The Dancer's Summons Page 5

There was no more talking as the threesome came down, and the cell door slid sideways. The XO was roughly pulled out, and they all were soon gone out through the middle room at the end.

  Within minutes a couple of the hooded guards came back in and went to the cell with the man who had been shot. They held up their weapons and ordered everyone to turn and lean against the back wall. No one in the other cells could see what was happening, but they did see the dead body being dragged down the hall after the cell was closed.

  "Who was it?" Someone in Traci's cell was whispering as they pressed their heads to the bars.

  "I think it was Than." That was Cook who identified the dead crewman. He remembered all the men from the ship, as he served all the people three times a shift.

  Things settled down for a time, and then as the hours went by, the need for food and water began to hit their bodies. There was a hole in each cell's back corner, and from the smell, the crew started to use it without hesitation. But there was no sink or running water. Being considerate, the people all turned away from the hole when someone was using it, and privacy was awarded.

  A few people got tired enough to catch napes as they sat against the walls. Finally, a young boy came down the aisle pushing a cart with buckets on top and underneath on the bottom shelf. The cart was a standard floating workstation, and he stopped at each cell and pushed two narrow buckets through the bars. One held water, and the other held long loaves of bread, each filled with cheese.

  Cook went over and looked at the buckets. "There's no cup. I guess we drink from the bucket. Okay, there are four of us, and we each can drink from a different side marked off by the handle. You start." He handed the bucket to Traci, and no one objected.

  Setting an example, Traci wiped her mouth and then took a long drink. She handed the bucket to the next man, not paying attention to whoever accepted the handle.

  Next, Cook handed her one of the long thin loaves of bread.

  "I'm not hungry." Traci started to turn away.

  The hand of Cook reached out and stopped her. "No, eat to keep up your strength. We never know when the next food will come. We also don't know when we might get a chance to escape." Now he looked around and spoke to the others. "We must also exercise to keep ourselves in shape. Being locked up will not be good for our morale, so keeping on working to be ready to get away is important."

  After Cook's encouraging speech, it was at this time that they could hear the noise of the guards returning. Everyone went to the bars to look down the hall as far as they could in their limited manner.

  It was a couple of the hooded men dragging the XO. It looked like he was still alive but badly beaten. They went to the cell where he had been before, and the door opened, and they just pushed him inside. From where Traci's group was, they could no longer see the man, but they heard him hit the floor. With that, the guards were gone.

  The questions began to be yelled from the different cells. Finally, over all the chaos, someone hollered for everyone to be quiet.

  From the XO's cell, someone was letting the rest know what had happened. "He's alive but has been beaten up badly. Wait a minute."

  There was a pause, and all the people in the rest of the cells were very quiet except for some whispering.

  "Okay, our guy with some medical training says no broken bones, but some internal damage and maybe some bleeding inside. They must have hammered on him for hours. He is mumbling. Wait."

  Again, the tension built as all the crew personnel was all hanging onto the bars at the front of the cells.

  "He says they asked about things that didn't make sense, and they were angry when he couldn't help them. Damn, they did a real number on him. We are using our water to clean him up."

  Then someone called out with an idea. "Hey, if you run out, get close to our cell and hold out your empty bucket, and we will reach out and pour some of our water into yours."

  All along the hall, different people agreed and said they could pass water down between cells to get to the injured man. Working together, all of the crew had some water to drink and more for the injured man. There was a feeling of accomplishment after things had settled down.

  There ran through all of their minds to think about what their captors were after and what would happen if the attackers didn't find anything?

  Chapter Six

  It seemed that the mistreatment of the XO had served to do what Cook suggested. In their cell, the four of them began to exercise and to add some hand-to-hand training. Cook was correct, as they only got food and water twice a day.

  The word came down from cell to cell. The cell closest to the center could see where the guards gathered and relaxed until they got orders and chatted. The crew in that first cell was taking turns watching and listening to what they could hear from their captors. The word was that a lot of the guys in black were being pulled out for another raid.

  The decision was that if the guy without a mask came for another of their men, they would fight back. A quiet conversation went back and forth about what to do in resisting the next time they came to take out a crewperson and how to escape.

  When the question was asked about who might be taken out next, the guess was that it would be either the navigation officer or the communications officer. The next question was where these two people were located in the cells.

  The numbers were running through Traci's mind. The freighter only had twenty-one members in its crew, and that included the officers. It wasn't a big ship and was efficient. But only eighteen were taken off the ship, so three had been killed resisting the invasion. Their captors had divided them up with only four in each cell until the last where they put the last two. Of the eighteen left, they had shot one getting to the XO. So now they were down to seventeen with an ambulatory Captain and a severely hurt XO.

  They found out that the comm person was in the second cell, but the shock for Traci and everyone else was that the nav officer was in her cell. There were groans as they thought about Cook, who was overweight, and Traci, a small person.

