Starship Desolation (14 page)

W
alker
and the others sprinted through the mud. Within a matter of minutes, the rain had turned the desert into a boggy quagmire. Each step would put you ankle deep in mud. If you weren’t wearing boots, it would rip the shoe right off your foot.

The creatures had taken notice of them. It was pure chaos. Claws snapped at them from all angles. The team zigzagged through the deadly maze of arthropods.

Walker and Malik blasted at the monsters with their rifles. Bullets tore into pincers and shattered skulls. Green blood spattered, then mixed with the mud. But for every creature that fell, there were hundreds more to take its place.

Some of the creatures snapped at each other, fighting over the morsels of food running in their midst.

Walker and the others were almost to the shuttle. Gavin brought up the rear. It looked like they were going to make it, unscathed. But a creature attacked Gavin. A pincer snared him.

Then another beast snatched at him. The two creatures were having a tug-of-war with Gavin’s body. One of the beasts ripped his leg from its socket. Muscle and tendon snapped and tore. Bones crackled. Crimson blood sprayed out of Gavin’s leg like a fountain. He screamed in agony.

One of the beasts crawled off with his leg to feast on it.

Walker blasted at the other arthropod’s tail, severing it in two.

Gavin dropped to the ground, paralyzed.

The beast flailed about and screamed.

Another beast stepped in to claim the prize. Then another. The two new monsters fought each other. Swiping and grasping. They locked pincers, like deer lock horns. The beasts rammed each other.

Walker dashed to Gavin, stealing him away as the creatures scuffled. He heaved Gavin over his shoulder and ran for the shuttle. Malik blasted a wave of suppressing fire, covering Walker.

Each step in the sloppy mud was precarious. With the added weight on his shoulders, Walker’s feet slid as he ran. He almost lost his balance a few times. His quads were burning and his low back was aching. He secured Gavin with one hand, and continuously fired at the creatures with the other.

He finally reached the shuttle as the horde closed in on him. Malik kept the horde at bay, blasting away. Once Walker, Gavin, and Bailey were in the shuttle, Malik climbed in. As he swung the hatch shut, a claw stabbed at him, blocking the hatch.

Walker gripped his weapon and aimed at the claw. His finger squeezed the trigger, firing off a burst of rounds. The claw exploded. Green slop splattered everywhere. But Malik was able to seal the hatch.

Malik wiped the goo from his face and flung it onto the ground. His lip curled up, disgusted by the guts, and the stench.

Creatures continued to poke their grubby little claws in through the gashes in the hull. But their pincers were too large. The shuttle rocked and rattled as they tried. Malik shoved the barrel of his weapon through the opening and blasted away.

“Save your ammo,” Walker said. “We’re going to need it.” He was busy attending to Gavin. Blood was draining out of his stump. Walker drew his sword and cut a section of fabric from Gavin’s clothing to use as a tourniquet. He tied it as tight as he could. But Gavin had already lost too much blood. His face was pale. His skin was cold and clammy to the touch.

“I would have liked to have seen my son,” Gavin said. It was the last words he would ever utter. His breath stopped, and the color drained from his lips. His body lay perfectly still.

Walker clenched his jaw and hung his head.

Gavin’s eyes were fixed, staring at the ceiling. Walker gently shut his eyelids with his fingertips. After 25 years, Gavin had finally left the planet.

Bailey knelt beside the body and whimpered.

The creatures had given up attacking the ship. But the muffled clatter of their mating activity served as an unnerving reminder of their presence.

Thunder crackled, and rain continued to pour down. There was no telling how long the storm would last. Days? Weeks? Months?

They were stuck in the shuttle until the rain stopped. Then they’d have to kill an arthropod and re-camouflage themselves with its entrails—all while fighting off hordes of creatures.

Their odds of survival seemed dismal. They hadn’t taken more than a few days worth of food with them on the journey.

“I’m sorry for the loss of your comrade,” Malik said.

Walker nodded, grimly.

