'Inta does the Dallas': Part 3
Moments after June flew like a shot out of the maintenance hangar doors; a silence descended over the scene as Will and Ben leaned against the hull panting, the adrenaline rush slowly wearing off. Blast marks from laser fire pitted the hangar bay floor and surrounding objects, leaving slight scorch marks dotted Nestia's hull.
"Holy fuck." Ben exclaimed as he leaned his rifle against Nestia's outer hull, then placed his hands on his knees as he bent over, the action of the last ten minutes finally overwhelming him.
Will reached over and placed a concerned hand on his shoulder. "Are you going to be alright?"
"Yeah, but let's not do that again, huh?" Ben remarked. Will gave him a crooked smile and patted him on the back.
"Don't Move! Drop your weapons!" several voices ordered as a swarm of armed Security Officers surrounded them. While setting his weapons on the ground, Will slowly raised one hand over his head, and Ben did the same.
"Turn around and walk backward towards me, slowly." a brutishly large sergeant commanded, his rifle still trained on Ben and Will. Complying, Ben and Will followed instructions and backstepped into the open space in front of the armed officers.
"On your knees." the large sergeant barked. They complied. The sergeant then approached Will as the other officers continued to train their weapons on Ben and Will. With one hand, he removed a set of cuffs from his belt, and with the other, he grabbed Will's wrist, still over his head, and tried to wrench his arm behind his back, but Will was an immovable object.
Frustrated, the sergeant issued another command. "Hands behind your back." Will complied with slow, non-threatening movements, and the sergeant locked the cuffs onto Will's wrists while another officer did the same to Ben's.
"Who else is in the ship?" He barked again as Will and Ben were pulled to their feet by officers on each arm.
"Inta, the silver girl, and two assailants," Will answered. Just as he spoke, Inta exited Nestia through the cargo bay door, smiling and waving nonchalantly.
"Hi there," she said, walking toward the officers. "The last two gunmen are trapped inside, but they don't have much fight left in them. When you're ready I'll open the door."
The sergeant squinted at her suspiciously as the other officers cuffed her, then jerked his head towards the short set of stairs leading up to Nestia's airlock door. Half a dozen officers positioned themselves around the stairs, readying themselves for a fight.
"Open the door." the sergeant ordered, and Inta did so with a nod. The security officer at the corner of the door peered inside and saw the devastation inside. The grenade blast obliterated the pilot, copilot, and engineer's seats. The walls of the sitting area were blackened by scorch marks from laser fire, and the couches were a shredded mess. Blood and gore from the slain assailants covered everything, and sitting on the mostly destroyed couches were the two remaining gunmen, their boots covered by the blood and entrails of their compatriots. They held their guns loosely, pointed at the floor, and wore a thousand-yard stare on their faces.
The security officers yelled commands through the doorway to drop their weapons and exit, and they did so, allowing themselves to be taken into custody without a struggle. After they were cuffed, they were quickly marched away.
"Are there any other surprises?" the sergeant asked in a stern voice. Inta shook her head no, and then he sent a team into the shuttle to investigate.
"All Clear," one of the security team called out from the open shuttle door. Satisfied, the sergeant barked, "Okay, get them out of here." Officers surrounded Will, Ben, and Inta, and with two holding tight to each of them, they were led from the battle scene.
They were brought to a lift and descended to the next level, which turned out to be the barracks and offices for one of the squadrons of "Defender" fighters stationed on the ferry for defense. It was a hive of frantic activity, likely due to the attack and subsequent flight of the assailants in maintenance pods.
They were led through a corridor with several twists and turns until they were finally ushered through a secured door into a holding room with a single long metal table. June was already seated and cuffed to the table by a single thick link. The security team sat Will, Ben, and Inta next to her, re-cuffed their hands in front of them, and secured them to the table next to June.
As she watched the others seated in the uncomfortable metal chairs next to her and cuffed to the table, she thought of how Inta tore into the titanium containers at Penrose station and that she was now bound by the Security team only because she allowed it.
"Hey guys," June greeted them. "We having fun yet?"
"Quiet," one of the armed Security personnel standing in the room ordered. June smirked at Will, but he shook his head, indicating they should play nice and go along with security.
