by T. M. Catron
Rance and Solaris pressed their hands to the window, holding their breaths as the two groups of fighters quickly merged into a mass of flying metal that looked like flies buzzing around a corpse. But in this case, the body was the pirate ship, and it wasn't dead.
“I’m no fan of Unity,” Rance said, “but I hope they blow those pirates into another dimension.”
“They’re overwhelmed,” Solaris said. “Look.”
The second Renegade had released its Scorpions, which were now entering the battle. One by one, Unity’s fighters exploded into fiery flames, and the area became a mass of debris and chunks of metal. Without reinforcements from Triton to take up the fight, the pirates were going to take over the station. Rance fought the urge to throw up. A Unity inspection was inconvenient. A pirate invasion was worse.
As the last Unity fighter exploded into scrap metal, the Scorpions changed course for the Waystation. A shuttle launched from the Renegade, no doubt to ferry armored pirates to ransack the station.
“Why would they attack the docks where all the valuables are?” Rance asked. “They just blew up the most expensive part of the station.”
“Maybe they’re not here for goods,” Solaris whispered as a few panicked residents ran by carrying valuables. “Slaves, maybe?”
One of the Scorpions broke formation and veered left, firing at something. A bronze mass flashed past their window, spinning away from the station. The pirate fighter streaked past it, firing at the other ship. Rance craned her neck to look.
It was the Star Streaker. The crew was alive.
She didn’t know whether to jump for joy or grip Solaris’ arm in panic. She settled for both. James Fletcher was the best pilot she’d ever known, but he wasn’t a match for the twenty fighters now circling the station. The Streaker had shields but no weapons, which meant he could protect the ship for a time, but unless he got away, the Scorpions would kill him and everyone on board. If the pirates captured Rance’s crew instead, she had no idea how they would rescue them. At least they would be alive to rescue.
The Star Streaker zipped by the window again, twisting around just in time to avoid a collision. The Scorpion’s pilot barely copied the maneuver, almost sending it crashing into the observation window. Rance and Solaris jumped back.
Rance grabbed her handset. “James?”
“Rance?” James’ voice sounded far away.
“What are you doing to my ship?”
“Oh, you know, a bit of casual flying. All in a day’s work. We’re all okay, by the way. For now.”
“We can see you.”
“Did you see my maneuver?”
“Yes.”
“Something, huh?”
Solaris sniffed in disapproval.
“James,” Rance said, “make the jump to hyperspace. We’ll find another ship.”
“No way am I leaving you to fend off pirates. We don’t leave anyone behind.”
“I’m the Captain, and I’m ordering you to get the rest of the crew to safe—”
“Hang on. I’m going to shake this pirate scum off my butt.”
James put the Streaker through more twists, dodging more fire. Thankfully, the rest of the pirates didn’t seem to think he was worth pursuing. They were too busy assaulting the station. The trembling continued, rattling the station’s supports.
“Are they trying to break the station apart?” Rance asked. “What’s the point of that?”
“Captain,” James finally said as he swung by again. “They're concentrating on this side where the docks are located. Those other airlocks are still clear. There are no ships there, so I don't think the vermin are—”
James’ voice cut off as the Streaker moved out of direct comm range. They lost sight of him.
“Son of a bard,” Rance swore, meeting Solaris’ worried eyes.
The Star Streaker flew by again, this time taking a direct hit from the fighter. The Streaker visibly shook. Rance bit her lip so hard it drew blood. How long would the shields hold?
James took the Streaker away from the station, diving through the debris field floating between the station and the Renegades. More fire streaked toward the cruiser, pelting it in bright flashes of light as the shields deflected the hits. The fighter followed, blazing through the debris.
The Star Streaker banked left, toward the star, toward an opening between the two Renegades.
And, in a wash of blue, it disappeared into hyperspace.
“He got away! He got away!” Rance shouted. She hugged Solaris’ neck in excitement.
“We’ve got to get to that airlock,” he said, extricating himself. “The pirates haven’t overrun the station yet. Now’s our chance.”
“No argument here.”
The Waystation’s AI continued to broadcast its warning message to line up and surrender. Rance turned and was surprised to see a crowd behind them watching the space battle. She had been too absorbed to hear them.
She grabbed Solaris, and they pushed their way through the crowd, watching behind to make sure they weren’t followed. If anyone had heard about their plan, they could be stampeded when James arrived. Rance regretted sneaking off. But she resolved that anyone who wanted a ride—and didn’t try to kill them for it—could have one. They’d pack as many people on the small cruiser as possible.
It wouldn’t be enough. They couldn’t save the whole station.
No one followed them, however. Maybe the crowd thought it was a hopeless cause. Or maybe they knew something Rance didn't. She shook off the thought and ran onward.
“James is going to have the same problem when he returns,” Solaris said.
“Those Scorpions won’t expect him to come back.”
They wound their way through more corridors, getting lost twice and turned around once. There were too many turns, too many side halls wrapping around the central hub. Rance consoled herself that if they had this much trouble navigating the vast complex, so would the pirates. Finally, they entered a stretch that led directly toward their destination—a central corridor that wound the length of the station.
