“Nice,” was all Silas said after giving the interior of my frigate the once-over. We both knew that nice meant, “What a shithole you got here.” He didn’t waste time after that. “I want to see Reya.”
“Sure. She’s in a passenger pod just forward on the main deck.” I pointed in the general direction on the ceiling.
“After you,” he said, waving me forward. “You have the advantage here. Your ship. Places to hide weapons and spring an attack. You’ll have to forgive me not wanting to be jumped from behind.”
I made like it didn’t matter to me who went first and headed toward the stairs. I kept my eyes on him, looking down as I climbed upward. I walked the short distance in the narrow passageway, slightly turned in his direction the whole time. When we entered the chamber with Reya, I moved to stand against the far wall.
I watched as he meticulously checked her vitals. I started forward when he adjusted two of the settings. He held his hand up for me to be silent or stay where I was, I didn’t know which. I wasn’t ready to attack and there was no sane reason for him to risk his safety coming on board, if all he wanted was to hurt her. He could have done from the safety of his ship.
He kept an eye on me as he walked around to the front of the pod. “Did you know she only has one lung?” He could tell by my face I didn't. “She had a pulmonary embolism a few years ago but refused a cybernetic replacement.” He peered into the pod window but quickly brought his eyes back to me.
His hands brushed over the top of the pod in a gentle soothing motion. When he straightened, he backed himself against the wall on the opposite side of chamber, the pod floating in between us. I instantly realized I’d already made a mistake. Earlier I’d kept him at arm's length using Reya as a pawn. Now he was returning the favor – touché. His body went rigid. Oh shit, he was about to spring something.
I tried to defuse the situation. “You see, she’s safe. Let’s head up and get this going.” He wasn’t buying but I kept selling. “In a few we can be at a gate and I’ll be on my way.”
“Really?” His body language suggested we weren’t going anywhere. “This was a dangerous game you played and at my expense.”
Play time seemed to be over. I braced myself and leaned into an attack stance. My voice dripped acid. “Game – is that what her life is to you?”
He ignored my statement, continuing down his own line of thought. “She’s never made it out of my station before,” he said, “let alone onto a ship and out of the region. That’s a precedent that has to end here.”
It was on now. We circled the small chamber, each with his back pressed against the wall. I gripped the pipe until the whites of my knuckles showed. It didn’t matter if he noticed at this point, he’d come in with a plan of attack.
“Must be my pedigree,” I sneered. “Looks like I exceeded your expectations after all.” My combat training kicked in, in a split second I assessed the situation – his position, the proximity of the pod and all viable angles of attack. It was time to strike. The world slipped into slow motion. I crouched low, inhaled then lunged diagonally across the pod, aiming for his throat. Like a displaced egg, the pod wobbled as my knees brushed over the top.
He jerked to the side, avoiding the full force of my attack. I clipped the left side of his chest. He hit the wall behind him, momentarily losing his footing. He swung a wild right while he struggled to steady himself.
I raised my forearm to block the combination of blows he attempted to deliver. From my crouched position I saw an opening. I punched up into his chest. I felt a one of his ribs crack. His breath left him in a rush. He staggered backward. In one fluid movement I was on my feet and advancing. The titanium pipe clenched in my fist, I was ready to make a dent in this fucker’s head.
Silas scuttled sideways then quickly rolled under the pod to the other side of the room. The pod bobbed between us - again. He panted and favored his left side.
“Not as rusty as I’d hoped.” Through clenched teeth he said, “This isn’t going to end well for you now.”
We were both shuffling side to side, trying to gain the upper hand on the next strike.
“Was it ever going to?”
“Might have,” he gestured toward the pod. “I have a small reverence for the immortals – even fallen ones.”
His mocking smile taunted me. I prepared to lunge at him again when he yanked at a gold chain hanging around his neck. I stopped short. From the chain hung a blood red vial, with a red label and flowery print. It swung like a pendulum as he held it high. Our eyes locked. FUCK – for the first time I noticed air purifiers jammed up his nostrils.
He read acknowledgement in my eyes and smiled. “Time to die,” he sneered.
