Three Square Meals Ch. 071

"Maybe all the communications consoles are up here?" Bull asked glancing around the planning room. Staring at the wrecked holo-table, he added, "Or were at least."

"Land on the pads in front of their base," Malifica told the Slarmian. "We'll leave through the front door."

After another ten second wait, he replied, "Plex is on the way."

Looking at the battered Terrans and the unscathed Drakkar, she said, "Let's get moving, we don't want to leave the ship exposed for longer than we have to."

She helped Bull over to the stairs, but saw no sign of life down the staircase, only signs of death. Lots of it, in fact. Well over a score of pirates had been gunned down by Groluk with his minigun, the men caught completely exposed on the stairs as they'd tried to join the battle. Stopping for a moment to listen, she strained to hear for any more pirates, but couldn't hear any sounds coming from down the stairs over the din from the football game.

Reasoning that they'd either been killed or had fled, she took the first step, and then helped a rather groggy Bull down too. It was slow and treacherous going, what with the steps slick with blood, and all the bodies slumped on the steps. Eventually, she managed to guide her first mate down the steps, although he was looking a bit green by the time they reached the bottom.

"You alright to continue?" she asked him, looking into his eyes to check to see if they were still focused.

He nodded, then winced as he said, "Yeah, but I wish I hadn't done that."

She helped prop him up against the wall, and said, "Wait here a few minutes with Groluk and George, I'll just check the way out is clear."

Bull was about to give her a weary nod, but he caught himself and raised a hand in a thumbs-up gesture instead. Malifica glanced at the Drakkar, but he waved her away, so she pulled out her pistol and crept forward towards the double doors where the Zero-G football game was still playing on the huge vidscreen. There were no pirates in there, just abandoned snacks and beer, but she saw another long corridor heading off to her left, which was heading in the general direction of the front of the mining base.

She had a quick look around, and there were several more doors, but they just led to a kitchen, galley, a storeroom and another bathroom. The place was filthy, but clear of pirates, so she went back the way she'd come to collect her crewmates. Bull had a little more colour in his cheeks, and George was hobbling on one foot now, using a magazine-less rifle scavenged from the dead pirates as a crutch.

"It looks clear," Malifica said to them. "Most of the Scorpions must be with their fleet at the moment."

Bull smiled wanly as he said, "Let's get a move on then, Cap'n. I've had just about enough of this shithole."

"My sentiments exactly," George said with a tremulous grin, trying to maintain a cheerful facade despite his obvious pain.

Glancing between them, she said, "Bull can you keep an eye on Talon? I better take point, just in case there's an ambush. Groluk, can you watch our rear?"

"Yeah, Boss, no problem," the Drakkar agreed, carrying his minigun in his hands yet again.

Malifica moved ahead of them, travelling at a slow pace to allow their walking wounded a chance to keep up. The lounge was just as deserted as the last time, so she guided them towards the long corridor she'd spotted, and began walking down it with her crew in tow. It took a minute to reach the end of the long passageway, and it was with a sigh of relief that she heard the roar of retro-thrusters coming from up ahead.

"Nearly there, guys," she said, glancing back at them to check they were still with her.

She was greeted with tired but happy smiles from the Terrans, and a fang-filled grin from Groluk. They passed through another loading room with a handful of adjoining storage rooms, before finally reaching the front door. Opening it cautiously, she was hugely relieved to see the Infernal Retribution parked on the closest landing platform, retro-thrusters burning in readiness to launch them skyward.

Walking out through the door, she strolled towards the ship, a triumphant grin on her face as the Cargo-Bay doors began to open. Turning around behind her she waved at her crew, beckoning them onwards as they stumbled and plodded through the door. Something had caught her eyes as she turned around to look at them, and she whipped her head back to do a double-take. Her heart froze when she spotted several armed men, the one in front holding a vicious-looking Enshunu rifle pointed in her direction.

The man opened fire, and she was knocked backwards, sent reeling by the stun-rifle. She wasn't knocked out this time, only rendered insensate, and she stared helplessly at her crew from the awkward angle that she'd landed.

"Cap'n!" Bull cried out in panic, and he said something else, but it was drowned out by Groluk's roar of defiance and the sound of a minigun firing.

