The Mercenary

[Excerpt taken from the Archives of Planet HU465]



…by the end of the 5th universal rotation, there was temporary peace once again in the known universe.  The invention of personal magnetic buffers had essentially antiquated firearms of any type, having the ability to stop any projectile, and able to be carried by a single member of even the smallest species.

         In conjunction with the invention of planetary sized devices of the same use, the known universe entered into an era of peaceful scientific growth.  However, there were still disputes that could not be solved through diplomacy, which led to the invention of the basic Vibration Offensive Blade (VO Blade), making close quarters combat once again the conventional means of warfare.  However, this did not lead back to the wanton slaughter that was seen in conflicts such as the legendary Gertharian-Lekibolos wars.  Warfare was now a much more matured and cultured practice. It was, in essence, the second age of chivalry.

         With the growth of this new kind of warfare, the demand for strong fighters with a blade grew higher and higher, leading to the emergence of Mercenaries as one of the top fields of expanding employment throughout the entire known universe…



[End excerpt]



As the 6th universal rotation is ¼ complete, the story begins…



*                    *                    *



Chapter 1



         The Lythean Way Station was a stop off point, an interstellar refueling base for any ship.  Situated on the outskirts of a large asteroid field, it was a safe haven for ships leaving or entering the belt.  The base itself was fairly large, big enough for numerous small freighters to dock at, but too small for any large military vessel. 

         It was a popular place, if you could judge by the number of ships moving quickly in and out of the docking bays.  Almost all the docks were full, and a good number of larger ships were anchored in orbit, with an occasional shuttle going back and forth to them.  The Station was privately owned, and free of allegiance.  A safe haven for most, it was not an unlawful place by any means.  The owners hired top class security and paid them well, leading to very fair enforcement in the station.  The interior was full of shops, restaurants, and other entertainment for crews on temporary ship-leave.  After long cargo flights, or scouting for resources among asteroid belts and uninhabited planets, most crews wanted nothing to do with a ship, and the shops here were bustling.  The Station also contained private offices for ship owners to rent.

         It was in one of these offices that ship owner “Sierra” Kianthalistira sighed yet again and, for the umpteenth time, flipped her hair out of her eyes. 

         Everyone always said that owning a cargo ship was a golden one-way ticket to an easy life…none of them ever said anything about so much maintenance.  She smirked, Whatever, it’s worth it to be able to live the way I choose.  Well, now that I’m done with this scheduling, only have to do this interview and I’m done.

         As she looked at the last thing on her agenda, she frowned slightly.  For a Mercenary to approach a ship owner usually meant poor things about the Mercenary themselves.  Mercenaries commanded a high price on the market for protecting merchant and cargo ships from pirates and rival ships, her budget wasn’t even enough to hire a half decent Merc for a single cargo run.  For a Merc to be actively looking for work usually meant they were terrible or they had accrued an…unsavory…reputation. 

         All these thoughts flitted through her head in a heartbeat, causing only a split second of hesitation as she tapped the button to signal the next customer into her office.

         After all, I have nothing to lose by simply listening to him.

         The figure that had been sitting in her waiting room walked calmly into the office and sat down opposite of her desk.  He was clad in modern battle armor, which by itself was not unusual.  What was unusual was the fact that he was clearly humanoid.  The common atmosphere of all neutral space stations was oxygen, with a mix of other humanoid-friendly gases.  Though there were special cases, generally most humanoid lungs evolved in the same general way, leading to the need for similar gases in public places.  The Mercenary’s airtight, full body armor would have been more expected on a creature that couldn’t breathe the atmosphere without dying or sustaining injuries.  The figure sat patiently, with an extremely straight posture, which spoke of some past military training.  The armor was new, with soft white plating that was bereft of any emblems or symbols.

         Sierra was slightly taken aback by this; she was very used to having new customers and clients startled or awestruck by her appearance.  Very few individuals could maintain their calm upon meeting an Angel.  Though human in body shape and figure, the luminous blue-tinged skin, body length wings, and silver hair had a way of leaving many beings breathless.  The only thing Sierra could see in the deep blue, full face visor was a reflection of herself. 

         “Thank you for seeing me on such short notice, Miss…?”

         The vocal speakers in his helmet gave a slight mechanical undertone to the Merc’s voice, but Sierra noted that he had almost no accent at all, pronouncing each syllable with accuracy.

         “Sierra is what most humans call me; my true name is very hard to speak correctly.”

         “Ah. Thank you, Miss Sierra”

         “You are welcome, though I must admit, I was rather curious about what a Mercenary wants with me and my ship.” Sierra permitted herself a small smile, sure that this was a typical new Merc, wanting to get some experience under his belt so he could start charging high amounts to other captains.  Well, if he thought he could use her crew and ship as a training session he was very, very-

         “I was wondering if you required the services of a Mercenary upon your cargo trips.”

