The door buckled, the advanced polymer shattering as it went flying down the corridor. Evelyn so loved doing that, especially with doors designed to slide out of the way.
Nothing was immediately on the other side of the door, nothing but the stronger scent of spices. The lack of an alarm caused her to click her tongue, though.
“Really, that’s just stupid. Either it’s tied into the computers, or the ooze disabled the alarms. Either way, stupid,” Evelyn murmured, and continued down the halls.
Her trip continued much like that for several minutes. The occasional door would block her, and she’d kick it off its… well, not its hinges, as they didn’t have hinges. The ship wasn’t designed to slow down someone who was cybernetically enhanced or in powered armor, which was probably part of why the ooze had been so successful.
As she moved, Evelyn saw more signs of conflict. Here, there were the corroded remains of a basic blast pistol. There, a splatter of black residue, and the faint outline of where a person had been in front of a wall. It’d been a fighting retreat, as far as Evelyn could tell, and with each door the smell grew stronger.
The energy sword blazed to life and swept through the air in an instant, severing a tiny, near-invisible tendril of ink-black liquid as it extended from the ventilation system, and Evelyn smiled as it curled on itself, burning to ashes. She hadn’t consciously seen it until after she’d acted.
“Oh, is that how it’s going to be?” Evelyn asked, smiling widely. She double-checked that the last ping hadn’t found any survivors, and on confirmation, she smiled even more widely as she drew on her mana, pulling her sword back as if to strike as she chanted under her breath. “Dawn of the universe, hearken to my hand. Let your fire kindle, burn, and consume!”
Evelyn thrust her blade forward just as it surged with brilliant, blue-white flame that overwhelmed the normally-red blade, piercing through the vent and into the life support system. The next instant fire erupted down the ventilation shafts like a tsunami, and she could hear it exploding through barriers, destroying fans, and blowing out vents in adjacent rooms as the fire roared through the system.
When Evelyn retracted her sword, the vent was a smoking hole, and there was a narrow hole in the back where the blade had penetrated. There was also a mess of smoking black residue in the vent where something ooze-like had been, and Evelyn smiled widely, turning and kicking the next door in before continuing to stalk toward the engine room.
She caught a brief glimpse of black liquid retracting through gaps in the doorway, and Evelyn smiled slightly… then she paused as she caught a faint transmission from someone else with implants.
“Run. It’ll kill you, run and blow up the ship,” the message said. It was pure text, no vocals at all, so it lacked any inflection to it, and Evelyn’s gaze sharpened slightly.
“I don’t think so. How many of you are left?” Evelyn asked, slowing down to where she was stalking down the hallway.
“You should run. It’s just me… it ate the others. It started on my legs once you boarded, threatening that it would kill me if I didn’t help. Please, run. Don’t let this thing get away,” the person on the other end begged.
“Oh, it won’t get away,” Evelyn replied, smiling coldly, her anticipation turning to anger. To cold, hard rage.
The next door wasn’t like the others. It was labeled as Main Engineering and kicking down the door wouldn’t be easy. Instead, Evelyn cut through it, carving what amounted to a huge X through it, then kicked the fragments into the room.
On the other side was a typical engineering room, with the glowing core of a reactor at its center… and around it was the ooze and its victim. The rest of the room, all its complex machinery coated in oily darkness, didn’t matter to her.
The ooze was an immense, gelatinous mass of darkness. She couldn’t see through it at all, it was so oily black, and it formed a roughly dome-shaped figure. Near the top was an elven woman, hairless and naked save for a layer of black liquid that adhered to much of her body. Her arms and lower body were submerged in the monster, and Evelyn’s eyes narrowed.
“Repair the engines,” the immense creature boomed, its voice seemingly coming from all sides at once. “Do so and you shall be spared.”
Evelyn considered for only half a second, then she replied in a cold voice, her thoughts icy and precise.
“Oh, you have no idea who you’re dealing with,” Evelyn replied, grinning broadly. “No. Unhand her. Now.”
