The bulkhead door they’d just come through slammed closed and Rork collapsed to the floor, Zero mumbling at his side.
“Would you like that hot drink now?”
Rork closed his eyes, face down against the cold metal floor panels. A sense of dread washed over him. He knew that voice and he struggled against the inertial brain fog to put a face to it. He rolled over and looked up.
Gamil Barbary’s fat, pockmarked face hung above him. It smiled and offered him a steaming cup.
Rork pushed himself back against the wall to face his longtime rival. He reached to his waistband but came up empty-handed. He struggled to stand up. He’d strangle the life from the toad if it was the last thing he did.
“Relax. I came out here myself to secure the cargo. You took out my best men, after all. But when the EDF pulled their crap, well we find ourselves in the same dire straits now, don’t we?”
“You— ship. Can escape,” Rork croaked.
Barbary passed him the warm mug. Rork eyed him, uncertain, but accepted the drink and took a sip. He sputtered and coughed then took another.
The intercom crackled with Riley’s high-pitched cries. “Captain Sollix! We need you down here. We’re spiraling towards Luna City and I don’t know how to stop it! Tell me what to do!”
“Where?”
“We’re on the backup bridge. Are you coming down?”
Rork blinked lazily and smacked his lips. Barbary leaned in, grabbed his arm and pulled him up. Rork’s head wobbled in space and his body reclined against the wall. He took a step forward and dragged his shoulder along the smooth white plastic of the wall.
Barbary grabbed for his arm again.
“No!” Rork pushed himself off the wall and lumbered down the corridor. “Get him. Bring him down. Gently.” He shot a fiery glance back at Barbary.
Barbary’s footsteps echoed heavier now. “The EDF took care of my ship. Knocked holes in the hull. I had to crash land in your dock.”
“The children. The children,” Zero mumbled from his perch across Barbary’s shoulders.
Rork plodded down the hallway, his head swimming and his body aching. He reached the elevator, tapped the open button and stepped in. He leaned against the mirrored back wall and watched Barbary step in, Zero hoisted across his wide back.
“The children,” Zero mumbled.
The elevator door closed. “Destination?” a voice said.
“Backup bridge,” Rork said.
A low whistle sounded as the carriage began to move. Rork eyed Barbary and Barbary looked back at the pirate.
“You’re a liar,” Rork said.
Barbary smiled thinly, his eyes grinning and collapsing into dark crevices. “Aren’t we all?”
“What are you really here for? I should kill you right now.”
“With what? If I don’t make it off this ship with my cargo intact and unharmed, you know what will happen to your precious servant.”
“She’s not my servant. Not anymore.” Rork took a large draught of the warm beverage. Heat was returning to his extremities. He was feeling himself again.
Barbary laughed. “No, she’s mine now. And she knows how to serve. You trained her well.”
Rork jerked a fist up. “I will flarking kill you.”
“Just not right now?” Barbary laughed in a staccato burst of explosions.
Zero opened his eyes and pushed himself off of Barbary. “Who—?” He exploded in a fit of coughing.
Rork stared at Barbary. He relaxed his fist and passed the half-empty mug to Zero who downed it in one gulp.
“This man looks familiar.” Zero burped and took a deep breath.
The elevator door opened on the backup bridge. Riley stood in front of a high captain’s chair, screaming orders. To her left was a bank of computer displays with small, swiveling seats in front of them. They all lay empty, unused, their screens’ cursors blinking their readiness or scrolling data output.
To Rork’s right, the viewscreen showed metallic blocks of uneven height spread out in a regular circle from the X Tower in the center. Luna City approached.
A little girl not more than seven years old ran out from a corner and hugged Zero’s legs. Zero kneeled down and hugged her back.
Whatever that’s about…
Rork stepped out and put his hands on his hips. “Well, Riley?”
She turned, her new commanding tone surprisingly attractive. Her gray eyes were panicked and her face was tight. “My men are having trouble.”
“How long till impact?” Rork asked.
“Fifteen minutes, tops.”
“Is there really nothing you can do?”
“The
John McCain
is pushing us with their tractor beam! Even if we got the engines started now, we wouldn’t arrest the
Achilles
’ momentum in time.” Her eyes grew darker and she pouted.
