Sin and Grace - 37 (Patreon)

The Command Deck doors hissed open as Evander re-exerted his access. How the hell he was doing this when we had been deliberately disabled too far away from a comm buoy to even call for speedy aid was a mystery.

That explanation he'd given for piggybacking his way in through Sin's enhancements would only make sense if he was within short-range comm distance of Cassandra, which implied that he was on a nearby ship what just wasn't coming to our aid for some reason—or he was hidden on the Cassandra somewhere.

Neither option appealed, but I didn't have time to question the only assistance I had readily to hand. Wasp already had a lead on me and I charged out of the doors as soon as the gap was big enough to let me through.

The corridor was littered with the evidence of Sin's attempt to remotely impede Wasp. Disabled shipbots littered the floor, piled up around a central point. I could see where Wasp had kicked through the piles to get past them.

"He used an Interdiction charge," Evander explained shortly, still clinging to my shoulder. "Fortunately, we were out of range. It seems that it was just the shipboard-safe personal defense version so the range on the pulse is not wide. He got to the lounge before I regained control of the access permissions. Hurry."

Evander fed me a little backdated video of Wasp catching himself on the edge of a bulkhead as he skidded to a stop in front of the entrance of the crew lounge. He pulled the zapper out of his belt and readied it before the doors slid open. On the screen, my crew scattered from where they'd been huddled around Amanda, who was on her back half in Doc's lap.

Elaine moved fastest and threw herself behind the sofa, taking cover. Wasp caught Coro halfway through standing up and he fell to the ground, stunned. Brando went down next, still slow from his head injury but it took three shots for Wasp to put him down. Doc grabbed a heavy tabletop ornament and tried to brain Wasp with it, but took a zap to the shoulder and went down hard.

Amanda was the only one who did not move when the door slid open. Her face moved behind her closed faceplate as she screamed what I assume was a string of profanities, telling me she was alive and intact, but her limbs were locked into place.

He'd locked her into her own armor.

I reached the crew lounge door and it became obvious that Wasp knew I'd arrived. He called out to me from inside.

"Too late, Bubbles," he taunted me. "Put the wrench down and surrender or we find out what this little toy does when I discharge it right into this bitch's ear—or don't. I'm always interested to see how 'semi' these semi-lethal weapons really are. In my experience, it's really all about how you use them."

I put my back up against the bulkhead outside the lounge and shouted back, "The choices you make beginning now will determine whether you live long enough for us to surrender you to a Fleet patrol ship" I warned him. "We've disabled your gizmo. My partner and I have control of the ship."

Wasp made a derisive noise. "Your partner? Thanks for confirming my suspicions. You tell that bitch Ananke to get in here or I'll start sending her girlfriend out to you in pieces. I've still got a knife on me that'll do the job just fine."

"Sin isn't here," I lied. "She's been out of contact since before you took the ship. Why don't you tell me where she is?"

Elaine's stricken whimper punched me right in the heart and I would buy her all the drinks she needed in order to forgive me later, once this was over. For now, I didn't want Wasp to know Sin was still alive. I was pretty sure before, but now I knew it for sure.

Wasp was afraid of her.

'Keep him talking,' Evander murmured into my ear. 'Draw it out for as long as you possibly can. Help is on the way.'

"Don't waste my time, Bubbles," Wasp spat. "Get in here. I want to see your face."

Evander moved off my shoulder and clung to the bulkhead. "That overclocked zapper only has so many shots. The battery pack can't sustain that level of output. Try and get him to shoot it again and miss. I am mustering the remaining warbots that were patrolling elsewhere."

Moving slowly, I rounded the door frame.

The inside of the lounge was the same as I'd seen on the video. Brando was sprawled on his back near Coro, who was trying to flex his fingers and toes to mitigate the effects of the stun weapon a little faster. I could see the steady rise and fall of Doc's chest, reassuring me that we had no casualties yet. There was still time for us all to be able walk away from this horror show.

'Well, most of us,' I thought as I narrowed my eyes at Wasp.

He had Elaine secured in front of him with one arm and the zapper held up against her ear, just as he'd said. Gone was the self-assured sadist who'd been in the head with me. The witchmark on his face was badly inflamed and surrounded by scratches, like he'd been clawing at it.

"Here I am," I said, entering the room with my arms wide.

"Drop the wrench," he snapped. "Get on your knees and issue a shipwide announcement. Tell Ananke to surrender or I kill everyone in this room."

I slowly dropped the wrench. It was too heavy to use quickly and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to stop from hitting Elaine if he kept using her as a human sheild. I continued to take my time getting down to one knee. "She's dead, Wasp. You killed her."

That was the right button.

"She's still alive, you stupid piece of shit! Don't you try and lie to me!" he shrieked and started to swing the weapon in my direction.

I charged forward, using my position like a sprinter's crouch.

At the same time, Elaine went down on her knees, using her whole body to drag Wasp down with her. She punched up with her free hand and knocked the barrel of the gun upwards so that the energy pulse splattered harmlessly against the ceiling.

I hit him with my full body weight, shoulder first, and drove him backwards. He shoved Elaine forward to get me off of him and I caught her with both arms.

Wasp staggered upright. He was a little dazed and I could see it in the way he struggled to steady his weapon.

"The zapper is about to fail," Elaine hissed to me. "I heard the heat sink whining."

He allegedly still had a knife, but I wasn't so sure I believed that. He was still relying on the zapper and a knife doesn't have a battery pack that can die on you. My gut said that he was bluffing and I was ready to call it.

"SIN!" Wasp bellowed. "This is your last chance to save your people. If I have to come looking for you, I'm not leaving anyone alive in here to follow me!"

Elaine threw herself towards the pipe wrench and I went for Wasp again. He dodged left, almost tripped on Brando's arm, but then recovered. He swung the zapper at me, trying to pistol whip me with it, but missed.

My foot brushed against the paperweight that Doc had been trying to brain Wasp with and I ducked to scoop it up in my hand.

The only hint I got about what was about to happen next came from the sudden look of terror on Wasp's face and the strange yellow-orange reflection in his eyes as he lifted the zapper to aim at something else past me.

Elaine yelped behind me.

Something large that radiated waves of powerful heat flew over my back and slammed straight into Wasp.