The three ships started firing toward them, but mostly blasts that could be deflected by their shields. They didn’t unleash any of the large weapons. Regan realized that the ships must be too close to fire massive missiles. An explosion from one of those things could backfire on them.
“Posha, how sure about you about those mines you made?” Calico asked.
“I am quite sure that whatever sets them off will be significantly more troubled than we will,” he replied. “That is their purpose.”
“You’re nuts,” Straya said, catching on to Calico’s plan.
“Maybe,” Calico said. “But if it means saving our collective asses…”
Calico took the ship toward the first of the three ships, the closest one. She got close enough that it seemed for a moment they were going to collide, but they didn’t. Instead she just grazed the surface of the navy vessel. The proximity of the two ships set off a mine that caused a massive explosion.
Posha was right in that it didn’t break through their own ship, but the impact did send a massive jolt their way. It made alarms go off and the screens flicker.
Arkei’s hologram display showed that the navy vessel that received the explosion now had a significant hole in its top, near its bridge. The ship was without power and was now drifting, unable to fight back. Its firing had stopped and its ability to maneuver out of the situation was depleted. Much of the crew would still be alive, but the ship itself was useless.
“Nicely done,” Arkei said.
“Yeah, but they’ll be onto us now,” Calico replied.
She kept the ship moving the way it was and started to circle back around. It was clear there was no running away from this fight. They had no ability to make a jump and escape. If they were to flee, it would be easy for the navy vessels to follow them, hunt them down, and use their larger and more powerful weapons. The proximity was their greatest strength right now.
The alarms didn’t stop. Squit stood from her seat, picked up Bob, and made their way for the door only to be hailed by Posha.
“Take me with you!” he said. “As I trust you are headed to the—”
Before he could finish, one of Squit’s tentacles reached out, unbuckled his safety belt, and pulled him from his chair in a single swift motion. They disappeared out the bridge door before anyone could blink.
Bob’s voice came through the speakers on the bridge.
“Captain, Squit is going to keep an eye on any ongoing damage.”
Then Posha’s voice came through as well. “And I have an idea!”
“I’ll take any and all ideas right now, Posha!” Regan shouted in reply. “Anything that will get us out of this.”
Calico flew the ship into a spiraling motion. She had circled back around and was again headed for the navy ships.
“I hope you’re holding onto something, Squit!” she shouted as the ship spun in circles. The probe was still following, and Regan wondered if she could make it collide with one of the ships. It was a long shot, but what wouldn’t be at this point?
Instead, a heavy blast came from one of the navy ships. It had sent a large missile right at their ship.
“Fuck!” Arkei shouted. “We’ve got an M-12 coming right at us!”
“They’re crazy to use that kind of power at this close range!” Straya said.
“It seems they are willing to take a hit to eliminate us!” Arkei replied back.
Calico held her course, her eyes glaring out the front windshield, heading directly for the missile. She kept the spiraling motion going and accelerated their speed drastically.
“Well, we’re about to really put Posha’s mines to the test,” she said.
And they did.
The missile collided with the front of their ship, sending a major tremor throughout the entire structure. Regan worried for a moment that the ship would split in two. The screens all went black, as did the lights on the bridge.
This is it.
But it only lasted for a moment. The mine had worked. It was as if it diverted the missile’s explosion upon impact, sending it outward away from the ship.
When the screens rebooted, there was static for a moment, but then they regained their real-time images, showing the missile had certainly done damage, but only minimally to their ship. The navy vessels had been sent slightly off course from the blow as well.
“Damn!” Regan shouted. “Posha’s mines really are working!”
Then Posha’s voice came through the speaker.
“Okay, I have replaced a missile component with a lovely little device I like to call the ‘wave.’ Whenever you are ready, you may fire.”
“Just one of our standard missiles?” Arkei asked. “That won’t do shit!”
“It will now,” Posha replied. “Just fire one, at either ship, and then hightail it out of here.”
Arkei looked over at Calico, who affirmed that she was ready, then she fired a single missile at the navy vessel. As expected, the missile didn’t reach the ship due to the force shield surrounding it. But what it did do was quite a surprise to everyone.
They soon learned why Posha called it what he did.
As the missile exploded, it released a gaseous substance into space that tumbled over itself. The tumbling grew at a drastic rate, expanding in all directions, more of a tsunami than a mere wave.
It took over the navy ships and pushed them off their course. It was like it stuck to them and the force wouldn’t allow them to fly out of it. Heavy sparks came from the gas as well, as if it were feeding on the electricity of each ship.
The navy ships tumbled over each other along with the gas, completely out of control. The lights on both ships flickered before ultimately going out. Regan and his crew watched as their enemy lost power. The ships bumped into each other and rolled over in what had to be a huge mess. The force shields were clearly down, because as the ships bumped into each other they dented one another, shattering windows and bending metal.
Posha had done it. The Intergalactic Council Navy ships weren’t going to be a problem for anyone any time soon. The tumbling and force of the gas continued to grow and increase in speed the longer it was exposed.
