Of Hearts And Stars (Classic Editon) (The Cadet Starship Chronicles) (17 page)

Within seconds the rest of the soldiers rushed into the engine room and pointed their laser rifles at the boys. Zhao leaned in a cool pose against an equipment console, while Cookie had simply pulled out a Snickers. When Daschair had finished elbowing his way to the front of the soldiers, he stood victoriously in front of them with his arms crossed. Zhao took this opportunity to stand up and report the “success” of their work.

“
We fixed your engines!” He said cheerfully.

Daschair strode forward and hissed at him to “Shut up.”

“
Turns out someone just powered them down.” Zhao continued as if oblivious to the situation at hand.

“
I said shut up!” Daschair screamed in Zhao's face.

Meanwhile back on LaCroix, LC notified Swift of an incoming communications request.

Swift rose from his seat and said “Put them through.”

Daschair appeared on the main screen and Swift greeted him with a look of mock surprise.

“
Cut the crap kid. You know what this is.” Daschair barked at him. Swift's facial expression shifted to a poker face.

“
You're a terrorist.” Swift declared without blinking.

Now it was Daschair's turn to feign surprise.

“
Terrorist is such a harsh word.” Daschair wagged a gloved finger and added “I consider myself a freedom fighter. What of your mighty empire though? Sending children to fight adults' battles.”

Gin saw that weary but penetrating quality enter into the eyes of Swift as he stared down the rebel captain.

“
When it comes to the hearts of men, age does not matter. Return my crew members, or I swear to the very stars that surround us that you will die in obscurity!”

A sour smirk swelled on Daschair's face as Swift spoke “How precious!” he cried and asked “Do you really think that you could take a life when the time comes? Are you that naive?”

Swift made no reply, but kept his eyes locked on Daschair's.

“
This is war!” Daschair roared at Swift as rebel soldiers brought Zhao and Cookie into view “And if I were to kill your little friends, would you kill me in retaliation? Kill my entire crew? That wouldn't bring these two back. They would be dead because of your poor decisions. At that point you can either blame yourself or God; it really doesn't matter to me.”

Swift rethought his position and considered his options. Whoever this man was, he was serious. To make matters worse he had Zhao and Cookie hostage. To attack the rebels would put his friends lives at risk, but to wait might also be dangerous. What if these rebels just decided to leave before reinforcements showed up? Swift didn't care to picture his friends winding up inside of some interment camp on Pluto.

“
How about a trade?” Swift said with no change in tone or expression. Despite the age gap between the two, Swift addressed him with just as much authority if not more.

“
Oh? And just what could you offer me?” Daschair chided.

“
I'll take the place of my crew members. I'd make a better bargaining chip.” Swift knew it was completely wrong to negotiate with terrorists, but at this point he had to make a move and this was it.

“
And if I refuse?”

“
I will kill you all. I may not be old enough to take a life in your opinion, but my ship certainly is.”

Just then a rebel soldier approached Daschair and whispered something into his ear “Hahaha.” Daschair laughed and said “Nicely put. I'll send your two little pals over when you begin the transfer.”

“
Deal.” Swift said and ended the transmission.

As soon as the transmission was over, Allie said “I don't like this. It completely breaks protocol and puts your life at risk.”

“
I don't have any other choice.” Swift replied.

“
You
don't have any other choice?” she asked “Don't we, your crew, have a say in this?”

“
I didn't mean it that way.” he explained “I've already put enough of us at risk. At least this way it's just me that's...well in trouble.”

“
In trouble? Are you kidding us? You could be killed. These are dangerous men. Aren't you scared just a little bit, or are you that cocky?”

“
I'm scared to death. I currently fear for Zhao and Cookie's lives and when I get over there I'll still be afraid for my own. But this has to be done, and I'm not going to run from it. I'm going to punch fear in the mouth.”

-
36
-

Gin's heart was racing and pounding so hard that he thought it'd leap from his mouth if he spoke. What was going to happen next? Swift must have a plan of some sort. But if he did, why wasn't he sharing it? He figured he'd ask Revy what she thought and turned to her only to find that her fists were balled so tightly that her knuckles were white. Tears were dripping down her face and onto her navigation console. Suddenly it hit Gin. Swift had no plan at all. He was going in alone, and might not come back alive.

Gin stood up and walked over to Swift “I'm going with you.” he said.

Swift gave him a half smile and nodded “Okay Gin, hold up your hands.”

Gin did as he was told and Swift feinted a punch to his face. Gin flinched and waved his hands in front of his face frantically. When he realized that Swift didn't actually attack he felt foolish.

Swift patted him on the arm and took off his leather jacket “Maybe next time dude.” he said. He then walked over to Revy and held out his jacket. When she didn't take it from him, he laid it down on the navigation console and walked away. Just as he made it to the doorway she spoke.

“
Come back alive.” was all that she said.

He looked at her for a few seconds before a bit of blue light flashed across his eyes and he called out “Be right back! Don't let Gin steal my seat!”

Swift made his way to the teleporter room, trying quickly to come up with a plan along the way. He was hoping that this would be one of those it's crazy enough to work moments, but no. Even if he opened the possibilities up to craziness, he only came up with “say something funny and then punch a lot of people”. Swift groaned loudly as he walked into the teleporter room.

“
You sure about this big guy?” Jay asked as he brought up the teleporter program's Graphical User Interface and configured coordinates for the transfer.

“
Oh man.” Swift walked over to the transfer platform “I get the feeling that this is going to be really awesome, or really dangerous.” he said.

“
I've learned that most things that are really awesome are really dangerous.” Jay replied and added “Get ready!”