         Trips? Usually new Mercs wanted a single trip so they could get out of horrible paying jobs as quickly as possible. She frowned inwardly…this wasn’t going as she expected.

         “And how much would you be charging us for your services?” Sierra asked slowly.

         “Oh, um…I don’t think that will be necessary…” the Mercenary’s voice trailed off into nothing behind his mask.

         Sierra’s face hardened “Don’t think that my ship is a charity, Mister…” She glanced down at his name on the application sheet for the first time. “…Arc.  We may be a small company but that doesn’t mean that-”

         “No, please, that’s not what I mean at all.  If you really require me to charge something, think of my payment as my room and board.” A note of desperation crept into the voice through the helmet.

         Her anger melted, replaced by curiosity…not many Mercs ever sounded desperate.  Being in such high demand, they usually held all the cards in any business situation.

         “May I ask why you are so desperate to go with us?”

         “Um…let’s say I have been…employed…by one company for far too long, most of my life in fact, and, well, I guess I just want to see the rest of the galaxy.”

         Interesting, I never would have thought of something like this.  It seems like an honest request, and it really can’t hurt to have a Mercenary around…especially a free one.

         “Let me see your space-worthy information and Mercenary registration, please.”

         As she scanned the disk he handed over, her eyes widened in shock.  The data he handed her contained a recent blood sample analyzed for diseases, and read that he was in perfect health.  What surprised her was that he was a 19 year old human male.  There were almost no human Mercenaries, being that they usually lacked the strength, speed, and skill necessary to fight effectively against other race’s Mercenaries, and the few human Mercs there are were a damn sight older than a teenager.

         On the other hand, he had a Mercenary license, which meant that they certified his combat-prowess to at least a basic level.  Sierra, her curiosity piqued, had only one more question.

         “May I ask what exactly you intend to do for me and my crew? We usually manage to stay out of trouble.”

         “Anything you need me to Miss.  I can be a bodyguard, help with loading and unloading, or run errands.  I just really want to travel.”

         The Angel tapped her fingers on the desk a couple times, mulling over the Mercenary’s offer in her head.  To his credit, he did not fidget or stir at all, seeming to accept his fate with quiet dignity.  Sierra was an almost unfailingly good judge of character, but this was tough, there was almost nothing for her to go on.

         Although I’ve never heard of a Merc making a request like this, I don’t think it’s a lie.  19 years of age…I believe that is very young for a space bound human.  To be honest, I’m intrigued.  Well, he won’t be able to do anything drastic on board the ship with the security systems we have, so I think I’ll give him a chance.

         Sierra permitted herself a wan smile.  “Well, welcome aboard then Arc. I will meet you down in dock 4 in about half an hour.  I expect you to be ready to go when you arrive.”



*                    *                    *

         

         The ship, Dawnrunner, sat in dock 4, being loaded up with the last of the cargo for its next trip.  Sierra looked at her ship thoughtfully as the elevator moved slowly down to the dock floor.

         For all that work, all that saving, and this ship is what I have to show for it.  It was definitely a worthwhile trade.

         The ship was a class B cruiser, modified for extra cargo room and living space.  As per the Trade Laws, the ship carried no external armaments, instead using the room for more armor plating, shield buffers, and engine power.  Sierra appreciated the balance of the ship, not as slow as some of the huge class A ships, but big enough to have some presence over the tiny class D and E ships.  Although the ship didn’t have a professional paint job, due to them being very expensive for a vanity, it was still a pleasing streamlined shape and fully functional.  Some owners left their ships alone until they were about to break, but Sierra made sure her ship was always repaired and stocked, and it had saved them more than once.

         Since it was a former cruiser, the ship had a lot of clear surfaces along the outer passageways of the ship, giving it a nice view into space.  Many of her friends and a good deal of her customers thought she was crazy for having so many viewports on her ship, until they found out how secure they were.  The entire crew appreciated the relief to the cramped feelings that pervaded many cargo runners, and that alone was worth the risk in Sierra’s opinion.

         Striding down the walkway to the docking entrance, she passed a few of her crew members, finishing up the preparations to depart from the station.  As she passed each one, they either nodded or greeted her warmly.  Sierra was much loved among her crew, unlike most captains she knew and cared about her crew members. 

         As she expected, Arc was waiting for her at the end of the dock, next to the ship’s airlock.

         “What do you think of my ship?” She called out, making a sweeping gesture towards the ship.

         “Its in good shape, it’s…impressive”

         Sierra slightly raised an eyebrow at how impassive he managed to make that statement. 

         Is he unimpressed with her…?  No, I don’t think it’s unimpressed, he sounds more…detached than anything else.

         Letting that comment slide for now, she noticed that the only cargo he was bringing on board was a single bag, about the size of backpack. 

         “Is that all you are bringing on board?”

