Beauty and the Fleet (Intergalactic Fairy Tales Book 2)

by Robert McKay

  "Hopefully not before I can park this baby." Beatrix patted the ship's console. "You can hold together for me that long, can't you, girl?"

  "Park it where?" drawled Gadget.

  "In the hive," said Pickle, a note of wonder in her voice.

  "That's pure madness," retorted Gadget.

  "Sometimes you have to embrace madness if you're going to win," said Pickle.

  Beatrix finished her realignment and squared off, facing the most damaged part of the hive. "I'll keep her as steady as I can, Hands. You make the hole."

  Hands let out a whoop and opened fire on the guards in front of the hive. They fell quickly, leaving the pulsating grey flesh exposed. Hands aimed all four of the ship's guns at precise intervals and turned on the auto-fire. Huge chunks of the hive rained down as other ships sought to close the gap. With all four guns concentrating in one area, none of them could make it in. They gave up after four ships fell, and resumed their dive-bomb routine.

  Beatrix was moving slow and steady in an effort to give Hands as much time as possible, so the Anthrak scored several indirect hits to the body of the ship. As long as they didn't damage too many of the thrusters, they would make it. Maybe.

  Gadget could be heard back in the passenger area, yelling at Torch to order Sting to break off her direct assault. Stupid baby. Torch was yelling back just as fiercely that Sting knew what she was doing and that this was her mission.

  Beatrix grinned. Without her even realizing it, Torch had handed this mission over to her. She was in command and she was going to make sure that it succeeded. "Hands, you need to hurry it up, because we can't take many more hits like this." It was all Beatrix could do to keep the ship straight any more. There were so many gouged panels on the hull that it was like flying a brick.

  "I'm on it," said Hands, flicking the various switches that controlled the guns. "We're almost out of ammo."

  The entire ship rocked to one side with the force of a blow that Beatrix never saw coming. "Shit, one of them came at us from the underside. They took out more of the port thrusters. I'm going to veer hard to starboard to try and give us a chance at hitting the opening you made. Do what you're going to do, Hands."

  The ship grew eerily quiet as the sound of the guns cut off. "Keep all hands inside the vehicle," shouted Beatrix and pulled the control stick hard to her right. They veered wildly off their original course with only a few seconds until they made it to the hive. The ship continued to drift to the port side. It was hard to tell if they would drift too far. It was really more of a guessing game than anything.

  "We're drifting too far to port," said Hands.

  "No we're not," said Beatrix, her voice calm. "Just watch."

  Hands gripped the arms of his chair and let out a low moaning sound. "Too far, too far," he muttered.

  Beatrix diverted all the power she could to the port thrusters and the ships lateral movement slowed. If she pulled any more power from the starboard thrusters, the ship wouldn't be able to stay in the air. She pulled the nose of the ship just a bit higher than perfect alignment with the hole just as another ship hit them from below. It nudged them up even higher. If Beatrix pushed the nose down she and Hands would probably die in the impact, so she cut the thrusters and let the ship glide the rest of the way.

  "Oh shit," said Gadget. "She cut the engines; we're all going to die."

  "Brace for impact," shouted Beatrix.

  The ship drifted into the hive of the Anthrak and was swallowed by complete darkness. A moment later there was a jarring impact as the belly of the ship hit the floor of the hive. They skidded for what felt like a thousand meters, but it was oddly quiet after the initial crash. Beatrix had expected things to go much more roughly, possibly with the ship tumbling end over end.

  The lights in the ship were out. Beatrix could hear Hands panting in the seat next to her. Everyone else was a mystery. She was in command, so she should do something.

  "Is everyone alive?" called Torch, his cool head prevailing as usual. "Sound off."

  Everyone called out, one by one. Woolly and Arryn both snarled the whole time. They had all survived the crash. "Everybody sit tight, I saw an emergency box on the wall up here somewhere. I'll see if I can find a light in there," said Beatrix.

