by Rob Dearsley
Arland shook her head, not following. Still tense, waiting for an attack. “Jax, why can’t we blow it up?”
“The ring is acting as containment. The proto-star needs to be dissipated before the ring can be taken offline. If the containment collapses then the star will go into a state of hyper-expansion, more than likely followed by thermal collapse. It will go supernova!”
Arland froze in place, she knew what that meant. “How powerful?”
By now Grayson had noticed and moved out of position to hover near her, eager to find out what was going on.
“Estimates say at least five light years destructive radius.”
Stars, it would destroy the whole system, and maybe a couple of other nearby ones. She relayed the information to Grayson, who by the end, was staring slack-jawed at the huge ring curving above them.
“It would destroy everything.” His voice was hushed, awed even.
Everything.
Arland looked up at the ring. It would destroy everything in the system, all the Terran ships. They weren’t running away from this. Not anymore.
◊◊
Dannage shoved the wet mass off his shoulders, blinking against the harsh light. He stumbled half a step back, his limbs feeling distant and out of proportion.
Hale caught and steadied him. Her face a mask of concern. “What happened? Are you okay?”
He blinked at the question. What had happened? He wasn’t quite sure himself. Vague memories of fire and pain flashed through his mind. Arguing with something. Arland. He remembered her face and the burned man. Such pain, loss and anger. But, beneath it all, fear.
He shook the foreign memories away, focusing instead on the one of Arland.
“It was the Core Mind,” he said to no one in particular. “Are we done?”
A Marine looked up. “Timers are set. We’re good to go.”
Dannage took a shaky step, his limbs were starting to feel like his own again.
Dannage’s com crackled to life. “Captain? Captain. Can you hear me?” Jax's voice was almost lost to static.
“I’m here.” He pressed his hand to the earpiece, hoping to eke a little more clarity form the unit.
“It’s Arland. She’s in the Terran engine room. They’re trapped. They’re going to blow it up. It will kill them all. We have to get out of here!” The young engineer was panicking.
“Jax, calm down.” He glanced around at the firebombs. “I’ve got a plan. Tell Arland not to do anything. Tell her I’m coming for her. By the Stars, we are all getting out of this.”
Having only heard half the conversation, Hale looked at him quizzically.
There it was, the mass at the centre of the vast space, where the Core Mind would have started. Where, somehow, he knew its original human brain still resided. “It’s time this thing died.”
Twenty-four
- Terran X-Ship, Pyrite System -
Hale followed Dannage toward the access way they’d come in through. The centre of the ship had been ripped out to accommodate this abomination. The union between a ship and their officers was a special, sacred thing. These monsters had perverted it, turning it against the crew they’d been sworn to serve.
Even through the blockers, she could feel the raging pressure of the Core Mind against her thoughts.
Hale pushed her way through the crawlway, just behind Dannage. The three Marines followed her. After the message from the Folly, Dannage had stormed off, muttering to himself.
As Hale climbed out, Dannage was on his com. “Tell Arland to hold on.” Dannage turned to Hale. “Take the medic and the detonator and get back to the Folly. I’m going after Arland.”
Hale rounded on him. “You can’t. You’ll get yourself killed.” She didn’t want to see anyone else die in this hellhole.
“I can’t leave her.” The steel in his eyes wouldn’t be bent.
Hale shook her head, taking the remote detonator from the Marine, and tapping her com open. “Jax, what’s the range on the detonator?”
“Not more than a hundred metres.” Jax’s voice sounded oddly muffled.
Dannage ran off, talking on his com, the two Marines trailing after him.
“Come on.” Hale clapped the medic on the shoulder and started along the corridor at an easy lope. Out here, she could almost imagine she was back on the Heimdall, surrounded by her old crew, by Matthews.
The Turned darted from the shadows, a blur of motion. The medic went down in a wash of blood. It lashed out again. The blow left Hale’s hand tingling, blood dripping from a deep gash in her forearm.
