9:10 PM EST
Welp, I wrote this
“They uh…they managed to get a distress signal off before we jammed their comms, Captain.” The young crewman reported, staring down at what had to be the most interesting deck plate in all of the universe. Anything was better than those eyes and the soft whirring sound they made as they focused and unfocused. The man sitting in the command chair didn’t respond at first, instead removing a piece of fuzz from his jacket. When he did speak, his voice lacked malice, but with a hint of steel below the surface.
“Well, That is…most unfortunate. For them.” He pushed himself out of the seat and turned to his communications officer. “Call Sergei. Tell him to finish offloading what he has from the freighter and return to the ship. After he kills the crew.”
“Aye.” The balding, middle-aged pirate responded with a nod.
“Now, who was assigned to man the electronics? Abdul? Yes, Abdul.” The Captain muttered to no one but himself. Looking to the other end of the bridge, his voice took a more melodic tone. “Abdul, my good man!”
Down on the other end, a man dressed in a simple t-shirt and pants stiffened slightly as he turned towards the voice. Everyone around him pretended not to notice the few beads on sweat on his ebony forehead. “Yes, my Captain?”
“You were supposed to jam that little tramp freighter’s communications network, right?” The Captain asked, emphasizing each syllable in the word communications.
“Right.”
“Right! So why didn’t you do it sooner? They managed to shoot off a call for help, you know.”
“They were quick, sir, damn quick and I couldn’t cut them off in time.”
“Ah, quick, quick, quick, quick as a cat!” The Captain chuckled to himself. “Well, you know what they say, Abdul?”
“No sir, what?”
“They say you’re either quick,” The Captain paused, then with a speed that was simply inhuman, he had his blaster out of its holster and drilled the unfortunate electronics man in the head with one shot. “Or you’re dead.”
Silence reigned on the bridge, no one dared look at either their Captain or the crewmate he just killed. For his part, the former let his raised arm linger before lowering it back down, the servos whirring as he holstered the gun. Abdul was a good man, one of the best of his crew, but his inaction cost them valuable loot and endangered the ship if the wrong kinds of people intercepted that signal. He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth for a few moments, as he was wont to do, then spoke.
“Burke, would you be a doll and send a message down to Yoshi? I feel we may need his newest toy.”
“Aye.”The Captain dropped back into the chair, crossed his legs and began humming a jaunty tune.
A bit rough obviously, but I like it.
