Adrian opted for standing on his seat instead, and unclipped the visor that connected to the ceiling above that seat. A glance upward revealed the same kind of visor above Laphor, and each of her crew members as well. While their purpose was unknown, Adrian didn’t seem to care what they did, and sliced the accompanying data-cable in half instead.
“I think they’ll notice that!” Laphor warned.
He chuckled back as he worked his blade along the inner cabling and stripped each wire. “I reckon they’ll have other things to worry about.”
Something told Laphor the human was intending to be somewhat less than honourable, a feeling all but confirmed when he carefully began threading the exposed wiring into the device that held Trycrur’s consciousness; if she was the ace, then it seemed the Lander would be the allegorical sleeve.
“Shouldn’t you be doing that on the big ship?” Mando asked.
Adrian kept working as he answered. “Don’t know that I’ll have the time. I get the feeling that old mate wants this challenge sorted out as soon as possible. You with us yet, Trix?”
“With you and disoriented,” the digitised Rauwryhr replied. “Am I going crazy, or do your ships just keep getting better?”
Sarcasm dripped off her words like slime from an argelek’s back, strongly suggesting that she was not very impressed by what she’d found in the Lander’s computer systems.
“This one’s not broken in half,” Adrian pointed out, referring to the state of Laphor’s vessel when they’d arrived.
Trycrur was unconvinced. “Yet. Are you already running with Plan B, or are things still in a downward spiral?”
“Downward spiral,” Laphor supplied, and smiled at Adrian’s reprising glare. “He’s about to fight three V’Straki soldiers in personal combat for control of the warship.”
Trycrur sighed. “Sounds like the usual level of planning was involved, then.”
Laphor answered again. “There was an opportunity.”
Adrian decided to interrupt any further comments made at his expense. “You can talk shit about me later. How long will it take you to get familiar with the systems? They should be about the same as what we had on the Zhadersil.”
“Yes, and I had a body then,” she reminded him. “I remember a lot of really complicated hardware and simplified software, and what I’m seeing here just confirms it.”
“Can you get control of it?” Adrian asked.
“Not completely,” she told him. “I can hijack the normal signals, while they’re engaged. Since I’m plugged into a weapons system, I’ll have that much control at a minimum.”
“Guns are good,” said Adrian. “We’ll make it work.”
“Like always,” she grumbled. “Can you fill me in on what else I’ve missed? This place seems like it got worse.”
Adrian nodded. “A lot worse. I don’t think there’s any saving the planet, but we’re at least aiming to save the people.”
He said it like they were all on board with the plan, even though Laphor couldn’t have given a shit either way. It was only a goal because, for some reason, Adrian wanted to save part of this terrible world, and he was the one running the show; if it were up to Laphor, they’d abandon the whole planet to its grim future, spend three cycles relaxing on Perfection, and forget the whole ordeal ever happened.
There was a sensation of slowing, and of a docking clamp being engaged as the ship came to a stop. Laphor’s nerves burned with a mix of fear and anticipation as the hydraulics began to hiss. “I think we’ve arrived.”
Adrian stowed the visor in a hurry with Trycrur’s device tucked safely inside, and dropped down into his seat in time for the ramp to deploy. A sea of reptilian faces greeted them, spread out across a well-stocked flight deck, and every eye was turned towards Adrian.
He rose from his seat as if he’d never been standing. “Now this is a fucking welcome.”
++++
++++
The Dastasji, Agwar
Adrian Saunders
The number of V’Straki who crowded the flight deck must have been a sizable portion of the Dastasji’s complement, and Adrian guessed that Jrasic was bringing them out for that reason. If they saw him beat Adrian, they’d all know who was really in charge, and Jrasic’s claim on the ship would be cemented. The problem was that this wasn’t the sort of thing someone did when they expected they might lose, and looked very much like they were laying a trap.
Laphor figured it out as well. “This is not as it seems.”
“No,” Adrian agreed. “I’m pretty sure they’ve got a plan of their own, but they also expect me to play by their rules. They are trying to give me no choice.”
“How do you figure that?” she asked.
“They tried to get me to give up a claim on the command,” he told her, “by suggesting I couldn’t beat them, or that I’d need to bring you aboard to help me beat them.”
“You didn’t actually mention that earlier,” Laphor noted.
Adrian smiled. “I didn’t think you’d come.”
Laphor glared at him. “Astute.”
Mando’s translator crackled into life to convert Jrasic’s call into a language they could all understand. “Are you coming out, Shiplord Oh Fuck Adrian Saunders?” he shouted. “I have brought my crew out here to witness the strength of a true V’Straki, so I would rather not have to go in here after you!”
“Looking forward to it!” Adrian shouted back in V’Straki. “Just need a minute to tie my shoe-laces.”
This was lost on the V’Straki, as was the fact that he was wearing a pair of boots, but it allowed him the time needed to bring his crew up to speed. “Slight change of plan, Trix.”
“Wonderful,” she replied dryly, “is it Plan B?”
“It’s Plan B-esque,” he admitted. “It starts with you shutting that ramp and shooting all those motherfuckers.”
“And how does it end?” she queried; if a voice could raise an eyebrow, this one would be hitting the ceiling.
He smiled, glad she’d asked. “If this works out? With a bucket and a mop.”
++++++++
End of Chapter