by E. A. James
As they followed closely behind him, the ground beneath their feet began to shake, slowly at first, and then with more force. Kira nearly fell backward but caught herself before she did. Dario did go tumbling, but Thor was there to catch him before he hit the ground.
“What the hell is that?” Aldo asked. “It’s like they’re trying to blow up the whole damn prison.”
A loud siren started to ring, and a mechanical voice came over the intercom proclaiming, “External Security Breach; External Security Breach.”
“They’re in!” Dario said, his face lighting up.
“Then we need to hurry,” Kira urged.
Moving as quickly as they could despite the continuous shaking that now seemed to be moving the entire prison, they hurried toward the door that would lead them to freedom. Once they reached it, though, they froze.
“How will we know when it’s safe to try?” Dario asked, staring at the warning flashing on the door in front of them.
“High Voltage,” Thor muttered, reading the sign aloud. “What are the chances that they just put that there to scare people and the door isn’t actually electrified?”
“Not too good,” Aldo chimed in. “Some smart ass had that same thought a few months back; he’s dead now.”
“Really?” Thor asked.
“Go ahead and try if you don’t believe me,” Aldo said with a shrug. “Not like the galaxy couldn’t afford to lose another smart ass.”
Thor’s fist instantly balled up tight and his hand cocked back. Just as Aldo shied back and Kardok stepped between them, the lights went out.
Not just in the boiler room.
The entire ship was suddenly clouded in darkness.
“I think that’s a pretty good sign that the door is safe to open now,” Thor said, rushing forward.
Still, Kira watched nervously as he reached barreled into the side of it, leading with his shoulder. When he came into contact with the metal, and his entire body didn’t surge with an onslaught of electricity, she let herself relax.
The door dented inward slightly but seemed to refuse to budge. Thor stepped back, and charged at it again, again leaving nothing more than a bigger dent.
When he pulled back to charge it for the third time, Kardok reached out and rested his hand on his shoulder, grinning down at him excitedly.
“I try,” Kardok said, not waiting for an answer.
With one slower-paced but room-shaking crash into the door, the thick metal crumbled. Kardok stumbled back, almost surprised that he accomplished his task on the first try.
“I loosened it for him,” Thor muttered.
“We know,” Kira said, smiling at him over her shoulder.
Quickly, the group of five rushed through the doorway, Aldo leading the way. They groped in the darkness, dragging their hands along the cool metal walls on either side of them. The space was small, and the air was stuffy and stale.
With the lights out, it was impossible to know where they were going, or what was in front of them.
The sound of something crashing down and slapping against metal, sending echoes flying back at all of them, made Kira jump slightly.
“I found the stairs,” Aldo said.
Kira and Thor stifled a laugh as they blindly kicked their feet out in front of them.
The stairs were rickety, and they shook under their weight. Kira clung to the handrails, although that did no good. They were shaking right along with the rest of the staircase under her feet.
The higher they climbed, the clearer the darkness in front of them became. There were spots of red—emergency lights—lining a small landing. As their eyes adjusted to the low light being provided by the soft red spots, they were able to take in their surroundings better.
The door they had gone through had taken them to a single staircase—there was nothing else below them. Above, though, was a system of grated metal platforms, each leading to its own set of rusted staircases, at the top of which were rusted metal doors and more platforms leading to more doors.
“Which way do we go?” Kira asked.
Aldo, who was leading the group, stopped the second he reached the platform at the top of the staircase. Everyone behind him stopped, as well, the staircase shaking violently from the sudden pressure of four bodies changing direction.
Aldo rubbed his hands together in front of him and peered around. The red lights reflected in his eyes, and Kira could see a look of strained concentration.
“This way,” he said after a long pause.
“Are you sure?” Dario asked.
“You have a better guess?” Aldo shot back.
No one replied as they followed their Rengar leader across one platform then another, up one staircase, then the next. The sound of aged metal straining under their weight was the only thing they heard. Until they heard something that made all of them freeze in their tracks—metal banging against metal.
“Door,” Kira whispered over her shoulder at Thor.
Everyone in their group began to search the platforms above and below them, their eyes struggling to make out anything in the low lighting.
“There,” Thor said, reaching into his jumpsuit and pulling out the small, homemade pulse gun from the hidden pocket.
His eyes drifted from the location of the noise to Kira’s. She nodded and reached into her suit for her pieced-together weapon. Everyone moved back together, pressing their backs into the cool metal wall behind them, kneeling down in unison.
Kira and Thor scooted forward, their weapons in hand.
“Who is it?” Dario whispered.
