Pirate's Fortune

by Gun Brooke

  “Shields are holding and no damage to the hull.” She ran her finger along the list of reports streaming from the different areas of the Salaceos.

  “Persistent woman,” Podmer muttered. His words were clearly not a compliment. “Fire torpedoes.”

  Weiss punched in commands, and on the large viewscreen, two pale lines showed where the torpedoes pierced the blackness of space between the two ships.

  “Direct hits on their port nacelle. Their aft shields are weakening.” Madisyn’s midsection contracted at the thought of the passengers on the SC ship. What could Podmer possibly want with a luxury cruise vessel like the Koenigin?

  “Another charge. This time full volley,” Podmer said menacingly.

  “Sir,” Weiss said. “That might irreparably damage her, which would compromise your mission.”

  “I intend to shut that woman up for good, but you’re right. I need to get into her computer system. Fire at the other nacelle. Take it out.”

  “Firing.” Weiss glanced at Madisyn as she obeyed Podmer’s orders.

  As the new torpedoes hit, the impact made Madisyn’s chest constrict as a crater appeared where the port nacelle once was.

  “Excellent. Audio again, Pimm.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Podmer to Rhoridan. Ready to see things my way, perhaps? Life support seems to be a rare commodity on your ship.”

  “Damn pirate trash. You’re locusts, and your opportunistic way of life thrives because of the war effort!” Captain Rhoridan was clearly not ready to surrender. Her voice, filled with contempt, suggested that Podmer would not enjoy an easy victory.

  “Your propulsion system is irreparably shot to pieces. You’re leaking plasma and oxygen.” Podmer hissed now, losing his flamboyant cool demeanor more with every minute. “Prepare to be boarded.”

  “You keep repeating yourself,” Rhoridan snarled. “Show yourself here and our welcome might surprise you.”

  “Audio off.” Podmer rose and slowly turned around. His face dark, he pointed at Madisyn. “Pimm, you’re in charge. You and Kyakh take the away team and remove that bitch from the bridge. I want her head.” Podmer handed over a memory device to Madisyn. “This will compress all the data from their main computer console, which is located on the bridge. Load it on this.” He stopped for a moment, then grabbed Weiss’s arm. “You’re her backup. Nothing must go wrong.”

  Weiss turned pale since Podmer had squeezed her newly healed fractured arm. She didn’t let her pain show, but Madisyn knew how sore it still was.

  “Got it.” Weiss looked coolly at Madisyn.

  “Get going.” Podmer resumed his seat in the command chair.

  “Aye, Captain.” Madisyn tucked the computer stick into her uniform and hurried down the ladder with Weiss right behind her. Next to the hangar deck, twenty of what Madisyn thought of as the “mercs”—mercenaries of the worst kind who sold their allegiance to people like Podmer—stood waiting, their hard faces revealing nothing in the soft light. The klaxons still blared.

  “Computer. Mute klaxons,” Weiss said loudly, apparently disliking the repetitive sound as much as Madisyn did. “All right, people, we’re going over in our Troop B shuttle.”

  With Madisyn at the helm, the shuttle lunged through space toward the Koenigin. Debris surrounded its aft section, but Madisyn knew they shouldn’t count the people aboard the cruise ship out just yet. Nobody traveled these sectors without being aware of the threat of piracy. Even regular passenger transports and luxury cruise liners were heavily armed these days.

  Madisyn’s operations console lit up. “They’re firing. Shields on maximum!”

  The shuttle rolled like a ship tossed around in a typhoon. Weiss clung to her harness where she sat next to one of the mercs. Struggling with the helm, Madisyn managed to force the shuttle into a steep climb.

  “Where the hell is that coming from? We took out their weapons array,” Weiss yelled from behind.

  “Sneaky of them, huh?” Madisyn steered the shuttle into a roll. “No matter how they masked this auxiliary array, they sure are making the most of it now.” Madisyn used her internal motion sensors and let her hands fly across the console. She rarely used her non-human abilities in the presence of humanoids, as it only served to set her apart from the others even more. Now their lives could depend on how fast she countermanded Rhoridan’s attack. “Firing short-distance torpedoes.” She tracked the deceptively small missiles as they plunged through space, praying she had programmed them right. She wanted to take out Rhoridan’s weapons, but not add to the hull damages.