  Determination began to take over these four as they practiced a special exercise. The idea was that Cook and the nav officer would take out one of the main men. Cook was practicing stooping over to drive his head into the others' stomachs until it became something he did without hesitation.

  He was to use his extra weight to drive the man back against the outside wall, and they all also taught him to grab one of the man's legs. If it were possible, he would even fall on the man when the man fell.

  The navigator would step forward but to one side to give room for the cook to charge, and he would start slamming his fists into the face of the same man. Hopefully, one or the other would take the man down.

  In the meantime, Traci, who was small, was to slip past the fight and ride down on the hooded guard's weapon. They all agreed it would be hard to take a weapon away from any of the guards, so it was important not to let them point it at any crew. The other man in their cell was a worker called Bout whose job was back in shipping, and he was strong.

  Bout worked with Traci and was surprised when he showed her a couple of holds, and she just got away. He held up his hands, palms out, and told her to practice hitting them. He kept telling her over and over to hit harder, and she tried, but she never moved his palms.

  Finally, she stopped. "Wait, Bout, can I do it my way?"

  He hesitated, then nodded. "Whatever works."

  With a step back and a turn so fast, he almost didn't see when she moved, she brought up her foot and not only slapped his hand with her foot, but almost knocked him down. Quickly facing him on both feet, she raised her eyebrows.

  Catching his balance, Bout looked around and then at her and smiled as he rubbed his sore palm. "I think I have been teaching you the wrong moves."

  The next time the full buckets came in exchange for the empty ones, everyone took care to act mild and be grateful for the gifts. This time, most people ate the centers of the bread, needing the protein fr
om the cheese. They also shared and drank most of the water. Then there were exercises again.

  Sometimes things go well, and sometimes they are a mess. This time fate was with these four people who had worked as hard as they could. They talked to each other as they rested on the cold metal floor or used the odious hole in the corner.

  It was sometime after the last delivery of buckets when there was a noise, and one of the crews in the first cell started whistling a silly tune. It was the agreed-upon warning.

  Traci and her team heard the chief male ask for the ship's navigational officer in her cell.

  "I'm here. Don't shoot anyone." The nav officer stood in the middle of the cell, and the rest took their positions, not too close to the front. Traci was on one side, Cook was back behind the nav officer, and Bout leaned against the other side.

  Traci shut everything else out when it went down, including how the rest of her team was performing. She didn't want anything to distract her as she went into action. There was no doubt that she was mismatched, going against a larger male armed with a deadly weapon.

  She focused on what she had to do and what Bout had brought out during their practices. Simultaneously, as Cook charged forward, she also jumped at the hooded man on her side. For her, things did work in her favor. As both her first two friends attacked the leader, her jump was a long one that brought her up to the door. The hooded guard was raising his weapon and turning toward the surprising movements. One more leap, and instead of putting a hand on the weapon, she kicked it solidly with the inside of her foot.

  The long gun and the man were off balance. He was shifting around toward his leader as her second move around brought the same foot against the shape of his ear. The form of his ears and nose could be seen through the cover over his head. Her aim was on point, and the slam of a foot in a heavy ship boot knocked him down to the floor.

  Not listening to the noise made by her teammates, she concentrated on her job. With the hooded guard down, she grabbed his long weapon, brought the heavy metal stock up, and struck his head. Now she was satisfied that he was out of the game.

  At last, she had time to look over at the others and was surprised to see the other two captors down on the floor. One had the Cook sitting on him even though he was dead with a broken neck. The man without a head covering had a strange bent neck, and his eyes and tongue were protruding through a hole in the mask.

  Bout had knocked out his guard quickly and helped Cook and the nav officer take the leader down before any word could be sent to other guards.

  The rest of the cells were silent except for the first one with the guy still whistling. Bout got the unit that opened the cell door from one of the guards, but it didn't open any other doors.

  With a lot of motions and whispers, the four free crew slowly moved forward to look out into the central room where the guards usually stayed. To their surprise, it was empty.

  Signaling for the rest to stay back, Bout went in and over to a board that had small shelves that held what must be the locks for each of the shelves. He wanted to find a general master lock, and sure enough, there was a palm panel that, without instructions, did open all the cell doors. It opened all the cells down all the different three directions.

  Now, as their friends came out, others began to straggle out from the other two cell areas. The Captain was on his feet, and he and Bout seemed to control their group. But the people coming from the other direction was confused and just looking for a way to get off this small satellite.

  The Captain had a ship that might be small, but it was big enough to take all of these people. Still, they all had to get to the docking area and then get away from the bigger, faster ship that the invaders had when they attacked.

  Their most important problem was finding the direction to where the BoseIn freighter was docked. No one had ever been on this satellite, and they all had different memories of being brought down to the lock-up area.

  The decision was not to split up, as the crew took turns with the XO's arms draped across their shoulders. Their progress was slow while others were racing away, through upstairs or down different alleys.