  After a few minutes of groping in the dark, she found the box and pressed a button on the side of a cylinder inside. It was a heavy metal flashlight. There were three others in the box, along with some basic medical supplies. Hands peeked over her shoulder and grabbed one of the flashlights and some bandages. "Right, you see if anyone needs medical attention. I'll see about getting off the ship and hunting down that queen," said Beatrix.

  She grabbed the other two flashlights and stepped into the passenger area. Hands was already busy wrapping a bandage around Gadget's head. Pickle watched Gadget with a sour expression on her face. Torch was turned sideways with Woolly's rifle pointed in the general direction of the two Leothen. Beatrix handed one of her flashlights to Pickle as she passed, and gave the last one to Torch. "We need to move quickly. It won't be long before somebody gets here to give us a warm, welcoming dismemberment."

  "I agree," said Torch, setting down the flashlight long enough to fish Woolly's pistol out of his pocket and hand it to her. He kept the rifle for himself. "I say we take Pickle with us and leave the other two here to babysit."

  "Hands won't like that," said Beatrix.

  "He doesn't have to, that's the one good thing about command. Pickle seems to be in her element here." While they were speaking, Pickle had wandered to the back of the ship and was peering through the gap around the dock door. "She wouldn't take off her helmet on the Colarian ship, but now she's ready to run headlong into the bowels of the Colarian hive. She's a weird one."

  "I think the helmet thing was about one specific fear. The girl's always been a little bit weird. That's what I like about her." Beatrix walked to the front of the passenger bay and delivered the news to Hands. He grumbled a bit to himself, but didn't argue until she handed him the gun. "Take my pistol. You'll need something to protect yourself in here."

  "No, you have no idea what you're going to find out there. You'll need it," said Hands, trying to push the pistol back into her palm, but she pulled away.

  "We have to be able to defend ourselves," said Gadget. "They have the rifle. They're bound to find some weapons out there once they get going."

  "Fine," agreed Hands. He slouched back into his seat. "But if you're not back within an hour, we're coming out after you."

  "Good enough," said Beatrix. She didn't bother to add that if they weren't back in an hour, they were all going to be dead. From the grim expression on Hands' face, it didn't need to be said, and she knew no orders would ever get him to leave them behind.

  When she stepped back over to Torch, he handed her another pistol. Beatrix scowled at him. "There was a third gun? Where did it come from?"

  "I found it on your Colarian friend when we chained him up," said Torch.

  The look on his face told Beatrix he was particularly pleased with himself. "So, why didn't you give it to Hands yourself?"

  He grinned at her. "I wanted to see what you would do."

  "You were testing me?" growled Beatrix. "Here?"

  "A captain's work is never done." He squeezed her arm. "You'll see when I recommend you for your own command."

  Her ideas about her place in the universe had changed substantially since she was captured by the Anthrak. She wasn't certain where she saw herself going after this, but it wasn't a command position in the Crown Fleet. It wasn't the time or place for that kind of conversation, so she didn't respond. There would be plenty of time for that kind of talk when the Anthrak were no more. "Let's head out," she said, turning to Pickle. "We've got a queen to dethrone."

  "I've waited a long time for that opportunity," said Pickle, a wicked grin on her face.

  "We need to have a long talk about your past when we're done here, lady," said Beatrix.

  CHAPTER THI
RTY-FIVE

  The outside of the hive had looked like organic matter, but it was still weird to find that the inside was made of sponge-like material as well. Every step felt like walking on a firm mattress. That soft grey material had probably saved all of their lives; slowing the ship down much faster and gentler than a hard surface would have. There was a deep furrow behind the ship for about two hundred meters, where it ended in the gaping hole they had shot in the hive.

  The floor spread out all around them with no visible means of traveling between levels. They decided to explore the front of the ship since there was no telling how stable the damaged part of the structure was. That meant they would be exploring in the dark—a loud yowl echoed to their right—and they would have company.