“
I'd settle for dangerously awesome.” Swift said as he prepared to be transferred, which was a lot like being on the Gravitron at the county fair. Only much faster, no seat belts, and it sort of felt like it went inside of you.

“
Dangerously awesome huh? Just don't die.” Jay said.

“
Haha, yeah right? I'm gonna transfer over there and feed.” Swift announced.

“
Yeah, okay troll.” Jay said and began the transfer, causing Swift to wish he hadn't eaten such a big lunch that day.

Zhao and Cookie arrived on LaCroix safe and unharmed while Swift materialized in the teleporter room of the captured ship. He engaged Wrath while still aboard LaCroix, so it was primed and ready when he found himself surrounded by laser toting rebels. If they were armed with firearms that made use of mechanical parts and gunpowder then it'd be a different story. However due to the disruptive effects that AKE can have on electrical equipment, the rebel soldiers might as well have been aiming LED flashlights at Swift.

Daschair stepped forward with a slimy, smug look on his face and said “So we meet face to face little boy. Are you ready to beg for your life?”

Swift thought it pretty gross that this creep was enjoying himself so much “Why should I beg for something I already have?” he asked. Swift hadn't even bothered to look at Daschair as he spoke; he'd already seen enough on his ship's screen earlier. Now he was sizing up the soldiers around him, noting possible threats due to size and assumed physical ability. A few of the rebels had chuckled at Swift's remark, but Daschair was not pleased.

“
Well you can have some cuffs too-” Daschair shouted, but it sounded dangerously close to a scream “-and you didn't even have to beg for them! Take this brat to the brig!”

A rebel soldier approached Swift, taking out a pair of handcuffs. Swift shifted his stance, stepping into the soldier's personal space without granting him time to react. Two uppercuts, a left and a right. The blows were fast but nasty; sounding like the crack of a whip and causing the soldier's head to bobble as he fell to the deck.

The other soldiers opened fire, or at least tried to. Their laser pistols made weak pew pew noises and the gun muzzles blinked lamely. Swift took a few measured steps to the next soldier, punching him in the chest and snapping his wrist up to catch him in the jaw. The soldier began to gasp, obviously confused at which part of his body he should hold to ease the pain, and sat on the deck desperately trying to catch his breath. The next soldier Swift punched in the forehead, instantly dispatching him to dreamland. He then stepped back, side stepped and punched another in the nose. This soldier yelped and then sneezed blood down the front of his uniform. Daschair panicked and fled the room upon seeing his soldiers drop one by one at the hands of a teenager. A high-school student for crying out loud!

Swift tried to chase after him, but a guard moved to block his way. This one was taller and seemed more formidable than the others. He took a boxing stance and threw some jabs into the air between them.

“
They call me Chief!” he exclaimed “Let's see what you've got there kid!” he said as he took off his uniform jacket and threw it to the side. Chief was wearing a sleeveless shirt underneath, which was jam packed with muscles.

Swift stretched his arms and rolled his shoulders “They call me Swift.” he said “I'd take my coat off too, but I already turned things up a notch back on my ship.”

Chief appeared to have a good bit of upper body strength if being insanely ripped was any indicator, so Swift figured he should be careful not to get smacked up.

Chief started the fight with a feint, flanked and then threw a jab that Swift ducked. This created an opening, but as Swift moved to counter he found himself dodging yet another punch aimed at his head. This guy was pretty fast, maybe even a lightning bruiser.

While throwing yet another jab, Chief bellowed “You can't always be afraid Swift! Sometimes you've gotta just dive in!”

Chief then threw a serious hay-maker that Swift dodged by a hair. This was followed by an upper cut that Swift sidestepped. Now was the time to counter attack, and Swift began to strike Chief with a series of heavy body blows. Each strike caused Chief's body to rock to one side and then the other. Just as Swift thought he might be able to finish the brute, he saw Chief pull back a large fist. Swift ducked under this hook and rolled between Chief's legs, turning to punch him in the hamstring. A spasm of pain shot throughout Chief's leg and he fell on one knee. Swift stepped to the side of Chief and landed a downward strike to his jaw, putting him down on the deck.

“
T-that was cheap...” Chief moaned.

“
True, but as cheap as it was, you still couldn't afford it.” Swift said “This is your surrender. Stand trial, atone for your crimes and do the time.”

By now the remaining soldiers had already fled along with Daschair. The only ones left were those on the deck, nursing their injuries. Swift left the room while locking the door behind him. He knew the fight was knocked out of those guys, so any sort of vengeful pursuit was unlikely. In the event that they might try to escape via the teleporter room, their attempt would be futile, because LaCroix was waiting right outside.

Swift made his way through the corridors cautiously, checking every space he came across while wondering what had become of the original crew. It's possible that the rebel raiding party killed them all, he thought, but it isn't probable. It was a common practice for rebels to capture imperial soldiers and crews in order to put them to work in the mines on resource planets such as Pluto. This being the case, and provided that the entire crew was being held together, the hangar bay seemed to be the best bet. Perhaps he might find that slimy rebel captain there as well.

Swift stopped at the nearest access terminal and disabled the communications block. Now that his comlink was active once more, Swift contacted his crew and filled them in.

“
So that's it. I believe they're hijacking imperial auxiliary ships and sending out bogus distress signals to ambush whoever is sent as support. Due to the nature of the distress signal and the location of the decoy ship, they can be sure that the signal won't attract numerous imperial ships in response. Then they capture the crew that has come to help and gain more prisoners and ships in the process. Once they're done, they use the captured ships to move freely through imperial space to the Belt Line and make their escape. It's very amateurish.”