Chapter 16
“It’s not gonna be long before they realize that we got in and not their other ship,” I said as I started forward with only the scanners as a guide.
“We need to find the Kytrans before the slavers find us,” Rayne replied with a nod of agreement.
We had flown into an airlock that was very spacious to allow bigger ships than mine to enter the slaver ship. However, I could see on the scanners that there appeared to be two doors through which captured ships could be brought inside, and I had no idea which one the Kytrans had been taken through. It was a stab in the dark on this one, so I picked the door that was closest to us and hoped that we’d find the Kytrans in time.
The doorway to the hangar slid open as we approached it. Clearly, it either operated on sensors, or the slavers thought it was their unholy colleagues reentering the ship and not us. Either way, I wasn’t about to complain, or procrastinate, for that matter.
We raced through the open doorway and into the cavernous hangar before they could lock us out. As we cleared the threshold, I tapped the neckline of my suit, and Rayne did the same. The energy inside the cockpit was tense, like it was a piece of ice that was ready to shatter at any moment.
I looked down at the mismatched ships parked inside the hangar. They came in all shapes and sizes and were obviously stolen from various unlucky planets or space travelers. A few had obvious damage from a fight, and I hoped the crew had managed to take out a few of the slavers before the ship was captured.
“This place is horrible,” Rayne whispered.
“It is,” I agreed.
The inside of the slave ship was just as scuffed and neglected as the outside was. Wires hung down from the ceiling, the walls were missing panels and had burn marks all the way from floor to ceiling, and the floor was rusted and bloody. There were bullet holes and laser burns all over the place. Obviously, some people hadn’t been too pleased about being kidnapped and sold on the black market as slaves and had fought back, though by the amount of dried blood I could see on the floor, I wasn’t sure many of them had been too successful.
“There,” Rayne said and pointed toward the far end of the hangar.
“I see them,” I replied.
The Kytran supply ships were just visible among a group of large ships, and I could see some of the Kytrans being ushered out of their vessels in a line by some truly ugly brutes. The slavers had some mean-looking weapons pointed at the mining folk and jabbed and hit anyone who tried to resist. I couldn’t make out who was who from this distance, so couldn’t I see if Bysern was among them, but it didn’t matter. We had to make sure that the Kytrans weren’t taken any deeper inside the ship.
I set down on the deck next to what looked like a cargo ship of some sort. No one had fired at us yet, which I took as a sign that we still had the upper hand, but I knew that wouldn’t last much longer. At some point, someone would wonder why they hadn’t heard anything from their friends and would decide to investigate.
“Francine, open the cockpit door,” I ordered as I ripped my seatbelt off and pulled out my rifle.
“Be careful,” Francine replied as the door slid open.
I jumped down onto the floor of the hangar with Rayne and Bob close behind me. Then, we started to run. Rayne had her fire-launcher in one hand and her own gun in the other, and Bob had his lasers that he could use against the slavers as a last resort.
“Make sure you have a clean shot,” I said as we ran. “We don’t want to hit any of the Kytrans by mistake.”
“Understood,” Rayne replied.
“Let’s split up,” I said. “Try to catch the bastards in a trap of our own. You go right while I keep going straight ahead. They should notice me first.”
Rayne nodded, and then she peeled off to the right. She was quiet as she ran, so no one even looked in her direction when she was briefly visible between ships.
Once Rayne was hidden again, I slipped out from behind the ship where I’d stopped. I could see the Kytrans and the slavers dead ahead, and I started to race toward them so their attention would be on me.
The sound of my footsteps was enough to get the slavers’ attention. Some of them started to turn around, and I saw the look of surprise on their scarred, nasty faces that only spurred me on. The Kytrans saw me as well, and I watched their faces light up with hope and relief.
“Everybody down!” I shouted as I switched the gun to laser and opened fire on the closest slaver with a series of rapid-fire bursts.
The Kytrans ducked down or dove for cover as the first slaver I hit was split completely in half. There was a brief moment when the slavers were still moving around in confusion, and then someone shouted an order that sent the rest of the bastards diving for cover.