Chapter 20
“Do you think she’s alright?” Star asked, shifting from one foot to the other nervously. She’d have paced, but the bridge was far too cramped with everyone in it to do that. Besides, she didn’t want to make it that obvious she was nervous. It didn’t help that they hadn’t gotten any messages from Evelyn since shortly after she’d boarded.
“Control, has there been any significant thermal change aboard the Nebula Runner?” Fya asked instead of replying.
It wasn’t the Doll called Control that answered, though. Instead it was the one at the right-hand console, the apparently human woman speaking calmly. “The average temperature in the rear quarter of the starship increased by one percent approximately forty-six seconds ago. The sensors cannot pinpoint it more precisely than that.”
“Mm, she must’ve burnt something,” Fya murmured, then looked at Star. “To answer your question, she’s fine. If she was upset, we’d know.”
“How do you know that?” Beatrice asked skeptically.
Tendrils of black liquid, less tendrils and more pillars, lashed out at Evelyn almost instantly. She didn’t even blink as the creature roared, willing magical shields to life. In all honesty, she didn’t need to chant spells, it just helped her focus her magic and, though she’d never admit it aloud, a part of Evelyn enjoyed the chants.
The ooze slammed into her shield hard, but Evelyn wasn’t idle, ignoring how oozing liquid flowed off the crimson shield like it’d hit a glass wall, and she extended her hand toward the woman suspended in the creature’s body. Magic flowed out of her, and an instant later she’d surrounded the woman in an almost form-fitting shield… and she yanked her free of it all at once.
The darkborn ooze roared angrily, but Evelyn didn’t care. Especially as she took in how the woman’s body ended abruptly mid-thigh, and she was certain her left hand was down two fingers. Evelyn surged her magic, and the dark liquid across her body that was dissolving her flesh was torn away, sent splattering through her shield back onto the monster, and Evelyn was mostly happy that the creature appeared to have cauterized her wounds as the woman let out a hoarse wail of pain.
“Return it!” the ooze boomed, and Evelyn snorted derisively.
“You’re just as stupid as you look,” she retorted, then smiled coldly. “If you want her? Take her, you horrid blob of refuse.”
The creature roared angrily, but the next moment Evelyn turned, dragging the woman through the air as she lunged toward the door. Ooze surged like tides to block her path, but she snorted, flicking her free hand again.
Black ooze ripped apart in front of her, allowing Evelyn through the doorway, and she raised a shield behind her with a thought, moving down the passageway like a rocket, to the point that she left a dent in a wall as she used it as a springboard while moving. Behind her she heard more roaring, and the buckling sound of the creature ripping through walls.
“Is it confined to the rear of the ship?” Evelyn asked the woman.
“W-what? Of course not! It… it moved there, but it can go anywhere!” the elf gasped in response.
“But it’s there now?” Evelyn asked, a cold smile growing on her lips. She was getting farther ahead of the ooze, she thought. It wouldn’t be that hard to get away, but she didn’t want to just get away.
“Yes?” the woman replied, looking confused now.
“Excellent. I hope your quarters aren’t behind us.” Evelyn said, coming to an abrupt stop, and she gently deposited the woman on the ground as she added. “Close
your eyes and look away.”
“Why are you—” the woman began, but Evelyn ignored her, turning toward the ship’s stern as she drew on her mana heavily… and began to chant a spell that she’d never had the opportunity to use before.
“Lords of fiery arrogance, may your light be bestowed upon me. Let the heart of a star descend into my hands,” Evelyn said, twisting mana as brilliant light began gleaming between her hands, and as she chanted, the first tendrils of angry darkness came around a corner and started surging toward her. She didn’t stop, though, instead grinning gleefully. “Let that heart surge and show them the fury of a star’s end!”
Then it wasn’t simply light anymore, and the surging wave of black ooze hesitated far, far too late.
One moment everything was going much the same as it had been. Star was watching the screen impatiently while the others argued.
“Heat spike, magnitude—” the Doll on the right began, but she didn’t speak fast enough.
