Neighbors

by Brian Whiting

  itself is great, better than yours even, albeit incomplete.”

  “Yeah, well, ours was put together mostly by Jorge and Timmy, with a

  lot of secrecy.”

  “We have a couple of weapon designs that Kalibri suggested we can

  fabricate and install.”

  “Excellent. We’ll go over them together, I’ll see you soon, Cindy.”

  The main viewscreen went to the default forward camera view. The

  work crews previously scrambling to remove scaffolding were now slowly

  putting the scaffolding back together again. Alex turned to leave the bridge

  when Laura came stumbling in.

  She was panting heavily, her hair out of place and her skin glistening.

  When she failed to say anything. Alex walked right up to her so that only

  she could hear. “I will always go to the ship in the event of an alarm.” Alex

  walked past her.

  Laura, still panting, just stood there, catching her breath and head

  hanging low.

  “I suspected it was a drill, but I wasn’t sure.” Lanora was already head-

  ing off the bridge as she eyed Laura for the first time. She stopped as though she was about to say something, but then continued off the bridge.

  A console on the bridge lit up, and it caught Laura’s attention: a blink-

  ing orange light. She walked over to see if she could decipher the light.

  When she got closer, she discovered it was an icon and just under it was the

  name Raziya. She ran out of the bridge and towards the hallway, she yelled out, “Captain Alex to the bridge!”

  * * *

  Alex and Lanora just made it inside the cafeteria when Laura’s voice called

  out to him.

  40

  “What do you think has got her up in a raucous?” Lanora asked.

  Alex stopped and considered. “I’m not sure, maybe something to do

  with the drill. Either way, I don’t care for the way she’s seeking attention.”

  They returned to the bridge , not seeking to rush. The drill was over, after all.

  The moment Laura saw Alex in the hallway approaching, she called

  out, “Hey, the Raziya is blinking orange. Is that normal?”

  Lanora, who was walking casually behind Alex, immediately bounded

  past him towards her console. She barely sat down before her fingers

  flashed across her screen. Popup commands disappeared nearly as fast as

  they appeared, and she was quick to respond to each of them. “Sir, the

  Raziya is gaining altitude.”

  “Message the ship, find out what’s going on.”

  Lanora sent the message, and as the seconds approached a minute, Alex

  decided to sit back down in his chair, trying to figure out what to do. The

  Destiny was not repaired yet, the back half was essentially missing.

  His data pad lit up with a new alert message: ‘India reports the ship was

  just stolen out of the shipyard!”

  Simultaneously, Alex’s phone rang, and with a pang of guilt, he realized

  he hadn’t called his father back. Suppressing the guilt in the wake of this

  emergency, he ignored the call again, just in time to hear Lanora shout,

  “Get Cindy back on the screen!”

  * * *

  “Ma’am, the Destiny’s requesting comms link.”

  “Put them on, and in the future, just give me a quick heads up, don’t

  ask me for permission.” Cindy was huddled over a crewman’s station as

  they both studied the sensors.

  “Cindy, the Raziya has been hijacked. Who do you have onboard?”

  It took a moment for Cindy to realize what Alex was referring to.

  “Bogdan, sir!”

  “Take the ship, destroy it if you have to.” Alex nodded and closed

  the viewscreen.

  “Set course for the Raziya… Use your best, safe speed,” Cindy barked

  to her pilot.

  41

  The pilot was careful not to go too fast, or they risked the ship heating up as they entered the atmosphere.

  Despite the careful entry, it didn’t take very long for the ship to inter-

  cept the Raziya. If it weren’t for the transponder devices already installed on the ships, Cindy might have never found it. It was heading south, speeding

  across the Indian Ocean at a very low altitude. She couldn’t work out where

  the ship going in this part of the world.

  “I want you to take us to three feet above their position,” Cindy

  ordered, watching the map on her viewscreen.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Cindy left the bridge and made her way to the cargo room. Bogdan sat

  getting ready, most of his equipment already strapped to his body.

  “How are you going to get on board?” Cindy asked. “How are you

  going to open the exterior doors? It’s not like you can push the door open

  at two hundred miles per hour.”

  “I am going to gain entry using this.” Bogdan adjusted his assault vest

  onto his body and rummaged through one of the crates he brought on

  board. He pulled out a portable torch and smiled at Cindy.

  Exchanging nods, the pair opened a set of double doors that were built

  into the bottom of the hull and rushed to grab onto something as the force

  of the wind threatened to pull them from the ship.

  All they could see was the ocean passing beneath them, far below. Sud-

  denly, the Raziya came in view. The other ship was dangerously close, cutting the drag from the door as they flew.

  After a few moments, the Nuboko settled over a fixed spot on the Raziya.

  “Hey, be careful!” Cindy yelled over the wind. He gave her the

  thumbs up.

  Cindy returned to the bridge and watched via the camera as Bogdan

  prepared to jump onto the other ship. Gusts of wind continued tearing

  through the cargo bay, pulling at his hair and clothes, though everything

  else was tied down.

