Three Square Meals Ch. 041

"We can try and find out answers to that later," Alyssa said calmly. "What happened after that?"

"When the pirates shot out our engines, they boarded us. We had a small security contingent aboard the Excelsior, but they were so outnumbered they stood no chance. When the Captain refused to turn off the distress beacon, the pirates..." he faltered as he struggled to continue.

"It's okay, I get the idea," Alyssa told him comfortingly. "How many of you are there?"

One of the other men in the crowd of faces that were staring at them stepped forward. "There's sixty three of us here, nearly all men, some of the older women and nearly a dozen children. The pirates took the others," he said pointedly, leaving little doubt who he was referring to.

Rachel immediately glanced around the room, and suddenly realised there were a number of kids staring at her with wide frightened eyes. She pulled the helmet from her head, and smiled at them reassuringly.

"It's okay, we're here to keep you safe," she said gently.

A little girl, probably aged about six or seven in her estimation looked around one of the men and stared at her with big blue eyes. "They took my mummy. Are you going to bring her back?" she asked in a scared voice.

Rachel stared at her in shock, as her mind flashed back to those dreadful events ten years ago...

***

"Daddy, when will mummy be back?" she asked her father curiously, looking up at him where he sat behind the heavy desk in his study. "She was supposed to be home hours ago."

Her father had a funny look on his face, one she had never seen before. He looked angry and worried at the same time. "Not now Rachel," he said waving her away dismissively. "Go and play with the Nanny, I'm speaking to someone about your mother at the moment."

Rachel snapped back to the present, and stared off into the distance, as those feelings of fear and helplessness threatened to overwhelm her once more.

Alyssa glanced at her, frowning at the sudden surge of negative emotions she was picking up from Rachel.

*Are you ok?* she thought to the brunette, who turned and nodded to her distractedly.

***

Jade had slowed slightly as they darted down the gantry, letting John keep up with her. As they descended to the next level down, they could hear the dreadful sounds of women sobbing and crying coming from up ahead, as well as the raucous sounds of braying laughter from a large group of men.

John hurried along the corridor, desperate to try and stop what he feared had already started, as he and Jade closed in on the sounds. The pirates hadn't bothered to post any guards, and he was able to approach the room and glance inside without alerting any of them.

There were at least fifteen pirates in here, with around twice that number of women in various stages of undress. The pirates were laughing and drinking as they bartered with each other for who got to have each of the women first, and a young, mid-teen girl was currently the centre of their attention.

"Strip! Strip! Strip!" they yelled and howled at her, as she stood quaking in terror before them.

As John pulled back before he was spotted, he noticed a couple of female bodies lying sprawled on the floor in a pool of blood, and he shook his head sadly, realising they were beyond his help.

*Tell Jade there's too many for us to kill without risking hitting the women in the crossfire.* John thought to Alyssa, and when the green tiger looked up at him and nodded, he knew his commands were being relayed verbatim.

*I want her to scare the shit out of the pirates. We've got to get them so scared, they surrender before they realise how much they outnumber us,* he thought to Alyssa quickly.

As Jade blinked at him, and then crawled forward silently, Alyssa's voice came through to him, *She says she understands, and she knows what to do.*

John held his railgun tightly, and prayed he was making the right decision as he got ready to spring the attack. He had no worries about his own safety, clad as he was in his incredibly resilient armour, but the exposed women in the room had no such protection. The time for doubt was over when Jade darted into the room, and he rushed in behind her.

She opened her massive maw and let rip a terrifying roar, that chilled him to the bone even though he was on her side. All other sound in the room stopped in an instant, as men and women alike stared at the monstrously huge tiger in abject terror. Not giving them a chance to react, Jade leapt forward onto the nearest pirate and dragged him to the ground, her vicious snarls drowning out his screams as she ripped the man to pieces.

"Drop the guns, or we'll slaughter you all!!" John roared, his amplified voice booming around the room.

Having seen what the hideous tiger was still doing to the massacred man in front of them, the horrified men hurled their weapons away, and shrank back against the walls, desperate not to be next on the menu. A quick glance at each of the surviving pirates reassured him that they were now unarmed, and John strode into the room. Jade left the mangled pirate behind her, blood dripping from her teeth and claws as she snarled at the men.

"All of you - get out now!" he told the men, waving at them to move as they desperately tried to back away from Jade.

Seeing an opportunity to put some distance between them and her, they eagerly edged around the walls, and then backed out of the room, not taking their eyes off her.

"Wait in the corridor. If any of you try and run, I'll let the tiger finish all of you," he promised them, and the men nodded at him fearfully.

When they had all done as he commanded, he nodded to Jade who padded out after them to keep them under her watchful gaze. He heaved a sigh of relief and then pulled his helmet from his head, so he wouldn't seem quite so frightening.

"You're all safe now," he said to the terrified women in a soothing voice, and smiled at them gently.

