We took the same corridor that McNeil and Casper had come from and the surroundings grew even more alien than anything we'd seen yet. The walls were slick and waxy and pulsed around us like muscle, making me want to either vomit or run. Obie was having an even worse time and was constantly ducking and going sideways as he tried to follow. I couldn't tell if it was to get through or if he was just trying to avoid touching the walls, but his face showed that he was as comfortable as I was. The Ebon of course seemed to be back in his element and was recovering his composure. He might have been enjoying our discomfort, but frankly I didn't care.
"Alex," Obie said and I answered without stopping.
"What?"
"K'th wants tuh talk," he boomed and I nodded.
"Hold up here Theo," I said and the Ebon stopped stiffly in his tracks. He was still acting like I had my pistol on him even though I hadn't pulled it since we had run into Casper. I carefully fitted my earpiece and held my mike. "Yeah?"
"Alex, are you okay?" K'rth rasped into the mike. The background noise was quiet and I guessed he and Nix were still trying to sneak up on the vet.
"Angus and Gael are dead. Bayer has one of their mikes," I answered. It wasn 't what he had asked, but it was the only thing I could say.
"I know," came his voice and I felt the heat spark behind my eyes and closed them. The pain in my shoulder welled up to match what I was feeling and the weight of the fatigue and frustration came down on me at once. Now was not the time to give up and I took in a breath before opening my eyes. For some reason the Ebon was in my face waving and trying to get my attention, but since I didn't see any obvious threat, I figured he was just panicking again. I put my hand on his face and shoved him away a lot harder than I needed to, but whatever had upset him must have been important because he came right back. I turned away and the wild-haired pain in the ass followed me.
"We are about to seal the chamber with the vet and 'space' him as the 714 said," he continued. "We will be joining you shortly."
The Ebon was waving his hands in my face so I grabbed him by the shoulder and shook him.
"WHAT IS IT?" I demanded. K'rth must have known who I was yelling at because he didn't comment.
"The subversives are attempting to breach the portal to Navigator Prime!" he whined. "You've got to help!"
I almost laughed at him because the only thing I "had" to do was kill Bayer. Of course if it meant we got the fellow lower life forms with the big guns away from the Nec in the process, then so be it.
"Lead the way, but be careful," I said as I pulled my Blitzer and followed. I ended up grabbing his arm to keep him from bolting and he nearly pulled me forward. "CAREFULLY!" I added and he heeled like a well-trained DAC.
"You'll know where to find us," I said over the mike and the three of us headed further into the guts of the Mariella.
It didn't take long for me to hear them coming up from behind and I felt the tension building in my jaw and neck. The dynamic duo must have had a touch of conscience or wanted a second shot, because they had been running to catch us.
"I don't believe this," I said to Obie as I waited. Maybe I actually wanted to hear what they had to say because I didn't open fire the moment I saw the Waster bitch's face. When she saw us, her palms came up again to show they were empty and she forced a smile.
"Ah we gunna kill dem now?" Obie asked and I shook my head without taking my eyes off them. That statement told me that he'd stand with me no matter what I wanted to do, even if it was against SLA itself. He really was a true friend and there was no way I'd let him go down with me if Cloak decided to put my name on a Term warrant.
"Not yet, " I answered as I cradled the handgun. "Not until they give me a reason."
When Casper got close, I saw that her face was puffy and red around the eyes. She must have had a good cry back there and I had no idea where she borrowed the empathy for it. McNeil's face was just as puffy, but the cleat marks on his cheek showed a different level of feeling. He seemed to have survived the ego bruising and the one eye that wasn't swelled shut glared at me like a beaten up teddy bear.
"Cole," Casper started, still using the 'oh shit he's lost it he's gotta gun!' voice again. "Let us help. We owe it to you. To them."
For once, I actually believed something she said wasn't padded with ego. Maybe it was fatigue and grief working on me, but I was willing to let them catch a bullet if they wanted. Without K'rth and Nix, we were probably outgunned and could use any help we could get.
"Okay but one thing," I said as I met their eyes. "If you try to leave us to die too, I'll kill both of you even if it means Dark Night gets away."
"I understand," the Waster answered. "Cole- Alex, look. I'm so, so sorry about-"
I didn't want to hear her or anyone else try to convince me how sorry they were about the way things had turned out. "Sorry" wouldn't bring anyone back and it wouldn't help kill Bayer and his crew. Right now, the only things that could help were hatred and determination and I had a lot of both. Maybe I had too much because right then I made the decision that would mean the end of my career.
In my own version of a Shaktar oath, I swore that neither McNeil nor Casper was leaving this ship alive.
Comments to rw