Shauni

8000 words.

On a freighter orbiting a planet much like Earth, inhabited by a people much like us.

Chapter 1
Shauni stopped trying to jam things into the locking mechanism and ran away from the airlock as she heard the grinding and clanking of the airlock’s old motor, it meant a ship had begun to clamp into place and she didn‘t want to stick around. She had been trying to disable it so that no-one could dock to the freighter but that wasn’t going to work now and she couldn‘t remember the way out. The rows all looked the same. Shauni chose a direction, one was as good as any other.

Shauni saw several other smaller ships already docked outside and came to a halt when the sounds of soldiers reached her ears from above her. She was lucky these freighters echoed so much and that the soldiers had metal-soled boots, they were still a distance above her. But she had nowhere to run to now. The locking mechanism sent a loud clank out as the ship aligned properly.

Using their weapons they could normally overwhelm the untrained onboard guards with ease and escape with what cargo they could carry before anyone came to help, but any form of trained resistance was another thing entirely since most of her own crew were untrained themselves. The first thing those troops would do would be to split up to locate the bulk of intruders, Shauni used her radio to warn the others then threw it into a trash receptacle. What next? Shauni needed to hide...

Over there. A group of crew members who had tried to fight back. These guys hadn’t stood a chance, it was shocking how poorly these kinds of companies equipped their employees. They set them out into the black with next to nothing. Shauni quickly worked to locate a member that was around her size and checked the nametag… Sarah Hodges, sorry Sarah. Shauni quickly stripped the unfortunate person then got into the other woman’s clothing, it wasn‘t exactly a comfortable fit, the woman was a few inches shorter than Shauni for a start, but this wasn‘t a good time to be picky. Turning around she checked that there were no bullet holes anywhere in the overalls, there were a few rips and spatters of gore but that would help with the act she wanted to give out, luckily (for Shauni) the woman had been shot in the head. She looked around for a way to dispose of the body.

----

Corporal Michaels commanded one of the initial infantry sections about to board, he waited with his troops, 8 privates and his second-in-command Lance-corporal Tanders for the doors to open. It would be his unit’s job to be one of the first through the airlock, to scout and secure an area for the rest of the company to disembark.

While he waited he checked on his troops protectives and weapons, they all wore the standard issue flak jackets containing hundreds of laminating disks made out of high-tensile strengthened ceramics with various non-Newtonian fluids in the spaces in between each disk, these fluids were designed to redistribute the impact of a projectile into a much larger area so that the penetration of a bullet was minimized, this worked by having a higher density where it was needed to stop the momentum and a lower density where the pressure needed to be allowed to flow, the force of the bullet(s) spread around the armour like a wave losing momentum. Similar albeit lower quality apparel adorned their legs and feet, appendages weren‘t as easy or important to defend as the torso apparently, although Michaels felt it had more to do with the expense than with the need. He liked his legs.

The helmets they all wore had cameras instead of a visor, this allowed for better protection by taking away the need for a weak point while allowing for maximum visibility. Newer models could even have different spectrums, the helmet also filtered out extremes of sound and light designed to minimize the effectiveness of flashbang weaponry. A lovely bit of kit.

They were good soldiers, clean, tidy and organized, he’d have to try and keep them that way. The ten of them were split into two fire teams, with him and Tanders controlling one each respectively when in combat. Their weapons were pretty standard too, according to each man’s role,  each fire team consisted of a man armed with a light support weapon, 2 gunner men, and 2 riflemen. No Mech today, not on a freighter in orbit.

Working in such fire teams was one of the best ways to effectively move in ships like this, no air support could help out and ground support vehicles could have only entered the larger passages, effectively just the loading docks. The concept was pretty simple, 2 small well-knit teams could be flexible and had the best chance to help each other out in any given circumstances. His infantry section worked along with 2 others as a platoon under Lieutenant Bechk, which in turn worked with 3 other platoons as a company of almost 200 men under the command of the Battle-Captain of the ship.

The doors opened and his men quietly moved forward with several other sections to secure the area. The place was a slaughterhouse, the raiders had clearly come here just to see exactly which goods went where next but they hadn’t spared anyone on their way past. He had been on operations like this before, sometimes they managed to find the criminals and sometimes not, but so far that had never brought the workers and guards back. The docking and loading area they had entered through was on the starboard side near the bow of the ship, essentially a large multi-story hold full of cargo boxes, the ship would be exhausting to search with this many hideaways.

