by Rob May
‘Come on, let’s all get back inside,’ the Captain ordered. ‘Plenty of jobs need doing before dinner. You troublesome lot can join me at the Captain’s table tonight … at least then I’ll be able to keep an eye on you!’
They turned to go back. At that moment though, the dust parted and a giant shape swooped down out of the sky. It was a seabird: an enormous one, though, with a wingspan of at least four metres. It was bright silver—a thanamorph—and Kat felt the hard metal armour-plating of its wings as it crashed into the group, sending them all sprawling.
It vanished into the dust almost as fast as it had appeared, leaving them all dazed and bruised, but otherwise unharmed.
All except the Captain, who was clutching his bleeding shoulder where the albatross had taken a great chunk out of him with its hooked beak.
15—QUARANTINE
The guards rushed to the aid of their leader, but Gem cut in with some brisk orders. ‘No,’ she snapped. ‘Cover us and watch for more of those things. We’ll get him in!’ Gem took the Captain by one arm, Kat grabbed the other and they tried to drag him across the deck. It was no good: the big man was too heavy. Saoirse and Jason grabbed a leg each and they eventually got him moving. Brandon and Liam held open doors and cleared the way, and somehow they managed to get him down to Doctor Chow’s office at the back of the pharmacy.
Chow cleared her desk with a sweep of her arm, and they hauled the Captain up onto it. She took one look at his bloody shoulder and reached for a large white bottle labelled Hydrogen Peroxide. She poured the whole bottle into the wound; the Captain screamed constantly for almost a minute.
‘Will that do it?’ Kat asked. ‘Will that stop any alien infection?’
‘I think so,’ Chow said. ‘I hope so.’
‘No,’ Saoirse said. ‘It won’t.’
Everyone stopped talking to look at the alien girl. Even the Captain seemed interested in what she had to say this time.
‘If it was a bite on his hand, we might have been able to stop it by chopping it off,’ Saoirse informed them. ‘Maybe taking the whole arm off just to make sure. But a shoulder wound means that the infection is in the body by now. It spreads faster than gangrene, and with similar results: most of his nerves and body tissue will start to dissolve soon to provide food for the thanamorph growing inside.’
Kat looked from Saoirse to the Captain, who was hanging on to her every word, his face turning paler and paler. Perhaps knowing his needs and wants, Doctor Chow opened a draw under the desk and pulled out a large bottle of dark rum. The Captain glugged at it like a baby guzzling milk.
While Chow tended to the Captain, the others talked among themselves. ‘So why did we even bring him inside?’ Jason fumed. ‘If it’s a hopeless case, we should have just dumped him in the sea.’
‘Brandon can save him,’ Saoirse said.
All eyes now went to Brandon, who shook his head vehemently. ‘I can’t!’ he protested. ‘The bionoids aren’t programmed to deal with thanamorph DNA. Once there is something growing inside him, there’s nothing I can do.’
‘This is the perfect time to learn though,’ Saoirse said. ‘The infection has just begun—you can monitor the process as the Captain’s DNA is gradually taken over. By recording the change, you can program the bionoids to recognise and work with thanamorph DNA’
Brandon’s eyes widened as he thought this through.
‘Wait a minute,’ Kat said. She wasn’t too keen on the implications of all this. ‘You’re saying that Bran should sit with this guy while one of those monsters grows inside and takes over his body? Isn’t that a little … dangerous? And shouldn’t we be thinking of more important things right now, like getting the hell off this ship?’
‘Well, you can’t just shoot him,’ Liam said, stepping defensively between the Captain and the others. ‘At least now while he’s still human.’
‘At least not while he’s still sober,’ Gem conceded. Jason laughed. Kat wilted at the grim situation they were in.
‘Saoirse is right,’ Brandon said. ‘This might be our best chance to learn about the thanamorphs. We need to use whatever time we have left on the ship to help him.’ He looked to Liam. ‘Can we secure him somewhere though?’
The engineer thought for a while, but it was Jason who came up with somewhere: ‘I know a place!’ he said. ‘I found it while exploring the other day. Let’s take him to Quarantine!’
