Price retrieved a black metal box from his footlocker and went to Ramirez's side. “He was not my favourite crew mate. Why did they torture you?” He asked.
“It was a demonstration. Wheeler said he needed Captain to take him seriously. Makes sense, I've never heard of the bastard before.”
“You are fortunate the weapon he uses causes mass cauterization. There is virtually no bleeding.”
“Lucky, heh.” Ramirez muttered. “Have anything for the pain? I wish I could just pass out.”
“No, my race does not generally require pain management. I do have three doses of active medical nanobots though. They're infantry grade,” he replied, holding up an injector. “Do you have any physical or religious problems that would prohibit-”
“Just patch me up already!”
Price injected the nanobots right below Ramirez's hip. “Considering the severity and depth of the injury, this will itch profoundly.”
“I don't feel anything yet.”
Price gestured for Finn to come down from the top bunk then cocked his head at Ramirez. “Any sensations?”
He shrugged. “A little tingling, pain isn't as bad,” a moment later his leg twitched and he gripped the bedding. “Holy hell, that's not itching! It's more like my leg's on fire from the inside!” He shouted out so loudly they were sure they could probably hear him ship wide.
Price snatched a pillow from his bunk and put it on Ramirez's face just hard enough to muffle his screams. Finn took hold of his ankles and tried to keep him from kicking too much. He looked down at the man's leg and could see the flesh knitting. The nanobots were invisible, but their work was obvious. Before his eyes, veins, muscle, and skin were repaired and in the space of less than a minute the injury was just gone.
Ramirez pulled the pillow off his face and laughed as he checked his injury. “You should have told me they were old emergency nanos. I've heard of them but never used 'em before.”
“I always have a medical kit near at hand. I'm sorry I didn't pay for a better one.”
“No, hombre, you did good here. I just thought when some of those old soldiers said; it itches, it was like an itch. Not every nerve in your leg getting hit like you just smacked your funny bone with a sonic jack hammer.”
Finn looked up at the porthole and saw the stars moving quickly. “We're underway,” he climbed to the top bunk and put his face against it so he could see outside better. “Headed to open space at a pretty high speed. The emitters are still powered down though, so I don't think we're going into hyperspace just yet.”
“I only hope the Captain and Stephanie can find us before we're out of the area.”
“Captain has all kinds of ways to track his ship. They'd have to turn everything off and dock us inside a shielded bay for him to lose sight of us.”
Price dug around in his footlocker a little more then produced a small centimetre by centimetre box. “I have some dermal transmitters, in case we get separated. We will be able to communicate on a discreet channel.”
Ramirez looked at the box. “Normally I hate those things. They don't have much of a range and you can't take 'em off. In this case, I can't refuse.” He took the box, placed it against his jawbone and pressed the button. The feeling of the tiny, invisible communicator knitting into his skin made him shudder. He knew it was made so the user wouldn't even know it was there, but he swore he could still feel it just under the flesh.
Agameg Price implanted one into his cheekbone and offered it to Finn. “Just press it against my jawbone?”
“Yes, the transmitter will pick up the vibrations of your speech. It will also send vibrations that your ear canal will pick up so you can hear incoming transmissions. It will only work with others who have transmitters from this box or use this frequency.”
Finn expected a pinch, some kind of pain as he pressed the box up against his jawbone but he only heard a click, then another click. “I think I implanted two, sorry.”
“Don't worry, these are cheap leisure items. Spacerwares sells them for a few credits at the counter. They only have a range of approximately half a kilometre.”
“Hooray for impulse buyer items. These are just half a notch better than proximity radio,” Ramirez said with a smile. “I can already hear you both through the transmitter though. It's checking out.”
“I am terrible for spending my entire budget on the first aisle and the counter. I once became lost in Spacerwares and almost bought a shuttleboard and the impact armour that goes with it.”
“Now those are fun, there's nothing like hovering along at three hundred klicks an hour. They cost a fortune if you buy the brand name one though.”
“Yes, seeing the advertisement on the box was so exciting, I momentarily forgot about my living conditions. Stephanie caught me while I was waiting in line to pay and asked if I truly needed one. I am glad she stopped me, I haven't found a practical use for one yet.”
Finn was still looking out the port hole, and he could see the engines had swivelled and begun firing. “We're decelerating but there's nothing in front of us.”
“Perhaps we're entering a holding pattern? Can you see the planet?”
“Nope, there's nothing in sight from this angle.” He flinched, startled at something outside. “Whoa!”
“What?” Ramirez asked.
“We're inside a hangar, but I didn't see the ship coming up. We were in open space one minute, then suddenly we're in a hangar.”
“How does that happen?”
The sounds of the ship gently landing came from below decks. “It must be a cloaked ship,” Agameg commented.
“You're right.”
“Well, as long as they don't completely drain the power from the Samson the Captain will be able to find us. It'll be harder though.” Ramirez commented.
“The crew here will find any signals emitted by the ship, so he won't have much time to track us down. We'll have to try and find our own solution,” Finn said with determination. “Is there any way out of this room?”
