The Infinity Chronicles Volume 1

Act-4A: Fools and friends...

Act 4A: "Fools and Friends..."

"What happened to the video feed?" He demanded from his exec. As the man turned to respond, his eyes went wide seeing Alex standing behind his boss with a Marine squad support weapon in his hands. Alex, being cocky to a fault, let the gun drop to the floor, and fast drew his brace of Strachers, as Antilles turned to see what his exec was gawking at. The last thing he saw was the cavernous bore of a Stracher P-11A as it spat his death. Two other booms resounded across the spacious bridge, as two other pirates joined their captain in pirate hell.

Moving quickly, he secured the main door to the bridge and changed the access code. He holstered both guns, and sat down at the Captain's chair, dropping the dead captain onto the floor, and quickly called up a data file.

"Ahh, here we go. Fools should never be ship captains." He mused to no one, as he pulled up the ship's access codes, and reset them to the originals the ship was given when it left the final assembly yard. This done, he quickly locked down all external and internal pressure doors, effectively trapping Captain Black's boarding party in the forward crew area, as they tried to get the hatch open.

"What's going on up there?" Yelled a crewman.

"The hatch, it's locked!"

"Well, unlock it you idiot!"

"I can't! All the access codes have been switched!"

"Listen up gentleman! I now control this vessel, and unless you want to do the funky chicken out the airlock, I suggest you stand down." Alex said over the 1mc. At first they seemed to disbelieve him, but when it dawned on them that the announcement had come over their own internal COM system, they quickly realized that some how, the bridge had been seized. Of the 12 men present that Alex could see on the internal security cameras, all but 3 put their weapons down. Only the chief engineer, and his two helpers retained their guns.

"That's right boys! Keep reaching for the sky!" The chief growled at them, as he half-turned toward one of the cameras.

"I hope you got a name mister!" The chief growled at the camera.

"Carlson. Alex Carlson. And who might you be?" Alex asked, looking at the engineer through the camera.

"Well Mr. Carlson, I hope Antilles is dead, since I really don't feel like going through all the paperwork of trying to put him in prison. My name's Case. Justin Case, Center Security. I've been on board this rust bucket for almost a year, gathering evidence to put these scoundrels away."

"Well, put your mind at ease Officer. Antilles has a rather large hole in his head, and I don't mean his mouth." Alex replied. Case laughed.

"So, do you want to claim bounty on this heap?" Case asked, keeping an eye on the pirates, as they milled about in the narrow corridor. The two engineering assistants walked down their ranks, picking up their guns, and zip-tying their hands behind their backs. Each pirate was forced to sit, and the assistants moved back behind the engineer, placing the weapons on a small table.

"Well now, what's this piece of shit worth?" Alex asked, as the smell started to get to him. It smelled as if the ship's life support system desperately needed a filter change.

Well, the bounty on Mr. Black, dead, is 15 million. He was worth more alive. Sucks don't it?" Case said, as he lowered the rifle he was holding, and turned to look at the camera.

"And the ship? It's in neutral space, since we're still a fair clip away from Center." Alex said with a smile.

"I take it you're claiming salvage rights on it?"

"Of course."

"Well, if you'd be so kind as to get us to Center, I'll see to it that the breakers pay you for it."