Chapter 18: Thruster
The floor of a large ship passes beneath me. Feet unfold beneath Poison Arrow and a sealscreen pops to life between us and space. A heavy clunk at my back disengages the magnets, and I drop to the floor.
I land on my feet only to be greeted by more shock nets, one from the front, another from the back.
Electric pulses rattle my body. But I’ve already learned to open my charging ports and absorb any power I can. Instead of killing me, they’re slowly powering me up. Nevertheless, my muscle pistons still shake from the chaotic stimulation.
On the outside, I am weak. But inside, I am hanging on. Just to be sure I don't become a threat to the brothers, I lock my mind and block all frequencies.They won’t get anything from me, nor will they corrupt me like Evo.
A metal hand picks me up and drags me down a hallway, leaving the hangar behind. The boots of my captor are familiar.The cyborg Kelta called KillStar.
She’s damn good. Has a perfect ship for catching us.What I don’t understand is her motivation.Is she corrupted by a virus? Are they holding her family hostage? Maybe she doesn'tremember anything else and doesn't understand what it is to be human, anymore?
There must be a reason she sides with the enemy. If I can figure out what it is, maybe I can break it and stop her.
My muscles quiver as she lugs me up a set of steps, around a hallway, to another flight. The bumps and jarring motions are likely meant to hurt me, but I am numb now, fried on the surface from the nets, miserable inside because I’ve been taken from my mate, from the one thing that made this existence make sense.
“Good, we have him again.”
KillStar slings me into a room. I slide across the metal floor and slam into a wall. Cage bars clang shut, and a crackle of electricity sparks near the latch. "Touch it and die."
A captain in a different uniform than his cohort on Ellipsis, walks close but just out of reach beyond the bars. He crosses his arms and paces as he looks me over.
I glare at him, hoping he can see that I won't help him. But I'm torn between surviving to get back to Kelta and taking out the berserker.
I know his rank. I’m onhisship. We're not on a mothership, or I would have seen servants, low-class workers. This is full of soldier-types. That means I'm in a cell in the core of a berserker. My detonation would be enough.
A probe launches out from the back wall, jabs into my side, and electrocutes me until my nanosolution feels like it's on fire.
The captain saunters closer as I slump to my knees. “You will tell me what you and your brothers are planning, or I will unleash hellfire all over Ellipsis until every tunnel is collapsed.”
I squint at him.Not telling you shit.
“No point in resisting. Your female is dead. Your brother with the sparkly eyes—” The captain wiggles his fingers near his face. “He’s shredded. Didn’t hold up to the inbound fleet. But they’re at peace now.”
Panic rises in me.That can’t be true. Please don’t let it be true.
“And we haveplentymore ships. What you’re doing is pointless. We know you want this to be over. We can make sure it ends quickly.”
I’m not sure if I believe him on anything. But Solcrue have been known to tell us the truth if they think it will mess with our heads. The images he cycles through on his projecting wristband make me choke up. Kelta and Hololookdestroyed.
Another probe launches out of the wall, tags me in the back, and makes me curl forward onto my elbows as my whole body seizes.
KillStar’s boots shift. Something about it sticks with me.
“We know you found your ship.”
I scan the floor, listening to his voice as my programs run. They believe he’s telling me the truth, but I don’t know. I think it’s why I’m here. They’re worried we have found a ship, but they don’t know where it is. Maybe KillStar was related to Rochester’s findings and projects. Maybe she knows, but I wager they don’t have enough evidence to say for sure.
Maybe they don’t trust her. Or she doesn’t remember.
I can’t take another electric jolt. So when I hear the soft click of the probe launcher, I swipe an arm back. I catch the tail and rip it out of the wall before it can plant in my body, then throw it aside and get to my feet.
KillStar looks up at me blankly but doesn't back away, unlike the captain. I recognize him now that I can see his face clearly.
“You torture me for fun. You say you know everything, but I know you don’t or I would’ve been decommissioned already. You destroy what I love and tell me it’s best for all of us. You think I don’t remember you, but I do.”
The captain laughs nervously.
