Tevun-Krus #59 - SpacePunk

Ifrit - A Short Story by @elveloy

The space drive died between one heartbeat and the next, not even a cough or a death rattle to warn them. One moment they were on a slow but steady course to Kevlar Three to take on much needed supplies, and the next they were simply drifting in space.

Captain Keira Black stared at the control panel in disbelief.

Fuck.

The engineer on Hubal had sworn faithfully that he had fixed the problem, but evidently not well enough to keep the Ifrit flying for more than another week. If they got out of this, she was going to go back and smear the man's face over the wall of his repair hangar. True, Ifrit was over thirty years old, but Keira had kept her going with careful handling and repairs that should have kept her spaceworthy for another five years, at least.

Keira frowned as she remembered the engineer had initially said something about Ifrit needing a new space drive. He'd backtracked hastily though, when he realised the cost was way beyond her reach and instead offered guaranteed repairs, expensive certainly, but nothing like the cost of a new drive.

So here they were—Keira and her crew—drifting aimlessly in space, hundreds of thousands of kays from the nearest port.

And that was possibly not the worst of the bad news. Keira cast a fulminating eye over the display screen which continued to tell her that they were getting closer to the asteroid belt they had been skirting for the last hour. Even at their current slow speed, with no ability to manoeuvre it would only be a matter of time before they crashed into a large rock. Not the way she wanted to end her career.

It would be humiliating, but she could see no way out. She'd have to call for help.

She was just reluctantly reaching toward the console unit, which was still operating—fortunately—when a message flashed across her screen.

"Attention. This is the Patrol ship Titan. Are you in need of assistance? Over."

Keira hesitated for a moment before replying. What were the chances of another vessel being out here at the same time, let alone a Patrol ship? How could she be certain the vessel really was a Patrol ship? This was a largely uncharted area of space and she knew that pirates were a real and present risk for travellers. Still, what choice did they have?

"This is the Ifrit," she replied. "We have a mechanical problem and would be grateful for your assistance, Titan. Over." Better not to tell the other ship they were completely helpless.

The Titan appeared on the display screen, a beautiful sleek craft made of sheer black metal that looked to be the latest model out of the workshops on Capella. Keira stared hungrily at it. Now that was a ship! It didn't look like a regular Patrol vessel—perhaps she should take precautions. She gestured silently to her second in command. There was no need to give orders—Kelly knew what she had to do.

Keira kept in contact with the pilot of the other ship, relaying instructions to her crew at the docking bay. There was a slight jolt as the Titan docked and only a few minutes later, she heard strangers' voices over the com unit.

"This way, sirs," Kelly's deep voice was easily identifiable. "I'll take you to Captain Black in the control room. Would it be possible for our medics to visit your ship's infirmary while we sort this out? We are short on a few supplies."

Keira brought up the visual feed on her console. She could see the tall young man from the Titan weigh up—and dismiss—the slight figures of Cass and Juls in their medic's uniform, hovering hopefully behind Kelly.

"Is that possible, sir? I'd really appreciate a chance to stock up with some more anti-viral medicines," pleaded Cas.

"Of course," agreed the crewman, politely. He turned to one of the two men at his shoulder. "Santo? Please escort the medics to the infirmary, will you?"

Santo disappeared back into his ship, accompanied by Cass and Juls, while Kelly led the two remaining Titan men out of the docking bay toward the control room.

The pirates attacked first, without warning.

One moment the three were engaged in polite conversation as they walked along; the next, the ship's passageways were filling with knockout gas. There was no chance to sound an alarm. The Patrol officer barely had time to register that his companions were suddenly wearing masks before he fell unconscious to the floor. Other figures wearing gasmasks streamed in through the open hatch and swept through the ship, efficiently checking each room and disabling anyone not fully overtaken by the gas. In less than half an hour, the Patrol crew were all securely placed in the Ifrit's hold, deprived of their wristcoms and weapons which had all been transferred to the Titan.

Two of the pirates dragged the Patrol Captain forward and sprayed a quick shot of antidote under his nose. They held him upright between them, his hands bound behind his back, to face their leader.

The pirate leader smiled, unsuccessfully attempting to hide her triumph. "Sorry about this, Captain. When we're clear, I'll let the Patrol know where to find you."

The captain shook his head, trying to get his brain working again. He couldn't believe they'd been duped so easily. He glared at the smiling figure in front of him. The pirate had cropped black hair, sparkling blue eyes, and dimples of all things, in her cheeks. The captain loathed her on sight.

"My men! What have you done with them?"

"They're fine. If you turn around, you'll see them all on the floor behind you."

The Captain turned, and sure enough, all twenty of his crew were piled up on the floor behind him. None of them were moving. He swore. "You bitch! I'll kill you for this!"

The pirates' leader smiled even more offensively. "You'll have to catch me first! Don't take this so personally. You've got food and water... a couple of days at the most and you'll be home safe and sound."

The Captain's face was red with rage. "How do I know you'll keep your word to give our location to the Patrol? You could just leave us out here to die."

"I guess you'll just have to trust me. After all, you don't have much choice, do you?" And with that, the pirates left, ignoring the furious demands from the captain.

"I'll kill you if it's the last thing I do!" he shouted finally, the words echoing in the suddenly empty room.

Keira Black couldn't wipe the smile off her face as she settled happily into the control seat of the Titan. Now she had a fully functioning spacedrive and a beautiful new ship. Maybe she'd been wrong, today was her lucky day!