The Vow I made was broken
I have brought dishonor upon my name
As a reminder I will bear this token
I will forever wear the Mask of Shame
Captain Shaft
During the long journey to Rift-Leporis 4, the Vae Victus was under orders to run silent. Captain Shaft travelled a route governed by both Thulun and Javat Houses. The Captain acknowledged any friendly or neutral ships and avoided any others. The ship seemed too fast for pirates trying to waylay it. The crew kept the sails and engines in top shape, ready to repair any damage happening along the way. The contract to deliver the passengers and Captain Shaft’s promise to his crew were both too important to risk on raiding vulnerable ships or treasure hunting.
Matthew’s duties as an assistant to the Chief Engineer ran as stretches of routine punctuated by brief episodes of alarm whenever encountering another ship. In 69.51 AE, it finally happened. Matthew was waiting with Chief Engineer Benson in Engine Room One during another alert. The Vae Victus was no more than two sectors from Gamma-Javat II. The Captain was in good standing with Clan Javat and there was no reason to expect trouble this deep in their territory.
When Mr. Benson got the command from the bridge to gun the engines for yet another escape, Matthew knew what to do. As a team the engineer crew set the Vae Victus to full speed. Matthew was awaiting the all clear command when an impact knocked him off his feet. Scrambling up he saw the engine room was in disarray; equipment was damaged and sparking, fires were breaking out and crewmen were injured. Matthew found he had escaped with only a minor laceration on his forehead and set about to stopping the fires.
Matthew could hear Chief Engineer Benson swear profusely. “Mr. Matthew, I need a runner! Communications is down and I need you to tell the First Mate I need more crewmen to stabilize the engines! Go now!”
Matthew nodded in affirmation, handed his extinguisher to 11811, who was also trying to put out fires, and ran out of the engine room. As soon as the doors shut behind him another, worse impact hit the Vae Victus. This time he was thrown bodily against several walls and fought to maintain consciousness. He was still by the entrance doors to the Engine Room One but now they were buckling inwards. Looking in he saw in horror that an ever widening hull rupture was sucking out the contents of the room, including Chief Engineer Benson, 11811 and any other crewmen unfortunate to still be in the room.
The hall alerts were blaring for evacuation. Matthew knew if he stayed any longer the door before him would also breach. He needed to get past the next security door before the hallway was sealed and he was doomed. Clearing his head and gathering to run he saw Cutter also in the hallway with him. She was staggering and unable to stand upright. Matthew scooped her into a Fireman’s carry and rushed past the security door before it closed on them.
“Wha...,” Cutter was coming to.
“Guess it’s your turn to get carried,” Matthew replied.
Looking around on their run to the bridge they saw the carnage the blasts had on the Vae Victus and its crew. Fires were breaking out faster than the extinguisher systems could keep up. The pair found no one on their way to the Bridge. When they made it there, Matthew and Cutter found it broken and mangled. The First Mate, the Navigator, and all other personnel were dead, buried under fallen equipment or blasted from explosions. At the helm stood Captain Shaft alone, desperately trying to maneuver a ship alone. He also looked bloody and bruised but was otherwise in one piece. At their arrival the Captain looked back from his duties and exclaimed, “Ah, good! Someones still alive! Mr. Cutter, start doing repairs on the helm controls. Mr. Matthew, check on our passengers and see if they are still alive. If they are, get them to the Safe Room and tell them to enact the emergency protocols.”
Matthew made his way to the Passenger’s quarters through the rubble of the ship. He found Dr. Mavra Gupta, her husband Dali, and their son and daughter alarmed but safe and unharmed. He informed them of the situation and escorted them to the Safe Room. Once they were secure, he returned to the Bridge. There was less sparking and burning now and the Captain had a determined grin on his face.
“Mr. Matthew, take Weapons. We can’t escape, but they are almost as hurt as we are. They must know of our cargo as any normal pirate would have cut their losses by now. If we can tear out the last of their engines before they get ours, we can still escape.”
“Captain, who are they?” asked Matthew as he took Weapons control. Cutter was still busy repairing damaged systems nearby.
“Cadar pirates, from what I can tell. See what your sensors tell you,” Captain Shaft nodded to the sensor screens.
Matthew saw the reading of a large Pirate Barge attempting to circle behind them. The Captain was doing his best with the last three engines to keep them from getting a rear attack or a broadsides. The Barge was also severely damaged from the Vae Victus’ salvos; it read also having just three functioning engines, damaged gun systems, missing armor, and ruptures in its hull.
Captain Shaft gave him the battle plan. “We’re both wounded dogs trying to get the final fatal bite. We have an advantage in gunpower but they have almost seventy crewmen ready to board us. If they get close enough they’ll board us and overrun us. If we get too far they will torpedo us to rubble. Try to focus only on the engines and we could survive. I’ll keep them off our tail.”
For what seemed like hours the two ships circled and weaved about fighting for advantage. Captain Shaft fought to keep the engines safe from attack, Matthew nursed the guns to inflict wounds on the Pirate Barge, while Cutter struggled to keep everything alive. Despite their best efforts, eventually the guns of the Pirate Barge found their target. Captain Shaft let go of the helm controls and sighed as the lights went off. The emergency generators came to life immediately but they were only for keeping life support and gravity running. Matthew and Cutter turned to the Captain, awaiting further orders.
Captain Shaft observed the Pirate Barge extending boarding gurneys towards the Vae Victus. “Well, I think we need to prepare ourselves for receiving guests. Mrs. Matthew and Cutter, you will find what we need in that locker to our right. Prepare yourselves.” The Captain’s tone was flat and serious.
