The Technician's Fight, Draft 1, CH29

“You know,” his heart said, before Gralgiran offered him the sauce covered cube of meat, silencing him.

“Oh, I know,” he replied, grinning at the male leaning against him on the couch as he chewed. He speared another cube with a claw and dunked it in a different bowl.

“I don’t think they ever meant for meals to be eaten on the couch,” Jer hurried to say, before the cube was at his mouth.

“You wouldn’t let me feed you like this in bed.”

His Heart glared at him. “It’s our bed,” he said instead of chewing. “I don’t want it covered in sauce.”

“We’ve covered it in sauce plenty of times before,” he countered casually, and grinned as Jer worked that out, then his face turned red. He loved that about his Heart. How easily his emotions showed. “And there is such a thing as cleaning.”

He chewed another cube. “But the couch isn’t the same. You didn’t drape sheets over it beforehand. The sauce will soak in and ruin the fabric.”

Gralgiran leaned in and licked sauce off the side of Jer’s mouth. “So cleaning will be a little harder, no more so than once I’m made you cum all over it.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Oh, I certainly will.” He grinned. “Why do you think I’m feeding you like this? I want you all stuffed and pliable for when I—” His tablet sounded with the bridge’s code.

“Maybe not.”

He reached for the table and tapped it. “Go.”

“Captain, we’re receiving a distress signal. Hours away and off the course you set.”

He frowned. “We’re weeks away from our destination.”

“I don’t think this is what you are waiting for, captain. I’ve gone over their tags and if they’re fake, they are the most authentic fakes I’ve come across.”

Jer got off him. Even he knew this wasn’t something they could ignore.

“Any details on their distress?” He stood and put his pants on.

“Pirate attack. The latest message said their engines had been disabled. They’ll be boarded soon.”

“Change course. I’m on my way. Have sensor gather as much information as possible on the way.” He disconnected and put his vest on, then contacted a beta. “Weapons are going active,” he ordered and ended that call. He’d give them the details once he had them.

“Duty calls,” his Heart said, before he could apologize.

“We will pick this up later,” Gralgiran promised.

“With sheets on the couch,” Jer countered as Gralgiran exited their apartment.

*

“Update,” Gralgiran demanded as he stepped onto the bridge.

“Their latest transmission was interrupted partway through,” comms said. “But they stated they were being boarded before that happened.”

“Anyone thinks there’s Meddling involved?” their pilot said. “Hours away from the line seems like a stupid plan for pirates.”

“But it would be the smart thing for merchants to aim for,” sensors said, “even with how unlikely there’d be a ship within range at any one time.”

“Then the Meddling might be in the merchant’s favor,” Gralgiran said, positioning himself in the center of the bridge. “Civilians are to head to their home. I repeat, Civilians are to return to their homes or seek shelter in among the gods.” He closed the ‘all-ship.’ “Are we dealing with one of the Halans?”

“Not according to the readings I’m getting. The largest of the ships looks to have been Kersosteran at one point, but it’s been heavily modified. None of them matches established modifications.”

“So some new group of pirates,” comms muttered.

“Or an old one with fresh blood,” their pilot said.

“You implied there are more than one,” Gralgiran said. “Detail on the others.”

“Only one more. Not much before their proximity to the merchant ship interfered with the reading.”

“Boarding shuttle,” the pilot said.

“Seems too large for a shuttle. From what I got, I estimate it to be two third the size of the merchant ship. That’s a Kitaro Asark class.”

“Owned by Omiotar Etimo Torass,” comms said. “Merchant conglomerate registered out of the Shimbarian Deep Station. Multi-species group with them as the majority. This is Wuanta Thuran Horsmar.”

“That’s a Kelsirian name,” the pilot said. “Some hero of a battle.”

“Hero of the Battle of Orlakarian,” Gralgiran provided.

“It’s a Kelsirian affiliated ship. Registry is in good order, down to the repair requests. As I said, Captain. If this tag is fake. It’s the best I’ve seen.”

He nodded. “On screen.”

The largest ship was one of the two pirates, the Kersosteran one, although many of the bulb that were characteristic of their design had been trimmed to be more in line with the rest of the hull. As if they wanted to remove unneeded space and enhance the visual aesthetics.

Removing extra space would be something Earthers did.

Could he have found a way out of the deal with the Quartermaster’s Uncle? This wasn’t happening with his assistance.

The ship maneuvered.

“Weapons are to be armed,” he called. “Be ready to engage. Pilot, keep us out of their lines of fire. Keeps out of explosion range.”

“Captain?” the pilot asked, maneuvering them.

“These might be Earthers, and they’ve demonstrated a willingness to destroy themselves rather than be captured.”

“Understood.”

“Scans aren’t showing me any weapons,” sensor said.

He called Toom. “Toom, are Kersosteran ships usually armed?”

“Wha?”

Gralgiran cursed. It was his friend’s sleep shift.

“Depends on their function,” he finally said. “Are you dealing with an exploration or military one?”

“Pirate one, possibly crewed by Earthers.”

“Readings come up positive for possible Earthers,” sensor said, “or Kelsirians, or Shimbarians, Taournians, or Kersosterans, if they are on the small side. Not close enough to differentiate yet.”

“I doubt pirates would have managed to get an armed one,” Toom said.

“Thank you.” He disconnected and focused on the screen. They blocked the view of the merchant ship and smaller pirate ship. “What readings are you getting from the others?”