  “Good shot, Madisyn,” Weiss called.

  Madisyn let the shuttle do a wide berth, then placed herself parallel with the Koenigin, which wasn’t moving. If the artificial gravity was down, it would be difficult to board.

  “Let’s move.” Weiss motioned for the mercs to unbuckle their harnesses. “We’re docking, people.”

  Madisyn locked the helm and tugged on her combat vest. She hoisted her plasma-pulse rifle and made sure it was set to heavy stun. The mercenaries were most likely not taking any chances, and if they fired any shots, they would shoot to kill. She hated this part of battle.

  Weiss followed suit and was now standing inside the hatch, ready with a shock-grenade. The automated docking sequence aligned their shuttle with one of the outside docking ports, which was a better approach than trying to go via the other ship’s shuttle bay, which was sure to be heavily guarded.

  “We’re through. On my mark.” Weiss raised her hand. After a faint, screeching sound their hatches popped open and Weiss tossed the grenade through. The deafening bang startled Madisyn, and she was glad she had time to close her eyes and shield her sensitive lenses. She ran through the hatch after Weiss, directing the men and women behind her in different directions. Pairing up, they had orders to herd anyone they ran into toward the cargo bay.

  Just inside the other ship’s hatch, three humanoids lay unconscious. Madisyn checked their vital signs quickly, relieved that they seemed all right. With Weiss, she took their sidearms and tucked them into the back of her vest before she put restraints around their hands and ankles and chained them to the bulkhead.

  “Waste of time, if you ask me,” one of the mercs muttered. “They’re going to die when the boss gets rid of them anyway.”

  “I didn’t ask you.” Madisyn pushed the burly man out of her way, secretly pleased that her bio-android strength made him bounce against the bulkhead. “Let’s get on with it. You two clear decks three and four. Bring everyone to the cargo bay.” Madisyn assigned decks to sixteen of the remaining mercs. “You two stand guard here,” she said to the last two and mentally prepared herself to climb five decks up. She and Weiss were going to take the bridge and check the officers’ quarters.

  “Let’s go, then.” Weiss nodded and hoisted her rifle, and they found the door leading to a round shaft containing a narrow ladder. Madisyn wasn’t thrilled about heights, but after she scanned the shaft, she pushed her rifle onto her back and began to climb. She counted the doors while she ascended, keeping an eye on Weiss. The other woman grunted a few times, as if she was in pain. Worried about Weiss’s arm, Madisyn forced herself to just keep going. Her protective attitude toward Weiss puzzled her, but she chalked it up to their secret partnership. They had to rely on each other.

  Eventually they reached the fifth door and Madisyn stopped, allowing Weiss to catch up before she reached for the hatch. “Ready?” she asked quietly. When Weiss nodded grimly, having pulled her sidearm while hanging on to the ladder with her uninjured arm, Madisyn opened it slightly. Nobody fired on them, so she pushed it open enough to slide through. The light in the corridor was dim and faintly red. In the distance, several explosions showed where the mercenaries were herding the passengers and crew toward the cargo bay.

  Madisyn glanced at her wrist-sensor. “Four life signs closing in from the stern.” She raised her weapon. “We better hurry, or we’ll find crewmen willing to die for their capta
in around every corner all the way to the bridge.”

  “Go. We need to do this fast and get back to the shuttle.” Weiss didn’t have to explain. If they left the mercenaries in charge down in the cargo bay for too long, they might have a bloodbath on their hands.

  Madisyn hurried through the corridor, her eyes constantly returning to the small sensor on her sleeve. She didn’t once glance behind her; instead she had augmented her hearing, another feature she rarely used, since it made it virtually impossible for her to focus in a crowd. Now she needed all her extra abilities, and for once she was grateful that she could easily turn them on at will.

  The Koenigin was a luxurious cruise ship, with everything from plush carpeting to stylish light fixtures. Madisyn had never considered going on a recreational space cruise, even when her parents were alive. They weren’t the kind who went on vacations. Instead they’d been passionate about their work and only traveled for a specific, preferably scientific, purpose. Now she didn’t go anywhere unless she was under orders and had a political, military, or criminal investigatory reason for it. She shook her head at the way her mind had wandered, not sure where these thoughts came from, and focused on her task again.

