LAST REPORT FROM THE KSS PSYCHOPOMP
“Outta my way! I gotta get to the bridge.” Emery shoved his muscular bulk by the smaller, rounder engineer.
“Weren’t you supposed to be there ten minutes ago?” Trina grinned after her shipmate as she followed. The captain had called an all-hands and everyone was on the move. “With legs like yours, you’d think you’d be faster. Or at least more capable.”
“Screw off, woman. I was asleep.”
“Like you were during netball last week?”
“We’ll see who’s laughing next week. You may move like a fish in zero G, but I got skill and power to back it up.”
The two of them hurried down the hallway toward the bridge. Trina, third-in-command, wasn’t needed there for more than advice and to fill in on scanner work. Emery was both the security chief and the second-in-command. On a small scout vessel like the Psychopomp, all crewmembers had more than one job. The two of them burst onto the bridge, one after another. They were the last of the bridge crew to make it.
“I put five on you eating your words.” Trina threw herself into the scanner station chair, and began a cursory look at what was before them.
Emery settled into the weapons station and pulled up the latest data. “I’ll see your five and add in the loser has to eat a raw fish.”
“You and the eating strange things. You’re going to regret those words.”
“Both of you are going to regret everything if you don’t stop measuring your egos and get to work.” Captain Ahmed stood, his salt-and-pepper hair gleaming in the bridge lights. “Debris field coming into sight.” He stared hard out the forward viewports.
“The first of the larger derelict ships should be in sight any moment,” Kaida said as she navigated the scout vessel in. “At least, according to the coordinates you won, Captain.”
Ahmed nodded. “Now we find out if I was cheated or not.”
“Too late to do anything about it if you were.” Trina eyed the scanner. “But I’ve got the edge of a large shadow at the limit of my ping.”
The captain let out a soft sigh as the first of the larger debris fields came into sight. “Derelict battle cruiser. That’ll pay for the whole trip. Kaida, eyes on obstacles, slow and easy. Emery, prep shields and grav-pulse to keep the big stuff from crushing us. Trina, monitor for other live ships. We don’t want this find stolen out from under us.”
A variety of grunts and acknowledgments erupted from the bridge crew as they focused on their jobs. The Psychopomp moved ever closer to the score of a lifetime. Minutes ticked by as the battle cruiser loomed large in the viewport. The ragged holes and scorch marks spoke of the battle that’d been fought here.
The bridge door slid open. “Any survivors?” Vito asked as he entered with Gunnar close behind.
When no one answered the medic or the behavioral psychologist turned first contact specialist/adventurer—a paying passenger, a rare thing these days—Trina glanced up at them. “No. Not yet.” The two men were almost mirror opposites. Both were white. Vito had black hair and eyes with tanned skin while Gunnar had blond hair and ice blue eyes with pale white skin. They complemented each other. Rumor had it that Gunnar came on this scouting trip more for Vito than for the chance to make first contact with another species—not that that was really a possibility. Aliens didn’t hang out in dead spaceships.
“It’s my duty to remind you that there is no life salvage. All mariners, spacefaring and terrestrial, have a duty to save those in peril without expectation of a reward. Salvage law applies only to the saving of property.”
This last bit was mimicked and mouthed by everyone on the bridge. Vito always said the same thing as they reached a potential salvage score. Still, he always took his cut of the loot when payday came.
“It’s my duty to remind everyone that saving a person doesn’t negate our salvage find.” Captain Ahmed kept his eyes on the forward viewport. “I—” He froze. “Kaida, cease all forward momentum now.” His voice was tight and intense. “Go dead.”
When the captain had that tone of voice, no one disobeyed or bantered with him. He had seen something very wrong and was doing everything he could to save their lives. As Kaida cut all power except to the most vital ship systems, the bridge went dark, lit only by a scant number of glowing buttons and system readouts. Trina’s radar system was the brightest light in the back side of the bridge.
No one said a word. Everyone stared forward, trying to understand the captain’s sudden fear and caution.
“Holy Mother of God.” Emery let out a slow breath.
Trina put a hand to her mouth as she saw what had frightened Captain Ahmed. Just on the other side of the battle cruiser was a scavenger ship. Shaped like a torpedo with a series of rotating rings around its core, the scavenger’s ship looked like it’d been in battle as well… many battles. Its main ramming cone was pitted and scorched, but still intact. Trina could tell who understood the danger they were in based on the soft gasps and muttered prayers mixed with curses. Only Gunnar seemed unaware that they were seconds away from being blown to hell.
