Windjammer: The Tradership Saga Book 1

by M J Gauntlet

  “Yes ma’am”

  “Well get to it mister!”

  It took Zax and Pilar almost twelve standard hours to rectify what they had done to cargo bay three, when Pilar cut loose the cargo bin then sent it hurling towards the band of pirates. At first, the intruders ignored the container and concentrated their fire on either himself or Pilar as they became more exposed as the bin moved away from them. That all changed once Pilar’s request for a deceleration. Then the pirates realized what a desperate situation they were in. Suddenly, several tons of plasticrete were headed directly toward their makeshift fortification.

  Their first reaction was to sift their fire from Zax and Pilar to the on-rushing crate. After realizing that this was futile, they tried to get out of its way but when they tried that, they exposed themselves to fire from Pilar. The crate smashed into their position just as both gravity and atmosphere were returned to the cargo bay. There was a muffled crunch, followed by audible screams of distress from those pirates who were behind their thrown together barrier. The only one not pinned beneath the rubble was the smaller pirate, who was still single mindedly trying to hack Windbreaker’s A.I. A warning shot from Pilar seemed to break him out of his trance as he looked up and was startled to find that he was the only one not behind the wreck of the cargo bins. Slowly, he raised his hands and slid down the bulkhead to the bottom of the bay. Still clutching his mini comp, Pilar had to motion for him to drop it and remove his helmet. He made a short shrug of his shoulders and after doing the former, he removed his helmet to reveal that he was a she!

  Zax remembered how shocked he was! It had never occurred to him that there were female pirates. Yet even through his amazement, he thought back to what he had seen. It didn’t appear as though she was actually part of the group. She was under constant surveillance by the pirate Krag and kept on a short leash. Whenever she either got too far from the group or wasn’t performing her task to their satisfaction, she was threatened with verbal abuse or violence. It was the latter, coming from Krag, that prompted Zax to ask the Captain to postpone her execution.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Zax found himself just outside of the Captain’s quarters with a lump in his throat the size of a mythical orange. Besides him and a bit behind him was first mate Gomez, holding a fully charged pulsar rifle in the guard position, next to and slightly in front of him was the female pirate. Zax tried to swallow that mass in his esophagus again, but it just wouldn’t move as the door to the wardroom slid open. Zax stepped in and stood at attention as the handcuffed remaining pirate entered, followed by Gomez. Oddly enough both individuals came to attention. It was an odd reaction from a pirate. Was she trying to curry favor from the captain, or was it an automatic response from a former life? Either way Ahosi took notice.

  “Very well temporary crewman Zax, since we are here at your vocal and may I add, your rather unexpected and surprising physical response to the events down at the air lock, I believe you have some explaining to do!”

  Her emphasis of his status made Zax swallow once more, for it was a reminder of how thin the ice was that he skating upon.

  “Captain I realize that my request to spare this pirate, is a little unusual…” At this point Ahosi snorted, but Zax plunged ahead, “…er but there are a couple of reasons why I made this request…” He went on to state his observations as to what transpired down in cargo bay three, emphasizing the treatment the pirate received and telling how that even when strongly prompted by Krag and the other pirates, not once did she pick up a firearm and fire upon the himself or Pilar.

  At this point, Ahosi raised her hand stopping Zax diatribe.

  “Very well, I think at this point that is enough from you about what happened down in the cargo bay. I already have questioned Pilar about the incident, and from her limited line of sight, she has collaborated some of what you have said. What I’m more concerned with is what happened down at the airlock! Was your, er, response to the larger pirate because you just hated pirates or because the person was a female?”

  This time Zax didn’t swallow because he had anticipated the captain’s question earlier down in his quarters. He had gone over and over it in his mind, and he knew the one thing had to do is give an honest answer to this question. He was sure that Captain Ahosi would detect any lie or evasion.

