Galactic Bandits 1 Read online

  Regan wasn’t sure if he should be pissed or excited, but he felt a bit of both. He had never experienced a true life or death moment before.

  “I have lost all functionality of my control console,” Arkei said as she stepped away from the controls. “And that vibration is them trying to break in from below.”

  “You can’t be serious.”

  Well, this adventure didn’t last long.

  Arkei approached a wall at the far end of the command room and started flipping various switches and pressing an assortment of buttons, but nothing came back to life.

  Regan was still holding on without realizing it. Once he did, he loosened his arms and stepped away, but not too far.

  The vibrating increased.

  “So they’ll get through?” Regan asked.

  “Eventually, yes.”

  “So we’re straight up fucked?”

  “There might still be something I can do.” Arkei turned to leave the room.

  “Where are you going?” Regan asked, following close behind.

  “I will try to boost the force field generator.”

  Obviously.

  They dashed through hallway after hallway until finally they came to a room with a large machine. Like many of the mechanisms on the ship, it was sparking infrequently and looked like it had seen better days—hundreds of years ago, maybe. But unlike other parts of the ship, it was surrounded by a blue glow, the same blue glow that Regan saw when they opened the doors for refueling. Regan realized this machine had its own force field.

  Arkei ran to a control console on the wall, but it wouldn’t reply to her command either.

  “Damn it!” she exclaimed.

  “What is it?”

  “Fail-safe. The generator is protecting itself from the attack. And in doing so, it has also shut me out of the controls, so I can’t boost our strength and get us out of here.”

  “Well, shit. Got any other ideas?”

  Arkei stood for a moment in silence before burying her face into her palm.

  The vibrations grew strong enough to keep Regan off balance. They were getting close. At any moment they would board the ship.

  Then he had a thought.

  The drill.

  “You said we’re right on top of them?”

  “Yes,” Arkei replied. “They have to board from underneath.”

  “Can we open the hatch doors and stick them with the drill?”

  Arkei lifted her face and looked at him with interest. She then dashed for the fuel room, followed by Regan.

  “The drill is designed to drain minerals from rocks, but I suppose in theory it could drain power from a ship,” Arkei said along the way.

  She began adjusting the settings of the drill controls and without asking permission Regan slid his hands into the grips.

  She looked at him with surprise but didn’t argue. Instead, she pressed the buttons to open the doors.

  Regan thought they might not open, the way they struggled to separate. The power drain on the ship must have been intense, but he just needed the drill to pull through for a bit longer.

  And it did, unfolding its arms into space. The pirate ship was in view.

  Arkei pointed to a spot on the ship with eagerness.

  “That’s a power link,” she said. “It’ll connect to all the main sources of power on the ship.”

  Regan drove the drill down. The lasers sputtered at first, but finally they released their flow onto the surface of the ship, paving the way for the drill to enter.

  Regan thought of War Games 2. Of the many times and ways he took out enemy ships or individuals in the virtual realm. This was nothing like those times. His fingers on the grips were sweaty. This was life or death.

  He took a deep breath. And once he could hold the drill steady enough in all the shaking, he pulled the trigger to the first setting.

  The shaking began to slow drastically almost within moments. He was accumulating their power and he could feel it in his hands. The drill was beginning its vibration.

  “Here goes nothing,” he said.

  He squeezed the trigger to its full extent.

  The rush was unreal. It differed from the fuel. He was pulling direct power from one ship to another, the powerful force shuddering through his entire body.

  Screens all over the room lit up. Sparks burst out from the walls at many points. The blue glow of the force field outside the open door, surrounding the ship, intensified in its glow. It must’ve been growing stronger than ever before.

  “You did it!” Arkei’s tightly controlled emotions slipped as she threw her arms around him. “You saved my ship!”

  “And our asses.”

  “Yeah, that too.” She then realized she was holding onto him and immediately stepped back, recovering her cool. “Okay, you get the drill back inside while I boost the force field.” She hurried off.

  He pulled the drill back inside and was about to close the doors when he saw the blue glow intensify even further. It was nearly solid.

  And then something happened that he didn’t expect.

  The pirate ship just below them exploded.

  The blast sent Arkei’s ship up, but since the force field was at full strength, no damage penetrated.

  Regan watched the destruction occur and looked on for a few moments through the monitor. It suddenly felt very real. Not like War Games 2. This was an actual ship, full of real enemies, and he had assisted in destroying them.

  Kill or be killed… right? It had to be done.

  He closed the doors and ran for the command room where he knew Arkei would return after boosting the power.

  She was at the controls, adjusting several dials and levers.

  The surrounding screens were all back up and running, showing the pirate ship, now smoking and half destroyed. It was just floating now, powerless.

  “What caused the explosion?” Regan asked.

  “They entered our force field because it was at low power,” Arkei started, still adjusting various controls. “Once we boosted it back up, it did what it was supposed to do and eliminated the threat.”

  That made sense.

  “And now we blow them away,” Arkei concluded. Her face was one of mild excitement as the screens in the command room now had crosshairs over what remained of the floating ship.

  Then Regan had an idea.

  “Hold up,” he said. “What if there’s good loot on that ship?”

