CHAPTER TWELVE

 

 

 

Nova's head pounded and lights danced behind her eyelids. Voices muttered somewhere to her right but the ringing in her ears blocked the words. The stench of musty dirt surrounded her as if she'd stumbled into a cupboard which hadn't been opened for centuries.

Fragments came back to her; she'd confronted the Ancients and they'd shot her. Was she dead? Her heart kicked up faster at the thought. No, she couldn't be.

There were voices.

She forced her eyelids to open. The brief flash of light was all she needed. She was back in the tunnels, in a small room. She'd caught a glimpse of two Ancients near the door.

The ringing in her ears quietened.

"You have to get the information out of her. Remember what happened last time?"

"We were nearly wiped out."

"We can't afford to let that happen again. If they're the dominant species then they're the biggest threat. We have to know everything we can about them."

"What if she refuses to talk?"

"Do whatever it takes. Do you understand? I don't care if you have to tear this planet apart – we need to know what they can do so we're ready. I refuse to be forced to hide underground a second time."

"I'll make sure she talks."

"Good. And do it now. They might already be on their way. We need any advantage we can get."

"I'll get it done."

Footsteps faded away. Something grated, like stone on stone. Nova flicked her eyes open again to see an Ancient slide a thick stone door across the entrance. Purple lights glowed from the walls, casting an ominous glow over the creature's black armor.

"Time to talk," the creature said, as it turned on Nova.

Even the helmet couldn't hide the intensity of the creature's gaze. She felt intelligence, cunning, annoyance, and curiosity, pouring from the Ancient.

She forgot her aching head and bruised body. There was just her and the Ancient.

It strode to the far wall and pulled down a small pistol. Wires and lights sprouted out of it. Nova had never seen anything like it.

She struggled to her feet. If the creature was going to kill her, she'd die standing. She pushed her back against the furthest corner, the rough stone scraping down her skin, and scanned every inch of the room for a way out. The only exit was through the passage, blocked by the solid stone door. Her breaths came hard and fast and her legs twitched to get going, to move, but to where? She needed time to think.

"What's your name?" Nova said.

"You'd never be able to pronounce my real name. For our short time together you may call me Tobius. It means torturer in your most primitive language."

"How can I understand you now? I couldn't before."

"We updated your mind-chip. Primitive technology."

"How about—"

"Enough!"

Tobius lunged across the room and slammed his armored hand into Nova's cheek. Her head snapped sideways, her body sprawling onto the floor.

Pain tore through her face like fire, engulfing her cheek and temple. The stinging agony brought tears to her eyes.

"How far have the humans spread?"

"Screw you," Nova said. She pushed herself upright, her arms and legs shaking.

"I'd like to see you try." Tobius took three long steps forward and snatched Nova's neck in his hand. His fingers wrapped around her throat and squeezed.

Nova's heart roared into overdrive. She couldn't breathe and blood pounded in her temples.

"How far have you spread?" Tobius said in a venomous whisper.

Nova clenched her teeth and refused to answer but she couldn't help thinking of the outer planets, the solar systems. It was just like the time Tanguin had told her not to think of a pink elephant.

Damned elephant.

"You're a long way from home."

Nova's heart jerked. He could see her thoughts, she had to think of something else, something pointless. But the mention of home sent her thoughts straight to her childhood on Tabryn. She hadn't thought of Tabryn as home for a very long time, not since she'd found The Jagged Maw.

"The Jagged Maw," Tobius said, plucking more information from her head. "What is it? A military base?"

Tobius' grip tightened around her throat.

Nova squeezed her eyes shut. Stars danced at the edges of her vision as she struggled to stay conscious. She couldn't listen to him, couldn't let him win. She focused on an image of a cloud; the fluffy white form floated in a blue sky. Nova floated next to it, both of them blown along on a warm summer's day. Tobius spoke but his voice was carried away by the wind.

"I don't have time for your games."

His grip loosened about her throat and she drew in a great gasp of air. She relished in the sudden burst of oxygen, until pain exploded inside her head. She screamed and her eyes flew open.

