"This is the next job," Anders said. A large ship appeared before them. "A cargo transport from Vogega, according to the information the captain got, they are transporting datapads for the Sorcosa system. Mostly models from Mulsily, Arcant and Pilos. All are good companies, and more importantly, unlike Tolera, easy to resell, that means we can get good credits for them, and we have a market ready for them. You'll be happy to know Crimson, that after this we're heading to Samalia." Alex was seated with forty other men and women around a dozen tables. This was the usual types of meetings Anders gave for them to get ready for the coming jobs. This would be Alex's fourth one since joining Anders' team. Over the last two months he'd become adept at taking down security guards with a minimum of injuries, to himself, the guards tended to be in bad shape once he was done with them. "Ship, distribute the data packets to everyone." Datapads beeped and those who had theirs looked the information over. Alex checked his, but instead of having received the ship's layout and where he was expected to be positioned, his packet contained information about the ship's registry tag ID, as well as the ship's manufacturer, when it had been built, the computer's model, and a list of personnel. He looked up to Anders. "The captain wants you on the bridge for this one. He said you'd want to do some research. Alex nodded and connected to the open net. The ID wasn't useful. He couldn't do a direct search on the ship, that would alert people. So he looked at the manufacturer, what iteration of the computer's model was used during that time. Then it turned out he did find a use of the Registry ID. He looked through the company that owned the ship for all the maintenance information on their ships. Than visually looked for the ID, this told him the computer had been upgraded twelve years ago. He did a comparative search between the personnel list, and all the schools that had coercion courses, and found three people who might be the ship's coercionist. He studied their school records to get a sense of how they worked. A full day before the ship was to reach their position, Alex was confident he could take control of it. * * * * * Alex was searching through the open net. "How much longer until we can start moving, Mister Crimson?" the captain asked. The ship was currently dark, drifting along with only life support and the ship's computer functional. Where was it? They had the cargo ship's comm signature, but he couldn't find it anywhere. It shouldn't matter if no one was connected to the net, ships always emitted their signatures. The only way for a signature to not be on the net, was for the entirety of the communication system on the ship to be deactivated. "Captain, is there any chances they have something else on board?" Alex asked. "They've cut all contact with the net. The only reason I can think for them to do that is if they have something they want to keep secret." "Nothing I got indicated hidden cargo, but if my contact didn't know about it, she couldn't tell me. What does it mean for you if they aren't on the net?" "It means I can't hide us from them." The captain nodded. "Marish, get ready for our standard approach." "Sir, we're not setup for it," she replied. "I'm going to have to wait until they've past and then crawl behind them until their propulsion hides us." "How long will that take?" "At least twelve hours." The captain activated his comm. "Anders, you can stand down, we're looking at a twelve hour delay." He terminated the call without waiting for a reply. "Mister Crimson, what does this mean for you taking control of their ship? Datapad are delicate instruments. I can't afford to have too many of them damaged." Alex didn't have to think about it long. "I can do it, but I'm going to have to be on their ship. I'll also need someone to keep security off me while I'm working." "I'll let Anders know. If you don't need to do anything right now, go rest." * * * * * Alex didn't go to his room. He ran to the breach room. He didn't ask the ship for Terrence's location, it was the only place he could be right now. The crowd got thicker as he got closer, men and women leaving the room to go rest. He pushed his way through the people leaving it. He figured Terrence would be with Anders, closest to the airlock, so at he back of the current crowd. He was right. He, Anders, Barbara and Zephyr were leaning against the wall. "Terrence, I need your datapad," Alex said, taking it out of the man's hands. "What are you doing here?" Anders asked. "I thought you preferred the bridge crew to us." Alex didn't look up. Terrence's index needed to be cleaned up. It didn't help anything if none of the files were ordered. "I guess the captain hasn't had the time to contact you yet. The delay is that I can't establish contact with the ship. We need to do the approach the normal way, and I'm going to have to take control of the ship from inside it." He looked at Terrence. "Can you bring up the ship's plan? I can't find it in there." Anders handed him his datapad as Terrence took his. "Here, it's already pulled up. Why do you need it?" "I have to find the best place to take control of the ship." He zoomed on what was going to be their entry point and looked around from there. No communication terminal close by, not even one within the airlock. That was weird. Alex expected a comm console would be useful there. He didn't dwell on that, those who used the ship knew what they needed, not him. "There's a computer lab here," Terrence said, pointing on his datapad. Alex found it on his own, two levels up, on the aft side of center. He didn't want to use it, the memory of the life support system