Rogue Pursuit: A Space Opera Adventure (Shades of Starlight Book 1), page 22
Blocking out everything around her, she used every trick she’d learned to keep the ship intact and major systems from being shorted out. She could do this. Check the ultraviolet refraction. Adjust the shield variance. Compensate for infrared particles.
Adrenaline and purpose gave life to her hands. Her fingers flew across the console. She shouldn’t have enjoyed the challenge so much, not when she sensed Tai’s fear.
The ship burst out of the wormhole like it was happy to be free. She sat taller and released a whistling breath.
But a klaxon rang immediately.
“Shades.” Tai brought them to a stop.
The view screen showed a giant ship looming directly in front of them.
“More pirates?” Tai asked.
“No, not here. Welcome to the Graveyard.”
They steered around the vessel, and, on the screen, the full extent became apparent.
A dozen dead ships hung in space. Loose parts drifted among them. No lights shone from any of the vessels, which came in all shapes and sizes: a colony transport that had once borne hundreds of passengers, its lifeboats gone. A couple small, sleek craft like theirs. Two freighters, similar to the ones her company used. A science ship.
Two had holes in their hulls. Plasma burns marred the skin of another. Several trailed broken dishes or parts at odd angles.
A red symbol painted on the hull of a freighter indicated the ship served as a drop-off point for supplies to be smuggled. She hadn’t been here before, but the Network used a similar method at abandoned stations, out-of-the-way outposts, a hollowed-out asteroid or two. Leave stuff where no one would find it unless they knew to look. If Tai hadn’t been with her, she might’ve docked to see if it had anything worthwhile.
The sight sent a shiver through her core. She understood now why most people, her parents included, preferred their bodies to be cremated and the remains scattered in space. Who wanted to be constantly confronted with a physical reminder of death, a visual that wouldn’t allow you to forget something had once lived and now didn’t?
Tai magnified the colonist transport on the screen. “Wonder if the people survived.”
That one made her throat tight. She widened the view, not wanting to dwell on the ship that was a testament to colonization efforts that had failed, or had succeeded but had left its people stranded.
“Some probably did.” She didn’t know if that was true, but she hoped.
“Let’s move on.”
He steered them slowly around broken ships and parts, but occasional dings echoed through the ship. Too many small pieces to avoid them all.
But then there was a much louder clang, accompanied by a lurch that almost tossed her from her seat.
“What was that?” she asked.
“Grappling clamp.”
The engines whined as Tai tried to pull free. The hull groaned. Nothing worked. And their ship had no weapons.
Another jolt made the lights flicker and dim.
“Charge pulse. Cuts out the shields.” His voice remained calm, like he was making a bland observation rather than describing impending danger.
The ship listed sideways and began moving as their engines lost the battle against the towing cable.
“Let’s go.” Tai jumped to his feet and grabbed his weapon.
Her fingers flew across the console. “One ship is now online. Six life signs onboard.”
“We can’t escape the tow line, but we can be ready to meet them at the airlock.”
He stopped in the room next door where his gear was stashed and grabbed a few items.
She drew her gun and raced behind him to the airlock in the belly of the ship.
Tai stopped by a locker and handed her a gas mask.
“Really?”
“If I were taking a ship, it’s what I’d do.”
A short hallway led to the airlock doors. They assumed spots behind the bulkhead like they had in the desert.
His grim mouth and tightened forehead revealed more concern than she’d seen from him yet. Not a good sign.
This place was supposed to be abandoned. Hardly anyone knew the wormhole worked. Most of the ships had likely been here for years.
Had these people been waiting, or did she and Tai simply have bad luck to arrive when scavengers were present?
A clank sounded as their attackers docked.
She checked the seal on her mask, gripped her weapon, bounced on her toes.
The airlock doors squealed as their attackers pried them open. A grenade clattered across the floor, spewing smoke that was probably knockout gas. When the gas dissipated, Tai ripped off his mask and handed her a pair of goggles.
She raised her eyebrows, but put them on. A second later, Tai pressed a button and the dim lights blinked out completely. With the glasses, she saw him outlined in green.
Footsteps pounded in the airlock.
Tai held up three fingers. Two. One.
She spun with him into the hallway and fired.
Both her shot and Tai’s connected, and the front two attackers fell. The others ducked back into the airlock. She retreated behind the bulkhead once more.
Another grenade rattled down the hall. But before she could put the mask on again, a blinding light flared. Concussive grenade was the last thought she had before she crumpled to the deck and the world went black.
23
Perrin woke like she was being dragged through water toward consciousness. Her head and vision were blurry. Her mind sluggish. Where was—oh. She tried to jolt upright, but pain shot through her wrists and she toppled over. Her hands were secured behind her with plastic cords that dug into her skin.
More slowly this time, she eased upright. Tai sat beside her, and when he met her gaze, he shook his head, a warning to stay silent.
Pressure around her ankles revealed they were bound, too.
Kidnapped twice on her birthday. She could legally drink now and hadn’t even had the chance because people kept abducting her.
