Survivor


The first thing I remember after the crash was coming round in the suspended animation booth. The total system shutdown had triggered the re-animation sequence. I groggily stepped out of the booth to find a wrecked spaceship interior with drifts of snow starting to build up against the walls. I had been one of the five crew members in stasis when we had crashed. A quick glance was all I needed to tell me that the other four, the alternate flight crew of three and the second derelict recovery specialist (my current role in the crew too), were not going to be waking up; all their booths were broken in some way. I made my way carefully to the remains of the flight deck and found two more bodies; the pilot and the flight engineer. Of the last member of the team, Emalotte the navigator, there was no sign. I looked around the rest of the ship and found that the access hatch was open with snow blowing in. Peering outside I saw vestiges of a trail leading away from the wreckage. It seemed that Emmy had decided to leave the wreck and try to find… what? I didn’t know, Emalotte and I hadn’t interacted much. I considered my choices: I could bury the rest of the crew, or I could go after Em. The decision wasn’t difficult: the bodies, although they were my friends, weren’t going anywhere. Emmy was a resourceful girl but totally unprepared for surviving in this harsh environment. I quickly threw on a warm coat, picked up some hard rations in a backpack and was about to plunge after Emalotte when I had another thought. I went to the gun locker and took out a pistol and the assault rifle with the night sight; both old friends from my military days in the Space Legion. The pistol I stuck in my pocket and the rifle I slung across my back. I pulled up the hood of the coat and set off down the just discernable trail left by my missing crewmate.
We had been on a deep space mission to clear a derelict cargo hauler that was drifting towards a major space lane. The long haul out meant that we were double-crewed, swapping active crewmembers every couple of weeks or so. The last time I had been on duty we had been more or less on schedule to rendezvous with the derelict in about two months. What had happened since was a complete and utter mystery to me. Obviously something had gone awry, but I wouldn’t know what until I caught up with Emalotte. I pushed on through the snowy wastes as quickly as I could, occasionally checking ahead with the night scope for any sign of my errant crewmate. I could tell I was gaining on her as the tracks were becoming better defined. After three hours I saw something worrying: Another set of footprints running parallel to Emmy’s. Someone else was following her! It was possible they were looking to help, but for some reason I didn’t think so. That thought was reinforced when the second set of tracks veered off and began to follow the available cover in a way with which I was all too familiar.
As dusk became evening I came to the top of a rise and could see a small fire burning in the lee of some trees on the other side of this new valley. In this flickering light I also spotted two shadowy figures creeping closer to the campfire and my associate. Emalotte hadn’t seen them and in my heart I knew they meant her harm so I began to run. I quickly realised I’d never get there in time as the two figures now struck. I stopped and unslung the rifle, turned on the night sight and knelt in a firing position. I peered through the scope and saw that Emmy was struggling with the two assailants. I knew that I couldn’t attempt to shoot these two bushwhackers because of the risk of hitting Emmy, but maybe I could get close enough to scare them off. I put my eye to the scope again and located the grappling trio. I had been right all along; Samaritans aren’t that rough. I squeezed the trigger and fired two shots over the heads of the melee. At the same time I called out loudly.
“Leave the girl alone!”
As they all looked towards the sound of my voice Emmy got a kick in on one of her attackers. The recipient let her go and crouched in pain, turning away from her. I fired twice more, hitting him with both shots, head and heart. The other one tried to use Emalotte as a shield but that just got her in closer to him. She stamped down hard on his foot and then used her elbow to his gut. He lost his grip on her and she began to run towards where she thought I was.
“Emmy, get down!” I shouted as she was masking my shot. She responded by diving into the snow and gave me a clear field of fire. I pulled the trigger once more. Two more shots. Two more hits. No more bad guys.
I walked toward where Emalotte was carefully getting to her feet. It took me a good five minutes as she made no move in my direction until presumably I was close enough for her to see the identity of her saviour. A big smile lit up her face when she recognised me and she ran to me, throwing her arms around me like I was a long lost brother.
“Dave! It is you. I thought you were all dead.” She gabbled excitedly.
“I’m afraid the others are; their pods broke open in the crash. What happened with that anyway?” I said calmly, hoping she’d do the same.
“Well, we came across this uncharted planetoid. The skipper decided we’d make a few orbits to enable me to map it a little. Then, I don’t know, some sort of missile strike on us I think, and we were going down. The skipper made me strap myself in while he and Scottie tried to control our descent. They nearly managed it, but it cost them their lives. I might have been able to help if they’d let me.” Her eyes began to tear up as she told me what had occurred.
“If they thought you could have helped they would have asked.” I said comfortingly. “It was a missile attack then? That makes me think I’d like a closer look at your two friends.” My mind was racing. “Coming?”
“I’m not sure I want to see them again.” Emmy was dubious.
“I won’t make you, but two pairs of eyes are better than one.”
Emalotte paused to think for a moment.
“All right, I’ll come with you. As long as it isn’t too icky.”
I held out my hand and she took it and followed me back towards the now dying campfire. Her two attackers lay either side of the dwindling light source. I knelt beside the first one, twitching open his coat. What I saw made me hmmm.
“What is it?” Emmy asked from a couple of feet behind me.
“Come and tell me what you see.” I replied.
“ A dead man.” She said after coming and looking over my shoulder.
“Accurate, but not what I meant. What is he wearing?”
“Some sort of military uniform isn’t it?”
“And that implies he’s military or ex-military maybe?”
“I wouldn’t know Dave.”
I sighed, wondering if she really didn’t see the point I was trying to make, or if she was being obtuse on purpose. I moved to the second body and again opened his overcoat.
“That one’s got a different uniform on.” Emmy said, now trying to be helpful.
“Yes, he does.” I said thoughtfully. It seemed to confirm my thinking. “What do you think that means?” I asked.
“Honestly Dave, I don’t have a clue about what you’re getting at.” She said sorrowfully.
“At least you’re honest.” I smiled. “What I’m thinking is that these two are either deserters or pirates or both. The ship must have passed over their secret hideaway or something.”
“So they shot us down and then came to finish us off?”
“That’s my guess.”
“But that’s horrible.”
“They’re not nice people Emmy.” I patted her on the shoulder.
“So what are we going to do now?” She asked.
“I reckon we go back to the ship and initiate the distress beacon.”
“Won’t they hear it too?”
“They probably will, but I never said we were going to stay there. It’s possible they’ll abandon the base if they think it’s been compromised, but they probably won’t yet. So we are going to find it and cause them some problems.”
“Just the two of us?” Emalotte was incredulous.
“Don’t you want payback?”
“Yes, but I’d like to be alive to enjoy it.”
“Then I’ll see what I can do.” I grinned.
“What was it you did in the military anyway?” Emmy asked.
“If I told you, I’d have to kill you.” I smirked.
Emmy grinned back. Just knowing that she wasn’t alone in a situation she wasn’t prepared for seemed to be cheering her up.
“Are we going straight back? They might have found the crash by now.”
“They might.” I conceded. “But let’s stick to the plan for now. The sooner we get back, the sooner we’ll know.”
“Makes sense I suppose. Okay then, I’m ready, lets go.”

