The Final Bounty--Dark Bounty Part 2

The Trap

Sealed doors were never a true obstacle for Terrah; and with a little effort, she undid the work that the girl bounty hunter had accomplished. The door opened three-quarters of the way in a cataleptic fit before it moaned to a stop. Again, Terrah muttered to herself about the condition of this ship. She hunched over and passed through the doorway.

Of course, the bridge door was closed as well; and with even less effort, Terrah unlocked the controls. She removed a sonic charge from her belt and readied her pistol. As the door opened, she tossed in the sonic charge without looking and backed around the frame for cover as she listened to it roll.

"Sod it!" the girl's voice exclaimed from inside. However, the spherical sonic charge did not detonate. Instead, Terrah heard the clanking metal bounce off the bridge door frame and return back in front of her.

Now Terrah swore, "In the name of . . ." She dove for the door as the sonic charge detonated behind her. The impact wave rattled her and threw her to the ground without knocking her out. Terrah rolled on her side onto the bridge and tried to shake off the headache she knew was coming.

"You've got to be kidding me!" the girl heaved with disappointment. "You!" The girl raised her left hand into the air as if this was utterly ridiculous. "Of course!"

Terrah raised her head to look down the muzzle of a disruptor pistol and angled herself up onto one arm. "Yeah," she replied. Terrah noticed the blue hologram of the inventory logs displayed on the viewscreen behind the girl. "Seems we are after the same thing."

"Well, this is the closest you're gonna get." The girl back-stepped to the holograph and deleted the inventory list. The list disappeared and was replaced with the command prompts. "Seems you are tryin' to kill me for it, too," the girl said and leaned in with her aim.

Terrah held up both arms. "Sonic charge."

"What?" the girl replied.

"You shot at me; I just tossed a sonic charge at you," Terrah said flatly. "You would have been fine."

The girl laughed with satisfaction at the thought. "Just like you, Red Sun. Yeah, I know all about what a great bounty hunter you are. You harpy!"

Terrah noticed something on the command prompt behind the girl and tilted her head to study it. Distracted, she barely heard the insults from the girl. She then darted her gaze to the lit wall panel, reading its lit alerts. Terrah's hands began to shake, but she calmed them before the girl would notice.

"All stories, no meat. Can't even kill right. You can be sure that I know how!" the girl challenged.

"No doubt," Terrah replied, as she began to rise confidently but slowly.

"Stay right there!" the girl ordered.

"You're too focused on the bounty, Kid," Terrah replied. "Didn't you notice the ship display?"

"Shut up," the girl said. "I noticed." The girl's shoulders fell a little and she shifted her feet.

"Did you?" Terrah asked and nodded to the screen. "Look at the last order."

The girl wavered but succumbed to the temptation to look. It was an evacuation order. The diversion was enough; and before she could contemplate it thoroughly, Terrah had wrenched the girl's arm behind her back and had forced her to drop the pistol. Terrah then removed the girl's second pistol from its holster and tossed it into the corner where it clattered against the walls.

The girl heaved her hips back, trying to buck Terrah off, but Terrah slammed her forehead down on the controls and kicked out one of her legs.

"Stop, Kid," she commanded. The girl still flailed like a womp rat in a foot snare. "Think. An evacuation order. Look there." Terrah made sure to angle the girl's head at the escape pod diagnostic panel to her right. Of the eight lights indicating their deployment, seven of them were lit.