Shipjacked

(12 BBY)

This sounds like trouble! Serina thought as she stepped out of her quarters and looked around. Several of her crewmates were already standing in the corridor casting questioning glances at each other while others were just emerging from their cabin doors. "What was that all about?" the older man with the thinning hair across from her asked with a bewildered expression on his face. "Why are we supposed to meet in the loading bay? And why did we drop to realspace? We are at least another ten hours from our next stop!" All Serina could do was shrug her shoulders.

Everybody turned when loud footsteps approached from the direction of the bridge. A murmur went through the assembled crew as two of the new shipmates, an older human and a Twi'lek, came into sight. Just as Serina, they had gotten hired onto the Coresac, a modified PCL 27 freighter, together with two other human men and a female Twi'lek at the main spaceport of Columex a couple of stops prior. They were pointing blasters at the confused crew members and motioned them to move toward the rearward end of the vessel.

Reluctantly, Serina and the others complied. Soon they were united with the rest of the ship's complement, who had already been directed there and were now being guarded by the other three shipjackers. There was only one person missing from the assembly: the captain. If the determined expressions on the faces of their captors were indicative of their actions, Serina was certain they wouldn't see him again either.

After conferring with his accomplices, one of the humans, a tall, handsome man in his early thirties with close-cropped black hair and a small mustache, stepped forward and addressed the waiting group.

"My name is Peet Snoaker. As you may have concluded already we are now in full command of this vessel. You might wonder about the whereabouts of the captain. I am sorry to inform you that he did not agree with us taking over the ship, but we sort of had the stronger arguments." At his meaningful glance at his blaster, a loud murmur arose among the crew. Although not everybody had been a close friend of Captain Toard's, he had had a good rapport with all of those who had been with the ship for any length of time. Serina herself had barely known him, but, after meeting him once shortly after signing on, had considered him quite capable as well.

Peet did not give them much time to dwell on their captain's demise. A gesture of his hand caused the murmurs to subside. "Now, first of all I want you to know: we mean you no harm. What happened to the captain was unfortunate and we would have preferred a different outcome. But," he let his gaze wander over the assembled crew, making certain that he had everybody's undivided attention, "and I want to be absolutely clear about this: we will not permit any of you to obstruct our purpose."

Again, he paused for a moment, gauging the reaction to his words. Apparently satisfied, he continued, "You might think that we are pirates, and the Empire might agree, but we are most certainly not! For the past seven years, we have watched this galaxy succumb more and more to the evil that calls himself Emperor. We have seen Outer Rim planets used for weapons testing, whole populations like the Wookiees forced into slave labor and the Imperial Forces crack down on anybody who dares to speak his mind. We are no longer willing to put up with that. We will do anything necessary to restore the Republic and with it freedom and justice for everybody!"

It was obvious: for Peet this was not just empty rhetoric, it had the ring of true conviction, and he had put his heart and soul into making these changes come true. Anybody, who knew what was good for him, would not try to get in Peet's way.

After having let his little speech sink in, he added, "And to achieve our goals we also need the parts this freighter is transporting. Now we will give you a choice. In about two hours, we will rendezvous with one of our own vessels on a nearby planet. If you decide to join us in our cause, we would be more than happy to transfer you along with the freight to our ship and take you to our nearest base. If not, we will leave you behind on the planet. There is a spaceport about a two-day walk away from where we will drop you off. We will give you enough supplies and directions how to get there. The choice is up to you. As I said, you have two hours to make up your mind. I suggest you use it well."

For a moment, Serina considered the options. Although she was not totally averse to the rebel's cause, she was not willing to give up on her desire to attend one of the naval academies just yet. A two-day trip through unknown terrain, even so she did not shrink back from it, was not really appealing either, especially since they had no garantee that they would be able to obtain off-world passage from that spaceport. And being stuck on some backwater planet for who knew how long did not fit into her plans for sure.

So, when nobody else spoke up, she cleared her throat. "Excuse me, Peet, may I ask you something?"

The shipjacker turned and met her gaze. "Sure, what do you want to know?"

"What are you going to do with this ship? Since you will be transferring the freight, I don't think you'll be keeping it."

Peet smiled, "Quite perceptive of you. No, we will not keep it. Even so it's really none of your business: we do have a buyer for it."

