Nicholas Smith - Deliverance

“Commander Everhart, we have a problem,” Timothy said over the comm link.

Magnolia froze. Shit , she thought. Jordan isn’t here. The fucker outflanked us.

“Captain Jordan has just boarded Deliverance with a crew,” Timothy said, confirming her fear. “They are carrying bags with them.”

Magnolia turned and bolted out of the room. X and Michael ran after her.

The sneaky bastard had tricked them and was about to steal their airship. She had felt something was off, but she put it down to her grief over Rodger. X had taught her to trust her gut, but she had second-guessed herself.

It didn’t matter now.

All that mattered was getting back aboard Deliverance.

She raced through the corridors, leaving Michael and X behind. Halfway there, the PA system came online.

“Passengers of the Hive , this is Captain Jordan speaking. Tonight, I’ve done what I promised. I’ve brought you a new home called Deliverance. I’m boarding her now, and I must say, she is beautiful.”

Magnolia ran faster, anger fueling her as she listened Jordan’s voice.

“Unfortunately, we have been betrayed yet again by the Hell Divers. They are on the Hive now, attempting to lead a mutiny against me. We cannot let them succeed.”

“Hurry!” Magnolia shouted over her shoulder. A quick glance showed X close on her heels, but Michael was falling behind. There was a wild, panicked look in his eyes, and sweat dripped down his too-pale face.

“Layla,” he gasped.

Magnolia cursed again. Layla was defenseless. If Jordan and his goons got to her first, he’d have no problem murdering an unarmed woman in her hospital bed.

A distant clanking noise sounded ahead, and Magnolia’s heart nearly stopped when she realized it was the bridge connecting the two ships. The platform was already retracting.

“You have to stop them, Timothy!” Magnolia shouted.

“I have been locked out of the system by the engineers,” replied the AI. “Captain Jordan has control of Deliverance. ”

Magnolia pushed her body to its limit, lungs and muscles burning. The intersection that would lead them to the tunnel was just ahead, but she feared they were already too late.

No, it doesn’t end like this!

“Until these traitors are captured and killed, I will be taking Deliverance to a safe distance,” Jordan said. “It would be in the best interests of everyone aboard the Hive to find the mutineers and stop them using whatever force is necessary. Until then, good luck.”

Magnolia stopped at the hatch to the tunnel. The two unconscious guards still lay there. All along the corridor, confused passengers emerged from their shelters, talking in hushed voices. Several of them looked at Magnolia, Michael, and then X. And then they noticed the two motionless bodies on the floor.

“They killed the guards!” someone shouted.

“There!” yelled one of the lower-deckers. “Those are the traitors!”

Magnolia turned her attention to the porthole windows and saw movement on Deliverance as it slowly pulled away. Jordan was there with Hunt and several militia soldiers, watching the two airships separate.

She pounded the glass so hard it hurt her hand. The filthy passengers closed in around the trio of divers.

“Stay back!” Michael shouted. “Jordan’s lying. He’s the traitor!”

“Everyone back!” X yelled.

“Is that Commander Rodriguez?” someone said.

Another person gasped, “He’s a ghost!”

The PA system suddenly clicked back on, Jordan’s voice coming online. “No,” he said. “It can’t be.”

Magnolia pivoted back to the porthole window, thinking he had somehow seen X.

“Stop them!” Jordan shouted.

Everyone crowding around Michael, Magnolia, and X stopped, looking up at the wall-mounted speakers. Others crowded around the portholes for a view of the other ship.

Magnolia squinted at motion in the passage aboard Deliverance . A tall man aimed a pistol at Jordan, and a woman… Not just any woman, Magnolia realized. It was Katrina. And she was holding a sword to Jordan’s neck. He had his hands up, and the other militia soldiers were all standing with their hands on their heads. Sloan from the brig and a teenage boy were watching over them.

“Is that…?” she started to say when Michael finished the thought for her.

“Trey Mitchells and Sloan,” he said.

Magnolia, trying to make sense of what was happening, made a conscious effort to slow her breathing. Jordan hadn’t seen X after all. He was talking about Les and Katrina. They had made it back onto Deliverance , and they had Jordan in custody. She wanted to be the one to kill the captain, but seeing Katrina with the sword to his throat was still satisfying. As long as she got to be there when Katrina spilled his blood on the deck.

Les held the same gun he had shot Olah dead with, but this time it was pointing at Captain Jordan. Les’ son, Trey, was there, too, along with Katrina and Sloan. In the end, it was the hard-faced woman running the brig who had been the key to taking down Jordan.

“You can’t do this!” Jordan shouted at them. “I’ve saved us all. I saved humanity!”

“No,” said Katrina, coldly. “You’re nothing but a cancer to humanity.”

“I’ve stood by and watched your reign of terror for too long,” Sloan said. “Today it ends.”

Les checked the militia soldiers to make sure none were trying to maneuver on them. All three men, as well as Lieutenant Hunt, were now facedown on the deck, hands tied behind their backs. He looked through the porthole windows at movement on the other side, aboard the Hive. Michael, X, and Magnolia were surrounded by a growing crowd of lower-deckers. “Hit the bridge button, Sloan,” Les ordered.

She moved over to the bulkhead and hit the button. The clanking of the platform sounded as it reached back out toward the Hive.

“I should make you suffer,” Katrina said. “I should skin you alive and then dump your body back to the surface so you can see it for yourself.” She pushed the blade deeper, nicking his neck and drawing blood.

He reared his chin back, crazed eyes focused on Katrina.

“You never deserved me you selfish b—” His eyes widened even further as Katrina let out a scream of rage. She pulled the blade away from his neck and thrust it into his chest.

Jordan let out an astonished croak, his mouth agape. He grabbed the hilt and pulled her toward him. Around the blade, a crimson bloom spread outward across the white uniform jacket.

Katrina shoved the sword deeper, until the blade pushed through and out his back, hitting the bulkhead with a clank. Impaled on his own sword, Jordan wore a mask of shock, rage, and fear. She leaned closer until she was just inches from his face.

“What have you done?” Hunt said from the deck.

“Shut up,” Sloan said, giving the lieutenant a swift kick in the ribs.

“I—I loved you,” Jordan stuttered.

He fell to his knees, and Katrina calmly put her foot against his chest and pulled the sword free. He toppled onto his back and pressed his hand down on the wound, his lips moving as he tried to speak.

Les looked over as the bridge clanked and connected with Deliverance. The hatch opened, and the other divers moved away from the portholes on the Hive to cross the enclosed bridge.

When Les looked back at Katrina, she was calmly wiping the blade on Jordan’s white trousers, first one side and then the other. The captain stared up at her in disbelief, his feet squirming. No matter how hard he pressed, his hand couldn’t stop the gushing blood. It bubbled out of his mouth, his lips still moving as he tried to speak.