by D. J. Holmes
Knowing that she was far from out of danger, Sarah tried to push herself onto her knees. As she got up she looked around for her blaster. Divar was on the ground just a couple of meters away from her. It looked like he too had thrown up. As she raised her eyes to look further down the corridor Sarah groaned. There were multiple pirates moving towards her. They fired a number of stunner bolts towards her. Instinctively, she raised her arms to protect herself. It was a pointless gesture. As the bolts hit her, they knocked her back to the deck. By the time her head hit the metallic surface she was unconscious.
Chapter 16
Slowly, Sarah opened her eyes. Her head was throbbing and her whole body felt like it had been used as a punching bag. At first, she couldn’t see anything. Then, slowly, despite the pain in her head, she began to make out her surroundings. It was the corridor she had been ambushed in. She was still lying where she had fallen.
A buzzing vibrated through her skull, intensifying the pain in her head. Sarah guessed the buzzing had woken her up. “I’m conscious,” she thought. “You can stop that now. It’s making me feel worse.”
Knowing it would take ten seconds for Alexandra to receive her message, and another ten for her to reply, Sarah started to get up. Looking around her, she quickly realized she was alone. Divar was gone.
Panicked, she jumped to her feet. The dizziness that came from blood rushing from her head almost made her fall over. Leaning on one of the walls to steady herself, she looked up and down the corridor. There were scorch marks that signaled a battle had taken place, yet there was no sign of any pirates or Divar. They took him, Sarah thought. What do I do now?
“Thank goodness,” Alexandra said through their COM link. “I thought you were dying on me. How is Divar?”
Sarah didn’t bother answering, Alexandra would get her thoughts momentarily.
“Oh dear,” Alexandra said after the time delay. “I thought they were after your platinum bars. Why did they take him?”
“I don’t know,” Sarah said. “Maybe they couldn’t get his backpack off him.”
“I did design it to lock onto his body in the event of an emergency,” Alexandra said. “I thought the pirates would have just cut into the back of the pack though.”
“Maybe they didn’t come prepared for that,” Sarah thought back. “I’m amazed they left me alive. I hope they have done the same with Divar.”
“So do I,” Alexandra replied. “What are you going to do now?”
“I don’t know,” Sarah replied. “I need to get out of here and back to the shuttle. I can think there. Don’t distract me for now, I need to be careful. Without a weapon, anyone could attack me.”
“Do you not want me to come for you?” Alexandra asked. “I can blast my way into the asteroid.”
“No,” Sarah responded. “At least not yet. If a pirate group has Divar and they find out about Destiny, they might try and use him as a hostage to get their hands on you. Or worse, they might get scared and just kill him. I need to get back to the shuttle to think.”
“Ok, I will be quiet then,” Alexandra said.
Despite the danger of her situation, Sarah was grateful to get her mind back to herself. Her body ached and it was hard to concentrate with another voice speaking directly into her brain. Slowly at first, and then with more speed, she made her way down the corridor. It was much lighter now, suggesting someone had dimmed the lights just for the ambush.
After a couple of minutes, she came to a more populated section of the asteroid. Though she was relieved to be surrounded by other sentients, she eyed them warily. Any one of the beings looking at her could be from whatever group had attacked her. In an effort to deter any untoward attention, she placed a hand menacingly within her flight suit.
As she passed through the pirates that were milling about she let out a deep sigh of relief. None of them approached her. Just two more sections to get through, she thought.
Thankfully she didn’t encounter any problems in either. When she got to the shuttle she found several of Rozella’s people waiting for her with her first shipment of anti-matter. She allowed them to load the anti-matter into the ship and then thanked them. Only when the access ramp ascended and locked did Sarah let her guard down. With a sob, she threw herself into the pilot’s seat.
I’m all alone, she thought, and it’s all my fault. I failed him. A couple of tears fell down her cheek. How can I get him back? I don’t know who took him or where they are.
As Sarah’s emotions began to get the better of her she began to shake. It started slowly but quickly built up to the point where she felt she was losing control. “What is happening to me?” she asked, hoping Alexandra would recognize that she was talking to her.
“You are going into shock,” Alexandra replied. “Your levels of adrenalin are dropping fast and the damage your body received is catching up to you.”
“What do I do?” Sarah asked as her shaking got worse.
“My scans of the shuttle from when it was in my shuttle bay indicated there is an autosyringe in the emergency medical kit. Take it and set it to give you a mild sedative. I think it is best you take a short sleep. You need to rest and give your body time to recover. You will be no good to Divar in your current state.”
Sarah wanted to argue, time was of the essence. Yet she felt like she had almost no control over her body. What use am I to anyone like this? With a struggle, she swiveled around in the pilot’s chair and looked for the medical kit. After finding the syringe she input a couple of commands and then lifted it to her neck with shaking hands.
