“The search is underway.”
“We’ve been here for hours. How long does it take to search a puny-ass ship like mine?”
The commander smiled for the first time. “Won’t be much longer. Sit tight.”
Chapter Fifteen
Bit bonked her head against the glossy wall of her box a few times before turning around and leaning against it. “How much longer can they keep us in here?”
As she spoke, the floor rumbled, vibrating under her feet. It reminded her of the way the Lenore shook when the enormous laser cannon fired. A second later the floor vibrated again. Bit moved to the hidden door and started banging on it.
“Let me out!” she called frantically. “What’s going on?”
Another rumble shook the ship. What makes a ship this big shake?
“Hey!” she banged against the door again.
Suddenly the door slid open, revealing Forrest.
“How’d you…” she began.
“I think the ship’s under attack. I crossed the wires.”
“Crossed the wires?”
“I picked the lock… electronically speaking.”
“You’re gonna have to teach me that,” Bit said as she followed Forrest out.
“We got to find the others.”
“You sure the ship is under attack?”
“That rumble…” The ship demonstrated the rumble.
“Is a laser cannon?” Bit finished for him.
“Exactly.” Forrest went to work on the clamps on her hands. “Now, let’s find the captain.”
Three uniformed men ran past, completely ignoring them. Forrest and Bit ran to the first door and hit the release panel. The little room was empty. At the next one, they found Dirk.
“What are you two doing?” he grumbled.
“Saving your grumpy ass,” Bit said as she crossed the hall and hit another release panel; another empty cubicle. “How many interrogation rooms do they have?”
Just as Forrest finished freeing Dirk’s arms, Bit found Randal.
“Bit, report,” Randal snapped as he stepped out of the interrogation room.
“We believe the ship is under attack. Thus far, we have just found you and Dirk. We are still unarmed.”
Another group of uniformed guards appeared at the end of the hallway. Bit, Dirk, Randal and Forrest jumped into the interrogation room and shut the door—trusting Forrest to release them later.
“What are we going to do?” Bit asked, turning towards Randal.
“Bit, stay with Forrest and get more people out. Dirk, with me. We’re going back to the look for firearms.”
“I don’t answer to you,” Dirk growled.
“You listen here, old man, this is a battle situation, meaning I’m in command. Now move your fat ass.”
“You have no proof that we’re under attack.”
The ship rumbled again as if in protest.
“Don’t argue with me, Dirk,” Randal snapped back as he grabbed the engineer’s shoulder and propelled him out the door just as Forrest opened it.
Forrest and Bit went to the next door, finding nothing. “They’ve split us up,” Forrest said as Bit stared into the empty room.
“Let’s keep looking.”
More soldiers rounded the nearest corner, and Bit and Forrest pressed themselves against the metal wall to keep from being run over.
At the next room they found Reese. “Oh, thank goodness.”
Forrest worked on his manacles while Bit ran down the corridor slapping release panels as she passed. She stopped at the first corner and turned back to see Jack, Kat, and Vance poke their heads out.
“Bit?” Jack asked.
“You want to sit around while this hunk of metal is under attack?” she asked, too nervous to be tactful.
A large grin spread across Kat’s face. “That’s our girl.”
Forrest continued down the line, releasing hands, while Bit turned down the connecting corridor, hitting release panels. On the next hallway, she found Nathyn, Calen, Blaine, Oden, and a stranger who took off before she could stop him.
“Bit,” Oden exclaimed as he moved to wrap his secured arms over her head in an awkward hug.
She ducked out of his way, giving him a withering glare. “Forrest is coming to release your handcuffs. You’re the last I needed to find. This way.”
They returned to the others just as Randal appeared with a few riffles strung over his shoulder. He passed them out to his team and those who had training.
“Let’s get back to the Lenore and get out of here?”
“Won’t that make us fugitives?” asked Vance.
“I don’t think they’ll be filing a formal report… not from so far outside their jurisdiction,” replied Randal.
“Let’s go,” said Jack, his word being the final order.
Randal and Jack took the lead, while Blaine and Nathyn took up the rear. Bit and Oden ran in the midst with the unarmed crewmembers, their rifles pressed into their shoulder, ready for an enemy to appear.
“Hey! Stop!” called a voice from behind.
“The prisoners are escaping.”
The crew jumped around the nearest corner as Blaine and Nathyn turned and fired, covering their hasty retreat. The two security guards backed up to the corner and ducked behind it as Bit poked her head out and fired at the ship’s soldiers. In her brief examination, she saw one already lying on the floor, his wound bleeding across the metal floor.
More soldiers appeared in the hall they had chosen for their escape. Jack and Randal, being the closest, opened fire while the team ran down the only available corridor. Bit fired a volley down the first hallway as they crossed the gap, hoping to protect those without weapons. Those first soldiers ducked out of the way, giving her team a chance to pass safely.
Bit kept firing at them from the corner as Jack and Randal took turns fleeing. The group passed across an emergency bulkhead and Forrest skidded to a stop.
“Forrest, what are you doing?” demanded Randal as he crossed the bulkhead.
“Blocking their way. Cover me.”
