My heart was racing as I raised my hands, Sarah did the same. And that blonde woman standing halfway up our ramp raised her hands up too, her eyes were wide and she looked even more frightened than I felt.
Her two companions stayed quiet but they held their hands out to the sides as they quietly observed the situation.
Rebecca held her hands out to the sides as well as she sighed, "Jenny? A little more warning next time would be nice."
"Sorry captain," the android replied as she held her hands out as well. "I didn't pick up any comm traffic from them, and they came in at ground level between the other ships so sensors didn't detect them until they were ontop of us."
Lebeau's thugs were already approaching, but they were moving cautiously and with their weapons aimed. I was no expert, but I could guess they had some military training from the way they moved. Four of them held back and took up a position a couple meters in front and to the right of the ramp, where they had a good view and a clear shot at everyone.
The other two moved closer, they guided our first three unexpected guests to stand on the left alongside the ramp, then they came into the hold. One kept his weapon aimed at the boss, the other one was watching me and Sarah, and had his eyes on Jenny too.
The guy with his gun on Rebecca spoke up, but he wasn't talking to us. He was wearing a commlink headset and he reported, "We're all secure here boss."
The armoured grav-sled touched down again and three more people emerged. Mr. Lebeau was in the middle, with another thug to either side of him. These two looked tougher and meaner, I figured they were his bodyguards. One of them was holding an assault rifle, the other had a submachine-gun in his hands, and both had pistols on their belts.
Lebeau and his bodyguards came up the ramp, heading straight for our captain. At the same time the first two thugs pulled back as far as the airlock doors, with one on either side keeping us all covered.
Lebeau had an angry sneer on his face as he walked right up to Rebecca. He stopped in front of her then his expression wavered slightly as he looked a bit confused, "You look younger, what the hell did you do to yourself?"
"New hairstyle," the boss shrugged. Then she demanded, "Why are you on my ship Lebeau?"
His scowl returned and he snapped his fingers as he gestured to the bodyguard with the rifle. My heart skipped a beat as the man raised his weapon and aimed it square at the middle of my chest. He was only a couple meters away from me and it wasn't like he was going to miss at that range.
"I want my cargo, bitch!" Lebeau growled. "Right now! Or the fox dies."
Rebecca seemed to back down at once, she kept her hands up and out in front of her as she replied in a nervous but conciliatory tone, "Ok ok! Relax! I've got your stuff right here."
She gestured at what I thought was a random container near me and Sarah, then took a step towards it. That put her directly in front of the guy who was aiming at me, like she was shielding me with her own body. And at that moment she lashed out with her genetically-enhanced speed and strength.
In one fluid motion she broke the bodyguard's arm and took the rifle from him, then turned it around and let loose with a burst of gunfire into the chest of Lebeau's other bodyguard. And just like that all hell seemed to break loose.
My ears were ringing from the clatter of gunfire, and my heart was racing from the near threat of death. Sarah grabbed me and the two of us dove for cover behind the containers next to us on the starboard side of the hold, while I saw Jenny duck for cover behind our grav-sled. Sarah was behind me with her back against the wall, she had an arm around my waist sort of hugging me to her chest as she kept me hidden with her behind the containers.
Meanwhile Rebecca dropped to one knee as she squeezed off another short burst, hitting the thug who was standing guard by the airlock doors on the port side. Then she moved to the left, around the other side of the grav-sled.
By that point the four guys outside and the remaining thug on the starboard side by the airlock had all started shooting, while Lebeau hit the deck. Even over the sound of the guns I could hear him shouting and screaming for his men to save him.
That tall brunette woman grabbed the unarmed blonde and shoved her down and out of sight under the ramp, while the redheaded guy pulled out his chunky pistol and dropped to one knee next to the ramp, using it as some partial cover. Then the brunette drew her gun and started shooting at Lebeau's people as well.
Me and Sarah kept our heads down as the inside of the hold was full of the rattle and clang of bullets slamming into the walls, shipping containers, and our grav-sled. That cacophony was answered by the louder staccato blasts of Rebecca firing her captured rifle. And there were more loud bangs from just outside, where that redheaded guy was firing his big chunky handgun.
I could still hear shooting from the thug on the starboard side by the airlock doors, he was probably only three or four meters away from where me and Sarah were hiding. I was positive he was shooting at Rebecca, she didn't have much cover as she'd crouched down near the left side of the grav-sled. If she was still there then she'd be partially exposed.
