The
footsteps were getting louder—there must
have been at least two separate pairs marching toward the doors. Nearly
identically shaped shadows grew taller against the doorway’s bulkhead. The
shapes of the shadows indicated their owners were dressed similarly. They were
maintaining their haughty pace—they don’t think they could lose. Heck, Maddog’s
probably already told them all he’s declared ‘checkmate’ against the
Federation, and fed the rest of the Pirate Syndicate some kind of highly-tailored
propaganda to make sure the lower-ranking pirates stayed motivated—his mistake, Aaen thought, as did the
rest of the Delta Force, and some of the bridge crew. There was hollering and
banging sounds from down the corridor. The sound of male and female crew
members struggling against overpowering captures moving prisoners from one part
of the ship to another was unmistakable. Aaen looked forward to watching a pair
of metal doors disappear in the violent explosion of a breaching charge so
Delta Force could do its job. He had never seen an interrogation of Orion Pirates
before.
The
pirates marching down the corridor passed by the open doorway, holding
high-powered particle rifles with a casual sharpness that made every bridge
crew member a little worried—even anxious—about leaving the cargo bay. One was
slightly taller than the other, and they both were built almost like
professional bodybuilders. Loud, muffled, indiscernible radio chatter from
under the pirates’ helmets could be heard in the cargo bay. Aaen zeroed the
pirate on the left; the deputy targeted the pirate on the right. Their fingers
rested firmly on the triggers of their rifles as they waited for the Commander’s
gesture order to fire. Seconds later, the pirates were out of sight. The other
two Delta Force team members were kneeling down where the first two pirates had
been. Delta Force regrouped in the middle of the cargo bay while the rest of
the bridge crew gathered in the dark of a nearby corner.
The
Commander had a very direct, sharp look on his face as he said, “Alright,
Deltas, time to work for a living.
The two pirates outside are likely going to come back in this direction. If
they notice the pirates in this cargo bay are down, they’ll call for reinforcements. With the bottleneck out
there, we can’t rely on reinforcements to
come to help us. We-are-on-our-own.” that felt like someone dropped a
bucket of cold water on each of their heads. Several other bridge crew members
overheard what he said and directed more attention at Delta Force’s meeting. “When
the pirates come back, we’ll ambush them.
That will give us two more weapons to
use to retake the ship. They might also be carrying other gear that we can use.
Colonel, you and the deputy will be
responsible for covering any possible entrance into this room while we check
them for anything we can use to help us retake the ship. I’ll signal at the
moment when we’ll engage the pirates. Questions?”
Every Delta stayed at ease. “Take up positions here, here, and there. Standby
for my signal,” he commanded sharply, gesturing the tactical positions
throughout the cargo bay. More footsteps,
and then radio chatter. . . The footsteps were getting louder. The pirates’
shadows were getting taller in the intermittent seconds-long flashing of red
lights along the dark corridor outside—
The
Deltas moved quickly. Aaen stood behind the deputy, leaning forward and
assuming a tactical stance as he aimed at the doorway as the deputy took a knee
and took aim as the Commander and the rest of the Deltas stacked up on the
inside of the doorway. The Deltas on the inside of the doorway were in a
similar tactical stance as Aaen and the deputy, but theirs looked like they were
waiting to grab the pirates and wrangle them to the ground at the drop of a
proverbial hat. The Commander, especially.
The shouting from down the hall ended with the hiss of twin metal doors
closing.
The
pirates were in view. The pirate closest to the doorway looked inside the cargo
bay to find darkness. Their shapes were outlined just enough by the red lights for Aaen and the deputy to line up a
shot center-of-mass. The pirates stopped in the corridor. The radio chatter
suddenly ended. The nearest pirate stuck their head inside and looked around,
bringing their rifle up quickly. The Deltas saw that IT HAD A FLASHLIGHT ATTACHMENT!
The
Commander gave the signal. Aaen snapped and squeezed the trigger as the
Commander reached out and grabbed the pirate and tossed them to the cargo bay’s
floor like the pirate was nothing but a child’s toy. Aaen’s rifle’s bolt
struck the target slightly above the chest and pummeled the pirate to the deck
as though a horizontal support beam caught them several inches below the chin.
The pirate convulsed on the deck like they had been abruptly electrocuted. The
pirate’s helmet communicator sparked several times before shorting out, then
the pirate lay jaggedly and nearly motionless. Aaen’s face burned with anxiety
as he subconsciously wondered if anyone outside of the cargo bay heard the shot’s
slightly muffled ‘boom’, or saw the instant bright red glow of the shot. The
echo dying in the cargo bay quickly was reassuring but didn’t settle his nerves
or the rest of the Deltas (except for the Commander, who didn’t seem at all
worried about that detail), or that of the bridge crew. The deputy snapped and
shot the pirate on the floor, five feet away from the deputy. The pirate lay
nearly motionless flat on their back. The Commander gestured for Aaen and the deputy to bring the pirate in the corridor into the cargo bay.
The
Delta’s followed their instructions and carried out their orders. Seconds later, two non-Delta Force bridge
crew members had a particle rifle but weren’t quite sure how to use it. The
Commander showed them how to use the rifles in less than thirty seconds,
starting with the safety switch, a walkthrough of the targeting sight, how to not shoot a member of the crew, and how
to hold the rifles without shooting themselves.
The Commander immediately gestured for the bridge crew to gather around with a
combination of whispered direct commands. In seconds, a crowd formed in front
of him.
“Crew,
we don’t have much time. When the
pirates realize what’s happened, we’re going to have a really big firefight on our hands. We need to get to the armory, quickly, get armed, and then establish a
tactical plan to retake the ship. . .” the bridge crew responded with
anxious, emphatic nods, and a few very nervous ones. “I’ll take the lead with
you,” he pointed to a Delta standing behind the captain and first officer. “Aaen,”
he immediately had his attention, “you and the deputy will bring up the rear. You and you will stay close to the captain and first officer in case there’s
trouble. You will be responsible for
protecting them if we are discovered. Understood?” the two bridge crew
members nodded. “Make-no-mistake. We’re
sneaking into the hornet’s nest. Expect potentially
heavy resistance, at any time. Stay low, and we should be okay.” More nervous/anxious
acknowledging nods. The Commander nodded back at the bridge crew.
Aaen
enthusiastically held his rifle higher into his shoulder and looked sharply at
the corridor ahead and leaned forward as though to get ready to move out and
potentially engage the pirates. The deputy noticed what Aaen did and mimicked his
stance.
The
Commander quickly checked the power output on his rifle and then held it over
his shoulder, turned abruptly and commanded, “Let’s go.”
*****
Steve H. told Jordan Foutin, "You are the next Tom Clancy. You really are a gifted writer."
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