by M. R. Forbes
She waited until they were almost at the fork in the hallway, and then she turned the corner, leading with the sword. It slashed neatly through the head of one soldier, and she was saved from being shot by the other when Benhil popped out and blasted him, throwing his attack off enough that Abbey had time to decapitate him as well.
“Seven?” Benhil said.
“Hopefully,” Abbey replied.
“The power of positive thinking.”
They kept going, making their way through the Destructor. They came across more dead crew, most of them in the corridors, a few in private quarters. They killed three more members of the Fifth.
The red alert klaxons stopped wailing. The lights stopped flashing.
“They cleared the alert?” Airi said.
“They can’t clear it,” Abbey replied. “Only a senior officer has the codes. The Adjunct and her Captain must be back onboard.”
“What do you think they’ll do when they see the bodies?”
“Try to get to the bridge and contact the Republic,” Abbey said. “Or their boss.”
“We can’t afford to have the Republic bearing down on us here. Did you see how many battleships were out there?”
“Three, counting the Driver,” Abbey said. “Captain Mann’s ship. I don’t know if they would get involved.”
“They might have to,” Benhil said.
“We have to get to the bridge first. It’s the only way.”
They picked up the pace, running through the corridors, becoming more reckless. Abbey ranged ahead of them, feeling for the Gift, sensing it in the Converts before coming upon them. She dispatched them efficiently, knocking them off balance before using the katana to remove their heads.
There should have been three remaining by the time they reached the bridge. They found one of the Fifth there, one of the other Curlatins. He was bigger and stronger than the others, but he was also unarmored and outnumbered, and they removed him without much trouble.
Abbey was still standing over his headless corpse when Trillisin and Nilin reached them, storming onto the bridge with heavy plasma rifles cradled in their thin arms.
“You,” Nilin said, swinging her rifle Benhil’s way. “I trusted you. We had a deal.”
“Wait,” Benhil said. “It’s not what you think. We’re the good guys.”
“Your ship is under siege, Captain,” Abbey said. “Not by us. By a man named Thraven. The same man who destroyed the station you’ve been collecting pieces of. The Eighteenth is under his control.”
“Do you expect me to believe that?” Captain Trillisin, another Atmo, said. “I should kill you where you stand.”
“You’re free to try,” Abbey said. “But I’m telling the truth. I kept their commander, Sergeant Coli, alive so you could hear it straight from the asshole’s mouth.”
“His word against yours?” Nilin said. “A soldier in the Republic Military versus a wanted fugitive? Put down your weapons. We’ll let the Republic sort this out.”
“Don’t,” Abbey said as they stepped forward.
“Why not? If you’re innocent, you certainly aren’t going to shoot us.”
Trillisin moved for the command chair. Abbey stepped toward him, but Nilin turned her rifle in her direction.
“I can’t let you contact the Republic,” Abbey said.
“Then you’ll have to stop me,” Trillisin said. “You’re free to try as well. But you know who we are and who we work for. Consider it carefully.”
Abbey took another step before suddenly sensing the Gift, coming in fast.
“Get down,” she shouted, turning toward the entrance to the bridge.
Nilin didn’t listen. The bullets tore into her from behind, slamming her forward and onto the ground. Erlan and Benhil fired back as Abbey reached the hatch, catching up to the Converts as they absorbed the Rejects’ attack.
She grabbed one of them, shoving him back as she brought the sword up and through the neck of the other, taking a hard punch to the ribs before countering with a blow of her own. She heard more gunfire behind her as she ran the soldier through, pinning him to the wall and ripping the rifle from his hands.
He writhed on the spike, reaching out for her, his face expressionless, his eyes gray. He didn’t speak or show any signs of real intelligence. It was as though his consciousness had been replaced with simple instructions, like the kind loaded into bots.
Abbey left him there, walking back toward the front of the bridge. Airi was there; her face pained as she stared at the command station.