Rork felt his fingers tingle. This could be the end. And Barbary was here with him. It was perfect. “Abandon ship.” He turned, his head down. Riley’s footsteps padded behind him.
The air sizzled next to his ear and a flash of light saturated his eyes. Rork startled. He blinked his eyes. A great black and yellow blind spot covered everything on his left. He moved his eyes and the spot followed. He looked forward, into the elevator.
Barbary replaced the pulse pistol in its holster under his pants’ ample waistline.
Riley lay on the floor, her face gone, her knees bent back, her feet abutting her upper thighs and her arms splayed out.
Rork ran for Barbary, his right fist clenched and ready to strike, his left hand a claw to grab the man’s throat and rip the life out of him.
Barbary brought up the pistol and placed its hot tip against Rork’s forehead. “Calm down, boy. We still have some work to do.”
Rork recoiled from the heat and rubbed the burnt skin.
“The children.” Zero stepped into the elevator.
Twenty-thousand children. Holy brax.
Rork squeezed his eyes shut.
“How’s the cargo?” Barbary asked.
Rork opened an eye. “Are you talking to me?”
Barbary put his free finger to his ear and listened, his eyes searching Rork’s face. “Good. Deploy and activate it. I’ll be there in two minutes or less.”
Barbary pushed the tip harder against Rork’s forehead, forcing him to step backwards. “Get out,” he said to Zero, “but leave the kid behind.”
Zero stepped out, the precocious little darling stuck tight to his neck. “I will not.”
Barbary pointed the gun at Zero. “How about I remove your face and most of her to go with it. That’d be easier for me.”
“Will you be my dad? Can we play hide and seek?” The child hugged Zero’s head, her little arms covering his eyes.
“Do your worst. You’re just a bully! May the next life be kinder to us both.” He closed his eyes and hugged the little girl.
Rork glanced at the screen. He could see aircars flying around the X Tower.
I hope that is zoomed in otherwise we have no hope.
“Let her go, Zero. Give her a chance to live. She may rise and unseat even this bastard someday.”
Zero looked at him.
“He has all the rest. Why make just her die?” Rork asked.
Zero’s face softened. “In the one is the many. In just one there is a universe of potentials. Have you not learned it yet?” He stepped back.
“Have it your way, preacher.” Barbary shot Rork in the foot, glanced at Zero but did not fire and disappeared behind the elevator doors.
Rork screamed and fell to the floor, his two small toes and a chunk of foot blasted to dust. Boot melted into flesh and bone protruded from the opening. “Jupiter!” he yelled.
“Rork... What…?” Zero held his hands out at his sides. His head hung a little lower.
Rork pulled himself along the floor, toward the captain’s chair, his damaged foot held high.
“What are you doing? We have to get out of here!”
A raw grunt of rage, frustration and pain escaped Rork’s lips. He pulled himself up to the captain’s chair on one leg and hit the comm button. “Get to the escape pods now, everyone. Eject, eject, eject! Save yourselves and get far from the trainship and Luna City. Good luck.” He collapsed into the chair and stared at the charbroiled meat that very recently was a usable foot.
“C
OME
ON
! Where is it?”
The girl’s eyes were wide and her face looked like it was about to burst into tears. She clung to his head and neck and Zero pushed her pink, round arms out of his eyes and up to his forehead. She pushed them back down and tightened her hold.
Rork pushed off from the captain’s chair and one-legged hopped towards the elevator. He took a left and pushed through a wall. It was a door. He hobbled down a narrow corridor, its walls glowing with bright light. At the end, he pulled a red lever and a low, round door popped open. The leading edge bumped his aching foot and he bit his hand. A small yelp escaped him.
Zero paused to step into the escape pod and the little girl was face to face with Rork.
Rork studied one of her eyes, then the next. She did the same. His face erupted into a grin and the girl’s face softened in turn. Rork caressed her cheek and she reached for him but Zero moved into the interior of the pod.
Rork followed. He pulled the door shut hard after him and a series of cold bolts locked it in place. A hiss of gas edged up the air pressure and his eardrums ached.
“Computer, eject now! Destination: Luna City Spaceport,” Rork said.
