by Anna Wu
Chapter 44: Goobot
Cindy felt a brief sensation of air flying past her face before landing on the floor beneath the hole. She landed with the perfection of a cat; her two legs split and one hand cushioning her blow. She immediately straightened herself up and pulled out her gun. "All clear," she whispered into her headset.
She continued staring down the hallway that lay directly in front of her as Jimmy landed on the ground next to her. He had fallen from a greater height as he hadn't had anyone to lower him down, but he still managed to land somewhat gracefully. He pulled out his own gun and got a good look at his surroundings.
He and Cindy seemed to be in either a large closet or a small room. It was empty except for a large metal cabinet attached to the wall opposite the door. Jimmy motioned for Cindy to follow him as he walked over to the cabinet and opened it.
Inside were dozens of small metal rods. Each rod rested on two golden hooks. Jimmy pulled one of the rods out and stared at it. There were three buttons on the back of the metallic device. He pushed each one of them several times, but nothing happened. "Any idea what these are?" he asked while tossing one to Cindy.
Cindy caught the foot long device, turned it over, and shook her head. "No idea. But whatever they are, there are plenty of them."
Jimmy put the two retracted spears back inside their hangar and closed the cabinet's door. "Alright, forget about those. We seem to be in a supply closet of sorts. I'll see if I can get a reading of our parents' location." He pulled out his DNA tracker and pressed a few buttons. He frowned at the screen. "No good. I'm not close enough to get a reading. They must be in another part of the ship."
Cindy nodded as she stretched her fingers and then replaced them along the butt of her gun. "We better get moving, then. If we can radio the exact location of our parents to Nick, he can head straight towards them and free them before the majority of the Yolkians confront them. With the parents freed, they could aid Nick’s army in battle and help them hijack this ship."
Jimmy nodded at her logic. He let go of his gun with his left hand and walked towards the door. He slowly turned the knob and pulled it open. He then took a tentative step out into the hallway.
As soon as he had stuck his head out the door, he noticed a Yolkian round the corner at the right end of the hallway. Jimmy jumped back inside the closet and braced himself against the wall. "One Yolkian coming. Roughly fifty meters away."
Cindy nodded gripper her gun tighter. "I'll take care of it," she whispered. She braced herself against the wall on the other side of the door. Within a few seconds, she could hear the low whirring of the Yolkian's mechanized shell.
She kept her body completely still as the Yolkian slowly hovered by the open doorway. He either didn't notice that the door was ajar or he didn't care. He simply flew past it, lightly gripping his spear. As soon as he had disappeared out of the doorway, Cindy flew off the wall, out the door, and slammed a roundabout kick into the back of the Yolkian's shell.
"Ah!" Was all the surprised Yolkian had time to shout as it was slammed into the wall on its left. Its glass visor cracked as Cindy's foot met with it and broke as it hit the wall. The Yolkian dropped its spear, which retracted back into a foot-long metal rod.
Cindy didn't give the Yolkian a chance to recover. She jumped towards the flailing creature, slammed its broken shell into the wall once more, and dug her hand deep into the alien's slimy body. She immediately felt its brain, grasped her fist around it, and yanked it out of the Yolkian's head.
As soon as the brain was removed from its home, Cindy pushed herself off of the wall with her free hand. She landed in the middle of the hallway and glanced from the gooey organ in her hand to the grey pile of slime on her side. "One down."
Jimmy marveled at her cold, ruthless efficiency. "Damn straight. Nice work." He couldn't help but be a little turned on as several strands of her hair were clamped to her sweaty forward.
His feelings of love were quickly shoved aside as Cindy pointed towards the corner of the hallway where the Yolkian had appeared. "Let's keep moving while we still have the element of surprise."
Jimmy nodded and ran after Cindy. They braced themselves against the wall five feet from the hallway's end. Cindy edged her way towards the corner and quickly peered her head around it.