The women were huddled together against the back wall, having not been sure who to be more scared of, the pirates or the tiger. When both of those had left the room, and they saw this man in white armour looking kind and unthreatening, they began to calm down, and some of them began to weep softly with relief.

"Get dressed, it's over. We'll take you back to the other passengers, and lock up the pirates," he told them, and then walked over to the women in the pool of blood.

He crouched down to check on them, and saw there were in fact three, all in their early thirties he'd guess. One of them had torn clothes, but all three had been shot at point blank range and stared up at the ceiling lifelessly. He was aware of movement behind him, and a striking blonde in her late thirties came forward to stand at his side. Her face was filled with sadness as she stood next to him, and looked down at the trio of murdered women.

"I think the pirates used them as an example to intimidate the rest of us. They were going to rape the first one, and when her friends tried to help her, they shot all three of them," she said mournfully.

John stood then turned to face her, and she looked into his eyes, as she said, "I'll never forget what you did for me today. That was my daughter they were going after next."

John nodded in acknowledgement of her thanks. "I'm just sorry we couldn't get here quickly enough to save them too," he said, glancing down at the dead women regretfully.

The woman reached out and gently touched the side of his face. "That wasn't your fault, but rescuing the rest of us was down to you," she told him sincerely.

John smiled at her in gratitude, and then turned to look at the rest of the group of women, who were walking forward to join them warily.

"Just follow behind me, I'll lead you back to safety," he told them, and then put his helmet back on again and strode out the door.

Jade was pacing back and forth in the corridor, snarling every now and then for effect, and the group of pirates stared at her in absolute terror.

"Alright, get moving, we're going back up to where you kept the rest of the passengers," he told them, and the pirates started to slowly inch up the corridor, backing away from the tiger.

"Move! We haven't got all day!" he snarled at them in irritation, and when Jade let out a throaty rumble and began to pad forward quickly, the pirates scrambled ahead of them.

It didn't take long to go back up to the next level now that they weren't trying to be stealthy, and John nodded to Alyssa with relief when he saw her waiting for them.

"In here," she ordered the pirates sternly as she spun the wheel unlocking their impromptu prison, and the fourteen remaining pirates stepped inside, grateful not to have to worry about the tiger any more.

John put his hand on the door before she could shut it and stared inside. "Which one of you is the Captain?" he asked the scared pirates. When none of them said anything, Jade poked her head in through the door and snarled viciously.

"Start talking or we'll leave her in here with you," he said, weary of dealing with the men already.

A number of the pirates started talking all at once, and John pointed at one of them to continue, and the rest went silent. He had chosen a grisly looking man, who spoke up again, "He said he was going to check on his 'insurance policy' and went to the lower levels with a couple of the men."

"What does that mean?" John asked curtly, but the man shook his head.

"Captain Farley used to be a demolitions engineer in the military before he got kicked out," an older, bald pirate volunteered.

John nodded and then backed out of the room and slammed the door shut, before spinning the wheel, locking it closed.

*Shit! That doesn't sound good at all,* he swore to Alyssa, and her sombre look told him she felt the same way.

*What's the plan?* she asked him, her voice sounding worried.

John felt torn for a moment, unsure what to do. They had to get the civilians clear, but they couldn't risk the Pirate Captain finding out what had happened, escaping and then remotely triggering some kind of explosives.

*You girls get the passengers to safety, I'll go and hunt down this Captain Farley,* he told her decisively.

Alyssa shook her head immediately. *Nope, I'm coming with you. The pirates are terrified of Jade and they wouldn't even attempt to break out while she's around. Rachel and Jade can easily lead the passengers to the Raptor,* she said convincingly.

John could tell by her tone of voice that she wasn't going to be argued with, and so he nodded, and headed back down the corridor towards the lower levels with Alyssa by his side. She relayed the orders to the other girls, as she strode alongside him.

***

Rachel had finished cleaning up First Officer Bragan's wounds, and then walked back out to the circular room when Alyssa passed on the orders to evacuate the passengers.

"We'll lead you back to our ship," she told the group of women, who had been watching Jade warily.

They dashed past her instead, to reunite with their men who had followed her out of the room, and she smiled as she saw them hugging and kissing one another. Her smile froze when she saw the little girl who had spoken to her earlier, looking around worriedly for her mother. One of the women walked up to the girl's father and shook her head, with tears rolling down her cheeks, and the man's face crumpled. He sagged as he shook with grief, before seeing that his daughter was looking up at him. He knelt down in front of her, and stared into her young hopeful face.

"Mummy isn't coming home Carla, it's just you and me now," he said in a broken voice.

The heart rending sobs from the little girl shook Rachel to the core, and just like that she was thrown back into her past once more, to relive one of her worst memories all over again.

***

"Mummy's not coming home, Rachel," her father told her, his face stricken with grief.

"Why not? Why didn't you give the men what they wanted?! It's only money!" Rachel wailed, her heart threatening to break in two.