George raised his carbine, aiming it at the stun-rifle user, and he fired off a burst, hitting the man in the chest. Their attacker went cartwheeling backwards in a crimson fountain, but Malifica wasn't paying attention to him. She could only watch in horror as George was hit from in front and behind, the bullets punching through his armour in sprays of bright-red blood. He toppled over backwards, and was dead before he hit the ground.

There was the sound of an explosion, and then Bull crouched next to her, grabbing her by the shoulders. He was desperately trying to pull her back into the base when she heard a sharp cry of pain, and the hands pulling her shoulders fell limp. He pitched forward, slumping down next to her, his eyes staring at her lifelessly, his face a mask of blood.

Malifica tried to croak out that she was sorry, that she should have listened to him all along and never even considered this job. She couldn't talk though, even to beg his forgiveness, and was forced to stare at him mutely, a tear welling in her violet eyes.

The minigun and the accompanying screams of pain went silent, although the whumping sound of rounds hitting Groluk's shield continued unabated. He roared again, but sounded weaker this time, although the ripping sound of a chainsaw accompanying his challenging bellow managed to make it terrifying enough.

She could hear frantic shouts and then agonised screams as the chainsaw bit into flesh, but the shooting continued, and eventually the chainsaw cut out and died.

There was silence for a few minutes, where she was left gazing helplessly into Bull's blankly staring eyes. They seemed to hold a damning accusation in them, as though her first mate and only real friend held her completely to blame for his death.

Bull was suddenly unceremoniously hauled aside, and with a wet squelch, Plex's head lolled in front of her, his final expression fixed in a final look of abject horror. She heard callous laughter, and the Slarmian's head was booted aside. A few seconds later, a familiar face loomed above her, while brandishing the brass control rod in his hand.

"Someone really wants a word with you," Hades said with a mocking grin, an evil glint in his eyes.

He gestured to one of his men, who shot her with the Enshunu stun-rifle again, the weapon previously only set on low-power so that Hades could torment her after killing her men. Malifica welcomed the onrush of oblivion, hoping she might find peace from her feelings of guilt and loss.

***

Even knocked unconscious, Malifica's fevered mind offered her no respite from her torments, and her thoughts flitted from one disturbing set of memories to another.

They started benignly enough, thinking of innocent times spent playing with her sister in their youth. However, they were quickly interspersed with the calculating look of triumph Irillith had on her face when their mother ordered her banished from the Maliri Regency - the very moment this unending nightmare that was her life had begun. Then, when she was wracked with anguish over her twin's betrayal, her thoughts took an even darker turn. She remembered screaming in horror as a sadistic pirate Captain took his knife to her face, her Enshunu Master gleefully telling her how he'd only been paid one miserable credit to ruin her beautiful looks.

It therefore came as a relief when her eyes fluttered open, jostled awake by Hades' bodyguards as they chained her to the wall of a cell. Malifica found it difficult to focus on anything though, her vision blurry and her mind disorientated.

"Ah, she wakes."

She recognised the voice, and turned her head groggily in his direction. She made out who she could only assume was Hades, but she felt a shiver of fear when she spotted the golden masked Enshunu standing beside him, easily identifiable despite the way her vision swam.

"Why not simply transfer her to my pleasure barge?" the Enshunu asked, his voice grating just like the rest of his species.

The abrasive sound stirred up a host of vile memories, but she fought them down so she could listen.

Hades laughed humourlessly, and replied, "Don't think me as gullible as this stupid bitch. I'll only transfer Malifica to you, when your boss arrives and activates the rest of Underworld's defences."

"But without my help activating the tracking beacon, you wouldn't have acquired the rod," the Enshunu protested. "Wasn't that enough to prove our good faith?"

Hades ignored the alien creature, and stepping closer to Malifica, he said, "You've made some powerful enemies... Tashana."

Her eyes widened in shock, but she was too groggy to respond, the chemical cocktail that was coursing through her veins rendering her speechless.

He gave her a smug smile as he said, "The Enshunu asked for my help capturing you years ago, but with you flitting around doing your smuggling, I knew I'd never be able to lure you in. As soon as the Kintark shut down their borders, I knew it was only a matter of time until you'd be desperate for work, and you'd be begging me to go get that rod."

Drowning in an artificially created fog, she managed to mumble brokenly, "Why...?"