The bridge door opened and Zuri, the newest recruit, stepped in. Trina waved a hand to silence the woman, but she need not have. Zuri took one look at the growing torpedo in front of the Psychopomp and backpedaled until her shoulders hit the door again. She didn’t say a word. Her eyes were very wide and white against her dark skin. She knew what it was. There was a story there that Trina would have to ask about if they survived this.
She focused back in on her scanner, watching for the smaller scavenger scouts and ripper crews. She didn’t see anything.
“Movement?”
Kaida answered the captain’s question with a slow shake of her head. She gripped her long black braid tight as she stared at her instruments. “Nothing. They haven’t seen us.”
“Thank the Light that scavengers have terrible boundary protocols. Plot a course out. I don’t care what direction. Just away. We’ll consider what to do once we’re safe.”
“Captain, there’s nothing moving.” Trina stared at her scanner. “I mean, the torpedo is lit up, but it’s not moving. It’s drifting like the rest of the stuff around us.”
“She’s right.” Kaida adjusted the navigation controls to allow the ship to drift while keeping a safe distance from any damaging debris. “I don’t see a powered ship in flight at all.”
The bridge remained silent while the captain considered this. “Emergency beacons?”
“Four. The battle cruiser, two of the destroyers, and…” Trina looked up. “The torpedo cruiser. Based on the timestamp loops, the torpedo set off their emergency beacon six days ago, but it’s weak. The rest… more than a year ago. The only reason I can read any of them is proximity.”
The captain’s face tightened into a smile. “All right. Keep the escape course locked in under the emergency nav. I want a single button push to get us out of here if needed.” He took a breath. “If it’s a trap, we’ll find out. Light her back up and head toward the torpedo cruiser.”
The brightness of the scout ship coming back to life made everyone wince. Zuri frowned. “Captain, why are we going to the pirate ship?”
Vito answered for him. “Looking for survivors.”
“We’re going to save pirates?”
“No.” The captain answered for himself this time. “We’re going to kill pirates and rescue prisoners. Otherwise, we’re claiming this whole field and sending the coordinates back to Kosana headquarters. There’s enough here to set all of us up with our own ships. Or to retire.”
“No answer to our hail, Captain.” Kaida threw a glance at Emery.
He caught it. “No movement in shields or weapons. She’s alive, but drifting.”
They could all see the name of the scavenger’s vessel now, emblazoned on its side. Captain Ahmed clasped his hands behind his back. “We need to know what took out the good ship Oxenham. I don’t see any fresh battle marks. Something happened here. Looks like we’re going to have to board her to figure that out.”
* * *
Emery, Trina, and Vito waited in the airlock with Zuri. All four of them were suited up even though Zuri was supposedly on standby. Trina knew different. She was the titular head of the boarding party, though each person had their own areas of expertise. She would assess the engines of the Oxenham and determine if she could still fly. If so, that was feather in the cap of this salvage claim.
“Travel as a group until we can determine the threat level.” She nodded to Emery as she spoke. Emery nodded back. “After the threat level is determined to be null, we break up into teams. Vito and Emery, search for survivors. Zuri, you’re with me. We head to CnC to determine the vessel’s damage. Or if we need to, head to engineering.”
Zuri straightened at this. “Yes, ma’am.” She grinned at Trina as the men glanced at each other and shrugged.
“Emery, Zuri, get us aboard.”
The two of them moved to the outer airlock door. The Psychopomp drifted alongside the Oxenham at one of its outer doors. Emery punched a series of buttons to release the umbilical tunnel. Zuri maneuvered the far end until it encompassed the other airlock completely. She sealed it against the side of the drifting vessel and engaged the locks. The two ships drifted together as the connecting tunnel hardened into a straight corridor.
As soon as the tunnel was pressurized and the Psychopomp’s airlock door opened, Emery took the lead and floated to the other airlock door. He had the control panel open and set the lockbreaker to work. Trina could tell it succeeded when the adjoined Oxenham airlock began its pressurizing cycle.
“We’re going in, Captain.”
“Acknowledged. Remember, scavengers are criminals and are to be shot on sight. Anyone who is a prisoner is to be given medical attention in situ. Once their status is confirmed, then they will be allowed to board the Psychopomp.”
