Chapter 2: The Wayward Wind

"Go see to the others, I'm fine." Seally takes an autopistol from the dead guy as she fills in the bridge crew by comm. "The two attempting to break into the bridge have been neutralized. Waiting on confirmation from the team investigating life support."

On their private channel, "Fallon, Alerio, do you need assistance? Zuni is free to provide backup."

"Alright, I'll stop hovering and go see what's going on with the other two as long as you think you'll be ok. They haven't answered so I'm off."

One more quick glance around, including for any first kits, and Zuni is off to see the others heading toward the lift and down to their location.

Seally watches him going off, to rescue their friends who aren't answering the comms. They could be lying dead and dying. A wave of nausea and dizziness hits her and she falls to her knees. Blood loss? Shock?

She knocks weakly on the bridge door, and triggers the comm badge to the bridge. "This is Seally Llewyn from the Wayward Wind. I'm in desperate need of medical attention. Is there a first aid kit on the bridge? Please help me!"

The bridge opens the blast door and three human men come out, each not much older than 20. Thin and tall, typical of belter systems, where people grow up in low artificial gravity. One secures the remaining hijacker, while the other two tend to Seally's injuries, fetching a medical kit and med scanner from the ship's locker."Yeah, this is pretty bad," one says to the other. "She needs to get to a hospital."

The other turns to you "Hell of a thing to charge armed gunmen with a sword. Are all of you Imperials this bold?" He probably recognizes your accent. You'd think he was flirting with you if the situation wasn't so serious. Probably just trying to lighten the mood.

The other interrupts the bedside manner banter. "You got Credits? We can call for a medical ship to dock with your ship, but it's going to cost you."

"Whoa, easy now, Alerio. We don't want to be murders." She gently takes Alerio's arm and lowers it so it's not aiming directly at the injured hijacker. When she hears Seally's query she responds, "Yeah, all clear down here. Seems like we all got the drop on them in one swift strike. How did things go up there?"

Zuni heads for Fallon and Alerio, taking the closest lift at the front of the ship. When he opens the doors, he finds the body of a crewman, slumped in the corner, dead. She is unarmed, and was shot in the back.

Zuni exits the lift and, remembering the floor plan Golide showed him, makes his way to the aft section of the fully loaded cargo bay. There he finds Fallon and Alerio with the situation well in hand.

Zuni rushes to the back of the cargo bay not knowing what to expect and is much relieved to see the girls alive and well.

"Hello ladies, thank the fucking stars. I saw that dead crewman back there and thought the worst. Am I glad to see you both and in one piece with no obvious signs of blood on either of you. But it isn't all good news. Seally is hurt bad and could use a medic. We should get back there. Oh, we have a prisoner too. Not sure you got my message about that."

"Shit! Is there a first aid kit? We need to stabilize her and get her to a doctor. Let's bring this one up with us." She says to Alerio about their own captive.

"I didn't find one, but I was pretty frazzled and worried about you ladies too." Zuni roughly grabs the captive, pointing the flechette at his helmet. "Leave me with this one and you go hurry back to Seally."

The crew member patching Seally's wounds sees the confused look on her face after mentioning Credits. His face contorts into a faux wounded expression. "Look, I'm not trying to shake you down, it's just that hospital ships are expensive, is all. If you can't afford it, you would waste precious time. Public clinics are shit here, don't even bother. If you aren't liquid right now, then I suggest putting yourself into a low berth and have your crew jump you to Elixabeth, or maybe Tarkine. My name's Jona, by the way. Those are my brothers, Enric and Karalt."

Enric and Karalt give you nods. They are preparing to leave, now that the other hijacker is secured. "We're going to go see if the captain survived, or Shaw." They don't sound hopeful. Turning to the hijacker, Enric says "If they're dead, we're tossing you out an airlock."

"Oh shit, I should probably tell the passengers the threat has been neutralized," Jona decides. "I'll be back."

Jona disappears into the bridge, makes a brief announcement and informs the passengers they're to stay in their cabins a little while longer. When he returns, he explains "It wouldn't do for a passenger to stumble upon a dead body." There's an awkward pause, and then he continues. "Hey, we never properly thanked you. You didn't have to stick your neck out, but you did."

In the engineering bay, Fallon finds an emergency med kit and attends to the hijacker's wounds, stripping off his vacc suit. He struggles a bit at first, but doesn't have much fight left in him. His face is full of shame and regret.The two bridge crew members arrive shortly, introducing themselves as Enric and Karalt and expressing their gratitude. But, they seem perplexed about your treating the wounded hijacker. "We're just going to toss these bastards out an airlock; not much point in treating their boo boos."

Fallon looks at them. "A medic's first duty is to save lives," she lies. She's no medic, just has some first aid training. But she at least wanted to hear the story of what these hijackers were trying to achieve here. "Don't you even want to know their motivations?" She turns to the hijacker as she finishes dressing his wounds. "Speak quickly, maybe you can prevent yourself a trip out the airlock."

Alerio watches over proceedings, her firearm still ready and willing to let loose if anything looks funny.

She’s square jawed and broad shouldered. It would help the four of them, if one seemed a little off and not afraid of a little trouble.

Karalt seems too young for this cynical take, but he doesn't hesitate to share it. "Take your pick: they're junkies or criminals, probably both. Now they're murders too, if they weren't already. Forine is full of this trash. The Sector Compliance Bureau will just execute them anyway, but that'll bring inspections and shit we can't afford down our throats."
"I know a buyer in Milargo. I'll give you his name if you get me out of here. He'll give you a few million credits minimum for a ship like this. Set you up for life."

Zuni's eyebrows shoot up when the hijacker mentions a few million credits. Lowering his flechette he says, "Yeah? Tell us more."

Hope dawns on the hijacker's hardened features. "He buys ships, no questions asked. Doesn't deal with strangers though, you'd need an invitation. I can get you in."

His eyes dart over at the lightly armed Enric and Karalt, and then glances at Alerio's H.A.R.C.

"This ship right here, with a full cargo hold and passenger berths. Three MegaCredits, minimum."

Seally sits quietly, trying not to literally die, and then asks, "Jona, you know we didn't come here just because we're angels. We are, but we're also looking to make some coin. What sort of reward do you think the Astrogirl would offer us? Do you think the passengers would take up a collection? Afterall, without us, you'd likely be on your way to systems unknown, followed by scrapping this wonderful ship, theft of everything this side of vacuum, and dare I say, slavery and death for you and the passengers?"

Fallon's face falls in disappointment. "So all of this was just stealing a ship to make some quick credits? You're even dumber than I thought if you couldn't even think of a lie to make yourself sound like not an asshole. Ok, Alerio, you may shoot him now." Fallons steps back so she doesn't get splattered.

Zuni also gets clear of any potential flying brain matter, agreeing with Fallon's assessment and looking forward to the idiot hijacker's response. That's if he can manage to speak at all before Aliero kills him. He changes his mind though, at least for a little bit.

"Wait. Girls, we're already wanted. What do you think about a life as rich pirates?"

"You absolutely deserve a reward, but the Astrogirl is owned by Nguyen Manufacturing and Logistics Ltd. My brothers and I are just operators. We make a whopping Cr500/month split between the three of us. You probably want to talk to the owner for the kind of compensation you're looking for - Savine Nguyen."

"How about this - we'll write up a report about your boarding operation, send it back to HQ, and see if I can get you an appointment with Savine. How does that sound?"