U.S.S. Humanity Read online

  Beppe stares out the ship’s windows at the wreck far away. “All the people are dead?”

  “The ones still here are not exhibiting signs of life,” clarified Jen. They all walk to peer out the large windows.

  Alone at his console, Dex shakes unperceivably and chants, gritting his teeth. “Stop the ship … Stop the ship … Stop the ship … Stop the ship.” He grows louder, moving from his seat to the navigation console, slamming the emergency stop button and finally screaming, “STOP THE SHIP! I want to see the bodies!” Everyone struggles to keep their balance as the ship slows quickly. Dex reorients the ship on an intercept trajectory with Second Dawn.

  “What are you doing?” asks Nadia. “You’re going to hit them.”

  Dex looks at Nadia offended and continues his activity.

  “Dex threaded this ship through multiple high-velocity projectiles and you think he’s gonna hit that ship?” scoffs Jen as she elbows Nadia softly.

  *****

  As the Humanity floats slowly by the derelict, dozens of frozen corpses can be seen floating eerily close to the ship. The crew faces the morbid sight unflinching, but not without horror.

  A panel behind them begins to beep and Xiao welcomes the chance to leave the window. “Radar contact. It’s large. DS1?”

  “You think they stumbled upon their hideout by accident?” Beppe asks.

  “And then they didn’t even clean up the wreck?” Xiao asks. “They just leave it here after slaughtering them?”

  “Maybe they didn’t have time or were putting it off?” adds Alex. “They took hostages. They couldn’t have destroyed that many transponders.”

  Jen turns to Dex, “This is what will happen to Zoey, if we let this station go. If no one brings them to justice.”

  “What are you asking, Doctor? You’re supposed to protect life. Are you going to sit there and ask us to kill?” says Dex, not without venom.

  “Don’t presume to tell me about my convictions,” Jen snaps. “I was fired for refusing to take that stupid Hippocratic oath and I will kill or walk away from those that deserve no better. You don’t know the carnage I’ve seen,” yells Jen, suddenly passionate. Beppe looks at the others, panicked. Surprised, they exchange concerned glances: No one has seen Jen so emotional before.

  “Understand what you ask … all of you. If I do this thing, I do it my way and, believe me, people will die,” warns Dex. “How does that sit with you?” They exchange glances, grim but decided.

  “I ask for justice. And I understand war. I protect those in my charge, don’t ever think differently, but to these men …” Jen looks out the window, “… I owe nothing.” Satisfied, Dex turns to Nadia.

  “Dex, looks like they have a big laser attached to the station,” says Xiao looking up from the radar with her jaw set, “Pharris’ ship is there, too.” Dex looks slowly to Nadia.

  “How do you feel about a high-velocity HALO drop?”

  Turning from the window with fire in her eyes, she clinches her jaw and nods.

  *****

  The Humanity hurtles through space at high speed angling away from the pirate station.

  Dex and Nadia sit arms around their knees in the refuse disposal chute. “Alex,” says Dex, “you need to be johnny-on-the-spot with those chamber floods. We can’t let this turn into a room-to-room firefight.”

  “I have the schematic down cold. I told you. I can clear the different rooms of bad guys by depleting them of oxygen,“ explains Alex.

  “Are you sure you have the proper access?” challenges Dex.

  “I utilized a discrete legacy interface and gained root access before disengaging. I own them, if need be. Trust me.”

  “You’ll have to earn that,” warns Dex. Dex clicked off his comm and looks at Nadia, “I wish Loki was here.”

  “Who’s Loki?”

  “We go way back. He was an intel analyst, a young man, I think. Even though we never met … hell, he was just a name under relayed intel we got in the field. He got me out of a lot of scrapes. If his name was on it, it was good intel. The rest of them got my men killed.” Dex speaks back into his comm, “Trust? I’ve seen too many men die for being too trusting.”

  “You know what: then you can do this your damn self.”

  “Why don’t I?”

  “Look, I used to work in operations. I provided real-time intel to special ops and I always triple-checked the data.”

  “Wrong answer. If you were an analyst then you aren’t worth a damn.” Dex grows even more agitated, “An analyst? You guys got my whole team ambushed and killed with your damn triple-checked shit! It’s all I can do not to come punch you in the nose right now.”

