“Officer Charyd, to be a pilot, you must have exceptional vision. Do you expect me to believe the sign changed on you?” Ilise did not hide the anger in her voice.
Charyd crossed his arms as he blocked the doorway into the small room. The metal bar tagged to her ear blocked Alice’s telepathic abilities. He would have to send a message in a different way. Sisyphus sat in there staring at Alice, a bruise on her eye darkening her thin blue skin. Charyd stretched himself out until his uniform pants became capris. Boil shrunk behind him and tried to pull him back. Charyd shrugged the hold-off.
Posey stood straighter and growled like she was backed into the corner. “Disobeying me can have you written for disciplinary action. I will not tolerate aggressive behavior. I might as well leave you here.”
“Alice?” His eyes locked on the pirate in the room. His dark eyebrows raised up and down in various ways as if he was doing a dance. He was tempted to grow the hair out further to make them bushy to catch her attention. It seemed to have caught everyone's attention. A smirk grew on Sisyphus’s face. A less subtitle strategy was required. He looked back at Boil. “You and I need to go chasing after a rabbit.”
Charyd’s body shrunk back to a comfortable size needed for the planet’s gravity. He left the door open and walked away. Sisyphus's laughter warned him Posey was on his ass. Her fangs glistened. “I asked you a question. Why did you barge into this room?”
Charyd pointed to the sign above the door, it declared “Interview Room 1”. It was all caps saying “ARMORY” a moment ago.
He did not feel like repeating his words. Someone was fucking with him and Boil. Boil was too scared to speak up to his captain. Charyd was about to kick her ass off that title. “We will talk about this later.” She took his gesture as a response. “Continue on with–wait, what were you doing in here?”
“Looking for the Armory.”
“And why is that?”
“You let us in.” Charyd’s tried to make the shrug look uncaring, but he was tense. He did not even have the thought to worry if Posey noticed.
“Return to the ship,” she ordered.
Boil saluted her, but Charyd only narrowed his eyes. He wanted to punch her right now for torturing Alice for information. He was going to save his entire crew, not just Alice. He had to be patient a moment longer.
“Officer Charyd, when you get back on the ship, I need you to contact the Commander about giving us more time to do this interview. We have a lead.”
“Of course… Captain.” He saluted in the sloppiest way. The action was enough to write him up for drills - but he wouldn’t be her subordinate any longer. He would love seeing her covered in dirt cleaning the Darkstorm as revenge for what she did to his crew. It was a prison, injuries happened all the time. Especially in a death row one. But they were playing ping pong for crying out loud down there. There were no brawls going on. That fresh bruise on Alice’s face was from them. They would all be getting their share of justice soon, on par with Cadoon’s definition of equality.The grinding sound of her teeth reverberated in the hall as she gently closed the Interview room door. Charyd continued down that path away from the prison entrance.
“Where are you going?” Boil whispered to Charyd. “C.P. ordered you back to the ship.”
“Trust me, I’ll be heading back there. I have something to take care of first.” He would park his ass in that captain’s chair, too.
The boots which followed him stopped clicking on the vinyl floor. “Charyd man. You know that Nereus? Did she do something to you?” Boil was a perfect gunner, aiming to please. Even now his head was lowered, a small frown stretched under his shaved face. “Anything I can do to help?”
He called Charyd man - like a human…. “Sorry. I got this.” He walked up, and placed a hand on Boil’s shoulder. It felt padded. “Don’t follow me to trouble.” He stretched his finger over and clicked the trigger hiding under Boil’s collar.
All the lights were humming and on. He resisted looking down at his own comm device. His game plan started now. If there was a time to make a loud thought, Charyd tried now. Hippety Hop Hippety Hop! Let’s not be late for a very important date.
If screaming would have done anything, he would have. They were close to Interview Room 1 at a corner. Hopefully, no other Nereus would join the communication.
He knew he succeeded when the emotion of burning passion ready to spread and grab everything barged over his high-run nerves and anger. It only made him tap his toes with the jitters. A simple hello from a very specific Neasus identifying themselves as Alice. “Boil, why don’t you go this way.” He pointed toward the hallway, which would lead to the guard break room. “I’ll head this way.” He pointed toward the other option, which would lead around the free play room and deeper into the prison.
There was no information about the prison layout on any forum. Outside communication was all filtered through the military. No one who worked here could post on social media. Even the news had screened interviews. The security out of the place was top-notch even if the inside was outdated and they ran off color tapes on the ground. He sent Boil down the blue tape. The fire exit was red, yellow for the latrines, and the armory was green. Years of serving as a trader paid off.
Bunny, good to feel you.
Not now, Captain. Everyone here?
Wait! Are we secure? He noticed a camera blinking in his direction. Everyone was under constant watch.
They don’t have another me.
Or me. Chimed in another voice from the old crew.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Or I.
I knew our sorry arse of a captain would save us.
If you did, why did you bet everything away yesterday?
Multiple voices and mixed emotions filled his head. His eyes watered and he wasn’t sure if it was because he was happy, an overload of emotions, or one of the others was already crying. Alice had connected the entire crew together. Months of being separate from their nagging and complaining and it felt wonderful to hear their bickering again.
Hey! He scrunched his brows and wiped the moisture from his eyes. Reminisce later when we get off this moist hole.
Light-hearted emotions filled him as much as arousal and awkwardness. Perfectly balanced crew. I have the Darkstorm here.
