Derelict
Derelict
"Suit's good, Kay. Comms check."
"Check, check," Kaylatetketten Pokwolmketten heard his voice around his helmet. This was his first time wearing his A-Suit on a contract since he became veteran Contractor Esau Hazlitt's student several months ago. They'd been tracking this one during several jobs, a Kem named Depttul Ukikhokkem -- Wanted on Earth for stealing data and account information from a UNFSA Bank.
After much busywork and many dead ends, they got their break: He'd booked a cabin on a passenger liner to the Imperial homeworld, Kemakkar. The prospect of snatching him on Kemakkar worried the pair; the reception for Contactors is less kind the more populated a planet gets, although for Kayluk, it was more the proximity to his family -- Imperial nobles known as Vrukkem. On the way, however, they found the ship he was travelling on adrift with only its transponder active.
"You sure about this? If there's some kind of disaster surely it's better to leave it for authorities?"
"Disaster or no, our pay's there, "Esau grunted, slipping on and activating the magnetic locks on his own helmet, "We spent a good deal of time and money finding out he was even on that ship. We might be collecting a corpse, but some pay's better than no pay."
Esau turned toward the airlock door, stashing a bodybag in a suit pocket.
"Alice, how's the ship looking?"
"As before: No visible damage and no life onboard. All systems with the exception of transponder are offline, and I'm unsure how, being emergency power is also offline. It's unknown if lifepods or other safety measures have been engaged as I cannot access the ship's computer."
"This looks wrong to me, Ees. I've never known a ship in trouble NOT to send a distress signal," Kayluk nervously eyed one of the ship's many cameras, "The...AI never mentioned emergency power being online. Something's seriously wrong here."
Esau snorted. AI use was common for humanity but Taboo amongst Kem, where development, use or possession is punishable by death. Human ships got away with this by treaty, but even use in Imperial space was strictly regulated, on pain of death. Kayluk had spent his life hearing horror stories of AI, and suddenly finding himself living on a ship administered by one was a hell of an experience for the young Kem.
"Kaylatetketten is correct," Alice chimed in, "I have no records of a single distress call going out and the rarity of a disaster killing all power increases the chances this was no accident."
"All the more reason for the two of us to check it out," Esau retorted, "In any case, we're ready."
Kayluk bit his tongue, anticipating what comes next.
"Decompressing."
The lights remained on, but even through his suit, Kayluk felt a change as all the air was pumped from the airlock and stored for their re-entry.
The airlock opened to the void. His visor illuminated the way, aided by a distant star. Kayluk's helmet filled with his own staggered breaths, earning him a stern 'Take it easy, kid' from Esau as he operated a harpoon which hung from the airlock walls. It sent a long wire over to the ship, sticking to the hull with a high-strength electromagnet.
Slowly, they pulled themselves along a 200 yard stretch. Esau in front, Getting to the hull, Esau slowly applied a roll to a window.
"No atmo," Esau said over comms, "No worry about decompression."
The thermite activated, it felt weird with no sound.
Kayluk felt self conscious, and perhaps slightly naked. They brought no weapons owing to no life onboard, and both knew if the ship was swarmed by drones, shooting into it was as futile as trying to put out a fire by blowing on it. He also hoped it wouldn't be too long. Even though Kayluk's newer suit provided 3 hours of air, as opposed to Esau's 1.5 hours, he always felt nervous at living off borrowed time. It took roughly 20 minutes to cut through.
When it finished, Esau jabbed and pried at it with some breaching tool. The hull gave way.
"Making entry," Esau said.
Kayluk followed. Inside was pitch-black, and they seemed to have entered a private cabin. Their magboots kept them on ground as all manner of empty bags and their former contents floated before them, some lightly rapping against Kayluk's visor.
Esau lead the way, prying open any doors which weren't already open.
"Strange to say this, Kay, but the lack of bodies worries me."
"Why?"
"You notice any valuables flying about?"
"No...", Kayluk looked around, "Clothing, toiletries and such. Every bag around seems to have been opened, though. Maybe everyone made it out."
Esau sharply chuckled.
"Folks don't exactly risk dying gasping for air for trinkets and shit."
Time being of the essence, they split up to cover more of the ship. Alice helpfully provided blueprints for the class of ship, giving their positions on their visors. Kayluk took the cabins, Esau, the crew sections. Yet more empty rooms greeted him, It seemed almost routine when he pried open a door, only to be greeted with something big slamming into Kayluk's visor sending him falling back, screaming.