“Yes, there's a maintenance hatch just here.” Agameg pointed at the deck plating. “It lets out into the hallway below.”
“That's some pretty sloppy planning,” Ramirez commented. “Locking everyone in their quarters probably wasn't the best idea,” he reached under his mattress and pulled out a pistol.
“Okay, so once we get down there, I'll head for the Big Surprise. If anything will knock out the cloaking field on the ship we've landed on that'll do it. It'll make us a lot easier to find and might buy us time.”
“That's an excellent idea!” Price whispered excitedly.
“We should get moving, if I were running a ship capture I'd be moving everyone on the Samson into my own brig. When I get to a communications console I'll see if I can patch in and get in touch with Aucharian Command. They might be able to help us.”
Price quietly removed a half meter by half meter deck plate and pushed a bundle of cables aside. “I'll go first since I'm the most flexible,” reaching down he unclipped the latch that held one edge of the ceiling plate in place then put his head down against it so he could see through the crack. He couldn't see anyone in that direction, so he proceeded to carefully unlatch the other side of the plate. It swung open to reveal a crew member looking up quizzically and without a moment's hesitation Agameg jumped down.
He landed in a heap atop the surprised boarder and struggled to disarm him. “I mean you no harm!” Agameg insisted as quietly as he could while he struggled to disarm the man trapped beneath him.
Ramirez dropped through the hatch narrowly missing the pair and pointed his handgun at the boarder, clearing his throat. “Hand it over.”
The boarder stopped struggling and handed his weapon to Agameg. “Don't kill me, I'm just a hired hand.”
“I believe you,” Ramirez said with a smirk before knocking him out cold with the butt of his sidearm.
Agameg injected him with a strong sedative before stuffing him into an access panel. It was a
tight fit, but he'd wake up with nothing more than a headache and a cramped neck. Agameg lead the way down the corridor to a ladder.
“They really didn't bring many people for this,” Ramirez said quietly. “No wonder they locked everyone in their quarters.”
Finn patched into the ship surveillance systems using a small, two millimetre thick computer panel he had brought with him. He flipped through the different sections of the ship and nodded to himself. “Security is limited to berths and the bridge.”
Ramirez looked at the flat computer terminal then up to Finn. “That would have been real helpful a little while ago.”
“I didn't think of it,” he shrugged as he brought up a view of the bridge again. Ashley was being pulled out of the pilot's seat and two other new crew members provided by the Aucharians were being walked off the bridge with four boarders behind them. “It looks like they're on the move.”
“See if you can listen in on comms,” Ramirez inquired as they made their way down the hall.
He started the signal search so his small computer could pick up any active communications, and it finally did. “-it's the third moon around Varman.”
“We will be there in ten minutes sir.”
“Good, get the rest of the security team down to bay two. We're taking the Samson crew into custody.”
“Right away sir.”
“That's Wheeler,” Ramirez said. “Man I want payback in the worst way.”
The trio put on their vacsuit headpieces and entered the small launch bay containing the Big Surprise, a long collection of energy storage devices strapped together. “How do you wish to do this?” Agameg asked. “The Big Surprise will not sustain a full charge for long.”
“Well, maybe if we set it to detonate in fifteen minutes,” Finn offered.
“Yes, that would give the ship time to enter a stable orbit.”
“What if they land instead?” Ramirez asked. “If we detonate it while they're in the air it could end in a crash.”
Price and Finn just looked at each other for a moment. “I'll stay here,” they said at the same time.
“What about a remote detonation?” asked Ramirez.
“There is always a chance it wouldn't work,” Agameg explained.
“He's right, someone has to stay, even if they put it on a short timer and run for it so they don't get flash fried.”
“Okay, so someone stays while the other two go their separate ways and try to find out what's going on or rescue the rest of the crew,” Ramirez said.
“Go Agameg, you can shape shift. I'll stay here, wiring this thing to a timer is easy.”
“Good luck Finn. Give yourself enough time to escape.”
“Fantastic, now go get that guard's uniform and mix in so you're not noticed. I'll drop out of the rear hatch and make a run for it. Meanwhile, try to patch into communications and get word out to the Auchorians,” Ramirez said with a smile. “This is going to be interesting.”
Finn was left alone moments later and he wired the Big Surprise's detonator into his fifteen by thirty centimetre computer. The systems were primitive, so it was very easy for him to program it to operate on a two minute timer. When he hit the trigger the timer would start and he'd have to get off the Samson to guarantee his survival.
One corner of his panel was switching from one security display to the next, and he could see that everyone on the bridge had been escorted off the ship. They'd start moving people from the berth soon, and when they found out they were missing three there would be trouble.
He connected to ship communications and found the number for the Aucharian Minister of Defence. A moment later a serious looking fellow came up on a quarter of his display. “Minister of Defence's office. How may I direct your call?”
“Hello, I'm a crew member of the Samson. We have been hijacked, and-”
“Hold please,” said the fellow, looking startled.
