voice sounded irritated and coarse. «I was only having a bit of fun!»
«Stop it, both of you!» the third man finally spoke up, his voice deep, but pained. «She’s our ticket out of here, not your entertainment, Pher!»
Mumbling and cursing, the blond man got up, stepping away. Serena thought if the wounded man was their high in command or not – he definitely looked the part. But, then again, so did Hunter.
«Are you okay?» Hunter turned to Serena, and she noticed his soft, comforting gaze.
«I’m fine!» she slapped his hand away in a sudden irritation to his concern. «Nothing I’m not used to.»
The woman noticed a deep frown on Hunter’s face. But before he could say anything else, the wounded man – Cipher – stumbled up.
«So…» he said, leaning with his arm on the wall to keep himself up. «Your captain is looking for gold?»
Serena nodded:
«At least, that’s what he said.»
«Let’s take a short walk, shall we?» Cipher gestured to the dark arch of a doorway at the end of the room.
Serena dared not to object, heading that way and feeling the men following her behind. She stepped through the arch, seeing the staircase, leading down – deeper into the building. Stepping down the steps, she was thinking if she would be of any help to these men and if it will guarantee her safety after.
The stairs took them to a small corridor, which was dim and slippery from all the stagnant water that accumulated there over the years. Serena walked on, stepping cautiously and noting the slippery green algae, which grew all over.
The corridor led them to a single room with a heavy door, which was slightly ajar. Serena stopped in front of it, wondering if she would be strong enough to swing it open.
Hunter stepped up and grabbed the door, his muscles bulging under his clothes. The woman swallowed hard, realising how strong he was and that he was definitely one of the soldiers the Company had. All three men were quite muscular, but not all Company soldiers were so – only those, who went on constant missions to capture, hunt down or retrieve people who ran from the Company.
As the door screeched quietly, Serena gasped, seeing the two stacks of golden bricks.
Her mind started calculating the potential profit they could get from selling such a find. With this they could easily replace their old ship and purchase all the needed devices to become a higher level scrapper crew.
She snapped herself out of shock, realising that even if she were to report this to the Captain – he would do nothing to help her, forcing her to load all this all on her own. And, after they deliver this to one of the sales representatives, she would get nothing from all this treasure.
«You said, he was looking for gold.» Cipher said. «Here it is.»
Hunter walked inside the vault and picked up one of the gold ingots, carrying it back to Serena.
«Lure your captain here. Show him this ingot.» Hunter said, meeting her suspicious gaze. «We’ll have a trap on the staircase, making him trip and fall to his death.»
«You’ll trust me with an ingot?» Serena asked, feeling her fingers trembling again.
The man nodded, handing her the golden ingot.
«Go. We’ll be waiting.» Cipher added.
Serena took a very careful step back, watching how the men would react at her leaving, but they didn’t even flinch. Slowly, she turned and walked off, wondering if their plan would even work. She ascended the steps and walked through the building to the exit, glancing at the ship the captain called «the Rust Bucket». Pressing the ingot to her chest, Serena walked up to her captain sitting on a foldable chair with a large bottle of moonshine in his hand.
«Find anything, you worthless whore?» the captain spit to the floor.
Serena offered him the ingot. The man’s eyes widened, then he squinted and rose, watching her attentively with a deep frown. She waited for him to say something, but he struck her, throwing down the ships ramp into a pile of garbage.
«Take me there, bitch.» he walked off, watching her struggle to get back up to her feet.
The woman headed back in, feeling her jaw aching and a thin line of blood running down on one side of her mouth. A minor injury – the Ol’ Fart could do so much worse.
Reaching the stairs, she continued her way, not even thinking if the three men were fast enough to set up the trap. Barely half-way down the staircase the captain grunted, throwing the empty bottle at her and making her trip and tumble down the stairs. She came to a stop at the bottom, baring her teeth, but not allowing herself to make a sound, feeling the intense pain the bottle caused, hitting her at the back of the head, and the fall, after which her arm burst in so much pain that it was obvious she had broken the bone.
«You whore!» the captain hissed from the top.
Serena tried her best to crawl aside – further from the man, who looked like he was about to run down and beat her to death. But the captain took a step, tripped, and tumbled down the stairs, each hit accompanied with cracks and grunts, until he slammed into the wall and remained still. The woman looked at him, cradling her broken arm, and realised that he wasn’t breathing.
Chapter 2. Captain
«I have recorded an accidental death of Captain John Summers.» the ships AI said as soon as Serena stepped into the ship. «As per protocol One Three One Five Seven D, you are now promoted to acting captain. Welcome aboard, Captain Serena.»
The young woman froze mid-step, a realisation crashing upon her. She was free from the Ol’ Fart. She was now rid of her torment as his toy that he could torture and use as he pleased. Her collar clicked and fell to the floor, clanking against the metal.
Serena felt her body trembling and suddenly growing cold.
«What are your orders, Captain?» the AI asked.
Captain… she really was the captain of this old scrapper ship. Could she really escape her pitiful life of a slave, caught somewhere long ago? Or will she need to return the ship and find her living elsewhere?
«I am detecting three human signatures approaching, captain.» the AI’s voice made Serena snap out of her shocked state.
The woman turned and saw the three men approaching. Swallowing a lump, formed in her throat, Serena spoke out:
«Lyssa, record that I have found three men that crash landed in the vicinity not long ago. No distress signal has been sent due to their communication systems failing. We’ll take them aboard and help them to whatever destination they need.»
«Noted, captain.» AI replied. «What about the cargo? Captain Summers input a find I am not detecting in the carts.»
«I’ll get the cargo a bit later. One of the men is injured and in need of medical attention.»
«Infirmary is switched on and ready to receive the patient,