Tanders approached him with 2 of his privates holding a young woman by the arms, she was wearing a overall that had certainly seen better days, and she had hair that despite it‘s short cut was impressively wild, she was plainly terrified. Judging from her clothing and manner this was one of the onboard crew. She was trying to pull away quite violently from the men’s grip but was having no luck, together the two men probably outweighed her nearly 3 to 1. Although judging from the cracks across LC Tander’s helmet, they had a good reason to hold her so tightly.

“Found a crew member sir, she seems pretty shook up.”

Michaels made sure to speak clearly to the woman as he spoke while keeping a calm voice and expression, she would most likely be in shock.

“Good afternoon Miss, my name is Corporal Michaels, don‘t worry you‘re safe now, are you hurt at all?” No response.

“Is there anything you can tell us about what happened?” Her eyes slowly focused on him but she didn’t appear to truly hear him yet although she did struggle abit less.

“Could you tell me your name perhaps?” …she flinched and pulled backwards. Best to take her onto their ship and question her there when she could start to terms with recent events. He couldn’t leave her here anyway.

“I’d like to take you onto our ship, is that alright with you?” Nobody home. Hopefully that wasn’t permanent, it normally faded after a while, but he’d seen a few people just clock out and never really come completely back. It was quite a shock for most people when this happened to you.

Michaels radioed in to his superior to say he had found a survivor and asked for confirmation to bring her onboard, the quicker he could get a civilian to safety the better, besides she didn’t look like she should be left unaccompanied. He left 6 of his privates under the command of a lieutenant organising a group to ensure their retreat was secured back to the ship in case it was necessary, and told his remaining 2 men holding the woman and Lc.Tanders to follow him in with the traumatised crew member.

“Caught you by surprise, eh? Did she say anything?” His subordinate’s face reddened slightly and he hesitated as they walked down a corridor in the frigate class ship Arrow, no doubt Tanders had hoped he wouldn’t notice. Big, serious Tanders taking a beating from a mousy little girl! This would be a lot of fun later on.

“…Yes sir, I guess you could say that. But no sir, she didn’t say anything, her nametag says Sarah Hodges. It seems like she’s been through the wars given the amount of blood on it too but she doesn’t appear to be seriously injured, must’ve been smart and kept running… she attacked me out of panic, sir. She was hiding and I went to grab her arm so...”

Tanders always came across as abit stiff, tall with average brown hair and pretty average looks too, he probably walked past a thousand men exactly like him every single day back in the cities and didn‘t remember one of ‘em, but unlike them Tanders was a good man, it wasn’t really that surprising that the lance-corporal took it upon himself to ensure a complete stranger wasn’t treated harshly just because she panicked and thought she had to defend herself. Maybe he’d go easy on the taunting, just a few jokes. Maybe something about him attracting rough women? Meh, he’d think of better material later.

Walking through the Arrow was a stark contrast to the freighter they had just left, freighters were essentially all the same, big, grey, and mind-rottingly boring after you were on them for a few days. You’d think that given the spacious nature of the freighters they would feel open and free, but they always felt desolate instead, kind of like a desert except without even the wind to indicate life. Just miles of dead air. Whereas the limited space on the frigate made things confining, but strangely comforting. At least you knew you weren’t the only one around.

The worst thing about working in the place was that every corridor was marked out exactly the same with confusing symbols on the walls being the only directions, most of the doors were at roughly the same intervals too. This was to ensure that unauthorized personnel wouldn’t be able to find their way around, he had become lost countless times when he had first started working here and wasn’t entirely sure he had even been everywhere, luckily there was always someone around willing to help point you in the right direction.

The floor was made with a likewise display of creativity, repeating panels of steel sheeting etched for the purpose of providing a firm grip on the electro-magnetic soles of the boots everyone wore.     

Artificial gravity and anti-gravity were marvellous things, enabling almost-as-fast-as-light travel and making space far easier to travel through but relying on a single technology that could be disabled was just stupid when you could use something low tech as backup.

Michaels brought Sarah into the medical station and sent his privates back to guarding the ship with the landing party, him and Tanders could handle any trouble and the room was small enough with him, Sarah, the LC and the doctor who worked here without adding in the two hefty men.

“Morning Doc. How’s it going?”

Doctor Kliphart slowly looked Sarah up and down, raised his eyebrow at Michaels along with a smirk and said, “Spoils of war, eh you frisky devil? At your age too! tsk tsk. What will the neighbours think?” Setting the frightened crewmember off into a bout of surprised laughter. Tanders didn’t even try to hide his growing smirk. And the first impressions were going so well. Oh well.