  As one, they turned the beams of their flashlights toward the sound. The creature shrieked and jumped back into the shadows. What Beatrix had seen of it wasn't pretty. There was a mostly humanoid torso and at least six legs with multiple joints. It would have looked like an insect if the whole thing weren't covered in sickly white skin. The spongy floor muffled sound extremely well, so there was no telling where it had skittered off to. They couldn't find it with their flashlights.

  Torch set them into a formation with their backs forming a triangle. They slowly rotated as they made their way toward the outer wall of the hive structure. Once they made it away from the area the ship had destroyed there were corridors and rooms made out of the same grey, spongy material. There were no doors, so there would be no warning if something wanted to come at them. "Keep your eyes peeled. We need to find Pickle a weapon."

  "Yeah," said Pickle, placing a hand on her hip. "I'm feeling a little exposed."

  A screech sounded from the room to their left and one of the spider creatures lunged out at Beatrix. She put two bullets in its head and it crumpled to the floor, its strange legs curling up underneath it. Strangely, there was no leech on its head. "All clear," said Beatrix scanning the rest of the room. It was completely empty of furniture or decoration just like the others. Her flashlight glinted off metal as she passed it over the creature one last time to make sure it was dead. "Hold on, this thing was carrying something. It looks like a sword."

  Pickle rushed up beside her and snatched the sword off the ground. She held it up like it was the most amazing thing she'd ever seen. "It's no vorpal sword, but it'll do," she said. She swung it around her in an intricate pattern and then jabbed the spongy wall a few times. "Yes, this will do nicely."

  "If you say so," said Beatrix, shaking her head. "At least you've got a weapon now. Just make sure you don't cut either of us with it."

  "I know what I'm doing," said Pickle.

  "Get back into formation," said Torch. "I think we're almost to the outside wall. Hopefully there will be some stairs there."

  They got back into their triangle formation and continued down the hall. Within a few meters they hit the outside wall, and just to their left were a pair of ramps. One led up to the next level and the other led down.

  "The little bit of Anthrak in me says that we go up," said Beatrix.

  "Up it is," replied Torch. "Watch your heads. I have a feeling we're going to find more of our many-legged friends upstairs."

  They made it up the stairs and found themselves in an entirely different world. Almost the whole space was open, with just a few columns to support the floor above. It was lit by an eerie green glow, emitted from disk-shaped creatures that crawled slowly across the ceiling. As her eyes adjusted to the murky light Beatrix realized that not only were the ceilings covered, so were the floors. The creatures on the floor were Anthrak. There was no getting around them. They covered every centimeter of the floor and in some places were piled several high.

  "Do we keep going up, then?" asked Torch.

  "I wish I could say yes," said Beatrix, pointing toward the center of the room. "If you squint, you'll see a circle of big creatures. I think they are likely to be heavily armed because they are protecting the queen."

  "Do we think there are other things lurking in the shadows around here?" asked Pickle.

  "It's safe to assume we'll run into more of your sword-wielding friends," Beatrix said. "I also wouldn't recommend falling down. The Anthrak are pretty helpless on their own, but if you lie around, they will try and attach to you." Both Pickle and Torch shuddered. Beatrix gave them a tight-lipped grin. "I thought you'd like that extra little bit of incentive."

  "I think it would be best to stay in formation for as long as possible," said Torch. "Approach with one of those pillars between us and the queen's guards, and hold off firing until they take notice of us."

  They probably would have solidified their plan more if one of the spider creatures hadn't leapt out at them from the shadows. It swung its sword in a high arc that Pickle ducked just in time. Her blond hair whipped around her head as she spun and cut the creature down with a swipe across its neck. Beatrix and Torch stood there gaping. "I think that's enough planning," said Pickle. "Don't you?"

  Torch and Beatrix formed up around her and took the leading edge of the triangle since they had the guns. Beatrix took her first tentative step onto the writhing mass of Anthrak. It wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. They didn't feel much different under her feet than the strange floor did. As long as she didn't think too much about it.

