The crate exploded. Malachi and Nina dived in opposite directions to escape the flames.

The drone's attack came in five short, dagger-like blasts. The broad spectrum energy signature burned yellow, leaving a black after-image in the retina. In the atmosphere of the cargo bay, the weapon thudded as micro-thunderclaps formed with every shot. The air hissed as the blasts burned through the air.

Malachi slid across the deck floor and crashed into more crates. He heard the drone's angry struggle as it tried to pull free from the chains and straps holding it to the deck floor. It rose and twisted and knocked down the nearest phase inverters.

Nina rolled and thumped across the deck with as little grace as Malachi. The datapad fell from her hand and slapped onto the metal floor.

"Mal! Where are you? You okay?" Nina scrambled behind a shuttle and pressed her back against the flat, cold hull.

"Here," Malachi called back. Here peered around the crates. The drone was facing the other way. He quickly crawled from the crates to hide behind the second shuttle. "I'm fine. Are you hurt?"

"Bumps and scratches. Nothing more."

"I don't suppose you can shut this thing down with your datapad, can you?"

"I can try." Nina scanned the floor. There is was, out in the open, between the shuttles. "Um," she said.

"Problem?"

"Kinda. I dropped it."

"Where?"

"Nowhere good."

Malachi peeked around the shuttled again. The drone was still facing the other way but was turning slowly. Its thrust output had increased and the whining engines pulled the chains taught. Slackness on one side meant that as the drone pulled forward and up, it also turned. The weapon drifted across the no man's land between the shuttles, and the drone kept turning.

Nina poked her head out from her cover. Now they could see each other, but not the drone. "I could grab it when it's not looking," said Nina.

"No!" shouted Malachi. "Stay there. We don't know what kind of sensors this thing as. Maybe it can see backwards."

"What if it can hear us?" she said, dripping her voice to a sudden whisper.

Malachi shook his head. "Unlikely. It's made for vacuum."

"Look, it's still twisted up, right? Even if it sees me it can't turn quickly. It's worth a try."

"It absolutely is not! Stay there. As long as it can't see us I think we're safe."

"We still need to get out of here."

"Alright, alright. Just let me think."

Out of sight, the drone completed another lap. The engines pushed harder, and a chain link snapped. Released from tension, the rest of the chain whipped up and around the drone and crashed against the nose of Malachi's shuttle. The shuttle rocked back slightly under the blow, and a handful of red sparks danced up from the friction on the deck plate.

The drone, now able to turn more quickly, spun around. It fired at the shuttle; five quick yellow blasts. The first blast caught the corner of the vessel at structurally strong point. The energy blast flared brightly on impact and rocked the shuttle across the deck. The next four blasts scored hits along the primary hull, each one punched a hole clean through both sides of the ship and detonated on impact against cargo and the internal wall of the bay. Malachi scrambled for new cover as behind him the shuttle danced and the room exploded in yellow flame.

Heart racing, he landed behind a support pillar and tucked his legs close to avoid being seen.

"Mal?" Nina called out.

Malachi swallowed. "Yeah?"

"Are you still thinking?"

"Little bit."

They heard another chain link shatter, and the two halves of the chain wiped out the remaining phase inverters.

"Mal, I can grab the data pad."

"No! It's too dangerous."

"It might be the only chance we have of shutting it down."

The drone strained against its last few bonds. One chain and two straps remained. The drone turned again. This time it's thruster burned through the last two straps. The final chain lay across the top of the drone. Had it the intelligence to go lower, it could have slipped free, but instead it continued to pull up in straight line.

"Now or never, Mal," said Nina.

"Nina, no!"

Nina bounced on her heels, chose her moment and launched herself from cover, pulling herself forward with one hand on the shuttle.

The last chain snapped. It whipped up and over and crashed down onto the shuttle and the space Nina had just been hiding.

Now free from the chain's control, the drone was catapulted higher into the cargo bay. Now it could see over any cover.

Below it, Nina dived for the datapad. The drone lowered its weapon and advanced.

"Open fire!"

Malachi risked a look out of cover. On a walkway hugging the upper deck were five security officers. Four of them held standard issue laser carbines. The fifth hefted a shoulder mounted weapon into position.

The security team opened fire first. All of their shots hit the target, spoiling its aim. The drone swayed under the incoming blasts as it, almost simultaneously, fired on Nina's position.

The five blasts went wide and tracked a line of destruction across the deck. Nina shrieked as yellow fireballs burst around her, and she dived away from the blasts and the datapad.

She felt a strong arm pull her into cover.

"I told you not to go," Malachi said.

"That chain would have hit me if I stayed."

"Well....okay then! But it's still too dangerous out there."

Nina peered over his shoulder.

"You're not wrong, Mal," she said.

Behind them, the security team poured laser fire into the drone. Although they were scoring hits, most of them bounced off the armour of the black machine. They were using hand weapons against something designed for ship to ship combat. The fifth member of the team edged sideways along the walkway, trying for a better angle. He balanced a weapon on his shoulder and sighted through a flip out screen on the side of the twin barrel.

