Shige was looking for food and Paul was fiddling with buttons when the loading door opened. They got their guns ready and faced the entrance. A lone figure came up the ramp looking over back their shoulder.
“Move and you are dead.” called Shige.
The figure dropped the rifle it had slung over its shoulder and a pistol from their belt.
“Don’t fire. I surrender.” he said in an exhausted shaky sounding voice.
He complied without a fight while Shige bound him with some tape and wire he found while searching the ship. Their prisoner explained he was part of the attack, hoping that it would weaken the stronghold that the Red Scar and its owners had on earth.
“They are slowly killing the planet by taking all its water, thousands of gallons a day leaving the earth forever. I don’t know if the guys we teamed up with would be any better, but we had to try something. Two of us made our way out after we set off large bomb but we were chased, my friend was hit by one of those septic cactus's and fell. I have no quarrel with you, only the management of the Red Scar.” he said.
“Who actually owns the Red Scar” asked Paul. Harry showed them an image on Shige's tablet. A chill ran down Paul's spine, they were the classic white big-headed humanoids that were portrayed everywhere in popular earth culture.
“No shit, they are real” Shige felt equally taken aback.
“They are a race of colonizers who have a bad rep for treating local inhabitants like puppets and leaving planets in ruin once they have stripped their resources.” Harry informed them.
They were trying to digest this information and decide what to do with their prisoner when MacGyver called them over the radio.
“Come to here now. quickly”
“What will MacGyver and Jarong think of our prisoner” said Paul in a worried voice.
“There is an empty crate over there. Shut me in it and I won't cause trouble. I promise, on my life.” Harry suggested gesturing towards a long brown plastic box that looked a little too much like a coffin.
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They had both seen far too much killing that day, so they agreed with his plan.
“First help us fly this ship,” said Shige.
Harry was an engineer, not a pilot. but still, between them all, they got the ship flying.
“Let's box you up now to save any potential complications,” said Shige.
Paul took the flying slowly and found it reasonably intuitive. He was surprised how many small desert settlements they passed on the way. Landing was not so intuitive. The ground came up a little too quickly. Luckily the sand was soft and the ships landing gear had good suspension.
“Careful with our ship” laughed MacGyver.
“We sorted it with the Tribe, they come now, but first we take gear. No taking water and I promised all food”
There were space suits, medical kits, oxygen bottles blankets, clothes, computers and more. The hull of the ship they flew in on was a jumbled mess with the bike and MacIver's small hover truck in its loading bay along with all the gear. They needed to clamber over it all to get in, Jarong had to carry Paul almost dropping him when he caught his foot on a rucksack strap.
“I will get us home in a big piece. Good job everyone. Good job” said MacGyver, he was beaming.
They flew in at night but even then the damage to the station looked bad. Large holes were torn in the roof and blasted ships dotted the area, many still smoking. On entering the station they were stopped, everyone onboard had to present their ID to be checked against the station's database before they were allowed to park. Before he lowered the ramp, MacGyver swiveled the captain's chair facing the group with a great smile.
“We sold the ship Jarong shot and will sell this ship, one third to you two and one third each to us. You take all gear as well.” He looked to the two humans for agreement.
“How much are the ships worth?” asked Paul to get an idea of the value of the ships.
MacGyver laughed. “We sold the broken ship at 45 000 credits and this one probably 80 000 credits. Each third is 42 000 credits if sell. Good day for everyone.”
“Ok we are more than happy with that. Less the 865 credits we owe you.” said Paul.
“Yes that,” laughed MacGyver.
“I will buy a greenhouse. My wife loves dry and hot, but I love growing carrots, flowers and a cool meadow.” Jarong said with dreamy excitement.
They loaded enough gear over to the Albatross to allow them access to MacGyver’s truck then sent him and Jarong on their way. Shige went to shut the doors when they remembered Harry. Amataya used her loading suit to move the box. Once in their ship they briefed Amataya and Trice on the situation.
“I agree that battle was madness and I like his reasoning, let's lock him in one of the spare rooms.” said Amataya.
Harry was thankful, and happy to be locked in a bigger space. “That way everyone can rest easy.” he said obligingly.
“Thanks for being such a good prisoner,” said Paul.