"Three Yolkians are resting," she whispered to Jimmy, so low that he could barely understand her. "Must have sent their friend to investigate our boarding."
"Should we shoot them from here?" he asked her.
Cindy risked another look and shook her head. "Their backs are to us. The noise would bring unwanted attention. I'll sneak up on them and take them out the old fashioned way."
"Be careful," Jimmy warned as she holstered her gun and stepped out from behind the corner.
Cindy ignored his needless advice and quietly tiptoed down the corridor. She gritted her teeth and began to nervously twirl her ponytail. What if this is some sort of an ambush? What if they're just pretending to not know that I'm here?
She shook those thoughts out of her head as she came within five meters of the hovering creatures. Very slowly, she lifted each foot and set it down in front of her. She was four meters away, then three, and then within striking distance of the first hostile.
She lashed out with the ferocity of a tiger. She swung both of her arms around the bottom of the Yolkian in front of her. The alien was too startled to do anything as Cindy pulled it towards her and slammed the crown of her head into the back of its shell. The glass shattered and rained down around her.
"A human!" one of the other Yolkians shrieked while aiming its spear.
Cindy was about to slam her fist into the Yolkian that she was still holding, but it spun itself around, smacking the brunt of its own spear into Cindy's side. She was surprised by its strength. She was thrown into the wall several feet to her right as the three Yolkians swarmed around her.
Jimmy could tell that she was outmatched and in trouble. He leveled his gun at the nearest alien and fired three shots. He smiled as its control panel threw out sparks and smoke before the entire shell fell to the ground.
The two remaining Yolkians quickly spun around and stared at the sneering Neutron down the hall. The alien that Cindy had first attacked darted down the hallway towards the new threat, but it made the mistake of traveling in a straight line. Jimmy had plenty of time to take aim and shoot it. Its control panel sizzled, and it fell to the ground.
The one remaining Yolkian knew that it was in trouble. Cindy was now back on her feet and sent a fist flying towards him. The creature dodged the blow and maneuvered itself behind Cindy. It leveled its spear horizontally, adjusted its grip towards the ends of the spear, and slammed the metal center of the weapon into the back of Cindy's head. She stumbled forward, the blow nearly rendering her unconscious. The Yolkian grabbed the human with one hand, was surprised by how little it weighed, and used its other hand to place the electrically charged tip of the spear near Cindy's throat.
"You will drop your weapon now," the creature bellowed while floating towards Jimmy. Cindy was clutched in its grasp, floating several inches above the ground.
Jimmy furrowed his brows in anger and frustration as the Yolkian carried the limp Cindy and flew towards him. What to do, what to do… he mumbled inside his head, desperately trying to come up with a course of action. There was no way that he could get off a shot without hitting Cindy, and the Yolkian didn't look happy. He placed the spear a hair's width away from the unconscious Cindy's neck.
Suddenly, Cindy sprang to life. The Yolkian was caught off guard, and hesitated just long enough for Cindy to push the Yolkian's wrists away from her, causing the alien to drop her. "Shoot it!" she desperately shouted while falling to the floor.
Jimmy immediately fired two shots, hitting the Yolkian in its glass visor. The shards of glass rained down on Cindy, who bent down and covered her head. The Yolkian was knocked off balance, wobbled in the air, and clumsily slammed his spear straight down.
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The spear missed Cindy by half a foot. She gathered her strength, jumped up off the floor, twisted her body in midair, and slammed another kick into the Yolkian. This one connected with his control panel, dented it, and sent it slamming into the wall. She pounced on top of the dazed creature, slammed both hands into its body, and yanked out its brain.
Jimmy was by her side as she angrily tore the brain in half and spit on the graying corpse. "How long have you been doing tai chi?" he asked, clearly impressed.
Cindy flashed him a quick smile, her golden locks brushing Jimmy's face as she swiveled her head. "You're shooting wasn't too bad either, Tex." She rubbed the bruised back of her head and flinched in pain.
