Chronicles of the 23rd Century: Hijacked

by Paul J. Fleming

  ‘I will not kill you Mr Ranger,’ the man said as Walker fell to the ground. ‘I want no blood spilt in this undertaking aside from that of the Martians who deserve it! The Captain’s demise was entirely unexpected and unfortunate, but that coupled with your annoying presence here will not divert us from the task we have at hand.’

  As he slipped into unconsciousness Walker was vaguely aware of the rifle bearers herding the crew together.

  ‘So stupid..’ he thought to himself moments before his eyes closed.

  4 In Memoriam

  ‘That’s it! Notification received from our friends on the bridge that the virus is uploaded, so any minute now we should…aha! There we go, the security is down and we have full access to the drive computer from here.’

  ‘Good, now take this and upload it into the core.’

  ‘What? No, we’re just meant to lock the system wide open and lock the interface. The boss said nothing about uploading any program?’

  ‘Well, he must have forgotten now mustn’t he? Last minute change in our plans and all that. In any case it is my money which is financing this little enterprise so take the data chip and upload the program, or do I have to shoot you and do it myself?’

  ‘Okay, okay! Fine, just point that somewhere else will you? Don’t really care as long as we get paid. Hand me the chip …. Now we just insert it into here and bobbity boom! There, your little program is uploaded and now resident in the core. Wait…. What’re you doing?’

  ‘You look surprised? Well now that the liner is in our hands and my little program installing itself into the onboard computer system I think there’s no harm in advising you that I was simply using your little gang of miscreants to get me this far, but now it’s time for us to part company…’

  The whine of a laser pistol rang out within the reactor chamber and although Jenner was straining to listen in on the conversation from her position of concealment, the urge to actually ‘see’ what had happened rose within her as the conversation was brutally ended. She felt a sensation of utter fear and betrayal which was then replaced by an almost overbearing feeling of overconfidence as she remained still and let her gifts provide her with a little more information on the unseen happenings.

  Quite obviously, the incursion had all been going to plan until this new development emerged and the present sense of accomplishment was her reading of the remaining individual by the reactor core control system. Another quite obvious fact was that he had just murdered his former accomplice and it just so happened there was a Ranger on hand to bring him to justice.

  Turning slightly to face Oswald who was crouched beside her in their place of concealment, she gestured with her right hand that she wanted him to stay down and stay put, bringing her forefinger to her lips to indicate that he should also stay silent as he made a move to protest.

  Another quick check of her pistol ensured it was ready for action and she took a long deep breath.

  There was a distinct part of her being which wanted Walker to be there also, just for added support in bringing this perp down but she quickly shook off the thought. There was absolutely no reason she couldn’t handle this one alone, as well as the fact she had no idea where Walker was or how he was. No longer was she the timid young girl who had escaped ridicule within the refugee camp on Earth, always seemingly dependant upon others for her well-being.

  No.

  She was strong, confident and able to handle things herself. She was a Ranger and she had a clear duty to perform.

  Springing up from her concealment, she brought the pistol to bear on the area of the control panel and the figure who stood beside it, hunched over slightly as he inspected the display screen. Beside him on the floor was the crumpled corpse of his former associate.

  ‘Okay Mister, no sudden movements. Drop the pistol and put your hands out where I can see them, slowly! Agent Jenner, Solar Ranger Corps, and you my unfortunate friend are under arrest for the murder of .. well that guy who’s blood is seeping through the cracks between the deck plates!’

  The figure complied with her instructions with the laser pistol clattering to the deck plating aside the body of his victim, straightening up from his hunched posture and turning slowly to face his captor as he held out his hands to his sides. As Jenner slowly moved out from behind the console she had used as cover when her and Oswald saw they had company on entering the reactor chamber, she held her aim on the man but could not help being concerned over not only the thin smile which was creeping onto his lip but the ever present feeling of confidence which was emanating from him.

  He had been caught red handed, but yet still retained a haughty air of assuredness? Something was not right.

  ‘Ah, the Ranger who has been cowering nearby. Good, I was wondering when you were going to show yourself,’ he said calmly and clearly.

  His words sent a cold chill through Jenner. The guy had seemingly known they were there? Any yet he had still blatantly murdered the man at his feet?

  She moved cautiously closer to him, closely inspecting his face for any tell tale signs of deception but the meticulously groomed jet black hair and handsome face with slight reddish tint only revealed to her that he was of Martian heritage. Compared to the overalls of the man crumpled on the floor, this individual’s clothing was quite obviously made of expensive material, the almost velvet effect of his knee length jacket causing light and dark tones of blue to mingle randomly and he moved slightly and the harsh lighting of the reactor room played across it’s surface.

  ‘So you knew I was there all along? Well what a clever little Marshie you are, now prove how clever you are by lying face down on the floor with your arms out to your sides.’

