Once on the other side, Leo instantly looked over to Alice. He was only a few meters from her. However, she was only a few meters from the ever-growing ship that was tearing through the room. Alice's eyes met his as he rushed towards her. They were wide with amazement and fear.
In an instant, he covered the distance between them and knelt next to her, then grabbed the manacle around her right wrist and began trying to pull it apart.
"C'mon, Alice. Pull. Try to break out of it..." Leo shouted, his voice barely audible above the tearing and screeching roar.
"I! Know!" Alice screamed, her teeth gritted as she strained against her restraints.
Leo worked the manacle back and forth, trying to rip it away from the chair. But then, he felt the floor under his feet rumble and rise under him. He stepped to his left to get his feet on solid ground, and saw that the ship was continuing to push towards them. It was only a meter away from Alice, and even as he watched, it covered that distance, shredding the floor into small shards in the process.
Leo held on to Alice as the Epiphany continued its destructive progress and shattered the floor under Alice's chair. Then, he pulled the chair toward himself with all his might.
"C'mon! Please!" Leo roared.
With a loud snap, the chair detached from the now shredded floor beneath it and fell backward on top of Leo.
"Yes... YES!" Leo exclaimed as he fell backward, and Alice landed on top of him.
Alice screamed with triumph as she pulled against the manacles that bound her. With a visible burst of strength from her arms, she pulled her right wrist free. Leo reached around the chair to try to help, but it wasn't needed. Alice had already reached her right hand across her body to snap the manacle around her left wrist. Then, she reached up and tore the manacle from her neck.
The weight the chair bore down on Leo as Alice ripped her feet from the confining grasp of the manacles around her ankles, then rolled off of him. When she was free, Leo shoved the chair off of himself and sprung to his feet. The chair rolled lazily towards the Epiphany, which continued its destructive upward progress and was now occupying nearly the entirety of the room.
Then, with an ominous crack, the floor under the chair gave way, and it fell into whatever part of the ship lay below.
"We're trapped... For now!" Alice screamed as she looked around the little room that remained for them.
Leo surveyed their surroundings. There were no doors or other means of escape within reach.
As the Epiphany grew to its widest point, Leo pulled Alice back until they reached the wall and had nowhere else to go. Still, the ship slowly but inevitably rampaged its way towards them.
"Goddamnit..." Leo grunted, unable to avoid laughing a little as he did so. The gravity of their situation was not lost on him, but neither was the dark humor of it. "It's gonna grind us into sausage for Thrall and his crew..."
"No," Alice shot back as she watched the ship's upward progress. "Patience!"
Leo almost voiced a snarky comeback, but then, he saw what Alice had been waiting for. Like a door to heaven appearing from nothing, the entry hatch of the Epiphany slid into view, cutting smoothly through the floor as it followed the rest of the ship upwards.
Miraculously, it was open.
"Quick, jump in!" Alice cried as she bounded forward and leaped through the hatch.
Leo followed an instant later. As Alice pulled herself into the ship, he jumped with all his might and caught hold of the rising bottom edge of the hatch. He briefly struggled to pull himself up, and nearly lost his grip, but Alice steadfastly grabbed his wrist and pulled him through the hatch.
Once onboard, Leo quickly rose to his feet, but struggled against the rumbling, shifting floor as he pulled Alice to the other side of the Epiphany's entry chamber. There wasn't anything for them to hold onto, so they crouched low against the wall farthest from the hatch as the ship continued its destructive journey.
The floor vibrated and rumbled beneath them, and after a particularly large shake, Leo lost his balance and fell onto his rear. Alice gave him a quizzical look and he prepared to say something witty in response, but as he did, he realized he was looking directly at her exposed breasts.
Leo quickly looked away from her in embarrassment. "Sorry for being naked, sorry for seeing you naked..."
Alice didn't reply she just snorted in amusement and gave a little chuckle.
Leo groaned in pain as he touched the skin that covered his broken rib. "You think this thing will be able to punch through the outer hull?"
Alice nodded. "Yes. It's the most advanced ship in the Council fleet. It'll get us out, as long as the thrusters keep firing."
