MUXII'S LUCK

by Mr. David R. Dorrycott

Muxii Ruce sat quietly, working on her fingerclaws, her bare feet propped on the warm scanner screen when an alarm sounded. Shocked from her day dreaming she half fell, half sat up as she kicked at the alarms reset. Quiet settled in the old tugs control room as she struggled to regain her composure. Settling into her chair she switched her radio to the local emergency channel.

"...pirates, sector 71-B Z minus 677... Repeat, this is the Colony ship RACCIM out of IRUTH, bound for TUSAT. 7,000 souls aboard. We are under attack by pirates, sector....." Silence filled the room "Flergs, at least I'm deadheading this month" she muttered to herself. The signal had been strong, no chance of interference. She was too close to ignore it.

Some where someone had just been introduced to vacuum breathing. Entering the data into her computer she grunted, "Four hours, not much will be left, but the pirates should be gone." Biting her lip she entered the data, turning towards the ship under attack. Almost as an afterthought she reached under her consul, depressing a small switch hidden there. STAR DANCER suddenly ceased transmitting her identification codes.

Four hours later STAR DANCER slipped out of null space, scanners searching for the ship that should be there. Muxii sweated in her seat as she slowly slid her space suits faceplate down. 'Better to be safe than sorry' she thought, keying in the decompression sequence. Moments later she spotted a blip just on the edge of her scope. Gently tapping the blip with her light pen she told her computer to take her there. Slowly the tugs engines turned its huge mass, accelerating towards the drifting colony ship. Muxii scanned the emergency bands, hundreds of life pod signals but not a single voice. Worried she keyed into the local military band, "Star Tug SD-7883-P calling any..." alarms screamed. Less than a light minute away a small ship slipped from behind an asteroid.

"Nergs" she exclaimed, "Computer maximum thrust, options" she screamed grabbing floating straps and buckling in.

"Intercept seven minutes, thirty seconds. Insufficient power to outrun enemy" her computer reported.

"Options" she demanded again, hitting her own emergency beacon.

"Options; Surrender, die, whipcord."

Muxii groaned, reaching out for the manual flight controls. That meant there were no choices, her race was highly desired on the slave market. Alive or as a skinned pelt. "Stand by whipcord, manual on release" she ordered. Her communicator beeped, a computer generated wolf face filling its small screen. "DARK RIDER to tug, surrender or be vaporized" the face ordered. It seemed bored with it all.

Muxii grimaced under the tugs heavy acceleration. Pulling three G's wasn't something she did often. Not since slipping out of the fleet. Thumbing the transmit switch on her yoke she grinned, "Suck eggs puze breath" she managed.

The wolf face twisted in hate, "Your funeral rodent" he replied before the screen faded out. Both ships roared towards each other, the smaller pirate slowing as Muxii’s huge tug lumbered towards it. Weapons fire laced out from the pirate, small arms only. They were playing with the out matched old ship.

Long seconds passed while the two ships closed. Abruptly soft puffs of gas billowed around the tugs battered pod, the tug itself abruptly pulled up and away, turning to dive behind the now free flying pod. Reaching out with her single attractor, Muxii sent the pod tumbling.

Caught by surprise DARK RIDER fired everything it had, shredding the pods flimsy skin but hardly touching the heavy framework beneath. Desperately the pirate turned away, to be struck by the tumbling mass of durluminan girders. Shields screamed as they failed. Inside the pirate crewmen tumbled as the heavy mass wrapped itself around the ship, causing it to twist abruptly. A few girders tore through the hull, releasing air into space. With a final effort the pirate ripped free of its prison, now madly tumbling itself.

Muxii grinned as she dove for the rocks ahead. Without the pod her over-engined ship was as fast as the crippled pirate, maybe faster. She watched as the ship twisted, slowly recovering from the massive impact.

"I don't believe it, it worked" she muttered as she dove for safety among the rocks. Shutting down her engines and electronics she coasted. No longer emitting, the tug quickly became one of the millions of bits in the rubble field. Muxii laughed nervously about what she'd just done, turning the pirates own hiding trick against them was adding insult to injury. She settled down to a long wait. Only the mad played tag with a pirate.

Days later her communicator woke her. "DARK RIDER to star tug. You win this one, but we'll be waiting. You'll never know, but one day, we'll get you."

Shaken awake she caught a glimpse of the pirates Captain, his face bandaged, one eye covered with a makeshift patch he hadn’t worn the first time. "Computer, what's up" she asked.

"Military vessel arriving. Pirates are withdrawing at slightly less than best expected speed" it answered.

Muxii twisted in the loosened straps, stretching as best as she could in the confining suit. "Bring up a point of gravity and re-pressurize" she ordered as she released the straps.

Standing in the low gravity she started peeling out of her suit. Joints and muscles screamed in pain from the earlier heavy acceleration. Shaking her short hair she racked her helmet. "Bring us on-line, head for the life pods" she ordered. On her now active scanner a small blip slowly limped away as several larger blips slipped in from the other direction. Even at first glance she was certain the pirate hadn’t a chance of outrunning those ships. Not after what she’d been lucky to do to it. Reaching under the counsel she touched the hidden switch.

STAR DANCER was legal again.