  ‘Oh nothing clever about it my young lady, you see this little device I have here on my left wrist,’ he said as he twisted his outstretched left arm about to clearly reveal the device spoken of, ‘well this detects energy signatures within my immediate vicinity, such as those emitted by your weapon there and also the active tag, which I assume is around a limb of a still concealed prisoner you have with you? You see, those particular tags are used only by the Ranger Corps, and as you lot don’t tend to let your prisoners wander off alone, nor have active weaponry then it was a fair assumption I was being shadowed by a prisoner being escorted by an armed ranger. Obviously it could have been the prisoner who had managed to evade his captor and obtain a sidearm, but you lot are more meticulous and efficient than to let that happen aren’t you?’

  ‘Very clever, now down on the ground mister,’ she instructed, her caution increasing as she felt a sense of amusement growing in her target to accompany the already present overconfidence.

  ‘I am unarmed and offering no resistance Agent Jenner, is there really a need for me to lie down? I fear the blood of this poor soul will make a tremendous mess of my suit.’

  Right at that moment she really wished Walker would appear. She didn’t care for appearing independent or proving herself, the fact was that the Martian she was faced with was all too composed for her liking. A furtive glance about her position revealed no concealed advantage for her captive.

  ‘Is there something wrong Agent?’ He cooed glibly as he too glanced from side to side to mimic her glances. ‘I assure you there are no nasty surprises lurking in the shadows. Now, quite clearly you can see that I shot this man who was tampering with the drive computer systems but do you know why? Would you like to know also why your attempt to bring me to justice will fail so miserably?’

  Jenner’s brow furrowed at his words.

  ‘No I wouldn’t,’ she retorted. ‘I simply record your crime and then take you in for processing. It’s up to the council to hear your pleas and excuses and determine your fate. Oh, and as for failing to bring you to justice, well I’m half way to succeeding so if you’d be so kind as to shut up we’ll enjoy our time together a lot more as I go all the way and prove you wrong.’

  ‘Yes, I concede you are part way there but sadly will never reach the end. My asso
ciates will see to that.’

  Suddenly she became acutely aware that his gaze in her direction was not so much at her but something behind her. So much for her gifts, as she had been so focussed on the quarry before her she had made such a simple error of becoming much too absorbed in his apprehension and had failed to remain aware of her immediate surroundings and more importantly, what was transpiring to her rear.

  The sensation of anger and surprise rolled over her mind as she spun about to face the three individuals who had entered into the reactor room but her reaction was enough to distract from the Martian’s quick movements and the small pistol which darted out from within his sleeve to rest within the palm of his right hand, soon to emit a lancing bolt which sliced into her lower back and through her torso to emerge from her abdomen just beneath her ribs, causing a sensation of searing pain to overcome every other conscious thought. Her own shot went wildly wide as her finger squeezed on the trigger, her body soon to be impacted repeatedly by bolt after bolt of energy from the weapons borne by the surprised entrants to the room.

  Such a textbook error. She wished Walker had been there as her legs buckled and she fell into a crumpled heap to the deck plating, her life ebbing away as her blood seeped from her body and pooled about her.

  ‘She surprised us both,’ she heard the Martian announcing loudly, easily laying the blame for his associate’s demise on her shoulders. ‘He stood no chance, she just fired!”

  She lay on the deck, the words she wanted to form in protest being stalled in her throat as blood bubbled on her lips and streaked from the corner of her mouth. She had no idea now badly she was hit, but everything pointed to the fact that her chances were slim.

  The sight of the lighting above her was obscured, the handsome face of the Martian looking down upon her, soon to be replaced by the muzzle of the small hold-out pistol aimed squarely at her forehead.

  ‘As I said. You will fail miserably,’ his voice said before the pistol let out it’s familiar high pitched whine as the energy bolt ended her life.

  5 Recovery

  Walker had become very aware of a voice in close proximity to him, the words spoken were encouraging or even pleading him to rouse himself and emerge from his slumber. For a moment he had wondered whether it was part of a dream but the intense pain which presented itself in the base of his neck and along his left shoulder indicated he was indeed back in the harshness of reality.

  Groaning slightly at the effort to raise his head from it’s position where his chin rested upon his chest, he took note that someone had gone to the effort of at least sitting him upright and he was spared the embarrassment of picking himself up off the floor.

  ‘He’s coming around!’ The voice eagerly announced and then in a more calmer tone, ‘Easy now, that was quite a blow you took back there.’

  ‘Back there?’ Walker said through gritted teeth as he raised his left hand up to try and gently massage the extremely painful area of his neck and shoulder. ‘We’re not on the bridge anymore?’

  ‘No sir, we were moved into the Captain’s ready room. A couple of us brought you in here too. We didn’t want to just leave you out there at the mercy of that gang of pirates.’

  Walker focussed his eyes on the concerned long thin face of the young man who knelt before him, his thin attempt at a moustache staking claim to his upper lip which twitched slightly as he found himself under scrutiny.

  ‘Don’t crowd him then, let him have some air,’ a female voice instructed and the young man nodded slightly as he settled back on his haunches, allowing a more mature woman to lean forward and hold a glass filled with water down before Walker. ‘Here you go dear, this might help you a little. It’s only water I’m afraid, but enough to wet your whistle.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Walker said genuinely taken aback by the concern and generosity he had awoken to after such a sequence of events which saw him immobilised. He accepted the glass from the woman with his right hand and raised it up to his lips, taking a sip at first just to taste the water but then tipped the glass upwards as he downed the remainder of it’s contents in one thirsty gulp.