I was fairly sure we wouldn’t get back in one trip: Emalotte had been on the move for a good twelve hours already. But I was quite surprised how long she did keep going. We had been travelling back towards the crash for seven hours before she finally gave in and asked if we could stop for a rest. I found a sheltered spot and we settled down. I told her ‘no fires’ or we’d be spotted and she asked how we would keep warm.
“We’ll have to share our body heat.” I told her.
“If I wasn’t so tired that sounds like it might be fun.” She replied with a weary grin.
“Not what you’re thinking cheeky.” I grinned back and settled down. “Put your right arm around me under my coat.” I said, slipping my left arm out of the coat and wrapping it round her left shoulder, giving her an extra layer of clothing.
“Will this work?” Emmy asked as she wriggled into place.
“For a good few hours.” I said. “By then the sun will be up.”
“Have you done this before?”
“Loads of times in the military; But never with a young lady strangely. They seemed to prefer the younger troopers.”
“Oh come on! You’ve never cuddled a girl before?”
“Of course I have, but usually it was a lot warmer and they had a lot less clothing on!” I laughed.
She giggled and snuggled up closer.
“You know you make me feel so much safer Dave.” She said wearily yawning.
“I’m glad. Now try and get some sleep.”
“Kay.” She mumbled and closed her eyes.
Before too long she nodded off. Carefully I eased her onto my lap for the added warmth she could get from our proximity. She stirred but didn’t wake. I found myself looking at her, properly looking, for the first time. Asleep, Emalotte looked younger than the mid-twenties I knew her to be. She had curves in all the right places; sparkling brown eyes when they were open; a perky little nose; and very kissable lips. I clamped down on that thought. We were going to attempt something extremely dangerous and I couldn’t allow myself to think of her as anything but a resource until we were done. Afterwards perhaps… Well, afterwards would be up to her in any case.

I must have dozed off myself, something I had tried to avoid, because Emmy woke me by moving around on my lap. Her shifting brought me back to consciousness. Suddenly fully alert, I glanced around at our surroundings but everything seemed in order. It was now daylight and the sun was out, melting the snow. I altered my position slightly and that disturbed Emalotte. She wriggled her bum a little and rubbed her face against my chest where it was resting. I reached across and brushed a wisp of hair away from her eyes.
“What are you doing Dave?” She asked, her eyes still closed.
“Wondering how to wake you.” I replied, not entirely convincingly. “We need to get moving again.” That was true.
Emalotte sat up and looked me in the eye.
“How long was I asleep.” She asked.
“Not a clue.” I told her honestly. “I fell asleep too. I woke up a minute or two before you.”
“And that’s why we need to get going?”
“Partly I suppose.” I said guiltily. “And partly because the sooner we reach the ship, the sooner we can get started on our search.”
“Then let’s get out of here military man.” She jumped to her feet and began to march off.
“Em?” I called out.
“Yes?” She stopped and turned around.
“Some navigator you are. It’s the other way.” I pointed.
“Just testing.” She replied, but blushed deeply.
I stood slowly, my back aching somewhat from the cold, hard ground. Emmy came over as I groaned and straightened my spine.
“What’s the matter?” She asked.
“Just stuff.”
“Old age?”
“Cold, hard ground, and you on my lap, you cheeky young madam.” I felt the pistol in my pocket bump my hip, reminding me of its presence. “Here, you might need this.” I said, handing her the weapon.
She took it nervously.
“I’ve never fired a gun before.” She told me apologetically.
“I’ll show you.” I said taking it back. “This is the safety catch. On. Off.” I pointed out. “You arm it like this.” I demonstrated. “Then you just point and squeeze the trigger.”
“Okay, seems simple. Let me try.” I disarmed the pistol and handed it back. She looked at it for a moment and then in quick succession, armed it, raised it, and fired it. A nearby tree took a hit.
“That what you were aiming for?” I asked sceptically.
“Nearly.” She replied sheepishly. “I was going for the rock next to it.”
“Close enough to scare it to death at least.” I grinned. “Come on sureshot, let’s go.” I said, leading the way back to the crashed ship.

