The Faradis_A Space Opera_Book Eight of The Shadow Order

by Michael Robertson

  Reyes jumped fully off the floor when the WO shouted, “Grady’s dead. I know it doesn’t look pretty, but he’s gone. There might be others in the corridor outside that we can save.” Not even he could hide the doubt in his tone.

  The doors closed the second he stepped away from them. He walked over to Reyes and shoved her towards Grady’s corpse. Although she stumbled across the uneven floor, it helped her find her legs, and she broke into a run. As the first into the room, she had to lead them across it.

  As much as Reyes didn’t want to look at the splayed Grady, her attention couldn’t go anywhere but. When she reached the glistening corpse, she stepped in the pool of blood on the floor and leaned her face close to his exposed chest so she could reach around his body and press the button to open the doors behind him. As she pulled back, she hoped for the first time since being on The Faradis that the doors wouldn’t open. When they did, she paused for a second before pulling in a deep breath, her stomach flipping as the rich metallic smell of Grady smothered her.

  Every part of Reyes’ being told her to stay put, but if she didn’t move, Chan wouldn’t ever let her live it down. The WO would tear her a new one too. Her old man’s wrath she could cope with, but she had a duty to do this. She dropped down onto her hands and knees—her palms and trousers getting soaked with Grady’s blood—and crawled through his spread legs. Before she’d reached the other side, a loud clunk ran through the ship and the bright white glare yielded once again to the warm and sinister glow of the red emergency lighting.

  Through to the other side, Reyes got to her feet and pressed her back against one of the doors to prevent it from closing. She looked out into the corridor where the Marines they’d come to rescue should be. It might have been poorly lit, but surely she would have seen their shadows if they were still there.

  Chan first, Julius next, and then Hicks—all three of them crawled through Grady’s legs, and all three of them winced and heaved from the experience. As the last of them to come through, the warrant officer poked his head between Grady’s legs. At that moment, Reyes’ feet slipped on the bloody floor as the door at her back pressed against her when it tried to close.

  Reyes lifted her right leg and pushed against the door on the other side. But they pushed too hard. One of them hurt her spine while the other one folded her leg up as if her muscles were useless. She winced and spoke with a gasp. “Help. The doors are closing, and I can’t hold them on my own.”

  The WO pulled back into the briefing room and stood up again while Julius and Chan came to Reyes’ aid. Even against all three of them, the strength of the doors was winning. Although slowed down, the gap continued to close.

  Julius gritted her teeth with the effort of holding the door, and spoke to the warrant officer through them. “You have to come now if you want to make it. I’m not sure how long we can hold it for. Either that or go back to the others and we’ll meet you there.”

  No way would Reyes let that happen. No way could she lose sight of her dad. Not on this ship.

  Thankfully he reached the same conclusion and kneeled down to attempt it again. But Reyes could feel he wouldn’t make it; the doors were winning. “If you get caught in this door, it’ll cut you in two.”

  Still on his knees, he shouted up at her, “What would you have me do, then? Give me solutions, not problems.”

  Although she’d already seen what she needed to do, it didn’t stop Reyes wishing she had another way. “Chan, Julius, I need you to hold these doors. Hicks, get over here and help them.”

  Both Marines nodded and Hicks joined the struggle.

  Reyes stared at Grady’s back. The skin spread out to either side of him was thin like bat’s wings. It went against every instinct in her body, but she didn’t have time to dwell on it. Instead, she yelled and wrapped her hands around his bloody corpse. Her fingers sank into the soft and wet mess along his front, but as much as she wanted to let go, she clenched her jaw through it. She then tugged hard.

  Several parts of Grady’s body tore with the sound of ripping flesh, and Reyes fell out into the hallway with it. A loud tonk sounded from where Grady’s head slammed against the black wall behind them. A spray of moisture ran across her face. She didn’t want to know what part of his body had delivered the damp assault.

