Julius Rosenthal will make candy no more and other short stories by Nicholas Russell (young adult books to read .txt) 📗

cargo bay. She could hear Marcus and the other one screaming after her. Diving behind a set of crates Ram could feel shots from at least two pistols whiz by her head.

Without looking Ram fired two rounds over the top of the crate and immediately regretted it. The shots did what they were supposed to; she heard thumps as the two dove for cover of their own. Looking at the gun, a revolver, Ram realized she had just wasted two irreplaceable rounds. She cracked the breach on the pistol: six rounds and four had the tell tale dimple of an expended round. Ram would have Higgins’ hide if the two lived through this.

On her hands and knees Ram scurried down the line of crates being careful to keep her head lower than the top line. Once she reached the end she finally had the nerve to peak her head above the crates to get an idea where the two men were now. She couldn’t see Marcus but the other one was trying to circle around to her previous position. She was closer than before but still further then she would like with only two rounds. Ram gripped the pistol with both hands as she readied herself to fire when she heard a shouting from the back of the bay. It was too far to hear what was said but she was pretty sure it was Gruber.

As the man turned towards Gruber Ram took aim and was about to fire when he spoke, “I am not leaving her alive in here she killed Marcus.”

A cold chill rushed through Ram as she ducked back down only moments before the man turned back. She had fired randomly. How had she managed to kill Marcus? She heard Gruber yelling again before the man turned and ran back towards Gruber and the captain. Once he was past the airlock Ram started in the other direction. As she neared the airlock, two ship workers stepped through with a confused look on their face. Both men looked like they dressed in a hurry as they rushed down to the cargo bay. Not sure what to do Ram went with the truth, at least some of the truth. “Captain is running an underground shipment, indents. Higgins found out and went ballistic.”

The two men shared a look before either said anything, “I didn’t sign up to run, slaves.”

“Neither did I but the Captain is hurt. If you two will help get him I will prep the med lab.” Ram had barely finished speaking when shouting started from across the bay. All three turned at once as Gruber and the other man came through the lock with the amputated Captain between them. She turned back to the two men before her expecting a fight. They may not want to run slaves, but Ram was still the rookie of the crew. One of them stepped to the side and gave Ram a nod as she bolted past. As she reached the final airlock Ram felt shots whizzing past her head. She dove to the ground and slid the few remaining feet to the lift. Another three rounds ricocheted around the small elevator before she was able to hit the button closing the door.

As the door sealed shut Ram found herself alone bathed in the red emergency light. Slumping to the floor Ram leaned her head back and took a few deep breaths. For the first time since Higgins and Conklin had pulled her into all this she had a chance to think. The elevator chimed as it neared the flight deck. Ram got to her feet as she realized she had let go of the pistol. As the door started to slide open she grabbed it and slipped it into her pocket. The top level: the flight deck, cargo control and communications, were kept free of the blaring red lights of other levels. The ship’s manufacturer had realized that the lights would interfere with the crew as they tried to save the ship if anything were to happen. Instead they installed a one foot square panel every yard along the walls. Once the emergency alarm was sounded the panels would pulse red until the Captain entered a code to show all was clear.

It also sent out an automatic distress call on all frequencies so at this point Ram knew someone was on their way to find out what was going on. The door to the flight deck was open, which worried Ram. The only thing she had in common with Conklin was that he always kept the flight deck door sealed and locked when he was duty. As she approached the door she could hear someone yelling inside. Taking up a position at the edge of the door, she slowly peaked around the corner.

Conklin was nowhere to be seen but Connors was standing in front of the flight controls. Connors was the ship’s communication officer, rumor was he used to be a pilot but lost his guild license. Ram jerked back as he started to turn slamming her head against the steel wall with a thunk. Ram closed her eyes and thought every nasty word she could think of before turning slowly back. From the door she could see almost the entire flight deck but Connors was gone. Ram pulled the pistol and started to step back, there was only one exit from the flight deck and she was standing right in the middle of it. She took a few steps back and brought the gun to bear on the entryway.

Ram kept her finger off the trigger she didn’t want a nervous twitch to take away one her shots. There was a flash of movement and the lights went out Ram fired off a shot but it was