by J. N. Chaney
I looked at the hallway the Celestial had gone down. It could have gone through the doors or even the walls, but it had chosen to stay in the open corridors. Why?
I walked closer to the door, examining it. There was nothing remarkable or out of the ordinary, as far as I could see, but I wasn’t a scientist or an engineer. I had clue what I was doing.
“Siggy,” I muttered, sliding my finger along the solid metal plating.
“Yes, sir?” he asked.
“What kind of metal is this?” I asked him.
“Steel, according to the data I downloaded from Gaia’s drives,” said Sigmond.
“Is that all?” I asked, tilting my head at the door.
“Oh, no, sir,” said Sigmond. “Steel only makes up 96% of the material.”
Abigail and Freddie approached my side, but neither spoke. They shared the same look of curiosity, likely expecting me to say whatever I was thinking.
“What about the other 4%?” I asked.
A pop-up window appeared in the corner of my visor, providing a short list of various metals, half of which I’d never even heard of. A few stuck out, however, including Zinc and, strangely enough, Neutronium.
“That’s interesting,” said Abigail, finally.
“Isn’t it?” I asked, crossing my arms.
“You find something, Captain?” called Bolin from behind us. He and his men were still standing in a line, holding their position, weapons ready.
I waited before I answered, once again going through the list on my visor. “Might have,” I muttered, my eyes still fixed on the screen. “But I think I need to make a call first.”
Sixteen
“I have to say, Captain, I’m impressed.” Dressler’s tone didn’t match the statement, but that was true of everything she said. I had learned to believe her words, rather than the way she spoke them—the opposite of most people.
“Does that mean you found something in the list?” I asked.
“After exposing the blood to each of these metals, the only one to have a direct effect is the Neutronium. Most intriguing, indeed.”
“Neutronium? You’re saying that’s what caused the Celestial to drop its cloak?” I asked.
“When exposed, the blood cells had a similar reaction,” she explained. “The metal seems to have caused the cells to solidify.”
“How long did that last?”
“For as long as we sustained contact,” she told me.
I smiled at the sound of that. “Finally.”
Abigail and Freddie were right next to me, listening intently to the exchange. “Does this mean what I think it means?” asked Freddie.
I gave him an upbeat glance. “Seems like it.”
“We need to find a way to weaponize that metal,” insisted Abigail, already quick to put this new information into practice.
I cocked my brow. “You wanna make some bullets with it?”
She shook her head. “I doubt we have time for any of that. I was thinking we’d try something a little more—” She paused. “—direct.”
“I can do direct,” I said. “What’d you have in mind?”
She smirked. “We set a trap, light a fuse, and let it come to us.”
“How are we going to do that?” asked Freddie. “That thing isn’t going to just walk up to us on our terms.”
“First, it doesn’t walk,” said Abigail, giving him a look. “And second—” She glanced down at her feet to our latest prize and the one asset we had that the enemy wanted. “—we’ve got something it needs, which means it will come to us.”
“Doc,” I said, focusing back on the comm.
“I’m here,” said Dressler.
“How close does the Neutronium have to be to cause the Celestial to show itself?” I asked.
“Direct contact,” she responded.
“That ain’t ideal,” I lamented with a sigh. “But fine. We’ll figure it out. Siggy, we got any Neutronium dense rooms with low ceilings?”
“Only one, sir,” said the Cognitive.
“Which is?” I asked.
The map on my display lit up, zooming out and back in on a specific area not far from here. It only took me a second to recognize it, since I’d already been there once before. “The engine room?” I asked, almost spitting out the words. “You can’t be serious, Siggy. There’s gotta be somewhere else.”
“I’m afraid this is the optimal location, sir. It is surrounded by Neutronium metal and contains very little area for the something of the Celestial’s size to maneuver, while still providing adequate space for you to fight.”
Abigail cursed under her breath.
Freddie’s eyes skipped between me and Abby. The discomfort in him was clear, and I couldn’t say I blamed him for that. We we’d have to go to the one place we were trying to avoid.
“Maybe we can take the core to the surface,” suggested Bolin.
Abigail shook her head. “There’s no protection once we’re in the air. The Celestial could catch up, maybe phase directly into the ship and kill us all. The shuttles don’t have Neutronium in their hulls, so we’d be too exposed.”
“But we can’t just walk into that room with this,” said Freddie, motioning at the core.
“It might be our best option, outside of chasing that monster through the hallways,” said Abby.
“She’s right,” I said, looking at Bolin and Freddie. “If we wait too long, it’ll just go back to the surface on its own, maybe kill more of our friends while it waits for us to return. Truth is, we can’t afford to go slow on this. There’s too much at risk.”
Everyone was silent at the sound of that. None of us wanted to chance another attack, especially after everything we’d just witnessed. The Celestial had to be stopped today, right here before it could hurt anyone else. Considering how smart this thing was, I wagered it would only be a matter of time before it found another way to contact its people, and we couldn’t wait around for that to happen.
We had to act.
“If that’s your plan, we’re with you,” said Bolin.