“Yes, sir.” Trina shifted her attention to the boarding party. “You heard the captain. Weapons at the ready.” No one said a word as all four of them pulled their weapons— blasters of different types—including the medic. He’d seen enough scavenger handiwork to know he didn’t want to be subject to it.
Traveling from one vessel to the other was a matter of traversing the tunnel and re-engaging the airlocks on both ends. Emery and Zuri took the front as the Oxenham’s outer airlock door unsealed and rolled open. The crew boarded the scavenger vessel and waited until the seals were in place.
The artificial gravity kicked in as soon as they boarded the Oxenham. As the inner airlock door cycled, Zuri peered through the dirty window. “I think someone’s out there. I see a shape.”
Emery motioned Vito and Trina to the sides of the small room while Zuri crouched. Emery pressed the unlock button. Everyone had their weapons trained on the opening door.
There was a person waiting for them and he was very, very dead.
Pinned to the inner hallway with a ragged piece of metal, the man had been dead for days. It was obvious enough that Vito didn’t rush forward to attempt to help him. Instead, he shook his head. “Scavengers. You’d think they’d be a bit neater than this.” He gestured to the dried pool of blood on the floor. “Unsanitary.”
Trina moved into the corridor after Emery gave the all-clear. “This doesn’t look like normal infighting. Scavengers are an undisciplined, unruly lot, but they aren’t… this. They don’t leave dead bodies in the corridor. All together. Head to the bridge. I want to know what happened here.” She pulled up the standard torpedo-class cruiser schematic and sent it to everyone’s HUDs. “We follow the path until we discover they’ve modified this ship in some unusual way.”
With Emery in the lead and Zuri in the rear, the four of them moved through the silent ship. Vito chattered to cover his nervousness and to relay data to the Psychopomp. “Atmosphere is normal. Oxygen and the like. No measurable airborne toxins. Of course, these guys could’ve come across something new and exciting. Recommendation: EVA suits on for the duration unless we figure out it’s safe.”
“It’s never safe on an enemy ship. Someone killed that guy.” Emery kept his head on a swivel, looking for threats.
That killed the conversation until they reached the bridge. Along the way, signs of fighting—scorch marks on the walls and dried viscera on the floor—kept them vigilant. Still, nothing greeted them except the twinkling lights of a ship, active but unmanned. Several stations were stained with something that looked suspiciously like blood. Though, nothing looked damaged. If there had been a fight here, either it was over quickly or they’d been careful not to damage the ship’s controls.
“Secure the area,” Trina commanded as she moved to one of the monitoring stations and began a scan of the vessel. “The bridge no longer has control of the ship’s propulsion. It’s been rerouted to the main engineering room. The only thing we can do here is passive commands.”
Vito moved to another station. “Ninety percent of the ship still contains an atmosphere. There is a breach in one of the holds. Scanning for life signs now.”
“Zuri, on the door.” Emery accessed the security station. “Something took out this ship.”
Everyone winced as Emery’s station suddenly erupted in a shouting man’s voice. “It’s the ghost! It’s coming for me. It’s killed almost everyone else. We can’t stop it! Oh, God, someone help me!” The man’s voice cut off in a scream and a gurgle.
“What the hell?” Trina met Emery’s eyes. “What was that?”
“Final log of this… guy. I don’t know what his position was. But, you gotta see this. He wasn’t kidding about a ghost.”
Vito and Trina joined Emery at the security station. He replayed the final log without sound. They watched as a disheveled man shouted into the recorder then was yanked backwards by his neck. Something had looped itself around him and pulled him off screen.
Trina peered at the monitor. She replayed the last seconds of the recording and froze it. She pointed at a blur around the man’s neck. “What’s that?” She looked between Vito and Emery. Both of them shook their heads.
“Stealth armor?” Emery guessed. “Maybe. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
The station Vito had been at beeped. Vito returned to it. “Besides us, two living people. They’re together and not moving.”
“Nothing else? Nothing moving in on us?”
“No.”
Trina considered the situation. “Captain?”
“I’m here.” His voice sounded tense.
“Recommend blowing all the hatches and depressurizing the ship. I’ll need to go down to the main engineering room to get that kind of control.”
Vito held up a hand. “Wait. There are two living people onboard. That will kill them.”
Trina scowled at him. “At least one of them is a murderer.”
Captain Ahmed broke in before it could become an argument. “Gunnar has pointed out that this might actually be a first contact situation. Exactly what he signed on for. He wants to come aboard and make contact.”
