by E. A. James
“Any chance they’re just curious?” she asked over the intercom.
“Doubtful.”
“Good, then there’s no reason I can’t do this,” she said, pulling up on the controls sharply.
The ship rose quickly, as she spun the vessel around to face the swarm of Zel’Dar heading their way. Piloting the vessel forward, she increased her speed, zipping straight for the mass of winged, grotesque looking, oversized pests.
“Captain, what are you doing?” Snakeman’s voice came over the intercom.
For a second, Kira thought she could sense a hint of fear in his tone. It amused her to think of the large, cybernetically enhanced man huddled in the corner of the control room with a look of panic on his face.
“They’re closing, and we’re not out of the asteroid field, we have a new plan,” Kira replied.
“Bring the weapons array online,” she ordered gruffly as she continued leading the ship forward, her sights set on the largest of the clusters of Zel’Dar on her screen.
“Done,” Snakeman said.
Kira pulled up the weapons control system and target locked onto the Zel’Dar swarm. The control panel blinked red awaiting her command. Kira checked the missile count on the freighter and silently swore when she noticed only thirty-two available. That wasn’t going to be enough.
“Snakeman,” Kira said firmly into the intercom.
“Me?” the man with the snake tattoos voice came back, confused.
“Yes,” Kira said quickly. “I would ask for Lizardman, but he doesn’t seem to enjoy talking to me as much.”
“What do you want, Captain?”
“Get up here, now. I need someone to man the disruptor's.”
“On my way, Captain.”
Clicking the intercom off, Kira fixed her attention on the images of the Zel’Dar. The mass of oversized bugs was now visible through the Flight Deck’s view screen.
Checking the weapons array again, she reached over and let the first missile fly. She didn’t wait to see if it hit and instead fired the second. She quickly cycled through targets, firing and evading.
Pressing the ship forward, she dove downward, making sure to evade the ripple effects of the missiles’ explosion. The ships automated assistant came to life and notified her when her ammunition had been expended. The mechanical voice just added to the tension.
Zel’Dar we’re still all over her sensors. A number of the Zel’Dar had detached from the swarm and were closing on the freighter fast.
“What the hell are you doing to us?” Snakeman demanded as he threw open the Flight Deck door.
“Giving us a fighting chance,” Kira replied, her jaw clenched and her eyes still glued to the screens in front of her. “Do you know how to work the disruptor's?”
Snakeman simply scoffed and slumped himself down in the chair to her right. Grabbing onto the controls for the multi-barreled disruptor's attached to the front and rear of the ship, he turned to her and nodded.
Turning the ship around quickly, Kira once again began a head-first charge towards their unexpected visitors. Snakeman let the disruptor's loose, taking down four or five of the Zel’Dar at a time.
Kira kept her focus on the images in front of her, both out the windows and on the screens. She wove the ship through the buggy-eyed, black and green, horde of winged vermin, swiveling the massive craft tactfully, giving her companion the clearest shots as possible.
As Kira moved through the swarm she could hear projectiles impacting on the freighter. The automated assistant chimed in again “Shields at 72%.” Snakeman continued his relentless assault; his precision with the disruptors was uncanny.
Kira continued to pilot the freighter on pure adrenaline, her body was tense and racked with sweat. Projectiles continued to pummel the freighter and the mechanical voice continued to warn her of her impending doom.
As Snakeman worked, the frenzied group of Zel’Dar began to calm, their carcasses floating around the ship lifelessly. Still shaking with the rush, Kira spun the ship around one more time, searching the view screen and sensor array for any sign of movement.
“Shit,” Snakeman said. “That was intense.”
“Things with me tend to be,” she said confidently as she leaned back in her chair checking her instruments, still not convinced they had managed to eradicate the swarm of Zel’Dar.
Just then, a small, single light began to flicker on the screen, showing movement at the rear of the ship. She pushed herself up, quickly, trying to grab for the controls.
"There's something…" she started.
She was cut off when the ship lurched forward and the lights flickered. They lost power for a total of seven seconds, but then the system shuddered to life again with the lights flickering around them. Working the controls, she tried to turn the ship around.
“I’ve lost control,” she said, looking at Snakeman.
The ship’s automated assistant sprang back to life, “Hull Breach Detected,” the mechanical voice seemed to be losing power and Kira thought it might not remain online for much longer.
“Shit!” Snakeman said. He quickly reached for the intercom “Check the control panels? We’ve lost navigation and there has been a hull breach.”
Silence.
“Report!” he said into the intercom again. “Do you copy?”
Silence.
“Fuck!” he said, pushing himself up and quickly hurrying to the door.
“What’s going on?” Kira asked, standing to follow him.
