Murdock’s uncharacteristic alarm was scaring me.
“I’m quite sure,” said Hawkins. “This is your final warning, Captain Ducarti. Break off your attack vector, or we shall open–”
The speaker suddenly went silent. At exactly the same time, all the displays in the computer room went dead.
Murdock swore again, even more viciously, and yanked a metal box out from beneath the console.
The speaker came back to life, and a new voice came from the ceiling.
“
Vanguard
, this is Captain Thomas Williams of
Rusalka
,” said the captain.
“What happened?” I said.
“He locked us out,” said Murdock, opening the box. “The bastard locked us out. The captain has override codes to the entire ship.” He flipped open the box, and my eyes got wide. There were four burst laser pistols in the box, along with extra power packs. “We should have listened to Corbin. He knew all along, but we didn’t believe. More fool us.”
“What do you mean?” I said.
Murdock opened his mouth to answer, and the captain’s voice came from the speaker one last time.
“In the name of the Social Party and the Revolution, I hereby surrender this vessel, and order the crew to await instructions from Captain Ducarti.”
Chapter 4: How To Handle Crew Disputes
For a moment sheer panic froze me where I stood. I had never thought to see Ducarti again. Now he was about to take control of the
Rusalka
. He would remember me, that I knew for a certainty, and he likely had a squad of Social commandos aboard that troop transport. He would shoot me the first chance he got.
Actually, he would shoot a lot more people than just me.
“We can’t surrender,” I said, the words tumbling out of me. I was badly frightened and trying not to show it, which meant I wound up talking real fast. “If we surrender, he’ll kill us all. He’s Social Party. He killed five thousand people on New Chicago. He’ll kill everyone on the ship!”
“Rovio,” said Murdock, doing something with one of the laser pistols. “Shut up!”
“Will the XO surrender?” I said. “We have to warn everyone.” I crossed to the console and hit the phone switch, but it was dead. The entire console was dead. I pulled my phone from my belt, but the display only read SYSTEM LOCKED: COMMAND OVERRIDE.
“Rovio,” said Murdock again, putting down the pistol and picking up a second one.
“That troop transport will land at the port airlock, probably,” I said. “Maybe if we block it we can keep them from landing.”
“Rovio!” bellowed Murdock. “Stop babbling and listen to me!”
I came to a stammering halt, blinking.
“Of course we can’t surrender, you idiot,” said Murdock. “They’ll kill us all.” He checked something on the last laser pistol and nodded to himself. “They’re a Social strike force. When they take a ship, they kill the crew and make propaganda videos out of it. That bastard Williams! If he hadn’t turned traitor, we could have blown the
Vanguard
to atoms. I knew we should’ve listened to Corbin.”
“He knew?” I said. “You knew?”
“He knew. We suspected,” said Murdock, shoving one of the pistols into his belt and taking the other in his right hand. “Corbin was sure of it, but Nelson and Hawkins and I weren’t so certain. We knew he was an idiot, but a Social sympathizer? That seemed impossible. But we started watching him.”
“That file you kept,” I blurted out. “You thought he might be a sympathizer, so you were collecting evidence!”
Murdock gave me a flat look. “You knew about that?”
I shrugged. “I found out by accident. I didn’t tell anyone. I didn’t know what it was for. I thought you were just trying to get him fired.”
“For a start,” said Murdock. “If it turned out he was a Social, we would have gotten him sent to prison. Guess we figured it out a little too late.”
“What are we going to do?” I said. I was so frightened I could feel tears threatening to spill from my
“I’m quite sure,” said Hawkins. “This is your final warning, Captain Ducarti. Break off your attack vector, or we shall open–”
The speaker suddenly went silent. At exactly the same time, all the displays in the computer room went dead.
Murdock swore again, even more viciously, and yanked a metal box out from beneath the console.
The speaker came back to life, and a new voice came from the ceiling.
“
Vanguard
, this is Captain Thomas Williams of
Rusalka
,” said the captain.
“What happened?” I said.
“He locked us out,” said Murdock, opening the box. “The bastard locked us out. The captain has override codes to the entire ship.” He flipped open the box, and my eyes got wide. There were four burst laser pistols in the box, along with extra power packs. “We should have listened to Corbin. He knew all along, but we didn’t believe. More fool us.”
“What do you mean?” I said.
Murdock opened his mouth to answer, and the captain’s voice came from the speaker one last time.
“In the name of the Social Party and the Revolution, I hereby surrender this vessel, and order the crew to await instructions from Captain Ducarti.”
Chapter 4: How To Handle Crew Disputes
For a moment sheer panic froze me where I stood. I had never thought to see Ducarti again. Now he was about to take control of the
Rusalka
. He would remember me, that I knew for a certainty, and he likely had a squad of Social commandos aboard that troop transport. He would shoot me the first chance he got.
Actually, he would shoot a lot more people than just me.
“We can’t surrender,” I said, the words tumbling out of me. I was badly frightened and trying not to show it, which meant I wound up talking real fast. “If we surrender, he’ll kill us all. He’s Social Party. He killed five thousand people on New Chicago. He’ll kill everyone on the ship!”
“Rovio,” said Murdock, doing something with one of the laser pistols. “Shut up!”
“Will the XO surrender?” I said. “We have to warn everyone.” I crossed to the console and hit the phone switch, but it was dead. The entire console was dead. I pulled my phone from my belt, but the display only read SYSTEM LOCKED: COMMAND OVERRIDE.
“Rovio,” said Murdock again, putting down the pistol and picking up a second one.
“That troop transport will land at the port airlock, probably,” I said. “Maybe if we block it we can keep them from landing.”
“Rovio!” bellowed Murdock. “Stop babbling and listen to me!”
I came to a stammering halt, blinking.
“Of course we can’t surrender, you idiot,” said Murdock. “They’ll kill us all.” He checked something on the last laser pistol and nodded to himself. “They’re a Social strike force. When they take a ship, they kill the crew and make propaganda videos out of it. That bastard Williams! If he hadn’t turned traitor, we could have blown the
Vanguard
to atoms. I knew we should’ve listened to Corbin.”
“He knew?” I said. “You knew?”
“He knew. We suspected,” said Murdock, shoving one of the pistols into his belt and taking the other in his right hand. “Corbin was sure of it, but Nelson and Hawkins and I weren’t so certain. We knew he was an idiot, but a Social sympathizer? That seemed impossible. But we started watching him.”
“That file you kept,” I blurted out. “You thought he might be a sympathizer, so you were collecting evidence!”
Murdock gave me a flat look. “You knew about that?”
I shrugged. “I found out by accident. I didn’t tell anyone. I didn’t know what it was for. I thought you were just trying to get him fired.”
“For a start,” said Murdock. “If it turned out he was a Social, we would have gotten him sent to prison. Guess we figured it out a little too late.”
“What are we going to do?” I said. I was so frightened I could feel tears threatening to spill from my
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