Read Ep.#14 - "The Weak and the Innocent" (The Frontiers Saga) for Free Online Page B

fifty of us left to evacuate,” he replied as the command center rocked from another series of explosions. “Shall we join the fun?”
    “I was wondering when you were going to ask.”
    “Gentlemen,” the commander called out, addressing everyone in the command center, “stay at your stations until the evac shuttle arrives, then haul ass outta here.” He looked at the young men working the consoles. Terrans, Corinairans, and even a few Tannans. Where they were from didn’t matter, they all understood the situation.
    Telles turned and headed toward the hatch, pausing by the sergeant guarding the exit. “You’re the last one out of here, Sergeant. Light the fires on your way out.”
    “No problem, Commander,” the Corinairan sergeant promised with confidence.
    * * *
    Captain Nash sent the control cards he had collected from the forward end of the ship tumbling aft ahead of him as he drifted through the hatch that led from Scout Three’s main cabin into the forward engineering space. The cards drifted into the aft bulkhead, careening off in different directions, tumbling as they floated about the compartment.
    Nash grabbed the overhead rail, his feet swinging under him as his forward motion continued to carry his body aft. He twisted around and then pulled himself forward along the rail to the edge of the hatch. “How are you doing back there?” he called to Commander Eckert over his comm-set.
    “ I’ve found where the line splits. I’ve spliced into the port run. If I can get a signal back from the port detonator, then I’ll try the starboard detonator. ”
    “What are you going to use for a power source?” Nash asked as he swung the hatch partially closed.
    “ I took the battery from one of the portable lights in the maintenance locker back here. That should give me more than enough power to set up a connection between my data pad and the detonators. Did you get the control cards? ”
    “Yeah, I got them.”
    “ Maybe we should destroy them, just to be safe? ”
    “Not yet,” Nash replied. He grabbed the rail that ran vertically alongside the hatchway, checking to make sure he could brace himself properly while firing. “We might still need them.”
    “ I thought you said we weren’t getting out of this one? ”
    “Allow a guy a little hope, will ya, Skeech?”
    “ Yes, sir. ”
    Captain Nash heard an odd sound coming from the forward end of the ship, like metal scraping on metal. “Something’s going on forward.” Sparks rained down from the overhead hatch in the middle of the EVA room on the other side of the main cabin. “They’re cutting through the hatch,” he said, lowering his voice in case the enemy was within earshot. Nash pulled the hatch nearly closed, leaving himself just enough room through which to fire on anyone who might enter the main cabin. He wrapped his left arm around the vertical rail alongside the hatchway to brace himself, then grabbed the close-quarters automatic weapon that was dangling from his chest harness and pulled it up into firing position. “I’m going to wait until as many of them as possible are inside before I open up.” He checked that his safety was off and that his weapon was ready.
    “ How much ammunition do we have? ” Commander Eckert asked over the comms.
    “Four mags, so about two hundred rounds. Plus two mags for my side arm.”
    “ Make them count. ”
    “You just worry about getting those detonators working.”
    “ Yes, sir. ”
    The sparks stopped spraying into the EVA compartment and the overhead hatch swung down and aft. Captain Nash cursed the designers of the old FTL scout ships for inadvertently giving the intruders additional cover during their entry into his ship.
    Something moved on the other side of the hatch. A shadowy silhouette descending from above. A helmet, followed by a body and a weapon. Captain Nash leaned back, barely peering around the edge of the hatchway’s collar as he watched the first Jung soldier rotate once