"Why send you after the rod?" he asked, then shrugged as he answered his own question, "I wasn't lying to you about that before. If I'd sent in the mercs after Madclaw they would have levelled the place and I couldn't risk the rod being damaged. I wasn't going to waste my own men hunting the Scorpions, I need them to keep control of Underworld."

Shaking her head, she tried again, "My men... why kill them?"

Hades let out a callous chuckle as he replied, "I don't believe in leaving loose ends. That's why I finally got around to wiping out the rest of the Scorpions." He frowned then, and added, "Besides, your fucking crew cost me a goddamn fortune paying off the Corpselords for all the mercs they wasted."

The intercom crackled, and one of the pirates up in the command centre announced, "Hades, you better get up here, the ship you're waiting for appeared on the long range scans."

The Bloodnova leader gave Malifica a mocking grin, as he said, "The Enshunu are sending some big shot to complete our deal, so I better go and greet our guests. Thanks for fetching me the rod, but I guess this is goodbye."

He was about to leave when he paused, and reached out to grab her mask, carefully lifting it off her sagging head. When he saw her face, he winced in disgust, and let the cowl fall to the floor. "Yeah, good call on the mask," he muttered with revulsion.

With that, he turned and walked out of her gloomy cell, leaving her alone with the malevolent, golden masked alien.

The Enshunu stepped close, staring at her from inches away with his red, baleful eyes. "Your suffering will be exquisite," he gloated in a jagged hiss. "The Vizier will make you pay for your effrontery against the Enshunu, in ways that will have you begging for mercy!"

She shook her shaven head, and replied in a quiet, chilling voice, "There's no such thing as mercy. Not for me, not for you."

The Enshunu looked unsettled as he blinked at her, and hurrying from the cell he called after Hades, "Are you sure she's drugged enough? Perhaps we shou-."

Whatever he said next was cut off as the door to her cell slammed shut, and was locked with a loud click. Malifica slumped against her bindings, trying to focus her thoughts in her drowsy drug-induced stupor. Her head drooped forward, and her eyes focused on her golden mask with its mocking smile, which stared back with wry amusement at her predicament.

***

Hades strolled up the ramp into his Command Centre with a spring in his step. Everything had worked out perfectly, and as soon as the Enshunu Vizier explained how to activate the last of Underworlds defence grid, he'd be rid of the unpleasant aliens and his troublesome guest. He'd heard all the rumours about Malifica, but she didn't seem all that terrifying to him. He was starting to wonder if the Enshunu had made up the wild stories, to save themselves the embarrassment for losing a ship to a slave revolt.

He made eye contact with a pirate named Chigs, who was a relatively recent promotion to his Bloodnova bodyguard, and nodded to the man as he walked towards him. It had been Chigs who'd contacted him over the intercom, and Hades strode over to join him at the brass control console for the sensor suite built into Underworld. The irritating Enshunu followed in his wake, the red-eyed alien squawking about doping up Malifica with more drugs.

"They're early," Hades said to Chigs, a smile of anticipation on his face.

"The ship just jumped in," Chigs replied, pointing at the system map. He hesitated for a moment, before he added, "I didn't know the Enshunu could travel that fast in hyper-warp! I've never seen anything like it."

The oddly curved displays in the control room had taken a bit of getting used to, but they were effective enough when you learnt not to rely on three-dimensional holo-maps. Hades followed the pirate's pointing finger, and looked at the cruiser which had just jumped-in at the edge of the Alamak system. He frowned when he saw it, and said to the Enshunu at his side, "I thought all your ships were chrome-coloured?"

"That's not the Vizier's ship!" Yil'magur declared indignantly, frowning as he stared at the map. The Enshunu Captain's red eyes narrowed with suspicion as he added, "It looks like a Terran Federation vessel to me..."

Hades stared at the glossy white-hulled cruiser, and wondered what the hell a Terran Federation vessel could possibly be doing in the Unclaimed Wastes.

"We're being hailed, Hades," Breaker, the bearded pirate at the Comms Station said, turning in his chair to look at Hades.

Hades snorted, and replied, "Alright, this ought to be good. Put them on."

There was a large curved display in the middle of the Command Centre, and lines of static rolled up the screen for a few seconds before the image solidified into a view of the cruiser's bridge.

