Scrapper. Book 1. Parts 1—3

Chapter 1. Scrapper.

Another day, another job.

Everything was as usual – they landed in one of the abandoned sectors, searching for anything of worth that they could sell. Though this was just like any other day they’ve been working, the young woman was happy that they weren’t stuck in some ancient refinery, lost in the terrible maze of its corridors like it was a week ago.

This time it was a small settlement, marked on the map with an asterisk – her captain, the Ol’ Fart, as she called him, said he was hinted about something of significant value. He wouldn’t tell her what it was, but Serena knew that if he gave an order – she’d better follow through, or he could punish her greatly.

She walked through the old, dilapidated building, hearing her captain scrambling somewhere near, and hoped that she could get at least some rest from his obnoxious company.

Stepping into one of the big halls she scanned the floor, where lots of scrap lay haphazardly. None of this was of any value, as most of it was just some broken toys and pieces of statuettes. The tiny old batteries could be refined, of course, but to make it up for the time she would have to find at least three boxes filled with them, so searching through the toys was a complete waste of her time.

Serena stepped further in, searching with her eyes for anything that she could take into the anti-gravitational cart that was slowly following her. A few rolls of copper wires and a small silver plate was lying inside – a bitter find, but it was something at least.

That was the life of a scrapper – to search out through the abandoned and destroyed locations and bring back anything the Company would buy. Copper, Nickel, Gold and Silver were the best of finds. Gold and a rare find of Platinum would feed them for weeks. But the copper wires and little things like that silver plate would just lengthen their hungry existence a little bit.

The woman thought that if she were to have one of those handheld scanners, her work would be so much easier. But those things cost a hefty penny, and she was in no position to ask her captain to allow her such a device.

Serena decided to glance into a smaller room, and stepped inside it, leaving the cart outside the door.

Immediately a gun aimed at her face and she froze, looking at a tall, dirty man with a very boyish face and oily blond hair. A short beard covered his chin and he smiled to her – a fair, charming smile that made him look like one of those man-models for some ad campaign. Only he was dirtier and obviously not as law-abiding.

«Keep looking, I’m going back to the ship for a break!» Serena heard her captain scream from the room next door.

She looked at the gun, aimed at her, then into the blue eyes of the man, who was holding it. She knew she had to reply, otherwise her captain would come searching for her and everything could turn very ugly – the Ol’ Fart was extremely hot-tempered and hated when someone wasn’t obeying his commands.

«Answer me, bitch!» the captain barked.

«Sorry!» Serena watched the eyes of her captor squint with a dark promise. «Yeah, go ahead, I’m on it!»

«You’d better find something worth our time here!»

«Yes, boss!» Serena swallowed a sudden lump in her throat.

She wouldn’t be able to say who she feared more – the armed man in front of her or the captain, who made her life miserable.

The stranger gripped his gun tighter, listening to the captain’s steps disappearing far away. When everything fell silent, the man smiled a bit wider and leaned in.

«How many of you are there?» he asked with a low, rumbling voice that made her shiver.

«Two of us.» Serena breathed out, feeling the gun press against her neck, as the man forced her to step aside and back to the wall.

As she leaned over the cold, hard wall, the man snickered and stepped closer, his hand pressing against Serena’s breast. He grinned, grasping tighter, and licked his lips.

«You’re a fine find, girl…» he said.

Suddenly a shadow moved behind the man and he was jerked back. Serena saw another man – also tall, muscular and dark-haired, standing there and growling into the blond man’s face.

«What the fuck do you think you’re doing?» the newcomer hissed.

Serena glanced at their clothes and suddenly realised that she had already encountered those before. The greyish blue of the overalls and the markings, where there used to be sign patches on the shoulders.

The woman realised what she walked into and started thinking if she should reach for her ear-piece and contact the captain to let him know that she stumbled upon deserters of the Company. But the men turned their eyes to her again.

The gun of the blond guy pressed into her chest.

«You will help us, unless you want me to pull the trigger.» the man said with a smile.