         “Uh…yea I don’t have many perso-um, I travel light usually.” Arc said quickly.

         “I see.  Well Arc, I just want to go over a few rules with you before we board.  I am the captain on this ship.  My orders are absolute and I expect you to obey them to the best of your ability.  Since you are living on this ship as a Mercenary I expect you to protect every member of the crew to the best of your ability, and help out whenever possible with everyday tasks.  You will get your own room, and whatever you want to do in there is your business, but I will not tolerate any damage to the room itself.  The dining hall is always open, but I expect you to keep it around four meals per every GUD (Galactic Universal Day) and some snacks if you want.  And finally, you will be given full access to the ship itself, except for other private rooms of course, but the ship does have surveillance, so nothing suspicious ok?”

         “Understood ma’am.”

         Sierra started a bit at Arc’s response.  Usually Mercs were notoriously uncooperative, only able to be controlled by massive amounts of money.  Many ships have come limping back to repair ports after a resident Merc wrecked half the interior of the ship in a careless battle, or feud with a crewmember.  Yet, here was Arc, a Merc himself, responding like a windup toy soldier.

         “…Well, since that’s settled, why don’t you come aboard and I’ll introdu-“

         “Mom?  The cargo is fully…oh, I’m sorry, you’re in the middle of something.”  Another Angel stuck her head out of the airlock of the ship.  She was a little taller than Sierra, but just as thin giving her a very lithe appearance, even through her shipboard suit.  Unlike Sierra, she wore her silver hair short, barely going down past her neck.

         “Not at all sweetie, I was just about to introduce the crew to our newest addition.”  Sierra brightened noticeably at seeing her.  “Arc, this is my adopted daughter, Meltheralansha, or Mel, for short.  Mel, this is Arc, a human Mercenary.  He has agreed to protect our ship for our next couple trips.”

         “It is a pleasure to meet you Arc.” Mel placed two fingers to her forehead and bowed slightly, while opening her wings noticeably, the formal Angel greeting.

         “And it is an honor to meet you, Miss Mel.” Arc replied, returning her greeting with a polite, if a bit stiff, bow.

         Sierra’s eyebrows shot into her bangs; this was the first time she had ever seen someone react casually to that greeting.  Everyone asked about it when they initially saw it.  Thankfully Arc was facing her daughter at that point, and didn’t see Sierra’s reaction.  However, Mel hadn’t seemed to notice the irregularity at all.

         “Hehe, just call me Mel, ‘Miss Mel’ sounds weird.”          

         “As you wish.”

         “Come on Mel, help me show him around the ship before we depart.” Sierra said as she motioned Arc to follow her, and walked into the ship.



*                    *                    *



         “I don’t know, what do you think of him?” asked Mel.

         “To be honest, I think he’s a bit strange.”

         Several members of the crew were sitting around the dining hall, after having just eaten a meal.  The conversation was just dying down when someone mentioned Arc, which, after furtive glances around to make sure he wasn’t around, led into a discussion of the newest “member” of the crew.

         “I mean, it’s been a week and a half out on this trip, and no one has seen him without his armor and helmet on.” Glaentae was saying, “I bet he’s hiding something under there…why else would he always wear it?”  Glaentae was a Thenferan, a race of sentient cold blooded mammals, humanoid with very long arms and delicate fingers.  Since they were cold blooded, they had been constantly misunderstood and persecuted by many of the other space faring races, and even the ones accepted by their friends harbored a deep suspicion of others.

         “Oh come on, you’d say these wings were glued on if you hadn’t seen me move them.” Mel laughed, shifting her wings slightly to accentuate her point.

         Glaentae smiled at that, and wrapped the heated blanket he was wearing closer around his thin shoulders.

         “Ok, so maybe I am being a bit paranoid, but still, that armor can’t be that comfortable, why does he wear it all the time?”

         Velrian started bouncing up and down in his seat, “Oh, oh! Maybe he’s really an old man under that armor, and his medical data was faked!”  A Renbulen, a round bodied furred biped, Velrian was extremely excitable due to his incredibly fast metabolism and hyperactive adrenaline gland, a survival instinct from his ancestor’s days of living in fear of predators.

         “Pfff, I doubt it.  He doesn’t move like an old man at all.  My guess is that he is massively scarred under that armor, and he is embarrassed to take it off.” Chimed in Javier, the human first mate of the ship, and the only human besides Arc on the ship.  Javier wasn’t wearing his eye-patch today, instead wearing a headband pulled down over his left eye, the unfortunate result of a space pirate raid on his planet when he was very young.

         “Or maybe he is the armor! Like he is actually a robot!” squeaked Velrian, almost toppling off the bench next to the table in excitement.

         “No way.  If he was a robot, I would know, trust me.” Said Binina, quietly from the end of the table.  Binina was an android, one of the few who associated with organic life forms.  She claimed it was because other androids and AIs were boring, ‘like talking to a calculator’.

