Free Pirates of the Outrigger Rift by Gary Jonas, Bill D. Allen

threat so far had been the pirate Thorne and his raids on their
shipping lines.
    She knew her
father and former Security Director Casey had suspected that there was a
traitor in some prominent position within the company, and they organized an
internal investigation to identify him. Somehow everything had turned upside
down with the loss of Casey. Part of her wanted to delay attending the
university, but her father had argued against it.
    “So do you
think there will ever be a time when there isn’t a crisis? What then? Will you
ever go?” he’d said.
    She had agreed,
begrudgingly. But as she lay on the bunk in her dimly lit cabin and faced the
prospect of the next two years, she had second thoughts.
    The sound of
music was suddenly replaced by the blare of a warning klaxon, and a red
emergency light flashed in the room.
    Helen looked
out the viewport. She could see something flash, then flash again, and she
realized that it was a rapidly approaching ship firing upon the Aurelius. A ball of plasma engulfed the ship, turning the viewport white. The ship
shuddered and Helen was tossed across the room.
    The lights
went out and the normal sounds of cycling air and the hum of ambient engine
noise ceased, leaving behind a cold, empty silence. Helen crawled back to the
viewport and watched the ship close in. It was mottled and pieced together,
armor plating sloppily welded here and there across the bow. Pulse cannons and
plasma guns bristled from every available mountable surface. Someone had
smeared black and white paint on the nose. It was a nod to an earlier time, a
classic calling card—a skull and crossbones.
    Pirates.
    Helen had
been trained from childhood how to deal with attacks. As the daughter of a lord
she was always at risk. She kept a handgun and a jump bag in her cabin. She
grabbed them immediately, racing along the passageways toward the life pods. Often
pirates would ignore those who escaped in pods because there was no profit in
retrieving them and no gain in destroying them. Occupants of the pods might
rest in suspended animation for years before being found, but Helen was sure
that her father would send a Confed search party for her. If she escaped in a
pod before the pirates realized she was aboard, they would likely be happy with
capturing the yacht.
    No one
challenged her as she rushed down the corridors. As she approached the engine
rooms she heard someone in a side corridor ahead. She drew her pistol and
cautiously went forward. There was a man in the coveralls of a crewman picking
up the contents of a bag he had just spilled. It contained gold ornaments and
silverware. She pointed the gun at his back. “So, helping yourself, eh?”
    The man put
his hands up and slowly turned around. She read the name tape on his coveralls.
“Radje? Mind telling me what you’re doing?”
    “Sorry, Your
Lordship, milady, but … well … I figured it was better than them
pirates getting it.”
    Helen sighed
and shook her head. “Fool, let’s just get out of here before they find us. The
gold won’t do you any good if you’re dead.” She waved him forward with the gun
barrel.
    Radje lifted
the bag. “Can I keep it then?”
    “I don’t
care. Just hurry!”
    The escape
pods were just ahead at the next intersection. Six pods with open doors
awaited. Helen headed toward the first open pod door.
    “Hold it!” a
voice commanded. Helen turned to look and saw a man armed with a pulse rifle
taking aim. She moved to fire and would have made the shot, but Radje bumped
against her as he dove into the open pod.
    Her shot
went wild as the pod door closed with Radje inside. The pod immediately
launched.
    The pirate
with the pulse rifle didn’t miss. The shot took her in the chest.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    W hy did you attack my men?”
    “I told you,” Chandler said. “I walked toward the bar to get
a refill and some guy pulled a blaster on me. What would you have done?”
    Chandler sat restrained in an interrogation chair