by test
RECKLESS BOUNTY Marly Mathews 54
They settled themselves behind some titanium crates in the cargo bay. Samantha crouched down. Aiming her phase pistol, she rested her finger on the trigger.
“Make sure that the settings are on optimal stun,” she advised.
Johanna gave her an ‘ I’m not that stupid look,’ and then began entering the necessary numeric sequence.
“I hate this part!” Johanna complained. She knelt into the same position Samantha employed. “Why didn’t they just blow us up?” Johanna asked, turning to level her gaze at Samantha.
She stared at Johanna considering her question. She knew that other New Monaco ships had been destroyed, and as far as the pirates were concerned they were in the same category.
So why hadn’t they attacked them ruthlessly, until they had been destroyed? And then Samantha nearly vomited when she finally comprehended the reason.
“Oh, well. Don’t they have balls of steel!” Samantha muttered.
Johanna glanced at her again, nervously chewing on her lower lip.
“Think about it, Johanna. The Excalibur is a beautiful ship. In its day it was a luxury liner. What do you think that they might want to do to us?”
Johanna stared dumbly at her, for a few seconds. Her face fell as recognition dawned.
“They want to commandeer our vessel and add The Excalibur to their fleet,” Johanna concluded. Fear crept into her voice, and her eyes looked as if they were going to fall right out of her head.
“Yeah, and as far as I’m concerned they can take a one way ticket to hell!” No one was going to get her ship. Who the hell did they think they were?
Her phase rifle whined with its charge, just as the door to the cargo bay blew apart
* * * *
“This is it!” Samantha tensed. She locked gazes with her sister and winked at her.
“When was the last time I told you that I loved you?” she asked. The acrid smoke from the explosion was quickly clearing, and her head felt as if it were going to explode.
“Don’t you be getting sentimental on me now, Samantha!” Johanna warned. “If you got sentimental under normal circumstances I wouldn’t be so worried. But you only get sentimental when you’re feeling desperate!” Johanna’s hand trembled slightly causing her phase rifle to move just a bit. “You’ll get us out of this jam, you always do. And, you’ve got me to kick you in your big butt, if you don’t!” Johanna remarked grinning. Johanna stared back at Samantha, and stuck her tongue out at her. “You can tell me that I’m the best sister in the whole wide world while we are locking these goons in the brig.”
The smoke completely cleared making their line of fire completely unhindered.
“Hey, Jo. How’s about we show them the love? ” Samantha asked. “I wouldn’t want them to feel neglected.”
She reached for a disorientation grenade from her belt and threw it at the numerous pirates that charged through the gaping hole.
They fell to the floor completely knocked out. She quickly reached for another grenade, until she realized that she was all out. Why hadn’t she made sure that the weapons locker on the bridge had been better stocked? She was slipping, that’s for sure.
“Uh, Jo. I think that we’ve got a wee bit of a problem. You don’t happen to be packing, do you?”
Johanna hit one of the pirate’s dead on, and he went slamming against a bulkhead and slumped to the floor.
RECKLESS BOUNTY Marly Mathews 55
“Do I look as if I’m PACKING?” she shouted. “You are packing more than, Sam! Now would be the time for you to do some freaky shit!”
Three more pirates came howling into Excalibur, and Johanna turned her attention away from Samantha. She blasted each of them in turn not missing once.
“Well, like you said, I am packing but you know as well as I know that that ammo isn’t really the reliable kind. I could blow us up along with the pirates!”
Samantha’s face fell straight down to the floor, as she considered how well the odds were stacked against them. “Oh, well, guess we are going to have to use these assholes for target practice,” she murmured. Her ears rang and her eyes stung. Gunfire blasted out around them, and her eyes darted back and forth. She was getting a headache trying to keep up with all of it.
She was so tempted to draw on the fire inside of her… but when she used to practice with Charlotte, she was always the one that had the unfortunate effect of actually making things go boom. Charlotte was able to protect herself, Johanna couldn’t.
Samantha was worried. She had never been this worried before in her entire life. But she was so worried that she could see her life flashing before her eyes. Things didn’t look good.
They had pirates on their ship. They had never been invaded before and as soon as she hit one pirate there was another to step in and fill his space. They were like soldier ants. No matter how hard you tried they still kept coming back to attempt another infestation.
Samantha had run up against a few pirates in her time, but that had usually been a scenario where she had held the upper hand. They now had control of her ships computer, and they definitely outnumbered her crew. Yep, things were really going down the old shit pot.
“Johanna, duck!!!”
A ticking grenade landed on the floor behind them. She closed her eyes, expecting it to explode but it didn’t.
“Jo, cover me!” she cried out, above the din of the gunfire.
She crawled across the floor for the curious looking grenade. Samantha had never seen one that looked like it before and there was a strange red light beeping on it.
Feeling a shiver go up her spine, she managed to get back to her previous position. She immediately flung it back toward the pirates not expecting it to explode. But as soon as it hit the ground it exploded causing her stomach to lurch sickeningly.