With shaking hands I pulled my pistol out. Vague memories from basic training a lifetime ago resurfaced as I cycled the action and clicked off the safety. I was trying to work up the courage to take a peek over the container to see if I had a clear view of the enemy, when Lebeau crawled into view to my left.
He was hunched down low and had a pistol clutched in his hand as he scrambled around from where he'd been at the front of the grav-sled. He ended up taking cover on the right side of the sled, which put him practically next to me. He was hiding only a couple meters away from us, and as he huddled up next to the side of the sled he finally noticed me and Sarah hiding behind the shipping container.
Our eyes met, and he sneered as he raised his gun up at us. I pointed mine at him, but I was acting on pure fear and adrenaline. I had no idea if I'd actually be able to shoot him.
There was still shooting going on around us but Lebeau raised his voice and shouted, "I've got your fox Piper! Give up, or I'll kill her myself!"
A couple more shots rang out, then everything seemed to go quiet after that. My heart was racing though as me and Lebeau sat there pointing guns at each other.
Part of me wanted to just pull the trigger. I was sure I'd hit him at this close range. But mostly I was terrified. Not just for me, but for Sarah too. If Lebeau started shooting he'd probably hit both of us.
Then I spotted movement out of the corner of my eye, from the back end of the grav-sled. Lebeau noticed it too, and we both turned at the same time to look. He and I both saw Rebecca as she leaned out from behind the grav-sled, and we both saw the pistol in her hand as the angry redhead already had her weapon aimed.
I closed my eyes just before Rebecca's shot rang out. Despite how much my ears hurt after all the noise I still heard Lebeau's gun clatter to the deck, followed by the sound of his body as it slumped down. My eyes stayed shut tight, but there wasn't any more shooting after that.
I heard Rebecca's footsteps as she approached, then felt her hand on mine and heard the soft click as she gently set the safety on my gun.
"It's over now," she said in a calm quiet voice. Her voice remained calm but there was some concern in it as she asked, "Are you two ok?"
"I think so boss," Sarah replied, while I nodded quietly.
From the direction of the ramp I heard an unfamiliar woman's voice call, "You girls got a medic on this boat?"
Rebecca patted me on the head and scritched my ears as she said softly, "You're up Amanda, time to get to work."
"Right," I responded as I opened my eyes and got to my feet. My gun went back into the holster as I quickly took in the scene.
Sarah and I were both unharmed, and Jenny appeared ok as well. There was blood on Rebecca's clothes but she wasn't acting injured so I wasn't sure if it was hers or not.
Lebeau was clearly dead. The hole over his right eye and the larger exit wound above his left ear left no doubt about that. The four men who'd boarded the ship with him were all either dead or injured. The only one still upright was the guy who's arm Rebecca broke. He was sitting on the deck with his back leaning against the front of our grav-sled, holding his arm cradled on his lap.
Outside the ship the other four gunmen were sprawled out on the ground, two of them were motionless, the other two were still breathing. And the armoured grav-sled was resting on the ground about fifteen meters away, its hatches were open and dark smoke was rising up from the interior. Two more bodies lay on the ground next to it.
Our three mystery guests were together on the left side of the ramp, the young blonde looked like she was in shock but I couldn't see any injuries on her. The red-haired man was sitting on the side of our ramp and I saw blood on him, he was definitely injured. And the tall brunette woman was standing next to the two of them, she appeared unhurt.
"I'm a medic," I called back as I moved to grab the first-aid kit next to the main airlock. I looked back at Sarah and asked, "Can you get my med-kit please? It's in the storage compartment on the main deck."
"On it!" my blonde girlfriend replied as she hurried to the starboard ladderway.
From that point my training pretty much took over. The shock, adrenaline, fear, everything else was secondary.
I double-checked my crewmates first, and out of the four of us only the captain had any injuries. She'd been hit by two HDLI slugs, one in the right hip and the other in her right side just above her waist. She was being stoic about it though and insisted she could wait, so I administered a half-dose of pain-killer then moved on.
The next group was the trio of strangers who'd been helping us, and while I moved on to them Rebecca got Jenny to help her gather up dropped weapons and get Lebeau and his men off our ship.
The tall brunette stranger claimed she was alright but I could see a graze on her left forearm, which I treated with wound-sealant. The blonde was unhurt, but she was trembling and hyperventilating slightly, in obvious shock.
The redheaded man was in worse shape. He caught an HDLI round in the left shoulder and another in the gut. He was conscious and talking, but in pain. I gave him a trauma-shot and an extra dose of pain-killer, and fortunately Sarah returned at that point with my med-kit.
