The Stellar Wild - Chapter 10
In the last chapter, Miranda had just sprung Cole and Edward from what were looking to be some really dire straits. Now we get to see whether or not they make it off the planet and escape the clutches of the Naval Intelligence Division.
Her boots thumped quietly on the polymer tile floor as she hurried along down the hallways toward the front door, the two behind her keeping their conversation quiet so as not to draw attention.
Just another few hundred meters, she repeated to herself silently. So far, no alarms had been sounded, no calls had been made, and no chorus of combat-ready boots with Marines in them had been heard to signal that anyone was even paying attention to them. So far, it had all gone swimmingly, and it was making her extremely nervous. She kept walking though, head up, ignoring the corner of her console digging into the small of her back.
"You think she's just making this up?" Cole leaned over to whisper to Edward. His android companion shrugged his shoulders, matching Miranda's hurried pace effortlessly.
"Doubtful," he replied, turning the volume of his voice down in kind. "She doesn't strike me as being particularly jumpy or paranoid. Plus, she would just as soon kick us out of an airlock as free us from a stockade, so it's not as though she's doing it out of the kindness of her heart."
Cole nodded sagely as they walked. Miranda, to her credit, kept her composure, but in her mind she was considering doing exactly what Edward had just described the moment they were clear of Krixus and the system. Rounding another corner, she saw a sight she didn't think she'd ever get a chance to see again; the front doors that led out to the tarmac and mobilization area were directly ahead. She could even make out the shape of the Hound on the far side, parked on the same pad they'd left it. Her heart almost skipped a beat, but she chided herself, reiterating that they weren't anywhere close to home free yet.
"Heading out again, ma'am?" She froze midstep as she heard her name, but she didn't dare turn. Her mind raced, desperately trying to match a face to the voice, but to little avail. Cringing internally and preparing to have to fight her way out, she turned toward the source, simultaneously relieved and angered to find it was just the corporal from the front desk. Cole and Edward had come to a stop behind her, but they kept to themselves, leaving her to work their way out of it.
"Just walking the captain and his co-pilot to their ship," she offered, flashing a small smile. "I wanted to pass my thanks to them personally for doing a fine job." The corporal nodded, turning back to the story he was reading on his tablet. Taking a slow, deliberate breath to bring her heart rate back down, she turned crisply and headed for the doors. Without any prompting, the fearless crew of the Hound fell in behind her, walking through the doors and out to the deck. Once they were outside, she picked up the pace, looking over her shoulder at Cole.
"So far so good, captain. Now we'll find out if your piloting skills are as good as Caldwell said they were," she quipped.
Cole rolled his eyes in response, but he said nothing. At this point, if things were as serious as she was making them out to be, he'd deal with her piss-poor attitude once they were safely into the Nether. He snapped his arm out, hiking the sleeve of his jacket up so that he could access his wristpad, and brought up the remote control panel for the ship. Pressing a button, he activated the cargo ramp, dropping it to the ground as they hurried across landing pad to the ship.
As soon as they were to the ramp, Miranda bolted up into the safety of the command deck. Cole ran up after her, heading for the controls, with Edward right behind him. Once they were seated, they began the start-up sequence for the sublight drive and maneuvering engines. Edward spun up the weapons systems, ensuring that if they did have to fend off attackers, they were prepared to do it. Miranda leaned over the back of their seats, staring out the plexi-steel windows to their right, watching for any sign that they were being pursued; much to her tentative relief, no one was following them. Once the sublight and maneuvering drives were online, Cole stopped what he was doing.
"Alright, before I go anywhere, you're going to tell me exactly what the fuck is going on," he demanded, turning to look up at her. She stared down at him, a mixture of cold anger and incredulity.
"At any moment, NID and Marines could burst through that door to board this vessel and anti-air defenses will come online to keep us from leaving," she started, speaking deliberately. "You're really going to sit here and ask me to lay it all out for you, from start to finish? Do you really think we have that kind of time, captain?"
"Take a look, lady," he said, gesturing widely to their right. "No one's coming. No one's training a gun on us, and no one's even hailed us to ask what the hell we're doing. For all I know, you've lost your fucking mind and gone rogue, and I should boot your ass off my boat before they decide I'm colluding with you." Edward looked between the pair, not taking further action until some sort of resolution was reached. The last thing he was going to do was get involved in a volatile situation where too many variables were unknown. Miranda dug her fingers into the worn cushion of Cole's headrest, her composure cracking and her rage seeping out.
