Summon the Thunder

“That’s what she told me,” Qui

By way of reply, a surge of blue energy crackled across the sca

“Qui

“Yeah,” Qui

Pe

Squeezing his eyes shut, Qui

Pe

“We are if you let me figure this out,” Qui

“That ought to make for an undetectable infiltration,” Pe

Qui

What is this idiot doing?Pe

“I’m trying to remove the memory core before this thing starts transmitting and wipes it clean,” Qui

Clearing his throat, Pe

“Looks that way, huh?” the pilot replied. The air of the cargo bay was now tinged with the smell of heated metal, an aroma Pe

“Not to be a nag,” he said, “but what about the data you’re supposed to replace it with?”

Setting the cutter down next to his feet, Qui

“I’m thinking that plan’s pretty much down the toilet,” the pilot said as he dropped the section of hull plate to the deck, its clatter echoing across the cargo bay. Stepping closer so he could examine the probe’s now-exposed i

“There,” he said a moment later as he pulled the device from its mounting. “One data core.”

“Very deft touch you’ve got there, Qui

Qui

Pe

“Yeah,” Qui

Not with the luck we’ve been having,Pe

“Now,” Qui

The rest of his sentence was cut off by the sound of an alarm siren wailing through the cargo bay, bouncing off the bulkheads and driving like a spike directly into Pe

“What the hell is that about?”

Qui

Uh-oh. Pe

Both men ignored the muffled wailings of Armnoj on their way to the cockpit. By the time Pe

“We’re being hailed,” he said as his fingers moved to the communications interface. He tapped a series of switches, and Pe

“ …power down your engines and prepare to be boarded. Surrender your vessel or you will be destroyed.”

“Who is it?” Pe

Qui

“Bad?” Pe

Qui

So far as Pe

“They don’t have to kill us,” Pe

The hold, like the other areas of the ship they had seen after Qui

“I’m guessing this isn’t a hospital ship,” Qui

“Pirates,” Armnoj replied from where he stood near the center of the room and in no danger of brushing or rubbing up against any of the hold’s grimy contents. “They run in packs near the Yerad system, and I’ve heard they’re spreading out into the Taurus Reach. There’s nothing to stop them, after all.”