It was only a matter of moments before both ships exploded.
“Just one more detail,” Arkei said, watching the probe still following them on the screen. She lined up a missile toward it. Even though it was fast and had been able to dodge most things up until this point, Arkei was able to blow it up with a single shot.
“Nice shot,” Straya said.
“It’s good to be back,” Arkei replied.
“We have to get out of here,” Calico interjected. “We’re down to one mine and I don’t want to be here if more of those fuckers show up.”
“Right you are, Calico,” Regan said. “Get us out of here.”
“And then we’re going to find Rubicio,” Straya said. “That sorry son of a bitch is really starting to piss me off.”
“Right again, Straya,” Regan added. “Hiding is no good. We need to bring him down, and we need to do it sooner rather than later.”
Chapter Five
Calico headed for deep space, away from traffic or any populated sectors. Without an FTL drive, it was not as simple as typing in the coordinates and punching it, getting them where they needed to be in no time.
Regan still blamed himself for this delay in travel time, and he worried that every moment they stayed in space they would be exposed to the forces of Rubicio. The three recent attacks had demonstrated not only that Rubicio was onto them, but that his tactics were ranging and growing in aggression.
Regan pressed the button on his chair that opened up the ship’s internal communication link.
“Posha, is it possible to get any more of those mines?” he asked.
Posha was still with Bob and Squit, looking at damage and repairs in other parts of the ship. Even though Regan knew the answer to the question he had just asked, he waited for Posha to reply.
“I a
m afraid not, Captain,” Posha’s voice confirmed. “I am happy to construct more, as I can do so from the materials we took from my home, but each mine will take several days with uninterrupted attention.”
“Thank you, Posha,” Regan replied. “But I’m afraid we don’t currently have that kind of time.”
“I can update our standard missiles,” Posha replied. “It is no trouble to boost our current weaponry a bit at least.”
“Great idea,” Regan said. “Get on that as soon as you’re done with repairs.”
Meanwhile, Straya scanned her monitor, looking for coordinates. Arkei scanned the holographic radar for surrounding areas and nearby sectors. Rubicio could be coming from anywhere. Now that Arkei was seemingly back on her game, her eyes were hard at work, focused on the strategy at hand.
“I’m not seeing anything coming up yet,” Arkei said. “But how worried do you think we should be about additional Intergalactic Council Navy ships surprising us?”
“Probably not as likely as it would seem,” Calico answered. “I highly doubt that attack was carried out officially. I’m guessing it was an off-the-record operation, and they’ll hesitate to waste more ships.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Straya said. “Rubicio can claim that pirates attacked and took down three of their ships and send more right away.” She wrapped up her typing and spun around to face Calico. “And speaking of pirates…”
Calico opened a notification on her screen that Straya just sent her way—coordinates to some place. Calico then turned to her with a bit of confusion.
“It’s a pirate hold,” Straya said.
Calico gave her a look of disbelief. “We’re looking for a quiet and safe place to lie low for a while to figure out our next plan of attack, and you want to go to a hostile, pirate-infested dump?”
“Considering our situation, it’s the safest place in the universe right now.”
“Straya, I know you have a history with pirates, but this place will be incredibly dangerous.” Calico scanned through the information, seemingly looking for further reason to call it off. “And look, this sector is otherwise completely abandoned. Apparently it was evacuated some time ago due to an aggressive supernova. You’re recommending we go to a very dark and desolate place, where pirates could very well have their way with us.”
“Yes,” Straya said. “But it’s a place where the influence of the Intergalactic Council is not welcome. Considering the status of our enemies right now, a pirate hold really is the safest spot we could ask for. Besides, I’ve got street cred with some of those pirates. They’ll respect us.”
The entire crew was silent for a few moments, but Regan agreed with Straya’s logic on this one.
Calico looked at Regan, who gave her a nod in return. She huffed, outranked, and directed the ship toward the coordinates.
“Relying on hyper-speed alone will put us there in about two hours,” Calico said. “Provided we don’t run into any IC forces.”
Regan knew that even though they weren’t being actively chased, he’d be holding his breath for the next two hours. He didn’t know how many steps ahead his enemy was.
When they arrived, Regan wasn’t sure if there was any life in the place at all. It was more than just run down; it looked abandoned. The space station appeared patched together with various pieces of metal, destroyed ships, and other supplies.
If there were a haunted house version of a space station, then this would be it. It existed on its own in a dark part of space and though there were no windows, Regan felt like their ship was being watched by this place. It was as if it was somehow waiting for them.
The only light in the area came from a neutron star that didn’t seem that far away. But as Regan learned, the density of a neutron star, especially a young one, made it so that it was very bright. That could also be the reason why the rest of the area seemed so dark.
As the ship circled around the space station, the crew started to understand how large it actually was. It was huge, bigger than they could have imagined, and because of how it sat at an angle near the neutron star, it was largely shadowed over, hiding in plain sight.
It was impressive. Regan started to think there was more to this place than met the eye. They came to what was seemingly an entrance, but it was entirely sealed off with older ships.