  The BoseIn crew had the only weapons, as there were none to be found in the area around where the guards gathered. If there was a storage armory for these brigands, it was not easy to find. Traci still had hers, and no one had made any comment about her having the long weapon. She wasn't sure she could kill someone with such a device, but it did make a nice bat.

  Stopping at the top of a set of steps, the group from the BoseIn, along with a couple of others that had joined them, all ducked down at the sound of weapons.

  "That means some of the pirates are still on this metal box." One of the crew whispered.

  "Or the whole bunch has returned." That was the Captain who had his arm tied up in a sling to protect the wound.

  "Okay, those of us with weapons will lead the way." Traci heard his words, even as quiet as he spoke, and moved up with Bout. They were the only two with arms taken from the guards down in the cell area.

  "Let's see if we can get our eyes on who is shooting and find a way around them." Bout was bent over his weapon and moving close to the wall. Traci took a position just behind him and slightly where she could see over him. She could hear the others moving behind them, leaving a few feet between.

  "I wonder how bad our ship was damaged?" It was the Captain. That was a good question because they would need it to get them off this metal prison.

  The guys that were shooting had a bunch of the escaped people trapped down a staircase. They were picking them off each time one of them tried to move across the landing below.

  "Those guys are better with their weapons than we will be." It was Bout whispering back to Traci. She had to agree that the half dozen guys in black with a weapon were very good at what they aimed at and killed.

  Looking around, Traci noticed that this area looked familiar. She turned to the crew, who was crouched behind her. "Can any of you remember if that turn is the way to where they forced us off our ship?"

  The nav officer moved around carefully and leaned in the dark on the other wall. "Yes, you are right. That is where we came out. We need to go out there. But if we move in that direction, those guys with the guns will see us."

  There was a lot of silence for a couple of minutes while on the other end of the hall, the guys with weapons shot down the stairway.

  Turning to look back at Traci, Bout nodded. "We need to move forward and give cover fire so that the rest can get around the corner. It is their only chance."

  Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Traci shrugged. "You're right. Count down from three, and you and I will move forward. Don't start until I tell the rest."

  A couple offered to take her place, but then the plan was in place, and she turned and nodded to Bout. He nodded and stood up in the shadows to get ready. Traci moved up beside him, knowing that they both were probably not going to live through this. It was the only way the rest or some would make it to the ship and tell others what had happened on this place.

  Just as Bout took a deep breath, a large figure like a ghost moved out of the hall they were going to take. He stood like a huge statue in the section, partway between them and the attackers firing down the stairs.

  With a noise that left almost everyone's ears ringing, he fired some large weapon at the attackers, leaving an explosion that expanded in the distance.

  "Run." His voice was deep, and the command was harsh and one you would not want to disobey. With a shock and ears ringing, the crew began to take off together down the hall. They knew this was the one they needed to get to the freighter.

  Traci was the last to move, turning at last and running fast to catch up with her people. She had taken another second to wonder if the surprise savior was going to come with them. Instead, she saw him walk slowly and solidly toward the fire where the last of the attackers was still alive.

  Traci did have to wonder if he would also li
ve through this encounter.

  Chapter Seven

  The BoseIn Lines ship was limping out in the deep dark after making a jump, having the power of the thread in its engine's belly. Now they were doing repairs and heading for the nearest safe port.

  Report: I had to interfere. Asset is safe and going onto a port where she is unknown. Details to follow.

  The comm officer had sent out several reports to the OOW and any close ports about the attack. They all talked about the cells, who it was that had attacked them, and who had saved them on board. All they had were questions with no answers.

  For Traci, she had more questions than most. There was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that their champion's appearance was somehow connected with a note she received on Solitude. Did that knight in shining armor know her heritage? It was a large universe and a great number of people from so many places. Traci thought that she was hidden and lost among so many humans and different places after all this time.

  Sitting with her knees drawn up to her chest on a chair in the mess room, she was running these thoughts through her mind. Initially, she had left her home because there were only a few who knew her parents, and there were laws in place prohibiting births to pass on special genes.

  From what those that hid her had reported, no one was killed; the young ones could have inhibitors inserted into their bodies to prevent the gene from being passed on through them. It also made them eunuchs and hindered their learning abilities.

  As a result of such rumors, the few children with her background were hidden, and they were quietly moved off-world. Moxxi had been given a wide education from math to history to martial arts. She and others like her were also taught some illegal processes, like hacking OOW legal IDs. Armed with some funds and a new identity, Moxxi had been put in a carton and shipped to another world where she was unpacked and sent on as a young worker.

  Watching Cook fixing some items to create a stew, she thought she had been safe, going from place to place, as she had been trained. Yet there was someone out there who was watching her. Since the pirates hadn't picked her out from among the crew in the space attack, they didn't know about her background. It had to be that stranger who came to their aid in the small satellite.