Into the Dark (Dark Universe Book 1)

by Jason Halstead

  He pulled himself down the stairs but used too much strength. He couldn’t keep his grip and sailed through the vacuum until something grabbed his leg and pulled him down. Aden grunted as he slammed into the wall and then the floor.

  He pushed to roll and spun just above the ground. His rotation stopped when he stuck out an arm and caught the ground. He found the corner of the inner air lock and pulled himself up. Amber was reaching down and grabbed him. He could see her lips moving but he couldn’t hear anything. Aden reached up and tapped the side of his helmet and then made a cutting motion with his hands to show his comms were out.

  She nodded and turned. He saw the rest of the mercenaries behind her. They were floating in the hallway, doing their best to find something to hold them steady. Aden spun around and motioned for Garf to come out of the open. The Devikian was looking to the sky, not at him. Whatever he saw offered the same message Aden was trying to give. Garf turned and launched himself at the open door, slamming into Aden and Amber both in his uncontrolled haste to get out of the way of the larger rocks that were crashing into the asteroid.

  Aden sorted himself out and watched the others for signals to indicate what he should do. Outside, the broken air lock suffered strike after strike from rocks traveling fast enough to turn them into dust when they struck. The stone under and around them hummed from the constant abuse it took. The rocks pounding into their uncharted hiding spot grew larger and larger. Cracks began to form in the stone around them and they were all floating as the asteroid began to rotate and be pushed deep into the belt of rocks.

  Aden felt someone grab his arm and looked to see Amber staring at him. Her eyes were wide and her arm was pointed past him, out the opening and into the unstable asteroid field. She tapped her helmet and mouthed a word that took him a few seconds to figure out. She’d said, “Uma.”

  Aden spun and moved closer to the mouth of the tunnel. He looked back and forth but saw nothing. Nearby rocks were spinning in space, proving they’d been disrupted by the blast as much as they had, but there were no ships to speak of. He turned back and noticed as a shadow fell across them, plunging them into darkness that would have been absolute had it not been for the lights on their suits.

  A bright light flooded the hallway, making him jump and spin. He rotated too fast and bounced off the ceiling of the tunnel, but that served to stop his momentum. He stared into the light and raised a hand to block it enough to make out the outline of the Uma. It disappeared a moment later as the asteroid’s rotation blocked his view.

  He turned to see the others crawling and pulling themselves along the tunnel. Amber motioned for him to follow, and Meshelle reached out to grab his suit and gave him a push forward. He floated out until the rotation of the asteroid caused him to bump against the stony ground. He flattened himself against it and slid across the cracked rubble to the wall. The others joined him, finding niches and holds to brace themselves against while the asteroid slowly rotated in space.

  Aden watched the others passing a line between them. Each clipped it onto their suit and then handed it to the next person. It started with Garf and after the Uma passed overhead once more and a few minutes passed, he caught the end that was thrown to him. He tied a loop in it and secured it to one of the empty weapon firm points on his suit. He tugged on the line to make sure it was tight and then signaled a thumbs-up to the others.

  Garf climbed to the top of the wall and clung to some cracks in the rock while the asteroid rolled. The others repositioned themselves, following the Devikian into the open and preparing themselves. Aden knew what they were trying to do. It was insane, especially with him having no communication with the others.

  “They should go without me,” he muttered and reached for his tie. He focused on it and was trying to work the knot loose when a rock smacked him in the chest.

  He looked up and saw Meshelle picking up another chunk of stone and rearing back to throw it at him. She relaxed and shook her head, and then pointed at him and the others before pointing up. He frowned and then nodded. They’d have a better chance if they jumped without him. He could do it on his own, sparing them the trouble.

  She gestured again, pointing at him and then up to the top of the stairs. Aden nodded and propelled himself over in a series of short hops made possible by the turning asteroid. By the time he was in place, they’d lost another opportunity to leap for the Uma. He watched the others, his eyes falling on Meshelle the most, as the time ticked away. Each rotation took four minutes and twelve seconds, according to the clock in his display.

