Amanda was singing.
Three little words that, for Kine, spelled unspeakable horror.
He sat in the command chair on the bridge, head down, hands covering his ears. Still it penetrated, doing untold damage to his fragile sanity. He couldn't… no… make it stop….
"Make it stop!!!"
Kine yelled at the top of his lungs. This, however, only brought laughter from the two girls down by the Nav Sphere. When not mocking him, they were otherwise taking advantage of the rather boring bridge watch by getting some sewing in. All over the ship, uniforms were being taken apart and altered, often revealing wonderful pieces of flesh to teens like Kine who appreciated such things. Sue and Rachel were trying, without much success, to make skirts or a sun dress that worked out of the limited materials (sheets and such) found on board. Nothing had been cut so far: they couldn't afford to waste fabric on flawed designs.
Amanda, meanwhile, kept singing in her high sweet voice. The blond bobbed her head to the beat as she kept an eye on the screens in front of her.
"Ducky, ducky, lucky, lucky, duck duck duck! Lucky ducky, ducky lucky, duck duck duck!"
She called it the revenge song, incredibly annoying strings of words to punish her brother whenever he did something totally beyond the pale. This morning, it had been spilling her one ration of juice onto Teddy. That could NOT be forgiven… well, it also was for Kine making eyes at that Irene. Amanda wasn't exactly sure why she got so mad when her brother had female friends. Not that she admitted to herself that was, in fact, was what was going on. Anyways, it probably was mostly the fact Teddy was now sticky that required Kine to suffer.
"Duck, duck, duckity duck duck!" The rest of the bridge joined in on that line, and Kine just let out a long tortured "Fuuuuck!" as his contribution to the musical endeavor.
A sudden beep stopped all that instantly.
"Amanda! Talk to me!" Kine was out of his chair, jumping over to the station next to Amanda. She was furiously collating the information filling her screens, head down, both braids touching the console. Two levels below, Sue and Rachel had flung the loose fabric behind them, quickly bringing all the sensors online.
"Large mass and energy readings at the far end of sensor range!" yelled Amanda. "Putting it on the sphere!" Kine looked up as the large hologram sprang to life. In the center was a representation of their ship. His eyes traveled outward, to the extreme edge of the sphere… There were a mass of dots, quickly growing in number as they came into range. He jumped back to the captain's chair, grabbing the remote, pointing it at the image and rotating it so the new markers were closest to him. As he selected each dot, information bubbles popped up. There were two groups, it looked like, possibly closing on each other. But, they were between planets! What the hell…
Kine's eyes widened.
"It's a space battle!"
****
Don entered the bridge, pulling his shirt over his head. The first emergency naturally would catch him sleeping. He saw a few more kids running into the room down below, and he approved that Kine hadn't started a general alert but instead called up a full staff. No reason to panic everyone if this turned out to be nothing. Kine was waiting beside the command chair, stepping aside as Don came up from behind and sat down.
"So, what's up?"
Kine pointed the remote at the sphere, indicating masses of blue and red dots, just slightly overlapping. Looking at the scale, Don saw they were still maybe an hour away at current speed.
"It's a space battle, from the looks of it. Gods, I didn't know they had fleets that big still. At least a hundred ships a side, with the Feds having the advantage, although we still don't have them all in range. We're pointed right at the middle of it."
Don leaned forward, bringing his hands together under his chin.
"What the hell is OUT here? Where are we?" Kine changed the image to one of the solar system. The familiar ring of 12 orbiting planets, 53 moons, and various dwarf planets and large asteroids filled the bridge. The blinking icon of the ship was between the orbits of the 4th and 5th planets, the battle taking place 4 days travel behind the current location of Xeres. Don couldn't make sense of it.
"So… did they accidentally run into each other out here? Fighting over some secret base we don't know about?"
"Our problem," Kine responded, returning the view to the one he considered the most important, "is what the hell are we going to do? Can we go around them?" He looked at Don, hopeful expression fading as the young man continued to stare intently at the image. "Tell me we're going to go around them…"
"Amanda!" The girl almost came to attention in her seat, looking over at Don. Anyone her brother respected, she respected. So long as they weren't ugly girls with big boobs. "You have the Rebel Friend or Foe codes for this ship, right?" Her eyes widened as she nodded. Kine just looked at him.
