The Empress Capsule (Audacity Saga Book 1), page 28
Sixteen young men, bodies emaciated, faces drawn.
They turned to look up in perfect unison.
She gasped, stepping back automatically and bumping into Kael’s armor.
“Not again,” she whispered. Then she gritted her teeth, swallowed, and hardened her resolve. “We’ve got to get some suits and get them out of there.”
We’re not going anywhere.
“Shit,” she swore. A voice echoed in her head so loud she covered her hands with her ears. But of course the effort was futile. She glanced wildly at Kael, who’d raised his hands too. He must have heard it.
“Another telepath,” she barked toward Zhia. “Find her physical loc—”
A songbird, eh? I didn’t expect to meet another songbird here. Were you abandoned like me? Where is your unit?
Ellen winced and whirled one way, then the other, looking for another lit window or door. They had to find her. Before it was too—
You have no unit? The voice was a rasp, a laugh, but then the volume doubled to a hysterical scream. You can’t have them! You can’t have my unit. Go away!
Ellen glanced around to see Zhia had covered her ears too, and Dremer’s eyes were wide as saucers.
“Everyone hear that?” Ellen managed.
Zhia nodded mutely.
“I can hear it on the ship,” groaned Adan over the comm.
Kael, meanwhile, was wasting no time, methodically checking the next window and the next.
“What the hell is it?” whispered Jenny.
“It’s a telepath. Arakovic was here,” Ellen said, through clenched teeth.
Go away! The voice wailed now. You can’t have them. We are one. I swear we are. I can control them if you give me a little more time.
“I can set you free,” called Ellen into the air. “Get you off this station.”
Mother left us here. We dare not disobey.
“This place is dead. Everyone in it—you can’t survive forever here.”
We must wait. We dare not disobey.
“No, damn it. Where are you?”
I just need to learn to control them. I’m controlling them even now. You gave me an old unit, Mother. Used. Broken. It wasn’t fair, it wasn’t fair…
Kael stopped and beckoned her toward him. She jogged down six doors—cells?—and looked inside. Sure enough, a girl in a white medical gown sat in a chair at the far end, glaring at the door.
They’re mine! she screamed again.
“I don’t want them!” Ellen yelled back.
Of course you do, cripple. You’re without your unit. I may have been abandoned, but I still have my arms.
“Your arms? I don’t—”
LIAR!
“What were the Enhancers doing here—” she heard Dremer start to say.
But if the words continued, she could no longer hear them. Agony seized Ellen, her back arching as the girl gripped her mind and started rifling through it. A flurry of movement whirled around her, arms catching her from falling, but she couldn’t process much more than fighting out the unwelcome presence inside her.
“Get out!” she screamed.
The girl receded with an evil laugh, but whether as a result of her pushing or because she’d found what she was looking for, Ellen wasn’t sure. You rejected them? Another laugh, this one almost shocked. Affronted. A unit of over fifty and you rejected them? How? Why?
“I am not a songbird!” Not anymore.
You are always one of Mother’s flock. Escape is impossible. How could you reject this gift, songbird?
“How can you accept it?” Ellen ground out through clenched teeth. Something was locking her body still. “You have no right to them. They are people too. They deserve lives of their own. And so do you.”
We have lives. We are so much more than you. You cannot separate us. We are one. Mostly.
“Let them go,” Ellen demanded.
I told you you wanted them.
“I’ll set them free.”
Never. There’s nothing left to set free. We are one.
The pain seized Ellen’s mind again, torture like a thousand needles stabbing into every nerve and limb. Her body writhed and then abruptly froze.
“What’s happening?” Kael’s voice.
“She’s attacking the commander telepathically,” snapped Dremer.
“What can we do?” he said.
“Nothing. There’s little defense against telepaths. That’s why they’re so… carefully groomed.”
“What about Isa? What about—”
“She’s not trained.”
“There has to be something.” Someone was shaking her—Kael, maybe. “Ellen, listen to me. Does she have a chip too? Do the men?”
