Dark Matter

20

The crew stand in the bridge all looking out the giant window, waiting for news on the Ferrous Corp ships. Seven stands next to Five, fiddling with her necklace. Although her thoughts should be on the fact that they could be blown up, but she couldn't help but think about how Ferrous found them, as well as the other corporations. She was shaken out of her thoughts when the Android started talking, and the ship started shaking.

"I've initiated evasive maneuvers. Shields are holding, for now."

"Could we outrun them in sublight?" Two asks the Android.

"The ships maybe, the missiles, no."

"Then let's shoot back," Three exclaims, off to the side.

"We're now out of range."

Then suddenly there's an explosion and sparks fly from the ceiling. Six grabs Seven and Five, wrapping his arms around them and hurriedly lead them away from the flying sparks. 

"They're shooting at us," Three says.

"We have rail guns and cannons," the Android replies. "They apparently have a full complement of self-guided missiles."

"How come that wasn't on the shopping list?"

"You can't just buy missiles at the general store," Two replies angrily.

Then the Android speaks, "We're receiving a message, audio only."

Then the message plays, "Raza, this is the FCS Condor. Power down and surrender, or your ship will be destroyed. You have thirty seconds to comply."

"What do we do now?" Five asks from the back of the room. 

"What's the status of the FTL drive?" Two asks.

There's another explosion, and more sparks come down from the ceiling. Seven watches as everyone steps back, trying not to get hit. Then a thought pops into her head. No one will like it, but Two will think of the same thing, it just so happens that she thought of it first. Seven zones out of the conversation and only tunes in when Two says something that catches her attention.

"They'll turn us into the Galactic Authority."

"If we're lucky," Four replies.

"He's right, this is payback for the mining colony," Three says.

Then the Android speaks, "We're receiving another message."

"Your time is up, Raza. Sorry to have to do this. Damn waste of a fine ship, if you ask me."

"They just launched a nuclear missile," the Android informs the crew.

Seven looks up and steps towards the group, "Fly towards the missile."

Everyone stops and looks at her like she's crazy. These thoughts run through everyone's head, 'Fly at the missile?!' What is she thinking? "Seven, what? That'll kill us faster," One tells the strange girl, looking at her like she just stabbed someone.

"If you fly towards the nuclear missile, it will cause the blast radius to close, which means if the missile blows, it will cause harm to the Ferrous corp ships. They'll have no choice but to disengage the nuke."

Everyone shares a look before looking to Two and the Android. 

With crossed arms Two turns to the Android, "Do it. Head straight for the nuke, close the gap between us."

There are shouts of protest from everyone. No one's sure if they can believe Seven, of course since Two agreed and the Android didn't protest, it has to count for something. The Android counts down the seconds until the nuke makes impact.