Lost souls, p.14
Lost Souls, page 14
“It could tear itself apart!” she snapped.
“That’s the whole point!” He laughed menacingly. “It was always going to fail. It was always going to be a cataclysm! A punishment for daring to break the natural laws of the universe! I won’t let anyone else use this technology. I’m going to show everyone the danger of your carelessness here and now. It will be a tragedy that will convince everyone to never walk this road again!”
A tear streamed down from Izabel’s cheek. “Please. Don’t… don’t do this. I… I won’t… I won’t go further. I’ll stop.”
“No, you won’t. You’ve said it before! This is your life’s work.” He clenched his teeth. “Time to watch it all burn up in smoke. All of it will be erased… along with the only mind who could bring it all back.”
“Why should I then?” she yelled at him.
He took a half-step forward, bringing a barrel of one pistol to her forehead. “I can kill you now and do it myself. You’ve already done all the activation routines that I don’t know. You’ve already formed the singularity. All of the things you never showed the rest of us has been done. Even one of these military monkeys could push it over the edge. At least if you do it, you’ll get your chance to see the DASER’s power once before the end.”
James’ brow furrowed, measuring the distance between him and Lukas. Do that to me. Put that gun to my head, he growled inside. He knew three different disarming moves he could use if he was in Izabel’s position. He wished he could telepathically grant her the same knowledge. She could end this here and now.
But he couldn’t mentally connect with her, and she obviously she didn’t know how to disarm him. All she did was rotate in her chair and slowly start to raise the power of the reactor.
For a moment, a few of the readouts flashed red. Catching sight of that, Lukas fired a glare at Marion and Steve. “You have three seconds to answer those demands!”
Marion was sobbing with her eyes locked on the dead form of Li Xian. Steve looked as rebellious as James, though he pleaded, “Don’t do this, Lukas.”
“Stop stalling. Don’t you want to see what your horror of a creation can do? 3… 2… 1…” His finger tightened on the trigger ever so slightly.
“Please… do it!” Izabel begged. “It will start to feed on itself soon enough. Then it won’t matter.”
Together, the married couple spun back, rushing to answer the orders from Izabel’s console.
The deep, resonant hum of the reactor grew far stronger. The pulsing rhythm of it sang along James’ bones, making his skeleton feel ready to rattle its way right out of his body.
“10%!” Izabel called out. Her expression revealed desperation and pride as she watched the work of her life coming into its own in front of her, even though she had to know it would be the death of her. Her gaze flickered to the output console, seeing the indicators enter the danger levels. The energy in the DASER wasn’t going anywhere. It was building on top of itself, pumping more and more of its power back across dimensions. They were sapping nothing away; this was the likeliest way to turn it into a bomb.
James could see the screen-window out of the corner of his eye. Through it, he noticed the reactor’s sphere growing more and more turbulent. The swirls of sapphire blue were skewing toward a bright azure. The brilliance of the previously soft-silver clouds was glittering and threatening to overpower the blue background.
“30%!” Izabel cried.
“Keep it coming! Harder. Faster!” Lukas yelled, pressing the muzzle of his pistol to the back of the Doctor’s head.
Sobbing, Izabel yelled out, “40%!”
Inside the reactor room, the sphere had become a massive, dazzling diamond. Like the largest disco ball ever created, it was sending rainbow-fractured light in all directions. James thought the strobing rays would soon be blinding, and he averted his eyes. Even then, he was forced to squint his right eye to keep a clear view of Lukas.
“50%!”
A crackling sizzle passed through the air. Everything slowed down, mired in syrup. Every hair along James’ arm stood on end, stiff with static electricity. A buzz droned in his ear, louder than a ship’s whistle blaring, enough to deafen him to anything else. The burnt smell of ozone filled his nostrils as everyone around froze in place.
Only… they weren’t frozen. Not really. They were swimming through the distortion effect. His thoughts came slowly, as if the anchor dragging them down was affecting his mind worse than his body.