Confusion filled him and then anger. It gave away our location and turned on us. With it being Alice’s connection, she echoed more than any announcer in a stadium.
I understand, but you're all being picky expecting another ship to show up in time for your execution. What’s the easiest exit out of here? Silence greeted him. They expected him to have a plan, he was the Captain after all. We don’t have time. Get to the courtyard. We’ll take over a tower and get out.
Yes, Captain. They all chanted in unison. He hoped to raise a mug of beer with them once they were off this planet. And out of the invisible waves. That was a future pilot him problem. Now it was about getting on the ship.
He followed the green tape around the free area. A few people migrated to the doors on the west side. He recognized a few species and faces. It was time to enact their plan. He scanned Officer Charyd’s biochip near the door. It allowed him in without hesitation. About time, the guy’s information proved useful. He grew two additional limbs at the cost of shrinking himself down in height. Three guns to pass to his crew would be better than nothing. One rifle to shoot at those in the towers. He grabbed the respective ammo and loaded the gun and his pockets.
The lights in the room blinked twice and his comm pinged. He glanced down at a message from The Darkstorm. The AI was like a big brother always watching. “Stun only.”
The ship he was going to steal again from the military… had just ordered him? If it meant the doors were going to be left open, fine. He made sure all the guns were set to stun. He found a camera pointing at him in the room and waved. “I’ll relay the message. Anyway, you can help open a few gates? Please?” Respect the ship.
The AI was processing. On his comm he saw “...” as he waited. Hurry you dumb anchor.
“Head over to Tower C and use the internal mechanisms to open the door.” A map popped up of the prison. Charyd should have said please earlier. There were three towers surrounding the courtyard B area. One was circled in black and labeled Tower C. Closest one to the entrance by him. He could make that shot.
“There is a button to open the courtyard gates in Tower C and let everyone out. Fire safety protocols will allow you to use that mechanism as long as the prison AI registers your… smoke… you know those caps probably won’t work and you will be in here with your friends, right?”
Charyd rolled his eyes at the message. Even though it was written, he could hear the ship’s AI with its mocking tone and rolling eyes. He knew his plan was half-cocked but it would work. It always did with his crew.
“Keep your gun on stun or the ship doors will be closed for you and your friends.”
For a powerful military ship, it sure did not want bloodshed. He could relate.
As he came back out in the hallway to see the free area, arguing and pushing had begun. The guards did not act initially. It gave Charyd enough time to charge two guns to stun. Good old Polo’s head still shined like a perfect beacon on where they were. Charyd scanned in, pushed open the door to the free-to-play, and punched the guard on duty instantly. He aimed down at the guards next to his crew and shot. Quickly switched to the second gun and fired again.
The moment the first guard was down, Polo rushed to the body and grabbed the wrist to scan the door and let them out. The crew grabbed the guns, too.
As much as it sucks, stun only.
There were a few disgruntled emotions, but no backtalk.
The courtyard security entrance is down the hall to the left. Hurry before the lockdown happens or else you will be stuck. Only one guard should be up there at this time.
Charyd followed the directions and prepared another shot. The guard had turned the corner at the four-way intersection, unprepared for Charyd shooting at him. He ran as fast as he could. Alice, are you going to be alright?
No response came, but the feeling of gloating. Good job. Charyd would have loved seeing Ilise and Sisyphus taking a beating from her. Charyd knew very few who could take on a Nereus in close quarters. Especially when one would mess with your emotions and judgments.
“Lockdown! Lockdown! This is a complete lockdown. All prisoners, return to your cells!” The prison had pulled the alarm.
He needed to move fast. He stood next to the door to enter the courtyard. His hands yanked out all the ammo and shook his pockets empty of even the lint stuck inside them. He emptied one box, the small beads of ammo rolling on the floor. Looking through the window out into the rain and courtyard, he saw the three towers. Only two guards were on duty, leaving one tower completely empty.
Do you have anything? One of the crew asked him.
Charyd did not reply. Instead, he aimed the rifle and calmly took a breath. He only had a few years of shooting experience and was not exactly the best. He only needed to stun though, so aim wasn’t that important. He scanned his wrist and kicked the door open and took the shot.
The auto-aiming on the rifle did all the heavy lifting. Tower C’s guard collapsed behind the wall. Charyd swung around and shot at the guard in Tower B. Unfortunately, he shot too quickly for the auto-aim to take effect. The guard was already behind cover. Charyd decided to deal with him later and took off on the path to Tower C.
Fast-footed little ass is hiding in B. The moment he pops out, I can shoot him.
Polo must have taken that as an invitation and charged out like a minotaur, head down and roaring loudly. The guard in Tower B popped up like a gopher and aimed at Charyd. Charyd adjusted the strength in his muscles and pushed off the wet walkway and launched into the air. The lower gravitation of the planet made him feel like he was flying. He took the rifle scope to his eye, the auto-aim triggered, and he pulled the trigger. A pop went off at the same time and Charyd’s leg got hit.
Captain! Multiple thoughts flooded.
“Captain!” others shouted in the courtyard.
I’m not dead yet. Get away from the door and to the gate now!
His crew knew when to focus on the task at hand. He transferred the pain in his leg to focus on just that one limb and morphed his other leg to allow him to slither on the ground toward Tower C. It wasn’t the fastest action, but it hurt less.
He could deal with the pain of being shot. He couldn't deal with another day without his crew.