Leo gestured to the open entry hatch. "Well, I hate to be a downer, but if we don't get that hatch closed, we're gonna be in for some serious inconvenience when we do punch through into space."
"Idi isn't obeying me anymore..." Alice answered, disappointment evident in her voice.
"Well, that would explain why Thrall was able to capture us so easily..." Leo replied. "She wouldn't activate interior defense measures, would she?"
"No."
"It doesn't matter," Leo grunted. "Annabelle seems to have some kind of control. We need to find..."
But then, Leo fell into a shocked silence as a bloody stump reached up and over the edge of the entry hatch.
Chapter 56
Leo sprung to his feet and moved as quickly and carefully as he could towards the open entry hatch. It defied belief that Thrall would be able to climb into the ship, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was smashing Thrall's hand and stump as hard as he could.
Within the two seconds it took Leo to reach the entry hatch, Thrall had already managed to pull the upper half of his body onto the ship. As soon as Leo was close enough, he lifted his right foot and smashed it down onto Thrall's head. His foot impacted Thrall's skull with a loud smack, and Thrall roared pain as he withstood the blow. However, he kept his hold on to the ship and still heaved himself farther into the entry chamber.
Leo immediately raised his foot for another strike, but Thrall shot his hand upwards and blocked the blow before Leo could generate much force. Then, the floor under Leo gave a sudden lurch, a loud booming crash came from above, and he was thrown backward.
Leo tried to regain his balance as Thrall scratched and pulled wildly at the floor until everything except his legs had crossed the threshold. When the turbulence ebbed for a moment, Leo regained his balance and stepped forward to kick Thrall in the head again, but as he did, Thrall threw himself into a sideways roll with and avoided the blow.
As Leo's kick missed, he lost his balance again and nearly fell out of the ship, but just managed to catch himself by grabbing the edge of the hatch.
Another crashing boom reverberated through the ship's hull, and the floor under Leo's feet shuddered violently beneath him. He stepped to his left to try to get closer to Thrall, but another violent lurch caught him by surprise and brought him to his knees.
Leo's eyes never left Thrall as he struggled against the shifting floor, and he watched coldly as Thrall defied the turbulence. Even as Leo struggled, Thrall sprung to his feet with acrobatic grace.
Leo continued to struggle, but the turbulence ebbed again, and he finally climbed back to his feet. There, as the ship rumbled softly beneath them, Leo and Thrall faced each other.
"Where's the whore?" Thrall asked as he licked his lips.
Leo stole the quickest of glances to where Alice had been sitting and saw that she wasn't there. He couldn't risk any further searching at that moment, however, and he snapped his eyes right back to Thrall.
"I sent her to the commissary to buy beer," Leo answered, his teeth bared in rage. "I like a cold drink after I castrate a psychopath..."
Thrall smiled and licked his lips again. Then, he stepped lightly to his left and back to his right as he reached down and drew a giant knife from a sheath on his hip. Thrall casually tossed the knife into the air and caught it as he dan
ced from side to side.
Leo warily eyed the knife. Alice was gone, he was naked, and he was sporting at least one broken rib to go along with a plethora of other injuries.
He did have one thing going his way, however. He was a born survivor, and he would fight with every last fiber of being against the twisted mutant psychopath that stood before him.
With deceptive slowness, Leo stepped toward Thrall. He held his hands at his sides, seemingly defenseless. Suddenly, Thrall lunged towards Leo and unleashed a wild slash of his knife. Leo leaned back as he saw the blade coming and it missed his chest by a few millimeters. He then instantly took advantage of the narrow miss and threw a quick, straight punch at Thrall's nose.
Thrall hopped back just as the blow landed and avoided some of the impact. Still, blood began to drip from his left nostril in a slow stream. Seemingly unfazed, Thrall lunged forward again and stabbed wildly at Leo's chest. Leo lowered his hands and blocked the strike by grabbing Thrall's wrist before the blade could stab him. But then, Thrall followed up with a brutal overhand swing of his stump, which caught Leo squarely in the side of his head.