Except… James had been waiting on precisely this moment. He didn’t need rational thought. While paralysis locked Lukas and the others in the control room in place, he reacted on pure, combat instinct. Agonizingly slow, he launched himself from Tagashi’s side and dove at the pistol-armed terrorist. As he flowed from his crouch, he skinned his seaman’s blade from its sheath at the small of his back.
Lethargically, Lukas’ right hand skewed toward James, trying to get the pistol on aim.
He was too late. Trapped in the painful slow-motion, James could actually see the muzzle flash bloom as Lukas got off a panicked shot. The hissing of the bullet breaking the air reached James first, but the bullet sizzled by him, missing by the width of his hand.
In exchange, James jammed his knife into the man’s flesh just behind his wrist, twisting it cruelly when it lodged between the two bones of his forearm. The painful, wrenching motion dislodged the pistol and sent it skittering down to the deck –
A pulse of pure white light washed over them. A deep, bass note pummeled them, like a movie-theater subwoofer was discharging its most powerful tone to rattle the audience. They were all sent crashing against the equipment at the back of the room. James heard the women in the viewing area bashing against the far wall. The pulse was an arc, blasting outward from the reactor.
Time snapped back into its normal flow.
James’ vision cleared to find himself staring at the gunman.
Lukas blinked hard… then flexed his left hand, finding it empty. His right arm still had James’ knife speared through it which had cost him that pistol, but his other hand had smashed against a piece of the bulkhead and cost him the other weapon.
With a cry of rage, Lukas punched out, catching James on the side of the jaw. Without taking the chance to find the weapons hiding in the dark corners of the room, he bolted for the door, shoved it open and vanished into the corridors of the Kodiak.
Forcing himself to act, James bellowed at Izabel, “Kill the DASER!”
Izabel screamed back, “It’s already shutting down! Something tripped it.” It was all she had time to say. The focus of her and her two surviving helpers was on their controls as they tried to sort out what had happened and what they had to do to keep them all alive.
Leaving them to the task, James stooped down, located one of the pistols, clutched it into his right hand and bolted for the same exit Lukas had taken.
As he emerged from the control room, several of the lieutenants from his group streamed out of the viewing area by the alternate exit and were moving toward him. Kandace was first, followed swiftly by Yelena, Allonia, Mercy, Hsu and Vérène. Mahathi lingered back, looking split between a desire to help and an instinct toward being cautious of the situation. Su-Bin and Eshaal stayed back in the viewing area; neither seemed to lack courage but their training had been intellectual more than combat focused.
James didn’t have time to formulate a plan. He wasn’t even sure he needed one. Having seen Lukas slay both Li Xian and Hernandez without so much as hesitating, he would gladly have beaten the man to death with his bare hands. But he didn’t expect to get the chance.
Hsu confirmed his suspicion. “Kodiak’s Captain said help was coming. They’re going to take him.”
He was about to acknowledge and stand down… when he noticed the prone figure laying on the ground a dozen meters beyond where they were standing. Skirt. High heels. It couldn’t be anyone in the military. Not dressed like that. “Bloody hell…” he whispered, stepping slowly in her direction.
The others followed.
Mercy gasped, “Is that… is that Jonie?” She dashed forward, squatting beside her and reaching out to feel the pulse point on her neck. “No heartbeat. Her eyes are open! Her face… contorted… so much pain.”
The others drifted closer, stunned by what they were seeing. James had to agree with what Mercy had said. Jonie’s hands were shaped into claws. They were thrown up near her head as if she had been clutching at it when she died.
“What killed her? Was it that strange… yes, it had to be the energy discharge, right? We all felt it.” Allonia blurted out.
“I have no idea,” James admitted. “I’d say it’s possible, yes, but… I have no idea.” His mind churned past the shock he was feeling, remembering there was a killer on the loose in the corridors.