I gave the blonde woman a mild sedative to help calm her down, then focused again on the injured man. It took me ten or twelve minutes to get all the larger bullet fragments out of his abdomen and shoulder, then I cauterized the internal bleeding. Finally I patched him up with wound sealant.
When I was finished with him I had a look at Lebeau's people.
The bodies had all been cleared out of the ship, there were seven of them laid in a row near the burning grav sled, including Lebeau himself. And there were four survivors in a group off to the right, two were laying down while the other two were sitting up. I gave them all a quick check and administered trauma shots and pain-killers as required.
That's when I noticed we had more company.
Two new armoured grav-sleds were parked a dozen meters away on the left, but these had official-looking Port Ecclestone markings on the sides. And a half dozen unfriendly-looking guys in body armour and wearing badges were standing around talking to Rebecca and that tall brunette woman.
Jenny was nowhere in sight, but Sarah was watching from the top of the Demeter's ramp so I moved to join her there.
"The authorities finally showed up," she commented as I stood next to her. "I don't think we're in trouble though?"
I frowned as I looked at her, "Not in trouble? There's a dozen dead and injured plus a wrecked grav-sled next to our ship! How are we not in trouble?"
Sarah shrugged, "I think they're categorizing it as a business dispute? Failed contract negotiations or something. I know it's weird, but you remember what Rebecca said about this planet."
Sure enough the boss and the local authorities seemed to come to some sort of agreement. We watched Rebecca head past us back into the ship, and I noticed she was starting to limp a bit. I figured now that the adrenaline had passed she was feeling the pain a little more acutely.
A minute later she limped back out and handed over a few bars to one of the guys in body armour. That seemed to satisfy them, as they all got back into their vehicles and left.
With them gone, our captain and that tall brunette woman came back to check on the rest of us.
"How's he doing?" the woman asked me, as she looked at her man.
"He should be ok," I replied. "He should probably spend a few days in bed, and it's going to take him a couple weeks to heal, but he ought to be fine."
Rebecca looked to the brunette and asked, "Do you want to get your man back to your ship?"
"Actually I think my boss would prefer if we got on with the introductions," the woman responded. "I'm Captain Tanya Nieves of the merchant vessel Persephone. Do you have somewhere we can all sit down and talk?"
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My heart was racing as I raised my hands, Sarah did the same. And that blonde woman standing halfway up our ramp raised her hands up too, her eyes were wide and she looked even more frightened than I felt.
Her two companions stayed quiet but they held their hands out to the sides as they quietly observed the situation.
Rebecca held her hands out to the sides as well as she sighed, "Jenny? A little more warning next time would be nice."
"Sorry captain," the android replied as she held her hands out as well. "I didn't pick up any comm traffic from them, and they came in at ground level between the other ships so sensors didn't detect them until they were ontop of us."
Lebeau's thugs were already approaching, but they were moving cautiously and with their weapons aimed. I was no expert, but I could guess they had some military training from the way they moved. Four of them held back and took up a position a couple meters in front and to the right of the ramp, where they had a good view and a clear shot at everyone.
The other two moved closer, they guided our first three unexpected guests to stand on the left alongside the ramp, then they came into the hold. One kept his weapon aimed at the boss, the other one was watching me and Sarah, and had his eyes on Jenny too.
The guy with his gun on Rebecca spoke up, but he wasn't talking to us. He was wearing a commlink headset and he reported, "We're all secure here boss."
The armoured grav-sled touched down again and three more people emerged. Mr. Lebeau was in the middle, with another thug to either side of him. These two looked tougher and meaner, I figured they were his bodyguards. One of them was holding an assault rifle, the other had a submachine-gun in his hands, and both had pistols on their belts.
Lebeau and his bodyguards came up the ramp, heading straight for our captain. At the same time the first two thugs pulled back as far as the airlock doors, with one on either side keeping us all covered.
Lebeau had an angry sneer on his face as he walked right up to Rebecca. He stopped in front of her then his expression wavered slightly as he looked a bit confused, "You look younger, what the hell did you do to yourself?"
"New hairstyle," the boss shrugged. Then she demanded, "Why are you on my ship Lebeau?"
His scowl returned and he snapped his fingers as he gestured to the bodyguard with the rifle. My heart skipped a beat as the man raised his weapon and aimed it square at the middle of my chest. He was only a couple meters away from me and it wasn't like he was going to miss at that range.
"I want my cargo, bitch!" Lebeau growled. "Right now! Or the fox dies."
