Part 23: A Simple Plan

Commander Darlon was listening to Alex drone on about shipping manifests when he felt a low rumble beneath his feet. “That is odd,” he thought, “it almost feels like a hyperdrive powering up.” Despite that thought, he was still caught by surprise when he felt the ship lurch forward.

*****

Michael leapt off of the ladder from the cockpit just as Kwame launched the Bucephalus into hyperspace. He deftly maintained his balance, sprinting down the hallway in the crew quarters. Ahead he saw the Kilon officer lunging for the wall as the ship jumped into hyperspace then quickly came out. He knew the window would be small, and he didn’t want to miss it. Before the alien could regain his balance, Michael was already in the air, the heal of his boot smashing into the Kilon’s head.

---

*****

Alex could feel the rumble of the Bucephalus’s hyperdrive as dryly explained some mundane detail about shipping manifests. He saw the flash of confusion in Darlon’s eyes, and did what he could to prepare himself for the sudden acceleration and instant stop. What he wasn’t prepared for was Michael coming out of nowhere to kick the Kilon into unconsciousness.

 The tall bird man crumpled to a heap on the floor. Alex was aghast. He looked at Michael, and shouted at him. “Why in the hell did you do that?”

“Kwame said you’d need my help to get him off of the ship.”

“Yeah, I need your help because now we need to carry him! What were you thinking?” Alex said, reaching to down to pick up Darlon.

Michael reached down too, still unsure of the mistake he’d made. “Did you have a better plan for getting off of the ship?”

“Well, no…”

“Then this works fine.” Michael and Alex together pulled the Kilon up on their shoulders, dragging him back to the airlock.

“We have to hurry,” Alex grunted, struggling a little to carry the weight. “I’m sure they’ll be sending a security team over any minute.”

*****

Kwame’s hands were moving on their own, seemingly independent of his control. There was a lot to do, and short time to do it in. He’d successfully completed a microjump out of the Miraxix  system, and out into open space. He had control of the Kilon patrol ship’s computers, but he didn’t know how long he’d have it.

The first thing he did was shut down their communications. But that would only be temporary. Sweat was building on his brow, but he did not take the time to wipe it. He needed to cripple the Kilon ship before it could respond.

*****

It was chaos on the bridge of the Kilon patrol ship. Many of the crew had been knocked down when the shipped jumped to hyperspace. The ensign was shouting at the engineer, who was climbing back to his console.

            “What did you do?!” he yelled, pulling himself to his feet. He looked out the viewport to see the traffic of Miraxix was gone, replaced by empty space. “Where are we? I need a status report! Send a security team to the Commander’s last known position!”

            “That wasn’t me,” the engineer said, reorienting himself at his workstation. Then he looked down on his console. “Oh… oh no.”

            “What? What’s wrong?” the ensign asked.

            “The freighter has somehow taken control of the ship!”

            “Well,” the ensign stammered. He didn’t know what the standard operating procedure for this situation was, so he yelled the first thing he could think of. “Get it back!”

            “I’m trying to…” the engineer replied.

            The first waves of real panic were setting in on the ensign. He wasn’t trained for this. “Get me a status on Commander Darlon!” He yelled at anyone who would listen.

*****

Alex and Michael reached the Kilon side of the airlock, and opened the door. They could hear panicky shouts coming from the other ship.

“Sounds like Kwame has got everything under control,” Alex said, dropping the knocked out Commander into the ship. Making sure that he was clear of the hatch, he shut the airlock, running back to the Bucephalus with Michael.

Once they were inside of their hatch, he called up to Kwame. “Can we disconnect yet?”

Kwame was still working frantically at the console. “Not… quite… yet…” he replied.

“Why can’t we just disconnect?” Michael asked.

“The airlock passage is a physical connection between our ship and theirs, and we need to be physically connected in order to access their systems.”

“To what end? We have already made the jump from Miraxix, and I’ve seen the readout on their weapons, we’d kill them in a straight fight.”

“True, but didn’t make the jump so we can kill them,” Alex said, a little note of frustration in his voice. “We just need to strand them here long enough for us to get away,” he brushed past Michael and headed for the cockpit. “Stay at the control panel until I tell you to disconnect.”

*****

“We found Commander Darlon,” the security offer reported as he entered the bridge. The ensign was hovering behind the increasingly frantic engineer.

“Good, where is he?” the ensign asked, seeming relieved that the burden of command was about to be lifted.

“He was unconscious when we found him at the airlock, so we’ve taken him to medical quarters.”

The ensign groaned. It was his command for the moment, whether he liked it or not. Pulling himself to his full height, he took a deep breath, then began to issue orders. “Take your security detail through the airlock, I want that ship boarded and its crew arrest.”

The security offer nodded in affirmation, and left the bridge. The ensign turned his attention back to the engineer.

“What is the status of our communications?”

“Still offline. Whoever is working on the other end is very good.”

*****

Alex leapt into the cockpit, where Kwame was still working. “Are we through yet?” he asked.

“No, not yet. I have their communications offline, and I will have the surge ready in a few moments. We can expect to knock out their navigation, weapons, and communication for a few weeks.”

“More than enough time for us,” Alex said, slipping into the pilot’s chair and starting the nav computer. He began to plot the course to their intended destination, in order to leave the very second that they disconnected from the Kilon ship. He almost allowed himself a smile before he heard Michael on the com.

“Alex, we have a problem.”

*****

Michael placed his fingertips to the airlock hatch, then leaned in to press his ear. From what he could tell, there were four to six people outside. Their intentions, Michael noted, could not have been good. He radioed to the cockpit, “Alex, we have a problem.”

*****

Alex knew what was happening as soon as he heard Michael’s voice. A boarding party. “Kwame, we need to go!”

“Almost finished,” Kwame replied.

*****

The Kilon engineer worked quietly while the ensign communicated with the boarding party. “Get some charges out there, and blast through the hatch!” the ensign shouted.

The engineer looked at his readout, and slumped in his seat. He could tell the ensign was not prepared for bad news. The engineer was not too excited about delivering said news. “Sir?” he said quietly, hoping he hadn’t been heard.

“What?!” the ensign replied, angrily.

“Er…” was all the engineer could say before the bridge went dark. A loud pop could be heard coming from the engine room.

*****

“Got it!” Kwame shouted, leaping from his seat to punch the air.

Alex didn’t hesitate. He jumped on the com, “Blow the door, Michael!” In an instant he felt the ship move as the air lock was released, severing the two ships. Alex maneuvered away from the now stranded Kilon patrol ship, giving him room to make the jump to hyperspace.

*****

Commander Darlon burst onto the bridge, still a little woozy from the kick to the head, but otherwise ready to retake command. He surveyed the dark bridge before setting his eyes on the ensign, who looked as if he’d aged ten years in the last ten minutes. “Status?” He asked.

The ensign looked at the floor for a moment before meeting Darlon’s gaze. “They’re gone sir.”

“Communications? Navigation? Weapons?”

“All offline.”

“Well,” Darlon said, walking to the forward viewport, “at least suspicions were confirmed. Get all hands working on restoring our systems, we need to contact Fleet command as soon as possible… the SPARK is in danger.”