But I had them in my sights, and I hardly needed help from the crosshairs in my visor as I skidded to a stop and fired Electro-Launch bullets at every slaver I could see. I watched as each of the bastards I hit stiffened and fell to the ground one after the other.
There was another shouted order, and soon, the rest of the slavers were all firing at me. Weapons fire was coming at me from every direction, and I suddenly had to dodge and weave even as I tried to find another target to hit. At least a couple of the fuckers were good shots, and I took a couple of hits to my arms and one on my leg. My foot was knocked from under me a moment later, and I fell to one knee but was up in a flash with only a dull ache in my shin to show for it.
I started to jog backward while I continued to shoot at the sons of bitches. All of the Kytrans had either scurried back onto their ships or had hidden behind other objects inside the hangar, so I could be a lot less precise with how I fired my gun from now on. I continued to back away, but that didn’t mean I was retreating. I focused on knocking them down like bowling pins, and as soon as they were clear of any of the Kytrans, I turned and sprinted.
“That’s right!” one of them called after me. “Run like the coward you are!”
“Not a coward,” I shouted back as I turned to face them from a safe distance. “I just wouldn’t wanna stand there if I was you.”
Most of the slavers only jeered, but the boss suddenly sniffed the air and then whipped around. He started to yell at the others when Rayne appeared behind them with her fire-launcher pointed at their group, but it was too late.
“Hi there,” she said, and then there was an almighty whoosh as she fired.
An enormous fireball exploded out of her gun and enveloped all of the slavers at once. They screamed as they were scorched by the flames and fell to their knees in pain. The smell of burning flesh filled the air, and it was strong enough that it even penetrated the suit for just a second or two. The ground sizzled as smoking blood splattered across the metal, and flesh melted from bone like wax. The slavers’ weapons fell from their hands as they were burned alive, and when the fire eventually died down, they fell to the ground, dead.
I walked past the still-smoking corpses as I went to join Rayne, and I could see their blackened, cracked skin and the roasted flesh beneath it. At least I couldn’t smell them anymore, though my stomach roiled for a moment as I took in the grotesque sight.
I walked over to Rayne and gave her a thumbs up, and she returned the gesture. It had sort of become our thing ever since I had taught her what it meant, and it made me chuckle every time she popped her thumb up at me.
“When are you gonna make me one of those?” I said as I glanced at the fire-launcher.
“Never,” she said, and I could almost hear the sly smile I knew she had on her lips.
“But I made you a suit,” I argued.
“Francine made me a suit,” she corrected me.
“Fine,” I sighed. “But I’m still jealous.”
“You should be,” she chuckled. “It’s awesome.”
The navy-blue Kytrans had begun to peek out from their hiding places at both of us, so I started to jog toward them. Bob was already with them and was making sure that no one was seriously injured, but they all appeared to be in good shape aside from a few small cuts and bruises. They all started to speak at once when Rayne and I were close enough, but I raised my hand for quiet.
“Please, we don’t have much time,” I said.
When the crew was quiet, I checked the hangar and saw an open doorway in the direction the slavers had been leading their prisoners. It probably led to the cells where the slaves were kept, and I tried to figure out if there had been enough time to remove any of the ship’s crew before we arrived.
“Was anyone taken?” I asked as I turned back to the crew. “Is everyone here?”
“They took Bysern,” one of the Kytrans replied. “They took him first. They were about to take the rest of us inside when you arrived.”
“Shit,” I grunted, and then I bent down and started to collect the dead slavers’ weapons off the floor. “Alright, I need you guys to hide inside your ship. Some of you need to be armed and ready to fire in case any of the slavers come back, but we’ll try to keep them too busy. Rayne and I will close the door behind us so keep an eye on it. If you see slavers open the door, feel free to blast them.”
“You’re going in there?” one of the Kytrans asked with a quivering voice.
“We can’t leave Bysern behind,” I said. “And who knows how many slaves are on board that need our help.”
I began to hand out the guns to any Kytran that wasn’t about to pass out.
“Just point and shoot,” Rayne added.
“We know how to use these weapons,” one of the younger men huffed.
