other modules somehow weren’t in the crate.

  “I dumped an entire crate,” he said. “So, if that was all of them, then yes, that’s what happened.”

  “I had removed all of them for inspection,” Posha noted.

  Straya shot him a look. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

  “But, it worked, didn’t it?” Regan asked.

  A grumble crept through the bridge. No one agreed nor disagreed.

  “Captain, I’m not sure you understand the full ramifications of this,” Calico said.

  Regan considered admitting this was true, but he also didn’t want to do anything to create uncertainty in his abilities as a captain. Not that he thought his crew would demand any change, but it was a sense of pride for him. Regan had made it this far, had made it to the captain’s chair, and now had done something stupid that could have serious ramifications, ramifications he wasn’t even fully aware of.

  It was a time to trust his crew and not play the tough guy.

  “Calico, tell me, are we unable to use the FTL drive now?” Regan asked.

  “Captain, we have one good jump left, but we must save it,” Calico responded. She said it simply and directly, not with spite or coldness, which Regan appreciated.

  But Straya didn’t handle it as well. She asked, her voice snippy, “Do you have any idea how much those were worth?”

  Regan admitted he didn’t, and Straya put her hand to her forehead, her other hand balled up in a fist.

  Regan looked at her and waited for her to get out whatever it was she needed to. But when she spun around in her seat and made eye contact with him, she composed herself a bit more.