Escape (73 page)

Before he knew was he was doing, Kieran stepped in front of Jilly, his fists raised.

A hoarse chuckle sounded from the monster. “You can't hurt me.” In that instant, the shadowy figure blurred, and in the space of a heartbeat, Kieran felt an impossibly strong hand around his throat. He was lifted from the floor, the air choked off from his lungs, the creature's claws digging furrows into his skin. He fought back with both hands, trying in vain to pry the one from around his throat.

“Let him go!” Jilly stepped forward and threw a punch that should have connected with the monster's jaw. Instead the creature caught her fist and twisted it up behind her back with his free hand. There came a loud
pop!
and Jilly screamed. The monster pinned her to him with his dagger-like claws held threateningly to her throat, and Kieran watched its lips spread in a wicked grin. “That's better,” the monster breathed in her ear. “Why don't you scream again. I'm
sure
your friend is listening.”

But all Jilly managed was a whimper.

Kieran fought for air, but he couldn't force any past the unyielding grip around his throat. He felt his eyes bulging, and used the last of his strength to deliver a hammer punch to the creature's arm, hoping against hope that he'd break the monster's grip, or even just loosen it for a quick gasp of air
 
.
 
.
 
.

But his fist bounced off, drawing another throaty chuckle from his adversary.

“Nice try. My turn.”

Kieran felt the fist around his throat begin to squeeze even tighter, and his feet began to kick wildly in reflex. He knew he didn't have much longer. Then Kieran remembered how Ferrel had killed Gallian. He'd just thought about it, and poof: Gallian had burst into flames, melting into a molten ball of flesh and armor in seconds.

Kieran wrapped his hands around the one holding him, and concentrated, willing the monster to burst into flames. This drew a quizzical look from the creature, and finally, when Kieran's efforts came to nothing, another laugh.

“It's funny, because I can read your mind, so I know what you're trying to do.” Without warning he let go of Jilly and gave her a mighty shove. She went sprawling into the far wall, and bounced off with a loud
thud.
She crumpled to the floor, groaning and holding her head with her good arm, while her other lay limp and useless by her side.

Kieran grimaced, watching her writhe on the floor, and wishing he could do something. But he was fighting just to stay conscious for a few more seconds. Spots danced before his eyes.

The monster grinned broadly and held up the hand that had been holding Jilly. “I believe what you were trying to do
 
.
 
.
 
.
” The hand drifted closer and brushed his arm. Kieran felt a sudden wave of excruciating heat so intense that he almost passed out. A nauseating odor of burnt meat filled the air, and Kieran knew it was him. He raised his arm for a look, and instantly wished he hadn't. His eyes winced shut, and he felt another wave nausea.

“Time to die, Kieran Hawker.”

Kieran's eyes shot open.
How does he know my name? I wasn't thinking about my name.
He shot a quick glance to Jilly, but she was still sprawled on the floor, hands clutched to her head. Then he noticed that the wall where she'd hit was actually dented from the force of her impact.

He shook his head, desperate to stay awake just a few seconds more. If he lost consciousness now it would be the last thing he knew before this monster ate him and Jilly alive. There had to be something he could do! He tried to lift his arms to struggle again. If he was going to die, then he was going to die fighting.

He managed to raise his arms to the hand locked around his neck, but when he tried again to pry the fingers from around his throat, he found that his strength had left him. Darkness was creeping in at the edges of his vision, and he watched the grinning monster before him through twin tunnels of impotent fury, knowing that no matter how hard he willed it, there was nothing he could do.

* * *

Ferrel sat in the command chair, his gaze riveted to the rushing, multicolored vortex beyond the viewports. There was no end to the stories of spacetravellers being driven mad by staring too long into the psychedelic swirl of trilinear space. Of course, it is much harder to be driven mad when one is already undeniably insane. Ferrel could almost feel the insanity creeping around the edges of his consciousness, tiptoeing through the ruins of his humanity. His awareness of his own madness was perhaps the only remaining evidence that he still posessed the capacity for rational thought.

Before the virus, he'd been a relatively well-balanced person, no more unhinged than the average, but now
.
 
.
 
.
 
.
He knew it was madness that he felt burning in his brain, tingling at the tips of his fingers, itching to be let out. It was the sole driving force left. A hunger that made his mouth water every time he so much as thought about their destination.

Javax interrupted Ferrel's self-reflection with a loud chime, followed by: “Fifteen minutes until reversion to normal space. This is our last redirection before Acasia.”

Ferrel nodded absently and went on staring into the swirling streaks of rainbow-colored fire. His thoughts turned to wondering how Kieran and Jilly were doing, and he considered that perhaps he should check on them. They might wish to be there for the final reversion.

He strode down the corridor from the bridge, through the tac center, and then down another corridor, this one lined with doors to the crew quarters. As he walked, a deep, reverberating
thump
shuddered through the deck plates and stopped him in his stride. Ferrel cocked an ear toward the noise, listening keenly in the ensuing silence.

Nothing.

Frowning now, Ferrel went on walking. He hoped that the noise hadn't been an abrupt equipment or structural failure. They were so close to Acasia, he could almost taste it! It would be unbearable to fall short so close to their destination.

Then he heard something else at the very edge of his hearing: a gravelly voice saying, “Time to die, Kieran Hawker,” and Ferrel stopped again. His eyes were drawn to the door beside him, and he knew that the voice had come from beyond it. Were it not for his unnaturally good hearing, he wouldn't have heard anything at all. Ferrel frowned, thinking:
I hope they haven't
 
.
 
.
 