“Do not, under any circumstances, follow us inside,” I said once the guns were distributed. “Get to your ship and be ready to go. If the airlock opens, then get the hell out. We’ll get Bysern and the other captives.”
“Some of us could help you,” one of the Kytrans suggested as she looked at her fellow miners.
“No,” I said and shook my head. “It would take too long to get everyone back on their ships, and you need to get to the station to get the supplies. Your people are counting on you. We can handle the rest.”
There was some muttering, but one by one, the Kytrans all nodded in agreement.
“Okay,” I said as I took a deep breath to steady myself. “Are you good, Rayne?”
“Yes,” she replied. “Are you? I saw you take a couple of hits back there.”
“Nothing I can’t shake off,” I assured her. “Let’s go.”
We took off at a fast pace and made our way into the slave ship. It was in as much disrepair as the hangar was, but at least most of the lights worked enough to see where we were going.
The initial corridor was fairly long, but fortunately, we didn’t come up against any of the brutes that had kidnapped the Kytrans. It was a beast of a ship, though, with a lot of floors and a lot of ground to cover, so I hoped that Francine would be able to help us out.
“Do you have any idea where the prisoners might be kept?” Rayne asked.
“Usually they’re on the lower levels,” Francine replied. “But every ship is different. I am currently scanning the ship’s layout to confirm. I should be of more assistance in a few moments.”
“We’ll try not to die until then,” I replied.
I turned a corner, and I could see a T junction up ahead, where the corridor we were on ended and there was an option for us to go either left or right. As we approached the end of the hall, I slowed my pace and walked lightly. I moved over to one side of the hall and pushed myself up against the wall, and then I slowly leaned out into the junction and had a look both ways.
I quickly pulled my head back in when I saw one of the monsters down the hall. The slavers were an eclectic collection of different species, but this one looked especially grim. It had long, greasy hair that hung off its small, balding head, and goo seemed to just leak out of every orifice of its body. The neck was nearly hidden by the bulbous, lumpy shoulders, and a long, wet tail left a trail of moisture behind it. The monster itself looked bored out of its mind. It had clearly been sent down here to guard the passageway, but I doubted that many prisoners often made an escape. I could see why he’d been given this duty, though. I couldn’t imagine that the rest of the ship’s crew wanted to spend much time around the guy.
I held one finger up to Rayne to let her know that there was only one alien, and then I turned and stepped out into the corridor with my weapon raised.
The creature glanced over at me, looked away, and then did a double take in surprise. It stood up straight from where it had been leaning on the wall, and I literally heard it peel its own skin off the metal panel it had been pressed against.
“Evening,” I said.
“What are you…” it spluttered as it tried to grab its own weapon from its holster.
So much liquid came out of its mouth that I was glad I was standing a good distance from it.
“Doing here?” I finished for the creature. “I could ask you the same thing. Ah, ah. Leave the gun where it is, or I’ll shoot you dead where you stand. Answer some of my questions, though, and you might survive this.”
The guard’s hand wavered for a moment, but when none of his buddies appeared in the hall behind me, he heaved a sigh and raised his hands over his head.
“I’d like to know how you knew the Kytrans were coming,” I said.
“I just work here,” the creature shrugged.
“Right,” I sighed. “Do you know where they took the Kytran that your buddies just brought through here?”
“The blue guy?” he asked, and then his eyes widened because he knew he shouldn’t have said that.
“Yup,” I replied.
“No,” he said, and he glanced beyond me down the hall.
“You’re a terrible liar,” I said.
“Then it’s a good thing that’s not in my job description,” he spat as he dropped his hand to his holster. “Luckily, I’m a much better shot than I am a--”
I shot him in the chest, and he fell to the ground with a squelch. Rayne and Bob came out from around the corner, and Rayne sighed.
“Some people just never learn,” I said as I pressed my neckline.
My headpiece retracted, but I kept the breathing tube in. I still managed to catch a noseful of something damp and moldy, and I grinned when I saw Rayne grimace at the smell as well.
“Any ideas, Frankie?” I asked. “That guy seemed to think they took Bysern down the hallway on the right.”
“The main cells are located one floor down,” Francine said through Bob. “If you take the corridor to your left, there are stairs at the end of them that will lead you down to the brig.”
