My groggy mind didn’t want to wake. A thick fog muddled my thoughts. I had a feeling something was wrong, but I felt so tired.

“Captain, I’ve administered a mild stimulant. Your presence is required on the bridge.”

“Sleep. I’ll get up later,” I mumbled.

A jolt of adrenaline blasted through my system. I gasped as I flew off the bed. I hit the ceiling and the force of the blow sent my head ringing. I cried out and landed a hard hand on the table, twisting oddly as I slammed into the floor.

My heart was pounding. An alarm blared in the background. Bob was saying something but my head was ringing and I couldn’t focus on the words. The medical bed’s feminine voice was trying to say something too. My thoughts were completely consumed with my own body. My head hurt from the impact and the rest of my body was achy. Every muscle in my body felt like it was wound in a tight knot. I was stiff and sore everywhere.

“Ow!” I curled up on the floor and whimpered. It was agony. Even breathing hurt.

I don’t know how long I lay there before I realized the blaring alarm wasn’t going off because the ship’s Captain was injured. Once I realized that, I noticed several other things. The medical bed woke me early. From there it was easy to deduce we must have had some kind of problem.

“Bob? C-can you hear me?” I asked. “What’s happening to me?”

“Captain!” The relief in Bob’s voice was plain as day. “You need to head to the bridge.”

“I-I can’t. Something happened to the medical bed.”

“Yes, I took control of the medical bed’s control and had it wake you prematurely. You may be experiencing some discomfort.”

“You did this?! Why?” A little discomfort? Bob’s ability for understatement was off the charts. “I feel terrible!”

“My apologies Captain. Please make your way to the bridge.”

“Bob, I’m in agony!” I sobbed.

“Can you get to the medical bed? I can have it administer something for the pain. There isn’t much time, Captain.”

“T-time for what?”

I whimpered as I tried to grab hold of the medical bed to pull myself to. My muscles felt like they were tied in knots but when I tried to stand, my legs felt like jello. I had no strength.

“There is a hostile ship approaching.”

“What? Who?”

“It is a Triv dreadnought, Captain. Its designation is Star Hammer.”

“C-can we outrun it?” I asked weakly. I never should have agreed to the nanobot enhancement treatment! What was I thinking?

“Unknown. Its launched fighters/ They will be in firing range in nine minutes. The ship is hailing us, shall I put you on?”

“Me? No! I’m in no condition to talk to anyone.” I wanted nothing more than to curl up in a ball and cry. Or maybe just die. “C-can you talk to them?”

“Me, Captain?” Bob sounded surprised by the suggestion.

“Yeah, lie to them. Tell them we are a salvage ship that came here to trade with the locals or something.”

“According to my calculations, they are not likely to believe that story, Captain.”

“Then come up with something better!” I snapped.

“It’s highly probable they were drawn here by the tracking compound in your system. Or were alerted to your presence by the removal of said compound.” I cursed. “Any attempt to deceive them is unlikely.”

“If they ask, tell them… tell them I’m dead. You found me floating in space in that system I found you in. You cremated the body. W-will that work?”

“...Possibly. I suspect they will want to do a physical check of the ship. A close inspection of this ship will reveal a lot of our capabilities and I predict they will seize the ship.”

I cursed again. Some of my anger overcame the pain. I growled and pulled myself up to the side of the medical bed.

“Inject me,” I ordered.

“Captain you need to—”

“I can’t! Just do it!” I screamed.

I lifted my trembling arm as high as I could and felt a needle prick my finger. That would have to do. I collapsed back to the floor gasping.

“Get Arby in there with my suit. If… if I can get it on, I should be okay.”

“Arby is currently on the abandoned mining station,” Bob said. “I’m sending RB unit twenty-three.”

“Enemy ship is closing. They bought my story, Captain, but ordered us to power down our shields and prepare to be boarded.”

“Don’t let them land, Bob.”

“I will do my best, but our single defensive cannon will not be enough.”

“Can the SB units repel the borders?”

“Certainly, Captain.” I breathed a little easier with his firm assurances.

RB unit twenty-three lifted me from the floor and started helping me into my war suit.

“Thanks, Two Three… Toothy. I’m calling you Toothy,” I said trying to distract myself from the pain.

“New designation confirmed, Captain.”

I smiled weakly. The pain meds were helping but I was still in a world of pain. I wished a thousand horrible deaths down on Bob’s head for convincing me to do the treatment. I vaguely remembered bouncing off the ceiling, but that had to be the pain messing with my head. I’d hit the floor pretty hard.

“Captain, they have opened fire. Shields are holding. Arby is aboard and we are moving toward open space.”

Thank God! “I’m almost suited up. Have the SB units deploy to protect us from boarders, just in case.”

“Confirmed, Captain. Deploying the SB units.”

An explosion rocked the ship. “What the heck was that?” I demanded.