“I guess we’re more alike than I wanted to admit,” she said, dropping her rifle to the floor.
Abbey looked at the station. Trillisin was on the ground in front of it. He wasn’t moving.
“You shot him?”
“He was going to contact the Republic.”
“He was innocent.”
Airi was silent for a few seconds. Then she shrugged. “I’ve decided you’re right, Queenie. Nobody is innocent.”
Abbey didn’t remember having said that, but she couldn’t disagree.
“Erlan, do you know how to fly this thing?” she asked. “Our regular pilot is indisposed at the moment.”
“Uh. It’s a little different than a Grabber, but I imagine the basics are the same, and I’ve read a few manuals and watched a few tutorials.”
“Tutorials?” Benhil said. “If Lucifer were dead, he’d be rolling in his grave.”
“Do your best,” Abbey said. “Get us somewhere safe so we can rendezvous with the Faust. I want as much distance between us, Feru, and the Crescent Haulers as we can get.”
“Aye, Captain,” Erlan said, walking over to the command station. He paused at the sight of Trillisin’s corpse. “Uh.”
“It’s a dead body,” Benhil said. “If you’re going to be a Reject, you’d better get used to it.”
Erlan’s face paled, but he managed to get himself seated around the body. He stared at the controls for a few seconds, and then tentatively began using the terminal.
Abbey stared at Airi until she returned the gaze, making eye contact. It wasn’t necessarily a look of agreement, but it was one of understanding.
23
Abbey stared at the Convert pinned to the bulkhead. She had once known it as Private Lesko, an average looking Marine who had blended into the Platoon so well that she had rarely ever noticed him. While the body was his, there seemed to be no other hint of him now. He continued to reach out for her, trying to grab her from his position against the wall, held there by the katana that she had shoved so hard into him it had gone right through and into the alloy. She could feel the Gift pushing up against her as well, trying to knock her down or pull her forward, to affect her in some negative way. While Illiard had been able to use it to grab her back on Hell, it wasn’t strong enough to do anything to her anymore.
“Why don’t you just knock its block off and be done with it?” Benhil asked, standing nearby. “It's obvious there’s no soul left in there.”
“They came onto this ship. They didn’t stand out enough to make the Haulers suspicious. Lesko had to be in there at some point.”
Benhil stuck his hand in the Convert’s face. It leaned forward, trying to bite him.
“Yeah well, he’s gone now.”
“Queenie,” Erlan said. “I’ve got Ruby on the comm.”
Abbey turned, looking to the front of the bridge. Ruby was projected there, sitting at the controls of the Faust.
“Queenie,” the synthetic said. “I’ve been expecting you.”
“We’ve had a minor setback,” Abbey said.
“Minor?” Benhil said. “The Haulers are going to think we stole their ship. I wouldn’t call that minor.”
“There’s nothing we can do about that now. Erlan, send Ruby the coordinates.”
“Haulers?” Ruby said. “As in, Crescent Haulers?”
“Yes. Benhil bartered a ride to you, but there was a complication.”
“Complicat
ion? Do you have to minimize everything?” Benhil asked.
“Do you have to catastrophize everything?” Abbey replied.
“I’m sorry, Queenie, but this is my definition of a catastrophe.”
“We’re still alive.”
“For now. Wait until the Hauler’s head honcho gets wind of this shit.”
“I’ve sent the coordinates,” Erlan said.
“Received,” Ruby said. “I’ll meet you there in twenty minutes.”
“Any word from Captain Mann?” Abbey asked.
“Not yet.”
“Gant?”
“Nothing.”
Abbey frowned. “Roger. Queenie out.” She motioned to Erlan to break the link. Ruby’s projection vanished. “I’m ready to go to FTL when you are, Erlan.”
“Aye, ma’am,” Erlan said.
His hand moved across the control surface. A moment later, the cargo ship blinked away, leaving the support vessels that were collecting the remaining debris behind.
