The Stellar Wild - Chapter 5
In Chapter 4, Cole, Edward, and their charter fare had just got underway, but not everything is peachy-keen on board the Hound. Now we find out exactly where Lieutenant Commander Rackham has sent our fearless duo, and what they're going to find there.
Four jumps and 12 solar hours later, the Hound dropped back to sublight speeds at the destination plotted by Lieutenant Commander Miranda Rackham.
More like "lieutenant commander of being a bitch", Cole thought to himself, making a face as he sent out a near-distance scanner ping. They were in the Nether now; this was prime pirate territory, and the chances of them meeting a gruesome end at the hands of some particularly sadistic raiders were high. Edward said nothing, running secondary diagnostics on all of the outboard weapon systems to make sure that they could hold their own in a fight if they needed to. The scan came back clear, except for one unknown craft sending out a distress relay ping at a regular interval.
"Skies are clear, Commander," Cole said absently, straining his eyes to try making out the silhouette of the craft they were here to find. Miranda shifted her weight from her left leg to her right, her arms cross over her chest.
"Hail them. See if they respond," she said. Edward shot a glance to Cole, who tightened his jaw. Much as he disliked taking orders from some NID taskmaster, he obliged her. The relay ping was displaying the ship's information and serial number; its designation was RMS Dutybound.
"RMS Dutybound, this is ISS Hound. Please respond, over," Cole said over the channel. Nothing greeted them but silence. He furrowed his brow, and repeated the message. Still nothing. Miranda sighed, shaking her head as she turned to head back to her bunk.
"Swing alongside of it and get ready to dock. I need to assess the craft and figure out why they're not responding," she said over her shoulder, disappearing up the stairs into the corridor.
"Great, now we're a boarding party," Cole spat, unbuckling himself from his seat and standing up. "Guess I'll accompany the Queen onto the ship. Stay here at the controls, Ed. If things go sideways, there's no one I trust more to make a quick getaway. Except me, of course," he said, snickering a little and flashing his android companion a lopsided grin. The humor didn't reach his eyes, though. They both knew what likely waited for Cole and Miranda on the other side of that airlock; if a ship was adrift in pirate space, it was likely the crew had been killed or captured. Worse still, it may have been left as a lure for some unsuspecting pilot, investigating the distress beacon to offer aid.
Well, if today's the day you die, at least Ed gets the ship and you manage to do something good with your life, he mused, climbing up the stairwell and passing Miranda's bunk to the captain's quarters.
He punched in his security code, and the door unlatched, opening slowly. He made a mental note to repair the automated hinges; they didn't need twenty seconds to open and close all the way.
The captain's quarters on the Hound weren't much to speak of. Though it was twice the size of Miranda's bunk, it was still built with the military in mind; the original accommodations had been spartan, with an extended desk and a port to plug in a console, a fold-down bunk, and a small table for speaking with subordinates as the need arose. Though there was a little more floor space, it wasn't much. Over the years, he'd furnished it how he wanted it; the fold-down bed had been replaced with a frame welded to the floor and a foam mattress, the desk had been retrofitted with a filing cabinet, and he had a weapons rack installed behind where the table sat. He crossed the floor, heading to his weapons rack and retrieving a carbine and his pistol.
Miranda pulled her pistol out of her bag, checking it over and racking the slide to make sure it was loaded. She always traveled with her weapons on amber status; despite the numerous safety innovations that had transpired in the last couple of centuries in the field of personal firearms, discharges still happened. Better safe than yelled at, she had reasoned. She took the leg holster out of her pack and buckled it around her waist and upper thigh before holstering her sidearm. With her weapon retrieved, she headed back into the hallway, meeting Cole on the way.
"Preparing for a firefight?" She scoffed at him. Pirate territory or not, the likelihood that they would encounter a raiding party was low; if they were waiting in ambush, they would have been ambushed already. Cole shot her a look.
"Look, I don't know how often you've flown out here, but trust me; I've spent more time out here than I've ever wanted to," he said, striding down the corridor and motioning for her to follow. "You have no idea what's going to be on the other side of that airlock, and I'd rather be safe than dead." He climbed down the stairwell quickly, walking back to the pilot and co-pilot's seats. Edward was already moving the ship into position, and, now that they were closer, they could see that there had been no damage to the exterior of the ship. Probably threatened to blast them into dust to board them, Cole thought, clenching his jaw. A few moments later, Edward had positioned the ship alongside the Dutybound and docked with the starboard airlock.
"Be careful. Both of you," Edward said, turning to look at both of them.
Cole gave him a nod before he made his way back up the stairs and to the primary airlock. Miranda looked at Edward curiously, as if the notion of some stranger wishing her well was entirely alien to her, before she, too, turned to head out. She made her way up another set of stairs to the second deck's central corridor. This one was wider, made to accommodate larger groups of Marines moving from the armory that was once on the far end to the airlock for boarding missions. She found Cole at the exterior airlock, one hand on the pistol grip of his carbine, the other tapping impatiently against his left leg as he looked at the readout panel next to the door.
"Prelim scans don't indicate pathogens or chemicals in the air, so it's safe to breath," he said to her, eyes turning to the small port window on the door. The airlock door attached to the Dutybound slid open, and the panel beeped, indicating pressure was equalized between the two environments and it was safe to proceed. Steeling himself, Cole punched the button beside the panel. Miranda set her hand on the handle of her sidearm as the airlock door hissed.
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If you're just jumping into the story this chapter, check out the previous chapters in the series:
The Stellar Wild - Chapter 1
The Stellar Wild - Chapter 2
The Stellar Wild - Chapter 3
The Stellar Wild - Chapter 4