Serena lowered her gaze at the heavy gun and pondered on the thought. She grasped the barrel and raised it to her chin, clasping her eyes with the man. She wasn’t taunting him. She was welcoming him to do so.

Serena noticed the second man frown in surprise, then jerk her captor aside again, stepping up. The woman didn’t even flinch when he grabbed her clothes, pulling her up to him. He looked suspicious only for a few seconds, before he lowered his eyes to her neck.

She knew what he noticed. The collar she was hiding under a bandana.

The man slowly released her and raised her bandana, looking at the electric collar she was wearing, then his demeanour relaxed and he met her gaze once again.

«How long?» he asked.

«Four years.» Serena didn’t have the will to lie.

«How?»

Serena looked away. This question was so much harder to answer. Everyone always assumed that any collar-wearing human was enslaved for their wrongdoings. But her story was different. She was found half-dead on one of the planets where the scrappers came. And the Ol’ Fart clasped the collar onto her while she was recovering.

«Answer him.» the blond man pressed his gun to her ribs.

«I was found half-dead on one of the scrapyards.» Serena breathed out. «When I woke up in the infirmary, the collar was already on my neck.»

«You were found with it?» the dark-haired man asked.

Serena shook her head:

«No. Captain put it on, while I was unconscious. It made his tech revolt, but…»

The woman stopped, remembering how the Captain blew his team-mates brains out. It was the first thing she learned – never to disobey the short-tempered Captain.

«I have to find something… otherwise he will get mad.» Serena pleaded, looking into the blue eyes of the dark-haired man.

«Don’t think about your pitiful scrap.» the blond man spit on the floor. «We have more important business you have to help us with.»

«I can’t.» Serena shook her head. «The Captain won’t…»

The gun barrel rose to her face, making her fall silent.

The dark-haired man thought for a moment, then slowly forced the gun down, making the blond man grunt with disapproval.

«Let’s start again, shall we?» the dark haired man pressed his palm on his chest. «My name is Hunter, this is Pher…»

Serena heard someone scrambling nearby and looked that way, finding a dark-skinned, long-haired man leaning over the wall and pressing a palm to his side. He looked obviously wounded and barely strong enough to walk, but he still carried the heavy gun, ready to engage in a gunfight.

«And that is Cipher.» Hunter showed at his wounded comrade. «We need a way out of this place. And you have a ship.»

«It’s not my ship. It obeys the Captain. The only way it will obey me, is if this collar is off my neck and the captain is dead.» Serena shook her head.

She glanced at the blood, trickling down Cipher’s side, and slowly opened her belt bag. The man, called Pher tensed up, but when Serena took out a pack of first-aid wound patch, he grabbed it out of her hand and headed to his friend, leaving Hunter and Serena alone.

Hunter met Serena’s gaze again and sighed:

«Look, all we need is a way off this planet. The sooner, the better.» he flicked her collar. «You need this off. We can help each other, so how about we make a deal?»

«I told you, the only way the ship will obey my commands is if the captain is dead. And that is a hard feat to do.» Serena shook her head once more.

«How so?»

«He installed a special protocol. The ship has cameras inside and outside. So if he is murdered there – I am stuck. The ship will shut down, sending a signal of a murder that occurred. If he’s killed anywhere else, his personal implant will send a signal back to the ship with the recording of how he was killed. The only way to kill him is by accident and not involving me.» Serena looked away, realising she had spent more than enough time thinking about all this.

Hunter chewed his lower lip in thought, then glanced at his friends.

«Alright… so… what if he breaks his neck falling off a staircase?» he asked.

«That would be a plausible way to make his system make me the captain in charge.» Serena swallowed a lump. «But…»

She didn’t finish her sentence, as her earpiece shot an electric charge into her ear, making her twitch from pain.

«Report!» the captain’s voice sounded in a bark, obviously drunken from whatever moonshine he already drank on the ship.

Serena clasped her palm on Hunter’s mouth, in an unconscious way stopping him from making a sound.

«I haven’t found anything yet, captain.» the woman said, wincing from the pain that he delivered when switching her earpiece remotely.

