Mission Destructor by Anthony James

Author:Anthony James [James, Anthony]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-06-04T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

The crew of the Eidolon sat in their spacesuits in order to stave off the encroaching chill. The spaceship’s bridge lighting was still operational, but that was about it. The screens on the consoles gradually became dimmer as the backup power drained. Every so often, Keller would make an effort to start up the propulsion and each time she was met with the same lack of success. The enemy had them trapped and escape seemed like a remote possibility.

Several hours passed and then Keller felt the effects of deceleration pulling her into the seat harness.

“They want us to survive,” said Sen-Dar. “Otherwise there is no reason to decelerate sympathetically.”

There was still plenty of time for the enemy to slam on the brakes and turn them all into a biological smear on the bulkhead wall. Even so, Keller found herself in agreement with the Ghast’s words.

“Why would the Creator want us alive?”

“To extract information. Perhaps it is curious.”

In the absence of a better explanation, Keller could only offer a noncommittal shrug in response. Still, the question bothered her – the entropy factories hadn’t shown any sign of curiosity and she couldn’t imagine the Creator was much different. On the plus side, the teleport shielding protecting the Eidolon appeared to have worked perfectly. Without it, Keller was certain the bridge would have been swarming with armed aliens.

The deceleration increased and Keller was glad for the padding effect of her spacesuit, which made the harness slightly more comfortable. The visor was on the floor between her feet and, with a struggle, she managed to lay her hands on it and put it into place.

Twenty minutes into the period of deceleration, Keller was ready to strangle Fleet Admiral Cody for his failure to foresee the requirement for more backup power. She accepted it probably wasn’t entirely his fault, but the mental image of her hands around his neck made her feel fractionally better.

Eventually, the stresses on her body reduced and by that moment, Keller was happy to face whatever was to come, as long as it meant she was given a break from the physical battering she was being subjected to.

“We are nearly at a standstill,” said Nil-Varg. “I anticipate we will soon be docked.”

“They will cut through the hull and remove us from this vessel,” added Sen-Dar.

After another ten minutes the extended braking finished and Keller felt the Eidolon collide with something at a very low speed.

“That’s it – we’re docked.” She undid her harness and stood, stretching her aching muscles and joints. “Let’s go.”

Sen-Dar and Nil-Varg rose and the former strode towards the weapons locker.

“We won’t be fighting our way clear of this one, Lieutenant.”

“If our deaths are inevitable, we must show resistance.”

“As soon as we fire a weapon, we will be killed. I don’t know about you, but I would like to see what exists outside and to find out what I can about this threat to our two species.”

Sen-Dar saw the sense in the words and he didn’t open the locker, though his reluctance was apparent.

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