As Dr. Feldspar studies the pallet, she realizes that what she's looking at is a shaped charge explosive: the explosive is in the cord wrapped around the cargo, while the detonator is the disk with the flashing red light.
Realizing that the device is armed, Dr. Feldspar steps back, instinctively raising her arms to protect her exposed face as he the charge explodes, directing a concussive shockwave into the heart of the pallet.
Dr. Feldspar is showered with flying glass, and a spray of serum, but is otherwise unhurt.
Of course, the liquid puddling on the floor of the cargo hold; how many lives lost does that represent?
Q: ****! Georg! Did you blow one of the pallets! Dammit! Is the doctor all right!
Aurora sits up, dimly aware of a dull ringing in her ears, and little else. "G*dd**mit! she swears aloud, to no one in particular. "That could have spared thousands!"
Q: Georg! Take it easy now. Let the Dr. see to Boone! Fineline, just stay on your plotted course. We spread chaff mines across your predicted flight-path, and they've set off your vessel's proximity alarms-- but they don't pose a threat to your ship.
Anson: Acknowledged.
Anson's reply is terse, concentrating fully on the task before him.
No. You realize that by detonating these mines as your ship passes by them, they're making it very difficult for your escort vessel to follow you through the asteroid field.
Dr. Feldspar, would like to attend to Boone?
Medic Test please.
Aurora moves to Boone and checks him over to see how serious his wounds are.
Boone, shushing Wingnut away, Dr. Feldspar begins to revive Boone.
That should be: Shushing Wingnut away, Dr. Felspar begins to revive Boone.
Georg is still lurking out of sight behind the pallets. With a whir of its impellers the drone darts out of the hold, apparently summoned by Q.
Anson continues to keep all his attention on piloting, trusting the others to take care of the situation.
AnF: You figure that the mines were probably set to a proximity detect-detonation.
EB: Groggily you raise yourself of the cargo-hold floor. Dr. Feldspar is kneeling beside you, reeking of a strong, medicinal smell.
"What happened Doc? Last thing I remember I was sneaking down into the hold then all hell broke loose! Are we ok?"
"I'm not sure, Boone. But I do know that we're down one crate of serum."
Q: Let me explain what's going on, so we can avoid any more unfortunate incidents. My colleagues are interested in emeralds, emeralds which have been stuck on Engarno since the embargo. This ship, because of its cargo, can pass through the blockade. We have no interest keeping the serum from those who need it. As soon as we can get the emeralds off the planet, you can continue with your humanitarian mission. So you see, there's no reason to make things so difficult.
Georg: Major, should you have told them all that! Major? There is no answer.
Anson: We are at least in accord with that. You'll get no more attempts from us as long as both of you get out in the open. You've already proven you're willing to get rid of the serum and we aren't willing to risk more. We can only hope that our destination or Dr. Feldspar can somehow produce more.
The mines, though, you must have set beforehand. You wouldn't happen to know anything about our escort, would you? You already know I've suspected something off with this mission even before you hijacked our ship.
Georg (with raising panic): Major! What should we do! Major?
Boone gets up and makes his way to the bridge.
"Well my plan went to hell...how are things going here?"
To reach the bridge from the hold, you'll have pass by where the strangely quiet Major Q is.
Boone walks by the Major and nods.
"Major. How are things holding together?"
EB: Make a test, using your INT.
Woohoo...finally a success!!!
So, as you enter the crew area between the hold and the bridge, you see Major Q. sprawled on the floor just in front of his stateroom door. Then, out of the corner of your eye, you see the drone, swooping towards you. You back-pedal frantically back down the short corridor, but the drone doesn't follow.
Georg: Major!
"Hey! The Major looks like he got zapped by that drone! Who is controlling that thing??"
Fineline, a flashing indicator on the com board catches your attention. Someone is hailing The Luis Wu.
Anson takes care of the most immediate concern and attempts to identify who is hailing the ship before responding.
Eli was crossing the common area from the hold to the bridge, when he was driven back by the menacing drone. As he retreated back to the hold he would have so far only told Dr. Feldspar and Georg.
Georg: It's not me! Is the major all right!
Zoinks! Major Q is really old man Perkins!
"I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling kids!"
Sitrep
Anson is on the bridge. The sensors are down and the proximity alarms have been going off, though that seems to be subsiding. he is unaware of what's going on in the hold. Someone is hailing the Luis Wu .
The Major is apparently unconscious in the crew area that separates the bridge from the hold. The drone is in a defensive posture.
Boone and Feldspar are in the hold, along with an increasingly distraught terrorist, 'Georg.'
Still unaware, Anson continues to attempt to discern who the caller is before responding.
Should his attempt prove futile, he answers the hail anyway.
Boone. No, the drone pretty much controls the single point of access between the hold and the bridge.
Fineline. You can tell the signal is originating close by (within 10,000 km, which is next door as far as astronomical scales are concerned).
Anson answers the hail.
Voice over the com: I'm sending some course corrections. Make them. The shaped charges on the pallets are inconvenient; but the fusion charge we planted on your vessel will really ruin your day.
The voice is slightly familiar, but Fineline cannot place it.
Anson takes a moment to go through his options before coming to the conclusion that, for a captain of this ship, he has little choice on what happens.
Anson: Acknowledged.
He makes the course corrections.
Attack drone:
Damage:
So, Eli steps into the crew area room, and the drone whips towards him.
Pretty much simultaneously both Eli and the drone fire.
The heavy projectile blows the drone to pieces (eliminating in the process one potential hiding place for the fusion charge), while once again the electrified dart strikes Eli in the head.
Eli, make a test against endurance, -1 DM, to again remain conscious.
END Test:
So Eli crumples into unconsciousness besides the recumbent form of the Major.
Fineline, you hear the unmistakable crack of a 'gun-powder' weapon.
Anson: What's happening there?
"Eli is down, and we're minus one drone, Cap'n. I'm okay for the moment, but I'm not in a position to do much."
Fineline toggles on the auto-pilot, and takes three steps from the con, when he sees the comm board incoming message indicator is flashing again.
So, Fineline is ignoring the hail?
Stepping into the common crew area he sees both the Major and Eli sprawled on the floor, bits and pieces of the smashed drone scattered about them.
Anson: Try to give Eli and the Major some medical assistance, Aurora, and work with him to find what's wrong with the drone. We may be in more trouble than I thought. We're in a truce for now.
Anson steps back to the commboard to answer the hail.
The 'hailer': Fineline! You'll have that lunatic Boone stand down now! Match this velocity, and prepare to be boarded!
Seeing Boone can't stand down any more than unconscious, and that with the threat of a fusion charge ready to detonate on the ship, Anson has no choice but to follow the command. He matches the velocity replying to the hail with a terse Acknowledged.
He then informs the rest of the crew of their current state.
Anson: Prepare to be boarded everyone. We're held under threat of a fusion charge somewhere on the ship.