"Do you not understand the fucking situation, sergeant?" Her voice boomed in the close proximity between them. "We were being detained by Naval Intelligence for processing and elimination; we were black bagged. Whatever we stumbled onto, it was clearly something that needed to be shut down and thrown away. We weren't going to survive the night! Now get this hunk of shit into the air before they kill us all, you fucking moron!"
"...not no, but fuck no," Cole replied, unsnapping his harness and jumping out of his pilot's seat. "No one calls me sergeant, especially not some uppity intel bitch who's off the rails. Get the hell off my ship."
He strode past her to the manual control pillar for the cargo ramp, reaching up to drop the ramp. Before he could press the button, though, Miranda withdrew her pilfered sidearm and aimed it at his head, dropping the safety lever.
"Don't you touch that button, Cole," she said sharply, eyes narrowed over the front and rear sights of the pistol. Cole looked over his shoulder, glaring back at her. "I don't want to have to kill you, and by consequence kill Edward, in order to take your ship over and escape, but so help me God I will."
Edward's fingers were very careful sliding over to his harness to unbuckle the restraints, calculating the best method to take Miranda down without risking Cole being shot. Despite the constant sarcasm and aggravation, he'd become very fond of his fearless captain, and the last thing he wanted to do was try to find another companion who wasn't going to kill him and sell his parts on the gray market. Before he had a chance to do any of this, the console beeped a notification, indicating they were being hailed. Miranda motioned to the pilot's chair with her pistol. Cole stared her down for a moment, before the game of chicken ended; he blinked. Cursing under his breath, he hurried back over to the pilot's chair and dropped back down, responding.
"This is the ISS Hound. Go ahead with your transmission," he replied, dropping a professional guise over the tension on the command deck.
"ISS Hound, this is Krixus Control and Observation. You are not cleared for launch," the voice on the other end of the line began. "Power down your engines and lower your ramp. We're aware that you have Lieutenant Commander Rackham aboard. She is wanted for questioning by the Naval Intelligence Division, as are you and your co-pilot. Return to the facility at once."
Cole stared at the command console for a second. Miranda tucked her pistol back into the small of her back, staring daggers at the back of Cole's head. Edward powered up the active defense systems as Cole hit the button to respond to the last message. Before he spoke, he shot Miranda a look, indicating he didn't need the inevitable I-told-you-so that was no doubt coming.
"Negative, Krixus Control. We are not aware of any such questioning, and we were told we were free to leave," he said. "If you have official documentation of an investigation, please forward a notice to our company email, which can be found on our extranet page." Without another word, he grabbed the steering handle and pulled up. The Hound lurched as it shot up off the ground much faster than it wanted to, groaning in protest. Still, Cole kept the wheel steady and began ascending from the atmosphere at a steep angle. Miranda clung to the back of the seats, nearly losing her footing as they shot up toward space.
"ISS Hound, this is Krixus Control. If you do not land immediately, you will be cons-" said the traffic controller on the other end of the transmission, before Cole cut it off.
"Boring conversation anyway," he said, laughing a little bit before looking at Edward. "Ed, we're probably going to have company, so stay on point."
"You realize if they scramble fighters to intercept us, we're done for," Edward said, keeping his optical sensors peeled to the forward windows and the threat display he had pulled up. So far, there was no sign that they were being pursued. There was no ground-based bombardment from mass accelerator cannons. Aside from the ominous transmission from ground control, there was no indication of anything else other than they had left without telling anybody, and they didn't like it. As they broke the stratosphere and approached the edge of the atmosphere, they were alone. "Where are we jumping to, Cole?"
"Let's take the long way around to Typhon. Hopefully we can board up with Ben for a day or two while we get our bearings," he said. Edward gave him a nod and calculated the jump vector through the navicomputer. As soon as they were sufficiently clear of the planet behind them, Edward activated the gravdrive, shooting them into the safety of space. Cole turned his chair around, looking right up at Miranda. "Now you get to explain to me why I turned us into persons of interest for Naval Intelligence, and why the hell you pointed a gun at me."
Wow. So not only did Miranda pull a gun on Cole, she basically kidnapped the two of them and commandeered their ship. Or did she? Hopefully the next chapter clears up what is surely just a little misunderstanding between them. Follow my blog for future chapters and other short stories and non-fiction work. Upvotes, resteems, and comments are always appreciated!
