“Goddumit to Earth ‘n back!” Nyx hisses as her ears flatten and tail floofs, “It’s bein’ the Hellish Abandoned. They’re bein’ the cap’n’s yellin’ partner.”

  “Yellin’ partner?” Cai looks puzzled, “Like a rival?”

  Nyx glares at the image of the docked ships, “Donati! Hit ‘em with the minin’ laser!”

  Nothing happens.

  Cai sighs, “That’s not the best idea. What if your friend is on the other ship?”

  Nyx’s ears twitch in agitation, “Dum it...”

  “I’ll hail them. If we jump on them, they might start shooting. That ship is a patrol cruiser and has railguns and lasers plus some armor. The Donti’s heat shields could take the lasers, but the rail guns will chew us apart.”

  Nyx chews her lip, “Goddum it!”

  “Relax. They’ll probably take the crew and salvage the parts. I’m pretty sure they’ll dump anyone who won’t join them on La La Land Station.” He points to the back of the Az Gaper, “It looks like the Az Gaper’s two port engines exploded, and I doubt the other starboard ones are in great shape, so they’re done as pirates.”

  Cai uses his wrist computer, “Hellish Abandoned. This is the Donati. We respect your salvage right on this ship, we’re only here to request a crew member. A half Felis…” He looks at Nyx, and whispers, “Your friend was a dude?”

  “A half Felis dude, yeah.”

  “A half felis man.” Cai ends the message, “We better strap in just in case…”

  They sit and fasten their harnesses in silence as the Donati cruises at 1g acceleration.

  Cai squinted at the display, “I’m getting heating in the weapons blisters. They’re going to attack, because of course pirates would. If they don’t want to play nice, then I guess we’ll get rid of two pirate groups today.” He raises his wrist computer, “Donati, prepare a short-range jump. Upon completion, start Operation Robot Plague.”

  Nyx is about to yell something, but stops, “Oper… opera…!”

  “Operation Robot Plague. We jump in right next to them. Send a few drones over, and they go in and… have fun with the ship.”

  Nyx’s scowl turns to a grin, “We be stealin’ it?”

  “More like temporarily making it so they can’t shoot at us. Unless you think the two of us can take on the entire crew. My drones aren’t made for fighting, so we look for your friend and get him out then leave. Tell them to give him to us. And then we give them control of the ship back.”

  Nyx’s ears flattened from annoyance. He was right. The two of them couldn’t fight off the crew, “Mer… Okay…” The Donati jumps to FTL for just an instant, then they’re closer to the pirate ships than she’d like, “let’s…”

  Nyx jumps in her restraints.

  “Operation Drone Plague is a go!” Cai says with a smirk. “Donati, jump to a safe distance once the two drones are on their way.”

  Nyx watches as the Danati gets so close to the other ships that she can see sparking wires where the Az Gaper’s port engines were, “Sparkin’ thing blew nearly ‘n half…”

  Cai is watching the docking sensors as two dots detach from the Donati and head to the Hellish Abandoned. Nyx sniffs at it as she notices.

  There’s a warning: Sensor Lock

  Cai doesn’t seem surprised as the weapons blisters on the Hellish Abandoned open and deploy. Nyx noticed a laser turret and a railgun turret. The laser was long range and high accuracy, but considering how close they are to the ship, the railgun worries her the most.

  Cai glances at the drones as they attach to the Hellish Abandoned’s hull and then to the FTL countdown timer. Just twenty seconds.

  There’s a message, “Donati, ye be surrenderin’ now. Turn off yer engines, or we be turnin’ ‘em off for ye.”

  Cai holds back a chuckle, “You pirates do have ye olde timey pirate speech down, don’t you?”

  Nyx cocks her head to the side, confused.

  Cai gives her an amused look, “I’ll show you some pirate movies later.” He presses a button, “Hellish Abandoned. Shutting off our engines now…”

  Nyx feels her body become weightless again, “Cai! What’cha sparkin’ doin’?”

  He glances at the FTL timer. Ten seconds.

  “Donati, prepare to be bein’ boarded. If ya resist, we be shootin’ ya.”

  “Spark ya ta Earth ‘n back, Hellish Abandoned.” Cai says as he gives Nyx a wink.

  They enter FTL briefly.

  Nyx gives Cai an amused look. He was totally copying her! “Mya! Cai! They’re gonna be bein’ sparkin’ supernova!”

  Cai presses some holographic buttons and soon they get two camera feeds, “We’re ten light seconds out, but close enough to watch the feeds from the drones.” He pauses, “And Donati, resume 1g acceleration.”