"Oh, no, you can't be…"
"Go prep the shuttles. Time to go shopping."
****
The alert klaxon echoed through the passageway as Lessa hurried down it. She was trying, with limited success, to get her left arm through the correct hole in the white Medic vest while keeping her feet. Fucking thing didn't want to go on over all her ammo belts and such. You'd think the designers didn't expect medics to be armed to the teeth… It didn't help that they had never actually PRACTICED any alerts. It was still all really theoretical what everyone was suppose to do, and she hoped to hell no important station went unmanned. Freedom had made them lazy.
Yea, freedom.
She, at least, had a job. Kine had signaled her to get to a shuttle, so that was what she was doing. Why was still unresolved, though.
A doorway on the righthand wall opened, followed a half moment later by Rich almost flying out. He was buckling his pants, yet still managed a rather amazing acrobatic maneuver to avoid her. He twisted, turned, bounced off the far wall, then was streaking back the way she had come. Looking after him, she never saw the second figure flying out the open doorway. They crashed into Lessa full force, sending both first into the wall, then the floor. Lessa discovered a large naked breast in her face, and, sadly, recognized it. Getting her hands under the bulk of the intruding body she shoved them up, revealing a rather dazed topless Shelly looking down at her.
"Oh, hey Lessa!"
****
Don was getting impatient. He just wanted to get in, do this, then get out. Time was not on their side.
They were coming up on the very fringe of the Rebel fleet. The sensors showed a handful of ships, seemingly dead, isolated from the main body. Don hoped to hell one of them fit their needs. It was pure luck they had stumbled across this, but given the other plans he had been forced to consider over the past week he wasn't about to overlook a gift spaceship.
"No, no…" Rich, obviously interrupted in the middle of some fun given his fly was open, went through the intercepted transmissions. It was a long shot, but…
"Got one!" Don walked behind him, looking down at the screen. "Cargo ship sending out a distress signal. It has pressure but no gravity, they're asking for an evac."
"Perfect." Don went back and sat in his chair. "Let's hear the signal."
"…day, Mayday! Core breached! This is the cargo ship Hanson! Eight crew still alive! Mayday!" Don signaled to Rich, already donning a communication headset.
"Hanson, we have heard your Mayday! We're close but cannot dock. Please use your escape craft and we will pick you up."
"Thank you! Thank you!" Relief was evident in the survivor's voice. Sure, they could have used the life boats any time, but military grade ones were not designed for comfort, or long use. They started with 100 person hours of air, so the more you crammed in the sooner rescue was needed.
Those in charge really didn't want people bugging out in a battle…
Don hit the communication button on his arm rest.
"Kine, we have our ship. You all ready down there?"
****
"Hell no."
Kine looked around the shuttle cockpit. There was no way they were ready. That wouldn't matter to Don, or to himself, really. If the military taught you anything, it was how to make do with what you had.
Bitching helped.
Ger was in the shuttle pilot seat. He claimed he could fly this thing, and given none of them had ever been in space before there was no better option. Kine had no opinion of the kid, really, never having fought with him. Behind him in the cabin, though, was someone Kine did have an opinion about. Irene. Picking her for this mission was pure flirting on his part. Dark eyes, a slim, curvy figure, hair cut short with a longer patch sweeping over her eyes, firm breasts… OK, practically, he had picked her to hack into the ship's computer, but if he was honest with himself he just wanted a situation where he could show off for her. While girls did tend to throw themselves at him, Kine found himself letting them go sailing by to hit the floor while he went for the hard to get types.
Well… not all the hard to get types. Lessa, also sitting back there, was not someone anyone would want to get. He had heard the tales, and frankly didn't want to be alone with someone who had gutted the enemy. Or, really, even one who had false rumors about that floating around. Ken and Mel completed their little band. Their love/hate relationship was fascinating, especially since they shared a cabin. Maybe they were brother and sister. Kine shuddered at that thought. Luckily, his sanity was saved by Don's voice over the radio.
"They've launched the life boats! Get out there!" Kine looked across the bay at the other shuttle, saw a wave from its pilot, and gave the return signal.
