Ghost Ship
Page 9
Sonya took the weapon, testing its weight in her hand. She’d have to be extra careful not to damage the hull if she shot this thing. “Where did you get it?”
“I brought it back from my last tour of duty.”
Sonya met his worried gaze. “Don’t worry. I can handle anything I find.” She held up the weapon. “Especially now.”
Dirk nuzzled her cheek and placed a light kiss on her lips. “Just be careful.”
“I promise.”
* * * *
Sonya took her time crawling through the ventilation system. She’d crawl a few feet, pushing the blaster ahead of her, and then pause to listen for any activity. She didn’t hear a sound, and that worried her more than the prospect of hysterical yelling and screaming. Quiet suggested bad things had happened and she was too late to stop them. Finally, after what seemed like hours, she reached the spot where Logan had removed the grate and jumped down. Even without seeing the rest of the room, Sonya knew the area was a disaster.
The sickening stink of burnt flesh and old blood flooded her senses, and it was all Sonya could do not to hurl the meager contents of her stomach. When she’d calmed a little, she slung the blaster over her shoulder and eased her way down.
The compartment and passageway looked like a slaughterhouse. The dead were everywhere, but that wasn’t the most disturbing thing about it all. The most alarming thing was that some of them, even those who should have been dead from their injuries, were still twitching. The twitching must be due to that damned alien parasite. We need to get rid of these bodies immediately.
Sonya started the grisly task of searching for Logan. Her radio crackled, which scared the crap out of her. “What’s going on, Sonya?” Dirk asked.
She grabbed it off her hip. “Everything’s cool except for all the corpses. I haven’t found Logan yet.”
“Can I have the crew start cutting open these hatches?”
“Hold off on that for a moment. Let me make sure everything’s secure. I’ll get back to you.”
Sonya kept the blaster pointed in front of her. Taking great care not to step in any blood, she crept along looking for survivors. Then she rounded a corner and came into an auxiliary engine room. There, sitting at the controls looking like he’d been attacked by wolves, was Logan. His hand rested on the bio-ID that controlled the emergency hatch to his right. Sonya froze. The command “Execute?” was illuminated in bright neon green.
Logan’s finger twitched.
“Logan? Are you all right?” Sonya asked, not moving from where she stood. If he activated that command, she had twenty seconds to get the hell out of there or be sucked into space.
Suddenly his eyes popped open. “Don’t come near me!”
She held up one hand. “I won’t, but why don’t you come away from there?”
His features softened. “Oh, Sonya, it’s you. I’m sorry I didn’t believe that it was an alien ship. That was very stupid of me.”
“I’m not worried about any of that now, Captain. I’m worried about you. Why don’t you come over here, and we can talk about it?”
“I can’t. I’m infected, Sonya. I can feel that damned parasite inside my brain.” He balled his fists and slammed them into his skull several times. “It’s over for me, just like it’s over for all these other poor slobs.” Logan pointed a shaky finger at her. “But it’s not too late for you and the others. I’m giving you five minutes to get back to the other side of the ship. After that, you’re on your own.”
“Logan, what are you planning to do?”
“What the other aliens had to do to defeat this thing. I’m going to flush myself and all these infected into space.”
“Logan, you’re not thinking straight. It doesn’t have to be this way,” Sonya said.
“Nonsense,” Logan shouted, slurring his speech, “it’s the only way. Now get out of here!”
Sonya took off running for the vent, jumping over bodies as she went. She had to get into the ventilation system in enough time to close an isolation hatch near where she’d gone in or everyone on the whole damned ship would lose oxygen and die.
“Sonya, what’s going on?” Dirk asked. His voice was tense with worry.
“I’m coming out. Logan’s going to blow the emergency hatch. Stand by!”
Sonya took a running jump at the rim of the ventilation duct and scrambled inside. Her pants ripped on a metal edge, but she didn’t have time to worry about that right now. Scrambling through the narrow vent, she made it to the isolation hatch and squeezed through as fast as she could. Once on the other side, she pulled it closed and manually sealed it. One second later there was a loud thump on the other side, and the hatch bowed outward. Sonya rested her back against the wall and sighed with relief.
“What the hell is going on in there?” Dirk shouted into the radio.
