Exponential Threat, Part 3

By Chris McCarthy

Things go from bad to worse as Trong and his team threaten Amanda, Chase and everyone else…

Lisa looks on curiously as Winston stares at the blue glow emitting from his right hand.

They lock eyes and Lisa tilts her head slightly. Winston registers that she’s asking him if he’s going to do something. He looks at Ambassador Trong and his two henchmen and a chastised Maritha holding her ridiculous ribbons down at her side, then back at Lisa. He hides his hand behind his back and shakes his head, unsure.

Amanda takes a step toward Trong, who sits in the captain’s chair facing the inside of the bridge. 

“Edwin…” she says. 

“It’s ambassador Trong,” says Trong.

“Right,” says Amanda, taking another step forward, “Ambassador Trong. Let’s leave my crew out of this.” 

“Amanda, every single person—and half person and whatever the green guy would call himself—is guilty of transport of an illegal species. Why would I do you of all people any favors?” 

Amanda looks around the bridge. Everyone watches silently, Trong’s people waiting for a signal to take action, and Amanda’s people waiting for a sign of hope. 

“Why don’t you just take me in and let my crew continue on with their mission?” Amanda asks, her anxiety making its way into the pitch of her voice. “I don’t think Admiral Flake would…”

“Admiral Flake—hah!” Trong spits the words out. “Admiral Flake is as corrupt as they come. He has no authority over me. His splinter of the IL is on the chopping block. He’s from unlanded stock.”

“Whatever. I don’t care about politics… Look, just lock me up and throw away the key,” Amanda says, “Let my crew and my father go. I’m the one you want, right?” 

Trong stands up and gets in Amanda’s face. “What I want is my birthright! I want my planet back. Can you give that back to me, Amanda?” 

“Look…” Amanda says, stepping back but wearing a contrite look on her face. 

“I didn’t think so!” Trong yells.

Chase takes a step forward, “I think I can help here…”

“Sit down,” says Trong, pointing at him derisively. 

The ship passes through a particularly bright pink ionospheric aurora. As they do, the ship quivers noticeably, the Cardanian steel frame vibrating to the touch even on the interior of the ship. 

“Is that normal?” Chase asks, looking around at the wall and the ceiling of the bridge. 

“Aren’t they just light curtains?” Salamander asks, looking at the light displays as they hit a patch of green. 

Maritha looks out the viewport, “Happens all the time. It’s just an electromagnetic pocket. Sturgis, look at these novices. What are you guys like a local inter-moon transport ship or something?” 

“Yeah, they were. Until I showed up.” Chase says. 

Amanda gives him a tight smile, “Us showing up is the best thing that ever happened to you.” 

“The best thing that ever happened to me? You blew up my home and almost killed me.”

“Yet, here you are. You got off easy.” Says Amanda, turning to look out the viewport and taking a step back when she sees how intense the pink aurora has become.

“I become part of the crew and suddenly we’re all bounty hunters,” Chase says, gliding his hand through the air, indicating each member of the crew. 

“Wow.” Says Maritha, taking in the father-daughter dynamic. 

“I said sit down, Chase! And everyone shut up.” Trong says, taking a step forward. “Guys.”

Liam and Sturgis snap-to and grab Chase by either arm and sit him down at Winston’s station in the center of the bridge. 

“Easy, guys. We’re all on the same team here.” Chase says just before they slam him into the seat. 

He looks around at Winston’s console and notices the neural dock headpiece, then he looks up and instinctively pulls his head back as Liam pushes his blue chryo-blade in his face. 

The sharp energized blade hums as Liam gently but threateningly waves it in front of his face. Looking past the knife to the other side of the bridge, Chase notices Winston surreptitiously looking down at his glowing hand.

“I mean, we’re not on the same team, obviously,” Chase continues. “But it’s just something you say, you know what I mean? Maybe you don’t. You don’t seem so bright. He’s the one who does all the thinking huh?” Chase says, nodding at Sturgis. “Since he’s a computer. Best thing to happen to dumb guys right?”

“Hey, I’m holding a knife in your face.” Liam says, holding his face close. 

“Good lord. You need to loosen your trade restrictions, because legalizing gum would help you people out a lot. Your breath could kill a small animal. Maybe not a fully healthy one. But one that’s already injured or sick in some way. One breath from you would just be the final straw. What a way to go. Death by breath.” Chase says, turning his head away from Liam.

Liam pushes the knife right against Chase’s neck, “You insolent, past-his-prime, old…” 

“Owww.” Chase says, grimacing in pain. “Thanks…I forgot… to shave… this morning.” 

“Hey—stop that!” Amanda says.

“Enough!” Trong walks over to Chase’s seat and holds a finger in Liam’s face. “Don’t let your prisoner get your goat.” 

“Sorry, Sir. I’ll do better.” Liam says, pulling the knife off Chase’s neck. 

Salamander looks over at Winston and Lisa and notices Winston’s glowing hand. 

“Shhh,” Winston says. Salamander also notices that Lisa has taken the comm off her belt and holds it so the sharp angular side shows between her pointer and middle fingers. 

Salamander looks nervous and whispers, “Are we actually doing this? Ok, I can do this. Can I do this? This is exciting, right?” 

