The Silver Sphere (39 page)

Remembering Emily shouting for help, he sucked in a deep breath
and hooked a left. He stalked down the hallway toward the voices. The clamor became
louder near a sliding door. He rested his hand against the entrance, his heart hammering
in his chest. Ever so slowly, he eased the metal door aside, and another cry escaped
the room beyond. He whirled around the corner, prepared to strike anything that
approached him.

Nick gasped and stiffened, his eyes wide.

The chatter came from four ghost-like creatures that hovered.
Small voices, some like children's, others similar to old women and men, rang in
his skull, yet they did not have mouths with which to speak. The beings transformed
into rotting corpses garbed in rags, and he could almost smell the sour stench of
their decaying flesh.

"Help us," one whispered.

"Save me," begged another.

Nick stumbled back and gaped. Heat drained from his body as he
balled his hands into fists. "Stop!"

"Stop?" hissed one, the pitch echoing in his head.
A sudden eerie silence filled the room.

All four of the things turned their attention to Nick. He felt
them watching him, though their black eyes had shifted away, replaced now by sparks
of electricity. Chills ran through him and goose pimples prickled up his arms.

"You cannot stop us," whined another, the voice as
faint as wind.

Nick groped in the dark for his saber to fend the demons off.
They approached, reaching for him with four, six, eight, twenty arms made of thin
bolts of lightning. Anything those arms touched crackled and smoked. They were alive
with electricity.

The cold steel of the blade felt heavy in his hands when he tore
it free of its scabbard. He raised the saber, ready to slash at the first creature.

"Back off!" he called, his voice shaking. "I...
I'm warning you!"

"You...."

"...cannot stop us."

"You do not have the power."

The voices mingled in his mind. Their whispers scratched inside
his brain like rats scrabbling across the floor. He struck the nearest one, but
the glittering steel didn't harm the beast. He hit them repeatedly, and each time,
nothing happened. As they grew closer, Nick spied a thin tendril of energy linking
one to the other.

Then, it clicked.

Power.

Nick shook his head and forced himself to focus. He aimed and
swung the sword. "Don't have the power, huh?"

With a single blow, he sliced through the bolt connecting the
closest one to the others. A loud
crack
reverberated in the room as he severed
the tendril of energy. The horrific figure shrieked, but as it vanished, the noise
faded. The other three hesitated only a few seconds before launching at him. Nick
slung the weapon, breaking one more of the connections—another
crack
and
another shrill cry.

The remaining two froze as their companion dissolved. They seemed
to be thinking, calculating.

Nick raised his scimitar, aiming to strike again, but both backed
away and fled into the darkness.

I have to tell them
. Spiro and Denon were on the ship,
somewhere. He needed to find them.
The power is what's feeding them!

Milo shoved his way to Shelby and the other Kin. Blood dribbled
down his face and neck. "Okay, now spread out across the entry. We need to
push them back from here."

Shelby danced around the gate, clanging her sword, deflecting
blows with her shield, and jabbing at the dark enemies flooding in.

Max parried an axe aimed for her, forcing the warrior back. He
dropkicked the soldier off his feet and rolled up off the ground in front of her,
fending off a charging Nightlander.

Emily and Riley stood at the end of the battering ram, firing
away into the black horde.

Stuart fought on the other side, blasting his hand-cannon.

Nightlanders poured in from all directions, many squirting through
and hammering the gateway. The doors rocked and a large hinge fell to the dirt with
a thud.

Shelby fought to protect the entrance, striking every opponent
she could. The doors would not stand much longer, she feared. One side began to
collapse and a lump formed in her throat.

They were about to fall.

Nick ran down the empty hallways for a long period before he
found Spiro and Denon.

Dozens of the creatures swarmed around them. Snaps and clicks
filled the air as the beings linked in circles around them, jabbing and striking
like vipers of energy.

Nick raised his weapon and hacked one, two, then three apart
from their companions.
Crack, crack, crack!
The blade went through the electricity.
At last, he was near enough to shout, "They're feeding from the energy! Cut
between
them!"

Spiro and Denon began to slice as Nick did, and soon vanquished
a number of the creatures. Those who had not dissipated turned and ran.

Nick wiped the sweat from his brow and approached his friends.

"How did you know?" asked Denon. The singer dripped
with perspiration, and sported several ugly gashes along his arms.

The rotten stench of burnt flesh pervaded the air.

Nick shook his head. "Maybe it's instinct." He winked
as sweat-drenched hair fell in front of his eyes. "They're draining the energy
of the ship. That's how they exist, their power source. We have to get the humans
to cut the power."

"They must have already tried," said Spiro.

Denon said, "If they did, they probably pulled the switch
back on too soon. It wasn't off long enough to break the circuit."

Nick asked, "How do we tell them?"

"We can't. Truth seekers can't communicate with mortals,
except through the Silver Sphere, and even that's only when
they
contact
us
."

"Blast it! We need to find some way to interface with the
people on this ship. We have to explain to them to turn the power off and
leave
it off."

The three of them clunked down the dim hall, headed for the bridge.

