Journey to Centauri is a web-based episodic tale that details the splintering of the U.N. Alpha Centauri Mission on its way to the new world. Read the previous episodes. |
Journey to Centauri : Episode 11, part 2 Paul Landon and Diana Preuss, engineers under Saratov's command, pulled the release lever and waited as the first set of security doors swung open. Landon stood to one side, flexing his muscles nervously, his hands gripping a concussion hammer tightly. His palms felt hot and sweaty, but when he glanced at Diana she stood calmly, ice cool, a thin smile frozen on her face. A sliver of light slipped from between the doors and expanded as they swung to their full open position. Landon caught Preuss' eyes and they both moved to the sides, listening intently, staying in the shadows. As the doors reached the full open position they looked at each other, communicating urgently with their eyes alone. Use caution, discretion, Saratov had told them, and directed them to a set of coordinates centered on the other side of this antechamber they had opened. Caution from what? For long moments they waited, scarcely breathing. Landon's senses were in overdrive...he could hear the quiet groaning deep inside the ship, and he could feel his pulse pounding in his ears. The antechamber yawned darkly between them. Landon gestured to his wrist and pointed inside... Preuss motioned in the negative. She pointed at the ground. One faint shadow, stretching from the antechamber, shifting slightly as if something were moving between several lights. A hiss of breath escaped from Landon's lips. From behind them came footsteps, and another red suited engineer entered the hallway, footsteps echoing on the metal floor. Landon turned...it was Ritzka, another engineer with combat training, arriving early. Coincidence? Landon started to signal him but comprehension had already washed over Ritzka's face. He paused for one split second, rooted to the floor, and then threw himself to one side. There was a small cracking sound and a peculiar metallic thump. Landon looked wildly down the hall as Ritzka's eyes flashed with panic and he crawled rapidly into the cover of the shadows along the hallway. That cracking sound... There. Landon could see it...a small hole, as if the metal in the wall had been melted by a burning coal, about three feet to the right of where Ritzka had stood. Shredder pistol, set to fire in pulse rather than spray mode, and set at low power so it didn't puncture the metal. Landon moved farther back into the shadows, his breathing quiet and shallow. His fingers crept to the 'on' switch of the concussion hammer, but he didn't push it yet. He heard the rustle of cloth, and then the quiet clicking of a computer touch screen from inside the antechamber. His eyes shot to Preuss' and he caught the quick nod. His muscles, wound tight from the tension of waiting, exploded into action as he rushed into the antechamber. Bright lights burned his eyes for a moment and he caught a quick adrenaline-pounding glimpse of a small cylindrical chamber, broad red swatches on the wall, another set of sealed doors, and off to one side a small but muscular man in a red security uniform, kneeling against the wall and typing into his quicklink. Landon hissed out a breath and felt the concussion hammer jolt to life in his hands. The small security guard rolled quickly and a shredder pistol appeared in his hand...he moved his arm as if to sweep the chamber but the pistol was still on pulse mode, and Landon heard the pock pock pock of single shots hitting the metal around him. He lunged and lost his footing , the concussion hammer jolting the floor and sending a nerve-jangling vibration through his hands and arms. Scenes flashed...he could see Preuss leaping like a cat, and then he heard two more pocks and a meaty thump, and she fell hard and fast to the ground, her legs cut out from under her. Her forehead hit the ground hard and Landon could hear the crack even as he came back to his feet and the little tight man in red, the security guard, rolled across the chamber. A pause. A heartbeat, as the little man flipped something on his weapon. No. Landon scrambled forward, feeling the bile rise in his stomach, smelling the reeking sweat of desperation as he tried to move forward while keeping his head low. He heard Preuss yell, a strong yell that cracked at the end, and then there was a hum and a black cloud filled the chamber, and then he saw her torso turn into a cloud of blood swirling backwards along the wall. He clawed his way to his knees and swung the concussion hammer, and felt the impact rock his arms and bones as the blow landed on the side of the little man's head. Landon heard a sickening snap, and looked away from the blow, only to feel his right leg turn into fire. He felt his jaw fall open, his muscles losing control, and turned to see the blood patterns on the wall, swirls of red that used to be his leg. Blood on the walls of the Unity. The world turned to darkness, and Landon fell.
Next episode will be posted on Monday, August 10th. Here is a Word doc of Episodes 1 to 11. |