"Kay? You good?"
"Body."
Above him is the dull, caved-in face of an old Human. Trailing him was a wavy crimson streak.
Kayluk got to his feet, gingerly touching the corpse, spinning it round.
"You see over feed? Entrance wound back of his head, Hands bound with nylon. Looks like an execution."
After a pause Esau replied, "He ain't our guy. Alice, pay attention to our feeds. Kay, you keep looking."
With a shiver audible over comms, Kayluk got back to work. From here, they found bodies. Esau found several, similarly bound and shot. Kayluk found several more, all in their cabins. In a large general quarters, with bunks stacking all the way to the ceiling, he found several floating about. Soon Kayluk found he'd made a circuit of the cabins. All that was left was the lounge, surrounded by the ring of cabins.
It was a horrorshow. Kayluk uttered a orison as he saw what was perhaps 40 souls floating around. Mostly Kem, some Humans, all bound. Visible on the backs of their heads were gunshot wounds.
"Jesus," Esau said, "It's a fucking massacre."
It took Kayluk a moment.
"I've gotta check all these, right Ees?"
"Only the Kem," Kayluk heard back, Esau sounded strained, "I'm thinking Pirates."
"Pirates? This deep in Imperial space?"
"They're getting bolder. With instability on some worlds, I'm thinking there's less ships patrolling. The number of cabins on this thing -- Alice, how many are there?"
"A Typical passenger ship of the Yuikkulkkar class carries 2-400 passengers, depending on arrangements."
"Yeah, this ain't all of 'em."
"You think there's more bodies?"
"No. Passenger ships tend to be light on classic plunder. They probably gathered everyone there and inspected them and credentials. I'm thinking slaving."
"_Slaving?_It's long been outlawed. Ever since Sakkem's first law -- Slaving's the gravest crime in the face of the Gods and --"
"Don't mean it don't still go on," Esau said, "You're homeworld, you wouldn't see it, but the more...frontier Vrukkem and merchant families buy up slaves all the time. Everyone you see here didn't make the cut."
Kayluk wondered how something as horrible as slavery could ever go on despite being outlawed by holy law. Sakkem's First Law is the foundation of Kemmar culture and law. Slavery, torture and needlessly cruel executions were outlawed, condemned by Sakkem himself as some of the gravest crimes Kem could commit.
With a disgusted grunt, Kayluk begun the harrowing process, needing to get a clear look at their faces -- their caved in, mangled faces, so Alice could confirm or reject. It's clear they used something high-calibre to kill these people. During his time floating with them, he noticed bits of viscera, skull and brain matter illuminated by his visor and suit light. Kayluk fought to keep his breakfast down.
During all this, Kayluk noticed none worse the uniforms of crew and officers.
"I'll grab the drives and box, then I'll head back to the Barbelo. I'm approaching my airtime. I don't think I'll come back. The dude's got skills, they've probably taken him. If he ain't there, our pay's gone."
Kayluk hated the thought 0f being alone on a ship full of corpses.
"Hey Ees, you find any crew? There's none here."
"None in crew quarters or the bridge. They've probably been taken for ransom; crews are more valuable that way, they make a good chunk ransoming crew back to their companies or families, if the ship they hit is small enough. This one's owned by a corp: they'll pay, they got insurance for this kind of thing."
After more no-matches, Esau announced, "Heading back. Me and Alice'll keep in touch."
He was alone. Kayluk continued, doing his best to navigate a zero gravity environment which involved propelling himself from any surface or object he could. Kayluk apologised profusely to every Kem he handled roughly; which was pretty much all of them -- His movements were far from elegent and handling bodies in a Zero-G environment demanded roughness, especially when Kayluk started inspecting the same corpses, he had to give them his hardest push, sequestering them off to the side. Kayluk darkly noted these Kem were being rejected a second time for something.
Kayluk inspected the last corpse, a Kem. No match. With a relieved sigh, he pushed from the ceiling, activating his magboots once more.
Slamming to the ground, he gave the place a final look. He noticed a Human corpse, his hand cuffed to one of the bolted-in tables. He noticed in his mouth was jammed a jet-black device. Kayluk got closer.
"Hey Ees, you seeing this?"
"Yeah," He said after some delay, "Don't look like a weapon."
Gingerly, he pried it from the stiff maw. As he pulled it out, he felt a subtle mechanical click.
