The Soul Eaters (The Thin Hex Line Book 1)

by Gwyndolyn Russell

  Reaper had never thought about it like that, but hearing the bichani talk about it passionately convinced him of the idea. Their conversation delved into the ideals of religion. Having never heard of Christianity, the bichani was filled with questions. They talked for hours on end. By the end of the conversation, Reaper had decided on a well fit name for the bichani since he could not remember his own.

  Nostradamus.

  A bright, adventurous spirit. He loved it.

  Nostradamus made himself at home on the Syndicate. He had a good way of cheering everyone up with random images he would generate on his face. He had plenty of stories to tell. Adventures most could only dream of having.

  He decided to help fight the eos, knowing that an extra brain on the case would be of significant help. Though he preferred a more peaceful approach, he agreed that violence could be a solution as well.

  As the days went by, the ship was decorated each day and night with greens and reds. Wreaths were hung on doors, evergreen trees in each corner, ribbons crowned the walls, and artificial, sparkling snowflakes hung from the ceiling. Music played at a volume low enough to be completely tuned out, yet just loud enough to be heard through the soft chatter of conversation.

  All duties were put on a relaxed state, giving everyone on the ship plenty of time to spend with friends and family. Small parties were held each night leading up to the Eve's party.

  On that night, everyone on the ship gathered in the main mess hall. The largest of the evergreens was sat in the middle, all of the tables and seats rearranged around it. The most beautiful, bright and sparkling baubles were attached to the branches. Ribbons and strings wrapped around. A pretty angel dressed in white robes sat upon the top, playing a harp. Music filled the room just louder than the chatter of people.

  The night was only beginning, not everyone had arrived quite yet. It was here, among his squad and newest members Jackal realized someone was missing.

  "Has anyone seen Fenris?" I asked.

  "No, actually. Haven't seen him at all tonight." Mjolnir looked around the crowd.

  "This human event is quite...chaotic. I'm not surprised he's hiding somewhere." Yaaranam said around the straw of her glass.

  Sparrow laughed. "It's called Christmas! It's the most important day of the year!"

  "It's almost like our annual festival back home." Mjolnir said. "Only there's no fighting, gifts are exchanged instead!"

  "Gifts? We save gifts for graduations." Yaaranam raised a brow. "Why for this day?"

  "Something about celebrating the birth of an ancient martyr. The Captain tells the story every year!"

  The holidays were a good time of year for everyone. Even during the war we took a break to celebrate. Surprisingly, the ravens respected the tradition despite knowing nothing about it. Still, it bothered me Fenris wasn't here. Reaper always went on about how this was a time to be together with family and friends and celebrate the passing of another year and all the good of it.

  While the others explained everything to Yaaranam, who was absolutely confused about the concept, I slipped away unnoticed.

  I checked my room first just to be sure Fenris didn't tuck himself away there. I wondered if all the noises bothered him. Most dogs had issues with large crowds…

  He wasn't there.

  The only other spot he would be would be was at the core. It was odd how quiet the ship was. Everyone was gathered near the top having a blast at the party. Down here, all of the clicks, beeps and whirs of the machines were clear as the sun. Even the core itself had a series of hums that was easy to miss through the chaos of people.

  Fenris was there, curled into a ball. Sleeping.

  "Hey, Fen." I said reaching down to grab one of the bars on the floor.

  The lights on his armor lit up. His head lifted slowly. For a brief second, I thought he would lunge at me like he had last time. I got the sense of curiosity from him.

  "How come you're down here? We're all celebrating the holidays upstairs." I pulled my legs around to sit against the floor.

  "Yes." He said. "It is Christmas for humans."

  "Oh, you know what it is?"

  "No." He sat up and scratched at the back of his head. "Mother…" he shook his head. "Dr. Schreider mentioned the word. We were not allowed to join."

  "Why not?"

  "She said we have no time."

  "Well, there's time now. You should join us."

  He was quiet. His eyes turned away.