Just, what Serina had expected. "Now, that buyer will need a crew to operate this vessel. Perhaps he would be interested in hiring some of us?" It seemed like a valid third option. Peet considered it for a moment. Finally, he conceded, "It's a possibility. I will contact the buyer. If he's interested, I'll let you know. Now, use the remaining time to make up your minds." With that said, he motioned to two of his accomplices to follow him toward the bridge, while the other two remained in the hangar bay guarding the crew members.

Leaning casually against the bulkhead, Serina watched the others discuss their options. Some of them cast wary glances in her direction. The fact that she had gotten hired on at the same time as the shipjackers caused some unease as to her involvement with the situation. And she could not blame them for being suspicious. That was really some bad timing on my part, she thought to herself ruefully. The whole situation reeked of long term planning. The only reason why the Coresac had needed six new crew members at once had been that a virus had infected several of the previous crew all at the same time. Too much coincidence for Serina's taste: somebody had made sure those crew members needed replacing. She grudgingly had to admit that their timing had been just perfect. Too bad she couldn't say the same about her own. So, she watched attentively without getting involved in any of the discussions.

Soon three groups were starting to form. A small group of four got as far away from the rest as possible in the limited space. Serina was convinced they would be joining the rebels. There was a certain excitement showing on their faces and the general feeling Serina got from them was approval of the actions of the shipjackers.

Another group formed around Jared, the second in command of Captain Toard's, a tall, lean figure with visible leader qualities. Serina recognized two other members of the bridge crew, Kergan, the guard, hired to stand watch whenever the ship had been planetside, and two of the cargo workers. One of them was Merik, a young man who had shown some interest in her these past few days. He was sort of cute and she had enjoyed spending some time with him during their off-shifts. She caught him looking intensely at her, the expression on his face encouraging her to join their group. The faces of the others showed a grim determination. They are up to something! I'm sure they will stay with the ship if at all possible. I better try to get on their good side. Merik will be happy. And who knows what that will be good for? Serina told herself.

The decision of the last group was also easily determined. They had resigned themselves to the long trudge through the unknown terrain to a spaceport they knew nothing of. Some of the glances they cast at the group around Jared spoke of a desire to take on the risk of staying, yet also of the lacking guts to dare it.

As the two hours were slowly drawing to an end, Serina pulled away from the bulkhead and approached Jared's group, causing a smile to light up Merik's face. "So, you are going to stay with the ship!" It was not really a question.

"So, what is it to you?" Jared's dismissive reply might have caused someone else to back off, but Serina had no intention of allowing herself to get brushed off that easily.

"Hm..., I'll be coming along as well, so wouldn't it be advisable to work together?" she replied with as much friendliness in her voice as she could muster, while "wishing" him with all her mind into agreement, just as Tantra had endeavored to teach her.

After a moment, Jared nodded slowly. "Yes, it would be advisable to work together. Feel free to join us. Let's just hope that we'll get a chance to stay on the ship. I wonder what kind of buyer they have for it." As Merik edged closer to her, Serina allowed herself a small smile while another discussion broke loose within the group. The first hurdle had been taken. But she doubted that the others could be cleared quite as easily.

"Jared has a plan!" Merik whispered in Serina's ear as she sat down beside him in the rec-room. Some of the others were playing a game of Sabacc with the older human shipjacker, apparently charged with keeping an eye on them.

Just, what she had expected. The transfer of the freight and of those interested in joining the rebel group to the other ship had been accomplished without incidents. Afterwards, those who had opted to hike to the nearest spaceport had been sent off with their belongings and some supplies. Then the group around Jared had been ordered to return to their quarters, where they had been locked in. Apparently, the buyer had shown interest in hiring them and so they were to stay on board for the two days it would take to meet with him. Once the ship had entered hyperspace, they had been allowed to leave their cabins and use the galley and the rec-room.

Serina had watched Jared and Kergan put their heads together in one of the far corners - probably a blind spot of the ship's monitoring system - as soon as they had been alone in the large rec-room. Only when one of the rebels had entered sometime later, they had stopped their hushed conversation and had left the room. She had already wondered how much longer it would take them to concoct a plan of action, since there was now only half a day left until they would meet with the buyer.

Merik wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close to his side. So low, that she could barely discern what he was saying, he continued, "We are to start a diversion, some sort of fight, in half an hour." For the case that they were being watched, Serina let an enamored smile appear on her face, just as if he had told her some sweet nothings. For long minutes, they just sat there observing the game.

