by Jesse Wilson
“Hello in there, anyone alive?” a voice cried out into the dark. “I'm here, I don't know the status those below. Help them first,” Rex cried out. “Sorry, Commander but we have orders to get you and your team out as soon as we can,” the voice replied, closer this time as the light burned through the cut hole. “Alright, just be careful, one wrong move and I won't be going anywhere,” Rex replied, still not seeing who it was. Then the voice was right next to him.
“Don't worry, sir, we're professionals,” a dwarf said to him with a smile, and more importantly had another harness to pull Rex up.
“Lifeforms detected, trying penetrate the hull just ahead us,” the machine said and Drask turned her head. It could have been anything from an enemy to a rescue team, she was hoping it was someone she knew, or friendly at least. “I'm in no condition to fight them so if you are, be ready,” Drask replied weakly, feeling the life drain out of her as they walked.
“There is no reason to fight, they are wearing Emerald Watch badges, I believe it's a rescue team looking for survivors,” she replied to her and kept on walking forward. Drask thought she saw sparks cutting through the wall in the distance, and that was the last thing she saw before passing out in the arms of the machine.
Unie didn't slow down or notice Drask's condition. She was programed to fix and maintain other machines, not living things. In the distance a sheet of metal fell forward, a man stepped in and shined their flashlight in her direction.
“I am in need of assistance, I am a utility bot, you should help me,” she said and the man was stunned by the naked, blood covered woman standing in front of him. “I got one, I need a medic team now,” he yelled back through the hole. Seconds later three others came running in with equipment. The machine held Drask out and the others took her away, laid her on the stretcher to get to work. The first man came back in and threw a blanket over Unie.
“I am not cold,” the machine replied.
“No, but you are distracting. We'll find you something to wear on the rescue ship,” the rescue worker replied and did his best to not look at her directly.
Nymie and Tayne were lost, she wished she paid more attention to things other than where the food and the bridge was. She was scared to death that she'd find a hallway turned into a death trap because a door was left open. Every step was made carefully, but there was another problem. The floor was wet, the water was leaking in from somewhere and the air was getting thinner.
Trolls needed more than the average race to function correctly due to their size and she was feeling the effects of the lack of air with each step she took. “Always thought I'd be eaten by a unicorn or something. This wasn't something I saw coming, fate is weird,” she said to herself as she pressed forward, having no idea where she was going still. Each breath was getting harder to take. “Nymie, are you alright?” Tayne asked her.
“No, its pretty hard to breathe, I think I need to take a break,” she replied and slumped against the wall. Tayne's red eyes widened. “It's the blood I took. Listen you stay here and I'll look for a way out,” he said and walked past her. “Okay, sure, good plan,” she replied.
Time passed by at a strange pace in the dark. Tayne left, what felt like hours ago now. Maybe it was only minutes, maybe hours. She lost track. It was obvious Tayne wasn't coming back in her addled mind so Nymie strained and pushed herself out of the sea water. Getting to her feet took more effort than she remembered it doing before. She gazed into the dark and started walking ahead, thinking nothing besides putting one foot in front of the other.
She was paying less attention to her surroundings and with the next step she fell into the deep, freezing water and disappeared. Immediately she realized her Aquarian star wasn't working in a panic. She swam back to the surface and grabbed the edge, out of breath.
“Maybe I should just get it over with, there isn't any way out of here,” she said to herself and considered sinking below the waves for the last time. Her mind burned with negativity right now.
“You could, but that'd just be a waste of life and beauty,” a voice said to her from the darkness. “What, who's there?” she replied to someone she couldn't see and didn't know.
“Give me your hand, I'll pull you up,” the voice said to her and she shook her head. “I'm huge, there is no way you can pull me up, but thanks,” she said and laughed about it. “Trust me, give me your hand. I'll pull you up,” the voice said again and Nymie lifted her hand up, amused at the thought of too many people pulling her eight-foot frame out of the water.