Immediately, he began searching for what they should do, assuming the role he had been bred for. Responsibility. He knew the junior officers around him were not bound to obey him. But being a leader was natural for him. Every ounce of training his country had poured into him and every command role they had assigned him was intended to make being in charge instinctive. “Mahathi, find the second pistol. Stay here and defend the others in case Lukas doubles back. He might be pushed back this way as the Navy’s response team advances on him. Su-Bin! Eshaal!”
“Yes, Commander?” Eshaal answered readily.
“Find first-aid packs and do what you can for Tagashi. Help Dr. Silva however you can to stabilize the DASER. Give her whatever she needs, but don’t leave the room until we or the crew have neutralized Lukas.”
Su-Bin spoke with quiet confidence. “It shall be done.”
Mahathi dipped her head in acceptance, turning to head back and find the other discarded weapon. She might be slightly less bold than her colleagues, but she still in the war fighting stream.
James gestured to the others. “Spread out. Stay in pairs. Yelena and Hsu. Mercy and Allonia. Kandace and Vérène.” He detailed them off without thinking much about it. They all followed his lead, shifting closer to their matches. “Sweep out until you find some of the crew or catch sight of Lukas.” He didn’t tell them not to engage. It wasn’t his place. They were warriors in their own right and intelligent enough to know if they could get the drop on him.
They scattered and began their search. He struck out on his own, figuring his pistol leveled the playing field with the unarmed terrorist. He moved quickly, disregarding any door that had more than two watertight latches locked in place. Most doors on this level had eight, all of which were sealed when the ship was in a state of risk. All had been latched fully closed for the experiment. It took a good number of seconds to heave all eight out of the way, and then an equal number to get them all back in place. He didn’t think Lukas would have bothered. At least not until he was well-clear of the area.
He followed his instincts around two corners, checking them for signs of the other man’s passing. He had found nothing and was rethinking his choices when he ran across a crewman laying on the ground. The man was curled into the fetal position, his mouth open in a now-silent scream. Eyes open. Dead.
Another like Jonie, he realized. His jaw clenched tighter. Crikey. How far has this gone? And why weren’t we stricken down? We were right on top of the reactor!
Pushing on, he checked two more corridors and found six other crew members. All with the same look. All dead. A cold chill was beginning to creep down his spine. Turning in place, he raced back to the corridor outside the control room.
The others were arriving back, having finished their sweeps. James almost didn’t have to ask what they found. Their lips were drawn into thin lines, and their faces were leached of color. He met their gazes one after the other, then finally asked. “Everyone?”
Tight nods were his answers. Kandace managed a quiet whisper, as if she was still seeing ghosts in the halls. “At least twenty. All the same. All like Jonie, clutching their heads as if their brains were exploding.”
Growling low, James hated everything about this. “We have no idea how far the effect went.”
“We need to assume it took the whole ship,” Yelena spoke with more cool dispassion than James thought anyone could produce in such a discordant, impossible time. “Until we find anyone living, we need to assume we’re alone in dealing with Lukas.”
James returned a crisp nod, leaning into the rationality she championed with her control. “What will he need? What will he do?”
“Weapons,” Kandace said immediately. “He lost his.”
“A way off the ship,” Allonia offered.
“One he can handle by himself,” James agreed. “Any chance he can fly a helicopter?”
Vérène pursed her lips in thought. “I wouldn’t have thought so. In all the times I’ve met him, he never struck me as a pilot. But I never would have guessed he was a traitor, either.”
“Alright, weapons first then. Hopefully he’ll waste his time heading for the armories without realizing he needs special keys. All the weapons lockers will be shut tight and locked during a peaceful cruise like this.” James puzzled it through. “Who would have the keys?”
“The military police detachment,” Hsu offered.
“The bosuns, of course,” Kandace said, naming the department responsible for weapon handling and training aboard ships.
“The boarding team,” added Yelena.
James shook his head, “They wouldn’t have their own in their ready-use lockers since we weren’t intending any action. They would have to draw them from the ship’s magazines. Anyone else?”