  When it reached four minutes, she held up all four of her fingers. She ticked off one with each passing second and then jerked her thumb up before she jumped.

  Aden gulped and kicked off as hard as he could. It was too soon, by his estimation. He would have waited three more seconds, but maybe they knew something he didn’t. They had comms, after all.

  He sailed off the asteroid and gained on Meshelle and the others. He passed them by and watched as the rope connecting him to Amber straightened and then grew taut. He felt himself jerked back, slowing his ascent, even as Amber was jerked upwards.

  Aden looked up and saw the Uma above him. He’d been right; he was going to pass in front of it. The jerk on the rope had slowed him a little, but not enough. Eight feet, he guessed. He’d pass eight feet in front of the space yacht.

  A secondary jerk as the rope between Amber and Seph snapped taut and slowed him again. Five feet now—still too far to grab. A few more jerks slowed him more, but it wasn’t enough. He reached for the nose of the ship as he floated and passed it but his fingers clutched nothing but cold and empty space.

  The terror of being lost to deep space hadn’t had time to settle into his gut before a new fear hit him. His rope jerked and jerked hard, yanking him back and swinging him forward. Aden screamed and thrust his arms out in an attempt to soften the blow of the armored view ports of the Uma’s bow lounge slamming into him.

  Aden bounced and slid across the hull and then jerked back as the line went taut again. It lasted less than a second before he felt himself lifting up off the hull again. The rope tying him to Amber floated past him, the end severed.

  “Shit!” Aden grunted and started searching the hull of the Uma for something to grab on to.

  Chapter 13

  Aden waited for the sound of air hissing into the air lock to stop and the lights to cycle. As soon as the pressure was equalized, he jammed the button to open the door and pushed his way through, scraping the metal of his suit against the doorframe. His hands went to his helmet and twisted the release ring on it, unclamping the locks.

  Aden gasped as his helmet came off. He wasn’t running out of air or anything; it just felt good to no longer be in solitary confinement. Cut off from communicating with others had left him not only isolated, but terrified. Did he matter to them? Did he matter to anyone? Was he going to be lost in space if he lost his grip on the ship and floated away? Would anyone know?

  “Hey, Terran!”

  Aden turned around and grinned at seeing Meshelle. “Hey, bos—”

  He ate his words as she took two running steps and leapt into the air. Her fist came around and landed square in his forehead, knocking him back a step and blurring his vision. His ears were ringing and the hallway was spinning around him. So much for wondering if anyone wanted him around.

  Aden shook his head and blinked until he could focus on the small and angry Vagnosian standing in front of him. She glared up at him, her hair rising from her scalp, and pointed a finger at his chest. “What were you thinking?”

  His mouth opened and closed a few times, but he didn’t know what to say. “Fluvulis?” he guessed. “I tried to stop him, but the electric fields overloaded my suit; it had to power cycle before I could go after him. Almost had him, but he blew out the air lock doors.”

  “Not that,” she snapped. “Trying to untie from the rest of us?”

  “What?” Aden shook his head again and loo
ked down at the line that had snapped on the bow of the Uma. He still had close to eight feet of the cord dragging behind him. “I couldn’t hear anyone. I didn’t want to risk ruining your attempt to reach the ship. It was safer for me to try it on my own.”

  “Maybe, maybe not,” Meshelle hissed. She reached up and grabbed the neck of his suit to pull him down closer to her. When their faces were close and Aden was struggling to keep himself from falling on her, she said, “You’re on my team. You don’t get to choose when you risk your life to do something stupid. I choose that, not you.”

  “Um, okay.”

  She glared at him a minute longer and then pushed him back. She spun away as she pushed, trying to disguise the fact that Aden’s size and the bulk of his armor made him all but impossible for her to move.

  She turned and stalked down the hallway, pausing only to scoop her helmet off the floor and then head towards the middle of the ship. Aden watched her go and then dropped his gaze to the others.

  Garf nodded and said, “You can take a punch.”