“Prison security,” Thor replied.
Kira's eyes had finally landed on the group of three Jaantu 7 guards. They had entered about two levels below them and were simply standing on the platform nearest the door they had come through.
“Do you really think any of those inmates would be smart enough to try to go through that door?” one of them asked. “I’m willing to bet most of them don’t even know it exists.”
“It’s the boss’s orders,” came the reply. “We’re supposed to man this section of the ship until the power comes back on.”
“I’d rather be here than anywhere else right now,” the third replied. “The inmates are going to form a revolt as soon as they realize we’ve lost power.”
“Damn,” Thor sighed.
They all remained still, hidden in the heavily looming shadows, waiting for someone among them to decide whether they should attempt to escape or fight. When Kardok shifted his weight—his very heavy weight—around just slightly and the platform under them let out a loud, long whine, the decision was made for them.
“Up there!” one of the guards shouted.
But, before he could move his hand in their direction, it was blown off by a surge of energy that flew out of Thor's handgun. The man fell to the ground instantly. His companions armed themselves and turned, with their guns ready, to face off in the direction of Thor's shot.
Kira raised her gun, holding in the frustrated grunt she felt at realizing it wasn’t her Phantom, and shot off into the distance, hitting the side of one of the many doors around them, causing the guards to nervously spin around, and searching for a second source of gunfire. Moving her gun down now, she aimed for the back of the guard on the right. Thor aimed for the one on the left.
Kira took her shot, the bolt of energy crashing into his left shoulder. The guard fell to the ground instantly. The platform under his feet shook, causing his partner to lose his balance. He fell back just as the blaze from Thor’s gun went flying in his direction, zipping just over his head.
Without hesitation, two of the guards fired back in their direction. Their shots collided into the metal rails in front of them, causing a flurry of sparks to fly into the air. Thor tried to take another shot, but the gunfire from the guards was coming in constant streams now.
“Do we just wait here until they’re out of ammunition?” Kira asked, pressing her back against the wall.
> “They won’t,” Aldo informed them. “Those weapons they have generate their own, constant stream of energy—they’ll never run out.”
“Shit,” Thor said.
Just then, the sound of metal hitting metal caused everything around them to fall silent.
“There’s another one!” one of the guards yelled.
A cool, familiar laugh bounced up the metal walls and hovered in the air.
“The Dralaxian,” Thor groaned. “He must have followed us.”
“Someone needs to learn how to let go of a grudge,” Kira said.
She leaned forward and gazed down to the ground level. There, the orange, four-armed monster was slowly, steadily climbing the stairs, a simple, homemade rail gun in his hands, much like the weapons Thor and Kira were dealing with.
Kira reached out quickly and shot down in his direction. This caused him to pull back, lift his weapon, and fired a quick burst of response shots into the darkness. The guards jumped into action, as she hoped they would, and turned their attention toward the source of the new round of shots.
“Now,” she urged, pushing into Dario’s back, causing him to push into Kardok, and Kardok into Aldo’s.
Keeping their heads low and staying close to the wall, they hurried forward, the sound of shots echoing off the walls behind and around them. The last thing they heard before exiting through the door Aldo had chosen was the sound of one of the guards letting out a long, excruciating scream.
CHAPTER THIRTY
“They’re not here,” Alaria said once she, Bron, and Vinnie reached the spot they had agreed to meet Kira and the others. “Where are they?”
The lights were low, and the only thing that illuminated the hallway around them was a single strip of red dots lining the wall. Shouts could be heard coming from all around the prison as the inmates revolted, taking advantage of their newfound chance at freedom.
In the distance, the sound of ships barreling into the side of the now nearly defenseless prison, rang out, punctuating the air with brutal force. Alaria continued to pace back and forth, staring down the hall.
“They’ll be here,” Bron said encouragingly.
“We can go look for them,” Vinnie offered.
“Hell no, kid,” Bron said firmly.
Just getting through the handful of airlocks they had been enough of a challenge. The number of guards they had manning those things was a surprise to all of them. Thankfully, they prepared for a surprise. Their combat gear had provided them with more than enough protection from their blasts, while the weapons they had carried with them had ensured that they were able to either kill or disperse the frightened, confused prison crew.
“We’ve had enough adventure for one day,” Bron added.
Vinnie rolled his eyes and leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Wait,” Alaria said, stopping in her tracks and turning to look down the hallway. “Someone’s coming; I hear them.”
A combination of excitement and worry filled her. She reached for her gun, as did Bron and Vinnie. Together, they lifted their weapons and aimed them in the direction of the now very loud footsteps.
