A ping sounded, waking Riley. Panicked, she reached for Zed, but his place was empty. She scampered out of bed and dashed for the head. The best thing about not wearing clothes was that it made waking from sleep that much faster. She grabbed her jumpsuit and slipped into it. The ring key was still stashed in its pocket.

She padded down the hall on bare feet to the bridge. As she went, she itched, the suit tugged and touched her in uncomfortable places. A month of naked, and clothes felt completely alien to her now. She considered using the key to enter the bridge. Instead, she opted for caution and rapped on the hatch with a fist.

It slid open and she saw the command staff gathered around the weapons console. She moved up behind Zed and touched his elbow.

He whispered back at her, “We picked up a warp echo.”

She nodded, “And?”

He shrugged, “The new ship is roughly the same size as ours. We’re watching to see what they do.”

“What type of ship?” Riley asked.

“Hmm, looks like an armed merchant-class vessel. It would be a tough fight.” Sarina said.

“Where are they headed?”

Sarina answered, “Moving to far orbit of the north pole of the Corina primary. They pass this gas giant in about five minutes.”

Riley nodded watching a blip on the scanner. “That's what I would do. Hang out at the local sun. It’s a good central location to get anywhere in the system as fast as possible. The far orbit won’t have enough radiation or electromagnetic activity to block their signature. They want to be seen. It looks like they are being upfront and honest.”

“Why are they early? A full day, like literally twenty-five hours to the second.” Serhho asked suspiciously.

“Eager to inspect?” Riley whispered. She realized how silly it was for everyone to be on pins and needles when the inspector ship seemed to be operating as openly and non-hostilely as possible. She said aloud, “I think it's safe to approach, at the very least, make contact with them.”

Zed stared at the holographic images flickering in the space over the console, “Maybe…”

“New contact!” Sarina hissed. “Five hundred tonnes maybe a little more.”

Riley noted that the new ship was bigger than the Unnamed and the Coalition ship by about half again, which she thought would be a tough fight. The Coalition merchant posed no worries in her mind at all.

Everyone watched the scanner until a light on the console flashed wildly.

“We’re being hailed,” Sarina said.

Riley corrected her, “No. It's an open-system communication. The first ship is broadcasting to everyone nearby.”

“Well?” Zed said, “Let's hear it.”

Sarina toggled the switch, and the bridge was flooded with voices.

“This is Coalition vessel Amywhest seeking parley with Zed Cyapholous of the Unnamed. Do you read?”

Sarina asked, “Should we answer?”

Serhho hissed, “If we answer they’ll spot us. Void no, don’t answer.”

Zed shook his head no.

Riley struggled to understand what was happening. The new ship veered, setting an intercept course for the Coalition ship.

“I’ve got a visual on the new ship,” Sarina reported. One corner of her display changed showing the white form of a Federation warship.

“Get it on the main screen,” Zed said.

The fore viewport changed from a window out into space to a live recording image focusing on the new ship. Riley recognized the type of ship instantly, one of many drilled into her years of Academy. It was a frigate, a small military ship, but this one was very old.

“Fucking Feds!” Serhho muttered angrily.

“Wait. Something is off.” Riley said.

On-screen, they watched as the Coalition ship turned and boosted toward the rings of the gas giant they were hiding in.

“The Federation ship has raised shields and is arming weapons,” Sarina reported excitedly. “The Coalition ship is coming straight for us!”

“Hold steady!” Riley barked and all eyes turned to her for a moment, “The Coalition ship is running to hide. There’s no indication they’ve spotted us. Zoom in on the Federation ship, get me a close look at it.”

The Federation ship fired a volley of beam weapons. While all came close, only one beam struck the shields of the Coalition vessel causing brilliant flashes of light just off the surface. The screen zoomed in. Bits and pieces of ice and metal floated occasionally blocking the view while Riley studied the battle on screen.

“It's a Vyalan class Federation frigate. Sixty years old at least. The last of these were mothballed when I was in grade school.” Riley reported absently to the nervous command staff. She pointed, “Look! Empty weapon hard-points. And those on the starboard deck are filled in with… looks like commercial or Coalition grade weapons.”

“Which means?” Zed growled.

“They fired without hailing the Coalition ship. That’s against every Federated protocol. That’s not a Federation commander.”

Everyone looked at each other weighing Riley's words.