  One of the tentacles they used to connect to their hosts wrapped around her ankle. She let out an involuntary squeal. She choked it off, but it was enough to draw the attention of the guards in the center of the room. The creatures let out a bellow that was so deep it was felt more as a rumble in the chest than heard. Beatrix kicked the Anthrak off her ankle. "So much for the plan," she said. "Don't stand still. That bastard grabbed me."

  That's when all hell broke loose. At least three of the spiders lunged at them at the same time, appearing out of the darkness like wraiths. Pickle sprung into action, swinging her sword and diving into the fray. Beatrix just caught sight of her mad grin before she danced away into the darkness and the sounds of creatures in pain followed. Beatrix took one of the creatures down with a shot to the head and stepped to the side as its body toppled where she had stood. More of the spiders boiled out of the darkness and were met with rounds from Torch's rifle.

  "We've got to move," said Torch, and headed directly toward the center of the room and the queen. Beatrix fell into step beside him and took down another of the spiders with two shots to its chest. "Pickle," Torch called. There was no answer, but spiders kept shrieking in the darkness. Another sword slashed out and caught a piece of Torch's leg. He yelped in pain and then put its owner down.

  "We can't wait for her," said Beatrix. "They know where we are. They're just going to keep coming at us." She caught Torch's nod and marched forward over the bodies of the Anthrak. They groped blindly after her. "We just have to kill the queen and it's all over."

  Ahead, the queen's guards stalked toward them. The closer they came, the more horrifying they looked. She'd studied biology in her search to understand more about the Colarians and none of what she'd read had prepared her for them. Their heads looked like the horrible fish you only found in the deepest parts of the ocean; all sharp, exposed teeth and huge cloudy eyes. From the neck down they were slab upon slab of muscle, with short legs and long arms that held guns the size of Beatrix's leg. Even without the guns, they would be formidable opponents.

  Born of long hours working in close proximity, Torch and Beatrix moved in opposite directions, flanking their opponents without even needing to speak. Torch went right and Beatrix left. There were three fish-faces that had broken off from the main group. Two of them came her direction, the other angling toward Torch.

  Taking on two opponents in a gunfight without any cover wasn't an option. Beatrix ducked behind the last pillar between her and the queen's entourage. She peeked around the side and saw that one fish-face was on target to pass right by her. It would come between her and the other one, a perfect scenario. The leeches covering the floor pa
rted before them and then closed behind.

  Beatrix returned to her hiding spot and waited, doing her best to keep her breathing calm with the leeches swarming around her feet. She had the element of surprise.

  "We know you're here," said a lisping voice, only a few steps away. She wasn't sure how they could talk with such a nasty mouthful of teeth. "We can smell your stink."

  It made her want to check its location again, but she resisted the urge. That was probably what it wanted, for her to reveal herself. If it knew she was behind the pillar, it would have attacked.

  Sure enough, she heard the leeches slither out of the way, indicating its approach. Beatrix took a steadying breath, and the tip of fish-face's gun hovered into view. When his meaty arm was visible, Beatrix shot her gun into the thickest part of the muscle. There was an inhuman shriek and the huge weapon dropped to the floor. Beatrix stepped into the open and fired two rounds into the creature's gaping maw. It dropped like a puppet with its strings cut. Now she just had to find the other fish-face.

  She spun around in time to see it charge at her from the other side of the pillar, its mouth hanging open, issuing an angry hiss. Rather than gun her down, the creature held the weapon up, intent on smashing her in the head with the butt. Beatrix had just enough time to dive out of the way, and immediately regretted it. Slick Anthrak flesh enveloped her body, tentacles groping for purchase on her skin. She rolled to her feet and tore one of the slimy bastards off the back of her neck and flung it.

  Fish-face number two remembered the object in his hand was a gun and leveled it at her chest. Beatrix had just enough time to cringe when a sword sprouted from his chest like a gruesome flower popping out of the soil. The gun fired, making a booming cough, but the shots went wide of their mark by several feet. Fish-face number two collapsed, revealing Pickle behind him, a wicked grin on her face. She was splashed from head to toe in blood and other less easily identified stains. There was a cut on her leg, but otherwise she was in good health.