"Why are we doing this again?" Amber asked.
"Because of Credits?" Ries suggested from the pilot seat.
"I don't think the amount of Credits justify the risk we're taking for this though…"
I agree with that.
I lifted up my hand, "Didn't I tell you already? Because the ring pointed to it. I'm guessing there might be sothing else there that's related to them. Like that thing we found on the planet they had requested us to bring them to. That's why we all agreed to go check it out, right?"
Amber sighed, "Yes, I'm just wondering why we even ended up in this situation in the first place."
Mara turned to , "Is Captain expecting to get another ring or sothing?"
I shrugged, "Honestly, I don't know what to expect… And it's not like I can just ask this guy what we can expect anyway…"
The ring on my finger vibrated but did nothing else, as though it was just showing that it acknowledged my words but either could not or would not answer my obvious question.
Amber ca over to lean on the backrest of my chair, her hand slipping over mine.
I instinctively spread my fingers so that I could intertwine my fingers with hers, holding her hand in mine.
She let out a sigh, "I won't lie, Tera… I'm having a rather bad feeling about this one…"
I grimaced, "So am I… Let's just do this quick and get out of here. We just need to secure the probe and bring it back with us. We'll get paid more if we find out what happened to the ship's crew but if it's too dangerous, we'll just ignore that one."
Amber grinned, "Ehehe~ In that case, if anything happens, I'll protect you!"
I turned to smile at her, "I'll be counting on you then."
"Boss, we're coming on the ship soon…"
I turned my attention back towards the front to see the ship in question floating in front of us.
It looks like this ship was a C Class Corvette, just a tad bit smaller than our ship.
"Mara? Can you attempt to hail them?" I asked.
Mara turned to , "Already tried, Captain. Either they are ignoring our calls or they aren't able to answer them."
"Keep trying. Ries, bring us closer to the probe."
"You got it, Boss."
We continued our course as we got closer and closer to the Corvette, our ship moving past the back of the Corvette until its broadside ca into view.
"Boss… We have a problem…" Ries groaned.
I sighed, "Yeah… I see it…"
For our job, we have to recover the probe and bring it back with us to the station, which ant we'll have to either load it up into our cargo bay or dock it with our docking hatch if it has a docking hatch that we could make use of.
But now that we got close to the probe, I can see that the probe was stuck halfway inside the cargo bay of the ship, with the cargo bay doors clamping down on the probe.
Seems like either soone made a mistake and closed the door on the probe before it could be fully brought inside… Or there was another reason for that.
But now the problem was that to get the probe, we would have to free it from those cargo bay doors.
"We could try shooting the doors open," Lea suggested, her hand already on the weapons console.
I grimaced, "At this point, we still don't know if the crew on the ship is still alive though… What if we end up killing them?"
Lea shrugged, "Then I suppose it's bad luck for them."
"No, no, no… Let's try not to kill them pointlessly, ok? Mara, any luck?"
She turned back and shook her head, "No response at all, Captain."
"Great… Can we do a scan of the ship? Check if their life support systems are online."
"Right away Boss~"
Our scanners went online and it did a sweep of the ship, the results of the scan displayed on a screen projected above us for all to see.
"Life support systems online… Generators online… Artificial gravity generators are also online… So the ship is still functioning properly… Ries, do they have a docking hatch we can dock with?"
Amber groaned, "We're boarding them?"
I sighed, "We might as well… I'm assuming the crew's all dead or sothing so we'll head to their cargo bay and open the doors to free the probe and then transfer it to our cargo bay before heading back."
"What if whatever that killed them is still on the ship?" Amber pointed out.
"Then I'll be depending on you to kill it."
"Ehehehe~ In that case, leave it to ~"
"Boss, we're initiating docking procedures now. By the looks of it, it shouldn't be that far from their cargo bay," Ries reported, prompting to move my attention back to the front again.
Sure enough, I could see that their docking hatch was quite close to where the cargo bay was, so it should just be a short walk from there to the cargo bay itself.
"Right. Amber, you're with . Lea, keep watch with the ship's guns in case anything happens. Mara, stay with the comms, we'll relay information back here through you. Ries, prepare to receive the probe in the cargo bay."
"Yes Captain~" All of them responded together.
I got up from the Captain's chair and headed to the armoury with Amber as Ries manoeuvred our ship closer to the Corvette to dock with them.
The both of us quickly grabbed our gear and headed to the cargo bay right as our ship finished the docking procedures, the door cycling open with a loud hiss.
I did a quick equipnt and comms check before turning to Amber, my lover giving a confident nod to show that she was ready as well.
We stepped through the door and I thumbed the safety off on my shotgun, though I still kept the weapon lowered for now.
The place was quiet… But at least the lights were on I guess…
In front of us, the path split at a T-junction going left and right.
If I rember correctly… The cargo bay should be to our left so I guess we should be headed in that direction…
I took the lead as Amber followed behind . She had one of her pistols out while her other hand seed poised to make use of her Psionic powers at a mont's notice with how she was flexing her fingers while raising her hand slightly at her chest level.
We ca across one door at the side and I stopped at it to briefly question if we should open it.
Amber convinced that it was safer to check just in case there were enemies hiding in there so I did.
Opening the door revealed that it was a cabin of sorts that had four cots.
There was stuff strewn on each of the cots so I assud that four people occupied this room but aside from that, I saw no traces of life.
Seeing that there was no one, I closed the door and continued forward, reaching another door up ahead.
I also opened that one, finding another similar room with four cots which basically confird that we were currently standing in the living quarters part of the ship.
But… The place really is quiet huh? And there weren't any signs of a fight around here either so… Was everyone just gathered in a single place sowhere or sothing?
Because if there was a struggle here, at least the walls or the floor would have shown bullet holes or burn marks from a gun fight or sothing. Heck even blood splatters or the like would be a sign but there were none of these things so if the crew had been attacked, I don't think they were attacked here at least.
We continued our way towards the cargo bay while checking each room we ca across to look for survivors or any potential ambushes, but everywhere we went was completely dead silent with no traces of anyone.
Everything here was so quiet… Almost like… Everyone on the ship just disappeared?
"Amber? Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I asked.
"That the crew is slacking off sowhere?"
"No… Like… The crew disappeared… For so reason?"
"Like 'popped out of existence' disappeared or 'they all collectively decided to take a break and went to the ss hall' disappeared?"
"The first one…"
She shrugged, "I dunno. I know we should just get the probe free from the cargo bay and then just get the hell out of here at least. Whatever happened to these people is not my-- Who's that?"
I turned in the direction of where she was pointing and I realised there was a… Figure standing in the corner of the corridor.
I say figure but… It had the shape of a person but they looked like they were completely obscured in shadow, like what you would see when soone is standing in the dark and you can only see the outline of their body.
Oh, you think that sounds normal?
The only problem is that they were standing in a lit up part of the corridor…
Then the figure turned, revealing that it had no facial features.
What the fuck is that?!
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