***
Gonzalez led the way as they made their way silently down the stairwell, avoiding the elevator that would only announce their arrival. Thorne recognized the steps as the same he and the captain ran up to answer the distress call of the second in command, Sheila. They took them two at a time, paying close attention to the stairwells that could easily hide the intruder. They found nothing but shadows beneath them and so they approached the door. He went ahead of Ayana and placed his ear against it, listening for any commotion, hoping to hear any sign that the beast was near. He heard nothing, he opened the door, motioning Ayana to follow.
They found Cambridge’s room empty, Ayana motioned to search the other quarters. She hesitated outside of Ming’s room, remembering the things that had eaten the mechanics innards.
“They are in there.” She whispered to Thorne.
She could sense them waiting, ready to spring upon the next person to pass the threshold.
“Stand back. Your canon blast could deafen…or kill you in such close quarters.” Thorne instructed.
He stepped between her and the door, readied his steel then pulled it open. The creatures had grown, two of them, the size of young wolves stood glaring, their maws soiled with gore. A corpse laying upon the bed was stripped clean of its flesh and organs, only a crimson skeleton remained. They attacked in unison, Thorne countered by slashing the beast closest to him across the neck, it yelped and tumbled over, a light ran over his blade and up his arm as the creature’s life force was absorbed into him. Gonzalez was mesmerized by the transfer of power, forgetting the second beast. Its kin launched itself onto the guardian, knocking him backwards. His sword hand was pinned beneath the monster as they fell back onto the floor. With his free hand he held it away from him by the throat, it slashed at him with front paws that were like deformed human hands. Ayana holstered her high velocity pistol and drew her electro gun, she stuck it against the side of the monster’s head and pulled the trigger.
“Take that, bitch!”
The current swept through the skull of the carnivorous child of Selene, its power building with each second it remained pressed against the hairy temple of the creature. Thorne could feel a weak transfer of electricity from the beast as he held it over him, like lightning striking dangerously close. He shook as it intensified but refused to let go. Its head split open, its eyes jumped from their sockets and the scent of burnt flesh permeated the tight space they defended themselves in. She helped him to his feet and they renewed their search for the creature that could birth such hideous abominations.
***
Bronson and Lewis stepped into the darkness of the bottom deck, her eyes went immediately to the cargo hold door. She moved towards it and her captain gripped her arm, his eyes met hers.
“Are you sure you want to see him that way?”
“I have to say goodbye.” She said.
Bronson nodded and followed her closely as she made her way to the door and pulled it open. Lewis stepped inside, the lights were still shining brightly down onto a canvas sheet that had begun to reveal red stains from the bloody mess beneath it, the remnants of Dwayne Reynolds. Sheila put her hand over her mouth and sobbed as she walked on shaking legs towards him. She bent down to remove the sheet and Bronson stopped her.
“No…I can’t let you remember him this way.” He said softly.
She wept, the pain of knowing she would never have a life with him, the dreams they shared were gone forever. Sheila swallowed her tears at last and spoke. “I love you. I will see you again someday.”
When they exited the hold Lewis held the barrel of her rifle out before her, ready to kill. She shared Bronson’s need for vengeance, he could feel it radiating off her, nothing scares you once you’ve seen someone you love laying beneath a sheet, knowing they would never awaken again. She was seeking retaliation, the blood of the mother of darkness and her children, nothing would satisfy Sheila until she watched them all die.
“I know something that could work.” He whispered to her. “Follow me.”
Bronson had a plan, the beast was cunning but she was driven by the need to feed and birth the last of her children…she needed bodies for that and the captain had some on ice. They made their way quickly to the freezer to fetch the cart full of bait.
“Are we taking them into the elevator?” she asked.
“No, we’re going to lead her to the shit fridge.”
Sheila smiled sadly, knowing Ming would have loved the captain’s plan.
“Then we’re going to jump into the black, empty the tank and then blast her with the old plasma canon.”
“I hope it is operational, you’ve never fired it.” She said.
“I have faith in Ming’s report.” Bronson answered.
“Let’s blast this bitch!” Sheila agreed.
