* * *
Lucky was humming to himself as he waited by the gangway hatch. Humming helped calm his nerves. While he had full confidence in the plan they had worked out, he still felt a little jittery nonetheless. Movement through the viewport caught his attention and he leaned on the hatch doors to peer through one of the small windows. The pirates were extending a docking sleeve toward the ship’s hull. It mated easily to the docking collar on the Prometheus and seconds later Lucky heard the soft thunk of the docking clamps latching into place. He straightened and moved to the small panel on the right hand bulkhead. After a while a green light flashed on, indicating that there was standard atmospheric pressure on the other side of the hatch, and he opened the doors.
The hatch at the far end of the docking sleeve opened a moment later and a man appeared and started into the connecting passage. The pirate had a broad smile pasted on his face but his eyes were darting around suspiciously.
“Captain Murphy?” he asked as he approached, his hands clasped behind his back. It was the name Lucky was using to pose as the captain of the Finian’s Rainbow. The fact that the man already knew that name when Tom hadn’t given it to them when he’d spoken to their ship earlier was further proof that the pirates had a pipeline into the transport industry.
“That’s right,” Lucky said, offering his hand. “Thank you again for answering our Mayday so quickly.”
The pirate strode calmly up to Lucky and took his hand. Suddenly, in one quick motion, he yanked Lucky forward as he brought up a blaster pistol with his other hand and shoved its muzzle under his chin. Lucky’s eyes went wide but he made no move to try and break free.
From the far end of the docking sleeve Lucky heard the heavy clumping of booted feet. While he didn’t dare move his head to look, he rolled his eyes and saw six armored figures advancing toward them. Even though he had expected the pirates to make their move to take the ship once the hatch was opened, the moment he saw the approaching armored shapes he felt himself go rigid.
The pirate holding his gun on Lucky leaned closer to him and pressed the barrel into the soft flesh under his jaw.
“You’re not going to give me any trouble, are you, Captain?” the pirated asked.
Lucky jerked his head briefly from side to side.
“Good. I’d hate to get blood all over me if I have to blow your head off.”
“What do you want?” Lucky asked.
The pirate gave him a nasty look. “I’m the tooth fairy,” he said and clubbed him viciously across the mouth with the butt of his pistol. “And I’m here to make a withdrawal.”
The blow was hard enough to snap Luck’s head around. Blood exploded into his mouth in combination with a searing flash of pain. And when he felt his teeth with his tongue he could tell that at least one of them was loose. Lucky shook his head to clear it and looked up to find himself staring at his own distorted reflection in the mirrored visor of one of the armored pirates’ helmets. The pirate who had struck him stepped aside and the armored man took Lucky by the arm. The power in that servo augmented grip was enough to cause him to wince.
“Check it,” the pirate holding Lucky ordered, his voice sounding hollow as it came from the suit’s external speaker.
The other five armored men strode into the ship with their blaster rifles held before them at the ready. As they moved into the passageway, they kicked aside and trod on pieces of electronic components that were in piles on the deck. Panels had been removed from the bulkheads on both sides of the passage just inside the hatch doors, exposing some kind of complex circuitry the crew had apparently been working on before the torpedo strike. The pirates were indifferent to the fragile components beneath their boots and they trampled roughly through the piles of equipment as they made their way inboard to the port side companionway.
They checked both ways along the main corridor but there was no one in sight. At the far aft end of the passageway the pirates could see the pulsing light strips around the hatch to the engine room which warned that the compartment beyond had been breached.
“All clear,” one of the men reported.
Switching channels, the assault team leader reported back to his captain. “We’re aboard, sir. I’ve got their captain in custody and we’re about to round up the rest of the crew.”
“Was there any resistance, Miguel?” the pirate captain asked.
“Not a bit. We caught them with their pants down. You should see this place, Captain. It’s a real dump.”
“I don’t give a damn about the ship, just the cargo. Let me know when you’ve rounded up the crew so we can start moving their stuff over. And send Francois back now that you’re done with him. He still needs to get the hold organized so we can take on that extra cargo.”
“Yes, sir. It shouldn’t take us more than a few minutes to lock things down over here. I’ll contact you again when we’re ready. Miguel out.”
Shutting down his transmitter, Miguel began issuing orders to his men. He sent a pair of them off immediately to do a sweep of the ship for any wandering crew. Another pair he ordered to stand guard at the gangway entrance.
