Renegades: Origins

by Kal Spriggs

  Crowe’s face went still. “I’ll do what I want. And if that was some kind of threat, let me tell you this soldier boy, I don’t take threats well.”

  Eric smiled, “Crowe, I don’t care what you take well. I don’t threaten or bluster. But if you become a threat to the safety of our ship or my friends, I’ll kill you. No muss, no fuss. I’ll eliminate you and then I’ll go prepare a nice meal and everyone will wonder what happened over a nice dinner of pit ham and candied yams.”

  Crowe didn’t like what he saw in Eric’s eyes and Eric felt a surge of satisfaction as the other man looked away. On the one hand, he felt bad for intimidating Crowe. On the other… Well, Crowe needed the reminder that others on the ship had their methods of dealing with him if he crossed the line.

  Could I have handled that better, he thought, but this will have to do.

  “Let me know if Mike calls over,” Eric said. “I’ve got to check with Mandy and Miranda and see what they’ve found in the engine room, and if that changes our plans at all.”

  “Sure,” Crowe said sullenly.

  Eric gave him a wave as he headed back out the makeshift airlock. As the door closed, he noticed that the combat knife from the cooler had disappeared.

  * * *

  He and Rastar met up with Anubus near the airlock.

  The sudden reminder of the danger of the Wrethe made Eric hesitate to draw within arms reach of the alien. Yet he forced himself to move up and put his helmet in contact with that of Anubus. A moment later, Rastar joined him in the huddle. “We have a problem. We found a crewman killed by a claw attack, sometime after the ship lost pressure. I think it was a Wrethe.”

  “Excellent,” Anubus growled. “There is no chance that a Wrethe would travel aboard this hulk. There must be another ship.”

  “You’re sure?” Eric asked. “Simon searched the entire area. There’s nowhere nearby that it could hide, not without some serious stealth capabilities. If this Wrethe had that level of tech, why would he bother with this tramp freighter?”

  “Then Simon missed something,” Anubus growled. “Or this ship’s cargo is more valuable than the outward appearance suggests. Therefore it drew a better class of pirate.”

  Rastar spoke up, “Dude, I think Annie’s on to something there. I’ll check with the girls in the engine room. Ariadne and you two check the cargo holds. See if there’s anything we can use, but also find out if there’s some cargo valuable enough for a well equipped pirate.”

  “Roger,” Eric said.

  “I will of course, have first pick of any loot,” Anubus said. “I insist.”

  “Big talk for a guy wearing gloves,” Eric said. “Kind of hard for you to get your claws out with those on, at least without breathing vacuum.” He regretted the words as they came out, yet Anubus’s almost constant demands for more than his fair share just hit him the wrong way.

  “I don’t need claws to take you apart, human,” Anubus answered with a growl. He said human, but from him the word sounded like food.

  “Guys, fight later, we need to work together,” Rastar said.

  Eric pulled back without another word. He knew he would say the wrong thing, like he always did, if he tried to talk again. I can screw up even the most simple conversations, he thought. Eric led the way towards the cargo bays.

  The narrow corridor seemed too small for cargo, until Eric remembered the outer bay doors. The crew probably only used the inner areas for access and maintenance he figured. The cargo bay access doors were evenly spaced down the hallway. Bay one lay closest and Eric waited for Ariadne and Anubus to draw up. He signaled Anubus to lead the way, while he braced himself and covered him.

  Anubus hesitated a bit. He went up to the ceiling and worked the hatch with his long arms. As he threw the door open, Eric brought up his weapon, ready to fire.

  Something flashed past the hatchway there and gone before it registered. It looked like a man, but in full motion arms flailing. Another figure flashed directly towards them and Eric triggered a burst from his TEK-15.

  Anubus signaled him to cease fire.

  Eric saw the form recoil, but he saw no blood. A moment later, Ariadne brought her lamp up.

  “Shit,” Eric said to himself.

  Well, I definitely ruined that set of coveralls, he thought. His burst had chewed a hole through the center of the coveralls. As Anubus crawled into the bay, and Ariadne followed, Eric could see more and more. It looked like someone had dumped an entire store’s worth of clothing. Most of it drifted slowly through the room, all but those articles hit by Eric’s fire.