The detonator skittered across the deck, coming to rest between her and the Turned.
“Hale,” Dannage’s voice crackled through her com. “Blow the Core.”
Hale raised her gun, about to fire, when the Turned spoke.
“Hannah?” The creature’s voice had an odd hissing quality. “Damn. it’s good to see you again, girl.”
“What?” She pointed the gun. The Turned tensed to lunge. Hale fired and dived for the detonator.
The Turned hit her and they tumbled away. It slashed the gun from her hand, coming up on top of her. She slammed a punch into the creature’s gut. It grabbed her wrist.
Hale cried out as the bones in her wrist ground under the Turned’s grip and struck out with her other hand into his neck. Its grip slackened, and Hale thrashed free, scrambling to her feet.
“Wait. Hannah, it’s me. Don’t you recognise me?” the creature hissed. “You said, you always knew it was me.”
Matthews had said the same thing after their first time together. She reached up to touch the ring at her neck.
Her com cracked. “Hale, blow up the Core. Now!”
The Turned let out a hissing screech that might have been a bark of laughter. “Trust you to keep the ring and not answer the question.”
“Matthews?” The weight of the gun pulled Hale’s hand down.
“Yes. We can be together again.”
“Like hell. You’ll say anything to stop me.” She let the anger drip into her voice, as she circled toward the detonator, the Turned mirroring her movements.
“Hannah, it’s me. What can I do to make you believe me?” The hissing voice was disconcerting.
Oh, how she wanted to believe him. But, it was too much to hope for. “How did you even get here? You were on the Heimdall.”
“We are all here in the Core Mind.” The Turned stood over the detonator. “You can join us. You belong with us, not these pale imitations.”
Hale’s anger flared. With an incoherent scream of pure rage, she threw herself at the abomination, smashing a fist into its face.
It slashed at her with its clawed hand. Hale blocked the blow, pulling the knife from her belt. Before it could recover, she jammed the blade into its shoulder.
“You’re not Matthews.” She pulled the knife out and stabbed its chest. “You might have stolen his memories, but you’re not him.” She slammed it back against the bulkhead hard enough to dent the metal.
“Don’t give up on us,” the voice gurgled. Hale must have struck something important.
Hale drove the knife up into its head. “It’s not giving up.” The light in the creature’s –in Matthew’s eyes, died. “It’s letting go.”
Letting the thing slump to the deck, she turned away, swept up the detonator and hit the switch. A dull booming vibrated through the deck and the lights flickered.
The medic coughed. Angels, he was still alive.
◊◊
Dannage threw himself aside as the Turned came at them again. The chatter of the Marine’s rifles left his ears buzzing. The creature stumbled, leaking brownish fluid from several wounds, but kept coming.
Dannage opened his com. “Hale, blow up the Core. Now!” What was taking her so damn long?
He snapped off a couple of shots from his pistol. The Turned’s leg exploded, the creature falling. One of the Marines closed in for the killing blow.
The other Marine, a p
rivate, helped Dannage up. “Good call, but you should stick to centre-mass shots. Leave the fancy shooting to the snipers.”
Dannage laughed, he wasn’t going to tell the man that he hadn't been aiming for the leg. Besides, there wasn’t time for any more conversation. More screaming Turned charged them. Dannage fired, joined seconds later by the Marines.
They had to get moving again if they wanted to get to Arland. Why hadn’t Hale blown up the damn ship already? Had something happened to her? Was she dead?
No. He shoved the thought aside and pushed forward, the Marines still at his sides. Pain stabbed through his head, someone was screaming behind his eyes. He pushed himself up to see the Turned breaking and disappearing into the darkness.
He could still hear their animalistic screams. However none of the creatures approached the group as they ran through the ship.
Arland had to hold on. By the Stars, he was coming for her.
◊◊
The Turned faltered, some falling to their knees, clutching their heads. Others went wild, screaming and tearing into their companions. Several turned their raging aggression on Arland and the entrenched Marines.