Matthew and Cutter raced to the indicated locker and opened it. It held cleaning supplies. “Captain?” as Matthew turned to Captain Shaft he saw the Captain spraying Cutter with a mist ejecting from a tiny device in his hand. He found himself on the receiving end of the device just as quickly. Matthew’s knees buckled and he slumped to the floor with Cutter. With the last of his consciousness he heard the Captain say, “Sorry, I won’t lose any more crewmen. Please forgive me.”
Matthew awakened finding himself buried under bodies of dead crewmen. Extricating himself, he found Cutter trying the same thing. The bridge was quiet and there was no boarding party present. The sensors indicated the Pirate Barge was gone. Then his heart dropped when he saw Captain Shaft. The Captain was lying face down, his clothing smoldering. Cutter and Matthew rushed to him and turned him over, putting out the fires. Captain Shaft’s face, chest, and arms were severely burned but he was still gasping for breath. “My gods,” breathed Cutter. “He’s still alive. We have got to get him to the Medic Room.”
They fashioned a gurney from the rubble and quickly made it to the Medic Room. Captain Shaft was struggling to breathe. Matthew rushed back to the Safe Room and brought Dr. Gupta and her husband to the Captain. The doctor quickly assessed the situation.
“Whatever happened, his trachea is swelling shut,” she said. “I need to perform an emergency tracheotomy right now. Love, help me find what supplies they have here. Your two,” indicating Cutter and Matthew, “keep this ship running. We need to get out of here or we are all dead.”
Cutter and Matthew set about to securing the ship and repairing what they could. During their efforts Matthew found security recordings that detailed Captain Shaft’s encounter with the pirates. It showed Captain Shaft subduing Matthew and Cutter with the knockout spray and burying them under dead crewmen. The Captain then made an effort to straighten out his outfit and produced a small white flag from his vest. As the enemy crew poured onto the bridge, Captain Shaft presented the white flag and intoned, “Parlay.” Several pirates pointed blasters at him while the rest headed off to secure the ship. Eventually the Captain of the pirate barge showed up. He was dressed as a typical Cadar Captain, with a large blue floppy hat, expensive blue and gold battle jacket, and an impressive but ceremonial cutlass. The Cadar Captain was looking in incredulity at a datapad one of his men had given him.
He walked up to Captain Shaft and tapped him with the datapad. “Water. Almost 38 units of water-fuel in your cargo hold. No artifacts, no weapons, no illegal electronics, no secret packages, nothing indicating why you would have fought so hard against my simple request for a “friendly” meeting. Is there some shortage I haven’t heard about?” the Captain mocked. “Oh, but I am being rude. I am Captain Fromage of the Picky Beggar, or what is left of it. And you are?”
“I am Captain Shaft, of the Vae Victus. My men and I had travelled from Ursae-Thulun to the far frontier several years ago. I had promised them a safe return to their homelands in return to their great services to me. We were ALMOST home.” Captain Shaft’s voice almost broke with that last part.
Captain Fromage peered into Captain Shaft’s eyes. “Search everywhere. Turn this ship inside out,” he snapped at his crew. “There is something valuable here and he is hiding it.” Several moments passed before the Cadar Captain received another report. Captain Fromage shook his head. Looking at Captain Shaft he said, “It appears I should have believed you. There is nothing of worth on this ship. It appears your mission to return your crew home has failed.” He smiled, “Well I suppose you could at least gather them and give them a decent burial.” Captain Shaft was glowering at him but kept his calm.
Captain Fromage signaled to his crew and they started filing off back to the Pirate Barge. “Well, I simply must be off. You know, places to go , people to rob, treasures to loot. You have a LOT of work to do in order to get what’s left of your ship travel worthy. Perhaps one day we’ll meet under friendlier circumstances and share a pint of Vudka over this incident.”
The last of the Cadar crew had left and Captain Fromage was in the process of leaving when he paused. “Oh, left me give you a parting gift. Catch!” He threw a small round object to Captain Shaft. Captain Shaft exclaimed and attempted to cover his eyes. The ball exploded in fire over the Captain and he was flung backwards. Captain Fromage left laughing at the carnage.
“A magma bomb,” intoned Cutter. “That’s what hit him. What an utter Cadar coward.”
After two days of nonstop work Dr. Gupta asked Cutter and Matthew to come to the Captain’s quarters. Captain Shaft’s quarters had been remade into a makeshift medical bay. On his bed Captain Shaft lay, his head, arms, and chest bandaged with only his eyes showing. A datapad was strapped to his right forearm. His neck was pierced by a tracheotomy device by which he was breathing.
Dr. Gupta informed them of her efforts. “Your Captain has extensive second degree burns over his face and upper body. He cannot talk due to burn damage to his voicebox. We have done everything we can do here without better equipment. He is stable and in minimal pain with the medications we are giving him. Luckily, he had some brain implants placed at some time in his past and I have been able to use them to route his conscious thoughts to the datapad on his arm.”
“With this datapad he can give you his orders,” she continued. “I know most would say an impaired Captain cannot lead, but he is most insistent.” With that Captain Shaft made his way off his bed and slowly stood up. He looked at what was left of his crew with now bloodshot eyes and stood fully upright.
He showed them the datapad which said, We have a lot of work to do. Mr. Cutter, I am making you First Mate. Mr. Matthew, I am making you Second Mate. As soon as we are able we must head to Gamma-Javat II. We will find what we need there. I will assist you with the repairs however I can.
Mr. Matthew swallowed hard but saluted. He had never imagined he would become an officer so early in his career but obviously the circumstances dictated it. He prepared himself for a harrowing next few days.
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