He peered out through the gashes in the hull. It was a sea of hideous monsters, sliding and crawling all over each other. Fighting and mating, and mating and fighting. It was an orgy of sex and anarchy. And soon, there would be thousands more of them crawling around. Walker had no idea what their babies would look like. Or how long they would take to hatch. But they would likely be able to fit through the gashes in the hull.

The thought of thousands of those little things swarming the inside of the shuttle was enough to make him shiver. After his mission on DC 6, he didn’t think his hatred for bugs could grow any deeper. But he was wrong. His capacity for hatred of creatures with more than two legs had grown. What he wouldn’t give for one nuke, just to take out this miserable horde.

Malik didn’t waste any time getting down to business. He dug into the electrical system and pulled the fuel-cell. He clenched his jaw and cursed in Saarktureese. “We’ve got a problem.”

S
lade was
face down on the carpet. The foul smell of the dirty, stained carpet filled her nostrils. Her whole body was numb. She couldn’t feel a thing. Was this the way she was going to spend the rest of her life? The thought filled her with dread. Her heart raced with fear.

After a few minutes, sensation began to return to her fingertips and toes. She was able to wiggle her index finger. It was a far cry from being fully mobile, but it was something. Slowly, sensation returned to her hands, then her feet, then her forearms, then legs.

Logan helped her up and sat her on the edge of the bed. “ “Do you think you can walk out of here?”

“Maybe,” she slurred. She had the motor control of a drunk.

“You’re not going to be able to just walk her out of the front door,” Silas said.

“I know. That’s why we need your close.”

“What?” Silas’s face twisted up. “Oh, no. That wasn’t part of the deal.”

“It’s the only way I’m going to be able to get her out of here.”

“What about me? It’s the only way I got in.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”

“I want an extra 10,000 credits.”

Logan scowled at him. “Okay. Fine.” He pulled out his mobile and transfered the money.

Silas stripped out of his clothes. Logan helped Slade out of her dress and into the gunslinger outfit. He stuffed her arms awkwardly into the sleeves and pants legs. Then he pulled her hair up into a bun and set the hat on her head, the brim low on her brow.

Logan slung Slade’s arm around his shoulder and helped her stand. The clothes were too big for her. The shoulders too broad, the pants too baggy. But at a quick glance, she might pass for a man. If anybody looked too carefully, the gig would be up.

“What the hell am I supposed to wear out of here?” Silas asked.

Logan glanced to Slade’s black cocktail dress on the floor.

“You have got to be kidding me?”

“A little makeup, and you’ll look just like a woman.”

“Fuck you.”

Logan helped Slade to the door. She fumbled along, barely able to stand. They slipped into the hallway and headed toward the stairwell. Slade shuffled along, hardly able to pick her feet up. The stairs were precarious. With one arm around Logan’s shoulder, and the other grasping the rail, they managed to reach the bottom without tumbling down. Though, there were a few close calls along the way.

The music pumped and the lights danced across the club. A fog machine had just gone off, creating a nice thick haze. It was the perfect opportunity to try and make it to the exit.

“Stand up and walk straight.”

“I’m trying,” Slade slurred. Her speech was as bad as her stride.

“It’s now, or never. Let’s go.” The two strolled across the club. Slade was clinging on for dear life, trying not to tumble over her own steps. She looked like a baby animal taking her first steps.

Mia and Gorth were three sheets to the wind, taking full advantage of the free liquor. Gorth caught sight of Logan as he crossed the room. “Didn’t he go upstairs with a woman?”

Mia squinted. “Yeah.”

“What happened? Did he switch teams?”

“Whatever floats your boat?”

Logan nodded his head, motioning for Gorth to meet him at the door.

“Looks like we’re on the move,” Gorth said. He and Mia tried to stand, and that’s when the liquor really kicked in. They almost looked as bad as Slade crossing the room.

Logan was almost to the exit with Slade when Little Nicky called out to him. “Leaving so soon?”

Logan clenched his jaw and cursed under his breath. He forced a smile and looked back over his shoulder at Nicky. “Yeah. It’s getting past my bedtime. I turn into a pumpkin soon.”

“How was the girl? Is she worth the money I paid?”

“And then some.” Logan started for the door. The bouncer was now standing between him and the doorway.