“Damn right we are,” said Felix.
“Damn right,” echoed Nash, Gustin, and Mackie.
“Frederick and I are, too,” said Petra. She smiled at Freddie, who could only gulp.
“Well, then,” I said, leaning down to grab one side of the container. “Either you’re all fools or we might just stand a chance at this.”
* * *
“Definitely fools,” muttered Abigail, walking by the doorway to the engine room.
The two of us set the core on the floor near one of the walls, tucking behind one of the nearby consoles. The engine itself was further in, secured behind another door and in a smaller compartment, but there was no need to take the core there at the moment. This entire section was surrounded by Neutronium, and the ceiling only stretched about five meters high. It was the perfect spot for an ambush, with plenty of space to hide and shoot from a distance.
There was only one problem. Two ventilation tunnels, each one large enough for the Celestial, sat at the top of both the left and right walls. According to the schematics, one of them led all the way to the chasm, which in turn led to the surface. That meant, of course, that if the Celestial wanted to, it could conceivably enter from two directions. Fortunately, the last remaining tunnel dead-ended into an air purification system, cycling oxygen into other sections of the facility. Nothing to worry about there.
“A few of you on that,” I ordered, motioning from Bolin’s team to the vent. “The rest of us will focus on the doorway. You see any sign of movement, even just a blur, call it out.”
“You got it,” said Bolin.
I took position on the other side of the room behind one of the consoles. Abigail and Petra took one side of the opening, near the corner, while Freddie crouched beside me.
“Siggy, one more thing,” I said.
“What’s that, sir?” he asked.
“Start moving a few drones in this direction. M
ake sure they’re the kind with guns on them.”
“I’ve already begun,” he replied.
I shifted my weight on my heel, not wanting to get on my knees, should the enemy come flying in so quickly that I had to move.
None of us were strangers to waiting, especially me, since I’d cased so many targets during my Renegade days. After a while, you learn to pass the time in whatever way helps you to keep your wits. No daydreaming, no fantasies, but something methodical, like counting the seconds in your mind for as long as you could keep track. Personally, I liked to play with numbers. Start with something low, then double it again and again until I couldn’t do the math anymore.
I usually didn’t make it very far before I had to start over, but that didn’t matter. The important part was that it kept me steady and alert.
After nearly an hour, I began to wonder how long we’d need to stay. If this turned into an overnight venture, we’d have to take shifts. If that happened, we’d lose focus and firepower. Maybe that was the Celestial’s plan—to wait us out until we were exhausted and slow.
“Sir,” said Sigmond, his voice taking me by surprise. It had been the first time he’d spoken in a while.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I don’t know the cause, but at least two of my drones have gone offline over the past thirty seconds,” he informed me.
“Show me where,” I told him.
Immediately, two indicator lights displayed on the map. The first was near to where we’d encountered the Celestial before, while the second was closer in our direction.
Before I could say anything, another light appeared, this time closer than the previous one. “It’s moving,” said Abigail, her eyes fixed on her visor screen.
“Get ready,” I said, positioning my arms on the console and taking aim at the doorway.
Another icon lit up, showing that we’d lost a fourth drone. Again, it was closer than the last.
I felt my chest tighten with anticipation, but then took a long and steady breath. Any second now, all our waiting would be over.
Seconds passed, filling the room with a stretch of silence.
“Sigmond,” muttered Petra. “Are you certain it was on its way?”
“I am not certain of anything other than the loss of my drones,” he replied.
She edged her way out of the corner and drew closer to the doorway, peering into the outer hall.
“Petra be careful!” said Freddie, rising to his feet.
“I’m fine,” she assured him. “There’s no sign of it.”
“No sign that you can see,” said Abigail.
Petra nodded, but said nothing.
“Get back to the wall. It could just be picking off the drones to draw us out,” I suggested.
“Right,” she said, turning away from the doorway and taking a step towards Abigail.
She squeezed close to the wall and took a breath.
I let out a quiet sigh and shifted my weight again, watching as Petra gripped her weapon in both hands and kept the gun in the alert position. As my eyes drifted back to the opening, I caught sight of something that gave me pause.
The air changed, almost like heat rising from desert sand, and it moved. I blinked, opening my mouth to warn the others, but I could only react so quickly.
The blur reached into the room, moving towards Petra and Abigail in less time than it took for me to speak.
“Get down!” I shouted, raising my pistol, but even as I said the words, I knew it was too late.
The blur surrounded Petra, snapping her back and away from the wall, and dragged her into the hall. Abigail raised her rifle but didn’t fire. She couldn’t—not without risking Petra’s life.
Without a word or hesitation, Freddie leapt out of his position and ran into the middle of the room. His speed took me by surprise, but I didn’t question it. Instead, I followed his lead, and so did the others.
In a single moment, the entire room erupted into chaos, our entire plan having come undone.
Petra screamed so loud it pierced my ears, her voice booming through the comm as fear and confusion overtook her.
“Nobody shoot!” yelled Freddie, already nearing the doorway. He bolted through it and into the hall as the Celestial dragged Petra away from us.
