2142- In Orbit Around Saturn
As the trickle of bodies from the Omegan ship began to slow down, Gina turned her attention away from the helm and to Jack. “So. Now what?”
Jack looked at her, puzzled. He began to speak, but stopped before completing a word. Suddenly he realized that the entire bridge was staring at him, waiting to take their cues from the man that had led them to this point. Finally, he flicked a comm. switch built into his chair.
“Doctor Gray, please report to the bridge. We have some injuries that need tending.”
Her reply was short. “I don’t doubt it. On my way.”
Jack stood and walked to the front of the bridge, their eyes following him with every step. “Kate- what’s the earliest their backup could be here?”
She fiddled with her instruments. “Call it two hours on the quickest end.”
Jack pondered that for a moment, then cracked his knuckles. “Okay. For safety’s sake, that gives us an hour and forty-five minutes to get as much out of that ship as we can.” The bridge door opened and Wilma walked in. She spotted Sarah first and immediately approached her and began working on the cuts on her head. Jack continued, “here’s the way it will go: Gina, Kate, and Dr. Gray will suit up and head to the Omegan ship. Kate will disembark first and clear the ship of remaining personnel.”
Kate raised an eyebrow. “So this is why you wanted me out of lockdown, you sneaky bastard,” she thought.
“Gina, you and the Doctor will stay in the ship until Kate has cleared a path. Then the two of you will use the lack of gravity to get as much stuff moved and loaded onto our shuttle as you possible can. Kate can help as well once she’s done.”
“And the rest of us,” Richard asked.
“We could use a smoother ride. After all, we’re going to be leaving here very quickly. Lots of places very quickly, as it turns out. Make sure the scoop is ready and the inertial dampening system gets some tune up.”
Jack looked up and saw that Sarah was staring him down from the rear of the bridge. “In the meantime, Sarah and I will work on the port shields. Time permitting, we’ll tackle cannon three. During this time, we’ll be sticking to call signs only, just in case they have any equipment still broadcasting and/or recording.” He paused. “Any questions?”
Looking at the rest of his crew, Jack could see that they were loaded with questions. But no one chose to voice a single one.
“The clock starts ticking now. Let’s get to work.”
The magnetic boots held Kate tight to the floor of the Omegan vessel, something for which she was very grateful. Her movements were slow and deliberate, up until the points where something else was required. As she turned to walk down a different corridor, it was apparent that something else was about to be required.
A bright blue bolt of energy flashed across her helmet, narrowly missing her head and impacting the wall behind her. Kate ducked, her suit slowing her down only a fraction, and relied on the boots to keep her steadied. From her belt she drew a gun quite similar to the one that Jack had used to kill Captain Morrison.
Her focus shifted- would she use this gun to kill Jack?
The second blast hit the floor in front of her, sending sparks and small pieces of debris flying. Her focused returned, she took steady aim and saw two Omegans in full spacesuits twenty yards away from her. They were clearly unaccustomed to wearing the bulky gear, as was Kate, but she felt it gave her the advantage. She was smaller, faster, and wasn’t in shock they way the Omegans had to be. They had just gotten their asses kicked in a way they could have never anticipated, and one thing the military taught you was that when you had the enemy in shock you had to promote that shock.
She took off in the closest thing to a run that the boots would allow, heading directly for the Omegan soldiers. The two seemed flustered and were unable to draw a bead on her, a problem that Kate did not have. She squeezed the trigger, deftly targeting her foes in the helmet and torso, and saw her blasts rip through their suits. Blood spurted and splattered in wild globules, flying into the weightless environment and forming perfect spheres of liquid death. The bodies collapsed to the ship’s deck, and Kate knelt beside them to grab their guns and make sure they didn’t have backup systems. Once she was sure the pair were dead, she activated her comm. system.
“F.A. to War Angel.”
The speaker in her helmet crackled to life. “Go ahead, F.A. This is Desperado on the line.”
“Encountered more resistance, but it has been… quelled. Two enemy down.”
“Acknowledged. Prognosis?”
“Pathway to cargo is clean. Start excavating. I’ll watch their backs.”
“Will do. Desperado out.” Jack flipped off the comm. switch and then toggled a second one. “Hime, Doctor… Desperado here. You are clear to begin transferring of goods. F.A. is watching over you.”
Wilma Gray’s voice was crisp in its response. “Acknowledged, War Angel. We are go.”
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