When Unity soldiers appeared at the end of the hall, Rance and Solaris ducked into the first door they found, an office entrance. They crouched beneath the window, listening to the soldiers run by on their way to the docks. Most of them wore light armor.
When they passed, Rance and Solaris left the office and ran in the opposite direction. The wall screens changed, and the AI’s voice disappeared. A gruff man’s voice replaced it. “Last chance to drop all weapons and surrender. Stand in the corridors and await instructions. If you run, we’ll kill you. If you fight, we’ll kill you. If you hide, we’ll kill you. If you get lost in the bathroom, we’ll kill you. Catch my drift? Main corridors, now.”
Rance drew the stunner she had kept hidden under her jacket.
Solaris eyed it approvingly. “How did you sneak that in?”
“There’s a special lining in my jacket that hides it from sensors. I don’t wear it much, but after all the trouble we’ve had lately, it seemed like a good idea.”
Solaris kept his hand on his frayed satchel, ready to grab his staff. Afraid of attracting too much attention, he wouldn’t reveal the inconspicuous weapon unless absolutely necessary. The last thing they needed was for pirates or Unity to discover there was a stray Galaxy Wizard on board.
“I thought you were too drained to use your magic?” Rance asked between breaths.
“I am,” Solaris said grimly. “But that won’t stop me from whacking the pirates over the head.”
Before long, the distant sounds of laser fire and explosions echoed down the halls. They turned several times, putting as much distance between themselves and the noise. Eventually, though, the sounds of fighting lay directly in their path.
Rance halted at an intersection. “We’re close. Got to be. All of these halls are private quarters. We just have to find the one that leads to Section D.”
Acrid smoke blew toward them. It smelled like burn
ing rubber—sharp and overpowering.
“Looks like either direction will lead us where we need to go,” Solaris said, peering down the corridor.
A stray laser beam shot down the hallway. Solaris jumped back, flattening himself to a bulkhead. Rance followed.
“How are we going to use that hall without getting shot?” Rance asked. “Could you use a shield?”
Solaris leaned his head back against the wall, closed his eyes, and sighed deeply. If Rance hadn’t known any better, she would have thought he was overcome with an urge to nap.
Abruptly, Solaris opened his eyes. “Anything?” he asked.
“Erm… Was something supposed to happen?”
Solaris looked irked. “No sparks? Not even a shimmer in the air?”
“Nothing.”
Solaris shrugged. “No shield. I’m too weak.”
“We left Prometheus weeks ago. How long exactly does it take you to recharge?”
“I don’t know. I’ve only ever been this drained one other time.”
“What happened the last time?”
“I got knocked out and woke up in my Temple cell.”
“You got knocked out? How?”
Two more stray laser beams shot past them. With them came the sounds of shouting and battle.
“By someone I’d rather not discuss right here,” Solaris said. “What are our options?”
“We need to use that corridor. Otherwise, we’ll need to find a new plan.”
“If James is at the airlock, he’s in danger. Since we can’t contact him, we need to follow the original plan.”
“I vote for the shortest distance between two points,” Rance said, pointing. “Turning right will get us there faster.”
“We don’t have to vote, you’re the captain.”
“Thanks, I’d forgotten,” she deadpanned.
Solaris smacked her arm. “Anytime.”
He took off around the corner, hugging the wall. Rance followed. More and more blasts came their way. One sizzled by her ear, leaving behind the smell of singed hair—it was hers.
“It looks like they’re fighting from opposite ends of the hall!” Solaris yelled over the noise.
The smoke was so thick now that Rance covered her nose and mouth with her hand. “Which are the pirates, and which is Unity?”
“Pirates are this way,” he said, jerking his thumb in the direction they were going.
Rance pulled up short. “How will we get past them?”
The rate of fire increased as the two forces drew closer. They were going to clash in the very hall Rance and Solaris needed to get to the airlock.
“They’ll shoot us down before we get anywhere close,” Solaris said.
“Then we’ll go back the other way.”
They hadn’t gone five minutes when they glimpsed a Unity armored soldier. He spotted the pair the same moment they noticed him, and he fired. Rance and Solaris jumped out of the way, their hearts pounding.
“Looks like Unity will shoot us down before we get anywhere close to them,” Rance said bitterly. “They’re supposed to protect the innocent.”
“How innocent are we, exactly?”
“More innocent than the pirates.”
They huddled behind a bulkhead, but the soldier didn't pursue. Either he thought they were a trap or realized his error. He seemed to be waiting for reinforcements.
“They’ll mow us down before they realize we’re not pirates,” Solaris said after another long moment of return fire. Smoke began to hang in the air, obscuring their visibility.
“Agreed,” Rance said. “But the pirates are that way.”
“There’s got to be another route.”
“This is the only one. We've gone too far to go back!”
The two sides began firing at each other in earnest now, closing in, shooting from behind doorways and bulkheads.
Rance and Solaris had ended up in the battle zone, and if they didn’t get out of the way, they’d end up dead. Stray fire whizzed by so close they felt the air move as it passed. All the doors nearest them were locked, and the intersection they had come from was now overrun by pirates.