  He saw Ariadne scoop a pair of boots out of the air and examine the tag. She tucked them under her arm. Eric shook his head, what was with women and shoes?

  Then again, he needed something besides his environmental suit to wear. He saw a variety drifting through the bay, everything from tuxedos to plaid skirts. Eric would have to check it out later, when they didn’t have to worry about a homicidal Wrethe on the loose.

  Anubus ripped a crate open and the top barely missed Ariadne.

  Alright, when I don’t have to worry about a second homicidal Wrethe.

  More clothing spilled out into the microgravity and Anubus moved on to another crate. Eric caught his arm as he went past. The Wrethe jerked away, but it got his attention enough for Eric to point to where Ariadne waited near the hatch. She had a clipboard off of the wall and she waved it at them both.

  Eric approached and they huddled to confer. “Manifest for this bay says clothing, shoes, boots and that sort of thing. All donations from Nova Roma for the people of Saragossa.”

  “Nothing valuable then,” Anubus growled.

  “Hey, these are some nice boots,” Ariadne said. “Maybe a little worse the wear, but nice. And I see a couple sets of other stuff that might fit, when we come back through.”

  “Your focus on our mission inspires me,” Anubus growled. “Let us move on.”

  Eric let the big alien lead the way. The door for bay two opened without issue. Anubus did a quick sweep through the bay while Ariadne looked the manifest over. She shook her head and they moved on.

  The third bay’s inner door lay partially open. Eric glanced through it, and he could make out stars through the gap. He reached through and fished around until he found the bay’s manifest. He tried not to think about what might happen if an angry Wrethe grabbed his arm while he made himself so vulnerable.

  Eric glanced over the manifest, but it just listed more donations. These were electronic viewers and simple game platforms for entertainment purposes. He chucked the clipboard back through the door in disgust, what a waste of time.

  He led the way forward towards the last door, but as he drew near, he slowed. This door had a large box with an electronic display on it. As they drew nearer, Eric could see that the box had magnetic clamps that attached it to both the bulkhead and the hatch itself.

  As he came within a couple meters, a bright red light flashed on the top of the box, and the display lit up.

  He looked over at the others. Someone had added this and it still had power. Perhaps they had found the mysterious valuable cargo.

  The display flashed a loading screen and then text appeared. Eric peered at it:

  * * *

  Warning, I am a Defenseworks Portable Security Lock, Mk II . If you are approaching due to your interest in my design, please contact Defenseworks in the Tannis system to order your own version today! If you are attempting unlawful entry, be warned, I am designed to respond with immediate and overwhelming force to ensure the security of my owner and his property!

  * * *

  Eric looked over at the others. His initial urge was to ignore it and try to get past it.

  Still, he’d seen some of Defenseworks weapons and equipment before. They made their money from innovative designs, and Eric somehow doubted they would put a message like that in as a bluff.

  Yet if this unknown pirate Wrethe had put it there, that meant the important cargo prob
ably lay inside. They needed someone with technical expertise which meant Miranda or Pixel, and probably someone with some experience in security. Which would mean Simon.

  Eric just hoped they had long enough to work through it.

  * * *

  Eric found his patience long expired when Simon had suggested they get Crowe to look at it as well. The suggestion seemed good enough, except Crowe had just finished extraction of the star-map and had pulled the data drives for the ship’s log. He passed the entire pile over to Ariadne, who along with Mandy and Miranda headed back to their ship.

  Crowe spent some time in the corridor, just outside of the lock’s sensor perimeter. He moved up and waved the others in for a huddle. “Good thing you called me. I’ve got some experience with these things. They’re nasty, especially if you don’t know what you’re up against. First warning you get a ten thousand volt shock. There is no second warning. The lock detonates an explosive charge to explosively weld the door shut, and the detonation normally kills whoever didn’t take the hint.”

  “Shit,” Eric said. “So what do we do?”

  “Like I said, good thing you called me,” Crowe said. “It has a wireless signal that the owner sends from the controller. Most of the time it’s a five twelve encryption at a variable frequency.”