         “He certainly seems like a robot sometimes…like he has no emotions.” Glaentae shivered slightly, and wrapped the blanket even tighter.

         “I don’t know Glaen, he certainly seems polite enough, and he’s always helping with something.” Offered Mel, staring thoughtfully at the doorway.

         “Yea, but when was the last time you heard him tell a joke? Hell, when was the last time you heard him laugh at anything?” asked Javier, raising his visible eyebrow.

         “And he never eats with the rest of the crew.” Remarked Binina.

         “He does spend a lot of time looking out the viewports of the ship, though.”  Muttered Glaentae.  “Didn’t your mother say something about him wanting to ‘see the galaxy’?”

         “Yup, that’s why he is protecting us.”  Said Mel brightly, then her smile slipped. “It almost seems like we are taking advantage of him though…”

         “I wouldn’t think of it like that,” replied Javier. “It’s obviously worth it to Arc.  I’ll bet if he wanted money, he could have very easily found a ship to pay him for his services.”

         “Well, if I had been stuck in one place all my life I’d be eager to head out too” laughed Glaentae.  “I had enough of being under my parent’s roof after I was old enough to walk.”

         “Ha, not everyone has as bad relations with their parents as you do Glaen.”

         “I guess, heh, but you can’t act like my race has very good relations with other members of almost any race…including our own.”

         “Yea, but us humans aren’t exactly solitary creatures, so makes me wonder…” Javier trailed off, chewing on his bottom lip.

         “What are you thinking Jav?” asked Mel, catching the tone of his voice.

         “I don’t know, it just seems like he could maybe be running from someone, or something.” Javier dropped his voice a bit, and sounded concerned now.

         “You think he’s hiding his identity?” Velrian asked, alarmed by Javier’s thoughts.

         “That doesn’t really seem logical; he wasn’t acting in secret at all when he came to find employment” reasoned Binina.

         “Unless they had never seen this new armor, and he could afford the time to find the right ship” said Glaentae.

         “More conspiracy theories Glaen?” teased Mel, but even she seemed a bit worried by the revelations the other crew members were coming up with.

         “You have to admit, there is definitely something going on, otherwise he would have taken off his armor.  I cannot believe that anybody would ever be dedicated enough to stay battle ready constantly” Javier mused to himself.  “Mel, didn’t you wake him up in the middle of one of his sleep cycles?”

         “Yea, I knocked over some cleaning supplies right outside his door, he came out to check if I was alright…” She trailed off, looking at her lap, then glanced up.  “Come to think of it, he was even wearing his armor then.  And I’m sure he had been asleep, I could hear it in his voice.”

         Sensing her worry, Javier patted Mel on the back, saying “Don’t worry Mel, your mother has worked with more beings and species than all of us, so if she trusts him, I do too.”

         Mel seemed to perk up slightly when the rest of the crew sitting at the table murmured their assent. “Thanks Jav, I guess you’re right.  We should all get some sleep though…well, most of us at least” she nodded at Binina, “Everyone will need to do some cleaning after this cycle.”

         As the crew members filtered out to their rooms, Mel watched them go.  She waved to Binina as the android made her way to the front of the ship, to help with the night cycle watch.  Binina smiled back at her then disappeared around the corner.

         Standing up and stretching, Mel made her way out of the dining hall, pressing the buttons to put the room’s lights into sleep mode, then closing the door after herself.  She decided to take the roundabout route back to her room, needing to think about the conversation, and about Arc. 

         He really couldn’t have put us in any danger, I refuse to believe he would willingly do that to us.  They may think he is so mysterious, but from what I’ve seen of him, he isn’t a bad person.  Maybe too secretive, but I’m sure he has some sort of reason for it.  I don’t know, maybe I’m being too optimistic…Everyone always tells me I’m too nice, but is that a bad thing?

         Sighing to no one in particular, she stopped at a viewport to look at the stars.  Finding no answers among the far-flung lights, she walked slowly down the hall, trailing her hand on the bottom of the window.  Keeping her eyes on the blackness outside, she didn’t notice Arc until he stopped her from running into him.

         “Excuse me, Mel.”

         “Oh! Arc, I’m sorry, I was just looking out the window and not really paying attention and I guess I didn’t hear you and-”

         “It’s ok.”

         Mel waited for Arc to continue, but apparently he wasn’t inclined to expand the conversation anymore.  Feeling awkward, she cast about for something else to talk about.

         “Sooo, um…what are you doing?” she asked, then winced and mentally slapped herself in the face.  Ugh…I’m not usually this awkward, what is wrong with me? 

         “Looking at the stars” Arc replied softly, giving no indication that he noticed her distress.

         Mel glanced out the viewport, then back at Arc, seeing the stars reflected on his visor.  She realized why she was feeling so awkward; she couldn’t see his face to read his expressions, and his voice told her even less about what he was thinking.  Deciding to try to talk to him one last time, she turned to face Arc.