“We’re not drinking,” she grunted.
A crazed laugh escaped him. “Chips—do they have them?”
The pain eased briefly, and Ellen relaxed to realize she was in Zhia’s arms, Kael and Dremer bent over her. “The men should. She might. Or she might be a Natural. I don’t know.”
“Where are they?” he asked. “If we take them out, then she can’t use them. Or hurt you, if I can find hers.”
“She can’t tell you that,” Zhia snapped. “Then you’ll know where hers is. Was. Whatever.”
Kael glared at Zhia, then down at Ellen. “Unless one of you has a better idea?”
The pain started to ramp up again. “Plug in,” she whispered, hitting the port on her arm automatically. “Schematics. I’ll give.”
“Elle, that’s crazy—” Zhia started, shoving Kael partially away, but Kael was faster, and she could feel his presence in her mind barely a moment later. She heaved a sigh of relief at it, both at the sudden realization of how much she’d missed having him this close and at the contrast to the girl’s torture.
Missed you too.
She thrust the schematics at him, indicating the spot at the neck and the release mechanism, which required intricate pressure in six locations. Zhia might be right that this was crazy, but he was also right that there weren’t any other options.
I would never hurt you.
I know.
The girl’s voice suddenly sliced through between them. Look at you, trying to form a unit now in the presence of our might. Two fragile minds. You are nothing compared to us. The voice was a scream, a raging torrent battering them like a hurricane.
Kael reeled back, unplugging. Just as well. If he got hit by her psychic pain, he’d never be able to carry out his plan.
Even this unit abandons you, the girl whispered, laughing with delight. Give me your power, songbird.
I have no power, Ellen said weakly back in her mind. But the agony increased, peaking higher than ever now, her muscles spasming uncontrollably. It faded in time, like a wave she knew would come back soon, but while she could see again, she forced her eyes open. Blinking, she could just make out Kael standing in front of the window of the sixteen men.
“It’s not working,” he grunted. “They’re fighting me.”
“What?” Dremer whispered.
“I’m trying to take out their chips. Got one, but whoever I focus on, they all pile on top. I can’t move anything then. I can only fling one or two at a time. There’s still fifteen left.”
“Take hers instead,” Ellen grunted.
The girl’s cackle ripped through her mind, and the world went splotched black and yellow, bathing her in convulsing, searing, burning pain.
“Yes, ma’am,” said a familiar voice in the distance.
The black closed in around her, crushing. Like soon there would be nothing left, no will, no drive, no memories, nothing but pure energy. Nothingness and the stars. And even that would be consumed. The unit needed to feed. Locked in here, they were starving, but this energy could sustain them a little longer, if only—
The pain abruptly disappeared.
“Got it!”
Ellen’s eyes opened to see Kael jump in triumph. “Can she put it back in?” she managed, words slurred.
“Not unless she’s got a shovel. Smashed it into the wall—it’s indented about two feet in. Hopefully that means I broke it.”
Ellen struggled to her feet, shaking. Zhia steadied her and brought her to the door’s small window. The girl lay still on the floor.
“Did you kill her?” she whispered.
“Not intentionally.” He frowned, looking in over her shoulder. “I just removed the chip.”
“Oh, God,” Zhia gasped. She stood at the other door’s window.
Kael crossed the distance at a sprint, then froze. “By the seven suns…”
Ellen barely made it a step or two, sliding along the wall for support, when he held up a hand to stop her. “You don’t want to see this.”
“What is it?” Dremer said, taking a step forward, then flinching.
“They’re…” Zhia started, but she swallowed, like she couldn’t finish what she’d started to say. “They’re like animals.”
“I think they’re eating each other alive,” Kael whispered, eyes wide. “Five are down already.”
The cry of anguish that escaped Ellen was uncharacteristic of her, her control slipping, but it was all too fresh. The memories she’d worked hard to forget were too close now, and some lingering memory of the telepath’s attachment to the men echoed even now in her mind. “I wanted to free them.”