As the Coalition ship sped towards them from very far away the Federation ship fired another round of beams in a tight fan. Several caught the back end of the fleeting ship, and her shields collapsed. One engine ripped itself apart and a spray of fiery fragments.

The freighter fired back, but Riley noted that it was too late. With an engine down and possible damage to critical subsystems, the wounded ship was dying in front of them. It would never make it to the ice rings.

The Coalition ship spiraled trying to avoid the brilliant lances of fire that pursued it. Ruby beams sliced across its hull, causing micro explosions wherever they touched.

“Engage,” Riley said. When no one responded she said it again. “Engage now blast it.”

Zed stroked his chin in a nervous gesture, “Why would we do that? We’re hidden here.”

“If we help that merchant ship whoever is in that frigate will be facing two targets and twice as many cannons. The confusion gives us a huge tactical advantage. Strike now.”

Zed raised a hand. “Wait… let’s see how this plays out. Maybe it's just pirates looking to pick the merchant clean.”

“No, Sir. I know how it plays out, that ship dies doing little damage to the bigger one. This isn’t the time to be a spectator. That Federated ship is out for blood. Whoever it is means to kill the inspectors. And you will be next. Serhho was right it is an ambush, only by someone we don’t know.”

“I want to know who. Before we risk our lives.” Zed watched as the freighter was being picked apart.

“The first rule of an ambush is to get out of it as fast as possible. We attack right damn now, and we’ve foiled any advantage they have. Zed… attack.”

“Let’s see how this plays out.” He said watching as the second engines of the freighter erupted.

Riley ground her teeth in frustration. She wanted to shove Serhoo aside and take the helm, but it would be pointless, a wave of the wand and she’d be on the deck screaming in agony.

They watched as things played out exactly as she said they would. The Coalition ship was not just critically wounded, but it was fired upon until it completely came apart. The superstructure burned as the ship spiraled toward them. It shuddered in a final gasp of life, then erupted in a short-lived ball of flames. Vacuum claimed the flames quickly, leaving only the scattered wreckage of what was once a ship tumbling through space towards them.

“Poor bastards,” Sarina said. “Bad draw of the cards.”

“Should we reposition?” Serhoo asked nervously, “We might get hit with that debris.”

Riley wasn’t worried about the debris. The distance would spread it out thousands of kilometers before it ever came close to them. She watched the Federation ship closely trying to understand what the enemy captain’s tactics were. The goal, she assumed, was to take the multi-million credit slaves away from Zed. Why they chose to kill the inspectors was unknown. Perhaps to pose as inspectors themselves? Knowing the whys would help when they eventually crossed beams.

“What’s our plan?” she asked, looking sharply at Zed.

“Think we can sneak away?” He asked.

“Not a chance.” Riley said, “They haven’t changed course. They recognize this is the only place to hide. That ship is sixty years old. Even with its original ancient scanners, they’ll spot us eventually. Doubly so if we boost out of here with our engines spitting hot radiation everywhere.”

“Well, what do you propose?” Zed asked.

“Ambush them ourselves.”

“Are you fucking kidding? That thing is way bigger than us.” Serhho blurted.

“Not so big, only half again our size. More guns, sure… but they’re all on the starboard side. These ships had power plant issues. I’m guessing to compensate for that, they stuck all the cannons on that side, close to the main conduit. The port side only has a few missile launchers, we’d need to dodge like hell, but that’s easier than facing a full battery of beams.”

Sarina seemed to hang on every word, she asked, “Which means?”

Riley looked down at the sitting cat-woman and told her, “If we maneuver above and to the port of them, we can target the power systems while only having to worry about a couple of missiles. How many gunners do we have?”

“Four.”

“All right, when we attack, assign only one of them to attack the ship,” Riley pointed out the exact spot on the holo-display, “Right here. The generator and main conduit run along this spine. Hit that and they’ll be crippled, sucking for energy. The other gunners should focus on any missiles they launch.”

Serhho responded in a calm he hadn’t shown in days. “Got it. Evasive maneuvers while climbing over them and to their port.”

“It’s the best we can do,” Riley explained. She saw Zed looking at her with a smug smile. “Don’t kid yourselves, this will be a hard fight, but it will succeed.”

“What makes you so sure?” Serhho asked.

“Because they operate their ship like you do this one. They’re amateurs.”

The comms light on the console flashed again.

“They’re broadcasting,” Sarina said as she flicked the channel open.

“This is a message to Zed ole boy of the Unnamed… I know you’re out here…. Don’t make me chase you through those rocks.”

