by Simon E Bond
"Shit Carter, they’re eating away at my fucking boot,” said Charlie, panicking.
"Freeze!" sounded a guard's voice.
"Stay right there; you are under arrest,” replied the second guard.
Charlie had to make a split second decision, if he waiting any longer he would be losing his foot and maybe the rest of him.
"Freeze!" repeated the guard.
“Shit”, we’re fucked thought Carter as he armed his weapon.
All of a sudden Charlie fired a couple of shots down the shaft; the blinding flashes shone all around and the sound of gun fire exploding in a rage.
"Issac?" said Tablo.
His friend fell backwards and landed hard on the floor, blood pouring out of his skull with his brains scattered all around.
"No!" shouted Tablo.
He started to move towards Charlie and Carter until a bullet hit him in his kneecap and he landed in a heap.
"Nice shot, partner. Now hurry, we have to get out of here,” said Carter, grabbing Charlie by his arm.
Both of them had broken free and started to move to safety. Charlie managed to turn around and look back at Tablo.
"I am so sorry; please forgive me," he said when their eyes met.
The bots covered Tablo's eyes and body devoured his skin, moving over him like a rolling carpet. A muffled scream was quickly followed by an eerie silence.
"Wait up, stop,” said Charlie panting.
"Okay bitch, what is it this time,” replied Carter as he stood still.
"I killed a man; he did nothing to me. I…”
"Listen, Charlie, it was us or them; he was going to blow you away and me too. Either way, you’re dead man at the moment unless we get that cargo,” he replied checking the area ahead.
With nothing left to say, they carried on their way although Charlie was still physically shaking. Guilt washed over him; he was a digger and now had become a murderer.
The air shaft they were in started to widen and the temperature was increasing; a stagnant stench filled the air around them.
"Jesus, what is that,” said Charlie, covering his nose.
"We are getting near the ships engine area; that smell is just engine fumes,” replied Carter.
He reached into his pack and threw an oxygen mask at Charlie.
"Put that on, I don't want to take any risks,” said Carter as he placed another mask over his own face. Charlie was quick to repeat the same action.
"It's been a while, sir; should we go look for them?" asked Lorna.
"Where the hell are they?" the sergeant said as he paced back and forth thinking about his next move.
"What exactly are we dealing with here?" Lorna asked no one in particular as she waited for action.
The sergeant turned around to face the rest of his crew; he had picked up their last position and knew where the intruders would be headed.
"They’ll be making their way to the engine room; the shaft leads in that direction. We’ll have to start a search for Tablo and Issac later; we are running out of time,” said the sergeant.
He had to steady his feet as the ship made yet another turn; they would be heading out of the system soon.
"There goes our captain again," said a guard standing next to Lorna.
"He’s trying to save his cargo; it’s not his job to worry about us grunts," she replied with a shake of her head.
They moved towards the engine room and followed a staircase to reach the belly of the ship. The lights were dim but the odd crew member was seen running past them after having been ordered to make their way to the deck.
They had reached the entrance to the engine room; the ships engines could be heard behind the door.
The sergeant then ordered the crew to assume their positions before he reached forward to place his hand carefully against the switch on the door. Pushing the switch, the door slid open to reveal that the area inside was pretty much empty. It was more or less open space with a few engines scattered around next to abandoned crew stations.
"Shh, quiet; they know we’re in here; keep still,” whispered Carter as he crouched.
Charlie was hiding just behind a workstation next to him. With his gun in hand, he was still shaking while thinking about the life he had ended earlier.
Carter stood up slightly and aimed his gun. He was looking into the crosshairs and could see guards starting to enter as they took their positions ready for a fight.
“Must be at least eight of them, we have no choice but to stand our ground”, he thought.
Looking around at Charlie, he hoped he was ready but knew his nerves may not hold out.
"Get some good cover; we’ll weed them out,” said the sergeant.
He spotted the heat coming off two figures hiding in the corner and reasoned that the fire fight would be over quickly.
"Ready, Charlie?" said Carter, pulling a grenade from his belt.
"What the fuck are you doing? Are you crazy?" whispered Charlie.
He pulled the pin out from the grenade and threw it towards the guards while he and Charlie quickly lay on the floor to take cover.
One of the guards felt something fly past his head but was unsure of what it was until the object hit the side of the wall and came to a stop right next to his feet. The light on the grenade was flashing red—it was too late.
"Grenade get…"
He didn’t get to finish his sentence as a bright orange blast filled the area, smoke bellowed upwards, and shrapnel flew in all directions. Two guards were killed instantly as pieces hit them in the face, blood sprayed onto the walls and floor as bits of bodies scattered around.
"Let's roll!" shouted Lorna. Adjusting her weapon, she started to fire when she saw where Charlie and Carter were hiding.
"Over there, Sergeant; there are two of them!" she shouted over the gunfire exploding all around her.
The sergeant turned his rifle and fired in the direction Lorna was aiming for; with two men already down, he wanted this over fast.
"Shit, Carter, what are we going to do? We’re sitting ducks here,” shouted Charlie.
