Your Reckoning
"Captain Mueller," called Lieutenant Chastain, "the small craft we've been tracking continues to approach us at high speed. At their present speed and course they will reach us in five minutes. I believe this vessel poses a piracy threat."
"Understood, Lieutenant," said Mueller calmly. "If they want a good look at our ass, we'll show them."
"Should I sound the alert, Captain?" asked Chastain.
"No, not yet," Mueller said, raising her hand. "Run as normal."
"Ma'am?" Chastain gasped. "If we let them get right up on us, we'll be boarded and we have no defenses to stop that!"
Captain Mueller smiled. "Of course we do," she said. "We have the ship. The Kofi Annan is our weapon, Lieutenant." Mueller reached above the bridge windows and grabbed an intercom microphone. "Attention," she said, broadcasting across the 425 foot ocean science vessel, "this is the captain speaking. It seems the shadow we have been tracking is about to reveal itself. In less than four minutes whoever is approaching our stern will reach us. I want everyone below deck and strapped down. It's going to get rough. Mueller out."
"Craft is in visual range now, Captain," informed a rescue officer.
"Put it on screen please," Mueller requested.
A large flat screen television was turned on at the rear of the bridge. The image was disturbing. A Zodiac filled with a dozen heavily armed individuals was racing into focus, powering through each wave it hit."
"Oh shit," said Commander Ashmead. "Well, at least now we know how screwed we are. Chastain, contact UNIRO Command and inform them - "
"No!" cutoff Mueller. "They are going to be listening for distress calls. I want them to think they've got us."
"Two minutes until intercept…" informed Chastain.
"The minute they get to within a hundred yards, blast out a distress call from here to the Arctic and sound a ship wide alarm, but no sooner." Mueller looked around the bridge at her crew. "Is that understood?" she asked sternly.
"Yes, ma'am!" they shouted.
"Good. Helm, when I give the order I want a full emergency reverse. Deploy all fins to slow us down. We're going to stop this thing so hard I want it to feel like we're dropping off a cliff." She turned to face the Commander, “Ashmead.”
"Yes, Captain?"
"I want you to deploy the ship’s bow sail when they reach the hundred-yard threshold. The wind is at our backs blowing at thirty knots. It's going to yank this thing forward when we initiate our emergency stop."
"Ninety seconds, Captain!"
"The first greeting they'll get from us is two fifteen foot props spinning at 200 rpm in their faces."
"Captain!" shouted Chastain. "Look!"
Everyone looked back at the screen. One of the intruders revealed a rocket launcher and held it up on their shoulder.
"Emergency stop now, now, now!" shouted Mueller, pointing to her helmsmen. "Deploy fins! Ashmead, the sail!" She grabbed the intercom again, “All hands; brace!”
The helmsmen shifted the Kofi Annan's electric engines into full reverse as Commander Ashmead released the ships singular bow sail, which was designed to increase the ship’s efficiency on windy days. The bright blue sail looked like that of a kite surfer's, only three times the size.
Below the waterline, four fins near the ships X-bow, normally meant for optimizing the ships hydrodynamics, were set in a perpendicular formation to the hull, creating enormous drag, so much so that they were nearly ripped off by the strain.
Mueller looked up out the bridge windows at the sail catch the wind. She immediately felt the ship lurch with an ominous metal groan. Crew were thrown forward into consoles, tossed from chairs, and smashed into bulkheads. The ship’s bow cut down into the ocean, throwing the reversing props at the stern out of the water. The pilot of the Zodiac didn't have time to react to the heaving vessel, slamming into the starboard propeller at forty miles per hour in a fiery explosion.
As the ship began to settle, Captain Mueller got up off the floor, helping a rescue officer up as she did, and said, "Sit rep!"
"Threat has…" Chastain looked at a cracked computer screen. "Threat has been eliminated, Captain! The Zodiac has been destroyed."
"Good. Get me a damage assessment and hail the UNS Protector. I'm sure the crew took quite a beating, so tell them we have injured."
"Starboard prop nacelle is gone, Captain," Ashmead said, shaking his head. "Port's steering controls are sluggish."
Mueller sighed. "Also tell them we're going to need a tow."
"Aye, Captain."
"Commander Ashmead, you have the bridge. I'm going to the stern to see what's happened for myself."
"Aye, Captain."
Mueller jogged to the back of her ship, helping a few injured crewmen along the way. When she reached the stern, the underside of the vessel was still smoking. Several small oil fires dotted the water amongst the littered wreckage of the Zodiac. She only saw two bodies; both face down in the water. She saw no visible sign of who their attackers were.
She suddenly heard someone gasp for air at the waterline. She looked over the side of the ship and saw a man covered in oil grabbing at the hull. He wasn't screaming for help.
"Man in the water! Man in the water!"
Two minutes later the man was on deck, shaking and groaning in pain. Half of his head was burnt. Mueller, Ashmead and several other crewmen surrounded him. One of them held a fire ax just in case. Ashmead searched the man for any weapons but found none.
"Why were you going to attack this vessel?" Mueller asked sternly.
The man slowly looked over at her and smiled. Oil and blood stained his teeth.
"Why!?" she screamed.
"You're all nothing but," the man groaned in agony, "but puppets being held up by the masters of corruption."
"Who are you?" Mueller asked gravely.
The man reached up and grabbed her shoulder, tugging at her white uniform. "Your reckoning," he said zealously, "Terra Nova."