Free Reaper Inc. by Thomas Wright Page A

grabbed for it. He caught hold about the time the ship pulled
up into a steep climb, reversing his momentum and sliding him back towards the
hold. He tried using the sole of his boots to slow himself but the polished
metal flooring was too slick. The Claymore leveled out before he made it to the
closed door at the end and then dived again before he could stand. Now he was
barreling head first on his back towards the bridge.
    "Oh
shit!" Ben yelled, as he fast approached the bridge. The nose of the
Claymore elevated, leveling out the ship but not in time to slow him down. Ben
slid head first into the metal console between Lorelei and Andrea. He lay there
holding his head, with his eyes closed. When he opened them, four sets of eyes
watched him as four faces waited to burst out laughing.
    "That will
teach you to disregard announcements to get secured," E'Aria said. Ben
stood up smiling, holding his head.
    "She
handles great, doesn’t she? No other ship in this galaxy can maneuver like
that. I imagine she is nothing special where she came from but here, she is the
shit."
    "Yes dear,
and that is one reason why they want to take her from you," Andrea said.
    "The
Claymore has more thrusters than all three of those ships following us. The
three hundred and sixty degree array of thrusters around the nose, as well as
along the sides, pushed the ship according to the commands sent from the helm.
A supercomputer making billions of calculations kept the thrusters in sync.
That allows us to dump you on your ass at any given moment," Lorelei
explained, then laughed.
    "Are they
following us like we hoped?" Ben asked.
    "Yes,
although the Stiletto is limping along right now. The Captain of the Mace
detonated the torpedoes when he saw they were going to hit the Stiletto. They
were very close when the self destruct code set them off. It probably took out
some of their systems with the blast."
                                       
****
    "What the
hell! Captain Mahajan," Captain Henderson screamed. "You fired
torpedoes in our direction. Are you out of your mind?!"
    "The alien
ship had not shown us that level of speed or maneuverability, Captain
Henderson. The missiles had plenty of time to take them out based on the
information we had accumulated," Captain Mahajan replied coolly.
    "It
doesn’t matter. We have procedures and you know them. Don’t let outside
influences cloud your judgment, Captain. Henderson out!"
    "He may be
trouble in the future, Captain," the M.I. officer said.
    "He will
be no trouble and he is correct. We have procedures for a reason. Another 10
seconds and we may have killed hundreds of Colonial sailors and damaged or
destroyed one of our own. That would have all been on my head and punishable by
life in prison or death," Captain Mahajan explained calmly, even though
his insides were in turmoil.
    Captain Mahajan
looked at the tactical display. "Lieutenant, contact Captain Stren for
me."
    "Captain,
I have Captain Stren. Should I put it on your personal com?" the com
officer asked.
    "No
lieutenant, on the screen is fine."
    Captain Stren
was standing on the bridge of her ship, the Dagger. Her hair was completely
silver gray. She was attractive but had a hardness to her eyes. She looked like
she’d brook no shit from anyone and had all the sense but no humor.
    "Captain
Mahajan, do we have new orders sir?" she asked.
    "You do, Captain.
You will proceed at full speed and follow the target and if given the chance,
disable it. The Mace and the Stiletto will be following but slower while the
Stiletto executes repairs. We will follow at full speed once it is
possible."
    "Understood
sir, we leave immediately. Stren out."
    The Claymore
slowed once they saw they were not being pursued with any determination. The
colonials seemed to be on a Sunday drive.
    "When do
you think we will see the Warhammer again?" Lorelei asked.
    "Captain
O'Shaughnessy more than likely didn’t go far in FTL. She is somewhere