Starborne

Chapter 38

I always had a recurring nightmare where I was running towards, or away from, something incredibly important. My sister's voice, calling out for help. The demons in my past, chasing me through the tight and cramped rooms of my childhood home. In those dreams I would run as fast as I could, but my feet would lack purchase, skidding on the floor. No matter how hard I pushed myself I made barely any progress, sluggishly bicycling my legs as I tried to move forward.

Running through the ship towards the prison wing, I was reminded of these dreams in a stunning and fearful spasm of deja-vu.

My feet skidded on the brushed steel of the hallways, I missed corners and slammed into walls in my haste. The mercenary ship was massive; in the minutes it took me to sprint through its expanse, it felt like a true infinite labyrinth.

I kept Jack's keycard clutched tightly in my left palm as I made hurried entry through the doors that blocked my way. In my dominant hand, I held my gun, ready to discharge it at anyone waiting on the other side of the partitions.

The silence felt deafening, the hallways were completely abandoned. I guessed that the mercenaries had been called to their positions before Jack came to see me. They were likely sorted into smaller ships waiting for orders to take off, or packed into the landing bay as the ship prepared to touch down. By my estimate, we had mere minutes until the atmosphere of Cynabar was breached.

Not that any of it mattered if my team was gone. With the Pilots dead, the rest of my plan could very well fall apart. With no one to take the ship while the mercenaries left for the jungle…

The entrance to the prison hallway was ajar when I skidded to a stop in front of it. I tucked away the key and placed both hands on my weapon, holding it low and taking careful, measured steps into the chamber.

There was no one at the security station, and Harvey was conspicuously absent. I smelled no evidence of firepower, but other than a low electrical hum I could also hear no sign of life.

I edged around the corner, my back to the wall and a lump in my throat. My gun rounded into the main chamber first, and I jumped back quickly as a burst of gunfire sparked off the corner of the wall, where my head was a moment before.

My heart dropped through the floor, but I forced myself to speak.

"It's Holly, Jack sent me for cleanup."

I fought back tears as I waited for a response, trying in vain to steel myself for what awaited me around the corner.

"Cleanup?"

The young feminine voice was wry, but humorous.

"And here I thought everything was just permanently filthy." Another familiar voice joined in, and my knees went weak with relief.

"Oh, hell, you guys." I lowered my weapon and pulled away from the wall.

The girls were standing nonchalant inside the prison cell, but the door stood open and unlocked. When I came closer they parted, to show me Mulch and Harvey passed out cold on the floor, tied up with the copper signal wire tight enough to cut their skin.

"He didn't even bring backup." One of the girls remarked with fake sadness, "sucks for us, we could only grab two guns."

"Two mercenaries against twelve Pilots." I shook my head ruefully. "I hope each of you got a punch in, at least."

Leaving no time for relieved banter or debriefing, the entire ship lurched with a clang.

"Fuck, they've stalled it to prepare for landing, we have to get to the control bay!" I began rattling off orders as we jogged towards the hallway.

The armory was ludicrously close to the prison, which simply underscored how woefully incompetent this entire operation was. It took just two gunshots and one key swipe to blast the doors wide open, and the Pilots began efficiently arming themselves with everything in sight.

Once we'd amassed enough firepower for the small army we were, seven girls ran to the control room, and five followed me down to the base of the ship. Sara was one of them, and I only hesitated briefly before giving her additional instructions.

"I want two of you guys to quickly jam the reentry doors in the landing bay. The rest of you, touch base with the control room and find out where the male Pilots are being held. Break out the rest of the prisoners. Arm those who can fight, and get the rest into evacuation pods. Hold them there until my signal. I will meet you before we touch down, I promise."

"You're not coming?" She didn't seem worried, only quizzical.

"There's something I have to do first."

As the rest of my team split up and conquered their tasks, I took a sharp left and jogged to the lower chambers.