| |
“Noah, my old friend, welcome home.”
Noah sighed as he looked up at the Echanic sitting on the raised dais. Elegant banners ran down the wall behind him. Spotlights from the ceiling cast an aura around the Echanic, making him glow in front of the banners.
Guards pushed Noah, Javi, and Squee further into the large audience chamber. More guards stood at the room’s other two exits. A holographic fire roared in a pit at the center of the room and a quiet piece of horn music played.
“Still into cheap theatrics, Gerald?” Noah said, trying to make his tone as derisive as he could.
“This is not theatrics. It is presentation.” Gerald said, standing tall. But Noah smiled at the slightly deflated sound of his voice.
“If you say so.”
“These banners were your idea, if I recall.”
“So was the name Gerald.”
“Yes, a human name of great power.”
“Actually, it always makes me think of a dweeb.”
To Noah’s annoyance, Gerald smiled at that comment. The Echanic said, “You are still as ornery as ever. I have you at my mercy, and you still seek to turn the tables.”
“I’d rather die with a weapon in my hand. Even if that weapon is words.”
Gerald gave a wide smile, “That’s what I like about you, Noah.”
“So how about letting bygones be bygones. I mean, I never told the Manta that it was you who betrayed them. If Gremoosh ever found out...That’s got to be worth something.”
“Gremoosh doesn’t scare me. His sister and I have an understanding. But rest assured, I’m not planning to kill you. The Slu is worth far more to me alive than dead. As for you...” Gerard smiled.
“So, you’ve decided to let me go?”
“Not quite.”
Gerald picked up a device from the arm of his chair. He gave a cruel grin, and then pushed a key. An agonizing surge of pain raced down Noah’s body. His legs lost their ability to stay upright and he collapsed to the floor. He barely felt the impact as his body landed.
After what felt like an eternity, the pain stopped. His neurons continued to fire, and it took an agonizing amount of time for his other senses to return to him. He found himself crumpled in a ball on the floor.
Javi lay beside him looking like a puddle of goo. The Slu’s body had spread out from its normally solid shape. Quivering spasms cascaded back and forth across his body, like ripples in a pond.
Squee remained standing, but his body had become even more stone-like than normal. There was no evidence of any movement, giving him the perfect appearance of a stone statue. By the time Noah had managed to pull himself into a sitting position, and Javi had reformed his normal shape, Squee still stood frozen.
Breathing heavily, Noah turned toward Gerald. He struggled to think of something fittingly biting to say, when the Echanic triggered the device again. The agony returned, and Noah again collapsed.
After another eternity, it ended. This time he decided to not even bother trying to get up. He remained prostrate on the floor, staring up at the lights. A shape soon blotted out the lights, and Gerald stared down at him with a cruel smile.
Noah took several deep breaths trying to recover himself. Gerald put a hand to his ear and leaned over, “No witty response? No cutting jabs about my mother?”
“Why would I insult your mother? Poor woman already has you for a son.” Noah said, finally managing to get his mouth to work.
“Ah, good. I was afraid I had turned the setting too high and fried your brain.”
“When megalomaniacs torture people like me, they don’t kill us. You’re just giving me superpowers.”
“We’ll see...”
The rest of Gerald’s comment was cut off as the room vanished around Noah. He found himself lying inside a teleportation chamber. Confused, he sat up and looked into the cargo hold of Seraph. A tracked drone rolled up to two bodies that lay on the floor before him. It bent over them, and then the bodies vanished in a flash.
“Mesu, help them get out of the chamber. We need it clear so we can get Squee.”
The drone rolled up to Noah and extended its appendages. It grabbed his arms and pulled him sharply. His knee banged violently against the chamber wall eliciting a sharp curse. Despite the pain, it was a small comfort to feel a different type of pain than before.
“This human appears to have lost control of his colon and released excrement in an unsanitary fashion.” The drone said in a cheery voice.
“Did it just say Noah shat himself? How delightful.”
The new voice caught Noah’s attention. He struggled free from the drone’s grip and looked up. Standing beside the teleportation controls, Serene looked down at him with a wicked smile. Ariana stood behind her with a weapon to the Echanic woman’s back.
With difficulty, Noah pulled himself to his feet. He still had some difficulty taking a breath, but he forced himself to walk with his back straight. He stood before Serene and looked into her mechanical eyes.
“Captain, I’ll watch this one.”
Without a word, Ariana handed her rifle over to him, and Noah took it. He stepped back out of arms length from Serene and held the weapon trained on her. It shook a little in his hands, but he kept it aimed at her chest.
“Looks like Gerald started to have some fun,” Serene said.
“I expect the same type of fun he’s going to have with you soon.”
“I never betrayed him.”
“But it looks like you failed him. He doesn’t like that much either.”
Serene’s confident smile faded. She recovered it quickly, and reached a hand out toward Noah. He took an involuntary step back and gestured her away with the rifle. Her hand hung there just out of reach of his face for a long moment, before she dropped it down again.
They stood there in a tense silence until Ariana interrupted them, “Noah, get ready to trigger the recall devices on Serene and that body beside you.”
Keeping his rifle steady, Noah squatted down beside the body and looked for the dead man’s recall device. He found it on the belt, and pulled back the trigger guard. A moment later, Ariana shouted “now”. He pressed the switch and the body vanished in a teleporter flash.
At the same time, Seraph’s teleporter activated and Squee appeared in one of the open chambers. He stood with his hands outstretched as if they had been grasping something. Confused for only a second, he blinked and then turned to Ariana.
“You must send me back.”
“You want to go back there? Why?” Ariana asked.
“I am not certain if he is dead.”
“Gerald?” Noah asked hopefully.
“No, that one fled as soon as you and Javi ported. My fellow Rokma. I promised to free him or kill him. I cannot leave him to that fate.”
“Sorry Squee, but we’re getting out of here. If we stay, the whole ship is at risk. If you want me to send you back, you’ll be on your own.” Ariana said and started issuing orders, “Noah, get that bitch off my ship. Olivia, jump as soon as we’re at a safe distance.”
Noah turned back to Serene. He saw the recall device on her belt. They both looked at it and then at each other. Serene straightened her back defiantly. She reached her hand to the device.
“Good bye, Noah.”
“You know what’s waiting for you.”
“I do. Unicorns and puppies.”
Serene flashed a false smile as she held up the recall device and released the trigger guard. Noah prepared for the flash of a teleportation, but instead felt the twisting sensation of an FTL jump. When it subsided, Serene was still standing there.
“Goddammit.” He said.