I finally got my suit on. The meds had dampened the pain enough I could stand now. I stumbled toward the bridge.

“Modulated pulse missile, Captain. I fear our shields will not hold for long.”

“Well, get us out of here!” I demanded. “I thought this ship was supposed to be advanced!”

“Targeting incoming missiles.”

I finally made it to the bridge. Bob was doing wonders flying the ship and engaging the massive swarm of missiles bearing down on us. He took out another wave of them but several more were already converging on us.

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“Hit the boarding parties, Bob!” There was no way we’d be able to take out all those missiles.

“Acknowledged.”

Two of the three boarding shuttles winked out and then three different MP missiles slammed into our shields. They weren’t designed to damage the hull, but the shields were completely toast. Very black toast. Like ash and charcoal kind of toast. The following missiles detonated just shy of us, releasing several concentrated EMP bursts into the ship.

“Sysyem’sss Failiiiiinnnnggg,” Bob’s voice warped as trialed off as the lights flickered and died.

“Bob? Bob!” I shouted. There was no response. A knot of dread formed in my gut. No no no! This can’t be happening. I slapped my face, hoping to wake up from a nightmare, but all I managed to do was stagger myself. I gaped at my hand. I hadn’t hit myself that hard, but it felt like a hammer blow!

The emergency generators came online a few seconds later.

“Bob, talk to me!” I tried again. Nothing.

“I need to get down there.” The bridge was dead. There was no point in being there now. Bob’s main computer should be intact, but if he needed to reboot, it could take a while.

“Come on Toothy,” I said, turning to head for the main computer I watched as the bot teetered and then landed on the deck plates with a metal clang. I cursed. That was the real fly in the pudding. One of the boarding shuttles was still inbound, and Toothy was offline too. That meant there was a very high probability the security bots were offline too.

I jogged toward the main computer. My suit seemed to be working. Most of it was sheathed in a synthetic polymer compound that must have insulated it from EMP. The hull would have absorbed most of the EMP but evidently, it wasn’t enough. Not for Bob. You better be alright, Bob.

The main computer was online when I arrived. The whole ship was running on emergency generators. The backup power wouldn’t last forever, just long enough to make repairs, hopefully.

I pulled up my wrist computer to access the power grid to divert power to the main computer, but my wrist computer was dead. “Blast!”

A jolt ran through the ship. “Oh no…” The other shuttle must have latched onto the haul. They would be cutting their way through the hall in moments.

“Keep it together Ginny. Come one, focus.” The pain helped with that. My fear took a backseat and I was able to think. I activated my war suits combat hud, engaged the automatic systems for close defense, and deployed my stunner. I drew my sidearm, which was also a stunner, and headed for the hangar bay. If I was them, that’s where I would try to gain access.

The hilt of my pistol creaked ominously in my grip. Calm down, Ginny. I heard weapons fire before I reached the hangar. There was no mistaking the hair-raising tone of an SB unit’s turret-mounted plasma cutter. I wasn’t fighting alone! Suddenly I felt much better about my chances.

I hurried forward. You’re not afraid Ginny, you’re not afraid. I repeated the mantra in my mind as I crept out onto the overhead walkway that overlooked the hangar bag. A chill ran down my spine as the SB unit burned through a Triv Enforcer's black combat armor. The high-pitched scream would haunt my dreams.

“Engage,” I hissed, activating my stunner's automatic firing setting.

It shot out several pulses immediately and drew the attention of one of the Triv Enforcers.

“Contact above!” he cried out, spotting my position for his friends.

A second SB unit emerged from the salvage ship as the salvage ship’s point defense turret fired off a shot, blowing clear through the Triv shuttle’s landing strut and sending the Enforcer behind it sprawling. The two SB units immediately cut him down.

“We need backup! Send reinforcements now!” My stunner turret put a three-round burst into him and his armor seized up and he dropped like a rock.

“Cover fire!” one of the Enforcers shouted.

Six of the ten remaining Enforcers I had on my sensors popped out of cover and opened fire. I cried out in surprise as several targeted me. My jump jet fired and I sailed forward off the catwalk. I screamed as gravity took over, but my suit flipped me so I landed on my feet. The auto turret fired off a burst, dropping another Triv. The few shots that found me were stopped cold as my shield flared around me.

While I was doing gymnastics, one of the SB units was hit with several shots and staggered. The main damage though was to the shuttle. A shoulder-fired rocket exploded against the shuttle. It failed to penetrate the haul but it wrecked the point defense turret.

“The turret’s gone! Push forward. Target the bots next!” one of the attackers shouted.

“Aim for the head, it’s a weak spot!”

I cursed. I’d hidden behind the gunship but I couldn’t stay there. If I didn’t support my SB units, they would be taken out and then I’d be on my own.