Suddenly she felt the strongest grip she'd felt outside of a giant or one of her own kind take her hand and lift her straight up out of the water and back on to the wet metal wall on the other side of the pit.
“Who are you?” she asked, still not seeing anyone there.
“A friend who stopped by, look, the people you need to find are that way, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, its faint but you can see it. Follow it to safety,” the voice said and after that there was a slight breeze, the smell of the ozone followed it. Nymie didn't know what was going on. She squinted her eyes and there it was at the end of the tunnel, a dim light.
“Thanks,” she said, still out of breath but feeling better. Despite being in the water, she found that she was completely dry and also decided that now wasn't the time to question it.
Chapter 16
Boz and Evie made it into the storeroom, only to find it a complete disaster. Things were thrown everywhere and there was only so much you could see. “Well what are you waiting for, go in there and get me something to wear,” she said and Boz looked at her. “You sure are demanding for someone I could just leave here to dry out and die,” he replied and carefully set her down.
“I'm a tad unhappy, I get cranky when I get injured and lose all of my magic, I'm sure you can relate,” she replied and Boz shook his head.
“I don't know how I am going to find anything in here but I will give it a shot. If I don't come back, I died,” he said to her and stepped into the dark and hoped for the best.
“I am glad you decided to come on this trip,” a voice said to her and she jumped a little. “Who's there, who are you?” she asked immediately and looked around. “Just a friend, don't worry I won't hurt you. It looks like you could use some help down here, maybe I can be of assistance?” the voice asked her.
“I don't know. Something took out all of our energy. Something bad happened, also my leg is broken too,” she said, not feeling afraid of whoever this was.
“I'll help you out, just this once. Maybe twice if you're really nice,” the voice said and she felt a hand come over where the bone was broken. She gasped in pain, but instead of pain she felt her leg mend back into place, not only that but her felt her energy return at the same time.
“Who are you? Tell me,” she said but the second she felt back to normal, she no longer felt a presence around her. Just the smell of ozone surrounded her for a brief second.
“Thanks,” she said as she stood up and continued. “Golt,” she said and her staff appeared in her hand at once and her clothes reappeared on her body.
“Lumio,” she shouted and a bright white light appeared from the top of her staff. Boz was revealed, looking through a pile of towels that he thought were clothes. “Hey, what's going on?” Boz asked and shielded his eyes at the sudden light that was way brighter than any flashlight.
“My energy came back, it doesn't take long for that to happen thankfully,” she replied and walked towards him, a good healing spell and I am good as new, let's get out of here,” she said to him and Boz nodded. “I am also sensing lots of life on the outside of this ship, rescue teams are coming in from all over the place. There isn't one too far away from us so let's go,” she said and started to walk away. Boz climbed over the pile of junk to catch up with her in a hurry.
“Do you think we are the only ones alive?” Boz asked her. “No, we're not finished yet. We have to find out what is going on with whatever hit us,” she
replied to him and Boz could only hope she was right.
Nymie followed the light at the end of the tunnel and ran right into two rescue workers that were trying to cut through a door.
“Oh, you're alive, great. We left a marker trail to the exit, follow it please,” a woman said to her. “Thanks, and thanks for coming to save us, oh, and the hallway is going to flood, there is a leak somewhere down that way,” she replied, pointing into the black.
The worker just smiled, but quickly focused on what she was doing. Nymie walked around them and soon enough found herself facing an exit port. “I am so out of here,” she said and didn't ask anyone permission to walk through it. The tunnel was much smaller than the ship she was in, she had to get to her hands and knees to make her way forward in the clear tunnel.
She was surrounded by black water and could only hope that her weight wasn't going to break this thing. She crawled up the tunnel, thankfully it didn't break and she came out the other end. Scaring the others who weren't expecting anyone to come out of the port tunnel.