Suddenly, one of the players jumped to his feet, toppling his chair. He leaned forward on the table and yelled at the surprised rebel, "You cheated! Is that how you are going about your rebellion too?" While he added some more accusations and grabbed the older man by his shirt, forcing him to get up out of his chair as well, the other players joined the fray ostensively as an attempt to calm him down and get the situation under control. But soon the first punches flew and within a few moments they had the finest free-for-all going that Serina had ever seen. Even Merik joined in while she managed to take cover behind some work-out equipment.

Jared and Kergan arrived at the same time as Peet to separate the squabblers. "What's going on here?" the latter yelled into the mayhem. A wink from Jared informed them that the diversion had served its purpose and that it was time to stop. So, they let go of the older rebel and put on apologetic expressions. "Sorry!", "Got out of hand!", "Didn't mean to!" and similar excuses were mumbled as they helped the disheveled man to his feet. "Get to your quarters, all of you!" Peet ordered them in exasperation. "We will drop back to realspace in four hours. You should all be presentable by then. Now move!"

As he watched them file out of the rec-room toward their cabins, Jared stepped up to his side. It was time to implement the second part of his plan. "There is something I need to tell you before you sell the ship."

Peet turned and looked at him with a quizzical expression. "And what would that be?"

"You should know that we had some problems with the hyperdrive lately. The nav computer shut it down twice for no apparent reason. Perhaps, some computer virus we picked up. We were going to take care of it after delivering the parts. But as you know ..." Jared shrugged and smiled apologetically at the rebel.

"Hm...," Peet considered the information. "What did you do when that happened?"

"We had to shut down the whole ship. Reboot everything. Was not as easy as it sounds. Has to be done in the right order, you know. So, if it happens again, just call me," Jared was eager to offer. "I'll show you or the new owner how to do it properly."

"Thanks for the info. I'll let the buyer know, too. At least that's a good reason for him to keep you guys, isn't it? Just make sure your folks don't cause any more trouble, ok?" It was obvious that Peet did not give the issue too much weight as he left the rec-room and headed back to the bridge.

"Have you ever used a blaster before?" Serina asked Merik in a hushed voice while they were waiting in his quarters together with Hera, Captain Toard's communications officer and the only other female in Jared's group. When she had returned to her cabin after the staged fight, Merik had already been waiting for her to let her in on the group's plan.

Jared had used the diversion to load a virus into the computer system from one of the terminals in the loading bay. The next time they would try to jump to hyperspace, it would shut down the hyperdrive and grant them the chance they needed to put their plan into action. After they had reverted back to realspace, the buyers had arrived in a small shuttle and attached it to the airlock opposite from the rebels' craft.

Peet had ordered everybody to the loading bay where he had presented them to an older blue-skinned Twi'lek, he introduced as Mur'oren. Smugglers, had been Serina's first thought at seeing him. They had been scrutinized and asked about their prior positions on the ship, and then Mur'oren had sent them back to their quarters while he went on an inspection tour of the vessel. And now the three of them were waiting for the next stage of Jared's plan.

"Not really. Have you?" As the events were starting to unfold, Merik showed some apprehension regarding their assigned task. Since all three of the buyers would be on the bridge, their shuttle should be unstaffed. All they would have to do was to crack the security code on the hatch. That would be Hera's task. Only Merik would be given a weapon for the case that one of the buyers or one of the rebels showed up unexpectedly, since Jared still had some reservations about Serina.

"Just once," Serina finally replied, her memories taking her back to those awful events more than six standard years prior, "but that's quite some time back. And," she added forcefully to avoid any probing questions, "I don't want to talk about that time." No need to mention the shooting training Marc had given her before he had to leave head over heels. It didn't really count. Shooting at some inanimate target could not be compared to shooting at a living person. That she knew from painful experience. But would she be able to shoot at somebody to save her life and that of her comrades? She was not altogether sure about that.

Suddenly, a shudder went through the ship as the hyperdrive malfunctioned according to Jared's programming. When Merik opened the cabin door and gazed up and down the corridor, an alarm could be heard from the direction of the bridge.

"Stay in your quarters. We are taking care of the problem!" Peet shouted in Merik's direction as he approached Jared's cabin. "I guess we are having the same problem you mentioned this afternoon," he told the taller man just emerging from his quarters. "Would you come with me? We really need your expertise."

As the two men rushed toward the bridge, the trio slipped out of Merik's cabin and headed in the opposite direction. They had to get to the loading bay before Jared shut down the whole system.