Emery shook his head. “Bad idea. We need to get off this ship. Trina has the right idea.”
“Not until we get to those people. If they’re scavengers, we’ll leave them, but if they’re prisoners, we have a duty to assist. That recording was a call for help. Space-maritime law requires that we at least attempt to help.” Vito crossed his arms. “We all signed a contract agreeing to this.”
Everyone stared at each other until the captain sighed. “Fine. Gunnar and I will come aboard. Buddy system. No one goes alone. Emery with Trina to Engineering. Zuri with Vito to get to those people. If you see anything like a blur on that final log, shoot to kill.”
Trina didn’t like it. However, Captain Ahmed was the captain for a reason. “I’ll send the two paths to your HUDs.”
“We’ll be headed toward the people. You just get the ship under your control.”
“Yes, sir.” Trina glanced at Emery.
He picked up her thread. “You heard the captain. Zuri, Vito… get to those people. See what there is to see. You’ll meet up with the captain and Gunnar. Assume everyone is hostile until proven otherwise. Take all appropriate caution.”
Zuri gestured for Vito to follow her. “Let’s go.”
Trina shifted to private comms. “This is wrong. I don’t like it.”
Emery shrugged. “Me neither. However, orders are orders. If all goes well, this is our last scouting run. Best to get it over with quickly.”
“Still think we should evacuate the atmo now.”
“Bloodthirsty woman.” Emery’s voice held no rancor. “You’re right, of course. Survivors can only complicate things.”
She glanced at him before heading toward the engineering room.
* * *
Vito and Zuri followed the path laid out for them. Zuri stalked ahead, her weapon ready to fire. She stopped Vito from moving ahead as they came to a body sprawled in the hallway. What was left of a body. She pointed to a thin wire. “Trap.”
They followed the line of the wire until it disappeared. “What does it do?”
“Nothing good.” Zuri furrowed her brow. “Don’t be too curious. This one’s dead. Step over and around it. We’re concerned with the living.”
Vito gave her a look before doing as he was told. He marked the spot on the electronic map with a danger sign.
Minutes later, they passed another trap. This one had been sprung. The dried viscera said that the victim did not get away, though they were nowhere to be seen. Vito grimaced. “Someone lost a limb.”
“And someone took it with them.” She stopped at the end of the hallway and nodded to the door. “Through there. Two living people.” She shifted from private to open comms. “Coming up on the living people. Voice monitoring live.”
Zuri didn’t wait for a response. She thumbed the door open and stepped inside, weapon ready for all attackers. A moment later she whispered, “Holy gods.”
Vito stepped into the room. He didn’t throw up. His gorge rose. He forced it back down with the will that made him the doctor he was.
“Captain… are you getting this?” Zuri moved into the room… the lair… of god knows what. It had once been a conference room. Now it was an abattoir, decorated with bones—human bones—and makeshift weapons. All about them hung gruesome trophies. Human skulls, spinal cords strung up with sinew, and spiral decorations in bone and blood dangled from the walls. In the center of the room, three bodies hung. One was headless and flensed, hanging upside down. The other two, both human males, were tied to cross poles attached to the exposed ceiling rails.
“Are they alive?”
The captain’s question spurred Vito into movement. He went to the first man in a pseudo military uniform of gray pants and shirt. All patches and identifying marks had been removed. Vito ran his medical scanner over the unmoving body. “This one’s alive. Barely.” He shifted to the second, younger man in the same generic military uniform. As he raised the scanner, the young man opened his eyes and jerked with a cry.
Vito jumped back. “Friend. We’re friends.”
“Ghost! The ghost.” The young man flicked his eyes over Zuri’s shoulder.
She didn’t hesitate. Whirling with speed, Zuri opened fire on what looked like thin air. It would’ve been foolish if half her shots hadn’t rebounded off of what looked like a shift in reality. The ghost advanced and a large blade pierced Zuri through the middle. She screamed, still firing and fighting a creature she couldn’t quite see.
Vito did the only thing he could do as Zuri fought the monster. He ran. Zuri’s death cries followed him until both her weapon and her voice were silenced. “Captain, it’s not a ghost. It’s stealth armor.” He moved as fast as he could in the EVA suit. It wasn’t meant for sprinting. “Survivors are pirates.” He couldn’t be certain, but he thought the ghost was hot on his heels. “Need help,” he gasped. “Zuri’s dead.”