------

Rikard looked at his radio in confusion for a moment, not trusting the voice he heard over the static. What did they mean they lost Shauni?

“Repeat that?”

"She's gone, she warned us about ships docking and chucked her radio. We haven’t heard from her since but we‘ve heard some activity. She was alone over on one of the starboard docking areas.”

“What was she doing alone, I told you not to go anywhere alone!”

“She wanted to screw up the airlocks, we told her she would have to take an escort but…well, you know Shauni…it was quicker for her to slip away.” Yeah, he did know Shauni, into hell feet first, no looking before you leap. Certainly sounded like her.

“I‘m organizing some of the men. There won‘t be many left on the ship, they‘ll be look for us instead! Maybe if we take a few soldiers hostage we can negotiate for her back. Or use that as a distraction and sneak on board!” Urgh, that kind of suggestion was why he sent Shauni with this overgrown kid!… Which in hindsight probably wasn’t his brightest idea.

“Don’t be an idiot and calm down, if she can lie her way out of it then we’d just get them wondering why we were so interested in her in the first place, plus we’d be dead too. We‘ve got no reason to assume she was caught either other than that she found it necessary to chuck her radio… call me if you hear anything, I‘ve got to think.”

Rikard took his finger away from the Talk button of his radio and reigned in the overwhelming urge to smash it, it was always the same with his sister, she had saved his life with her tendency towards brashness almost as often as he had saved hers because of it. It was natural that growing up as the children of smugglers hadn’t lent them either a carefree lifestyle or nature but couldn’t she just be the tiniest bit more careful?

“So…how are we going to get her back?” Rikard could hear the genuine concern in Eric’s voice behind him, it was the man’s responsibility to appear strong in front of his subordinates but it was Rikard’s job to put him at ease as well. Shauni was something of a symbol for the others, what she lacked in forethought and common sense she more than made up for in sheer confidence, quick thinking and at least seven fistfuls of dumb luck. It didn’t hurt that she was a young woman too, the men needed no encouragement to fight for her approval and the women loved the fact that there was a woman in charge as well as Rikard. To them it gave a sense of equality between the sexes, or maybe it made them think of it like a family business. Who knows? But to him she was just his irresponsible little sister.

He'd deal with what he knew first, one thing at a time.

If their runner had stayed then it would have been seen from the planet below and word would have got out that a dodgy looking craft was docked here. It would be back tomorrow though, they just needed to give those troops the run-around until then, then board their own ship and peg it. He would have to contact their ship, Trucido, and tell them to approach from the other side of the freighter, if they kept it in between them and the other ship then they could slip away without ever being seen.

But what to do about Shauni? He’d have to hope for now that she knew what she was doing, this time he couldn’t rescue her. Not against a shipful of trained soldiers.

Rikard made his voice more confident as he gave his commands into the radio.

Rikard here, the freighter's been boarded by troops, seems like they're proper ones too judging by the ships, everyone is to split up and hide in groups of 6 or so. Forget about grabbing stuff and avoid conflict. Keep your radios turned on but don't use them, they can't hear you but if you do use them they can zero in on your position, only use them in an emergency. I'll let you know the rendezvous once it's time. I repeat...


"And Shauni?" Eric was biting his necklace, a nervous habit even his subordinates were aware of.

“Let me worry about her, Eric. You worry about your men... Whoever these soldiers are they‘ve got a lot of ground to search. Heck, hopefully they don’t even know whether we’re still here yet. I’m going to the communications deck to contact Trucido."

-----

Shauni panicked quietly inside the sick bay's bathroom after her shower as she tried to decide what to do. Should she should have continued to pretend to be in shock? If they had kept thinking she was out of it then she could have avoided too many questions, or maybe they'd have just got suspicious? Especially after she laughed so suddenly.

Oh well, it didn't matter anyway, she wasn’t planning to stick around…

"Ms. Hodges? Everything okay in there?" Shauni growled in annoyance and shrugged on the clothes she had been provided. She lived with a group of uncouth morons but not of them would have shown impatience.

She poked her head out of the door to see the doctor doing something that didn't interest her in the corner, and to also find that the tall man she had whacked earlier was standing right outside waiting for her. Shauni considered telling him he was too tall and that he’d die alone unless he learned to respect a woman's privacy but then she remembered that the guy had a gun. Crap.

"Yeeeeeees?" Shauni concentrated all of her focus into glaring a hole into the man's brain, maybe he'd get the message and leave her alone.

"I'm Lance-Corporal Tanders, I'm here to escort you to the brig as soon as the doctor lets you go, once we've confirmed your identity you'll be transported home. No other survivors have been found yet but loudspeaker messages are being sent out to find any."

