******
It was over, and Laina knew it-- a prisoner in a small room within a transport. The room had a single window on the lone door that was locked securely from the outside. Through the window, she was afforded only a limited view of the holding area of the ship, but it was enough to witness the portents that signified her organization’s end.
An hour earlier, she saw Peacekeepers bring Murdock into the transport and forcibly deposit him through a door of an adjacent holding cell. Now, she got to see the same act replayed as they forced Reece into a room of his own. The sound that the locking mechanism made as they shut the door behind him gave it a finality that was akin to a coffin being closed for the last time—the coffin lid of her organization. It was over.
Laina sat back down in her chair, the only piece of furniture afforded to her in this new home she was confined to. She knew that she would probably be missing the solitude and quiet of this small room. It was a matter of time before she was acquainted with a new home that would make this temporary stay here seem like a seven-star luxury resort visit.
Her eventual destination would depend on which government wanted her the most. If it was the Confed, she would likely be sent to a Martian prison mine where she would be worked to death under treacherous conditions. Regardless of the fact that she was a woman, she would be worked alongside the male ruffians—Mars did always pride itself on equal opportunity regardless of sex and creed.
Or, maybe if she was lucky, it would be the Space Habitat Coalition, where they would let her serve out her time on a remote outpost, doing dangerous spacewalk repairs of aging stations where she could at least get a view of the stars.
If it was the UEP, well… nobody really knew what happened to those prisoners.
Whatever her fate, her future was going to be a bleak one. She would now truly be put into permanent retirement whether she wanted to or not, and her days of plundering transports on the Sea Wolf were now officially over.
Laina thought somberly to the unfinished business she had with Chorus, a mystery that would remain unsolved. She might never find out what happened to her, the crew, and her old friend Julius.
Perhaps they would escape and cheat death’s grip once more. They had done it before—Julius had always done it before. If anyone could do it …
Laina shook her head.
Von Haufsberg had spelled it out for her in painful detail. They had walked right into a trap, and they walked into it as vulnerable as they could ever possibly be.
The Sea Wolf was crippled with only one reactor, what crew was left were scattered across Venus-1, and the leader of their fighter squadron was already locked up with Laina on this transport. An entire task force of ships lay in ambush for the Sea Wolf, and not even Julius would be able to stop them or get away. It was indeed over.
At that moment, she heard a commotion outside and what sounded like flicker fire. She stood up and looked through the window eagerly.
Julius coming to rescue me? she thought.
She could see the one guard stationed inside the transport scrambling to get his helmet on, but a stream of flicker fire flew in his direction, striking the inside of the transport walls. A shower of sparks flew over him from the damaged instrumentation. The guard covered his face and winced from the pain, and then he threw the helmet against the wall and unholstered his rifle.
Another volley of flicker fire flew into the transport, but this time he ducked down with his rifle at the ready. Taking cover to the side of the door entrance, he returned fire.
Laina wondered why he had not simply closed the ramp door, but then noticed that the nearby controls had been destroyed by the incoming fire. She tried to get a view of who was on the other side attacking the guard, but the view from her window was limited to just the inside of the transport. In the room adjacent to her, Murdock would likely be able to get a better view of the action. She wished she could somehow trade rooms with him.
The Peacekeeper continued to trade fire with his aggressor, taking careful aim through the mounted scope of his rifle. A sudden volley of flicker fire caught him off guard and struck him. He ducked behind the wall and grabbed his thigh.
Laina could see the expression of pain on his face. She felt empathy for his plight; he was only doing his job, after all. Laina hoped that Julius and the crew would show restraint and not kill the man.
After a few exchanges of fire, the guard stopped firing as frequently and began to strip out of his body armor. Some sporadic fire continued to enter the transport and he intermittently returned fire with his rifle. As he blindly fired through the doorway, he began working off the remnants of the suit.
Soon, Laina could see that he had completely stripped out of his armor and had it propped up in a corner. He positioned the limbs in a lifelike pose and completed the ruse by latching the helmet on top of the neck.
A quick glance would give the impression that the Peacekeeper was still sitting in the corner with his armor on.
Apparently satisfied, the Peacekeeper made his way to an empty prison cell that was not in the direct line of fire. He fired some shots through the small window on the door, busting it out, and then positioned himself on the inside with the door partly closed.
Minutes passed in silence without further flicker fire. Laina could barely make out the silhouette of a man approaching the ramp from the side. She wondered if it was Julius coming to rescue her finally; she would have to warn him somehow about the guard.
Before she could think of a way to get his attention, the man rushed in with his flicker pistol, whirling it around at the body armor and crouching down to fire. Sparks and flames erupted from the suit as he unloaded his flicker fire into it. A piece of debris from the suit hit the window and a loud crack sounded that made Laina jump. It struck the window so hard that it became embedded in the glass.
At that moment, the Peacekeeper fired from inside his cell, catching the assailant square in the chest.
“No!” Laina yelled, but it was too late.
The man stumbled back from the Peacekeeper’s continued attack. The guard marched forward toward the man, all the while firing at him until he fell to the ground.
Laina managed to get a look at his face before he went down, and to her relief, it was not Julius—in fact, it was not anyone that she recognized at all.
The Peackeeper moved quickly back into the holding room and crouched down low. Using the door of the room as cover, he pointed his rifle toward the entrance and waited. A full minute passed with no further intruders or flicker fire coming in.
Apparently sensing it was clear, he made his way to the cockpit and disappeared from view. A moment later, the ramp door began to close and Laina could feel the rumble of the engines sputter to life.
Her hopes faded. She sat back down in her chair, solemnly resigning herself to her fate—she was not going to be rescued after all.
She glanced up at the window one last time and noticed the debris stuck in it had some lettering on it. Out of curiosity, she moved closer to get a better view.
The debris was a metal, oval-shaped badge. It had yellow and black coloring, and the logo of the Venusian Initiative along with the Peacekeeper designation. The Peacekeeper’s name was engraved on it.
“What?” she whispered.
It couldn’t be …
It was beyond coincidence—it was just… impossible!
She got closer and looked it over again and again, as if trying to discredit what she saw—but the lettering was quite clear:
Venusian Peacekeeper, Daryl Verndock.