Trenchard raced down the ladder into the control room to find Captain Bird already plugged in to the Conn, directing a heated battle.
‘What just happened?’ Trenchard shouted rather unhelpfully, running his eyes over the tactical hologram and scanner control, trying to make sense of the information.
Captain Bird was grimacing with concentration, his temple thumping with the V.R. data streaming through his brain.
‘A large black ship jumped us as soon as we were out of communication range of the other Wolverines,’ Captain Bird shouted in reply. ‘She must have been waiting for us, powered down. We strolled right past her without noticing. They took us from the aft. One of the tail steering jets is damaged and we’re listing off centre.’
‘Bandit is coming around for another pass!’ Warrant Officer Van Allen shouted from the tactical station.
‘BRACE!’ Bird bellowed.
Through the view slit at the front, an ugly black space-craft thundered into view. It had no visible viewing ports and a multitude of weapons scattered across its pitted surface. It looked like a junkyard, randomly welded together from chunks of other space-craft that had been captured and salvaged along the way. As the crew gazed in horror at the approaching monstrosity, Trenchard could make out a crudely sprayed, helmeted white skull design, picked out in a deep crimson, blood streaming from its eye sockets and a malevolent grin on its face. Either side of the grimacing skull was a rough drawing of an assault rifle, the mark of the Martian space pirates. Plasma bolts seared from the turrets of the approaching ship and the Might shuddered and rolled.
‘They have plasma!’ Trenchard yelled. ‘Where the hell did pirates get hold of military grade plasma cannons?’
Bird turned his head towards where he thought Trenchard was standing. ‘Where’s Pugh?’ he shouted.
At that moment, Pugh descended the ladder into the control room, sliding down with his feet clamped to the outside of the ladder rail. As he hit the deck he called out, ‘Here Sir!’ above the din.
Captain Bird nodded. Then calmly and deliberately, with the black ship bearing down on them at full speed, he powered down the whole ship, turned off the V.R. Conn and disconnected himself from the leg brace.
Inside the hangar bay, McGagh looked up and sniffed the air. He turned to Stofan who was standing next to him. ‘Do you smell that?’ he asked.
‘Smell what?’ replied Stofan, concentrating on her rifle.
‘That musty smell,’ said McGagh. ‘It smells like…’
Next to Stofan, one of the troopers keeled over and collapsed onto the floor.
‘Gas!’ exclaimed McGagh.
Around him, the troopers began to drop like flies. McGagh made a move for the door. He scrabbled at the control mechanism, only to find it locked from the outside. Gradually the big man dropped to his knees. His last view before unconsciousness took him was that of the deck of the hangar bay filled with the slumped bodies of the whole platoon.
Trenchard stared at Captain Bird in disbelief. ‘What the fuck are you doing? Get the defences back on line now!’ he yelled.
Bird ignored him, walked over to the communications station, pushed Petty Officer Hall out of the way and calmly leant forwards towards the console in front of him. Pushing a button, he spoke carefully into the microphone.
‘This is Captain Bird to S.S. Onibaba. We surrender and are standing by to be boarded. Over.’
Trenchard looked at Bird as if he was insane. ‘The fuck we do!’ he spat and made a move towards the Conn.
At a nod from Bird, Pugh quickly drew his side-arm and pointed it straight at Trenchard. ‘Remove your weapon please Commander,’ Pugh said levelly, ‘and move to the front of the control room.’
Trenchard stared at Pugh. ‘What?’
‘All of you,’ said Pugh. ‘Leave your stations and move to the front of the control room.’
By now Captain Bird and Chief Petty Officer Schmidt had both drawn their own side-arms and were pointing them steadfastly at the other crewmembers. Captain Bird looked up and spoke out loud.
‘Guardian. Lock down all internal doors and hatches. Bypass emergency override, then unlock the main airlock and send out a docking lock on signal to the approaching ship. Priority override code delta five five nine.’
‘CONFIRMED,’ the Guardian answered dutifully.