Oh damn, once they found out who she was, "Sarah" was dead. No excuses were accepted for the raiding line of work. She couldn't leave with this dog on her heels either, and even if she did, the ship's exits would be guarded. What would they do when none of the survivors recognized her? Or when her answers didn't match up with who Sarah was? Or if they found the wallet she had discovered inside the overalls? It was unlikely that the woman's driving licence looked anything like Shauni! She could be discovered in a thousand tiny different ways and sooner or later it was going to happen.

Tanders noted the pale slick look growing on the young woman's face and walked them over to a bed, sitting in one of the chairs with Sarah following behind.

"Maybe we should sit down, you still look unwell. There's really not anything to worry about though Miss, fatalities in this kind of incident rarely rise above 10 percent or so. The freighters are just too big and the raiders aren't going to chase anyone down, greed is what drives them, not bloodlust." Ah, how sweet, the lanky gun-hand thought she was worried about the crew! Ha!

The doctor huffed and strolled over from his corner, plumping himself down on the bed, he hadn't really been working on anything anyway, the girl was perfectly healthy.

"Geez Berk, you sure know how to sweet talk a lady, don‘t ya? Do you really think that's what she wants to talk about? My name’s Evan Kliphart by the way, nice to meet ya."

"Don't call me that, and it's important to be prepared and handle things, sugar-coating the situation doesn't help change reality. This way-"

Shauni let the two of them argue while she tried to think up as strong a background on Sarah as she could. What was her last name again? Hotchet? Hedges? Arghhh!

"Bah, take my advice and ignore this gloomy git. The best thing to do is to concentrate on the here and now, you know? You’re warm, got enough air to breath, food, clothes. You've even got Berk here to keep you company, not everyday you're on a ship like this, right? Enjoy it and take a look around. Keep yourself occupied and all that stuff."

"Actually she's confined to the brig until we confirm her identity."

Shauni was feeling worse and worse about all of this, maybe she should have tried running for it back at the airlock?

"Hang on, this ship can't be that big, are you guys gonna try and keep everyone in the brig?" From what Shauni had seen through the airlock it wasn't anywhere near big enough to hold the amount of people she knew would be on the freighter. She’d never really cared what the soldiers did with the crews.

"No, that wouldn't be possible, in previous situations like this we have kept civilians away from attackers in temporary positions with a few troops, until we can bring transports in to deal with them. We can't bring such ships in until the situation is understood and ideally resolved. As I mentioned the attackers seem to be here to raid, they won't approach any group with armed troops. They'll probably try to hide. That's most likely why we haven’t found their ship.”

"Oh, so... why am I going in the brig then? Is it because I hit you with that bar? Sorry about that." Shauni didn't feel sorry at all, this stiff was the enemy. She had ditched her rifle to avoid being found with it and she was missing it now, what would happen to that rifle? It was hers, it shouldn’t end up rotting.

The doctor ran a hand through his hair and chuckled, "Might be that actually, things get abit complicated when people start talking about unlawful combatants. I don't think you fall under that category though, warnings to civilians hadn't been sent out yet."

The doctor waved his hand at them as he lay comfortably on the bed.
"Anyway you're healthy, off you go."

Tanders stood, restraining his urge to scold the doctor over his negligence as Shauni went to leave. There must be work the man could be doing instead of lounging on the bed. "Thank you Doctor, have a good day."

"Pffft, not much chance of that. They'll be finding casualties soon. Busy day, right?"

Shauni was stopped by the Lance-Corporals arm across the door frame just before she left through the door. Almost made it out too. Shauni turned to look at him and frowned when she found him holding a pair of wrist restraints.

"I'll have to ask you to wear these restraints Ms. You'll be able to take them off once we get you into a cell." His eyes momentarily hardened with suspicion as he held the cuffs and eyed her more carefully than he had before.

"You could still be one of the raiders after all."

"Ha, If you feel you need the protection from me, then fine, I’ll go along with it if it‘ll help you feel safe."

Shauni laughed and held out her hands as she felt a chill going down to her stomach, why was he eyeing her so carefully? Did he know something? No, it was perfectly natural for him to be suspicious.

Tanders kept silent while he escorted her to the brig where he had a short conversation with those on duty there. Shauni didn't try to speak either as she tried to memorize some of the corridors they had just been through. They all looked similar but she was certain that the symbols at the junctions were how people knew which direction they were going. Or did they just memorize the place?