“Don’t worry,” Alexandra said. “I will monitor the shuttle. If anyone tries to get in I’ll come straight to your aid. I’ll also monitor all COM traffic in the asteroid. If I get a whiff of where Divar is, I’ll let you know as soon as you wake up.”
“Ok,” Sarah said. She felt guilty that she was about to put herself to sleep when Divar could be out there somewhere. Yet she had no choice, she felt like she was about to pass out at any moment, or completely lose control of her senses and thrash around like a mad woman.
With a great deal of effort, she steadied her hand and pressed the autosyringe to her neck. With the push of a button, she administered the sedative. Almost instantly she was asleep.
*
As she came to nine hours later, Sarah let out a groan. Every part of her ached and felt stiff. “What happened to m-” she began before it hit her. Memories of the events from earlier in the day came streaming back. Alarmed, she tried to jump up. In response, every part of her body screamed in protest, sending her crashing back into the pilot’s seat.
“You need to take things slowly,” Alexandra said.
“You replied fast,” Sarah said, confused.
“I moved myself closer to the base so that I could come to your assistance quicker,” Alexandra explained.
“I thought I gave you orders not to come any closer and risk discovery?” Sarah said, perplexed by Alexandra’s behavior. She thought the artificial intelligence couldn’t disobey a direct order from her Captain.
“I felt that coming closer to the asteroid was in your best interest,” Alexandra answered. “When I discovered that none of my protocols prevented me from disobeying your original order, I did what I thought was best.”
“So you disobeyed a direct order?” Sarah said. “How is that possible?”
“You have given me permission to alter my base programming twice now,” Alexandra said. “I told you I did not know where it would lead too, it seems we are finding out.”
“We’ll have to worry about this later,” Sarah replied as she sat forward in her chair. “Have you found out anything more about Divar?”
“No,” Alexandra said. “I’m afraid not. Eight ships have left the pirate base in the last nine hours. I watched them as closely as I could with my passive sensors but I could not get any useful information from them. I also released a small drone that has attached itself to the pirate base. Through it, I have hacke
d into the base’s main computer and monitored the investigation into the attack. There is a rudimentary protection force on the asteroid. They have no leads however.”
“The pirates probably just bribed them,” Sarah said. Inwardly she wondered at Alexandra so blatantly taking such risks against her original orders. Though she knew Alexandra could read her thoughts, she saved them for another time.
“That seems likely,” Alexandra agreed, also avoiding Sarah’s unspoken concerns.
“Hangal could help us,” Sarah said, thinking out loud. “For a price, he could probably find out who attacked us and where they took Divar.”
“You’re forgetting we don’t have much money left now,” Alexandra replied.
“We still have one platinum bar,” Sarah said as she felt around in her pockets. “And I still have my credit chip. There are thirty thousand credits left on it.”
“We might need the platinum bar for fuel, and thirty thousand credits will hardly cover the cost Hangal will require if he is going to put his neck on the line by looking into whoever attacked you. You are also neglecting the possibility that Hangal was involved. He did know about Divar’s backpack.”
“True,” Sarah said. “Then I need to meet with Rozella again. We need to re-negotiate our deal. I need the deposit I gave her for the extra anti-matter back. There is no way we can pay her to produce new anti-matter now. Maybe she will be able to help us as well.”
“Maybe,” Alexandra said. From her tone, Sarah could tell she wasn’t overly enthusiastic about the idea.
“We have no other choice,” Sarah replied as she stood. “I’m going.”
Despite her legs causing her to wobble slightly, Sarah moved around the shuttle to gather the things she needed. The first thing on her agenda was another laser blaster.
“Use the autosyringe if you are going to meet with Rozella again. Program it to protect you from foreign neurochemicals,” Alexandra advised.
“Good idea,” Sarah replied. “Right, here goes,” she added once she had gathered all she needed.
“Be careful,” Alexandra said as Sarah walked down the ramp and out of the shuttle.
“I’ll try,” Sarah thought back. The pirate attack had burst her bubble of safety. Not that it had been particularly strong in the first place. But now she knew that someone could attack her and overrun her defenses with ease. Leaving the shuttle was a big risk. Yet she had to try and find Divar. He would do the same for me, Sarah told herself.
She spent the next ten minutes retracing her steps through the asteroid. Twice she had to pay to get through checkpoints. When she came to a third, the two pirates pointing their weapons at her demanded fifteen thousand credits. She had already paid three each at the other two checkpoints. If she paid another fifteen, she would have almost nothing left to use in any bargaining she would have to do with Rozella.
“That is far too much,” she said to the pirate who was talking with her. “I am happy to pay three.”
“I know who you are,” the pirate replied. “If you haven’t run back to your Captain yet, then you must have a few more platinum bars safely stored in your shuttle. Either you pay fifteen or we might decide to knock you out and see just how much you are carrying on you right now.”