* * *
Engineering was a disaster. Someone had set it up as a last stand. Like the Alamo, it had fallen. Trina and Emery picked their way through the mess of debris. Shoving aside the leftover trash from rations, Trina accessed the engineer’s station. “Where are the bodies?”
Emery shook his head. “Whatever broke in here took them with it.” He put his back to her with his head and weapon on a constant survey of the surrounding area. “Just get control of the ship or figure out if it’s operable.”
Trina didn’t answer him. She didn’t need to. She was as nervous as he was. As her gloved fingers flew over the keyboard, she knew whoever had holed up in here had lasted for a couple of days. There were ration packets strewn about the place and she was pretty sure the bucket in the far corner of the room had been used for the result of those rations. “C’mon, Oxenham, give me your secrets.”
She worked as fast as she could to get into the system. Just as she succeeded, the screams began.
* * *
Captain Ahmed and Gunnar moved through the ship at an unhurried pace. Gunnar peered about him with fascination. “These pirates—”
“Scavengers.”
“These scavengers live on this cruiser and go about space, what, capturing and boarding ships? Then stealing whatever they want or need?”
The older man nodded. “That’s about the size of it.”
“What do they do with the crews?”
The two of them stopped at the trapped body. “If there are any still alive after the ships are rammed, they kill them or make them slaves. The lucky ones get ransomed.” Ahmed pointed at the thin metal wire that ran from the body and up the wall. “Don’t touch this.”
Gunnar nodded. “I’ve seen these before. Usually protecting something important in a tomb.”
The two of them stepped over the body and paused as Zuri and Vito commed them. Ahmed scowled with concern as he eyed the video. “Are they alive?”
Gunnar shifted around, excited. “I’ve heard of this. There’s a race of warriors who hunt—” He jerked away from the sight and sound of the sudden fight. “Vito?”
“Stay here, Gunnar. That’s an order.” Captain Ahmed put a hand on Gunnar’s shoulder, pushing him back as he turned to head towards his medic.
The consultant ignored Ahmed and pushed past him at a run. “Vito!” The consultant had his blaster ready and ran toward the sound of weapons fire.
* * *
Vito ran down the long hallway as fast as he could. He didn’t bother to look behind him. He wouldn’t see anything if he did. His EVA helmet would obscure his view unless he turned all the way around and from what little he did see— Zuri impaled on a blade, lifted up by the blurry air as she fought and screamed—it would do him no good. Instead, he ran.
“Vito! I’m coming!”
It was Gunnar over the comms.
“No,” he panted. “Get to the ship.” He stopped talking as the end of the hallway came up on him fast. He had the choice of running into it or slowing down to take the corner. He didn’t want to do either. In the end, he did neither. With a stutter-step to slow enough not to knock himself out when he rebounded, he prepared to take the corner.
An incredible force hit him from behind and he was slammed into the bulkhead. Banging his forehead against his front helmet plate, Vito moaned in surprise and pain. Everywhere there was stinging, cutting pain. He opened his eyes and found himself pinioned to the wall in a web of thin metal that slowly cut into him.
Movement down the hallway caught his eye…
* * *
Gunnar moved at speed. Despite what the crew of the Psychopomp thought of him, he was an experienced spacefarer and had done his share of EVA suit training. His was the best money could buy. Ghost or no ghost, he would help Vito. Then he’d make first contact. He rounded the corridor with Captain Ahmed on his heels, cursing at him in a dialect he didn’t need to understand.
There, at the other end of the hall, Vito was caught against the wall in a net. This would not stand. He was helpless there. Not even struggling. “Vito, I’m here. I’ll get you out of there.”
“Run.” Vito’s voice was soft with pain. “Behind me. The ghost. Run.”
Gunnar ignored this and holstered his blaster before unsheathing his knife. “No. I can help you.” He got to Vito before he realized that his knife was useless.
The air blurred next to them.
Gunnar shouted a word at it. “Mdi!” He wasn’t sure he’d gotten it right—if this was the creature he’d thought it was.
The blurred air solidified into a humanoid creature at least two meters tall. It had reptilian skin, a broad chest, clawed hands, and a huge head with dangling appendages. Most terrifying were its red eyes and mandible mouth. It was covered in armor, weapons, bones, and other unidentifiable things. It flared its lower mandibles.
