File 6.2 - Ten Centimeters of Protection

Dim light flickered with an annoying buzz that desperately wanted to be heard, so that it was going to be fixed. The Niph had been that way for months and they all ignored it. So it blinked and buzzed as much as it could to be noticed. Nothing was going to be happening to it.

Even in the silence stares around the table of the light, no one even thought about it. It was just part of the room. No, there were more important matters. Things had suddenly changed to make them all meet. It left him in silence on their decision.

“It’s a trap,” Sheila commented finally. They were all thinking, someone needed to say it. After they received the message from an unknown and untraceable sender, no one had really said much of anything to it. Fin just called a meeting, but they all just stared at it.

Flipping his hand out in agreement, dismissed it all completely not wanting any part of it. “Yah, ‘course it tis.”

“But who sent it?”

“Dunno, I aint got nuff tah track. Ran it thur all’em wares we gots, but nuffin.”

Captain Fin sat in pensive silence. It was unclear to the others if he was listening to his crew finally start to debate their mysterious messenger or not. A stonewall expression was all that he presented. Though none of them worried too much about the Captain as they argued in circles.

After several minutes of arguing going nowhere, Fin’s large fist came down on the table. “Enough! I’m the Cap’n, I make the final call.”

“Cap’n?” They all looked over at the table a little surprised to find him actually there. In all their yelling, they had forgotten about him.

“It’s untraceable an’ unknown, prolly a trap. Yer all right. But we’ve still got a job an’ this is the only lead in a week.”

“But Cap’n!” Nate tried to protest, but Fin shut him down quickly with a glare.

“Knowin’ it’s a trap means we can avoid it.” Fin stood up and looked at all them. They all had their concerns and worries. It wasn’t the sort of job that took on, though they were a jack-of-all-trades sort. As long as the pay was good and it seemed on the level, they took it. But the whole thing never felt right with the team. Only the money really worked for them. “We’re goin’ to check the coordinates out.”

“…Cap’n…”

“Sheila, we’re goin’ by land. Nate get the Niph in the air. If things go south, I want the Niph as back up.” He started to walk out of the room. It wasn’t really the convincing sort of speech that they needed. That wasn’t really the sort of man he was, but they needed something more. “Y’all are the crew of the Niph! We take odd jobs all the time, this ain’t no different. But remember, we choose what happens, not ‘em. We’re not puppets, so if someone out there ‘as a trap fer us. We’ll give ‘em hell! Make ‘em regret messin’ with us. Right boys?”

They all gave a cheer seeing that their Captain was still the same that they remember. It wasn’t just the money. They all moved out to start their checks on the ship.

Sheila followed up behind Fin as he made his way to the bay. “Makin’ speeches? That’s outta character.”

“A lil’ motivation.”

“You don’t like this either do you?”

“Hell no! This whole thing ‘as had a strange taste I ne’er really liked, but the money was too much to ignore. The Niph’s in bad shape, she’s holdin’ together, but she needs a lot of work. This job could finally put us back in our peak.” He pushed through the tight threshold into the bay. Their rental was parked in the usual spot where they kept cargo.

She came to a stop just before entering. “A gamble then.”

Fin continued down the ramp into the main hold. “What’s life without a little risk, right? Because, I never planned on goin’ down without fightin’. Whate’er's goin’ here they’ll find things won’t work out the way they want.” His hand rested on the top of the car.

Playing a little catch up, Sheila grabbed a few cases from the upper decks. She carried them down to the rental. It wasn’t going to be the same sort of footwork as last week. “We’ll give ‘em hell, Cap’n.”

“Ya better!” The back of the car popped open. He helped load in the items that Sheila brought. “I’m countin’ on everyone for this job. They’ve all been pretty stir crazy with the footwork we’ve been doin’. A little fire will clean up that edge on ‘em. Can’t have ‘em getting’ rusty.”

“Right.” Pulling out her side arm, she gave it a quick check. Everything was ready for them to head out. She then dropped into the passenger side as Fin went in. Looking over at him, there was one thing of speculation. “What if it ain’t a trap?”

“We’ll still need the guns. I doubt these sorts are goin’ down without a fight.”

“Besides that. What are they doing stationed outside of the city, if these are the real thieves?”

“Prolly buildin’ that ship.” He flipped the switch on the car starting it up. “Which is why we’ll need the Niph. There’s a lot of questions and all we can do is come fully prepared for a battle. The gal’s old and rusty, but she’s still got plenty left in her punch.” The wheels spun up quickly throwing the rental out of the open bay and into the hanger. He floored it once they were out in the open making it for the highway.

“Still you’re bein’ pretty reckless, Cap’n.”

“Where’s your sense of adventure, Sheila?”

“Back on the ship with ten centimeters of steel between me and those trying to kill me.”

“Nate’ll have our backs. I need ya to have mine on the ground.”

“Yes, Cap’n.”

“Thirty minutes with traffic. We’ll find out what’s goin’ on finally.”