         “Why?”

         The mercenary turned to look at the Angel, and Mel could see her face reflected on his helmet, strangely free of distortion.

         “The planet I’m from, it’s always cloudy.  Every day, every night, you can’t see the sky at all.  They said it was due to volcanic activity along the ocean, or some political reason like that.  I’ve never seen stars before, they are…” he seemed to struggle for the right word, “nice…to look at.”

         He stated all of this simply, and matter of fact.  Mel was amazed that he could talk about something like this while sounding almost disinterested.  Relieved that he said more than three words this time, she pounced upon the subject of his past.

         “So, are there any plants or animals where you are from?”

         “I’ve never seen one, but I’ve heard that they have some in zoos or laboratories.  The entire planet seems like a desert sometimes, the cities the only pockets of life in it.  Although people aren’t very scarce, they are always traveling from one place to another, looking for another place to settle…” he trailed off, seemingly lost in thought.  He seemed to snap back to the moment, glancing at Mel as if he just realized she was there.  “I’m sorry, I’m tired so I am going to go to sleep.”  He said, awkwardly as if he was embarrassed or annoyed that he had said so much.  He gave her a courteous nod, then paced away.

         Mel, now alone in the hallway, chewed at her bottom lip, and brought a hand up to her chin to think.  That was…strange.  He even seemed disinterested in his own past until he got to that last part.  Was that...pain?  He didn’t seem to like remembering whatever it was, but I can’t be sure.  She shrugged, then headed for her room, leaving unsolved mysteries for the morning.



*                    *                    *



         Sierra slowly blinked the sleep out of her silver eyes, staring blankly into the monitor.  She hated bridge duty at night, especially between dives.  Being a cargo ship, Dawnrunner didn’t have anywhere near the newest cooling systems for its subspace drive, which led to several hours between dives.  In turn, that led to the need for crewmembers on the flight deck to check for debris and anomalies in their path.  She was just glad that subspace didn’t require lookouts, as the ship spent at least half of the trip in it.

         Feeling her eyelids start to droop again, she stood up and stretched.

         One thing that is nice though, she thought to herself, the flight deck is big enough for a full stretch, something most of these rooms don’t give.  Sighing, she extended her hands toward the ceiling, while stretching her wings to their fullest, feeling her muscles groan a bit from lack of use.  Hearing the door slide open, she turned around to see Binina and Javier enter the room.

         “Our turn, you should get some shut-eye Sierra, you look exhausted.”  Javier offered, noticing the bags beneath her eyes.

         “Heh, it’s not exhaustion Jav, its boredom. I hate watch duty.” She yawned, “Thanks for the offer, but I still have an hour or so with you two.  Can’t take time off just because I’m the captain.” She finished with a grin.

         Binina rolled her pink eyes and moved to the front of the flight deck to take her place at the imaging monitors, and started scanning the thermal and radiation readings.  Sierra was about to take her place back at the visual scan station, when Javier put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her aside.

         “What’s up Jav?”

         “Sierra, I need to talk to you about our…newest passenger.”

         Seeing the look on his face, she immediately stopped smiling, looking at him with concern. 

“What is the problem?  Has he done something wrong?”

“Well,” Javier started thoughtfully, “not yet, but I’m worried about what he has done before we met him, if you know what I mean.”

Sierra raised an eyebrow.

“Oh?  How so?”

“I think he might be being chased or hunted by someone.  He is always, and I mean always, wearing that armor…there’s got to be something going on here.”  He made sure to look his captain directly in the eye, wanting her to understand that he wasn’t joking.

         Sierra chewed her bottom lip, a habit she picked up from her daughter, and looked thoughtfully at one of the view monitors.

         “I don’t think he is.  Besides wearing that armor all the time, he has given no other indications he is being pursued or hunted.  There are a number of perfectly sensible reasons he could be wearing that armor constantly.  Suppose he is disfigured, or has unsightly cybernetic implants.  He is extremely young, and a human, yet is still a Merc.  I don’t know about you, but to me that points to him not being an average human.  He has to have some motive to keep it on all the time.”

         Javier blinked a couple times, his suspicions disarmed by Sierra’s simple logic and considerations.

         “Been thinking about this much then?” he chuckled, amazed by how insightful she was.

         “I guess you could say that…I just like to be on top of anything that could cause harm to my crew or my ship.”

         “Yea, I guess you’re right…anyways, you should get some sleep, can’t have a tired captain now, can we?” Javier replied, flashing her another grin.

         “Thanks Jav, wake me in after the cycle, we’ll need another dive before we reach the station, so we’ll be there in a few days.”



*                    *                    *



         “All crew members report to the bridge immediately, this is not a drill!”