Now that it had stopped spinning, she examined the room. They were in a cargo hold, empty except its cargo of captives—she and Tai. Rusted spots marred the walls, and a missing panel revealed the ship’s wire guts. The smell of oil and coolant permeated the air.
The space would’ve reminded her of home, except she’d never allow her ships to fall into such disrepair.
Tai angled his head. She followed his pointing. Near the closed door leading to the rest of the ship, a man stood guard, his back to them as he spoke into a comm unit.
“I say we space ’em,” the guy was saying. “Quick and easy.”
Perrin flinched.
She couldn’t hear the response, but this guy growled and glared at her and Tai before spinning around to continue arguing in favor of their speedy death.
She wiggled closer to Tai.
He leaned in, his breath warm on her ear. “Four on this ship. Maybe five. I think they took ours.”
The guard’s gun and their bondage weren’t a good combination, despite Tai’s spy skills.
Her thigh holster was empty, and the plasma knife on her belt was gone. She couldn’t tell if the small backup knife still rested in her boot, and she’d have to move for Tai to reach it, which would draw the guard’s attention.
Their captor swung toward them. “You got lucky. You’ll be waiting here till we decide what to do with you.”
He gave a mocking salute and disappeared through the door.
Tai wasted no time, wiggling so his hands were in front of him. She wasn’t far behind.
“Check my boot.” She shifted toward him. “They might have missed my other knife.”
He did, but came up empty. “Gone. Boots are obvious. Try my shoulder holster.”
Because shoving her tied hands up his shirt wasn’t awkward at all. Better than the alternative, though, which was the other way around.
He leaned over, and she shifted, his muscles solid under her fingers. Found the strap, but… “Empty.”
Time for the alternative.
“I hoped it wouldn’t come to this.”
“What?” he asked.
“I, uh, may have another one-shot tranq dart. Pretty sure they wouldn’t find it.”
Tai blinked. “Do I want to know?”
“It’s kind of… in my bra.”
His face reddened, but he slid her a smirk. “You told me you weren’t that kind of girl.”
“Shut up. And make it fast.”
“What if I’d rather take my time?”
“I will shoot you in the face the second I get my stunner back if you say one more word.”
He grinned, but was as much a gentleman as possible as he slid the dart out of its place in the strap near her left armpit. “This obsession with weapons you have, it worries me. I like it.”
She glared at him.
The doors slid open again.
Tai tucked the dart into his palm.
“Time to come with me.” The guy’s smile was a little too evil. Possibly he’d gotten his way and they were heading for the airlock.
She hoped Tai knew what he was doing.
Tai lunged so quickly even Perrin didn’t have time to react. The guard clutched his neck, his eyes rolled back, and he slumped to the deck.
Her mouth fell open.
Tai was on the man immediately, rifling through pockets until he found a steel knife. “Well? You want to stay tied up forever?”
If she wanted to succeed in betraying him, she would have to be much, much better than she’d thought.
He made quick work of their bonds, and she shook feeling into her hands and feet. Her head still rang from the concussive grenade.
They used the cords to tie the guard. When she found that he didn’t have her stunner on him, only an older model with too much kickback and an almost-dead power cell, she may have gagged him more tightly than necessary. They dragged him behind a crate, and Tai lifted the man’s comm. He kept the knife but let her have the gun.
Their search of the cargo bay turned up nothing. The room was fairly large… Could they be on the freighter with the Network symbol? And if they were, did this ship have hidden compartments like hers?
Was it worth checking in case there was anything useful, since doing so would reveal her methods to a Confed spy?
She’d wait until they were truly desperate.
“We need a plan.” Tai crossed to the door, which didn’t open at his movement like it should have. He tugged on it with no success. Without hesitating, he drove his elbow into the panel next to the door and shattered the plate, then ripped out the exposed wires. He pried the doors open with his bare hands and earned enough space for them to slip into the hallway.
Perrin poked her head out to ensure the hall was empty. “Confirm our ship is gone, try to take this one if it is?”
“We’ll need more than one knife and a stunner to take over this ship. Let’s see what we’re dealing with.”
The rest of the ship didn’t look much better than the cargo bay. Dangling wires, missing panels, flickering lights. Someone had clearly cannibalized it for parts. At least life support worked.
“This doesn’t remind me at all of those holo-films where everyone dies horrifically,” she said.
They crept through silent hallways. She peeked out a window and, based on the positioning of the other ships, confirmed they were in the Network freighter.
If they split up, she might be able to find some goodies.
“I’ll start in the engine room and see if this thing flies,” she said. “You want to check the airlocks?”
He shook his head. “Better not split up. We don’t have comms. If you get kidnapped again, I won’t be able to find you.”
He’d be suspicious if she pushed the idea of separating. “If I get kidnapped for the third time in one day—on my birthday—I will be seriously unhappy.”
They found the engine room first and paused outside. No sound came from within. Still, she entered with her weapon raised until they confirmed the room was empty. Tai guarded the door while she checked systems.