Dizziness blurred Leo's vision, and he lurched to his left. At the same time, his grip weakened, and Thrall pulled the blade from his grasp. Then, with a flash of movement, Thrall slashed the knife toward him again. Leo saw the slash coming and tried to twist out of the way, but he wasn't fast enough. The tip of the blade caught him in his side and fileted a chunk of his right oblique from his abdomen. Raw pain, the sensation of his shredded flesh, and profound disappointment in himself overwhelmed Leo's senses as he spun away and clutched at his side.
He had no time to check the severity of the wound or ruminate on the fact that he hadn't been fast enough, however. Thrall had moved with him and was already unleashing another stabbing strike, this time at Leo's neck.
Leo saw the knife coming just as he finished his spin, and instinctually leaned to his left. The knife missed his throat, but it still grazed his right cheek, slicing a superficial wound across it.
Leo shrugged off the wound and instinctually realized that Thrall had overextended himself. He had leaned forward and thrown his full body-weight into the stabbing blow, leaving his midsection undefended.
Acting purely on instinct, Leo hopped back, then with a great contraction of his abdominal muscles and a burst of power from his right leg, he drove his knee violently up and forward into Thrall's stomach.
Thrall roared in pain as he stumbled backward and swung his knife wildly. Leo easily dodged the wild swing by leaning back at the waist. Then, he advanced and threw a stabbing front kick to Thrall's face.
Thrall blocked the kick with his stump, however, absorbing the impact with it and shoving Leo's foot aside. Then, he surprised Leo by instantly reversing his momentum and driving his shoulder into Leo's midsection.
As Leo was driven back, Thrall swept his right foot around Leo's and gave a great shove to Leo's chest. Leo tried to keep his balance, but his feet were swept out from under him, and he fell hard onto his back.
Leo tried to roll away, but Thrall was already on him. Thrall threw his body down on top of Leo and quickly worked his way to a dominant position with Leo on his back, and Thrall mounted on top of him. Leo swung his legs to try to reverse the position, but Thrall had mounted him fully and had already wrapped his legs around Leo's waist. In spite of Leo's bucking attempts, Thrall rode him skillfully and maintained his dominant position.
Leo extended his arms to try to strike Thrall and grab his hand and stump, but he couldn't reach far enough. Thrall then postured up, and held the knife high above as he leered down at Leo.
"I'm going to eat you, Leo!" Thrall exclaimed as he shoved his stump down onto Leo's throat. "I'm going to eat the Council! Everything is mine to eat now!"
"Eat my ass," Leo gurgled as he grabbed Thrall's stump and wrenched it away from his throat.
Thrall's leer widened, and the muscles around his neck tightened. Then, with a high pitched squeal, he slammed the knife down toward Leo's chest. Leo saw the strike coming and defended himself the only way he could, by throwing his arms in front of the blade. His right arm met the knife in the instant before it would have met his chest, and it stabbed into his forearm.
The twelve-inch blade effortless tore through Leo's arm and penetrated his chest anyway. Panic and denial flashed in Leo's mind as he felt the blade pierce his sternum, before finally stopping its journey just an inch from his heart.
Leo stared down at the blade that had nailed his arm to his chest and tried to banish the pain that begged him to give in. The blow hadn't killed him, but the next one would.
Leo looked up at Thrall and saw him grit his teeth as he tightened his grip on the blade. Then, with an upward heave of his shoulder, Thrall ripped the knife from Leo's chest and arm. It made a wet squishing sound as it left Leo's body, and sprayed a mist of Leo's blood through the air.
Thrall smiled down at him with pure, unadulterated glee as he held the bloody knife high above. Pain blocked outLeo's emotions. Still, even though he knew it was hopeless, he raised his left arm to block the next blow.
Leo looked up at the cruel psychopath who was about to kill him, and odd thoughts began to flash abstractly through his mind. There was anger and regret within him, but also pity. He felt pity at the fact that a man could turn into a beast such as Thrall. And, he felt shame that he had once been a beast himself.
With a roar of glee, Thrall propelled the knife on its final downward journey towards Leo's heart.But then, utter shock forced the pain from Leo's mind. Inexplicably, the blade slowed down as it flew downward, and Leo saw a change in Thrall's chest. It was still heaving with adrenaline and exertion, but it had also begun to glow.