Large doors opened downward on the lower front left and right of the cruiser. Shuttles slid out along rails onto the doors. With a kick from the engines, they detached from their moorings and raced off towards the wounded cargo ship. On the radio, Kine heard Rich sending out a signal.
"Life craft! We are an evil pirate ship! We're jamming all signals! Stand away, and we'll leave as soon as we've done our piraty stuff!" Static filling the cockpit as the jamming started, he turned the radio off. No communication would be possible until the mission was over.
Kine looked back at their new home as Ger corrected their course a bit. This was the first real view of it he had seen, and Kine had to admit they had stolen a pretty ship. The front was a large flat oval, two large turrets mounted top and bottom (the bottom one able to retract for surface landings). The back section was sort of a curvy triangle, with four engine units running most of its length. The ships smooth reflective golden skin was an attempt at protection from lasers, but mostly these days ship to ship fighting consisted of tossing huge solid things at each other. Punching a hole in a ship was easier than trying to slowly burn one. The shuttle they were in was sort of a long rectangle, although wings could be attached for atmospheric flight. Able to hold a dozen fully equipped marines, it was currently stripped for maximum cargo space.
"We're coming up along side!" Ger used the joystick controls to ease them next to the right side airlock, while the other shuttle headed towards the other side of their prey. Kine unbuckled, floating back to the others. They got ready, gravity turned off to match their destination.
Once the side shuttle door was lined up with the airlock, an inflatable ring sprang out of the hull and formed an air tight seal. Short claws extended to hold them steady, grabbing matching connectors on the other ship.
With no attempt at subtlety, they blew the interior cargo ship door open. Lessa shot across the large room, flying towards the opposite wall with guns in both hands. She was already half way before the others burst out themselves. Kine and Irene streaked towards the passage leading to the front of the ship, while Ken and Mel took cover on either side of the airlock. As Lessa reached the far wall, she twisted, feet pushing off towards the back of the bay. Looking first at the flying teen, then each other, Mel and Ken decided the lack of gunshots meant all was clear. They moved from cover, rushing to find the cargo records. The other bay door burst open, the crew of the other shuttle joining them. The two teams got to work.
****
Kine and Irene entered the bridge. Irene quickly vaulted to the main computer station, slipping a memory drive out of her satchel. Checking the current status, she yelled out an update.
"Engines won't blow up for another half hour."
"That's good to know." Kine moved around the bridge, grabbing any disk or the like he could find. He also grabbed a cold bottle of beer from a cooler next to the captain's seat, contemplating the empty bottles nearby. This could explain much.
"So, Irene…" She looked over. "You come here often?"
Irene raised an eyebrow at Kine, then laughed, catching the unopened bottle of beer he tossed to her. She was about to open it, only to remember the zero g. Shaking her head, she put it in her bag and turned back to the computer. Kine came up behind her.
"Anything good?"
"It's hard to tell. I'm just grabbing everything I can get using the codes from our own ship. We can sort through it later." Kine watched her work, then cleared his throat.
"So… are you with anyone?"
She shot a glance at him, which softened as she saw the sincere look on his face. Her heart was beating fast, but then it had been for the whole mission. This thought amused her, probably for no particularly good reason, and Kine saw her eyes get a delightful twinkle in them.
"Well, I'm standing next to you. Does that count?" He laughed, Irene turning back to the screen to finish up.
"Only if it's an experience you want to repeat." She unhooked her equipment, double checking that everything was safely stowed on her person. Facing Kine, she put her tough, callused hand on his cheek.
"I'm willing to have you try and talk me into it." Irene's thumb brushed Kine's lips. Eyes twinkling, her feet came up and pushed off, sending her quickly headed back towards the cargo bay. Kine stood there alone for a moment, a slow smile coming to his face before he followed.
It was a good day.
****
"Four ships behind us!!!"
Amanda's cry tore through the bridge, all movement freezing for an instant. How…
"All defenses online! Recall the shuttles! Take us close and place us between the shuttles and the enemy!" Don's orders were instantaneous. They had been expecting something to go wrong, although this hadn't been high on the list of potential disasters. He watched teens jump to their jobs, then whipped around to Amanda.