So lost to the rage were they, they shrugged off even rifle rounds as they ripped into the Marines. A clawed hand swung at Arland so fast she barely even saw it coming. The force of the blow sent her tumbling.
When she could see again, a large crack bisected her visor, blocking her vision.
Grayson yelled into the squad channel, “Blow the bomb!”
Arland rolled over, groaning. All around her, the Turned ripped into the Marines. Grayson clutched his side, crawling toward the demolition charge. Another of the creatures grabbed the tech by the leg, dragging the screaming youngster away from the thermite and his friends.
Pain lanced up her arm and Arland crumpled, biting back a scream. It was broken. Scrabbling with her still functional left arm, she forced herself toward the bomb. She was so focused on reaching the device that she didn’t hear the Turned until it was right on top of her.
The creature’s hand clamped around her helmet, its grip hard enough to splinter the visor. She cried out, in frustration as much as pain. The Turned slammed her back down, knocking the breath from her. She rolled over, gasping, and caught sight of her gun.
The Turned reared over her, tensing, ready to strike. Arland kicked out at its legs. The force of the blow pushed her back toward the gun.
A cry from Grayson drew her attention. He kicked at a Turned as it tried to drag him away from the bomb. Arland's own foe bore down on her.
She only had time for one shot.
Rolling onto her side, she fired. The Turned attacking Grayson fell back, clutching a wound on the side of its head. Grayson lunged for the makeshift detonator.
White-hot pain slammed into Arland’s shoulder, the creature’s claws ripping through armour and flesh alike. At least she wouldn’t hurt much longer.
She imagined she could hear the captain’s voice. Was it the Stars calling her home?
The Turned’s head exploded, showering her visor with gore. Dead, the creature toppled off her.
The world around Arland felt fuzzy and muted. Even after she scraped the muck off her visor, her fragmented view of the world didn’t track. She could have sworn Dannage walked toward her.
“Arland, you with me?” The captain snapped his fingers in front of her mangled visor. He couldn’t be there. He didn’t have a pressure suit.
The world snapped back into focus. Suddenly aware of the myriad breaches in her suit, she scrabbled for the canister of breach foam. “Sir, you can’t be here. There’s no air.”
The captain grabbed for her hands. “I beg to differ. Jax thinks that without the Core Mind, the systems went back to default. We need to get you lot back to the Folly.”
He helped her up and she pulled the mangled helmet off. Stars, the air was foul. It was a charnel house. The wet-labs had nothing on this. She looked around. Grayson was on his feet but leaning against one of the men who had turned up with Dannage. The tech was dead. And Simon?
Crap, where was Simon? He’d been there during the fight.
The second of Dannage’s Marines practically carried Simon around the blockade. Stars his left leg was gone, the front of his suit hung from him in limp strands.
The captain glanced over. “Hey, brush-cut. Let’s get you back to the Folly and patched up.”
Simon pushed away from the Marine and slumped down next to the demolition charge. “Get out. I’ll give you as much time as I can before setting the charge.”
“You’re not listening. We need to get going. All of us,” the captain said.
“No, you need to get out. I’ll finish the mission.”
“No. Damn it, no.” The captain shoved an arm around Simon, lifting him. “We’re not leaving you behind. We'll find a way to—”
“Not going to happen.” Simon pushed from Dannage’s arms. “No way you can set this off and get away. This is our best option. Our only option.”
“Stars damn it. No.” Dannage made another grab for Simon.
The ex-special forces officer grabbed Dannage by the shirtfront, pulling him down and speaking in low tones.
The captain pulled back, shaking his head. “No, no, no. There’s got to be something. We’ve come through worse.”
Grayson placed a hand on Dannage’s shoulder. “This is the way it has to be, lad. It’s up to you to make it mean something.”
Dannage grabbed one of the Marine’s guns and passed it to Simon. “Don’t go dying on us.”
“Remember what I said.” Simon gave the captain a half-hearted salute and took the rifle.
The captain paused, then returned the salute. “Let’s get gone, people.”
