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EVENTS PROGRESSED RAPIDLY after that, with Daku taking the helm and Tarsk the co-pilot’s chair. He shifted uncomfortably, wishing his parents had restuffed the chairs, not just worked on the mechanics of the ship. But then, that was their way so often, forgetting the little things for the large, much more complicated projects. It’d made his childhood interesting sometimes, with missing lunches, forgotten bags, and innumerable lost hats. His sister and he had been well-loved, though they had gotten good at trading food and making deals with their classmates and friends.
He smiled ruefully. Hopefully, he hadn’t lost that knack for making friends and convincing people to see his side, because he was really going to need it to get through what was coming.
“One minute until the Dark Raiders will be in comms range,” Tarsk announced. He exchanged a mutual look of trepidation with him.
“This is insane. I can’t be the only one thinking that, right?” Daku said very quietly, in case Kara was listening.
“We’re all thinking it. Kara included.” Tarsk shook his head. “I can’t believe she suggested it. You saw what she was like when rescuing the Geejo settlers, and now she’s all for us waltzing straight into their embrace.”
Daku remembered Kara’s anger and fear. How her emotions had slowly unravelled and burning rage had come to the fore, had driven her to track down those Dark Raiders. He agreed with Tarsk; he didn’t know how she’d handle this now. “Eternities protect us, and guide us through your eternal way,” he uttered the prayer softly, they were going to need all the help they could get. Starting with the Raiders listening to them, rather than spacing them the first chance they got.
“Comms range,” Tarsk stated, paw hovering over the console.
“Do it,” Daku said. It was go time. Within the next sixty seconds, they would know if this was going to work, or if they’d be fighting for their lives.
Tarsk hailed the other spaceship. His ears twitched, and he caught his tail in one paw, nervously flexing his claws through the fur.
“Comms open,” Tarsk confirmed with a faintly shaky breath. They were keeping to voice only; no need for the Dark Raiders to see them unless they demanded it.
Daku swiped the back of his arm across his brow, wiping away the beads of sweat that had popped out.
The comms were silent for a beat and then came to life as the Dark Raiders initiated contact. “Imperial freighter, cut your engines and prepare to be boarded,” a strident voice ordered them. “If you cooperate and relinquish your cargo without a fight, you will remain unharmed and free to go.”
Daku let out his pent-up breath in one long, quiet exhale. Beside him, Tarsk let go of his tail. So far so good, since they hadn’t opened fire on the Brognan.
Now they had a chance to talk their way into the Dark Zone.
Daku quirked an eyebrow at Tarsk and rolled his eyes. It was lucky that they were going to ask to essentially join the Dark Raiders, otherwise, it’d be awkward explaining why they didn’t have any cargo to speak of.
Daku linked his fingers together and flexed his hands out in front of him. Show time. “Understood, cutting our engines,” Daku paused a beat as he suited actions to words, slowly cycling down the long-range engines. “However, to be upfront with you, we don’t actually have any cargo.” He held his breath waiting for a response.
It came rapidly. “Why are you travelling empty to the mining rig?” the same voice snapped, suspicion tingeing the words.
“Because it wasn’t our destination. We were fleeing to the Dark Zone,” Daku replied, keeping his voice steady and calm.
There were several beats of nerve-racking silence. “Why?” The suspicion in the tone had increased.
“Well, the thing is, I’ve kind of pissed off the wrong people and gotten myself into a bit of a sticky situation,” Daku said, self-depreciatingly. “We were hoping to lay very low and stay off the scanners for a while. A good long while.”
“And the rest of the crew?” the voice snapped.
“Oh, they aren’t too happy with me right now for getting them mixed up in this. But they all have a healthy survival instinct, and we’re just hoping to go somewhere that no one will think to look for us,” Daku finished and held his breath and waited.
And waited some more.
“Activate your vid feed,” the Dark Raider suddenly demanded, breaking the silence.
He glanced worriedly at Tarsk, wondering what was going on. He sent up another silent prayer to the Eternities, this one very fervent, and switched on the feed. On the display, he could see the small image of Tarsk and himself sitting in the cockpit, but there was no corresponding feed from the Dark Raider bridge. Only his Fleet training kept him calm, and the little image of him showed none of the dread that churned through his stomach, turning it and twisting it into knots.
“If you want to come to the Dark Zone, you’re going to have to follow our rules,” the Dark Raider replied after a lengthy silence in which Tarsk and Daku had to keep from fidgeting. “Unlock your helm and send us the remote access codes for full control.”
Daku reached his hand out, then paused. He knew what someone could do with helm control; they could control the engines and the nav system, but they also had control of environmental. The Dark Raiders could switch off their life support and they would all choke to death.
But he didn’t have a choice, not if they wanted to avoid the traitors and the rest of the Jade Fleet. He wished he could have gone back to Geejo, to Yan and his team. Yet he knew that wasn’t an option. As soon as his escape was noticed, they would have checked his old outpost, if not for him, but to at least check if he’d been in contact with them.
Going to the Dark Zone would be the safest thing for everyone he knew. His family, his friends, his team. Except he had to turn complete control of the freighter over to a ship full of unknown people who he’d considered pirates and criminals up until a few minutes ago. In fact, he still thought that. It really wasn’t sitting well with him. But what other choice did he have right now?
He took a deep breath and entered his part of the authorisation code. Tarsk followed suit and in short order he watched commands being entered into the freighter’s controls by an unknown person on another spaceship.
He crossed his fingers before he even consciously thought about it, praying they weren’t about to be killed. Though come to think about it, Kara would most likely survive, and she’d be in a killing mood. At least she could take revenge for them. His lips twitched at the thought. The Dark Raiders wouldn’t stand a chance against her.
Tarsk shot him a questioning look, his eyes flicking to the vid display.
Daku shook his head but understood. “A month ago, all I ever tried to avoid was a never-ending pile of reports and paperwork. Now look at me,” Daku said.
Tarsk snorted. “A bit of an extreme way to avoid it, though. Deleting it might have been an easier option,” Tarsk replied.
“Yeah, and I wouldn’t have ended up being out here either,” Daku said. The light banter served to distract them from the prospect of dying.
The freighter’s long-range engines were activated and their air remained gloriously on. Even if it wasn’t the freshest, but that was due to the air filters and not anything the Dark Raiders had done.
The comms lit up again. “Keep your hands off the controls and do not attempt to change course or speed. Understood?” the same Dark Raider said.
“Completely,” Daku responded. “And thank you.” It never hurt to be polite. Along with the banter, hopefully, it would work to lower the Dark Raiders’ guard.
“Keep the vid feed open at all times until we reach our destination,” the voice snapped out. Clearly, Daku’s plan wasn’t working on them yet, because the comms went silent, and Daku and Tarsk didn’t know where they were heading.
On the plus side, if they didn’t even know where they were going, then anyone from the Fleet or otherwise would also have a very hard time tracking them too. All in all, things were looking up. If he could only get over the fact they were heading for the Dark Zone, populated by the people that no one else wanted, who he’d spent a career fighting against.
This was going to be interesting. As long as they could stay alive and keep secret the fact that Princess Isra was on board as well as a full-blown bio-cyber, then they’d be set. Though Kara’s augmentations probably weren’t as much of a concern to Dark Raiders, considering so many people fled to the Dark Zone because they had cybernetics. But Kara’s position was unique, and they couldn’t ignore the fact that someone in the Dark Raiders had kidnapped her and that same group had gone after the people of Geejo too.
They could very well be delivering themselves into their enemy’s hands and they would have no way of telling until it was too late.