Space Trippers Book 1: Trippin' (25 page)

“What are they doing?” Sanic wondered, as the silhouettes seemed to search the area for something.

“Probably taking an inventory of what we have.” Tim replied, he was experienced in similar situations where the Police had staked out alleged crime rings. “They could be space pirates.” he guessed as they continued to monitor the intruders.

“Or scavengers.” Valesque put in. “I am sure we look pretty abandoned from the outside since we are just drifting with no shields and very little light.”

“Either way, they don't seem to be on any rescue mission.” the Pilot observed solemnly as the shadows got closer and began to examine the third Scuttle down from them.

From what they could see of them in the darkness, the intruders were rather large beings with slightly hunched backs as if their heads were too heavy to hold erect.

Their profiles seemed to indicate they had a short muzzled face.

Long prickly looking hair protruded in clumps, around the sleeveless shirts they wore, all over their shoulders and heads making them resemble mangy apes. Something about their proportions did not seem quite right as they lumbered around the hanger, but the light was too dim in the room to tell exactly why.

Deciding they had witnessed enough, the three backed up slowly and revolved in unison to go back to the life pod room and report to the Captain, only to turn and discover one of the hulking intruders behind them!

Tim instinctively reached for the small silver weapon he always kept at his side as the other two flattened themselves against the small, white Scuttle they had been hiding behind.

The huge, dark figure loomed above them as it looked up and roared out something in the unintelligible language they had heard earlier. Even from this close distance, it was too dark to get a good look at its face as the creature stood in the shadow of the small spacecraft beside them.

They could make out one thing easily enough though, it had brandished a large black weapon, which resembled an Earthian laser rifle, at them and barked threateningly as it prepared to fire.

Tim moved protectively between the assailant and his crewmates pointing his small self-defense taser gun as he ordered Valesque and Sanic to run.

They could not escape back to the pod room as the massive creature was blocking that route, forcing the two to quickly take off farther into the hanger.

As Sanic and Valesque dashed out into the open, the rest of the band of thieves caught sight of them and opened fire.

Sanic quickly pulled Valesque after him as he dove behind a stack of crates. The laser fire sizzled holes into the metal containers they were now crouching behind.

The two desperately looked for a way out as their attackers cautiously approached their hiding spot, unsure if the ship’s owners were armed.

“I will distract them.” Sanic whispered harshly as he dug into his pocket and brought out his anti-grav discs. “When I go out, you run back to the pod room.”

Not giving her time to argue the young Etherian quickly set some adjustments and stuck the discs to the bottom of his boots before kicking off and flying up over their shield, ascending up into the air over the startled intruders, effectively capturing their attention.

Valesque tore herself away from the spectacle and ran back along the wall on a path that would lead directly behind the first assailant, her Virrilian instincts were beginning to kick in as she sprinted quickly over the hard floor.

Tim’s opponent noticed her dash and turned to the side to stop her, but Tim took that opportunity to launch himself at the large hairy alien and kick him squarely in the side of its huge ape-like head. Then touching his other foot down on the enemy’s shoulder he sprang himself back up into the air with a backward flip and landed on top of the Scuttle craft he had been standing beside a moment ago.

The intruder turned his attention away from the approaching Virrilian as it reeled from the powerful kick he had just received from the Pilot who was now perched above him.

Valesque was impressed by the cocky Yorkie’s amazing agility and speed as he landed the aerial kick on his opponent before using him as a springboard onto the roof of the Scuttle.

She sped thankfully past the scuffle and back into the small room between the hanger and the life pod housing bay.

She was followed closely by Sanic who had managed to dodge the shots fired by his attackers by jetting around the top of the room with his anti-gravity devices.

Tim quickly fired the small electric gun off at his angered opponent when he saw his comrades make it safely back to the room. The agile pilot then turned on his heel and fired off several more quick shots at the remaining intruders, hitting all of them dead on with his super-fast speed and incredible accuracy, before leaping down off his vantage point and following Valesque and Sanic into the small dark room.

The three friends momentarily leaned against the door and walls as they panted heavily from their sudden adrenaline rush.

“That probably isn’t going to stop them for long.” Tim advised as he caught his breath, thinking they had better move as far away from the door as possible.

He turned around and hit the emergency door lock, then led his charges back into the Pod room and locked that door behind them as well.

He could see the intruders shaking off his weak taser shot and starting to gather at the far door through the window. This unfortunately meant the Pirates could see the three of them as well.

“That may only hold them for a few more seconds.” Tim warned as they all started to sprint for the emergency access shaft they had come down through before. They crawled quickly back up with Valesque in the rear, so she could seal the entrance before following the other two up the ladder to the open panel three deck levels above.

“The hatch is made of a special alloy.” she assured them over the hammering from below as they exited the shaft. “The laser won’t be able to get through it so it might give us a few more minutes.” she added, quickly sealing the panel they had just come out of as well.

“We need to come up with some options.” the young Etherian began nervously, his problem solving brain already churning. He had not liked the looks of their apparently fierce company. The creatures were huge, monstrous and ugly.

It was just a good thing for the three of them that they also seemed to be exceptionally dumb.

“Perhaps we can find some kind of defense weapons? I am afraid all I have is this taser. It has a weak shock and it is only good for close combat.” Tim offered showing the small weapon that rested in his palm.

“There aren’t any other weapons on board.” Valesque informed him regretfully. “We didn’t really have a need for them while we were constructing the ship.”

“How about the other crewmembers?” Sanic suggested.

