“Hold fire!” Called the familiar voice of Gabriel Meunez. “Alice, Jonas you can come out.”
“I do not believe you!” Jonas called back.
Alice couldn't help but chuckle. She took the dull grey metal sleeve off the detonator switch and gripped the cylinder. “I have a particle bomb strapped to your port reactor and one of us is holding a dead man's switch.” She balled the hand with the dead man's switch so Jonas could see that it was small enough for her to completely hide in her palm.
He caught on and balled his free hand. “We want a clear path to her ship.”
“Let's discuss this,” Gabriel said, trying to sound patient and shouting shakily, unsteadily instead.
“Ever since they woke me up I've been learning to hate this guy,” Jonas whispered.
“I know what you mean, I have a masters degree in hating this bastard.”
“Wow, my sense of humour, only better,” Jonas said with a quiet chuckle. “We're coming out!” He yelled.
“We are?” Alice asked in a whisper.
“What, we don't have to? Is there another way to your ship?”
“Maybe. Lewis, how is the Clever Dream?”
“A little warm but in fine condition. The main hangar doors are still closed though,” Lewis replied in her implant.
“Damn, the ship is still behind a locked door,” Alice relayed.
“Time for threats,” Jonas shrugged.
“Okay, we're going to leave. Open the hangar doors or I blow this and take the nearest escape shuttle out of here!” Alice shouted as she nodded towards the round door at the end of the hall.
To Jonas that little round hatch seemed very far away even though it was only ten meters. The thought of escaping with a five ton antimatter reactor exploding right behind them wasn't exactly something he was looking forward to.
“I don't believe you have a dead man's switch.” Replied Gabriel.
Alice shrugged and held her hand out into the hall.
“I can't see it with your hand closed.”
She raised her middle finger to reveal the detonator. “Have a crew member check the reactor, moron.”
They could hear more guards taking up positions from the way they had come.
Jonas looked at the wall he was facing and pulled an access panel free. There were a couple dozen wires, a ribbon cable, and a small box many of them ran through.
Alice brought her hand back in from the hall and mouthed; “What are you doing?”
“I don't know,” he whispered with a shrug.
His antics gave Alice an idea. “Lewis, patch into the service bot and hook into the computer system controlling the door. Maybe you can hack it into opening,” She communicated mentally.
Jonas forgot about the wiring and raised his rifle to cover the hallway intersection.
“Come now, we can be civilized about this. Please calm down and we'll talk things over,” Meunez called out.
“Oh, I know how you Vindyne love to sit around talking things over. My head still hurts from the last time,” Jonas called back. An armour clad black knee poked in from the left just enough for them both to see. Without thinking Jonas took aim with the rifle and fired. The damage was far more severe than he expected. The guard was sent wailing into the open, holding his half severed shin.
“Back off now or everyone here makes a mad dash for an emergency shuttle,” Alice warned. “Lewis, how is the bot doing?” She thought.
“Well! We've found some exposed wiring!”
“So the door will be open and you'll be able to pick us up?”
“There is an excellent chance.”
Alice looked to Jonas, who was still watching for anyone to poke their head or other appendages into the open. “We have a ride,” she mouthed to him, nodding at the escape shuttle.
He gave her a surprised expression. “We're getting away in that?”
“My ship will pick us up.”
Jonas grinned and nodded. “Run for it!” He whispered.
She complied.
“Hey Gabriel, give my regards to Major Hampon if you make it out of this alive. Tell him I'll be seeing him soon, real soon, ” he said before firing wildly as he ran backwards down the hallway.
By the time he got there the hatch was open and he fell inside. The door closed behind him and the small, circular shuttle launched with a sudden lurch.
“The hangar door is open! The maintenance bot is on his way back to the ship,” Lewis reported.
“Great! Forget the bot! Come pick us up, we're in a little pod!” Alice replied mentally. “Lewis is on his way, he should be here any second.”
“One hell of a rescue, I can't thank you enough,” Jonas said as he strapped himself into one of the forward seats. The carrier began to shrink in the distance and Alice smiled at Jonas. “I had no idea you were there. He tried to capture me and got a lot more than he bargained for.”
“Are you kidding?” Jonas said in disbelief.
“Nope, Gabriel has been chasing me in one way or another since I became human.”
There was a clashing sound against the hull and the airlock safety indicator turned green.
Alice unbuckled her safety belt and opened the hatch. To her relief they had docked with the Clever Dream.
They made their way to the small bridge. “Is this an Arcyn ship?” Jonas asked, looking around at the lush black and crimson interior halls.
“An Arcyn Starskipper,” Alice said, awfully proud.
“I never thought I'd see the inside of one of these. You've done well for yourself.”
“Yup, not bad for being on the run.”
“Fighters will be within firing range in twenty three seconds, but our wormhole drive is ready,” Lewis's voice reported through the bridge audio systems. “To say the ship is warmed up is an understatement.”
Alice dropped herself into the pilot's seat and looked down at her hand, still clutching the detonator. She looked at the depiction of the VCS Malice on the pilot's display.
“What range does that trigger have?” Jonas asked.
“Not much further I think,” she replied. “Lewis, set course for the Enreega system and start generating a wormhole as soon as you're ready.”
“Plotting now, we'll be ready in nine seconds.”
Alice and Jonas couldn't help but flinch as the port side of the VCS Malice exploded, sending large sections of hull in all directions. They watched for a moment before the Clever Dream opened a wormhole and left the chaos behind.
“A souvenir,” Alice grinned as she handed Jonas the detonator.
The Triton
The numbness in Ramirez's extremities was fading quickly and when he opened his eyes he took a moment to look around without moving. He was in a very comfortable medical treatment bed. The beige and green sheet over him was actually very nice, and he wasn't restrained.
The ceiling and walls were painted in a gradient of blue, green and brown from the middle of the medical center to the floor. Something had happened, whatever was in that injector had knocked him out cold. He wasn't dead, of that he was pretty sure, but he definitely wasn't in the brig. He rolled his head to the right and caught sight of Frost, who was snoring softly. “Psst! Frost!” he whispered. There was no response, but people didn't snore in stasis. “Hey Frost! You'll never see Ireland!” He whispered harshly.
Frost stirred. “G'mornin',” he grumbled, “you'll never see Mexico, you wanker.”
“Where are we?” He asked.
“Oh, right, you're just wakin' up. Th' medic here said you jammed yerself with an emergency stasis stick. Prolly saved yer life too.”
“That explains it. Where are we?”
“Medical bay of the Triton. Captain's new ship.”
“What happened?”
“Bloody resurrection, that's what. Wheeler shot him a bunch of times, then he turns his back and the Captain's on him. Healed up in just a few seconds, like he's made of miracles.”
“What do you mean, shot up?”
“We thought he was dead. He was burned right through in a couple places, point blank shot to the neck was the worst.”