Pixie Hazard by Archibald Bradford (top young adult novels .txt) 📕

“How far out?”

“Two thousand kilometers, they aren’t moving though, just... floating there.”

“Maybe they haven’t seen us yet?” Davie called from the pilot’s seat.

Donnie scratched at her chin, her brow furrowed as she puzzled over what was happening.

Her eyes widened suddenly and she flicked on the coms.

“Billy, when was Bryan’s ship leaving?”

It was a few moments before the medic got back to her; with all the hours she had been putting in at the infirmary she had been catching up on her sleep in her bunk.

“Any minute now, they should have launched already actually.”

“Designation?”

Again it took the doctor a few moments to reply.

“It was a mid-size liner, the Stardust. Designation sierra eight one, zulu two seven.”

Eniella spoke right on top of Billy.

“They’re moving now, on an intercept course for another ship, designation...” Her lips moved as she silently read the letters and numbers, finally looking to the captain and nodding; “It’s them Skipper.”

“Fan-fucking-tastic. Billy seal all hatches and get everyone to tac-ops and strapped in double time, we got a fight coming.”

“Copy.”

“You should get down there and strapped in as well Skip.” Eniella warned.

But Donnie shook her head.

“No, I need to be here if-”

She was cut off when Eva’s voice came on coms, everyone in the cockpit could practically hear her rolling her eyes.

“None of this has anything to do with us, let Lewanna security handle it. Who cares?”

“The families of the other people on that ship.” Donnie snapped back before looking to her pilot; “Reeves, set an intercept course and open a dual channel to the Stardust and Lewanna Central, right now.”

“On it. Give me one second... alright, coms are open.”

Donnie took up the communicator above the pilot’s head and got right to the point.

“Lewanna Central this is the Pixie Hazard, get off your asses and scramble fighters. Passenger liner Stardust, be advised you’ve got two gunboats inbound on your position, suspected pirate activity.”

It was a second before the flight control center responded, with great intelligence no less.

“Uh... what?”

“Say again Pixie?” The Stardust’s captain replied with skepticism.

Lewanna’s system was far too well-patrolled for pirates to be able to function for long, so their reactions were to be expected.

Didn’t make it less annoying though.

Eniella was shaking her head vigorously as she prepped the Pixie’s arsenal.

“I’ve sent them the ships’ signatures and coordinates. But it doesn’t matter Skip, they’ll be on them in under two minutes.”

“Oh for- Stardust you’ve got two bogies closing fast! Turn around and go home! Lewanna, we’re going weapons hot to do your job, you’re welcome.”

Now the flight control center had something to say.

“Stand down immediately Pixie Hazard! You are not authorized to-”

“I was just giving you a heads up, not asking permission.” She then addressed the passenger ship; “Tell me you’re seeing them now Stardust.”

“We are, but they aren’t responding to our communications. This is a civilian vessel, we have no weapons!”

“Lucky for you, we do. It’s too late for you to make it back to Lewanna, just... get behind us or something.”

“R-roger that!”

“Davie, how long.”

“Forty seconds. We’ll make it in time to intercept, but the Stardust is like eight times our size, we can’t cover her alone.”

Donnie sighed.

“Don’t I know it. Alright, don’t shoot first. Someone important on Lewanna will be monitoring this by now. Target them with the Dobermans, maybe we can get them to back off again.”

“We can’t use antimatter weapons this close to a settled planet Skip, no matter the circumstance they’d string us up by our ovaries.”

“I’m aware of the accords, just do it! It’s called a bluff-”

But before she finished, the familiar hollow boom of railguns pounding into the Pixie’s hull distracted her, the ship shaking with each strike of the enemies’ weapons.

“Fuck- light ‘em up Mendez! Lewanna central, we are taking fire, say again we are taking fire! My crew and I are using lethal force in defense of our vessel and our lives.”

“Lethal force authorized Pixie Hazard, though you are going to have some explaining to do.” An authoritative male voice said.

Someone on Lewanna likely just lost their job.

The Pixie shook from a nasty hit and Donnie nearly lost her grip on the seat block.

“That’s if we survive this, we’re outgunned up here. Request permission to deploy class-E countermeasures.”

“Antimatter weaponry? Request denied Pixie! We have a warship inbound, just stand your ground.”

She cursed him out, but had to admit she wouldn’t have let her use the Dobermans either; there was no guarantee that they would hit, and if they missed and the ordinance headed towards the planet she and her crew could end up as mass murderers.

Her musings were cut short by a frantic call from the ship they were striving to protect.

“Mayday mayday mayday! This is the Stardust, we are under attack! Somebody get us some help!”

“Time to intercept three minutes. Just hang on Stardust.” The same military sounding man as before responded immediately.

“This shit will be over in two!” Donnie snapped at him before turning to her pilot; “How’s she doing?”

“Not good.” Davie winced as the Pixie took another hit that caused a number of red warning on her console to light up; “One of the gunboats peeled off, they’ve ignored us entirely and are pounding her hard. Hold on to something Skip. Eniella, we’re rolling. Fifty degrees starboard.”

Her hands were white knuckled on the flight controls as she did her best to outmaneuver their assailant.

“Copy, target optimization on my mark.”

The olive-skinned woman’s face was a mask of intense focus as her hands worked over the weapon controls, the Pixie’s Javelins unleashing their wrath in response to the pirates’ aggression.

“Mark! Roll your boat baby!”

Donnie gripped the handles on the