I jumped to grab a handhold, thinking I could just expose my stunner turret but my suit’s robotic enhanced legs combined with the nanobot treatment had other plans. Instead of a small hop, I went sailing through the air again. The suit took control again turning my flailing jump into a graceful front flip over the gunship. My stunner turret blasted off another triple shot while I was still airborne. When I hit the ground I was fully exposed.

The SB bots rose from cover and all their turrets opened fire. Every time someone exposed themselves, they were immediately gunned down.

Several grenades were lobbed toward one of the SB units and the explosion threw it into the shuttle. I feared it was done for, but it quickly stood. It died when three of the remaining Triv all targeted its head together before it could reset itself.

The other SB unit and my turret dropped all of them in response.

“Targets neutralized,” the remaining SB unit said.

“Thank God! More might be coming. W-what do we do?”

“Recommend fortifying the area, Captain.”

“Okay, how do we do that?”

It didn’t seem to understand. Arby stepped out of the shuttle. “Captain, EMPs have caused widespread damage to the ship. What are your orders?”

“Bob is offline, I’m not sure what's going on in space and all the other SB units are offline. We need more to repel boarders, and we need to get the ship repaired to escape!”

“I’m ready to assist you, Captain. Where should I begin.”

I gulped. I had no idea what was even happening, let alone what to do! I wanted to scream, ‘I don’t know!’ but it was a repair bot.

“I… check on the other SB units. How long will it take to repair them? We don’t have much time! You SB unit!”

“I’m SB unit nine, Captain.”

“Okay, Nine, get out on the haul or wherever you need to be to see if another shuttle is about to board us. Link your comm to my war suit and let me know when they are coming.

Six more RB units filed out of the scavenger ship. They moved around the bay collecting all the SB units that had been knocked offline by the EMP bursts. The ones Bob had sent with Arby to the abandoned mining station had survived inside the shuttle even though it was inside the ship. The extra hull had protected them.

“Arby, get Bob back online! You can take two other RB units if you need them. The rest focus on getting the SB units online. When they are ready, they are to stage inside our small craft in case they hit us with more EMPs! Move it!”

I hope I don’t mess this up! I had no idea if this was the smart plan or not. There was a dreadnought bearing down on us. How many shuttles and boarding Enforcers did they have? Would they just blow the Shadow Hunter up rather than send more borders? I had no idea but I wasn’t going down without a fight.

Arby acknowledged the order and the bots got to work. They weren’t human or even people but I felt responsible for them. I considered Arby a friend. We’d worked a lot together salvaging stuff and I’d hate to have anything happen to him. I didn’t need more motivation though. I knew exactly what fate awaited me if I failed. My neck was on the line and my home was under attack. There was no way I was letting anyone take it.

Far too soon for comfort, Nine reported in. “Captain, two more shuttles are on approach. ETA, three minutes.”

“Blast! Okay, get in here Nine.” I yelled over to the RB units. “Contact in three minutes! Finish what you can and then hide in the other ships, if their turrets work, use them.” I connected my comm with Arby. “How is it coming with Bob?”

“I’ve rerouted power to the foundry. The power surge fried several circuits to the main computer that needed to be repaired before any attempt to reboot the ship’s AI core could be made.”

“Okay, if you need more RB units, call them to help. We need to get the power back online too.”

“I’ll send some RB units to trace the damage and begin repairs.”

“Thanks, Arby.”

I cut the channel and walked over to one of the fallen Enforcers. I realized he was still alive. My stunner had completely fried his armor and he was suffocating in there. I was horrified. He gasped for breath as he looked up at me.

“I’m so sorry,” I blurted out. “I’ll get you out of there, just hang on!”

I turned and called for one of the SB units to help and then stopped. What are you doing Ginny? They attacked your home! They want to send you to the Breakers and kill you! I couldn’t just leave him to die though. He was suffocating. The helpless panic on his face cut me right to the soul. I have to get him out!

“I need—” The next two shuttles’ arrival drowned out my voice.

They came in hot. The first jolt nearly knocked me off my feet, and while I was unbalanced. The second one hit. Sending me sprawling. The shuttle's magnetic clamps kept them in place and then the hull started to glow as they cut their way in from the outside. I cursed.

“Take positions!” I shouted, trusting the war suits computer to connect my mic to the SB units. We’d managed to repair almost a dozen SB units. Most hadn’t been damaged badly, just knocked offline. They had some hardened electronics but the combined detonation of so many EMP’s had overloaded their capabilities. Very few needed extensive repairs, but we didn’t have time to replace parts so the RB units cannibalized a few to repair the maximum number in the shortest amount of time.

By the time I got back to my feet and turned toward the dying Enforcer he was already dead. I swallowed hard and fought the tear that threatened to fall. I grabbed one of the Enforcer's weapons. If I had to kill them, better to make it quick and not leave them to suffocate to death. I killed him… The thought filled my mind threatening to overwhelm me.

When the section the boarders were cutting fell to the deck, the sound jolted me out of my mind. I had more pressing things to worry about.