The Betwixt Book One (12 page)

I ducked to the side –twisting and jumping in a long dive roll
that brought me just underneath the Twixt's belly as it had lunged
for where I had been moments before. I squeezed the trigger and a
blast shot out of the barrel, with perhaps the most cherished bang
I had ever heard.

It slammed into the Twixt, sending a spark of light shooting
over me.

But it didn't kill it, nowhere near. The Twixt, once again
showing that the laws of physics were a guideline it didn't much
care to follow, shifted direction in mid air and came right at
me.

I swung with the butt of the gun, too close to get off a
round. But the thing ducked up and under my arm, getting its tail
around my back and flicking into it. It felt like I was being
whipped by a cable tied to a cruiser traveling at light
speed.

The force of it propelled me straight into the opposite wall.
But before my body could impact with what would have been fatal
force, I twisted till my legs hit it, flat feet first. I pushed,
and used the purchase to flip up and over the Twixt.

Once again, if I hadn't been in the midst of the battle for my
life, and if I'd been an observer watching my antics – I would have
been thrilled to see such an agile move. But it was coming from me
– it was me doing all these instinctive, amazing leaps. Yet, I
didn't understand why, or from where they came. Mini the waitress
had never done a somersault in her life, but now I had the moves of
Hipop the monkey cat.

No time to be amazed or frightened by this new repertoire of
maneuvers, though.

I tracked backwards, shooting round after round at the Twixt,
each one hitting home with a snap of light.

It was starting to slow down, the sparks becoming large,
brighter, and lingering for longer along its pitch-black
form.

In one last-ditch effort, it twisted towards me, body
seemingly flicking from side to side as if it were an old Earth
metronome keeping beat. I couldn't follow it in time for my shots
to come true. But when it was almost upon me, I just dropped to the
ground and kicked out with my leg.

It tipped backwards, and I fired one more round directly at
it.

The spark engulfed the thing, ending it all.

The battle was over, but it took me a full twenty seconds
before I dropped my gun and opened my mouth to breathe
again.

I sucked in each desperate, but relieved breath like a fish
thrown back into water just before it had drowned in the open
air.

I shook all over, no longer able to keep the human side of me
from being overwhelmed.

I wanted to close my eyes and cover my hands over my ears. It
was all too much . . . 

But I wasn't going to get that chance. Just as I'd started to
accept it was all over, the sound of people walking my way cut
through my tremors.

The GAMs, Jason – I had to get out of here. Od was right, this
was not the time to see if the GAMs could trust me. And it
certainly wasn't the time to reveal my double life to Jason – not
after this morning.

I stumbled off down the hallway. I could get back into the
service duct, and crawl my way to relative freedom. But what about
Od? I couldn't go back for him with the GAMs still in the main
room. How would I . . . .

He would make his own way out, he was Od. Even if he didn't,
there wasn't much I could do for him now. Fighting Twixts I could
manage, but I wasn't about to engage Jason in a gunfight. I
couldn't shoot humans or aliens – I knew that for sure. Twixts were
one thing, people were another.

I hesitated for one more moment. But I couldn't leave him
behind either . . . .

That's when the vent overhead opened and Od popped his little
crimson head out. ‘This way!’ he whispered excitedly. ‘It is time
to leave this place!’

I broke into a grin. It was very tired, and still manic from
the left over adrenaline from my fight – but it was
there.

I stowed my gun in its holster and jumped for the vent
opening, pulling myself up and fixing it in place just as the GAMs
rounded the corner.

Od took a moment to nod solemnly at me before he led the way
back through the tunnels.

In all my years of waitressing, I had never received a nod
like that. I had received mumbled thank you's, sometimes tips, even
the occasional genuine smile. But no one had ever bowed their head
to me . . . no one had ever been that appreciative
of anything I had ever done.

I smiled as we crawled along, perhaps I could do this? Perhaps
I could really do what Od was telling me I had to?

But my new-found pride didn't last. It didn't take me long to
remember my other gun. I had left it in the center of Main
Engineering. And the gun was a registered, single use, licensed
firearm. I didn't need to have the tech expertise of Od to realize
that meant its user could be tracked.

I might as well have left a holophoto of myself holding a sign
that read 'Mini was here'. They'd scan the gun
and . . . .

By the time we'd made it back to my quarters, I was
frantic.

‘
They have my gun!’ I kept on repeating to Od as I paced the
room, ‘They're going to get here any minute to drag me away. We
have to get out!’

But thus far, Od had just ignored me. ‘This is not ideal,’ he
eventually piped up, ‘but is not the end of the galaxy.’ He then
chuckled lightly. ‘Though I suppose if you were to be put in prison
and would be unable to fulfill your destiny in repelling the Twixt
invasion, that would be the end of the galaxy.’

I didn't join in with a laugh. ‘This is serious – they'll be
here any minute!’

‘
I do not think so. It will take them some time to track you
down from that gun. My estimation is at least two hours to process
the Identity request.’

‘
Two hours?!! How is this any better? How can you be so
unaffected by this? The GAMs are going to be here by teatime to
throw us in jail! We have to get out.’

‘
Calm yourself, Mini. I may be able to slow down the processing
of their request—’

‘
What are you going to do? Sneak back on the ship and steal the
gun from Commander Cole's hands?’

‘
This would be unlikely to work. Nor is Commander Cole likely
to be carrying your weapon.’

I just threw my hands up and stared at the ceiling.
‘So!’

‘
So your suggestion that I should covertly enter the GAM
Cruiser to retrieve your weapon from Commander Cole's hands does
not reflect a possible strategy. Unless of course, we were to give
the Commander your remaining pistol, ask him to hold it – and thus
take up the opportunity to steal it from him.’

I looked around for something to throw at Od's head. ‘You
aren't helping.’