  Arkei looked at him with a curious expression. She wasn’t following what he was saying.

  “When you defeat an enemy, you get all their shit!” Regan explained. “That’s how it is in games, anyway. I mean, the war simulations.”

  “My people would find that behavior… extremely disrespectful of the dead,” Arkei said with a serious tone.

  “First of all, your people kicked you out, so you don’t owe their customs a second thought. And second, we’re talking about respect for pirates who attacked us without provocation, and would have killed us and taken everything we had. Who cares about respect for the dead!”

  Arkei considered his words, then smirked.

  “I’ll dock with the ship. It’ll take a few moments.”

  It surprised Regan to find a large fraction of the pirate ship still intact. Arkei had supplied him with a breathing apparatus just in case, but it seemed the rest of the pirate ship had closed itself off in preservation, maintaining its oxygen levels.

  Even so, the explosion clearly rattled the ship as items were scattered everywhere, not to mention it had no power. There was no repairing this ship.

  But Regan also noticed there weren’t any pirates around to greet them.

  “They must have all been on the boarding ramp,” Arkei surmised, noticing the same thing. “They were trying to dock and break through the force field, so that ramp would have been the first thing to go.”

  Arkei had a ray gun out and ready for action. She didn’t give one to Regan, which he assumed was because he was tec
hnically still her prisoner.

  Then they discovered an armory. It was full of weapons. All sorts of them. Ray guns especially.

  Arkei’s face lit up, maybe more than Regan’s. She walked over to the wall of ray guns and began filling her arms with them like a kid in a candy shop. Just when Regan thought she had taken enough, she added a few more onto her pile.

  Regan too began lifting up various weapons and inspecting them. He found one that reminded him of a controller gun he had as a kid. He picked it up, and it even felt the same.

  In that moment he remembered Earth. He thought of all he had left behind. He glanced over at Arkei. Her back was to him as she was adding on to the pile of guns in her arms.

  She had kidnapped him, taking him from his old life. She was a babe, but Regan knew she intended to hand him over to Mephistopheles. That’s what babes did, right? They lured you in, sucked you dry, and left you in the dust.

  He raised the gun and pointed it at her back.

  I should shoot her. Hop back on her ship, get back to Earth.

  But he couldn’t do it. Couldn’t shoot someone in the back.

  Not to mention, she was his space guide. There was no guarantee he could even navigate that ship back to Earth. And then where would he be?

  He slowly started to lower the gun. But then Arkei turned around in an instant, dropping all the ray guns in her arm except for one. She leveled it straight at his head and pulled the trigger before he could realize what was happening.

  Regan thought at first that he’d been shot. He thought she had caught him and that was that.

  But then he realized the beam had merely buzzed past his face, not actually hitting him. He turned around to see Arkei had nailed a female space pirate sneaking up behind him.

  And now she was on the ground unconscious, a knife fell from her hand.

  Regan looked at Arkei in disbelief. She had just saved his life.

  “She was going to stab you,” Arkei stated. “I suppose there was a survivor after all. We need to be more careful.”

  “Holy shit,” Regan said. “Is she dead?”

  “Stunned. But don’t worry. Now that she’s been neutralized, I’ll take care of her.”

  Arkei holstered her ray gun and moved for a different weapon. Regan looked at the space pirate on the ground. She was young, and not like he had expected at all. Her skin was a pale white, almost like milk, with zero blemishes or scars. She wore a sleeveless leather vest and pants. Spikes were prevalent on her shoulders, and Regan couldn’t tell if they were part of her skin or the vest itself. Either way, she didn’t give him the impression of a cold-blooded killer.

  Arkei lifted the weapon and Regan stepped in front of it.

  “Wait,” he said. “We don’t know… I mean… They could have forced her into this life for all we know.”

  Arkei’s expression was cold. “Maybe so, but that wouldn’t have made you any less dead.”

  “I get that. But maybe she has some useful information, or can help us somehow.”

  “Move out of the way, Regan.” Arkei’s gaze became sharp.

  Regan stood his ground. “Let’s take her prisoner instead. We can use her.”

  It was the first time Regan contradicted Arkei, and they were both unsure how to react. Arkei’s eyes squinted and Regan thought she might shoot him.

  But she didn’t. She lowered her weapon.

  “We classify Humans as one of the more dangerous of the warring species,” Arkei began. “They rank high in battlefield intelligence, higher than my own species. So, if this is your advice, to spare her life and take her prisoner, then I will follow it.”

  Arkei put her new weapon on her back. She grabbed some loose wires and began wrapping them around the pirate girl’s wrists, cinching the binds tight. This definitely wasn’t her first time tying up a captive.

  “Perhaps I can learn much from listening to you,” Arkei said as she threw the prisoner over her shoulder.

  Regan smiled inwardly. The more respect he commanded from Arkei, the better his chances of her cooperating with him against Mephistopheles.

  After locking the prisoner in the cell, Arkei and Regan loaded up lockers with their new stolen goods. Communication technologies, weapons, armor, some food, and even various bottles of liquid that Arkei said were also for celebratory purposes.