  “I’m getting tired of your technical talk,” Anubus growled. “Something valuable is in that bay, can you open it… or are you useless to me?”

  “Oh, I can open it,” Crowe said. “Most people don’t ever change the factory settings from these things, which means they leave the manufacturer’s default override code in place.” Crowe held up his new computer. “And luckily this baby has a security port, so…”

  Crowe tapped on the screen for a moment. Out of the corner of his eye Eric saw the red light on the top of the lock flash to green. “Hey, good job, Crowe, thanks for not screwing us over this time.” He realized he’d put his foot in his mouth. “Uh, I meant you did a good job.”

  “Whatever, Twitch,” Crowe grunted.

  Anubus led the way up to the hatch. He pulled the lock off with a grunt, and then passed it back to Crowe. Eric took up a position to cover him, and saw Simon do the same further down the corridor.

  Anubus worked the hatch and jerked to the side.

  Eric suddenly felt glad they didn’t have radios. Otherwise the others would have heard his panicked yelp as the turret with three rotary multibarrels rotated to face him. The barrels spun up as he watched.

  Eric froze.

  That’s really overkill, he thought. The bores of those barrels looked thirty millimeters, designed to tear up missiles or other small craft. He really did not want to think of what one of those rounds would do to him. The weapon hung from the nose of a ship of some kind. Heavy armored plates hung off the brutal looking craft. The heavily armored cockpit sat up high on the nose of the craft. Eric saw some glyphs or writing in red paint along the side, though he couldn’t quite make out the details, what with the barrels of the apocalypse in his face. The craft filled most of the bay, and Eric figured it the size of a cargo shuttle or bomber.

  Anubus waved him to move to the side of the hatch, out of sight of the ship. Eric moved slowly, partially afraid that the ship’s pilot watched him.

  They gathered in another huddle. “What the hell is that thing?” Eric asked.

  “It is a Prowler,” Anubus growled, and even through the muffle of the helmet Eric could hear the longing on the Wrethe’s voice. “It is a Wrethe warship, the ship of an experienced killer. The writing along the side names it the ‘Red Hunter.’ We’ve found proof of the pirate.”

  “So this was a trap,” Eric said. “Shit.”

  “Who’s on security for our ship, again?” Crowe asked.

  “We need to get back there, now!” Eric shouted. He pushed off from the huddle, and bounded down the hallway. A moment later, Rastar flew past him, propelled by eight limbs, with a grace that seemed impossible with his bulk and size. That’s totally not fair, Eric thought.

  The entire group piled into the airlock, and Eric gave silent thanks for the oversized Ghornath airlocks. It seemed to take forever for the airlock to cycle. As it did, Eric tried to review areas the Wrethe pirate could have already boarded or might yet board. The aft airlock and the starboard airlock both seemed likely routes. They needed to get people there, and they needed to sweep the ship, he knew.

  The airlock finally opened and Rastar led the way out. Mandy and Miranda stood with Ariadne just on the other side. “Oh, hi guys, any luck with the lock?” Ariadne asked.

  “Yes,” Eric said, even as Rastar went to the intercom. “There’s a Wrethe ship of some kind, Anubus recognized the type.”

  “We have a Wrethe pirate on board our ship already,” Anubus growled. “It will be experienced at this and will have already put its plan into motion.”

  “That’s bad,” Miranda said. “I just finished talking with Pixel. The other ship suffered its damage from sabotage. Someone cross-polarized the fusion reactors magnetic coils. They detonated like bombs, ripped the entire engine room apart and opened the compartment to space.”

  “Oh,” Eric said. “We definitely want to avoid that.”

  “Why doesn’t Mike answer?” Rastar said. “Who is up there with him? Should not Elena be present?”

  Crowe looked up, “No… Mike told me he sent Elena down to guard Pixel in the engine room.”

  Eric felt his stomach drop. He pushed past Rastar and hit the intercom for the engine room. “Pixel, buddy, what’s going on, talk to us.” Out of the corner of his eye he saw Rastar and Anubus run for the bridge lift.