Seated on some kind of command chair, up high on a podium, a man wearing white body-armour with a golden lion stamped on his chest stared intently back at them. He'd removed his helmet, and had placed it on the console in front of him, the gold scrollwork glinting in the light. Surrounding the man at the stations on the bridge were some of the most beautiful women that Hades had ever seen, and he blinked in astonishment as he gaped at the stunning girls. They were all wearing vaguely similar, sparkling white body armour, although theirs was far more form-fitting and showcased one spectacular body after another.

The armoured man spoke in a clear, authoritative voice, and said, "This is Rear Admiral John Blake, on the Invictus. You must be Hades?"

Forcing himself to tear his eyes away from the girls, the Pirate king sized up Admiral Blake and replied, "Yeah, that's me. What brings you out here? You're a hell of a way from the Terran Federation."

John replied in an even tone, "I'm looking for a girl called Tashana, and I know she's somewhere in that station."

"Who's that exactly?" Hades asked him cagily, intrigued as to why the Terran Federation would be interested in an ex-pitfighting slave. "Maybe if you tell me why you're looking for her, I could help track her down?"

The Enshunu Captain at his side bristled, and snapped, "She's the personal property of Vizier Sag'kalyak of the Enshunu Empire! Go back to your Federation, Admiral Blake, you have no jurisdiction here!"

Hades ground his teeth in irritation, and could have throttled the red-eyed fool. Forcing himself to remain calm, he looked at the Terran Federation officer, and said, "Sorry, Admiral, looks like you're out of luck."

Admiral Blake leaned forward in his Command Chair, and his expression was stern, as he said, "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Hand her over, or I'll come in there and get her."

With a contemptuous laugh, Hades replied, "You're hundreds of light years from Federation Space, dickhead! It looks like you forgot to bring a fleet with you!" He had a gloating grin on his face as he continued, "Just fucking try it, and see how long you last!"

The Terran Officer shared a glance with the brunette on his left, then smiled grimly at Hades and growled, "I just want Tashana. As long as she's unharmed, you get to live."

"Go fuck yourself, boy scout!" Hades replied, his lip curling into a derisive sneer.

"The hard way it is, then," Admiral Blake replied, staring at him with cold pitiless eyes. "I'll see you soon."

There was something about that dreadful look, and the utter certainty in the Terran officer's voice that sent chills up Hades' spine. He was about to reply, when the screen abruptly went blank as they were cut off.

"Who the fuck does he think he is!" Hades blustered indignantly.

"They're approaching on an attack vector, Boss," Chigs said, sounding eager to see the defence grid of turrets at work.

Hades rounded on the Enshunu Captain, and asked, "What does this jumped-up fucker want with Tashana?"

Yil'magur shook his head, and replied , "She was purchased by Captain Tyr'kayda nearly thirteen years ago. From everything I know about her, she had no contact with the Terran Federation prior to that."

After studying him appraisingly for a long moment, Hades concluded he was probably telling the truth, but with the masks the Enshunu all wore, it was extremely hard to tell. "How long until this Vizier turns up?" he asked the cowled alien, keen to get this deal over with.

"Vizier Sag'kalyak is not due to arrive for another three hours," Yil'magur replied, his grating voice getting on Hades' nerves.

"Holy fuck!" Chigs suddenly gasped in awe, his exclamation echoing through the room." They just blew it to fucking bits!"

Hades grinned, remembering how impressed he'd been, when he first saw the massive Beam Lasers mounted in the turrets melting huge holes through an unsuspecting freighter. "That'll learn that smug bastard not to fuck with Hades," he gloated with a sense of tremendous satisfaction.

Shaking his head, Chigs pointed at the curved map, and blurted out, "No, not the cruiser, the turret! They just fucking vaporised it!"

Rushing to the pirate's side, Hades stared at the glowing chunks that were all that was left of the closest weapon turret. The white-hulled cruiser drew closer at an unhurried pace, and as soon as it was within range of more of the defence grid, it opened fire with an incandescent salvo of bright blue beams. Hades watched incredulously as the beams lashed into two more turrets, the pulsating columns of energy slashing down and cutting the defensive platforms in half. One of them detonated in an incandescent orange explosion, while the other drifted apart in two smouldering chunks.

"Get on the comm to the Ruiners, the Corpselords, and my ships! Tell them I want that fucking ship dead! I want to piss on that fucker's ashes!" Hades barked at Breaker, the pirate seated behind the comms console.