Elation soared. He’d been right. “It’s a Predator, Captain.” Gunnar held out both hands, one with the knife and one open to keep the creature at bay. He didn’t know where Ahmed was. It was only now that he realized that the captain wasn’t at his side. “A secretive order of hunters—”
* * *
The Predator growled in a particular clicking noise before speaking softly. “Nan-deThan-gaun.” With that, he put an end to the soft meat’s prattle.
* * *
“You don’t have it. Do what you can. Now.”
“Yes, sir.” Trina didn’t like the tightness in the captain’s voice. It said he was looking death in the face and didn’t know if he’d survive.
Trina typed line after line of careful script, giving her control of the Oxenham. She was the new captain of the torpedo cruiser and had the highest permissions. In truth, she’d copied most of what the previous person—Shaw Doty—had done. There was no need to reinvent the wheel. This time, though, she linked control of the vessel to her wrist pad and to her voice.
Emery hovered behind her, looking as tense as she felt. “Have you got it?”
“I think so. Oxenham, vent the rear port atmo and open door Engineering 3B.”
The entire cruiser shuttered and listed, causing the two of them to stumble to the side. Trina cursed under her breath. “Kaida, keep the Psychopomp synced with the Oxenham. Don’t let that umbilical corridor break.”
“On it. Don’t do that again if you can help it.”
“Roger that.”
Emery eyed her as the two of them got their collective balance. “That was a dumbass move.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. Now I know I have control.” Trina felt heat run up the back of her neck. “Let’s get out of here before that ‘predator’ ghost finds us.”
* * *
Captain Ahmed stopped when he saw Vito pinned to the wall. He knew it was a trap. Instead, he aimed his weapon, looking for the blurred air, and switched his comms to crew only, cutting Gunnar from the conversation. “Vito is down. Gunnar is about to go. Trina, what’s your status?”
“I’m in and getting control. I need just a couple…”
“You don’t have it. Do what you can. Now.”
“Yes, sir.”
Ahmed didn’t answer. He watched and listened as Gunnar ran to his death. Now the only thing the consultant was good for was information: who or what was the enemy?
The air blurred.
Gunnar shouted something.
The blurred air became a creature of whispered legend. Ahmed went cold with fear and determination. As soon as he got a good aim on it, he fired. It was too late. The blast rebounded off the creature’s shield. At the same time, the Predator sliced Gunnar from groin to sternum. Ahmed fired again as the Predator stabbed Vito in the side and pulled his own projectile weapon.
The ship rocked as it fired, causing the curved metal blade to miss.
Ahmed turned and ran. His mind moved faster than he did in the EVA suit. He knew he couldn’t outrun the creature—his old mentor had whispered of these hunters when he was in his cups. “If you run into one, run and don’t look back. Don’t try to save anyone if you want to save yourself. Run, Tariq. It’s all you can do.” He had to outthink it. The booby-trapped body was his only salvation.
He unspooled the grappling hook from his belt. It was usually used to hook onto the outside of a space vessel. Now, it would either save his life or be part of his death. He bared his teeth in a fierce grin. He would fight for every second of life as he always had.
* * *
Ten meters away from the body, Ahmed waited in the open. If he was right, the Predator would reveal himself as he came in for the kill. The explosive under the dead man’s body might be enough to hurt the monster and allow him and the rest of his crew to escape. He held the grappling cord in one hand and his blaster in the other.
The Predator came, snarling.
Ahmed yanked the cord attached to the tripwire and prayed the explosion would kill the monster.
He prayed in vain.
* * *
As the captain’s curses and the sounds of fighting died away, Kaida broke in. “Orders, Captain? …Captain?”
Trina jerked her head at Emery. “Answer her.” The two of them had heard the explosion and the captain’s dying words in a language neither of them knew. That put Emery in command whether he liked it or not.
He knew this as well as she did and scowled. “Orders are to stay put, Kaida. Don’t leave your station. Be ready to evac on command.” Emery shifted from foot to foot before taking off at an almost run. Trina could see him sweating inside the EVA suit despite the climate controls.
“But the captain…”
“Will be fine or is already dead. Man your post.”
There was a pause then Kaida’s voice came back tremulous with an underlying core of steel that promised pain. “Yes, sir.”
Trina waited until the comms cut out before she said, “You didn’t have to be so blunt.” Her breath came in soft pants as she hurried to keep up with him.
“Yes, I did.” He was one step in front of her. “You’re my responsibility now. Your job is to get to the Psychopomp and get out of here.”
She couldn’t see his face, but she didn’t like what he was implying. “What about you? What’s your job?”