By now, Trenchard and the other crew had been relieved of their weapons and herded towards the front of the control room by Pugh and Schmidt. A beeping from the communicator panel got Captain Bird’s attention and he pressed a button. Immediately the air in the centre of the control room was filled by a large floating hologram. The figure in the hologram was wearing an E.V.A. suit, with their helmet already in place, presumably to conceal their identity. The helmet was sprayed bright yellow and a crude smiling face had been drawn across the visor. Standing behind the man were several other space-suited pirates. Each had similar masks, skulls, demons, snarling animals; intended to conceal and intimidate. The punishment for piracy was death by firing squad. The pirates knew that and were taking no chances.
‘Good morning Captain Bird,’ said a man’s voice from inside the smiler faced helmet. ‘I am the Captain of the free trade ship Onibaba. I trust everything has gone to plan?’
Bird looked slightly unsure of himself. ‘Where’s Harlequin?’ he demanded.
‘I’m afraid our leader is detained on another matter and has sent me in his stead,’ said Smiler.
‘But the deal…’ Bird started.
He was cut short by Smiler who interrupted. ‘The deal hasn’t changed. You’re just dealing with me now. Have the bridge emptied and clear the route to the bridge from the airlock. I’ll meet you there in a few minutes. Onibaba out.’
And with that, the hologram abruptly flickered off. There was an ominous silence in the control room, disturbed only by the beeping and clicking of machines.
Captain Bird turned to Pugh. ‘Did you knock out the troopers?’
Pugh nodded. ‘They’ll all be sleeping soundly by now Sir.’
Bird motioned to the crew at the front of the control room. ‘Take them down to the crew quarters and lock them in with the others,’ he said. ‘Lock any trouble makers in the hold and make sure all the inner hatches are fast.’
Pugh nodded and without a word he and Schmidt escorted the crew out of the control room at gunpoint. Trenchard made a move to leave with the others.
Bird turned to Trenchard and placed a restraining hand onto his shoulder. ‘Not you Trench. I need to talk to you… alone.’
His face thunderous, Trenchard stood and waited patiently until all the other crewmembers had exited up the ladder and he and Bird were alone. Then he exploded with rage.
‘What the buggery-fuck are you doing?’ he screamed.
Bird leaned back on a console and relaxed a little, but kept his pistol trained on Trenchard. ‘I’m sorry it had to happen like this Trench,’ he said. ‘I wanted to talk to you before we left Cairn, but there was no time.’
‘No time?’ screamed Trenchard. ‘What about last night in your cabin?’
Bird looked uncomfortable. ‘I had to get you on board first. I couldn’t take the chance that you’d act… like this,’ he finished, waving at Trenchard with the pistol.
‘Why are you giving the prototype Wolverine to the pirates?’ Trenchard demanded. ‘Don’t you know what an advantage this will give them?’
‘That’s exactly why I’m doing it,’ said Bird sadly. ‘Look… you know the way the United Worlds are going.’ Bird paused looking uncomfortable and distracted. ‘We’re supposed to be a free democracy, but dictators are slowly and surely taking over. That vicious little bastard Chang is bad enough as Vice President. You know what he did on Mars, how he handled things? Imagine what would happen if he were to gain absolute power?’
Trenchard’s mind raced. In a way, he could see Bird’s point of view, but he had no time to debate politics. The pirates would be boarding right now. Somehow, he had to es
cape and mount a defence.
‘These pirates and the insurgents may not be perfect, but they’re the only thing standing between Chang and complete dominance of every civilised planet. These new Wolverines could potentially wipe the pirates out completely. They’re a game changer. So, I decided to give them a fighting chance.’
‘You fucking traitor!’ Trenchard snarled. ‘You were on Mars! You saw what the insurgents are capable of! Christ, I lost twelve good troopers on Europa to I.E.D.s. I had to pick up pieces of their fucking bodies and put them in a plastic bag. There are other ways to make a difference Paul. What about the crew?’
‘Harlequin promised me that they wouldn’t be harmed. They’re going to be dropped off in life pods near a well-used trade route where they can be picked up.’
‘…and you trust Harlequin?’ said Trenchard, aghast.
‘I trust him… enough. What other choice do I have?’
‘You could have talked to me.’
‘I wanted to. I was hoping that you’d see things my way. I still do…’
There was a long pause before anyone spoke again.
