Free War of Alien Aggression 1 Hardway by A.D. Bloom Page A

the dead and the living, correcting their courses and propelling them past. Miners had always shot the spine fast, but now, they did it slow, like a funeral procession.  
    The faces of the crew changed when they touched the thick, black body-bag with Mickey in it. They made the bags thick so when people carried one it was harder to feel what was inside, but nobody could touch the bag with Mickey's body in it and not feel how much of her was missing.
    The shock of seeing her ripped from this life forever by an alien hand had left Ram half-numb and it wasn't until they'd shot halfway down the spine to the command tower that he realized this was the first time he'd ever seen anyone in management shoot the spine. It just didn't happen. Shooting the spine was five times faster than any other way of getting around when the artificial gravity was out, but you couldn't do it without a lot of help and the miners and crews and pilots wouldn't reach out to push a company officer along. Shooting the spine wasn't for management. The miners and pilots and maintenance crews had always kept that for themselves. But today was different.  
    As they neared the command tower's forward tubes, Bergano's voice echoed up and down the spine over the squack. It came out of crude, audio transducers. "Now hear this. Now hear this: Secure all stations and prepare to make way. All hands, prepare to make way."
    At the terminal under the command tower module, Cozen called up to the bridge and flat-out ordered Captain Horan to hold his position. "A Staas Company VP outranks a captain," Cozen told him.
    "An unknown vessel is making for our position," Captain Horan said. "We're leaving as soon as we can. As you are well-aware, Mr. Cozen, whenever a Captain judges the safety of his ship to be in jeopardy, his word is the final word. We're leaving as soon as we're secured. That is all." 
    They said Cozen had fought in the War of the Americas and even captained ships himself. He nodded his head grimly like he'd expected to hear Horan's refusal to give up command.
    "Chief Terrazzi won't let this ship move a meter until I say so," Biko said.
    "Go down there," Cozen told him, "Make sure." Biko nodded. "Tse and Hollis," Cozen said, "take Oboto, Lapuis, and D'Ambrosse's bodies aft with the crew. Ms. Sellis, take Mickey Wells and go with them and see that appropriate storage is found for our dead. Make it cold. And big. They're likely to have some company before the day is out. I'm going to the bridge," he said. "Ms. Sellis, Mr. Biko, report there immediately when you're done with your assigned tasks. Mr. Devlin, you're with me."
    Cozen crouched, marked his target with his eyes, and jumped. He got himself a good launch up the command tower's forward tube, but the angle was off. Halfway up the six-story tube to the bridge, his path intersected with the side and he reached out for the handholds and slowed himself to a stop. His hand came out to help decelerate Ram, and they hung between the decks. Cozen said, "Mr. Devlin, I assume you're familiar with Staas Company General Order 1633?"
    Ram was. "1633 contains protocols for the emergency wartime militarization of the Staas Company commercial fleet. 1633 says we'll be converted to Staas military contractor vessels – a privateer fleet."
    "If I'm right, SCGO-1633 has already gone out and Captain Horan has already received it. I'm taking command of SCS Hardway ," Cozen said. "I'm going to captain her and you're going to function as my first officer. If you don't want the job, it doesn't matter. You don't have a choice. If you refuse the order, then under the provisions of  SCGO-1633 I can shoot you." Cozen tucked his knees up so he could reach into the cargo pocket on the leg of his flight suit. He pulled out the Honma & Voss Itar wrapped in its holster – Mickey's gun. "Take your sidearm, Mr. Devlin. We're at war now."  
    After a second of pretending he didn't want to carry Mickey's gun, Ram realized it didn't matter