“Keep it down,” Lisa says.

Salamander glances at the display on the viewport. “Wait a minute…when they boarded, the ship prepped life support for five life-forms.” 

Lisa scans the bridge, “I only see…four.”

Winston, “So, what does that—?”

Amanda looks over at Salamander and the crew, “What?” She waves her hand dismissively for them to stop talking.

Then SMASH. 

Chase slams the neural dock headpiece into Liam’s face. He drops the chryo-blade and falls back, clutching his face. “Aaaah. You son of a…” 

Trong takes a step back as Sturgis runs up to Chase’s seat, eyeing Trong for his command, as his eyes turn an even brighter shade of green. Trong nods to Sturgis and says, “Might as well kill him first.” 

“Why did you guys all just stand there? Wasn’t that a signal?” Chase asks. 

“No. That wasn’t a signal. I was waving my hand derisively at my crew like I always do. Why are you always jumping the gun? It might help to think things through once in a while, Chase.” Amanda replies.  

“What is it with all of this talking?” Trong asks. “It’s like you think I don’t have full control of your ship. Maybe I need to show you that I’m serious.” He looks straight at Amanda. “Liam, kill Chase.” 

Liam smiles and looks over at Sturgis, who laughs giddily. “With pleasure,” he says as he swings his knife through the air. The knife turns into a long sword with two handles, which Liam now wields with considerable skill, windmilling it around in the air, the blade hissing loudly as it cuts through the condensation in the air. 

“Wait, Trong, can we talk about this?” Amanda says, terrified. 

Chase gulps as Liam swings the sword. 

Trong looks at Liam, “What are you waiting for?”

Liam pulls the sword back with both hands and starts to swing. 

Chase closes his eyes. Then suddenly feels something heavy in his lap. He looks down surprised to see it’s Liam. 

The ship quakes again and everyone shuffles a bit to maintain their footing. The quake knocks Liam’s lifeless body off of Chase’s lap onto the floor. 

“What the…” Chase says in confusion. 

Then he looks up and sees Winston holding out his arm, a blue electric field encircling his extended hand. 

“Oh my god, Winston,” says Lisa. “You’re like…powerful.”

“Sturgis!” Trong says, backing away into the wall behind him. 

Sturgis looks from Liam to Winston with disbelief in his eyes, which have now turned an even brighter shade of green. 

Winston confidently steps toward Sturgis. He holds out his hand dramatically and… nothing happens. He does it again. 

Nothing. He smiles nervously. 

“Oh we’re no longer in the EM pocket,” says Maritha. “Clearly, the rapid-conversion circuitry in your arm, coupled with reinforced biological tissue to withstand energy transmission enabled you to transform the electromagnetic flux into directed energy. But now that you have no excess energy to pull from, you’re essentially an empty well.” 

She looks around the bridge as everyone is surprised at her explanation. 

“I’m a cybernetic interface researcher and plasma physicist.” Maritha says. 

“What, you thought she just waved flags around all day?” Trong says. “My girl’s wicked smart. She’s the one who made Sturgis what he is today.” 

Amanda looks from Trong to his murderous cyborg and his brilliant pageant guard and reads the looks on her crew’s faces. And for the first time senses impending doom. 

Winston looks out at his arm and extended hand and drops it to his side. 

Sturgis chuckles and shakes his head then locks eyes with Winston. Oddly, Winston can’t look away and he starts to sweat. A vein in his temple bulges blue. He can’t move his eyes away from Sturgis’ gaze as he grimaces in agony. Sturgis takes another step forward. 

Amanda look on helplessly. 

“Ambassador Trong, please stop. He’s hurting him.” Lisa says.

“Oh no. He’s killing him.” Trong says.

THUD THUD THUD. Heavy footsteps reverberate down the hallway.

“What’s that?” Salamander asks. 

Trong smirks. “That’s one of my men.”

“It’s the fifth one the life support system detected when they boarded.” Salamander says, looking at the display. He double takes then looks closer. He toggles to the camera feed just above the door in the hallway. 

“Oh shit. It’s a Biomech Executioner.”

Salamander pulls a holoscreen copy of the display off with a swipe of his finger and spins it around for Amanda to see. The video feed shows a huge hulking man. One gigantic hand wields a battering ram and the other hand isn’t there. In its place is an arm cannon, with multiple segmented plates, which can slide and realign, revealing different weapon configurations from a focused plasma lance to wide-dispersion energy cannon.

“Oh come on!” Says Amanda.

“Yeah. Can you say overkill?” Chase says.

“You brought an Executioner with you

“We had him enter the ventral side of the ship at the same time we boarded the port. Sent him straight to the brig, where I knew you’d have that magno-monster.” Trong bites a nail then examines his finger. “He killed it immediately. Now he’s going to come up here and finish the job.”

There’s a final THUD in the hallway. Then the sound of a metallic arm smashing against the door. It leaves and indentation.

“Ok, now we’re definitely all dead,” Salamander says. 

Winston tries to eek out a word but can’t say anything. 

——

Copyright Chris McCarthy and MDA Press, 2024, Graphics by Chris McCarthy with Imagen3.