  “First, I want to say that at the time I wasn’t sure why I reacted why I did, it was sorta an automatic response. Partially based on my experiences growing up on my home planet of…” A stern look from Ahosi, reminded him that there was a prisoner standing next to him, and not to give out any personal information about himself or the crew. “…er my home planet. I don’t like bullies of any type. And, yes, I do believe that part of the reason I reacted the way I did is because she was a young girl…” Ahosi narrowed her eyes, but Zax stood firm and continued on. “…but the main reason I did what I did was the reaction of the pirate Krag. He seemed angrier about the fact that she was about to escape, rather than the idea that she simply deserved to die with the rest of them. I simply thought that maybe we should listen to her story before we chuck her out the airlock!” Zax declared, finishing a little stronger that he had intended.

  “Very well, Zax I will take your advice.” Turning towards the shackled prisoner, she nodded her head. “First… pirate…” Ahosi said, emphasizing her status… “Let’s start with your name.” For the first time, Zax saw a look of bewilderment in the captive’s face as though she was struggling with the simple question. There was a short pause, then then she answered.

  “Phoebe…my name is Phoebe…ma’am…” she added the honorific as those who belated remembered what it stood for, then she stood a little straighter… “Please excuse me, it has be a long time since I have been treated decently (if being locked behind bars and getting only bread and water for two days was considered decent, then what was it like where she had come from) and I still haven’t adjusted to it. Thank you.” Ahosi curtly nodded her head and motioned for the prisoner to continue.

  “Well, my name is Phoebe Watts from the planet Verge (the name alone told Zeke how far on the rim it must have been, she paused once again before answering then cleared her throat loudly). Please forgive me if I’m taking a long time to answer your questions. It’s not because I’m trying to fabricate answers to your question, it’s just that it’s been a long time since I’ve left home, so please pardon me if I pause from time to time to gather my facts.” Once again, she paused then continued in a stronger voice. “Me and my…family…left Verge on what was supposed to be a short trip to one of the vacation outer moons of the system. We had saved up months to take the trip, me and my younger sister (once again she paused as a look of pain took over her face, then she went on) were looking so forward to the vacation.”

  “I don’t quite know what happened, but we were suddenly woken from sleep by a loud screeching sound from the cabin speakers, telling us to get to the emergency escape pods as quickly as possible. Scrambling, I grabbed Zoe’s hand, my sister, and headed behind my parents toward the nearest pod down the hall, when the explosions happened. The first one knocked me and Zoe down and separated us from Mom and Dad, as an emergency bulkhead slammed down in front of us. The second explosion tore a hole in the skin of the ship sucking my parents and the other passengers trapped there, into space. As it turns out, they were the lucky ones!” The last was said with a combination of sorrow and anger. “After a long while, there were noises of faint explosions throughout the ship, then two space armored figures appeared behind us. We couldn’t hear what they were saying but could see the grins behind their faceplates. After a few seconds to talking to someone, they frowned slightly then tazered us. It was the last thing we remembered for several hours.

  “When we finally woke up, we were naked in a filthy cell with several other female members from the transport ship. Most were either, sobbing or yelling hysterically at the walls. Both Zoe and I were very scared, but I didn’t want her to know it, so I pulled us
over to a corner and we just hugged each other. After a long while, several men and women entered the cell and began to walk among the women in the room, separating us. They ignored the pleas and cries of everyone and took out several women. When they came up to us one of them, a pig named Krag grabbed my arm and yanked me away from my sister.

  “I tried to fight him off, but it was no use. He lifted me up to his face by one arm and grinned at me as he shouted to everyone else in the room: ‘This one is mine!’ then he turned to leave with me under his arm. But before he could get out of the cell, a louder voice overruled him. ‘Not so fast Krag, as my choice, I’m claiming those two.’” I learned later that it was the Captain who had ‘saved’ us! Krag snarled but put me down on the deck and backed away from us. Unfortunately for the two of us, it turned out Captain Red (that’s all he or the crew ever referred to him as) had certain ‘particular’ sexual requirements that unfortunately both me and my little sister happened to fulfill.” Once again, she paused in her narrative as a single tear rolled down her cheek. “He wanted girls of my sister’s age, and he needed me to watch!” Zax heard Gomez growl beneath his breath and the sound of his grip tightening on the butt of his rifle.