He loved tormenting her, and this faulty radio was one of those ways.

«We won’t leave, until we find what we came for!» the captain growled. «Keep searching!»

«It would be easier if I knew what exactly you’re looking for.» Serena felt sweat beads forming on her forehead.

She wasn’t supposed to talk to him this way – he could punish her for such attitude. She heard the Ol’ Fart sigh in irritation and grumble:

«I got a hint there’s some precious metals here. Look for anything worth our time, and stop asking questions!»

«All I found so far is a bit of copper wiring and a silver plate. Any details you can spare?»

«Gold, you dim witted whore! I’m looking for gold!»

«Gold?» Serena met Hunter’s gaze and noticed him frown. «Got it.»

«Report when you find anything!» the captain signed off.

Serena felt the pain subsiding, as the earpiece shut down again. She felt her fingers starting to tremble, when she realised she prevented Hunter from speaking all this time, and slowly lowered her hand, understanding that this could mean the man becoming angry at her.

But, on the contrary, he seemed calm and unaffected by her gesture.

«He’s searching for gold?» he asked quietly.

Serena nodded, nervous that she was surrounded by three armed men, but it was not as strong of a fear for her safety and life, than the fact that her captain was drunk, irritable and agitated, searching for something that could as well be elsewhere.

Hunter stepped closer, making the woman press against the wall even harder.

«And how would he know there’s gold here?» his voice grew lower, sounding like a growl.

«He said, he got a hint. I would assume it was from one of his informants.» Serena felt Hunter’s breath on her neck.

The man stepped back, falling into thought. He looked at his friends – the wounded one looking a bit better, being patched up by the first aid pack Serena gave them.

«Stay here.» the man growled and walked up to his friends.

Serena looked at her hands, realising they trembled even harder. She knew that if she were to help these deserters, she would need to calm down, before returning to the ship. The Captain was dangerous when he was drunk, and if he was searching for something as valuable as gold, he would be furious if he will notice her nervousness.

She took a few moments to breathe in and out, calming her nerves, but felt that any outcome, really, would be not in her favour. The three men could shoot her and that was probably the easiest way to go. What the captain could do was something else entirely.

The woman heard steps approaching, and looked up just as Pher pressed her to the wall again, his palm grasping her ass in an obvious sign of his lustful thoughts towards her.

«You’ll help us, girl. And I’ll reward you with the best few nights of your life, pretty thing.» Pher grumbled into her ear.

Serena dared not to move or push him away, too familiar to such advances and knowing what could happen if she were to fight it. She felt his hand caressing her body and closed her eyes, forcing down any remnants of dignity she had left.

It was too long since she could allow herself to object to something like this.

She felt Pher rubbing his body against hers, but a second later he was jerked back and Serena heard him crashing onto the floor. She opened her eyes, seeing broad shoulders in front of her – Hunter closed her with his body from his friend.

«Touch her again, Pher, and I will break your arm!» Hunter growled.

«For fuck’s sake!» Pher’s voice sounded irritated and coarse. «I was only having a bit of fun!»

«Stop it, both of you!» the third man finally spoke up, his voice deep, but pained. «She’s our ticket out of here, not your entertainment, Pher!»

Mumbling and cursing, the blond man got up, stepping away. Serena thought if the wounded man was their high in command or not – he definitely looked the part. But, then again, so did Hunter.

«Are you okay?» Hunter turned to Serena, and she noticed his soft, comforting gaze.

«I’m fine!» she slapped his hand away in a sudden irritation to his concern. «Nothing I’m not used to.»

The woman noticed a deep frown on Hunter’s face. But before he could say anything else, the wounded man – Cipher – stumbled up.

«So…» he said, leaning with his arm on the wall to keep himself up. «Your captain is looking for gold?»

Serena nodded:

«At least, that’s what he said.»

«Let’s take a short walk, shall we?» Cipher gestured to the dark arch of a doorway at the end of the room.