"You could start firing back,” he replied.
Charlie had no choice; he had to follow Carter’s order. He was in his first true fire fight and bullets were flying all around him.
"Watch yourself; get down,” screamed Carter.
"I can't get a good shot at this angle," replied Charlie.
A guard started to run in Charlie's direction and he tried to fire but his gun was jammed.
Charlie took advantage of the situation and fired rounds back repeatedly. The guard spun around as the bullets hit him before he landed in a heap on the floor, dead.
"Nice one, Charlie, you killed him,” said Carter grinning.
"Shut up, just shut up!" Charlie squealed.
He was starting to lose it; this was not him, he never wanted to be in this situation. It made him more than ever want to kill Stout.
More guards entered the area than the two of them could handle. They both moved away from the crates that were holding their cover while Carter provided covering fire for them both.
“He’s wasting ammo” thought Charlie as he placed a fresh magazine into his own weapon.
The lights above them in the ships corridor started to flash red; the distress call sounded up again.
"Come on, keep moving,” shouted Carter anxiously.
Huddled close together, they carried on through another corridor. They were losing their bearings as they turned many corners but then came to a stop at a pair of double doors.
"Hold it right there," said a guard firmly, his gun aimed at the both of them.
They had reached a dead end at the bottom of the corridor. A sign behind the guard read Main Engine Core Room—the guard was not going anywhere. He could easily have chosen to abandon his post with what was going on, but decided against it.
"Drop your weapons!" shouted the guard, holdi
ng his weapon with a firm grip.
"We don't want any trouble, we just need to take what we came for and get out of here,” said Charlie nervously.
“Too late for that now, we are past it”, thought Carter trying to access the situation.
"I am not going to play games. For the last time, drop… your… weapons!" ordered the guard.
He placed his finger over the trigger and aimed for the two of them then suddenly became distracted by the sound of approaching footsteps.
“Shit, they reached us” thought Charlie as he closed his eyes and awaited death.
Reaching for his belt and unclipping a stun grenade, Carter threw it over the guard; the guard did not even have time to flinch before a loud bang echoed all around the three of them. A blinding white flash filled the small open space and the guard held both hands to his face, screaming in pain. Carter wasted no time with the opportunity and released a small burst of fire. The shots ripped holes into the guard’s chest and he collapsed onto the floor.
"Jesus, Carter, that was close but thanks,” said Charlie reluctantly. Although hostile with each other, Charlie did have to give him credit.
"It's got to be here somewhere,” said Carter. Kneeling down next to the dead guard, he searched through his clothing and the man’s blood was pumping out all over.
"What a fucking mess,” said Carter.
The sound of footsteps stopped and voices could be heard down the other end of the corridor. It was Lorna and her crew; trying to catch them off guard, the sound of running was replaced with walking that would eventually reach their target.
"Got it, damn it," said Carter as he wiped the blood from the guard’s key card onto his trouser leg. "Hate other people’s blood, the precautions I take when disposing of Stout's prey is unbelievable.”
Looking away, Charlie turned his attention towards the approaching footsteps; he wanted to get the hell off this ship.
"Let's move and get out of here,” said Charlie.
"Well we are both fucking dead if we go back empty handed to Stout,” said Carter sliding the key card against the door slot.
The door quickly slid open. After they entered and it closed behind them, Carter left the key card in the slot then snapped it in half.
"Should buy us some time while I try to figure out our next move,” said Carter.
The room they had entered vibrated with a constant humming noise.
Large glass tanks covered each corner, and inside were glass tubes. Below the tanks were holes cut into the floor for each tube.
"Listen, don't be firing any kind of weapon in here; if one of those tubes or tanks catches a bullet we’re fucked,” said Carter.
"How do you mean?" Charlie asked; he was out of his depth on this one.
"How do I mean?" repeated Carter. "I’ve raided these types of ships before; any damage to those things and the ship starts to shut down and go into self-destruct mode."
Charlie rolled his eyes away from Carter and thought, “Shit”, we are so fucked.
He didn’t have time to ponder their dilemma; they were trapped and thinking too much would get them both killed.
A loud thud at the door caused the two of them to back away slightly. The thud was followed by the muffled voices of the guards.
"There is no point trying to run; you are cornered. Surrender your weapons and you can make it both out of there alive,” said the sergeant sending a blow to the door with the butt of his gun.
"He’s fucking lying; can't trust these guards,” whispered Carter.
He and Charlie made the decision to take cover where best they could. With the blue ultra violet light that shone from the tanks lighting up the area, there wasn’t any darkness to hide under within the room.
Lorna crouched down next to the sergeant as she tried to open the door but it wouldn’t budge.
"They’ve snapped the key card; there’s no way in manually,” she said.
"Always a way into anything,” replied the sergeant as he gestured to two guards beside him.
"Get that thing open quickly; we’re running out of time,” he said and stepped aside.
One of the guards opened a bag attached to him, pulled out a blowtorch and said, "They won't be able to hide for much longer."