They were so close that Rance could see the scars on their armor. The smoke was the only thing keeping her and Solaris alive. Neither army wanted to take their eyes off the enemy long enough to deal with two civilians caught in the crossfire.
“Captain,” Solaris yelled into her ear. “There is another option!”
“Anything to get us out of here!”
“We could turn ourselves in to Unity.”
“What?”
“They’ll turn you over to your father and send you home, but at least you’ll be safe.”
Shocked, Rance met her friend’s eyes. For someone suggesting a lifesaving tactic, Solaris looked conflicted.
“You want me to jump out and yell don’t shoot! Lord Davos is my father?”
“That would work.”
“We could fight the pirates.”
Solaris scoffed. “With what?”
“Your good looks! I don’t know. Help me out here.”
“I am helping you out.”
“What would happen to you?”
“I’d go back to the Galaxy Wizards.”
“Is that what you really want?”
A rocket whizzed past them, exploding far down the corridor. The explosion was small but effective. The pirates began to retreat.
Solaris took advantage of the brief moment without fire to look toward the Unity soldiers. “At this point, it’s not about what I want. If the pirates capture us, they’ll kill us or make us slaves. Turning ourselves in to Unity has a better outcome.”
Rance looked down the hall. He was right. The unit was so close she could make out the ranks on their armor. All she had to do to end their predicament was turn herself in.
Home. Back to dust and politics and a nobility she didn’t want. No more running the stars. No more Star Streaker.
And an arranged marriage to a simpering buffoon back on her home planet of Xanthes.
Rance took a deep breath and looked back at Solaris. “I can’t do that. My home is on the Streaker.”
Solaris frowned. “I was afraid you’d say that.”
“You aren’t going to do something stupid and try to make me, are you?” Rance asked, narrowing her eyes.
He flashed her a smile. “I know better.”
“Okay, then,” she said, forcing a smile. “Pirates it is.”
Chapter Four
Without waiting for her brain to catch up to her heart, Rance sprinted down the corridor, darting from one bulkhead to the next. Solaris followed as more fire chased them. Unity’s weapons had auto-targeting systems, but the smoke made them less accurate. As soon as the first bolts passed, the pirates fired back, forcing Unity to find their own cover.
Hindered by her grav boots, Rance jumped over rubble and a couple of bodies. She was amazed that all the explosions hadn’t breached the station’s hull. Even a state-of-the-art facility couldn’t sustain such abuse indefinitely. If the structure failed, the armored soldiers with their built-in life support systems could survive. Rance and Solaris, however, would be sucked out into the vacuum of space without protection.
“How many are there, do you think?” Rance asked as they pressed themselves to the wall.
“At least ten pirates. But I bet reinforcements are on the way.”
“You can fight armored soldiers, I’ve seen you.”
Solaris shook his head. “Too many.”
Rance studied their surroundings. Three doors around them. All the keypads glowed red—locked. Smoke swirled near the ceiling, sucked into a vent above. The station was doing a miraculous job of eliminating the toxic air.
“Hey,” Solaris said, looking at the same place. “The ventilation shafts—if we get up there, we can bypass both sides and take them all the way to the airlock.”
“How do we get up there?”
Solaris looked at her boots.
“Walk up.”
“Walk? Are you nuts, I’d dangle from the ceiling like a bat. I can’t crawl up.”
“No, these always have intake shafts. If we find one, you can crawl up it.”
“What about you?”
“I don’t think I’ll fit. I’ll find a maintenance ladder.”
“We’re both inhumanly tall, Solaris. What makes you think I would fit?”
Solaris bristled with annoyance. “Just trust me on this, okay?”
“Okay,” she said.
Solaris nodded and slid farther down the corridor until he reached a panel. He pried at the latch until it burst open and clattered down to the floor.
“Hurry,” he said.
“Where are you going?”
“I’ll manage. Hurry.”
Rance stuffed herself into the shaft feet first. It was like trying to shove her body into a locker. With her hands on the wall and her boots engaged, she shimmied up a short tube until it opened into a larger one above the corridor.
As soon as her head cleared the shaft, the heated airflow whipped her hair around her face, buffeting her body. If she’d been standing, it would have knocked her down.
Rance waited a minute for her eyes to adjust to the semi-darkness. White light filtered into the tube from evenly spaced vents. The sounds of the battle below grew louder. She pulled herself onto her stomach and slid along the warm metal, following the direction that would take her toward the pirates. Hopefully, they hadn’t blown a hole in the ceiling and blocked her way. The tube shook with regularity, and she expected the station to break apart at any second. Her growing anxiety only compounded when she wondered how Solaris planned to get through the turmoil below. There had to be a maintenance walkway outside, but access would be limited. Was he going to use that?
A few minutes later, something blue blocked her path. For a moment, Rance got excited. Solaris had been wearing his blue flight suit.
But it wasn’t Solaris. It was draped, royal blue fabric—a blanket?
Then, the blanket moved.
Rance halted. “Hello?”
A man lifted the blanket to peer at her through watery eyes. She drew her stunner.
