<I say we space her,> said Kiyoshi.
<I dunno. I kinda like her,> Luke chimed in.
<She’s not a pet,> said Sean. <She’s a filthy stowaway.>
<You got to admit, there’s a certain irony in stowing away on a pirate vessel,> said Luke.
<Privateer,> corrected Kiyoshi.
“He’s fine.” Sean finally got around to responding to the woman on the floor.
<I’m better than fine!>
“I mean, he’s basically the best shot I’ve ever seen,” she corrected herself. “I don’t know. Is that fine?”
“I give it a B-pass,” said Jaimee. “Final question should be obvious. I can work my passage. Hacking systems. Ships. Networks. Whatever. It’s what I do.”
“If we needed that, it’d be useful,” said Sean. “But we don’t.”
“Sure you do. You’re about to board Virtue Station, and you’re going in through the bottom of the thing.” Jaimee shook her head. “You’ll trip an alarm. The schematics are always wrong. I can get us in a proper airlock and everything. Silence, like a baby in a coma. Give me a shot, and we’re good.”
“What’s to stop you alerting the station while we’re there?” said Sean.
“Not a lot,” admitted Jaimee. “Except maybe that I’m a fugitive on the run from OFA justice. Just like you.” She flashed a smile that said ‘never play cards with me’. “C’mon. What have you got to lose?”
“Probably nothing more than a spare suit,” said Sean. She lowered her particle cannon. “Best get yourself ready.”
“How about a gun?”
Sean laughed. “You’re a real comedian.”
* * * * *
True to her word, Jaimee got them in through a small side airlock. It was still down near the station storage level, near a maintenance hatch. No need for an emergency airlock bubble, no need for explosives, just a nice, simple seal and ‘open sesame’.
The breach team was Sean, Jaimee, and Kiyoshi. Luke stayed with the ship, because there was nothing as uncomfortable as some asshole stealing your ship while you robbed them. Luke’s job was to take the Promise out of harm’s way.
The airlock hushed opened before them, revealing a corridor with dim lighting. Emergency lamps only, which spoke well of Jaimee’s skills. She’d gotten them in, no alarms tripped. Hell, the station was so sure no one was here, it hadn’t even turned the heating up.
<Keep your lids on,> said Sean. <Our exit is still the same.>
<Copy.> Kiyoshi glared at Jaimee. <After you.>
Jaimee shrugged, her borrowed suit a little loose on her frame, and followed Sean inside the station.
The interior of Virtue Station was not virtuous. It was dirty, grime caked every surface. Sean had a moment to ponder just how dirty the inhabitants would need to be for buildup to be so visible, then shrugged. It wasn’t a problem she needed to solve today. She needed to get her cargo—hers, dammit—and then get off this pile of rust before bad things happened.
Still, the state of the station confirmed her suspicions. No one here cleaned up after themselves. Sean ran a pirate ship, and she managed to keep that clean. How had the OFA not solved this problem? Implied it wasn’t an OFA station, not even one with a faux exterior. A civilian operation being used by the military, no doubt. Just the kind of set-up bullshit that made the OG famous.
Working her way through the maintenance corridor, Sean heard the hush as the airlock closed behind them, then the clunk-clunk as the Promise decoupled, drifting away from the station like just another piece of space junk. Sure, someone could see the ship if they looked out a porthole, but Luke would take her out a ways, making her just another speck in the dark.
They reached another airlock, which Jaimee opened for them. It slid wide to reveal a storage crate, stacked against the airlock door.
<Are you kidding me?> said Sean.
<I say the new kid gets to do the heavy lifting,> Kiyoshi suggested.
<Flip you for it,> said Jaimee.
<Kiyoshi, get on it,> said Sean. <Clock’s ticking.>
<Aye.>
Kiyoshi let his coilgun dangle from its sling, then set his shoulder to the crate, giving it a shove. It scraped aside, revealing the expected station stores area. Textured proteins. Repair materials. Good ol’ H2O. Whatever a station needed, it was here. Probably not catalogued correctly, based on Sean’s view of the imbeciles in charge, but here nonetheless.
