The Power and the Glory

Book 4 Chapter XIV: The Necromancers

Warning: contains more zombie-related body horror.

And all of the horses
And all of the men
Won't put it back in place
Or bury it where it had been
-- Starset, Something Wicked

"We will arrive in Gradoné in four minutes. Please fasten your seatbelt."

"We will arrive in Gradoné in three minutes. Please fasten your seatbelt."

"We will arrive in Gradoné in two minutes."

All right, Irímé wanted to shout at the voice. Everyone heard you. You don't have to keep repeating it.

There was a shudder and then a thump. The spaceship shook in a very dizzying way. Irímé closed his eyes and prayed for it to stop soon. At last it did.

"We have arrived in Gradoné. Have a nice day!"

Irímé undid his seatbelt and very carefully picked up the suitcase. He tried not to jar Shizuki too much as he made his way with the rest of the passengers -- there weren't many; just a tour group returning home after their holiday -- to the spaceship door.

The radio crackled. A garbled voice issued from the speakers. "Attention--" Indistinct "--do not land repeat--" Indistinct "--land extreme da--" Indistinct "--leave at once." In the background of the message something that sounded like screams and roars could be heard.

Irímé clutched the suitcase tighter to his chest. He knew deep in his bones and without needing to be told that this was the result of whatever Abi had done.

For several minutes the doors remained closed while the pilots tried to contact whoever had sent the message. Irímé could hear snippets of their conversation accidentally broadcast over the speakers. Most of it was only one or two words, meaningless out of context, but he distinctly heard one phrase. "I can't get anyone to answer anywhere."

What the hell have you done, Abi? he yelled even though he knew Abi couldn't hear him.

Just how bad was the situation? He'd expected something like Ilaran's possession: bad, but contained in one area. From the sound of things this was much more widespread.

One of the tour group lost her patience. "Are these doors never going to open?"

She tugged at the handle, ignoring her friends' worried remarks of, "I think we'd better wait. It sounds like something's wrong out there."

On the wall beside the door was a handle labelled "Lock Override. Use Only In Emergency". Irímé watched in horror as the woman grabbed it and pulled.

"Stop it!" he shouted. "You're going to get us killed!"

She ignored him. One of her friends looked at him disapprovingly and said, "Don't be silly. It's not as serious as that."

The doors unlocked. Irímé backed away. Something screeched.

"Get away from the door!" Irímé shouted.

Instead of listening a tourist tried to push the door open. Something collided with the outside of the spaceship.

Irímé panicked. He turned and ran back into the seating area, clutching the suitcase and searching for somewhere to hide. There was nowhere among the chairs. At the back of the seating area were the bathrooms. He ran into the closest one, locked the door and placed his suitcase in front of it to barricade it.

Blood-curdling screams filled the spaceship. Irímé heard someone run into the bathroom next to him. Something hit the door before they could close it. Their shrieks were abruptly cut off.