“Hey, how's it going,” she said to them and they were still catching their breath. “Why didn't you come through the evacuation tunnel?” one of them asked, confused. “I couldn't find it and got tired of waiting for someone to tell me where it was,” she replied to them and looked around. This ship was much smaller than the Voltarice but she didn't mind. “The others are in the sick bay, one of your senior crew is being operated on right now and your robot refused to leave her side,” the rescue worker said to her.
Nymie's eyes widened and she quickly walked off, three seconds later she came back.
“Where is the Sick bay on this boat?” she asked. “Second level, room six,” she replied to her. Nymie nodded with a slight smile and walked off again in a hurry. Within minutes she found her way to the Sick bay and stood outside of it.
“Who is it?” she asked the machine who was now wearing a blue jumpsuit sitting on a bench close to the door. “It is the one you call Drask. Whatever force hit the ship not only took out all energy sources, it drained the energy from the body. They think the body cannot heal itself. They are doing all they can,” Unie replied and Nymie sat next to her.
“Why are you okay?” she asked the robot. “I was in the repair pod at the time of the attack, the extra shielding protected me from whatever this was, that is my theory anyway,” she replied to her. Nymie looked through the window and began to worry about her friend but didn't want to let her mind wander into the dark thoughts again. She would hope and wait for the results of whatever they were doing.
Rex walked into the sick bay viewing area later and was happy to see Nymie there but quickly decided that now was not the time to smile. Drask was still under the knife and he sat down beside Unie.
“We still don't know what did this, but a military outpost tracked the energy going out, deep into the Yalo ocean towards Calex Island,” Rex said and Nymie shook her head.
“There isn't anything way out there beyond the wall but monsters and other vicious things that nobody thinks about,” she replied to him. Neither one took their eyes off what they could see going on in the room, it wasn't much, there were too many people in the room. Rex nodded in agreement.
“Yes, and we are going there as soon as we can. So, I suggest you do your best to get some sleep if you can, I know this is going on but we are going to need everyone as well as they can be. Whoever did this Is going to pay for it,” Rex said and narrowed his eyes.
“Any word from the others?” Nymie asked him.
“Boz and Evie are fine. Tayne is helping the rescue team recover the ones who lived,” he said to her and sighed. “Alright, if anything happens just wake me up,” she said, leaned back and closed her eyes. Rex didn't say anything, there was nowhere big enough for her to sleep comfortably anyway so here was as good as place as any for her to try and do it.
Evie and Boz sat in the ship's mess hall, or what passed for one on this ship. It was nothing compared to the Voltarice but it worked.
“Someone healed me,” Evie finally admitted to Boz as she held her new Aquarian star in her right hand, and he raised an eyebrow.
“Who was this hero?” he asked back and Evie took a drink of her coffee and shook her head. “I don't know, it was a guy, I think. I never saw him. Not only did he heal me, he gave me back my energy too,” she said and took another sip. “Well sounds like a good deal to me then,” Boz replied, trying to keep his thoughts off of what happened to Drask and the ship, plus everyone else on it.
“I think it was Elrox,” she said and Boz coughed as the theory caught him by surprise. “You think the God of the Sea showed up to help you, why?” he asked, not believing any of this. “No real reason, but it sure felt special,” she said and smiled. “Well, whatever, all I know is I am glad you are okay,” he replied to her and someone brought them their burgers, it was really the only thing on the menu.
##
“Thanks,” Evie said and the server smiled, and he walked away. Boz looked out the window and saw that the sun was setting, it's been a very long day. “Let's eat and get some rest. I have a feeling we'll be moving again sooner than later,” Evie said and took a bite.
“Yeah, but we'll need a new ship,” Boz replied, he was missing the Voltarice already.
Chapter 17
Tayne didn't see it but he could feel the sun dropping out of the sky. Rummaging through the depths of the wrecked, increasingly waterlogged Voltarice he had only discovered fifteen living people on it. Everyone else so far was dead out of three hundred people. He did his best to not think about it.
