The second Prub ducked into the stairwell, Runo caught sight of a figure dashing down the hallway after them. It was a woman, armed with a mace, about the same size as Runo, and without thinking, Runo moved into the middle of the hallway and readied herself.
Runo lowered her head slightly, her vision tunnelling, her axe held high in one hand, ready to deliver a strike, but as soon as the woman was five metres away, Runo ducked down onto her right knee and swung the knife as hard as she could into the side of the onrushing woman. The blade caught her in the left midsection, and drove them into the wall, doubling over.
Without hesitation, Runo stood to her feet, brought her weapon above her head, then brought it down with as much force as she could deliver to the back of the woman’s head. The sound of the metal striking the bone made a cracking sound, driving the woman to the ground, blood spurting out into the air.
Not wanting to delay, Runo checked that there wasn’t another approaching threat, then turned into the stairwell, and darted upwards.
Her legs were pumping hard, but she felt like she was running through water in the survival suit. It was hot, and it felt like it was getting heavier with every step. She was jealous of the mask that Loni was wearing. The harder she tried to climb the stairs, the more condensation built up on the inside of her helmet. She was out of shape, probably the result of too many years in stasis.
Reaching the first landing, Runo checked that the hatch was closed, then continued up after Prub. The old engineer was struggling when Runo caught up with him. He was bent over, breathing hard. Not much farther up the stairs was Dupina, also in a world of trouble.
“Come on, Prub.”
“I’m exhausted.” Prub answered.
Not one of the group that Runo had found in J-Hold had eaten or drank adequately since they had come out of stasis, it was a wonder they were moving at all.
“Ahhhh!”
The scream came from two levels down. Runo could see a face staring up at her when she looked over the railing. The face of a deranged male with a shaved head and tattoos on his face. He was naked and just looking up at Runo.
“Shit.” Runo said. “We’ve got to keep moving.”
Prub looked up at her, his face drenched in sweat behind his face-plate. He was puffing hard.
“Ahhh haaaaa!”
Runo looked back over the railing, she couldn’t see anyone, but she could feel vibrations in the steps of someone stomping their way up towards her.
“Prub, if we don’t go now.”
“You go.” He said weakly. “I just need to catch my breath.”
Runo looked back over the side of the stairs, and could just make out a flash of flesh barely a level below her. Taking another look at Prub, she shook her head, closed her eyes, then made a decision.
Without saying another word, Runo opened her eyes and continued up the stairs. She wasn’t going to die here, not for someone she had known for less than a day when there were others that might need her help. She needed to keep moving. That was how she was going to stay alive.
Reaching the next landing, Runo dashing out of the stairwell after the group, spotting Dupina as soon as she emerged onto the corridor.
She didn’t bother to look over her shoulder. She knew what fate awaited Prub.
“Where’s Prub?” Dupina asked when she noticed Runo.
“He’s dead.”
It might not have been a fact yet, but it was inevitable.
Looking past Dupina, Runo could see Blinji and Loni squaring up against a large male, his fists covered in blood, blocking access to the hatch to the bridge.
The male might have been unarmed, but he was powerfully built, and when Blinji lunged at him with his knife, the male parried the blow with his right forearm, then delivered a punch to Blinji’s midsection, sending him to his knees, coughing up blood.
With the large male’s back turned, Loni drove her sword into his exposed flesh, but the wound just seemed to irritate the male, who spun violently, his arms flailing, striking her in the face, sending her tumbling to the ground.
Dupina rushed in; next, her weapon held high, and when she swung it towards the male, she missed wildly, then tumbled forward onto the ground. The male’s reaction to the attack was swift. He raised a leg into the air, then brought it crashing down onto Dupina’s head. The helmet and skull crushed under the power of the blow.
“No!” Inkana screamed out in horror as blood rushed from where Dupina’s head had once been.
Runo was frozen at the rear of the group. Her mouth agape, unsure of what to do. Then a groan sounded behind her.
Spinning around, Runo immediately spotted the survival suit that Prub was wearing, but the figure standing at the exit to the stairwell wasn’t Prub. Prub was dead, and whatever was standing in front of her had a dagger lodged in its shoulder and a cracked faceplate. The white eyes behind the plate told Runo everything she needed to know about the figure opposing her.
“Uhhhhh.” The dead Prub groaned again.
Summoning all the rage she could, Runo brought her axe up and charged forward. Dead Prub just stood there, waiting, his white eyes fixated on her as she raced towards him, and only before she delivered a fatal blow to his head, his eyelids dropped.
When the body hit the ground, Runo wasn’t sure if she’d killed him, or he’d finally succumbed to his wounds, but to be sure, she jabbed the body with her knife. Nothing.
Turning around, Runo saw that the large male by the entrance to the bridge was down, his body writhing wildly until Loni stabbed him through the face.
Feeling exhausted, Runo moved towards where Inkana and Blinji were standing, then looked down at Dupina. It was apparent she was dead. Her head had been nearly flattened.
“What now?” Inkana asked.
“We take the bridge and prepare for the vent.” Loni said.
Runo watched as Loni walked over to the access pad and tried the door. It didn’t budge. Bending over, Loni tapped the intercom.
“This is Loni. Who is on the bridge?”
