Chapter XVI: Rick Raygunn - Pirate!

Blackcoat nodded and turned to hit a com switch. "All right, Listen up. We're taking off now. There's a SP ship in orbit we have to get by, and they're gonna be mad. Prepare for takeoff in fifteen minutes." He looked over to Rick. "Okay, kid. Now what exactly is your story? Why come after me, and make it look as if you were SP?"

Rick thought fast. "I'm, uh, a freelancer. Work for hire. You need it, I get it. I've done jobs for several, um, shall we say, organizations."

Blackcoat looked at Rick suspiciously. "You have, huh? They why haven't I heard of you?"

"If you heard of me, then I wouldn't be able to do my job," retorted Rick. "I hear things. Locate clients in need, then I supply that need."

"So why you chasing me, huh?"

Rick smiled, trying hard to make it appear cold and heartless like a pirate smile. "Let's just say that you have certain competitors that want you out of the way, and willing to pay very well for it. Posing as an SP makes everything look, shall we say, natural. No questions are raised, and I'm paid well. Twice. Once by my clients, and again as a bounty hunter."

Blackcoat stared at Rick for a long minute, then his fangs became visible as he smiled and nodded. "Very clever. So, now that I know your intentions, Why shouldn't I blast you right now, then collect the reward for you from the SP's myself?" Blackcoat laid a huge hairy paw on his sidearm.

"First, you and your crew are wanted by the SP's and you won't expose yourself to their scrutiny, and second, if you kill me, you won't find out who's gunning for you. I'm not the only one hoping to score. Besides, you just saved me from the SP's and that's a favor I can't overlook. I owe you. I'll watch your back and keep the other bounty hunters off of you."

"And of course I can trust you," sneered Blackcoat.

Rick shrugged. "I'm a man of my word. I have to be, else I wouldn't be able to function. While the money's nice, I value my life more. Right now, I'm in debt to you, and that's something that cannot be bought off."

"I see." Blackcoat thought for a moment, considering his options. "Well, How about I say that your debt can be bought off right now, if you simply give me the name of the client that hired you to off me."

Rick laughed, but there was no joviality in the sound. "If I did that, then not only would I not get another job, but then there would be hunters after me. That I cannot do. I'll protect you, but I cannot betray a confidence, and there's a good chance that you can determine the client on your own."

"And once you do intercept one of these assassins?" asked Blackcoat.

"Then my obligation to you is discharged, you will know who is after you, and I go away and leave you in peace." Rick crossed his arms and leaned against the table. "Well, we got a deal?"

Blackcoat looked over Rick again, thinking it over. Rick hoped he was convincing, having nothing but dramatic holovids to base his new cover on. Finally Blackcoat removed his paw and held it out to Rick. "All right. We'll give it a try. I'll be watching you, though."

"Of course." Rick took the paw offered by the pirate and shook it. "You won't regret it, though."

"I better not," growled Blackcoat. "Come on. Let's go to the cockpit. You might be able to get up past that SP ship up there."

"After you." Rick heaved a silent sigh of relief once Blackcoat's back was to him, and followed the pirate to the control center for the shuttle.

The cockpit for the pirate shuttle was small, having only two seats. Blackcoat motioned for the two crewmembers already there to leave. "I'll take it up myself. I don't want any mistakes with that SP ship on top of us."

They shrugged. "Okay, boss." They left, giving Rick dark scowls as he squeezed against the bulkhead to give them room to pass. Blackcoat sat in the left seat, and motioned for Rick to take the copilot's seat.

"Think you can handle it?" asked the pirate captain.

Rick looked over the controls. It was in a standard configuration for most shuttles, marked with Interlac communication symbols. Not nearly as fancy as Aia's controls, but nothing Rick couldn't handle. "Piece of cake. Let's get out of here."

Blackcoat nodded, and he started powering up the systems. "You watch the scanners, and keep me updated on the whereabouts of that ship."

"Where are we meeting your ship?" asked Rick.

"You'll see." Blackcoat watched the monitors for a moment. "Okay, powering main systems. We'll be visible as soon as we break cover."

"What? No cloak for the shuttle?" asked Rick.

"Them things are expensive. Didn't think we'd need one here."

The panels in front of them lit up, and Rick started a standard checklist. Before he got a past a couple of items, he felt the shuttle start to move. Lights came on, illuminating the cave concealing the shuttle, and a wide passage leading to the surface. Apparently being a pirate meant that you didn't bother with safe procedures if it was inconvenient. He gave a quick glance over the remainder of the indicators, and all were in acceptable limits. He made sure his harness was secure as Blackcoat piloted the shuttle into the access tunnel.

The tunnel was barely as wide as the shuttle. The collision sensors glowed amber at the proximity of the cave walls to the ship. Blackcoat accelerated the shuttle as it flew down the narrow passage. Rick gripped the arms of the acceleration chair as the cave walls became a gray blur in the glare of the shuttle landing lights. Then Blackcoat cut the lights, plunging them into darkness. Rick felt his stomach leap up in a moment of pure panic, then the shuttle popped out of the cave, and angled sharply upwards into the night desert sky, driving Rick deep into the chair.

"Ya got a fix on that SP ship yet?" asked Blackcoat.

Rick activated the scanners and began sweeping for the ship that they were expecting to see in orbit. Having a flash of inspiration, he narrowed the scan field to detect the transponder frequency that SP ships used for identification during battle. Not only would it reduce the time to detect the ship, but it would be able to detect the ship farther away.