Randal and Jack turned around and fired down the corridor just as the soldiers rounded the corner.
Just when Bit was sure one of them would be hit, Forrest finished his fight with the control panel, crossed two wires, and the bulkhead dropped. Flechettes splattered into the heavy metal of the bulkhead for a second before the distant soldiers gave up.
“Which way?” Bit asked once the door had banged shut.
The small group looked at each other, each person clearly turned around.
“Hold on,” Oden said as he crossed the corridor to a little screen, currently showing the logo of EINS.
“Do you really think you can hack that?” asked Forrest, coming up to his side.
Oden ignored Forrest’s question as he focused on the screen before him. Within a few minutes, he had pulled up a map of the ship. Jack and Randal joined them at the screen, leaving Blaine, Nathyn, and Bit to cover the open end of their hiding place.
“If we turn here…” she heard Forrest say as she kept her eyes on the t-junction at the other end.
“Then here,” added Jack.
“Yes yes. I think we should avoid most of the fighting in that part of the ship.”
“There is another alternative,” Oden began. “I could lead them away, give you a chance to make a direct line to the ship and get the other’s to safety.”
“I don’t know, Oden. You’re not a security officer,” replied Randal.
“No, but I’m the one who can hack their system and get a new map when needed.”
Jack frowned at him. “Take Bit with you. She has an uncanny knack for losing pursuers.”
“What? No. It’ll be dangerous.”
“Stow that sexist crap,” Bit called over her shoulder. “I’m game. Let’s go, Oden.”
Oden took the rifle Randal offered him and met Bit at the t-junction. “Follow me.”
She did and they took
a few left turns, leading them right back to the interrogation rooms. Soldiers were peeking into each room, confirming that they were empty before locking them.
“Hey you! Yeah, you jackass,” Bit called out to the soldiers before firing a volley down the hallway.
Bit and Oden turned at the same moment, racing away and taking the first turn they found.
“We got ‘em, sir,” she heard one of the soldiers say behind them as they took off.
Cocky, SOB, she thought to herself.
She and Oden made a few more quick turns before he said, “In here.”
He pushed open a panel in the wall which moved backwards to reveal a narrow tunnel with a small ladder leading down. Bit didn’t hesitate but slithered down the ladder as fast as she could. She hit the floor and pivoted, quickly snatching up the rifle that hung from her neck.
The ladder had deposited her in what appeared to be an enormous junk yard. While there wasn’t any juicy garbage filling the floor, she quickly spotted a dilapidated skiff in one corner, broken wall panels stacked in another area, along with what looked like a broken cooking unit.
“C’mon,” Oden ordered as he reached the floor.
He led her through the junkyard to the far opposite end, where he found another ladder. Bit stopped at the bottom of the rungs, panting after the long run through the junkyard.
“I need to work out more,” she said between gasps.
“Me too,” was all he said as he tore a little panel out of the wall and crossed a few wires.
“What are you doing?”
“The hatch won’t open from the inside without a little help.”
“How do you know this much about military ships?” Bit asked, feeling like she was about to pass out.
“We all have a past.”
Bit didn’t ask any more questions. The weird hatch above their heads opened. Oden went first to check the hallway.
“All clear,” he whispered down as he dragged his body up into the corridor.
Bit followed as fast as she could, tumbling onto the floor and scrambling to her feet. She took up her rifle and place her back against Oden’s, double checking one end of the hallway. It looked quiet, too quiet. As if in response to her fears, the ship rumbled under their feet, another blast from one of their cannons.
“Let’s keep moving.”
“When will we head toward the ship?” Bit asked.
“Soon. They need to get the ship detached as soon as we get there.”
Jack and the rest of the crew waited until they heard the soldier's race away, presumably chasing Bit and Oden. Forrest went to work at opening the bulkhead again. Randal dropped to his stomach just as the door began sliding up into the ceiling, his gun pointed at the other end of the hallway.
“We’re clear,” Randal said and climbed to his feet.
A second later they could all see that the hallway was empty again.
Jack took off, assuming his crew would follow. “If they’re anything like I expect, there might be a locking mechanism on our docking clamp,”
“I’ll look into it,” Forrest replied. “Someone get me an EV suit the minute we get back to the ship.”
They reached the airlock within minutes and half the group squeezed in, leaving Reese and Blaine to guard those left outside the airlock. Forrest was in the first group, along with Jack, Dirk, Jeremiah, and Randal.
Jack stumbled out of the airlock. He went running for the lower levels where they stored the EV suits. He grabbed one, nearly forgetting the helmet in his rush. Jack turned back and scooped up the helmet. He draped the suit over his shoulder and raced up the stairs.
At the living level, he tossed the suit to Forrest just as the last group shifted through the airlock. Jack worked to help Forrest into his EV suit while Calen ran up to the bridge.
“Get someone on the cannon,” Jack yelled to Randal as he worked on the complicated EV suit.
“I’m on it,” Nathyn said before Randal could assign someone.
“What do you think you’re gonna do, boy?” Dirk asked Forrest with his habitual glare.