  While kicking Grady’s corpse away from her, Reyes watched her dad jump through the gap, a much quicker way than doing it on all fours. Chan, Julius, and Hicks pulled away too, the doors slamming shut like pincers with a loud thoom that shook the walls around them.

  Reyes shuffled away from the mauled body while wiping her hands against her thighs. She used the back of her sleeve to rid her face of the moist spray.

  No time to dwell on it, Reyes pointed in the direction of the sports hall. The corridor was still bathed in the glow of emergency lighting, but she could see well enough. As soon as she’d looked down there, she’d been able to see well enough; she simply didn’t want to vocalise it. “They’re not here.”

  “We gave them a chance,” the WO said as he set off towards the sports hall doors. “It’s what we owe our brothers and sisters. We don’t give up on anyone until we have to. We need to leave Grady’s body here. If we get a chance to come back for it, we will. Now let’s go and see what we can find in the third section of this ship.” When he hit the button that controlled the doors to the sports hall—the ones that had prevented them from getting back to the Marines in the first place—they slid open as if they’d never been locked.

  Chapter 34

  Reyes led the way through the sports hall, the other Marines moving in time with her, their feet slamming down in stereo. Now she’d dealt with Grady’s body, she could lead them into anything. At the doors to leave the room, she pressed the button and tensed in anticipation of them being locked. But they opened without resistance. Just before she stepped through, Hicks grabbed her arm, the sharp movement spiking her pulse.

  “What?” Reyes said, her hard hiss running back across the room.

  Something in Hicks’ eyes had changed. They were wider than before. He’d always been one to lose his head quicker than the others, but his pale skin and glistening face showed he’d gone that little bit too far this time. While swiping his almost grey hair from his damp brow, he shook his head. “That just opened far too easily.”

  “This entire mission’s been a steaming pile of shit; so what’s your point, Hicks?”

  “It might be a trap.”

  “Everything’s been a trap. You ask me, if a door opens that we want to walk through, then we walk through it. We can’t fight what hasn’t yet happened, and I’m sure none of us need to be reminded to remain on high alert.”

  Hicks’ mouth fell open, but he didn’t reply.

  When Reyes looked at the WO, he nodded at her.

  Hicks yelped when the WO slapped a heavy hand on his shoulder. “This entire mission’s gone to hell, Hicks.” The deep rumble of his voice went the way of Reyes’ hiss, back across the red-lit room in the direction they’d just come from. “We don’t have any control, so the sooner you let go of that notion, the better. We don’t know what’s doing this, but we do know something is. Because we don’t have any more intel than that, all we can do is keep moving and try to get to the escape pods. Do that and the Crimson Destroyer will find us. We can’t think about things we haven’t yet seen. We have no evidence for anything other than this ship has bent us over and is screwing us. We neither know how or why.” He tapped his finger against his own temple. “You have every right to feel paranoid, but you don’t have to let it win.”

  Not quite the pep talk Reyes would have given, but she watched Hicks nodding at the warrant officer. Good enough. When he flicked his head up to encourage her to go, she moved into the doorway and blocked it like she had when coming out of the briefing room. From her experience with Grady’s body, she knew she didn’t have the strength to stop it closing, but she could slow it down if it came to it.

  Despite the poor light
ing, Reyes clearly saw their current predicament when she looked at the door leading to the third section of the ship. Holmes and Niamura were nowhere to be seen. The door was closed. She’d been a fool to expect anything but that.

  The WO stepped past Reyes and went for the door to the third section. Bang! He whacked the button to open it. Other than the snap of an echo running away from them, nothing happened. His broad shoulders sagged and he looked at the floor while shaking his head. “Shit!”

  The other three filed out, Reyes turning to join the back of the line as she too stepped into the black metal corridor. Unlike the one leading from the briefing room, the door closed slowly. They all looked at the warrant officer, Hicks breathing more heavily than the rest of them. Not only did he breathe quicker, but he also sweated more than he had a few seconds ago. It now positively gushed from him. Reyes heard him emit the slightest whimper. His head had well and truly gone.