“It’s not your fault,” snapped Zhia. “This is the Enhancer’s doing and no one else’s.”
“Not just the Enhancers,” Ellen grunted. “Arakovic.” She tried her best to straighten, but her body wasn’t responding half the time. She flipped on the armor assist part way and looked back toward the other cell. “The girl—can we save her?”
Zhia’s eyes widened. “We should just get out of here.”
“What are her vitals? Is she still alive?”
“Commander, is that advisable—” Jenny started.
“She can’t do the damage she did without her chip. Maybe we could save her.”
“She’s likely very unstable,” Dremer said cautiously. “You barely made it back from the brink; she’s clearly had this connection longer—”
“Is she alive?” Ellen demanded, almost a shout, her voice hard.
“Yes,” said Zhia bitterly.
“Is it clean in there? Can we open it? Can we get her a suit?”
Dremer checked her tools. “Looks like there is a decon unit in the doorframe. With minimal exposure, we might be able to get her to the ship if we can find a suit. Then decon again on the way in. Technically it’s doable.”
Zhia pulled out her tablet again. “There’s a docking bay a little farther down the main hall. If there are any suits, there should be some there.”
“Jenny, Nova—see if you can find one,” Ellen ordered.
Dremer was shaking her head. “I’m warning you, Commander. It is very likely her mind may not be able to be rehabilitated—”
“Try,” Ellen snapped. “We are not like Arakovic. Human life is not disposable. If we can save her, we will, even if she’s lost her identity.”
Dremer raised her tool to the door, entering the lock-hacking program. Kael was still staring, even more wide-eyed now, into the other cell.
“Kael, get away from there,” Ellen snapped. He didn’t seem to hear her. “Kael!”
While Dremer worked, Ellen gazed in at the girl, looking fragile and cold now against the stark metal floor. Only an emergency light or two for company. Who had left her here? Was “Mother” Arakovic? Why had this songbird been abandoned?
Was this the fate that had awaited Ellen if she hadn’t escaped? If she’d lost her identity fully to her unit?
We are one. The girl’s words floated back to her, and she shivered. Mostly.
“Found one!” called Jenny from the door they’d blasted through. She and Nova jogged up with a suit cradled between them.
“The power is still active on this lock,” Dremer said. “I’ve got it open. Whenever you’re ready, Commander.”
“Open it,” she ordered.
At her words, Kael snapped out of his horror and looked her way in alarm. “Wait—what?”
The cell door slid open with a metallic groan. Ominous silence lay over them like a stifling blanket. Ellen gestured for them to toss the suit into the decon area and then leaned in herself.
The girl’s inert form was still, not even breathing, not even twitching, but somehow Ellen could still feel life in there. Was the girl simply in shock? Could it be some kind of brain adaptation, like Dremer had talked about, that literally made her need the chip to live, to breathe?
But then Ellen froze. Under the sleeve of the girl’s shirt, the neckline. Small white tentacles wriggled at the fabric’s edge.
Weak or not, Ellen scampered back, trying to draw Dremer with her but missing.
“What is it?” Dremer started, leaning toward the door.
Screeching, the girl—no, more like a creature at this point—leaped up into the air, gaining speed quickly and lurching toward them. The ripped fabric of her simple gown fell away, revealing a body no longer human but more… insectile. Her body bloated and twisted, hard legs and a carapace forming, all sickly white. And the top of the creature—her body was more tentacle than girl at this point. Ellen lunged forward and grabbed Dremer, hauling her back, sure she was too late—
The creature hit an invisible wall and slid to the ground, writhing and screaming its rage.
“Close it!” Kael shouted, backing farther down the hall. “You can’t help her! Close the door!”
“Are you—” Dremer started.
“I can’t hold it forever, Doctor.”
