The Ill-mannered Door (humorous sci-fi)

42.2: On the Run

"It's you isn't it?" I said, the cold realization gripping my heart.

Derek just stared at me.

"You were the one the empire sent to kill her?"

"She can't be allowed to return."

"But you can't kill her!"

"It's gotta be done, Thomas."

"But I can't believe you would betray us like this, Derek."

"Please, if anything, you and the king are betraying me! I'm the one being consistent. I'm keeping my word. I've said all along that she has to be stopped."

I had to admit that he had a point, but I would not be a party to murder. I stood there shaking my head at him, trying to think of some way to sway him, but he spoke first.

"Look, if I don't stop her, she'll bring instability to the empire! Some of the houses remember her family and will rally behind her, but some, like House Werrick, won't. The empire will be thrown into chaos and war like it's never seen. I won't allow that, Thomas! I've fought for too long on too many planets, and watched too many good men die trying to hold the empire together! The emperor may be a power-hungry megalomaniac that everyone hates, including me, but I'll take a dictator over anarchy every time."

"But you said yourself that something isn't right back in the empire, Derek. What if you can't ring up your normal contacts because a coup has begun and the empire is already in anarchy? Who's going to rule and bring stability then? House Werrick?"

"Hell no, I'll fight to my last breath before I let those terrorists take the throne."

"Then, Derek, if Queen Esmerelda is the rightful heir to that throne, it sounds like she may be the empire's last hope."

Derek was unwilling to accept that, shaking his head violently, so I said, "It seems to me that at least one of us needs to be man enough to protect her, not kill her."

"Oh, I'll show you who's man enough," Derek said coldly as he began his advance again.

I had goaded him on purpose, gambling that he would change his mind, but I've always had about as much luck as the rabbit who lost its life so some bloke could have its "lucky" foot.

A quick glance told me that the bat was on the deck nearby, and I began backpedaling toward it, keeping out of Derek's reach. When I thought I was close enough, I quickly dove for it, snatched it up, and managed to regain my feet before Derek closed the gap. He came at me then and I swung at him with all my strength, but he danced quickly out of the way and pain exploded as he punched me in the side, knocking me off balance.

Before I could recover, he came at me again with the knife and I knew by the look in his eyes that he was done playing.

Suddenly there came a loud and familiar whooshing sound as the portal opened once again, followed by an unfamiliar whine as we were cast into shadow.

I looked up to see what looked to be a large spaceship of some sort exiting the portal above us. And as I watched, a ramp lowered at the rear and soldiers wearing packs and holding rifles similar to Derek's began to drop out the back.

"What on Earth?" I exclaimed, staring up at the men and the spaceship hovering above us.

"Yeah, not Earth. Looks like our friends from House Werrick are back," Derek said.

"How do you know it's them?"

"That's their house crest emblazoned on the ship."

The soldiers fell toward us, but it was a controlled fall, and they began firing down at the sailors still fighting on the deck. Thankfully they hadn't yet fired on Derek and me, but that changed when he snapped up his rifle and began picking off the soldiers one by one as they came toward our ships. They started firing back at Derek and moving in our direction, so I put some distance between us and tried to keep my head down. The soldiers must have had some sort of anti-gravity devices that were allowing them to steer toward us.

"What are they doing here?" I yelled.

"I'm guessing they're here to kill the queen," Derek yelled back as he continued to fire.

Despite the fact that that would mean they had a common objective, Derek went right on shooting them, and I certainly wasn't going to try to point out his apparent logical fallacy.

Derek fired again and again, but one of the soldiers came in too fast and crashed into him, knocking him to the deck and sending his rifle sliding away. Both men rolled and came back up on their feet, but the House Werrick soldier still had his rifle. He raised his weapon to fire on Derek, right before my bat struck his helmeted head with a solid whack. He fell to the deck like a marionette with its strings cut and didn't move again.

Derek retrieved his rifle, fired two blasts into the unconscious soldier on the ground, and then looked at me. "That doesn't mean we're even," he said before turning his attention back to firing at the other House Werrick soldiers that were dropping onto the deck of the Esmerelda.

I heard a moan and turned to see Isabella returning to consciousness. She looked around in confusion as she took in the rapidly changing battle. I ran to her and helped her to her feet. She gingerly touched the side of her face. She would no doubt have a good bruise where Derek had punched her, and she still seemed a bit out of sorts.

"What in the world are you doing here, Isabella?" I asked.

"There's no time, Thomas. Where's the queen?"

In all that had happened, I had lost track of the king and queen altogether. I frantically scanned about but couldn't see them.

Isabella suddenly pointed and shouted, "There!"

I turned to follow her gaze in time to see the king and queen run into the captain's cabin of the Bounty. I also saw sailors on her deck cutting loose the ropes that held the two ships together.

"I have to go, Thomas. I need to make sure she gets to safety."

I knew very little about Isabella, and the things that I thought I knew had been shattered, but I had promised Muriel to protect her daughter, and it seemed that Isabella and I shared a common goal. If the king and queen were taking the Bounty and leaving, then I had to go with them. My luggage was on board that ship!

"Then I'm coming with you!" I said.