Chapter 13

I Don’t Think We’re Alone Out Here.

Because of my experience, the laser send blaster sniper rifle was my favorite weapon. Frankie had asked me which one I preferred. Then she had a few words of wisdom for me.

“Now that you know which weapon you favor, get that shit mentality out of your head. It’s not about which weapon you prefer. It’s about which one is better suited to your circumstance. Cymechs attack at long range and close combat in equal measure. Understand?”

“I know where you’re going with this, Frankie,” I said. “It’s knowing what to do with things that counts.”

“There ya go. There’s some intelligence in that robot head of yours after all,” she said, smacking my mech’s head with her greasy, chain covered mech hand.

“Hold on a minute,” I said. “Aren’t you the one who wants me to treat my mech with more respect? Then you go and smack it upside the head?”

“I know what I’m doing. Pipe down.”

Frankie turned to the FreeWheel and called for me to follow. When we arrived at the deployment chamber Dani was just leaving. Her black mech soared out and her rocket engines backfired.

“Frankie,” she said.

“Dani. What’s up?” Frankie said. “You going out for spaceflight?”

“Yea. Cya.”

Dani leaned her mech forward and she blasted off at a violent speed. Frankie watched her fly off for a minute until finally turning to me.

“I’ll bet you she’s heading to the Solodon ship.”

“She’s probably got orders to do that,” I said.

“No. Uzik involves all of us every step of the way. Plus, Dani wouldn’t have lied.”

“Shit,” I said. “Someone’s gotta go after her.”

Frankie gave a big sigh, leaned in the direction Dani went, and then engaged her rocket engines at full blast. One moment she was there. The next moment, she was nearly two hundred meters away. I leaned forward and flew after her.

We arrived near the ship within the hour. Dani had swooped around to the other side and Frankie stopped and waited for me before rounding the ship. She waved me forward and held her hand out for me to stop.

“Listen up, Cyborg. This is Dani we’re talking about. You’re not gonna say a word. Understand? You let me talk to her.”

I didn’t say a word in response. Uzik was my commander. Not Frankie. If I wanted to speak my mind, I was going to.

Frankie turned back to the Solodon ship and flew around to find Dani. Dani floated in front of the docking bay doors. Her sleek mech arms were crossed over her chest. She looked like a nightmare with the X of swords strapped to her back. We arrived at her side.

“Dani,” Frankie said.

“You shouldn’t be here, Frankie,” Dani said.

“What about you?” I said.

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Both of them looked at me. Frankie looked instantly incensed. Though I couldn’t see through Dani’s obscured black helmet, I knew she was also pissed off.

“I’m the reason our team gets shit done,” Dani said. “When there’s an obstacle, I find a way through it.”

Frankie blew her bangs and turned back to Dani. “You don’t want to wait, right?”

“It’s better to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission,” Dani said.

Frankie and Dani kept going back and forth for a bit, and were it not for a particular star in space, I would have kept listening.

Out of the corner of my eye, a star blinked out of existence for a second. It was almost as if a shadow had passed over it, blocking it from my view. I flew away from the ship and the women to keep an eye towards the end of the ship.

“Guys,” I said.

“What, Gnath! We’re in the middle of a conversation!” Frankie said.

I ignored her temper and said, “I think I just saw something.”

I flew off toward the end of the ship and checked behind me with my Cyborg vision. Dani and Frankie weren’t far behind me.

“What did you see?” Dani said.

Her tone had completely changed. The anger had left her and she was all Cymech now.

“A shadow,” I said.

When we reached the end of the ship, we found nothing. We coasted up the side and made our way up over the refinery. We landed around the large collection hatch we’d inspected once before.

“Wait a second,” Frankie said. Her mech whirred as it crouched for a closer inspection. IMINT brackets flashed around her visor. She equipped her goggles and spent a few minutes examining the hatch and surrounding area. Dani and I were forced to move back, or else have Frankie bump into us.

“This is really odd,” Frankie said.

“Will you tell us what the problem is already?” Dani said.

“Someone’s been here recently. A small ship.” Frankie looked at us. “I don’t think we’re alone out here.”

It was a sixth sense that made us look up at the same time. A handful of lights crossed our vision and struck the FreeWheel. Each impact caused an explosion of fire and gas. The FreeWheel tipped from the force. Not a moment later, Uzik called over SIGINT.

“FreeWheel is under attack! Suit up Cymechs! Deploy!”

“Shit,” Dani said.

The three of us blasted off back to the FreeWheel.

“My scanners picked up a ship a moment ago,” Frankie said. “It’s off radar now. That means we’re dealing with an enemy with stealth capabilities.”

“Share your scan please,” Dani said.

After a moment, Pipper notified me that image data had been uploaded. There were a few images and one had the location marked with the reference code FW.30N.E60.

“Dani!” Uzik said. “Frankie! Gnath! Where are you?”

“Less than an hour, sir,” Dani said.

“The hell are you doing? We need you!”

Frankie shared the direction she last saw the ship. Uzik engaged the FreeWheel’s shield and put Nikola in the bridge. Siam and Uzik suited and exited the FreeWheel. They explored the area Frankie’s scanner had last picked up a vehicle but found nothing. When Dani, Frankie, and I arrived, we were commanded to keep near the FreeWheel. We patiently waited for nearly an hour.

“Alright,” Uzik said, returning to the FreeWheel. “The enemy has evaded us. Damage is nothing the FreeWheel can’t handle. Looks like we might be dealing with a third party here. We’ll need to keep an eye out for more hit and run attacks.”

“Sir,” Dani said. “We found more evidence of other ships on the Solodon ship.”

“Let’s head inside and talk.”

We were soon in the map room. Dani informed a patient Uzik that we’d found evidence of small ships visiting Faktuus, The Claiming Hand. The damage to the refinery or warehouse hatch had been recent.

“What do you think Frankie?” Uzik said.

“Small ships. I think the FreeWheel was attacked by a small ship as well. They’ve got stealth capabilities.”

“Given their size, I’m not surprised they evaded us.”

“Why attack at all, sir?” I said.

There was no simple answer to my question. All our minds whirred with unanswered questions and undetermined possibilities.

“I’m going to reach out to Captain Silas,” Uzik said. “I’m going to see if we can get some intelligence on these ships we’ve encountered. Frankie, will you join the signal with me?”

Frankie nodded.

“After we talk with Captain Silas,” Uzik continued, “I’m going to see about replacing you three; Gnath, Frankie, and Dani. I need Cymechs I can count on. You left the FreeWheel outside of my command.”