The Wild Card Factor

Running full speed, Commander Tionne didn't see the door until she slammed into it. Momentarily stunned, she backed away to see what she'd run into. When she realized what it was, she found the control pad and keyed the door open as fast as she could. She plunged into a room full of cold darkness, making sure the door closed tightly behind her. Except for the pounding of her heart and her painful, gasping breaths, the room was silent. She flipped on the infrared scanner in her visor and scanned the room. She was in a large storage closet. She was in a large, empty storage closet. Good, she thought, now I have a few minutes to plan. To plan, and to figure out what in the name of the Alliance had happened.

A month ago, she'd been informed that she was going to be assigned to meet with the leader of the alien's flagship to discuss a treaty between their world and the Galactic Peace Alliance. The senate had decided that it would be wise to send someone with combat experience, in case something went wrong and things got a little too hot for comfort. The matriarchal aliens had refused to meet with a male, however, and she was the only female member of the Interstellar Pacification Corps who had experience in diplomacy. Peace negotiations were always tricky, so she'd gone out of her way to learn everything she could about these aliens. She hadn't been at all happy to find out that negotiations were to be held in the alien's territory, on an alien ship, rather than a neutral site.

Jade Tionne was a strong believer in the wild card factor. Simply put, it meant that anything can and will happen. Sometimes it worked for you, and sometimes it worked against you. There was no way to predict when, how, or for whom the wild card factor would come into play, or change sides. You just had to prepare for anything and hope that you could deal with it. This situation was a perfect example. She had been as prepared as she could be, and the whole thing had still blown up in her face.

The meeting had started off well. Then, about two standard hours into the peace talks, one of the aliens burst into the conference room. Although many of the aliens still looked alike to her, this one had the pale purplish coloring she'd come to associate with the young adult females. The alien had babbled something in its own language, and even to Commander Tionne's human eye it was obvious that something had greatly upset her.

She was upset, all right, and it didn't take long for the two aliens Jade'd been negotiating with to work up to her level of excitement. The large, insect-like aliens had turned on Commander Tionne in a blind rage, screaming unintelligibly and killing her aide with the vicious-looking ceremonial knifes all their diplomatic envoys carried. They nearly caught Commander Tionne, as well, and only her combat training had saved her. She knocked over the young adult in her way and dashed out the door, running as fast as she could. She didn't look back to see if they were chasing her. This time, she had surprised the aliens, catching them off guard, and had managed to escape. Next time, she might not be so lucky.

Okay, she thought, trying to calm herself so that she could figure a way out of this mess. First step, assess the situation. She was trapped on a warship full of aliens who wanted to kill her. She had her visor, and her laser gun was still in the forearm holster hidden under her oversized sleeves. she also had her wits, which could prove more useful than anything else.

Now, she thought, what do I need? A small ship or shuttle, for one thing, she answered herself, and a clear communications channel to the Alliance, for another. Where could she get a shuttle? Her ship had gone back home, since there was no telling how long the conference would last. She had taken care to familiarize herself with the layout of the alien ship when she'd come on board, and she'd programmed a diagram into her visor. She called up that diagram now. Her mind raced over the possibilities. Let's see, shuttle bay's two levels down, but they'll be expecting that. She suddenly remembered seeing a storage hanger where the aliens kept captured or damaged fighters, and shuttles not currently in use. She checked the diagram, and found it to be about four levels above her current position. That was probably her best bet. Once she had a shuttle, she could use its transmitter to call for help. Even if she made it off the alien ship, though, with the wild card factor in play, she knew better than to assume she would be safe. There was no telling what the universe had in store for her. The sooner she got to Alliance space, the better.

All this planing took moments, but it seemed like hours. She should get moving before the alarm had time to spread any further. She adjusted her visor so that the diagram was reduced in the corner, and set it on targeting mode. After quickly checking the hallway, she started for the hanger. She raced down halls and through doorways, pausing only to glance around corners, or duck into a hiding place as alien soldiers ran by. She managed to make it halfway to the storage hanger before she ran into trouble. She was about to round another corner when a laser blast barely missed her ear. She turned to see an alien who had emerged from the side passage that she had just passed, pointing a laser at her. She dropped to a firing crouch, sent a burst of laser fire in the alien's direction, and darted down the corridor, not waiting to see if she had hit the alien. No shots followed her, and no alarm was sounded. She stopped to peek around the next corner, and jumped to cover as quickly as she could as another hail of fire came her way. She raised her laser, and, this time taking time to aim, she took out two of her attackers before they could get to cover. The third managed to duck behind a large outcropping in the wall before Commander Tionne could get another shot off. They kept each other pinned down for an eternity before Commander Tionne managed to dispose of her assailant.

About thirty meters ahead, more trouble awaited her. This time, the attack came both from in front and behind. Surrounded, she dodged laser bolts as best she could. With no where else to go, she kept running towards the aliens in front of her, firing wildly. She swerved into a small side corridor at the last minute, looking around for a place to hide or anything that might give her any kind of advantage against the aliens. She noticed a grate on the floor under her feet. She pulled it up and jumped in the hole it covered. She just barely managed to replace the grate in time to fool her pursuers. She crawled through the narrow space until she came to another grate. Slowly she eased it up, and, seeing that the coast was clear, climbed out, took a quick look around to get her bearings, and dashed toward the storage hanger.

She finally made to the hanger. She took a quick look around, and smiled. the wild card factor was on her side, for the moment at least. Directly in front of her was a starfighter, a ZZ-22K. They were used almost exclusively by pirates and were commonly called Ravens. Small, sleek, and fast, the fighters were very well shielded and exceptionally well armed for a ship their size. The navigation and guidance systems were similar to those used in Alliance fighters. Commander Tionne didn't anticipate much trouble in operating it. This particular Raven must have been captured from the pirate group that had been raiding sectors near the alien's territory. A quick glance at the starboard side confirmed it. The sickle-and-sword insignia was characteristic of that specific pirate band. The Alliance had been trying to find their hideout for months.

She waited until all the alien mechanics' backs were turned, and ran over to the ship, using its landing gear for cover in case one of the mechanics should happen to glance her way. She climbed up into the cockpit and initiated the preflight sequence. She raised the shields as soon as she had enough power. The noise of the startup had alerted the mechanics, and reinforcements would probably not be long in coming. A minute later she was ready to fly. She fired at the heavy hanger doors, thankful for the extra power in the little pirate ship's laser cannons. It took several shots, but the massive doors finally gave way just enough to give her a clear path to open space. Commander Tionne piloted the little fighter into space, barely avoiding the massive lasers of the alien's flagship. She sent an emergency signal to the Alliance, warning them of the aliens' actions, accelerated to light speed, and headed for Alliance territory.

Two standard hours later, she came out of light speed . . . right into the middle of a battle. A battle between the Alliance and a group of pirates. A group of pirates flying Ravens. A group of pirates flying Ravens with a sickle-and-sword insignia on their starboard sides. Her last thought, before her ship exploded into a brilliant fireball, was that the wild card factor had switched sides again.