  "Something on your mind?"

  "Near the planet."

  "Yeah, we should be there tomorrow. Did you see the chart?"

  "No. Sense it."

  I thought about it. How was he able to sense it? It made me think of before in that cave. Somehow he knew we were in danger.

  "Fen, how can you sense it? How did you...do what you did before?"

  "Not sure…" his head tilted. "We," he pointed to me, then himself, "are connected. I..." he looked away.

  He must have been trying to figure out the words. I waited patiently. Leaned towards him as if it would get the words out.

  "I shared eyes. Let Jackal use mine."

  "I heard you talking, too. But that still doesn't explain anything."

  Fenris whined and lowered his head.

  "Do not know words….perhaps…" he shook his head.

  "What is it?"

  "When connected...can share memories. Thoughts."

  "You're not really explaining anything."

  "Can do at will. Do not know how. Just do."

  "You could just say it, that's how people normally share."

  "No. Show. See with other eyes." His head tilted the other way. "You opened eyes." He tapped the middle of his forehead.

  Right about now I wished I read more books. He said it like it was obvious and I felt stupid for not understanding. From all the tests Reynolds ran on him, she found out that he wasn't stupid. He just couldn't speak well. His vocabulary was garbage and he did not know how to make different sounds. He knew how to do it, but was incapable of explaining.

  I asked him to show me. I insisted. If it would help me understand him better, then I wanted to know.

  He breathed out this smoke right into my face. It wasn't the same smoke, or gas, that he used against the eos. This was different. It smelled earthy. He put a claw to the center of my forehead, drawing blood.

  I sat there calmly. Breathed in the smoke. Focused on his face.

  Just darkness. For a while that was all I could see. I heard chains rattling; the soft sounds of silk rubbing against metal. It felt like my body was controlled by an outside force. My head turned, gazing up at what looked like a purple and white speckled surface above. It was small, like I was looking through a hole far out of my reach. My stomach ached. All I could think about was food. Anger. Boredom.

  A flash of golden light took the specks over for a brief moment. Then a shadow dropped down. Heavy thumps rang through my ears as the shadow fell limp in front of me.

  “Today was...miserable.” Came a voice from outside of the hole. Metallic and hollow, speaking in a great hall of a cathedral. “Could you sing for me? I haven’t heard you sing in ages.”

  I looked down to the limp shadow. A foul conglomeration of flesh and metal, still leaking what looked to be oil. A thick, stiff tail bent and snapped to the side, a missing arm. Its jaw too loose to stay in place. I tore into it with my mouth first, ripping away bits of flesh and metal with long, wicked claws.

  “Why?” Fenris’ voice came out of me. “No rhyme to sing.”

  “Come now!” The other voice said. “Your songs always cheer me up.”

  “Perhaps there would be song…” I said between mouthfuls. “If not stuck here!”

  He sighed. “I would set you free if I could.”

  “You allowed it.”

  “I didn’t know he could forge something like that! I don’t know where he got the materials.”

  “No change!” I snarled. “No game needed. You lied. Try b
uy me with food. Let me starve.” Another bite from the corpse. “Trusted you...No song.”

  “I promise you, I will figure out a way to get you out. You’re still alive because of me. If I didn’t sneak out here to give you food every night, you would have starved years ago.”

  “Fuck you.” I snapped. I could feel the rage boiling through my skin. The anticipation of escape. The yearning to be free.

  Everything faded from my vision. Back to the darkness.

  I blinked. My eyes wide. It took a second to realize I wasn’t breathing at all.

  Fenris pulled his claw from my head.

  I looked down at my hands, expecting them to look just like his. I could still taste the blood and the flesh. The hunger…

  “A short night….” Fenris said, leaning back. “Understand now? Can share...memories.”

