The Encounter

Sentrius closed his eyes and gripped his bag tighter as the ship rocked from another explosion. He should not have left Sol. Fire flashed outside his view port, bursting with angry flowers of orange and yellow, blocking out the sparkling stars of interstellar space. The ship groaned with another jolt as the lights flickered their farewell and the background roar of the engines withered away in sputtering exhaustion. Silence. Lady Solentra was right. Outside of Sol, there was nothing but chaos, death, and wickedness. And he was the big idiot that decided to leave his beloved righteous system in search of adventure and opportunity. But not this kind of adventure. This was different.

A new sound echoed through the ship; metal crunching and tearing while air angrily hissed as it escaped, followed a moan from the ship like a beast defeated with one final blow. Then they came, all at once. Their cries of battle bouncing off the walls like their hardened rubber bullets. Sentriuses mind raced as he heard them plundering the compartments below him. Was this one of the savage corporations he had heard about in his interstellar studies class? Maybe one of the crime syndicates? A cry shot through the sheet metal beneath him: "YYAAARRRRR!!"

No, these were pirates.

Sentrius dug into the archives on his mind, desperately searching for any scrap of information that could aid him now. Bartering wouldn't work, he didn't have anything they would care about, let alone understand. Screams and shouts came a few compartments away from him. He couldn't use any law, code, or moral obligation they might adhere to because, well, they were pirates, why would they care? The sound of terror and struggle was getting closer now. Sentrius squinted to look around him at the few other fellow passengers in his compartment. Most had fled to other compartments in a frail attempt to delay the inevitable. The only ones left with him were too shocked to move. He could hear the pirates footsteps now. If he was going to do something it had to be now.

He stood next to the door of the compartment that would open to the one the pirates were in now, his bag tightly gripped in his hands. He hopped it would be enough, and he might have just the chance to do some damage with those books he had in there. The footsteps got closer and closer until they stopped at the door as it hissed open. The remaining passengers stupor was shattered as they jumped to the door to the opposite compartment. One boot, then a leg, followed by the rest of the pirate popped through the door. Sentrius let out a cry and swung his bag with all his might, connecting with the pirates face. He watched a gold tooth fly through the air, flickering in the light of the pirates flashlight like a firefly back home.

The pirate stumbled back, stunned, as two more popped through the door, guns at the ready. He tried to run, but was pelted by a barrage of rubber bullets in the behind. Boy did those hurt. His bruised muscles gave up, unwilling to function with the damage sustained and sending him crashing to the floor. The three pirates kicked him over onto his back and looked down on him, amusement and glee smeared across their faces. One with an apparent tooth missing grinned widely at him as he watched his own bag come flying down onto his face. Darkness then filled his mind.

= = =

In the darkness, Lady Solentra stood glowing before him, a look of disapproval and disappointment on her face. Sentrius coward before her, looking down at his toes and twiddling his thumbs. Lady Solentra's voice echoed with authority and discipline, "You tried to leave us."

Sentrius remained silent. "You tried to leave us. Your home, your family, your good life. All that I have given to you." Sentrius still remained silent, his hands now shaking by his side. "You even abandoned The Great Work." He fell to his knees, hot tears streaming down his face, still remaining silent. Lady Solentra started to walk slowly around him, her long trailing white dress dragging behind her. "Why did you leave? Why did you think the wicked outer systems could give you something better? And why did you decide your own pesky little desire was more important than The Great Work?" She let the last question sting with the venom she injected. Sentrius tried to choke out a reply but couldn't get passed stammering, "I-I, I-I, I."

Lady Solentra paused and crouched in front of him. "Sol does not think highly of this. You are a disappointment and failure. To your family, home, friends, everything. Unless you let go of your foolish personal desires, ones you should have learned to cast off long ago, you are not welcome home. And you do not have the protection or favor of Sol." She stood up and began to walk off into the darkness, paused, and turned. "I hope you make the right choice. Come back."

Sentrius cried out, reaching for her, wishing for her to come back and to tell her he's sorry and that he'll go back and do everything asked of him if only she could ask Sol to help him do that. He then jolted awake, frazzles of electricity zipping about his toes and fingers with Lady Solentra's last words echoing in his mind. He bolted up, or more tried to as his hands and feet were tied together. A rough and scratchy voice shouted, "AAYYE 'ES AWAKE!" A man crouched down next to him, his skin shining with the several coatings of motor oil and sweat with a big grin on his face. "After te big clonkin' ol' Billy gave ye I twas thinkn ye mightn't wake up. Ye see, me an Junior over there had a bet fr if ye would wake." He stood back up and shouted across the room which appeared to be filled with cargo crates illuminated by the faint red glow from the over head lights. "Hey Junior, where'd be me money??"

A small boy no older than 15 came running out from inside one of the crates and looked at Sentrius, surprise filling his face. He squatted down and looked at him from head to toe. "Ye sure ye didn't zap em to get em awake Greasy?" The other pirate looked at him and said "Me?? Zap te precious cargo? I would never!"

Junior looked at Greasy's hands. "Well then whats that ye got in ye hand? Two wires?? Plugged in too I can see." Greasy's face turned red. "Na, ye lookin at te wrong hand." as he swung at Junior who easily dodged the punch and struck back. The two began to fight it out, Greasy using his strength while Junior used his skill to doge and counter. Sentrius figured the two would fight it out for a while and decided to take the time to look at his surroundings. He seemed to be huddled in a large cargo bay of sorts, large crates placed randomly about, some stacked on top of each other. They appeared to be big enough for someone to stand in, and were three times as long. A crane hung from the ceiling with large claws to be able to grab the crates. He inspected a crate close to him, the side open. He saw a head pop out and look around, spot the two fighting pirates, and bolted the other way. Where the person planned to go, Sentrius couldn't tell. Both Greasy and Junior noticed this escape attempt and in unison dove for their rifles that were placed nearby. Greasy shouted "NO RUNNING IN THE CARGO BAY!!" as Junior unleashed a spray of rubber bullets on the escapee who subsequently collapsed. Moments later they were placed back into the cargo crate.

Greasy and Junior then sat back down and began to discuss how they would resolve their bet since fighting wasn't getting them anywhere. It was agreed Junior wouldn't tell the captain that Greasy had zapped the "precious cargo" if he got the money. Sentrius was puzzled. It was obvious the pirates were planning to sell their prisoners as slaves, but why was he considered precious cargo instead of just regular cargo with all the other passengers? He sat on this for a while as Greasy and Junior were finishing up things with the cargo crates. When they finished, they walked back over the Sentrius. "Now time fer ye to see te captn."

To be continued...