         “Whoah!” Mel managed to shout before she fell to the floor, still tangled in her sheets. She glanced around, dazed for a moment, until she was able to focus her senses enough to recognize the alarm for what it was.

         “All crew members report to the bridge immediately, this is not a drill!”

         “Oh no…” she said softly, hearing her mother’s voice over the intercom. Throwing her jumpsuit on, she stumbled towards the door and grouped around for the opening mechanism, her fingers still clumsy from sleep. As she stepped out into the hallway, she noticed the other crew members moving out of their rooms, most rubbing the sleep out of their eyes as well.

“All crew members report to the bridge immediately, this is not a drill!”

As she moved down the corridor, her adrenaline started to pump, waking her up completely. A thousand thoughts shot through her head, none of them positive. As she arrived in the bridge she noticed most of the crew assembled, all of them wearing grim expressions, staring at the main monitor. Her knees almost gave out, and she had to stagger to the back wall of the bridge and lean against it. As the last few crew members filed into the room, Sierra turned to address her crew.

“We have a major problem. Multiple ships are enclosing on us from all sides. We have tried to hail them, but there has been no response. I suspect they are pirates.” She said of this mechanically, showing no emotion. Mel, knowing where to look, saw the slight clench of her mother’s jaw. She slowly sank to the floor.

Pirates…oh please no…  She thought, burying her face in her hands. She remembered the sights she had seen at the various stations. Ships limping back, mostly destroyed, with half or more of their crew dead. Tales of the vicious pirates who killed for fun and sport. Horrible whispers of what happened to any females on a raided ship.

“Captain, our subspace drive is now ready.” Binina’s cool report shook Mel out of her thoughts, and she looked hopefully to her mother.

“Damnit!” this news seemed to break Sierra’s calm and she slammed one of her fists onto the console. “We were so close…damnit, damnit damnit!”

Most of the crew seemed taken aback by her reaction, and Glaentae voiced what they were all thinking.

“Couldn’t we just make a subspace dive out of here? They wouldn’t be able to keep up, and there is no way they could predict our destination.”

“Yes, that would have been the case” Sierra started, staring forlornly at the monitor, “but they are too close now. If we tried to dive now, they would be able to detect our engines heating, and simply fire on us. Likely the subdrive would just explode and destroy the ship.”

Murmurs of shock and fright moved around the room at this, and Mel was startled to notice Arc nodding in agreement. He stood up and moved to stand before Sierra.

“Captain, may I take a look at the scans of the enemy ships?”

Sierra looked at him curiously for a moment, then waved him over to the cluster of monitors to her left, looking resigned. After he sat down at the station, she stood and addressed the assembled crew members in the room, seemingly drained of emotion.

“Crew, I’ve never lied to you before, and I’m not going to start now. We have no chance to escape, and we are too far from any planet or station to jettison an escape shuttle to, and by the same note, we are too far to call for help. I have enjoyed having you all as my crew, and I ask you all to please for-”

“There.”

The entire crew turned to look at the Mercenary, Sierra looking more than a little annoyed at him.

“What?” she demanded.

“There is an opening at 8 o’clock, 150 degrees.” Arc replied calmly, with the air of someone who is familiar with similar situations.

Then entire crew simply stared at him, not understanding. Finally, Binina spoke up.

“What are you saying? We are surrounded by no less than six ships, to try to break out would mean passing deeply into at least one of their weapon coverage zones.” She sounded angry at the Merc, as if he was treating the situation like some kind of joke.

“Indeed, however, the ship assigned to the port-rear-high side is not in battle condition.”

“Explain.” Sierra was immediately behind him, looking at the monitors.

Arc’s fingers started to fly across the keys at the monitoring station, and the main monitor lit up with a picture of an unpainted, older frigate class military ship.

“Though the ship is similar in appearance and power to the five other ships surrounding us, there are a few subtle differences. If you notice, look at the aft power transformers,” he stated, moving to the larger monitor and pointing at the back of the ship, where several large box like objects protruded from the enemy ship, “if you look closely, you can see that there are many explosive scars along these.” He tapped a few keys at the main console and the picture jumped to a close up of the transformers. Barely noticeable black marks became large ruptures in the plating of the ship. “Once these are seen, a simple switch to the electro-magnetic scanners reveals this.” Entering two more commands into the console, the outline of the enemy ship remained, but the details were replaced with a deep blue, shot through with streaks of white. “Now, look again at the transformers.”

Sierra gasped, and started blankly at the image.

“Only two are actually working!” Six of the eight boxes remained blue on the readout, indicating that there was no electric energy moving through them.

“Exactly. That ship is likely struggling simply to keep up with us, and I doubt any of the weapon systems are connected, much less activated.”

As the crew exploded into excited talking, Mel simply sat, stunned by the news, and even more by the way it was delivered. Arc had sounded bored as he had explained to the room that they all weren’t going to die. Like he had found the answer simple and easy, but-

“Captain, the enemy ships are starting to make their approach.” Binina’s cool voice cut across the talking in the room and reminded everyone that they were still very much in danger.