Rebecca seemed to back down at once, she kept her hands up and out in front of her as she replied in a nervous but conciliatory tone, "Ok ok! Relax! I've got your stuff right here."
She gestured at what I thought was a random container near me and Sarah, then took a step towards it. That put her directly in front of the guy who was aiming at me, like she was shielding me with her own body. And at that moment she lashed out with her genetically-enhanced speed and strength.
In one fluid motion she broke the bodyguard's arm and took the rifle from him, then turned it around and let loose with a burst of gunfire into the chest of Lebeau's other bodyguard. And just like that all hell seemed to break loose.
My ears were ringing from the clatter of gunfire, and my heart was racing from the near threat of death. Sarah grabbed me and the two of us dove for cover behind the containers next to us on the starboard side of the hold, while I saw Jenny duck for cover behind our grav-sled. Sarah was behind me with her back against the wall, she had an arm around my waist sort of hugging me to her chest as she kept me hidden with her behind the containers.
Meanwhile Rebecca dropped to one knee as she squeezed off another short burst, hitting the thug who was standing guard by the airlock doors on the port side. Then she moved to the left, around the other side of the grav-sled.
By that point the four guys outside and the remaining thug on the starboard side by the airlock had all started shooting, while Lebeau hit the deck. Even over the sound of the guns I could hear him shouting and screaming for his men to save him.
That tall brunette woman grabbed the unarmed blonde and shoved her down and out of sight under the ramp, while the redheaded guy pulled out his chunky pistol and dropped to one knee next to the ramp, using it as some partial cover. Then the brunette drew her gun and started shooting at Lebeau's people as well.
Me and Sarah kept our heads down as the inside of the hold was full of the rattle and clang of bullets slamming into the walls, shipping containers, and our grav-sled. That cacophony was answered by the louder staccato blasts of Rebecca firing her captured rifle. And there were more loud bangs from just outside, where that redheaded guy was firing his big chunky handgun.
I could still hear shooting from the thug on the starboard side by the airlock doors, he was probably only three or four meters away from where me and Sarah were hiding. I was positive he was shooting at Rebecca, she didn't have much cover as she'd crouched down near the left side of the grav-sled. If she was still there then she'd be partially exposed.
With shaking hands I pulled my pistol out. Vague memories from basic training a lifetime ago resurfaced as I cycled the action and clicked off the safety. I was trying to work up the courage to take a peek over the container to see if I had a clear view of the enemy, when Lebeau crawled into view to my left.
He was hunched down low and had a pistol clutched in his hand as he scrambled around from where he'd been at the front of the grav-sled. He ended up taking cover on the right side of the sled, which put him practically next to me. He was hiding only a couple meters away from us, and as he huddled up next to the side of the sled he finally noticed me and Sarah hiding behind the shipping container.
Our eyes met, and he sneered as he raised his gun up at us. I pointed mine at him, but I was acting on pure fear and adrenaline. I had no idea if I'd actually be able to shoot him.
There was still shooting going on around us but Lebeau raised his voice and shouted, "I've got your fox Piper! Give up, or I'll kill her myself!"
A couple more shots rang out, then everything seemed to go quiet after that. My heart was racing though as me and Lebeau sat there pointing guns at each other.
Part of me wanted to just pull the trigger. I was sure I'd hit him at this close range. But mostly I was terrified. Not just for me, but for Sarah too. If Lebeau started shooting he'd probably hit both of us.
Then I spotted movement out of the corner of my eye, from the back end of the grav-sled. Lebeau noticed it too, and we both turned at the same time to look. He and I both saw Rebecca as she leaned out from behind the grav-sled, and we both saw the pistol in her hand as the angry redhead already had her weapon aimed.
I closed my eyes just before Rebecca's shot rang out. Despite how much my ears hurt after all the noise I still heard Lebeau's gun clatter to the deck, followed by the sound of his body as it slumped down. My eyes stayed shut tight, but there wasn't any more shooting after that.
I heard Rebecca's footsteps as she approached, then felt her hand on mine and heard the soft click as she gently set the safety on my gun.
"It's over now," she said in a calm quiet voice. Her voice remained calm but there was some concern in it as she asked, "Are you two ok?"
"I think so boss," Sarah replied, while I nodded quietly.
From the direction of the ramp I heard an unfamiliar woman's voice call, "You girls got a medic on this boat?"
Rebecca patted me on the head and scritched my ears as she said softly, "You're up Amanda, time to get to work."
"Right," I responded as I opened my eyes and got to my feet. My gun went back into the holster as I quickly took in the scene.
