( Read the previous episodes of Journey to Centauri.) |
Journey to Centauri : Episode 24 part 3 The ship surged and rocked beneath Santiago's feet. She rolled as if cresting a wave, her balance spinning her catlike as the floor shuddered beneath her. Deirdre's staff, already in mid fall, covered their heads and rolled, tumbling into one another. Deirdre fell forward into a stack of plastic cylinders containing fertilizers and chemicals, then immediately twisted around as Kurn fell forward into her. She slid her fingernails under the release valve of one canister and ripped it off. A stream of liquid nitrate rolled forth, pouring across Kurn's face. He screamed, more from surprise then pain. Deirdre rolled away. The trees around her rocked and swayed, their branches scraping the sky like scarecrows in a tempest. As she watched a web of cracks bloomed across one of the glass panels above, like horizontal lightning. Oh God...the ship... A metallic groan traveled down the length of the ship and through her feet. Outside the panels she caught a wild sight of landing pods shaking, more structural supports bending. There was a pock pock pock and three holes appeared near her feet. She looked up, her heart pounding in alarm... Santiago's second. The little Kurn. He had one hand clutching his own face, his own eyes, as the other hand swung wildly, sending shredder pellets in crazy arcs around the Greenhouse. "Skye!" Deirdre looked to see Tara, holding one of the tension rigs the engineers had used to shore up the synthglass panels. She lunged forward across the wildly tilting terrain and aimed the contraption in Kurn's direction. She pulled the trigger. Out of the front of the rig shot a clear shimmering transparent sheet, about three meters square, rippling in the light. The sheet should have been fired into a synthglass panel, where it would have spread out to grip the surface with high levels of tension, reinforcing it. Instead it now slapped into the lunging Spartan, wrapping around him. Tara flipped a switch on the gun, triggering a signal pulse along a slim optical fiber. The Spartan's eyes grew wide and he opened his mouth to scream as the tension sheet pulled tight around him, tearing layers from his skin in different directions. She saw his eyes widen in horror and his skin rip as the clear sheet tightened around his body. His scream sounded faint, as if heard through walls. The ship steadied. The floor became firm again. Deirdre Skye stood slowly. Leaves scattered across the metal floor of the Greenhouse, and a dark stream of water, spilled from a hydration tank, snaked around her. "Is everyone all right? Tara? Nhoj?" She looked around. "Where is Santiago?" "Here," said a voice, husky with fear. Deirdre looked over. Nhoj kneeled near Santiago, who lay splayed out against a compost bin near one wall of the Greenhouse. Santiago's eyes were closed, her face a serene mask. Deirdre watched her for a moment, imagining the powerful heart that still beat in the woman's chest. That deep passion for survival at all costs, so similar to and yet so unlike Deirdre's quiet passions... Nhoj delicately pulled the shredder pistol from Santiago's fingers. "She's unconscious. Was that the plan?" Nhoj looked so puzzled. Deirdre smiled in spite of herself, and then began to laugh, releasing tension. "Tie her up, quickly, with anything you can find. I'll contact the Captain. It looks like we have Santiago."
Next episode will be posted Monday, November 9. |