  Nyx looks at the new feeds as she settles back into her seat as the ship’s engines come on, and she sees the drones as they hack the pirate ship’s airlock. She’s jealous of how fast they are as they’re inside in a matter of moments, and she wonders if she’s needed for anything. Is Cai even needed for the Donati to explore? He’s already said he isn’t, but she never knows when he’s being serious sometimes.

  Soon the drones split in different directions, and she can see where they are thanks to a hologram showing the internal schematics of the Hellish Abandoned. One is heading to the ship’s fore and the other aft, to the engines. So, one is going to disable the engines and the other… Maybe the computer or bridge?

  A message: Sensor Lock.

  Cai dismisses the message, “Looks like they found us. Donati, prepare another short-range FTL jump if it looks like they engage their FTL.”

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  Nyx doesn’t look at Cai, “Murr…”

  The drone heading to the fore stops at the airlock connecting the Az Gaper to the Hellish Abandoned.

  She hears voices, “Hurry up, ya pieces o’ shunk! Cap’n wants us bein’ undocked so we can be chasin’ the new ship.”

  Cai looks disappointed, “For pirates, I’m not hearing any ‘yarrs’ or ‘me matey’.”

  “Cai, yer bein’ weird.”

  Cai looks at Nyx, “You don’t understand. Pirates need good ‘yarrs’ and ‘matey’ or it doesn’t sound right.”

  Another man speaks, “It’s just gonna be runnin’. Ya saw how quick it was bein’.”

  “Not if we are bein’ firin’ as soon as we be droppin’ outta FTL.”

  The other drone reaches the engines and attaches itself to a data cable. Soon, the lights all over the Hellish Abandoned dim and emergency lighting comes on.

  “Spark yeah!” Nyx grins, “Your’re turnin the power off!”

  Cai nods, “Donati, take us back to the Hellish Abandoned.” He looks at Nyx, “Now we just have to find your friend and get him off those ships.”

  An instant FTL jump and soon they’re next to the pirate ships again, the drone feeds jumping forward ten seconds thanks to no time lag.

  “Spark yeah! Go drones, show those sparkin’ pirates they’re Cai’s whores!”

  She can hear shouting now that the lights are off, and the drone by the airlock uses the chaos to leave the maintenance hatch it’s been hiding behind and rushes through the airlock.

  The Az Gaper is lit red from its own emergency lighting. It’s just as filthy and disgusting as she remembers it, and it brings back memories of the smell. She even sniffs herself to make sure she still doesn’t have that smell on her, but only smells Cai.

  Cai is watching the feed, “The Az Gaper is… You lived here? No wonder why you were so angry when I met you. I’d be pissy too.” He studies the image, “Looks like they’ve been stripping parts for a few hours. I’m guessing the surviving crew is in the crew quarters while the others strip the Gaper.”

  The drone enters the maintenance shaft nearest the airlock.

  “Yeah, they’re bein’ there, I’m thinkin’.” She doesn’t like the implications when Cai says ‘surviving.’ She can’t help but think that Wrench was in the engines trying to keep them from overheating when they chased the Donati a few hours ago.

  They can hear shouting from both drones as the Hellish Abandoned’s crew rushes through the decks, looking for the cause of the power outage.

  Soon, Nyx hears familiar voices coming from ahead through the shaft, “It’s the goddum Cap’n, the sparkin’ bustud.”

  It disappoints Nyx that he’s still alive. She can hear the captain’s whore, their son, and even Hal as they talk.

  Cai looks at her, “Okay, let’s see if your friend is there too.”

  The drone stops in front of the maintenance hatch to the room the voices are coming from. It’s welded shut.

  “Goddum it!” Nyx hisses.

  “Eh, the drone has a cutting torch.” Cai keys in some commands to the drone. “Let’s try talking to them before we cut it open. Why don’t you do it? I’ve given you permission.”

  Nyx grins, “Donati, let me be talkin’ through the drone!” There’s a beep, “Cap’n Shiz Beard? It’s Nyx. Go be killin’ yerself and die guzzlin’ shiz!”

  Cai looks very amused for some reason.

  “It’s the goddum Felis!” She hears the captain’s son.

  “It’s Nyx, ya piece o’ shunk. Don’ be talkin’ bad about me or I’ll leave your azes to the sparkin’ Hellish Abandoned.”

  “Nyx. We were thinkin’ ye were with that Never Dyin’.” It’s the captain. “What the Earth you be doin’ back to this sparkin’ place? Get tired ‘o that shiny ship an’ come back to yer real crew.”

  “Spark you cap’n. I’m bein’ back for my friend.”

