Adventures of Space Cadets 101: Space Pirates, Allies and Aliens. Darryl Dean Wright
Austen of the One-Oh-One.”
Austen introduced his brother and the rest of the cadets, and then he asked the Commander, "What the heck is going on here?" Commander Winston sat back down on the floor like all his people were doing, so all of the cadets followed suit.
“We only had six low-yield lasers that we use as torch-cutters. Never ever thought we’d use them for self-defense. Who would ever imagine that someone would attack an E.D. outpost? Pirates … unbelievable! We expected you guys two days ago. When we saw that big cruiser show up and dock with us, we had heard you had more money than God, so we thought it was you and that your communications were out. I personally went to welcome you – who I thought was you – to the station. As soon as their hatch opened up, I got this.” He pointed to a bruise on his forehead. “An army with weapons came in and took the place over in less than four minutes. We aren’t really trained for this kind of guerilla warfare, and we don’t get much information out this far. Heck, we only see Earth Defense once a year for supplies, information and transfers.” The Commander took a deep breath and then continued, “Almost two months ago, we were told a couple of millionaires were going to visit us for a tour of unlimited time, and that E.D. complied with it. We were in fact looking forward to the visit.”
Derek interrupted, “That would be trillionaires, Commander.”
The Commander apologized then continued, “They said something about a harbored fugitive and that you guys would probably end up getting arrested. If that were to happen, you would probably not make it here. I figured with your kind of money, a cruiser was exactly what I expected. They never did mention what kind of ship you had.” He touched the bruise on his head and winked. “If you did show up, you would be more than welcomed. We couldn’t wait for some visitors to break up the monotony, but all we ended up with were space pirates! I’ve seen it all now, but I still can’t believe it!”
Derek said, “I can’t believe it myself; it’s like a bad book! But now that we know what is going on, I promise we will get out of this,” he added roguishly. He was going to think of something; he always did.
The hallway they had gone down was long and very quiet. Kirk had watched his dad and uncle forced to go into a room. The two pirates were walking back to the One-Oh-One by themselves. Kirk didn’t know what to do, and he only had a certain amount of time due to the small oxygen tank hooked up to his suit. Right then all he could do was count his people leaving the ship until he could come up with a plan. He thought to himself, There’s no way JR would let himself be captured … What is his plan?
Chapter 8
CROSS' DAUGHTER
Austen told the Commander that E.D. had caught up with them when they answered an S.O.S. from Professor Cross’ ship. A lady in the back overheard and ran to the front where the captains were and dropped to her knees in between Derek and her commander. She looked in Derek’s eyes and desperately asked, “Professor Cross is my father; he was supposed to visit over five weeks ago. Is he alright? Is he with you on your ship?” She was frantic for any answer! A portentous silence filled the room.
The captains looked at each other. Derek's glance told his brother that he would handle it. He looked into her puppy-eyes and without saying anything, she knew. She fell into her commander’s arms for support. “I am so sorry,” Derek told her and really meant it. He told her it was pirates too that had done her father’s ship in, and that they had taken care of them for what they did.
Austen said to her and the commander, “Since we left Earth, this is the second time we’ve run into pirates. When we encountered the Cross ship, it was sending out an S.O.S. Their radio was in working condition, but no one was alive to use it. The Cross had been shot up and had several hull breaches. They all died from exposure.” She couldn’t believe what he was saying,
“The S.O.S. was coming from an android on top of their ship. We assumed that the professor built it and programmed it to send an S.O.S. in the event of all hands lost. E.D. was there, they can verify everything I’ve told you. We initiated salvage rights and E.D. left after searching both ships. We thought the ship had been hit by micrometers. E.D. was already long gone when we pulled a bullet out of the android’s chest. The Cross had no weapons on their ship, so we knew someone else was out there. We hailed them and after they answered us, they jammed our radio. One of them said that he was a pirate and that they were going to do to us the same thing they did to the Cross. Our ship was faster so we got away. I’m so sorry.”
His words were like matches being struck to fuel, her tears like flames of despair. There was a moment of silence because there was nothing more to say. She was still crying when she wiped her face with the back of her hand, and, shaking, she asked, “What of his body?”
Without hesitation both captains said at the same time, “Cremation.” A couple of the cadets joined in also with the same statement.
Another eleven cadets were being pushed into the room at this time, and Derek kind of welcomed the distraction. Kim walked to Derek and touched his shoulder as she sat down next to him. Tim said to Austen, “This sucks!”
Austen said back to him, “Take it easy, Cadet. They don’t know it yet, but these guys are already dead if I know JR.”
The commander asked Austen, “What was that? Did you say you have a secret weapon?”
Austen smiled at the commander and replied, “Now Commander, you know civilian ships aren’t allowed to have weapons, but once all the innocents are in here, I have a gut-feeling we’ll get some help.”
“Your brother?” He asked.
Austen said to the Commander, “Better - it’s my nephew!” He was joking; he had already told him that JR wasn’t with them. Derek told Winston that his son was pretty smart and that he was probably deep in a plan right then. The commander noticed these civilians weren’t scared like his people were, and his people were military. He was feeling hope fill his thoughts.
Kirk was still on top of the ship just counting cadets. Nothing was coming to his mind concerning a plan. He checked his air for the umpteenth time. A bunch of pirates kept coming and going carrying as much as they could strip from the One-Oh-One and as fast as they could. Kirk felt badly for his father because he knew he loved his ship. Derek had never owned a spaceship before.
JR was intent on not getting locked up … Ever! He made a living at not getting caught. The only reason he didn’t have a price on his head back on Earth was because way too many people would have had to die! He was still on the “ten most wanted list.” He already had the making of a plan. He was in the last row so he would be the last to go. He was sizing the pirates up and knew he could take them. They grabbed another eleven cadets to take out of the ship.
When they arrived to be shoved into the makeshift prison, the commander asked the captains if that was all of their people, and Derek said, “Nope, not yet.” The Houstons were glad JR hadn’t been brought in yet. There was still hope.
Kirk figured that there were only two trips, or one big one, left before all the cadets would be off the ship. Once everybody was gone, he would take a little walk on top of the station if his air held out, and then maybe a plan might form, he hoped.
The bald guy and his shadow were walking back to the ship. Kirk was wondering how many pirates there were, and if the bases’ personnel were located in the same room as his people were being held, or if they were dead.
JR had counted so far sixteen pirates - the ones that came in the beginning and all of those that had been stripping his family’s ship. If it wasn’t for all of the guns, he would have taken care of things already, especially if he could get to his stuff hidden underneath that first seat up front in the far right. He found himself looking at the seat and stopped himself. He remembered that his brothers’ tobacco was also stashed there. He rolled his eyes wondering how anybody could smoke that … stuff. This was kind of funny considering what he had hidden there. He licked his lips and started perspiring. I dare them to take my stuff, he thought to himself.
The bald guy was back taking