Slires. Either the Celestrials took them out, or they buggered off.”
We heard
another eruption of rapid fire from somewhere on the forward decks. One of the
Celestrials signals blinked out and disappeared.
“The good
news is it looks like now the Draugari are winning,” she said.
“The bad
news is it looks like the Draugari are winning,” I replied.
“Boy you
ain’t kidding,” she said. “See if you can get my hands free.”
She
shifted in my arms to turn her back to me and bring her hands closer to mine.
Her hair tickled my face. A new sensation. I was amazed that even in the stench
of the cargo hold, her hair managed to smell sweet like the blue flowers that
grew along the edge of the fields back on the colony. I shook the strange
thoughts from my head and worked to get the ceramic edge in position to start
cutting her bindings.
“So, no
chance you know how to fight?” she asked, her voice was calm and
conversational.
“Fight?”
“Yeah.
Thought not.”
The ship
took another hit, a series of explosions rang somewhere above us.
“The
power systems took a hit,” Ju-lin said.
For a few
seconds there was complete silence, and then a few clicks and a hum as the
lights came back on. But the deep hum of the engines did not. There was one
more series of thuds as the attacking ship came around again, and then another
burst of fire from the Carrack’s guns, followed by a triumphant yell from the
cabin above.
“The
scope is clear,” I said nodding down at the terminal. “They must have gotten
the last Celestrial.”
“Yeah,
and the engines are silent,” she responded. “We’re just drifting in orbit.
Let’s hope they focus on fixing the ship before they come to check on us.”
With a
final slice I finished cutting through Ju-lin’s bindings, freeing her hands.
“Ahh,
finally,” she ducked down and slipped out from under my arms and hopped away
easily on her still-bound feet. “At least the artificial grav systems are still
working. Here hand me the shard.”
She took
the piece of armor from me and quickly got to work cutting through the bindings
on her feet.
“A little
help?” I said, holding up my hands.
“You
can’t fight, remember?” she asked. “My feet are more useful than your hands.
Priorities.” She didn’t sound sorry at all. “The ships dead in the water, you
can let go of the cargo loop.”
I’d
forgotten that I was still gripping the strap on the bulkhead. I took a few
steps, stretching my arms.
“Okay,
let’s see what we have,” she said looking around as she worked on freeing her
feet. “They took all my gear, what do we have, the spool of cargo cable, maybe
we could use that for something.”
They had
taken her gear. My thoughts went immediately to the memory card and I began to
panic. I checked my pocket; it was still there tucked safely away. There was
noise in the forward cabin, doors opening and closing and muffled voices.
“What’s
that?” I said, a small blip had appeared on the edge of the scanner. “Another
Celestrial ship?”
“There we
go!” Ju-lin tossed the last of the ties aside and leapt to her feet. “What is
it? Oh, no, that’s not Celestrial, maybe it’s one of the Slir-no, wait, that’s
an Earthborn signal designation.”
“Someone
sent for help?”
“We’re
too far for help. It has to be from the surface.” Her hands flickered over the
controls. “I’m glad they didn’t lock out this terminal, let’s hope they aren’t
watching the scopes. Wait, the ship is broadcasting a signal.”
She hit a
few keys and a stream of characters crossed the screen.
“Coded?”
I asked.
“Yeah,”
she tried to access the message and the system prompted her for a key. She
typed in a series of numbers whispering “Oh, please, please.”
The
message decoded: L.M. en route. Ackno and Disab Scans.
“Dad,”
she smiled.
“Lee’s
coming?” I asked. “Is he going to attack with the shuttle? Can he do that?”
“No,”
We heard
another eruption of rapid fire from somewhere on the forward decks. One of the
Celestrials signals blinked out and disappeared.
“The good
news is it looks like now the Draugari are winning,” she said.
“The bad
news is it looks like the Draugari are winning,” I replied.
“Boy you
ain’t kidding,” she said. “See if you can get my hands free.”
She
shifted in my arms to turn her back to me and bring her hands closer to mine.
Her hair tickled my face. A new sensation. I was amazed that even in the stench
of the cargo hold, her hair managed to smell sweet like the blue flowers that
grew along the edge of the fields back on the colony. I shook the strange
thoughts from my head and worked to get the ceramic edge in position to start
cutting her bindings.
“So, no
chance you know how to fight?” she asked, her voice was calm and
conversational.
“Fight?”
“Yeah.
Thought not.”
The ship
took another hit, a series of explosions rang somewhere above us.
“The
power systems took a hit,” Ju-lin said.
For a few
seconds there was complete silence, and then a few clicks and a hum as the
lights came back on. But the deep hum of the engines did not. There was one
more series of thuds as the attacking ship came around again, and then another
burst of fire from the Carrack’s guns, followed by a triumphant yell from the
cabin above.
“The
scope is clear,” I said nodding down at the terminal. “They must have gotten
the last Celestrial.”
“Yeah,
and the engines are silent,” she responded. “We’re just drifting in orbit.
Let’s hope they focus on fixing the ship before they come to check on us.”
With a
final slice I finished cutting through Ju-lin’s bindings, freeing her hands.
“Ahh,
finally,” she ducked down and slipped out from under my arms and hopped away
easily on her still-bound feet. “At least the artificial grav systems are still
working. Here hand me the shard.”
She took
the piece of armor from me and quickly got to work cutting through the bindings
on her feet.
“A little
help?” I said, holding up my hands.
“You
can’t fight, remember?” she asked. “My feet are more useful than your hands.
Priorities.” She didn’t sound sorry at all. “The ships dead in the water, you
can let go of the cargo loop.”
I’d
forgotten that I was still gripping the strap on the bulkhead. I took a few
steps, stretching my arms.
“Okay,
let’s see what we have,” she said looking around as she worked on freeing her
feet. “They took all my gear, what do we have, the spool of cargo cable, maybe
we could use that for something.”
They had
taken her gear. My thoughts went immediately to the memory card and I began to
panic. I checked my pocket; it was still there tucked safely away. There was
noise in the forward cabin, doors opening and closing and muffled voices.
“What’s
that?” I said, a small blip had appeared on the edge of the scanner. “Another
Celestrial ship?”
“There we
go!” Ju-lin tossed the last of the ties aside and leapt to her feet. “What is
it? Oh, no, that’s not Celestrial, maybe it’s one of the Slir-no, wait, that’s
an Earthborn signal designation.”
“Someone
sent for help?”
“We’re
too far for help. It has to be from the surface.” Her hands flickered over the
controls. “I’m glad they didn’t lock out this terminal, let’s hope they aren’t
watching the scopes. Wait, the ship is broadcasting a signal.”
She hit a
few keys and a stream of characters crossed the screen.
“Coded?”
I asked.
“Yeah,”
she tried to access the message and the system prompted her for a key. She
typed in a series of numbers whispering “Oh, please, please.”
The
message decoded: L.M. en route. Ackno and Disab Scans.
“Dad,”
she smiled.
“Lee’s
coming?” I asked. “Is he going to attack with the shuttle? Can he do that?”
“No,”
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