The Merchantman Venture creaked softly as the main panel lit up. Schreiber leaned forward and flipped an ornate switch.
"What's up, William?"
"We have a communication coming in. There is a disabled Xi'an freighter between us and the next jump point into Xi'an space."
"Did they say what's wrong?"
"Their manuevering thrusters are disabled and they don't have the right parts to fix it. Some pirates tried to take them but didn't take out their weapons in time."
Schreiber pushed himself back into his bunk and thought for a moment. "Were they able to recover any wreckage from the pirates?"
"Interesting you ask, boss. Nope, the pirate ship is open to the void right next to the Xi'an vessel. They say anyone who comes to help can take it for themselves."
Schreiber did some mental arithmetic in his head. He was part of a small convoy heading into the Xi'an Empire to pick up some technology for his organization. There was his Banu Merchantman, a Constellation, and a Starfarer within his group. Each ship had a full complement of crew plus a couple of Tevarin bruisers a piece in case of pirates.
"We have the parts they need?"
"According to inventory, yeah."
Hmmm, thought Schreiber to himself. Helping out a Xi'an ship in need should be a no-brainer in this situation. His corporation depended too heavily on trade with those aliens to not take advantage of an opportunity like this. But something was a little... off about it.
"What are they doing here?"
"Sir?"
"Think about it, William. We are close to Xi'an space, sure, but we are in a system that is very rarely traveled by them. Can you do me a favor and have Sam bring up some possibilities of where these guys came from by analyzing probable trajectories and flight plans?"
"Sure thing, boss."
"Good. I'm going to head to the bridge. Tell those Xi'an that we are going to be on the way to save their day."
Schreiber watched through the view screen as the Xi'an vessel and the pirate wreck came into view. The Xi'an vessel was a standard bulk transport that their people used, humans had long ago taken into calling them "bruised bananas" or BB's for short due to their shape. This one clearly had about 90 percent of its maneuvering thrusters burned off which would make travel for it almost impossible for the moment. The second they would try to make a move they would make themselves they would end in a tailspin that would never end.
The pirate vessel was a beefed up Cutlass that currently had its cockpit vented into space. Other than that the vehicle looked more or less intact. If Schreiber had been the captain of the Xi'an vessel he probably would have ordered some of his men to go EV, grab the pirate vessel and use that to get help for the transport. But perhaps the Xi'an captain didn't have enough crew to spare at the moment.
A short woman with deep purple hair and a blue vac suit tapped Schreiber's shoulder. Schreiber looked down on the petite woman.
"Yeah, Sam?"
"Been over the numbers and the charts. I'm willing to bet that they came from the Oso system."
Schreiber groaned softly to himself and slumped into his chair. Things automatically had become much more complicated for him.
Usually in a situation like this it would be his duty to help this cargo vessel. It would make the Xi'an happy, it would make his bosses in his corporation happy, and it would improve his profits for this journey. But a bunch of Xi'an coming from the Oso sector which is firmly in UEE space? That spelled complications in the form of one word: meat.
"What are your orders, sir?" said William as he climbed to the bridge area. He was decked out in full battledress with a large rifle slung across one shoulder. Schreiber had no doubt that the two Tevarin in his crew for this run, Hurn and Runner were dressed in a similar fashion. It was one thing to help people, it was another to trust them implicitly to the point where you weren't prepared to defend yourself.
"We'll help the bastards," said Schreiber, letting his voice go into a low growl. "But it doesn't mean we have to like it. If you see any Osoian meat on that ship just pretend you saw nothing."
Sam frowned while William kept a carefully blank expression on his face. "Right, boss. Dealing with those types... Should we be asking for more than just that pirate's wreck?"
"No, it's always good to have a Xi'an owing you a favor in this business. Tell the rest of the crew to man the weapons stations. There is always a chance that those pirates had some friends."
Schreiber stepped off the airlock and looked around for a moment. He ignored the two unarmed Xi'an ahead of him and scanned the ship. Inside everything was glistening and pristine. The walls were new, the equipment looked new, and there was still that "fresh from the factory" smell about it. Which was kind of odd considering what the outside looked like.
He focused on the two Xi'an ahead of him as Hurn and Runner came in behind him.
One was the most corpulent lizard Schreiber had ever laid his eyes on. He was practically busting out of his own skin and actually seemed to be molting. As Schreiber watched the Xi'an was quickly tugging at a piece of errantly flapping, paper-like skin at the side of his face. His suit, despite a few skin flakes, seemed clean and expensive. He had the claw-like symbol of a Xi'an captain on his shoulder.
The other one was short and very stout for a Xi'an. It was probably the most musclebound specimen that Schreiber had ever laid his eyes on. There was heavy scarring all over his face and a nasty gleam in his eyes. His uniform matched his captain's, save for the symbol.
"Ah, Captain Schreiber, I take it? I am Captain Rin Kortan." said the corpulent Xi'an in a high, reedy tone.
Schreiber nodded. "Yes. These are some of my crew: Hurn, Runner and..."
William took that moment to come in and look around the room. "And William."
The shorter one made hissing noised while looking at the Tevarin. Rin Kortan gave them a stare.
"A mixed species crew? How droll. I suppose you humans need the Tevarin to get some air once in awhile, right? I've always wondered how good a pet one would make."
Schreiber pushed down a rifle barrel that Hurn was bringing up and shook his head. The old Tevarin, a veteran of dozens of fights growled softly then nodded. He flicked his head at Runner who sullenly started to deactivate the grenade he had pulled off of his belt.
"What seems to be the problem with your ship?"
Schreiber noted that Rin Kortan didn't seem to have noticed the exchange with the Tevarin... but the unnamed crew member had ceased hissing and was eying their weapons.
"Systematic failure with our thrusters and the system coordinating their firing. You said you had the right parts to fix it up?"
"William?"
The large man raised up a hand which held several fragile parts. The Xi'an captain nodded slowly.
"Good, good... Follow me this way and we'll get going. Thank you for your assistance."
The group began to follow the captain with the Xi'an crew member holding back until William proceeded to join everyone. Schreiber sneezed with a start. He noted that the stout Xi'an brought a weapon halfway out at the noise.
"So where is the rest of your crew? Ship this size should have a dozen more crewmembers."
Rin Kortan paused and started picking at skin on his clawed hands. "Unfortunately due to some modifications we were running with a skeleton crew of 6. Four of my crew died during the attack, so it is just us here."
Schreiber started to nod, then sneezed again. He frowned to himself. A smell much like wet dog was beginning to become pervasive and assaulted his sinuses.
Despite himself he began to get curious. "Just what is that smell? What are you shipping?"
Schreiber could feel the accusing look that William shot at his back but he couldn't help it. The questions had slipped out unbidden. The Xi'an captain's shoulders stooped for a second then relaxed.
"Well... I suppose that a man like yourself has reason to see. We have to go through storage anyway to get to some of the damaged systems. I will include a bonus for this rescue once we rejoin our group for your future silence."
Future silence? Wondered Schreiber. They continued down the cooridor to another airlock which cycled out as the smell of wet dog increased tenfold and Schreiber's eyes watered.
He blinked furiously and then his eyes opened wide in horror...
To be continued.