  The sides of the WO’s wide jaw swelled and relaxed several times before he looked up the dark corridor, back in the direction of the control room at the other end of the ship. Not necessarily hope, but something in his eyes lightened just a little. “What’s the one room we’ve not searched properly?”

  Although Reyes drew a blank, Julius said, “The dining hall.”

  “Exactly. It might show us nothing, but it’s the only room we haven’t properly checked out because we were too busy getting to the rest of the ship. I say we go back there in case it has anything to show us. Any objections?”

  Silence.

  “How long until the Crimson Destroyer gets here, Julius?”

  The tall and wide Marine looked down at the bright tablet in her hand. “Just over thirty-five minutes, sir.”

  “Thirty-five minutes to figure out a way off this poxy ship. Come on.” He barged through the Marines and broke into a jog in the direction of the canteen. They all followed him, Reyes taking up the rear.

  Chapter 35

  Because Reyes ran at the back of the line, she watched those in front enter the dining hall before her. The first she knew of it came when the others gasped and Hicks said, “What the hell?”

  The reaction robbed Reyes of some of the strength in her legs, but she persevered and followed them in. They couldn’t avoid whatever lay in wait for them. At least if they found some clues as to what they were facing, they’d be able to take positive action.

  When Reyes saw the room, she froze. The strange tables that looked like they’d grown from the ground remained, except where they had been laden with piping hot food, they were now empty—every one of them. And not only empty, they shined brighter than before as if the black metal had been polished after the clean-up.

  The WO shouldered his blaster, and the rest of them followed suit. They fanned out into an arrow formation, her dad at the front while Reyes moved out to the right wing. The place looked as empty as everywhere else.

  Much slower steps than before, none of them spoke as they moved. Reyes pulled in a deep breath to slow her pulse and glanced across at Hicks to her left. Whatever they all felt, looking at his wild eyes told her he felt worse.

  The last time Reyes had been in the dining hall, she hadn’t seen the doorway on her right. Embedded in the twisted wall, it looked like it could lead to the control room next door. The top of the frame ended just before the dome of the ceiling began its arching curve. There must have been too much going on before, because even with the poor lighting from the red emergency glow, she could see it clearly. If they were going to find any more clues, they’d be on the other side of that door.

  Other than the slow steps of their feet against the hard floor and Hicks’ quickened breaths, they moved in silence. As they stalked across the room, searching left and right, they closed down on the door. Unlike all the others they’d come across on the ship, this one looked to be manually operated. Something they had control of at last.

  When the warrant officer reached the wooden door, he kept a grip on his blaster, stood on one leg while lifting his right foot in the air, and slapped the handle down with the sole of his boot. The flimsy thing fell open into the room beyond, a creaking yawn from the hinges as it swung away from them. “At least we know we can bust that thing down should we need to get out again,” the WO said before he walked through it.

  Reyes remained at the back, passing through the doorway last. Like many industrial kitchens, the room beyond had ovens, hobs, and surface areas for preparing food. It only stood out as unique from the ones she’d seen before because it had been constructed from the same twisted black metal that made up the rest of The Faradis. Also, it looked immaculate. Brand new. Whatever chef cooked in there, they clearly had a handle on hygiene.

  A large freezer sat at the back of the room. The door on the front stood both taller and wider than any they’d been through so far. “They must store a lot of food in there,” Reyes said. “I’m guessing this ship is built for long journeys.”

  None of the others replied as they followed the warrant officer. One final look around, he pulled on the handle, the pop of a pressure seal and then cold mist falling out when he opened the door. The frigid rush raised gooseflesh on Reyes’ skin when it surrounded her with its ghostly grip.

  Before he entered, the WO kept a hold of the handle and paused. “I’m not sure we’ll get back out again if we go in.”

  The others stared at the doorway, but none of them spoke until Reyes said, “Can you open it wider?”

  Despite the slight twist of his features at her request, he obliged.

  As Reyes had thought, the hinges were on the inside. “Stand back.”

