037. The Venture Commandeered

KA-THUNK. “We hit something?” Drace asked, groggy from an uncomfortable nap. “We’re travelling at FTL speed across empty space, old man,” Umi quipped, incredulously. “If we hit something, we’d be dead!” “Wouldn’t that be nice?” Drace retorted, taking back manual control of ARK ship Venture. “Might get some peace for once. Any theories?”

Silence descended on the bridge. The rumbling of the engines and the fractal patterns of FTL travel failed to soothe Drace’s nerves, as he and Umi exchanged agitated glances.

Long seconds passed. Drace concluded, “It’s probably noth—“

“We’ve got a limpet!” Alther called out from her station, where a wireframe showed a dome-shaped anomaly on the Venture’s hull. “It’s tech. Unmanned. No major damage, but it’s carrying—“

“Wakey wakey, colonialist thieves!” A new voice commed cheerfully. “This ship has been commandeered by the Galactic Liberation of Wonder. Turn to the heading on your viewscreens now, or we will detonate the limpet.”

Drace cursed as his stomach twisted. He didn’t understand the numbers scrolling across every screen, but Alther was already checking them against the Venture’s maps.

He depressed the comm to respond in what he hoped was an assertive tone. “This is the Venture. We are armed and we don’t tolerate hijackers.” “We don’t tolerate your monopolisation of cultural preservation, mate,” the voice menaced. “Turn to your new heading; final warning.”

Drace looked to his crew, but they were all staring nervously at him. He sighed, defeated.

“Do it, and pray they let us live.”