Zed laughed. “Captain Tyssa. Looks like he got himself a new ship.”

“Who?” Riley asked.

“Another friend from prison,” Vgg-r replied. “We were on his crew initially but left in bad spirits. For umm…”

Zed finished for him, “For compensation and… ethical reasons.”

“Ethical? What was he killing prisoners?” The look Zed gave Riley confirmed just that.

“He was a hard man to work with. Killed some on his own crew without any attempt to sort… personal issues out.” Vgg-r added with a glance at Zed. Riley thought of Henfry and realized things must have been much worse with Tyssa.

“What type of ship did he have.”

Zed laughed. “He was the original owner of the Unnamed. What did he call her?”

“The Egalyte Hydronian.” Vgg-r said.

“Wait… you mean to tell me you chose the name Unnamed?” Riley asked incredulously.

Zed looked at her like a hurt teenage boy, “Hey! It’s a great name.”

“Told you,” Vgg-r said.

“Kids,” Serhho said, “They’ll be in the rings in about five minutes. When do we engage?”

Riley thought as Zed and Vgg-r watched her closely. “He obviously wants you, wants your cargo, that’s me. He won’t fire so long as he thinks he can get it. My plan would be to hail him and have a pleasant chat as we drift slowly into beam range, stay directly in front as long as possible, but when you get the command, dart into that weak side. Then, we hit him with everything we got.”

Zed nodded, “That’s it then. Helm, Weapons, do as she instructs. We play the weak little lamb. Until we’re not.”

“Aye captain!” the bridge crew barked in unison.

Riley peeked behind her. The crash bench was less than a meter away. One stride and she could open it. Maybe the fight would be so sudden and unexpected that the Unnamed would come out unscathed. Maybe there wouldn’t be a chance to use the chems hidden away. Maybe Zed would reconsider the sale, having been double-crossed. Too many maybes for a realistic plan she decided. If the ship shook, she would follow the original scheme and release the hallucinogens. Even if she didn’t entirely want to leave now, her crew deserved a chance.

“Any reason to wait?” Zed asked.

Riley thought about the situation, “Maybe. If we exit the ice rings as they enter, it could throw off their firing solutions.”

“Won’t that do the same to us?” Sarina said.

“They will be in the ice ring, the firing solutions themselves, the computer aim, will be thrown off. The computer will get weird signals from all the ice around them. We’ll be outside, and our solution will be fine because we won’t have all sorts of debris surrounding us,” Riley explained, “But beams from both ships may get blocked by random chunks in the way.”

“How soon will they get to the rings?” Zed asked Serhho.

Serhho worked out the trajectory, “A couple of minutes.”

“Get ready,” Zed ordered, “When their plot shows they can’t turn away we make a break for it.”

“We can’t run,” Riley said, “We have to hit them.”

Zed nodded, “Understood.”

The call came again, “Zed, Zed, Zeddy boy. Come out and play. We just wanna have a chat about your cargo… you know the one, reddish hair, fit, sucks like a pro. The rest you can keep.”

What in the singularity, thought Riley. Why was she being mentioned? A federation officer might be a valuable prize in war, for info. But as a slave? She was baffled. This fight was getting personal.

“Tell me, Zed, you still running around with that butt-sniffing flea-infested mongrel?”

Vgg-r growled as Sarina snickered.

“Get ready,” Riley said watching the display. Another minute and the path of the larger ship would sweep into the ice rings.

Serhho’s display of the enemy ship lit up, rippling bands of circles radiated out from the blip on the screen.

“They’ve gone active!” Serhho yelled. “Pinging the rings like mad.”

“Go now!” Riley barked. “They’ve spotted us, but hold fire.”

Serhho tapped like mad on his console and threw a lever back. The ship shuddered, the engines whined to life, and the Unnamed lifted away from the rock it had been stuck to.

Zed took a seat in his chair and flipped a switch. The viewport changed to a large, ruddy alien with flanges of carapace-like skin at his temples, wearing a motley collection of battle armor, sat on a command chair similar to Zeds.

“Tyysa, my friend, what are you doing out here? Working with the Feds no less.”

“There you are Zeddy. I just want one thing. Turn over the Fed Captain.”

“I’ve grown fond of her sucking… being a pro and all.”

“Zed, think of the repair costs, that is, if you survive. You still got the little bitch, right?”