“Make sure we can undock.” Forrest sounded as though Dirk’s question was the dumbest thing he’d ever heard.
“Why the hell wouldn’t we be able to undock?”
Forrest sighed. “This is the government. I wouldn’t put it past them to have a locking port.”
“A locking port? That’s science fiction…”
Dirk never got to finish. Forrest ducked to allow Jack to place his duroglass helmet and lock it into place.
“I’ll stay in contact,” Forrest said through the speaker on his helmet and stepped into the airlock.
Jack ignored Dirk and ran up to the bridge where he found Calen in the pilot’s seat. Jack took up a spot in the center, his feet spread, ready for a jerk as they disengaged.
“Definitely a lock,” came Forrest’s voice over the intercom.
“Can you disengage it?” asked Jack.
“Give me a minute.”
“There’s at least two pirate ships,” announced Calen as he booted up the engines and pulled the forward cameras up onto the large display. “Make that three.”
Jack felt his shoulders tense as he eyed the forward displays. A pirate ship half the size of the government vessel cut across the surrounding space, it’s three cannons firing volleys in all directions. Small ships, much like the Lenore’s skiff, erupted from the docking bay of each ship, colliding in a violent battle.
“Running out of time,” Jack said into the comm. device.
“Almost there,” replied Forrest. “We need Bit and Oden back before I do much more.”
“All we can do is wait for them.”
“And when do we stop waiting?” asked Randal with a pointed look.
“Excellent question.”
Bit raced after Oden, her legs shaking with the effort of running so far, so fast, but she pushed on all the same. Oden skidded to stop next to another little screen. He punched a few things, once again hacking into their system. Bit tried to follow his movements, but quickly lost track of what he was doing. Within a few minutes, he pulled up a map that showed their location.
“We’re close,” he said after the barest examination.
“Then let’s go!”
They took off at a run again, and after two more turns appeared in the right corridor. Oden stopped outside the airlock and banged against it, having no other way of communicating that they were wanting in. After a short, anxious wait, the door opened to reveal Forrest in an EV suit.
“Hurry up,” he said through the speaker on his helmet. “Get in. I need to finish disconnecting us once you’re inside.”
Oden and Bit jumped in and Forrest worked the controls. The airlock confirmed pressure and opened the far door, allowing them into the ship. Bit and Oden raced straight for the bridge.
“Good to see you,” Jack said, barely sparing a glance for them.
From the pilot’s seat, Calen switched one of the smaller screens onto the security camera in the airlock. Bit grimaced as she spotted Forrest, lying on his stomach, his head hanging out of the open airlock. Forrest scooted forward, draping more of his body out of the ship. Even through the security camera, Bit could make out the airlock of the government’s ship. They were detached, except for a single arm, stretching across the gap.
“What’s the issue?” Jack asked.
“They rigged it to an electrical cable that doesn’t detach when we do. So if we just flew away, the cable would tear out all the electrics in the airlock, likely causing it to open and us all to die.”
“Dying is bad,” Oden said, speaking between gasps.
“I concur,” said Jack. “Let us know when we can move. The battle is ramping up.”
“I can see that from here,” Forrest said, turning his head toward the front of the governmental ship.
Forrest’s arms shifted back and forth. From the angle of the security camera, those on the bridge couldn’t see what he was doi
ng. They each held their breath, watching his every move. Finally, when Bit was starting to feel dizzy, the cable detached, zooming back toward the government ship’s airlock.
“Go,” Forrest said in the same moment.
Oden, who had at some point taken the controls from Calen, didn’t wait for Jack to repeat the order, but turned the ship away and powered up the thrusters used when flying in close quarters with another ship. Bit kept her eyes on the side screen, watching Forrest drag his body back into airlock as the vision of the battle past by the opening. Bit felt a new stress form in the muscles around her neck. What if Oden fired the main engines before Forrest got the airlock closed? Would he be dragged out of the airlock? Space didn’t have any sucking powers. Then again, the ship could turn, dumping Forrest out. Space also didn’t have any gravity. Bit’s head spun around the problem until the door to the airlock slid shut.
As if on cue, Oden punched the main engines, and Bit adjusted her foot to keep from falling with the sudden increase in speed.
“Are we fugitives now?” she asked as the rumble of the engines settled into a gentle hum.
“I suppose so,” replied Jack. “I suspect they won’t pursue us being that they are so far out of their jurisdiction. All the same, we may have to ‘watch our step’ entering Earth’s jurisdiction. It’s hard to say whether this ship is working alone, been hired out, or if we’re wanted on Earth.”
“So… we’re sorta fugitives?” asked Bit.
“We were fugitives the minute we loaded nuclear material onto the ship,” replied Jack.
Chapter Sixteen
“Report,” Jack said, appearing on the bridge four days after their run-in with the Earth ship.
“Nothing to report. I was just making a course correction. We’d drifted a little, but we’re realigned and making tracks to Nye space station.”
Jack chuckled. “This ship has never made tracks, even when it was new.”
“True.” Oden gave him a smile over his shoulder. “May I speak freely?”
“Of course,” Jack said, his eyes on his pad.
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