It took us just over three hours to get back to the wreck. We made the final approach furtively, just in case the pirates had already found the ship and had it staked out. I could see no sign of this so Emalotte and I carefully entered the broken airlock.
“Okay then Em,” I said as we entered the cockpit, “I want you to get the maps you made of this planetoid together.”
“Why?” She was puzzled.
“Because like I said before, the ship must have passed over or close to the pirate base. So I’m hoping that we may catch a glimpse of it.”
“Oh. Okay, I understand.”
“And the spatial co-ordinates of this planetoid might come in handy too.” I added. Emmy nodded and scuttled off to her workstation. I began collecting things I knew we’d be needing; food and water, spare clothing, ammunition and explosives. I also picked up a second pistol and the automatic shotgun; even Em couldn’t miss with that. I put all the gear into two packs and left them by the airlock, and then set to work to booby-trap the ship. I rigged it to explode when the distress beacon was turned off. Emalotte came to where I was making the final connection clutching her map case and asked me what I was doing. When I told her she made a face.
“What about our crewmates?” She asked.
“We can’t help them anymore Em.” I told her.
“Not even bury them?”
“A Viking funeral pyre when the pirates turn up is the best we can do.” I told her kindly.
“I suppose.” She said quietly.
“If we survive we can honour them then.” I offered. Although this perked her up a little, she still looked incredibly sad. I hugged her and kissed her forehead. “Lets deal with our immediate problems first. I’m sure they won’t mind.” I said softly.
“I know you’re right, but it still feels wrong.” She said.
“I understand Em,” I told her, ruffling her hair playfully, “but we have to make tough decisions and then stick by them. It’s all the only way.”
“Sure.” She mumbled, giving me a watery smile. “I came to tell you I think I’ve found something on my mapping equipment.”
“Then lets get going madam navigator.”
We went to the airlock for the last time. I handed Emmy one of the packs and the shotgun. Then without another backward glance we set off.


What Emalotte had spotted on the mapping camera was a flare moments before the ship was hit. She thought that maybe it was a missile launching. I agreed with her assessment, and that it was worth looking at, especially as the site corresponded roughly with the direction her pursuers had come from. We went by a route that was as direct as possible, keeping to cover as much as we could. Emmy proved to be excellent at interpreting the part formed maps and as the sun began to set once more she announced that we were in the area that the flash originated from.
“We’ll wait here,” I said, “and when it gets dark enough I’ll use the night scope and see if it can pick anything out.”
“All right.” Em agreed. “I could use some more rest.” She did look tired. I looked around for a place to hide for a while. As I was doing that we heard a muffled ‘crump’ from where we had come from. Turning we saw a cloud of smoke rising from where I judged our crashed ship to be.
“Find peace amongst the stars.” I muttered. It was an old military farewell.
“Light, truth and justice.” Emmy whispered sadly. The two of us faced each other.
“They appear to have found the wreck.” I suggested mildly.
“Yes.” She replied, tears forming in her eyes.
“Hopefully that’ll mean a couple less pirates to deal with.” I said, happier than the moment called for.
“They were our crew, our friends!” Emmy shouted. “Don’t you care they’re dead?”
“Of course I care. But we’re alive. I couldn’t help them, so all I can do now is avenge them.” I snapped back angrily.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so harsh.” Emalotte said, tears now flowing.
“I’m sorry too Em. I’ve seen a lot of people die; too many. And it’s made me hard. I’ve had to bury my feelings because it was the only way to survive; and I always survive. It’s like I have a charmed life. Charmed? Pah! Cursed more like.”
“Perhaps you are kept alive to serve a greater purpose?”
“Em, I never poor cold water over the beliefs of others, but the only thing I believe is that you stand or fall by your decisions. Our lives are just an infinitesimal speck in the vastness of the universe, so we must make the most of what we have and take the responsibility for our actions. It’s all we can do.”
Emalotte stared at me following my outburst. She took my hand gently.
“That sounds like rather a lonely philosophy, a lonely life.” She said.
“Only when I lose my friends.” I smiled weakly. I set my shoulders. “Come on, we’ve bad guys to find.”
I led her to a wooded ridge that overlooked the area we wanted to survey and sat down with my back to a tree. I began to disengage the scope from the rifle.
“Still too light to use this.” I muttered, carefully placing it to one side. “How about something to eat?”
“Good idea; I’m starving.”
“I put rations in both packs.”
We ate a little, waiting for it to darken enough for the sight to work properly, and Emmy asked me to explain my plan.
“Depends on what we find.” I told her. “If we spot some outpost we keep on looking for the main base; if it’s the base itself we find a way in.”
“Not very detailed, your masterplan.” She grinned.
“Short of intell at the moment.”
“Well, there is something I’ve noticed: It might be nothing of course.”
“Shoot.”
“None of the trees we’ve seen are more than seven years old.”
“So the planetoid might be terraformed?” I asked.
Emmy nodded.
“Possibly. But that’s really costly.”
“Not if you are a pirate who’s just hijacked a colony ship.” I pointed out.
“Has one ever gone missing?” She asked.
“Not officially, but I have heard rumours.” I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. “It would explain a lot. An uncharted planetoid, not just a big rock floating free.”
“What would they have done with everyone aboard a colony ship? No, don’t tell me. I don’t want to think about it.” She shivered. I shrugged and said nothing, but was quietly impressed with her botanical observation. It was a possible clue at least.