There was also blessed silence. No guards.
<This station is run by idiots.> Sean checked her particle gun’s charge just for the sake of something to do. <I don’t think we’ve had an easier op.>
<Captain’s had a lot on her mind,> reasoned Kiyoshi.
<I’m taking my lead from you guys,> Jaimee said. <This is all new to me. I figured she just likes testing her luck. It all started with the airlock, you know?>
<You might have asked for that,> said Kiyoshi.
<I’m right here,> Sean groused, but smiled in the real.
Stowaway or not, Jaimee might fit in just fine. It’d be nice to have another on the crew. Maybe. Let’s see how she does with the mission, first.
She led the way to a freight lift, which seemed to be in working order. The access pass system glared an angry red light at her, so she pointed Jaimee at it.
<You’re up.>
Jaimee got to work on the lift, bypassing the security protocols in less time than it took to order a good coffee. The lift crunched, groaned, then jerked as the car ascended a couple decks. The good part about being in a freight lift? You were unlikely to get accidental passengers with you.
The car slid to a stop with the clicking of badly maintained gears, the doors opening wide. Outside, two guards in worn OG armor stared, somehow looking surprised even with the helmets on.
It was surprising for Sean too, as the data sliver had indicated that no one patrolled this segment of the station. If she’d paid for the intel, she’d have been sorely disappointed with her supplier. Mind you, that tallied with this station not being OG: these guards were no doubt on loan for the shipment.
No matter.
Sean and Kiyoshi raised their weapons as though they were one unit, time, practice, and the history of a hundred other ops giving synchronicity.
Kiyoshi’s coilgun whine-chunked, sending one of the OG guards spinning away in a shower of broken armor plates, blood, and internals that came out their back like so much hamburger.
Sean’s particle gun hummed, a lance of brilliant light impacting the other guard. Blue cherenkov radiation danced against her vision. Her target didn’t have time to scream, glowing holes in his OG armor showing where the beam had passed through.
<You guys do not fuck around,> said Jaimee.
<You remember your welcome to the Promise, right?> said Kiyoshi. <I’m surprised you’re still with us.>
<Let’s keep moving,> suggested Sean. <Two downed guards will draw attention soon enough.>
She led the way out of the lift, checking left while Kiyoshi took right. Nothing. Jaimee followed in their wake, reaching down to retrieve a fallen pulse rifle from one of the guards. Sean considered asking her to drop it, but decided not to. Jaimee could have brought hell on their heads already if she wanted to, but hadn’t. Good enough for now.
The data said the best route to the cargo container was down a corridor to their left. Sean set off at a quick pace, pointing the way with her particle gun.
She passed a closed door. Then she heard it open, and spun, finding another OG soldier pointing a pulse rifle at her. She had a moment to consider that this just might be how it ended before the soldier was knocked back by a blast from Jaimee’s borrowed pulse rifle.
Kiyoshi gave the other woman a look that said ‘maybe I won’t have to space you after all’, then stepped through the door, ready to put a round through the fallen OG gu
ard. <Dead men tell no tales.>
Jaimee’s hand on his arm made him pause. <He’s down. C’mon.>
Kiyoshi looked at Sean.
She shrugged. <This isn’t the military anymore, Kiyoshi.>
<Lock him in, then,> was all Kiyoshi sent as he turned away.
Jaimee gave a ‘whatever’ look at his back, then went to work on the door’s panel, sealing the guard away.
They continued on, making it to the cargo bay without too much trouble. The three hunkered down in the lee of a loader, checking the scene. There was just a single large container in the bay, which had to be their target. It was long, low-slung, and had the universal biohazard symbol imprinted at regular intervals on it.
Well, shit. The Transcend is making new bioweapons. Interesting, and lucrative. Sean allowed herself a small smile.
The bay had two main docking ports, one used by the ship currently docked at the station, the other closed against the vacuum of space.