  “Uh, well, I mentioned earlier that I set it up so I could listen in on the bridge, right?” Pixel asked.

  “Yes…” Eric frowned.

  “Well I also installed a camera, just so I could see who was talking and all that,” Pixel said. Eric frowned, that sounded more like a security precaution… a good one for that matter. “Well, here’s the feed. As far as I can tell, no Wrethe on the bridge, but Mike just opened up the closet and let Krann out, and gave her a pistol.”

  “His pistol?” Eric demanded. He had no idea why Mike might have armed their Chxor prisoner, not unless the other man either thought he faced a fight for his life or he planned to betray them all to the Chxor. Eric really hoped it wasn’t the latter. It would suck to have to kill Mike.

  “No, looked like a Chxor pistol.” Pixel said. “And then he locked down the bridge. And Krann has accessed the navigation computer.”

  “Pixel, send Elena back aft to help out. We’ll need to storm the bridge,” Eric closed his eyes. “This could get very messy…” He heard Elena in the background as she said she’d head their way immediately.

  “Eric,” Ariadne spoke from behind him, “I don’t think Mike realizes what’s going on.”

  “What?” Eric said. “The bastard must have betrayed us, he’s armed Krann, maybe she made him a better offer-”

  “No,” Ariadne said, her voice calm. “We believe there’s a rogue psychic aboard the ship, and if it’s Krann, like we suspect, well, she’s just controlled him.”

  “That’s impossible,” Eric said. “For one thing, Chxor don’t have any psychics, everyone knows that. For another, how would you know about a rogue psychic and the rest of us wouldn’t?”

  “She’s right,” Pixel said. “We suspected Krann before, but we heard Chxor didn’t have psychics. She may not be it, maybe she’s under control too. Either way, Mike’s not behind this. We can’t hold his actions against him.”

  “Whatever,” Eric snapped. “It’s obvious that Mike has betrayed us. You’re too trusting, Ariadne. You’ve let your emotions override your-”

  “Shut up, Eric,” Ariadne said. “You’re letting your own fears take over. Focus on the problem. We have a Wrethe pirate aboard and the bridge is under the control of the rogue psychic.”

  “Yeah guys, and…” Pixel trailed off. “Hey, did you send someone down here? I just heard
the rear hatch open, and Elena left from the upper hatch.”

  Eric felt his blood go cold. “Pixel, get out of there now.” He had screwed up yet again, just like on York, when he pulled his team out to save the others and caused the left flank to crumble… Why can’t I do anything right… “The Wrethe pirate targeted the engine room on the other ship, you’re at risk. I’m headed your way now…”

  Mandy shook her head, “No, we need the bridge. Miranda and I know the engine room, we’ll go support him.”

  Pixel spoke, his voice low, “I don’t see anyone here, but I’m getting out of here.”

  Eric took a deep breath. “Right, you two go, I’ll head for the bridge.”

  He and Ariadne ran for the bridge lift. They found Rastar and Anubus outside it, and the Wrethe pounded on the lift’s hatch in frustration. “Locked down. We need to take the stairs, but the hatch for that is locked down too.”

  “Crowe!” Eric called out. “We need your skills.”

  Before the other man could respond, the shipboard intercom went live. “Hello crew of the Gebnar. You have a very nice ship. I am very tempted to claim it for my own, but I would find it difficult to operate on my own,” the high pitched voice that came from the speakers had a sort of gloating malevolence about it that set Eric’s teeth on edge. “I will explain the situation. I offered the same bargain to the crew of the Sao Martino. Turn over all valuables and weapons. If you do not comply within one hour, the program I uploaded into your engineering computer will cause the destruction of the ship’s reactor and probably the deaths of most of the crew. In addition, I will then hunt you down one by one until you are all dead.”

  Eric stepped over to the nearest intercom switch, “Look you bastard, you go ahead and make your threats, because we’ll find you and kill you and our engineer will fix whatever it is you did before it will have any effect.”

  The Wrethe chuckled, “I like that sort of spirit. Your engineer, however, seems to have problems of his own. I think you’ll want to get someone down here to look at him. He seems to have problems breathing. Still alive last I checked, but not looking well at all.”