It was unclear whether this was an accident or an intentional decision, but it seemed at some point a ship maybe crashed right into the exterior of the station, or perhaps there was an explosion inside that broke through. But either way, the resulting exterior was a series of ships that had been welded together.
It almost reminded Regan of old sci-fi movies involving indigenous tribes, and how they would warn off newcomers by filling their entrance with severed heads on sticks. This seemed like a comparable warning, saying, “Come any closer, and your ship will be a flattened trophy on our wall for the universe to see.”
“Straya,” Regan started, but kept his nervousness contained as best he could. “Are we sure about this place?”
“Totally,” Straya said. Then she directed Calico to a section of the ship on the far side, completely shadowed over.
Once they started to get closer, they came upon some additional traffic. It wasn’t much, but it put Regan at ease.
“I’m requesting a landing dock,” Straya said as she messed around on her control screen.
“And that’s all that’s required?” Arkei asked.
“I still have some pirate contacts. But beyond that, this place welcomes anyone who doesn’t give them any trouble. An honor among thieves sorta deal. Intergalactic Council ships, on the other hand, will be fired upon on sight.” She continued to work on her screen. “It’s not free though. Requesting a landing dock costs a reservation fee… And it seems the prices have gone up quite a bit since I’ve been here last. They’ll let us in, if anything so they can just get paid. And they’ll keep us here until we pay.”
“Like a pirate cover charge?” Regan asked only half seriously. The idea was amusing to him, but he supposed it made sense.
“Sort of,” Straya said. Then a green light lit up on her screen. “Got one!” She turned to Calico. “Pad 86-D.” In response, Calico steered the ship for an entrance that was opening below them.
As Calico navigated their ship into the large station, Straya said, “Welcome to The Boneyard.”
That sounded about right to Regan. He inhaled and prepared for landing. Calico set the ship down nice and easy, then turned the engines off.
They had arrived.
The crew on the bridge all turned toward each other and looked at Regan for direction. He knew what to do next.
“We need antimatter modules, and we need to figure out a way to get into the Intergalactic Council’s broadcasting network to unleash this data cube and end this nonsense once and for all. That sound about right to everyone?”
Arkei nodded, but added, “Our loot is only going to sell here for about a tenth of what it would normally be worth anywhere else.”
“A tenth of the price still puts us in a good position,” Calico said. “The amount of wealth we’ve acquired and looted aboard this ship, not counting what Mephistopheles already had stored here, means we’ve got enough wealth to support us for years.”
“I suppose that’s true,” Arkei responded. “But when it comes to antimatter modules, no one here will be interested in selling them for money.”
Regan wasn’t sure why this would be the case. “Why’s that?”
Arkei was kind in her reply, but it was another instance of Regan not fully understanding the nature of how the universe worked. “If someone has antimatter modules, then they already have money, and lots of it. So money alone won’t pique their interest.”
“She’s right,” Calico said. “Mephistopheles got the antimatter modules for this ship by trading exotic or stolen goods.”
“Well, we have plenty of those,” Regan noted.
“Yes, but there’ll be many ite
ms in circulation here,” Straya added. “So what seems exotic to this ship might be run of the mill around this place.”
Arkei piled on. “Not to mention antimatter modules will only get us to the Intergalactic Council’s broadcasting station, but it still doesn’t answer our question of how we’re going to get in.”
“One problem at a time,” Calico said sternly. “First, we figure out how to get new modules. Second, we figure out how to get into the IC’s stronghold.”
Regan nodded, then turned his attention toward considering what sort of rarities they had aboard the ship. Sure, they had weapons, jewels, and possessions of fallen kings and warlords, but it seemed like they would need something that really stood out. They would need something that another pirate couldn’t refuse.
It would also have to be something that made it seem like Regan and his crew weren’t to be messed with, nor ripped off. Something that demonstrated the power they held and…
Then it hit him.
The Bearded Butcher.
They still had the famous pirate outlaw in a cryofreeze locked up in the cargo hold. Having artifacts from famous dead pirates had to be worth an incredible amount, but having one frozen and alive would be something else.
“The Bearded Butcher,” he said calmly to his crew. They all looked at him like he was crazy, including Reverie, who typically managed to keep her emotions to herself while the others conversed through their plan.
“You are insane,” Arkei said, her voice measured.
“Agreed!” Straya shouted. “While he is in our possession, he is contained. He is locked away. If we give him to someone else, then who knows what could happen!”
“He was one of the few specimens that Mephistopheles never messed with,” Calico said. “He merely kept him frozen. Didn’t even try to observe him.”
Regan heard all of these objections, but they only furthered the idea that the Bearded Butcher would make a huge impression on anyone they wanted to trade with. Then once they actually saw the famous pirate… who knew how much they would be willing to trade.
Besides, how dangerous could one pirate in the universe be? This was all about reputation and bragging rights. These were pirates hiding at the far edge of space. Such a popular figure would get the party started for sure.
Galactic Bandits 3 Page 4
