Eli moved the ship behind the burned out remains of a slowly rotating power core, “Did you see that?” he asked.

“Yes. This is bad. It’s definitely a trap, they just jammed our long-range coms.”

Resolve in his response, “I’ll blast my way out, or die trying.”

“Fleeing certainly isn’t an option. They just activated a hyperspace field jammer. We can’t change dimensions while we’re anywhere near that dreadnought. They also powered up a large tractor beam. If they spot us, we’re theirs for the taking.”

“Damn. Okay. I’m gonna try to reach that freighter. If it’s another victim of this trap, they’ll make a good ally. If it’s a part of the trap, then the goal is to take hostages.”

“Good thinking. I’ll highlight a small hanger located on the topside.”

Eli worked his way over to the stricken vessel, always keeping something between them and the massive ship. More jets of white, static flame. These got closer and came from all sides. Their messages were related to coordination and calling out the location of their prey.

Eli turned off the primary thrusters, choosing to coast the rest of the way. He caught flashes of the messages that the lights carried. They had lost track of Cavalier, at least for the moment.

“You get a good look at them?” he asked.

“No. The only thing that I saw was a few black dots. They might be out there in EVA suits.”

“That’s fine, I can take those out.”

“If you can get a bead on them. They might be highly maneuverable,” Gami warned.

“That’s a weird way of communicating.”

“It’s my first time seeing something like that too.”

They reached the vessel. Eli extended the landing gear and settled down in the little hangar bay, which was barely large enough to accommodate the craft. They almost crushed a few plastic barrels that were sitting up against a wall.

Eli retracted the cockpit section. He had a selection of weapons lying against one of the control panels. Already wearing a heavy vest, he was ready for a fight.

Gami was in her armor and kitted out as usual, “How we playing this? I could use the cloak and go in first, scout it out.”

“That’s a good plan, but I say we stick together. Move fast and get out of there quick.”

“Agreed. We haven’t practiced room clearing together.”

He picked up the simple pump-action that he’d begun to fall in love with, “We’ll just have to hope that we can make it work.”

They exited the ship, making sure to secure it before they left the hangar. It was dark, a few emergency lights providing the only illumination. Eli slipped his night vision glasses on. Gami’s artificial eyes had basic night vision capability. The place was cold enough that Eli could see his breath.

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Weapons at the ready, the pair started up the central spine. The tunnel was wide and tall. It stretched out far enough that Eli knew his shotgun’s buckshot would spread out to the point of being completely useless if something hostile came through the door at the opposite end of the spine. Beyond that hatchway, they would find the crew quarters and living area.

They entered the first bay, sweeping their weapons across its length. It was large enough that a decent sized home could fit inside of it. Aside from the wear and tear that had been done moving cargo around, the walls were plain and bare. This one only housed a scattering of small crates.

They moved onto the next hold. Large containers formed a maze. The pair moved through it quickly, checking corners, doubling back after running into dead ends. Eli was starting to get used to the cold, but the dark still pressed in on him, the thought of what it might conceal causing his mind to race.

They entered another one of the cargo bays. This one was just as dark as the others. There was some damage on one of the sidewalls, maybe an incompetent forklift operator had run one of the blades down it. There was a collection of pallets and gaylords, most of them stuffed with discount goods.

They were well into the bay when he spotted it. There was something hanging from the ceiling. It had what looked like a pair of leathery wings wrapped around itself, like a bat. He could only see the top half of its head, make out a pair of low, swept back ears that ended in points. The thing’s eyes opened. Light from the corridor shone in two black orbs.

Before he could make a sound, the thing detached itself from the ceiling and flew at them. It darted in between the two bounty hunters. They started to take aim but stopped when they realized that they might hit one another.

“What the hell was that?” Eli asked, as frustrated as he was startled.

“I don’t know. It wasn’t any species that I recognize. But I’d wager that it was intelligent, given the way it went between us like that.”

“Good thing we are so disciplined. Well, at least we know that there’s something alive on this ship.”

“And now it knows that we’re here. Let’s keep moving.”

They went back into the spine. There was no sign of the flying creature. They cleared the final few bays without incident. Then it was onto the living area.

The cramped corridor that they entered was just as dark as those parts of the ship that they had already seen. The scant sources of light softly washed across the pieces of equipment and control systems that were imbedded in the walls. The stark, functional nature of the environment was broken up by wall hangings. As they moved up the corridor, the tadvash spoke of religious parables and the good works of countless deities.

“What’s with these decorations?” he asked Gami in a low voice.

“I was wondering the same thing. They are clearly from a wide variety of faiths. I recognize several of them and they aren’t remotely related to one another.”

They started searching individual rooms. The galley was as dark and silent as the rest of the vessel. They gave the cages in the toolroom a once over, found nothing of interest. The provision room was also vacant.

Eli and Gami entered the chamber that contained the power core and several other pieces of vital equipment. A walkway wrapped around the bulbus mass of metal. Banks of slowly shifting lights lined the walls.

Something stepped into the chamber. They kept their weapons on it as it moved along the walkway toward them and came to a halt.

The being was short, the top of its head flush with Eli’s navel. It was bipedal and had two arms but the proportions were much stockier than a typical human. Its face was similar to a cat’s. The fur was blue grey. His hands were three fingered, they, and his thumbs sported short claws.

Like the flying thing that they had seen earlier, the pointed ears were low and swept back, as if he was moving at great speed. The eyes were large and totally black, and yet, he saw nothing sinister in them, only a tempered sense of warmth and wonder.

It wore a baggy jumpsuit which was a faded shade of orange. The garment sported many pockets. A tool carrier was slung across his belly. There was a pair of little work boots on his feet. And he wore a belt with a small handgun and a shield projector on it.

The thing spoke, its words akin to ethereal and laced with a focused rawness, “Lower your guns, dumbasses,” he turned and started walking into an adjoining room, “Come on, I’ve got a plan to get us out of here.”