“Can they see our probes and know we are here?” Elana asked.
“Maybe,” I said, “or they could think it was space trash. Paula and Kasta, how are we--”
“Still working on it!” Paula answered with a stressed laugh. “I love you, but if you ask again in the next minute, I’m gonna lose my shit!”
“Understood.” I forced myself to laugh, but my shoulders were one big knot, and the beast in my stomach was growling with frustration. It was one thing to face an enemy in combat, but we were just sitting ducks here, and all we could hope for was them not to notice us.
“I have the course plotted for the next sector,” Zea said. “We’ll be ready to go as soon as the hole is patched.”
“Thanks,” I said, and the hacker nodded.
“They are moving again,” Juliette said. “Still haven’t engaged hyperdrives, so I dunno what’s going on.”
“Let’s think it through,” I said. “If it is Jotnar or Waymund, then they might be moving slow for fear of being attacked. What other possibilities are there?”
“It might be scavengers,” Juliette said. “This is kind of a major thoroughfare. Again, I find it highly unlikely that they would have appeared just now, but they weren’t close to our position, and if this was either clan returning for a cleanup mission, they would have just popped out of their drive a lot closer.”
“We might be okay if it is scavengers,” I said. “There is plenty of loot here for them, and they won’t want to fight. We can let them know we’ll be leaving soon, and then they can have--”
“They hyperdrived--” Juliette shouted, and the ship materialized right in front of our view screen. The Jotnar cruiser’s scanners screamed out an alarm, and then the tag of the enemy ship scrolled down the screen in puke yellow lettering. It was a heavy cruiser class, but my eyes bypassed the technical details until they settled on the maker and ID tag.
Elaka Nota.
“Shit!” we all screamed as I twisted my cannon controls toward the larger ship.
“Our fucking towline is still--” Juliette started to shout.
“I will remove it!” Eve shouted loud enough to make my ears hurt.
“Adam, don’t fire!” Juliette screamed again, and my finger froze over the trigger. “They are trying to communicate with us.”
“What?” I growled as I struggled against the beast’s desire to lay waste to my enemy.
“Should we accept the communication?” Juliette asked. “Their weapons are pointed at the corvette, not at you guys.”
“Fuck,” I growled as my finger trembled. “Maybe they don’t know what is going on?”
“They might not see us,” Paula hissed. “I can’t see their ship. They are on the other side.”
“Can you patch their communications through both of our ships?”
“Uhhh, maybe,” Juliette said. “Well, I can just set my transponder on sensitive so you can hear what they say through the speakers. You won’t be able to talk directly to them.”
“Okay,” I growled. “They should just be attacking, but they must want something. Let’s try to see what it is. Best case, they give us some time to patch the hull and then we escape.”
“Uhhh, yeah. I guess I can try to buy us some--”
“I will speak with them,” Eve said. “Accept the communications. No video.”
“You got it,” Juliette said, and then I heard a faint beep.
Then there was silence for a few moments, and Zea and I both looked at each other.
“Eight Six - A, are your video communication systems working?” a woman asked.
“Who am I speaking with?” Eve asked.
“Turn on your video feed,” the voice replied.
“Why are you requesting our video feed?” Eve asked. “Are we in your territory, Elaka Nota? Our scanners do not indicate anyone has laid claim to this system. Therefore, we claim first rights over this salvage.”
“We do not care about your salvage, Gray Horizon. We are looking for two fugitive criminals,” the female voice said. “We believe they are on your ship. Prepare to be boarded.”
“No,” Eve said calmly. “What right do you have to board us? Who are these criminals you are searching for? How could they be on our ship?”
“We have a right to board you because we have ten heavy plasma cannons and twelve light plasma cannons along with forty fighter drones and pulse shields. You have four light cannons and no shields. We are looking for the criminals known as Eve and Adam. They are on your ship. We will move to your starboard side to board. Do not attempt to make any movements with your corvette. Instruct your crew to be in the hold disarmed and on their knees, and we will allow them to live after we have retrieved the criminals.”
“Okay,” Eve replied. “We will wait for you in our hold.”
“Thank you,” the other woman replied, and I heard a beep as the connection ended.
“Why the fuck did you agree?” Juliette groaned.
“There is no other choice,” Eve said. “Unless you think we can take them in combat.”
“Uhhh,” Juliette sighed. “It would be tough.”
“Is the towline still attached?” I asked. “I can’t really see it on my--”
“I will remove it,” Eve said. “I can use my power--”
“No,” I interrupted her. “I have a better idea. Paula and Kasta, can you get inside of the hole?”
“Uhhh, yeah, but we are in the middle of patching it, we just need--”
“I’m going to need you to duck inside when I give you the signal.”
“Okay, but--”
“Juliette, it’s time for you to show us how good of a pilot you are.”
“Oh reeeeeealllyyy?” she purred. “I feel another insane Adam plan coming up. What do you have in mind, Kitty-boy?”
“Hey!,” Zea squeaked, “that’s what--”
“We are going to tie them up with the tow line,” I said. “Then we are going to drag them into the shrapnel.”
There was silence on the transponder for a few moments, and then Aasne cleared her throat. “Won’t they just shoot us when we try to--”
“The corvette is fast,” I began. “Juliette is going to wind it around the Elaka Nota’s nose, and each of our ships will be pressed up against its hull.”
“But won’t it just mean that we’ll get fucked up by the trash?” Zea asked.
“No,” I said. “Here is what is going to happen: They are going to freak out and try to engage their thrusters once they realize we are too close for them to shoot, then we’ll point them into the field of trash. As soon as we are aimed correctly, Eve will use her powers to release both hooks of the towline, and then they will throttle into the mess. There are dozens of missiles floating around in there, we’ll shoot them with our cannons, they will go off and either take out the heavy cruiser’s forcefield at the least, or destroy the entire ship at the most.”
“This plan is insane,” Juliette laughed. “I love it!”
“Uhh,” Zea said as we both stared at the Elaka Nota ship drifting toward the corvette. “If we are connected at the rear, do I need to pilot this cruiser also and?--”
“Yeah,” I said. “You’ll need to make it work.”
“I’ll tell you what to do,” Juliette said. “Your ship isn’t as graceful as the corvette, so I’ll just have you hold thrusters while I do the dancing.
“Yeahhhhh, we are wiggling in the hole now,” Kasta said. “You people are crazy.”
“It will be difficult for me to remove both hooks at the same time,” Eve said. “But I will try.”
“You need to do it,” I replied as calmly as I could. “Or the plan won’t work, and we’ll all die.”
“It will be done then, my love,” Eve whispered.
“They are getting closer,” Juliette said. “When do you want to start this?”
“Hmmmm,” I said as I studied the heavy cruiser. It was an extra forty meters longer than the ship Zea, Paula, Kasta, and I were on, but that made it almost twice the size of the corvette. “Wait until they get into docking position, then they won’t be able to disengage as easily.
“If you want to wait that long, I’m going to have Zea make the first move,” Juliette said.
“Me? I thought you just said that I only have to engage my--”