“Who’s your friend?” Nicky asked.

Logan stopped. “He just had a little too much to drink.” Logan started for the door again.

“It would be bad for business if someone died of alcohol poisoning on my premises.”

“He’s fine.”

“If he can walk on his own, I’ll let him leave. If he can’t, I’m calling him some medical assistance.”

Slade kept her head down and removed her arm from around Logan’s shoulder. She swayed, but stood on her own. Logan watched with baited breath.

“Take a few steps, sir,” Nicky said.

Slade teetered as she stepped forward. But she kept upright, for the most part. Her other leg shuffled forward, and she completed another step. But her third step wasn’t so successful. She tripped and crumpled to the ground. The hat flew off, and her hair flung down.

Nicky scowled as he recognized her. He reached for his gun, but Logan beat him to the punch.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Logan blasted off several rounds. Blood splattered from Nicky’s chest. The impact sent him tumbling back, crashing onto a table. Glasses broke and drinks splashed. Patrons screeched in terror.

The bouncer pulled his gun from inside his coat. His finger wrapped around the trigger and he was about to blast a hole in the back of Logan’s head. Gorth took the Bouncer out with a hail of gunfire before he had the chance.

Logan swiped Slade from the floor, and the gang hustled out of the club. They dashed across the sidewalk and hopped into a cab, speeding away into the night.

They had just killed the son of one of the most powerful mob bosses in Europa City. Big Nick wasn’t going to let this slide. He was going to track them down and kill them all. But only after he had tortured them mercilessly first.

“
A
s soon as
you put a load on this, it’s going to short out,” Malik said.”

There was a bullet lodged in the fuel-cell.

“It’s practically useless,” he continued. “We’ve come all this way for nothing.” He slammed the fuel-cell down. It clattered against the deck.

“Are you sure it can’t be fixed?” Walker asked.

Malik shook his head.

The sound of rain pattered off the hull. Walker, Malik, and Bailey all sat with glum faces.

“Why didn’t you people design these systems with backup power supplies?” Walker asked.

“Saarkturians don’t believe in failure. There is no need for contingency plans, or redundant systems. It is the will of God that we are on this planet. And if God wills it, we shall leave.”

The Saarkturians were waging war against the humans to expel them from the
Holy Land
. Walker didn’t put a lot of faith in the willingness of the Saarkturian God to get him off the planet.

“I guess it was your God’s will that you lost the first war?” Walker couldn’t resist egging Malik on.

Malik scowled at him. “The first war was a lesson. Perhaps it is His will that we win the second.”

“We shall see.”

Malik reconnected the fuel-cell so they’d have power to heat the ship during the night. It was capable of powering such a small load. Walker was lucky the cell hadn’t exploded when it was first hit during his escape from the
SSC Xenvelor
.

Walker pulled out his flashlight and shined it in the compartment to help Malik see what he was doing. At first Malik grimaced at the bright light. “I’m Saarkturian. I don’t need a flashlight to see in dim light.”

He was annoyed, but then it dawned on him… Walker had a flashlight. It was powered with the same type of fuel-cell, only smaller. “You’ve had a flashlight this entire time, and said nothing?”

Walker shrugged. “What’s the big deal?”

“Fool. That fuel-cell has enough power to launch the ship.”

Walker scoffed, incredulous. “This flashlight can power your gunship?”

“It can power that flashlight indefinitely, or it can give us enough juice to escape the planet’s gravitational field and, perhaps, make a few slide-space jumps. The core is smaller, but the output is the same—it’s just attenuated down for the flashlight.”

“So, you can wire this thing up to work?”

“Yes, provided we can make it back alive.”

Walker was elated and tormented, all at once. Gavin had died needlessly. “We’ll stay here till the rain stops.”

“What if it doesn’t stop?”

“It will. It has to.” But Walker wasn’t sure it would stop raining before they ran out of food.

Walker kept a lookout through the slashes in the hull. The angry sky grew even darker as the invisible sun dipped down. The heat of the day dissipated. The surly creatures disappeared into their muddy and wet burrows. As the temperature cooled, the bugs went into hibernation.