“Nothing,” Sonya said as she tried to catch her breath. “I’m fine, but we’re going to need to send someone in a suit to close the emergency hatch. How is everything going there?”
“You mean except for the bodies drifting past the window? We’re doing as well as can be expected.”
“I’ll be right there.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
They were finally heading home. Sonya sat in the captain’s chair watching the inky darkness of space. A bunch of stars freckled the velvet black, looking more like nighttime decorations in a child’s room than actual stars light years away. The crew around her was busy, more lighthearted than Sonya had ever seen them. And the feeling was contagious, for she, too, felt like a cancer had been removed from her gut.
As far as fame and fortune went, they were definitely going to be set for life. Because even though they hadn’t been able to bring back the alien ship, they had the skeletons, and that was plenty. Sonya couldn’t wait to get back to her old neighborhood and dig into a real vegetarian dish.
Dirk came over and stood next to her chair. Sonya’s cheeks warmed, but she didn’t look at him. He was just too damned sexy. She was afraid she might jump his bones right here. “Everything going okay, Captain?” he asked.
Sonya couldn’t help it. She grinned at him calling her Captain. As the highest-ranking survivor, Sonya had assumed the temporary title with the crew’s blessing. The Earth Central Command had even expressed an interest in making it permanent. All she needed to do was pass the review board. “So far, so good. I was just thinking about going to the mess decks to get some lunch. Would you like to join me?”
“Do I have to eat rabbit food?”
She rolled her eyes. “No, you can have your heart attack special.”
“Then I’d be happy to accompany you.”
“Whittmeyer,” Sonya said. “You have the captain’s chair.”
Whittmeyer bounded over like a happy Lab going for a car ride. “Yes, ma’am.”
* * * *
It was early, and the lunch crowd hadn’t started coming in yet. It was just the way Sonya liked it. She hated having to hunt for a quiet place to sit. Since Dirk had voluntarily turned the command of the USS Mastodon over to her, she could have opted to eat with the other officers on the upper decks, but she liked it down here better. Old habits died hard.
After going through the mess line and making their choices, Dirk led them to a corner table with a huge bay window to their left. Sonya found it kind of romantic, or at least as romantic as anything could be on a cargo ship.
Dirk picked up a piece of funny bacon and gnawed the edge. “I’m afraid I have a confession to make.”
“Is this going to upset me?”
“I’m not sure.”
Sonya speared a broccoli floret with her fork. “Okay, what?”
“Before we were together, I used to go into your stateroom and steal your panties. I, um, would use them, wash them, and bring them back.”
Sonya wasn’t too surprised by this revelation. She’d been suspicious someone had been coming in and messing around in her room. She just would have never suspected him. Dirk
just seemed so . . . formal. Sonya chewed a carrot. She swallowed. “Used it for what, exactly?”
Sonya knew very well what the Marine was using it for. She just wanted him to have to confess. Dirk squirmed. “Personal reasons.”
“Were you putting my panties on and pretending you were me?”
Dirk’s jaw clinched, and his eyes narrowed. “No.”
Sonya nodded sagely. “What were you doing with them then?”
“I was using them to masturbate.”
“That’s kind of juvenile, isn’t it?” She wasn’t disgusted. In fact, quite the opposite, she was flattered. But she did like toying with Dirk, and this was too good to pass up.
His neck flushed a dark shade of pink. “Probably. Anyway, I just wanted to apologize.”
“I think you should be punished,” she said.
“Punished how?” Dirk said, indignant.
“You should do my laundry for a week.”
“A whole week?”
Sonya smiled. She knew he really didn’t mind. He was constantly doing his own laundry, so adding hers wouldn’t be such an inconvenience. “Yes, and if you give me any more lip, I’m going to have to tie you up and teach you some manners.”
Dirk lowered his fork and smiled. “You promise?”
Sonya couldn’t help it. She laughed. “Yes, Dirk. I promise.”
The End
About the Author
Michelle has long been a fan of erotic romance, science fiction, and horror. She is a member of the Winter Park Writers Group and has authored many novels and short stories for the Internet. When she’s not writing, she’s spending time with her family and her evil Irish Terrier, Guiness.