The rear section of the Nebula Runner began glowing for an instant, as every joint, weld, and opening turned red, then blue-white light erupted through them. Then there wasn’t a rear of the ship at all, as indescribable light erupted out of it, consuming everything in its path and momentarily blinding the cameras as Star stared, her mouth hanging open.
The light lasted a good ten seconds, rippling in a vast cone behind the starship and enveloping a number of nearby asteroids. When it passed, the light slowly fading, Star’s eyes widened more, as it looked like something had taken a bite out of the Nebula Runner, leaving brightly glowing lines where it’d cut through the ship, leaving only the middle and prow of the ship untouched. Even the asteroids it’d hit had simply… evaporated.
“She was upset,” Fya said, with a mild note of satisfaction in her voice.
“…she can use nova magic?” Vaneryth asked, shock filling the angel’s voice, though it didn’t match what Star felt.
“I told you that I don’t hold a candle to her,” Fya replied.
The next moment the comm sprang to life, and Evelyn spoke, her voice surprisingly upbeat. “Ah, there you are! It seems that the ooze was the source of the jamming. Control, prepare quarantine protocols Delta. I found a survivor, and she needs medical treatment. First I need to find her things, as we’re going to be destroying the rest of the ship.”
“Acknowledged, Captain. May I ask the nature of the threat?” Control asked, folding her hands behind her back calmly.
“The poor bastards picked up a darkborn ooze somehow. They disabled the ship before it managed to eat all of them, so I gather that it kept a few engineers alive to try to force them to repair it, killing them one by one. This lady is in bad shape,” Evelyn explained, her voice growing less amused. “While the bulk of it was in the aft of the ship, we can’t be sure I got all of it. That’s why I’m getting her things, then we’re destroying the rest of the hulk. I expect nothing to be left when we’re done.”
“Yes, Captain. Medical team will be standing by in airlock three with Quarantine Protocol Delta equipment.” Control confirmed.
“Well, it sounds like you had fun! I’ve never seen you use that spell before, Milady, is there a particular reason why?” Fya asked.
“Most of my combat is on a planetary surface, and I don’t feel like ruining the weather or destroying a fifty-kilometer-long swath of countryside. In space, it isn’t useful because shipboard shields will shrug it off. It just isn’t practical, most of the time.” Evelyn explained calmly. “Not that I haven’t wanted to use it, mind you. It has an amazing incantation, and there’s something to be said for watching the bulkheads and rest of the ship vaporize in front of you. I have to say, it’s one of the most satisfying spells I’ve ever cast.”
“She’s mad. Completely, utterly, mad,” Peldri muttered softly, and Star looked at Moon.
“I… well, what’s a darkborn ooze?” Star ventured.
“Ooh, is it time for horror stories? I like horror stories!” Fya exclaimed, clapping her hands together as she spun to face Moon and Star. “We heard a bunch while we were in Rakal! They never liked my reactions, though. They thought I was scary.”
“Um, is there a version that doesn’t involve horror stories?” Moon asked, taking a careful step back.
“I… believe I will go assist the medical team,” Vaneryth said, and the angel quickly fled.
Star considered following, but decided that wasn’t really a reasonable thing, since she’d asked the question. She somewhat regretted that, now.
Chapter 21
“How’s she doing?” Evelyn asked, watching as the Dolls methodically reduced the Nebula Runner into space dust.
“Presuming you mean the woman which you rescued, she will live. We have extracted trace elements of the darkborn ooze and destroyed them. Having examined her entire body, the medical team has determined there is nothing left of the creature,” Control reported calmly. “If left untreated, it might have managed to recover. However, she has sustained terrible damage. While most of her implants are intact, her legs and three fingers have been destroyed, she has sustained burns across ninety percent of her body, and the trauma indicates that she should be sedated until she can be treated in a specialized facility.”
“Not surprising,” Evelyn said, nodding in response. “As soon as the Nebula Runner is destroyed and you’re certain that the darkborn ooze is entirely gone, set a course for Nald and get us moving again.”