Tobius pointed the gun at her head and it felt as if every neuron in her brain had simultaneously exploded. Her brain burned and she wanted to tear out her hair so that she could get to her skull and rip it open. Anything to release the agony.

Something writhed inside her head, as if worms convulsed between her ears; each of them burrowed through her skull and pushed against her head. Her brain pulsated, trying to get free of her skull.

She clutched her head with both hands. She screamed but she couldn't hear it. Stars flashed in front of her eyes, the rest was darkness and pain. Her body collapsed to the ground, she writhed and kicked. Her fingers scraped across her head and left bloody claw-marks.

She wrenched her eyes open.

Thousands of spiders, the size of golf balls, poured out of the walls and crawled across the floor on hairy legs. They swarmed across the ground like a living wave, straight at her.

She rolled away from them but they kept coming. She cast around for anything she could use; her gun was no good against a swarm of spiders and she had nothing else. She struggled to her knees; if she could just get to her feet she could stomp them to death.

She strained but her legs couldn't hold her weight.

The spiders latched onto her arms and legs and climbed. Their hairy legs brushed over her as more of them clambered up her limbs. Her legs became writhing masses of brown bodies that climbed higher.

She flicked her arms, sending a handful of spiders flying through the air. She brushed at her body but as two spiders went flying, four more climbed onto her. They scurried across her abdomen, up her chest, to her throat. She swatted at them but the dodged around her hands and reached her face.

She clenched her mouth shut but they forced it open and climbed inside. They burrowed into her ears. She gasped for air as they pushed deeper down her throat.

She would not be killed by spiders. She forced her hand away from her head and reached for the pistol at her waist. Just one squeeze and it would all go away. The pain in her head would disappear and she wouldn't be able to feel the spiders crawling down her throat.

Her fingers clasped around the pistol; her hand shook with the effort.

"I don't think so," Tobius said.

Nova blinked and the spiders were gone. She swiped at her clothes but there was nothing there. Her chest heaved and she curled up into a ball on the ground.

She blinked a few times, her vision blurred by salty tears.

"I will do it again unless you tell me what I want to know."

Nova stiffened.

"I can promise you the pain will be ten times worse the next time."

"No."

"How much technology do you humans have?"

She tried not to think, to keep her mind blank, but her brain was still heaving from the recent turmoil.

"Five... Four..."

Nova involuntarily flinched.

"Technology."

The word brought a barrage of associated images. Nova's memories soared back over everything she'd seen. The Confederacy ships, contraband weapons, and the troops. She tried to stop herself but once the mental floodgates were open she couldn't close them again. Everything she knew came pouring out as a stream of conscious images.

"Still barely more than parasites," Tobius said, when she'd run out of memories. There was a note of relief in his voice.

"Who, who are you?" Nova whispered. Her dry voice scraped over her throat like sandpaper.

"We're the Ancients. Your gods," Tobius said. "But you already knew that."

Pain throbbed behind Nova's eyes. Had she just sentenced all of humanity to die? She couldn't do that; she had to be strong. But the pain had been so bad. It was a red cloud in her recollection, a bad place where she didn't dare go again.

"How did you survive the shock-wave?"

Nova clenched her jaw. She refused to think about Codon's ship and his new shield. She pictured Cal. He floated around Crusader's storage bay. It wasn't the most imaginative image but it was all she could do.

"Didn't you learn last time?" Tobius said.

She pushed her jaw forward and stared straight at him.

"This weapon will do things to you that you can't even imagine."

A part of Nova screamed at her to give in. She couldn't withstand another blast from that gun. She'd be pushed over the precipice and sent into madness. There was no escaping it. She clenched her teeth and continued to visualize Cal, zooming around Crusader.

"I call it the time-vortex. If nothing else it will be an interesting way for you to die. What you've given is enough for us to be ready. We won't be trapped here, not again."

Tobius clicked a few dials on his weapon and aimed it at Nova. She met his eyes and the gun fired.