"Goodbye and good luck, Sarah." Tanders was already walking away by the time Shauni turned around and tried to think of what to say to him, she didn't exactly like Tanders but he didn’t seem to be a particularly bad guy, he had just been born on the wrong side and needed to loosen up.

Chapter 2
12 hours later

Rikard waited with bated breath alongside his raiders as he heard the soldiers opening shipping containers close by. It had been abit rough the last few hours and he had heard gunshots echoing throughout the area several times, but he hoped most of his comrades had managed to stay hidden. He could see just out of the corners of his eyes the way in which his men’s hands shook alongside his own while all of them hid behind the loaded pallets in the darkness of the back.

The dim lighting outside sent small shafts of dust mote ridden light shining through the rust rimmed holes of their hideaway, Rikard saw several people walk past as the light was obscured periodically.

The doors cracked open with a screech of metal on metal and a rifle was jammed through the opening along with a man's face cautiously peeking through into the container. He strained his eyes into the darkness and retreated his head.

"This one's empty." Despite how quietly the man whispered this, it seemed as loud as a gunshot. Everyone breathed out a slow, quiet and shaky sigh of relief while lowering their guns once the man had pulled his head back from the doors and his footsteps retreated.

The footsteps quickly grew again along with several others and the doors were thrown open with another harsher screech as many hands grasped the edges of the doors and they heaved, Rikard's heart jumped into his throat and his cramped arms fumbled as he tried to raise his gun up again as fast as possible and get his finger wrapped around the trigger. Stupid to relax so quickly, such an easy trick!

"Eric?" Rikard struggled to pull his finger away from the trigger once he recognized Eric in the group, his arms ached even more once he finally managed to lower his gun and coughed to clear his throat. Eric's group didn't look any better off than him and his men. Most of them had jumped back and raised their guns in surprise even though they had heard his voice name Eric. While a few of them had disappeared entirely, although the rapid footsteps disappearing into the distance held a clue into where they had gone.

"Eric, that's you right? Everyone lower your guns, it's me Rikard."

"R-Rikard? Jeez, you scared the life out of me, okay you heard him guys, they're on our side, y-you can lower your guns."

The tension slowly deflated as the newcomers closed the doors and collapsed at the back with Rikard's group. They didn't shout out to the people who had run away. Rikard rubbed his hand across his face to get the stinging sweat out of his eyes.

He pulled Eric towards him and leaned in for a whispered conversation.
"Eric, what are you doing? Walking around? Making noise? Are you trying to get killed?”

"Sorry, I-we sneaked away from a bunch of those soldiers and were looking for an empty container, Sammy broke his leg." Eric nodded at a man behind Rikard who was being lowered to the floor by two of the others.

"Did you get in contact? What’s the plan?"

Rikard checked his watch.

"Yeah, they're just about back, a little under 4 hours away. I was just about to send out the message before you and your boys came along, We're going to meet Trucido at the port stern on the lowest deck. There isn't a lock there but they're going to dock on the side and cut a way in. The soldiers are definitely aware of us by now, judging from the shots I heard earlier, so trying the docking bays would be suicide. Seems to be the best plan. Anyone not there at the time will be left behind."

“I guess there’s no way to get in touch with the people who can’t make it, the longer we wait the more we’re at risk of being slaughtered, it should take them at least that long to realise that we’re all in one place and for them to regroup and attack, by the way…. about Shauni,-”

“Don’t ask Eric. You know there’s nothing I can do to help her even if I didn’t have to gather everyone, so don’t even talk to me about it. We’ve got to concentrate on getting as many people out of this hellhole as possible.”

“Sorry…by the way, won’t they be expecting all of this? I can’t help but feel we’re going to get slaughtered walking into a trap.”

Rikard grunted and glances over at the others before pulling Eric a little closer.

“That’s exactly what’s going to happen but hopefully at least some of us will escape, they’ll be expecting it because it’s the only choice we’ve got anyway.” Eric ran his necklace through his hands a few times before straightening and putting on a poker face.

“Well, I’ll go tell the men we’re moving and get them ready while you’re doing the message then.” Eric walked towards the other raiders noting how haggard they looked, even for men such as these who were used to a rough living this was a trying situation.

Each man looked up at him hopefully as he approached, occasionally one glanced at Rikard who was talking into the radio that he normally carried on his hip. They knew that Rikard had said he would radio the others when it was time to move.

“Time to go, Eric?”