  At the time I had no idea how special that memory was. Fenris had finally opened up; put himself out to be judged. He shared this personal event in a way I never thought possible. I didn’t know the words for it then. My emotions swirled around in a vortex with these different thoughts. I felt what he felt at that time. I tasted what he tasted. Saw what he saw. I could smell it. All of the different smells overwhelmed my senses. The freshly killed corpse. The rotting flesh. The molten rock. The fresh, strange air wafting into the stuffiness of the cave. The smell of that man left unseen on the outside. My sight had been totally different than what I knew, or now thought I had known. It was the difference between an old television and an ultra-high definition television. I saw clearer, sharper images down to the very details of the pores in the stone while fully submerged in darkness. Now that I was looking at my own hands, everything felt fast and blurry. I was starved again, like I had been when I was a kid. The cramps of a contracted stomach digesting itself. The amazing taste of food, of that flesh and metal and the delight of sinking my teeth into something that oozed a tacky warmth. I still felt stiff as if I had been the one chained up and locked away for years. I had to stretch and use those muscles that I assumed were meant to be mine.

  It felt out of place….

  I didn’t belong….

  This body didn’t feel like my own. Just something to inhabit like a hermit crab needing a new shell.

  “Jackal?” Fenris said softly, his --- her? --- voice like a song.

  “He…” I barely got the words out. “He was your friend. Your only friend. He… Why did they do this to you?”

  Fenris’ head lifted up as he thought about the answer. Somehow, I think I already knew the answer. He took the words right out of my mouth.

  “Fear. Envy.” He said, “They tried kill Fenris. Many times. Fought more than eos. Could not die. Cannot.” I got the sense of a smile from him. “I am strongest valkyrie because of them. Their pain made me better.”

  “That’s still no excuse. You didn’t deserve that. You don’t deserve this!” I gestured to the chains.

  I knew then what Fenris wanted. That secret little desire that he probably didn’t even know he had.

  He wanted to belong.

  I took a breath and reached down into the pocket of my pants. “I was gonna wait till tomorrow to give it to you, but I think now is a good time.” I held the box for him to take.

  I had never seen him move so delicately before. He was afraid of damaging the box. He held it by the tips of his fingers and stared down at it.

  “Jackal gift me?”

  I laughed. “It’s Christmas, you get your friends presents. Of course, I got you something...even if you don’t actually celebrate it. Open it.”

  “Open...It breaks?”

  “Like this.” I reached up and dug my nails into the wrapping paper to peel it away. A single piece of tape kept the box shut, so I removed that.

  I took out the gift. A pin about the size of my palm, made from a gunmetal brushed steel etching of sharp angled letters; an ‘S’ and ‘C’.

  “It’s the ship’s initials to commemorate you as an official member.”

  He took the pin with the tips of his claws and brought it closer to his face.

  “Official…?” His teeth clicked together.

  “Welcome home, Fenris.” I smiled.

  “Home….” He took the pin in both his hands, floating upward toward the ceiling with a light spin forward. He took the needle of the pin and stuck it right through a soft spot of his armor at the shoulder.

  “And as an official member, you’re required to join the Christmas party.” I watched him float around aimlessly, looking down at the pin.

  “As you wish.” He joined me at the door and we headed back upstairs to the mess hall.

  We were warmly greeted by the others. Even Ianisse, who was finally up and moving around, wanted to officially meet Fenris. It went just about as well as could be expected. Ianisse was still afraid of the valkyrie, but after finding out that he survived because of Fenris rounding all of the supplies up himself, he opened up to not making him an enemy.

  Fenris was quiet the majority of the time, preferring to listen rather than strain his voice. Yaaranam and Ianisse both had hundreds of questions for him. While he may not have answered them, the rest of us didn’t actually give him a chance. Someone had an answer to whatever the question. I kept on eye on that valkyrie just to get this sense of amazement from him.

  If anything could make me love humanity again, it would be that night. That group of people. Drunk and high off the holiday spirit, we were all family catching up after years apart. Groups of people in the room broke out into song. Presents were exchanged. Captain Reaper gave his traditional speech of the meaning of Christmas, and congratulating everyone with an announcement of the newest technology and advancements of the year.