"Greetings, Imperial currs!" A hoarse voice came over his comms, "Like our handiwork? This haul's a good one. Couple more like this and we'll all get to retire on Rinxtirhom! But enough about our future, you best start worrying about yours. You only got...Let me think; I'll be generous: about ten minutes before the bombs in the reactor go off."
"Shit!" Kayluk hissed, deactivating his magboots.
"Have fun scrambling out!" The message ended with a wheezing cackle.
Kayluk grabbed hold of anything, tables, carts, floating vending machines, anything which could propel him.
"Bomb in-!"
"I heard! I'll be ready at the harpoon! Alice, keep the engine ready. This'll be close."
Kayluk silently praised Imperial Health and Safety law as he pulled himself along the bars in the corridors. Kayluk frantically glanced in every room, looking for their entrance; these rooms blended into one another and he'd come some distance. It didn't help seeing the corpses he'd saw earlier suspended. Panic set in; his breaths grew ragged. He half-thought to tell Esau to save himself and the ship.
"I've marked your entry point on the ship," Alice's monotone voice said over comms, and at that moment, a blip on his visor, even helpfully giving his distance from it.
Kayluk grew conscious of his burning arms and lungs, how heavy his breaths drew. He was on the edge of exhaustion as the distance counter taunted him, creeping along. He did anything he could to speed himself along, once again kicking off walls so hard that his legs started aching too. He soon got to their entrym seeing through the door a large hole where a window used to be. He had to be smart. If he kicked too hard, he could end up out in space. At that point, he'd wish he stayed behind to be incinerated in a nuclear explosion.
Kayluk kicked off the wall, grabbing the doorway. He kicked again to the cabin wall. Looking through their entrance, he saw the cable and Barbelo in the distance. Esau at the harpoon controls.
Kayluk kicked off the wall, hitting the doorway. Pulling himself back around, he kicked again to the cabin wall. Jostling to the entrance, he saw the Barbelo in the distance with Esau at the harpoon controls.
"Grab on!"
Kayluk took several breaths and a silent prayer. And jumped.
After several terrifying moments floundering, he grabbed the tensile cable, almost hugging it with both arms. Then he floated as Hazlitt disengaged the magnet, pulling him back towards the ship.
"It's been nine minutes and twenty seconds. I'm moving the ship for your safety, The harpoon cable has been magnetised," Alice said.
The pair's hurried protests were silenced by the sudden hard jolt of the ship going full burn.
Jamming his eyes shut, Kayluk never screamed as hard in his life, never felt such terror. He didn't care who heard. He finally_did_lose his breakfast. Then the silent torrent came, shaking him to his soul. He didn't know when he stopped screaming or the ship stopped accelerating, he only hugged the wire tight as he soon felt gravity's harsh embrace.
Something rolled him on his back, his helmet came off. Seeing Esau look down, a terrorised glint in his eye, he seemed eased by Kayluk's ragged breaths.
"Goddamn you, Alice! You could've killed him!"
"I assessed an 88% chance of his survival. Had we stayed, the odds for the both of you were zero."
Esau hissed a curse under his breath and turned back down.
"You good?"
"Next time just let me get blown up."
Kayluk was allowed double time, 10 minutes to shower; Alice's way of apologising for dragging him across space and making him throw up in his suit -- Which he'd have to clean out after. As he really tried to work out the puke from his fur, Alice relayed the information recovered.
There were 277 souls on-board, including 40 crew. An attack on the ship's computer, likely aided by a crew member, allowed the Pirates to board with ease. Surviving security footage is scrambled, but several fragments survive, such as the All-Kem pirates corralling everybody into the lounge, several where people were murdered, People being stunned and dragged off. Alice said it's footage that should be able to identify the pirates and their collaborator.
From all footage recovered, and of their excursion, Alice calculated 54 passengers were murdered. The rest taken for slaving or ransom. Alice recommended giving the nearest Imperial world the black box and drives so Imperial authorities can properly investigate and contact families.
Kayluk shook beneath the scorching water. That there are Kem evil enough to take, let alone buy and use slaves, terrified him. Evil seemed to him like a relic of the distant past; modern enlightened people couldn't POSSIBLY be capable of it. That Sakkem's first law was being so flagrantly ignored meant perhaps the empire isn't in good a state as he thought.
He was innocent. Maybe not innocent, even: Oblivious. He'd grown up in a Homeworld Vrukkem bubble. Sakkem's law was judiciously upheld and its guidance has ensured The Empire'd flourished for 2'000 years, and wouldn't weaken for another 10'000 more.
Now Kayluk had his doubts.