She looked back at Simon, one last time. Blood pooled around him. He was dying in the middle of this dark alien ship, still fighting. Ready to give it all to save them. For a moment, their eyes met, and a small, tired smile touched his lips.
◊◊
The corridor echoed with the screams of the Turned. Occasionally one would come at them, but the last of their heavy ammo cut the creatures down or sent them scampering into the darkness. Arland’s lungs burned; her legs felt like lead. Every step felt like it took a thousand years. She’d never be able to make another. Gritting her teeth, she pushed harder, spurred on by the annoying, high-pitched cries of the Turned.
Grayson’s gun clicked empty and he threw it aside. Arland fired the last round from her own pistol before doing likewise. They ducked through the doorway, into the hanger bay and the glare of the Folly’s floods.
Never had Arland been so happy to see the scuffed triangular ship. It was like starlight at the end of the world. Like coming home. The Marines, Hale and Luc fired bursts into the darkness, keeping the Turned at bay.
Grayson and the captain were the first onto the ladders. Arland jumped on just behind Grayson, while the final Marines followed Dannage. Above her, Luc cried out in alarm, his weapon going off in a chattering cacophony. Fingers closed around her leg, pulling her down.
Arland lashed out, kicking at the creature. The damn thing hung on, pulling her toward it, its other clawed hand digging into her calf.
She was so tired, tired of fighting for every moment, and still losing everything. It would be so easy just to let go, let them have her and burn in solar fire with them.
Hands wrapped around her arms, pulling her up, away from the Turned.
“Don’t you dare.” Dannage glared down at her, his blue eyes alight with anger, both his hands hanging onto her arm. “I am not losing anyone else to these ass-hats.”
Despite Dannage’s best efforts, Arland’s blood slicked arm was slipping through his grip. She screamed as the Turned’s claws ripped through her thigh.
“I got you, kid.” Grayson grabbed her other hand, and between them, they hauled her past the already closing cargo bay doors.
Arland rolled onto her back, struggling to breathe past the hitch in h
er chest, looking up at the cargo bay’s upper bulkheads. They were covered in grime. Someone should really give the whole bay a good clean.
Grayson helped her up and they followed Dannage onto the bridge.
Arland followed the captain onto the bridge and went to take up her own station. Then stopped, her mouth falling open in shock.
“Guys, what’s Jax doing here?” She tried to force her tired mind back on track.
Jax peered out of her nest of blankets. “Shauna? You made it.”
“Later,” Luc said, without looking up.
“How are we going to get out of here?” Dannage asked.
Luc smiled. “Marines and I saw to that.” He held up a short-range detonator.
The captain punched the com open. “Brush-cut— Simon, if you can hear me, it’s time to end this.”
◊◊
Fire bloomed, ripping the doors apart. Dannage gunned the engines, sending the Folly screaming out into the blackness of space.
Dannage brought the Folly around and away from the Terran ship. He was glad to be back in open space. He hadn’t realised how claustrophobic the Terran ship had felt until he was back among the stars.
Luc was already on the com. “This is Hope’s Folly to all ships, break off and evacuate the system. Repeat, evacuate the system immediately.”
Right, they still needed to get clear of the blast. He scanned the HUD. “Someone, find me an open slipway.”
A waypoint sprang up on the HUD. At the same moment, the back end of the Terran ship blew apart.
He just about had time to yell, “Brac—” before the ship was tossed aside by the shockwave and sent tumbling.
Dannage grappled with the controls, trying to pull the Folly out of her tumble. Planets, stars and the blue blooms of opening slipways zipped past, strobing against his vision as he hauled on the unresponsive flight stick.
Finally, the ship levelled out, the remains of the X-ship listing apart in the viewport. He had just enough time to breathe a sigh of relief, before the splintered back end of the ship shuddered and collapsed in on itself. A heartbeat later, a bloom of expanding gas engulfed the wreckage. The proto-star had been unleashed. As he watched, it started to fade and shrink.