Chapter Five
Tufty sat with is back against the cold steel wall, his mind in agony. Selene hadn’t relayed any messages to him, her alluring, whispering voice had gone silent. He worried then that the captain and his men had killed her. His heart ached without her presence, he felt completely empty. His nose had stopped bleeding and so had his eye, leaving thick, coagulating blood clinging to his clothing. Those wounds caused him great pain but it was nothing like the forsaken feeling blossoming in his gut. He broke his vow to her, he could not provide for her or their children…he was a failure. Tufty had suffered for months until they agreed to let him come back to earth, his sole purpose was to bring her home and now he had no way of doing so. There was a rattling above him, a familiar scent filled his nostrils. She had returned for him. He got on his knees and began to bow in reverence as she forced a hole in the ceiling of his cell. Selene gracefully leapt down into the confinement room, allowing his eyes to fall upon her, one step away from obtaining her true form. He raised his eyes in awe as he gazed upon her changing body. She was covered in thick, black fur, her head very canine only her muzzle was short. Her mouth was lined with the teeth of a hunter as she grinned down at him.
Selene reached out, wrapping her elongated fingers around Tufty’s face. In his mind he could see her, but she wasn’t alone, she hunted in a group of other beings much like her. The landscape was a foreign forest, trees with black bark jutted out of dark soil…a place of perpetual night. They crested a hill to gaze up into a starry where three moons hung brilliantly glittering above a city below. The group began to change beneath the light of the triple full moon, thick hides of fur peeled away, muzzles shrank back into soft pale flesh that emerged. Humanoid females, they looked like Selene the first glimpse she conveyed to him through his mind after he touched her statue with his bare hand. They were beautiful and ephemeral, silently they stalked down into the metropolis below. Her grip tightened on his face, her vision sped forward to the group fighting with small beings, grey skinned with large craniums, like entities he had often seen depicted as those traveling between galaxies, making contact with the human race. Selene’s group over powered the frail inhabitants of the moonlit city, crushing their skulls, slicing their throats and ripping them limb from limb. A few retreated, crying out in high pitched tones, their large, bulbous eyes running with frightened tears. The raiders leapt into small vessels, only spacious enough for a single person at the controls, they blasted off, hurtling themselves out over the forest as below them the males of their species celebrated their victory, they continued beyond the three moons as their wombs grew heavy with unborn children. Tufty was being shown her journey, how she ended up on earth hundreds of years before where the sunlight burned her and kept her from her true potential, she put herself to sleep after a battle with a human bearing a shimmering sword. He could feel the need these females had to spread their species across the galaxy, to dominate every world within the black and beyond. His mind was then fed the same word in a thousand languages…home.
She released Tufty who fell to the floor, he lifted himself up, looking at her from his good eye as she knelt forward and opened her mouth, it
spread wide like a snake unhinging its jaw, her distended abdomen churned. He was witnessing her birth the last of her young. From her opened mouth struggled something within a large mucousy sack, through the membrane around it he could see something dark fighting to break free, clawed hands tore it open as she heaved it out upon the floor. Selene stood trembling, she gently reached down and slice upon the embryotic cocoon encasing her last child. It dragged itself out of a thick, milky substance to stand. It turned its attention to Tufty, he marveled at what he was witnessing, the beginning of a new age. His heart sank as Selene pushed the little one towards him and instructed it to feed.
“No! I set you free. I’m taking you to the colonies…there will be plenty of food there.” He bargained but the beast looked to him with cold eyes and raked her claws across his face, the blow peeled away the flesh from the side of his face and destroyed his only functioning eye, leaving him blind. The last words she spoke to him were more feelings forced into his heart…too late.
Selene circled the bleeding man, her daughter followed, swiping its claws across the backs of his legs as he tried feebly to escape. She toyed with her prey while she taught the strongest of her children to hunt. Tufty felt quick blows to his back that shattered his ribs, his breathing became labored. The smaller fangs of the child tore his calf muscle away from the bone on his left leg, he screamed in agony. At last the weight of something half his size pressed down on his shoulder blades, hot breath at the back of his neck signaled his end just before jaws clamped down and shook him, snapping his spine.
