The Dead Fleet (Juggernaut #3)

Twenty Five

The girls' hair either streamed behind them in uneven waves or stuck to their skin as they all ran along another identical corridor. A bulkhead marked the boundary of the refinery installation. They jumped through it. Malachi sealed the door behind them. The sweat on his skin of both effort and terror evaporated in the cooler air, but that wasn't why he shivered.

'Which way now?' said Tila.

'Just run, we can work it out on the way.'

So they ran. Malachi frantically interrogated his datapad for a route back to their ships. Ellie had said nothing since they had resumed their escape. Typhon's scars ran deep. She struggled to keep up until Tila took her by the hand and pulled.

They reached a four-way intersection. All the bulkheads were sealed.

'Oh come on!' Tila cried in frustration. She began slapping every door control to no effect.

Malachi hugged the wall. He using the bulkhead frame for cover he peered back along the corridor they had taken. 'I don't see anyone yet,' he said.

'They're coming,' said Tila grimly.

Ellie hammered silently at a door control on the left side of the intersection, the thump of each of her blows the only thing which interrupting her trembling.

Tila gave up trying the door to the right. She joined Malachi and looked back along the empty corridor too. 'Where did they go?' she asked him.

'I don't know. Another route? Maybe they're trying to head us off.'

'They don't know where we landed, do they?'

'We're in trouble if they do,' said Malachi.

'More trouble?' said Tila.

Ellie suddenly stopped banging. 'Someone's here,' she said simply.

'Get back,' ordered Tila. Her staff snapped instantly to it's full length.

Ellie backed away.

The left door lock disengaged. The bulkhead swung into the intersection. Tila leapt into the darkness before the door was fully open. She thrust her staff like a spear into the first face she saw. There was no time for finesse, not enough room to swing it. The hardened tip struck someone full in the face. She heard a loud crack. Not bone; something synthetic, manufactured. A dark bulky figure fell away into the shadows. Another figure, dressed the same, turned to point something at her. Tila kicked the weapon away, dropped to one knee and punched. Fifty-fifty she was fighting a man. But while the odds were in her favour the armoured figures were well protected from physical attacks. The man's reflexes still worked. Though unhurt, he still automatically moved to protect himself. Still on one knee, Tila pushed her other leg forward. She planted her foot behind his ankle. She rose quickly, pushing forward, keeping the momentum. Pushed backward, he tripped over her foot. Tila followed him all the way to the floor. She landed knees first on his stomach. Tila ripped the mask from his face and punched him, snapping his head back to the floor.

It was over in seconds, too quickly even for Tila to think about who she was fighting. The rush of adrenaline and the need to survive blinded her to anything beyond the fight.

It was Ellie who saw it first.

'They're not pirates.'

Tila stepped back into the intersection and let the light reveal the groaning figures in the corridor.

They were dressed in black body armour and masks. Cameras and radios were fastened to their clothing. Utility belts and webbing held canisters, ammunition clips and spare charges for blasters and other items Tila didn't recognise. They each had a sidearm strapped to their thighs, and carried another stubby, two-handed blaster.

You didn't have to be a soldier to recognise when something looked military.

Tila pulled free one of the sidearms. This she recognised.

'Tila?' said Malachi.

Tila showed him the weapon. A needler.

'Like the agents used at Jayce's house?' said Ellie. She looked more closely at the injured figures. 'Are they agents?'

'I don't know. But they're not pirates.' Tila released the safety on the needler and fired two shots into each body. 'Now they're not a threat.'

Ellie shook Tila's arm and pointed along the corridor they had taken.

Two pirates had rounded the corner at the far end and were running toward them. One clutched a blaster, the other a knife. The blaster fired as they ran. The shots went wide. The walls flashed under the stray impacts and sparked blue-white.

Tila stood in the doorway, tall and fearless, and took aim with the needler. She pumped the trigger until it clicked empty.

'Too far,' said Malachi. He ducked into the corridor and snatched up a blaster. He fired wildly into the corridor but nothing happened. 'How does this work?'

'Don't know,' said Tila. She snapped her fingers at Ellie. 'Ellie, through that door, now.'

Ellie hopped over the agent's bodies and hesitated at the sight of the dark corridor before her. She turned her attention to the agents instead. Was there another weapon they could use?