We made our way to the far wall, where I guessed there would be a hall leading to the middle of the container. My guess paid off, and I was glad they’d kept some of the same plans as their own large vessel.
“We should be able to get to the heart of the ship from here. Magnus and I didn’t even think of this when we visited the first one we found stranded a way back. Now we know better. It sounded like Mae needs our help, and quickly.” I led the way, gun unslung from my shoulder and firmly in my grip. Mary followed suit, looking much more at home with a gun in her hands than I did.
“I’m guessing the hybrids weren’t too happy about us blowing out their thrusters. They were ready to run into the sun – the ultimate sacrifice to a race that never really cared about them. Mae might be in over her head. She didn’t even have a gun,” Mary said, hurrying down the hall. The floors were the same metal grating from the Kraski ship; our runners made almost no noise on it.
We kept moving until I saw a symbol I recognized from when Drendon had brought us to that central bridge room.
“This way,” I called, and we exited to a set of stairs. Doors slid aside for us and I almost retched at what we found. Bodies were piled high in the large room. There must have been thousands of dead just in this room alone.
“Over here!” we heard someone call. “It’s me, Mae.”
Mary’s jaw was set firmly, obviously affected by all the death surrounding us. We walked over, guns raised at the hybrid. She looked worse for wear, hair partly singed and skin a shade of black.
“Mae, what’s going on here?” I asked, voice thick.
“Since we stopped the crew from running into the sun, they’re moving room to room, killing everyone still alive. I’ve been hiding but made it to a comm-station so I could reach you,” she explained.
Hitting some triggers on my suit, I moved my suit’s comm to Natalia’s ship.
I explained the situation to her and Magnus, and when Magnus said he was coming to back us up, I had to calm him down. “Listen, buddy, you’re the only two out there who know what the hell happened and how to get us back now. We’ll try to contain things down here, and we’ll see you soon. I’ll keep you posted. Get every one of those damned containers some sense of stability. When we’re done here, we’ll want to start moving everyone away from the sun, before it does long-term damage to these hulls.”
“Never thought I’d be taking orders from some bean counter, but here we are. You better keep me posted. See you on the other side. Over,” Magnus replied.
Mae was unarmed, and we kept her behind us.
“How many are there? Same as the other ship?” I asked, sure there were about a dozen. I could see their lifeless bodies when I closed my eyes for a deep breath. We were about to do it again, but this time, their threat was more than imminent.
Mae urged us forward, pointing down the hall. The hallway had no air flowing down it, and it smelled stale, and I could have sworn there was blood in the air. In a few minutes, we could hear screaming. Mary dashed ahead of us, gun raised. She looked like a superhero from the comics I’d read as a kid as she ran for the doorway and opened fire. I caught up and saw that she’d caught the hybrids unaware and from behind. Shooting someone in the back wasn’t the most glorious way to do it, but every second saved a few more of our people. They were huddled in the back of the dim room; the dead were spread across the floor. I wondered how many rooms were full of bodies thanks to these monsters. Then I fired.
I shot at them as they turned to see what was happening. Five were down before they could get a shot off, but red beams blazed at us moments later. The doorway crumbled from the impact, and Mae and Mary ducked back the way we’d come. I dove and hit the ground on the other side of the entrance. Beams bore down on the hallway walls as the last couple still standing tried to clear the way.
We held our fire for a brief time, waiting to see what was coming. Our positioning was poor, as we would be in each other’s crossfire. Not sure what the best move was, I decided to slink down to the ground some way, and fire to the right side should they come out. My mask was still on, and my heavy breathing was beginning to fog it up. I wanted to take the damn thing off, but every moment was precious here.
I could hear groans from the room, but they had ceased firing, at least. Mary looked at me, worry etched in her eyes. Her mask was off, and her gaze at me was only for a few seconds. It hit my gut like a ton of bricks. She started to walk into the doorway, gun aimed forward. She paused, jaw hanging down. “Bob?” I heard her whisper.
There was no way I was going to lose her. I ran for her as the first red beam flew from her gun. A volley of shots came from inside the room as I tackled her down, sending my gun flying down the hall. We hit the ground hard, and something didn’t feel quite right on my back. I could hear footsteps clanking down towards us.
“Not going to happen today!” I heard someone yell, then more fire sprouted around us. Mary was beside me, shooting at them. I felt her get up to her feet, but I was still face down on the ground. I couldn’t seem to move for some reason. Mary was screaming now, a primal shout I hadn’t known was possible from her.
After what felt like long minutes, the firing stopped. All I could hear was heavy breathing and the clatter of something falling to the ground. I struggled to turn my neck, but a searing pain shot through my body.
“Mary, it’s over. That should be all of them. It’s okay,” I heard Mae tell her.
A hand pressed on my shoulder, and Mary rolled me over carefully. She looked at me with her big brown eyes and tears were falling down on me. “Dean, are you okay?”
“I think so,” I lied. Truth was, I could hardly move, and something was definitely wrong.
“You fool. I was going to be the one to save the day, sacrifice myself for you guys and all the people here. Then you had to go ruin it and keep me alive. I can’t believe you did that running tackle.” Her voice was soft as she spoke.
“Some of them are alive!” Mae rushed down to the next room, where a head poked out of. The face was dirty and gaunt. I remembered that much. “We’re here to help you. Don’t worry, everything’s going to be okay. We’re going to bring you home.”
Hesitantly at first, groups of people began to emerge from the container’s storage rooms. Soon the halls were filled with people, and Mae was barking orders. Mary was still holding my hand and before my vision went black, I saw her beautiful face smiling at me. “We did it, Dean. We did it.”
THIRTY
I awoke in a dark room. My back spasmed, and I realized I must have slept on it wrong. What was I supposed to be doing today? I tried to recall and couldn’t. I had a tax file for the O’Sullivans to do, and was I meeting James later for beers and the Yankees game on his new sixty-incher?
I heard a dog bark in the distance and wished that Susan wouldn’t let Carey do that so early in the morning. It had to be dark out still; otherwise, light would be seeping through my never-quite-closed curtains. I reached out for my alarm clock and my arm kept moving through the air. Where the hell was my nightstand?
When I tried to turn, my back screamed at me and failed to comply. I started to panic. My eyes were adjusting, and now I could make out the outlines of the room, and this wasn’t my bed. My mind felt groggy, muddy with images. Ships coming out of the sky, big black cubes lowering in the dawn skyline, and green light, grasping at my friend as he was pulled through the ceiling.