Serena dared not to object, heading that way and feeling the men following her behind. She stepped through the arch, seeing the staircase, leading down – deeper into the building. Stepping down the steps, she was thinking if she would be of any help to these men and if it will guarantee her safety after.

The stairs took them to a small corridor, which was dim and slippery from all the stagnant water that accumulated there over the years. Serena walked on, stepping cautiously and noting the slippery green algae, which grew all over.

The corridor led them to a single room with a heavy door, which was slightly ajar. Serena stopped in front of it, wondering if she would be strong enough to swing it open.

Hunter stepped up and grabbed the door, his muscles bulging under his clothes. The woman swallowed hard, realising how strong he was and that he was definitely one of the soldiers the Company had. All three men were quite muscular, but not all Company soldiers were so – only those, who went on constant missions to capture, hunt down or retrieve people who ran from the Company.

As the door screeched quietly, Serena gasped, seeing the two stacks of golden bricks.

Her mind started calculating the potential profit they could get from selling such a find. With this they could easily replace their old ship and purchase all the needed devices to become a higher level scrapper crew.

She snapped herself out of shock, realising that even if she were to report this to the Captain – he would do nothing to help her, forcing her to load all this all on her own. And, after they deliver this to one of the sales representatives, she would get nothing from all this treasure.

«You said, he was looking for gold.» Cipher said. «Here it is.»

Hunter walked inside the vault and picked up one of the gold ingots, carrying it back to Serena.

«Lure your captain here. Show him this ingot.» Hunter said, meeting her suspicious gaze. «We’ll have a trap on the staircase, making him trip and fall to his death.»

«You’ll trust me with an ingot?» Serena asked, feeling her fingers trembling again.

The man nodded, handing her the golden ingot.

«Go. We’ll be waiting.» Cipher added.

Serena took a very careful step back, watching how the men would react at her leaving, but they didn’t even flinch. Slowly, she turned and walked off, wondering if their plan would even work. She ascended the steps and walked through the building to the exit, glancing at the ship the captain called «the Rust Bucket». Pressing the ingot to her chest, Serena walked up to her captain sitting on a foldable chair with a large bottle of moonshine in his hand.

«Find anything, you worthless whore?» the captain spit to the floor.

Serena offered him the ingot. The man’s eyes widened, then he squinted and rose, watching her attentively with a deep frown. She waited for him to say something, but he struck her, throwing down the ships ramp into a pile of garbage.

«Take me there, bitch.» he walked off, watching her struggle to get back up to her feet.

The woman headed back in, feeling her jaw aching and a thin line of blood running down on one side of her mouth. A minor injury – the Ol’ Fart could do so much worse.

Reaching the stairs, she continued her way, not even thinking if the three men were fast enough to set up the trap. Barely half-way down the staircase the captain grunted, throwing the empty bottle at her and making her trip and tumble down the stairs. She came to a stop at the bottom, baring her teeth, but not allowing herself to make a sound, feeling the intense pain the bottle caused, hitting her at the back of the head, and the fall, after which her arm burst in so much pain that it was obvious she had broken the bone.

«You whore!» the captain hissed from the top.

Serena tried her best to crawl aside – further from the man, who looked like he was about to run down and beat her to death. But the captain took a step, tripped, and tumbled down the stairs, each hit accompanied with cracks and grunts, until he slammed into the wall and remained still. The woman looked at him, cradling her broken arm, and realised that he wasn’t breathing.

Chapter 2. Captain

«I have recorded an accidental death of Captain John Summers.» the ships AI said as soon as Serena stepped into the ship. «As per protocol One Three One Five Seven D, you are now promoted to acting captain. Welcome aboard, Captain Serena.»

The young woman froze mid-step, a realisation crashing upon her. She was free from the Ol’ Fart. She was now rid of her torment as his toy that he could torture and use as he pleased. Her collar clicked and fell to the floor, clanking against the metal.

Serena felt her body trembling and suddenly growing cold.

«What are your orders, Captain?» the AI asked.

Captain… she really was the captain of this old scrapper ship. Could she really escape her pitiful life of a slave, caught somewhere long ago? Or will she need to return the ship and find her living elsewhere?