Last chance… Last move… I rushed forward and shoved the pod aside with my left hand. The pod whirled around the room like a spinning top. Life support and monitor chords snapped. Cloudy fluid sprayed wildly around the chamber while a litany of alarms rang out from the medic console. I dropped the pipe and griped Silas’ wrist – the one holding the vile. My left hand had him by the throat, as I tried to restrict his movement.
Events shifted into fast forward. Silas alternately punched me in the head and hammered at the bend in my arm, trying to break my hold on his throat. With only one I hand, I couldn’t exert enough force to choke the life out of him but his face turned bright red. I locked my eyes on the vile, nothing else mattered.
“Hold on no matter what,” I told myself.
Thumping sounds started echoing from within the pod. Reya was awake inside, trying to get out.
She screamed my name and pounded frantically. “Gilles! Gilles – I can’t get out. Wh-what's happening?”
Precious seconds ticked by while Silas and I struggled in our death grip. He successfully avoided my attempted knee to the groin and when I’d leaned forward to put weight behind the attack, he’d grabbed a chunk of my hair. Quick as lightening, he yanked my head backward, thrust his arm under my arm and clenched his free hand around my throat. We were locked hand-to-hand and throat to throat.
Reya continued to scream and pound inside the pod. Silas and I thudded around the chamber, thrusting each other against every solid surface. Hitting the pod was unavoidable, as each tried to gain leverage over the other. The pod whirled violently around the room.
On one collision, the pod’s rotation ended facing forward. Reya’s face was momentarily visible in the pod window. Her eyes were wide with terror. We bumped it again and it spun in the opposite direction. I lost track of time. Blood from a gash over my right brow dripped into my eyes. Silas was drenched in sweat. Foamed silva gathered in the corners of his mouth.
A ragged plea echoed from the pod, “Please… help. I… can’t… brea—.”
More seconds passed while Silas and I wrestled. I had him pinned against the wall again. The pod went silent. I glared at Silas, intent on finding a way to choke this son-of-bitch to death with one hand. There was a look of madness in his eyes.
“You… did... this,” he growled.
A new terror ripped through my chest. I spun my head toward the silent pod. When I did, Silas swung us around in an arc. His hand holding the vile was pointed toward the far wall and he threw us in that direction. Off balance, our collective weight sent us careening toward his goal. The vile crashed into the wall, wedged between it and his hand.
Bloody fragments broke away and fell. The red vapor exploded into the chamber. Neither released their grip on the other’s throat but we both knew who was going to win. In a few seconds I’d be incapacitated and sometime after, dead by his hand – if I was lucky.
My head swam. My view of the chamber blurred but I kept pressure on Silas’ throat. I tried to grab hold with my other hand but my body wouldn't respond. My grip slackened. My knees buckled. Against my will my hands opened. Silas stepped backward out of my reach. A blunt kick to my chest toppled me over. The floor rushed up to greet the side my face – WHAM. In a haze, I saw Silas rush to the pod.
Silas banged at the controls to open the pod. “Reya! Hang on – here, I’m here love.”
My eyelids turned into bricks on toothpicks. I willed them to stay open, draining every ounce of determination that remained. The lid on the pod popped up. Silas wrenched it the rest of the way. He stooped low into the pod. A snapping sound – metal released from metal, as Silas detached Reya from the head dock. He rummaged lower and when he came up, Reya’s torso was supported in his embrace.
I watched through silted eyes as he reached into his pants pocket and shoved what he’d retrieved, into Reya’s nose. He slapped her on both the sides of her face, leaving bloody imprints on her cheeks. “Wake up,” he shouted but she didn’t move. He put an ear to her lips.
I croaked a question too low to be heard, “A-a-live?”
Silas lifted her motionless form. Cradling her like a child, he stepped past me. I couldn’t move my head. I strained my eyes to watch his departure. As he angled sideways to navigate out the door, one of Reya’s arms fell limply at her side.
Her arm, slight and still; her wrist fragile and slack; her hand – a finger twitched once… twice. My face was numb but my heart smiled. My head throbbed as if on the verge of imploding. Time to sleep my body crooned. I begged it to wait – wait until she was out of sight but I was falling, floating, descending downward into darkness.
To be continued in Shadows of New Eden: Echoes
Planned publish date is Jan 30th
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