Will and Debra did their best to make themselves comfortable. They set up a small light that extended a few feet around so they wouldn’t be sitting in total darkness. Nutrient bars and a small supply of water would keep them fed and hydrated. They’d brought a mat to sleep on. Only one person could fit on it which suited their needs since they’d planned for one of them to be awake at all times.

Based on Debra’s scanner readings they knew there was a crew of ten onboard the ship. Beyond that, they could only go by the normal sounds and motion a ship made in flight to figure out what was going on. They’d experienced the vibration and acceleration of the ship taking off. That’d been followed by the ship shaking slightly as it flew through the atmosphere into space. Now the ship was free of vibration with only the steady hum of the engines indicating they were flying through space.

“When I served on a cargo ship,” explained Debra as they were sitting there, “we didn’t usually check on the cargo while in flight.”

“So when did you serve on a cargo ship?” asked Will.

Debra leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes. “It was right after I deserted. My unit was waiting for a transport when I snuck out of the barracks. I headed down to the spaceport because I’d heard cargo ships were always looking for people, no questions asked.” She was quiet for a moment.

She continued in a low voice. “Well I found this rickety old piece of space junk masquerading as a ship. Figured they’d be desperate for people and I was hired on the spot. I’m sure Captain Prentis knew I was a deserter, but I could navigate a ship so he didn’t care.”

“Did you like it?” asked Will.

“I liked the crew, especially Captain Prentis. However, just flying from place picking up whatever you could find to transport and make some money wasn’t for me.” She laughed. “It’s funny. That’s the kind of safe boring life I thought I wanted when I deserted. However, sitting there for days at a time doing nothing but staring at a navigation panel made me realize I needed something more in my life.”

She opened her eyes and looked at Will. “That’s why I quit and eventually ended up on a pirate ship. Of course as you already know, it wasn’t your typical pirate ship. After all I’d been through, I didn’t want to see any more people die.”

Will wrapped an arm around Debra and she leaned against him. He’d seen many people die, some at his own hands and some by the hands of enemies. Part of him always wished it wasn’t necessary, but sometimes there was no other way. He couldn’t help thinking about their upcoming confrontation with Grandle.

During their second full day in space, Will was asleep on the mat, when Debra urgently shook his shoulder. Opening his eyes he quickly put an arm over them as the overhead lights of the cargo were shining down on them. Sitting up, he and Debra listened as the sound of two sets of footsteps could be heard on the metal floor. The sound of voices began echoing around the bay.

“Do you know where it is?” asked a rough male voice.

“”Yeah,” answered another man with a softer voice. “The crates are marked.”

The sound of footsteps could be heard moving around the bay. Will and Debra stiffened as the footsteps passed on the other side of the crates where they were hiding. Finally they stopped not too far away.

“Here they are. Help me pull one of these crates down,” said the second voice.

About ten feet away Will and Debra could see one of the crates at the top of the stack starting to move. “Grab everything and get in the tunnel,” hissed Will. He pulled the latch and the door to the maintenance tunnel slid open. He and Debra shoved their backpacks and sleeping mat inside and crawled in after them. Will only closed the door partway so they could hear what was going on.

“Too high,” called one of the men. “Get a ladder.”

It was quiet for a few minutes before the sound of metal scraping against metal filled the bay. “Hand up the crowbar.”

There was the sound of banging and the squealing of wood being forced. Finally there was a cracking sound. Will was tempted to try and see what was going on, but knew it was too risky. They’d just have to wait until the two men got whatever they came for and left.

“Here it is,” said the soft voiced man. “Frultalian Whiskey. It’s supposed to be best in the galaxy. Figure they won’t miss a few bottles.”

“Well, you figured wrong,” came a firm voice from the other end of the cargo bay. This was followed by a cry of surprise and the sound of glass smashing against the metal floor.

“It was Slen’s idea, captain,” pleaded the rough voiced man.