“Then Bysern must have been taken to the leaders,” I said. “He’s Kytran’s second-in-command. They’d wanna talk to him. Or worse. They might want to make an example of him.”
“I don’t even want to think about that,” Rayne said as she shuddered.
“From what I can access of the ship’s blueprints, I believe there are also a few cells on the floor above this one as well,” Francine-Bob added.
“How many floors are there on this ship?” I asked.
“There are four floors,” Francine-Bob said. “This floor, however, has no rooms on it. It is only made up of various corridors and staircases leading to other parts of the ship. It is most likely to stop anyone who might have escaped from reaching the hangar.”
“Right,” I said. “So, Rayne, you go down to the cells and get the prisoners out. I’ll go up and see if I can find Bysern, and if I happen to take the slavers out along the way, then that’s a bonus. I’ll also try and find a way to open the airlock so you can get them out. I’ll bring Bob with me in case we find Bysern.”
“Are you sure?” Rayne asked.
“Yeah,” I said.
“Please be careful,” she said.
“Are you worried about me?” I chuckled.
“No,” she said as her cheeks flushed red. “Yes.”
“Aw,” I cooed.
“Shut up,” she said. “I’ll see you later.”
“See you later,” I replied. “Good luck.”
We held eye contact with one another for a moment longer, and then we both turned and went our separate ways.
I ran down the corridor and kept my eyes peeled for any movement from the multiple corridors that split off the main hallway.
“Where am I going, Frankie?” I asked once it was just the two of us.
“Take the next left,” she said.
I did as she instructed and turned down the next corridor on my left. This one was identical, and I had no doubt that was deliberate. Anyone unfamiliar with the ship would easily get lost, and then the slavers could catch them again easily enough.
Luckily, I had the small sliver of Francine’s original shell inserted into the chestplate of my protective suit, so the AI was able to give me directions. It had been a while since we had spoken on our own. Now that Rayne was with us, Francine often spoke through Bob in order to keep Rayne in the loop. This time, however, Bob could remain silent.
“Take the next turn on the right,” Francine said.
“Okey-dokey,” I said as I veered in that direction.
I found myself looking at a set of stairs that were covered in grime from years of shoes and feet walking up and down them. I could hear noises somewhere up above, so I moved as quietly as I could as I started up the steps.
“There are three people in the corridor above you,” Francine informed me.
I nodded as I arrived at the top of the steps and poked my head around the corner.
My eyes widened when I saw the back of Bysern’s head. He was being marched down the hall by two big brutes who had their meaty hands under his arms, and I could see blood dripping off Bysern onto the floor. He had clearly resisted them as much as he could but had been overpowered. Lucky for him, he had me as backup now.
“Hey!” I shouted.
The trio spun around. One of the guards let go of Bysern and pulled out his weapon, but I shot first, and he went down like a sack of spuds. I turned to the other one, but he had already put his gun to Bysern’s head. Bysern gulped his fear down bravely and stared at me through the blood that flowed down from a cut on his forehead.
“Let him go,” I said.
“You’re not in a position to make demands,” the slaver snarled as he pushed the tip of the gun against Bysern’s head harder.
“You’re right,” I sighed as I put my gun on the floor and kicked it away. “Happy now?”
“Um… yes,” the slaver said, though he was clearly confused as to why I was being so compliant.
“Listen, I can assure you that your boss will wanna talk to me a lot more than he’ll wanna talk to Bysern here,” I said as I began to slowly walk toward them.
“I was told to bring him to the main hall,” the oaf said. “That’s what I’m doing. You can’t stop me.”
This guy was clearly a few sandwiches short of a picnic.
“Clearly I can’t,” I said, though I didn’t stop walking. “You’re the one with the gun, after all.”
“Yeah,” he said as he started to back away. “Hey. Stop walking.”
“What?” I asked as I picked up the pace. “I can’t hear you?”
“Stop right there,” he said, but I didn’t stop. “Hey! Stop!”
“Sorry, what?” I asked.
“I said STOP!” he suddenly shouted as he turned his gun to me.