Soon it was dark enough that I could use the scope properly. I scanned the area for a while; all I could see at first were trees and bushes. Then I caught sight of a more solid line amongst the foliage. Closer examination revealed the outline of a building well hidden, and to one side was something that looked suspiciously like a missile launcher also well disguised. I called Emalotte to take a look as well.
“You were right Em, this is the place we want.” I complimented her.
“So now what do we do?” she asked, looking up from the scope.
“We gather some more intell. Using that we formulate a plan to get in.”
“Won’t they be expecting us?”
“Two survivors from a rescue ship? I doubt it. I don’t think they’ll be looking for us anywhere near their base, but we’ll keep hidden anyway.”
“You’re the military man.” She smiled weakly. “One more thing.” I looked at her expectantly; she was blushing. “I need to go to the bathroom.” She said quietly.
Her embarrassment served to remind me once more of Em’s lack of experience in this sort of situation. Trying not to laugh I swept my arm around the hollow we were in.
“Any bush you like.” I said. She looked around and then scuttled off. “And keep low.” I added, finally permitting myself a smile.

Throughout the night one or other of us kept a constant watch on the building, making notes if we saw anything. I also wrote out a coded message that would bring my former colleagues to this planetoid if I could find a powerful enough transmitter, but I guessed the pirates had one in their command centre, if we could find it.
By daybreak we had both come to the conclusion that we needed a better viewpoint.
“If we keep watching throughout the day, we might see something else.” I mused. “And then we’ll move tonight, try and get around to the other side.”
“All right, but I’m finding this observation stuff difficult. It makes me sleepy.” As Emalotte spoke, there was a rumbling sound and the ground beneath us shook. “What is that?” She asked nervously.
“That, my dear girl, is a ship taking off.” I smiled. Obviously she hadn’t spent as much time as me around spaceports.
“From underneath us?”
“Not exactly.” I pointed. “Watch over there, I think.” As she turned her head a ship roared into the air and disappeared spacewards. “There must be a port down there somewhere.”
“Could we get in that way?” Emmy asked.
“Let’s go have a look-see shall we?”
“Won’t it be guarded?”
“Maybe. There’s only one way to find out. Come on.”
We took everything we could out of the two packs and left them behind; we needed to travel light from now on.

Emalotte and I peered out from the bushes that were our cover.
“See? They’re not expecting anyone to try this.” I whispered.
“But there are guards.” Emmy whispered back.
“Bored, disinterested guards; easily evaded. Believe me, I know.”
“What about electronic surveillance?”
“Deeper inside the base maybe, but out here on the port edge they just get mucked up by the arrivals and departures. They’re relying on their hiding place not being found. We are already inside their best defence.” I flashed her a grin.
“I don’t know about that: A couple of hundred armed pirates seems to be a pretty good defence to me.”
“Not to a professional.” My grin widened.
“Okay.” She sighed. “Show this amateur what to do.”

Even from a distance I had seen several holes in the pirates protective web. I picked the one that I thought would be easiest for Em and then asked her to keep quiet and follow me. She gave me an anxious nod and we headed toward a spot near the edge of one side of the vast cavern the pirates were using for a port. I had chosen it because of the landslip; there was more cover and less likelihood of an unusually attentive sentry investigating any noise. It only took a few minutes and then we were inside the perimeter. I led Emmy towards a walkway that seemed to connect to the rest of the base.
“What are you doing?” She hissed urgently, grabbing my arm.
“I want to get into their control room, up there,” I pointed up towards the command centre near the cave roof, “and the best way, as any wasp who has got into a beehive knows, is to act like you belong.”
“Oh. Right.”
“So if you could act a bit less, well, cute, and a bit more mean and piratey, I’d be grateful.” I groaned inwardly as I said the word ‘cute’, knowing she’d make something of it.
“I can do mean.” Em said and grimaced comically.
“Good.” I replied, trying not to laugh. “Come on then, mean pirate.” I turned and led her onto the walkway, thinking that I’d got away with it.
“So, you think I’m cute then?” Emmy asked as she fell in step behind me.
I rolled my eyes.
“I just meant that we need to blend in.”
“Not answering the question.” She sang.
“All right.” I sighed. “Yes, I think you are cute and possibly very pretty, but can we concentrate and pretend I didn’t say that.”
“Sure.” A pause. “At least you can pretend if you like. I’m going to remember it. Now shush, I have to practice being mean and nasty.”
“Oh I don’t think you do.” I muttered, not quite under my breath.
“What was that?” Emalotte asked.
“Nothing.”
I strode along the pathway towards the main part of the pirate base, Emalotte trotted along behind: She was humming.
“EM!” I snapped.
“What?”
“The humming.”
“Oh! Sorry. Gnarly warrior doesn’t come naturally to me; perhaps I can be a jolly pirate.” She grinned.
“Just act like you’re supposed to be here.” I sighed. She was irrepressible.
“Suggestions on how?”
“Maybe you could carry your gun on your back, as opposed to clutching it at the ready.” I said. “Just be casual Em.”
“I can do casual. Casual it is.”
“Good. Come on. We need to find the way to the command centre.” We both slung over weapons over our shoulders and pressed on deeper into the enemy stronghold.

