by Sarah Noffke
Bingo. This ship is alive because it’s feasted on so many people and absorbed their consciousness.
Wow. How many people did this ship absorb?
Three crews consisting of over a thousand members. That was before they figured out what was going on.
So it’s a vampire ship. It distracts you and then sucks you dry.
Not you, though. Again, you owe me big.
The strange euphoria fell away, and Julianna felt back to normal, which she wasn’t sure was a good thing. Being on cloud nine was really nice.
Did you find a way to block the virus?
Of course, because I’m amazing.
Or was it my nano?
Pip sighed. Well, they might have kicked in and protected you from the virus, but I’m taking credit.
So Eddie will be all right?
The captain will be fine, but you’re going to have to be quick getting Knox in and out of here.
He left on his own before, though.
It was easier to escape because the ship is in pieces, and the outside world is right there. But could you imagine being deep in space, locked inside this ship?
Wow.
So escaping the ship wasn’t a problem, and it still shouldn’t be; the longer that Knox is in here, though, the more life force the ship will leech from him.
Is that part of how he lost his memory? Julianna mused.
Quite possibly. It appears that the virus needs a solid three days to steal a person’s life completely, but it is still doing its damage in the meantime.
Julianna shivered at the thought, then turned to Knox. “It’s go time. Where’s the Tangle Thief?”
The smile that formed lit up Knox’s face, making his eyes sparkle. “This way,” he sang, skipping down the corridor.
Lars rolled his ship, narrowly escaping a barrage from a Saverus’s Black Eagle. He wasn’t sure how much longer they could keep this up. The pilots weren’t having much luck with attacking the Petigrens because the Saverus ships were constantly on their asses.
“Black Beard? This is Carnivore,” Lars said over the comm, grateful to again be connected to the ground forces.
“Carnivore, go ahead,” Eddie replied.
“Our defense efforts are being completely squashed. We can’t help with the Petigrens because we’re overrun by these Saverus ships.”
Lars didn’t like that his every word sounded like a complaint, but it was the truth. They’d been flying around, doing their best to avoid the Saverus, with no time for anything else. Their efforts felt counterproductive at this point.
“The ground forces are experiencing the same overrun,” Fletcher chimed in, to Lars’s relief. “We were nearly taken out at the fire tower. We’ve had to back down from our offensive tactics and retreat.”
“Carnivore, can you make another sweep? Provide a round of cover for the ground forces?” Eddie asked.
“Absolutely,” Lars confirmed. “We’ll do whatever we can to get them out of there safely.”
A loud sigh echoed over the fleet comm. “Black Eagles, this is your captain. Make one last sweep, starting at the northern border and moving south. I want you to draw as many Petigrens away from our Q-Ship locations as possible,” Eddie ordered. “Once the ground forces have made it to the ship, retreat.”
Knox appeared to be led by an innate force. He still let out a small chuckle every now and then, but once Julianna explained to him what the virus did, he was much more in control. Knowledge was indeed power.
“It’s down here.” He pointed at a hallway at the far end of the rooming corridor.
They were at the stern, but the greenish light from outside could be seen down the hallway. Julianna felt better as long as she could see the junkyard; it let her know that they weren’t going to be stuck in this vampiric ship.
“Where is it?” Julianna asked.
“I hid it under a loose panel in the floor,” Knox said.
Julianna was impressed. “Damn, no one was going to accidentally stumble across that.”
“I told you,” Knox said, laughing loudly.
It was such an uncharacteristic thing for him to do, that it brought home the fact that the laughter was only distracting him from his life force being drained.
“There you are!” Eddie yelled from the far side of the corridor, where they’d come from.
“Hey!” Julianna yelled, strangely relieved to see him. “Where’s Cheng?”
Eddie indicated with his head. “He’s coming.”
“Maybe it’s better if he doesn’t come all the way up here; there’s something wrong with the ship,” Julianna explained.
“Besides the fact that it has been sawed into pieces?”
Eddie laughed at his joke, but not just once. His laughter filled the air like he’d been infected with it.
Knox joined him, doubling over in laughter.
I thought you said the virus wouldn’t affect us, Julianna asked Pip.
You were vulnerable for about ten seconds before your nano kicked in.
Eddie was still laughing, although Knox seemed to have regained control.
Julianna pulled the Saverus goggles up from where they’d been hanging around her neck. She turned the lens once, and the image of Eddie disappeared, replaced by that of a giant, purple snake.
“Fucker!” Julianna yelled, releasing the goggles. She pointed her rifle, but the Saverus figured out he’d been caught. Still in Eddie’s form, he darted back the way he’d come. Julianna took off after him, yelling to Knox as she sprinted, “Get it and get out of here!”
Once at the side of the ship, the Saverus shifted into its natural form and slithered down, making quick progress to the ground. From the fifth level, she spotted Eddie—the real one—and Cheng, peeling around a pile of junk.
“There!” Julianna pointed at the snake, which was now on the ground. It resumed the form of Eddie and darted around the battlecruiser.
“Got him!” Eddie called back to her.