By then, I was only a few feet away from him. I ducked right before he pressed the trigger, and the bullet whizzed over my head down the hall. I quickly charged forward and wrenched the gun from his hand, turned it on him, and fired. I hit him between the eyes, and he hit the floor. His dark yellow eyes were wide and unseeing as they stared at the ceiling.
“Are you okay?” I asked Bysern as I inspected his injuries.
“I’m fine,” he said with a nod, though he was clearly not telling me how much pain he was really in.
“Did the guards say why they were told to bring you up here?” I asked.
“No, but they did seem surprised that I was here for some reason,” he said.
“Huh…” I muttered as I made a mental note of that. “Alright, well, the rest of your people are safe.
“Good,” he said as he breathed a sigh of relief. “I didn’t want to leave them.”
“You didn’t have a choice,” I replied. “They know that. They were just as worried about you.”
“Where are they?” he asked. “Did you get them out?”
“I’m working on that,” I said. “Bob will take you to them. They’re armed and waiting on the supply ships. I’m going to go and find a way to open the airlock. Rayne’s freeing the rest of the slaves, and she might need your help to load them onto the ships when she gets them to the hangar.”
“Of course,” he said, and then he locked eyes with me. “Thank you, Will Ryder. I will not forget this.”
“Get yourself safe,” I replied. “Bob, can you take Bysern back to the hangar?”
Bob beeped diligently, and then the little robot turned to Bysern and beeped warmly. Bysern followed Bob’s lead, and they walked over to the staircase together.
“My thoughts are with you,” Bysern called after me.
I gave him a small wave, and then after retrieving my rifle, I took off down the hallway.
“There is a staircase right at the end of the hall that will take you up to the main floor,” Francine said. “I cannot get an accurate reading of the location of anyone up there, but the main controls are up there. I am trying to access the core, but it appears that computer security is the one thing the slavers invested heavily in. You will probably have to open the airlock manually from the command area.”
“That’s what I was counting on,” I said. “I wanna take out as many of these bastards as I can before I leave this ship.”
As I ran further along the hall, the smell got worse and worse, and this time I didn’t have my suit to block the stench. The potent air crept around my breathing tube and up my nostrils, and it was a combination of feces, blood, and body odor. I grimaced as I ran, but it didn’t take long before I discovered what the source of the stench was.
I had found the cells that Francine had told me were up here. They seemed to be reserved for the more important prisoners on the ship, and this was probably where Bysern would have ended up if I hadn’t just intervened. Still, as I saw the conditions these aliens were living in, I started to worry about what Rayne had walked into on the bottom floor where the rest of the prisoners were kept.
“Jesus,” I gasped when I looked into the first cell I came across.
The front of each cell was covered with a thick, clear material that looked like glass or heavy-duty plastic, but I was sure it was something far stronger. There was a doorway cut into each cell front, and hilariously, there was a keyhole in it, though it looked a lot more complex than any keyhole I had seen on Earth. The only way I could rescue these aliens was to find the key, or else I’d be stuck here for days as I tried to break through whatever this material was.
I moved on down the corridor. Most of the aliens lay still on the floor, and I assumed that was to conserve their energy for whenever their next beating or interrogation was. It was a harrowing sight and not one I would ever be able to clean away from my mind’s eye.
At the end of the hallway, I found myself looking at the first conscious prisoner I had seen.
She looked up at me when she saw me and sat up hurriedly. She had a panicked look in her eyes, and she clearly thought I was one of the slavers coming to take her.
“I’m not one of them,” I said, though I didn’t even know if she could hear me through the glass, so I held up my hands to try and show I wasn’t a threat. “I’m gonna get you out.”
She continued to stare at me like a deer in headlights, but her breathing rate began to calm down.
“Are you okay?” I asked, though it was a foolish question really, since I could see the bruises all over her.
She didn’t reply, but she appeared to trust me.
“I’m gonna get you out,” I repeated slowly. “Hang tight.”
She almost cracked a smile, but then her eyes looked past me and her face fell.
I wasn’t sure what she was looking at, but the answer came to me before I could ask the question. I heard the sound of a laser charging from somewhere behind me, and then I felt the cool metal on the back of my head.