  “Space booze!” Regan exclaimed. “Of course! They were space pirates after all.”

  Arkei looked downright aroused by all the new weapons she had gathered.

  “You were correct,” she said. “Looting is very much worth the desecration of our enemies. Now, let’s go check on our prisoner.”

  They made their way to a holding cell where they discovered their previously pale prisoner was now blending in with the cell wall’s texture and color. It seemed she had chameleon properties, allowing her skin to blend in wherever she was.

  Her tight leather clothes appeared to be an extension of this talent, which made Regan wonder if they really were clothes or she was just a stylized alien. Either way, it was badass.

  Her hair was shaved on one side of her head, with long locks on the other, reminding Regan of a punk chick.

  She’s hot too! What‘s up with these space girls?

  The prisoner tightened herself against the corner of the cell as Regan and Arkei neared. Her arms spread to the side while the wires that had bound her wrists laid on the floor in a pile by her feet.

  Arkei arched a brow in slight annoyance. “Name, prisoner.”

  “Straya,” the prisoner said. Her voice was not aggressive, but direct and collected.

  “Class C?” Arkei continued.

  “Clearly,” she replied.

  “Documented?”

  “Very much so.” Straya then turned her gaze to Regan. “Not that keeping undocumented species aboard seems to bother you. I know a human when I see one. Always wanted to abduct one for myself, actually.”

  She stared at Regan hard, studying him. Her blue eyes were piercing. They moved up and down his body then locked back onto his eyes. She smiled.

  “No wonder you destroyed us with little struggle,” she continued. “You had an unfair advantage.”

  Regan didn’t trust the way she was complimenting him, and now thought that bringing her aboard was perhaps a mistake, but there was something intriguing about her. She was direct and threatening, much more than Arkei. She clearly would stop at nothing to get what she wanted. He liked that.

  “Keep staring at him that way and I’ll blow you out the airlock,” Arkei said.

  “So why keep me around at all?” Straya asked, slinking forward. “Just blow me away right now.” She spread her arms wide. Her confidence was overwhelming.

  “I’d like to, but my human companion, with his expertise in war tactics, thinks you may be of some use to us.”

  Regan crossed his arms and straightened his back, attempting an air of importance.

  Arkei turned to leave, motioning for Regan to do the same. Before he turned around, Straya looked him in the eyes again and bit her lip seductively as she clutched the bars. He wanted to reply with a gesture of his own, but he didn’t. She won this round.

  Chapter Five

  Regan followed Arkei into the command room. She seemed tense, maybe even regretting bringing this captive aboard. Still, he suspected Straya would have some interesting knowledge and connections, if only they could figure out how to make use of her.

  Arkei approached the screen and brought up a live feed of Straya in the holding cell. Their captive just sat there as if she had no concerns at all. She didn’t look at the monitoring camera, but Regan assumed she knew it was there.

  “She’s a Class C species, which makes her dangerous to keep aboard,” Arkei said, looking at the visual of her latest prisoner.

  “So am I,” Regan reminded her.

  “You’re different,” Arkei said dismissively.

  Regan could sense something else going on here. And while he wasn’t sure what, he f
elt that Arkei might’ve harbored some jealousy over the situation. Was it because he had wanted the pirate girl’s life spared?

  He looked at Straya on screen. She certainly was beautiful, even if she had tried to stab him. Before he could observe her for too long, Arkei flicked the monitor off and stared at him.

  “She’s a perfect genetic specimen. And I can see in your eyes that this makes her… attractive to you.”

  Well, duh!

  But he had to be careful. He was a prisoner after all. If Arkei didn’t like his meddling, there was nothing stopping her from throwing him into a different cell. Or worse, into cryostasis with the other human.

  He needed to tread lightly.

  “I’m just fascinated,” he stated evenly. “You space girls are something else. Nothing plain about you.”

  “But between the two of us ‘space girls,’ one is a perfect specimen, the other…” Arkei trailed off.

  She really was feeling insecure, wasn’t she? This was bewildering to Regan, who saw her only as fierce, beautiful, and in charge until now. And while the fierceness hadn’t left her gaze, her vulnerability seemed in conflict with it.

  “Arkei,” Regan began very seriously. “I see no imperfections in you.”

  “But certainly you—” Arkei started, but Regan reached out and grabbed her arm—the robotic one. The sudden motion surprised her, and she stopped speaking immediately, her eyes wide and locked onto his.

  The movement surprised Regan as well. But he left his hand there. He wasn’t sure how else to assure her that he meant what he said.

  He moved his thumb up and down a bit, feeling the inner workings of her forearm. It was strange how the mechanics responded, sort of like a living machine.

  “I don’t know why Straya’s got you so flustered. She’s just some punk you’re keeping hostage in case she proves to be useful.”

  He took a step closer, continuing to grip her arm.

  Arkei finally looked away. “The way she looked at you. The way she spoke so freely about you in your presence. Only a Class C could speak to another Class C with such confidence.”

  “You’re wrong,” Regan said. “And besides, this whole Class B and C and A bullshit means nothing to me. These are terms I just learned and have little context for. You are Arkei and I am Regan and that’s all there is to it.”