  The Devikian headed after Meshelle. Tosc went with him and so did Seph, although the Tassarian favored him with a lingering look and a twist of a smile. Amber walked up to him and then reached out and grabbed his suit the same place Michelle had.

  Aden winced and leaned back. “Are you going to hit me too?”

  She pulled him forward and pressed her lips to his. Aden grunted and started to grin, but before he could respond the way he wanted to, she backed away. And slapped him.

  He sputtered and stared at her. “What the fuck!”

  “What she said,” Amber said, her lip twisted up in one corner. “We do enough stupid things—don’t volunteer to be even dumber.”

  “Uh, okay.”

  She turned and motioned for him to walk down the hall with her. Side by side in their armored suits, they barely fit in the confines of the yacht’s hall. “Congratulations, by the way.”

  “For what? Surviving two angry women?”

  Amber laughed. “Good guess, but no. You made the cut.”

  “What cut?”

  “Meshelle. You impressed her. Stupid thing to do, offering to take your chances on your own, but that meant something. And you busted your ass to catch that lying squid.”

  Aden sighed. “Like that matters. Janna blew him up.”

  Amber’s brow furrowed and then she laughed. “I forgot, you couldn’t hear. That wasn’t Fluvulis; that was a high-yield missile from the ship they detected when we arrived in-system. Our shuttle’s still out there, but the squid got away.”

  “No shit?”

  “No shit.”

  “We’ve got to go after him then,” Aden said.

  Amber frowned. “Why? He was our paycheck. I doubt he’s going to offer to pay us now. Meshelle got five k up front—that’s probably all we’ll see. Won’t even cover repairs, though.”

  They walked into the galley and saw the chairs, cups, plates, and even utensils scattered across the room. “What happened?” Aden asked.

  “Hey, there you are,” Twyf said. “The sisters want you guys on the bridge.”

  “The sisters?” Aden asked with a smirk. His smirk faded when he saw so much of her golden skin on display. His practiced eye separated it from the natural hue of her skin and realized she’d used a layer of body spray under her clothes. Most people preferred the types of spray-on clothing that could be pulled away from the skin and stretched into normal fitting clothing. Tassarians, he now recalled, preferred the second skin look to help keep their skin from drying out. And because it let the race of exhibitionists show off more than they would otherwise be able to get away with.

  “Can we get changed first?” Amber asked.

  Twyf shook her head. “On the zero.”

  Amber and Aden shared a look and turned to follow Twyf to the lift. “How bad is the damage?” Amber asked.

  Twyf winced. “Lost a couple of rooms on the starboard hull.”

  Amber groaned. “My room’s on the starboard hull!”

  “Yeah, uh, sorry about that. If it makes you feel any better, so is mine.”

  “I guess it’s good to have one of the smaller interior rooms,” Aden said.

  “Mmm, with the shortage of rooms, I might need to find a roommate. Small and cozy isn’t so bad,” Twyf said while giving Aden a coy look. “I like cuddling.”

  Amber cleared her throat. “We should have plenty of rooms. What else happened?”

  Twyf pouted and then turned. “Not much really. They tried to disable us with some kind of armor-piercing flechette rounds, but hiding in the rocks saved our tails. Then later when they launched an anti-matter missile, the rocks beat us up pretty bad. Almost caved in the bridge roof. Well, they did, but it didn’t pop any seals.”

  The lift doors slid open as she finished giving her report. Twyf’s eyes dipped and rose on Aden’s armored form before she winked and led the way out of the lift. Over the painted bodywear, she wore a custom fitting half-shirt jacket that left cleavage spilling out the top and the swells under her breasts visible from beneath. Shorts that did little but provide a belt for equipment graced her hips.

  Aden caught himself admiring the material that wiggled in the cleft of her buttocks and then remembered the surprise kiss Amber had given him. He jerked his gaze up to her and saw her roll her eyes. Twyf spun around the corner, throwing her hips out as she did so. Aden admired the view until she disappeared around the corner.

  “After you?” Aden offered.

  Amber snorted. “I wouldn’t dream of ruining the show.”