«I am detecting three human signatures approaching, Captain.» the AI’s voice made Serena snap out of her shocked state.

The woman turned and saw the three men approaching. Swallowing a lump, formed in her throat, Serena spoke out:

«Lyssa, record that I have found three men that crash landed in the vicinity not long ago. No distress signal has been sent due to their communication systems failing. We’ll take them aboard and help them to whatever destination they need.»

«Noted, Captain.» AI replied. «What about the cargo? Captain Summers input a find I am not detecting in the carts.»

«I’ll get the cargo a bit later. One of the men is injured and in need of medical attention.»

«Infirmary is switched on and ready to receive the patient, captain. Should I send a gurney?»

«No need…» Cipher grunted, helped up into the ship by his friend Pher.

«Please follow the blue lights to the infirmary. Welcome aboard.» the AI lit up the lights on the floor, showing the men the way.

Hunter approached Serena, carrying Captain Summer’s body on his shoulder.

«Where should I put him?» he asked.

Serena gestured to a couple of boxes standing in the corner of the bay and felt her mind wandering away again, too deep in all the things that happened.

«Captain?» AI asked.

«What is it?» Serena still felt shaken and barely understood what being captain entailed for her.

«I am detecting a fracture in your right arm. I highly advise you to visit the infirmary as well.»

Serena watched Hunter lay down the dead body and stayed silent. When the man straightened up and turned to look at her again, she noticed his soft gaze.

«She’s right.» Hunter said, nodding towards where Pher and Cipher went. «You should at least get it scanned and have some painkillers administered.»

Serena looked down at the arm she was cradling, and realised she would still have to load up all the gold ingots the men showed her. Gritting her teeth, she headed to the infirmary – without a cast she won’t be able to get any work done.

Hunter followed her silently, allowing her to process the changes that happened in her life during, essentially, only a few hours. He walked behind, watching her closely, and noting how she kept herself clenched up, as if still afraid of something.

When they walked into the infirmary, she glanced at Cipher, being treated on the table, and said nothing, stepping to a second station, which fired up, immediately scanning her body.

«Severe malnutrition detected. Please hold.» the system sounded.

Serena knew what usually came after – a short wait and an advice to eat healthy. However, this time was different. The medicine replicator buzzed and opened the latch, giving her a small bottle of pills.

«Please take one dose before proceeding.» the computer said.

Serena took the pill bottle and felt her fingers trembling again. The Captain was always stingy. But was he also that unfair when it came to her health?

She took the pill, almost spilling the rest to the floor.

«Ulna fractured, please place your injured arm into the medical station.» the computer buzzed.

Serena placed her injured arm into the automated medical station again, and felt a syringe administering some painkillers before the computer began placing a cast on her. Hunter watched this with a very strange look on his face.

When she was done, she looked at the hard cast on her arm, but silently headed back to the bay to get some anti-gravitational carts and get the gold ingots. Hunter caught up with her, leaving his friends in the infirmary.

«Where are you going?» he asked, puzzled to the determined, and yet confused look on Serena’s face.

«I need to load the gold. If you want out of here, the gold should be sold, otherwise the ship won’t have enough fuel to fly further than the Scarapace system. I’m assuming you need the credits to go wherever it is you are heading.»

«Shouldn’t you rest? We can help you tomorrow.»

«I can’t rest. I still have to check the engines, get Summers into storage, figure out the…»

«Whoah!» Hunter jumped in front of her, stopping. «Take it easy! You just got your arm broken and you’re in no condition to load anything!»

«I’m used to it.» the cold tone Serena said this with made Hunter step back, shocked to see such indifference.

«What do you mean you’re used to it?» Hunter frowned.

Serena gritted her teeth and pushed through, ignoring his question and not wishing to continue this conversation. The man caught up with her again, catching her arm, and pulled her to the wall, not letting her go anywhere.

The woman curled up, too fearful of receiving a punch, but Hunter froze still, looking at this beautiful mistreated woman, who only knew pain and torment all through the four years she spent with her Captain.