The Dancer's Summons

by M. Garnet

  "Attention. We are being stopped and boarded for inspection by an OOW cruiser. All crew who are not on essential jobs should report to the bunks and get out their ID chips. Cooperate, and this should not take long."

  As they all turned around to return to the bunkrooms, Gome put a hand on Traci's shoulder. She was in front of him, following the others back to their rooms. There were two bunk rooms, and there were always a couple of people sleeping who were working on other shifts. Usually, it was quiet, as a person entered, out of politeness to whoever needed their rest.

  This time even the ones sleeping were roused up and getting dressed to wait for the officials. Traci went to sit on her bed with her feet on the floor with the usual ID chip in her hand. Most of the others were doing the same thing, but a couple went through their storage cupboards digging out their flat IDs.

  Looking down a couple of bunks, Traci caught the eye of Gome. "Will we have to power down the engines?" Traci wondered what this was all about with the OOW military stopping this particular ship.

  "Naw. At least most of the time, we don't have any interruptions. They have power because they have the funds and contacts to have a relationship with the big guys. They pull up and lock onto us and send some guys over to check out what we are hauling and make sure we all have our legal IDs."

  "Yep, it gets them more pay to bother hard-working folks." This came from one of the women between Gome and Traci. That brought out some nods and mumbles. So, Traci got the feeling that there were hard feelings about the military. Well, she had some also, but she wasn't about to verbalize anything right now.

  The best thing to do was remain invisible, so she slid back and rested against the cold metal wall. The thing about this small ship with the narrow halls was that they heard the steps of the people who boarded them through both airlocks. Traci guessed that the military ensured no one would try to make a space jump by covering both airlocks. The OOW cruiser would cover the back ramp where items could be loaded.

  Evidently, everything went as expected. Some of the uniforms that came on board went to the storage areas with the XO and the crewman in charge of that section. What looked like an officer and another uniform went to the bridge and then, as the rest of the crew quit peeking out in the narrow hall, two uniforms headed to their two bunkrooms.

  Two uniforms went into the first door to check out the ID coins and ask a few questions of the crew in that bunkroom. Everyone in Traci's area sat on their beds with feet hanging out, up and down on three levels. There were three empty bunks; two had never held crew and were empty because the male worked in communications.

  For a young woman with a lot of smarts and on the run due to her birth, Moxxi still made some stupid mistakes. It was her mouth that seemed to talk all by itself, without her brain working first. It had gotten her into small fights when she had said the wrong things to guys who made a pass at her. It was a problem when she saw someone picking on someone smaller or unable to help themselves.

  So, she tried to take a deep breath and look at her friends, who all looked uncomfortable. No one liked to be questioned by the authority because no matter how innocent you were, there were those little lies you told in your past.

  After hearing some argument in the first room, there was silence, and the voices continued. It seemed like it was taking forever for the uniforms to clear the ship.

  At last, it got quiet in the other bunk room, and the soft steps of the ship-boots could be heard moving down the hallway. It was one man with two silver bars sewn into his collar and another with some dark blue slashes on one sleeve. They also had all kinds of other badges and labels sewn into their uniforms. People that spent a lot of time in space did not have loose items on their clothes. Most of the military, and also on crews, had information sewed or dyed onto the material. Nothing that could get loose in case of loss of gravity or a quick need to get into safety gear, like an off-ship suit.

  "ID coins." This was a demand from the officer. The man with the lower rank walked up to the first crew, who held out his flat ID chip. It was scanned, and then the man asked the guy who had offered the chip his name and position on the ship. The guy known as Mottie shrugged and told the uniform exactly what it said on the coin the uniform held in his hand.

  Looking over at Gome, Tracie saw him raise his eyebrows. Was this a game? By this time, the Senior uniform knew some facts about the ship, so he looked around and pointed at one of the women sitting on a top bunk.

  "Are you going to the home world of the ship or leaving at the next stop."

  The crew woman was older than Traci and had muscles enough to lift some of the bigger boxes that most men couldn't move. Still, she answered in a polite voice.

  "Sir, I am leaving at the next stop. I have a good record and will get a job on the next available posting, sir."

  Thinking that the woman was too polite, Traci just looked down at her hands, holding the odd-shaped ID chip.

  Again the Senior Officer spoke from where he stood, blocking the entrance, looking at everyone. "Who is the senior crew person here?"

  There was a hesitation, and Harv raised his hand. The officer motioned to his man, who stepped over to Harv, to take and scan his ID coin.

  "So, who belongs to the empty bunks?" The Officer did not even look up as he pulled up his pad and asked the question.

  Everyone assumed that he was talking to Harv, so Harv cleared his throat and looked around the uniform, scanning his ID coin.

  "Well, sir, the second one over Traci, the lady there is empty, as well as, the one on top over me. We never did pick up crew and didn't need anyone for them. You can see they don't have any blankets on them. The clean blankets and pillows are stored in the cabinets at the end. That other one over there belongs to Ethi, who is in the communications station right now. It is his shift."

