Chapter 21: Critical Mass — Part 9

“Damn it Xeti, bypass the power couplers before we start to lose acceleration. One more hit and they own us. Ferret, get your ass back to life support and turn the damn thing off. We need the power for weapons, not fresh air and water.”

Shadow brought the Mercy around hard and fast; struggling with damaged tachyon pulse flaps and warped ballistic nozzles. The Ridgeback got a square hit in, a mass round deflecting off the nose of the Mercy. Didi’s panel exploded in her face, knocking her unconscious. Blood flowed from her nose and mouth, and one of her eyes was already starting to swell shut. Shadow let out a savage snarl, opened communications.

“You drew blood, pirate bastard, and hurt a good friend. There can be no mercy from me.” Shadow closed communications — she didn’t want to hear North’s arrogant retort.

Ferret rushed back from life support, and eased Didi to the ground to work over her wounds. The Mercy took another hit, shaking violently. Xeti fell into the crew quarters, a look of terror on his face.

“Brace yourselves.” He said, slamming the hatch shut and sealing it tightly, placing himself between the door and the rest of the crew.

The Mercy shook violently, its frame moaning in complaint then drifted in a straight line.

“Engines took a direct hit, the plasma field collapsed.” Xeti said.

“No shit.” Shadow snarled back. “We’ve got trickle power. Roxy, divert all power to the pulse panels so we can get the Mercy facing the Ridgeback. Put the lights on battery, and damn it, be quick about things. We’re wasting what little hope we have on convenience. Empty our cannon and keep firing until there’s nothing left of us or them.”

Shadow turned vicious, her face distorted to an almost inhuman visage by the rage that tore through her. Didi let out a moan, sat up, holding her head. The front screen went black, and Shadow slammed her fist three times against the monitor’s edge, which brought the screen back on line, though it sputtered out information through visible distortions. Shrugging off Ferret, Didi pushed back to her seat and began working over her controls. The Ridgeback fired its plasma cannons, knocking the Mercy at an angle and disabling the forward view screen completely. Shadow studied the Ridgeback via a tiny radar screen, adjusting the panels until the light was brightest, ignoring the forward view. When it was within the first ring of the screen, Shadow opened fire. She emptied the batteries within minutes, and the Radar showed a cloud of explosion, signaling a continued stream of direct hits. The Ridgeback, invisible to anything but radar, began to fall back.

Firing blind and guessing by radar as to when the Ridgeback would be most vulnerable, Shadow and Didi had still managed to secure a direct hit. Without engine power, the batteries had no hope of charging to levels that would allow Shadow to defend herself from the Ridgeback, should it return to attack her. The Mercy was capable of sporadic fire at best. The Mercy was in no condition for further combat, and with her weapons and pulse deflectors exhausted, the Ridgeback could board her ship and take them for everything.

“Be ready to be boarded, and fight to the last man.” Shadow said quietly.

Roxy moaned. “I only have a few internal defenses still online.” She said. “I won’t be much help.”

“I don’t expect you to be.” Shadow snapped back. “Be quiet now, child, while we see what North intends for us.”

The Ridgeback approached them slowly, circling twice. Shadow kept the nose in sync with the Ridgeback, hoping her cannons would be charged enough to get even one hit in when the enemy approached.

“What happens now?” Didi asked in a whisper.

“They’ll force their way aboard, take our ship. North will gloat first, however, so we’ve got a few minutes. Pirates always work that way.” Xeti said, completely invisible, and to her left.