Chapter 42
Haven
Haven didn’t realize how far those guys had managed to break through until, drawn by her curiosity and need to know, she cautiously moved to look around the corner.
She thought they’d still be back by main storage, or maybe in the hall just outside of it.
She didn’t realize they’d gotten so far that they were only a single turn away from her.
She’d only looked around the corner long enough to realize that they were there, to recognize Vytln’s huge form fighting back, before she turned and ran. Trying to put more distance between herself and that fight.
But she was still trapped because she needed to be close enough to the outside terminal for termites to work on the hijacker. And they weren’t done yet!
She went around a second corner and put her back to the wall, bringing up her tablet to check on their progress again. She figured if they came around that corner, she’d just run to the shelter and hope that the others could finish the job without her.
She was gnawing on her bottom lip, watching the progress of her termites, cursing them for taking so long and apologizing for cursing them in equal measure.
“Come on, come on,” she hissed.
They were so close. Just a bit-
Heavy boots running her way made her gasp. She turned to run even as Tanin was coming around the corner. She barely had a chance to identify him through his helmet when he grabbed her by the upper arm and jerked her along.
“Wait!” She looked back, but Vytln wasn’t there.
“Helmet on,” Tanin ordered, not stopping. “You’re going to the shelter room.”
“But my termites-”
“We’re out of time.”
“Where’s Vytln?”
He didn’t answer, just continued dragging her along.
Vytln still wasn’t running with them, and neither were their enemies.
Haven’s belly sank, but she refused to think about what could have happened to him.
He was fine. He was just… buying them time.
That was why Tanin was running like this. To get away from him… buying time.
“Alred!” Tanin barked as the lights flashed.
Haven opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Tanin was turning and grabbing her helmet.
He shoved it on her head and pressed the seal.
Trapping her inside the envirosuit. It took a second for the microphone to sync up and turn on, buying her just a brief break from the ever present shriek of the ship alarms.
“Tanin, what is going on?” She demanded to know, taking a step back before he could grab her again.
“We don’t have time for this,” he stepped after her. “You’re going to the shelter room now so I can go back and fix this.”
“I’ve already fixed it.”
The sudden silence of the alarm overhead, accompanied by Alred’s smooth, even, serious tone only made Haven more afraid.
“What do you want done with them, captain?”
“Vytln?” Tanin asked.
“Already out.”
“Out of where?!” Haven demanded to know.
Neither male answered her. Instead, Tanin said only-
“Kill them all.”
“Done.”
Shivers broke out over Haven’s skin as, from deep in the ship, she heard the sudden loud, pained screams of far too many people. Far more than she realized had forced their way aboard.
She didn’t know how, but Alred was slaughtering them. Merciless. Ruthless. She covered her mouth as the screams were cut off one by one until silence reigned.
“Take us into subspace,” Tanin said, his fists tightened.
“But what about Vytln?” Haven grabbed for his arm this time, heart beating painfully in her throat.
The look Tanin gave her was so cold and distant, so sharp and dangerous, it made her drop him again immediately, pulling her hand back to her chest like he’d shocked her.
“Take us into subspace,” Tanin said again. “Now.”
Haven’s belly dropping this time had nothing to do with the sudden swing into subspace.
***
Thirty minutes was far longer than she realized. And so much had changed in so little time.
They were moving rapidly away from whatever trap Kldyn had brought them into, but they were no better off than they had been before. They were probably worse.
Alred had set their destination, and according to him, they'd only need about a day and a half to reach the place. Which meant they only had a day and a half reprieve.
Kldyn's ship was still locked onto theirs. The ripping sound she'd heard had been them latching onto their ship. Clinging onto it like the talons of a bird digging into their prey. And they'd done it right over the engine compartment.
Haven stood in front of the sealed door that led into her and Vytln's workroom. One hand resting on metal that was unnaturally cold.
The engine was wrecked. Exactly how badly, Alred wasn't sure.
His sensors only told him that there was heavy damage, and the emergency stop functions had activated to keep the engine from damaging them or itself more.