Jimmy smiled back. "We do make a good team."
Their well-deserved congratulations were cut short by the sound of voices at the far end of the hallway. They both looked down it and saw a stairway that led to a lower level.
"What was that?" a Yolkian's voice asked.
"A skirmish on the top level!"
"Boarders on the king's private vessel? Unacceptable!"
"Could the council have launched an assassination attempt this soon?"
Jimmy and Cindy shot each other nervous glances. Three Yolkians had been quite a challenge, and now at least four more were coming towards them. They both glanced at their guns and nodded to each other. They knelt down on the floor on one knee, gripped their guns, stared over the barrels, and narrowed their eyes. "You take the right, I've got the left," Cindy quickly muttered.
As the four Yolkians appeared at the top of the stairway, seven crisp bangs accompanied a volley of bullets. The barrage of lead struck two control panels and three glass visors. Two Yolkians fell down onto the floor, trapped in immobile shells. One of the remaining two enemies was knocked off balance and fell down the stairs. The remaining Yolkian glanced down the hallway and noticeably tightened its grip on its spear. "Humans!" it shouted out in disgust.
Cindy quickly holstered her gun and ran towards the Yolkian, ready to try unarmed combat once more. Jimmy decided to join her, but kept his gun tightly gripped in his right hand.
The fight that ensued was visually stunning. Cindy dodged the Yolkian's swinging spear as if to music, flawlessly ducking and sidestepping each attack. The Yolkian in turn hovered above each of Cindy's counterattacks. Jimmy merely stood by the sidelines with his free hand clenched into a fist, not quite sure how to aid Cindy.
Cindy's five years of tireless training couldn't compare to the Yolkian's lifetime of military conscription, however. After several moments of eloquent evasive maneuvers, the Yolkian's spear brushed past her side. A strip of cloth from her shirt was torn away along with a small band of skin. The wound wasn't deep enough to seriously injure her, it was little more than a cut. But the contact was enough to send an electric shock through her body, which she hadn't experience before. The searing sensation sent her falling to the floor.
Jimmy decided that now was as good a time as any to step into battle. She had five years of training, I had three hours. Yeah, I am so going to win. As Cindy fell to the floor, Jimmy lowered his shoulders and rammed the Yolkian's side.
The Yolkian had focused on Cindy up until now, and had seemed to forget about Jimmy. This mistake was ultimately what won Jimmy the fight. The creature was caught completely off guard as Jimmy slammed it into the wall. Its glass faceplate cracked, and Jimmy grabbed its wrists. He swung the Yolkian around and slammed it into the wall on his opposite side. The visor cracked, and the Yolkian's eyes swirled about in a daze.
Cindy then jumped back into battle by sending a flying kick into the Yolkian's exposed body. Her foot went through the slimy mess, connected with the brain, and crushed it against the wall. The Yolkian fell to the ground, dead.
As Cindy killed that enemy, the fourth Yolkian barreled back up the stairs. Jimmy saw this and fired two more shots from his gun. The Yolkian fell down to the ground less than three feet from Cindy, its spear still clenched in its hands.
Cindy ignored the pain that wracked her body and stared down at the Yolkian that Jimmy had just shot. She gripped the spear with one hand and used her right foot to crush the fall creature's hands. Its grip weakened, and Cindy easily tore the weapon from its hands. "Thanks," she happily told the Yolkian while staring down at her new weapon.
"Take this," Cindy quickly said while handing Jimmy her gun. "You hand the guns and I'll do the up-close work."
Jimmy nodded as he put Cindy's gun in the back of his waistband. These guns are definitely useful. Looks like bringing them was a good choice. But I'm quickly running out of bullets. He shoved that depressing thought aside as he led Cindy down the staircase.
As Jimmy stepped off of the final step and exited the stairwell, he noticed that the floor was abuzz with activity. Unarmed crew members were about and flying to the opposite end of the room. Jimmy tried to aim his gun, but they were flying around too fast for him to get a good shot.