Finn looked back at the security feeds and could see Ramirez lowering himself through the rear hatch. He was running for the nearest doorway as soon as his feet hit the ground. As Finn panned the exterior view from the Samson's outer sensors, he realized there was no one around to see Ramirez. He couldn't have had better timing. The security force and boarders were busy moving their captives to the larger ship's brig. He panned back and saw that Ramirez had made it through a sliding doorway.
“Holy crap, there's a whole other launch bay here with old gutted fighters and what looks like some kind of wreckage, but there's no one here,” Finn could hear Ramirez moving. He was sprinting short distances, stopping for a moment, then sprinting again. “I don't even see anyone on watch down here. I'm going to see what I can find up top. There's an emergency ladder here.”
“Okay, good luck,” Finn whispered as he watched the internal security display switch to Agameg. He had changed into the boarder's vacsuit and was carrying him down the hall. “What are you doing Price?”
“I am putting this fellow into an upright storage locker. He will be more comfortable there and no one will hear him when he wakes up, which will be soon.”
“How is his comfort our problem?” Ramirez argued in a whisper. “Drop him under some plating somewhere and try to be inconspicuous, willya?”
“Opportunities for kindness should not be bypassed if one can help it. You never know who this person was to me in a previous life or if we could meet him again in the future.”
“Fine! Just hurry up!”
Finn just shook his head and watched Agameg carefully put the man into a large upright storage locker. He woke up just as the door was closing and it had to be forced at the last minute. “That's lucky,” he said to himself as he watched Agameg pat the locker door and walk towards the main gangway. He had taken the appearance of the boarding member perfectly, as far as Finn could see on his small screen. His mannerisms were unchanged, however.
“I am going to try and find out where the brig is and if there is anything I can do to help the rest of the crew,” he said quietly through his transmitter.
“Thank you for holding, I'm Lieutenant Harmon. How may I help you?” said a woman with a short hair cut as she came up on the sub screen of Finn's computer.
“I'm a crew member on the Samson. You know, Captain Jake Valance's crew. We've been hijacked by someone named Lucius Wheeler and are on our way to Nissa, it's the third moon around a planet named Varman.”
“I'm sorry Finn, I wish we could help but it clearly states in the privateering documentation that we can't dispatch a ship to aid you unless you are having difficulties during an active military engagement.”
“The crew is being taken prisoner right now! We're inside some kind of carrier that's cloaked. I can decloak it, but-”
“So you're in control of the vessel? I suggest you plot a course to the nearest military facility in that system so we can send infantry aboard to assist.”
“I'm not in control of anything except this big EMP bomb! It'll probably decloak the ship but-”
“I'm sorry, we can't help you and I'm not cleared to have detailed knowledge of your situation. Good luck,” she said before cutting the transmission.
Finn sat there steaming for a moment.
“They're not going to help us?” Ramirez said in disbelief.
“You heard it right, they'll take our help but when it comes to saving us, it's none of their business.”
“What the hell is wrong with those people? No wonder their losing.”
Finn sighed and tried to shake it off. “Are you anywhere near a computer terminal?”
“Yup, there's an active one right here. It's in an empty bunk room. Smells like this place has been empty for years.”
“Can you patch me in?”
“I think I can, what's the computer you're using called?”
“Finn zero five.”
“Okay, here goes. Hopefully alarms don't start going off.”
Finn's screen went completely blank and for a moment he thought his computer was
fried. As his heart began to sink it came back to life, giving him the basic information on the Triton and its location. His eyes went wide. “Sol System Defence Zhan Class Close Combat Carrier Triton? Who is this guy?”
“What, this ship is from Earth?” Ramirez asked.
“Yes, but it's been registered to Lucius Wheeler through the Core Worlds. The records are public but they're a mess. One section says it was a salvaged wreck while the next says it was bought at auction as a bare hull. The computer system is marked as being manufactured on Mars, the reactors were developed at Io Research Station and the keel was laid down at the Saturn Ship Yards.”
“So you think this guy is from Earth?”
“No, I think he got his hands on this thing somehow though. It almost looks stolen but how you steal a combat carrier I can't even begin to imagine. Looks like an impressive ship though. Three main hangars, three launch bays and it says it's styled after an ocean creature called a stingray.”
“Can you get access to the security systems? Where are our people being taken?”
“Oh, let me see.” Finn tried to access a full layout of the ship and the corresponding database and to his surprise he got in. He brought up the brig's location and checked for anyone nearby. “The internal sensors are showing our people, I think it's our people, they're marked red with blue markers around them showing the security team. Anyway, they're being moved to the brig, it's four decks above you in the aft section.”
“I'll work on it. Can you somehow stop the ship's sensors from tracking me?”
“I'll try,” Finn tapped on the red blip that represented Ramirez and found he could mark him as a Triton crew member. “Well, you shouldn't set any alarms off I don't think. They don't have any computer security set up.”
“That's strange.”
“We have some strange activity in the lower emergency quarters sir.” Finn overheard through the Triton's communications system.
“All right, I'm sending someone to check it out,” Wheeler replied.
“Um, there are people on their way to check on the section you're in Ramirez,” Finn said.
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