She watched her child feeding, satisfied with its cunning, it had also gestated to nearly full grown making it much more powerful than the other newborns…an alpha female. The mother of darkness walked over to the door and kicked it off its hinges, setting her child free to hunt once it finished with the human who failed her. Selene hoisted herself back up into the tunnel she created in the ducts of the ship. She too needed to feed, to restore her strength, and her nose recalled the scent of the dead left in the cold room. She needed it to fortify herself and promote the last of her transformation. Her second thrall was already working on piloting her and her litter to the new world and she wanted to be healthy for their arrival.
***
Thorne followed Gonzalez through the shining labyrinth of hallways, moving swiftly and silently. She was armed with a pistol that fired plasma slugs, he an ancient life absorbing sword, both seeking to destroy the beast loosed upon The Maiden and her ilk. The women he encountered aboard the sky ship were as strong as any man and were honored with high ranks, he knew they must be very brave to journey beyond the light of the sun and he respected them very much. In his time there were a handful of women like them, sworn to fight the encroaching veil of darkness, sword maidens with wills as strong as steel and tempers like raging storms. Her presence reminded him that though he was dormant for ages there would always be an army to defend the light of the world no matter how many centuries he would toil in the war against evil they would stand beside of him…even if it were for all of eternity.
A crash echoed down the corridor and Ayana halted. She looked to the man from so long ago, carrying only a sword into battle.
“That sounded like it came from the solitary rooms.” She whispered.
“Make yourself ready.” He answered.
Ayana hesitated, the door was indestructible, at least for a human. Her throat went dry as nervous anticipation shook her. Thorne nodded to her, silently reminding her that she wouldn’t be fighting alone. They continued towards the hallway that fell dead silent. A flash of dark fur caused her to jump back, it disappeared around a corner. Thorne stepped before her and gave chase to the beast they had barely caught a glimpse of. Ayana ran after him, internally reminding herself to stay strong, the captain and Sheila needed her to protect them and The Maiden. Thorne was well ahead of her when the creature caught their scent and came for them. The young creature charged at them, baring its maw of gleaming white daggers. Drool fell from its jaws as it prepared to rend the flesh from their bones. It trotted on all fours though its front paws were hands, its fingers tipped with sharp claws. It hurtled itself through the air to the right, bounded off the wall, using that added force to launch itself like a missile towards Thorne who countered with a powerful slash of his sword, it sliced open a thin, deep swath in the beast’s hide as he spun to avoid being taken down by it. It rebounded and went for Ayana, she raised her pistol, her arm shook with adrenaline as she fired. A white hot blast that narrowly missed her target and the fighter on the other side of it, singing its fur and Thorne’s skin as he fell out of the way. It was on her in an instant, knocking the weapon from her hand, she raised an arm up in defense as its claws slashed out, trying to take off her face. The strike laid her arm open, claws scraping the bone. She screamed and fought to reach for her gun and hold the monster at bay, it was powerful and its weight was nearly too much for her to withstand. It lowered its snapping jaws to within inches of her face, ready to devour her. The child of Selene shrieked and writhed as Thorne thrust his sword through its back, the tip burst through its chest, it bucked wildly, sending the tip of the blade into Ayana’s ribs. Thorne straddled the Alpha female, dragged his sword from its flesh then grabbed it by the fur on the back of its head to keep it from killing Gonzalez in its death throes. He finished it be slicing its throat, leaving Ayana bathed in its blood. His sword pulsated in his palm, thirsty for the life force of the malevolent offspring. Energy ran up the blade, white hot, tailed in fire, like a falling star. Gonzalez was bleeding badly from her wounds, the ancient warrior dropped to his knees and placed his hand on her shoulder, the energy swept through her in a burning rush, cauterizing her wounds from the inside. She was helped to her feet and stood in confusion.
“I can share in the energy storm once my body has been renewed.” Thorne said.
She nodded, her body shaking violently.
“It will pass. When you are able we will continue the hunt.”