"Working on it." Rick finished entering the modifications, and reset the scanners. Almost immediately he got a reading. "Ah. Bearing two seven four mark thirty six. Moving away. If you change course to one three six, and keep us low for about five minutes, we can keep the planet between us and them, then make a run for your ship."

"Hrrrmm," muttered Blackcoat as he scanned the sensors. "You appear to be correct." He made the change, and sped across the landscape, keeping the shuttle less than thirty meters above the surface, dodging rock outcroppings that were only slightly darker than the dark sky. As far as Rick could tell, Blackcoat was navigating the hazardous terran by sight alone. The detection systems were set at a minimum level to help avoid detection by the SP vessel. Even Rick was impressed, either with Blackcoat's skill or recklessness. He wasn't quite sure.

Finally Rick's sensors registered that the SP ship had past the horizon. "Okay, take it up, but try to stay at this angle."

"Hrrrmm," growled Blackcoat again. The shuttle gained altitude, and the planetary night sky gave way to the crystal clear view of space. Rick widened the scanner's margins,, set them to active scan, and searched for other ships in orbit. He wasn't expecting to find much. This planet was off the beaten track. All that showed up were the two moons and the single navigation satellite. "We're in the clear. If we can the power down, we'll avoid detection by the spaceport satellite."

Blackcoat veered the shuttle to head for the closer moon, and gave the sensors a quick glance. "How much time do we have before that SP ship clears the horizon?"

Rick checked their new course, and compared it with the plotted orbit of the patrol ship. "Looks as if we have about ten minutes before we'll be spotted on our present course."

Blackcoat nodded in agreement. He increased the speed of the shuttle. Rick went over the change to see how it would change. "With luck, we should just make the far side of the near moon just as the SP ship clears the planet." Blackcoat added a touch more thrust as a precaution.

The next three minutes were spent in quiet. Rick was thinking about how odd it was that here he was, a freshly commissioned officer in the Stellar Patrol, working side by side with one of the Galaxy's most wanted criminals. The thought made him break out in a cold sweat, but before Blackcoat noticed Rick's nervousness, the comm channel opened.

"Unidentified vessel on bearing one-ninety-eight mark one-oh-nine. Please identify yourself. You are in Salkar controlled space. Reply at once."

"Shit. Too much power. The spaceport spotted us." Rick looked over at Blackcoat, and was surprised to see the Erscan smiling.

"Just as well, This was getting boring."

Rick scanned the board. "Well, it's more interesting. The SP ship just came around the planet, and it's accelerating. It's a Markus class destroyer. It'll be within firing range in about two minutes."

Blackcoat grinned at Rick. "Then it's a good thing that I brought you along, isn't it. Get us away from it."

"In this tub?" Rick felt cold sweat trickling down his back. This wasn't a simulation. This was real. Well, it was doubtful the destroyer would fire upon the shuttle without the shuttle showing hostile intent, and proved to be a danger to the ship. As the destroyer could both outrun and out shoot the shuttle, getting fired upon first was not likely Standard SP procedures would be to lock on and drag the shuttle to a boarding hatch. That gave Rick a little more maneuvering room, though he would have to make his move before they managed to lock on with a tractor beam.

He managed a glance at Blackcoat. He was starting to arm the weapon systems. Rick shook his head. "Don't bother. All you'll manage to do is piss them off. You can't hurt them with that stuff.. Our chances are better if they don't think we're armed." Rick gave Blackcoat what he thought was a confident sneer.

Blackcoat paused and looked at Rick. "I don't want to give up without a fight."

"We won't get caught. Trust me," said Rick.

"Okay." Blackcoat pulled out his blaster and leveled it at Rick. "We get nabbed by a tractor beam, and I can assure you that you won't get questioned by the SP's."

Rick stared at the weapon aimed for his midsection. "Look, I don't want to get caught as much as you. Put that thing away before you hurt yourself." Rick surprised himself by saying that, but Blackcoat grinned and holstered the weapon.

"Okay, kid. Just do your stuff."

Rick forced the butterflies in his throat back down into his stomach, and called up the system charts. The destroyer would get to them just as they got near the moon. There were no other objects on the chart. There was a minute to go before the SP ship was in range win it's tractor beam. Rick threw in full power towards the smaller Salkarian moon. It was a rough body, still cracked and irregular from the early days of the solar system creation. There was a note in the star log that the two Salkarian moons used to be one, and suffered from an asteroid collision about two billion years ago.

The SP Destroyer was closing, and the comm channel crackled to life again. "Unidentified shuttle. This is the SPS Cunningham. Heave to and prepare to be boarded by order of the Stellar Patrol. Failure to comply can result in damage to your ship. Repeat. Heave to and prepared to be boarded. This is the SPS Cunningham. Reply at once!"

Blackcoat flicked off the comm system. "Boring conversation. Okay, flyboy. We got thirty seconds. What's the plan?"

Rick didn't answer. He was concentrating on the monitor screens, timing his moves. The slightest distraction would result in them getting caught, and even then, getting away wasn't very likely. But he had told the truth to Blackcoat. He didn't want to be caught either. Very strange things were going on, and he was determined to find out what it was, even if he had to face down all the Pirates and the Stellar Patrol to find out.

The Cunningham closed the gap between itself and Blackcoat's shuttle. Within a few seconds, Blackcoat slammed the console with his paw. "Damn. They have a lock. The tractor beam will be on us in seconds."

Rick punched his course into the computer, and as the SPS Cunningham activated it's tractor beam, the shuttle veered for the rocky surface of the moon at full speed.

To Be Continued...