“That‘s right, get up and stay up. You guys should have been on lookout while we were talking anyway, not lounging around. Just because you got a scare is no reason to sit down and give up. Trucido will be at the bottom level of the port stern to pick us up within a few hours. We’re almost out of here, you just need to stay alert and keep your mouth shut. We‘ll meet up with other groups moving there as we move so be careful of your gunfire. Look before you shoot. We might encounter soldiers on the way there but hopefully not until we‘ve met up with a few groups so we‘ll outnumber them by several times, they‘ll regroup before attacking which should give us time to escape on Trucido.”

The men got up with creaking limbs and weary sighs as Rikard finished his commands and approached the men. He halted and looked at the man with the broken leg.

“What’s your name? If you can’t keep up and we get spotted I’ll leave you, I have to think of everyone’s safety and I’m not nice enough to die for you either.” The two men who had helped the man inside glared at Rikard but also seemed embarrassed, most likely they had been thinking along similar lines and were glad they no longer had to make that decision if things went sour.

“My name’s Thomas Ero, I can keep up, we grabbed an office chair earlier. It’s nearby outside, I won’t hold you up as long as someone can push me.”

“Good. You two can do that. Let‘s get going then.”

Suiting his words Rikard listened carefully at the doors for a moment before leaving the container and began making his way to the rendezvous with his group.

---

The last 12 hours had passed rather differently for Shauni, she had spent this time sleeping for short periods in the brig while trying to cement together her story after the guards had locked her in. She had been informed she would be interviewed by someone soon and was now across the table from a grey-haired man named Benson who was looking at a sheaf of papers through his glasses. The man seemed dubious concerning her cover story.

“A stowaway? And do you have any reason why I should believe that? Stowaways don’t travel alone, especially young women, where are your travelling companions?”

“I don’t have any, wouldn’t these raiders be in groups anyway, doesn‘t that work in my favour that I was alone?” The man paused thoughtfully.

“Perhaps, so what’s your real name, “Sarah”? It says here you were found in company overalls? Where did you get the overalls you were found in, and the wallet?”

“My name’s Nichol, I stole it from a locker to fit in and move around, whenever I want to get around I pick something to carry so I don’t get questioned or just join a line, I can eat in the cafeteria and I can normally find a spare bed somewhere. There are so many people working here that as long as I avoid attention nobody remembers me.”

“What about the key card doors?”

“I’d just go through a bag or act like I’m filing out paperwork near a door and wait for someone to walk through it and hold it open for me, most of them weren’t ever locked though. I learned from watching the employees walking through the doors.”

“And no-one became suspicous?” Shauni tried to judge how much Benson believed but he was far too stone-faced.

“Uh, a few seemed too but they didn’t really care. A couple of times I was asked my ID number but I just made one up.”

The man made a few notes in his sheaf while glancing at Shauni/Nichol. Whenever she spoke his frown seemed to grow a little bigger, he didn’t seem to believe her but as long as he couldn’t prove she was Coaophian she was fine. Their ship was from Coaophia.

“No last name? When did you stowaway on this freighter? And why?”

“I’m not sure how long, I’m from a slum in Sueruta, I just came here to nick something to sell, once they launched I didn’t really have any choice but to stick around until they docked somewhere. Eventually we docked at a planet where we could enter the atmosphere and land instead of at an orbital station but there wasn’t any point in leaving and going to a place I hadn‘t ever even heard of. It’s better than back at home anyway.” Shauni felt her heart beating in her throat as she spoke, she had no doubt that if this man could find the slightest evidence of her heritage she would be killed. That’s why she had chosen this story, she doubted slums kept records.

As time went on Shauni was drilled with question after question concerning everything from how to get to certain places on the freighter (Shauni had memorized much of the layout as one of the major group leaders), to where exactly in Sueruta she was from and how she had lived. Shauni was an experienced and masterful liar but she hadn’t ever been in a situation like this before. She’d had to lie to drug dealers who wanted to know what had happened to their product or to some rich idiot who wanted to know what she had been doing in his house. They didn’t have a government official’s resources to get personal information and records.

He didn’t just ask her about her life but also about the raid and what she had seen concerning any enemy movements.

After the man had finally finished asking Shauni questions she felt wrung out and weak, sinking into her chair out of exhaustion. Benson leaned back with a sigh and took off his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose, apparently Shauni wasn’t the only one felt who ragged after the interrogation.

“Okay, that seems to be everything I can ask you. Is there anything else you would like to tell me concerning your case?”

“Um no, I don’t think so. What’s going to happen now, am I going back to the brig?”