“Their engines are interfering with them. I think they’re still connected, but the ship’s increasing the engine output and I’m not sure what I can—”

“They’re picking up speed,” the pilot said.

“Evade them,” Gralgiran ordered.

“Been trying. They’re matching our trajectory.”

“Are they that worried we’ll be able to scan what the other ship’s doing?” comms asked.

“I don’t think that’s their plan,” the pilot said, her worry increasing. “Captain, I think they—”

“Weapons,” he ordered, finishing her thought. “Fire on the incoming ship, disable if possible, destroy if needed.”

“Understood, Alpha.”

“Evade as best as you can,” he ordered, as plasma bolts appeared on the screen.

“Yes, Captain.”

The blasts revealed that the removed bulbs had been replaced by heavier hull as those lasted longest.

“They’re pushing their engines as hard as they’ll go,” sensor said.

Before he could ask the danger that posed to the Bane, the other ship exploded.

“Can you take us out of the inertial debris?” he asked before the screen let them see anything. He knew what happened when a ship exploded.

“No, Captain. The best I can to is skirt it as I angle the ship away.”

“That’s going to take us away from the merchant and the other ship,” comm said.

“Guns, you’re still active. Target anything blue shifted.”

“Acknowledged, Alpha.”

“Do the best you can to keep us in the lightest debris field,” he ordered.

“Syncing scans with you, Pilot,” sensor said.

The screen lightened, and they could see the mass of debris. This time, the Bane’s gunfire wasn’t visible as they used kinetic ammo against the inert debris.

“What are you getting from the merchant ship?”

“Scans still aren’t great from the leftover energy, but I’m confident the two ships are still connected. Can’t get reading on the crew through this.”

“Any information on what the Wuanta Thuran Horsmar is carrying?” knowing that could help get a sense of what the pirates were after.

“Sorry, Captain. The conglomerate isn’t making their manifest public. I put in a request, but….”

A lack of response could be them not wanting to reveal the ship carried something important, or whoever saw the notification, not realizing what it meant for the Bane to contact them. With a Kelsirian company he’d assume the first. But would Shimbarians keep track of hunter ships outside their borders?

“Any response from the merchants?”

“No, Captain.”

“Keep trying.”

“Yes, Captain.”

He settled in for the least enjoyable part of his job. Waiting.

*

“The pirate ship is disengaging,” sensor announced.

They were through the worse of the debris field, but enough obstructed their sight he couldn’t tell what was going on with the merchant ship.

“I need more.”

“Pushing sensors as hard as I can, Alpha, but we’re in the middle of the residual energy. Details are hard to get.”

“Then don’t bother with details. How many left on the merchant ship?”

“Checking.”

He thought he saw the pirate ship’s engine. “Pilot, how difficult would it be to alter course to follow them?”

“I trust Weapons to clear the way,” she replied. “So not difficult.”

“Best I can tell, Alpha, there is no one on the merchant ship.”

The worse outcome, short of it being set to explode, but the one that simplified his decision. “Beta Batrix sel Gezbil, take two packs with yours. You are going to the Wuanta Thuran Horsmar. You are to investigate what happened there, and render aid if there is anyone left. Take supplies. We will be pursuing the pirates and you might be on your own for a few hours.”

“Scan of the ship reads stable,” sensor said.

“Understood, Alpha. Investigate and render assistance. Don’t expect to sleep in my bed.”

“We’ll do our best to get you back to your mates before then,” he replied.

“You have forgotten how things go on the line, Alpha. Batrix, terminating call.”

He rolled his eyes and considered calling back to let him know what he thought of that. Instead, he focused on the screen. “Pilot, alter course. Weapons, shift focus on clearing a path. The Pilot will indicate the pressing target.”

“Got it, Alpha. We’ll do what we can to keep the hull from getting anymore scratches.”

*

“Are they red shifted?” he asked, studying the screen. They were finally clear of the debris field and back at full speed. Batrix sel Gezbil had contacted them to confirm they’d boarded the merchant ship and were starting to investigate.

“Scans confirmed they’re somehow going slightly faster than we are, but I’m reading a lot of heat where their reactor probably is. They might be begging for Xeniila Haran to abandon them, the way they’re going.”

“How long until they are out of sensor range?”

“Oh, we have days before that happens. I f they can sustain this speed for that long.”

“Leave a note for the other shifts that I want to be informed if they get as close to that as a quarter of scans.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

Then, it might be worth Alix’s wrath for asking to push the reactor. And it gave him time for bribes of his own toward the Engineer to minimize the reprisals.

“Captain, the Beta informed me they accessed the ship’s bridge and were able to scan the ship. The crew numbered eighteen, and has been taken.”

“Batrix, it’s your Alpha. I’m sorry to say you have to rely on your pack for company while you sleep. These pirates did something your namesake would be proud of to their engines and reactor, and are going to make us earn this kill. When you’re finished with the ship, look over the debris for any indications who’s ship that was before it was pirated.”

“Told you I wasn’t sleeping in my bed, Alpha.”

“Yes, yes. What do you want from me? To offer mine as compensation?”

“Would your Heart come with it?”

He rolled his eyes. “Get him to use a shorter version of your name, and he’ll probably say yes. Now get to work, beta.”

“Will do, Alpha.”

“Do what?” sensor asked once the call was terminated. “Work, or get your Heart to use a shorter name for him?”

“With him,” Gralgiran said, “both.”