Jason Halstead - Voidhawk

Dexter aimed his pistol and pulled the trigger, putting a bullet through his cheek and out the back of his head. The pirate jerked and flopped to the ground, flailing in death spasms a handful of times before he lay still.

Dexter glanced about, wondering if any more pirates were in hiding. His back locked in pain as he attempted to take a step into the companionway. He gasped loudly for breath, the inhalation causing agony to spread from his ribs. The adrenaline fled, leaving him wheezing and dizzy. He tried again to move, reaching for the wall to steady himself. He missed, overbalancing in the process and crashing into the hallway with a fresh explosion of misery.

Dexter looked up at Kragor standing in the now open door to the bridge. The dwarf regarded the dead pirate at his feet with a scowl. “I’m not a runt!” Kragor said, kicking the corpse. “I’m tall for a dwarf…and stout!”

Kragor kicked him again then turned to Dexter.

A laugh emerged from Dexter’s lips, causing him no small amount of misery. He coughed, wracking up some blood that ran down his chin and drooled to the floor.

“Gods, boy-o, what’ve ya done to yourself?”

“Repelling borders,” Dexter wheezed, glad to know he could hear his friend, even if he did sound miles away.

Kragor chuckled. “I’d of helped, had ya told me you was out here,” he said when he saw the other dead pirate in the hold. “This the last of them, then?”

“Aye,” Dexter said, reaching out to grab the doorjamb and slowly using it to help pull himself up to his feet.

“How bad are ya?” Kragor asked him, looking at him nervously.

“Half deaf and half dead,” Dexter muttered. He saw the look of genuine concern on Kragor’s face and forced a bloody smile. “Broken ribs, bruises, some scrapes…think I damn near bit my tongue off at some point. Oh! I crashed that skiff into the Dart too.”

Kragor’s mouth opened and he peered past Dexter and out the hole in the hull. “Gods, boy, so you did! Didn’t no one tell ya not to ram a docked ship before?”

“Ramming was a two day lesson, I skipped the second day,” Dexter quipped. “Besides, it turned out the guy waiting outside wasn’t so tough without his ship.”

Kragor shook his head and then brightened visibly. “This is the best bit of supplies you’ve brought me yet!”

Confused, Dexter turned and looked out at the scattered wreckage. He chuckled. “So I did.”

“You’re not going to be worth a damn for work, you should head back now and make up a good story,” Kragor said.

“How about I was attacked by pirates?”

“Not bad, just make sure they wasn’t here.”

Dexter nodded and turned to leave. He stopped and turned back. “Awful wealthy for a group of pirates.”

“What?” Kragor asked, looking down at the nearest corpse and seeing no signs of finery.

“They all had pistols and fire powder, and decent weapons.”

Kragor looked again and noticed that Dexter spoke the truth. He looked up at his friend and stroked his beard. “You’re thinking something, aren’t ya?”

Dexter nodded. “Aye.”

“What?”

“Not sure yet,” Dexter admitted. “Gather up their stuff and stash it on the ship, then we’ll load their bodies onto the Gnat and I’ll dump them somewhere.”

“Let’s go get that ant and see if it’s fit for flying,” Kragor suggested instead.

Dexter looked up, remembering the ant then. “You hit it pretty good, Kragor, I’m for thinking it’s all done in.”

Kragor grinned, proud of his shot. “Aye, and if it is it’s more raw material. But if it’s not, then I can use it!”

Dexter shrugged and limped out of the ship toward the Gnat. He looked up at it and cursed.

“What?” Kragor asked beside him.

“I jumped out of it… didn’t lower the rope ladder.”

“Hellfire!” Kragor spat, looking about. He spat on the ground then turned and stormed off, heading back into the Hawk’s Talon for a long minute before he came back out.

“Here, try this,” Kragor offered, handing Dexter a coiled length of rope with a loop on the end of it.

Dexter nodded and tossed the looped end up. It flew half the distance he needed before falling heavily at his feet. Kragor harrumphed and grabbed the rope from him, tossing it strongly and catching it on his first try. He tested it with his weight before awkwardly attempting to climb it. Strong though he was, the dwarf’s hands were no match for the rope. He cursed loudly as he slid to the ground and fell heavily upon his butt.

Dexter shook his head and took the rope from him, then fought the urge to gasp with every attempt he made to pull himself higher. He paused twice to gather his breath and fight down the urge to vomit from the pain. Finally he made it, rolling onto his back and seeing spots in his vision. His tortured ribs rose and fell with each breath, reminding him forcefully of the need to control his breathing.

“Come on!” Dexter called down to Kragor several moments later. The dwarf grinned and shook his head, pointing instead at the hooks for the rope ladder. Dexter muttered something about the dwarf’s preference in bed partners and kicked the coiled ladder down to him.

Kragor was up on the scout ship a moment later, pulling up the ladder and rolling it up as he did so. Dexter shook his head and moved to sit in the helm, sighing happily when he did so. The chair was comfortable; it was made for a helmsman to sit in for hours at a time. Beyond that, when a helmsmen merged his consciousness with the ship he partially separated from his body and became aware of the ship in general. He could feel the damage done to it by the asteroids and the ballista, but it still felt a good deal more whole than he did.

“We’re good, let’s go,” Kragor told him once he coiled up the rope Dexter had used to climb onto the ship.

Dexter piloted the boat up off the asteroid and moved carefully to where he last saw the Ant. Kragor scanned the asteroid field, searching for wreckage. Dexter relived the chase in his head, remembering which direction it floated. He turned the Gnat starboard and set off. After a few minutes of cautious searching Kragor cried out. It was resting against another rock, nearly the size of a wagon, and though it looked to be poor shape it still held together.

“Nice shot,” Dexter said.

“Aye,” Kragor admitted, not picking up on his friend’s dark humor.

“Wasn’t thinking about salvage when you let ‘er fly?”

The dwarf turned to scowl at Dexter. “You didn’t give me much for warning, now did ya?”

“I’m just thinking that a proper first mate would think of these things, that’s all.”

“You’re lucky Jodyne’s taken such a shining to you boy,” Kragor spouted.

“She does show a fondness for throwing the sharper knives at you, doesn’t she?”

Kragor scowled again then turned to stare at the ant. Dexter closed with it slowly, taking no chances with either ship. Their banter ceased as the boats drew alongside one another.

“You be a better pilot than me, you fly that heap back and I’ll take this one,” Kragor offered once Dexter had gently pulled up beside the battered ship. Dexter looked it over and nodded, knowing the dwarf was right. Anything but the most gentle of landings would ruin it for good.

They exchanged positions and Dexter stepped onto the deck of the ant. He went to the helm and pulled the unconscious human out of it. Blood ran from one nostril, and without checking Dexter made the assumption that the man was dead. He dragged him to the side of the ship and pushed him off, letting him bob on the gravity plane of the merged ships in their air bubble and slowly be pushed out to the void as he flew the ship.