Chapter 22
It was just as he turned to her that it happened. Just as he opened his mouth to scream her name.
One of the particle rounds sliced into her back. It was so strong, it sent blood splattering over her front in an arc.
She was torn from his grip.
There was nothing he could do to hold onto her.
The bullet swung her around and sent her skidding down the incline to his left.
Time slowed down. He saw her tumble away from him in slow motion, the blood blossoming through the hole in her middle and over her clothes.
She struck the bottom of the incline, falling on her back, her limbs collapsing around her as her head lolled toward him. Her eyes were open, and with striking blue clarity they stared lifelessly back at him.
He…. He….
“Mimi! Mimi!”
Two bullets sank close to him, but he didn’t react. He stared at her. Stared at the blood, stared at the open eyes.
She… couldn’t be dead.
Out of his peripheral vision, he saw three figures come into view. He saw they were likely scavengers or pirates. It didn’t really matter. They held heavy particle weapons, and expressions that told him he would be next.
Maybe they had followed Mimi from town, or maybe they’d chanced upon this vessel just after he had. It didn’t matter. They would view Mimi and him as competition. And as a former pirate himself, Josh knew exactly what you did with competition.
He wanted to defend himself, but there was no point.
He couldn’t pull his gaze from Mimi.
From his peripheral vision, he watched the three scavengers slowly walk down the rise, lifting their particle weapons and aiming them at him.
Josh stood there, his hands loose by his sides, his shoulders hunched in, his eyes locked on her.
In the past, he would never have given up. That’s why he had the job he did; few could cut it as a special commander, and only those with the tenacity to continue on no matter the odds.
But the odds right now were impossible.
He was exposed, he had no weapon, there was nowhere to run.
And Mimi was dead.
He would not turn and run; he would not be shot in the back.
Finally, he raised his head and stared at them.
He watched the closest one leer at him, pulling back its lips to reveal yellow tusks.
Josh didn’t flinch.
The scavengers raised their guns.
They didn’t fire.
In a split second, something incredible occurred.
Mimi had fallen into a section sunk about 20 centimeters into the floor. Around her was a metal ring. In an instant, it glowed. A brilliant, blinding white, it was like standing next to a sun as it was born.
Then… Mimi started to lift into the air. Her body limp, blood still trickling out of the wound in her middle, she raised off her feet, drifting upwards as if she was stuck in a zero gravity field.
The scavengers took that exact moment to fire at him, but their bullets slammed into an invisible force field around Mimi, one that sent them ricocheting back.
One scavenger managed to dart to the side, but the other two were struck by the redirected blasts.
They were dead before they hit the floor.
That white glow continued to bleed from the metal ring at Mimi’s feet. With a humming zing so loud it set his teeth chattering in his head, a pillar of light shot up and encased her completely. In the blink of an eye the light connected to the ceiling high above.
For a heart-pounding moment he stared at it. Stared at her body as it became completely encased in light.
Then he heard the scrabble of the scavenger’s boots as it tried to skirt around the light toward him.
Something clicked in Josh.
He’d been ready to give up before, now he saw an opportunity.
He shoved hard to his right, pushing himself into a sprint.
He came around the side of the light and spied the two downed scavengers.
Their guns were gone.
Just as he realized this, he heard the other scavenger behind him.
Josh threw himself to his knees and rolled to the side just as two bullets slammed into the spot where he’d been standing.
He jumped to his feet, dodging to the left and the right as the scavenger squeezed off three more shots.
The guy was big, probably a Minator, judging by his massive yellow tusks and tiny pinprick eyes.
They were a formidable foe, and Josh had fought more than a few in his time.
Usually, he had his armor to rely on. Now, all he had was anger and desperation.
Without thinking, he threw himself at the Minator. The guy was easily twice Josh’s size, but right now, that didn’t matter.
Josh rammed his arm around the guy’s throat, pulling him back, despite the alien’s height.
With a growl that pierced the air like thunder, the Minator brought his arm back and elbowed Josh hard in the ribs.
Josh heard a crack and felt the snapping of bone in his chest, but he didn’t stop. He rammed his arm tighter against the alien’s throat, screaming as he did.
