A ship of pirates who think that human kids are easy to manage, figured just give them snacks, and they'd be calm. Except... they gave the kids lots of sugary snacks and learned a new word. Hyperactivity. -- BKF
It was a very simple plan with one minor flaw. See if you can spot it. First, conquer a scholastic transit vessel and send the adults off to their origin point with the ransom demand. Second, abscond to a secure location whilst keeping the hostages pacified. Third, wait for the money to roll in whilst strategically releasing hostages for profit.
If you didn't spot it, it's "whilst keeping the hostages pacified".
Children, especially Human children, know when someone's in control and authority. They get noisy. They get rowdy. They start pushing the boundaries they were familiar with. They start playing silly games. With each other, with their environment. And especially with their obviously ineffective guardians.
Their next mistake came from Rigger Dzoenz, who said, "They're children. Fill their stomachs and make them comfortable and they'll be off to sleep in no time. Far easier to handle."
They all forgot the important part about not feeding Havenworlder food to Deathworlder neophytes. Specifically, that the high sugar content of Havenworlder fare sets off juvenile Deathworlders into an interesting form of mania.
It was a sugar-fueled riot.
When the surviving Pirates surrendered, they were found in livesuits besmeared with assorted substances. All with their exterior audio inputs turned off and voice-locked down. Their weapons had been spaced, as had most of their tools. The ship itself was bordering on being hazardous to continued life, and the rescue crew had to anesthetise the former hostages in order to contain the situation.
The children had to be treated for sucrose toxicity. The Pirates had to be treated for post-traumatic stresses, as well as their sundry injuries from what had seemed like a good idea at the time.
Everyone involved was overdue for some remedial education, though the children's education involved the finer points of situational sabotage, and a textbook on the topic by Human Pib.
[Photo by Luis Aguila on Unsplash]
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