Rosalie
“Dante-forty-two!” I yell out the second the airlock opens, pulling at the cumbersome space suit.
“At your command, mistress,” the onboard systems respond to me.
Like I even know what to command them to do. I might have been able to code, I might have been able to get the food dispensers to work, and to show Scarlett how the garment maker functioned, but a whole space ship?
A ship which takes multiple warriors to fly and to function?
I guess I’m going to have to put my big girl knickers on and try because I am not leaving Dante.
“Bridge,” I call out, and lights appear on the wall, directing me through the passageways until I reach the open space which is eerily empty.
“Show me Dante.”
“Lord Dante is not on board,” the system says.
“I know that. He’s outside.”
“Searching…on screen.”
I grab hold of the console where the pilot was, and now isn’t, and stare down at it. I see the flash of a tail underneath where the two ships are joined, followed by a vent of atmosphere and then the slow, almost graceful parting of the two vessels.
There is a loud clunk which reverberates through the ship. Something I don’t recall happening when we docked.
“What’s going on?”
“We have been boarded.”
“Fuck!” I swear, reaching for the ray gun. “Who by?”
“It is not a species in my database.”
“Fuck.”
This isn’t good at all. I’d rather the ship knew what was on board than it didn’t. Mostly because I’d like to know. The only plus? If it was the cockroach aliens, the ship would know about the Veseli.
Could what’s on board be any worse?
Possibly. In fact, given everything which has happened to me so far, save the Sarkarnii, most likely.
“Where are they…it?”
“Currently leaving the airlock.”
“Where is Dante?”
“He is on the outside of the ship,” the system announces. “But his life force is weakening.”
“Fuckfuckfuck,” I chant to myself. “Get Lord Dante into the ship. I’ll deal with whatever is on board.”
“As you wish, mistress.”
Am I really going to leave it to the ship’s systems to handle Dante? I can’t see any other option. Am I really going to go confront whatever it is which is somewhere on board this ship and most likely has ill intentions? Apparently so.
It would appear some of Dante’s feral, chaotic nature is rubbing off on me. But also, right now, could we be more screwed? Probably not.
I check the ray gun Dante gave me. It’s a point and shoot thing and reasonably easy to operate. Maggie got one of the Sarkarnii warriors to show us once because she thought it was important we knew, and surprise, it turns out she was right.
Flattening myself against the bulkhead, I slide down the wall towards the rear of the ship where the airlock which was attached to the pirate ship is situated, ray gun in hand, attempting to regulate my breathing. What could possibly be on board which the ship doesn’t recognize?
I get my answer when I hear noises ahead, and a brief look tells me all I need to know.
The tall biped creature is exactly as Kerra described it.
The evil professor of all our nightmares.
The thing even has a set of goggles, or what might be its eyes, which look like a set of steel-rimmed glasses.
The pinched face, the pallid skin, and the long white coat all combine to make it terrifying.
It is not alone either. On either side are floating robots. Their spindly metal appendages bristle with spikes, a single red “eye” raking over the walls and floor of the ship like laser sights.
I am in trouble. We are all in trouble.
“Ah, the human,” a weird metallic voice rings out.
I freeze. There is no way I am going to be the human in this situation.
I should have asked the ship for hiding places.
“Mistress, Lord Dante is on board,” the system announces, and I cringe.
“And we have a Sarkarnii too. How delicious,” the professor says. “You may as well show yourself, my dear. I have plans for you and your Sarkarnii mate.”
“Good thing I have this.” I swing around the bulkhead and take my first shot.
I was not expecting the kick. How does a ray gun even have a kick? I’m thrown backwards onto my arse as the shot reverberates around the ship, and I skid a long way down the passage before slamming into the wall, seeing stars.
“This one has some spirit.” I hear the voice of the professor. “She will be interesting to break. Find the Sarkarnii and get him under control.”
I hear the footsteps coming my way. The ray gun was flung from my hand as it sent me sailing backwards, so I am unarmed as I look up at the towering creature.
“As long as I have one, I will have the other,” he says, his mouth somehow not moving in time to the words, making me feel even more disoriented. “A Sarkarnii and his mate, what a treat.”
“You will never have either of us,” I spit out, the metallic taste of blood in my mouth.
“On the contrary, my dear. I do, and you will both be doing exactly as I say very soon.”
He bends over me, producing a tube from his coat pocket, and before I can do anything to get away, he presses down on the top and something hisses into my eyes.
“Dante,” I say, the one and only word which matters, and then everything goes dark.