  Finally, the Officer moved away from the entrance and slid past his man to move down the length of the room. He was not looking at the people; he looked at their bunks and down at their suits. Finally, he reached the end and stopped in front of Traci. Reaching down, he took her ID chip, and without turning away from her, he handed it behind him to the uniform with the scanner.

  "How long have you been on this ship?"

  Glancing over at Gome, she decided on the truth. "I came aboard at the Solitude station."

  "So, you are not part of the original crew and will be leaving at the next dock?"

  "Yes." Traci felt it best to keep her eyes down. She was feeling a bit of anger inside and didn't want the man in front of her to see it in her eyes.

  "The next stop is dangerous for such a fragile female." The statement was said in almost a quiet tone as if it were just between the two of them.

  Now she did glance up at him, feeling uncomfortable, as he had moved too close to her feet and legs.

  "She's stronger than she looks. You should see her in the kitchen." It was Gome who spoke up, and the Officer turned with a frown.

  "Yep, you should see her wrestle those garbage barrels." This was Harv, and Traci was surprised he was speaking up for her. Especially since they didn't have any garbage barrels.

  "Have you checked him?" The Officer pointed at Gome. The uniform reached around and handed Traci her ID chip.

  "Yes, sir, I got them all. I sent the data to your pad."

  The Officer looked at the pad and then looked around the crowded room. "I don't have time to mess with this group. Let's go."

  With that, the crew was left alone to hear the military's soft boots leaving the ship.

  Traci sat rubbing her thumb over her odd flat ID chip. She had to wonder what the Officer meant when he said the next stop was dangerous.

  Chapter Five

  Sirens and orange lights were all over the ship as people were running to special stations. An explosion out in space is silent to those who are not in the middle of the effect, as there is no air to carry the sound. That still does not mean that there are no repercussions, as the OOW ship is blown apart
near the BoseIn.

  First, the BoseIn was rocked from the outward movement of the explosion. Next, the OOW ship's fragments were thrown out, some striking the old freighter as it was tumbled away. Being pushed by the movement of the detonation was a blessing, even as the old ship turned over and over. It was thrust out ahead of most of the OOW ship's debris.

  Still, some of the broken segments had a harder propel, and some began to collide with the sides of the tumbling blocky old ship. Some added more dents, but the one or two small sharp segments penetrated the thick hide that meant danger to air loss.

  The Captain or XO cut the gravity to prevent harm until they could get the ship stabilized. With everyone floating from handholds on all surfaces, the crew was trying to get into off-ship suits. There was some crew that had training to attack leaks, so those people were heading where the announcements were, notifying them of the problems.

  At last, the ship was stabilized, but there still was no gravity of the normal type. The ship began to move to escape the debris expansion field, and that meant everything went to the back of the ship. Now people could stand on the back of sidewalls. It wasn't that strong, but it did help some with moving around.

  By this time, Traci was in the mess area with Cook, trying to recover pans, cups, shakers, and napkins that had not been put away before loss of gravity. Now all of these items were planted in strange piles on the back wall with some unidentified objects. Cleaning up the area was slower than usual, as their movements were hampered by the off-ship suits they were wearing.

  The orange warning lights were still on, but the sirens were shut down. Sounds were coming through their helmets that were open in front, as there was still enough atmosphere to breathe while the repairs were continuing. There came an announcement from the bridge that seemed to be interrupted.

  "Arm yourselves, we have in…" that was all anyone heard. Traci stopped and looked at Cook, who was stuffing a handful of garbage into the usual flapping door. He stopped with his arm outstretched.

  "What was that all about?" Traci looked around as she spoke.

  "I don't know, but it sounds bad. We don't have weapons…but wait." Cook turned and went over behind the serving counter and then came out with two carving knives from one of the drawers. "Catch."

  Cook, with thick gloves, held up one of the knives, and just let it go. It came at Traci, who was near the back wall. Since the pull of the ship's forward movement wasn't that strong, the knife didn't fly very fast, but Traci knew she couldn't catch it with the clumsy gloves. She just stepped aside, and when the knife joined some napkins on the back wall where she was standing, she reached down and picked it up. It wasn't a gun, but it was a type of weapon.

  "Any idea what we do next?" She looked at the knife and shook her head. Could she drive it through a person?

  "What you do next, bitch, is put your hands together and drop the knife."

  Both Cook and Traci looked over at the three men who wore magnetic boots and entered one after the other into the room. Traci noticed that they had real weapons, long guns, and each one pointed the barrels at her and Cook. Bringing a knife to a gunfight didn't seem too smart, so both did what they were asked by the team dressed in black.

  "Why do the bad guys always were black?" There was that smartass mouth of Traci's. She needed to take some lessons. She was looking the guy up close as one came over to put metal control cuffs on her. The male attached them and then tapped a couple of buttons to set the role they would apply. When he moved over to Cook, she tried to lift her arms and couldn't. The setting was now to keep her wrists at waist level, damn.

  With only signals from the weapons, Traci and Cook were marched into the hallway, each pulled by a black-clad person in magnetic boots. Except for the one who had first spoken, they all had full-face black helmets that went with the mismatched black off-ship suits.