Thrall's sternum became brighter as Leo watched, and the blow that would have killed Leo faded from possibility. As Leo watched, the savage thrust that would have driven the knife into his heart turned into a weak limpness of Thrall's arm. Then, the blade fell from Thrall's hand and landed harmlessly on the floor.
Thrall's chest began to glow orange, as if there was a hot ember underneath his skin, shining through his shirt. Then, he screamed a wild squeal, and the orange glow morphed into a brighter blue. Like a dying animal, Thrall squeaked and clutched at his chest as the blue light brightened.
Suddenly, a thin, cerulean blue beam burst forth from Thrall's chest. Leo looked on with awe as Thrall's expression twisted into surprise and utter disgust. Then, slowly, the light left his eyes, and he stared off into an eternity of nothingness as he slumped over.
As Thrall's lifeless face slid from his view, the divine nature of Leo's salvation was revealed to him.
Alice stood there as she looked down at Thrall's lifeless body. She was still naked, and her face was a tightly crumpled map of unreadable emotion. She held a lit plasma torch tightly in her hands. Its thin blue flame was steady, but was extinguished when Alice absentmindedly pushed a button on its side, then tossed it to the floor.
Leo hurriedly pulled his legs out from underneath Thrall's corpse, then leaned over to make sure the monster was really dead. Leo pressed his finger to Thrall's throat and felt nothing, then repeated the process on his wrist, which also had no pulse.
Immense relief came over Leo as he felt only cold stillness where Thrall's heart used to beat. Then, with the triumphant knowledge that Thrall was dead settling in his mind, he struggled to his feet and faced Alice.
"Nice one..." Leo groaned.
Alice stared down at Thrall with tearful eyes. "Sorry for leaving you. I saw him, and... I thought I could find a weapon to help us. All the guns in the storage room were gone, but that plasma drill was still there..."
"Brilliant..." Leo gasped.
Their conversation abruptly ceased, however, when a deafening boom rumbled through the ship. Leo looked out the entry hatch and saw that the ship's momentum had been slowed. But then, the floor beneath him heaved upwards and launched him into the air.
Leo landed acrobatica
lly back on his feet and managed to keep his balance, then looked at Alice, who had not been so fortunate. She had been knocked to the ground and was trying to stand back up. Leo quickly offered his hand, which she took gratefully.
"Was that the outer hull?" Leo asked her as he pulled her to his feet.
"Probably," Alice replied as she gazed down at the floor.
"We need to find Annabelle," Leo declared, already turning to walk towards the storage rooms. "She can close the hatch."
"I already found her..." Alice whispered. "She's in the storage room, but..."
"But what?!" Leo demanded.
A single tear slid down Alice's cheek, and Leo saw her lips tremble as she spoke.
"I don't think we can help her now..."
Chapter 57
Leo tore through the Epiphany's central corridor. He didn't look back to see if Alice was following; he needed to get to Annabelle, and nothing else mattered.
Leo sprinted with all the speed his broken, exhausted body would allow. When he reached the storage room, he stopped on a dime and burst inside.
He took in a disturbing scene as he entered. A man was splayed out in the corner of the room, his head bloodied and his face blue and swollen. Leo's eyes slid past the dead man to the other corner of the room, and there, he saw Annabelle.
She was lying on the floor, with a long black knife handle sticking out of her chest. Dark crimson blood flowed from the stab wound and streamed down her stomach in a thick flow. Abstract thoughts of denial, rage, and panic rushed over Leo as he rushed to Annabelle's side and slid down next to her.
He immediately caressed her cheek with his left hand and pressed his right index finger to her neck.
"C'mon Annabelle... Please!" Leo begged as he moved his finger along her neck and desperately tried to find her pulse.
Initially, he felt nothing, but after an excruciating ten seconds, he felt something that gave him slight hope. Deep within her neck, her pulse was beating. It was just a flutter and was barely perceptible, but it was there nonetheless.
The Ganymede Legacy Page 46