———
They hauled the Captain out of the pharmacy and down the mall, the avenue of shops and restaurants that formed the spine of the ship. Kat cast worried glances all around. The armed guards who had accompanied the Captain earlier had made themselves scarce, and now other passengers stood and watched them go past with solemn faces and curious eyes. It was as if they could sense a subtle shift in the hierarchy of the ship, now that the forceful personality of the Captain had been subdued.
‘Is it far, this Quar—’ Kat began, and then she paused as they arrived at a set of double doors. She hadn’t expected to see the word QUARANTINE emblazoned in large neon letters above the entrance. Liam pulled a chain of keys from the Captain’s belt and let them in. When he flicked the light switch, Kat’s mouth dropped in awe.
The walls of the wide open space were painted dark blue, and lit by dim purple and pink lights. Scores of pink-felt-topped tables filled the floor, and there was a large square cage, ten metres wide, in the centre of the space. Liam flipped another switch and music started playing: aggressive electronica that set all their nerves on edge.
‘Sorry about that,’ he said, cutting the music. He tried a few more switches, and more lights went on and off, but Quarantine remained shadowy and iniquitous. ‘That’s about as bright as it gets in here, I’m afraid,’ he said. ‘Come on, let’s get him in the cage.’
Everyone took a limb, and they carried the Captain through what Kat now realised was a casino and nightclub. Although, she couldn’t work out what the original purpose of the cage was.
‘It’s for, um, exotic dancers to perform in,’ Liam explained as he unlocked it. ‘This was an adults-only club.’
‘Exotic dancers?’ Kat said. ‘You mean like exotic animals?’
‘Something like that,’ Liam said. He pulled open the cage door, and after a couple of swings they lobbed the Captain’s senseless bulk inside. He rolled onto his back and gave a drunken gurgle.
‘Bars look strong enough,’ Saoirse said as she walked around the cage, inspecting its integrity. ‘They should hold off a newborn thanamorph for a few minutes at least.’
‘A few minutes?’ Gem gasped.
‘Enough time to aim and put a laser bolt between its eyes,’ Saoirse replied. ‘Come on, let’s go and grab my guns from the locker down in engineering.’ After pestering Liam for the key, Saoirse and Gem left. Kat remembered the Bowie knife that she had refused to give up when they had first come aboard. It was under a pillow in her cabin. What kind of a soldier was she, that she didn’t keep it on her at all times?
Jason and Liam went off exploring the club, so Kat sat down next to Brandon, who had pulled a chair up to the edge of the cage. He was focusing his attention on the man inside. ‘So can you really save him?’ Kat asked.
‘Maybe,’ Brandon said. ‘What Saoirse said makes sense, sort of. If I can document the change in human DNA as it’s converted to thanamorph DNA, then the bionoids will eventually be able to recognise the thanamorph genome. It’s like changing the letters of a word, one letter at a time, until you have a whole new word. The only problem is … I’m not sure how much of the process I need to sit through before I have enough info. There might be a point of no return when it’s too late to save him.’
Brandon sighed and his head drooped. There were dark circles under his eyes. ‘You look knackered,’ Kat said. ‘You need a real good rest. Using the bionoids to cancel out sleep only works on other people: it makes you just as tired since it’s your energy that’s powering the bionoids.’
‘Give me a few minutes,’
Brandon said, ‘and when I’ve got the bionoids monitoring the DNA, I can leave them running in the background, and try and get some kip.’
Gem returned and handed Kat one of Saoirse’s laser pistols: it was made of metal and white plastic, and was extremely light in the hand. It looked and felt just like the toy guns she used to blast pixelated zombies with, when she and Jason used to haunt the amusement arcade in Leicester Square.
‘So, Kat,’ Gem said, ‘if the Captain turns into one of those things, just blast it between the eyes before it gets out of the cage. Only a laser will do the job, and only if you shoot it through the brain. So don’t lose this, and don’t miss, okay?’
‘Got it,’ Kat said, trying to make her voice sound confident, but it came out as more of a squeak.
‘Alright. Me and the others are going to try and get a few hours’ sleep. It might be the last chance we get before we have to leave the ship. I’ll send Jason to take over your watch at midnight.’
Kat gave Gem a smiling salute.
‘Thank you, Kat,’ Gem said seriously. ‘For looking after him. I couldn’t do it on my own.’