  Her sensor beeped quietly, and Madisyn raised her arm, making a fist. She performed a deeper scan, tapping into the information with her inner sensors. She held up her hand again, this time extending four fingers. She moved her hand, signaling that two enemies were hiding in some storage room farther up, and two behind a bulkhead to their right.

  Moving stealthily, Madisyn slid forward along the wall. When she glimpsed movement, she curled up and rolled forward. Raising her rifle, she fired twice at the two humanoids behind the bulkhead. She barely grazed the second one and he aimed at her. She fired again, and so did Weiss just behind her. “Damn it,” Madisyn muttered, knowing full well they couldn’t carry out their original assignment without some collateral damage. Still, these crewmen were only unconscious and would survive, if all went according to her and Weiss’s plan. This was the logical approach, and still it broke Madisyn’s heart to know that lives could be lost, stolen by the same type of people who’d taken her parents’. And her own.

  “Move on,” Weiss said harshly. “Madisyn, seal the door ahead.”

  “On it.” Madisyn pulled a small, weapon-like handle from her harness, pressed a sensor, and a barely visible flame shimmered in golden green. Running up to the door, she hurriedly sealed it, fusing the crack in several places. It would take a plasma burner to open it, but it would keep whoever was in there safe and out of the way—and hopefully alive.

  They quickly made their way to the bridge and were a few meters from the door when Madisyn’s sensor buzzed. “Ten humanoids up ahead, Weiss. Two doors down, to the right.”

  “The bridge.” Weiss spoke darkly.

  “Damn it, Weiss.” Madisyn stepped to the side, letting Weiss see her readings. “I don’t know what the hell Podmer’s after, but I sure don’t want to kill ten people for him to get his filthy hands on it,” she whispered in Weiss’s ear.

  “I hear you.” Weiss closed her eyes briefly. “If we can maneuver Captain Rhiordan into a position where she can remain in control, we can sabotage him.”

  “And get slammed for it.”

  “Not necessarily. Podmer was impressed with this woman’s attitude even if he’d be hard-pressed to admit it. It wouldn’t be a stretch to think he expects serious trouble from her.”

  “All right. Your call. You take the lead. I have your back.” Madisyn put away her sidearm and pulled her rifle forward, hefting it and making sure it was set to heavy stun.

  “I believe you do.” Weiss kept Madisyn’s gaze for a moment, then mimicked her movements, adjusting her plasma-pulse rifle as well.

  *

  The door to the bridge was locked, but Madisyn’s plasma torch easily took care of that. She cut through the door like a laser knife through paper, and Weiss tossed a shock-grenade inside. The sound nearly deafened her, and she shook her head slightly as she and Madisyn stormed the bridge.

  Ten individuals lay on the floor in different states of unconsciousness. Quickly glancing around, Weiss saw a middle-aged woman with short black hair slumped in the captain’s chair. She wore a captain’s insignia on her golden lapels, and despite her vacant expression, she radiated command.

  Madisyn quickly moved around the room, gathering sidearms and rifles from the dazed bridge crew. Some of them tried to get up, and Weiss kept her weapon raised. “Over there. Move!” She nudged the woman she’d identified as the captain. “Rhoridan?”

  “Huh?” The woman sat up, blinking rapidly. “What the hell—”

  “Get up. Go over to your crew. We’ve seized this vessel.” Weiss and Madisyn made sure the entire bridge crew was neutralized.

  “You won’t get away with this,” Captain Rhoridan said, her voice barely audible. “This is an SC ship.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Weiss sauntered over and kept them at gunpoint. “Madisyn, I believe that’s the console over there.”

  Madisyn hurried over to the communication console, a sleek-looking metal box attached to the wall. About two meters wide and half a meter tall, it boasted a multitude of sensors and ports. She took the computer stick from her pocket and inserted it into the metal box. At first, the lights stopped flickering and died, and the low hum it emanated quieted as well. A few moments later, though, it woke up again, rebooting itself with a faint crackle.

  “Away team, report.” Madisyn tugged at her communicator.

  One after another, the mercs reported in, all of them successful. Weiss nodded toward Madisyn. “We’re on schedule.”

  Madisyn pressed a sensor on her communicator to allow for long-range communication. “Away team leader to the Salaceos. We have secured the bridge and the rest of the ship.”

  “Good. Carry out your assignment and return. We’re picking up two SC border-patrol cruisers. They’re an hour away, so don’t waste time.”