“Lucas,” he said to the last of the armored men, “you’re with me.”
Lucas fell into place beside him as Miguel turned to the unarmored pirate who had been the first to board the captured transport.
“Francois, the captain wants you back aboard to get the hold ready for the extra cargo.”
“I’m going,” Francois said. He gave Lucky a sneer then spun around and started back through the docking sleeve.
Finally, the pirate turned his attention to Lucky.
“If you do as you’re told, none of your crew will be harmed. But if you give me the least bit of trouble I’ll snap your neck like a twig. Now take us to the bridge.”
Miguel kept a painful grip on Lucky’s arm, using the strength of his powered armor to handle him like a parent directing a wayward child. Lucky obediently led them to the main stairwell and up to the bridge. The climb up the two decks into the command superstructure was quick and within a minute they had arrived. As they stepped onto the bridge the pirates came face to face with what had to be the most dilapidated command center they had ever seen. Half of the ship’s control systems appeared to be shorted out while those that were powered up were dominated by red warning lights. Fiber-op cables dangled limply beneath several of the consoles and a number of open access panels, their connectors appearing burned and ragged. There were even entire control boards missing from several of the stations. Their single torpedo strike had not caused all this. It was no wonder the captain wanted to abandon this ship.
There were only two crewmen on the bridge. From the stations they were manning Miguel guessed that they were probably the helmsman and the communications officer. Both of them were busy with their consoles and didn’t bother looking up as ‘Captain Murphy’ led the pirates onto the bridge.
“We’re just locking down the last of the control systems now, Captain,” the helmsman said. “It’s lucky that other ship ...” His words cut off as he looked up and saw the two armored pirates. One of the invaders was holding Lucky by one arm with the muzzle of his weapon pressed to his temple in an unmistakable threat.
The communications officer looked up when the helmsman stopped speaking in mid sentence and also froze. For several heartbeats both sides simply stared at each other. Finally, the pirate holding Lucky by the arm roughly shoved his captive toward the command chair.
“You will make an announcement for the entire crew to assemble in the main cargo hold,” Miguel ordered. “If you try to warn your people you will be killed. If any of your crew is found in the passageways two minutes from now, they will be killed.”
Lucky cautiously stepped up to the command chair as he massaged his arm where the pirate had held him. He was going to have one hell of a bruise. Without sitting down he reached for the small panel attached to t
he right side armrest and activated the shipwide PA. He didn’t like having his back to the armed pirates and Lucky could feel the muscles along his spine tighten. He forced himself to sound calm as he spoke toward the pick-up.
“Thish ish the captain,” he said, speaking slowly through his split and swollen lips. “All crew membersh are to report to the main cargo hold immediately. No exsheptionsh.”
“That’s enough,” the pirate snapped.
Lucky closed the circuit and turned back to his captors.
“Now what?” he asked.
“Now we join the rest of your crew at the main hold,” Miguel said as he motioned them toward the bridge entrance with the muzzle of his assault rifle. “Don’t make any sudden moves. If any of you tries to escape–”
“Let me guessh, we’ll be killed,” Lucky said.
Lucky, Bobby and Tom led the way slowly from the command center under the cover of the pirates’ pulse blasters. When they reached B deck Miguel took a moment to step into the passageway and check on the men he had posted by the gangway hatch. His men were exactly where they were supposed to be, standing like a pair of statues before the open hatchway.
Once he was satisfied that the ship was secure, the pirate ordered the group to continue down to the lowest deck. When they turned into the starboard passageway they could see the flashing warning lights outlining the engine room door at the far end, but the passageway itself was empty.
“Dieter and Edwin must still be sweeping the ship,” Lucas commented.
“And where are your people, Captain?” Miguel growled. “They were supposed to report here.”
Lucky gave him a stony look. “They’re probably waiting inshide. You had me order them to asshemble in the cargo bay, if you remember.”
“For their sake, they had better be in there. If my people catch any of them wandering the ship they’ll be shot on sight.” He motioned Lucky and the others toward the cargo bay with his weapon. “Open it.”
Lucky stepped up to the hatch controls and thumbed the switch to open the door. The hatch slid aside and he led the way through the open doorway. Inside were the three others who were posing as members of the Finian’s crew. Doc Jacobs and Max were reprising their normal roles as the ship’s doctor and cook, while Ian was playing the part of the executive officer. All three of them looked toward the doorway as Lucky and the others entered.