  “The ship’s gone!” Bogdan called out on his assault radio gear.

  “That wasn’t me, they changed course. Hold tight,” responded the pilot.

  “Where are they going now?”

  42

  “I don’t know. East somewhere.” A few moments passed. “If they stay the current course, it takes them to the southern coast of Mexico.”

  “Get me back over!” Bogdan settled over the edge and let his legs

  dangle in the open air.

  Moments later, they were over the ship again, and Bogdan didn’t wait.

  As soon as he felt it was reasonably safe, he jumped the short four-foot

  space between the ships. The moment his body came into contact with the

  wind, he realized he misjudged the force of air at two hundred miles per

  hour.

  He hit the outer hull hard, and the wind pushed him back like a tum-

  bleweed. Over and over he tumbled, approaching the rear edge of the ship.

  He swung his arm out, and his torch caught one of the two stabilizer tails.

  It certainly wasn’t easy, but after several minutes of fighting the wind,

  switching hands and only using one arm, he cut away a small section of

  the outer hull that was slightly protected from the passing wind by the tail

  itself. Once he was able to work in that small hole, it was much easier to cut away the inner hull. Instead of letting the cutout fall and make even more

  noise, he left a bit of it connected and pushed the ceiling inward.

  His entry location was not ideal. He was three decks above the loading

  area. He pulled out a piece of rope that certainly was not l
ong enough and

  attached it to one of the cross beams between the inner and outer hulls.

  There was no one in sight, and he hoped that it would stay that way.

  Bogdan tossed the loose end of the rope into the loading bay, and he

  lowered himself down. He made it halfway between the ceiling and the

  bottom floor when he ran out of rope. Bogdan took a deep breath and

  let go. He bent his legs slightly and waited for them to make impact with

  the deck. As soon as they did, he allowed his body to roll to one side in

  an effort to lessen the impact and avoid breaking his legs. In spite of his

  efforts, there was a sharp pain in his ankle.

  Pushing past the pain pulsing through his leg, he lowered his alien

  pulse rifle at the ready and stood up.

  The weapon was much heavier then he would have liked, and his gear

  caused him to limp hard onto his good foot. He reached the ramp that led

  to every deck of the ship, wanting to head straight for the bridge, but his

  training and instincts wanted him to clear the bottom decks first. However,

  43

  he reasoned that the more time he spent on the decks in the open, like he was now, was more of a chance that someone would stumble onto a camera

  feed of him walking through the halls of the ship.

  He had to risk a direct assault to the top deck. Time was not his friend.

  It took him two minutes to quietly limp up the ramp to the top deck.

  When he reached the singular hallway, he peered towards the bridge. All

  the bulkheads were open, except for the bridge itself.

  Maybe they’re all on the bridge? he hoped.

  He took only two steps into the hallway when a man wearing solid

  black walked into the hallway and towards the bridge, completely oblivious

  to Bogdan behind him.

  He’s certainly not UEF, he thought. If his foot were fully functional, he would have crept up to the enemy and made a silent kill. He doubted he

  could even catch up to him, hobbling and making noise all the way.

  He raised the heavy weapon, the butt of the rifle against his shoulder

  as he peered through a solid circle iron sight at the end of the barrel. The

  trigger easily fell underneath the force of his finger.

  As soon as the trigger was pressed, a small one-millimeter pellet made

  from hardened, solid Thean supercapacitor sprung past three coils that

  infused the pellet with a tremendous amount of energy, igniting a cascade

  reaction within the pellet. This, in turn, changed the tiny pellet into what

  was essentially a small star. The pellet was then caught by three magnetic

  rails, which forced the pellet down the barrel at a prodigious speed.

  Bogdan knew the theory behind the gun; he was looking forward to

  seeing it in action, his sidearm ready in case the weapon failed him.

  Bogdan watched as a tiny red star flew from the barrel and zipped down

  the hallway, making direct contact with his enemy. The tiny star sounded

  like a sparkler as it sizzled and fizzed its way through the air. As soon as the pellet made contact with the enemy, all the stored energy transferred and

  burst forth into the man’s torso. A gaping hole in his back sizzled from the

  burning, and he instantly collapsed forward.

  Bogdan surprised at the complete lack of noise the weapon itself made,

  cautiously moved forward, unsure if anyone else was going to pop out into

  the hallway. He quickly scanned the rooms as he passed them, slowly creep-

  ing up to the bridge. As he grew closer, he could hear conversation taking

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  place from within the bridge, the door ajar. He could hear three different men talking, but could see no one in the room.

  “Make the final changes in heading.”

  “Yes, sir, making final turn.”

  “Where’s Gus? What’s taking him so long? Go find out if he needs help.”

  “On it.”

