Nathan Hystad - New Threat

The device was in my palm, still waiting for the CONFIRM command to be hit. This time, I did so with ease of conscience. It was kill or be killed, and I understood that now more than ever.

Time seemed to slow. His finger bent to pull the trigger just as I pressed the icon. It hummed quickly, vibrating ever so slightly. I almost didn’t feel the blaster beam rip into my side as the Bhlat nearly exploded before me. In my new slow-motion world, I saw his same green-blue swirling eyes widen just before his face pushed out, blood covering the inside of his mask. The rest of him seemed to melt, and when time started again, he was just floating lifelessly, a massive space suit of blood and bones. I nearly vomited in my own suit, and alarms were going off inside my helmet. The suit had been breached.

That was when I felt the pain in my side. My suit was torn open, blood seeping out into the room and floating around in tiny drops, each visible as I hung there staring forward.

“Dean.” I heard my name in my earpiece over the internal klaxons. It was Mary’s voice.

“Mary, where are you?” I asked, reality snapping back to my muddled mind.

“Main ship, near our entry point. They’re all dead. Are you okay?” she asked, her voice strained.

“I’m okay. Just a little shot. I’m coming down.” I grabbed the Bhlat’s weapon, knowing we wouldn’t have any more trouble from them on the vessel. Getting back down was easier with no gravity, and I was thankful, since my wound wouldn’t stop screaming at me. As I entered the tunnel spoke of the gravity wheel, I used the ladder rungs to pull me down the chute. Much faster than I’d gotten up not ten minutes before, I was back on ground level, in the center of the vessel.

“Where are you?” I asked, feeling like I might pass out. She gave me directions, but I could tell she was hurt. I pushed against the walls; every movement sent shooting pain through my abdomen. Blood trailed behind me, and I was thankful the life-support had come on; otherwise, I’d already be a dead man.

I heard something clank around the hall corner, and I raised my pulse rifle. Just because the device killed the Bhlat on board didn’t mean they couldn’t have had other friends on the ship with them. I moved slowly, my vision fading slightly. I’d lost too much blood. I needed to get to Mary. I needed to see her one last time. Ready to fire at an enemy, I pushed out, floating into the next hall, and saw it was Slate just before pulling the trigger.

“Dean!” he called, and I heard him with my ears, not my earpiece. His suit was banged up badly, and his left arm was floating uselessly at his side.

“Slate! Thank God, Mary is over here,” I said, feeling a renewed sense of energy.

We headed to the third room on the right, where she’d described her location to me, and there were four Bhlat in there with her. Four large floating corpses.

Mary was floating lifelessly as well.

Through the pain, I made my way to her.

“Clare, tell me you’re ready. We’ll be there in two,” I managed to get out, seeking a confirmation they were ready for us.

Mary was still breathing. Her suit was blasted open in a few spots, but none near her chest or head. Normally, I would have freaked out at seeing my beautiful fiancée’s injuries, but I could hardly make sense of anything I was seeing, my vision fading quickly.

Slate took charge, grabbing her, and moved faster than I’d seen him move before, leading me back to the room we’d started the mission in. Our ropes were still there, and we clipped them in.

Slate looked at me with a grim, exhausted expression. Yet he still smiled. “You did well,” he said, just loud enough for me to hear before my world went black.

White light. That was what I saw first. For a brief moment, I thought that was it for me, that I’d passed to the other side, and a small part of me was ready for it.

“Dean, can you hear me?” a familiar voice asked. That wasn’t unusual. Theologians had speculated for years that we might be ushered into heaven by an old friend or loved one. “Dean, you’re back on our ship. Your wound was substantial, but I’ve managed to stop the bleeding and patch you up.”

So much for heaven. I was still on a trip to hell on board a small spacecraft in the middle of some unknown galaxy.

My bleary eyes cleared and I could finally make out where I was. The bunks were stripped of any clutter, and a form lay on the one across the room from me.

“The medic bay wasn’t big enough for both of you, and I assumed you would both prefer to be in the same room, so we made do with the spare bunk room. Hope you don’t mind,” Doctor Nick said.

The both of us? It all came flooding back. The device, the massive Bhlat soldiers. Mary’s limp body floating there, blood hovering around her.

“Mary!” I tried to sit up, but the pain in my stomach stopped me from lifting more than a couple inches before falling down on my back.

“Dean, you have to calm down. You’ve been through a lot, but you’re healing faster than anyone I’ve ever seen.”

The hybrid blood in me helped with the healing process. Mae’s blood.

“Is she going to be okay?” I asked, seeing her chest rise and fall slowly. That was a good sign.

Nick stood between us, looking every bit the part of the doctor for the first time since I’d met him. He was a natural.

“She’s sustained a lot of wounds, but none in themselves are life-threatening. She was shot in the legs and the left shoulder. The suits are made to prevent the serious burning from the beams, but flesh and veins were still seriously damaged. She’ll be fine, but I have her sedated for the time being, while the grafting heals.”

“Are you telling me you have the ability to graft new skin on this ship?” I asked, dumbfounded.

He nodded, smiling widely. “We do. It’s amazing what we learned from the Kraski databases. I don’t think we’ve even begun to scratch the surface. Give us another ten years to analyze and decipher it all, and we could be living in a world with no illness, disease, or famine for that matter.”

The idea was a lofty one, but admirable. Earth needed hope now more than ever.

“Where’s Slate?” I asked, feeling foolish for not having asked after him yet.

“I’m right here, boss,” the big man said, stepping in from the hallway. “I wanted to give you some privacy while you woke up.” His arm was in a sling. He saw me looking at it. “It’s just sprained. I’ll be back to normal in no time.”

“Slate’s being humble. He dragged you two onto the ship and hasn’t left your side since,” Nick said. “I’m going to go grab some sleep, if you don’t mind. Dean, I left some painkillers beside you. If it gets to be too much, take one and rest.” With that, he left the room, leaving me alone with Slate and my unconscious fiancée.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, sliding a chair up beside my twin bed.

“Do you mind passing me another pillow?” I asked, and he even stuffed it under my head. I cringed at the movement in my gut, but propped up, I could speak to him properly, instead of staring at the ceiling.

“I’m not sure how I’m feeling. We got the device, met the Bhlat, and survived.” I looked over to Mary, hoping to God she was going to be all right. She should have stayed with me. She was always trying to protect others first, and it nearly got her killed.

“That we did.”

“How many did you take on out there?” I asked.

“Killed five of them. By all accounts, there were about twelve or so on board – that we saw. There could have been more hiding out.”

“What were they doing there? If they knew there was a device with the capability to destroy them, why not destroy the station and leave it at that?” I asked, stumped.