Abbey turned her attention back to Private Lesko. “Jester, do you have a knife?”
“Yeah, why?”
She held her hand out. He dropped the hilt into it. She took the knife and stabbed Lesko in the eye, pulling the blade out and watching. A line of blood started to run down the Convert’s face, but only for a moment. The damaged eye was replaced with the same silvery material as she had seen replace Sergeant Ray’s brain.
“Whatever it is, it keeps them alive,” Abbey said.
“Alive, or just moving?” Benhil asked.
“Good point. Fury, I want you and Jester to head to the hangar and grab your gear. I want a full sweep of the ship. I’m pretty sure we got all of these things, but we need to be sure.”
“Roger,” Airi said.
“Erlan, you have the bridge. I want to go check on Bastion and Pik, and have a little talk with Coli.”
“Aye, ma’am.”
“By the way, we need to get you a call sign. No offense, but Erlan isn’t doing it for me.”
“My mother liked it, ma’am.”
Abbey smiled. “You aren’t officially one of us until you have a nick. And please stop calling me ma’am. You make me feel old.”
“Aye, ma - Queenie.”
Abbey left the bridge, making her way back the way they had come, able to navigate to the mess using their path of destruction. When she arrived, she found Bastion up and alert, sitting beside Pik against the wall, both of them keeping an eye on Coli. The synth was in pieces nearby, a nasty looking cooking knife in a dismembered hand.
“Bastard tried to stab me,” Pik said when she entered. “Like I haven’t been through enough already.”
“How is your arm?” Abbey asked.
Pik shook his head. “My hand is wasted. My arm is broken. It hurts.”
“Big baby,” Bastion said.
“What about you, Lucifer? Are you okay?”
“I think I have a concussion. That Gift thing hits hard.”
“It can. Okay, we’ll see about getting you a prosthetic as soon as we can.”
Pik smiled. “I’ve been looking for a reason to upgrade. This is going to handicap me until then.”
“Hopefully we’ll stay out of trouble for a little while.”
“Famous last words,” Bastion said. “You attract trouble like a pleasure bot attracts horny men.”
“It isn’t all bad,” Abbey said. “We might be able to learn something from this turn of events.”
“You should write a manual. How to Make Enemies Across the Galaxy. It’ll be a bestseller.”
Abbey smirked and walked over to where Coli was sitting, still and silent.
“Done whining?” she asked.
“Frag you, Lieutenant. I wish you had never found your way into my platoon.”
“That makes two of us.” She sat down at the table beside him. “Now, why don’t you tell me all about Gloritant Thraven, and how you came to work for him?”
“Why would I do that? I’m as good as dead already.”
“You can get implants to replace your eyes.”
“I don’t mean because I’m blind. Thraven will kill me when he can. Or he’ll send someone to do it. You have no idea how deep into the Republic his influence goes. This isn’t some two-bit idiot who crawled out of the ground to make trouble. He’s been planning this for years.”
“So I’ve heard. He also seems to be a man of his word. He made promises to you for getting the mainframe off Grudin.”
“My family is taken care of. That’s all I’m going to say. And he got me out of Hell.”
“You don’t care about what he did to the rest of the Fifth?”
“What did he do to them?”
“The way he changed them? Giving them the Gift. Making them harder to kill.”
“Thraven surrounded me with a unit of super soldiers. Why the frag would I complain about that?”
“He took away their minds.”
Coli shrugged.
“Do you know how he did it?”
“No. I didn’t see the procedure. Only the results.”
“Were they still able to speak at that point?”
“What do you mean? They can talk. They’re the same crew. A little less free-spirited, maybe.”
“They can’t talk. I’ve got Lesko pinned to the wall on the bridge if you want a demonstration of what Thraven turned them into.”
“What would be the point. I told you, I’m already dead, blind or not blind. Thraven will kill me.”
“Not if I kill him first.”
