Jericho’s eyes began to adjust to the gloom of the inside of the ship after the door had shut behind him. He stood his ground, until he could see well enough to make out the figures of Jonah and Gabrielle further inside. He glanced about the large room, and noted the skid, loaded with the single barrel near the center of the room. Another sat far away loaded with a single large crate. The rest of the ship’s vast hold was completely empty. As he approached, Jonah slid down the wall and slumped to the floor.
“How’s the shoulder?” Jericho asked. Gabrielle knelt beside him and began to remove the blood soaked bandaged.
“I’ve been better.” Jonah said, and smiled softly. He winced suddenly.
“Sorry.” Gabrielle said, as she pulled the bandage away, and watched grimly as she saw the blood that still ran heavily from the wound. She reached down and tore another section of her shirt away, and began to work to bandage the wound again. He winced again.
“Sorry.” She said again. “So what is this place?” She asked, as much to distract him as to find out where they were.
“When I was a boy.” He began. “Back when we used to play in sector two-”
“Sector two?” Jericho asked.
“You remember. Back where we took out all of those Guardians.” Jonah said, and Jericho nodded. “When we were kids, we used to hear rumors about the great cargo ships. Like this I guess. That would come from far away, and bring our food and our sparkle waters. We used to pretend that they were right outside the door that we came through. The one leading outside?” Jericho nodded. “But we never saw one. We never really knew if they were real.” He winced again.
“Hold still.” Gabrielle ordered, as she continued to work on his shoulder. He turned his head back to Jericho.
“We thought there must be someplace else, you know?” He said. “Some place besides just New Sebastian.” He said quietly.
“There is.” Jericho said seriously. “The village.”
“Yes. There is.” Jonah agreed. “The village. We never would have dreamed of that. Not in a million years.”
“You keep saying we.” Gabrielle said. “You and Vanessa?” She asked.
“Oh no. I didn’t know Vanessa back then. No, the we, that was me and my two friends.” Gabrielle finished with the bandage and stood up beside Jericho. “Adam. He died when we were still young.” Jonah continued.
“And the other?” Asked Jericho.
“The other?” Jonah looked up into their faces. “The other one you almost met today. The other one was Roger.”
“Who?” Gabrielle asked.
“If we’d been any slower, he would have killed us all.” Jonah said.
“You mean, that guy shooting at us?” Jericho asked with disbelief.
“Yep.” Jonah said. “That’s the guy. And to make it worse…he’s the Premier.”
“What’s a Premier?” Jericho asked.
“He’s our leader. You know, the guy in charge of everything.”
“Then why was he shooting at us?” Asked Gabrielle, as her hands went to her hips.
“I think you are a problem for him. And me as well.”
“Why?” She asked.
“Because we escaped.” Jericho said. Jonah nodded. “And you because you are helping us?” Again Jonah nodded.
“And that I intend to stop this madness. If he knew that, he would kill me on sight.”
“Sounds like he already knows that.” Gabrielle offered. A look of concern came over his face.
“Vanessa.” He said quietly. “That’s the only way he could know for sure what I was up to. She had to have told him. Damn it.”
“Sorry.” Jericho said, as Gabrielle touched his uninjured shoulder for comfort. Jonah pulled his comm unit from his tunic and keyed it to contact Vanessa. The small screen lit up with the image of their apartment. He could see the room was empty.
“Vanessa!” He yelled into the unit, when the image suddenly went to static, then it faded back in. He looked to Jericho. “We must be getting too far away. Vanessa!” He yelled into the unit again.
“Maybe she left.” Gabrielle suggested. Jonah shook his head.
“It would have connected with her mobile unit if she was gone. No, she must be there if it connected to home.” The image faded again to static, and then went dark. He looked at it a moment, then put it away. “You’re right. She must have told him. Told him something at least. Enough for him to have shot me.” Jericho knelt beside him.
“Jericho!” Gabrielle yelled, as she turned and began to run. Jericho stood up, spun around and ran after her. She ran to face a Guardian that had stepped into the hold of the ship from a side passage. She dove behind the skid with the drum for cover, as Jericho slid to the other side of it. They watched as the Guardian made its way through the cargo hold, and then exited via another passageway on the far side.
“It didn’t even slow down.” Gabrielle said, breathless.
“Maybe it didn’t see us.”
“Maybe.” She said, her look of concern amplified in the gloom. “Did you feel it?” She asked. He shook his head.
“Nothing.”
“Me neither.” She said. They walked back to where Jonah lay against the wall.
“What was that?” he asked.
“A Guardian.” Gabrielle said.
“And no fireworks?” He asked. “I thought you’d at least like to take its weapon.” Gabrielle turned slowly to Jericho.
“Did you see a control stick?” She asked. He turned away in thought, then back to her, and shook his head. “Neither did, I.” She turned back to Jonah. “You stay here. We’re going to check this out.” They turned and walked away.
“Yeah!” He yelled, after them. “I’ll just stay right here.” He watched as they disappeared into the passageway the Guardian had exited through. “Right here.” He said, as he shifted his position, and winced at the pain. “Just right, here.” He closed his eyes.
Gabrielle led the way down the narrow passageway which began to ramp upward at a steep angle. They negotiated a few turns, and arrived at a door which slid open. The light blinded them with the sudden brightness of the sunlight from outside. They blinked as they stepped outside. Gabrielle’s mouth dropped open at the sight before them. Ocean for as far as they could see. They stepped to the railing which ran along the walkway they found themselves on, and suddenly realized that the floor shifted beneath them. They both grabbed the railing for stability. Jericho laughed.
“Up and down.” He said, as he smiled. She nodded, and smiled slightly, but briefly. Ahead, a Guardian turned the corner and headed towards them. She drew her gun and aimed, and let her finger find the trigger in one smooth motion. The Guardian was almost on them.
Chapter 41
Immortal Page 40