locking him in while trying to suffocate him was still clear in his mind. He look for something closer to the airlock. Didn't these people have any need to talk with the ship? The ship was newer than this one, could they have moved to a system using only datapads? That didn't seem secure, but then again, coercionists weren't involved in designing ships. "Okay, This comm station is the closest to where we're going in." It was one level lower than the computer lab, but further aft. "Anders, I'm going to need someone to cover me while I take control of their system." Anders crossed his arms over his chest as he glared at Alex. "I'll do it," Zephyr said. "Me too," Terrence added. "I need you patrol the corridors," Anders stated. "No you don't," Zephyr replied. "You already have twenty eight people doing that. Two less isn't going to change much, and once Crimson has control of the ship, none of them are going to be needed." Anders looked at Alex, instead of Zephyr. "So now you're poaching people from my team." Alex sighed. "I'm not stealing anyone. I still work for you remember? I'm just trying to do the job the captain assigned me, to the best of my ability." Alex looked up from the datapad as a thought occurred to him. He smiled. "And in a way that you'll still get the credit. If you don't want me to use someone from the team, that's fine, I'm sure Anna and Rebecca can give me cover while I work." Alex was sure he heard Anders grind his teeth. "Fine." The man pushed away from the wall and past them. "You two are with him." "You have a way of pissing off Anders," Terrence said. "This time, he can take it up with the captain. I'm just doing what he needs me to do." Alex looked back at the datapad. "And frankly, Anders should just get that stick out of his ass and relax." "I wouldn't let him hear that," Zephyr said. Alex shrugged. "Okay." He indicated the ship's layout. "This is the route we're going to take." * * * * * Alex, Terrence and Zephyr rushed inside the ship with Anders, but they went left, away from the hold. Guns in hand they ran along the corridor. "How long do we have?" Alex asked. "Depends on where the closest security are." Terrence answered. "They knew we're here to moment we blew their airlock, but they still have to get here." As he finished talking, a woman in gold and red uniform rounded the far corner. Before she raised her gun Terrence shot her down. "What's with the bright colors?" Alex asked as they ran past her body. "Every ship I've boarded the security's been wearing almost garish colors." He stopped halfway to the next intersection and pressed the wall. The panel clicked and slid away. "Security companies want to be easy to recognize," Zephyr said, scanning the length of the corridor. Terrence looked up and down the ladder the panel revealed. He put his gun away and climbed it. Alex waited for him to stop two levels higher, open that panel, and indicate the way was clear before climbing. Zephyr joined them a moment later. "The communication panel is that way." Alex had memorized the route. "If we're lucky no one's going to come down this way until after I've started." "Only thing luck gets you is dead," Zephyr commented. He took position behind Alex while Terrence led the way. They made it to the panel without encountering anyone, which made Alex nervous. Even if the alarm was silent, the crew had to have been informed of the attack. None essential personnel should be heading back to their cabins for safety. All the room in this part of the ship were cabins, they should have encountered someone coming here. He could tell the other two liked this as much as he did. "Get ready, they'll be here in minutes." Alex put the ear piece in. "I hate being this exposed," Terrence grumbled. "Alright," Alex said, bringing up the menu. "Talk to me." Silence. "Playing coy isn't going to help you. You know I'm here, start telling me how I'm not going to get away with this." Still silence. With a few commands he made his way behind the menu and paused at what he saw, or rather didn't see. There was hardly any code behind the menu. "What are you playing at?" No reply. He studied the code that was there, just what was needed for the menu to be displayed and one other line. Alex cursed softly and took out his comm unit. "Anders, tell me the cargo's there." "Of course it's there," the man replied, sounding annoyed. Alex heard weapon fire behind him. "I can see the crates." "Check that the crates have the datapads. This is a trap. There's no code for me to use, no contact with the ship's system." Zephyr and Terrence glanced at Alex with a worried expression. Alex heard Anders grunt, then something clatter to the floor. "The crates are full." "Okay, i can't do anything here, we're heading down to give you a hand." Alex ran back toward the ladder. "If this is a trap, where's the security?" Terrence asked, at his side. "My guess is they were setup for me to go to the computer lab." "How did they know you'd get on the ship?" Zephyr asked. "I don't know. Maybe we've become predictable." Alex hadn't kept track of the kind of cargo they'd stolen each time he'd taken over a ship, but it was clear they'd attracted someone's attention. The rounded the corner and collided with a group of guards. Alex ended up on the floor with a woman, his gun clattering away. He rolled away and got to a crouch as she aimed her gun at him, but another of the guard fell on her and the shot missed Alex. He got up and kicked her across the face. The other guard turned and aimed his gun at Alex, but he grabbed the hand and twisted it until he heard bones break, then a kick to the head and the man stopped moving. Alex pulled out a knife and turned, ready for who was next, but