Mitchell's Revenge

Rufus exited FTL flight at the edge of the Karhu system, exactly as the flight protocols dictated. The ship lurched as they settled into a more appropriate speed.

“At least we’re where we’re supposed to be this time,” said Natasha.

Bolter rolled his eyes at her. A red light flashed at him from his command board. He glanced at it and frowned.

“There’s something we’re not seeing here,” he muttered. “Why’s that flashing all of a sudden?”

“It’s the warship!” Flick shouted. “We’re blind on one side, remember? It must have followed us from the shipping lane.”

“Power up the weapons,” commanded Flex. “We turn and fight. If we run it’ll blow us to pieces based on what we saw back there.”

“There’s another ship heading this way,” said Flick, watching the data on her board. “It’s largish and not military. Weapons are hot. Maybe we’ll have help.”

“Just great,” said Natasha. “Two small ships against an Eridanian warship. You’ve got to be kidding!”

“We’ll have more help in a few minutes,” came a quiet voice from behind her. Natasha spun around to see Lou Pejic, the empath, hunkered down in her seat, trembling. She had her arms wrapped tightly around her torso and she looked terrified. Natasha glared at her.

“What do you mean?” she said.

“There’s a Karhu system destroyer on its way,” Lou replied. “And they’re coming to help.”

“What about this other ship?” asked Flex. “This Mitchell’s Revenge?”

“They’re planning to fight too,” Lou replied. The coms crackled suddenly.

“This is U.S.E. breakdown and repair ship Mitchell’s Revenge,” Jake’s voice came clearly onto the bridge. “Why’s the warship following you?”

“We picked up survivors in the Spansion shipping lane,” replied Flex briefly. “We didn’t know the warship had followed us until we arrived here just now.”

“Warship’s targeting,” shouted Rufus.

“I’m on it,” said Flick quietly. “Our weapons are hot. I suggest we hit them before they hit us!”

Lucy moved faster on Mitchell’s Revenge than Flick on the Guardian Angel. A rapid burst of weapons fire cut into the side of the Eridanian ship, prompting an immediate reaction. Small craft began to emerge from the warship like a swarm of wasps and they headed directly for the two smaller ships.

“That’s it!” yelled Flex. “Let’s get out of here. Jump, Rufus, jump!”

“I’m too close to the other ship,” he yelled back at Flex. “We’ll damage ourselves as well as them.”

“Run then!” replied Flex. “Just get us out of here!”

“Destroyer’s arrived,” advised Flick.

Rufus moved them back towards their original course to Tiberion. He navigated the Angel frantically between the smaller Eridanian craft, only just avoiding each of them as they tried to latch onto the surface of the ship. The Angels’ rough, antenna laden and knobbly exterior made it difficult for them to grab hold quickly and Rufus was able to dance away.

Jake watched from the bridge of Mitchell’s Revenge. He was stunned by the skill of the Guardian Angels’ pilot as the ugly little ship danced away from each of the smaller attack craft. Then the destroyer Cygnus arrived. Its weapons blazed at the Eridanian warship.

Lucy was targeting the smaller Eridanian craft with their own weapons as the destroyer made short work of the warship. It slowly broke apart as the destroyer got close enough to do real damage. One by one the smaller craft were obliterated. The Guardian Angel slid from view.

“Captain, we’ve got a problem!” shouted Henri.

“Are we hit?” asked Jake.

“No,” replied Matt, who was monitoring their systems closely. “One of those small craft has latched on to us. They’re cutting through our hull just above the parts storage bay. I’ve shut off the access ducts around the area, but they’re locked on very tight. I don’t know how we’re going to get them off.”

“Leave it to me,” said Lucy suddenly. “Jake, take over helm and weapons. Keep your eyes peeled for any more of those little ships and blast them if they get too close. I’m going to kill some Eridanians.”

“I beg your pardon,” said Jake, looking at his childhood friend in amazement. “You’re going to what?”

“You heard me,” said Lucy. “I’m going to remove our visitors. Before they remove us. See if your military mates want to give us a hand.”

Lucy rose from her seat and ran from the bridge to gather her EVA gear and weapons. Then she detoured to Jake’s quarters to grab a weapon that she knew Jake kept for special emergencies. She wouldn’t know what she’d need until she saw the aliens. Em loped after her as Lucy sprinted towards the parts storage section of the ship.

