Harlon called out the order. They zoomed high, and the speed increased as Talon guided the cloaked ship deeper into space. His every instinct was wound up and humming. Running into a cloaked ship would be disastrous. There was no way to know if there was one out there without a good set of eyes watching the skies and those kinds of ridiculous accidents did happen all the time in space, usually when pirates bent on hiding ran into a ship filled with pirates also bent on the same thing.
They drifted over the Fed ship. His hands guided the ship closer still, jockeying for a position directly above. He looked over at Harlon, who held his hand over the controls for the metal spinners, vast and powerful drillers that would puncture all but the strongest of ship metals.
Harlon nodded, and Talon said, “Go.”
The spinners shot down and out, punching through the cap of the Federation ship. Just that would be enough to cripple the ship. The holes made would be too large for the ship to fly even if they drew back now. It would crash and burn, and its crew would die if they took the spinners up and back, and for a moment he considered doing just that, but he needed info. That thing he had just witnessed refused to leave his mind. It had to have an answer.
The crew was already moving. They had their weapons, and their faces said that they were after whatever could be had.
They wrecked for profit, and Fed ships often carried high credit-bearing goods.
Talon and Jessica wound up side by side, running for the portals that would take them through the tubes that would take them to the ship. That was the worst part for him, every single time. He always had a crazy fear that he would somehow end up in space instead of another ship and, as always, he heaved a sigh of relief when his feet hit deck instead of nothingness.
The battle started right then. His weapon came up, and his arm shot out, his fire taking the chest of a Fed officer out. The officer fell, blood spilling.
Jessica was involved in a hand-to-hand combat with a creature who wore the red and blue uniform of the Federation, and for a moment he paused, just watching her.
She was magnificent.
And distracting. He heard the laser whine in time to get out of its way, but just barely. He turned his attention away from Jessica and took out the com-call center, making sure the crew could not contact the rest of the fleet, not that it would matter if they did since Talon and his crew would be long gone before then.
