The Crew

A Story by Justin Carr

Jack, a young man with a price on his head, joins a crew of fledgling space mercenaries. Who he trusts, and who trusts him could be the difference between life, and a horrible death.

Evan flicked his wrists, the knot in his stomach growing larger with each moment that passed. He held his custom made Genoan close to his chest, and toggled it's safety 'On' and 'Off' feature nervously.

“Let's say,” He bargained with the huge metal doorframe that stood locked in front of him “Let's say I open the door, alright? You let Green go, and we'll be on our way, you can have the ship, okay? How's that sound?”

He got his reply in the form of a gunshot, a booming explosion that singed the door, but didn't break it. On the other side of the door, Jack threw down his gun and covered his ringing ears, screaming. That was the worst idea he'd had in at least five minutes. He scrambled to pick up the gun again through teary eyes, carefully avoiding the blood of the alien that lay dead against the wall.

“Hear that?” Jack shouted, his voice cracking “Warning shot. You keep screwing around with me, and Green gets it. A*****e.” What Evan didn't know was that Green had “gotten it” about five minutes ago, and his blood was now steadily creeping towards the door. Jack ignored that. The door was airtight, so Evan wouldn't see the blood until the door was opened.

Jack was playing a dangerous game. At any time, Evan could decide to depressurize the room of oxygen. A feature built into most ships in the case of a fire. He wouldn't do that though, as long as he thought Green was alive. Thank god Green needed oxygen. Emphasis on the 'Needed'.

“Now I want you to open this door, and we're gonna' talk. You, me, and Green. We're gonna' talk about this, and you're gonna' tell me why Green here, tried to kill me. How about that?” Jack shifted uncertainly. “Let's say we do that, huh?”

“You know I'll kill you, Jack.” Evan stammered “You do anything funny and I'll kill you. Now come on, let's just be reasonable. No one needs to get hurt.”

“That's what I'm saying!” Jack glanced at Green's dead body “Nobody needs to get hurt. Now open this door, and don't you dare try anything.”
“I'm sorry Jack.” Evan pleaded “Just be cool. I'm opening the door.”

Remember, this door is airtight. So when you open the door, it's like putting your hand over a vacuum nozzle. The suction is powerful, so if Jack had kicked the door too early, his leg would've shattered into a million pieces. He timed it perfectly though, so that the second the seal was broken, he kicked the heavy door hard, hurdling it into an unsuspecting Evan and knocking him out cold. Jack wasted no time on prisoners, firing a shot directly into the unconcious Evan's head.

“A******s.” He murmured, rubbing his still ringing ears.