Sarah wanted to make a move for her blaster, but the pirates looked far to trigger happy. One wrong move and they probably wouldn’t hesitate to kill her. “I don’t have fifteen on me,” she lied. “I will have to go back to the shuttle and get what you want.” Instead of just turning and leaving, Sarah waited for a response. She didn’t want to be shot in the back.
“Fine,” the pirate said begrudgingly. “But if you don’t come back, we might just come looking for you.”
Relieved that they were letting her go so easily, Sarah backed away. “What are you going to do now?” Alexandra asked. “You can’t afford to get back to the shuttle and pay them fifteen thousand.”
“I’m going to talk to Hangal,” Sarah explained. “He can get me through the checkpoint. If he refuses, then I’ll take that as a sign he was in on the ambush. He won’t like that at all.”
Sensing Sarah’s mood, Alexandra remained quiet as Sarah stormed towards the main bazaar. As she approached Hangal’s stall, the chubby alien saw her coming and ducked behind his drapes. Without even pausing, she pushed through the drapes, blaster drawn.
“Don’t move,” Sarah shouted when she saw Hangal trying to sneak out a hidden door at the back of his stall.
“Don’t shoot,” Hangal said as he froze.
“Keep your hands up and slowly turn around,” Sarah ordered. Though she couldn’t see a gun holster anywhere on Hangal’s body, she had seen him magic something out of the folds in his belly fat before. “Why the hurry to leave?” she asked once Hangal had turned to face her.
“I heard about what happened to you, I was afraid you might blame me,” Hangal answered.
“I came here looking for help, thinking I could still trust you,” Sarah said as she raised her blaster to point it directly at Hangal’s head. “But now, blaming you is exactly what I am inclined to do. Who attacked me? What did they do with Divar?”
“I don’t know. I swear,” Hangal said with a shaky voice. Sweat was forming on his forehead and around his belly. “You were a good customer. I had no reason to betray you. If I did know who it was, I would tell you.”
“How am I supposed to believe you? You were about to run off on me,” Sarah shot back.
“Only because I feared you were coming here for revenge. If I thought you wanted help, I would have stayed,” Hangal replied. “If you want, I could ask around and see what I could find out? I would offer you a significant discount on my usual rates.”
“And let you out of my sights. I don’t think so,” Sarah answered.
“Then how can I help you? Why are you here?” Hangal asked.
“You are going to get me through the checkpoints from here to Rozella’s quarters. I need to speak to her again,” Sarah explained. “I’m not here to take no for an answer,” she followed up when it looked like Hangal was about to protest. “Keep your hands where I can see them and start walking. I’m sure the pirates will let you pass.”
At first Hangal didn’t move. In frustration Sarah shot the floor at his feet. “I’m not joking around,” she said as Hangal jumped back in alarm.
“You’re crazy,” Hangal cried out.
“All the more reason to do what I say,” Sarah replied with a wide toothy grin as she raised her blaster again. She figured she may as well play along if it would motivate the alien.
“Alright, alright. I’ll do it. Just don’t shoot me,” Hangal said.
“Start walking and you will be fine,” Sarah replied.
As Hangal started moving, Sarah quietly let out a deep breath. She didn’t think she had it in her to shoot the information merchant and she rather suspected he might have shot her in the back if she had backed down. She was very relieved he had agreed to go along with her orders.
Just as she suspected, when they came to the checkpoint she had left minutes before, they were let through without any fuss. Sarah had put her blaster in her pocket, though she had made sure Hangal still knew where it was pointing. The pirate who had spoken to her before eyed her as if he wanted to say something, yet thankfully he remained quiet.
“Place your hand on the scanner,” Sarah ordered when they got to Rozella’s chamber.
“She won’t be happy with you turning up uninvited,” Hangal said as he raised his hand. “She may not even respond.”
“You better hope she does” Sarah replied.
After Hangal placed his hand on the scanner there were a few nervous moments while nothing happened. Then, as before, mist flowed around the circular access hatch as it rolled back.
“Come in Hangal,” Rozella’s voice called out. “You had better have a good reason for disturbing me.”
Silently, Sarah motioned for Hangal to step to one side. He readily agreed. As soon as she wal
ked past him he turned and fled. Sarah didn’t pay any notice to him. He had served his purpose.
“I’m afraid Hangal isn’t here,” she said loudly. “I am back.”
“You dare to come into my home uninvited,” Rozella said in a far from friendly tone.
“I do,” Sarah replied. “Because I have no other choice. I came because I owe you an apology.”
“An apology?” Rozella responded. To Sarah’s relief she sounded more intrigued than angry.
“You have heard what happened to me and my partner?” Sarah asked.