“You stay here,” he ordered her firmly as he broke into an inhumanly fast run down the corridor.
Kira clenched her jaw and waited, eye’s peeled down the corridor for any activity. Ten minutes passed. The only noise was the occasional groan from the metal work of the ship’s hull. Fifteen Minutes…
Kira dared to activate the intercom, “Snakeman, do you copy?” Icy silence followed her words. Thirty seconds passed with no response.
“Fuck!” Kira swore. She took a deep breath, reached down and pulled the Phantom off of her hip and against her better judgment, set off down the corridor.
CHAPTER SIX
Kira kept her back pressed against the wall and her steps soft and steady as she approached the ship’s lounge.
She had no idea what she would find. Had a Zel’Dar somehow managed to board? Had Snakeman and his look-alike simply decided to relax after the attack and forgot to inform her that everything was fine?
Her heart started to beat harder in her chest and her hands tightened around the grip of her weapon. Just then, the sound of someone moving around just up ahead made her breath catch in her throat. Steadying herself, she pushed herself away from the wall and raising her gun, she stormed into the ship’s common area.
Standing there, looming over the bloodied body of Snakeman was a man she didn't recognize. His tall, muscular frame hovered in place for a moment before he spun around to face her, his movements quick and precise. He raised his own weapon and trained the sights on her. He was wielding a plasma rifle, although his weapon wasn't what she was worried about. His size and presence were enough to make her start to panic.
“You’re the prisoner,” she said, her words coming out sharp, laced in a surprise.
“Are you asking me, or telling me?” he replied.
His voice was calm and his demeanor was controlled. His tanned complexion and dark features were almost ominous, and the rugged, disheveled look he had about him only added to his imposing presence. He took a step in her direction, his gun still pointed at her.
She backed up quickly, demanding, “How did you escape? What happened to the guards?”
“Put your weapon down,” he said, ignoring her questions.
“Tell me!” she ordered.
“I don’t want to have to hurt you,” he said, taking another step towards her, “but if you don’t lower your weapon right now, you’re not leaving me much choice.”
He took another step in her direction and she squeezed th
e trigger of her Phantom, sending a pulse of energy flying towards him. In a flash, he stepped to the side, just out of the path of the surge. His movements were swift, unnatural even, and sent a chilling ripple running down Kira’s spine.
His eyes still locked on her, he said, “I would advise you not to try that again.”
Returning his stare with her own, filled with frustration and disgust, she lowered her gun, slightly.
“Now you,” she said.
“Put it on the ground.”
“No,” she snapped, raising the gun again. “You first.”
He stared back at Kira and then slowly leaned forward and set his weapon on the ground, kicking it away and spreading his arms out at his side. “Your turn.”
Kneeling down, she placed her sidearm on the floor, pushing it to her right and standing up again quickly. Their eyes locked once again, and the room filled with a tense silence.
“Who are you?” she demanded.
“Who are you?” he shot back.
"Captain Kira Winter, and I'm the pilot of this…,” her nose wrinkled as she finished, "…this once fine vessel."
“I am Commander Luthor Rockhold, but I’m known as Thor,” he replied. “And, yes, I am—or was—the prisoner on this ship.”
“How did you escape?”
“When the power failed during the attack, the door to my cell was unlocked, temporarily.”
“That was awfully convenient for you,” Kira muttered.
"It was," Thor said, crossing his arms over his chest, "even more since my incarceration was unjustified."
“Said every guilty man ever,” Kira replied sarcastically.
“Perhaps,” he said with a shrug.
“You don’t really think I’m that gullible.”
“You don’t have to believe me.”
Her curiosity was rising, and the awkward tension passing between them was mounting. She took a slight step to her right, and he stepped to his left, keeping himself planted directly in front of her.
"Just tell me," she said with a frustrated grunt. "It's clear that neither of us is going anywhere, and this stand-off is getting old—fast. What makes you believe you’re innocent?"
“I was a soldier in the Arcanum,” he began.
“So were Snakeman and his twin,” Kira noted quickly.
“Snakeman?”
Kira motioned to the lifeless body of her former bodyguard lying on the ground about 20 feet away from her. "Snakeman," she said firmly.
“I’m not going to ask,” Thor said, looking at the man over his shoulder.
“Good. I wasn’t going to tell you.”
Thor turned his attention back to Kira. "It's common that the soldiers in the Arcanum are cybernetically enhanced, as you have seen with my colleagues here."
Her eyes flitted to Snakeman again, falling quickly on the cybernetic implants lacing their way through different parts of his body. She quickly looked back to Thor. She remembered the way he moved so smoothly and quickly out of the line of fire spilling out of her Phantom. Another shudder ran up her spine.