When a few moments later the lights went out and the dim red emergency lighting came on, they had already joined up with the rest of Jared's team just outside the loading bay. With a loud click a panel in the bulkhead opened up and several weapons in different sizes became visible. Kergan removed three blaster rifles and several smaller pistols and distributed them. The attack team grabbed their weapons and gave them a quick check. Merik contemplated the small blaster pistol he had been given. The guard quickly explained how to release the safety catch and how to fire it but Merik's tentative grip on the weapon spoke volumes. Serina doubted that he would be able to fire it, let alone at a living target.

"There will be six persons on the bridge, the three smugglers, Peet, the male Twi'lek from his group, and Jared," Kergan informed them. "We saw the rest of the rebels head for their vessel before they started the hyperdrive test. So, you should be in the clear when you get to the other shuttle. Now move out," he ordered them as he motioned to the rest of his group to follow him toward the bridge.

By the time, they arrived at the shuttle, the regular lights had come back on and Hera immediately went to work with her hatch cracker. While Merik tried to secure the corridor, they had just come from, Serina kept an eye on the one leading toward the second airlock. For a few moments, the only noise was the whirring of the small device in Hera's hands and their tense breathing.

Soft-footed, Kergan led his group up to the last bend in the corridor before the bridge doors could be seen. He motioned his men to stay back. Then, tightly hugging the bulkhead, he cast a quick glance around the corner. The doors stood open just as the plan had foreseen. He caught a glimpse at Jared sitting at the main controls with Peet and Mur'oren hovering over him as he brought the various systems back online.

Suddenly, a shocked outcry from Jared drew everybody's attention, "Craps, that didn't happen last time! I don't know what caused it! We've really got a problem now!" At the same time, an alarm sounded from the ship's computer, "Power generator overload in process. Automatic shut-down deactivated. Critical level reached in 15 minutes."

As a flurry of activity erupted around Jared, Kergan and his men quickly used the diversion and advanced to the entrance of the bridge. "Freeze," he bellowed into the large room, pointing his rifle at the nearest one of the smugglers. His men followed suit and for a moment, nobody dared to move. Then chaos erupted. Mur'oren, who had still been hovering over Jared, with one fluid movement pulled up the slightly shorter man from his seat with one arm and pressed him to his chest as a living shield, while his free hand found his blaster. Kergan dropped to the floor as the first shot seared the bulkhead right next to his ear.

The others followed suit. While the smugglers and rebels took cover behind the various instrument arrays of the bridge, Kergan and his men crawled backwards out of the door they had just rushed through. Just as the last of them tried to slip past the doorframe, a well-aimed shot caught him in the chest, putting him out of the fight for good. Tightly hugging the bulkhead just outside of the bridge, Kergan and his remaining crewmate fired at their opponents, attempting to avoid hitting Jared in the process.

Trying to restrain the lank, squirming frame of Jared while at the same time wielding his blaster proved impossible even for the muscular Twi'lek. As Jared used his legs to shove away from the console in front of him, Mur'oren overbalanced and had to release him. Quickly, Jared dropped to the floor and crawled around the communications unit. As Kergan used the chance to get a clear shot at the Twi'lek's head, one of the other smugglers threw himself on top of Jared.

"Power generator overload in process. Automatic shut-down deactivated. Critical level reached in 10 minutes." The reminder of the impending doom caused everybody to intensify their fight for control of the situation. As Jared grappled with the smuggler who tried to pin him down to the floor, he finally managed to seize the younger man's pistol and fired at him at point-blank range. As he pushed the corpse off his feet and scooted around the edge of the communications unit, a rebounding shot caught him in his right shoulder, throwing him back behind the console, right into the firing line of the remaining smuggler.

As Kergan realized what had happened, he lost all restraint. Without Jared, the power generator overload could not be stopped and he was not going to let any of them, smugglers or rebels, escape. With a scream of rage, he fired a whole barrage of bolts into the bridge, setting several of the instruments on fire. As the large room quickly filled with smoke, the man beside him jumped forward and dropped the Twi'lek rebel who had to leave his cover due to the erupting fire, just to be shot down in turn by the last of the smugglers.

"Power generator overload in process. Automatic shut-down deactivated. Critical level reached in 5 minutes." The insistent reminder finally pierced through his haze. Kergan turned around and hasted down the corridor toward the smugglers' shuttle.

