Part Two: Passage, and Tragedy

We arrived at the Spaceport to be greeted by a very old and decrepit freighter that my father told us, was our ride to our new home. Something my father was very elusive to telling us. We boarded and were shown our berthing compartments. While my mother and father busied themselves with getting settled in, I took the time to do a little exploring of our home for the next few weeks.
This ship was huge, at least as far as I was concerned. There were endless corridors that lead up, down, and every direction of the compass. I must have wandered to close to the crew and piloting station, as a very gruff uniformed man told me I was in an unauthorized section of the ship and I needed to leave and get back to the passenger area immediately. It was while I was heading back that I got a bit confused and ended up in one of the cargo holds. In this particular hold, were many crates of undeterminable contents, but many bore a small, almost unnoticeable emblem shaped like a crescent, with what looked like a lighted torch in its center. At the time I didn’t think to much about these curious crates, but would find out soon enough the implications and consequences they would have on my life.

One night, our family was invited to sit with the captain at his table for dinner. All during the course of the meal, my father went on and on. He talked about my mother being the finest crafter of fine goods on Aleen, and how he and my brothers were the best hunters this side of the mid rim, My father also made it a point to tell him how I was learning the trade and becoming quite the hunter and tracker in my own rite. The captain was a very gracious host, and after hearing my fathers worry about not keeping up our skills, allowed us a corner of one of the cargo holds to practice in. This was where I was to be found. I loved the solitude of the hold when we were not all down there practicing. I could create my traps and camps in peace.

I was comfortably sitting down in the cargo hold passing the time, crafting, when over the public ship comm., I heard the captain announce “All Hands!, All Hands!! This is the Captain, Report to assigned duty stations, prepare for possible boarders�, “All passengers are to report to their birthing compartment immediately!�
I started to get up and go, when the cargo hold door slammed shut and sealed. I ran to the door and started banging on it, I looked for a way to get the blasted door open, but it had sealed tight and there were no interior access controls. Blast!!, I was trapped!.
A loud noise, like an explosion, shook the ship, knocking me to my knees, followed by a scraping sound that echoed through the hold. I could hear muffled sounds, voices emanating through the closed door. I was about to shout for someone to help me, when the door let out a hissing sound, and slowly started to open. I cautiously backed away and crouched down next to some empty containers. Waiting to see what happened next.

As the door opened fully, I pressed tighter into the space I was hiding. I felt for my pistol that I carried in a concealment pouch, but…damn…I had left it in the room of our compartment, thinking I would only be down here crafting. I ventured a peek around the corner of the container, and watched as a tall man in scruffy looking clothing, and carrying a light laser rifle strode into the hold. A pirate was my first though. My father had said that they were plying the trade routes more then usual, taking advantage of some conflict that had erupted. As he turned to survey the hold, I noticed on his shirt, the same curious emblem that I had first seen on the containers down in another hold of the ship. I was pondering what this meant, when his comm chirped. He answered it “Zass here�. I heard a voice say “Zass? Better come up here quick, we have more trouble on the way� with that, he took one last look around the hold, and ran up the corridor.

I made my way from my hiding spot and started up the corridor in the direction the tall man had headed. I was not following him, I was anxious to get to my family in out compartment. Another explosion rocked the ship, and I feared that it was going to come apart. I rounded a corner of the corridor at a dead run, and ran right in to the middle of a firefight. Blaster fire was coming from every direction. I dived instinctively, and slid on my belly right up to a utility closet. Hurriedly I worked the door and slipped in, I hoped unnoticed by the people shooting at each other in the corridor. The noise was deafening. I wanted to scream at the top of my voice, that it was so loud.

As suddenly as I happened upon the fray, it stopped, no noise what so ever. It was deathly quiet. I climbed from the closet, and was immediately surrounded by mayhem, there were bodies everywhere. Crew, pirates, and other uniformed men and women I had not seen before. I needed to get to my families compartment, if this corridor was any indication of how the rest of the ship looked…

I had made it to the passenger quarter of the ship. It was as I feared, hardly recognizable from all the fighting that had taken place here. I turned towards where the corridor leading to my family should have been, but a low-pressure door that had closed blocked it. This could only mean one thing. They only close when the pressure drops below half-normal atmosphere. There was a viewing port within the door; I had a bad feeling about what I was going to see. I looked through the port. I staggered back away from what my eyes had just beheld. I was shocked!. What I saw was far worse then I would have imagined. I now knew why the pressure door had closed. The whole section beyond it was completely gone.