  “We were two years on that scow before my sister had gotten ‘too grown’ for Captain Red and by then there was nothing left of little Tillie but a burned-out mind, so her death was a kind of release from hell. But I never let go! Each time when he looked up at me from his bed after raping her, I would give him a blank expression! That seemed to both excite him and infuriate him at the same time. I think that eventually he would have given me to Krag, but the ship’s doctor informed him that I was a true virgin. That information made Krag even more determined to have me. So much so, one day he actually challenged Captain Red.

  “It happened during one of my transfers back to my cell. Krag stepped forward and demanded an ‘equal split of the booty’ meaning me. I thought that the Captain was dead, you’ve all seen Krag and he was twice the Captain’s size. That’s when it happened. I’ve never seen anyone move that fast, that is until that day down at the airlock. Krag never had a chance! Captain Red reduced him to a pummeled mass of flesh. He had to spend over a week in a regen chamber. After that no one aboard ship ever said a word about me. Of course, I knew that my ‘reprieve’ was only temporary. As soon as Captain Red had completely tired of me, I would be sold at the nearest slave market on some outer planet, where I overheard that virgins brought a very high price. That’s when I decided to make myself too ‘useful’ to sell.

  “I’ve always been sort of a computer whiz. So, I decided to put that to use. While they kept all manner of computer access away from me, I was able to access the main ship’s A.I., a repulsive entity called ‘Bill’. I used the door monitor’s circuitry to gain lower access to its memory. I did so without tripping any alarms and this allowed me to modify certain sub routines within the A.I. I was able to increase the work of the ship’s functioning by about thirty percent. It took a while for the dim- witted ship’s IT officer to notice, but she couldn’t find the source. I kept doing such things until I finally allowed them to trace the changes back to my cell.” Gomez grunted again as he shuffled his feet uncomfortably behind the prisoner. As the Windjammer’s IT officer, it took a lot to impress him and what she had just revealed must have made him uncomfortable. Silently he shot a subvocalized inquiry to Windjammer’s A.I.:

  “Windy, has she done anything similar to your systems?”

  No First Mate Gomez. From the moment she revealed these capabilities, instantly I begun a third level diagnostic on all my systems. I am still processing…humm the only intrusion into my systems seems to an unlocking of the prisoner’s cell door.

  “I’m sure that by now you and or your IT has just informed you that I have fiddled with the locking mechanism of my cell doors,” Phoebe interjected quickly, as the face of Captain Ahosi darkened. “Please, I only did this to let you know that at least part of my story was true. I made no other intrusion into any of your systems, honest!”

  “Very well young pirate, (Zax could hear Phoebe Watts swallow hard at the pronoun Ahosi used) you’ve explained your presence on the pirate vessel, but not why you ended up helping the very people who killed your parents and your sister.”

  “Well, it was all part of a plan I had, but I knew it would take time to gain the limited trust of the pirate crew. Once I let IT Peter’s ‘discover’ my manipulations aboard the pirate ship Pequod, I knew I was taking a huge chance. Both Peters and Captain Red stormed down to my cell. There was a long discussion between the two, whether or not they would chuck me out the nearest airlock on the spot. It was Peters who finally persuaded the captain to spare me. She said that all the intrusions actually facilitated the workings of the affected systems. She also said that she knew of no one who was able to do what I did from the door panel within the cell.

  “Grudgingly Captain Red agreed with a warning that if I ever accessed the ship’s computer without supervision, I would be jettisoned immediately.”

  With a voice that sounded like gravel, Captain Ahosi ventured a question. “From what you have told me, I assume that it was you who developed the programs that both spoofed this system’s holding cargo warehouses and the program that wreaked havoc upon this ship’s A.I.? How many other ships were ambushed in this manner? How many other lives did your actions cost?” she glared at the prisoner.

  Phoebe stared Captain Ahosi right in her eyes as she answered.

