I sighed faintly at the sight of a stall that contained several shelves of paper books. Cynthia already had half a dozen books in her bag, but her eyes lit up as she made a beeline straight for them. She was likely going to be distracted here for some time, and very few of these dusty old relics held any interest for me.
"The Elite Destroyer's intentions are less honorable than I had originally thought."
I slowly followed after Cynthia as I looked up, spotting the two huge ships still waiting in the sky for permission to dock. 'I don't like the sounds of that...'
"Then you will like the sound of this even less. They are being quite subtle, but their weapons are slowly powering up in a fashion that most sensors wouldn't be able to detect."
Attacking a docked ship was almost unheard of, but if they were powering up their weapons, then I could only think of one ship currently docked that they could possibly be targeting.
I became worried and quickly asked, 'Will being docked create any issues with your shields?' If we had been in space, I didn't have any doubt that his shields would hold, but being docked was a different ball game, and our shields were currently powered down, as per docking policy.
"The Bridge crew is aware of the situation. The shields just above the hull are already set to power up if someone fires at us. They will likely think that their strike hit true, but they won't have a second chance to attack if they do fire upon us unprovoked."
His voice sounded forbidding at that last part. He hadn't been too concerned about them talking with me, but the thought of getting attacked when we were peacefully docked was angering him. It was an emotion I almost never saw in Starsong, and it only served to remind me of my close call in the corridor.
He caught that thought and reassured me. "I won't kill anyone if I can help it. But their weapons are going to need a lot of repairs if they attack me..."
'Should I start heading back now?'
"Yes, that would be wise. I will start notifying all of the crew on ship-leave to return as well. They will be safer on board if this gets out of hand."
I headed over to Cynthia to relay the information. I was just opening my mouth to speak when Starsong interrupted, "Both Elite Destroyers are firing."
I gasped and whirled around just in time to see two powerful energy blasts strike Starsong. They were accompanied by a shockwave and a boom that caused more than a few people in the marketplace to scream, while almost all heads turned to gawk in surprise.
Despite myself, I held my breath as the cloud of vapor drifted away to reveal Starsong's unblemished hull. The invisible shield just above the hull had stopped the attack, and since no other ship had a shield like that, the lack of damage would be causing some alarm on the attacking ships.
Almost as if Starsong had waited for just such an effect, as soon as it was apparent that he was undamaged, his various weapons began pointing towards the attackers. The Bridge crew would be taking their orders directly from Starsong at this moment since I was absent. They had never done that before, but I wasn't too worried. The Bridge crew were a steady and reliable bunch.
Starsong's weapons returned fire upon the two destroyers as alarms belatedly began to sound throughout the city. Cynthia gasped as she stared at the ships. "What is happening?! Why are those ships attacking?"
I went over to stand right beside her so we didn't get separated as the crowd started to panic. I replied, "I am not entirely sure, but we have to get back now. Although that is easier said than done..."
The alarms were causing pandemonium down here as people desperately tried to shove past one another in the attempt to get to whatever place they classified as safe. Normally, their panic would be well advised; if the Elite Destroyers had attacked a normal ship, the force would have likely broken the docking bay supports or knocked the ship off the anti-gravity coils, both of which would have sent the spaceship plummeting down to the market below.
Cynthia and I were in a small corner that was, as of yet, untouched by the stampeding crowd. We watched the frantic mass of people, but I didn't see any way to leave here at this moment without getting trampled...
"Something is wrong. All the surveillance cameras and almost every security system in the city and on the docking stations just went down."
"Hey-" Cynthia's voice distracted me from Starsong's comment.
My head whipped around just as a man grabbed my wrist while two others dragged Cynthia through the back of the merchant's stall. I braced myself since I thought he was going to try and pull me. The expected pull never came, although I could see him pulling. I didn't really feel his grip and the faintest shimmer of blue light by his hand showed that my shield was protecting me.
His light tug didn't budge me, and I realized that the shield must have braced itself against the ground or something since I couldn't feel the force he was using. He didn't seem to realize that I had technological assistance.
He glared at me as he realized that his efforts weren't succeeding. "Come with us, otherwise your friend isn't going to survive long."
A second man pointed a phaser gun at me. "Come along quietly. Now."
They were using Cynthia as a hostage, and that was rousing my temper.
"You will have to play along. I don't have any way to protect Cynthia..." There was an edge in Starsong's voice that I had never heard before, and it sent goosebumps up my spine. He may have been mildly angry before, but now he was mad.
I narrowed my eyes. "Let go of me, and I will come." My own voice was quiet, but my tone showed that I was not impressed.
The man let go unwillingly, and I shook out my arm, pretending that it had taken me a lot of effort to stop him. I took a reluctant step towards them, and the man with the phaser jerked his chin towards the cloth flap that they had already taken Cynthia through. I warily walked forward as the first man followed closely behind me. It only took me a few steps to reach the cloth flap.
The man with the phaser pulled the flap open, and I walked through. Other men waiting in the narrow area grabbed my elbows before pushing me towards some sort of hover vehicle that was waiting with its side door open. My shield once more protected me from their tight grip, but it let them push me along so they wouldn't notice anything strange.
More men already had Cynthia inside the vehicle with her hands bound in front of her. Several phasers were out as silent threats. I was shoved somewhat roughly inside as well, and the people there pushed me towards an empty seat across from Cynthia.
She watched me with scared eyes, but there wasn't exactly much I could do at the moment. My shield would stop a strike if I was between her and the attacker, but it couldn't extend far enough to protect a second person. I was torn between worrying about her and being angry at the men.
The hover vehicle started moving, and the people crammed in the back kept a close eye on us, but otherwise didn't seem inclined to do anything. I suspected that they were just hired to bring us to whoever wanted to talk with me. At least I hoped it was just talk...
I decided to distract myself by checking in on Starsong. 'How are you holding up? Are those destroyers giving you any more trouble?'
"They have no functioning weapons left, and they aren't too sure what to do at this exact moment. I searched hard, but whoever arranged this either ensured they didn't use communication methods that were recordable, or they deleted every trace of it."
'Any idea as to what they are trying to accomplish?'
"Not really. I hacked into their Bridge to listen to their current conversations, and they suspect that I am the rogue AI from the Tyndel. They aren't certain though, and they are becoming more doubtful as time goes on. The fact that I have crew members racing up the ramp is one factor, but considering my retaliation strikes only took their weapons offline, they seem to think that humans are in control."
'So the destroyers are no longer a threat. What about my lovely chauffeurs?'
He sounded kind of miffed as he responded, "They aren't carrying a single electronic device for me to pull data out of. I am not sure who hired them, but that group must have taken precautions just in case I was keeping watch."
I didn't know of anyone who didn't have some sort of gadget on them at all times. It was unheard of unless you lived in a cave on some remote planet that rejected any sort of technology...
I leaned back in my seat and crossed my ankles before idly asking, "So, where exactly are we going?"
None of them answered me, and they were clearly ignoring my question. That wasn't too surprising since they likely knew that my communication device was somewhere on my person and that someone could possibly be listening through it.
I found it very strange that they hadn't attempted to locate and discard our communication devices. I wasn't about to inquire about that though. I didn't bother pressing my luck and decided to remain silent since they hadn't tied up my hands or gagged me yet.
I found it odd that they had bound Cynthia's hands but not mine. Perhaps it was because they had her as leverage... They hadn't gagged either of us so far, which was a detail I appreciated.
We may be going for an interview by force, but at least they weren't being complete brutes about it.