They stopped. “You can fucking hear us?” one asked.
“Obviously, dumbass. I heard you piss yourself when I started talking too. I’ll make a deal with you.” He inched out from behind the wall. The men ducked and watched from the other end, weapons raised. Two shots went off that missed him.
“Deal, my ass! You’ll just kill us.”
“Will I? I have a better idea.”
“And what’s that, you marked up twat? We’re not idiots.”
Sigh.“You’re alone. Three of you, I take it—don’t try and bluff me—I fucking know. Now listen!” His systems flickered again. “Your captain’s holed up, and the security systems are fried. I can’t be contained, anywhere, at least not for long. I’ve had free reign of this ship the moment you brought me aboard.”
“Then why haven’t you taken over?”
“I don’t want this piece of shit. I want mine. Your captain took it and I will kill every single man, woman, and child who stands in my way to get it back.” He wouldn’t, but they didn’t need to know that. “We have something in common.”
The men quieted and glanced at each other, their faces half-shielded. He calculated the aim and distance for three consecutive headshots, three split-seconds of death, then another EMP went off and disrupted him.
“Juke,” one muttered. The strategic one.
“Juke,” Gunner concurred. “He left you out here to die, by my hand, and you will. You will die if you don’t join me or at least get out of my way.”
“If you’re so damn sure then why not turn around and finish the fucking job? The way to the bridge is behind you.”
“That’s just it.” His jaw ticked.God, this was embarrassing.But all he could think of was getting to Elodie. “I don’t want up, I want down. I need information. I need leverage.”
He was taking a risk.
One of the men lowered his weapon. “The cargo.”
“Yes.”
“They’ll just gas you out.”
“Who? As far as we all know, no one’s leaving the top-deck.”
“How do we know you won’t kill us?”
You don’t.“I have nothing to gain from killing you. Why waste my ammo? But if you take that lift down, you’re guaranteeing your own death. If you stay and fight, you’re guaranteeing your own death. Trusting me could go either way, but that’s still your best chance of survival.” Gunner tossed all of the blood-covered bullets he had pulled out of himself toward the pirates, enjoying their sickened faces as the slugs bounced off the metal floor. “I’ll give you my word. I’ll let you live if you let me by. And...”
“And?”
“When the time comes, I’ll give you the captain to kill.” Gunner raised his weapon sideways in a show of peace, then let it dangle from his finger, and slowly lowered it to the ground. The men watched him warily as he moved to the center of the aisle with nothing but their dead companion’s pants and the random weapons he’d collected. He kept his hands up and away from all of them.
Like hawks in the distance, they watched his every movement. He, in turn, calculated every outcome.
“And when this is over?” one of the pirates asked. “What happens then?”
“Fuck if I care, you can have this trash heap and all the cargo in the hold. Just not the prisoners, they’re mine. I’m sworn to protect them. I’ll swear to protect you too.”
They looked at each other.I almost have them.
Gunner was poised to take his chances and kill them when the smart one walked out. Another minute went by before a second man followed.
The third muttered, “Not worth it,” before he emerged too.
They closed the distance, meeting in the middle where most of the dead bodies were beginning to stiffen. It took everything in Gunner’s power to hide the short-circuiting constantly stabbing through his systems.
The pirates eyed the bullet holes littering his body with disbelief. “Who the hell are you?”