“Well, Arc, as you stated, there is an opening. How would you suggest we take it?” Sierra asked, once again collected and in control.

“8 o’clock, 150 degrees. Move in as close as you can to the disabled ship, then using it as a shield from the other pirates, make the subspace dive. If you can move quick enough, you should be able to completely avoid the weapon coverage from the other ships, since they are still spread out at the present time.”

“Understood. Everyone, get to your stations! I want our cargo bolted down for an emergency dive, and engine crews, remove the restrictions from our engines; we are going to need full power for this. Binina I want you to plot the possible trajectories for a dive from positions all around the enemy ship…make sure we don’t hit anything on the way out. Navigation team to your positions, get this ship ready to dance on my command! Let’s move!”

The crew exploded into motion, as everyone immediately moved towards their tasks, adrenaline pumping at the news. Mel also jumped to her feet, remembering that she was part of the galley lockdown crew. Shifting her focus to the task ahead of her, she forced her mind to stay on the present, not daring to think of the future. As she left the bridge, she glanced back at her adopted mother, silently wishing her luck, knowing she had the toughest job of all.



*                    *                    *



         Sierra watched her crew go, and allowed herself a quick glance at her hands. They were trembling. Gripping the rail in front of her tightly, she banished her fears and doubts from her mind. She could not afford any distractions. Checking over the tactical display once more she quickly went over the plan once more in her head. So many risks… She thought, chewing on her lip nervously I would never take a gamble like this normally. What if they simply fire on us and the other ship? Pirates are known for their ruthlessness. Or what if the injured ship is faking being disabled? Are simply walking into an ambush right in front of our noses? Damn it. Still gripping the rail, she looked quickly around the room. Every hand that she could see holding something was white knuckled. No time for doubts, I’ll get us through this even if it kills me.

         “Engine crew here, restrictions are off and everything is green, strapped in and waiting for your command.”

         “Cargo team, everything is locked down, including us. Good to go.”

         Nodding to herself, Sierra clicked the intercom, “Excellent work crew, now just sit back and enjoy the ride.” Switching the com system off , she looked around the room. “You guys ready?”

         “As ready as we’ll ever be…let’s give these scumbags a chase they won’t forget!”

         “The nav courses are ready Sierra, and I’ll make more on the fly if we need them.” Binina chimed in.

         “Great. Arc, I want you at the tac display, since you’re so good at this, I want your opinion on their movements.”

         The Mercenary gave a concise nod and moved to the read out, his movements betraying none of his thoughts.

         Sierra took a deep breath, and then started rapidly shooting off commands.

         “30% thrust forward, divert power to starboard fore thrusters!”

         “Switch to emergency life support systems, and cut any non essential systems off!”

         “Divert extra power to shields and electromagnetic armor systems!”

         “Prepare to seal any breaches in vital decks!”

         “Scanners up to full power, I want to know before they start shooting!”

         “Binina, give me a trajectory on the crippled ship, I want to get as close as possible!”

         Binina nodded, calculating the data quicker than any human could possibly hope to keep up with.

         “They are moving farther up captain.”

         “Trying to force us under them, are they? Well, I’ll be damned if this ship can’t keep up with a half dead pirate frigate! 40% thrust to bottom burners, I want to see those engines at 120% output!” Sierra gritted her teeth, getting caught up in her adrenaline rush.

         “They are starting to react, the starboard ships are too far to catch us, and the aft ship hasn’t reacted yet, but the fore ship is slowing at a considerable rate.” Arc barely raised his voice over the insistent thrumming of the engines.

         “I see, would we be able to make a dive yet Arc?”

         “Unlikely, the ship is still too far out in the open.”

         “Heh, good thing I still have a couple tricks up my sleeve then. Drop the radar decoys, then increase the starboard thrusters! We’ll blind side the ship ahead with their own comrades!”

         I hope this works, Sierra thought quickly, if the pirates are on a tactical network, then this won’t do a thing. I hope these are as untrusting as most pirates.

         “Incoming fire, 6 o’clock!” the cry from the scanning station jolted her from her thoughts.

         “The ship behind has yet to increase speed, but they are starting to fire long range weapons at us, more missiles will be incoming soon.” Arc stated.

         “Damn,” Sierra swore. “Divert shields aft and starboard sides, and brace for impact!”

         The entire ship rocked from the explosion, throwing the crew of the bridge against their harnesses, and causing Sierra to stagger heavily, hurling her against the rail she was leaning on.

         “Damage report!”

         “Top two decks on the aft destroyed, sealing compartments now.”

         “Minimal damage to engines, output unaffected.”

         “Shields down, entering recharging phase!”

         “Electromagnetic armor still at 80% capacity!”

