The cuffs were tight on my wrists; there was no way I would be able to pull out of them. Not every skill I learned as a criminal was a good skill, but they would come in to play now. I quickly rolled over and tried to push my hands down under my butt to at least get my arms in front. My shoulders were exhausted from working all day and my bones weren’t what they used to be, but I was making progress.
Rivulets of crimson were forming on the Transit Authority worker’s face as he pushed the girls off one by one and managed to rise to a standing position, however hunched over. The Mo’ak girls looked just like humans, except they were slender and much shorter. Marcus had no problem pushing them away. He tried to wipe his eyes with his sleeve and yelled out.
I almost had my arms free.
Three of the girls lunged at him and one jumped up on his shoulders. He spun in a half circle and threw the one off of his trunk, but the other girls were clawing him mercilessly. I watched in horror as Marcus wrapped both of his hands around one dainty neck and squeezed. He lifted the little girl up into the air, his thick fingers choking the life out of her. She tried to pry his hands loose, but she couldn’t get a grip. Her small body flailed in the air, dangling above the ground.
“Stop it! Stop it!” I yelled out. He didn’t seem to hear me. My shoulders were on fire and my wrists felt like they were almost around my bottom, but they wouldn’t budge.
Just then, the little Mo’ak girl landed a kick between Marcus’s legs. He screamed, stumbled and then went down to his knees; but he never loosened his grip.
Another one of the girls jumped onto his back and began pummeling him with everything she had, which wasn’t much more than pure spirit. Marcus fell forward into the secret room, smashing the back of the little girls head on the ground. I heard the unmistakable crunch of skull colliding with steel.
I flew into a rage. So many times I’ve ask for the Lord’s serenity, so many times I’ve asked Him to not let the fury in my heart come to surface. But God knew I was a willful child. Just as he knew it when I killed my own father.
I finally managed to pull my wrists around my butt and out from under my feet. I jumped up and ran to where Marcus was. He still had his hands gripped around the girl’s neck, but he was repeatedly slamming her head against the floor. A large puddle of blood was pooling there and growing larger with each crunch of bone on steel.
I couldn’t tell if there was any life left in this little girl’s eyes, but I knew I had to do something. I pushed my wrists down around Marcus’s face and pulled my plasticuffs tight around his neck. I yanked him back and he finally let go of the little girl. He was shorter than me, so it didn’t take much effort for me to raise him into the air and step backwards. His legs were flailing, kicking at nothing.
His fingers started to pull at the cuffs around his neck as he gagged. His nails, ripping at his own flesh trying to remove my tourniquet.
I saw something out of the corner of my eye then. One of the girls had grabbed the Transit Authority rifle, cocked it and put the barrel against Marcus’s head.
God please forgive me. I nodded and told her to do it.
The rifle discharged without much of a sound, but bits of flesh and blood sprayed across the cargo bay. I dropped Marcus to floor and we all stood there in horror, looking at what we had done.
It was self defense. I had to save that girl, I know that now. But I just don’t know if that made it right.
I heard voices coming from the hallway. “Which bay was he in?”
“I don’t remember; we’ll have to search them all.”
I looked around at the girls. They were terrified. “Get back in the room; get back in the room, hurry!” I said in an urgent whisper.
The girls scrambled, all except one. She was gone; her eyes were glazed and far away.
I shoved her body up under a bunk so it would be out of sight.
Marcus was still lying in the cargo bay. I grabbed his uniform and drug his body though the open panel. I reached around to the handle and saw three Transit Authority workers enter the cargo bay. I turned to the girls. There were nine of them still alive and they were all huddled into the corner. If I shut the panel now, the men would see us for sure.
“Get under your beds; under the beds and be quiet!” They scrambled and slid up under their bunks.
Marcus’s body was still lying out in the open. I shoved it up under the bunk closest to me and climbed up under the bed, lying on top of him. The feeling of a soft dead body underneath me almost made me sick, but I held my food in somehow.
Just next to me and the corpse was one of the girls. She had just enough time to see me and the cadaver shove up next to her and her eyes grew wide. She opened her mouth to scream, but I clamped my hand over it. I leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Don’t make a sound. Don’t make a whimper.”
I knew the men would come around the cargo any second and see the blood there; I said a quiet prayer that they would not find us.
We could hear the boots of the Transit Authority security team walking through the cargo hold. Any second, I thought. Any second, they’ll see the blood and then God help me I don’t know what else to do.
The little girl started shaking her head.
I said to her, “Listen to my voice, only the sound of my voice, nothing else.”
I could see by the look in her eyes that she was hearing what I was saying, but I was not confident enough to let go of her mouth.
I whispered into her ear. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
I could hear the boots coming around the corner.
“He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.”
The boots entered the room, there were three men. I could see them walking right by us.
“He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”
They tracked through the blood, leaving footprints as they went. How could they not see it?
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
One of the Transit Authority workers spoke up “I don’t see anything. Where is Marcus? Are you sure he radioed from this ship?”
“Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.”
“I don’t see anything either. He should have stayed at his post if he called in trouble. We’re going to have to make a report to the major. I sure hope this ship hasn’t planned on leaving for a while.”
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
The boots walked out. We stayed there for at least five minutes before we dared move.
The pools of blood on the floor had already begun to dry into a darker red. There was no covering it up.
***
I walked back into the cargo bay to see Jenna standing there, frozen; staring at the mess. Her green eyes were saucers in her little cat face and her hand was over her mouth, covering a silent scream. The fur that had been an easy tan just a few days ago had changed into a ghastly white.
Captain Stark ran around the corner, a vein was already starting to bulge on his bald head. “What did you do? What did you do?” He shoved me up against the wall and a fine sheen of sweat was already beading up on his temples.
Out of the frying pan and into the fire.
3
I once read somewhere that a philosopher said “Justice is contingent upon the individual. A justice system is a compact between said individuals.” I can’t remember who said that quote, but it was coming to mind as I was standing there with Captain Stark’s anger to my throat. I had just killed a Transit Authority officer and placed him and his crew in mortal danger. I said a silent prayer and asked that God be the one to judge me regardless of this man’s justice.
He pressed his forearm
up against my neck, pinning my back against the wall and causing me to gag. Instinctively, I wrapped both hands around his arm, trying to free myself, but it was of no use. He was strong. He yelled in my face, “Did you kill that agent?” His breath was stinking of garlic and rotten teeth. It was all I could do to not lose my groceries right then and there.
I wasn’t sure what to say. I’m sure my eyes were as wide as a rabbit in a trap. For the second time in as many hours, one of the Mo’ak girls stepped in with a move that relieved me of the burden of decision. It was the one who had fired the gun. “No, I killed him.” She was much more cool and collected than I was at the moment. “The bad man was killing Sarah. That one [she pointed at me] was trying to save her but I’m the one that killed him!”
The young prostitute might have spoken up for me; but in an ironic twist, it was the Transit Authority that saved me.
James Jessup was the ships mechanic. He was a monster of a man with hands as large as a bear’s claws and a brown beard that grew down to his chest. He ran into the room, slightly short of breath. If he was fazed at all by the scene before him, he didn’t show it. “Captain, the Transit Authority’s at the aft hatch. They want in.”
Stark released my throat much to the delight of my lungs and looked around for a second. I could almost see him regain his composure like a fisherman reeling in a net.
Awkward silence.
“Jenna, warm up the engines.” The captain didn’t even make eye contact with her. He was deep inside his mind; it was running as fast as it could right now.
Jenna was still standing there, white as death with her hand over her mouth. She seemed not to hear him.
“Jenna!”
That caught her attention.
“Yes, Captain.”
Stark turned a gaze on her that said he was in charge. He never raised his voice to her, he didn’t have to. “I said, warm up the engines. Now.”
Lines of light blue rippled through her pale fur as she leapt away from the cargo bay.
Captain Stark and James walked back towards the aft hatch. I didn’t know where else to go, so I followed. The mechanic activated a small monitor by the hatch. I could see a man in a Transit Authority jumpsuit with a gold rope around his left shoulder. I didn’t know what kind of rank this indicated, but I knew it was more than just a grunt. “Captain Stark?”
“Yes?”
“I’m General Sanders, the CO here at Alpha Centauri. We’re missing a soldier. I need to come aboard. “
“Your soldier’s not here, General.”
“Just the same, his last transmission was from your cargo bay. I need to come aboard.”
“Are you telling me that your man came on my ship without my crew present?”
“I’m telling you that since you’re here, I don’t need your permission to do an inspection. You can either open the door for us, or we’ll force it open.”
The captain turned off the monitor and shot a quick glance at his mechanic. His next two words would define the rest of our lives together. “Strap in.”
No sooner had he said it than a loud clang came from the hatch. They were loosening up the door with a ram. The next step would be plasma torches.
Stark wasted no time. He and James had already begun running down the corridor towards the bow when the ram hit. I was frozen, but the second clank broke me out of my stupor and I followed not far behind. I could hear the captain yelling as he ran. “Jenna! Jenna! Go now!”
I ran and climbed the steps to the upper deck as fast as my old bones would carry me. The door to the cockpit was open and it was only the second time I’d seen inside it. The ship lurched as I scurried through the door. I held my own, but it was enough to throw James to the floor, he was more out of breath than I was.
There were two large bucket seats in the front. On the port side, Jenna was managing a console and pushing furiously on a well worn yoke. I couldn’t see her face, but her coat had changed to a deep scarlet. Stark was just strapping in the starboard seat next to her. David was already secure in one of the four aft chairs, his face pale and sweat dripping from his chin. James righted himself and climbed into one of the oversized seats. I did the same just before the ship lurched again.
I heard another clang from the aft hatch, it almost sounded as if something broke it open. The captain was furious. “Damnit, get us out of here!”