Dremer scrambled back to the panel. “Shit. It won’t close. That hacking program is nuking everything. Wiped the lock program completely. It’s gathering information for Simmons—”
“Later.” This wasn’t the time for details. Ellen drew her pistol, then met Kael’s eye. His frown of concentration deepened. She looked at Dremer. “Is there anything we can do to sedate her? Could she be—”
The field Kael held wavered. Behind it, what had once been a girl flailed against his energy.
“Ellen—look. It’s one of those—”
“Sedation, Doctor?” she demanded.
“I have one shot,” Dremer said quickly, holding up the tranquillizer gun and giving Ellen a meaningful stare. One shot that was meant for Kael if they needed it. They wouldn’t have another chance.
“Give it to me. Then get over to Kael now. All of you—back to the first door.” Ellen grabbed Dremer by the shoulder and shoved.
“I’ll cover from the side,” Zhia said quickly.
“No. Get to the end of the hall, Zhia. Go. That’s an order. This thing can’t take us all down. Your priority is to get Dremer back to the ship and make sure Simmons knows about what happened here.”
“Ellen, no—” Kael started, almost in time with similar objections from Zhia. The barrier he held faltered again.
“Are there any men left alive, Kael?” she said slowly.
“No.” His face fell, even as he was backing away. Following her orders for once, thank God.
“What are you going to do, Commander?” Dremer called, sprinting for Kael.
“No time for questions. Get out of here. Go. I’ll take care of this.”
Ellen readied her pistol on her side, then took the multi from her back, and sucked in a deep breath. She switched the comm off, then only to Kael’s channel. “You ready, Theroki? On my mark, drop it. Got it?”
“Ellen—”
“I need you to get them out. I’m a good shot, remember?”
“I’m not leaving you here.”
“You won’t have to. I can take her. I need you to listen to me on this, Kael. Please. Dremer’s suit can’t withstand any damage. None at all.”
A brief silence, then, “Okay, we’re all outside the door. Tell me when.”
She eyed the thing thrashing at the barrier.
If this thing was going to take her down, if this was going to be her last day in this dark universe, she was glad she’d come to know Kael, even if it was maybe not quite as well as either of them would have liked.
She almost said something to that effect, but she shouldn’t be wasting time on sentimental thoughts. She wasn’t going to die here. Not after everything else. This was just one more reason Arakovic must be stopped, and Ellen was not intending to die trying.
She narrowed her eyes down the rifle sight and took another deep, steadying breath. “Now.”
Almost before she’d finished the word, she squeezed the trigger and held, the laser beam faltering for a second as it hit a last remnant of Kael’s barrier, reflecting and searing a hole into the floor—fortunately a few feet in front of her boot. Then the barrier fell the rest of the way, and the beam bit into the alien flesh as it leaped for her.
She released the multi for a moment, grabbing the tranq gun and squeezing off the dart, aiming carefully for something that looked like a beak, a mouth, some sort of sensitive place. Then she dropped it, the suit grabbing the weapon magnetically and locking it to her thigh.
The dart had no effect. She couldn’t even tell she’d fired the laser on the rifle. The body rippled for a moment, then reformed, the dart vanishing into its body. The girl-creature faltered for barely a second before it was sliding toward her again.
She switched the laser to high intensity, fired again, and held, determined to empty the energy bank. She tried three places, looking for a weak spot. A sustained shot from Zhia from the door took off a high tentacle.
“Get out of here,” she ordered. She’d told them to be long gone.
The energy bank ran out. The creature surged forward.
She flicked to ballistic, but all the bullets seemed to disappear into nothingness. So she unloaded everything the multi had.
Red death made the creature shudder slightly, but even that vanished, almost as if absorbed. It tossed the immobilizing foam aside. Grilling seemed to have no effect—although the freezing air around them probably wasn’t helping anything.
She doubled the temperature, and one tentacle that whirled close wilted and browned a little. The creature screeched, hugging the limb to its torso for a moment, before lashing out again, seemingly unaffected. The browned tentacle looked totally healed, although Zhia’s severed one was splattering black blood across the deck.