“Error, safety measures not fully enabled,” the computer replied.
“This beloved thing is a safety measure! Enable it!” Zero scratched at his scalp and the little girl stepped away from him into the center of the spherical pod.
Rork grabbed the little girl and sat her down on the circular bench across from Zero. He pulled the straps down over her head and secured them into the bench in between her legs. He took a seat next to her and repeated the procedure, with one strap over each shoulder.
The little girl reached for him and the straps automatically adjusted to keep her secure.
“You are responsible for her now,” Zero said, his face severe. “As are we both for the fate of all twenty-thousand of those children.”
“Ejecting,” the computer said.
The clang of pure strong metal against its twin echoed through Rork’s head and his arms flew upward, then to the side. A roar of burning fuel replaced the clang as the tiny pod attempted to reverse the momentum imposed upon it by the titanic trainship.
Zero’s head flopped from side the side like a ship without a pilot in a buffeting storm. The child kept vigil on Rork but the only thing keeping him from succumbing to the g-forces was the agony in his foot as it banged here and there.
The tin can spun, their arms flailing wildly until thrusters kicked in. Rork’s head was pushed down almost to his chest, his neck and spine stretched to their breaking point, gasping for air.
And then it ended.
“Destination reached: Luna City Spaceport. Please visit your health care professional within six hours as this trajectory exceeded several key human operating limits,” the computer said.
Rork looked at Zero, rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Only several? How about all of them!”
Zero opened his eyes. He loosed his straps, got up and collected the little girl. She reached for Rork, her dark eyes purposeful. Zero reached the door and pounded on it. “Well!”
“Computer: open hatch,” Rork said.
“Stand back,” the computer said.
A jet of gas erupted from the edges of the round door and into Zero’s face. The girl giggled. He turned away and swatted his hand in the air. The door popped out and rolled away, making a shimmying sound before it banged to the tarmac.
“Oh brax!” Zero put one foot out of the pod then tried to step back in. His foot caught and he fell backwards, the child on his shoulder, her face a mask of fear.
Rork leaned forward and caught them both, his hands holding up Zero’s shoulders and the girl’s face landing into Rork’s meaty bicep. He grinned and shrugged at her and a smile slowly crept across her face.
“See?” Rork whispered to her. “Everything is fine.”
She cocked her head to one side and her features tightened. A rumble sounded behind them and a cloud of metallic dust puffed into the pod, stinging Rork’s nose and polluting his mouth. Everything spun and went dark. His stomach rose and fell, his head spun and something crashed into his bad foot.
The spinning eased. The dust fell to the floor of the pod. A faint light streamed in from above. Rork lay on his back and looked up at the open hatch. They’d have to climb out.
Rork found a leg on his chest. It had to be Zero’s. He rolled over and traced it to the man’s neck. He put a finger on Zero’s jugular.
Thank... the whatever, he’s still alive.
Rork slapped Zero on the cheek a few times, dust rising into tiny mushroom clouds each time. “Wake up, man!”
Rork pulled himself to his feet and the pod rolled. He took a step forward and the hatch was straight ahead. He stepped out onto a warm, smooth road. He reached back in and dragged Zero’s unconscious body out. He laid it gently next to the pod. He kneeled down and collected the girl’s body in his arms and extracted her as well. He laid her body next to Zero’s.
Rork pushed the pod and it rolled a few meters away. They were stranded at the far end of the Luna City Spaceport’s landing area. Behind him and to his right was the far edge of the colony, a complex, multi-layered combination of transparent triangular wall blocks and specialized force fields powered by the Moon’s abundant supplies of helium-3.
Ahead of him, ships flamed through the dome-like force field to escape Luna City, headed perhaps to Earth or to one of the smaller Lunar settlements. Beyond the ships, an orange-blue haze rolled over the city, as if it were one giant chemical rocket taking flight for more peaceful shores. He searched for the X Tower but couldn’t find it.
Twenty meters away, outside the walls and force fields a big-wheeled guard rover stopped and flashed its red lights. The landing strip was a long, narrow lane next to the half-sphere dome of Luna City. Their only way out was to walk up that long lane, get past the passenger terminal and hang a sharp left into the city.
If there still was a city.