“I’ll go through and check the details about your claims and try to verify them but as unlikely as your story does sounds it still fits with what I currently know. We have facial recognition recordings for everyone employed into the company who own the freighter before you stepped onboard, this is why you were confined to the brig as a possible raider. You aren’t the only person to be found in this circumstance,  illegal immigrants certainly aren’t uncommon, although your case is a little strange since you’ve been onboard for so long.”

Benson looked through his sheaf a little before fixing his eyes back onto her.

“Given that you seem to have the pale skin of a Suerutan and that the raiders seem to be almost all Coaophian it seems unlikely that you are a member of that group, especially given that you were found in an overall on your own, unarmed. Regardless you’ll be sent back to the brig for now until I complete my checks. After that you’ll either be taken back with us to Sunia or I’ll have you executed depending on the results. I don’t feel you’re telling me the whole story but all I care about is your identity. If I have any more questions I‘ll get in contact with you. The information you‘ve given me today will be held in confidence.”

Benson bid Nichol good day, tapped his sheaf against the table to straighten it and proceeded to pull out the drawers in his desk for a stapler as Shauni collected herself, knocked on the door to leave, and was escorted back to her cell.

A few hours later and Shauni was laying on the bed in silence and already deciding what to do if she found herself in Sunia, she tried not to think about what would happen if it was decided there was evidence of her being a raider, there was nothing she could do about it now anyway. She’d just have to hope for the best and plan accordingly. She wasn’t sure how she would be able to contact Coaophia from there or to get transport, given the uneasy alliance that had existed between the two planets any message she tried to send would probably give her away.

---

The same silence that helped Shauni plan her future was decidedly lacking back on the freighter. Corporal Michaels had joined his men and thrown tear gas into the enemy ranks once they tracked a group of the raiders here. They seemed to be gathering. Most likely to escape. He hadn’t expected them to stick around after all.

Michaels stepped out from around the corner and fired at the group of Coaophians they had been gradually picking off, his own clothing clacked as the scales of his armour rippled and flicked with the force of the bullets being fired back at him. Four of his men followed his actions behind him and to either side while the others kept a watch, Michaels retreated behind a corner neatly once they threw a grenade his way. This had been going on for 5 minutes or so already. The raiders couldn’t kill him with their guns unless they got closer and they would be almost out of grenades. Once that happened they would have no hope.

They had tried to move several times to wherever it was they were headed but each time Michaels would take a few pop shots. He peeked around the corner again to see that another one of the men was on the ground, only three left crouched behind cover. He could take all of those men out easily by charging with his soldiers but they often carried a lot of explosives just in case, hence the grenades. There was no reason to risk it when he could gradually kill them off.

Predictably they broke cover together running for a corner they had no chance of reaching, he calmly stepped out moving to one knee and shooting each man long before they got anywhere near, two of the men dying almost instantly as they were shot by him and his men. Michaels signalled 2 of his men to come with him and approached the remaining man with caution with his rifle raised.

As Michaels stepped towards him the man reached into his jacket and was immediately shot, damn. Well it wasn’t likely he would have told them anything anyway. He searched the man just in case and found nothing of interest apart from a necklace with a small coin on a thin chain. He suppose the man didn't need it now. He turned his body to hide it as he slipped the jewellery into a zip pocket underling his armour.

As per orders he radioed in the contact and listening to the reply of no change to orders before starting to head in the direction he judged the raiders had been going in, he had parted this group from another when he had caught them in the open. He expected that they would find many other groups, they seemed to be converging on a point, a means to escape perhaps? Or maybe a bunker?

He didn’t get far before he heard explosions from further on, from here it sounded like distant lightning, a bass rumble in his gut more than in his ears. Those weren't grenades and his troops weren't equipped with such armaments either.

He grabbed his radio as it gave a discreet chirrup.

This is Lt. Bechk speaking, the enemy is escaping onboard a vessel of unknown origin, continue to mop up the remnants while the Arrow hunts down the ship, I repeat...

Corporal Michaels relayed the message to his men while two kept a look out before continuing deeper, he would avoid the ship though, it would no doubt have weaponry that could promote him from Corporal to the freighter’s new wallpaper.

---

Rikard crouched in a corner alongside what was left of the raiding party as the Trucido's turrets ripped into the soldiers' flesh, the sound of ceramic scales flying everywhere as they were shred from armour wasn't even heard next to the relentless thump of the turrets. Those same soldiers had begun to pick off his men after they ran out of explosives behind cover.