The hacking into the shuttle hatch had taken much longer than Serina had expected. When the alarm sounded the first time, she had cast an indignant look at Merik. "Was that part of the plan, too?" Merik only shrugged his shoulders and gave her an apologetic look. "I guess," he finally admitted.

"Hurry up, Hera, time is getting short!" Serina admonished the older woman, who frantically punched another formula into the hatch cracker. Finally, after another few minutes that had appeared to stretch into eternity, the hatch opened and Hera stormed onto the ship to ready it for departure.

The noises from the direction of the bridge did not bode well for their plan. Apparently, the take-over had not gone as smooth as Jared had expected. When the alarm sounded the second time, Serina stormed into the shuttle to check on Hera's progress.

"This will take some time," the former communications officer told her. "They have it secured with another sequence. I have to run the whole hacking routine again."

"Well, we have just 5 minutes left, if we want to get some distance between us and this ticking time-bomb! So, you better speed it up some way." Then she rushed back out of the shuttle to join Merik.

A scream of rage rang through the corridor. Then the noise from the blaster discharges intensified even more. Billows of smoke rolled toward them as the alarm sounded a third time. Heavy footfalls approached from the direction of the bridge. Then the heavy-set form of Kergan emerged from the smoke. "Get out of here! The others are all gone!" He yelled as soon as he caught sight of them.

He was just a few steps from their position, when a second form emerged from the smoke. The man, Serina recognized as one of the smugglers, raised his blaster and dropped Kergan right at her feet. Then he slowed and pointed his weapon at Merik, who stood beside Serina, paralyzed by fear. Without thinking, she yanked the pistol out of Merik's hand with lightning speed and, completely relying on her instincts, fired at shot at the smuggler. The blast hit him smack in the forehead, throwing him off his feet back into the advancing smoke.

Serina grabbed Merik by the sleeve and dragged him toward the shuttle. "You heard him! There is nobody left. Let's go!" Once they were inside the shuttle's airlock, Serina slammed her hand on the closing mechanism. Then she rushed forward where Hera was just starting the engines. "Release the magnetic holds, we just got a minute or two left to get away from that ship." Serina was close to yelling at the older woman. Hera pushed an override button on her console.

The small shuttle started to wobble, as the explosive decompression from the freighter's airlock pushed them away. Serina went back to the small porthole beside the shuttle's airlock. In the distance, she caught a glimpse of the rebel's shuttle that was accelerating away from the freighter in the opposite direction. Then the first explosions started to rip through the massive bulk. "Hera, some speed, now," she urged as she watched in dismay at how slowly they were gaining some distance from the Coresac. With a low rumble, the engines finally kicked in and propelled them forward.

As the explosive reaction reached the freighter's fuel cells, the space behind them lit up in bright colors as the massive bulk blew apart. Within seconds the explosion wave hit their small craft and caused it to tumble head over heels. Serina barely managed to grab one of the handholds beside the airlock, but Merik was not as lucky. He was thrown from one side of the corridor to the other as the artificial gravity failed. For long moments, the tumbling continued. Finally, Hera managed to counteract the spinning movement with the maneuvering thrusters.

As the gravity came back online, Serina let go of her handhold and rushed over to Merik. She helped him to a sitting position against the bulkhead. He was bleeding from a deep gash on his forehead and several smaller cuts on his arms. But nothing seemed broken. So, she got some bacta patches from the emergency kit beside the entrance to the small bridge and applied them. When she had done all she could for the young man, she joined Hera in the cockpit of the small vessel and let herself drop into the co-pilot's seat.

"That was close. I didn't think we'd make it," she exclaimed. The sober expression on Hera's face caused her to draw up short. "What's wrong?" she demanded to know.

"We are in better shape than the ship," Hera informed her. "The hyperdrive is damaged. The sublight engines still work, but I don't know how much longer. And we have a leak somewhere. But there is one ray of hope: we have got to be close to an inhabited world with a spaceport. I know Jared made sure that his programming only kicked in if there was such a planet close by. He was not crazy enough to try that stunt out in nowhere."

"Then we better get there quickly before we run out of air." Together with Hera she studied the readouts of the sensor array. Then they programmed a course that would bring them directly to the second planet of the system, which the nav computer had identified as Formos. As Formos' sun - at first only a small speck in the distance - was slowly increasing in size, Serina leaned back into her chair and tried to calm her mind in the way Tantra had taught her. A thought intruded unbidden and ruined her concentration: did Peet manage to escape as well?