"Well that went better than expected." Lissa leaned back in her chair, hands behind her head. "I thought Scathach would try to eat us for sure."
"Don't worry," said Mims. "I'm sure he'll try to kill us eventually." He handed Lissa a bag full of credit chits. "Do me a favor, find out how much he gave us?"
Lissa took the bag as the Captain sat down. She frowned as she examined it. "Is this made of...?"
"Human skin," said the human. "Yes."
"Gross." She found a clear space near her console and dumped the bag. "Are we waiting here til they leave, or are we just going?"
"Going," said Mims. "The Warmaster said he wouldn't eat anyone, and he strikes me as a man of his word." He put on his helmet and activated flight control. "More to the point, the Tegarns can't wait. Whoever took them already has a four hour head start."
"Oh. Right." Lissa grimaced as she put on her helmet. "Can't believe I forgot that."
Yvian grimaced, herself. She hadn't forgotten about the crew of the Niroco, but she'd pushed the worry for them into the back of her mind while they dealt with the Vrrl. Now the fear came rushing back. Guilt came with it. Yvian knew perfectly well she'd done what she could, that the flerg family had made their own choices. She knew they'd had no choice but to deal with the Vrrl, for the sake of the people on Migo's Shipyard. But when she thought of that little girl, outfitted with slave implants...
"Don't stress it too much," said the Captain. "The threat of being eaten is very distracting." He checked to see if everyone was wearing their helmets. "Initiating jump."
The soothing voice of the ship's computer counted the charging cycle, then blue light flared through the viewports. The Jump Effect gave the impression of fast motion, though what exactly happens when you enter a Gate was a mystery that had yet to be solved. Thirty seconds later they were ejected from the East Gate in the Gilry Sector.
"Lissa, system check," ordered the Captain. "Yvian, run a scan. See if our missing ships are still in the sector."
"All systems green," Lissa reported.
"No sign of the Meat Missile," Yvian reported. She peered at the sensor screen. The Niroco was where they'd left it. Adrift, no power readings. She sorted through the streams of ships flowing through the sector. It still bothered her sometimes, how there could be so many hundreds or thousands of ships passing through, and almost no-one would answer a distress call.
"Acknowledged," said Mims. "Setting a course for the Niroco. Estimated time of arrival in..." he finished typing the sequence. "Eighty seven minutes."
Yvian saw no sign of any pirates, or Militia for that matter. She ran a vector sweep, checking to see if anyone had changed course to intercept the Encounter. The Freedom Republic Pirates had placed a massive bounty on the Captain's head, and twice now they'd had privateers try to collect. Satisfied no one was gunning for them, she ran a second sweep for the Niroco.
"Captain," Yvian got his attention. "We've got a small wing headed for the Niroco. Four fighters and a tug. Looks like a salvage crew."
"Scavengers," Mims nodded. "How soon will they get there?"
Yvian checked. "Forty three minutes."
"Ok. I'll talk to them." Mims opened a hailing frequency. "Attention vessels. This is Captain Mims of the Random Encounter. The Niroco is mine. Please change course."
"Piss off, grinder," one of the ships replied. "This is our salvage."
"The Niroco is not salvage," Mims said. "It's my ship. Change course now."
"Fuck you. We saw it first."
"I don't care when you saw it," a deadly chill entered the human's voice. "I own the ship. I am a licensed privateer, and you are about to engage in an act of piracy. Change course, or I will blow you out of the sky."
"Blow us out of the sky? There are four of us you plat!" The ship fired its weapons, a meaningless display since there wasn't anything close enough to hit. "We'll fuck you like I fucked your mother."
"Shut the fuck up Donii!" A new voice, coming from the ship in the lead. "Don't you know who that is?" The transmission wasn't directed at the Encounter, but Lissa was monitoring all their comms. The lead ship hailed and said, "Sorry about my brother, Mr. Madlad, sir. Captain, I mean. He's an idiot. We're uh, we're changing course now. Uh, have a, have a nice day, Captain." The ships changed course, heading back towards the South Gate.
The rest of the trip was tense, but uneventful. The Random Encounter came to a stop one hundred meters from the Niroco. The Captain insisted they run a deep scan of the ship, searching for life signs, explosives, and booby traps. They found nothing, but Mims decided they wouldn't risk docking.
"Feeling paranoid, are we?" Lissa quipped.
"There's a price on my head," Mims reminded her. "And nearly every human in the verse wants to kill me. Paranoid is just another word for smart."
Mims and Yvian made their way to an airlock and jumped out into the void. They jet packed over to the derelict freighter and landed on the hull just above the bridge. The Captain cut their way in, and they dropped down, weapons ready.
It was too dark to see. Yvian activated NIGHTEYE. She didn't know how it worked, but suddenly everything looked well lit and easy to see. The Captain threw a hull patch over the hole he'd made. He glanced her way, and she gave him a nod. Quickly, quietly, they made their way to the engine room.
The reactor was still damaged, but didn't seem any worse than when they'd left it. Mims turned it on. Lights flickered, then turned on. Gravity resumed. Yvian deactivated NIGHTEYE and her magnetic boots. The Captain observed the reactor for a few seconds more, and they returned to the bridge.
The computer had been wiped. Yvian let out a quiet curse. "They did a factory reset."
Mims cursed.
"I can retrieve the data, but it will take time."
"Oh that's right," Mims said, relieved. "You used to do computer stuff. How long will it take?"
"I dunno. A couple hours?" Yvian connected her wrist console to the ship's computer. "Retrieving the data will be simple enough, but it will take a while to sift through it and find the sensor readings."
"Alright. I'm going to have a look around the ship." Mims tucked his assault rifle into his shoulder. "Keep your guard up and your weapons close. I don't think there's anyone here," He stalked off the bridge. "But it doesn't hurt to be careful."
Yvian paid attention to her feet as she worked. They hadn't repressurized the ship, so she'd have to rely on vibrations to tell if someone approached. Lissa had joked about the Captain's paranoia, but Yvian knew they had enemies. Enemies with stealth tech that scanners couldn't pick up. Mims had survived for over thirty years in an empire that hated him, hunted by his own kind and nearly everyone else. If he said to be careful, then careful she would be.
Mims came back while she was still sorting through the data. She could hear him frowning. "The cargo's still here, but the crew quarters have been stripped. Hard to know exactly what's been taken."
"I've got the sensor logs," she told him. "I just have find the right file."
"Ok."
A few minutes later, she found it. Mims looked over her shoulder as the screen showed the Meat Missile pulling away from the Niroco. The sensors didn't show any new ships approaching. The Meat Missile flew over to one of the other captured pirate ships. It opened fire.
"Damn," the human muttered.
"Are they..." Yvian frowned. "Is that the Tegarns?"
"They're stripping the shields," Mims confirmed. "Looks like they're stealing our ships."
"That's..." Yvian leaned back, thinking. "Well. I guess it's good news."
"No Yvian," said the Captain. His voice carried resignation, and a sadness that set off alarm bells. "It's not good news at all."
"Sure it is," she pressed on. "They weren't taken. They're safe."
"No," said the human. "They died ten hours ago." He sighed. "And we're the ones who have to tell them."