The Dead Fleet (Juggernaut #3)

Fifty Nine

The mess hall was as black as the grave after the grenade detonated. The room took a breath until everybody in it realised they were still alive.

First came the sighs of relief, then whispers, then a triumphant laugh, and finally the sound of a triggers clicking against nothing.

'What happened?' Tila whispered in the dark. Her mother's voice replied in her ear, surprisingly close. Her breath tickled stray hair which fell against Tila's neck.

'Mini EMP. You knocked out all powered systems within twenty meters.'

'You mean their guns are...?'

'Useless.'

The whispering from the pirates and cabal agents was growing louder, more confident, but still there was no light.

'How do we get out of here?' said Tila.

Grace considered their options quickly. Fighting in total darkness was out of the question. The night vision tech she carried was active, not passive, and now useless after the grenade pulse.

'We'll force the door manually and go back the way we came in.'

The shouts from each side of the room grew louder and more belligerent, like any crowd after they realise a power cut can't hurt them.

Grace carefully oriented herself and started to crawl around Tila. 'Follow me.'

Tila followed, quietly shuffling forward on her hands and knees. The black shape of her mother was almost visible now, like black clouds on a dark night.

'I think my eyes are adjusting,' she whispered.

'They can't,' Grace whispered back, 'There's no light in here. Even the emergency systems need power.'

'Wait,' Tila whispered urgently. She held her hand up in front of her face. There was something there. Something on the edge of her vision. Hard to see when she looked at her hand straight on but if she looked to the side...

The shouts quieted. The others were starting to notice it too.

Grace looked up at the ceiling. Even she could see it now. She hurried Tila back behind the table. Slowly, around them, the room was filling with a sickly neon blue glow, and growing brighter by the second.

'I thought you said nothing worked,' said Tila.

'I didn't think of this,' she admitted.

In tandem with the light, the noise was filling the room again too. Blasters were still useless and abandoned. In their place, the cabal drew unpowered stun-sticks, the pirates drew knives. Each side stood up from behind their cover and took steps forward. The pirates desperate and afraid. The agents determined and grim.

The mechanical lighting trigger reset and the bioluminescent emergency lighting peaked.

Grace stood up and retrieved the twin tonfa from her holster.

She gestured with one at her daughter's staff.

'Time to show me what you can do. I'm sorry, we're not getting out of here without a fight.'

Tila climbed to her feet. Pirates and agents turned as one.

'Well then,' said Tila as she stood side by side with her mother, 'Let's get to work.'

She snapped open the staff.