Jenna matched his tone. “I’m trying! The docking clamps are still attached!”
“Break ‘em!”
“I’m trying!”
Jenna pushed hard on the yoke and the ship lurched forward again. I could feel something tearing loose by the way it was moving. We turned to the left and I would have fallen out of my seat had I not been belted in. Crashes of untold amounts of cargo resounded throughout the ship as unsecured merchandise fell to one side.
With a final pull, we broke loose and the Damascus lumbered into space.
Another awkward silence.
James was the first one to speak, “did we get away?”
Without looking back, it was Jenna that answered his question. “No! We’ve got three guard ships hot on our tail!” A monitor popped up in the front console and we could see them there, closing fast.
chunk chunk chunk chunk chunk
I knew what it was, but the question needed to be asked. “What’s that?”
The captain answered “We’re taking fire!”
“Hold on!” Jenna yelled and jerked her yoke to the left. I felt myself grow heavy in my seat as the giant ship banked. The crashes of cargo being flung about the bays came again, louder than before.
chunk chunk chunk chunk chunk
“Get us out of here!” David screamed from his seat.
“This ship wasn’t built for speed!” Jenna yelled back. “I’m powering up the cruise engines now. Thirty seconds!”
chunk chunk chunk chunk chunk
The sound of bullets against the hull was sickening and my heart leapt up into my chest every time I heard it. Jenna banked right and yelled at the captain. “Do it now! Do it now!”
Stark grabbed onto a double throttle on the center console and pushed it forward. The sound of cruise engines powering up filled the cockpit and then something happened. It almost sound like a balloon popping and then a loud hiss. The engines stopped. “What happened?” I was starting to panic.
Jenna was reviewing a panel of dials and monitors way beyond my comprehension. “One of those bullets punched a hole in a starboard manifold! We’re leaking coolant!”
The captain swivelled around in his chair and stopped, facing his mechanic. “Can you fix it?”
“I can bypass it!”
chunk chunk chunk chunk chunk
“Do it!”
James unbelted and rose up out of his chair. I knew he had a job to do and I knew our lives depended on him doing it quick, but three seconds wouldn’t hurt. I grabbed the man by his wrist as he walked past. He glanced down at me, a very intimidating figure. “Go with the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, amen.” Without a response, he disappeared out of the back of the cockpit with a speed that was surprising for a man his size.
Another burst of bullets hit.
“We’re losing pressure in bay one!” I don’t really recall who said that, but I do remember it.
Just then, James’s voice came over a speaker. “I’m bypassing the coolant leak, but three of the cruise engines are down!”
It was Stark’s turn to lose the color in his face. “Can we get out of here with only one engine?”
chunk chunk chunk chunk chunk
Jenna turned the massive ship again. She was starting to look tired. “I don’t think so, we’re pretty heavy.”
I could see the muscles in the captain’s jaws as they clenched. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. I thought he was about to give up, but I had underestimated him. “I’m opening the doors in bays one and two.”
Jenna turned to him astonished, “Captain?” A ripple of blonde flecked a
cross her red fur. It made an uneasy contrast.
“I’m doing it! Hold on!” He set to mashing a series of buttons and a klaxon sounded with a red light on the ceiling.
The entire ship shook and jumped as the bays suddenly depressurized and tons of freight collided with itself and was flung out into open space. The resulting rumble was like the most powerful thunderstorm I had ever heard.
chunk chunk chunk chunk chunk
We were still taking fire from the guard ships. Captain Stark grabbed the yoke on his side of the ship and pushed it hard to the right. The force made my entire body slump to one side. I was going to vomit if we did much more of that. David didn’t appear any more well off than I did.
“What are you doing?” Jenna’s voice reverberated through the cockpit.
“Unload bay three on my mark!”
“What?”
“Empty bay three on my mark!” I could feel the Damascus circling around in space.
Suddenly, the guard ships were in front of us. Then they disappeared from the opposite side of the windshield.
“Mark!”
Jenna slammed her hand down hard on a button and a klaxon sounded as before. The same rattle of rustling cargo filled the ship but it was much quicker this time. It suddenly dawned on me what the captain was doing.
I trained my eyes on the aft monitor just in time to see two of the small cruise ships taken out by large metal crates almost as large as they were. One of them lit up for a second and blew into a million pieces. The other stalled and stopped, dead in its tracks. Pieces of flotsam and jetsam filled the space behind us.
chunk chunk chunk chunk chunk
There was one more ship in pursuit and it was still firing on us. Stark looked over at his pilot. “No more fancy flying. This ship can’t take anymore. Straight line, we have to outrun them.”
Jenna had one hand on the yoke and the other on the left cruise throttle. She jammed it forward and I could hear the one last engine powering up. It sounded anemic without its three brothers.
I could tell something was wrong. We weren’t going. “We’re still too heavy!”
The Road to Damascus Page 3