“What’s the new emergency, Captain?” Ian asked.
Then he noticed Lucky’s battered face and his expression clouded over. He narrowed his eyes at the two armored figures as they followed his shipmates into the hold and separated so they could cover the entire room with their assault rifles.
The cargo hold spanned all three decks and occupied the entire center section of the ship between the port and starboard companionways for more than a third of the ship’s length. Although not as large as cargo holds in ships purposefully built as transports, the compartment was large enough to handle even full sized shipping containers. In spite of its generous dimensions however, there was little room to move about in the hold now. Less than five meters into the hold, stacked shipping containers reached to within a meter of the ceiling high overhead. The containers were so tightly packed that there wasn’t even enough room to pass around them at either the forward or aft bulkheads. Other than the narrow open space just inside the bay doors there was only a solid wall of shipping containers.
Ian was glaring at the armored men holding them captive. “Who–”
“Silence!” Miguel barked. “You will all stay exactly where you are if you want to keep breathing.” He kept his weapon trained on the prisoners with one hand while he used his other hand to reach into a pouch on the thigh of his armor and pull out a palmpad. He thumbed it on and called up a file. After studying the screen for a moment he turned to Lucky.
“Someone’s missing,” the pirate said, the menace in his voice clear.
Lucky glanced around at the others. “Thish ish everybody.”
The pirate pointed his weapon directly at Lucky’s chest. “Don’t lie to me, Captain! Your crew manifest lists seven crewmen, not six.”
“We had sheven,” Lucky said, glowering at the pirate. “We losht our engineer when the hull ruptured.”
Remembering the pulsing warning lights around the engineering hatches, Miguel lowered his weapon, shut down the pad and slid it back into his thigh pouch. He turned toward the stack of shipping containers and seemed to be studying them for a moment.
“Is this your entire cargo, Captain?” Miguel asked.
Lucky glanced back at the stacked containers.
“Yesh.”
“These containers are too large to be moved by hand,” the pirate commented.
“I don’t undershtand,” Lucky said.
“We’re going to have to transfer your cargo to our ship using the loading arm,” Miguel explained. “That means there won’t be anything for your people to do. So it seems that you and your crew have outlived your usefulness.”
Lucky felt himself go cold as Miguel started to raise his weapon.
That was all Ian needed to hear. Before the pirate could aim his weapon he sprang into action. Ian bent low and charged Lucas like an enraged bull, driving his shoulder into the pirate’s middle. It was like ramming into a boulder. But he didn’t expect to hurt him. He wrapped his arms around the pirate’s legs and heaved upward, actually managing to lift the armored man off his feet.
“Move!” he yelled to the others as he drove his captive toward the remaining pirate. Ian used Lucas’s armored body as a shield and charged directly into the hail of blaster fire from Miguel’s assault rifle. While the servos in battle armor gave its wearer enhanced strength, reflex speeds were human normal. Miguel had been caught by surprise at Ian’s unexpected attack and could not move out of the way fast enough. He was hit full in the chest with the body of his partner. The force of the momentum was so strong that he was bowled over backward with Lucas winding up sprawled on top of him.
While Ian was keeping the pirates busy, the rest of the crew ran for the stacked shipping containers. Bobby was the first to reach the wall of containers. He grabbed the hidden catch near the end of the bottom container and yanked. A concealed door swung open in the side of the container and everyone quickly piled through the opening.
The moment the pirates went down Ian spun around and sprinted to catch up with his shipmates. For his size, Ian was surprisingly fast. The distance he had to cover was only a few meters and he covered it like an Olympic athlete. But even as he was sprinting for the safety of the faux container, Miguel was acting.
The pirate used the power of his armor to toss his partner’s body off of him with a single sweep of his arm. At the same time he raised his weapon, which he had managed to maintain a hold on, and took aim at Ian’s fleeing back. His finger tightened on the trigger contact just as the big man reached the trick door at the far end of the shipping container. His weapon had been set to full automatic. It sprayed a barrage of blaster fire after the fleeing man as Miguel swept the weapon up.
Four of the concentrated bolts of energy slammed into Ian’s back, stitching their way from his right hip diagonally up to his left shoulder. Ian was blown off of his feet. Arching his back from the force of the impacts, the big man threw up his hands as he sailed through the air and slammed face down onto the floor of the container.