Night fell, and the sweltering heat turned to freezing cold. The torrential rain turned into a blizzard.

“Take your pick,” Walker said. “The bugs, or the cold?”

“The cold,” Malik said.

“If we set out now, we’ll likely freeze to death during the night. In the day we have no chance against those things.”

“I can rig a portable heater with the ship’s fuel-cell and some wire,” Malik said.

He pulled some wiring and stripped the coating. Then coiled it around a plank and attached the wires to the fuel-cell. The low conductivity wire provided resistance for the current, which created heat. It took him about fifteen minutes to rig up. Within minutes, the coils glowed, radiating warmth.

“This will keep us from freezing,” Malik said. “We’ll run and take breaks to warm up. We just can’t run it for too long. It could overload the cell and explode.”

Walker was impressed. “Well, what are we waiting for?”

Malik grinned. It was a rare smile from the stern Saarkturian.

Walker grabbed his gear and let Bailey take his usual position in the backpack. He wrapped his head to protect himself from the cold. Only his eyes were exposed. He opened the hatch and was hit with a rush of crisp cold air. He stepped out into the frozen wasteland. Snow packed and crunched under his feet. At least those damn bugs were frozen, he thought.

They marched into the wintery wasteland. It didn’t take long for Walker to feel frozen himself. The sub-zero wind was penetrating. Within minutes, his core temperature dropped. His feet and hands went numb. He held out for as long as he could, but he had to stop. “Let’s fire up that heater for a minute.”

Walker, Bailey, and Malik huddled around the glowing coils. The warmth felt great. It was almost worth getting cold, just so you could feel good from the warmth of the makeshift heater.

The snow melted, and the ground underneath the heater turned to mush. Malik would have to wait until the coils were cool to the touch before they could take off running again. By that time, they were practically frozen again. At this rate, it was going to take them all night to reach the canyon.

By 3am, they were exhausted, and they weren’t even halfway there. They took a break to warm up. Malik set up the heater again, and within minutes they were bathed in warmth. Walker took some jerky from his pack and warmed it by the coils. He broke off a piece for Bailey, and he gobbled it down.

Walker leaned back against his pack and rested for a moment. But he made the mistake of closing his eyes, and he dozed off.

He was awoken sometime later by Bailey’s incessant barking.

Walker didn’t know how long he had slept. He peeled one eye open and saw that Malik was asleep. The heater was raging. It was almost too hot. Walker felt like he had been roasted over a fire. The glowing coils had melted a large area of snow.

Walker lay amidst the thick mud. “What’s the matter, boy?”

It didn’t take long to get an answer. As Walker wiped the sleep from his eyes, he saw an angry pincer claw stabbing down at him. The heat had brought several creatures out of hibernation.

Walker felt the sharp pincers pierce his flesh as the claw latched on to his thigh. The venom stung as it flowed through his veins. He grabbed his weapon and opened fire on the beast.

Muzzle flash lit up the night.

The creature recoiled as Walker pummeled it with gunfire. Soon, its head exploded, and its massive body crumpled into the slush. Blood oozed from its wounds.

Malik grabbed his weapon and blasted away at the other creatures.

Walker’s body grew numb. He couldn’t feel his legs. The venom spread through his body and soon he was paralyzed.

Bailey hovered over him with sad, worried eyes.

Malik destroyed the rest of the creatures in a hail of bullets. Then he cut off the heater and waited for it to cool. He ran to Walker and knelt down beside him. “Can you walk?”

Walker shook his head. “I can barely move my hands.” He choked the words out, hardly able to speak. He tried to grip his hands, but they only twitched slightly. He had taken a heavy dose of venom.

“I’m sorry, my friend,” Malik said. He rummaged through the pack and took the flashlight. Then he packed up the heater and ran off into the night.

Walker clenched his jaw. He tried to curse at Malik as he ran away, but he could hardly make a sound. Never trust a Saarkturian, he thought.

Bailey barked and chased after Malik, but soon returned to stay by Walker’s side. The two of them would surely die during the night from the cold. If by some miracle they survived until the morning, the swarm of arthropods would surely get them.