The shielding separating the engine room from their workroom was only designed to keep out heat, noise, and radiation.
It did nothing against the unforgiving vacuum of space.
So, she was locked out. She couldn't even enter to check the damage. With the hull breach, so too did the subspace shielding become compromised. Going in there was certain death.
The boring tunnel that allowed Kldyn's men to enter their ship was also not shielded against subspace however. So, although they were connected that way as well, until they swung out of subspace, they couldn't enter their ship anymore.
But they also probably had no intention of doing so
Main storage, thanks to the boring hole, was also compromised and unable to be entered. But Alred had been able to see inside right as he gained back control of the ship but before their swing knocked out his ability to see through those cameras.
The explosives they were carrying weren’t just a convenient way to get them into trap position.
When Tanin and Vytln had been chased out, their invaders had taken the time to arm the explosives.
They were live now, and it would take only a signal to set them off.
One that, doubtlessly, they only hadn’t sent because signals didn’t work in subspace.
Their engine was destroyed. They were dead in the water, the ship was full of holes and hull breaches, and their cargo hold was full of bombs that were primed to explode the moment they came out of subspace and were susceptible again.
The closest thing they had to an evac pod was the landing shuttle, and the entrance to that was in main storage, a place that was exposed to subspace, right beside the bombs, and had been also left alone with their invaders.
Meaning, they couldn’t guarantee that it hadn’t been tampered with.
And besides all that, Vytln was gone.
To protect them…
No, she corrected herself with a tearful whimper, resting her head on the cold, sealed door. To protect her, he’d let himself be taken away. Because he knew that they were losing and, if he didn’t give them what they wanted, they’d keep coming. Keep shooting. Put her in further danger.
He’d sacrificed himself to protect her. And they had no way of getting back to him.
The boring tunnel only went one way. Their door was still sealed to them.
Their weapons couldn’t aim in the direction of their ship.
They couldn’t get away and put distance between them.
Even if they had the ability to do any of that, they couldn’t because of the bombs.
They’d only had a day and a half to think of a plan, and the only thing any of them could come up with was just to try to survive the explosion.
“Haven. It’s time.”
She opened her eyes on the blank metal of the door. She could see the reflective glow of Alred’s light behind her.
Time to go to the shelter room.
It was the only part of the ship that could possibly survive an explosion.
Unlike the landing shuttle, it had no means of locomotion, it couldn’t communicate with the outside world, it didn’t even have a way for those inside to know what was going on outside.
It was their absolute last line of defense, and the only possibility they had to survive the incoming explosion.
They didn’t know if it could. They didn’t know exactly how strong the explosives were, only that there was enough to destroy this ship.
They couldn’t even guarantee that the shelter room was strong enough to survive it.
They had designed it to be as strong as possible, but it wasn’t like they had ever tested it.
Going inside was a gamble, but the only chance they had.
If Alred was here, they were about to swing out, so she had to go to the shelter so they could all be locked inside.
And then…
No one was sure. They had no plan for what to do if they survived the explosion. The shelter room couldn’t communicate, couldn’t move on its own power, had no way of sending out an emergency signal. It was a last resort, and not a great one.
The first step was surviving at all. If they could. They’d have to figure it out after that.
But whether they survived the explosion or not, it didn’t change the fact that Vytln was in Kldyn’s hands, in their ship. If he was still alive…
Her heart clenched painfully. She couldn’t think otherwise. She had to believe he was alive. He might not be perfectly alright, but if he was alive, there was hope.
And if she was acting like there was a chance…
“I’m not going,” she declared, lifting her head and looking at Alred.
He stood in the hallway, his expression uncharacteristically serious. Even the glow of his yellow light form seemed somehow less jovial, less sparkly than usual.
“You aren’t going?” He repeated.
Haven nodded and turned to walk away. She had her own plan, and it didn’t involve hiding away inside the shelter room, hoping she survived.
Admittedly, what she was planning wasn’t much better, but she couldn’t hide. She couldn’t do nothing. Not when there was a chance.
“Do we having like a jetpacking or something?”