“Jake, tell me what you see,” Lucy demanded through her head set. “I can see through the hull but I can’t see what kind of life form they are. And how many. What can you see?”

Jake had recovered sufficiently from Lucy’s pronouncement to find his old mercenary training kick in. He calmly described what he could see on the vid feed from the parts storage bay, and what the aliens appeared to be doing.

“Be careful Lucy,” he said. “There are three of them. They have tentacles. And they appear to be very strong. They can move quite quickly, although what seems to be their main body is quite bulky and looks soft. I’m going to see if our military friends can give us some help from outside, so just be wary. OK?”

“Understood,” replied Lucy. “Matt, make sure those ducts are completely sealed. It looks as if they’re trying to send something along them. It must be mechanical because I can see it quite clearly. See if you can route the power away from this area. It might slow them down a bit.”

The coms crackled on the bridge.

“Jake, it’s Admiral Bokkveld of the Cygnus,” the Admiral’s voice came loud and clear through the coms. “I’m sending a couple of our special EVA units over to see if we can get that ship off your hull. Tell me what’s happening at your end.”

Jake quickly explained that Lucy and Em were on their way to repel the boarders.

“Ah, yes,” said the Admiral. “The cyborg. But what’s this about a panther?”

“Jake,” Lucy’s voice came urgently onto the bridge. “What are they doing now?”

Jake glanced back at the vid feed.

“They seem to be resting,” he replied. “They’ve formed a kind of nest with their bodies in the middle of the storage bay.”

“Get Henri to shut the oxygen off in there,” she said. “Let’s see what it does. I’ve got oxygen and Em can tolerate a few minutes without it. Do it now Henri!”

“They’re waving their tentacles,” advised Jake. “Now they’re starting to look a bit agitated. And there are four of them now.”

“Great,” said Lucy. “Self replicating aliens. Let’s do this quickly. Open the access door for me Matt. Now. Let’s get them Em.”

As the door sprang open the aliens reacted to the inrush of oxygen by standing tall on their tentacles and expanding their bodies as if they were trying to suck it into their core. Matt slammed the door shut and the oxygen supply vanished. Jake watched the vid feed as Lucy quite literally went berserk.

His eyes widened as he saw her wield the ceremonial samurai sword he had collected during his mercenary days. In moments she was surrounded by tentacles and green liquid, which then began to rapidly reform itself into more of the life forms.

Em had one of the creatures in her mouth and was dashing it from side to side, spraying green goo all over the bay. Her thick fur protected her from the tentacles. The newlings tried to grab hold of the panther but Lucy wrenched them away with her gloved hands and dashed them to the floor.

“Matt, we need oxygen, now!” Lucy yelled to the bridge. Matt switched the flow of oxygen back on. The newlings doubled in size as they absorbed the oxygen.

Lucy wrenched a flame thrower from the equipment belt on her suit, powered it up and stood with Em at her back. She carpeted the floor with flame. The creatures blackened and withered, instantly turning to ash. The squeals as they died were pitiful to hear. Em crouched on the floor with her front paws pressed over her ears until the squealing stopped.

“Look above you Lucy,” Jake’s voice came urgently through her headset.

Another creature was starting to squeeze its’ way through the hole they had cut into Mitchell’s Revenge. Its tentacles grabbed at anything close by in order to gain purchase and drag itself into the storage bay. Lucy shoved Em into the access way. She sealed the storage bay door just as the creature managed to squeeze through the hole. Mitchell’s Revenge shuddered as something made contact with the outer hull.

“Get out of there now!” shouted Jake. “There’s a military crew on the hull. They’ve almost levered the boarding craft loose. You’re about to lose pressure down there. Move!”

Lucy and Em didn’t hesitate. They sprinted away from the cargo bay so fast that they registered as a blur of motion on the vid feed. They reached the next compartment of the ship and sealed the access door just as the alien craft was prised free from their skin. The ship rocked from the activity outside. Oxygen leaked out. Matt shut off the supply again.

The creature in the parts storage bay was instantly sucked out into space. Unsecured bits and pieces followed it into the vacuum. It floated silently away from Mitchell’s Revenge. The tentacles splayed out around its central body slowly disappeared from view under a layer of ice crystals.