Kate
“What the hell is happening?” Reagan shouts. We can hear sobs and screams each time the ship lurches.
“Ladies, we are under attack by another ship, but the guys are handling it. Everything is going to be okay. Just sit tight.”
“I’m going to be car sick!” Vivian yells.
“Sit tight! Sit tight?” Reagan yells hysterically into the comms before Rennek cuts them off.
“Got it! Forcing link now,” Bossan tells Rennek.
Suddenly the window clouds and an image of a creature appears.
“Holy fuck!” I shout.
Rennek and his crew look quickly to me, before they resume their efforts. The alien on the screen slowly begins to laugh. He looks like he’s all muscle and by that, I mean he looks like someone peeled off his skin and all I can see are his muscles and tendons that should be hidden beneath a layer of flesh. His face is like a bat’s--all scrunched up and weird, and he has teeth like a snake. He looks like something out of a horror movie. I shudder to think his attention is on me in the captain’s chair. Rennek steps protectively in front of me.
“Identify yourself.” Rennek says in a cold growl and I remember he is just as intimidating. I lean far to the side in the chair so I can watch this drama unfold. Mr. No-skin licks his lips. Yup, snake-like. My skin crawls.
“You,” he points at my gargoyle, “I kill you. And your females? Those I take.” He spits the words and his red eyes roll in his head. I see he has no eyelids.
Rennek seems to be thrown off by his statement. He has no witty comeback, like they would in a movie, he just swings his wings wide open and lets out a roar that makes me jump and cover my ears.
“Why are you doing this?” I plead.
No-skin’s eyes roll again, it seems like this is his version of a blink, and he speaks, “Winged one. Crew. There is bounty. Females, no bounty on females. They just prize.”
“A bounty on us,” Rennek growls. “Who do you collect from?”
“Ju’tup. You make them angry. I see why,” he eyes Allison, leering at her. “You kill wrong Ju’tup winged one. You start war.”
For some reason I think Rennek is shaken by this freak’s words, but he brings it back in quick. “You will earn no bounty and you will have no prize besides death. Continue to fight and this will be your last rotation. I beg you bounty hunter, stay and fight,” Rennek tells the bounty hunter.
The freak throws his head back and laughs again before the comms cut out.
“Fire everything we have. Burn him,” Rennek says in a murderous tone.
Our aliens go crazy on the control panels. It’s hard to tell what is going on, so I watch their faces to get a read on how we are faring. I try to see what’s happening through the window, but we aren’t always facing the ships and drones or whatever they are. We make a sweeping spin and then suddenly I see two small objects directly ahead of us. I don’t know if these are the pods or drones. Then I see them start starting to spit fire at us.
“Prepare for impact,” Dax shouts a second before we ram them. Our ship shakes in response. “Drones both disabled,” he says and I think I hear excitement in his voice. Oh my god, is he enjoying this?
“Any systems damage reported?” Rennek shouts over the sirens.
“Analyzing… Mild shield deterioration, exterior collision points intact,” Kellen reports.
“Round the turrets and lock onto the pods,” Rennek tells Da’vi.
The pods prove to be slightly more difficult to deal with. I’m guessing it’s because they actually have pilots inside them. Regardless, Dax gets even more creative with his maneuvering and I start praying I won’t be sick again today. One explosion follows the next and the ship quakes in response. Suddenly, the main ship--the fighter, is visible through the window at the front of the bridge. My heart pounds in my chest. I look to Allison, but she doesn’t return my gaze. She is staring wide eyed at the massive ship before us. I hope the other girls are alright in their quarters and that they have something to hold onto. Suddenly, I feel very small and alone, but then Rennek locks eyes with me. He looks like the embodiment of confidence and determination and I realize that although this situation is terrifying--I trust him to protect us.
“Missiles,” Rennek says.
“He’s engaging warp, sir,” comes a shout for one of his men.
“Lock and launch,” Rennek orders.
I see the bounty hunter’s ship turn and start to stretch. It confuses me for a second before I realize it must be an optical illusion or something, from going into warp. Suddenly, the bounty hunter’s ship snaps like a rubber band and vanishes just as our ship’s missiles speed towards it. Our missile vanishes along with the bounty hunter’s ship. Then, far in the distance I see an explosion.
“Scan for life or any escape pods.”
“No sign of escape pod activation. No life detected,” Kellen announces.
The sirens that have been a constant background noise this whole time shut down and the red flashing lights vanish along with it. Rennek leans heavily on a control panel and hangs his head. The other aliens look just as weary. Allison starts fumbling with her seat belt. Da’vi is by her side quickly and unlatches her. She swats him away and before storming off the bridge she yells to Rennek, “Tell your lizard to keep his damn hands off me!”
“This human does not understand her translator makes it so we can all comprehend her words, just as she does not understand to keep her distance from dangerous beasts. Perhaps her mind was damaged in cryo-stasis?” Da’vi hisses to Rennek as he glares hard at Allison.
“Fuck you,” Allison says.
“Da’vi! Allison!” Rennek gives a rumbling shout. Allison storms out, flipping us all the bird.
“Da’vi, it is unacceptable to treat these females in such a way,” Rennek tells his friend sternly.
“She is foolish, she was going to get herself killed in the cargo hold,” he justifies.
“Enough, Da’vi. Heed my warning. If you are worried for their safety you must teach them what is safe and what to avoid on the ship. They will need to learn these things,” Rennek orders.
“Apologies Captain,” I can’t help but notice Rennek growl at Da’vi’s response.
“And Kate,” he turns to me, “You and the other females… I must encourage you to stop speaking of mating, it does not seem appropriate at the times you bring it up. Is there a malfunction with your translator that is causing this? Surely Allison did not wish to mate… or you with the bounty hunter?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I ask in complete and utter shock, maybe there is something wrong with the translator because that sounds like crazy talk to me.
“Ohhh! Wait, ‘fuck’? Is it because we said ‘fuck’?” All the aliens avert their eyes. If aliens could blush, I think to myself. “That’s just like an exclamation or a curse word… it can be used a lot of ways actually. Not just for… mating. Gosh, how many times have we said ‘fuck’?” Rennek stiffens and the others all try to look busy.
“I’ll tell the ladies to clean it up,” I tell him. “Thanks. Wouldn’t want to make that mistake again in the wrong company,” I chuckle and he nods to me before turning back to his crew.
“We need to notify Tennir of this new development immediately--see if we can get a UPC escort.”
“Of course, Captain.”
“I said, enough with this Captain shit,” he shouts, losing control of his temper a bit. The other guys, the ones who look like Rennek at least, all look away as he says this, but Da’vi looks at him, incredulous. They stare hard at each other for a few hot seconds before Da’vi breaks his gaze away.
The calm and quiet filling the bridge is a stark contrast to the chaos of a few moments ago. Rennek approaches me.
“You must rest,” he says quietly, so only I can hear.
“The others--I need to make sure they’re okay… I need to let them know what happened,” I tell him.
“Quickly, but then you rest,” he tells me with concern etching his face.
“What about you?” I ask.
“There is much work to be done still.”
I want to argue--they all need rest just as much as we humans do, but my survival instincts tell me to shut up and let the space men work.