Tim shook his blonde head in a definite negative. “Most of them are non I.P.A like you two; they wouldn’t have any weapons either. Besides, I would rather not get any of them involved.” he added not wanting to risk any more innocent lives.

“We have maybe five minutes, if they don’t break through the shielding sooner. So let’s come up with a plan quickly.” the Virrilian Engineer began as she knelt down on the smooth carpeted floor of Science Deck 3.

As she crouched down and took out her Vid-screen Tim noticed something the faint overhead lights revealed as they descended upon her.

She had a spot on the front of her thigh where the fabric of her green Engineering pants had been singed away showing a small seared section of her pale muscular leg.

“You got hit.” Tim noted unhappily as he saw this.

Sanic suddenly got very worried. “Where did you get hurt? Are you alright? When did they hit you?” he sputtered in concern as he looked for the spot the Lieutenant had noticed.

“I think they got her when she was trying to cover you, as you two ran away the first time.” the composed Pilot said evenly. “Right, Beautiful?”

Sanic's grey eyes darkened with worry as he frowned, he was not happy to hear she had been injured while shielding him.

“It’s fine. It's only a slight burn.” the Virrilian dismissed not worrying about such a trivial matter at this imperative juncture.

Tim continued to look at the scorched spot on her upper thigh, remembering how the same shots had melted holes in the metal of the Scuttle and storage crates.

If one of us had been hit with that we would have a hole in our leg right now, he thought. Virrilians were amazingly tough, but he guessed even she could not stand to be hit in the same spot more than twice.

“Since we have no weapons, and most definitely not a fighting crew, we need some other way to get them off our ship.” the Virrilian began, oblivious to the Pilot’s concerns.

“There is one way I can think of.” she informed them with a far away look as she ran the idea carefully through her head. “This ship is a science vessel and as such we had to be prepared for certain events. Like an experiment escaping on the ship, or an airborne contaminate accidentally being released.” she explained as she began to check some things on her Vid-screen.

“Almost every level of this ship has a shielded emergency shelter in the center of it.” she started again, beginning to explain her plan. “They are all self-contained with their own life support systems. We are running off Emergency power right now so we can only run one room. Thankfully there is a small crew so you should all fit.”

Valesque ran a few more checks from her Vid-screen as she continued. “I think if I can run the detoxifying program that is used for a Biohazard it might drive them away. I got a good look at one of them and I don’t think their bodies would stand up well under something like that.” she explained.

While Sanic had distracted the intruders, allowing Valesque to run out from behind the metal crates, she began to slip into hunting mode, her brown eyes filming over as her Virrilian senses strengthened. In this condition, she was able to see that the disproportion of the aliens’ bodies was not a natural phenomenon, but rather a deliberate alteration of their physique. It was as if they had patchwork bodies, they also had a pungent stench as if something was rotting or infected.

“I could see its heart rate was even and low, meaning they were used to this kind of scuffle so I don’t believe they are normal scavengers. Plus, their bodies seemed to be a mismatch of parts, the blood flow was different in some areas, various parts were cooler and less muscular as well. They don’t look like normal bodies; I think they are pieced together somehow.” she said, glancing up at the two of them. “So a little chemical detoxification might make them very uncomfortable.”

The two men looked from her to each other with a bit of alarm, this was the first time since they had gone down to the Space Deck they had gotten a good look at their companion’s face.

Tim and Sanic had never seen a Virrilian in hunting mode before and Valesque was looking rather spooky now with her silver coated eyes and four pointy fangs.

Nevertheless, it was thanks to her naturally going into hunting mode after she was injured that she was able to get such a good perspective on their assailants.

The heightened Virrilian continued expounding her plan to her two wary comrades. “We need the Captain to gather everyone into the Emergency Shelter on the Control deck. Most everyone should be pretty close to that one already and we might be able to keep the intruders from getting that far up in the ship.”

“How are you going to do that?” Sanic pondered, if everyone was supposed to gather on the Control Deck who was going to stop the invaders?

Valesque smiled at her ingenious plan. “Bots.” she said. “I am going to make an army of Bots. They don’t have any weapons, but we have quite a few cleaning Bots and construction Bots onboard. And the best thing is; they will run on their own power. They may not do much damage, but they can probably slow them down in reaching the top decks.”

A loud sound was heard echoing up the Emergency shaft.

The three of them looked at the panel next to them in concern.

“They probably got through the Space Deck entry panel.” Valesque commented in a low whisper as she edged quietly away from the area in question and farther down the hall toward her lab.

“We probably have a little time left before they discover what level we are on and break through this door.” she said as she walked along typing things into her Vid-screen.

Hard banging sounds were heard down the hall as the intruders tried to force their way through the thick access panel.

“It seems they may have fanned out.” Valesque noted on their foes speed in arriving at their deck level. “Yorkie, I need you to get the Captain to gather everyone into the shelter. I can’t start the program until everyone is safely accounted for in that room.” she instructed him.

“What do you mean? What about you?” Sanic demanded worrisomely. She was not talking like she was going with them.

“I have to get to a main computer control panel. I can’t run the emergency clean up program from my Vid.” she informed him with determination shining in her silvery eyes.

“Then we should go with you. You can’t face them alone and have the rest of us go to a shelter.” he insisted, fearing for her safety.

“It will be easier for her to go alone.” Tim corrected him, seeing that Valesque was not about to give in. “She is the most likely of the three of us, she knows the ship and what she has to do. Plus she is much sturdier than we are.” he added. “If we had been hit with a blast back there we would have gotten a lot more than a minor burn.”