Chapter 24
Without warning, Mervyn’s head crashed against the roof of the container. He was weightless.
‘Flaming muons,’ Aurora cried. ‘He’s chucked us out the airlock.’
Mervyn’s heart sank. They were betrayed.
‘The good captain would prefer the Naga didn’t discover us aboard his ship -- such a decent sort,’ Loren said mimicking Aurora.
‘I didn’t hear you complaining before. All you could worry about was whether his ship was clean or not,’ Aurora retorted, she sounded shaken.
‘That was me complaining, Loren snapped. ‘Untidy spaceship, untidy mind, untidy morals.’
‘We should perhaps be thankful the container is sealed against air loss, otherwise we would be in real trouble’ Tarun said.
‘Real trouble?’ Loren yelled. ‘We’re adrift in open space without life support. What greater trouble could we possibly get into?’
‘We need to think of some way to make the air last longer,’ Mervyn said fending himself away from a wall with his hands. ‘It won’t last long with us all shouting at one another.’
‘Don’t worry about the air, Merv,’ Loren said shakily from behind her diode, ‘the cold will get us long before the air runs out.’
Mervyn thumped the container in frustration and panic, ‘There must be something we can do.’ The metal felt cold already.
‘Mervyn, we are in space, it’s a vacuum, no one is going to hear you,’ Aurora snapped from the darkness.
‘We’re going to die, aren’t we?’ Tarun said.
‘Yes. From hypothermia,’ Loren said. ‘First you feel drowsy, then your memory goes and you become irrational, then you close your eyes and...’ her voice trailed off.
The growing chill in the air matched the chill in Mervyn’s heart. So this was it: drifting into sleep knowing there would be no dawn. Mervyn could feel the chill slowly leaching the life out of his bones.
Aurora coughed, nervously, ‘Erm... I’d just like to say, thanks... for being my friends -- even you Loren. I’ve never had friends before...it’s been good.’
‘You’re ok, Aurora,’ Loren said, her voice cracking, ‘I’m just an old Muon.’
‘You’re not old, Loren.’ They all laughed nervously and a lump caught in Mervyn’s throat. He felt he should say something momentous, but the words failed him, ‘We gave them a run for our money though, didn’t we?’ It sounded pretty lame.
‘I would like to have beaten De Monsero at sledding before I died,’ Tarun said.
Mervyn shivered, ‘If we ever get out of here it’ll be top priority.’ He wiped a tear from his eye. More nervous laughter. He felt weary, he wanted to close his eye and sleep.
‘No, the main... erm... priority...,’ Aurora muttered with difficulty, ‘will be to... erm... take down thingy...,’ she giggled. ‘I mean De Monsero, both... both of them... senior and... erm... less senior,’ she giggled again.
Mervyn fought to keep his eyes open aware Aurora was not making sense, ‘We should hug one another... keep warm,’ he said wondering if he were being irrational ‘Everyone head for Loren’s torch.’
‘What... what’s the point, Merv?’ Tarun asked. ‘We’re going to die anyway.’
‘Never give up, dad says... never give up.’
‘Actually, he... he says, never... never give up hope,’ Loren stammered and they lapsed into a heavy silence and he closed his eyes.
Mervyn jerked awake as something smashed against the container. Instantaneously, gravity reasserts itself and he crash to the floor. Never had cracking his skull on the floor brought such relief. They were saved.
He struggled to his feet and felt about for his friends, shaking them until they regained consciousness. Together, they hammered desperately on the sides of the container. They had to get out before the cold in the container finished them off.
Voices sounded from outside, then light flooded in as the door flew open and fresh, warm, air surged in, ‘Quarks, the kids are still alive.’ Mervyn squinted to make out the shadowy figures flitting beyond the door. A squat silhouette leaped into the doorway, straightened, and stalked forwards. Steely claws clicked against the floor with each step: a raptor.
Mervyn’s heart pounded in his chest, and he retreated quickly to the far end of the container. The other Misfits joined him. Such irony: to escape a freezing death only to be ripped apart by a raptor’s claws. ‘Back, Dino! Back,’ a voice called and the raptor jerked to a halt. It was tethered.
Then a giant, and more terrifying silhouette filled the entrance, ‘Well, well, well, and what do we have here?’ Boomed the Naga of Pershwin. ‘Out, or I release the raptor.’
Reluctantly, Mervyn led the Misfits from the container, pressing himself flat against the wall to bypass the raptor. A container’s width was too close to the carnivore for Mervyn’s liking. Saliva dribbled from its razor-sharp canines, and its compassionless reptilian eyes followed his every step. Mervyn concentrated on the open door and tried to avoid its gaze. The raptor sniffed suspiciously at him as he approached then snorted foul breath, like decaying flesh, as he passed. Instinctively, Mervyn knew not to turn his back on the beast.
To Mervyn’s surprise their own sleds now stood before him. Quickly, he glanced over his shoulder, as expected, the shattered remains of a control tower hung from the roof. They were back in the Naga’s warship.
Gun totting Humans surrounded the Naga, not a single Velcat in sight -- had they been castigated for their incompetence? Maybe the Misfit’s value had increased? Or the Naga was just playing safe.
‘You should be more careful who you trust,’ the Naga roared with laughter, then turned to the humans, ‘Hibernate them!’
Eager hands pinned Mervyn’s arms behind him and someone produced a mask. He tried in vain to turn his face away as a mask was forced over his mouth and nose. The stink of hydrogen sulphide filled his lungs and he tried to hold his breath. Eventually, he had to breath and when he did his lungs willed with the vile gas. He was suffocating.
Desperately Mervyn fought to free himself, but there were too many of them. They held him fast. Through a blur he could see Aurora struggling against her captors. Her eyes bulged with terror. Did he look like that too?. More stinking sulphide swamped his lungs. A chill deeper and more primordial than the cold of space settled on his heart, then darkness descended like a curtain.
The End of book 2 – Helium 3.1
Book 3
HELIUM 3.2
By Nick Travers