Tevun-Krus #106 - Best of '22

Don't Fall for a Pirate - A PiratePunk Story by @JeffreyVonHauger

Don't Fall for a Pirate

by JeffreyVonHauger

The ship's design was juvenile and deranged, a twenty-deck freighter with ridiculous oversized engines, covered in gun turrets, and graffitied like a rock-n-roll nightmare. The bodies of a squadron's worth of Authority soldiers were lashed sporadically across the hull. The frozen definitely not living shields were the only sign they might make it out of this.

"Is there anyone else alive?" yelled Zorpia into the intercom for the third time.

"They hit us strategically. Our weapons are gone, engines destroyed," said Matilda.

"They're after the cargo."

Zorpia hardly got out the words before they lost total control of the computer system. Every monitor on the flight deck flickered with an image of a fang-toothed one-eyed skull and crossbones. A balloon bubble above the creepy image said "Arrrrrr, me maties!" The power went down, dim emergency lighting kicked in, and the internal speaker system crackled to life.

"Cargo freighter, this is the Captain of the Death Barge. We've come to liberate you from your possessions. Prepare to be boarded."

The grinding sound of the larger ship crushing into the hull of Zorpia's single-deck blockade runner sent shivering goosebumps up her arms. The ship shook and breach alarms sounded.

"See if you can get rid of this virus," said Zorpia jumping out of her chair.

Matilda's synthetic eyes whirled in her head as her fingers danced about the controls. Sounds from the cargo hold let them know someone had entered the ship. Zorpia pressed a tiny earpiece she used to communicate.

"Little Tiger, you still with us?"

She heard a purring yes in her ear before screams erupted in the cargo hold. Wild blaster fire followed more screams, an explosion, and a command to trap it in the airlock. The shouting and weapons fire faded and Zorpia paused at the exit. Her hand hesitated over the door control as the cargo hold on the other side fell into silence.

"Maybe they're all dead?" she said as she drew a golden dagger from her side.

"And maybe they aren't." Behind her, Matilda stood up and aimed her blaster. "Step away from the door, Captain."

Zorpia backed off as the door opened from the other side. Matilda fired into the darkness of the hold. She walked to the doorway and kept firing. Her synthetic eyes easily targeted the men on the other side. A grenade came sliding through the door and Matilda threw herself on it. Zorpia ducked behind the navigation station, covered her ears, and shut her eyes. The explosion shook the room but didn't puncture the hull.

Emergency vents sucked away the smoke to reveal Matilda's shattered body on the floor. Her arms and legs were scattered around and her head was hanging off her torso. Oily-looking synthetic blood was everywhere. Her face twitched.

"I'm sorry to have let you down, Captain." Were the cyborg's final words.

"Tradition dictates that two Captains can negotiate a final surrender," said a confident voice from the doorway.

Zorpia looked up to see a male Zorr with no shirt on holding a wicked black-bladed sword. His muscled azure skin glistened with sweat and his blue neatly cropped dreadlocks stuck out in all directions. A long thick curly blue beard hung from his youthful face. Their bright eyes locked and she had to admit she found him attractive in a cliché kind of way.