“Here!” a high-pitched, squeaky voice called out. “It’s down here. I told you I could find it.”
When a Rengar turned the corner, Alaria held her position. The dark black eyes in the fur-covered face went wide. His little feet scampered back, and his hands flew out in front of him.
“Hold your fire,” he said, running back behind the corner.
“Show yourself!” Alaria ordered, her gun still raised.
“Alaria?” Dario’s voice called out from around the corner. “Alaria, is that you?”
“Dario?” she replied, tears instantly springing to her eyes.
“Alaria?”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Dario ran out from around the corner, his arms outstretched. The embrace he shared with his daughter was long. Kira, Thor, and the others followed him out.
Thor walked instantly up to Bron. The two men embraced, patting each other on the back. Kira walked up to where Dario and Alaria were. Without bothering to wait her turn she wrapped her arms around Alaria, who giggled at the feeling of being embraced by two of the people she had spent the last two weeks worrying madly about.
Kardok followed Thor over to Bron and taking from Kira's example, wrapped his arms around them both, letting out a string of happy laughter as he did so. Bron pulled back as much as he could, but Kardok's tight embrace forced him to remain close.
“Cute,” Aldo muttered. “But, in case you didn’t notice yet, we’re still stuck in this hell hole.”
Everyone pulled apart quickly, the smiles still on their faces. Kardok continued to chuckle softly to himself.
“Everyone,” Kira explained quickly, “the grumpy one here is Aldo and the friendly one there is Kardok—the prisoners we came to break-out.”
“So, let’s get back to the breaking out part of this,” Aldo urged.
Quickly, Alaria and Bron distributed the extra combat gear they had carried off the ship with them. Not having time to worry about shame or decency, the five almost fugitives changed into the suits as quickly as they could.
“The helmets will provide you with oxygen,” Alaria explained, “and the gear itself will deflect any plasma or energy blasts.”
Just as the last of them slipped into their sleek black suit, the sound of very heavy, very slow footsteps vibrated through the air. A deep, ominous laugh accompanied them, causing the hair on Kira’s neck to stand up.
“Do you think he killed all three of those guards on his own?” she asked Thor.
“I don’t care what he did to them, I’m worried about what he’ll do to us,” Thor replied.
“Alaria, let’s get those doors open, okay?” Kira said.
Alaria nodded and turned her attention back toward the airlock door behind her. Fumbling with the door, she let out a frustrated grunt. The sound of her frustration was muffled, though, by the sound of the Dralaxian’s footsteps rounding the corner. He lifted his large, muscular orange arms up over his head, all four hands balled into tight fists—even the one Kira swore Thor had broken just a few days before.
“I thought you said the doors would open,” Kira said, looking back at Alaria over her shoulder.
“They should,” Alaria replied. “They just jammed or something.”
“Well, unjam them,” Thor said, stepping forward, preparing to fight his self-proclaimed prison enemy.
“We’re working on it,” Bron shouted back.
The Dralaxian was charging now. His tree-trunk thick legs carrying him at a surprising speed. His heavy footsteps shook the floor. Kira stepped up beside Thor, the make-shift railgun in her hand.
When the orange mountain barreling toward them let out a blood-curdling shriek, everyone in their group shrunk back instinctively. Thor moved his weight to the balls of his feet, ready to strike. Kira lifted her weapon a little higher, waiting for her moment to act.
It never came.
The four-armed monster took two more steps, shakier and slower, before collapsing, face down, on the ground right in front of them. He fell with a crash that rippled through the hall, shaking loose the door.
“It’s open!” Alaria squealed, spinning around.
No one replied. They were all in shock, staring at the woman who had come to their rescue. She moved up to the orange, lifeless body slowly, and bent down to pull out the metal blade she had placed there.
“Janica,” Dario whispered.
“Who’s that?” Alaria asked, eyeing the large green Arkadian female suspiciously.
“Your dad’s girlfriend,” Aldo answered.
“Girlfriend!” Kardok exclaimed with a giddy laugh.
“His what?” Alaria asked, her eyes going wide.
“Stop it,” Dario ordered. “It’s not funny anymore.”
“It still is a little funny,” Kira said.
Dario let out a huff and w
alked up to where his not-so-secret admirer stood, her shoulders heaving from the exertion of taking down the Dralaxian, in her hand the bloodied blade she had used in the process.
“Janica,” he said softly. “Thank you so much for doing that, for saving me and my friends.”
She looked at him and smiled.
“But, you know that I can’t repay you for that, right? You know I can’t offer you anything in return.”
