Indentured (13 page)

Authors: Scott McElhaney

As the intense pain refused to subside, Declan believed that death was now imminent, so he used the remaining control he had to snap the captain’s neck. That loud pop brought an end to his pain but he knew the freedom wasn’t going to last long. The screams and wild thrashings coming from his fellow Indentures continued. He released the captain’s limp body, then leapt instantly to his feet trying to shake off the ghost pains that still shivered in his bones.

Stephen turned to him only a moment before Declan’s foot made contact with the side of his head. Stephen slammed against one of the control panels, releasing Charlie and Delta from their electrical torrent. One of the security guys lunged at Declan, but he dodged the hit, bringing his own elbow down on the guy’s back. The other security guy turned to him, but found himself wrapped in Charlie’s flying tackle before he had a chance to do anything.

Declan turned back to Stephen, who seemed a bit dazed with his head bleeding above the left eye. Declan launched a hard kick into Stephen’s chest, sending him sailing backward somersaulting over another control panel. He turned in time to see Delta snap the lower leg of a security guy with a downward kick. The screaming of his fellow Indentures had ceased in that moment.

Charlie lifted the other security guy, holding him in a headlock. Stephen now had a hold of one of the chairs, pulling himself up from the floor.

“
Look, maybe we can come to an agreement here,” Stephen sputtered, “We don’t have to be enemies.”

“
And just what are you offering here?” Oscar chuckled, reaching down and dragging the guy with the broken leg away from everyone else, “With your ability to shock us or kill us, I see no reason to trust you.”

“
We need your help as much as you need ours. I’m the last one here who can land this ship,” Stephen said.

“
Then it sounds to me like we need to put this up for a vote,” Declan replied, “Because the way I see it – either we’re all going to live or we’re all going to die.”

Earth

The sun had made its way halfway across the sky, reflecting itself in a million bright little diamonds on the wave crests of the Caribbean. The crystal blue waters between two of the islands started churning as though a leviathan had been awakened from the deep. Bubbles rose to the surface, followed then by a man, gasping for air. Another man surfaced, then another and another. Soon the waters were littered with nearly two dozen men and women clinging to four of the zodiac boats that surfaced along them.

They climbed quickly into the boats, aware of the many deadly creatures that called the Caribbean home – namely sharks. They paddled quickly, racing for one of the islands. In less than fifteen minutes, they beached the zodiacs and dragged them up to higher ground. There, they unloaded the eight duffle bags they brought with them from the ship – the only supplies they would have to start their new lives.

“
What do you think will happen to the ship? Will it ever be found?” Declan asked, seated on the white sand across from Stephen.

“
We dropped it in a nice spot and I’m sure the ocean life will love it. It will be covered in coral in no time,” Stephen replied, “And since it’s got about 15 feet of ocean over the highest peak, I have a feeling it will be a coral island in less than a hundred years. No, I think it’s the perfect hiding place.”

“
What about us?” Sierra asked, “Do you think we’ll survive?”

Declan nodded, staring out at the beautiful Caribbean, “Yeah, we’ve got six tents, some knives, some fishing gear, and a couple of guns. I think we’ll do just fine learning to make it in the wild.”

A thousand years later

The holographic video of the war in South America flickered off, then switched to the image of a blonde woman.

“
In other news, a construction crew working in the Florida Keys yesterday stumbled across a rare find. Buried beneath the coral of the island where they were scheduled to build a hotel was a very large steel structure of some sort. Sonar imaging of the giant structure came back with a picture of this:”

An image shaped like a starship appeared on the screen, then followed by an image of the USSC Pioneer.

“
Further investigation today revealed this is indeed the USSC Pioneer, the experimental ship that disappeared nearly a hundred years ago. How it ended up buried beneath hundreds or perhaps thousands of years worth of soil and coral is a mystery to be solved at a later date. When we asked the USSC what they thought of this, this is what they said:”

The holographic image of a man appeared.

“
We cannot even fathom how this ship got here especially since we believed it to be lost somewhere in the Beta Hydri System. We are however deploying a group of 24 Indentures to begin the immense effort unearthing this ship next week...”

Now available for 99 cents!

Legacy

Part 2 in the ongoing serial

of Indentured

By Scott McElhaney

Note from the publisher:

We at
Superluminal
believe that Kindle books shouldn’t ever cost more than 99 cents. Why? Because once you own a Kindle, it’s no longer possible to pick up discount books at yard sales, thrift stores, or outlets. This means that the only advertising we offer
(since we’re not raking in the BIG BUCKS)
is word-of-mouth which can be best expressed through Amazon reviews.

As often happens, when we hated a book, we might be quick to write a scathing review on Amazon (and this is understandable at times), but if we loved it, we simply smile and move on to the next book. Please, if you loved this book, write a kind review on Amazon to tell others.