She felt nervous. Terrible. And all-around just anxious to even exist... as she waited in the Captain's office, sitting beside Jenny... wondering what was going on, and why. As the door slid open; and the captain, looking like the perfect image of a navy captain from all the classics, stepped in, looking at the two women... and smiled.

"My security chief has informed me that you did not, in fact, call the dubs. Or anyone else, for that matter. So... we've decided to make a few preparations, just in case. Would I be correct in assuming that you wish to remain aboard until we land?"

She nodded. "Yes... sir, captain West. Whatever they look like, they just about have to be pirates, or at the very least, working for the Alliance. I'd very much like to avoid going with them if possible."

He studied her for a moment. "A perfectly valid concern. I suspect they don't consider you defecting without having talked to the other side possible; those Alliance types always seem to think their people leave due to greed or other petty personal motivations. No insult intended; not wanting to become a slave is a perfectly good reason."

He walked over to his desk, and settled down being it. "Jenny. What are our odds of repelling boarders if we allow them to dock peacefully, tell them thanks, but no thanks, and then they try to take her by force?"

She looked at the captain, then at Seraph. "Well, sir. I've still got my armor, and it can be ready by the time they arrive. Otherwise, though, this is a civilian passenger transport. We're all trained to repel boarders, but this ship doesn't have the armor or internal weapons to make it a challenge if those are real professionals. Even worse, they can start using the ship's guns on us if we resist. If we can avoid boarding, its best to do so."

"Unfortunately, we need to give them the chance to attempt it. If the Malice is going to make a kill-shot in the opening salvo, they need to have a good, predictable position."

Jenny blinked. "I... thought they left as soon as we left Alliance space?"

"They were supposed to split at that first station we docked at, yes. When that spook died, I asked Weathers to stick with us until we dumped all of our known Alliance people off at Tybalt. I believe his crew is looking forward to taking leave there. Regardless.... under normal circumstances I wouldn't give the Malice good odds against a destroyer. But we don't have a shuttle bay, we're built for landing. And, apparently either not aware of the Malice, or not caring, they've asked to dock with us to receive the girl. Which... makes them uniquely vulnerable."

"...They might be planning to take the ship, even if we give her to them."

Seraph looked between the two. "Wait. So... we think they might be pirates. So instead of running.... we're going to act as bait?"

Captain West glanced at her for a moment. "This thing we're sitting in is a civilian craft. Fairly rugged, yes. Built to survive a few meteor impacts, and even has a couple of point defense turrets rated for asteroids. But the inertial compensator... the thing that keeps you from feeling all the gravity of acceleration... tops out at about ten gravities, and of course only works in one direction, towards the stern of the ship. If we'd already been accelerating for a while, we might reach our destination first. But anything military is going to catch up to us, and fast. The Malice easily breaches 100Gs, and there's destroyers that can get faster."

"...So we're going to let them board us, and if they refuse to leave peacefully, kill them?"

"Its simple. They'll likely demand to talk to you in person, if we tell them you refuse. So you're going to refuse in person... wearing a proper skinsuit with a helmet there at hand... and with a power-armored marine standing just around the corner, waiting. If they accept that refusal and leave.... we prepared for nothing. If they try to take you.... the Malice takes her shot, and Jenny gets to take point on the aftermath."

Jenny looked at the captain for a moment, then at Seraph. "This... could get nasty. But if we can get you safely to Tybalt, we will."

***

Kevin 'the Lacerator' Johnson checked his needle pistol one more time, just to be sure... and looked over his uniform, and those of his companions. This wasn't going to pass any sort of rigorous inspection... but it shouldn't need to. The rules of engagement were pretty simple. This was an Alliance contract; they wanted a specific Alliance intel operative off the boat. Since the Alliance was paying the bills, they were strictly forbidden from firing on any Karth assets unless they showed hostile intent; but of course, the captain already told them that since the girl was Alliance, refusing to hand her over would be considered hostile intent; they'd claim kidnapping later, if it came down to it.

The blue uniforms felt weird... nobody would possibly buy a ship this old being UW still. They should've pretended they were mercs hired by the dubs, it'd make more sense, if they were actually trying to fool someone. Ugh.

Four people. Him with his pistol, his friends with rifles... and of course another dozen waiting behind them, just in case. It was absurd; this was a passenger ship, just the Shriek's guns should be able to pacify any resistance by virtue of being there... but no. The captain wanted them ready for a possible boarding action... and Kevin practically drooled over the idea of his share of the ship's sale price, not to mention the ransom for all the passengers.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

They probably wouldn't be that stupid; nobody in their right mind would pick a fight with a bigger, better ship that you allowed to dock. But if they were... this would be amazing. He almost wanted to warn the girl about things just to get things started... but they had to play this right.

The ship shook, as the dock sealed; a long, flexible tube had attached the two ships, and was currently retracting... until it pulled taut with a momentary hiss of escaping atmosphere.

