36. Retribution’s Joy
THIRTY-SIX
RETRIBUTION’S JOY
Syasku
The people of the Dregs froth with excitement and fear at the news of Pierce’s death. Despite the months that have passed since I killed him, the death was never released, and according to Kyle, his replacement has not been named.
“The sooner they realize what’s best for them, the less time we’ll have to wait,” Kyle mutters, pacing back and forth in front of me.
It has been hours since our meeting, and with infrequent updates from Omari, I am forced to wait for their decision.
I do not want to wait.
I have made that clear.
I will act on my own whether or not they decide to turn off the ship’s second power source. If they do not want to use this opportunity and help me, it will not be offered again.
I run through the map in my head. There are fifty sectors. There are three main paths that traverse the majority of the ship, and they are operated by a combination of bullet trains and elevators. There are some elevators reserved for direct travel that are used in emergencies or by powerful officials. That does not even include the hundreds of corridors and passageways that could also be taken through the sectors. In short, there are hundreds of ways to reach Vivian, and a thousand more where I could easily get lost.
Vivian is above me. As long as I keep ascending, I will find her.
Omari walks over to me, entering the large berth everyone gives the three of us. Her richly dark skin and statuesque form are easy to spot, as no other human looks remotely like her.
She eyes the high grimy metal walls where large sections have been cut out to enlarge the space further.
My gaze narrows upon her. “How much longer?”
Her gaze drops to mine. “The engineers have accessed the chamber. The second reactor can be shut down safely and?—”
“Yes or no?”
She trails off what she was about to say and frowns at me. “Yes,” she snaps.
“Then you better move fasssst,” I warn.
“Hold on a damn minute. It’s best if we wait until the middle of the night shift.”
“She’s right.”
“How long?” I snap.
Kyle sighs. “An hour, two if you want less people in the hallways.”
“What I was going to say is that the reactors are thousands of years old. Although it only takes seconds to shut one off, there is a chance something goes wrong and the ship explodes.”
I frown.
“Are the chances high?”
“No. But I thought you should know.”
I flick my gaze across the throngs of people and their disheveled appearances, wondering how many of them will fight their way above—if any. Shifting my eyes to Omari, she is watching me with a cross of curiosity and wariness.
“You have two hourssss,” I say and tilt my head at her people. “After that, I will wait no longer. If you really want to leave this place, you should do so while you still have a chance.”
Without further warning, I push past her and through the gathered humans who soon part to allow me to leave. I am eager to leave this foul-smelling place behind.
“Wait!”
Kyle and Muffin give chase.
The humans thin out as I near the exit of the room, some already taking their chances and traveling to higher sectors, following behind me. Moving with those who are already leaving, I backtrack to the stairwell and enter the unsecured sector above, heading straight for the one after that.
“Syasku, stop!” Kyle shouts.
I have been away from Vivian too long, and as long as I am alive, I will never stop trying to find her. A ship, even one as massive as this one, will not stop me. I will claw through the walls if I must.
But Kyle and Muffin were right, removing those obstacles will make my passage much easier. I am not proficient with technology.
I will know soon whether or not Omari shuts down the second reactor.
Passing a group of armed humans in dirty, threadbare clothes, they stare at me, gripping their weapons tighter. Coming to a stop past them, I come face to face with a long, wide corridor with a large metal blockade halfway down it. On the other side are soldiers standing guard, letting some through while denying others. Large doors line the walls, most of which are roped off. Beyond the blockade some of those doors slide open and people either leave or enter them.
The first security checkpoint Kyle warned me about. These checkpoints are stationed throughout the ship to stop people accessing areas they are not allowed to be in.
Eyeing the long hall and the humans guarding the other side, there is no way to through without being seen by them.
I hear a heaving breath directly behind me and I glance back.
“Fuck,” Kyle pants excessively, gripping his chest with a hand. “You could have slowed down. We lost Muffin somewhere back there.” He points with his thumb over his shoulder.
My nostrils flare. “I do not need either of you anymore.”
“Yes. You do. I know the ship better than you.”
I twist around and snap at him. “I have had enough of you humans and your backwards ways to last me several lifetimes.”
“I get that. I do. But there’s something I have to tell you. Remember when I said I’m doing this to help my cousin and my aunt?” He huffs another breath, continuing like I am not about to murder him. “I should’ve been the one on that ship with Celeste, not Laura. We were supposed to help Celeste escape with information about you, Earth—Genesis-8?—”
My eyes narrow at his mention of Genesis.