The Minator tried to elbow him again, but Josh blocked out the pain.
With one final heave, the alien managed to throw Josh off. Grabbing hold of his collar, flipping him over his shoulder, and slamming him to the ground. The air was pushed from Josh’s lungs, but that didn’t stop him from whipping around with his legs, and catching the Minator on the back of the knees before the brute could sink one of its sharp tusks into Josh’s stomach.
The alien stumbled to the side, and Josh took the opportunity to kick him again viciously in the back of the knees. This time the guy buckled, and Josh pounced to his feet, wrapping his hands around the alien’s back.
Like most Minators, he was wearing heavy armor, but it didn’t extend to his throat. All Minators had a sensitive sense organ just underneath their jawbones. For this reason, they hated covering it up with thick layers of armor. It was right under their jaw, and well protected by the rest of their face. You could only get to it by digging your fingers in.
Josh screamed again as he redoubled his effort, trying to shove his fingers as far under the guy’s neck as he could.
His chest was filled with a blinding pain from where his ribs had broken, but he didn’t stop.
He didn’t stop.
The alien tried to throw him off one last time, but Josh held on.
He found the right spot and shoved his fingers in as far as they would go. The Minator jerked on the spot, convulsing wildly as it tried, in last ditch desperation, to rip Josh from its back.
It didn’t work.
The alien fell to one knee, then the other. Then it fell face first onto the floor. Its massive body clanged against the metal plating, then moved no more.
Josh staggered to the side, blinking wildly as he realized he’d won.
Without hesitating, he grabbed all three particle weapons off the scavenger. Snatching the medical scanner from his belt, he confirmed that all three targets were down.
Then Josh turned back to her.
Mimi.
Again the fact she was dead washed over him. It was so powerful, he staggered to one knee.
He stared at that blinding pillar of light.
The medical scanner was still in his hand. It started to beep. At first, he wasn’t aware of it; all of his attention was focused on the light. On the fact she was dead. On the fact she’d been shot in the back and pulled from his hand. In his mind, he could still see the blood blossoming over her top, see those wide blue, lifeless eyes.
He’d dealt with death before. His family, his friends, his enemies.
Nothing had ever been this raw. This real. The emotions raging through him felt like storms trapped in his heart and mind.
The medical scanner kept beeping. Finally, its incessant tone pierced through his fugue.
He looked down at it.
I
t was registering a bio sign. In the pillar of light. Mimi.
He dropped the scanner.
That’s when he saw her. In the light. Something was moving. Her body was moving. Pitching around, her hands and arms coming into view as if she was trying to slam against the force field, trying to break through it and break free.
He didn’t hesitate. Didn’t pause.
Special Commander Joshua Cook jumped to his feet, took a single step back, leveled his particle weapon, and shot at the ring in the floor. The very ring producing the pillar of light.
As the particle pulse slammed into the metal, it blistered, buckling inwards and screeching with a pitching cry.
Then it failed. The light. In a hail of sparks, it disappeared.
Mimi fell. She landed on the floor with a thud.
Then she screamed.
She screamed, because Miss Mimi Chester was alive.
Josh threw himself forward, skidded to his knees, and grabbed her.
He couldn’t believe his senses, couldn’t believe his eyes, couldn’t believe the incessantly beeping device that told him she wasn’t dead.
He’d seen that bullet rip through her.
She kept screaming, then her terror turned to tears as sobbing racked her body.
He collapsed his arms around her, folding her against his chest. She cried into his collar, her tears wet against his cheek and neck.
He didn’t understand, but that didn’t stop him from holding onto her as tightly as he could.
He couldn’t hold onto her forever – there were still scavengers out there – but for now, he couldn’t let go.
Josh Cook couldn’t let go….
The end of Episode One.
Broken Episode Two is currently available.
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Sci-Fi Adventures by Odette C. Bell:
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The Betwixt
Ghost of Mind
Ouroboros Series (Miniseries #1 of the Galactic Coalition Academy Series)
Broken (Miniseries #2 of the Galactic Coalition Academy Series)
Axira (Miniseries #3 of the Galactic Coalition Academy Series)
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