"Henry Voss doesn't give in to blackmail," he told her sternly, but his voice faltered half way through and even her young eyes could see the guilt he felt etched plainly across his face.

"I hate you! It's your fault she's dead!" Rachel cried out, and she ran from the room, her eyes blinded by tears.

***

Rachel walked over to the grieving girl, unshouldering her railgun and gripping it tightly.

"The bad men won't hurt anyone any more," she said, as the girl looked up at her, tears streaming down her face.

Rachel turned and walked purposefully over to the other door, and then spun the wheel unlocking it. Jade looked up at her with concern in her emerald eyes, and gently nudged her hand.

"My mummy isn't coming home again either," Rachel said, her eyes filling with tears, and after a long pause, Jade stepped aside.

The door swung open with a squeal, and Rachel stepped into the room. The pirates looked up and saw the stunningly beautiful young brunette standing before them, and began to grin lasciviously.

"Come in here for a good time, have you sweetie?" one of the more brazen men said to her, leering as he stepped forward.

"Yes, let's have a good time," Rachel replied in a voice dripping with menace.

She brought her railgun to her shoulder and shot the man in the face, splattering his brains and blood all over the stunned faces of his fellow pirates.

***

"Oh, fuck!" Alyssa swore, halting John in his tracks. "We have to go back, it's Rachel!"

"What? What is it?" John asked her in alarm.

"I looked into her past!" Alyssa said with frustration as she whirled and began to run back to the ramp. "Her father must have covered it all up!"

*You're not making sense* John thought to her, his voice throbbing with concern, as he ran after her.

*Jade said Rachel's executing all the pirates. She must have lost her mother under some kind of similar circumstances,* Alyssa explained as they sprinted up the ramps, going back up the levels.

*Shit! We should have pushed her more on her past. I did wonder what happened to her mother when she mentioned a step-mother,* he said feeling guilty.

They raced down the corridor, and burst into the circular room, where dozens of passengers stared at them with wide eyes.

*I'll get the passengers out of here, you take care of her,* John said firmly, and he sensed Alyssa's acknowledgement of his order.

"Alright everyone, we need to evacuate immediately," he said in a no-nonsense tone, and his commanding voice calmed the civilians, and had them moving straight away.

He strode up the ramp that led back to the gunship, and waved for the nearly one hundred civilians to join him. They had been shocked by the recent turn of events, and they followed him quickly and quietly as he led them back to the Raptor. It was a tight squeeze to cram everyone into the cargo compartment at the back and the loading area at the front, but he just about managed to pack everyone in. Remembering that they were still in significant danger in case the pirate captain detonated any explosives, he stood by the airlock door, waiting impatiently for the girls.

***

Alyssa had darted into the room they had been using as a makeshift prison, and paused a moment in shock when she saw the bloodbath within. Rachel had methodically killed every last pirate in the room, and the back wall and floor were awash with blood. The brunette was kneeling on the floor, sobbing brokenly. Her pristine white armour was now spattered with blood, and the tawny coloured lioness was now underlit in crimson, where one of the holo-emitters had been covered by a splash of blood. Jade had transformed back into her nude Nymph girl form, and was kneeling beside her with a comforting arm around her shoulders.

The blonde girl sighed as she removed her helmet, and then walked over quietly and knelt on Rachel's other side. The pure grief written over the brunette's face made her heart lurch, and she put her arm around her shoulders too.

"It's going to be okay, we're going to look after you," she said in a soothing voice to the heartbroken girl, and Rachel leaned her head on her shoulder.

*We need to get her out of here,* Alyssa thought to Jade. *This place could blow any minute.*

The Nymph glanced over Rachel's shoulders and nodded curtly. She rose to her feet, and then gently scooped the brunette up in her arms, while whispering to her softly. Alyssa picked up Rachel's railgun and helmet that lay discarded on the floor, and then followed after them silently, as she worried about the young woman in Jade's arms.

They walked briskly back to the Raptor, with Alyssa and Jade darting worried glances at one another. John was waiting for them at the airlock, and his face shone with relief when he saw them, and he beckoned them to move faster. They strode past him and walked straight through the throng of astonished passengers who gawped at the naked green girl in their midst. John sealed the airlock door behind them, and then walked along to the grav-tube, heading up to the cockpit.

Jade had disengaged the clamps locking them in place to the docking collar, and they drifted clear of the station with the use of retro-thrusters. She powered up the Raptor's engines, and they roared away from the gas mining facility, as she plotted a course back to the safety of the Invictus. The assault cruiser was now waiting for them within weapon range of the frigate, covering the pirate vessel in case it tried to escape.

Rachel was slumped in one of the chairs at the back of the cockpit, and John and Alyssa looked at each other in concern from either side of her, as she curled up and started crying again.

*Well we saved the passengers at least,* Alyssa said, as she stroked Rachel's hair gently.

*I won't lose her in exchange though,* John said firmly, locking eyes with Alyssa, who nodded immediately.

*I know,* she said, and smiled at him lovingly.