Once, this ship had been nice, with solid shielding and deflectors. Even now, it had seventy percent power.
But where a prism core should have resided, she found empty space.
Without that, they could fly, but not pass through a wormhole, and there were no inhabited planets in this system.
Even if they managed to take over the ship, they were stranded.
“Maybe there’s another ship attached to an airlock,” she said. “This can’t be their primary one since it can’t go anywhere.”
They sneaked back into the corridors, heading aft where airlocks would be located.
The scavenger’s comm on Tai’s belt crackled.
Perrin jumped.
“Walt, you there?” a voice asked.
Tai held the device to his mouth. “What?” He managed a good approximation of the man’s voice.
“I told you to bring the prisoners. Where the shades are you?”
“On the way. Had some trouble, but it’s good now.”
“What kind of trouble? I told you not to space ’em till we talk to them.”
“I know. We’re coming.”
The comm was silent for a few breaths.
“Walt, what’s your ma’s name?”
Tai shut off the comm. “Shades. Let’s go.”
They increased their pace, racing toward the airlocks. Found a sealed bulkhead in the middle of a deck, cutting off their route.
“Probably a hull breach on the other side.” Tai kept his voice low. “This way.”
“Sweep the ship,” the voice shouted over the comm. “Go in pairs. Check the cargo bay for Walt. And try the airlocks.”
Perrin’s steps faltered. What if they were running straight toward guards?
Tai stopped at each intersection to check around the corner. When they reached the airlocks, they did not find guards—but they also found no ships. Which meant they were trapped. With scavs who planned to shoot them out one of those empty airlocks.
Despite the wide hallway and bright lights, her vision dimmed and her heart hammered in her ears. The walls pressed in. She blinked, swallowed, tried to clear her head.
“We need a place to hide,” Tai said. “Figure out our next move.”
Footsteps pounded nearby.
Perrin forced her racing thoughts away from imagining what getting spaced would feel like. “That’ll be the cannibals.”
“You clearly watch too many holo-films.”
Time to reveal her secrets.
She crouched and ran her fingers over the edges of the deck plates. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you. You look tastier. I’m too small to make a good meal.”
Tai paused at the end of the hall and turned like he hadn’t realized she wasn’t following him. “What are you doing?
“Looking for a place to hide.” Faster, faster. Come on. “This is where I’d put them in a ship like this. Fewer critical systems, wide halls, near the place you’d bring goods on board.”
“Put what?”
They had to be here somewhere. Surely she wasn’t wrong.
Bingo.
Her fingers slid into a small groove under a deck plate, and she pried it up, revealing a hidden space beneath. The compartment barely measured three feet high, but ran several feet long beneath the deck.
She lowered herself in and lay on her back, waving at Tai to follow. He wedged himself in beside her and eased the plate over their heads.
Just in time. Someone came down the corridor.
This compartment had slightly more room than the hotel crawl space, but it was dark. And the knowledge of what faced her if they were caught was a boulder pressing her chest.
Footsteps thudded above them, inches from her nose. The scav’s shadow blocked the thin line of light where the door met regular decking.
“No one’s here,” the scav said.
“I found Walt in the cargo bay,” a voice said over the comm.
“We’ve swept the ship. No sign of them.”
“Search again. They can’t have gone anywhere. And when you find ’em, shoot ’em or space ’em, I don’t care. Just be done with it.”
Perrin remained still, fingernails biting into her palms, as the guards discussed a new search pattern. She focused on trying not to breathe too loud.
Did the scavs know about the hidden spaces? Footsteps edged closer.
Beside her, Tai was still and tense.
Even if the scavs didn’t find them now, what were they going to do? Even if they escaped scavs who wanted them dead, they had no way to go through a wormhole. Whatever terrible event was coming was less than two days away, and they hadn’t found Kel and were no closer to figuring out what that disaster might be.
Tai’s hand found hers and squeezed. She clung to him, glad to know she had someone on her side. For now, anyway.
The scavs above stopped talking. She held her breath. Footsteps moved away. She kept holding her breath until she saw spots, and finally gasped for air.
Tai waited several minutes after the voices and footsteps left before releasing her hand and sliding the panel open. He poked his head into the hall.
“It’s clear.”
For now. But how long could they keep this up? She sat.
Tai turned to her. “How did you know to look for this?”
“Lucky guess.”
He cocked his head and raised an eyebrow.
She sighed. “The symbol painted on the hull.”
He groaned. “More of your friends?”
She ignored the sarcasm. “This kind of ship makes a good hiding place for supplies. I thought there was a chance the scavs didn’t know about it.”
“Would these hiding places have weapons? If we find any, we’d have a chance at securing the ship.”
“Maybe.”
She crawled to the end of the space, ran her hands around the corners, but this compartment held nothing.
Tai climbed into the hall and helped her up. “If we’re careful, we can search the ship. Do you know where else to look?”
Might as well abandon any hope of keeping her secrets.
Tai led the way to make sure the halls remained clear, and she studied the walls. If this were her ship, where would she hide things?
