Slowly, the warped space around the Junk Dog shifted and squirmed back into place, the infinite black withdrawing and recoiling like rubber. Eventually, it returned to a familiar form, and Dalur got a clear look out from the bridge at the ship they’d been following.

Heart racing, she leaned forward, everyone watching her as the tension of the moment loomed.

It was too far to see, nothing but a speck in the empty black. Of course it was too far. Amateurish. Overcome by nerves at this age? She ordered the forward cameras onto the distant ship and shifted her own attention down to the screen.

Everyone followed her gaze again as the 3D image of the ship popped up.

She smiled.

“Take out their thrusters.”

--------

In the Hull Piercer, Daro lowered his comm device. He’d not said a word, only listened.

As Daro hesitated, Vas waited, the weight of his metal harness pressing against his chest, fire suppressor to his right forcing him to contort uncomfortably. This was the last chance to call the attack off. The point of no return.

“It’s a merchant class. We’re on.” The Captain’s second said.

Vas fought the urge to throw up.

As if to reinforce the words, they heard the ion cannons sparking off above them, no doubt aimed for the merchant’s thrusters. A Hull Piercer could somewhat autonomously track a moving ship, but it was borderline suicidal. If the Piercer ended up missing, it was a sitting duck for any laser fire. Better to disable, or at least slow movement first.

So, they waited. The only sounds in the small space, the ion cannons buzzing above them and the familiar groans of the Junk Dog. Nobody felt like speaking now. Each quietly contemplating something.

Then, the ion cannons stopped and Daro’s comm device lit up. He held it to his ear and nodded. After a second, he put it down. “Thrusters are disabled. We’re good to go.” He pulled out the tablet from a pouch at his waist. “Our orders are to board and make for the bridge. There, we are to negotiate surrender with the Captain. I’ve been sent the likely schematics for the ship. I don’t suggest falling behind.” He looked at them all in turn. “And remember, no fast fingers. I don’t want a firefight.” He paused while looking at Yofi. “And nor should any of you.”

With that, he was finished, no room for any questions. Not that Vas could think of any, not at the moment at least.

Instead, he quietly sat, white knuckling the Beamer as the Piercer slowly lowered, the hatch below releasing and exposing the ship to open space. There, they hung for a quiet second, oblivious to the void around them from their closed metal box. Then, the extenders quietly released and the Piercer was free.

In perfect synchrony with the extenders, the Piercer’s thrusters engaged with a jolt, forcing Vas’ weight against the harness. To his right, he heard an uncomfortable rattling. Never a good sound on a small ship. Nervously, he shifted his gaze to the source of the noise. He was just in time to watch as the fire suppressor shook free from its fasteners. Just like that, twenty pounds of metal was suddenly loose in a confined space.

Not a moment too soon, Vas was able to stick out a free arm and trap it against the wall with a clang, temporarily pinning it before it could do any damage. He strained to hold it, thins arms struggling against the weight and the acceleration of the Piercer.

Nervously, he glanced to his left, where he saw Daro nod once, then glance at Mory.

Next to him, Mory shifted. “Come on, kid. We need to move that thing back into place before it kills us.” With Mory’s help, Vas got two hands on the suppressor, its roughly spherical shape proving difficult to hold. Then, straining against the weight of his harness, he shoved it back into its spot and reattached the fasteners. Nervously, he lifted his hands, prepared to burst into action if it got free again, but this time it held.

Breathing even heavier than before and refusing to lift his gaze from the suppressor, he felt the Piercer eat space. The small ship was designed a little like the head of a bird, with a circular rear and a front shaped like a beak, engineered to pierce through a ship’s exterior. While birdlike in appearance, that’s where the comparison ended. Unlike a bird, it wasn’t designed for maneuverability. No, it was a simple machine, built for one purpose. However, it could move fast when needed, and it was certainly going fast now.

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Vas waited, counting the seconds, the sound of his mumbled words barely registering over the roar of thrusters. First, he counted a minute. Then, two. Three. Four. At the speed they were going, he’d expected to make contact already, but time was dragging. Inside the cabin, nothing had changed. Nobody said anything. He tried to draw solace from Daro’s quiet calm. He, at least, knew what he was doing.

A useless attempt. He didn’t know how Daro did it. The wait was agony, the anticipation a killer. As he reached five minutes of counting, he began to wish something would happen already.

And then, suddenly, a voice. Not one of their voices. It was an automated voice, the same Dalur used for most ship announcements. “Contact in one minute.” Careful what you wish for.