The two of us had made our way unobtrusively well into the maze of corridors at the heart of the pirate base, closing in on the control room. Here there were more and more people but perversely Emmy was getting more confident. Then a guy stopped her. I turned and my hand went toward my pistol.
“Hey beautiful,” he said, “how come I haven’t seen you around before?”
“Can I tell you a secret?” She asked, beckoning him closer.
“Sure thing baby.” He leant towards her.
“I’ve been avoiding you.” She gave him a sweet smile.
“Hahaha, good one.” He laughed and then walked off.
Em caught me up still grinning. I grinned back.
“He’s right. That was a good one.” I told her.
“I was sure he knew for a minute.” She looked worried for a moment.
“Naw, just a crumby chat-up line.” I tousled her hair reassuringly.
“It would have worked a few days ago.” She smiled and then set her shoulders. “Hey! Come on, I can see the route we have to take.” She marched off determinedly and I had to scurry along to catch her up.

She led me through a series of corridors, following a series of signs, until we were on our own again and climbing a long staircase.
“Em, there may be a sentry outside the command centre. If there is can you cause a distraction so that I can dispose of him?” I said as we climbed.
“Probably. What do you mean by ‘dispose of’?”
“What do you think?”
“Maybe the guard will be a woman?”
“A pirate is a pirate; none of them are very nice people.”
“What I meant, numbskull, is that a girl might be harder for me to distract.”
“Oh I dunno. Just start chatting about your outfits, you all seem to be able to do that.” I laughed.
“That’s a bit of an old-fashioned view.” Emalotte snorted.
“What can I say? I’m an old-fashioned guy.” I told her.
“Well, old at least.” She giggled.
“You cheeky cow!”
By now we were close to what appeared to be the top of the stairs so I let Emmy get a little way ahead. I peered around the corner and saw that she was talking to the sentry and had managed to get him turned around so that he had his back to me. ‘Good girl’, I thought as I came up behind him. With one quick movement I snapped his neck and slowly let the body to the floor. Em had a distressed look on her face.
“How can you do that?” She asked plaintively.
“Practice.” I said somewhat callously as I searched the corpse for a pass card that I noticed was needed to open the command centre door.
“That’s not what I meant.” Em snapped back.
“I know what you meant. That’s why you do the distracting and I do the disposal.” I wasn’t angry with her, she hadn’t been exposed to the harsh realities I had, but I was upset that she had learnt how easily killing still came to me. I found the card and passed it to her. “Now, I want you to open the door and then stay behind me while I deal with whatever is in there. When I say ‘clear’ I want you to go to the radio transmitter and send this message.” I handed her the piece of paper I had prepared earlier. “Add your co-ordinates for the planetoid where it says.” She nodded, looking a little worried now. I gave her a reassuring smile.
“What are you going to be doing while I’m on the radio?”
“I’m going to seriously screw up everything in this room.”
“Won’t that alert them that we’re here?”
“Just a bit, so we’ll have to be quick and clever.”
“Multi-tasking eh? I’ll do my best.”
“You’re doing fine sweetie.” I patted her on the shoulder. “Now, ready?” She nodded.
I cocked my pistol and held it ready before giving her the okay. She swiped the card and pushed the door open. Walking in, I saw three guys working at various workstations around the control room. I picked them off in rapid succession. As I was about to announce ‘clear’ for Em I heard the loud boom of her shotgun behind me. I span around to see her staring ashen-faced at the body of the guy I hadn’t seen; the guy she’d just killed to save me. I knew she needed comforting at that moment, but we just didn’t have the time.
“EM! Emmy! Snap out of it. Find the radio.” I ordered.
“Yeah, the radio.” She muttered, dazed and confused at what she and the shotgun had wrought. She walked over to one of the consoles, delicately stepping over one of the dead pirates, and went to work. I did the same. I crosswired consoles, tripped inhibitors, and turned off failsafes. Finally I connected the whole mess to the door control; when the door was opened everything would go ‘fzzzt!’ hopefully.
Emmy came over as I was finishing off. She quickly saw what I was doing.
“How do we get out then?” She asked, not unreasonably.
“Ventilation system.” I said, standing up and pointing. She looked up to where I’d indicated.
“I can’t reach that high.” She said.
“I’ll boost you up there. Easy.” I grinned. Em looked dubious. “Come on, chop chop. Time is a-wasting.” I leant back against the wall and cupped my hands together for Emmy. I lifted her up to the air duct opening.
“How do I open it?” She asked.
“There should be a clip holding it shut. Just open the clip.” I told her. After a short pause she pulled herself up into the ventilation shaft.
“Which way do I go?” She asked now.
“If we go left it should take us back down towards the ground level.”