An alarm sounded, the station’s regular white illumination being replaced with an angry red, throwing everything into harsh relief. Sean glanced back the way they’d come, then shoved Jaimee to the ground as she took in a squad of OG soldiers, weapons pointed.
Five troops, looking like they had a checklist that started with ‘kill those motherfuckers’ and ended with ‘don’t bother with questions’. Kiyoshi was already spinning, his coilgun whining as he fired slugs down the corridor. A soldier exploded into bloody rain. Sean fired as well, the red lighting offset by the hard cherenkov blue of her particle gun. She got two in quick succession, causing the remaining two soldiers to dive for cover.
<We should run,> suggested Jaimee. <Also, get off me.>
Sean helped her up, checking the airlock where the other ship was berthed. More soldiers, this group in mercenary motley, were exiting their ship to join the fight. If Sean was laying odds, she didn’t expect them to help the crew of the Promise. Before too long, numbers and bad attitude would wear the three of them down.
<Time to go,> she agreed. <You know the drill.>
<I really don’t,> said Jaimee, then hunkered down at the loud chatter of kinetic weapons fire.
<This loader’s not going to last long,> Kiyoshi reminded them.
<I know, I know,> said Jaimee, and went to work. Her job was to open the other airlock, exposing them to space.
Another wrinkle in the plan? Sean had expected the container to be smaller. It was too big for the three of them to push into space, and all action holos aside, the force of the air leaving the cargo bay wouldn’t be enough to shift it.
She turned to Kiyoshi. <Cover her.>
<Her?> repeated Kiyoshi. <What about you?>
<I’m good,> sent Sean, pulling herself into the loader’s control seat.
A round sparked off her visor, knocking her head back. She felt the impact in her neck, and thought, That will need more than a massage.
Jaimee was roadie-running for the airlock door, Kiyoshi in pursuit, his coilgun firing down the corridor containing soldiers as well as the docked ship’s airlock.
Four guards from the ship looked to be putting up more than a passing resistance, which would be a concern if they lingered. Surprise was their only asset, and that appeared mostly blown. Except for just one thing.
<Are we going to die?> asked Jaimee, working furiously on the airlock controls.
<Maybe,> Sean allowed. <But probably not. There’s a promise waiting for us out there. Stick to the plan.>
<You’re the boss.>
Sean skidded the loader around the cargo crate, using it as temporary cover. She used the loader’s controls to grab the container, the graunch of badly-maintained engineering from the machine causing her a moment’s concern.
It’ll be what it’ll be. Trust the plan.
She turned the loader toward where Kiyoshi and Jaimee stood by the cargo bay airlock, then punched the machine’s throttle. She used the loader’s cams to see where she was going, ducking lower as small arms fire rattled the operator’s cage.
<I’m coming,> she said.
<We’re not ready!> said Jaimee. <The door’s still closed!>
<I’m still coming,> said Sean. <The door will open, or there will be a biohazard accident and we’ll all die.>
She’d always felt that incentives were a strong facet of captaining a starship. She allowed herself a grin in the solitude of her helmet. Didn’t hurt that it was more fun this way.
The red light of the station’s general quarters alarm was joined by the yellow strobing of the airlock as it started to open. Jaimee had bypassed the safety controls, opening both the outer and inner doors at the same time.
The loader’s cams showed Jaimee give one last look at the machine rumbling down on her before letting go, flying out into the black. Kiyoshi offered the loader a salute, then jumped after Jaimee.
Sean pushed the loader’s engine harder, its electric motor’s noise lost in the howl of decompression. The airlock flashed by as she drove the loader and its cargo into space, flying out into the vacuum.
As she drifted free of the station, she spared a look behind her. Debris was drifting in her wake, including a body from one of the station’s team. No matter. Just more junk to foul their sensors while the Promise made her escape.
Speaking of…
<Where’s my ship?> she asked.
Luke answered after a brief pause. <Is now a good time to talk about a raise?>
<If the ship isn’t here in five minutes, I’ll kill you myself,> said Kiyoshi.
<I’ll help,> offered Jaimee.