Coli began laughing, his gravelly growls echoing in the mess as he guffawed at her statement. “You? Thraven told me he’s over five thousand years old, and I believe it. He told me he and his brothers and sisters killed God. But you think you can take him out? Watching him destroy you would be a good reason to see again.”
“Did Thraven tell you anything about the Covenant? Or the Great Return?”
“Only that it was coming, and when it did only those that sided with him would be spared. I was loyal to the Republic, Lieutenant. But I had to be loyal to my family first. I want them to survive what comes next.”
“And what’s that?”
“Don’t tell me you don’t already know?”
“The Fire and the Brimstone, and a whole fleet of ships just like them.”
Coli smiled. “That’s just the start. The vanguard. Gloritant Thraven is clearing a path for the rest.”
“The rest? Where are they coming from? How many?”
“I’m done talking, Lieutenant. You got all I’m going to give. Just enough to make you more worried than you already were.”
“Okay,” Abbey said. She grabbed Coli’s wrist, standing and lifting him easily to his feet. “How badly do you want to live, Sergeant?”
“What do you mean?”
She pulled him over to Pik and Bastion. “Are you two well enough to help me drag this hairy piece of shit over to the nearest airlock?”
“Affirmative,” Bastion said.
“Of course, DQ,” Pik said.
They both stood.
“Airlock?” Coli said. “You wouldn’t?”
“Why not? If you aren’t going to talk, I don’t need you.”
“You’re an Officer of the Republic.”
“No, I’m not. I’m just a con, thanks to you. And do you know what I’ve discovered?”
“What’s that?”
“I like not having to play by the rules.”
Pik grabbed Coli’s other arm, and they dragged him into the hallway.
“I wish you could see all of the dead Haulers out here,” Abbey said. “I wish you could see the damage you’ve done, just so you could get back at me. Considering how badly you blew it.”
“Did I?” Coli asked. “You’re fragged, Cage. If not Thraven, then the Haulers. But it'll be Thraven. You’re going to go after him even after what I said. That’s the kind of individual you are. You crave the danger. Why else would someone with a k
id drop into combat zones?”
“What did you say?” Abbey said, pausing. “How do you know I have a child?”
“Oh. Did I say that out loud?” Coli grunted. “Thraven’s got your full record, warts and all. He shared it with me before the drop on Grudin, just in case I needed something to pull you in. You’ve barely been back to Earth the whole time she’s been growing up. She probably thinks your sister, Liv, is her real mother. Like I said, it’s clear you never wanted to be a parent. You put your life in danger like that all of the time, and for what? Where did it get you in the end?” He laughed again.
They came to one of the docking stations.
“Bastion, can you get that?” Abbey asked, pointing to the airlock controls.
“Sure,” he replied, opening the inner door.
“You really want to die, don’t you, Sergeant?”
“I told you. My family’s taken care of. I’m as good as dead already. Just vent me and get it over with. If you have the stomach for cold-blooded killing?”
Bastion and Pik looked at her, questioning her resolve. She squeezed Coli’s arm harder, pulling him to the hatch and dumping him in. “I’ll give you one more chance to spill what you know about Thraven and his plans.”
“Go frag yourself, Abigail,” Coli said.
Abbey hit the control on the side of the hatch, closing Coli in. He felt his way forward, standing and putting his mangled face to the transparency between them.
“Go ahead, Lieutenant,” Coli shouted. “Do it.”
Abbey stared at the Curlatin. She couldn’t open the outer door until the Destructor was out of FTL. The computer wouldn’t allow it. She had time to change her mind. To reconsider. It was one thing to kill an individual in self-defense. It was another to kill them like this. She had been heading down a dangerous path since she started using the Gift. A path Olus had urged her to take for the sake of the Republic. She could do more good if people were afraid of her. She would have more control.
At the same time, she could feel the anger and the hate permeating her soul, sinking in and sticking there, making it harder for her to let go of it. Did it make her stronger?