Runo waited in silence, hoping someone on the other side of the hatch heard the call and was of sound mind to actually open the door. After more than a minute’s waiting, the hatch opened to reveal a scene of utter horror. Body parts litter the bridge, blood was everywhere. A few dismembered heads were thrown around, and a stack of dead bodies had been built in one corner, and in the middle of the room was a single woman holding two swords in a combat stance. She was wearing a white full-body suit that was splattered in blood, and on her face was a single red tattoo.
Without hesitation, Loni dropped to her knee.
“Grand Inquisitor.” Loni said, putting her weapon onto the ground.
It was reasonably apparent to Runo that whoever the woman was holding court on the bridge, she was special. She was fully clothed, and the only one she’d seen with a non-black tattoo.
Lowering her weapons, the woman returned both swords to their sheaths, then walked to the hatch, her blonde hair bouncing as she moved towards the hatch, closing the door, sealing them inside.
“Loni.” The woman stopped next to Loni and pushed her head back so that she could look into her eyes. “I’m proud that you’ve survived this.” She focused her view on Blinji, who was standing closest. “Who do you have with you? Survivor’s from the ship we captured?” She nodded. “You should have killed them, but these are extraordinary circumstances.”
The woman turned sharply and walked back onto the bridge.
And then it clicked in Runo’s head. The woman wasn’t wearing a mask, but she wasn’t infected. How?
“Best strap in before the ship is vented.” The woman said. “Someone has reached environmental.” She sat down in a large chair in the centre of the room and buckled herself in. “Time is running short.”
Loni was up and moving towards the closest seat she could find, and Inkana wasn’t far behind. It took Blinji and Runo a moment to focus, but once they grasped the situation, they were mov
ing forward and finding seats with restraints.
When Runo sat down in her seat, she could tell that it was wet, even through the environmental suit. Someone had probably died in the chair, but she didn’t have time to worry about that. A claxon in the room was sounding, and a countdown had started.
Focusing on strapping herself in, Runo brought up a strap from between her legs with a large buckle on it, then pulled a strap over from her right shoulder and slotted it into the buckle, then repeated for her left shoulder. The clasp automatically tightened once, then tightened further, almost to the point where Runo couldn’t breathe, but she knew it was an automatic safety feature.
When the countdown reached five, Runo closed her eyes and held her breath. She had done vents before during training, but those had been in safe environments where nothing went wrong.
“Yaaaaa!” The scream from the hallway got Runo’s attention. Her eyes popping open and darted back to the hatch to the bridge just in time to see five nearly naked, blood-stained figures rushing towards her.
“Venting!”
The effect was immediate and violent.
Runo wasn’t sure where the ship was venting from. She knew that it could be from one central location or several positions around the vessel, but when the announcement came, her head was violently jerked towards the exit of the bridge, perfectly positioned to watch the onrushing figures disappear along with all the limbs and bodies that had been strewn around the bridge.
When the vent ended, her head relaxed, and her arms dropped down to her side. Runo wasn’t about to be the first out of her seat, she knew that another loss of pressure could happen if the woman in white wanted a second vent. When the woman in white finally rose from her seat, she moved towards where Blinji was sat.
“Take off your helmet.” She ordered.
“Wait!” Runo shouted, struggling to get out of her seat. “Wait!”
When she finally got to her feet, she turned to face the woman and saw that she had drawn a knife from a scabbard under her left arm, and was holding the blade to the side of Blinji’s head.
“You take your helmet off.” She ordered.
“How do we know it’s safe?” Runo asked. “The ship only vented for a few seconds, and.”
“Now.” The woman said in a stern tone. “I will not ask again.”
Runo could tell that the woman wasn’t bluffing. She was out of options and out of ideas. She was on a ship that wasn’t hers; she was in uncharted waters.
“Fine.” Runo finally said. “I’ll do it.”
The woman returned her knife to the sheath and took two steps across the bridge towards the Flying Officer.
Letting out a sigh, Runo closed her eyes, brought her hands up to the clasps on the helmet, and flipped them open, letting in a fresh breeze to the humid helmet.
Pulling the helmet off, Runo opened her eyes and took in a deep breath. The air on the bridge smelled stale. Not of death, but as if the oxygen was old. Either way, she was alive. Now it was just a question if she was going to go mad and try to kill everyone.
After a minute of silence, the woman in white seemed satisfied. “Good.” She said.
“Wait.” Runo’s arm shot out in protest, a quizzical look on her face. “How come you could breathe that air and not be affected?”
The woman just looked at her, then turned to Loni. “Prepare to jump the ship back to Heresy territory.” She ordered.
Unsure of what was going to happen next, Runo moved over to Inkana and knelt next to her seat.
“How do you feel?” She asked as Inkana took off her helmet.
“Sick.” She replied.
“Damn.” Blinji commented after he removed his helmet. “What the fuck?” He looked exhausted.
Runo looked over at the young miner, then over to Loni. “What happens now?” She asked.
Loni looked over from the navigation station with a blank expression on her face, then back to her console.
“You will join us.” The woman in white said, looking down at Runo. “Or you will die. Here and now.”
“Ready to jump the ship.” Loni reported.
“Jump.” The woman ordered.
Time and thousands of light-years flashed by in the time it took Runo to have a heart-beat.
“Jump complete.” Loni reported. “We are in the Nicsis system.”
“Excellent. Plot a course for Nicisis Prime.” The woman in white ordered then walked over to where Runo was kneeling. “You survived something back there. That means that you’re of strong will, clever, able. We can use someone like you. Welcome to the Heresy Alignment.”
THE END
The Gauloi Page 8
