The Sirius Job, Part 5
23 May 2017User4296
Mitschigua SystemImperial Space
February 3302
Tucker was looking up at Takamura and shaking his head as the door to the cargo bay opened.
"It's not good. The pod took some damage. We'll have to open it soon," Tucker said.
Takamura shook his head. "We can't do that. We -" he looked up at me as I entered the cargo bay, crossing the room with long strides. He moved around Tucker and took several steps forward, nearly positioning himself between me and the pod.
"Commander," Takamura nodded. His voice was respectful, but had gained and new, vaguely threatening edge. "Is there something I can help you with?"
I paused for a moment, using the time to scan the room. Tucker had stood, and was staring at me curiously. The other male technician was nowhere to be seen, and the female technician seemed surprised to see me. The other soldier looked somewhat angry, and I noticed his hand had fallen to the handle of the weapon at his belt.
"I was thinking about what happened out there," I said, finally returning my gaze to him.
He tilted his head. "I find this a curious time, commander. Perhaps it could wait-"
"It can't," I said. "Did you get what we came for? As soon as we get underway, I thought you should know that I'm dropping a distress beacon," I turned around and headed for the cargo bay's door.
Takamura was right behind me as we reached it. "Wait! Commander - John-san, that is a bad idea!"
I had reached the top of the small, circular staircase and turned around, watching him follow me up into the main corridor. "Why not? You got what you came for, didn't you? Your precious cargo is secure in my hold, and your own technician seems to think whoever is in that escape pod is in trouble. If that's true for that pod, what about the others? We have to give the others a chance - if we can't do it, maybe someone in this system can."
"That is irresponsible, Commander! We've yet to scuttle the ship!" he said, his voice rising slightly.
I paused, his gaze locked on his, as the realization struck me. "That's what this is about, isn't it? You want the survivors to die."
He was silent for a long moment. "It is our way, Commander. They knew what they were signing up for. Failure has serious consequences-"
I turned to walk toward the cockpit. "Yeah, well, fuck your consequences-"
My senses barely registered the quick glint of light that crossed my field of view, moving up to down. I reflexively raised a gloved hand just as the garrote wire was pulled taut, trapping my hand between the wire and my neck.
"You have become a liability to the mission, John," Takamura growled into my ear. The fact that he had left the honorific off of my name wasn't lost on me.
We struggled in the corridor for a few moments, before I finally managed to drive an elbow into his midsection. I heard the whiff of air escaping his lungs, then ducked, turned, and pushed him away.
He stepped back a few paces, before tucking the garrote wire back into his suit. "I had hoped to end this quickly, but very well - you choose to die painfully."
I could barely get the word "What" out before he was upon me again, opening with a flurry of punches and kicks. He was fast - far faster than I had expected him to be - and it was all I could do to simply throw up my arms to ward off the barrage.
What the hell is this guy? I thought, barely managing to duck under a roundhouse kick, thinking to take advantage of the opening. I struck out with a punch of my own, but it never connected - he lashed out, catching me in the side of my jaw with a clenched fist. I staggered and managed to pull both arms back up to block his second attack. Genetic mods? Implants?
He was forcing me backwards now, toward the cabin, showing no signs of tiring or slowing down. I stole a glance at the other end of the corridor.
I need to get around him.
The thick kevlar of the flight suit was doing little to lessen Takamura's blows, and the sustained assault was starting to tire me out. My arms burned, and my guard lowered for a split second - he immediately set upon the opening. A fist caught me in the face and I staggered, allowing him to rear back and kick me in the chest.
I found myself on the floor a few feet away, trying to catch my breath, cursing myself for not having paid better attention during the hand to hand combat classes in the academy. "Nice toys," I said, between gasps.
He shrugged. "It would have been easier if you had just let me strangle you to death."
I rolled over and pulled myself to my feet. "Who would take care of my dog?"
He closed the few feet of open space with a lunge, his fist passing a few centimeters in front of my nose. I feinted left, then moved right, and was gratified to see it work - he had lashed out in that direction, effectively putting me behind him in the narrow corridor. I scarce had the time to appreciate my good luck, however, as his foot exploded backward and caught me in the stomach, slamming me against the bulkhead. He turned with a roundhouse kick - I raised an arm just in time to absorb the blow, but the force of it knocked me to the floor.
"Do they make them all like you where you're from? Or are you special?" I groaned, shuffling away from him on my hands and knees before managing to pull myself upright, quickly attempting to spin back around toward him. A foot passed several inches from my face before I had my guard back up. It was worth the sacrifice - we had now switched places in the corridor.
"Ah, yes, the wisecracker - lots of pilots tend to gravitate toward that personality, don't they?" Takamura said, resuming his assault.
He was forcing me back again, but I needed to end this soon - my forearms were on fire, it was hard to breathe, and one of his punches from earlier must have left a cut, as blood was trickling into my left eye. Hopefully my salvation was now behind me.
Finally, I felt the hard door to the airlock press against my back. End of the line.
"I'd ask if you had any last words, John-san," he said, adding the honorific back on but in a mocking tone, "But I am sure you would say something idiotic."
"Just a request," I said, panting.
"Hm?" he said, and I was gratified to see he leaned forward slightly. He looked surprised as I suddenly reached out and grabbed his collar before pulling him close, slamming my forehead into his nose. My other hand reached out behind me, hitting the airlock door control.
It slid open as I turned, and he was pushed into the small room. He collided with the opposite door and turned, yelling something I didn't catch as the door slammed shut. I slumped against the door, reaching over to key the intercom.
"Let me know how those implants of yours do in space?"
"Commander, you're making a terrible-"
"Get off my ship."
I tapped a button. Normally, airlocks drain the atmosphere from the room before opening the space-side door, essentially preventing what happened next - the other door slid open, blowing the oxygen in the room out into space. Takamura went along with it.
I laughed softly, but the victory was short lived.
"No!" a voice screamed. At the same moment, something in my shoulder exploded.