Chapter 8: Nothing Could Go Wrong

“Little Captain, Little Captain, let me come in,” the voice growled over the radio.

There was a loud banging in the background, almost as if sledgehammers were being slammed into one of the vessel’s reinforced hatches.

“Oh, bugger off, you psycho! Hammer all you like! This hatch will last until you die of old age!” The captain roared back.

There was more banging in the background.

Even through the radio, Yan could hear the forced bravado in the captain’s voice. The door might last a while, but it would give out eventually.

A similar hatch stood between the portside survivors and the corridor to the bridge. One of the sailors had locked it the moment the starboard had been overrun. So far, the pirates had left them alone, probably figuring that the bridge was the greater prize.

Yan frowned as she leaned against the wall, trying to catch her breath. Her body was one big ache. Her shoulder was badly bruised and she was fairly certain that she had torn a few muscles in her knife arm.

Every time she tried to move it, the pain was unbearable. So, she let it hang limp by her side.

Further down the corridor, she could see Neon toying with his grenades. Luke was picking through one of the dead pirates, his hand deep in a pocket. The other two had already been looted.

Nobody had touched the dead slave-sailors.

Close by, a number of the Silent Sail’s crew were resting by the barricade. From the snippets of conversation that Yan had caught, there had been sixteen defending this entire corridor.

Seven remained.

Of those who still lived, only four could still hold a gun.

As she watched the sailors mutter among themselves, Luke approached.

“Doctor, these are from your two pirate kills. It looks like they hit a big score lately. Which, come to think of it, would explain why they had so many slave-sailors on hand.”

He passed her a few items. Twenty energy cells, two unmarked credit chips, four gold rings and, most interestingly, three small packages the size of her palm.

Written in green letters across each package were the words: “Quick-Heal patch”. Beneath, in smaller font, was the disclaimer: “Paste onto exposed skin. For immediate application after opening”.

They might not look like much but Quick-Heal products were worth a decent sum. When Luke got his jab, the Captain had baulked. Only an additional credit chip from Neon had kept him from denying the poor man medical care.

Sure, this looked like a smaller dose than the jab but it was probably worth something.

More importantly, she needed it right now.

Yan nodded and accepted the spoils of battle.

“I doubt you want anything else from them. Their armour is basically a plate of steel sewn into their bodysuits. As for their guns… Well, you stabbed clean through one. The other was taken by Neon. He seems to like it... I don’t think you want it back, right?” Luke smiled as he spoke, clearly intending to break the ice a little.

She did not return the smile. “Neon can keep the gun.”

The smile on Luke’s face faded a little as he turned to go. Yan felt that she might have been just a bit too cold towards him.

“Luke?”

“Yeah?” He looked back.

“… Thanks. For the help,” Yan forced herself to say.

He shrugged but she could see his grin creep back as he walked away.

Silently cursing the lack of pockets on her bodysuit, Yan slid most of the items into her empty holster. Two energy cells she used to replace the spent ones in her belt.

Finally, she ripped open the Quick-Heal pouch with her teeth.

It contained a single, innocuous-looking patch. In the centre, was a circle of green liquid.

Following the instructions, she slapped it onto her exposed neck.

There was a hiss as a cool liquid was dispensed across her skin, numbing it. Then, she felt the sharp bite of a needle and something drained into her body. As it did, the intense pain in her muscles began to subside until it was just a dull throb. An itch ran through her injured arm and she could feel the muscles within knit back together.

Yan heaved a sigh as the last of the green liquid settled into place within her body. Rolling her shoulders experimentally, she stretched and tore off the spent patch.

She felt a lot better. Maybe even better than when she was forced out of bed earlier.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

There was a beep from the radio on Luke’s belt. “Little Captain, this is your last warning! Open up! Or I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your door down.”

“What are you? Some third-rate villain? Some failed theatre kid? You think mimicking an old fable is going to scare me? Do better!” The captain taunted.

“Very well, no door can stand between me and my prey.“ The line went dead.

The mood among the gathered sailors, already sombre, dropped further.

“We can’t fight them,” one mumbled.

“Aye, look at what they’ve already done to us!” Another concurred.

There were grunts of approval.

“And what do you suggest we do?” A voice cut through their little circle.

Yan looked up to see that Neon had decided to step in.

“Well, we can surrender…”

“Sure, and you can be the next drugged meat shield sent with their boarding parties,” Neon scoffed.

Silence fell upon the sailors.

“Do we have any escape pods?” This time, it was Luke who spoke.

The sailors exchanged glances and then shook their heads. The first one replied, “Captain had it converted into a storage module. More cargo, more money, he said. What about the one you all came in?”

Luke sighed, “Your Captain jettisoned it. Said that it wasn’t even worth the fuel to tow in as scrap. Probably for the best. The pirate ship still out there might just scoop you up if you tried to escape.”

There were a few murmurs of agreement.

From her place outside the gathered circle, Yan could see that the men were only getting more and more demoralised. She did not like it but if she wanted to stand any chance of surviving this, she was going to have to do something.

Pushing herself off the wall, she strode over to the sailors. “Well, it looks to me like the only way out is through. We have to take the fight to them.”