“It’s going to pick us off!” said Nash. “That’s its plan! We have to stay together!”
I knew he was right, but no one was listening. If we didn’t save Petra, she’d wind up dead and alone, and then we’d have truly lost. I wasn’t about to sacrifice one of us for the rest, no matter how practical it might have seemed.
We were on her quickly, the whole of our team, as it neared the rear of the corridor, before the next turn. Freddie came close enough to touch her leg, but could only manage to brush her boot.
The Celestial pulled Petra into the next section, out of his grasp. This was no good. We couldn’t keep up with it forever, and without a clean shot—
Petra hit one of the walls, catching herself with her prosthetic arm. She fell to the floor, landing on her side with a loud thud and turning on her stomach.
As we neared her, the Celestial passed through us, moving like a swift breeze through the corridor and into the previous room. I turned around, stopping short of reaching Petra, and motioned for everyone to go back. “Move!”
Bolin and Felix were in the rear, closest to the room, but the Celestial flew by them in seconds, giving no time to follow. I launched back into a run.
Abigail did the same, but Freddie stayed beside Petra, more concerned with the fact that she wasn’t moving than the danger before us. I didn’t have time to yell at him, but I also knew I couldn’t blame him.
To my own fear as I neared the doorway, I saw the Sedicium Core rising in the air, surrounded by the Celestial’s blur. It moved so fast that I could hardly aim—not that I’d risk hitting the device. There was no telling what a stray bullet might do to something like that.
The Celestial entered the small alcove on the far side of the room, otherwise known as the reactor, and I knew what would follow.
“Facility power is coming online, sir,” informed Sigmond.
I wouldn’t allow myself to slow, and instead continued forward, Abigail and Bolin at my back and side. When I was only a few meters from the reactor door, the Celestial came at us like a ghost, its whole body shifting between worlds.
I fired into it, forcing it to maintain its invisibility. It flew straight through me and towards the other half of the room.
As I turned to face it, the beast materialized long enough to plow into Bolin and Felix, lifting them from the floor and tossing them into the near consoles.
Abigail fired her rifle, forcing the Celestial to dematerialize once more and fall backwards into the air. As it did, part of its body grazed the ceiling, and suddenly the blur took shape again.
This time, the whole of it came into being, a white body three times my own size. Abigail planted her feet and fired, her bullets whipping at the creature’s flesh.
It reacted with a sweep of its arm—no, that was something else. A kind of wing.
Abigail went flying, slamming directly into Nash in the outer corridor. The two rolled, and I heard the sound of his visor breaking.
“Anyone still standing, on me!” I shouted.
Gustin and Mackie were right behind Nash and Abigail, but they followed orders and came running. I wasn’t concerned about the others. Abigail could handle herself, and she could damn well handle a fall like that.
The Celestial turned to me, and I responded with two shots, both of which landed in the center of its body.
It barely reacted.
Instead, it extended its whole body, displaying two massive, glowing wings to each side, connected to its back. It wore no clothes, only the vanilla skin of a sleek and unapologetic body. The wingspread took up most of the room, it was so big.
I stared up at its face—a chalky white head, twice the size of a normal human’s, with empt
y eyes, seemingly devoid of any emotional response, even to its own pain. It had no hair, not even eyebrows, and soft features that almost resembled a child’s. Its body towered over me like a slender, porcelain pillar, almost glowing as light reflected off of its smooth skin. Marks from the bullets peppered its wings, which were not feathered but rather glowed with a sort of hard light essence to them. There was no blood, however, except for the spots where the bullets had grazed its torso. If the wings themselves truly were made of hard light, it would explain their indestructibility.
I took a step back, staring into its eyes.
Shots fired from behind it, lighting up its backside. It swept its wings around the entirety of the room, knocking over half of the consoles and ripping them from the floor like blades of grass.
Mackie and Gustin charged at it, no hesitation in them as they continued shooting.
But the Celestial’s wing hit them like a wall, flinging them away.
Mackie hit one of the broken consoles, not moving or getting up, while Gustin rolled safely to his side. He continued firing at the enemy until he emptied his weapon. He popped the magazine and began to swap it with another, but the Celestial had already chosen to move. With a single motion, the creature reached out for him, flicking the gun from Gustin’s hands.
I fired my pistol through it all, plugging the spot where the heart should be, then moving up towards its neck. As the bullets hit, the Celestial barely reacted. It was only when I tried shooting at the head that the second wing came around to shield it.
Finally, the monster turned to me, its eyes meeting mine for the second time. I gave no pause, shooting at the head with the only chance I still had.
The wings blocked me.
I ran at it, trying to get a better angle from beneath the wing. I fired and struck its neck, but those dead and empty eyes only stared at me.
The wing struck my side before I had a chance to react. The speed of it, the sheer power behind the force was so much that I thought it would be the last thing I ever felt.
I landed beside the ventilation tunnel, my visor cracked, and personal shield totally wiped.
“Sir, you must retreat at once,” said Sigmond.