Sarah and I were both unharmed, and Jenny appeared ok as well. There was blood on Rebecca's clothes but she wasn't acting injured so I wasn't sure if it was hers or not.
Lebeau was clearly dead. The hole over his right eye and the larger exit wound above his left ear left no doubt about that. The four men who'd boarded the ship with him were all either dead or injured. The only one still upright was the guy who's arm Rebecca broke. He was sitting on the deck with his back leaning against the front of our grav-sled, holding his arm cradled on his lap.
Outside the ship the other four gunmen were sprawled out on the ground, two of them were motionless, the other two were still breathing. And the armoured grav-sled was resting on the ground about fifteen meters away, its hatches were open and dark smoke was rising up from the interior. Two more bodies lay on the ground next to it.
Our three mystery guests were together on the left side of the ramp, the young blonde looked like she was in shock but I couldn't see any injuries on her. The red-haired man was sitting on the side of our ramp and I saw blood on him, he was definitely injured. And the tall brunette woman was standing next to the two of them, she appeared unhurt.
"I'm a medic," I called back as I moved to grab the first-aid kit next to the main airlock. I looked back at Sarah and asked, "Can you get my med-kit please? It's in the storage compartment on the main deck."
"On it!" my blonde girlfriend replied as she hurried to the starboard ladderway.
From that point my training pretty much took over. The shock, adrenaline, fear, everything else was secondary.
I double-checked my crewmates first, and out of the four of us only the captain had any injuries. She'd been hit by two HDLI slugs, one in the right hip and the other in her right side just above her waist. She was being stoic about it though and insisted she could wait, so I administered a half-dose of pain-killer then moved on.
The next group was the trio of strangers who'd been helping us, and while I moved on to them Rebecca got Jenny to help her gather up dropped weapons and get Lebeau and his men off our ship.
The tall brunette stranger claimed she was alright but I could see a graze on her left forearm, which I treated with wound-sealant. The blonde was unhurt, but she was trembling and hyperventilating slightly, in obvious shock.
The redheaded man was in worse shape. He caught an HDLI round in the left shoulder and another in the gut. He was conscious and talking, but in pain. I gave him a trauma-shot and an extra dose of pain-killer, and fortunately Sarah returned at that point with my med-kit.
I gave the blonde woman a mild sedative to help calm her down, then focused again on the injured man. It took me ten or twelve minutes to get all the larger bullet fragments out of his abdomen and shoulder, then I cauterized the internal bleeding. Finally I patched him up with wound sealant.
When I was finished with him I had a look at Lebeau's people.
The bodies had all been cleared out of the ship, there were seven of them laid in a row near the burning grav sled, including Lebeau himself. And there were four survivors in a group off to the right, two were laying down while the other two were sitting up. I gave them all a quick check and administered trauma shots and pain-killers as required.
That's when I noticed we had more company.
Two new armoured grav-sleds were parked a dozen meters away on the left, but these had official-looking Port Ecclestone markings on the sides. And a half dozen unfriendly-looking guys in body armour and wearing badges were standing around talking to Rebecca and that tall brunette woman.
Jenny was nowhere in sight, but Sarah was watching from the top of the Demeter's ramp so I moved to join her there.
"The authorities finally showed up," she commented as I stood next to her. "I don't think we're in trouble though?"
I frowned as I looked at her, "Not in trouble? There's a dozen dead and injured plus a wrecked grav-sled next to our ship! How are we not in trouble?"
Sarah shrugged, "I think they're categorizing it as a business dispute? Failed contract negotiations or something. I know it's weird, but you remember what Rebecca said about this planet."
Sure enough the boss and the local authorities seemed to come to some sort of agreement. We watched Rebecca head past us back into the ship, and I noticed she was starting to limp a bit. I figured now that the adrenaline had passed she was feeling the pain a little more acutely.
A minute later she limped back out and handed over a few bars to one of the guys in body armour. That seemed to satisfy them, as they all got back into their vehicles and left.
With them gone, our captain and that tall brunette woman came back to check on the rest of us.
"How's he doing?" the woman asked me, as she looked at her man.
"He should be ok," I replied. "He should probably spend a few days in bed, and it's going to take him a couple weeks to heal, but he ought to be fine."
Rebecca looked to the brunette and asked, "Do you want to get your man back to your ship?"
"Actually I think my boss would prefer if we got on with the introductions," the woman responded. "I'm Captain Tanya Nieves of the merchant vessel Persephone. Do you have somewhere we can all sit down and talk?"
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