  Several shots against the chrome joints and the door fell away from the freezer, slamming down on the metal floor with a loud bang that seemed to barrel through the entire ship.

  They all paused in the aftermath of the noise, listening to see if something would respond to it. The WO finally said, “Well, that’s one way of fixing the problem.” He stepped into the freezer first. Chan, Hicks, and Julius all followed. One last look around the kitchen and Reyes followed him in too.

  Where Reyes had felt cold outside the freezer, her entire body now locked tense against its frigid bite. She checked behind again in case anything had entered the kitchen. It still looked clear.

  The freezer had a wide walkway through the centre of it, the white floor bright compared to the dark obsidian of the rest of The Faradis. Metal shelving ran from floor to ceiling on either side. Chrome shelving rather than the Gothic look that dominated so much of the ship. White frost dulled the silver shine. It looked like the many freezers Reyes had seen before. “I think we can assume humans have lived in here fairly recently. Either that, or a species with a diet so similar to ours it’s uncanny.”

  The warrant officer looked closer at the food. “If only the tablet worked. We could do another scan for beings.”

  Before anyone could respond, Reyes heard a sound. Hicks went to speak, and she cut him off with an abrupt shh.

  Their breath had been visible in the cold space, but Reyes saw they all now held it as they listened. Only faint, but she definitely heard it. In the widening of the eyes around her, she saw the others had heard it too.

  “Ring-a-ring o’roses, a pocket full of posies, a-tishoo, a-tishoo, we all fall down.”

  Chapter 36

  Already covered in gooseflesh because of the cold freezer, Reyes shivered as she listened to the febrile, childish song. A ghostly whisper, she couldn’t see where it came from. The looks on the others’ faces suggested they couldn’t work it out either.

  The sharp sound of Chan clicking her fingers dragged Reyes’ attention over to the small Marine. Her back to the rest of them, she pointed at the wall—a plain white dead end—and said, “It’s coming from in there.” Despite being the closest to it, she still stood about a metre away and didn’t look like going any closer.

  The warrant officer took control and stepped forward, bursting through Chan’s most recent breath of condensation. He dr
ove a hard knock against the back of the freezer, the thud amplified by the space behind it. The singing stopped.

  “Patel?”

  If they’d wanted the option of stealth, the WO’s gruff approach had blown that out of the window. Although, if they’d wanted to be stealthy, Reyes shouldn’t have shot the door from its hinges either. And who were they kidding? They couldn’t hide from whatever controlled The Faradis. They were being well observed and had been since they’d stepped foot on the ship.

  Other than ceasing his singing, Patel didn’t respond to the warrant officer, who pressed his face to the barrier between them and shouted, “Stand back.” He kicked at the wall. The false panel gave way with the tearing sound of wood and fell inwards, landing flat against the white floor with a loud slap.

  They were all on edge, but Hicks took it to a whole new level, panting and gasping before he said, “What the hell?”

  And he had every right to say it. Reyes’ cold blood turned colder. Like she’d experienced many times since boarding The Faradis, she felt a heavy reluctance root her to the spot.

  By knocking the false wall down, the WO had made the freezer twice the size. The same path ran down the centre of it, but at the new end, Patel sat strapped to a chair. Both his wrists were bound to the arms of the metal frame, his ankles to the two front legs. The frame itself had picked up the white fuzz of frosting, as had the ends of his eyelashes and the tips of the hair on his head. It seemed to take him a great effort to look up, his eyes rolling as he fought to stay conscious. He wore a mask of blood. His shirt had been ripped from his back—the cuffs and collar all that remained—and welts covered his body.

  Down either side of the walkway, instead of shelves with food on, corpses hung from meat hooks. The ones closest to them swung from where the false wall had disturbed them when it fell. The corpses of humans, they’d all been tied up by their ankles. They’d all had their throats slit. Frozen pools of blood gathered beneath them. Dressed in the uniforms of Marines, Reyes finally said, “Shit. It looks like they’re all here.”