“—and bring it to The Sovereign, except we were caught—” He gulps another breath. “I failed. I fucking failed. I can’t fail again, okay? Let me come with you.”
I pull back with an annoyed hiss. “I will not sssstop you from following, but I will not slow down either.”
Kyle smirks. “That wasn’t so hard was it?”
He looks past me and at the checkpoint. “They’ll see us long before we reach the end. Do you have any suggestions because this would be a great time to wait and see?—”
The ground beneath us trembles.
His brow furrows as he looks down at his feet and my eyes follow. The humans go quiet when the walls join the floor and begin to shake, the sound of vibrating metal filling my ears. A thundering roar takes over making some of those around me stagger and shout.
A strange sensation hits me from nowhere. An overwhelming pressure pulling me inward into myself.
“It’s happening,” Kyle whispers.
Another second passes and everything goes dark.
A light clicks on beside me, revealing Kyle adjusting a device attached to his shoulder.
Heart racing, realizing now is the time, I turn toward the checkpoint, and rush for it. The ship’s noise worsens as I increase my speed, eclipsing the pulling sensation in my chest. Hearing Kyle behind me, the soldiers on the other side of the checkpoint notice me a moment too late, too distracted by the abrupt darkness and rumbling of the walls.
I jump over the line and barrel into them, crushing two into the floor, landing on top of them. Swiping my claws across the throat of the one beneath me, I lean over and tear the other’s throat out.
Hearing several shouts, the people around me scramble away.
Gunfire goes off as I rise and dash to the end, heading for the open doors there, taking advantage of the confusion. A stairwell and empty train tracks meet my gaze. By the time I enter the next large room, my eyes have adjusted to the darkness. Streaks of light from people’s devices flick across the walls around me.
Searching for the quickest way to ascend, I turn in time to see Kyle shoulder through the few humans still scrambling behind me.
“This stairwell goes up twelve flights!” he yells. “Skip the tracks!”
I face the open stairs to my right where a group of confused humans have scattered.
“Stop right there!” a soldier beside the tracks hollers, the light on his firearm slashing in my eyes.
Turning toward the shout, I lunge for him as he takes aim. He staggers back a step and fires his weapon. The bullet hits my arm and reaching him, I take his head between my hands and twist. The two soldiers behind him back away, their lights streaking across my face and tail. “What the fuck is that?” one of them gasps.
He reaches for his weapon, and swiping my tail outward, he topples, taking the other soldier with him.
“Damn, you’re fast,” Kyle mutters as he runs to the first soldier, snatching the gun from his hand and shoving it into his belt.
“I am efficient.”
Heading for the stairs, the screaming and gunfire worsens behind us.
Kyle and I climb, dodging people and plowing through soldiers. Each landing of the stairwell is more crowded than the last, more chaotic. Despite the ruckus I leave in my wake, I do not pause, hearing far more than just Kyle chasing me now.
Between the confusion and those who are using this opportunity to escape, the few soldiers I come upon above just stop and stare when their flashlights hit me, their faces nearly as panicked as the people they are trying to calm down.
Passing through the second security point with ease, some of the tension in my shoulders ease.
The groups of people lessen the higher I climb, ignorant of what’s happening in the darkness around them. Those that brave the halls are quickly cajoled into turning around. Unless their lights land on me, I am not seen.
As I reach the third checkpoint, a fresh line of armed males await me, stopping the few people gathered from ascending any higher.
Seeing no easy way through, these soldiers have already worked through their confusion. Searching for the best route through, static fills my ears and a voice pierces through the chaos.
“Denizens of The Dreadnaut , this is your Supreme Commander, speaking. Please return to your homes in an orderly fashion as we work on turning the systems back on. The ship remains in lockdown and the ports will not be opened at this time. Any who choose to impede the ship’s command in this process will be subject to arrest. Return to your homes and wait patiently for the next announcement. Your Commander, Volp.”
The humans in front of me go quiet, trying to catch their leader’s words. Some begin eyeing me warily, noticing me stalking behind them.
Knowing what will happen when they start screaming, I push through them to the check point’s entryway.