"All crew should hide! The hostiles are believed to be on the fourth floor! Second Squad, engage! Guards, protect the king!" a calm and mechanized voice blared from the ship's hidden loudspeakers.
Jimmy and Cindy looked to each other, not knowing quite how to proceed. Things were not going as they had planned. They had expected to be swarmed by hundreds of soldiers, not engaged by small groups.
Jimmy and Cindy made their way across the floor. Computers and machinery were strewn across the area. There were no hallways and no doors that they could see. As far as they could tell, the floor simply extended a kilometer in each direction. Jimmy spotted a stairwell at the other end of the ship ahead of them. He saw the panicking crew members filing down it.
"It's just one giant room," Cindy noted as she led the way to the stairwell a kilometer away. "Strange."
They quickly made their way across the floor at a crisp jog. Five more Yolkians appeared from the stairwell at the opposite end of the room and charged at Jimmy and Cindy. Their attempts soon proved futile, however. Jimmy was able to pick off three with the last shots in his gun. He tossed it to the side and grabbed Cindy's pistol. He was about to shoot, but Cindy stopped him. She ran up to the Yolkians, eager to try out her new spear.
A one on one fight with a Yolkian had been a roughly even match for Cindy, and she figured that she could take out two with her new spear. She dodged the duo's first slashes, swung her spear around, and knocked the first Yolkian off balance. She ducked the second Yolkian's blow, jumped up, and slammed the point of her spear through the first Yolkian's visor and into its head. She left it there so she could take care of the second Yolkian.
The Yolkian with the spear in its body wildly flailed about, trying to yank the weapon out, but it was to no avail. The electricity was rapidly burning its body and brain, and it slowly gave in to the swirling darkness around him.
Cindy ducked underneath the remaining Yolkian's swinging spear, jumped up and kicked it, and watched as it wobbled in the air. She took a deep breath and performed a backwards cartwheel, a move that she had only recently perfected. She landed perfectly, ripped the spear from the dead Yolkian's face, and brandished it. She slammed it into the other Yolkian's spear as if it were a sword.
The Yolkian suddenly changed tactics and used his spear like a sword as well. The two opposing forces wildly clashed spears. Jimmy took this opportunity to run up and ram the Yolkian. The alien was sent flying into the floor. Cindy slammed her spear into the Yolkian's brain. After the Yolkian turned gray, she yanked the weapon out and shook the slime off.
"Let's keep moving," Jimmy told her while running toward the stairs. Cindy nodded and followed him, ready to head down to the third floor.
The two members of the suicide team paused halfway down the stairs. Three Yolkians blocked the exit below them, spears glowing. Jimmy frowned at the nuisance. Jimmy and Cindy stood still, and the Yolkians didn't advance. They seemed to only want to block the passage behind them. Jimmy took careful aim and fired three rounds. The trio of enemies fell, their
spears retracting once they hit the ground.
Jimmy finished walking down the stairs and looked around. No enemies were in sight. He motioned for Cindy to stop, and she did. He took a seat on the bottom step, the immobile Yolkians glaring at him. "Cindy, something is weird here. We're nearly halfway through the ship, and there hasn't been any major resistance."
Cindy nodded. "It's almost as if they didn't even expect us to be here. We couldn't have encountered more than twenty troops. And didn't one of the Yolkians mention a council assassination?"
Jimmy rubbed his chin as he thought about the situation at hand. "Yes, he did. His first conclusion should have been that humans had come to rescue their parents. Shouldn't it?"
Cindy nodded once more. "We better get moving." She stood up and extended her hand to Jimmy, which he took. She yanked him up and they continued on their way.
The third floor was little more than a maze of hallways. They navigated their way through the twisting corridors, not sure where to go. Jimmy nervously chewed on his bottom lip the whole way. This is the perfect spot for an ambush. They could be anywhere on this floor. Yet he and Cindy encountered only one lone Yolkian soldier, who barely put up a fight. Cindy dodged two thrusts of the Yolkian's spear and easily penetrated his slimy flesh with her own weapon.