  Ruby challenged me to a row of shots. In the middle of the group, we downed as many shots as possible. In the middle of one of those shots, I saw a look of terror on Yaaranam’s face. Mjolnir had a similar look. Fenris had his eyes on something at the window. I put the glass down and looked to see what had them looking like they all just saw a ghost.

  B-58 was visible through the window, glowing white hot. The window lit up bright from both stars circling around. Something black, shining in the light was coming right for us.

  I watched as everyone’s heads lifted one by one, caught in this domino effect of realization. Closer and closer the blob of black came.

  It smashed into the Syndicate, knocking the ship off course.

  People began to scream. The alarms wailed. Red lights flashed through the room. We could no longer see outside of the window. Willis and Apelu hauled ass out of the mess hall. Reaper joined me and the others at the tree.

  “What the hell is happening?!”

  “They came.” Fenris said, looking over his shoulder at us.

  THIRTY-SIX

  "Jackal, get your team together." Reaper ordered over the blaring alarm. "Mjolnir, Yaaranam, escort everyone to their rooms."

  A collection of "yes, sir" rang out as everyone moved. Mjolnir and Yaaranam gathered everyone up and got them out of the cafeteria.

  Jackal grabbed Reaper's elbow.

  "Cap, it's the eos."

  "How? Fenris, what hit us?"

  The valkyrie shrugged. "Not seen before." It looked to both of them. "It is eos."

  "So, we're being boarded...Jackal, get everyone stationed at the doors--"

  "No." Fenris stated. "It is eos. It eats ships."

  "How do we get rid of it?" Jackal asked.

  It shrugged again.

  "I'll be at the bridge. When you're in position, tell me." Reaper hurried out, floating over the crowd.

  The others rushed down the hall and to the barracks. Suits on. Rifles slung over their arms. Everyone got dressed as quick as possible, moving in a line from one stop to the next. Jackal went ahead and ordered everyone to stand at the ready at each of the bay doors and air locks. He trusted Fenris, but it made him and the others feel better knowing there would be a fight for any monster to break in.

&nbs
p; At the bridge, Apelu and Willis were shouting to one another.

  "Nothing is working!" Apelu said.

  "I have no fucking controls! It's like there's no power getting to the system." Willis hit the console with his fist.

  "What's going on?" Reaper asked as he pulled himself into the room. "Where’s the damage?"

  "Don't know, sir." Willis said.

  "There's no power in the bridge. It's been drained. " Apelu clarified.

  "Drained?"

  "No controls. The ship is flying on its own at full speed." Willis pulled open the service panel to see if he couldn't figure out the problem.

  "That can't be possible."

  "It must be that rock that hit us." Apelu suggested.

  "Maybe? I don't know how. It looks like it's attached, but without the system running, I can't see shit."

  "It looks like we're headed straight to the planet." Reaper pointed at the window.

  "Sir, we're barely getting through the system with those stars." Willis looked up from the console. "We aren't suited for atmospheric conditions. If we land, or...crash there, we may never get off the planet."

  "That'll be the least of our concerns…." Reaper pulled himself to the pilot's seat. "Can you establish controls? Steer us away?"

  "I'd love to...but…" he touched several of the wires with his bare fingers. Not even a tingling sensation.

  "No power at all. I can't route any from here."

  The intercom sparked to life. Static barely gave way to an artifacting voice.

  "Cap...no….get…work...engi...oh...heat."

  "Did anyone catch that?" Reaper asked.

  "All of our systems are losing power."

  "We're getting real close to that planet…." Apelu backed away from the console.

  "If we go in at this speed the ship will break apart." Willis looked to Reaper.

  "Go find Torch. See if you can re-route the power. I'm gonna make sure the sec team is ready. We may have to abandon ship."

  As Reaper headed down the hall, the power failure caused all of the lights to flicker. Eventually they shut off and never came back on. He groped his way through the dark. Thank God he knew this ship like the back of his hand.