‘
No, because I cannot solve this problem on my own.’

‘
Just tell me what to do then.’

‘
I do not believe you can either. No, I think it is time to see
if we can make, and trust, an ally.’

My frustration slowed a little, but I was still whirring with
anger. ‘What? You said we couldn't trust—’

‘
In an ideal galaxy we would not have to. But an ideal galaxy
would not have Twixts, or income tax.’

‘
Get on with it!’ I snapped. Od, for all his skills, was
perhaps the only being in the universe that could annoy me this
much.

‘
Crag'tal has helped us once, why not see if he can do it
again.’ Od stood straight, and placed his hands behind his back as
if he were proudly showing off his wonderful idea.

I shifted my eyes to the side before rolling them. ‘Why would
Crag'tal help us? How on Earth would we ask? Do you mind illegally
entering a GAM Cruiser and stealing a gun from their evidence
locker? You're insane if you think—’

‘
Oh no, I do not think that is how we should phrase it. But I
think it is definitely time to go and find him.’

I bit into my lips, trying to use the pain to block out my
overwhelming urge to kick Od. ‘This is stupid—’

‘
You have trusted me this far, and thus far you are still
alive. I suggest you extrapolate from this that you can you trust
me further. Now, I believe Crag'tal would be eating about
now?’

I sighed so heavily it sounded more like a dying groan. Crags
had a very strict biorhythm. They ate at a certain time of day, or
they didn't eat at all. It was just another one of the oddities of
the universe.

Despite my better judgment, I soon found myself heading
through the doors of Marty's Space Diner. I no longer cared if I
was spotted with Od, and practically stalked along by his side. I
was suffering from a strange mix of anger and fear of the certainty
that every GAM was about to train their pistols on me and light up
the proverbial sky.

Sure enough, we eventually found Crag'tal sitting alone at a
table near a group of drinking GAMs. I felt like throwing up as we
neared them – my human side really didn't want to go to
prison.

Crag'tal looked up at us as we neared. He didn't look unhappy,
for a Crag.

‘
Human,’ he ripped a chunk out of his meat and gobbled it down,
as sloppy as only a Crag could be, ‘Small One.’

I took this to be the Crag equivalent of 'hello, please sit
down'. I pulled up a chair and sat quickly. Which is something I
would never have down before. Sitting down with a Crag uninvited
would have been up there on my list of things not to do if you
wanted to live till bedtime.

‘
I—’ I began, my voice getting stuck like a bad audio
file.

‘
We have a request of you, Crag'tal.’ Od didn't bother to sit,
just walked straight up to Crag'tal's massive elbow, and reached a
hand up to it.

I waited for Crag'tal to lean down and flick Od away like
human might squish an annoying bug.

He didn't. He just stopped eating.

‘
You have helped us once,’ Od nodded, ‘but we need your help
again. And the very galaxy is at risk, if you fail to assist us in
this matter.’

I flinched. It sounded so corny. Okay, so it was real – but to
a person who didn't know that the Milky Way was slowly being
overrun by its most ancient and powerful enemy – then it probably
sounded like a hologame tag line.

‘
There is a terrible creature that haunts this galaxy,’ Od
continued.

I realized, with a full-blink, that the crimson monk actually
planned on telling Crag'tal everything. I had hoped he'd just try
to buy the Crag's assistance – Eluvian Platonium ore would be
fairly persuasive, after all. But no, he was being upfront about
our insane situation.

‘
Denizens of the middle, they have threatened our very
existence before. And we have repelled them in the great wars of
the in-between. But they are back, and—’

Crag'tal, to my surprise, didn't look ready to laugh his
massive head off. ‘Twixts,’ he said, voice lower than an
earthquake.

Od nodded. ‘Yes, yes, I knew your race was old enough to
remember.’

‘
They're on the station,’ Crag'tal pushed his food away from
him, ‘some Crags don't forget.’

‘
No. Nor do Kroplins.’

‘
Humans are fools,’ Crag looked at me with his pinprick eyes,
and I wasn't quite sure if I qualified as a human in that gaze.
‘Young—’

‘
Yes, too young to remember.’

‘
On the station,’ Crag'tal's voice was getting steadily
angrier, and I hoped it was passion at the stupidity of humans,
rather than the growing need to hit someone. ‘Crag'tal can feel it.
Not stupid. Ghost ship, GAM Cruiser – next: station.’

Od nodded again, his hand still on Crag'tal's elbow. It was
the oddest, most gentle of moves – like a rabbit sitting on a
tiger's head – it defied belief, and yet compelled you at the same
time.

Then Crag'tal turned to me, and looked at me. I felt like I
was being scanned by the most sophisticated computer in the system.
I didn't move a muscle. ‘Different,’ he nodded at me, ‘not full
human.’

I nodded my head, and it creaked with stiffness. It was hardly
a secret that I wasn't pure human.

‘
Crag'tal likes you. Not stupid.’

I smiled. I had never had a Crag as a friend
before . . . 

‘
Half not human,’ Crag'tal continued, ‘half old. Crag'tal
knows, can feel. Old race, ancient race.’

Od nodded excitedly, almost jumping up at down with happiness.
But I . . . I looked at Crag'tal, my lips slightly
parted. There was something in the way he'd said
ancient.

‘
Long dead,’ he added after a pause, ‘long dead. All long
dead.’

I shivered, and stretched back in my chair. I hadn't been
expecting that. I mean . . . how
could . . . . they couldn't all be dead if I
was still here? I had to come from somewhere – my mother must have
been alive when she gave birth to me. Motherless children of long
lost races don't just appear in a snap of your
fingers . . . .

‘
But some Crags remember.’ The Crag'tal did something strange –
he bowed. He almost touched his head right to the tabletop.
‘Crag'tal will help.’