After what seemed like an hour, they finally reached another staircase. They tentatively walked down it, expecting another barrage of soldiers to be guarding the stairwell. Yet, once again, there was no enemy activity. "Where the hell is everybody?" Cindy wondered out loud.
Jimmy took this cease fire to inspect his gun. Cindy noticed this and was glad to lean against a wall and rest. She closed her eyes and clutched the wound on her side. "Eight bullets left. That spear still electrically charged?"
Cindy shook herself out of her near slumber and looked down at the weapon in her hands. "Yep, still charged," she told him as a crackle of electricity made its way through the spear's point.
"Good. I'm going to see if I can get a reading on our parents' location again. Cover me," he told her. Cindy nodded, raised her spear into a battle position, and kept her eyes peeled.
Jimmy took out his tracker again and ran a search for his parents' DNA. He impatiently tapped his foot against the floor as the device completed its scan. His eyes lit up when he saw the result. "Cindy! I'm getting a fairly good reading! They must be somewhere on this level. I think ... yes, they're this way," he pointed to a hallway down his right. He flipped the tracker off and put it back in his pocket. He took hold of his gun once more and continued following the twisting hallway.
After several minutes of running, they came to a thick metal door with a keypad next to it. Cindy stepped up, smashed the keypad with her gun, and then kicked it off the wall onto the floor. Jimmy thanked her and immediately got to work connecting the wires.
It took Jimmy less than two minutes to unlock the door. As soon as he had connected the last wires, the steel door slid up into the ceiling high above them. Jimmy jumped in front of the doorway, with Cindy right behind him. He aimed his gun ahead at him and scowled at what he saw. In the center of the room sat Goobot on a hovering throne decorated with space rubies. A half dozen Yolkians surrounded the king and held their spears in front of their lord to shield him. Jimmy noticed that the spears were littered with rubies and had intricate designs on them. Although he didn't know it, the spears showed that the Yolkians holding them were special bodyguards to the king, the best warriors the Yolkian army could muster.
"Where are our parents?" Jimmy screamed as he struggled to aim his gun past the array of spears and onto Goobot's shell.
Goobot's eyes blinked one at a time and then narrowed in anger. "So," he bellowed, "Neutron, you and your little mate have come back to finish what was started. Too cowardly to meet us head-on, no less. Only a pathetic caitiff would secretly strike with some sort of pathetic Earthly element."
Cindy's eyes darted from Goobot and his guards to Jimmy. She had absolutely no idea what the king was talking about. Apparently, neither did Jimmy. "What the hell are you talking about?" Jimmy shouted.
"Your crippling vapors may have temporarily subdued us, but you took too long to mobilize your attack!" the king shouted triumphantly. "We were able to regain consciousness before you and your ..." he gestured at Cindy, "confrere could attack us with your primitive cudgels. You have failed, human!"
Cindy and Jimmy took a brief second to glance at each other. Both of their faces screamed confusion.
Jimmy closed his eyes as he got a painful headache. The lack of Yolkian soldiers, Goobot's confusing words, the fatigue from making his way throughout the Yolkian ship, it was too much. "Enough stalling! Stop playing dumb! Where are our parents!" Jimmy shouted at the top of his lungs.
The guards glared at Jimmy. They wished to tear him apart on the spot. No one had ever dared to speak to the king in such a disrespectful manner.
Goobot had had enough as well. "He talks nonsense, this conversation sheds no new light on the recent attacks. Dispose of him, my brethren."
As soon as Goobot had spoken, the floor beneath him suddenly flew downwards, as if it were an elevator. The black hole was quickly replaced by a brand new floor. Jimmy would have liked to marvel at the impressive technology, but he had no time. All of the king's guards were quickly advancing on Cindy and himself.