[ WP ] Automated ships roam the seas , and new age Pirates raid Trash Liners - large ships which trawl the ocean for rubbish - for riches and relics .

A wave slammed up against the bow of the *Silver Lining*, sending a fine mist of water over George's face. The tiny droplets collected in his beard and ran down the lens of the optical interface strapped over his left eye. He wiped the water from the interface with his sleeve absent-mindedly and focused it on the horizon. 
 
 Tonight was particularly dark and there was a storm coming in from the west, which was a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it made it harder to spot their target, but conversely, the opposite was also true. The *Silver Lining* was running without lights, however, so they would have the advantage in being able to sneak up on larger ships. 
 
 He saw someone approaching from behind him out of the corner of his eye and glanced over his shoulder. His optical interface picked out the figure's features from the gloom as he increased its night vision function. The shadowy figure joined him at the bow of the boat and looked at him from beneath its hood. 
 
'Anything yet, Dad?' said his daughter.'The guys back there are getting bored.' 
 
 George shook his head.'Not yet, Sarah,' he said, raising his voice over the rising wind.'But the *Monolith* should be coming through any minute now. Keep them ready to go.' 
 
 Sarah smiled.'Aye, aye, captain,' she said, turning from the bow and making her way back to the hatch that led below to the boat's tiny hold. The hold was serving as a crew cabin for half a dozen of his men during the half-day long journey out here. Every one of them were close friends of his and every one had a role to play in what they were about to do. 
 
 But out of all of the people aboard the boat right now, he valued Sarah most of all. Not just because she was his daughter, but because she kept the crew in high spirits and was skilled with all sorts of machinery and computers. He was lucky to have her and he knew it. 
 
 A movement on the horizon suddenly drew his attention back to the area of ocean ahead of the boat. He instantly zoomed in with the interface. There was a long, dark shape coming towards them, fringed with white where it was cutting through the waves. Their target was here. 
 
 He turned from the bow and walked back to the wheelhouse of the boat, keeping one hand on the railing to steady himself as it rocked back and forth. He let himself in and took hold of the controls. There was a low rumble and the boat lurched forwards, quickly picking up speed. 
 
 The dark shape on the horizon slowly resolved into a long ship, almost two hundred metres long. It had only a few lights visible, but that was n't because it was trying to be stealthy like George's ship. It was because there was n't anyone on the *Monolith* that needed lights to see. 
 
 The *Monolith* was an automated trawler, one of many that roamed the world's oceans. They collected rubbish from the seas, dropping off their hauls periodically before heading back out again. They were fully automated, from the navigation computers to the mechanical arms that handled the colossal nets that pulled up the detritus of the seas and dumped it into enormous hoppers. 
 
 They also occasionally picked up valuable treasures from sunken wrecks, and that was why George and his crew were here. Trawler salvage encompassed anything from gold from Spanish galleons to drums of oil from more modern wrecks. It was a good living if you knew how to look. 
 
 The *Monolith* loomed out of the darkness like a prehistoric predator, passing alongside the *Silver Lining*. Its plain metal flanks towered over the smaller boat like artificial cliffs and its wake made them bob up and down by nearly half a metre. 
 
 George turned off the engine and stepped out from the wheelhouse as Sarah and his men joined him from below decks. They were professionals at this, and moved to their positions silently and without questions. 
 
 One man moved to a harpoon gun just aft of the wheelhouse and powered it up. With a quick flick of the controller, the machine turned with a faint whine of motors and fire a six foot long harpoon upwards. There was a dull thud from above and the trailing cable went slack. The *Silver Lining* jerked slightly and turned as it was slowly towed alongside the larger ship. 
 
 Now that their vessel was anchored to their prize, everyone lined up on the edge of the deck nearest to the other ship. With the rest of them, George took the grapple gun from his belt and aimed upwards, firing in unison. The hooks caught hold and the guns immediately began to reel them upwards. They pulled themselves over the side and gathered on the deck. 
 
 Two men, Jack and Daniel, headed off towards the bow hold, while two more headed aft. The remaining men went straight for the main hold in the middle of the ship. Within seconds, Sarah and George were left alone on the deck with only the low hum of the ship's engines from below decks for company. 
 
 Wordlessly, they headed towards the `` bridge'' of the ship, such as it was. There was no wheelhouse, no way to directly control the ship by conventional means. All that they would find was an interface for the main navigation computer, but that required the correct codes to get into and only the trawling company possessed those. It was to prevent piracy, apparently. 
 
 At least, that was the theory. Most New Age pirates did n't have someone as gifted as Sarah. She could break through the security protocols in less than twenty minutes and have full control of the ship in half that time. All she had to do was plug the laptop in her backpack into the computer's interface and they would be golden. 
 
 They made their way up the metal stairs to the bridge room. Sarah pushed open the door and stepped inside first, looking around. There were banks of computers against the front and rear walls, all humming quietly and covered in blinking coloured lights. It was rather dark inside; the only light came from a single low-powered glowstrip on the ceiling. 
 
 Sarah unslung the backpack from her shoulder as she crouched down beside the interface: a large group of concentric glowing circles surrounding a large data port. She opened her laptop, pulled out a thick data cable, and proceeded to connect up the laptop to the ship's computer. 
 
 George watched her work for a few moments, then pulled out a comms unit from his coat. 
 
'I'm just going to check on the lads, okay?' Sarah nodded, her attention fully focused on the screen in front of her. George stepped outside and clicked the comms unit's button. 
 
'Lads, what's your status?' 
 
 There was no reply. He tried again: nothing but static. He frowned and looked out over the dimly lit deck of the ship. Was that something moving down there by the foot of that crane? He zoomed in with his interface, but could see nothing. 
 
 Then he heard a cry from behind him, and turned to see Sarah backing away across the bridge floor from a figure silhouetted in the other doorway. It stepped forward with a lithe grace, becoming illuminated by the light. George gasped. 
 
 It was one of the ship droids, a humanoid creation about six feet tall with long chromed limbs. Its arms terminated in four-fingered metallic claws that opened and closed as it advanced, and its head was a shiny flattened ovoid with a single sensor array atop it. The droids were used for maintenance by the ship computer system to deal with any problems the ship's main systems could n't rectify. This one should n't be up here in the bridge. 
 
 The droid suddenly moved forwards with an eerie grace that George knew it had n't been programmed with. Sarah made to get up and away from it, but the machine was faster. It grabbed her by the arm with an iron grip and pulled her close in an almost loving embrace. She screamed and fought to get away as it dragged her towards the other doorway, but it was an industrial robot. She might as well try to kick a rhino to death. 
 
 George started forward, but there was a sudden whirring sound behind him and something struck him hard in the back of the head. He fell forward onto the cold metal floor of the bridge, his vision fading to black. He saw Sarah being dragged away and tried to reach out to her, but it was like looking through a long dark tunnel. 
 
 The last thing he witnessed before the darkness claimed him completely was an electronic voice emanating from one of the computer banks, a feminine voice like that used by the computer to announce emergencies and such. It spoke to him and him alone. 
 
'She will make a fine addition to our crew,' it said.'You, however... not so much.'