An insertion was quickly made at the bottom of the doors and the guard began slowly working his way up as sparks began to fly.
"Start to make a few blows," said the guard when he had finished cutting into part of the door.
A second guard took a huge swing with his gun, pieces of metal broke away landing onto the floor.
"Shit, they’re breaking through," said Charlie from where he was hiding.
"Just take it easy and be careful; remember, one shot at those tanks and this ship will blow,” replied Carter. He was desperate for Charlie to understand the seriousness of the situation.
The sparks at the door had stopped and guards could be seen breaking through. They had been ordered to suppress fire because it was too risky. Carter was less than ten feet away to the left of Charlie and had run out of ideas; it was Charlie's turn to think of something.
Turning to face Carter, Charlie said, “There must be a way out of here!".
Carter just shook his head. He was unsure; there were no air vents for them to crawl into this time.
"Come on Carter, get the hell up. We have to find a way out,” said Charlie, grabbing Carter’s arm.
They started to run towards the other end of the long and narrow room. The guards were screaming at them to surrender, but they kept moving. As soon as they had moved a few paces, Carter’s belt caught and snagged onto the side of the wall and one of the pins shot out from his stun grenade. He quickly removed it and threw it in the direction of the guards.
"Get down,” he shouted and they took cover just as a loud bang and a blinding flash exploded.
A rookie guard ran through the battered door and in a blind panic started to shoot off some rounds. It was a costly mistake as the white light from the grenade blinded his vision.
"Stupid bastard!" screamed the sergeant as he kicked the rookie’s gun away from his hand. "You’re here to follow fucking orders!"
The blinding light started to slowly fade away, but bullet holes had already penetrated two of the tanks. The lights on the side of each tank flicked on one by one and the chain reaction had started as the cylinders slowly descended into the holes beneath them. "WARNING,WARNING, SHUTDOWN COMMENCING" sounded the ship's main computer.
Lorna was the first to regain her vision from the light; she could make out the figures of Carter and Charlie.
"Stay behind me," she said as she led the way with the sergeant right behind her.
The ship’s computer repeated the message once again causing some of the guards to start to fall back and leave the area.
"Abort this; we need to abandon ship. I can't risk my men,” the sergeant said turning to face Lorna.
"But, sir, they can't get away with it. We have…”
She was cut short when suddenly the sergeant’s head snapped backwards and blood hit Lorna in the face. Her body froze with shock as the sergeant’s body hit the ground, blood spurting out from the side of his skull while his body twitched.
"What the hell did you do?" said Charlie.
"Bingo! Always wanted to take out a rank," replied Carter with a sadistic laugh.
Charlie was left reeling inside as some guards started to make a run towards them.
Gunfire exploded next to Charlie’s ear; lucky it hit the steel beside him.
"Don't just stand there! Kill them,” said Carter as he ran past Charlie like a mad man firing in all directions.
One of the guards was hit in the face with bullets, spraying pieces of bone and flesh into the air. Another guard was also killed in the fight, leaving just Lorna and a remaining guard.
Another series of shots rang out and Charlie pressed himself against the wall for cover As soon as
there was a pause in the attack, he slipped to one side and got a look at the shooter. The guard dropped an empty magazine and slammed a new one into the bottom of his assault rifle. By the time he had his gun loaded and ready, Charlie was sending one round after the next through his chest. The guard crumpled and fell, sprawling out over the floor.
“Carter!” he hissed, keeping an eye out for any more guards.
Charlie dove to where the man was hiding and grabbed him by the shoulder, only to have Carter’s body slump to one side and crash to the floor. Blood pooled from the man’s ear and Charlie’s chest suddenly felt tight. He pulled Carter onto his back and looked him in the eye. “Son of a bitch,” he moaned as Carter’s hollow eyes stared off into the ceiling.
In the distance he could hear the sound of boots and shouting voices. Charlie took the extra ammunition off Carter’s belt then slipped the equipment and his bag up and around Carter’s limp head. He then squeezed the dead man’s arm and made a run from the area when he noticed that he had found an exit after all. There was no time to waste with Lorna fast approaching.
Charlie worked his way down a hall, digging the map out and checking his position. As luck would have it, the screen said he was right on top of a hanger bay. A quick scan showed several doors and Charlie tried one after another until he reached the third door.
As Charlie moved to the third door, hot metal pressed against the back of his head and he froze.
“You,” Lorna growled. “Of all the pieces of shit in the world, you had to be the one to survive? Drop your weapon,”
Charlie let his rifle slip from his hand and clatter to the floor. “Now turn around,” she ordered. “I want to see your face as the life seeps from your body,” Charlie turned slowly, hands raised to shoulder height. “I want to watch your eyes as…”
Charlie knew it was time to move or die. He slapped Lorna’s hand away and landed a punch across her cheek. His hand burned after crashing bone against bone, but he still snatched her by the wrist and drove his shoulder into her chest. Lorna grunted and fell, Charlie falling down on top of her. Her pistol fired once and she twisted to get the barrel pointed at Charlie’s head.
