Farid had a hand on his interface, sending another urgent-assistance-needed code to the Station Security comm. Tifany was more direct. She drew her baton and said, “Balin, get us inside.”
The PA bot stood up to twice my height （I honestly hadn’t realized it had been crouching until that point）， extended an arm, shoved spidery fingers into the control interface in the bulkhead next to the hatch, and sent a complex ping I realized was a decoder. The hatch slid open.
Okay, so that was what the PA bot did when it wasn’t just standing around.
My drones zipped past me and I dove through the hatch after them. This is what I do when I’m not standing around.
Past the airlock, I had a drone view of a shabby corridor, an open hatch at the end, and a shabby human/Target One standing there with a big energy weapon. Audio picked up angry human shouting. Past the target and the hatch was a large compartment with three corridors leading off it. Aylen and Gamila were backed into a corner, Aylen in front with her arms out, trying to shield Gamila. Four additional targets, two armed, faced them. Target Two was the closest, aiming a projectile weapon at them and yelling. Target Three: initial assessment = most likely to fire. She was further away from the hostages, also yelling, and waving her projectile weapon.
Warned by the hatch opening, Target One had time to turn toward me and lift the weapon. I had two humans trying to come in behind me so I didn’t dodge, but I didn’t want to block the energy burst with my head, either. I fired from my right arm and hit the Target’s weapon. （I could have aimed for his face but I didn’t consider him that much of a threat.） He yelped and spun sideways as I reached him. I bonked his head against the edge of the hatch and yanked the damaged weapon away.
I flung him through the hatch in front of me to draw fire, and then stepped through to throw the broken weapon at Armed Target Two. It bounced off her head as I fired my left arm weapon at Armed Target Three and hit her in the chest and shoulder. I was still moving across the compartment and I slammed into Unarmed Target Four along the way and threw him into Target Two who had stumbled back and dropped her weapon. They both went down in a heap and I slid to a stop with my back to Aylen and Gamila. I had my drone task group do a fast circuit of the compartment then break into small squads. Three squads took up sentry positions and the rest shot out of the hatches to search the ship for more targets.
Not an ideal intervention/retrieval; my speed had been a little low. Trying to keep Tifany and Farid from getting shot had thrown me off. Also, I wasn’t sure yet if the Targets were hostiles or just really stupid, so I had held back a little. Target Three had crumpled to the floor, still conscious and trying to grope for her weapon. Before I had to shoot her again, Tifany and Farid barreled in and Farid scooped up the weapon. Targets One and Four were dazed and not attempting to move, Target Five had dropped to the floor and was screaming for no reason. Target Two sprawled on the floor, pretending to be unconscious.
I would have worried about an as yet unknown Target trying to lock us inside （it wouldn’t have worked, but it would have been annoying to deal with） （nobody wants to be locked in a ship with an annoyed SecUnit） （nobody） but my sentry drones had a camera view of Balin planting itself in the hatchway and extending four bracing limbs to keep it open. （I’m guessing the Port Authority has dealt with problem crews before.）
Tifany moved further into the room, taking up a guard position to my left as Farid said, “We’ve called for assistance, and uh, I’ll alert Medical.”
I was getting drone video telling me that the ship was a stripped-down cargo hauler, with a small livable space. The drones hadn’t found any other occupants. From inside, the jamming was easy to take down, and I pulled a manifest from the ship’s feed to double-check the complement. I said, “Ship is clear, listed crew is accounted for.” Because I was tired of Target Two’s shit, I turned around to ask Aylen and Gamila, “Are you injured?”
Target Two made a wild grab for her fallen projectile weapon. I kicked the weapon over to Tifany, who snatched it up and secured it. （Yes, it was unnecessary and showing off.）
Aylen said, “We’re unhurt.” She sounded calm, a dry edge to her voice, but her forehead was damp with sweat and her heart rate was still elevated. Her jacket and shirt had been disarranged, like someone had grabbed her and pushed her. “Thank you for intervening.”
Gamila leaned against the wall, a hand pressed to her chest. “I’m not even sure what happened! They threatened us, wouldn’t even listen to why we were here.”