the four other guards were down, moaning and bleeding. Terrence had a cut on his arm. Zephyr was fine. Two guards were at the ladder, but Terrence shot them before they could react. They hurried down, by passing the level they'd arrived on and continued three more, to the level where the hold access was. They had to shoot their way in through the guards to join Anders and his people who had improvised a fort with crates. Datapads littered the floor. Alex thought for a moment Anders would have him shot before they reached it, but none of the pirates hit him by the time he managed to make it through the space between two crates. A moment later the guards stopped shooting. "My dear pirates," A woman's voice resounded through the hold. "Now that you're all in the same place, I'd like to draw your attention to the top shelves." Alex looked up. Large crates were lined up against the hold's ceiling. As he watched the front of the crates hinged down and large guns became visible. They all turned and pointed at them. "We are so fucked," someone said. "If anyone had any bright ideas, I'm all ears," Anders said. The question was addressed to everyone, but he was glaring at Alex. "Don't look at me. I coerce computers, not people." "And if you'd actually done that we wouldn't be in this situation." "We can discuss what is and isn't my fault with the captain, once we're back on our ship." Anders looked ready to reply, but he looked over Alex. Alex followed his gaze. Guards were joining those already there, surrounding them. At least a hundred of them, which, with the heavy weapons hanging over their heads ensured they wouldn't go anywhere. The woman's voice came again. "I hope this has been long enough for you to realize the futility of resisting. As I speak, my coercionist is taking over your ship's systems. You have no where to go. Put your weapons down and surrender peacefully." Alex looked to Anders to tell him he needed to get back to the ship, but the man was glaring at anyone looking his way. "Don't any of you drop their guns. We're not surrendering, do you hear me?" "We're not going to survive this," someone said. "I don't care. We're getting as many of us back to the ship." "Why?" someone else asked. "They're taking control of it." "Because Crimson can kick them out." Alex nodded. He could do much more now that they had established a line of communication. "I'm with Anders," Barbara said. "Me too," added Rebecca. "We're part of this crew because we refused to submit before. I'm not doing it now." Multiple nods of agreement. Anders looked the group over. "If any of you don't think we should be fighting our way back, Then stay here, and once we come back to get you, because we're going to, you can explain to the captain why he wasted his time saving your sorry lives when he did." He turned and looked over the barricade. The few who had been silent before were now uncomfortably looking at the others, before making sure they had their guns at the ready. Alex no longer had his, so he took out two knives. He eyed Zephyr's harness and made a mental note to get one after this, the extra knives and ease of access made up for looking like a walking knife rack. "I am not seeing any of you putting down your weapons," the woman's voice said. There was a hint of disappointment in her tone. "I had hoped the realization you were over matched would have knocked some sense into you." Alex looked up and he thought he saw some of the heavy guns shudder. "I will try to keep some of you alive, but precision fire isn't these guns strength. I am giving you one last chance to surrender." Anders turned around, looked the group over and gave a satisfied nod. "On my word we rush them." The communication system let out a loud squeak, then the lights flickered. Anders looked to Alex, who shrugged. He wasn't the one doing this, for a moment he thought it was Asyr, but he'd seen her among the assembled people. "Now!" Anders yelled, as the guns fired. But instead of firing at them, the guns' aim was random, hitting floor, walls, crates, security and the pirates alike. Alex jumped the crate and threw a knife at the closest guard. He threw himself to the ground as someone aimed a gun at him, light flashed over his head, when he rolled back to his feet the guard was down a hole smoking out of his chest. Alex grabbed her gun and ran, firing at anyone who stood in his way. He was among the first to reach the umbilical, Ander's insistence on his team ran every day was paying off. Through it and on the other side he saw bright colors of the guards, and shot two of them. Three more going down from the fires of the people with Alex. He'd expected them there, but the guards had clearly not expected anyone to come back, let alone shooting. Alex ran past the lift, he wasn't putting himself in a locked box until he had full control of the ship. The panel revealing the ladder was already removed, and he heard the clanging of boots on the rung. There hadn't been anyone before him so he glanced up to confirmed bright colors and fired multiple time. Moving out of the way as three bodies dropped. Then he was climbing. At he sound of someone following him he aimed down, to look at Asyr, and Rebecca behind her. On the forth level he exited and ran. He didn't encounter anyone in the corridor, the entire crew had gone to the other ship except for the bridge crew, and the security forced hadn't made it up this far yet. The door to the computer lab opened at his command and he sat down before the main console. Asyr took a seat at the auxiliary desk, and Rebecca placed herself in the door. With a grin Alex put the ear piece in and activated the console, It was time to teach that invader who was in charge here.