Julianna was about to rush back to help Knox when something caught her attention: partially obstructed from view, crouched down behind a car, was a figure she didn’t recognize. Cheng dashed by on the other side of the car, following after Eddie, who was hot on the trail of his own imposter. After Cheng passed the car, the stranger’s form flickered and was replaced by that of Cheng.
“Fuckity fuck!” Julianna spat. No rats over here, but there sure are snakes.
Julianna hesitated, looking to where she’d left Knox. Helping him was important, but if there were a bunch of Saverus deceiving the crew on the ground, it wouldn’t matter if he found the Tangle Thief or not.
Julianna took a couple of steps back before leaping off the edge of the ship and landing in a crouched position with a thud.
Knox remembered the strange euphoria he’d felt the last time he’d been on this ship. His father had taught him that unexplained and sudden feelings were usually a sign of deception. This insight was why he’d had no problem leaving the ship each morning to scour the junkyard for items of use.
It was also why, when Mateo had offered him a place to live, Knox hadn’t hesitated to accept. Human contact couldn’t be replaced—even by a ship that made its habitants feel strangely happy.
This is almost over, Knox thought, seeing the tile where he’d hidden the Tangle Thief. He couldn’t believe that it had all come back around like this. The device that had stolen his father and changed the course of his life now rested only a few feet away. It bothered him that this device was still manipulating every aspect of his life.
But once I hand it over, I’ll be free, Knox told himself, kneeling. He dug his fingers into the side of the tile, trying to pry it up.
To his horror, it didn’t budge.
Knox stared around. He hid the Tangle Thief under a tile that was two away from the outer wall, and three away from the door to the right.
He stood back and counted again, then he smiled. He’d counted wrong before.
Taking a
step forward, Knox squatted down again, this time easily lifting the loose tile out of place. In a small compartment under the ground sat the wooden box that Alleira had given him.
Knox’s arms suddenly itched. His stomach tightened.
He took a shallow breath. Grab it and go, he told himself.
Knox shook his head, rejecting his inner voice. He needed to ensure that the Tangle Thief was still here.
Lifting the cube-shaped box out of the floor, he let the tile fall back. It made a loud clattering noise that caused him to jump.
He sniffed, running his hand across his nose. His nerves were frayed, but he was fine. He had the Tangle Thief.
Letting out a long breath, Knox lifted the lid off the wooden box and stared down. Nestled inside were three controller-like objects. He reached forward, hesitating briefly before wrapping his hand around one of the pieces. He lifted the client into the air, looking it over.
This was what he’d used to try and find his father. Since its receiver had been destroyed when Cheng used it, the client transported him to the Tangle Thief that lay in the box. The one that Hatch had built.
Running footsteps stole Knox’s attention.
He bolted to a standing position, still holding the client. A moment later, Knox’s father materialized, halting at the sight of him.
“There you are,” Cheng said, his gaze skipping down to the box at Knox’s feet. “Is that…?”
“Stay back!” Knox yelled.
“Son?” Cheng asked, looking hurt. “It’s me. You don’t have to worry. Now, is that the Tangle Thief?”
Knox lifted his pair of goggles to his eyes. Before he could adjust them, his father dove at him, wrapping his hands around his waist and knocking him hard against the wall. Knox’s comm fell out of his ear upon impact.
He brought the hand holding the client around hard, knocking his father—or rather, the Saverus pretending to be his father—in the side of the head. Cheng would never attack him; he didn’t have a violent bone in his body.
Whoever was on top of Knox was purely evil. The imposter wrapped his hands around Knox’s head, lifting it up before knocking his skull hard against the metal below him.
The blinding pain took over, stealing Knox’s breath. He let out a long groan.
The form of Cheng jumped off him and darted for the box. Knox rolled around onto his stomach and reached for the Saverus’s foot, pulling it off the ground. The Saverus fell to the tile floor, the box tumbling out of its hands, and both remaining pieces bouncing in different directions.
The foot that Knox had just grabbed kicked him in the nose. He heard a crunching noise as searing pain exploded across his face, and Knox knew at once that his nose had been broken. He covered his face with his hands, the blood like a fountain, draining straight into his mouth.
He pushed up to a standing position, knocking into the wall. His eyes were watering so badly he could hardly make out the scene in front of him. Wiping his eyes, he blinked. He couldn’t fight or do anything, mostly blind and his nose shattered. When his vision cleared he would have rather seen anything than what he found.
The hallway was empty and the Tangle Thief was gone.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Outskirts Junkyard, Planet L2SCQ-6 in Frontier space
Julianna shot the form of Cheng that she’d tracked through the junkyard. A moment after being hit, it morphed into its natural snake form.
“Another Saverus has bitten the dust,” Julianna said into the comm.
“Good work. The team is all loaded up,” Fletcher announced.
Pip, can you bring the Q-Ships over to our location?
You know I can.
Will you?
Please?
Now.
I’m on it, boss.
“I’ve just taken down the one who was posing as me,” Eddie said. “That fucker was definitely not as handsome though. I hope you didn’t fall for his act.”
“I used the goggles,” Julianna admitted.
“Whatever. Call the ship,” Eddie said.
“Copy that,” Julianna said.