  “Aye, Captain.” Madisyn walked over to Weiss. “I think we have what we need,” she murmured. “Have you tied them up?”

  Weiss hadn’t wasted any time. While Madisyn collected the required data, Weiss had used her restraints and tied everyone’s hands behind their backs. Not only that, she’d linked them all together and attached them to the railing behind the command chairs.

  “I don’t think they’re going anywhere.” Weiss brushed off her hands and grabbed her weapon again.

  “Computer,” Madisyn said, raising her voice. “Transfer all command codes to my voice pattern.”

  “That will never work.” Rhoridan glared at her.

  “Command codes encrypted and transferred.” The computer’s impersonal voice belied the captain’s statement.

  “Don’t worry. You’ll hack it eventually.” Turning to Weiss, Madisyn motioned with her weapon toward the door. “All right. Let’s go.”

  They ran through the corridors, joined by one pair of mercs after another. When they reached the docking port, Weiss was relieved to see the three people they’d first stumbled upon had regained consciousness.

  “Let’s go back.” Madisyn motioned for the others to return to the shuttle. “Madisyn to Podmer. We’re ready to leave.”

  “Not until Kyakh jettisons the bridge crew.” Podmer’s slow pronunciation made him sound even more callous and unforgiving.

  “Sir?” Weiss stopped in mid-motion, one foot over the bulkhead opening.

  “You heard me. It’s nothing you haven’t done before. Get rid of them.”

  “We got what we came for. We downloaded the data.”

  “And now you’re going to do as I say and delay the ones who will come after us. They’ll know I’m not to be toyed with.”

  Was he utterly insane, Weiss thought, or merely a megalomaniac? “All right.” She shrugged.

  “Weiss!” Madisyn gasped behind a bulkhead, out of sight of the others. Her horrified expression made her feelings clear.

  “I’ll dea
l with it,” Weiss said monotonously. “All I have to do is open the double escape hatches and override the safety subroutines for life support.” Weiss strode over to the nearest console. “Won’t take me long.”

  Madisyn shook her head, her eyes dull and expressionless. She pushed her way past Weiss. “Fuck you.” The chill in her voice made Weiss cringe, but she knew what she had to do. Her mission was to not blow her cover and to report to Jacelon, and if it meant some sacrifices, that’s what she would do.

  After having entered a few commands, Weiss opened her communicator again. “Kyakh to Podmer.” Pausing briefly, she rested her eyes tiredly on Madisyn, reading horror and contempt in her expression. I should be used to having people regard me like vermin. Still, it hurt deeply. “Mission accomplished. It’s done.”

  Chapter Ten

  Madisyn left the shuttle and strode past Weiss without meeting her eyes. She simply couldn’t bear to look at her. Feeling the weight of the computer stick in her inner pocket, like it was blood-soaked, Madisyn wanted to deliver it to Podmer as fast as possible. As she thought of the ten senior officers being hurled out into space, and what that did to a humanoid body, she shivered.

  Podmer wasn’t on the bridge; instead he was waiting in his ready room. Madisyn pressed a sensor, asked for admittance, and noticed absentmindedly that her hand was trembling. This telltale sign disturbed her more than anything and she made a fist, not quite ready to admit to herself just how shaken she was. She had witnessed many things, some just as bad, while being undercover, so why had this incident affected her so powerfully? Was it because Weiss had ruthlessly murdered the ten people? Weiss, whom she had tended to—saved her life—and was forced to depend on. How could she live with doing something like that? How could she kill innocent beings to avoid blowing her cover?

  “Enter.” Podmer’s cold voice broke her line of thought.

  Madisyn stepped inside the ready room, this time too distraught to marvel at Podmer’s decorating skills, or lack thereof. Normally Madisyn was fascinated that Podmer could fit so much of his loot into such a confined space. Gemstones, priceless fabrics, rare minerals, Cormanian midnight pearls, and even ancient artwork from Earth fought for space on walls and shelves, and in transparent cabinets. Right now, Madisyn couldn’t hand over the computer stick fast enough. She wanted to go to her quarters and get into the shower—or, on second thought, perhaps not. Weiss was bound to be there and she couldn’t stand to look at her, much less talk to her. “Here you go, Captain.” Madisyn put the hateful stick on the desk between her and Podmer.