“Why do we want to go there?”
“I want to see if we can do some more damage to their operation.” I said as I hoisted myself up after her.
“It’s damned dark.” Came her muffled voice.
“So just feel your way along.” I told her as I crawled along behind. The ventilation shaft was barely big enough to contain me, but Emmy appeared to be scooting along it.
“Are you looking at my bum?” She suddenly asked out of nowhere.
“I can’t see that far ahead.” I snapped.
“I don’t mind if you are.” She told me.
“At this precise moment I have other things on my mind Emalotte.” She was flirting with me! I was sure of it. I had put us in tremendous danger and she was flirting! I was incredulous.
“This shaft is beginning to slope downwards now.” Em informed me, concern now in her voice.
“That means we’re going the right way.” I replied reassuringly.
“It’s getting a lot steeper, I’m starting to slip.” Now there was a definite hint of panic in her tone.
“Brace yourself against the sides.” I increased the speed of my crawl to try and catch up with her.
“I can’t.” She cried out. There was the sound of her bashing against the sides of the air duct uncontrollably as she finally lost traction.
I swore under my breath and attempted to dive down the shaft after her, but my shoulders were too broad and I had to return to a rapid scrabble down the duct, all the time cursing myself for not getting us back out of the pirate lair straightaway and for not realising Emmy’s slender frame would slip through the ventilation shaft so easily. I could see a light ahead of me and hear some sort of commotion. Apparently Em had crashed out of the air duct and into an occupied room. Once more I tried to hurry up. As I reached the point Emmy had exited the ventilation system I peered out carefully. The room, a kitchen of some sort, was empty now, but there was a lot of noise coming from the next room. Carefully I dropped out of the air duct and made my way towards the door. Although I was desperate to aid Emmy I knew that just blindly chasing after her was not a good idea.
My mind clicked into ‘assault’ mode and I raised my rifle to my shoulder. Cautiously I peered into the next room. What I saw made my blood boil; five pirates were grappling with Emalotte. They appeared to be molesting her. Without another thought I strode into the room and fired off five rapid shots. Each one hit it’s target and the would-be rapists fell to the floor dead. Emmy looked up at me and cried out.
“Behind you!”
Before she’d finished the first word I was spinning around. There was a sixth pirate who was swinging a hefty piece of wood in my direction. I blocked it with the rifle and then smacked the butt into the side of their head, stunning them. As they staggered backwards I shot them. It was only then that I saw that this pirate was a woman; but as I had earlier explained to Em, male or female, there was no such thing as a good space pirate.
I turned on my heel and crouched down at Emmy’s side, noticing that her flight suit was undone and the shirt underneath was torn open to expose her perky breasts.
“Are you okay?” I asked, deeply concerned to have let this happen.
“It wasn’t the most fun I’ve ever had,” she said with a weak smile, “but I knew if I held them off long enough you’d arrive.” Em seemed unaware that her bosom was on view and that I couldn’t take my eyes off the rhythmic rise and fall of her naked chest. At least that’s what I thought until she spoke again. “Done looking yet?” She asked.
I jerked my gaze up to her smiling face and blushed.
“Sorry.” I mumbled as I stood up and turned away.
“I didn’t say the attention wasn’t appreciated.”
“Nonetheless I’m still sorry. And I think that we should get moving, someone must have heard the ruckus in here.”
“Spoilsport.” She said and poked out her tongue. “All right, where to next?” She asked, sitting up and tying her shirt so that she was covered up. I helped her to her feet and she did up her flight suit.
“Where are your weapons?” I asked.
“Shotgun broke when I tried to use it as a brake; they took my pistol.” I nodded and handed her my handgun. “You didn’t say where we’re attacking next. The armoury maybe?”
“No. I think we’ve stirred up enough trouble for now. It’s time to get out of here.”
“Really? Before you sounded like you were going to destroy this whole place and everyone in it.”
“That was before I decided that I’d put you in more than enough danger for one mission.”
“Doesn’t sound like the earlier you.” Em was pushing me.
“All right, if you must know.” I folded.
“I must.”
“Seeing you in that situation made me realise that if anything happened to you I wouldn’t be able to stand it. Okay? Happy now I’ve said it? We need to go.”
“Oh. All right then. As ever, I am in your hands.”

We went out of the door and looked around to gauge our position. As it was, we were back dockside of the base. Emmy pointed across at an old ship.
“Isn’t that a colonist vessel?”
“I think you’re right.” I said, looking. “Come on, I reckon we can go and hide out inside it.”
“Maybe the pirates still use it.” She suggested.
“I can’t think what for.” I replied, striding out towards the ship.