  “You bastard!”

  Nadia grabs Dex’s helmet firmly and forces eye contact. “Focus, Colonel.”

  “Loki was the only analyst I trusted and you ain’t him.”

  Alex’s eyes narrow, flicking left and right, wavering, but he answers confidently, “You don’t know what you’re talking about, you arrogant prick and I’m all you’ve got, so you’re gonna have to swallow and smile.”

  “Well, confidence is a start. But you will toggle chamber control to my suit after we achieve entry.”

  “As you wish.”

  *****

  Barely visible in the fleeting light of space, two objects tumble out of the belly of the ship. Dark, they take on a divergent trajectory, but at like speeds. Small, controlled bursts of compressed air set the objects on a course for DS1.

  Nadia and Dex exchange looks as they close on the aging space station. A cable connects them and widens as they near the station, slowly separating. Their distance-to-target readings rapidly descend as impact looms. As the station’s unique contours become apparent, Dex and Nadia are forced to adjust their orientations. At their maximum distance, they are 2000 meters apart.

  When the wire hits the station, with Nadia and Dex on opposite sides, they thrust in anticipation of the centrifugal force of the pull they are about to endure. As the cable catches, they are whirled around the station, like thread around a spool. Having chosen a projection-free area of the station, they only have to fear colliding with each other. Understanding this as seasoned, space-trained military, they each counter-thrust in a prearranged opposing direction.

  Finally, they stop spinning and reach the hull, with a not-inaudible bang. “We’re at the prom,” Dex says into his radio, breaking silence.

  “Spiking the punch,” responds Alex, on cue, as the hatch in front of Dex pops open. Dex and Nadia drop in and pressurize the airlock.

  The station is dimly lit as Dex and Nadia unholster their sidearms. “Toggle control to me,” says Dex.

  “Already done,” replies Alex, who squints at the screen, eyes eagerly scanning the constant data streams. “I’m here if you need me.”

  “No sign of activity. Looks like a clean entry,” says Nadia.

  “Cycling the door,” says Dex, punching the console on his arm. The grimy door opens and they peek into the dirty hallway.

  “They haven’t tidied up the place,” Nadia quips, taking in the flex-circuit data sheets strewn across the floor.

  “Come on, we’ve got to move. There’s someone I want to drop in on.”

  *****

  Another metal door opens to reveal what appears to be a line of private living areas.

  “The sensors confirm the hostages are in these rooms.”

  “Good,” says Dex looking at his console, “I’m going this way. You get them to the rendezvous and I’ll meet you.”

  “That wasn’t the plan.”

  “I have to do this.”

  “You don’t think I want to shoot that prick, too? You take the prisoners, I’ll kill Pharris.” Nadia tries to move for the door, but she stops when Dex points his weapon at her.

  “You don’t understand, Nadia. Do as I say.” She looks at his gun and back into his eyes. Self-conscious, he poin
ts the gun away from her. “You don’t understand what he’s done. So many things before this. Evil like his … Let me go,” Dex pleads. Nadia’s shoulders lower as she nods giving her consent and Dex exits the chamber.

  *****

  As Dex nears Pharris’ ship, the lighting in the hallways and general order of the station improves. “He’s meticulous, isn’t he?” After many turns, Dex peeks through a window from which bright light is shining. Many doors enter into the room. Pharris sits with his back to Dex, bent over the large consoles of the station’s command center.

  *****

  Nadia approaches the doors to the private compartments and frowns. All of the beacons seem to be in the same chamber.

  *****

  “That’s strange,” says Alex, frowning and leaning forward.

  “What is it,” asks Xiao, “I don’t see-“

  “The door Nadia is at has been modified. Nadia wait one.”

  *****

  “They can’t all be in here,” says Nadia, reaching for the door. “Opening door-“

  *****

  “No,” yells Alex, hitting multiple keys faster than Xiao’s eyes can follow.

  *****

  Several doors open down 100 meters of hallway until it is exposed to the vacuum of space. Open space sucks the air and Nadia out of the chamber just as multiple explosions rock the corridors. Nadia flies through the air, banging off a bulkhead, before curling into a ball. Alex closes the chamber doors as Nadia whizzes by, sealing, protecting her from the explosions as she lies on the floor unconscious. Just as quickly, he reseals the station and returns oxygen to the hallway in which Nadia lies, unmoving.