“Being an idiot is no excuse, Plest,” angrily shot back the Captain. “Take them to the brig,” he ordered. There was the sound of multiple footsteps as the two men pleaded with the Captain. However, he didn’t say a word. There was the sound of a door opening and closing, then silence.

“That’s what I get for hiring people in a bar,” he muttered and Will and Debra heard him climbing the ladder. There was the sound of pounding followed a few minutes later by the sound of the ladder being dragged away.

The lights to the cargo bay went off and there was the sound of the door opening and closing. They waited nearly fifteen minutes before coming out of the tunnel.

“That was close,” whispered Will.

“Feel bad for Slen and Prest though,” answered Debra in a low voice as she turned on their small light. “Frultalian Whiskey is the best I’ve ever tasted. I can see why they were tempted.”

“Never tried it,” replied Will.

“We’ll have to rectify that.”

The lights in the cargo bay suddenly came on.

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“I know you’re in here,” called out the Captain. “I saw the open hatch.”

“Get in the tunnel,” urged Will as he pulled on the latch. The hatch didn’t open.

“I’ve disabled the hatches in the cargo bay,” continued the Captain. “You might as well come out.”

“What do we do?” asked Debra.

Will pulled out his blaster. “You go left and I’ll go right. Let’s try negotiating, but if that doesn’t work, we’ll try to get to an escape pod.”

Debra grabbed her backpack and started running. After strapping on his backpack, Will took off in the opposite direction. He peered around the edge of the crates and saw five men; four with blasters. A tall older man with grey hair and beard stood in front of them. We wore an old uniform with a captain’s insignia and he didn’t look happy.

“Can we make a deal?” shouted Will when he was in position.

“There’s only one way I deal with stowaways,” he answered tersely.

“Well,” countered Will, “if we were to pay for our passage, we wouldn’t be stowaways.”

The Captain was quiet for a moment. “How much?”

Will thought quickly. It had to be high enough for them to be interested, but not too high or they’d get suspicious. “Ten thousand credits.”

There was a noticeable murmur among the four men with blasters. The Captain looked back at them and they went silent.

“If you’ve got all this money,” he replied, “why didn’t you just book passage on a passenger ship?”

“Let’s just say we like our privacy,” called back Will.

The Captain nodded knowingly. “I don’t help criminals, not even for ten thousand credits.”

“We’re not criminals,” cried Will.

The Captain was silent for a moment. “If that’s true, then you wouldn’t mind telling me your names.”

Will looked down towards Debra, but she was too far away for him to see her expression. His muscles tensed and he held the blaster tighter. Regardless of how he answered it was starting to look as if they’d have no choice but to fight their way to an escape pod. “I’m Captain Will Power,” he declared in a firm voice.

Will’s hopes to get out of this without fighting faded as the men with the Captain began talking excitedly between themselves. Will guessed they knew about the reward. The Captain had to order them to be quiet several times before they stopped.

“Unfortunately, the authorities on Earth disagree with you,” said the Captain. “You’ve been accused of treason and they’ve offered a hefty reward for your capture.”

“We know all that,” answered Will, “but we’re innocent.”

The Captain stood there a moment before answering. “That’s not a determination I can make,” he concluded. “A trial will establish whether you’re innocent or guilty.”

“A fair trial would,” argued Will. “However, I doubt very much we’ll get one.”

The Captain turned and spoke to his men. He then called out to Will. “I’m familiar with your reputation, Captain Power, so I think it best we just leave you here in the cargo bay. All the hatches are sealed and I’ll have men posted outside. I’ll let Earth’s military deal with you when we land.” The Captain and his men left the cargo bay and the door closed behind them.

Will and Debra came out from behind the crates and met behind one of the larger crates that gave them a view of the door while providing protection against any attack.

Will sighed. “Well so much for trying to negotiate.”

“It’s hard to overcome a half million credits,” offered Debra.

“They’re probably radioing Earth right now,” guessed Will.

Debra took out the scanner. “I’d downloaded the ship schematic before we left. Let’s see where the escape pods are located.”