As it turned out I was right. The pirates had captured the ship, eliminating the crew in the process, used the terraforming equipment on the planetoid, and then just left it alone even to leaving the prospective colonists in their suspended animation booths.
“Why are they keeping them alive?” Emmy asked.
“I really don’t know.” I replied thoughtfully. The sight of the still active booths had given me an idea. I looked around for the controls and when I spotted them, went over for a closer look.
“Are we going to wake them?” Em asked, watching me.
“Quite the reverse.”
“What?”
“I was thinking you could hide out in one of the unoccupied booths while I keep an eye on things out there.” I gave her a tight smile, almost sure she wouldn’t agree.
“But if something happens to you I’ll be trapped in there forever.” She wailed.
“I’ve thought of that. I reckon I can rig the activation sequence so that a button needs to be pressed every so often or the sequence starts and you wake up. How’s that sound?” I asked.
“Okay I suppose.” She said grudgingly.
“Em, with you in here I’ll know you’re safe. I can do what I need to do much easier on my own.”
“That’s just it; you’ll be on your own. I don’t like the idea.”
Now I understood. Emalotte was worried about me. It was a new concept for me.
“Em, it’s what I do.” I said soothingly. “I’m a survivor, remember? And just for once there’s a chance I can make it so that I’m not the only one alive at the end.” I smiled. “But thanks for caring.” I kissed her gently on the forehead. “Now lets get this sorted.” I said and bent to adapt the controls to my satisfaction.

It took me an hour before I was sure the controls would work how I wanted. Still a little reluctant, Emmy took her place in one of the empty booths. As I went to close the cabinet she spoke.
“Can I whisper something?” Thinking it would be a ‘good luck’ message I leant in close to her face. She grasped my head, turned it toward her and kissed me full on the lips. “That’s so that you won’t forget I’m here.” She grinned. “Now shut me in, and keep yourself in one piece.” Shocked and more than a little stunned I closed the booth and started the process.
After an hour or so Emmy was in suspended animation. I started the activation sequence and pressed in my inhibitor switch. From now on I would have to press that switch within ten hours or Emmy and the colonists would be woken from their hibernation. I curled up at the foot of Em’s booth and fell asleep; my first proper rest since I had awoken in our wrecked spacecraft.
I awoke some hours later feeling much refreshed apart from the aches and pains I’d come to associate with age. I felt hungry, so I reset the inhibitor and left the colony ship to scout around the pirate spaceport.
In comparison to just a few hours earlier the port seemed almost deserted. A lot of the ships had gone, presumably to find a new hidey-hole after hearing Em’s transmission, but there were still several craft docked and more pirates than was comfortable. Any I could eliminate now would be a help to the assault teams of the Space Legion when, or if, they arrived. For the next couple of hours I crept about the base, stealing a few morsels of food, disposing of a few incautious pirates and locating the arsenal. This was still under guard so I left it alone for now, leaving any attempt on it until a more apt time. I found myself a vantage point and settled in to observe what was happening currently, and to try and see if there was any pattern to the pirate’s movements around the dock. I stayed there for almost four hours until I considered I had enough information for now so I returned to the colony ship and Emmy. I pressed the inhibitor and then for a second time made myself comfortable in front of her booth and fell asleep.
Some instinct or other woke me. It wasn’t any sort of noise, just a feeling, but I was instantly awake. I gathered my thoughts and then my weapons; all the while I was increasingly sure that something was about to happen. During a quick look around my gaze feel on the suspended animation booths. I felt compelled to place my hand on Emmy’s and planted a soft kiss about where her face would be.
“Be safe.” I muttered. I squared my shoulders and left, heading for the armoury.
Two dead guards later I was filling my pockets with explosive charges. The last one I set the timer for one hour and then tossed it amongst the assorted weaponry. Then I set about planting my purloined devices at various places where I had seen the pirates congregating. After half an hour of this I returned to my vantage point of earlier and settled down, checking my rifle and pistol one last time. I hoped my instincts were right and the Space Legion was about to attack or my resistance would be spectacular but short-lived.
I waited and waited but nothing happened. Then the armoury blew up.
“So this is how it ends.” I thought. “Your first miscalculation is often your last.”
Pirates were running around in confusion so I started to pick some of them off with the rifle. The other explosives began to go off, adding to the chaos, and still I picked off targets. Eventually I was spotted and came under fire. I was almost out of rifle ammo anyway when I heard the sound of several other firefights breaking out; the Legion had arrived!
I could occasionally make out the black uniforms of Legion troopers making their way through the port. It was time to go and meet them. Hopefully I could keep them from firing around the colony ship. I had to be careful though; although they knew someone had sent a message, they didn’t know who. And my exploits of the past couple of days had proved I looked as much like a pirate as anyone.
I was lucky though: I came upon a Legion trooper that I knew taking cover from some heavy fire.
“Hey Daz, this is no time to be taking a break.” I said jauntily. He jumped and span around.
“Bloody hell Sarge, you didn’t half scare me.” He said. Then he gave me a quizzical look. “I thought you’d been retired?”
“I was.” I confirmed.
“So what are you doing here? On holiday?”
“New job. Attacked by pirates. Fought back. Called in the heavy mob.” I grinned. “Who’s in charge? I need to speak to them.”
“New bloke, Captain Cooper. I’ll take you to him.”
“Thanks Daz, appreciate it.”
The Legionnaire took me to where Captain Cooper was conducting the operation.
“Sir. This is former Sergeant Holt. It was him that sent the message about the pirate base.” Daz reported.
“Really? How do we know that?” The Captain was understandably sceptical.
“Sir. A lot of us know the Sarge and will vouch for him.” Daz replied.
“Thanks Daz.” I patted him on the shoulder. “Captain, I recognise your concerns. Let me explain. Until a couple of days ago I was employed as a Derelict Recovery Specialist when our ship was downed by a missile fired as we accidentally overflew this spaceport. Only myself and the navigator survived the crash.”
“And where are they?” The Captain, still unconvinced, was unbending a little.
“That colony ship over there.” I pointed. “The colonists have been kept in suspended animation for some reason, and I persuaded Emmy that it would be safest for her if she joined them in one of the empty booths. I would seriously appreciate it if you refrained from firing at the ship.”
“Are you telling me that two of you managed to create this much confusion?” Cooper was incredulous.
“This is nothing Sir.” Daz piped up. “The Sarge took out the Blackbeard solar array all on his lonesome.”
“Oh! THAT Sergeant Holt.” A light dawned in his eyes. He had heard of me after all. “I’m sorry to have doubted you Sergeant.”
“No problem sir; but if you could keep away from the colony ship I’d be extremely grateful.”
“At once.” He gave the order.
“Now if you’ll excuse me sir, I have to go and collect my colleague.”
“Carry on Sergeant Holt.”