‘You shouldn’t have to,’ Kat said. ‘We’re all in this together, right? Brandon might have all the powers and knowledge, but that doesn’t mean he should have all the responsibility too. We’re just one big sharing, caring family now!’
Gem gave Kat a warm embrace, then gathered-up Jason and Liam and left Quarantine. Brandon was already dozing in his seat, and the Captain seemed to be unconscious, so Kat got up to stretch her legs. She walked a few circuits around the perimeter of the cage, taking her guard duty seriously. One of the club’s walls was mirrored, so she practiced spinning the laser pistol on her finger, drawing and pointing it, in what she hoped was a threatening manner.
Something caught her eye. Scratched into the metal trim of the laser pistol were two words: Saoirse Gassun. Kat supposed the alien girl had picked out a human-sounding name when she arrived, and scratched it on her weapon so that, if she ran into any trouble with the authorities, she wouldn’t forget who she was supposed to be.
Maybe I’ll need an alien name when we get to Corroza, Kat thought. With fake pointy ears, and purple contact lenses. Could be cool!
On her next circuit of the club, she noticed a pool table where all the balls, still enclosed by the rack, were touching the cushion, rather than set on the spot. A curious thought hit her, so she took the black eight ball from the centre of the rack and set it down on the carpeted floor.
She stood up and stepped back. Sure enough, the ball started to roll, slowly at first, then speeding until it hit the far wall with a loud thunk.
The Proteus was listing. Kat worked out that the ship was going down bow first.
‘Are you going to kill me, then?’
She whirled around, startled out of her thoughts by the calm, deep voice. The Captain had sobered up and stood up, and was watching her from behind the bars of the cage. He looked pale, with a film of sweat covering his face, but his size, strength and sheer physical presence were intimidating even though he was imprisoned.
Kat walked up to face him, pointing the laser pistol as if she meant business. ‘Only if you try to kill me first,’ she countered.
‘It won’t come to that,’ the Captain said. ‘You’re making a mistake locking me up. This disease … infection, whatever it is … I can beat it. I’m too strong to let it take over me; strong in body and mind. I can beat this like a strong will can beat cancer. I won’t let this defeat me!’
Kat tried to keep her reply level and disinterested. ‘I heard that was a myth. Cancer has no respect for strength, or for those that put up a fight, and neither does this alien infection. I’d say you were pretty much doomed. Only Brandon can save you now.’
The Captain looked down at Brandon who was asleep in his chair. ‘Him? What can he do?’
Kat deliberately turned her back on him. Why should she give the time of day to the man who had toyed with her outside on the deck. Explaining the bionoids, and telling him all the other things that they had been through, would only give the Captain more things to talk about, and she didn’t want to talk.
The Captain tried a different tack: ‘Hell, this is a casino. Why don’t you take a gamble? With me stuck in here, it’s going to be chaos as the ship goes down. Yeah, that’s right, I saw your little game with the pool ball. Let me out and I’ll take control of the evac. With me in command again we can all get out of this alive, and I’ll put you and your friends under my protection. But if I stay in here, then it will be chaos and we’ll all go down with the ship!’
‘We have our own plan to get off the ship, thanks very much,’ Kat said. She hoped beyond hope that a plan would materialise.
The Captain was enraged by her calm replies. He shook the bars violently. ‘Damn you kids! We’ve had nothing but trouble since the moment you came on board!’ He coughed violently and doubled over in pain.
Kat approached, the laser pistol held steady in front of her, aimed directly right between the Captain’s eyes. ‘Steady on,’ she said. ‘It looks like anger only speeds up the transformation.’
The Captain glared at her with baleful fury. Kat held his gaze. Was it the dim blue light of the casino that was making his skin look that awful pallid colour? Her concentration was only broken by the doors banging open and Liam rushing in.
‘Kat!’ he gasped, out of breath. ‘It’s your brother!’
‘Jason? What about him?’ she asked in a sudden panic.
Liam pointed back the way he had come. ‘He’s just outside … he’s hurt …’
Kat ran to the doors and flung them open. They swung shut behind her as she stepped back out into the mall. Jason was nowhere to be seen. She turned around when she heard a click, and then realised she had been tricked.