  Eventually, they were in one of the side slots of the storage areas in the back of the ship with almost all of the crew. The Captain was with them with a bleeding and half-bandaged arm. Most of the crew who worked on the bridge was here and some of the others. There were whispers that a couple of their members were dead.

  Among the whispers, there was no idea of who the invaders were or where they were going. So, everyone just sat, not being able to move their hands in the cuffs. It is evident to Traci that the attackers had come prepared to have enough cuffs for everyone.

  Moving over to the Captain, Traci knelt. "How are you doing, sir?"

  She looked at the rough wrap on his upper arm, and blood was seeping out from under it to move down to his elbow.

  "Been better, crewman Cen." Traci was surprised that the man even knew her name.

  Looking around the area they were in, Traci saw the small metal door on the wall with the medic sign. "Guys, there is a first aid kit in there. We need to get it out for the Captain."

  "Yeah, and we need to go in the other room and get in the armory. Except, I can't scratch my nose." One guy spoke in a snide manner.

  "Hell, Ank, you shouldn't scratch your nose because you use that hand to scratch your balls all the time." That comment brought a few nervous chuckles. Humor would always come to the forefront when people were scared.

  "Look." Traci stood up and waved her hands and fingers. "We have some movement. Get something to stand on or help a person get on your knee and get someone's hand high enough to open that door and drop the kit to someone else. We are a crew that has worked together, so this should be simple."

  Suddenly, a couple of the guys moved around. "I think she has an idea."

  "I'll help." This came from another, and then several were standing by the wall with the medic sign on it that was about shoulder high. It did take some false starts and some people on the floor, one lying on his stomach and the next with his foot on the first back.

  Others held out their hands to steady or held a foot. It took only a few efforts, and they had a youth up high enough where his fingers could open the door, and he pulled out the kit. He dropped it into waiting hands, and there was a cheer.

  Then everyone dropped down and huddled on the ground, aware that the noise might draw the attention of their captors. Waiting a few minutes, they soon felt it was safe to move around, and they began to help Traci take care of the Captain.

  First, she and another crewman dug out a painkiller and gave the Captain a couple of pills. They also gave him a couple of anti-inflammation pills and one capsule for infections. Now Traci was able to take the small ion knife to cut away the wrappings and apply some fast-heal. Finally, she put on a clear coat cover, and it was all that any of them could do.

  Somewhere in the process, the Captain had either passed out or fallen asleep. "Let's hide the kit."

  This came from one of the crew, and soon the kit had disappeared. Traci didn't ask where it was and didn't want to know. She wondered if she was a coward, as she didn't like pain and might be willing to tell anything to anyone if they threatened her.

  There was no threat, and when they were moved, there was no comment about the improvement on the Captain's wound. They were moved because the trip was short, and it seemed they were soon docked. As they were led off the damaged freighter, there was a group of guards in plain clothes.

  Report: Asset in danger, nothing due to her heritage. I am stepping in to come to her aid without revealing my identity. Details to follow.

  They were stopped in the docking area and were told to remove the off-ship suits. These were dumped into a large container along with the cuffs. Everyone did the same thing upon having the cuffs released, first rubbed their wrists and next raised their arms. Release was temporary, and the armed guards started pushing them with the weapons to move them down a tight alley.

  Gome worked his way up to be near her. "That was smart to get the Captain fixed."

  With just a smile and a shrug, Traci kept up with the group and hoped they were not going someplace just to be murdered. This station wasn't as large as Solitude by a lo
ng shot, but if you had a high-powered weapon in your back, pushing you through metal alleys, it seemed huge.

  They were forced downstairs, and then they realized how serious these invaders in black were, as they got into a very long row of old-fashioned jail cells. First, they went through several rooms with the doors guarded by people in mismatched black clothes but very solid weapons.

  The last central room had a lot of screens with three exits that led to different cellblocks. The group from the BoseIn was led down one passageway that had old-fashioned barred doors on one side. They were put into the cells, four at a time. Traci was put in with Cook and two others, but Gome was pulled away as he started to stay with her.

  For the next few hours, they didn't see anyone. Some talk back and forth about guesses as to who these people were and what they wanted. A man without a covering over his face and accompanied by two with hoods and long weapons came down the hall. Halfway he stopped and looked into one of the cells.

  "Which one is the XO?"

  There was silence. "I asked for the XO to be pointed out, now." This time the man shouted out a little louder. Everyone froze in place and said nothing.

  The speaking man walked over close to the bars and pointed to a crewman. "You, come over here."

  No one in the other cells could see what was happening, but evidently, the man had slowly walked up to the front to the bars.

  The headman looked him over. "You don't look like much. Are you the XO?"

  "Nope." The man sounded scared but answered. The head guy stepped back and motioned to one of his hooded guards. The guards just raised his weapon and shot off one blast. There was no sound from the crewman, but the other three began to yell and cuss.

  "Hey." The yell came from the cell next to Traci's. "Okay, I am the XO. Stop the shooting. I'm right here."