         “Damn,” Sierra swore again, “we can’t another hit like that until our shields are up again! Arc, what’s the fore ship doing? Did the decoy work?”

         “The ship has changed its course, and increased its momentum again, for the moment it seems to have them confused.”

         “Good, let’s make the most of this then. Increase speed, we need to get behind the frigate faster, I want to hear the engines scream!” She gripped the rail tighter, this was one gamble she wasn’t about to lose easily.

         “Increasing output to maximum tolerance, 300 seconds until burnout.”

         “Moving into enemy blind space now. No projectiles detected on radar.”

         “Binina, prepare for a dive as soon as possible, we’ve only got a short window here, and I’m sure the pirates are probably a bit angry by now.”

         “Understood,” Binina replied, her fingers clicking loudly on the keys. “Calculations are done, sending the information to the main navigation computer now.”

         “Okay! Start pre-warming the subspace drive now.” Sierra ordered triumphantly.

         “Roger, drive warm-up sequence initiated.”

         As the crew hunched over their individual monitors, the ship began to hum louder as the subspace drive in the back of the ship started spinning, preheating the engine with friction to prepare the massive machine for the intense heat generated by travel through subspace. Just as the whirring noise was starting the settle into a continuous drone, the main screen started flashing red as alarms went off in the bridge.

         “What the- What is that alarm for? Report!” Sierra demanded, startled.

         “The adjacent ship has moved their weapons into firing positions, targeting our engines.” Binina replied, always calm in emergencies.

         “What? I thought you said their weapon systems are disabled, Arc!”

         “They are…it’s a bluff. They would have already fired on us if they could.” Arc replied coolly.

         “Engine warm-up finished, ship is ready to subspace dive!”

         “Captain, if we try to dive now, they’ll fire and kill us all! The shields can’t take another hit yet…and this is almost point blank range!”

         “I know, I know! Give me a second to think!” Sierra nearly shouted, pressing her palms into her forehead.

         “Captain, fore and aft ships moving into position to fire, in less than thirty seconds.”

         “Engines approaching burnout, the ship’s at its limit!”

         Everyone in the bridge started shouting at once, calling out the status of various systems, arguing whether they should try to make the jump or surrender. Sierra clutched her head tighter, confused and torn, holding the lives of the ship and its crew in her hands. Through the noise and chaos one voice calmly cut through it and reached her.

         “Trust me, it’s a bluff. Make the dive, and we will make it out.”

         Sierra started, hearing emotion in the mercenary’s voice for the first time. Was that…compassion? Or sympathy…? Shaking her head, she closed her eyes for half a second, thanking Arc silently.

         “Begin subspace dive, now!!”

         The room immediately quieted, and the droning of the ship’s normal engine cut off and the humming of the subspace drive reached a crescendo. Some of the crew made small prayer motions, after looking at the ship off the starboard side, while some just stared straight ahead, as if fixated by the main screen. Sierra watched as the stars faded away, and she had the feeling of falling as the monitor filled up with a vortex of all different shades of blue.

As one, the crew seemed to slump down in their seats, and in a rustling of feathers, Sierra’s knees gave out and she fell kneeling onto the floor. The cabin was quiet for a few seconds, with the silence only being broken by one of the navigators sobbing. Shakily, Sierra stood up, and clicked the intercom on.

         “We have made a successful subspace dive away from the pirates.”

         The crew in the bridge could hear the rest of the ship cheering before she cut off the intercom again.

         “I want to thank you all. Without any of you I don’t think we would have made it through that.” She said quietly, staring down at her hands.

         One by one the crew filed out of the room, some off to seek their personal rooms, while others went to celebrate with other members of the crew. The room emptied until it was just Sierra and Arc left. As he stood up and slowly walked to the door, Sierra raised her head.

         “I want to thank you Arc. Without you we would not have stood a chance back there. I want to thank you for giving us hope…and for giving us spirit.”

         She could hear him stop near the door, the clanking of his suit on the metallic floor halted.

         “I…don’t know what to say. It was only what I thought was right, and seemed like the only path to take.” He sounded uneasy to Sierra, another emotion she was not used to hearing from the taciturn mercenary. She turned to face him, knowing full well that he could see the tears running down her cheeks.

         “Regardless, it saved all of our lives, and that is why I am thanking you. But I do have on question…how did you know that they wouldn’t fire on us? That they were just bluffing?”

         Arc paused for a moment, not startled but seeming to piece his answer together.

“My teacher called it ‘fighter’s intuition’. He said that when you have seen enough fights and battles, you start to be able to sense what your opponent is going to do next, even close to what he is thinking, simply by his actions. It was very much like my teacher.” He ended abruptly, and bowed to Sierra. “Once again I am glad that I could be useful.”

         She watched him walk out, and sat on the floor of the bridge, silently thinking and wondering, until her daughter came to get her.



*                    *                    *