Nicholas Smith - Deliverance

Magnolia hated herself for even thinking it, but her nerves were getting to her. The pain from Rodger’s death was making her loopy. She couldn’t stop thinking about all the things that had been left unsaid between them, all the things she would have done differently if she had known that their days together were numbered.

X cleared his throat, snapping Magnolia from her thoughts. “Once the militia boards the ship, we’re only going to get one chance at taking down Jordan. You’ve got to keep calm.”

Magnolia gave him a solid nod. “Can’t wait.”

“I’m good, X,” Michael said.

“I know,” he replied.

“Remind me how this is going to work,” Samson said. He folded his arms over his belly. “Because I really don’t think you all blending in is going to work.”

“Jordan’s not stupid,” Michael replied. “He’ll send in the militia to search Deliverance . When they board, we’ll move over to the Hive , pretending to be the crew he sent over. The armor we bagged off Del Toro, Olah, Lore, and Jenkins will disguise us long enough to get aboard the Hive. By the time anyone knows what’s going on, we’ll be on our way to the bridge.”

Erin turned to glare at X, rage in her eyes. “You shouldn’t be wearing his armor.”

“I’m sorry about your dad,” X said. “But—”

“Maybe we should just let Les and Samson go over first,” Magnolia interrupted.

“You can trust me,” Erin said. “I hate Jordan as much as you all do, but I’ll never forgive you for what you did.”

“Fair enough,” X said. “Not asking your forgiveness. Let’s just get this done.”

Magnolia scrutinized Erin for a lie, but she turned back to the hatch that would connect with the Hive before Magnolia could get a solid read.

Timothy’s voice sounded in Magnolia’s earpiece. “Preparing to dock with the Hive in T minus two minutes,” said the AI.

Michael drew in a deep breath and released it inside his helmet. He looked at everyone in turn, taking extra time to study Erin and Samson.

“You all ready?” he asked.

Everyone nodded. A countdown sounded at one minute. Les, Erin, and Samson all stepped up to the hatch. An enclosed walkway clicked and clacked as it extended from Deliverance into the blue.

“Stand by for docking procedures,” Timothy said. “Connecting in three, two…”

A jolt rocked the ship as the walkway connected with the air lock on the Hive. Michael, X, and Magnolia took up positions in the quarters they had picked earlier, down the corridor from the bridge. Miles was waiting for them inside, tail wagging. They readied their weapons and moved to the side of the hatch.

The air lock clicked open farther down the passage, and voices sounded in the tunnel. Jordan’s soldiers had boarded Deliverance.

Michael and X pressed their backs against the bulkheads, and Magnolia aimed her rifle at the hatch. The footfalls grew louder, then passed by outside.

“A team of five engineers and three militia soldiers has boarded the ship,” Timothy said over the private comm channel that fed into their helmets.

“Copy,” Magnolia whispered.

“Three more soldiers just boarded,” Timothy added. “One appears to be an officer with the rank of lieutenant.”

“Hunt,” Magnolia said quietly.

Michael nodded back. He checked his HUD for the time. “We need to give Les a few more minutes.”

They waited in silence, Magnolia’s heart thumping so hard she could hear it.

“The boarders have moved to the first and second quadrants of the ship,” Timothy announced.

Michael gestured toward X. He nodded back and opened the closet door. After herding Miles inside, he bent down and told the dog to stay. Miles whined and licked X’s hand as he shut the door, watching him until the last second. Magnolia hoped the dog wouldn’t start barking at the wrong moment and blow their cover, but X seemed to think Miles was smarter than the average Hell Diver.

Magnolia grabbed the handle on the hatch and slowly opened it. She backed away and let X take point. Her head and heart ached, but in a few minutes, she was finally going to get the revenge she had been craving ever since Jordan sabotaged her chute.

“Commander Everhart,” Timothy said, “I am detecting movement outside the hatch on the Hive. There appears to be additional soldiers.”

“Changes nothing,” Michael said. “Just stay focused on the approach. “The Hive doesn’t have cameras like Deliverance. Jordan can’t see us coming.”

A chill ran through Magnolia’s body. Something felt wrong—like walking into a trap.

She kept the hunch to herself and took a deep breath to calm her nerves as they approached the open hatch leading to the tunnel. X was first to round the corner and move into the enclosed space.

Two soldiers were standing sentry on the other side, backs turned, facing the corridors of the Hive —probably to keep back any passengers who wanted to see the new ship. X and Michael moved quickly and took them both out with blows from their rifle butts.

“Go, go, go!” X croaked.

Magnolia darted past the unconscious soldiers. Michael was limping, but he moved fast enough to keep up with her and X. Maybe that meant they were slowing down in their old age. The bridge wasn’t far. It would take them only a few minutes to reach the command center—maybe even less, with the corridors this empty.

Wait… Where the hell was everybody? This place should be teeming with passengers.

X held up a fist just before they reached the final turn that would lead them to the bridge. He readied his rifle and peeked around the corner. Then he pulled back and held up two fingers, signaling the number of guards outside the hatch.

This was it. Either their ruse worked and they would be able to walk onto the bridge unimpeded, or all three of them would be gunned down in the next thirty seconds. X walked around the corner, calmly cradling his rifle. Michael and Magnolia followed, trying to look as though they belonged here.

“Hey, guys, Lieutenant Hunt told us to come back with the thing we found on Deliverance ,” Michael said, pitching his voice half an octave lower.

The guards exchanged a glance.

“Didn’t hear nothin’ about that,” the man on the right said.

“You got to check it out, man,” Michael said. “I didn’t think this shit still existed.”

The guard tilted his head. “Frank, is that you?”

“What’d you find?” the other militia soldier said.

Michael gestured toward X, who strode forward and raised his rifle.

“I’m back,” X said, smashing them both in the face before either could react. They crumpled to the floor, and X pushed the button to open the hatch. Magnolia strode onto the deck with her rifle raised, finger along the trigger guard. She was prepared to shoot if someone got in her way, but she didn’t want to kill anyone besides Jordan.

“Everyone down!” she shouted.

Michael and X fanned out to the right and left, covering the room with their rifles.

“Where’s Jordan?” Michael demanded.

Ensign Ryan raised his hands from his station. “Who… who are you?”

X pulled his helmet off.

“It can’t be,” someone gasped.

Ryan shook his head. “No… you’re dead.”

“I should be,” X said. “Guess I didn’t get the memo. Jordan sure went to a lot of trouble to make sure I didn’t come back.”

A voice crackled in Magnolia’s helmet as she scanned the room for the captain—the man responsible for the deaths of Rodger, Weaver, Ty, Pipe, and so many others. He needed to be brought to justice, and by her.