After stopping to pick up some ammunition for my rifle I hurried toward the colony ship, weaving my way through a couple of firefights. Approaching the ship I saw something that made my heart sink: A missile of some kind had hit the ship, right around where the suspension booths were. Fearfully I made my way inside, dashing into the compartment with the booths in. My worst fears were realised. Emmy’s booth was peppered with shrapnel holes. There could be no-one alive inside. The rest were unscathed.
“NO!” I cried out. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. I’m not meant to survive alone this time.” I sobbed, banging my head against the dead booth.
“My, my. Such histrionics from the military man.” A soft, amused, but thoroughly welcome voice came from the doorway behind me. I span around in astonishment to face a grinning Emmy.
“How?” I managed to ask.
“Your device must have failed. I woke up, heard all the ruckus and explosions, so I decided to take cover somewhere safer, the engine room.” She smiled warmly. “I heard someone clattering around like a juggernaut and assumed you were back. I was right.”
“I thought I’d lost you right at the end.” I gasped out.
“I heard you.”
“I’ve never felt like that before. I didn’t like it.”
“Oh shut up and kiss me.” She ordered.
“Yes ma’am.”


After a month or so things began to come together. The revived colonists were happy to stay and develop the planetoid, which still had no name. My and Emmy’s company put forward some plans to set up a base here to reach into the expanding space lanes. The Space Legion has indicated similar intentions. For some reason I was the unanimous choice as the new lawman for the planetoid. And Emmy: Well, Emmy has revealed a natural talent for organisation and is more or less running the rebuilding of the space dock.
I finally found myself some spare time and so kept a promise to myself to visit the site where our ship had crashed. I approached warily, not exactly sure what brought me here. The ship was almost completely destroyed by my booby-trap, but scattered around a crater are several bits and pieces. Part of the engine; the airlock door; one of the lockers. Now just wreckage, but once a living spaceship. It seemed to me that I had to do something to honour my fallen crewmates, so I began to build a stone cairn, with a marked stone for each comrade. The six rocks looked so forlorn I decided to add a stone for each man I had lost in the Legion, which unfortunately meant a lot more rocks. I worked away for several hours, into the night, until I couldn’t see properly anymore. I would finish in the morning.
Dawn broke and I realised I had been away from the spaceport for over a day now and would be missed. Shrugging to myself, I reasoned if they wanted me, they could find me, and went back to my self-appointed task. When I had finished I lay back and tried to see if I had forgotten anyone. I must have fallen asleep because Emmy awoke me with a kiss.
“I was going to ask what you’ve been up to that was so important, but I can see.” She nodded to my homemade memorial.
“It was something that felt right, something I’ve never been able to do before.” I said, almost embarrassed.
“Remembering all those you’ve lost?”
“Not originally, but I thought one stone for every person I’ve lost or couldn’t save…” I tailed off.
“None of them are truly gone as long as you honour them.” She said quietly, sitting beside me.
“Perhaps that’s the force that keeps me alive?” I said sadly.
There was a few minutes silence as we sat holding hands and then Emmy spoke again.
“You know, what this cairn needs is a plaque.”
“Saying what?”
“How about ‘Peace Amongst The Stars’?” She suggested.
“Or ‘Light Truth And Justice’?” I countered.
“Both.” She said firmly.
“I’ll make one back at the base.”
“How about using metal from the crash? There’s enough about.”
“Another good idea.” I grinned and then kissed her. “You know what Em? I’m glad I met you, you make surviving seem much more worthwhile.”
“Surviving is it’s own reward surely?” She asked, a little puzzled.
“I was beginning to wonder, but having someone to share it with is better by miles.” I smiled and kissed her again. It was getting to be a habit. One I was in no hurry to break.