Ellie ran with renewed strength. Muscles ached. Lungs burned. Her heart pounded. Her throat was dry. And she wasn't going to stop.
Somewhere ahead was her way home. Her friends. Her family. Ellie willed herself forward, ignoring her body's demands for rest and oxygen.
She turned the last corner, heedless of any danger there might be. As she had turned every corner. There was no time for caution. All she had was hope.
But the corridor was clear. The sound of her tired steps echoed down the metal corridor. She recognized this corridor. Recognized the broken pipe, leaking coolant. Nearly there. They would be waiting and then they could go and they would all be safe.
She fell against the door control, pressing it with both hands.
She opened the door.
There was the room. In front of her was the desk console for the airlock controls. Opposite was the airlock door, patched up by Malachi to keep the atmospheric seals in place.
Ellie fell into the room, catching herself on the console. Out of the corner of her eye she saw figures.
Time slowed.
What happened next she remembered only in flashes. Staccato moments strobed in memory.
She remembered Tila and Malachi stood at the far end of the room. Weary. Hurt. Bleeding.
She remembered Tila seeing her, crying out, reaching for her from across the room.
She remembered Malachi shouting, his face screwed up with desperate fear.
She remembered the third figure. How he turned. How he held Tila's staff in his hand. How a blaster appeared in the other.
She didn't remember screaming. Didn't remember the white hot ice cold terror which lanced through her soul.
Of course he was armed. How could he not be? Of course he was dangerous, how could he not be?
Of course he was waiting for her.
She had climbed out of the darkness and found him waiting in the light.
Tila's voice faded to nothing. Malachi's shout died on the wind. There were sounds she heard, but from far away, like shouting through water.
But the other voice, Typhon's voice, she heard with perfect clarity.
Only five words, but each one a gunshot. Only five words, but each one reaching inside her, carving her up like a knife with a blade made of fear.
'Hello princess. I missed you.'
Typhon fired.
YOU ARE READING
The Dead Fleet (Juggernaut #3)
Science FictionTales from the Juggernaut #3. The dead keep their secrets. Having narrowly escaped Typhon on Parador, Tila, Ellie and Malachi have a new clue in their search for the truth behind the colony mission, and a new destination: The Dead Fleet. Drifting ar...