***
Cambridge stood before the control panel of The Maiden, recalling his years spent in the military, watching ships like the one being ravaged by Selene getting constructed. He never learned how to pilot a ship but there was something taught to the recruits of such vessels that he never forgot after decades…how to engage the emergency jump sequence. It was designed to be used in dire occasions, like full planetary destruction, it required no authorization codes to enact. It expended energy at a very high rate, burning it like a wildfire loosed on dry tinder. The Maiden was an older ship, her panel not over encumbered with frivolous amenity commands, in fact her controls were nearly identical to her predecessor vessels. It took him a few moments but he found the proper sequence to buttons to press to send The Maiden into emergency launch countdown, a measure meant only for crews left stranded after the sudden death of or complete abandonment by their captains and second in command pilots. His hand trembled as he punched in the command and waited. The countdown began on the panel, the voice of The Maiden would remain silent until within minutes following the command, he then took a seat and awaited a jarring liftoff.
***
The waste hold was in the farthest corner of the bottom deck, capped off with something similar to a manhole cover, only reinforced with a seal to protect from decompression. Captain Bronson and Lewis intentionally left a bloody trail behind them, she pushing the cart while he dragged Arthur’s corpse down the black corridor, they were setting a trap…hoping like hell that it would work.
“You said we are going to dump her into the black, but this tank can only open from the port on the outside of the ship and to open it in the black could cause The Maiden to implode.” Sheila said, watching Bronson as he hoisted the bodies into the waste hold, hearing them fall into the stinky darkness, the tick’s head hit the rungs of the small service ladder feeding into and his body flipped like a rag doll.
“I know that.” He answered. “I got it all figured out.”
“What’
s the plan then?”
He turned to her, his eyes begging her to remain brave. “You’ll have to go out in the mini pod and pull the release levers.” Bronson answered. “It’s detachable, we’re dropping the whole damn tank.”
“What if I mess up, what if I can’t…”
“You have to, we don’t many options.” The captain said.
Sheila nodded, remembering just down the hallway lay the remains of her future, the beast had already killed her in a way when it tore Dozer apart. The smell coming from the shit fridge nearly made her vomit yet the anger in her grew greater than any putrid smell, stronger than any fear of failure.
“I know you can do this.” Bronson whispered.
“Promise me you’ll blast her into a million pieces.”
“I promise.” He answered.
The sudden boom of something impacting steel sent them running, Sheila made for the stairwell while Bronson went to hide.
***
Selene could smell the blood, her gut churned with hunger. Her changing body required nourishment, after so many internal shifts, after so many births, she felt famished. She located the blood trail quickly, she lapped at it hungrily as she crept along, hunched over on all fours. Beyond the irony scent of bloodied corpses drifted the strong essence of human waste, it triggered weariness within her but she continued onward until she located the source of the smell. Gazing down into the shit fridge her eyes caught a glimpse of what she sought, a feast in the bottom of a pit of filth.
He watched her, her eyes staring down into the waste hold, mind occupied on retrieving the dead men. He drew his pistol, took aim and fired. Selene rolled out of the way of the blast that rocketed into the hull of The Maiden, its forces left a smoking dent in the steel. He cursed as she spun, then jumped up to cling to the ceiling by her claws, she growled, baring her fangs. Bronson waited for her to make the next move, if he wasn’t careful with his shots he could punch a hole clean through The Maiden. She watched him, hesitating to fire his gun. Selene wasn’t completely a beast, her intellect told her why the human held his fire. She jumped to the floor, anticipating the blast of his weapon, in that split second of it exiting the barrel she rolled, went scurrying up the wall and used it as a platform to launch herself at him, the muscles in her hind legs thrust her at him. Bronson fell beneath the momentum of her, like a furry bomb with teeth and claws as shrapnel lashing out at him. She took his forearm into her mouth, clamping down, snapping his bones, wrenching her head to the side she tore half of his arm off. Blood came out in a fountain, his heart, thundering with adrenaline, only forced it out more quickly. The captain refused to stop fighting, he lifted his weapon to have it knocked away, his ears rang and his head swam with the fog of blood loss. He thought he would surely die; morbidly thankful it was on the same planet where his parents now rested for eternity. His vision blurred, darkness edged his sight…stars shined brightly above him, the same that his mother and father roamed hand in hand once more. A blinding white light, so hot blazed before him and then crimson rain pelted his face. The voice of a woman, softly called to him but it was not his mother’s voice, someone else familiar.
Galactic - Ten Book Space Opera Sci-Fi Boxset Page 154