  ‘Well someone’s thirsty,’ the woman said with a measure of pleasure in her voice that her gift had gone down so well. ‘Would you like another dear?’

  Walker nodded slowly and handed the glass up to her with his thanks, then proceeded to try standing as he used the wall to prop himself against, pushing with his legs and sliding upwards against it.

  ‘Not too quickly. We were truly worried about you!’

  ‘It’s okay,’ Walker quickly replied as he waved away the offer of assistance. ‘Not the first time I’ve been cold-cocked by some lunatic. Speaking of which, where are they now? Out on the bridge?’

  ‘We don’t know,’ the woman replied before the young man could form his answer. She handed over the refilled glass to Walker who gratefully accepted it once more, taking a sip and then levelling his gaze at the woman. ‘When they put us in here they quite clearly stated the first one to poke their nose out of that door would have it shot off. Likewise if we tried anything with the Captain’s terminal they would come in and randomly shoot one of us.’

  Walker scrutinised her features quickly, but determined that she was speaking the truth, coupled with the facts that her faced was lined with age and her hair was obviously going grey all over which meant she had survived this long out here so would prefer to continue surviving. The young man beside her was seemingly timid and there was a frightened look about his eyes which gave Walker the distinct impression he was not about to face down a group of marauding pirates.

  A quick glance down at the holster he wore confirmed his thought that they would have disarmed him before the group hauled him off, so whatever he was going to do was without the help of his trusty sidearm. His wrist communicator was missing too, so he had no chance of calling on Jenner for help up here. Chances were she had her hands full anyway down below decks.

  Pushing away from the wall, he drained the remaining water from the glass and passed it to the woman.

  ‘Okay then, they wanted everyone to stay inside and wanted us to stay away from the console, probably to avoid us checking the internal sensors. Maybe it’s time we took a chance and asked them what their demands are eh?’

  As he turned to face the door the young man shot out his arm and gripped Walker’s right bicep, halting his movement slightly before retracting his hand quickly and looked apologetic as he spoke to justify his actions.

  ‘You’re going out there?! Well if it helps, before the door was closed I overheard one of the people with the guns saying something about not hearing from their other team? Does that help at all?’ He said quickly with both eyebrows raised with an inquiring look.

  ‘Yes it does, thanks … sorry I don’t even know you name?’

  ‘I’m Jacob,’ the young man replied keenly with a smile creeping onto his face. ‘The mother of us all over there is Simone and that’s Mark, Justine and Trevor,’ he reeled off as he identified his compatriots within the small room, starting with the woman who had handed Walker the water and then the three who sat upon the couch which furnished one wall of the room.

  ‘Well thank you all,’ Walker said as he nodded to each of them in acknowledgement of their help. ‘Now stay in here and let me do the talking out there, don’t come out to help me at all. I don’t want anyone getting hurt out there.’

  His words were acknowledged and he felt a sense of relief as the last thing he wanted was a bunch of have a go heroes to look out for in a powder keg situation.

  Turning to the door, he tapped the panel to instruct it to slide open before him, allowing him to step out cautiously onto the bridge but to his slight confusion and relief it was devoid of any presence. No guns swinging about to threaten his continued existence, no words of warning or impending doom. Nothing. No one. They had left.

  ‘It’s okay,’ he called back into the room through the still open door. ‘Looks like our unwelcome guests have left
the party already. Jacob? Any chance you could check the system and see what they were up to?’

  As he spoke his eyes roved about the bridge, scouring the surfaces for any sign of booby traps which may have been left behind, but nothing stood out from the normal panels filled with switches and blinking lights.

  Moving away from the door to the ready room as Jacob made his way onto the bridge and took position at a forward terminal, Walker stooped slightly and recovered the Captain’s sidearm which was still clipped into his holster. There was charge in the clip and he was pretty sure no one would mind him borrowing it, least of all the Captain who had been so cruelly murdered right before Walker’s eyes.

  ‘I have no access to propulsion or navigation,’ Jacob called over to him as he interrogated the panel before him. ‘In fact aside from monitoring everything that is happening I have no actual control over anything,’ he added with a tone of frustration.

  Simone had made her way to the station next to the one Jacob occupied and was making a few requests of her own of the computer system.

  ‘If I might add to that dear, the computer tells me that the emergency evacuation protocol is engaged and our passengers are all presently boarding the lifeboats. In fact it looks like the last of them has now boarded and they are being prepped for launch. What about us then? Were they just going to leave us up here to die?!’

  Her voice ended with a tinge of anger at the thought they were simply being abandoned to a fiery death, but as she calmed herself she shook her head a few times and agreed with Jacob’s analysis that their level of interaction was simply to observe. Her bridge controls were also locked out from issuing any form of override instructions.

  ‘If we can observe, can we use the sensors?’ Walker enquired with a hope that it may just give them a heads up over their aggressors’ movements.