He waited through the length process of pressure equalization, for the airlock to open.... and paused. Two black-uniformed soldiers, wearing light combat armor and rifles, complete with helmets, armored chestplates, the works, were waiting on the other side... and gave a nod. Looked like they were a bit suspicious, for all the good it would do them.

Kevin stepped forward, smiling. "Hello there! I'm here to retrieve a 'Seraph Glass', and bring her to her destination. I've got a genescan and photos here so we can verify her ID and get her out of your hair."

One of the two soldiers nodded. "We've spoken to her. She doesn't want to go with you, would rather ride to the planet with us. Our Captain felt you might want to hear that from her in person; if you insist, we can bring her here."

He gave a slow nod... and settled his hand on his pistol. Visions of credits and what he could spend them on flowing through his mind. That ceramic chest-plate looked nice... but a needle spike would go through it like a hot knife through butter. "Sure! Bring her on down. But I've got to tell you... I've got orders to bring her in, regardless of what you, or she, says. There may be some concern she's under duress, you see." He grinned.

The guard gave a slow nod. "Just to make that clear...the young lady indicated she doesn't want to go with you. And no matter what she wants, you're taking her?"

Kevin chuckled. "That's exactly that. Now look. You've got a nice gun, there, some nice armor. But the Shriek has plenty of guns... some of them pointed at your ship, right here and now. If you don't hand her over, well, we'll just have to take the whole ship, and there might be some..."

There was a sudden, audible, crunching sound. The airlock shook, as something made both ships twist, shake... and then again.

He leaned against a bulkhead wall, blinking... and.. then suddenly, the world was on fire. He couldn't see, couldn't hear... everything was just... pain.... then darkness.

***

~That's a confirmed kill on target. Sorry, gentlemen, looks like she was tough enough for a richochet, advise alerting damage control.~

Seraph blinked, looking up at Jenny; currently towering over her in the powered armor, a two and a half meter tall monstrosity of armor and weaponry, currently standing between her and the airlock. "What does that..." A sudden hiss...

She could feel wind traveling towards the airlock, and frantically snapped her helmet on... even as the wind stopped... and three figures laid out on the deck. One of them wearing a blue skinsuit that vaguely resembled a United Worlds uniform, the other two the security guards who had been posted at the airlock... the two guards pulled to their feet, while the one in blue was making muffled screaming sounds, rolling on the deck.

They started dragging him down the hallway, one glancing at Jenny. "Other ship tore loose. We've got three floaters, and had to laser this one."

"He gonna live?"

"Maybe. Wasn't trying to keep him alive, definitely got his eyes, maybe the brain."

She nodded... and stepped up to the airlock. "I'll see if I can retrieve the floaters. Miss Glass.... stick with one of our security at all times until you're off the ship. And shut this airlock behind me."

The airlock automatically opened... and a distinct whistling sound could be heard; Seraph couldn't feel the breeze this time, thanks to the helmet.... but the whistle cut off after the massive armored suit entered it, and the airlock snapped shut with a slap of the button; apparently the outer airlock was damaged, making it a bit important not to let all the air out.

Remembering Jenny's words, she turned and started following the two guards dragging the injured pirate... glancing back at the airlock. "I can have the carrier move him... its more stable."

"Nah. He's a pirate at worst, a merc trying to kidnap you at best. Fuck 'im."

"Do you... know what it means when she says there was a ricochet?"

One of them glanced back at her. "Bad news. Means the ship's internals were tough enough to stop the spike from going out the other side... so it bounced. Instead of a clean pass-through, it would've shredded the insides of the ship. The Malice tried to take out her reactor. If that worked, but it bounced.... not gonna be many survivors, and the ship will barely be worth more than scrap."

The other grumbled. "Which doesn't matter, cause they're pirates. What does matter is we'd docked to em, so it gave us a solid yank. Means we need to park her ASAP and get the whole ship evaluated for leaks and warping. This isn't a warship."

"...So we're not gonna land after all?"

He chuckled. "No. We'll dock at an orbital station, and everyone will have to ferry themselves down. What should've been maybe a day or two in this system will be a week, at least."

As they turned the corner, and the two men started dragging the man into the medbay; his muffled screams and whimpers had long since silenced; he turned back to her. "On the plus side... since we won't be going anywhere, we'll likely get a whole week's paid leave. Always a plus. Might even get an assist tag for taking out a pirate. Looks great for the Malice people, even better for us."

Seraph closed her eyes for a moment, leaning against the wall of the medbay... she could hear the injured pirate groan as they loaded him into one of the tubes, and Doc's voice as he started asking questions. Great. So she'd have to swap ships to get to the surface anyway. What were the odds there'd be yet another pirate, or some spook, or god knew what waiting for her?

Maybe if they really were going to go on leave, she could convince some to tag along on her ride to the embassy...

It seemed a bit remarkable for the crew of a civilian ship to be so ready for this sort of thing. Maybe she should ask about that. But... no. Hopefully, this was almost over. This time tomorrow, she could be wandering through the convention she'd always wanted to go to, maybe even under an assumed name.