Mercy chimed in, “The Captain has all the keys. The Commanding Officer will have a copy of all of them in his secure lock-up.”
“Which won’t be nearly as secure if he’s dead. Lukas could simply take the access key off his neck,” James finished the dark thought. “That’s where I would go first.” He grimaced as he considered the actions they needed to take. “We’ll spread out. If our worst fears are real, we could be seeing a lot more dead. I know it will be hard. But get to those key sets. I’ll go to the bridge and get the Captain’s access key. I hope he left it in his personal safe rather than carrying it around.” James had done precisely that when he had been in charge of the Eyre. Unless there was a specific reason to have it on his person, he left the all-access keys behind a combination lock that only he could get into.
“We’ll get it done,” Kandace said, giving him a determined nod. He could see the shadow lurking behind her expression. He felt the same. But they all appeared to be locked into the necessity of the moment. What they might see wasn’t going to hold them back from stopping the bastard who killed so many.
“Meet in the hangar in fifteen minutes. We’ll check the helicopters. If you hear one spinning up, get there fast,” James said.
With final affirmations, the pairs broke off again. None of them looked eager and all of them disturbed by the implications of what they had seen, but their air of determination hadn’t wavered.
James took a deep breath and committed himself to the hunt. It had to be done, or they could all wind up dead. Lukas had failed the first time, he if he got his hands back on the controls, he might finish what he started.
Chapter 8
It was a big ship. With the ongoing crisis and having no idea what was damaged, none of the hunters would dare take any of the elevators. They all chose to use the stairs as they went on their search.
James had to ascend all the way to the bridge near the top of the control tower. He decided to break up the vertical demands by going up a couple decks, then running down a few corridors to give himself a break. There was no getting around the final leg where he took the last six flights at close to a run. They were steep, not quite true ladders, and his heart was pumping when he crested the top.
A good portion of his heart racing was due to the tragic scenes he found on each deck. Dozens upon dozens of crew members, all shriveled up as if they had collapsed screaming. Not one of them moved. They were all dead. Every corridor was a haunted collection of the fallen that he had to ignore and snake his way past to continue his mission.
He had no idea why he thought the bridge would be any different. Dare I hope the open air made any difference? He was quickly corrected when he emerged to find everyone there in the same state. The Captain was still perched in his chair, having clung to his seat despite being disabled by pain. He was slumped into the back of the seat, unresponsive.
There was a second reason for him wanting to get to the bridge. The safety of the ship was near the front of his mind. They were on an ocean and they had been moving. The formation had been slowed to bare steerageway – about 3 knots. It was meant to minimize the danger when they switched to the new power supply. But no one was steering the ship, and it could still run into something.
He took a quick look at the radar. Three of the screening ships in the Fleet should have been a dozen miles away, doing the normal sweeps that frigates and destroyers did as part of the group. He wanted to make sure they were keeping their distance.
They weren’t there.
His first thought was to grab a set of binoculars to hunt for them visually, but his attention was consumed by the ships that were closer at hand.
The tanker Shakti was still on their quarter at about a mile away. However, it should have been closer. Apparently, the other ship had gone dead in the water, drifting to a slow stop. The tanker had a lot of mass because of all the fuel it carried, so it would take the ship a long time to finally lose all its headway.
It was veering a little to one side, giving James a sight of its stern. His mouth dropped open a little. The very back of the flight deck had been chopped off as if with a scythe. He couldn’t see the full extent of the damage, but he was sure a couple of their stern-most compartments were open to the air.
Remembering the arc of the reactor blast, James traced an invisible curve, imagining a globe of energy surrounding the Kodiak. If the Shakti had been at the edge of the blast, it could have clipped the outside of the ship like that. He then imagined the same globe extending under the waterline. Could it have clipped their propellers too? It was the only explanation he had as to why the ship was cut and burned in a circular pattern. Is there even any crew over there to stop it from sinking?
