Chapter 21
She couldn’t believe she was still running; this was the most exercise she’d had in the two years since she left the Academy. In fact, though endurance training as a cadet was tough, it wasn’t nearly this hard. Her knees protested every step, and her lungs ached from having to draw in rapid breath after rapid breath. Yet she could not stop. Because if she stopped… she had no idea what would happen. Actually, that was a lie. She knew exactly what would happen; Josh would keep pushing her forward.
He wasn’t about to let her die.
She was more thankful than ever for his presence. Without him, she would have succumbed long ago to whoever or whatever was chasing them.
Though Mimi wasn’t sure she believed Josh, she couldn’t deny there was a strange feeling welling within her.
It was the same uneasy fear that had settled upon her when she’d first come across the spike. Except it no longer repulsed her; it felt as though it pulled her forward. As if it was leading her.
If she’d had time to truly assess that thought, she would have realized how terrifying it was. But she didn’t have the brainpower; all her emotional and mental energy was funneled into pushing her onward.
Just when she thought the stairs would never end, they did. Abruptly.
They spilled out onto a long metal walkway. As she stared around, she realized it looked like some kind of hangar. No, that wasn’t right; it was more like a tunnel. As her feet struck the floor, she realized there were massive rails embedded into it.
With one glance at the ceiling, she also saw a continuous row of lights embedded in the metal.
If she had to guess, she would wager this massive tunnel once housed an equally massive vehicle or vehicles. Perhaps some kind of train, or ships. Considering the incredible size of this spaceship as a whole, it wasn’t a surprise that they’d need a massive transportation system like this within the ship.
Still, as they ran through it, she couldn’t help but feel dwarfed. The ceiling was so high above, and the rails lodged into the floor so massive, that she felt like she was nothing more than a speck of dust in space.
Just where was she? Had she really come across the Black Mass? Could it honestly be some relic from the First Age?
While that would be the story of a lifetime, it would be a particularly short lifetime; she could still hear her pursuers. Clearly, they had managed to break through the door, and now their thundering footfall rang out over the stairs.
Josh didn’t stop. He never stopped. He might hesitate for a brief moment, but that was it.
Having gone through the Academy, she’d seen her fair share of bravado. She’d also seen people try to act like heroes. The E club was the perfect example. The group of elite recruits who lived off the myth of heroism.
She’d convinced herself real heroes didn’t exist. If Josh somehow got them through this, she’d have to revise her theory.
They kept running, and though she stumbled more and more, he wouldn’t leave her behind.
Just as she swore she heard a gunshot echo out from behind her, the tunnel opened out. They came down a dip, and then, without warning, the tunnel gave way to a massive room.
Unlike the jungle above, this was well lit, fantastically lit, in fact. For in the middle hundreds of massive pillars of light stretched from the floor to the ceiling far, far above.
It was an arresting, incredible sight. She’d never seen anything like it. When she heard a surprised hiss escape Josh’s lips, she realized it was likely new to him too.
A constant throbbing emanated from the room, traveling through the floor and shaking up into her feet and knees.
“What the hell is this place?” Josh asked in a badly wavering tone.
She couldn’t answer; she didn’t know. She couldn’t even begin to imagine. Though those hundreds of pillars of light could somehow form the engine of this incredible ship, she doubted it. They were unshielded, and she couldn’t see any devices connecting to them that would shunt their power to drive the rest of the vessel.
Then again, she was so far out of her depth here it was useless to speculate.
They had both stopped on the edge of that cavernous room.
Suddenly, a shot rang out from behind. This time there was no doubting what it was; a massive pulsing burst of energy narrowly missed Josh’s shoulder and ate into the floor a meter to his left.
He launched toward her, pushed into her with his shoulder, and sent them both rolling down into the room below. There was a long incline, and they tumbled a good 20 meters before coming to a stop.
Despite the surprise of it all, Mimi kept her body controlled and didn’t break anything nor bruise her shoulders and back too badly.
Josh got to his feet first.
He tugged her up just as another bullet sank into the ground by his feet. “Move,” he screamed at her.
Desperation a white hot lump in her belly, Mimi stumbled forward.
She…. couldn’t believe it would end here like this, with him. A man she’d barely met and one who clearly loathed her.
She had always imagined she’d get married, explore the galaxy, and grow old, just like her grandmother had.
Mimi could never have guessed it would end in a First Age ship with a man like Josh Cook.
She had so many things she wanted to achieve, so many places she wanted to explore.
These thoughts came upon her fast, flashing into her consciousness as death loomed.
She may be an Academy dropout, but she could appreciate the situation. There was an unknown number of enemies on a rise above them with high yield particle weapons. She was unarmed and out in the open.
It was only a matter of time….
She focused on the feeling of Josh’s hand around her wrist, let it distract her from the unbelievable fear.
Then Mimi Chester was shot in the back.