  “None…this was the first time that Captain Red had used this method of attack. He tested out several times on other star systems, but they were only what he called ‘dry runs’, whatever that means. There were a couple of times when he had to retrieve the phony cargo bin because there were no ships that claimed it. He told the crew that this system was the best chance of the scheme to work. But it would not have mattered because the first time he would have succeeded with the plan…would have been the last!”

  Captain Ahosi’s eye sharpened as she shot a look at the bedraggled girl. “Explain yourself! What do you mean it would have been the last?”

  “You see…” Phoebe began, “the Second Mate aboard the Pequod was the IT officer and was no slouch at programing, and the A.I. was also very good at dissecting code. I had to be very, very, careful, but I knew that I could program rings around both. It took me a while, but I was able to insert a sub routine in the worm they used to disable the A.I. of a ship. Buried deep in the worm was a program that would cause the fusion plant to blow!”

  How Ahosi prevented herself from jumping to her feet Zax never knew, but he could see her muscles tense as she grabbed the edge of her desk.

  “Windy! Did you hear that? I need you to search every inch of that worm program and…”

  Relax Captain…I have long since isolated the worm that intruded upon my engrams. The worm program is locked away from all my systems and I have been examining it for several cycles.

  Of course, Phoebe couldn’t hear the exchange so she had continued to explain… “Either way that ship and myself would have been blown to ash after about twelve hours! I would not want them to live through what I had, and I was determined that crew of the Pequod would go with me! By way…no matter what you decided about me, I have a minor request…I would like to meet the IT person that was able to counter my attack when I was aboard! They were brilliant! The tactic of slowing down the internal clock of the system was inspired! It seemed that no matter what input I tried; they had an answer!”

  Zax began to sweat and hoped that Captain Ahosi didn’t notice. He had long since returned to his room and removed the alien egg shaped object and placed it in its hiding place beneath his arm, but not before Windy was able to identify a ‘disturbance’ on the same deck as his quarters. He swallowed hard as Captain Ahosi suddenly shot a glance at him, then leveled her eyes on the prisoner. But before she could speak Windy interjected.

  Captain I have found the sub routines buried in the worm program. They we
re very deep in the program, as a matter a fact they were part of three different routines that would not have been activated for several hours! They would have created a cascading series of commands that would have caused the fusion plant to overload! It could not have been stopped!

  Ahosi’s eyes lowered to refocus on the shackled prisoner standing before her, then she nodded once. “Miss Phoebe Watts…” The young girl’s eyes widened slightly at the change in Captain Ahosi’s address and a gleam of hope entered her eyes… “I have received conformation about a part of your story, and it will enter into my decision.”

  I want to add that the Miss Phoebe’s cell has been unlocked for most of the time she has been in her cell. I made no attempt to mention it because she never left the confines of her cell, nor did she try to alter her diet.

  Captain Ahosi steepled her fingers under her chin and stared at Phoebe once more. “Young lady I would appreciate it if you would no longer tamper with the locking mechanism of your cell door. Such manipulations aboard my ship are not appreciated.” Phoebe looked sheepish as she mumbled half under her breath “Your

  A.I. is pretty sharp too, the one on the Pequod would have never caught that. Very well Captain Ahosi I will do what you ask.”

  “Thank You Ms. Watts,” Ahosi said, somewhat sarcastically. She lifted her gaze towards Zax. “Would you escort our …er…visitor back to her quarters crewman Zaxxion?” Zax nodded once, noticing the change in the prisoner’s status. Phoebe seemed to notice the difference also. Her shoulders straightened and she sported a tentative smile.

  As Zax walked behind Phoebe, she turned her head and spoke. “Er…Zax is it?” Zax tersely nodded his head in agreement. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to you, but I want to thank you for saving my life. If you hadn’t spoken up to your captain, I’d be floating outside like the rest of that scum!” Clearing his throat, Zax looked her into her hazel eyes. “You don’t need to thank me, really; it was the captain who has spared your life,” he said, a little embarrassed. Phoebe gave him a quizzical look, before continuing to speak. “Well anyway, thank you for speaking up.” She slowed down her pace a bit, then continued to speak.