Rikard opened his eyes as the noise finally diminished. All that remained now was a thin ringing in his ears and the spinning of the barrels winding down. He cleared his throat and realized he must've been shouting judging from how it ached. Rikard got up off his stomach, the ship had blasted through the hull first and knocked everyone off their feet and once the firestorm had started he had stayed there.

He ran for the ship and he was by no means alone, or even the first to reach the landing ramp. He was glad he wasn't crying or babbling to himself as some men were though. You'd think they'd get used to things like this after awhile but it just didn't work like that, everyone was just glad to be alive. Some didn't stop inside the ship but kept on running deeper inside, seeking safety.

They would drink themselves into oblivion tonight and have a few nightmares but they would be straight back on the ship the next time he called for them, what else was there to do?

In stark contrast were the people on Trucido who sprinted out of the ship, in order to load the goods Rikard and his men had brought with them. The quicker they did this the quicker they could get going. They had paid for their winnings, they were not about to leave anything behind.

Rikard made his way to the control deck as he fought off the cloud hindering his thoughts. By the time he had climbed to the top he felt he had recollected himself. As he walked towards the leader of the ship he, as always, admired the rifle strapped to the man's leg. Sniper rifles weren't generally used nowadays since few had the skill to use them, with scale armour being the norm for the last 20 years. You had to either get lucky and hit the exact same spot twice, shattering a scale and then piercing it. Or you had to hit the face, not easy.

That made sniper rifles quite rare, the big manufacturers didn’t them anymore so they were all either custom made or re-modeled antiques. No way of knowing which one that particular gun was though, Nicolas had taken it in combat. Whether he could use it or not was another matter, but it was a pretty gun all the same. The man himself looked more like he should be onstage sitting on a chair with a dreadnought playing an old country song rather than on the control deck of a rogue ship.

"Mornin' Rikard, locals givin' you trouble then?” Yep, he could just see a wide brim hat on that head.

“Yeah, just a tad. We’ll be leaving as soon as the cargo and men are aboard, I take it?”

“Mm-hm, yep... one of the lads told me Shauni disappeared onto their vessel... that true?” Nicolas watched him carefully as he responded. Rikard knew he was watching for signs he might try something stupid.

“Unfortunately yes, it is true... don‘t worry though, I know I can‘t help her.” Rikard tried to keep the anger out of his voice but he could feel his mouth curling and his teeth baring slightly by the end of the sentence. He couldn’t help but feel that if he hadn’t needed to keep everyone alive that he could have somehow helped her, he knew there was nothing he could have done but he couldn’t help but feel the way he did. He felt they had all weighed him down, stopped him from protecting his family.

“You did what you had to and we’re all proud of you for it, don’t dismiss her so easily either, your sister has pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes more than once. Ha, more than a dozen times, truth be told. Remember when she convinced everyone in the old gang, including the two of us, that the hoard had been nicked? Paid for this ship that did!”

Nicolas looked around hastily realising he should have lowered his voice, although most of the crew on terminals were merely chuckling to themselves at the past antics of their leaders, the rest were plainly hiding grins. “Uhh, my point is that she‘s got herself out of way worse than this.”

Rikard knew what Nicolas meant but he also remembered having to make a quick escape countless times because of his sister’s silver tongue, and every time they were discovered it was another place where they couldn’t operate. If they just stuck to the safer crimes they could survive easily, but she always had to go for the jackpot. Bank robbing, government records, prison breaks, raiding a damn freighter! Regardless, he wasn’t sure of her chances this time.

A crewmen approached the two of them making some sort of salute to get their attention, a few of the younger members had started to do it for whatever reason, most probably thought they were part of some sort of resistance, they would learn different after a few months. Nicolas winked at Rikard so the messenger couldn’t see it, enjoying the attention just like he always did.

“Sirs? I’m here to report that all the cargo and men are aboard.”

“Okay then! Now the tricky part starts! Rikard, your part is done, we’ll take it from here.” Rikard stood for a second wondering where to go as Nicolas began to give out orders and everyone went in different directions, he didn’t have anywhere he wanted to be.

“Go on lad, go down to your quarters, grab a bite to eat and a nap, eh?” Rikard’s back went up at the pitying hand on his shoulder and the gentle tone but he couldn’t actually think of a reason not to do what was suggested. He was hungry after all, and tired too. After a few seconds he walked out and made his way to his quarters.

Aston Wilson: I consider even the parts already posted to be unfinished and they will be changing a little at times, new content more so than the old as I gradually polish it and post more. Feel free to rate and, more importantly, review. Last but not least, never doubt that your thoughts, views and ideas are important, whether they are major plot changes or the way the grammar flows in a single sentence.