  “Scrap-az? Haven’t been seein’ that…” There’s a pause, “Dude since the engines were explodin’. Thinkin’ he’s ashed or spaced.”

  Nyx’s heart drops, “Goddum it!” She screams, “Goddum it!”

  Cai takes over, “Captain. We’ve taken over the Hellish Abandoned temporarily. The Az Gaper isn’t fit for life anymore, and the others have stripped a lot of parts already. I’m going to release you from this room. The Hellish Abandoned’s crew is distracted trying to find out why they lost power. You have ten minutes after I open the door. After that, I’m sending the ship to La La Land Station and evacuating the atmosphere. The ship is Nyx’s now, and we don’t want any unwanted guests on board.” He whispers, “Just pretend.”

  Nyx looks at him curiously, then shrugs, “Yer givin’ me my own goddum ship?”

  Cai shrugs, “Why not? Well, after we repair it. It’ll take a while, but I can handle it.”

  Nyx looks at Cai and feels nervous because she’s not confident of her acting, “I don’t be needin’ my own goddum ship. And I’ve got no goddum crew.”

  “And no way to feed them. Still, it’s better than leaving it with pirates. Maybe I’ll hide it somewhere until we can find a crew to hire? Make it an anti-pirate ship, maybe?”

  Nyx nods, “Sparkin’ good idea!”

  “Hello?” the captain calls, “Ya be lettin’ us out o’ this sparkin’ room?”

  Cai pauses, “Ah, right. Donati, have the drone open the door to the adjacent room, then have it go to the engine room and look for survivors.”

  The drone moves and enters the hallway. The drone unlocks the doors to each of the crew quarters, and immediately retreats before the pirates can leave the rooms. As they pass by a maintenance hatch, Cai says, “The doors are unlocked. You have ten minutes.” A moment later, “Donati, have drone alpha reprogram the Hellish Abandoned’s nav computer to set a course to La La Land station ten minutes from now and have it dock there. After another ten minutes, lock the doors and vent all atmosphere from the ship, then have it return here to continue salvage and repairs from the Az Gaper to the Hellish Abandoned. If any crew resists, use anti-intruder protocols.” He turns to Nyx, “The crew will probably take control of the ship before it reaches La La Land Station, but this should get your old crew to rush and try to take it over too. Maybe…”

  Nyx thinks she understands his reasoning, but turns to watch the drones, “Okay.”

  Nyx watches the one on the Az Gaper closely. A pit rises in her stomach. Wrench is in there. Wrench was there when the engines exploded. He wouldn’t have enough oxygen. Was he hurt? Did he get spaced and fall into La La Land’s atmosphere?

  Cai puts a hand on her head, “Nyx. You’ll be okay.”

  He probably noticed her ears flattened against her head.

  Nyx didn’t feel okay. First, she finds out that the people who created her had murdered her siblings and would have murdered her too. Now she knew that the only person who had cared for her was gone as well.

  The drone stops at the drone airlock leading to the engineering section of the ship. None of the airlocks for the other sections had closed, which meant the area ahead had depressurized.

  The drone then cycles through the airlock and makes its way through and soon emerges from the drone tunnels, revealing the state of the Az Gaper’s engine room.

  It’s an absolute mess. Debris, bodies of three crew, and blood and gore float around the room. There aren’t any obvious holes leading into space, but the port wall’s destruction makes it obvious where the breach happened.

  The drone launches toward the nearest body. It’s Den. Blood stains his chest from countless holes, probably from shrapnel from the explosion. The next body is Tommi. He’s even worse than Den, and Nyx feels her stomach churn.

  This leaves the last body. It’s torn apart, and she can see an arm, leg, and gore floating nearby. She’s feeling nauseous as the drone drifts to the body.

  Cai puts his hand on hers. This is Wrench. It’s Wrench. He’d be in the most dangerous place, trying to keep the engine working.

  Nyx heaves as they see the front of the body. It’s torn open and blackened from the explosion. Flesh burned from bone so that the charred ribs and skull are visible to them. It’s impossible to tell if this person is Wrench just from looking at their face. She finally looks down. There’s a half-formed tail. The suit clumsily modified to fit it just like hers had been.

  Nyx unbuckles as she feels the need to vomit. She was no stranger to dead bodies. She wished she were. But this was the man who had been a father figure to her. Her siblings were distant memories. She’d just seen Wrench today. Seeing him like this… dead because of the captain’s greed.

  She made it three steps before she fell to her knees and vomited.

  Cai knelt beside her, clutching the same spot near his heart she’d seen him touching before as he silently rubbed her back as she sobbed between heaves.