"How the FUCK did they get so close?!? What the hell was your sorry ass doing!?!" Don's face was pure fury, and Amanda was literally thrown back against her chair. Eyes wide in terror, her mouth refused to make a sound. Don gave her a disgusted look. "You've just killed your brother, you know that." He turned away.
Amanda felt tears cascading down her face. No, no… no. No. She wasn't going to go catatonic. Kine needed her. She had work to do. He had told her he'd never leave her alone. She was old enough, knew enough, that such a promise bound her as much as it did him, that she had to always make his job as easy as possible. That meant saving him so he could save her. The fear in her eyes turned into determination, and using both sleeves gave them a quick wipe. Taking one extra moment to give Don a quick, hateful stare, she got back to work.
****
They were still half a kilometer from the abandoned cargo ship when the shuttles disengaged and began racing back towards them. Don turned the cruiser to face the approaching Federation ships. It was no contest. They had no power, maybe a half dozen missiles, each blast from the laser turrets was a day's travel lost…
Don had no idea what to do next. He wasn't a captain. He wasn't a leader. He was fourteen fucking years old, minus the fucking part. What the hell was he doing leading a bunch of kids to their death in space. At least none of them would lie in a field, dying for days. At least that was something positive. Hmm... maybe if he sent them into the main Rebel fleet they could get lost in the battle, sneak out the other side…
"Six more targets, right under us!" Rachel down at the base of the Nav Sphere gave the cry, looking up unbelievingly. Did they even HAVE sensors anymore? Don looked at the positions of the ships. All of them were coming within weapons range at once, and Kine wasn't back yet…
Rich at the communication station suddenly looked up, amazed.
"Don… the new ships are hailing us. They're telling us to drop back while they engage the Feds. They…" Rich started laughing. "They're rescuing us!"
Don's mouth literally fell open. After about a second of total silence on the bridge, he shook his head and then hit it once with an open palm.
"Sure, why not. Makes total sense. OK!" He got back into leader mode. "As soon as Kine and friends are back, I want us out of here! Top speed to the second moon of Xeres…" he checked the computer, "… that's Xanth. Keep maximum distance between us and any ship, BS your way through any communications but try and keep radio silence."
"Shuttles docking!!!" Amanda let out a yell, jumping in her seat.
"Don't wait for them to get in! As soon as they're attached, move it!"
****
The hanger bay doors were just starting to close as the ship began to turn. Splitting the difference, it headed off away from both sets of approaching ships, engines kicking in.
The Rebels, now within range, launched a full barrage of long range torpedoes at the Federation battle cruisers. The cruisers, figuring a Rebel cruiser was a much better target than a couple small destroyers, let go with a half dozen missiles at the retreating ship before focusing on this new attack.
It was only luck that saved them. The path of the missiles took them past the empty hulk of the cargo ship, fate declaring that the moment the reactor should fail. Five incoming missiles were destroyed. The last...
****
Don opened his eyes.
He hadn't remembered closing them. That was always a bad sign. Let's see, where had he been. Ah, yes. The bridge. The missile had been coming in…
"Oww."
He sat up. The thin blue sheet covering him fell down to his waist, revealing he was wearing nothing but his undies. Great. Head throbbing, he raised a hand and felt a large, bandaged bump above his right eye just below his hair line.
"How are you doing?"
The voice came from the other side of the room, which his mind now determined was sickbay. Don swung his head around to look. Across the empty beds, he saw Lessa standing in front of open cabinets. She was wearing combat fatigues and a nurses blouse, an interesting combination, obviously in the middle of putting supplies away. Any further situational analysis was cut short by pain, Don's neck objecting to moving. He put a hand up to rub it.
"I think I should ask you that. What the hell happened?"
Lessa smiled, a small one, and started walking towards him.
"You fall down go BOOM!"
Don raised an eyebrow at her. That, at least, was pain free.
"Ah. Humor. I never learned to get into that much." Now it was Lessa's turn to raise an eyebrow. She sat down next to him, on the edge of the bed, giving Don an appraising look. It was a look he had often seen aimed at others. Pointed in his direction, especially by this girl... it was no longer something to be thought of humorously. The survivor instincts for wariness began to come to the fore, especially as she smiled like that as she spoke.
"True, but I hear that you're a master at sarcasm."
Don gave a short laugh.