Johanna and she were thrown back toward the door with the impact. At the last moment, an amethyst hue sparkled in front of them, taking the brunt of the explosion. Stunned, Samantha sat there shaking her head for a few moments.
“Holy crap!” Her ears rang loudly and her voice sounded as if it were miles away. “That most definitely wasn’t a disorientation grenade, it was a freaking bomb! I think I did something though… just like you wanted me too! Aren’t you proud of your little sis?”
“What did you say?” Johanna asked loudly, putting her hand up to her ear.
“Nothing!” Samantha mouthed, gesturing for them to make a hasty retreat back through the door and into the main part of the ship. They’d done all they could do at the moment. Since they were both stunned, she didn’t want to risk taking the pirates on in hand-to-hand combat.
Besides, after that blast, she wasn’t even sure if any of them has survived. But more would come.
Dread continued to coil in her stomach. Her heart raced.
They rushed to bolt it manually. They certainly couldn’t rely on their computer systems to do it for them. They’d been damn lucky that The Excalibur had been reinforced with the hardest alloy known to humankind, or they would’ve been sucked out into the unrelenting coldness of space.
RECKLESS BOUNTY Marly Mathews 56
Samantha panted, trying desperately to catch her breath. Bending over she leaned her elbows on her thighs. She could still hear gunfire and she knew the door would hold for only a short while. She felt exhausted. Whatever she’d done to erect that shield had taken a good chunk of energy out of her.
They needed to do something quickly, before they found themselves facing the unthinkable. She patted her sister on her shoulder and furrowed her brow when she noticed that Johanna was favoring her left leg.
“It’s nothing,” Johanna rasped, gasping for breath. “God, I could drink a gallon of water!” she murmured, wiping the sweat from her brow.
Tyler came limping back toward them, from engineering, and held his pistol as if he was ready to do some heavy damage. His eyes filled with relief when he saw that they were still in one piec
e.
“We heard an explosion all the way down in engineering. Dylan told me to hightail back here. He’s managed to slightly gain some leverage against that damn AI, and says Lucy is still fighting him. I’d wager that it’s only a matter of time before we have full control of our ship.”
“Yes, but that still doesn’t take care of the boarding party that is trying desperately to knock down our door,” Samantha retorted.
Tyler ambled over to her and stood in front of her, resting his hand on her shoulder. He looked between Johanna and she.
“Are you sure the two of you are unharmed?” his voice had become soft and he briefly touched the side of Samantha’s soot covered face.
“We’re both fine. Though Johanna seems to be a bit deaf at the moment. No worries though, I’ve lost my hearing briefly before and it came back.” She tried to sound optimistic, but she still worried about Johanna. “Have you seen Veronica and her husband?”
They made their way to the bridge as fast as they could, considering the fact both Tyler and Johanna nursed injuries. The door to the bridge was also reinforced, as was the door to engineering, so at the moment Dylan would be safe. Samantha planned on taking them back to the bridge, and making their last stand there if need be. She licked her dry and cracked lips, and smiled when Tyler produced a bottle of water from the bag that he’d slung over his shoulder.
“Dylan gave me this. He also said there were some new gadgets inside of it that you may find helpful, though he specifically instructed me to not touch any one of them. He said I’m butter fingers when it comes to such things. Honestly, my brother sure can get on my last nerve,” he joked, carefully watching Johanna, who seemed about ready to drop.
“Johanna,” Samantha asked worriedly, pressing the water into her hand. “Drink this,”
she instructed. Johanna’s shoulders continued to slump and she seemed paler than usual.
“Thanks!” Johanna rasped. “I really needed that.”
They burst onto the bridge, nearly colliding with each other in their haste.
“I’ll be fine,” Johanna murmured, and at Samantha’s expression of doubt, she pressed her sister’s hand, and stressed, “Really. ”
“Get off of my bridge!” the male AI commanded indignantly. He crackled into existence and pointed angrily at them.
“Oh, why don’t you shove it where the sun doesn’t shine!” Samantha suggested.
She turned to shut the bridge door. And began heaving and groaning. Budging the heavy thing was proving more difficult then she had originally thought. Another explosion rolled through the ship. She gulped, suddenly realizing they had a very slim chance of emerging from this battle still standing.
RECKLESS BOUNTY Marly Mathews 57
“Here let me help,” Tyler offered, staring at her with his warm sensual eyes.
For a moment, Samantha felt herself longing to press her lips against his sweetly wanting ones. She could feel his hands roaming across her body. She shivered, swallowing again thickly.
Her body tensed as he brushed against hers and put his strength into assisting her.
She stood there mesmerized for a moment. She marveled at how capable he could be when they were in a bind. Love surged in her heart, and then her more sensible side, reminded her that it was no time to get moony. Besides which, he had abandoned her.