  *****

  “Nadia? Nadia?” yells Xiao. “Are you alright?”

  “Dex? Dex? It’s a trap,” urges Alex into the radio.

  *****

  Dex toggles the door and strides into the light, gun leveled at Pharris’ back. “With a heart of hate I stab at thee.” He raises his gun, but, hearing Alex, hesitates and speaks into his comm, “What?”

  At that instant, men enter from every door way, guns raised. Dex is surrounded and lowers his sidearm.

  “Well, well, Masterson. You walked into the wrong room, didn’t you, buddy? Drop the gun.” Dex drops it hard, hoping it will go off. He frowns when it doesn’t. “Ya know, I’ve been trying to think of some cool way to kill you … like James Bond-like. Have you seen those movies?”

  “Yeah, shouldn’t you have a pet or something? Or do you just stick a ball in one of these guy’s mouths and ride ‘em?”

  “You’re funny. The last funny guy we had here we blew out the airlock.”

  “I imagine he’s not the only one gettin’ blown around here, huh, boys? Not too many ladies in space, am I right?” Dex teases.

  “Actually, I’m a lady,” says one of the henchmen.

  Dex looks her up and down, dubiously. “Lucky you … and them.”

  “Enough,” interrupts Pharris, standing and pulling out his pistol. “On your knees.” One of the henchmen strikes Dex’s legs from behind. Dex kneels in pain, but the henchman also drops his weapon which discharges. Everyone ducks as the bullet ricochets around the room.

  “Oh, that was awesome. Where’d you get these guys?”

  “Sorry, Pharris,” begs the henchman obsequiously. Pharris stands and straightens his clothing, frustrated.

  Dex turns to the henchman. “You know, if you join my side right now, I won’t blow you out an airlock. I doubt this dipshit will make you the same offer.”

  “Dex? Dex? Squawk one if you can hear me.” Alex’s voice emanates from Dex’s ear piece. Dex sits up, shifting and clandestinely squawks his ear radio. “I need you to jump in the air.”

  “Move away from him,” says Pharris, stepping an arm’s length from Dex and pointing his gun at his head. “I was always smarter than you. You followed all the rules and ended up with nothing. Adrift in space. Family: gone. Country: gone.”

  “Dex, jump in three seconds,” orders Alex.

  Pharris’ gun is trained on Dex’s head, but he stands slowly, defiantly.

  “Who do you have now, Masterson? I’ve stripped you down to nothing and no one likes what they see. You trust no one, betray them for your own ends time and time again.” Dex glares at Pharris, acknowledging some truth to the words.

  *****

  The crew of Humanity listens via Dex’s radio, exchanging troubled glances.

  *****

  “You want to stand: Valiant as ever. Fool. All witness how the illusion of light is swallowed by the truth of darkness.”

  “Do it,” dares Dex, his eyes turning glassy, admitting the truth of Pharris’ words. “It’s true. I’ve disowned my son. My only son. And my wife … I have nothing left.”

  “Dex, snap out of it. Dex, remember Kyoto. I am Loki,” Alex urges.

  Dex looks up, eyes searching, then he smiles. Knowing the truth of what Alex says, he begins to laugh, eyebrows arching in earnest joy. Somehow, Dex knows now that he will escape. Pharris, angry at Dex’s irreverence, pushes the nozzle against his forehead.

  “Now jump, you bastard. Three, two, one.” At the moment Dex jumps, Alex opens the door behind him and the air is sucked from the chamber. Pharris, grabbing his chair in panic, let’s go of the gun. Dex, having guessed Alex’s ploy, catches the gun mid-air and opens fire at Pharris, even as he is sucked down the hallway. The bullets pull in opposition to the vacuum, slowing, almost touching Pharris before succumbing and reversing direction. Dex frowns as the bullets now pursue him. Henchmen tumble down the halls, as well, before Alex closes the blast doors and returns atmosphere.

  Meanwhile, Alex vents other chambers near Pharris, who fights to regain control of the station.

  *****

  “Ah, ah, ah,” says Alex typing furiously at the console, “that command’s not going to work, Pharris. Impressive, though.”