“Make sure you do yours or die trying.”
They turned the corner to the hallway with the airlock attached to the Psychopomp. The other end held a limping monster. It roared its fury as Emery moved to meet it.
“Get ready for netball.” It was the only warning Trina gave as she watched the Predator run at them. She cut the artificial gravity to the Oxenham.
Emery was ready. “Get to the Psychopomp now.” He launched himself at his mortal enemy.
Trina did as she was ordered and opened the inner airlock door. She overrode the commands to open the door to the umbilical corridor between the two ships while keeping the inner airlock door open for Emery to get through. “C’mon, Emery. It’s open.” She pulled herself into the tunnel, moving fast through the weightlessness of it.
Emery’s answer was a cry of pain and a whispered, “Go!”
Whirling as she grabbed one of the side handholds, she looked back at the open airlock. Against hope, she prayed for Emery to reappear. He did not. “Psychopomp, open airlock hatch 2D.” Behind her, the airlock door unsealed and opened. Before her, the air blurred in the Oxenham airlock. “Oxenham! Emergency shut all airlock doors!” The Oxenham airlock inner and outer airlock doors rolled shut in a hurry.
Trina swung herself in the direction of the Psychopomp. “Kaida, emergency evac as soon as I’m in. Don’t wait.”
“What—?”
Trina slammed into the Psychopomp airlock and hit the emergency uncouple to the umbilical corridor. The airlock door cycled shut as the corridor detached. “Go, Kaida! Go! Evac!” Trina wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw a blur in the tunnel between the two ships just before the Psychopomp jerked to the side and spun. As the ship’s thrusters fired, she whispered, “Oxenham, self-destruct. Primary override Delta-Echo-Alpha-Delta. Now.”
The last thing Trina did was order the measured drop of salvage claim beacons, leading back to the drifting space vessel graveyard. A couple of the beacons wouldn’t be in perfect alignment after the Oxenham imploded, but it was close enough for the Kosana Salvage Company to find the salvage claim again. That was all that mattered.
That, and that both she and Kaida had survived.
* * *
Salvage beacons 1A through 1G at the above coordinates in outer rim section, Sector Kilo-Mike-Kilo, Quadrant 7429, have been dropped, claiming the entire find for the Kosana Salvage Company.
Anomaly: There was a live torpedo cruiser drifting in the midst of the wreckage with an SOS beacon lit. Per space-maritime law, the crew of the Psychopomp boarded the scavenger vessel. For unknown reasons, the skeleton crew of the pirate vessel had turned on each other, murdering one another and setting booby traps. There was also a wild animal loose on the ship. The animal killed crewmember Zuri Becker and Security Chief Emery Mazur. Booby traps killed civilian consultant Gunnar Larson, Medic Vito Cocci, and Captain Tariq Ahmed. Larson’s booby trap set off the self-destruct on the torpedo cruiser. Due to this last, salvage beacons 1A, 1B, and 1C will be slightly out of alignment.
Salvage claim find reward to be split between Navigator Kaida Asari and Engineer Trina Gannon. Death benefits are due to the families of Zuri Becker, Vito Cocci, Emery Mazur, and Tariq Ahmed.
Witnessed by Kaida Asari, Navigator.
Witnessed by Trina Gannon, Engineer.
* * *
“You expect me to put my thumbprint to this?”
Trina didn’t have to look at Kaida to know she’d been crying. “Yes. I do.”
Kaida gazed at the ceiling of the Psychopomp. “Don’t you think they’re going to want proof?”
“I’ve already taken care of that. If the company cares enough to ask for proof, I can send them what I’ve packaged up.” She’d already cobbled together a decent set of audios and visuals for the report, backing up her words. The rest she’d erased from every machine that kept track of these things.
“It’s all a lie.”
Trina turned the other woman to face her. “Do you want to tell them that a ghost murdered our crewmates?”
“Not a ghost. A Predator.”
Trina shuddered. “I don’t know what that is. I don’t want to know. If you’re smart, you’re going to take your reward and settle down on a nice safe planet or space station. That’s what I’m going to do. We’re set for life. If you want to hunt these things, you’re on your own. This was my last scouting run.”
Kaida stared at her for a long moment then pressed her thumb to the screen. “You’re right. We’re done.”
Trina pressed her own thumb to the screen before she sent off the final report from the Kosana Scout Ship Psychopomp. She prayed that nothing would follow them home.