Nick switched the Sight again. He scanned the empty, dark gangways
for someone to try and talk with, but any soldiers he had seen before were long
gone.

Something clattered to the floor. Nick jumped and whirled around.
A box had fallen.

He frowned. "One of those things?"

"Yes," said Denon. "They're following us."

Nick didn't need to change the Sight to know. He shivered and
continued after the others, quickening his pace. "How far until the bridge?"

"We're close." Spiro pointed up. "See those flashing
red bulbs?"

Nick squinted and spotted them.

"They're emergency lights on the deck. We have to be careful,
though."

"Why?"

"Cutting power,
if
we can even manage to, might kill
everyone. The oxygen will shut off, and so will the force field on the hangar bay.
All of the air on the ship will be sucked out."

"Can't we tell them to move people behind doors and close
them?"

Denon shook his head. "No way to secure the hatchways. Anyone
below will be vaulted out into orbit."

Nick chewed his lower lip, unnerved by the thought of all of
those people vanishing into space to perish. There was no other way, though; somehow,
they
had
to cut the power.

"I don't want anyone else to die," he murmured, the
memory of an ice pick in his belly bursting to life. He winced and grabbed his side.

Denon stopped, silent for a moment.

"What?" said Spiro.

The singer raised his eyes and caught Nick's. "Legend tells
of Kinsavers. They've been few and far between—the last to join the truth seekers
died and went to the next level almost a hundred years ago."

Nick shifted impatiently from one foot to the other. He switched
his Sight and spied a gang of the electric vermin moving toward them. Denon seemed
impervious to their presence.

"Aye," whispered Spiro. "My mother used to tell
me about them, but 'twas a short tale indeed."

"Kinsavers, people like you who are guided to watch over
Kin on Earth, are reborn differently when you transform to a truth seeker. You don't
simply die and become one of us. You first have a second chance at life, on Azimuth.
Because you've treaded our ground and breathed our air, you are linked to the Kin,
and to the mortal plane."

Nick squinted. "I don't understand. I thought I couldn't
go into Azimuth's atmosphere as a truth seeker."

"You can't, but you may be able to connect with the people
on this ship."

"Like with a link?" asked Spiro, rubbing his chin.

"Perhaps," said Denon. "I'm honestly not sure.
The legends are vague at best, and no records exist of what a Kinsaver can actually
do. You do have different abilities than other truth seekers, though."

Nick nodded. "I'll try. And all of those people in the hangar?
Won't they die?"

"Not if they get into the star darts," said Spiro.
A spark lit his eye.

"We must hurry," said Denon. He eyed the electric creatures.
"Come, we'll talk as we go."

"Listen." Spiro scurried alongside them, talking fast.
"When we enter the bridge, try to link with someone. Tell 'em to get everyone
in the bay to board the 'darts.
They
aren't connected to the main vessel,
and should be able to protect the crewmen just long enough for the ship to reboot."

"Okay." Nick nodded. "Except... how do I even
go about talking to these people?"

"That, I don't know," said Denon. "You're on your
own. Try something—
anything
. It may come instinctively." He winked.

They came to the bridge at that moment. Dozens of the creatures
sucked energy from panels and wires.

Nick clicked to the other Sight and frowned.

Men scrambled about the bridge in disarray, some frantically
trying to order the door on the hangar to open all the way. Others shouted into
microphones, attempting to contact Azimuth. Nothing worked.

A soldier raced by with a message, running right through Nick.
A jolt of hot, tingling energy engulfed his body. For a split-second, he'd felt
the man's heartbeat and inflating lungs.

Nick eased past the crowd as Denon and Spiro went about separating
the beings from their feed. Once or twice, Nick switched the Sight. Each time, fewer
creatures appeared on the deck, until more materialized and took the place of the
fallen seconds later. It was hopeless.

He tensed and concentrated. Still, Nick could not communicate
with any of the men. He ran his hands over their arms in an attempt to touch them,
and even forced himself to imagine a coin levitating. Nothing.

Growing desperate, Nick stepped into the man nearest him. Maybe
he could possess someone.

A rush overcame him. The man's heartbeat hammered loud as a riveter
in his ears. The soldier's pulse throbbed and every breath echoed. Somewhere deep
inside, Nick knew he'd not taken over the man, but a bond connected them, however
weak.

Nick tried reaching the man wordlessly, urging him to send a
runner to the hangar and command the crew to board the star darts. Nick's head weighed
heavy, and a humming noise spilled through his eardrums. The soldier replied with
a loud grunt. When Nick thought he'd failed again, the man turned and waved a runner
over.

Words escaped the gruff ensign's mouth. The runner appeared bewildered,
but did as he was bid.

Time ticked by and Nick changed his Sight. The bridge flooded
with more of the things each second. Cold sweat ran down his neck, and he sensed
the ensign's fear as well. Somehow the man knew that something was amiss. Of course,
no one on the ship could see the three truth seekers—or the grotesque monsters eating
the energy.

Then, the messenger returned, shiny-faced and panting. Nick attempted
to read his lips, searching to find out if all was safe. When the ensign asked,
the runner nodded, and relief flooded Nick in a cold swell.