“Colonel Grimm has been doing more than a few slight modifications on his soldiers,” Thor continued. “He has descended into madness, claiming humanity as the galactically superior race. He has been violating the Modessi Limit, and running grotesque genetic experiments.”
“The Modessi Limit…” Kira said in disbelief, remembering the section of course work she did in the academy around cybernetics.
The Modessi Limit was put in place shortly after Dr. Victor Modessi began his experiments in 2232, testing human capacity to be cybernetically and genetically altered. At first, his experiments were highly successful and praised. But then, as Victor began to push his trials further and further, the results became horrific and tragic.
His subjects turned into abominations and death was not uncommon. Modessi was promptly charged with crimes against humanity and quickly went into hiding, but the roads paved by his tests remained. Today, humans were still modified. However, according to the Modessi Limit established by the Terran Alliance, no more than 8% of an individual's genetic material can be altered. Exceeding the limit proved very dangerous and unpredictable.
“You’re lying,” Kira said quickly. “I’ve known Colonel Grimm for years, and his ethics have always been beyond reproach. He couldn’t do that.”
“He would and he does. I was part of the experiments—in the beginning. But, as I watched my companions become more abomination than human, I refused to continue with the procedures.”
As he spoke, he took another step towards her. The space between them was becoming closed off, and Kira found herself feeling vulnerable—a feeling she was not very familiar with. She tried to take a step back, but the wall was at her back. Glancing quickly at her Phantom on the floor, she weighed the risks involved in trying to reach for it again.
“You won’t make it there before I do,” Thor said, following her line of sight. He looked at the gun and then back up at her. “I may not be as ‘enhanced’ as your guards were, but I definitely am more than you are.”
She knew he was right, and fixing her gaze on him again, she nodded for him to continue.
“My refusal to continue with the experiments infuriated Grimm. He gave me an ultimatum—continue with the study or be shipped off to Jaantu 7. The only thing that kept him from killing me was the honor between soldiers.”
“And you chose Jaantu 7,” Kira finished his story for him.
Thor nodded, his eyes still fixed on hers. The way he looked at her made her feel conflicted. There was sincerity in his expression, urgency almost. His dark eyes were no longer filled with a look of aggression or hostility. They were almost kind. Somehow, the edginess that seemed permanently wrapped around him softened.
Another heavy silence fell between them. She wasn’t sure she could trust him—she didn’t trust him. Despite his earnestness, she couldn’t bring herself to believe that Colonel Grimm was the monster Thor was painting him out to be. Still, her options were limited. They were the only two left alive on the ship, the ship that wasn’t working. If they were going to somehow find a way out of this situation, they were going to need to work together.
“Other Zel’Dar may be coming,” she said frankly, changing the topic of conversation quickly. “That was a small swarm, but there are always more out there.”
“We should get moving, then,” Thor said.
He turned around and began walking towards the couch in the center of the room, stepping over Snakeman’s body as he went. His movements were surprisingly graceful for a man of his size—large and bulky. Although he was wearing loose military grade khakis, his light green shirt was tight and form-fitting. She could see the muscles in his back flex as he moved and couldn’t help but gaze at his arms, toned and athletic.
Following behind him quickly, she said, “The ship’s disabled. Somehow in the attack, we lost power and navigation controls went offline.”
“I suppose that’s another thing that’s worked out well for me,” he said sarcastically.
“It’s your lucky day,” Kira replied, standing in front of him and crossing her arms over her chest. Looking down at him sternly, she added, “except for the fact that the bounty hunter we’re supposed to be meeting with will be waiting for us. He probably knows our flight plan.”
“You have a point,” he said, leaning forward. “So, what do we do?”
“Well, if you want to just sit around here, enjoying my company until Nico Rax comes barging through the door, I’m all for that.”
“While you are a very pleasant conversationalist, I think I’d rather enjoy your glowing presence over a drink, not in the midst of impending doom.”
“Why? I can be charming in virtually any situation.”
“Then put on your most captivating persona while we get this thing fixed.”
“So, we’re going to work together?” she asked, a bubble of nerves forming in her stomach.
“I promise no
t to kill you if you don’t try to kill me.”
“Try to kill you? I could if I wanted to.”
“You couldn’t.” Thor leaned down and palmed her Phantom, holstering it at his side.
She let out a disgruntled scoff as she continued to hover over him, looking down at him with frustrated anger. Still, his story continued to ring in her mind. What if he was telling the truth? What if Colonel Grimm really was pushing the Modessi Limit? She still found it hard to believe him, but she knew that working together would be the only way to get them both out of this increasingly dangerous situation.