‘What happened to you Paul?’ Trenchard asked with a sigh. ‘What happened to the man that I trained with; the man who fought next to me against people like them?’ Trenchard flicked his eyes upwards towards where he knew the pirate ship would be docking.
‘Some things happened to me recently Trench,’ Bird explained soberly. ‘I’ve had my eyes opened to what’s really going on. I couldn’t, in all conscience, carry on fighting for what is slowly becoming a military dictatorship. I know you’ve been thinking along the same lines. I saw your face when those insurgents were put in front of the firing squad.’ Captain Bird stared deeply into Trenchard’s eyes, looking for some sign that he had convinced him. There was a loud clang from somewhere on the hull. ‘That’ll be the Onibaba docking. They’ll be here in a moment. You don’t have long to consider this mate. Join us, I promise you’ll come to no harm.’
‘I’d rather eat a bucket of fermenting rat shit!’ Trenchard growled.
Bird chuckled mirthlessly. ‘That’s your choice Trench.’ The sound of metal-soled feet clanging down the corridor outside echoed darkly through the control room. ‘But it might be the last choice that you ever make,’ Captain Bird admitted sadly.
CHAPTER 8 “SMILER”
Ten pirates filed slowly into the control room, clanking down the access ladder like an army of ants in their Extra-Vehicular-Activity space suits. Trenchard was pushed roughly to the back of the control room under cover from the pirate’s mish-mash of captured and stolen weaponry.
‘Watch it sonny! Trenchard’ growled angrily at the pirate that had pushed him.
The pirate’s helmet was painted with the face of a snarling bull. The pirate didn’t react for a moment and then brought the butt of his rifle up and hit Trenchard square across the chest. Trenchard fell backwards against the damage control station, rubbing his chest and glaring angrily at the space-suited figure.
‘Shut up or I’ll break your teeth!’ the pirate threatened, his voice sounding strangely distant through the communication unit of the suit.
At that moment, Captain Smiler clanged down the ladder into the control room. His E.V.A. suit was slightly less beaten up than the others and sprayed the same bright yellow as his helmet. He came to a halt in front of Captain Bird at the front of the control room and stood for a moment, examining him. Then he seemed to come to a decision. He reached up and undid the clasps that held his visor in place. With a hiss of compressed air, the visor rose and Smiler’s face was revealed to Captain Bird. From where Trenchard was stood he couldn’t quite see the man’s face. It was definitely a man though. His voice, although altered by the echoing helmet, was deep and resonant. He had broad shoulders and slim hips.
‘Captain Bird,’ said Smiler. It was more of a statement that a question.
‘Yes,’ replied Bird nervously, ‘and you are?’
‘None of your business,’ snapped Smiler. ‘The ship?’
‘She’s powered down and waiting for you to assume command.’
‘Control systems?’
Captain Bird looked up. ‘Guardian. This is Captain Bird, authorisation alpha omega nine five three two seven. Transfer command of the vessel to Captain… to this man standing in front of me.’
‘VOICE SAMPLE REQUIRED FOR AUTHORISATION,’ the Guardian prompted.
Captain Bird looked pointedly at Smiler. ‘You have to say something to the computer,’ he said.
Smiler shrugged and began to speak. ‘I once knew a girl from Carolina, who had the most hairy…’
‘VOICE SAMPLE ACCEPTED. CONTROL TRANSFERRED.’
All the pirate’s attention was focussed on the two Captains. Trenchard saw his chance and cautiously began to shuffle very slowly towards the access ladder in front of him. His ploy of taunting the pirate who’d hit him had worked and now the ladder was directly between him and the nearest pirate. It would make it harder for them to grab him as he ascended. Somehow, he had to stop these bastards getting away with the boat. That meant getting out of the control room. He hadn’t worked out yet what would come next.
Smiler looked very pleased with himself. ‘Well done Captain Bird. I now have control of the entire ship?’
Bird nodded and shuffled uncomfortably. ‘You do. I’ve held up my side of the bargain, what about the crew?’
Smiler grinned. ‘Which crewmembers are with us?’ he asked.
‘So far… Pugh and Schmidt. They’ve taken the command crew to their quarters and locked them in. All the other crewmembers are confined to general quarters as you requested and the troopers are knocked out cold in the hangar bay. The Guardian has disabled all the automatic locking mechanisms. The ship is yours.’