<Hey. Just asking,> said Luke.
The bloom of a drive flare caught Sean’s eye, showing where the Promise drifted among the rest of the space junk. The ship approached, readying a rescue on the sea of space.
Just like they’d planned.
CHAPTER THREE
STELLAR DATE: 04.28.8945 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Promise
REGION: Vasara System, Orion Freedom Alliance
Safe in the Promise’s cargo hold, Sean ran a hand through her hair.
“Just like we planned.”
“I give us a C-pass,” said Kiyoshi
“I feel it’s more like a B,” said Jaimee, leaning against the cargo crate.
“The flying was all A-grade material,” said Luke. “Just because you guys can’t keep up your part of the job, don’t drag the score down for the rest of us.”
Sean gave her pilot a hard stare. “Who’s flying the ship?”
“Uh.” Luke thought about that for a few seconds, then looked at the three of them. “Isn’t it your turn?”
Sean sighed. It didn’t much matter. Luke had tucked the Promise beside one of the system’s orbiting rocks, just one more piece of stray junk.
She’d wanted to stay here for a while so they could determine the station’s response. A quick burn out would show their hand, so Luke had made it look like they’d done a quick burn out, then slipped behind the dwarf star, finally sidling up to the asteroid. Good enough for now.
No pursuit, though. Which was curious in itself. That problem would have to wait.
Sean knocked against the cargo container. “Let’s see what we’ve got.”
Jaimee shrugged, then worked her magic on the cargo container’s lock. It resisted for a mere handful of seconds, then chimed green, the side of the unit hinging open. Water vapor rolled out from the opening, pooling around their feet before dissipating into the hold.
As the fog cleared, Luke gave a whistle. “They don’t look like weapons.”
“They look like trouble,” said Kiyoshi.
“They look like they’re in trouble,” said Jaimee. Which was, in Sean’s view, much closer to the truth.
The cargo container had opened onto rows of old-style cryo pods. Whoever was in there hadn’t paid top dollar for the comfort of stasis, which suggested that they might not have paid at all.
Sean stepped into the cargo container, wiping a hand across the
viewport of a pod. Water and rime sluiced away, revealing a man inside. The man was dressed in what looked like a uniform or lab gear, plain white, well maintained. Like he was ready for a stint at the office just as soon as he came to. He looked to be asleep, which was the whole point.
“Get it open, Kiyoshi.”
“You sure? Biohazard symbols aren’t for show.”
“They’re entirely for show. What’s the best way to stop someone waking up your cargo?” Sean challenged.
Kiyoshi sighed. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Luke sidled up to him. “You should relax. Get a beer. You’ll give yourself a condition with all that stress.”
Kiyoshi gave the pilot a hard stare. “You should maybe get back on the bridge.”
Luke put his hands out in a ‘be cool’ gesture. “Just trying to help.” He nodded to Sean. “I’ll be on the bridge, just in case our stable orbit develops its own stressful condition and breaks everything apart.” He ignored Kiyoshi’s glare as he headed for the bridge.
“They always like this?” Jaimee asked as she worked on the cryopod.
“Only on days ending in ‘Y’,” grunted Sean. “Can you get it open?”
Jaimee didn’t answer, the hiss of the pod responding for her.
The top hinged up, more fog sifting out of it, and the pod hummed, circulating blood back into the body occupying it while warming the flesh. Sean thought about seeing what Luke was up to while they waited, then discarded the thought. Kiyoshi wasn’t the best face to wake to, and Jaimee wasn’t entirely trusted.
After a while, the man inside the pod coughed, his life returning in fits and starts. His eyes opened, then widened in panic. He scrabbled free of the pod, eyes everywhere like he was looking for an exit.
He shoved Jaimee aside, clearly not having read the brochure on ‘Do Not Run After Cryo’. Then he lurched past Sean. She let him go, watching as he made it as far as Kiyoshi, before her first mate clotheslined him to the deck.
Sean walked over from the cargo container, crouching beside the man now gasping on the deck.