  Aden swallowed and smiled. He opened his mouth and then thought better of it. He clamped it shut and hurried after the Tassarian. The door to the bridge was open, allowing him easy entry into the battered command center. He whistled and circled under the dented-in ceiling, and then took a place along the wall near the security console. Meshelle glanced his way but said nothing. The tentacles of her hair lifted, answering for her.

  “Chuck’s below, fixing what can be fixed.”

  “I’ll help,” Aden offered.

  “Yes, you will,” Meshelle agreed. “But first tell us what happened.”

  Aden frowned. “Are you going to hit me again?”

  “Depends,” she said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. Garf snickered for her.

  “All right, I went after him but the electrical storm coming from the columns knocked my suit out. I had to drag myself through the top shelf when it died on me. I couldn’t get any farther until it power cycled and loaded a default profile.”

  Tosc stepped away from the pilot’s station Kessoc sat at. “You dragged yourself before the gravity cut out without any power in the suit?”

  “A little,” Aden agreed.

  Tosc glanced at Garf. “Can you do that?”

  Garf huffed and shrugged his shoulders. “Haven’t tried in a while. Those suits are heavy, though.”

  “What next?” Meshelle demanded.

  “I found him in the air lock. He had the crystal we found in one of his tentacles and blasted some energy out of it into the stone doors overhead. He pulled it back inside his suit just before the stone weakened and exploded. The gravity and lights died and the decompression wind sent me flying across the air lock into the wall.”

  “What about Fluvulis?” she asked.

  “He’d jammed some spikes from his suit into the floor. As soon as the atmosphere was vented, he used the clamps to climb the stairs and make his way to the shuttle. I tried to follow him, but without gravity and my suit’s power cells down to twenty-five percent, I didn’t stand a chance.”

  Meshelle watched him for a moment, making sure he was finished, before she said, “What happened when we were tied together?”

  “I couldn’t talk to any of you. I figured I would ruin your chance of a coordinated jump. I thought I would go after you guys were safe,” he explained.

  “You made that jump at one quarter power?” Tosc asked.

  Ade
n shrugged. He hadn’t considered that. “The cells were down, but a lot of my systems were fried, so the skeletal assist was probably much higher.”

  Tosc’s growl rumbled in his chest. “I want to see you work out. Terrans aren’t that strong.”

  Amber snorted but kept her comments to herself. Garf grunted and nodded his head in agreement with the Lermian.

  “Um, okay. What about Fluvulis?”

  “They’ve made it out of the system’s gravity well; they should be subluminal in no time,” Janna said.

  “We’re not going to even try to catch him?”

  Janna glanced at Meshelle and then stared at Aden. “You saw my ship—we’re lucky to be flying under our own power! They’re bigger and better armed. And they’ve got a two-hour head start on us. Oh, and we’re holding station in the asteroids to keep from getting banged up any worse. Did I forget anything?”

  Meshelle picked up where her sister left off. “Besides all of that, Fluvulis was our paycheck. Obviously he has what he wants and expects us to be dead. Nobody knows what he’s got that way. Nobody can tell the rest of the universe. He’s not going to pay us off; he’ll want us dead.”

  Aden shook his head. “Wait, if it’s worth that much to him, doesn’t that mean it’s worth a lot to others too? Other Kesarians or maybe other people or governments?”

  Meshelle stared at him and then turned to Janna. The younger sister and captain scowled. “You’re not seriously considering this, are you?”

  “Do you have enough to repair the Uma and the shuttle? What about the damage to our gear?”

  “Your equipment is your bill, not mine,” Janna said.

  Meshelle turned away from her sister to Twyf. “Twyf, are they still in-system?”

  Twyf turned and bent over her station, bending at her hips and showing off golden hued legs. Tosc let a soft growl sound as she worked the sensors and then turned to glance over her shoulders. Everyone was staring at her. She smiled and then straightened and turned to face them.

  “Yes, but their energy levels are charging. A few minutes and they’ll go dark,” she said.