"They need to shoot through the hole in the armour," Malachi said. "Its vulnerable there."

Nina nodded, then stopped.

"No, they can't. If they destroy the core systems we won't be able to learn anything about it."

"We have the datapad copy."

"But not the datapad. That's still out there."

The fifth member of the security team found his angle, and fired. A small rocket streaked across the cargo bay on a line of white smoke trail and hit the rear side of the drone above the thruster. The drone dipped under the impact, but came back at once, turned, and opened fire.

Five quick blasts ripped up through and into the walkway where the security officer with the rocket launcher had been standing. Yellow beams sliced through the metal and exploded against the solid wall behind it. Part of the walkway split in two. A chunk tore free from the wall entirely and crashed to the deck beneath. The walkway next to that groaned and twisted under the stress, tipping away from the wall to point at the floor.

The officer dropped his weapon, and held on as the guardrails came free. His part of the walkway creaked ominously and twisted away from wall, leaving the officer dangling over burning cargo. The rocket launcher fell to the deck. The remaining four officers, helpless to aid their friend, scattered in the opposite direction. They fired wildly at the drone as they ran. Their missed shots peppered the deck, damaging more cargo, starting more small fires.

The drone tracked them as they fled. It rose vertically to bring its gun to the same level as the fire team, and opened fire.

This time only one yellow beam sizzled through the air. Something sparked and flashed inside the drone, as the weapon discharged. Thin black smoke rose through the hole in its armour. The one shot it took smacked into the wall just behind the last running man. The concussion wave of the impact knocked him to the floor. His weapon fell and skidded off the edge of the walkway.

Malachi and Nina leaned out from their hiding place. Most of this end of the cargo bay had been destroyed. The debris of exploded cargo had decorated the deck with tools, materials, food, and spare parts. At a glance they could see nearly a dozen small fires burning. Some of that smoke would be toxic, but Malachi saw extraction systems already pulling the smoky air through vents. At ground level fires popped and crackled as they spread across the deck.

The drone's behaviour had changed. Unable to shoot, it seemed to have settled into some kind of holding pattern. It flew high in the cargo bay, circling, if that was the right word, in a square. It took hard right turns instead of curves, like a bluebottle flitting around an overhead lamp. The sound from the drone's power core softened: It was the difference between a growl and a snore.

"It's stopped," said Nina. She stood behind him, holding his shoulders like a shield. "What's it doing now?"

"I don't know. Just circling."

"We need to analyse that code," said Nina. "I can see the datapad." She started forward but Malachi held her back.

"It's too dangerous. That thing's still active."

"It stopped shooting. It's harmless now."

Above them, the four-man team had regrouped, and the fifth officer had clambered his way back up by using the walkway as a ladder. He rolled onto the secure platform and crouched there, looking for the weapon he had dropped.

Nina, tired of waiting, ran for the datapad.

The officer saw something below and pointed and shouted. "Movement!" Still on edge and alert for any new danger, the the rest of the team didn't hesitate to shoot. They fired blindly in the direction indicated.

Nina shrieked as laser blasts exploded around her. She ran past the datapad into new cover with her head low.

The drone drifted to a halt on the far side of the cargo bay, and fell silent.

Malachi jumped out to follow her, waving his arms for attention. "Stop! Hold fire!"

"Hold fire!" commanded the team lead. Weapons were silenced, but four laser carbines still pointed down into the cargo bay. "Identify yourself."

"Malachi Chambers. I'm with the engineering class, and Nina Quinn. She's with comms. We're not the enemy."

The drone moved again. It abandoned its previous square pattern and moved toward the security team.

"It's coming back! Open fire!"

Laser blasts bounced off the armoured hull as the drone advanced. The engine noise grew louder as it woke up. A snore turned into a growl.

Malachi took advantage of the distraction. He pulled Nina toward him and with one arm around her waist he swept her behind cover. With his other hand he snatched up the datapad.

Above them the drone raised it's weapon, and fired. A single yellow blast stabbed into the security team. It hit the wall behind them and tore more of the walkway from its foundation. The metal framework squealed as it scraped down the wall, snapping support struts, and sending men tumbling to the floor.

The drone flew by them and began to turn for another pass.

Malachi pressed the datapad to Nina's hands and pushed her toward the maintenance hatch.

"Go! I'm right behind you."

"You're not! Come with me. Let them handle that thing."

"They can't. Those weapons hardly scratch it."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I have a plan."

"Famous last words, Mal."

The drone completed its turn and flew back. The power core growled again, and it lowered its gun.

"They won't be my last words."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

The drone fired into the deck

Malachi kissed her. Behind them, yellow flame erupted from a cargo container.

"Just tell me it's a good plan," she said.

"It's a plan, let's leave it at that. Now go, you need to keep that data safe. If this plan works it will be the only copy we have."

"Mal, what are you going to do?"

Malachi picked up a strap that had secured the drone to the floor. The metal hook was still attached. That would be useful. He wrapped the length quickly between his elbow and hand to form a bundled loop. Then he took a deep breath.

"Something dumb, probably," he said, and ran toward the flames.