Riley understood in an instant and stepped back towards Zed. If she was not aboard, they would have an open license to destroy the Unnamed. Her presence would buy them time. Zed tried to wave her back, but she ignored him coming up to his side and throwing an arm around him. She’d forgotten about the broken fastens and her chest threatened lewdly to spill out.

Zed looked back up at the screen. “Yup, like I said, quite fond. If you want my toys, you’re going to have to come take them.”

“We’re clear,” Serhho said.

Riley stepped away from Zed coming up behind Serhho, whispering, “Ready? Slip to their port side and come up on the elliptical plane, now.”

The larger ship came barreling at the Unnamed. Serhho eased the ship starboard, rising and turning to corkscrew as it rose, keeping its gun trained on the Federated vessel.

Tyysa continued his mocking, “Last chance Zed. Hand her over.”

Riley ducked over to Sarina’s chair and hissed, “Fire. Fire now.”

“Come and get her.” Were Zed’s last words as he cut communications and the two ships fired at once.

The Unnamed had come around to the port side just as the Federation ship turned, trying to correct, and entered the ice rings. Sharp, razor-thin white beams lashed out from the Unnamed. Only a few ruby streams flicked out from the Federation ship, which was caught at an awkward angle and unable to bring its weapons to bear. Both ships landed direct hits. All four of the Unnamed’s beams hit. The enemy ship’s shield flickered under the strain as hull plates exploded off the top dorsal ridge, a thick spine running the length of the ship to the engines.

At least one of the Federation ship’s beams connected with the Unnamed. Her shield held but shook the ship violently, and Riley was thrown down to the deck.

Claxons wailed as Riley climbed back up to monitor the displays. The Federated ship was deep in the ring now partially obscured by a mist of ice and rock particles. She watched as the running lights on the enemy ship blinked randomly across its hull. It continued firing back at the Unnamed, but the icy field, trillions of tons of water and rock, confused the targeting system of the ship swimming through that mess. The incoming beams were scattered, vaporizing, any ice chunks in their way, but missing their mark with a wide berth.

“Direct hit!” Riley yelled. “Keep on their port side but come up over them. Stay out of the ring.”

The Unnamed had turned enough that it was coming back into the rings, but up above them now instead of going through. The Federation ship had also turned enough that it was coming out of the icy ring, but fires sparked along its upper spine. It could still only get a few weapons aimed at the Unnamed, firing furiously as it tried to come about hard.

Riley continued barking orders. The two ships exchanged fire. “Sarina, tell gunners two to four to switch to flak fire. They’ll fire missiles once they're clear of the ice.”

“Fish in the water!” Vgg-r cried out, “Two missiles launched.”

“Going evasive!” Serhho called. The stars in the fore viewport danced as the Unnamed bucked wildly to lose missile locks.

One beam continued firing at the Federation ship, scoring hit after hit on the weakened shields. The others fired short bursts at the incoming missiles. As the missiles streaked in, a lucky blast obliterated one. The other dodged honing in.

“Vagg-r called out, “Impact in three… two… one…”

The Unnamed shook violently sending Riley cartwheeling into Vgg-r. The two landed in a heap on the crash bench. Vgg-r shoved her aside and rushed to Sarina who bled profusely from a gash in her head. Dazed, Riley wondered which piece of FOD had her crew missed.

“… Lost two guns, and losing fuel,” Serhho was calling out a damage report.

Riley had seen the fires on the back of the Federation ship, close hits to its power plant. It was grievously wounded from their opening salvo. The Unnamed was also faring poorly from what she’d just heard.

She glanced up at the viewport as the federated ship swung around, bringing all its guns to bear on the Unnamed. One more round was all it would take to end it. Riley held her breath waiting for the deathblow to come.

And only one beam fired.

The ship shook as it connected. The shields held, but barely. Riley was shoved back down into the crash bench. The slugfest the fight had started was now only weak stabs when either ship could even muster that. The lights on the enemy ship continued to flicker. That, and the single beam shot, told her everything, the enemy ship’s generator was wounded and struggling.

Her fingers dug into the cushion beneath her, debating. With Sarina hurt, it would be oh so easy to walk over to her console and eject the ship’s boat. Even though she’d ordered her crew to board it, she had no idea if they’d been able to do so. Another part of her wanted to yank Sarina from her console and take over herself. Riley knew she could manage the power and weapon systems better than the cat could. She knew if she were at the console, she could win this fight.

Time seemed to slow as Riley chose to stay or go…

First Part:

Degenerate Star Part 1