‘Good. That will make it easier to kill them if they won’t join us.’
Bird’s face fell. ‘But you promised…’ he tailed off.
‘What good is a ship without a crew?’ Smiler asked smugly.
Trenchard inched further towards the exit ladder. Everyone’s attention was on Smiler and Bird. Bird’s hand started to move cautiously towards his side-arm.
‘We need crew with experience of operating this prototype,’ snarled Captain Smiler. ‘Anyone who joins us will be treated well, as a comrade. Those who don’t will be pushed into the airlock and… disposed of with the rest of the jetsam. I believe you call it “ditching gash”?’
Smiler drew his weapon and pointed it straight at Bird’s face.
‘I’m afraid we can’t trust you and your friends Pugh and Schmidt. You could be spies trying to locate Harlequin. I promise their deaths will be quick. Thank you for delivering your ship to us Captain Bird.’
‘It’s called a boat, dumb-ass!’ Bird snarled as he tried to bring his own pistol to bear.
With a grin, Smiler pulled the trigger. There was a flash and a loud bang echoed off the walls of the cramped control room. Captain Bird’s face was frozen for a moment in complete shock as a line of blood trickled down his forehead from the entry wound in his skull. Then Bird slowly slid to the floor, leaving a trail of blood splashed all over the scanner control station.
Trenchard took advantage of the distraction and planted a heavy kick firmly into the groin of the pirate nearest to the ladder. Despite the armoured suit, the pirate crumpled to the floor with a satisfying groan and Trenchard leapt for the ladder as all the pirates swung around to see what the noise was.
Smiler snapped his visor down and turned abruptly to see what was going on. ‘Stop him you useless idiots!’ he screamed.
The pirates made a grab for Trenchard’s legs as he disappeared up the ladder but their restrictive E.V.A. suits made them slow and clumsy. Trenchard exited the top of the ladder and slammed the hatch down, spinning the locking wheel tightly. It wouldn’t delay them long, but he could move a lot faster than them. He pelted towards the next ladder. He had to get out of the command fin as quickly as possible and make his way aft towards t
he engine room. The only problem was that there were several locked hatches between here and there and the Guardian computer had control. He would have to release them manually if he could, which would take time; time that he couldn’t afford.
In the hanger, the sleeping giant McGagh stirred. He sat up groggily and held his aching head in his hands. He tried to work out what had happened and then remembered the gas. He was probably the first to wake because of his enormous frame. He could take more whiskey than any other man he knew, so it stood to reason that it would take more gas to knock him out cold. Rising awkwardly to his feet, McGagh staggered over to the hatch and pressed the control to open it. Nothing happened.
‘Guardian?’ he shouted hoarsely.
There was no reply, so he shuffled over to the comatose form of Stofan who was lying in a crumpled heap where she had fallen. He kicked her shoulder with his boot, which gained no response, so he knelt beside her and took her head in his massive hands. A couple of rather harsh slaps to her face brought Stofan out from her slumber.
‘Ow! Wha….’ she slurred through the drug-induced haze.
‘Wake up petal,’ McGagh growled with a grin. ‘Something’s up. We’ve been drugged and locked in the hold. We need to get the hatch open and find out what’s going on, pronto.’
Stofan finally focussed and sat up. She nodded and pushed McGagh’s helping hands away.
‘Go and help the others. I’m okay,’ she said, rubbing the base of her skull with her hand and swaying to her feet.
As Trenchard raced up through the command fin, the gravity started to become noticeably less and less. By the time he got to the centre of the ship, it would be zero. He hated being in the central core; he had an inner ear problem that made him feel sick and dizzy in zero gee. Better dizzy than dead he thought as he raced along another ladder. The ship’s corridors were strangely quiet and deserted. All the crew had been at general quarters when the Guardian had locked down the ship. They were all stuck in various sealed compartments. There were no crewmembers bustling from one part of the boat to another on urgent errands. They were all trapped. He would have to worry about them later; there was nothing that he could do for them now.
The Space Navy Series Books One & Two: Including the Kindle novellas Josiah Trenchard and the Might of Fortitude & Josiah Trenchard and the Morgenstern Page 8
