Where Nothing Ill Can Dwell

Chapter 30 - Ferdinand

I tackled Miranda to the floor and earned a grunt of pain for my efforts. As much as I hated knowing I'd hurt her again, it was for her own protection. I couldn't risk her getting shot.

"Give me the girl, and I'll stop shooting," a slurred voice said from across the room.

I lifted my head and recognized our assailant. "Stephano? Stop!"

He paused and stumbled towards us, his eyes squinting from the bright sunlight that poured in from the open roof. "Young Ferdinand?"

"Yes, it's me. Now stop this madness and hand over your blaster."

He looked from me to Miranda, and a lecherous grin formed on his mouth. "I will once I get the pretty girl I was promised."

Like hell I'd let him touch Miranda. "Who would promise you such a thing?"

"The monster." He pointed his blaster over his shoulder toward the door. "Said if I helped him kill her mother, I could have her."

"Mom!" Miranda wiggled out from under me and jumped to her feet.

"Hey, wait a minute there, sweetie." Stephano tried to level his blaster at her, but it swayed like the rest of his body. "Just give me a minute to show you what you've been missing."

If I ever made it back to NAPLES, I'd make sure my father's valet was exiled to the most remote region of the nebula.

But when she ran past him, he fired at her.

My vision turned red. I jabbed my fist into the center of Trinculo's nose. The blow caught him off guard, and I snatched the blaster out of his hand. For a split second, I aimed it at Stephano's head, but then mercy took hold of me, and I shot his leg instead.

He fell to the ground with a cry of pain, his weapon falling from his hand.

I grabbed it, cursing those precious seconds it took to disarm one of my own men.

Miranda had dashed out of the hangar, and I was forced to contain the two men who'd tried to kill us. I pointed a blaster at each of them as I backed away. "You both know I aced target practice from the age of seven."

Stephano nodded and continued to sob like a small child.

"Now where is this monster?"

"Trying to break into a room down the hall," Trinculo answered.

I cursed, and continued to back away. "You interfere, and I swear I'll have your heads for it."

Then I chased after Miranda.

It didn't take a detective to figure out where she'd gone. The sound of blaster fire down the hallway where the sleeping quarters were located was enough to give away her location. But she was unarmed, and the thought of her getting caught in the middle of a battle and shot...

An ache like I'd never experienced before bloomed in my chest. It took my breath away, yet added fire to my blood. My steps quickened to match my pulse. I had to catch her.

I turned the corner and skidded to a halt. The entire hall looked like a warzone.

Miranda crouched behind a torn scrap of metal with tears streaming down her face. She looked terrified, but otherwise unharmed.

A monstrous creature like Trinculo had described stood at one end, his back pressed against the wall outside an open door, a blaster in each hand. Although Miranda had tried to paint a sympathetic picture of him, he was far from the childhood friend she'd described. This creature was heavily muscled and openly hostile. He turned his glittering black eyes on me and fired.

I dove around the corner and barely missed being hit. Unlike Stephano, this creature could aim.

Miranda screamed, and I looked around the corner just in time to see the monster grab her by the hair and drag her out of her hiding spot.

My vision had turned red before, but it was nothing like the rage racing through me now. I stepped out, both blasters ready to fire.

Only to see him turn her into a shield and press the tip of one of his weapons to her temple. The devilish grin he gave me told me he wasn't afraid to fire.

He backed away, his attention flickering between her and the open door. "Look at who I have, Prospero. Your sweet, innocent little Miranda."

"Let her go, Caliban!" Dr. Prospero demanded, peeking around the metal doorframe before ducking for cover when the monster fired at her.

He shifted his hold on her and sniffed her hair. "No, I think not. I told you she would be my mate. Perhaps I'll let you live long enough to watch me fill her with my seed."

I lifted my blaster at him and stepped forward. I'd rather die than let him violate her.

Caliban locked Miranda up in a chokehold, changing his stance so that even though his arms were crossed, there was still one blaster aimed at both me and Dr. Prospero. "I wouldn't do that, not if you want her to live."

Then he lowered his lips to her ear. "Which one should I kill first, my dear Miranda? Your mother? Or this human usurper?"

A round of fire came from inside Dr. Prospero's room.

Caliban answered with his own shots. "Not so powerful now without your computers, are you? I made sure I destroyed them when I came inside."

Miranda continued to claw at his arm, even though her lips had turned pale. He was slowly strangling her.

She met my gaze and sent me a silent plea for help.

But as long as that coward hid behind her, I couldn't get a clear shot at him without risking her life, too.

I switched my blaster from kill to stun just in case I missed and took another step toward him. "You're outnumbered. Let her go, and I'll spare your life."

"Never."

A hail of blaster fire surrounded me. I jumped for the metal panel that Miranda had hid behind, but it didn't protect me from the blast that grazed my right shoulder. Fire raced down my arm, and I dropped one of my weapons.

Miranda screamed out my name, and more fire erupted.

I had no idea how much time passed. It could've been a few seconds or a few hours, but as I sat there behind the makeshift shield, it struck me with sudden clarity that I loved her more than life itself, and I would do anything to save her.

ARIEL whizzed around the corner, drawing Caliban's attention and blasterfire, and I saw my chance.

I charged around the metal fragment. I couldn't shoot him without risking Miranda. This situation called for a shift in strategy. I didn't need to take him down. I just need to knock him off balance.

I pumped my legs, one driving step after another.

Miranda's eyes widened in horror, but she seemed to understand what I was trying to do and twisted to the side, exposing his gut to me.

Caliban's attention shifted from ARIEL to me, but he didn't have enough time to aim his blaster.

I lowered my good shoulder and pounded it into the center of his stomach.

His lungs emptied with a rasp.

My momentum carried all three of use to the ground, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw Miranda roll away unharmed.

The sharp chirp of a blaster sounded by my ear, and a new wave of burning agony exploded along my side.

I heard the whirr of ARIEL's thrusters, followed by a roar of pain from Caliban. His body stiffened underneath me, even though the steady throb of his pulse drummed through his skin. The monster lived, but he had been incapacitated for now.

I heard Miranda saying my name, but it grew further and further away with each pained breath I drew in, until the blackness closed in around me.