“Knox, what’s your status?” Eddie asked.
There was no reply.
“Knox, are you there?” Julianna asked, sprinting around the battlecruiser, to the open end.
Her attention was suddenly stolen by three chrome transport ships, lifting into the air in the distance. They hovered high up for a moment and then shot forward, speeding for space.
“The Saverus are leaving!” Julianna sang.
“That’s a good sign,” Eddie said at her back. She turned, offering him a wide smile.
“I wonder why,” Julianna said.
Knox materialized on the fifth deck, looking down at them, his face covered in blood.
Julianna shot a look of horror at Eddie, who returned it. “Knox, you have the Tangle Thief?” Julianna asked.
Knox shook his head. “They took it.”
Eddie and Julianna used the Saverus goggles on everyone in both Q-Ships before taking off. From the air, Eddie was able to see how much the Saverus cared for their Petigrens. They’d left them all behind. The rats were scurrying among the wreckage and spreading throughout the junkyard.
“The Petigrens are going to take over that poor planet,” Julianna said over the comm, as her ship hovered next to Eddie’s.
“Yeah. Once they breach the borders of the junkyard, there will be no stopping those blood suckers,” Eddie said.
“They aren’t natural,” Fletcher said, an edge to his voice.
“If I may,” Hatch imparted from the main ship. “I’ve been monitoring the situation on the ground, and I might have a solution.”
“What’s that?” Eddie asked, staring down at the junkyard. He watched as the Petigrens covered the fire tower in the center like a hoard of ants. A moment later, the structure fell to the ground in a cloud of smoke.
“The leveling laser is complete,” Hatch said.
“Oh!” Eddie chirped.
“Can we confine the leveling to the junkyard?” Julianna asked.
“Absolutely, I have the settings honed with great precision,” Hatch said.
“Because you’re a fucking rockstar,” Eddie cheered.
“Do you want me to activate it?” Hatch asked, ignoring Eddie, as usual.
“Do we agree that if hundreds of Petigrens are left on this planet, they’ll destroy it?” Julianna asked.
“Destroy it and its people, who have already suffered enough,” Eddie said emphatically.
“Not to mention that the battlecruiser will finally be destroyed, releasing a lot of the energy it stole,” Pip reasoned.
“And preventing it from stealing anymore,” Knox agreed.
“Okay, Hatch. Activate the leveling laser,” Julianna ordered.
A moment later, the mechanic reported, “Laser has been triggered. It will deploy in three… two… one…”
From where Ricky Bobby hung in space, a red laser beam shot down and connected with the junkyard. For a moment, nothing happened. Then the laser beam brightened and expanded, casting everything within the perimeter in red.
Eddie sucked in a breath as a great cloud of dust and smoke shot into the air. When it settled, there was nothing left where the junkyard had been but flat land, covered in ash.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Infirmary, Ricky Bobby, Tangki System
Knox turned the client over in his hands. He hadn’t let the piece go since he first picked it up in the severed battlecruiser. For some reason, holding onto it made him feel better.
His nose had been completely repaired, and the Petigren bite bandaged hours ago, but he still sat on a bed in the infirmary. It felt wrong for him to leave when he still felt so broken.
Eddie and Julianna said that losing the Tangle Thief was their fault—that one of them should have been with him. Cheng had told him that he was proud of him. They’d all tried to convince him that there was nothing else he could have done. After rolling t
he events around in his head—he had given that fight all he had—Knox had to agree. But after all this time, after everything, losing the Tangle Thief was a brutal blow.
“Are you still in here feeling sorry for yourself?” Hatch asked from the door.
Knox shrugged. “This seemed like the right place for me at the moment.”
Hatch’s tentacles moved rhythmically as he shuffled into the room. “So we lost the Tangle Thief. So what?”
“How can you say that?”
“Because if it wasn’t for you, we would have lost it a long time ago,” Hatch stated.
Knox blinked at him, confused.
“The Saverus have been after that device for over ten years,” Hatch continued. “If it had been in Area 126, it would already be in their hands. Hell, if you hadn’t taken it from your house, they probably would have gotten it a long time ago.”
“But they have it now, and that’s what we’ve been fighting against,” Knox lamented.
“And we will continue to fight,” Hatch countered. “Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. Today, we had a setback… but do you think that means Ghost Squadron is going to give up?”
Knox shook his head. “I can’t imagine Eddie and Julianna ever giving up.”
Hatch sort of smiled, a gesture that was rare for the Londil. “Me either. You know, in a way, I think it’s better that the Saverus have the Tangle Thief now.”
“What? What do you mean?” Knox asked.
“They are up to something, and I have a feeling it’s major,” Hatch explained. “If we had beaten them to the Tangle Thief, do you think they’d give up?”
Knox considered this for a moment. The Saverus wanted the Tangle Thief for a reason, one that was no doubt sinister, knowing what kind of evil race they were.
“No, they’d find another way to accomplish whatever they are up to.”
Hatch pointed a tentacle at Knox. “You got it, Gunner. At least this way, they have a device that I know how to track. Once they start operating the Tangle Thief, it’s going to set off many red flags.”
