Sparks

Calvo sat, silently sweating with fear during the entire shuttle flight back to the mercs ship. Every moment he expected one of the pirates to denounce him as an imposter. A couple of times one of the mercenaries spoke to him and Calvo answered with a nod or a shrug. Incredibly nobody seemed to notice anything amiss in his silence, perhaps the man he had killed had been rendered mute by his hideous plasma burns. As the flight continued a new worry nagged at him, what the hell was he supposed to do when he got off this shuttle? Presently he felt the craft decelerate and manouvre for docking followed by the loud metallic clang of the magnetic landing struts clamping onto the landing bay decking.

Once the doors slid open the mercs filed off the shuttle, leaving Calvo loitering in the back. Only the bald headed merc leader remained, he turned to Calvo briefly.

"Take that uppity slit to section fourteen." He commanded. "You can give Sparks a hand prepping the last of those bitches for hyperspace. We need to jump before that warship catches up with us."

Calvo gave the leader the thumbs up and received a grunt of acknowledgement in return before the man turned and strode off. Calvo sighed with relief to have made it this far and hauled the **** captain out of the transport. He looked round the hanger bay with a spacer's experianced eye. From the configuration he could tell he was on a raven class cargo ship, one of the most common types in service. They were built under licence on a dozen different worlds and were a solidly constructed though lightly armed workhorse. Apart from the one he had just disembarked from there were two other small craft in the hanger, another shuttle and a two man fighter. A score or more unmanned attack drones were lined up ready for use. The landing bay and the equipment were all worn, but everything looked to be well maintained and servicable.

Hefting the red haired officer onto his shoulder Calvo set off for section fourteen, He was well used to the raven class having served aboard them and he had no problem finding his way. The section had been converted by the mercs into a **** pen. A holding cage near the entrance held five of the captured guardwomen; Twelve and Eighteen, the two bleach haired clones and a glowering coloured lieutenant. Two mercs stood guard by the cage and casually greeted him when he entered. Storage lockers lined the walls and a pair of biobeds with restraints fitted dominated the cramped room, in the far wall a doorway led deeper into section fourteen.

Through this doorway came an unlikely looking merc. The man was old, at least in his sixties with snowy white hair and beard. Scars lined his weathered face. One arm was missing, but the aging pirate had more than compensated for his lost limb. Metal segmented tentacles had been grafted onto his spine, each tipped with a mechanical gripper or tool. Calvo guessed that this must be Sparks, a common spacer slang for a ship's engineer. This was confirmed when the old man spoke.

" 'Andsome lad, glad you could join us." The elderly merc wheezed. "Come to give your old pal Sparks a 'and 'ave you?"

"You two can run along and get ready for the jump." Sparks said to the two mercs. " 'Andsome 'ere will 'elp me finish up with these bitches."

The two guards nodded and left. On Calvo's shoulder the guard captain stirred and moaned as she began to regain consciousness. Calvo set her on the deck, propped upright against one of the biobeds.

"Got another one of those 'ellcats 'ave you 'Andsome." Sparks leered, coming close to examine the woman.

"And a captain too, no less." He chortled seeing the officers insignia. "Old Sparks will 'ave some fun with this one and no mistake. I've never **** a captain before, leastways not a female one."

The weird old engineer turned and clumped towards the far doorway, his metal limbs coiling about his body.

"Bring ginger with you 'Andsome lad." Sparks ordered. "Might as well bed 'er down next seeing as she's 'andy like."

Calvo pulled the awakening guard upright and marched her through the door. The sight that awaited him in the next room made him halt and stare in surprise.