Insuring against space piracy, Part 3
“Hurry up Neb,” her coworkers admonished.
She struggled to keep up with the others. They were running forward into danger. At each corridor they just flicked their heads to look for any sense of danger.
Pirates were on the ship and wouldn’t hesitate to shoot any of them. Cassie was already a sign of that. She claimed to be alright, so it took the insistence from everyone else to get back to the shuttle.
The gun still hung on her hand, ready to jump into a fight before she was even ready. She hadn’t been ready to walk away, but her coworkers would’ve left without her. The fate of the pirate she shot was unknown.
“Quick, let’s check that panel,” Celeste suggested.
They stopped, giving Neb a chance to catch up.
The computer screen was embedded on the wall, providing a status of all critical operations in a single view.
“The cargo hold is down there,” she pointed at that section of the screen. “That’s probably where the pirates will be.”
Neb gave the screen a closer look.
“Check out that room up in the corner. Someone turned up the environmental controls in there. The temperature is 5 degrees warmer than the surrounding corridors.”
“What do you think that means?”
“The pirates don’t like the cold.”
“That could also be where the hostages are.”
“What do we do?”
“We have to do both. Seems like we’ll have to split up. I’ll go up to that room. Neb, come with me.”
“Why me?”
“Because I don’t trust you on your own.”
Two others followed Neb as they went deeper into the unknown spacecraft. When Neb got into the insurance business, she had just expected it to be a bunch of accounting. Precise accounting, to be sure, but far from a hands-on job.
They approached the door with a lot of caution. Nobody stood outside it, but guards were likely inside.
“The door appears to be locked,” Celeste stated.
“Oh no, how do we get through?”
“We can unlock it using the master password.”
“What master password?”
“The ones that are on the sticky notes next to our terminals. They allow individual insurance agents to override craft they insure specifically for times like this.”
“I don’t remember getting one.”
“You didn’t see any sticky note on your terminal?”
“Well I did, but I threw that out.”
“Why did you do that?”
“I thought it was my terminal password. It didn’t seem very secure.”
“Sure, it’s insecure on its own. That’s why it’s keyed to the voiceprint you created.”
“I thought I was just recording a welcome video for my videomail.”
“Door unlock password porcupine rotates shapely bananas.”
The two doors hissed as they spread apart. Steam filtered out of the room, reducing their visibility. Celeste rushed in but Neb nervously stood back.
Gingerly she took a step forward and then heard the shot of a lasergun fire. She tensed up until she realized she hadn’t been hit.
As the steam blew into the corridor she could begin to see the crew tied up around the center console which was where the steam was originating. Pirates all wore the same dirty suits as they fired lasers haphazardly around the room.
“Get down!” she shouted at the crew, worried they would be caught in the crossfire.
On its own accord, the gun in her hand raised her arm and began to fire at the opposition.
“Neb, cover me!” Celeste shouted.
Neb turned to watch as her coworker suddenly ran towards the center. She followed with her eyes, keeping her arm held up to react to any threat.
Celeste struck a button on the console and the heating suddenly reversed. Heat began pumping out of the room.
“Brace yourself,” she warned. “It’s about to get mighty chilly.”
A shiver ran down Neb’s spine again, but this time it was from the environment. The room was rapidly cooling down. She could feel goosebumps rise on her skin.
The pirates seemed to have a more extreme reaction. Their movements got slower. Several of them raised their arms up, but couldn’t hold still. A few others collapsed to the floor and curled up into balls. The rest just froze in place. With their thick spacesuits, she couldn’t tell if it was literal.
“Who are you?” a crewman demanded to know.
“We’re with the insurance company. We’re here to provide you with insurance,” Neb proudly answered.
I thought this would be a good idea for a quick story, but I think it turned out better now that I gave it room to grow and breathe. Overall it’s a fun story.