Heroes Die Young

Heroes Die Young - Chapter 2

I shoved my Mark II blaster into its holster and plopped down in my Captain’s chair as Jeanie gave us an update. “The cruisers are approaching weapons range.”

Our guest sat down in the co pilot’s seat, and stared at the viewscreen with bitter anger. My ship’s airlock disengaged from the freighter with a loud clunk while my attention was on the sensor screen to my left. It wouldn’t be long until those cruisers were right on top of us.

“Get us out of here, Jeanie. Pump up the background noise.” The larger sensor reading of the Rulusian freighter should have been enough to shield us from view. At least I hoped so, because my ship wouldn’t last long against two warships.

The woman kept her gaze on the viewscreen. “Background noise?”

The impulse jets fired, a muffled sequences of hisses coming from all around us. Then the aft engines lit off for a few moments to gain some distance from the freighter. “We alter our emitted radiation levels so they can’t tell us from the rest of space.”

“As long as they don’t have windows.”

I shrugged and looked at the weapon controls panel, centered between the two chairs. My proton cannons were fully charged, but there were only two rockets in my weapons bay. Being outnumbered and outgunned was not my idea of a good time, so this plan needed to work.

I checked with Jeanie. “Is it working?”

“The cruisers are within weapons range.”

And we were still in one piece, which was good news for a change.

“Zoom in.”

Jeanie obeyed and I saw both cruisers and the freighter clearly.

The Torian cruisers were small for their class, about a quarter kilpar long, and elliptical, with two engine pods mounted awkwardly around the aft quarter of the ship, a true testament to non-aesthetic design. Though they looked ugly, I was certain they didn’t lack in functionality.

They broke off into a side-by-side formation and gained speed while we watched. Jeanie gave us a play-by-play account. “The cruisers’ weapons arrays are on-line. They are commencing their attack run.”

I watched while the two jetted along the length of the freighter, firing at will. Energy beams and projectiles struck all sections of the derelict ship. They made no move to try and board the vessel, their sole intent being its destruction. I glanced at my reluctant traveling companion out of the corner of my eye. The freighter went through a slow, merciless death, before the failing structure finally collapsed and imploded. She flinched as if she was being killed herself.

Debris floated away from the scene of the crime as the cruisers made wide turns and headed back toward the distant planet. Their assault on a defenseless, and mostly crewless, ship had been little more than a training exercise for any semi-competent attackers.

I turned to our guest and noticed the red jumpsuit which clung to her body. “I guess you’ll be coming with us.” She said nothing as I offered my hand and continued, “Aston West.”

She spoke bitterly and didn’t bother with the social niceties. “Rione Sc’lari.”

“So, for my own benefit, can you tell me what you were doing with so much illegal cargo on-board?” My gaze fell upon the disintegrator cannon in her lap and a new uneasiness set in.

“No.” Her head whipped around, sinister green eyes burning into me as her long black hair swung out of place. Small ridges were revealed on the left side of her face. I’d never seen such a thing and was intrigued, despite the fact she’d just tried to kill me.