She pressed a button and the schematic of the ship appeared on the screen. The cargo section was at the aft end of the ship just above the engine section. A single corridor led to the forward end of the ship where the command deck and crew quarters were located.

Will looked at the screen. “Looks like there’s a set of four escape pods close by.”

“Won’t they be able to track the escape pods?” asked Debra.

Will thought for a moment and smiled. “Not if their sensors aren’t working.”

He took the laser torch and a small box out of his backpack. “The power assembly for the ship’s sensors is back along the tunnel we took to get on the ship. This small explosive charge should take care of it.” He started walking back to where they’d been hiding. “Keep an eye on the door.”

“Right.”

Reaching the hatch, Will brought out the laser torch and began cutting. He had to go around the hatch several times because of its thickness.

“How’s it going?” called Debra.

“Slow,” called back Will.

After half an hour he was able to push it in. They’d left the sleeping mat behind and he slipped it over the bottom of the opening.

“I’m in,” he cried as he crawled into the tunnel. Moving quickly, he made his way to the power junction for the ship’s sensors.

He pulled the small box from his pocket and placed it against the tunnel wall where its magnetic base held it in place. As soon as it was attached, a small red light on it began flashing.

He quickly made his way out of the tunnel and soon joined Debra. “Any issues?”

“Looks like they’re just happy to leave us in here,” she observed.

“I guess we’re going to have to disappoint them,” answered Will as he brought out several more boxes all of which were all larger than the first box. “I think these should take care of the door.”

“The escape pods are about a fifty feet down the corridor,” she said. “However, in looking at the schematics, I had an idea.” She pointed at a point on the ship’s schematic. “This would be the perfect spot to hide out.”

He looked at it and smiled. “Great idea.”

Debra picked up the scanner. “Two people outside on either side of the door. The rest of the crew is either on the command deck or in their quarters.”

Will picked up the explosives. “Let’s get started then. Take cover.” Debra bent down behind the crate. He hurried over to the door and noiselessly put the explosives in place. As each one was stuck to the door, a red light began flashing on them.

He ran back and knelt behind Debra and pulled out a small controller. “This will also detonate the explosive in the tunnel to knock out the sensors,” he quickly explained. Pressing the button on it, the door exploded with a blinding flash spewing metal and smoke in every direction.

“Go,” cried Will as he and Debra ran for the door, blasters in their hands. Passing through the smoke into the corridor they saw the two men who’d been guarding the door lying face down on the floor. However, they had no time to check on them as they took off down the corridor towards the escape pods.

“Sensors should be down,” said Will as they ran.

Reaching the escape pods, Debra took out her scanner as Will opened one of the pod doors and began typing in commands. “Four people are moving this way.”

“We’ll need to slow them down,” said Will getting out of the pod and handing Debra an explosive charge. “Place this about twenty feet down the corridor,” he said as he opened another escape pod and began typing in commands.

Debra ran off and was back in less than a minute. Will was already working on a third escape pod.

“Done,” she called.

Will pulled out the small control unit and pressed its button. The sound of the explosion echoed down the corridor and smoke belched back towards them. Will hardly noticed as he ducked into the last pod.

“Okay, let’s launch these things,” he called when he’d finished. “I programmed them so they’ll each go in a different direction. Without sensors, they won’t be able to track them.”

“Or see if anyone’s on board,” added Debra.

The two of them began closing the pod doors and pulling the levers which launched them. The ship shook slightly as each pod fired their separation bolts and flew away from the ship. Reaching the last one, Will looked at Debra. “Ready?”

“Always,” she answered as he pulled the launch lever.

The two of them ran back towards the cargo bay. Halfway there was a ladder which led up to a hatch on the ceiling. Will started climbing and reaching the hatch, opened it. He climbed inside and Debra quickly followed closing the hatch behind her.

They were both breathing heavily now, but they quickly crawled along the tunnel until they reached a junction where several tunnels met. They sat there silently for several minutes trying to catch their breath.

“Hope this works,” finally gasped Debra.

“I think it will,” he answered with a smile. “After all, who’d expect someone trying to escape to stay behind?”