"Master? Not hardly. More like a student who must practice constantly."
"Maybe you should practice wearing seat belts. Those bridge chairs have them for a reason. You were the only one injured when the bridge was hit."
Don looked up at the ceiling, expression one of mock exasperation.
"Details, details. You girls are always nagging us about unimportant little things like that."
"Well, someone has to tie your shoes for you." Lessa stood and stretched, seemingly half unconsciously, half in unpracticed flirtation. Don was old enough to at least look, and enjoy doing so.
"If it gets too bad I'll go barefoot." He stretched his arms in imitation of her, immediately regretting it as his neck again howled in pain. He grimaced, Lessa stepping over to him, sincere concern on her face.
"Is it bad? Here, let me help. Turn around." Don didn't resist as Lessa turned him to sit on the edge of the bed, feet not quite touching the floor. She grabbed some ointment, climbed up and knelt on the bed behind him. He felt her pause. Looking at the far wall, he caught a distorted reflection of her seemingly...admiring his back. That was just wrong. The reflection's gaze coming up, eyes widened as she saw where his eyes were looking. Blushing, she applied the salve to her hands, placing them on him.
Don jumped when at the first touch. Nobody touched him. Ever. Not that he wanted to be touched. Happiness and comfort led to loss and pain. He had learned that. You can't let anyone get close. You can't… his eyes closed. Don felt himself relaxing, giving in to her caresses. The heat from the salve penetrated his muscles, her soft, unsure, touch sending emotions and mind reeling. He couldn't think. And, as always happened when his guard was down, memories came...
****
They were sitting on the banks of a small stream, alone that summer day. Their knapsacks under a nearby tree still had about three days of food. Enough so, for once, they had no worries as they rested among the butterflies and frogs. A giggle filled water fight had ended with Don on his back, hard rocks bruising his shoulder. To make amends, Cynthia had sat him on a large rock as she kneaded his shoulders. They were both topless and barefoot, necklaces gleaming in the afternoon sun. Cynthia had begun to hum a quiet song, one their mom had sung before that world had ended, Don slowly adding his deeper voice. His hand reached up to touch his locket...
****
It was gone.
Don's eyes opened in sickbay. Murderous hate flowed out from them, as his hand clutched at nothing between his breasts. Behind him, Lessa hummed a happy tune, hands moving over his scared skin. She had never touched a boy before, never with other than murderous intent at least. It was... nice...
"Where is it?" Don whispered. Lessa paused, leaning over his shoulder to look at his face.
"What?"
Don exploded.
"WHERE THE FUCK IS IT, YOU BITCH!"
His hands shot up, grabbing Lessa by the arm and neck with a strength and speed that shocked her, throwing the girl over his shoulder onto the floor in front of the bed. Her instincts took over: rolling away, she came to her feet in one smooth motion about ten feet away. Her hand was at her side grasping where a weapon, in a perfect world, would always be.
"What the FUCK is your problem!" Lessa watched as Don got off the bed, clad just in his underwear, and began slowly walking towards her. Those eyes… she was shocked to find they scared her. She could take him. Of course she could take him. Her eyes darted around looking for weapons regardless.
"Where. Is. It."
"Where is WHAT?!" What the hell is he… Lessa noticed Don's bare chest. Standing up out of her combat crouch, she pointed at an end table drawer next to his bed.
"In there."
Don stopped, turned, and casually walked over and opened the drawer. Taking out the golden necklace, he gazed at the locket for a long moment. Slowly, he reached and fastened it around his neck. Turning, he gathered up his clothing and began dressing.
Lessa just stood there, watching, mind a sad, confused mess.
"Who is she?"
Don paused, back turned, before continuing to buckle his pants.
"Who's who?"
Lessa's expression hardened. Fine. Be that way. She showed no sympathy as he groaned in pain, his body twisting as he put his shoes on. Finally, a fully dressed Don walked by her towards the exit. Pausing in the doorway, he spoke without looking back.
"Sorry about that."
Then he was gone.
Lessa just stood there for a moment. One hand reached back, found a chair, and guided her body into it. She blew out an exasperated breath.
"Stupid prick…"
Leaning back, she gazed up at the ceiling.
"Nice ass, though…"