Periodically, it reminded them.

“Forty-five seconds.” He looked at Ram. The man was mumbling silent words. Praying, Vas realized.

“Thirty seconds.” He looked at Kav and Yofi. Kav’s blue eyes were tightly shut, her face drawn tight. Yofi was smiling, dark features drawn into a sinister shape.

“Fifteen seconds.” He looked to his left at Mory. The man winked, masking his own nervousness.

“Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.”

“Impact.”

There was an initial rattle as the Piercer burst through the exterior shield and a much larger rattle as it hit the hull. The inside of the cabin shook as the ship did its job, punching through the metal and stopping halfway through.

Vas felt like he’d been tossed in a blender, but he was otherwise unharmed. Same with the others. The Hull Piercer may have been a simple machine, but he’d find it hard to argue it wasn’t an effective one.

The harness’ all automatically released, allowing him to breathe freely again. He sat for a second, catching his breath. Only Daro and Mory stood up right away, both ready to spring into action. Beamer’s in hand they waited as the piercer slowly began to open, letting them loose onto the ship.

“Remember.” Daro began. “No fast…” He wasn’t able to finish. As the piercer’s front opened, a bolt from a beamer flew through the small gap and into Mory’s head, dissipating with a hiss against the metal of the far side.

Halfway standing, Vas watched Mory hit the floor, unable to process the smoking hole in his skull. Unable to understand the frozen expression, the twinkle still almost in his eyes. Then, suddenly, he felt a boot against his chest and he was forced backward into his seat and out of the line of fire. Distantly, he heard Daro yell. “Against the wall!”

He looked up from Mory and the world returned. Concentrated beamer fire surged through the still opening gap. Daro, Yofi, and Kav were firing an occasional shot back, but they were pinned, unable to detach from the wall. In the corner, Ram was staring at Mory, his beamer on the floor.

It hit Vas, then. There was no escape. They were trapped. He would die. They would all die. All his close calls, all his future hopes. Gone.

And then, his eyes drifted, ever so slightly, to his right. There, he saw the fire suppressor.

It took him a few seconds longer than it normally would, but the idea came to him all the same. Fueled with the fear of a drowning man, he dropped the beamer and ripped off the fasteners he had reattached mere minutes ago. Holding the spherical suppressor in his hand, he tried to get Daro’s attention.

“Sir!” No response.

“Sir!” Still nothing, Daro was shooting, fully occupied with staying alive.

“Daro!” Finally, the Captain’s second spared a glance in Vas’ direction.

“Wha…”

“Shoot this!” Vas yelled, barely waiting for acknowledgement before hurling the suppressor out the front and into the ship proper.

Thankfully, Daro got the idea. Metal hit metal as the suppressor bounced against the floor. A second later, laser met metal as Daro shot it.

The explosion was louder than Vas had expected. A cacophony of echoes as rapidly expanding gas filled the narrow corridors of the ship and flooded into the Hull Piercer.

Ears ringing, Vas didn’t wait for the others to take the hint. Using the cover of gas and confusion, he dropped to the ground and crawled out the Piercer, hitting the ground a few feet below with a soft thud.

Crawling to his right, he heard a thud as at least one other person followed behind. Craning his neck to see, he noticed blond hair near his boots.

No matter. He kept crawling, eventually rising to his knees, then to his feet. Around him, he heard coughing and grunting. Then, he heard beamer fire. He didn’t know from where. He just kept moving.

Half a minute later, he made it to a point where the gas had mostly dissipated, and he started running.

There was a pair of footsteps mere feet behind. He turned, expecting pursuit, but instead saw the desperate, rat-like face of Ram. As he looked into the man’s blue eyes, he heard a hiss. A stray beamer shot from where they’d come, dissipating into the metal of the ship, but not before it hit Ram’s leg.

The man fell, and Vas stopped. Pale blue met green as they locked eyes. Vas saw fear, regret, pleas of forgiveness.

Vas looked up. The gas was clearing. The firefight was dying down, his allies probably dead. And yet… those eyes again. Pleading with him, begging for help.

One step forward, towards Ram, about to do something undeniably stupid.

And then… he stopped.

He couldn’t die… not here…. not now. Not before he’d ever been free.

“I’m sorry, Ram.”

“Vas! Vas! Please!” Desperate blue eyes, pleading for a savior, begging for forgiveness.

The sound of boots on metal couldn’t quite drown out the pleas for mercy, nor could they hide Vas’ quiet sobs.