Shaking her head to remove the imaginary cobwebs, she turned toward her sister.
“Any luck in getting back into the mainframe?” Samantha asked.
Johanna looked up at her with a look of intense concentration.
She envied Johanna. Johanna was a brain. She could tackle just about anything, she put her mind too, and emerge the winner. She on the other hand, was good at thinking on her feet, though working a computer sometimes proved difficult for her.
But if someone needed a good slam down, then she was the one to be counted on.
Samantha settled herself in the co-pilots chair, and brought up what she could on the view screen.
Ships still swarmed around them and the hope died in her heart that someone would come to give them a much-needed hand. She didn’t want to openly admit it, but she’d wet herself with excitement if a friend dropped by to help them.
Problem was, Samantha hadn’t made many friends in her life, and those she could count on were light years away. The rest of her friends, were onboard Excalibur with her, bravely joining her in facing her darkest hour. Even Veronica seemed willing to do what she could.
Samantha turned her head at the male AI’s shout of distress. His deep baritone filled the room, and her heart leapt in her chest, when his program shut down. Samantha sat on the edge of her seat, hoping and praying that Dylan and Johanna had once again worked their magic.
“Take that, you little piss ant!” Lucy cried. Lucy slowly materialized before them. She was there, but she didn’t seem to be giving off her usual blinding brilliance. “Hi you all, Lucy’s back in amazing action!” Lucy grinned. She tucked her purple hair behind her ear, with her ring adorned hands. “What did I miss?”
They all jumped in their seats.
“Is that just me or does it sound like they are ramming the door?” Tyler asked, looking at her briefly with worry glistening in his eyes.
Lucy sighed. “Give me a second and I’ll figure it out. Internal systems are now up and running, back in my control, though I can’t seem to gain access to the internal weapons array. I think that big jerk has hidden it from me. Just give me another sec....” Lucy’s violet eyes lolled back into her head, as she searched through her systems.
“In answer to your earlier asked question, Veronica is down with Ross in engineering.
Seems he knows a thing or two about the internal workings of a ship, and he’s helping Dylan.
Veronica on the other hand, is standing guard at the door, vowing to give any pirate that is bold enough to come through the door, and I quote a world of hurt,” Tyler declared, staring down at her.
“I don’t trust Veronica completely, but if Dylan trusts her to be that close to his domain with her weapon, than I guess that I can trust her…for now,” Samantha added.
Lucy hooted triumphantly, causing them all to jump. Another loud slam against the door caused them all to tense, and draw their holstered pistols.
“Everything will be fine,” Tyler promised.
RECKLESS BOUNTY Marly Mathews 58
Samantha stared up at him. She gripped her phase pistol tightly.
“Tell me, Tyler, what makes you think that everything will be fine?” Samantha asked.
She aimed her phase pistol at the door.
“You’ve never failed me before,” he murmured.
Her breath caught in her throat at his softly spoken words. Damn him, for being so charming. And damn her, for always falling head over heels for that charm.
She was just about to respond when a striking figure of a man, appeared on the view screen. Johanna’s mouth dropped open slightly and Samantha could see her sister struggled to keep her mouth shut, and the drool safely inside.
Samantha stood up, losing her balance she fell against Tyler. He quickly caught her, and kept his hands on her, while she searched for something to say. At the moment she had been struck speechless and that was quite a feat for her. She could feel the taste of doom. She trembled slightly.
Standing regally in front of her on the view screen stood the most infamous space pirate that had ever lived. His ship, The Emerald Star was one of the biggest and most advanced war ships, she’d ever read about and now the legend behind so many bone-chilling tales stood right in front of her.
“Just what I need!” she muttered.
The Red Falcon smiled roguishly down at her. His gorgeous eyes twinkled with some sort of secret joke.
* * * *
“Greetings, dear ladies, may I be of any assistance?” he gallantly inquired.
Samantha continued staring up at him in dumbfounded amazement. She knew if she had a mirror, a goofy express
ion would be reflected back at her. Shivers of excitement raced up and down her spine as she digested his offer. It wasn’t everyday you were offered help by the most famous pirate of the age.
Tyler rested his hand possessively on her shoulder and she tensed beneath his touch.
Why he thought he had to stake his claim was beyond her. She wasn’t attracted to The Red Falcon’s physicality. It just felt surreal to be in such a presence. This would make one good story to add to her lifetime experiences. The Red Falcon was everything she’d ever imagined he would be in living flesh and then some.
His dark blue eyes glittered down at her and his trademark crimson cloak, gave him an air of authority. He wore extremely tight black breeches and his loose white silk shirt, made him look like a hero from a bygone movie. His fiery red hair was even brighter than she’d imagined.
She swallowed as a dry lump emerged in her throat. It seemed as if the tales spun about him were frighteningly true. She’d always thought the stories had been tweaked from mouth to mouth, but nothing seemed to be lost in translation. He was indeed a living legend. Iconic even.