.

And then he stepped up to the door and placed his ear against it. He heard some strangled noises and he knew that he didn't have much time. He waved his hand accross the door controls.

Beep.
The panel flashed red.

Locked. Ferrel backed away from the door until he felt the opposite wall of the corridor against his heels. Then he launched himself into a sudden sprint. His shoulder connected to the door with a deafening
thump!
and it gave way almost instantly, flying out of its rails and across the room. It hit the far wall with a terrific bang, and then clattered to the deck.

Ferrel stood silhouetted in the doorway, his glowing red eyes taking in a horrific scene. He saw Kieran held at an arm's length by a grinning monster, his feet kicking uselessly as they dangled high above the floor
—
and Jilly crumpled to one side, groaning softly, hands clutched to her head. His gaze panned to the monster, and his eyes narrowed suddenly.

“Let him go,” Ferrel demanded.

The monster locked eyes with him, its grin fading by degrees. “Why?”

Because I said so.

The creature held Ferrel's gaze a moment longer, then shrugged, and with an almost careless gesture, tossed Kieran toward Jilly. He hit the wall above her with a
crack
of bone against metal, and then landed heavily on top of Jilly.  She reacted with an
oomf
of dispelled air, and Kieran rolled off her with a groan.

“They wanted to turn the ship around,” the monster said.

Ferrel shook his head. “What? Why? That makes no sense. We're almost there, and there's no place safer to go.”

The remainder of the monster's grin faded and he jerked a gray thumb toward them. “They know they're still infected. They know
—
”

“Well, thanks to you, you dumb kefick, they know everything now, don't they?”

“Not everything.” The monster's gaze slid sideways to watch as Kieran pushed off the deck with his hands and climbed shakily to his feet. He stood clutching his arm by the elbow, his expression a twisted mess of pain and confusion as his eyes darted between Ferrel and the monster who'd almost killed him.

“Ferrel? What's going on?” Kieran's voice came out as a tremulous croak.

“It's okay, Kieran,” Ferrel whispered. “You might as well know the truth now.” And with that, Ferrel's features blurred and resolved again into a horrifyingly familiar countenance of wrinkled gray flesh. The creature smiled, revealing a mouth full of sharp, wickedly glinting teeth.

Chapter 52

“O
h, Deus. Ferrel? What
—
”

Kieran's question was abruptly cut off as the monster who'd taken Ferrel's place abruptly dissolved into a cloud of grey dust. The cloud spread, and then condensed into a more human form. As the man's features resolved, Kieran realized that he recognized the man: from his spiky blonde hair to the distinctive scar running from his hairline to the bottom of his jaw down to his distinctive suit of armor with its peeling blue paint.

“Brathus?” Kieran took a quick step backward and almost stepped on Jilly. He shook his head vigorously, unable to believe what he was seeing.

Brathus smiled. “Good guess.” Again the man's features blurred and he dissolved into a buzzing gray cloud. This time when the cloud condensed, it resolved into another familiar face: pale, smooth skin; wide, red eyes; matching flame-red hair, cropped short; and a deceptively slight and cadaverous build, with sunken cheeks and bony shoulders.

Kieran shook his head again. “Gallian?” By now a horrible, sinking sense of betrayal had wormed into his gut.

The sunken flesh of the man's cheeks pulled back into a broad grin. “Also correct.”

“What happened to Ferrel? What have you done with him? How
—
”

“I'm afraid he had to die. I couldn't allow him to cure you all with his EMP, so I took his place.”

Kieran's eyes widened. “So we were never
—
”

“You were.” Gallian pointed to Jilly and shook his head. “She wasn't. The first time we tested the EMP, the device worked. After that it was a simple matter to program the microscope to display nothing but the recordings of your first blood sample with the nanites disabled
—
each recording flipped or rotated so you wouldn't immediately notice. You were promptly reinfected by your contact with Jilly, and by the time we were all shot together, I had disabled the device. Didn't you wonder why you were knocked unconscious the first time, but not the second time?”

Kieran's mouth worked silently, opening and closing; he'd been rendered speechless by the revelations. “Who are you?”

“It would be more accurate to ask who are
we
,” Gallian's eyes slid sideways to take in the other monster in the room, and then panned back to rest pointedly on Kieran. “It won't be much longer before you are one of us. But to answer your question, I was Brathus before the changing. Now I am something new. Stronger, smarter, immortal, with a collective, shared consciousness. I can draw upon the knowledge and skill of thousands like myself, but while still retaining my sense of self. Once your mind melds with ours, you will see what I mean. Right now you are reflexively shielding your identities by shutting us out, but when you realize that we are stonger as one, and open your minds to ours, you'll be able to draw upon our knowledge and thoughts as we'll be able to draw upon yours.”

Jilly took this opportunity to climb to her feet. She was clutching a sagging shoulder, and her forehead was noticably dented.

Gallian took a step toward her, but Kieran reacted with a snarl and stepped in front of Jilly. Gallian smiled. “I can fix her. If you'll let me.”

Kieran watched the other's cadaverous head tilt questioningly, and he found himself wondering how much force it would take to snap the head from that spindly neck, and whether that would even kill him. “Stay away from her,” Kieran growled.

Gallian shrugged his bony shoulders. “As you wish. But it will take her longer to recover on her own. If we were to combine our strength, she'd be repaired almost instantly.”

Kieran frowned. “You're talking like she's a machine.”

Gallian broke into a sudden grin. “Because that's
exactly
what she is. Immortality must come with a price, but I'm sure you'll agree that it is a price gladly paid.”