“Yes, Captain,” Control confirmed with a nod. Evelyn made a note that maybe she should invest in better personality chips for the Dolls, as whoever had commissioned them obviously didn’t care about them having personality. It irritated her slightly, even more than them being Dolls to begin with.
She left them to their work, heading into the corridor, then paused as she found Zelirana outside. She glanced around but didn’t see Vaneryth anywhere nearby… which was curious, as the succubus had been the angel’s shadow essentially for as long as Evelyn had known the two. Not that Vaneryth was happy about that, but it was unusual.
“Evelyn, I wished to speak with you,” Zelirana said, bowing her head with a smooth grace.
“I suspected as much.” Evelyn said, gesturing for the succubus to follow as she made her way down the corridor toward her room. “What is it?”
“It’s regarding the offer to join your crew.” Zelirana explained, following Evelyn calmly. “My question is… what can I offer? You are powerful, wealthy, and incredibly skilled. While I believed that I could contribute somewhat, what you did aboard the other ship was eye-opening. I have never met a mortal of your age who could unleash that much power, and it doesn’t even address your personal combat skills. I am in awe of you.”
Evelyn chuckled softly, glancing at the succubus in amusement, raising an eyebrow. “Oh? Are you saying that I’ve intimidated you, Zelirana?”
“You intimidated me from the beginning. I simply wasn’t aware of how much you outclassed me by until now,” Zelirana admitted without the slightest hint of shame. “I believed that the gap was far narrower. However, at the same time I find it… exciting? Demons are drawn to those with power, as you must know. Your strength is one of the most impressive things I have encountered in my life and accompanying you would be… exquisite.”
The succubus visibly shivered at her last word, a smile growing on her lips, and she continued immediately. “The added bonus of having the chance to seduce Vaneryth would simply be icing on the cake, as it were.”
Evelyn laughed more loudly, opening her cabin and gesturing the succubus inside as she circled the bed. Her bed was in storage, since it wouldn’t fit in the small cabin, but as she moved she started disrobing, sliding out of her clothing with easy grace. It wasn’t like she’d mortify the succubus, after all.
“Ah the eternal question of what to do. I rather suspected that’s what you had in mind for her, but as long as you don’t cross the line, I won’t destroy you,” Evelyn told the succubus, thinking for a moment as she f
rowned. “What skills do you possess? Other than carnal ones.”
“I’m good at reading people, extrapolating what they truly desire, and negotiating or infiltrating. I’m modestly skilled with magic, though not as powerful as you or Fya, and have some skill with personal combat. Unlike Vaneryth, I have some training with modern firearms, though I’m new to these… implants,” Zelirana replied quickly. “I’m learning to control them, but I suspect it will be some time before I’m used to them.”
“Hm, that gives me a few ideas. I hope I don’t have a need for a spy, but there’s something you need to remember,” Evelyn said, turning to face the succubus, who was looking her naked body up and down with obvious attraction. “I can only be in one place at a time. If someone attacks people aboard the ship, I can do a lot, but I am not perfect. I think you could do well if you learned to use weapons, and perhaps… hm, I’m looking at getting better personality chips for the Dolls, so you could help them act more… normally. Perhaps a personnel manager wouldn’t be bad. It depends on what I choose to do with the ship.”
“That seems like something I’d enjoy,” the succubus agreed, smiling. “Now, am I going to be serving as a… personal assistant as well? I’d enjoy that.”
“No,” Evelyn replied, smiling. “I’m going to shower, and you’re going to go out and think a little. Don’t annoy Vaneryth too much, or I’ll put you on janitor duty. I told her the same thing.”
“As you wish,” Zelirana agreed, and bowed her head before heading out of the room.
Evelyn watched her go, then shrugged, stepping into the shower. While she did find the succubus attractive, she wasn’t about to jump into bed with her. That would give the woman ideas, and she couldn’t have that.
Evelyn was perfectly willing to sleep with anyone she found attractive, but problems always cropped up when they got expectations that they really shouldn’t have.
Chosen of Chaos (Eve of Destruction Book 1) Page 13
