Journeys of the Shepherd

Chapter 2: Lost In Space

Luke sat on the floor, blankly staring at the ceiling of the evacuation shuttle. It had been more then ten weeks now, since they left the Stellar Conveyor. Four weeks ago, the engines suddenly failed, Marshall tried to unearth the problem, but to no avail. Unable to steer, the shuttle was nothing more than a drifting object, lost in space. To make matters worse, they were running out of food at a worrying rate.

''You know, I could've been at that academy right now.'' Luke said to Marshall, who sat across from him. 

''I thought you hated that place?''

''Yeah, but atleast it's better than starving to death.'' 

''You really are a downer.'' Marshall chuckled. ''I'm sure we'll get picked up eventually.''

''Your optimism continues to amaze me, Marsh. You've been saying that for the past ten weeks.''

The mechanic wanted to respond, when suddenly they heard a beeping noise from the cockpit.

'''What's that sound?'' Luke asked confused, and followed Marshall into the cockpit. ''Proximity alert, something's bearing down on us.''

''A ship?'' 

''Could be. But it could also be space junk floating around, and we're a few minutes away from our deaths. Let's see...'' The mechanic pushed a few dials on the radar monitor hanging overhead. ''It should be some two hundred meters out. Starboard side. See if you can get a visual.'''

 Luke put his hands on the glass window, and peered outside the cockpit. ''There's nothing out there, just stars.'' He looked again, but still there was nothing but the abyss.

''What? That can't be right, the radar isn't just giving off a proximity alert for no reason!''

''Maybe it's broken?'' Luke said, and looked for the last time out of the window.

Then, all of a sudden, the massive bow of a ship appeared overhead. It was ominous looking. Painted black, almost as dark as the universe itself. Rows of cannons were clearly visible on both sides of the vessel, and near the tail section where two large anti-aircraft cannons In front of the bridge there was a big turret with two large caliber barrels. ''Marshall, I think you want to see this...'' They both gazed at the 150-metre ship that slowly drifted above the shuttle. ''A warship! We're saved!'' Luke felt the feeling of hope return to him,but Marshall was not convinced. ''Not so fast.''

''What do you mean? Is it a Union ship?''

''No, it's a Fed ship. But it's a Huntsman-class frigate.''

''So?''

''They haven't been used by the Federal fleet for over 20 years. They were decommisioned shortly after the war. The only people I can come up who would still use them are certain criminals.''

''You mean... pirates?''

Marshall nodded. As the vessel drew closer, they could see several torpedo tubes on the bow. White stamped letters revealed the name of the pirate ship: Space Shepherd.

'''So what are we gonna do? Run?''

''The engines are fried, remember? Even if by some miracle we could escape, we'll starve to death.''

''Great, we're in a world of shit.''

''Yeah, you could say that. But we have no choice. Resistance is useless, so it's best if I'm getting rid of this thing.'' Marshall said, referring to his gun. He took it out his pocket, and put it in a place where he thought the pirates wouldn't find it. ''But that's our only defense!'' Luke protested. ''Believe, I'm pretty sure those guys up there have assault rifles. To them, my little pistol is nothing more than another reason to shoot us.''