“You heard our Supreme Commander!” a soldier shouts. “Go back to your homes and wait there or be arrested—” His voice falters when his eyes land on me. “What the?—”
His mouth opens to shout for his comrades as I reach him. Gripping his suit, I toss him into the people behind me. Screams follow as I shove through the rest of the armed humans, forcing them back and through the gate. Making a path through, those who have chosen to follow me, dash through while others flee in the opposite direction.
Someone fires another shot, and they scatter in every direction.
When more shots are fired, I throw my body forward, swinging my tail against those behind me climbing over it.
I hear someone yell, “ There’s a monster!”
Beams of lights follow my path.
Making it to the other side, I pick up speed, not stopping again until I reach the top. The stairwell ends at another checkpoint and behind it, an enormous atrium where the darkness partially recedes.
The soldiers here already have their weapons aimed, expecting me.
“Stop or we’ll fire,” one of them says. The few humans who are following come to an abrupt stop at my back. “You can go no further. You’re under arrest.”
I hiss at them but none of them move. Limited in my choices, I can either return to the floor below and find another way through or fight through the soldiers. Heavy breathing and chatter from those behind me steal my attention as I decide.
Three of the soldiers step out of formation and head for me. Baring my fangs at them, they hesitate.
I am going to have to kill them. I refuse to turn back.
Sliding my tail through the humans, I coil inward, preparing to strike at the soldiers. Every hesitant step they take closer makes me more frustrated and impatient than the last. Shifting slightly forward, one of the soldiers still in formation fires a shot.
Pain bursts through my arm, and with a sneer, I lunge.
Killing the first three is easy, knocking them down with my tail before I am even upon them, their shouts adding to the next shot that’s fired.
A human behind me bellows with pain and I crush the soldiers beneath me, slamming my tail down on them. Gunfire rings my ears as I head for the rest.
Bullets riddle my chest as I reach the first, picking him up and using his body to shield me. Someone starts shooting at them and the rest scatter for coverage. Fighting me, the male in my grip thrashes as I charge through the gate and to the other side, the chaos following me soon after.
Quickly looking around, I dive for the left wall, dodging more gunfire. I drop the soldier in my arms and he scrambles away. Watching him flee with a sharp whiff of his urine hitting my nostrils, I growl.
A large human male, the same one who kicked my tail, comes running through the gate, charging into the center of the atrium, a weapon in both of his hands.
Slipping into the shadows as he takes the attention off of me, I search the wide-open space.
The atrium opens up to six different pathways which are along the left and right walls. Here, the architecture is much nicer than the floors below and the smell of sweat and waste gives way to fresher air. Fake plants and display cases line the central pathway. Clearing out the reek from my nose, I am still unable to catch Vivian’s scent.
She is not here.
She must be higher. A hiss of anger tears from me.
Daunted and annoyed, I had not realized how enormous the humans’ ship was until now. I could not imagine anything larger than the forest and lands around my nest.
On the far side, there is a grand staircase. It is the only place where I can continue to ascend. I cannot see what awaits me at the top, only seeing the room come to an end. But between me and on those stairs are more soldiers.
Hearing a noise, I turn to see the large male with two weapons charge for them. More shouting and gunfire following close behind. Everywhere else, humans and misplaced soldiers continue to scramble, adding to the already confused state of the ship.
The sound of heavy footfalls heading straight for me steals my attention and I see Kyle heading my way from, leaving the now overrun checkpoint behind. Smoke plumes into the atrium from the other side.
Kyle stops beside me, dropping to his hands and knees, gasping wildly. “And I—” he gasps again “—thought I was in shape.”
“Which way?” I growl, searching the massive space again. The smoke quickly flooding into it, now hiding the checkpoint behind us.
“Straight,” he wheezes, “until the end.”
Vivian’s father’s voice arises once more, coming from every direction.
“Denizens of The Dreadnaut , this is your Supreme Commander speaking. We are under attack. A dangerous alien lifeform has infiltrated the ship. I repeat, we are under attack. Please return to your homes in an orderly fashion and await further instruction.”
Kyle curses.
I hiss at Volp’s words and using that anger to spur me forward, I slice down the atrium and along the wall, through the fake plants, watching as more and more soldiers appear on the grand staircase at the end.
Lowering to the floor at the last second, the soldiers spot me, and several bullets whizz past my ears.
More ping the floor and I roll away, dodging the majority of them. With pain radiating through me, I pivot at the last moment, missing a bullet aimed for my head.