Liam had locked her out.
No, no, no! ‘Liam!’ she shouted banging on the doors. ‘Let me in now! Brandon! Bran! Wake up!’
She hammered uselessly for more than a minute. Then, suddenly regaining her senses, she pointed the laser pistol at the lock.
She started to squeeze the trigger, but then almost dropped the weapon in shock when she heard the sound of a loud gunshot from inside Quarantine.
16—MERCY
Kat! I’ve been shot!
The words appeared in Kat’s head, so loud and hard that they actually hurt her braincells. She had to get inside Quarantine fast, so she turned her attention back to the lock on the door. One light squeeze of the laser pistol’s trigger was all it took, and with a ZZAP!! the lock disintegrated. She ran into the nightclub, not seeing Brandon at first, then spotting him rolling about on the floor near the cage door.
The door was open, and the Captain had gone.
Kat dropped down beside Brandon, who was clutching his leg and moaning.
‘He shot me!’ he said between gritted teeth. ‘Liam shot me! The Captain told him to make sure I couldn’t follow, so he put a bullet in my shin. Argh!’
Kat pulled Brandon’s hands away. Blood gushed out from the perfect little round hole in his jeans. ‘Well, what are you waiting for?’ she snapped. ‘Bionoid yourself!’
Brandon seemed delirious with pain and shock. His eyeballs rolled about randomly. ‘Can’t!’ he muttered. ‘Got to keep tracking the Captains DNA change …’
And then he passed out.
‘Holy Hell!’ Kat complained. She ran behind the bar and searched about until she found an unopened can of Pepsi that had rolled under the counter. She shook the can as she returned to Brandon, and pulled the ring in his face. He snorted and spluttered as bubbles fizzed up his nose.
‘What the— Oh no, now I’ve lost the connection!’ He lay back on the carpet in defeat. ‘So much for Saoirse’s plan to to learn to work with thanamorph DNA.’
‘Well, forget about Saoirse’s plan for now,’ Kat said. ‘Let’s go with my plan instead. You need to heal yourself so that we can make like a tree and leave this party!’
Brand
on laughed. He screwed up his eyes tight and focused his energy, willpower—and his millions of tiny robot helpers—inwards. Kat watched in fascinated awe as the leaden tip of the point-two-two hunting rifle bullet emerged from Brandon’s wound and fell out onto the carpet. The blood congealed before her eyes, and then blackened into a crusty scab. As Kat reached out to touch it, it fell away leaving only clean pink skin beneath.
Brandon jumped to his feet. ‘So what’s the plan?’ he asked. ‘How are we getting off the ship?’
‘We’re not,’ Kat told him.
Brandon raised a thick black eyebrow.
‘We’re going to find the others, load up on food and weapons, and find a defensible place to hole-up for as long as we can; preferably somewhere high up near the back of the ship.’
Brandon frowned. ‘Or, we could try and quickly get to a lifeboat before—’
Kat shook her head. ‘It’ll be chaos fighting for the lifeboats. And where have we got more chance of being found and rescued? Floating in a tiny boat, easy picking for alien sharks? Or on the rear deck of biggest thing in the ocean for miles around?’
She took Brandon’s hand. ‘And at the last minute, you can wrap us up in one of your bionoid bubbles and we’ll float away as the ship goes down. If we haven’t been rescued by then, or immediately afterward, well … then there was never any hope anyway.’
Kat held Brandon’s gaze as she waited for his reaction. After about a minute seemingly chewing it over, he nodded. ‘It’s a good plan,’ he said. ‘I can sense Jason and Gem in their cabins. Let’s go find them. God knows where Saoirse is—she’s wearing her bionoid-proof clothes as usual—but there are some people right outside the door here …’
‘Well, if you can sense them, then at least we know they’re human,’ Kat said. ‘And if they’re out to cause any trouble, I’m packing hot laser! Let’s go!’
———
There were two people waiting for them as they emerged from Quarantine: a man and a woman, both of them toting military-grade weaponry. The man had a submachine gun held low against his hip, and the woman held a bulky rectangular pistol out in front of her, twisted ninety degrees at the wrist for extra attitude. They looked dangerous: toughened-up and emotionally frazzled by the apocalypse.