  Bogdan readied his weapon against his shoulder, and as soon as the

  other man opened the door, Bogdan discharged the rifle in his face. He

  quickly pushed the body out of his way as it fell and brought the weapon

  up to the second man, who was just beginning to react to the shot in the

  doorway and took him out as well.

  Bogdan entered the room, scanning it, but those inside didn’t need

  any more time to react. Most dove to the deck, while one man in an all-

  black uniform raised his assault rifle and let out a few rounds in Bog-

  dan’s direction.

  Bogdan dove behind a nearby console, kneeled and returned fire with

  one shot. The shot missed and hit a bulkhead, which turned molten red

  as it absorbed the heat. The heated bulkhead poured away from the site as

  liquefied molten metal. After a few seconds, the metal cooled, solidifying in

  place. The wall looked like melted candle wax.

  Several men fired off assault weapons at the console Bogdan hid behind.

  From the other side of the console, Bogdan fired off a shot that struck a

  man in the leg. The man fell to the floor screaming, now missing his leg.

  Someone reached out too far in an attempt to pull the fallen man behind

  some cover, and Bogdan fell that person with a well-placed shot.

  “Argh!”

  A hole erupted from Bogdan shoe, blood pooling around it. Ignor-

  ing the pain, he rolled onto his side and fired back at the man he had first

  missed, hiding behind his own console. Bogdan fired four rounds into the

  same spot in the console.

  After the second shot, there was a sizable hole as the metal flowed away

  like bright lava. The fourth shot found its mark as the man fell to his side,

  most of his back and shoulder missing.

  “I surrender…I surrender…Don’t shoot me!”

  He looked around to find out where the voice came from. A man

  45

  in a technical outfit crawled out from behind one of the consoles, tears streaming down his face. Bogdan kept his weapon sighted on the man as

  he emerged from his place of cover, limping as he tried to keep weight off

  his right foot.

  “If you want to live, tell me what I want to know,” Bogdan growled, in

  too much pain for tolerance.

  The man lowered his head, growing still.

  “Where are you taking the ship, who hired you?”

  No response.

  “I asked you a question!”

  The technician got off his hands and rested on his knees, finally looking

  up into Bogdan’s eyes. “We are taking the ship to port.” The man glanced

  over Bogdan’s shoulder, alerting Bogdan that he might not be alone.

  Bogdan dropped and twisted onto his back, raising the weapon at the

  newcomer. Bogdan’s shot hit the wall next to the creeping assailant, who

  returned fire with a spray of rounds from his automatic weapon.

  Bogdan didn’t allow the rounds to distract him as he fired again, this

  time striking the man in the chest. The other man looked down at the hole

  his chest where his heart should be, to find nothing but sizzling flesh. Ves-

  sels and arteries were cauterized from the extensive heat of the alien round,

  preventing blood loss.

  Finally, the man toppled over.

  Bogdan rolled over to aim his weapon at the technician, then sighed.

  The tech was dead, killed in the recent exchange of gunfire. Bogdan shuf-

  fled to one of the consoles a
nd carefully looked it over it in an attempt to

  figure out how to fly the ship himself.

  He tried to radio for help with his headset, but there was no answer. He

  picked an unassuming control slider and slowly moved it to the right side.

  For a moment, he thought he felt weightlessness. He hit the decking hard

  as the ship crashed into the ocean at two hundred miles per hour. The ship

  skipped just once on the water, seeming to glide just above the surface for

  several moments. Bogdan managed to get halfway into one of the bridge

  chairs and wrap a strap around himself as the ship touched the surface of

  the water again; plumes of water shot up either side of the ship as it decelerated. Finally the nose buried itself into a slight wave, and the ship flipped

  46

  end over end until it came to rest in the water. Due to the fact that the ship was naturally bottom-heavy, the ship slowly rolled over and righted itself

  in the water.

  Bogdan untangled himself from the straps in time to see the Nukobo

  appear in front of him, a pair of tow cables hanging from beneath the ship.

  His body was ravaged with deep bruises and possible fractures from being

  tossed around, but he was alive.

  Rescue, he thought as he nursed his many injuries.

  * * *

  Alex watched the most recent addition to the website play on his desk

  screen: video of the black-dressed soldiers entering the Raziya at the shipyard, then the interior footage of the ship’s crew being systematically killed, one by one, as none were aware of the threat. Finally, he watched footage of

  SFC Bogdan eliminating the hijackers and the ship crashing into the ocean.

  “It is currently unknown who launched the operation to steal the ship.

  However, once we find out, you will be the first to know. In the mean-

  time, I leave a message to all those who are watching. Every time we have

  to defend ourselves against our own kind, you’re just setting us back that

  much more when the Zorn come back. Now the Raziya is yet another ship

  that will need repairs and may not be ready when it’s needed.”

  Alex switched off the screen and looked at Cindy, who was sitting in

  front of him. “Good job recovering our ship, Cindy. Also, that material

  Kalibri provided will definitely come in handy.”

  “Oh, please, you know all the thanks goes to the man who took the