Chapter 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20
PREVIOUSLY: While the Generals marvel over the WHISPER prototype, the pirates decide to flush Red Klaw out by blowing up the space station's power source...
Val peers through a grate, out of the ventilation shaft. Rue, Garr, Fay and May, strain to see around him. They look out at the station’s main power. It's a giant electronic tower, crackling with white-hot static discharge.
"Yes, this should do nicely." Rue says as he pulls out his tool kit. He selects his trusty laser cutter and goes to work on the grate.
The others wiggle back into the tunnel to settle in and wait. Val stares through the dim light trying to see Fay or May; without a strong light source to cast shadows under them, they are completely invisible. Fay quietly slides right up next to him, "Do we frighten you little man?" She whispers coyly in his ear.
He jumps! Even right next to her he still can't see her. "Yeah, kinda'." He answers honestly.
Garr grins, he can pinpoint them both by their faint scent which the others can't even detect. Both girls giggle gently. "Don't worry, we won't hurt you." May tells Val.
"That's reassuring." He says, though he's not at all assured. He decides to keep them talking so he can at least hear where they are, "So what is this 'Silent Habergeon' anyway?"
"We are the Emperor's armor." May responds proudly.
"It is our duty to come between him and anything that might harm him!" Fay continues fiercely.
"We are trained from birth for this honor." May concludes.
"When I was in the gladiator rings there were stories of the Silent Habergeon and their fighting prowess, but I never believed they were real." Garr says with awe.
"Ahh, the gladiator rings, that explains the courtier staff." Fay says approvingly.
"Truly, a gentlemen's weapon." May agrees.
Slightly embarrassed, Garr absently touches the heavy metal cane strapped to his back.
Rue finishes cutting through three quarters of the grate. He sets his laser cutter down and grabs the grate, he strains to bend it back into the tunnel. Val scrambles up beside him to help. Together they pry it open far enough to crawl through.
Rue puts his laser tool back into his kit. "Okay, let's--"
Before he can crawl out into the power station Fay grabs his shoulder, "Wait, there are probably cameras out there, let us take it from here."
Seems like a good idea to him. From his kit he pulls three small metal balls. As he talks he spins them so they pull apart at the center, he pushes a tiny button inside the ball. "Alright. I'll set these for fifteen minutes, that should give us plenty of time to get away." He holds them out for Fay to take. He then pulls a thin strip of putty from his kit and passes that to her as well. "Here, wad this up and use it to stick the balls to the power generator. When you're ready just push them shut to arm them. And be careful, they're a lot more powerful than they look."
The explosives and the putty disappear as Fay wraps her hand around them. Silently she and May slip out of the ventilation tunnel.
On the other end of the space station, in the Marine command center, the First Officer paces nervously back and forth behind several technicians at computer monitors. The technicians quickly scroll through hundreds of security camera feeds from all around the space station. There is no sign of the pirates or the missing prisoners.
"How the hell did we loose them?!" The First Officer is on the verge of panic.
Suddenly there is a distant but solid BOOM from across the space station. The power cuts out leaving the command center and everything else shrouded in darkness.
"What the f...?!" The First Officer shrieks.
There is a long minute of scrambling, screaming, and crashing about in complete darkness before the emergency lights kick in. A weak red light provides just enough illumination to see by, marines scurry around trying to identify the problem.
"The main power hub on the civilian side is offline." A technician reports.
The First Officer looks as if he might vomit at any second, "That's it, I'm calling them!"
A few light years away from the station there is a tiny flash as WHISPER'S whip drive snaps her out of hyper space. For one brief instant she is barely visible. The light dissipates quickly and she disappears again.
On the bridge, General Goddard sits in the Captain's chair while the others stand around him. Laurine stands off to the side watching him with a quiet smugness. The stern General looks almost giddy, and the other two are undoubtedly thrilled with the ship’s performance so far.
Commander Dillian stands next to him prattling on about the ship's impressive stats, "--Like I said she's the fastest ship I've ever seen!" He is interrupted by an impatient beeping from his com link. "Oh, ah, excuse me..."
As he exits the bridge to take the call, the other Generals exchange a look that says, finally! Laurine steps forward, "Well General, what do you think?" The look in his eyes says it all; he is thoroughly impressed.
Out on level two Dillian waits for the bridge door to slide shut behind him before he pulls his com off his belt. He glances over the railing to WHISPER'S massive cargo bay as he barks into the com, "I told you no interruptions!"
"I-I know sir," The First Officer stammers, "But I think the intruders and the prisoners may have cut the power to the entire station!"
"Damnit!" Dillian paces absently along the walkway. "Get some men down to the generator, and send them with an armed escort! We'll be back momentarily." He turns on his heel and marches back toward the bridge.
Back on the station Rue and his friends scurry through the ventilation shafts, their ears still ringing from the explosion behind them. "Well, that probably knocked out the security cameras!" Rue exclaims gleefully.
"Can we get out of these damn tunnels now?" Garr growls.
"I don't see why not." Rue answers as he turns a corner toward a glowing red light. Ahead of them is grate covering an exit.
As they approach it Rue reaches for his kit, Garr stops him, "My turn." With some difficulty he squeezes past the others to the grate. He maneuvers his large frame so that his feet face the grate. Then using his tail to brace himself, he kicks the grate. His powerful legs put a large dent in the grate, but it still holds. His second kick launches it across the hallway.
Garr wiggles out into the empty hall. The hallway is bathed in soft red light. As the others crawls out of the shaft, Garr stands up straight and stretches the kinks out of his neck.
In the distance they hear the sounds of yelling and chaos. Val hurries to the next corner, he pokes his head out into the intersection and looks around. He looks back at the others and grins, "C'mon, I think the docking bay is this way!"