The four sat quietly on their uncomfortable chairs until the silence was broken when the door to the crowded holding room opened, and several people entered.
Ugaki, the Captain of the ferry, an older, portly man they recognized from his ship-wide broadcasts, entered and was followed closely by a tall, stern-faced woman. Her spine was straight, and her dark hair was up in a tight bun. Several armed officers accompanied them as they entered the room.
As he entered, he grabbed a chair against one of the walls and slid it across the room to the table. Then he sat, leaning back, resting his hands across the buttons of his rounded-out uniform shirt. He stared intently at the four across the table. Without speaking, he looked into each of their faces, evaluating what he was dealing with, before turning to the stern-looking woman standing to his right, who then handed him a tablet from which he began reading.
"I must say, you're an eclectic bunch." Ugaki scrolled some more. "June Harding and Will Foucault, academy-trained, and employed, until recently, by the Peirault Shipping Company. Both top of your class, stellar service records for the past decade, until very recently when you were declared lost with your freighter, the Saturn's Heart."
He continued scrolling until his eyebrows raised in mild surprise.
"And you, Mr. Toucuar, have quite the rap sheet. A litany of juvenile arrests, mostly for petty theft, eventually graduating to grand larceny. Says here you were a suspect in a massive fire that destroyed an entire residential neighborhood on Tellurius Prime and have associations with known criminal organizations. Seems you're a real piece of work." Ben's face went white, and he hung his head at the ugly summary of his previous life. Pain and regret twisted his features; tears threatened in the corner of his eyes as his shame was casually put on display.
The Captain turned his attention to Inta. "And then there's you. No record exists of you anywhere, in any database, on any planet. Hell, I don't even know what species you are." He shuffled through a few pages on his tablet. "Hmm. Though it seems you were involved in some business with Slavers on Penrose Station, recently."
He was silent for a moment as he continued reading from his tablet. Then, speaking to them as a group, "You booked passage at the last minute with an unregistered, 'experimental' ship, failed to declare your weapons when you booked passage or mentioned that you were also carrying an attack craft. Then you proceeded to shoot up my maintenance bay, making quite the mess." His tone was stern and serious.
Will opened his mouth to protest, but the Captain silenced him with a raised hand. "The Interstellar Ferry operational guidelines are clear on how I must proceed on these points, and I'll have to confiscate your weapons and impound your attack craft."
Before they could argue further, his expression changed as he gave them a wide smile. "However, you have performed a great service to this ferry, for which I am grateful. Pirates are a bane to interstellar trade and our ferry service specifically. When passengers, such as yourselves, take such courageous action, placing yourselves in harm's way to protect and defend, as a matter of honor, I must show my appreciation. Commander, please remove their restraints."
His stern-faced first officer raised one eyebrow at the Captain, then nodded to one of the Security personnel who went down the line and removed their bindings. June rubbed her wrists and then addressed the Captain. "Thank you, sir. We never meant to cause you or the Dallas crew any trouble."
"I know, my dear." Ugaki acknowledged. "Sometimes extraordinary people stir the universe up in their wake, and you lot seem much more than ordinary." Then he sighed, rubbed his eyes, and turned his attention back to Ben. "There is the matter of your criminal record, young man. I have enormous leeway on how I operate my ship, but some matters can not be ignored."
June was about to voice an objection and defend him, but Ben looked at her and shook his head. Then, he addressed the Captain directly. "I know I can't expect you to take my word that I've left that life behind me. I'm ready to accept the consequences," he said without lifting his head.
Will, June, and Inta all began talking over each other to defend Ben, but the Captain silenced them all with a quick bark. "Now, now! Pipe down. I'm not going to punish Mr. Toucuar after watching the video of him taking on those attackers and defending this ship. No, definitely not." Ugaki seemed affronted by the suggestion. "But I will need to demonstrate to my superiors that I'm not just ignoring the situation. Therefore I am going to assign my first mate to check on you daily, to make sure you behaving yourself."
At the mention of her new assignment, Commander Cirillo whipped her head in the Captain's direction and shot a look of disbelief at the back of his head.
"There is also the matter of damages incurred during your firefight." Ugaki continued, unfazed by his first officer's gaze boring into the back of his head.