“This is command, come in over,” a voice came on the radio from the man behind him. “This is rescue five, what's going on,” he replied. “The vampire is needed back on the command ship, relay the message,” the voice said and Tayne turned around.
“I got the message,” he said and started to walk away.
“Thanks for your help,” the man said but Tayne was already gone. “Vampires creep me out,” he said to himself before continuing the search. He could feel the sun going down, his powers were slowly returning to full strength. He was at the exit port in seconds and up the connection tunnel in about the same amount of time.
“Where's Rex?” Tayne asked the one who contacted him on the radio, who was still in the process in putting it back down. “God damn!” the man said as he jumped from his sudden appearance.
“Sick bay, and if you—“ Tayne was already gone. “Never mind,” he finished and tried to calm down.
Tayne walked into the sick bay and was glad to see Nymie was here, but sleeping and Rex looked at him. “Drask is not getting better and it's not looking good. The only one who can save her, is you,” he said to him and Tayne looked through the window. “We aren't supposed to turn people who aren't willing,” he replied to him.
“She's going to die, I can feel it. We either act now or sit back and watch. Her body is shut down, they can't save her because something literally drained her. I'm not asking you to turn her, I'm asking for a few drops of blood. A jumpstart,” Rex said and Tayne looked into the room.
“It could save her. It could destroy her mind,” he replied and continued, “but I'll try to do it if you really want me too,” he said and walked towards the door. “I'd rather try this than just watch her die like on some table without putting up a fight,” he said and Tayne nodded.
“Sounds good to me, be right back,” he said, walked to and opened the door.
“You can't be in here,” one of the doctors said and Tayne easily pushed him out of the way and walked over Drask's body. He pulled a small knife out of his jacket and quickly sliced his hand open. He held his bleeding hand over Drask's wounds and bled into them.
“Stop, you'll kill her,” another doctor screamed out but it was already done, his hand was already healed. Ten seconds passed and Drask didn't change at all. Then, before his eyes the horrible wounds the doctors made and the ones she suffered began to close. He took a step ba
ck and waited.
“What, where am I?” she asked weakly and opened her eyes.
“You're going to be alright I think. But you were going to die so I had to give you some of my blood so you could be, well, restarted, it was the only way,” Tayne said to her and Drask was feeling better but furious.
“You mean I have your toxic blood in me, really, what gave you the right to do that? I was better off dead,” she said angrily and started to pull the wires off of her body. “I guess we will never know, don't worry. It was just enough to jump start you, you won't turn but I'd avoid any direct sunlight for a few days. Whatever hit us drained the energy out of everything it touched. The ship is dead, I was drained and not many people made it. We are going to, I assume, find out what it was,” Tayne said and didn't bother to look away as she pulled off the coverings the doctors put on her.
“Where in the hell are my clothes?” she asked, looking around. “How would I know, I just got here,” he replied and looked around but didn't see anything. Then he looked at the doctor who was standing in the corner, then looked at Drask, then back to the doctor.
“You, where did you put the clothes?” she asked and the doctor shook his head. “We had to cut them off, they were soaked with blood, you wouldn't want them,” he said and walked over to the opposite door, opened it and reached inside to pull out a long white lab coat like thing. He tossed it to her and she quickly put it on. It was just a little too big but she didn't mind.
“Thank you for doing everything you could to try and save me,” she said to him as she stood up. “Just, we don't know what the long term effects of vampire blood are, without tests it's completely different for each person. Take it slow,” the doctor said as she walked out, he had no idea if she listened or not.
Rex, the robot and a still sleeping Nymie were still sitting there. “Welcome back to the land of the living,” Rex said to her and Drask shook her head. “I don't know how alive I am going to be with vamp blood in me but I guess time will tell how all that turns out,” she said and smiled, she liked it that they were here. “You'll be fine, it was my idea anyway. Tayne didn't want to do it but I knew we didn't have an option, so here we are,” he replied to her. She glared at him and he could only smile.