Chapter 15: Boarded

Stay calm Brian, Ship is down and we have been boarded. What do I do?

I was hiding as multiple pirates were moving about our vessel. They were armed and dangerous. But where were they headed?

The direction they had came from was the airlock, and if they carried along the corridor, they would find the stairs to other decks. I could not hide here long, they would eventually find the rest of our crew. I had to do something.

My mind was racing, trying to think of something. I got up and moved towards the corridor. As I did so, a pirate arrived right in front of me.

I think we were both surprised, but he was faster. He drew his weapon and fired at me, point blank. In an instant, a deadly blast came from his weapon. My personal shield popped into existence and the blast was reflected back at him. He was dead before he hit the deck.

I was in shock. I was glad that the new shield worked. If it was a choice between him and me, I’d choose him. And it was the pirate who set his weapon to a lethal setting. If it was set on stun, he would still be alive. So his death wasn’t my fault.

I worried about the noise. It could bring more pirates. I did not know how many blasts my shield could reflect before it ran out of power. What if there were more than enough pirates to deplete my shield? Scary thoughts!

So far nothing, it was silent here. I grabbed the corpse and dragged it back to behind the sofa where I had recently been hiding. It would do for now. I picked up his weapon and returned to the corridor. What to do next?

I decided I had to try and stop more pirates getting on board. If they kept coming, we would be overwhelmed and there would be no chance. I moved quickly along the corridor to the airlock. It was open at our end, and there was an umbilical connected to the outside. It formed a tunnel for more pirates to come over to our vessel.

I pushed the airlock door closed, and then I looked for a way to seal it. Previously aboard the Trading Post, I welded a door shut with a low level blast. I looked at the pirate weapon and picked a setting I thought would do it. I fired at an angle at the edge of the airlock door in the hope it would not bounce back and hit me. I did a few spot welds around the edge of the door, hoping that would hold them back for a while.

It was time to let the others know. I called on my communicator. “Jem, Koluna, Laine. We have been boarded! There is an unknown number of pirates aboard Ship armed with deadly blasters. I have found out our new shields can protect against their weapons. Don’t take chances. I am coming.”

“Understood. Crap! Out.” replied Jem.

I raised the blaster and moved along the corridor to where the stairs were.

Which way should I go? If I went up two levels, I’d find Jem and Koluna. If I went down two levels, I’d find Laine. Who do I protect? This was a tough one.

At the stairs I could not hear where the pirates went. We were down one and hopefully no more would come for a while. I decided that repairing Ship was crucial, and I had to protect Laine.

I went down the stairs slowly and as quietly as I could with a blaster in my hand. I made it out on level two. We had left the door open to the Computer Systems area where Laine was. Ahead of me were two pirates, they were closing in on Laine with weapons drawn.

I wasted no time. I fired on the pirate on the right. I hit him square in the back. He dropped his weapon as he fell down. Laine was surprised at the noise. The other pirate turned around to see who had shot his friend. I fired again before he had a chance and hit him in the chest area. He dropped to his knees and fell forward onto his face.

“Laine!” I said, “quick, come over here.”

Laine got up and moved towards me as I knelt beside the downed pirates. I checked to see if either was still alive.

“Laine, this one is alive. I need you to translate to him. Tell him we need the code phrase to re-start our vessel’s AI. I can get him to our medical unit and save his life once it is up again,” I said. She nodded, then said something in Lagaid.

The pirate was fading, but he whispered something in Laine’s ear. She jumped up and rushed back to the console. She was typing furiously.

“It worked! The phrase triggered an anti-virus to clean out and re-start the AI. It may take time to re-start everything,” said Laine.

I picked up a blaster from the downed pirates. I had no plans to take them to medical. I gave the blaster to Laine, “Take this and monitor as it re-starts. I have to flush out more pirates.”

She took the blaster and smiled, “You know I owe you another life-debt.”

I sighed. At least she was positive about the experience. Some beings would freak out with all that happened to her.

I returned to the corridor and checked the rest of this level. There was no sign of pirates. I suspected the others went up to the main bridge. Since Laine was safe, I had to go up to find the others.

As I stepped onto the stairs, I wondered if the shields and sensors worked against attacks from above. I had not asked Ship for it, so there was no reason to expect it. The pirates could fire down at me as I climbed up. I did not have time to worry. I climbed upwards. I tried to make as little noise as I could. No sense in advertising my arrival.

As I passed each level, I considered checking for pirates, but my intuition was telling me they went to the main bridge. I kept climbing. I was looking forward to getting power to the elevators again. This was getting tedious!

Finally, I got to the top level and stepped out quietly. I could hear noise ahead of me towards the main bridge.

I moved towards the opening that lead into the main bridge. There were four pirates, weapons drawn, surrounding Jem and Koluna.

I walked in with my weapon pointed at the nearest pirate.

“Drop your weapons,” I said. They all turned their heads to see who it was.

“No. You drop yours, or your two friends here die,” said a mean looking pirate with a thick accent.

I did not have too much time to assess things. The pirates did not have their weapons pressed against Jem and Koluna. I figured there was enough room for the shields to function. I guessed the pirates had not yet discovered our personal shields. I was prepared to take the risk.

I fired at the closest pirate and he fell to the deck. About the same time two of the pirates fired at Jem and Koluna. Their shields popped into action and the deadly blasts bounced back at the pirates. Both collapsed.

The last pirate was shocked at the sudden events and was about to drop his weapon and surrender. I did not want prisoners, and I had decided he was of no value. We already got the key phrase. I quickly shot him in the chest and I watched him drop to the deck to join his fellow pirates. I expected a reaction from Koluna, but I didn’t care right now. I was cleaning out the vermin. Perhaps later.

“Are you two all right?” I asked.

“Yes. How is Laine?” replied Jem. She seemed calm and collected, a quality I appreciated right now. Koluna looked rather unsettled in comparison.

“Laine is working on re-booting Ship. A pirate was most helpful to provide a key phrase to deactivate the virus. Ship should be restored soon,” I said.

“Good! What about the pirates?” asked Jem.

“They came aboard through the airlock on level five. I sealed the door for now. I need to check other levels for pirates, although I think we got them all,” I replied.

“Go do that. If Ship is not restored, we will need to fortify the airlock door,” said Jem.

I left to check each level.

I worked my way down the levels, checking for pirates. I found none. By the time I got down to the shuttle bay I had run out of places to check.

“Captain, I have checked each level. There are no further pirates aboard,” I said into my communicator.

“Meet me on level five. We need to double check the airlock is secure,” replied Jem.

“On my way. Out,” I said. I begun my way back up the stairs.

I just reached level five when I noticed the lights flicker. I stepped out into the corridor and an alarm sounded. This was something new.

“Intruder alert! Intruder alert!” said Ship.

“You are a little late. We dealt with the intruders Ship,” I said. Jem came out of the stairwell into the corridor beside me at this point.

“Ship, what is going on?” asked Jem.

“Intruder alert! Intruders on level three, five and seven!” said Ship.

I raised the blaster I had and moved along to the airlock. It was still sealed.