“Cease fire!” Tambu shouted, finding his voice at last.
The beams halted at the sound of his command, and silence reigned as they surveyed their handiwork.
The stricken ship’s hull was already healing itself. The outer hulls on all ships were triple thickness with auto guidance to slide new plates into place in event of damage severe enough to cause interior pressure loss. Soon the exterior of the ship would be repaired. They could only guess at the interior damage of their attack.
Tambu’s eyes wandered to the third ship, floating silently next to their recent opponent. Having now seen how fast a ship could heal itself after an attack, he could appreciate anew the extent of the attack which had wrecked such havoc as to leave a ship gaping open like that.
“We got him!” Puck’s awe-filled voice came over the intercom.
“Keep your guns on him!” Tambu snapped. “We don’t know if he has any more surprises up his sleeve.”
“Captain?” Whitey joined the conversation. “Aren’t you going to try hailing them now?”
There was something in her voice that caught Tambu’s attention. In contrast to Puck’s enthusiasm, Whitey seemed almost pensive. “Is something bothering you, Whitey?” he asked.
“Well… it occurs to me that except for some shooting, nothing has changed.” she replied hesitantly. “We still don’t know whether or not they’re pirates.”
There was a moment of stunned silence. Then the crew erupted in protest.
“Cm’n, Whitey!” Egor groaned. “He was getting ready to shoot at us.”
“That’s right,” Puck added. “He wouldn’t have done that if-“