  “Alex, this is Nadia. I have the hostages. Light the way.”

  “On it. Good to go. Humanity is inbound, ETA: two minutes. Beppe, how are we doing?”

  “It’s bigger than a Harley, but she bends to my will. I got a big will,” he shrugs and smiles, struggling to steer the ship. Jen rolls her eyes.

  “Let’s not forget your other big item,” adds Jen. Beppe arches an eyebrow.

  “Your big, fat ego,” she says flatly.

  “Closing on the station. Slowing to sub-sonic: Brace yourselves,” warns Beppe.

  *****

  Pharris continues to struggle at the console, but finally concedes. “I can’t restore control. Close those doors manually,” he orders, yelling in the near-vacuum atmosphere. With great effort, his henchmen manage to close the doors and air returns to the chamber.

  “New radar contact. It’s Humanity,” reports a henchmen.

  Pharris looks at him and snarls, “I want them blown from the skies. You: Get to the laser cannon. Use manual controls. And the rest of you: kill Masterson.” The men all exit the room.

  “Let’s get to the ship,” he confides to Vlad.

  “What? Abandon the station?”

  “Masterson is unpredictable. I don’t trust where this is headed.”

  *****

  “Alex, I’ve got the hostages ready. We’re in a air-tight container. Just vent the airlock and we should get sucked out.”

  “What about Dex?” asks Alex.

  Dex’s voice cuts in via radio, “I’ll take care of myself. You just get them out.”

  Alex shakes his head, “Arrogant son of a ...” Then into the radio, “Okay, venting now. Hold on, Captain.” Alex cycles the chamber hatch and the storage container rushes out into space.

  *****

  Dex runs down the hallway, turning to fire at his pursuers. But no sooner do bad guys pop out, then Alex vents them into space, blocks their progress with fire-suppressant gases or crushes them with sudden door “malfunctions”. Frus
trated, Dex finally holsters his sidearm and focuses on running.

  *****

  “I see them,” says Jen, pointing and Beppe reorients the ship. Suddenly, a bright beam of light streaks from the station, narrowly missing the container.

  “What the-“ exclaims Beppe.

  “It’s a huge laser,” warns Jen. “Alex, can’t you shut it down?”

  “It’s not on the blueprints … and it doesn’t seem to be attached to the electrical system.”

  “But how is that possible,” asked Xiao.

  “Working on it,” assures Alex, hands all over the keyboards.

  *****

  Running, Dex yells at his wrist, “Loki, if the laser’s not on the grid, it must be a jury-rigged power supply.”

  “OK.”

  Frustrated, Dex continues, “It may be hot enough to-”

  “Already on it!” interrupts Alex.

  *****

  Another laser beam streaks through space, burning a hole in the Humanity. Alarms go off all over the bridge.

  “We’re venting,” yells Xiao.

  “I’ve sealed it off, we’re okay,” reassures Alex.

  “Okay?” Xiao looks at him as she watches his hands move in awe. The alarms cease.

  “Dex, we’re all set. Get out of there now,” warns Alex.

  *****

  “I ain’t ambling!” Dex’s retorts. “Gimme an exit!”

  “They’ve got a laser,“ Alex informs Dex. He runs at a set of huge storage bay doors, which cycle open at the last second and Dex is sucked rapidly into space.

  *****

  “Enemy station: this is Humanity. If you fire your laser again at our vessel, we will destroy you,” Dex warns tumbling rapidly away.

  *****

  “What’s he talking about?” asks Beppe, turning to Alex. “Should I accelerate away?”

  “We’d never have time,” admits Jen, reluctantly.

  Alex finally moves his hands away from the keyboard and grips the console tightly. “I flooded the chambers around the laser with pure oxygen. Grab something and hold on.”

  Wide-eyed, Jen turns from Alex to look at the station. “But, just a spark will ignite-“

  “Hold on, woman!” yells Beppe, as he wraps his arms around Jen and her chair, forcing her to sit.

  *****

  “Full burn, now,” squeals Pharris, as the ship swings from the airlock and Vlad punches the console. “Masterson!!!” Pharris and Vlad strain in the gravity of harsh acceleration.

  *****

  The henchman at the laser controls laughs as he points the crosshairs of the laser at the cockpit of The Humanity and pulls the trigger.