She slid her knife out from her sheath as she spoke.

Though she had wiped it clean on some rag she found, the red emergency lights still coloured it crimson.

There was a moment of silence.

“Ye - yeah, she’s right!” The first sailor shouted. The moment she had drawn her knife, his face had paled. He looked equal parts awed and terrified. “I saw her fighting! If she’s on our side, we can’t lose! I say we fight!”

The other sailors looked at each other, still hesitant.

Then, another piped up, “I don’t want to die a drug-slave. I’m in! Let’s bring the fight to them!”

Finally, the remaining sailors started nodding.

Yan felt a wave of relief. Her confidence had been mostly feigned. She had almost completely torn an arm just swinging her knife around. Now, though, came the hard part. Actually surviving. And if possible, making sure that those who followed her made it out alive.

That last thought filled her with discomfort. She did not like being responsible for the lives of others.

As the able sailors started getting to their feet, the vessel rocked from the force of another powerful explosion.

The radio beeped to life and the Captain shouted, “Sailors! The pirates blew up the Void-forsaken hatch! I need backup. Now!”

A gunfight raged in the background.

The sailors scrambled into position beside the closed hatch leading out to the rest of the ship.

Yan had no idea if the pirates had left guards outside but there was a good chance that they had all left to assault the bridge.

“Onwards!” She roared. There was no time to waste.

Her squad sprang forward at her command. One slid a key card through the reader beside the hatch. Another spun the wheel to pull back the bolt.

The hatch slid open ponderously, revealing an empty hallway.

Even from here, Yan could hear the sounds of gunfire. Knife in hand, shield belt activated, she charged down the passage. Her squad followed.

As her boots clanged onto the metal-panelled floor, the sounds of laser fire grew louder.

Thundering above that was a sinister growl, “Captain, I’m going to enjoy gutting you.”

“To the Voi - Argh! Let me go!” That booming shout of pain could only be Harvey.

Yan darted around a corner and saw a gaping hole where the hatch to the bridge once was. The charred hatch itself lay on the ground just outside, blown off its hinges.

Two pirates were using the sides of the hole as cover as they fired into the bridge. With the gunfight raging, they had not heard her squad approach.

She held up a hand to stop her ragtag squad, then pointed to the two and drew her hand across her neck.

Numerous lasers streaked past her, slamming into the enemy.

Flanked and unaware as they were, they had no cover from her squad. The lasers sliced through them and they collapsed without a sound.

Two down. How many more to go?

There was a familiar chime in her mind. The ghost eye. “Initiating Smart Sight Protocol. Two Protocol uses remaining.”

The walls faded from sight, revealing the bridge in its entirety.

It was a battlefield.

Yan could see that eight pirates had hunkered down behind the various control panels and furniture closer to the blasted hatch. On the other side, a smattering of sailors were cowering between the reinforced glass viewport and a makeshift barricade.

The latter was clearly made from parts taken from the captain’s quarters upstairs. There was a steel wardrobe, a metal bed frame, and a few other things that Yan had seen during her tour.

Streaks of lasers and the occasional bullet flew across the open area between them as the two parties exchanged fire.

Despite the ongoing firefight, Yan’s eyes snapped to the hulking warrior standing in the middle of the bridge. Fully clad in a suit of bulky, orange armour, he towered at least two heads above the combatants.

The only part of his suit not made of metal was the strip of black glass over his eyes.

In one hand, he held Captain Harvey by the throat. In the other, he clutched a sword that crackled with lightning. The blade was longer than Yan was tall.

Still holding Harvey, the warrior strode towards the barricade, weathering the hail of fire from the sailors with ease. Yan could see the crossed swords and shield of House Ariti painted across his back in white.

The moment he came within range of the barricade, he swung his blade.

It crackled through the air, crushing through the steel wardrobe - and slicing through the woman hiding behind. Electricity danced through her body, forcing her muscles to spasm wildly even as the sword cut her clean in half.

The other sailors scrambled aside, peppering him with lasers. All that did was char the steel.

“Doctor, what do you see?” Luke asked.

“Eight pirates. Another one in full armour,” she replied.

“Dang it. That’s - What’d he call himself? The Wolf of Ariti? And he’s probably in power armour.”

Wait. Luke knew about the ghost eye?

He did not seem to notice her concern.

“So, what’s the plan?” He inquired.

Resolving to ask later, she said, “Neon, I need grenades in that spot behind the wall. There’s four of them.” She gestured to the pirates on the right of the bridge. Those were bunched up behind a long control panel, making them easy targets for a grenade.

“Luke. And you.” She pointed to a sailor with an assault rifle. “Four behind this wall.” She pointed to the left side of the bridge.

“The rest, move in once the pirates have been cleared. I’ll go in and distract the Wolf. Once his lackeys are gone, we will concentrate fire on him and take him down.”

As her squad started nodding, the wall regained its opacity. Her so-called Smart Sight was gone.

She glanced around the motley squad. Four sailors. One guard. One scientist.

And one transmigrated, memoryless, sword and magic user with neither sword nor magic.

It was perfect. Clearly, nothing could go wrong with this plan.