Broken Episode One (19 page)

Just
where was she? Had she really come across the Black Mass? Could it
honestly be some relic from the
First Age?

While that would be the story of a lifetime, it
would be a particularly short lifetime; she could still hear her
pursuers. Clearly they had managed to break through the door, and
now their thundering footfall rang out over the stairs.

Josh didn’t stop. He never stopped. He might
hesitate for a brief moment, but that was it.

Having gone through the Academy, she’d seen her fair
share of bravado. She’d also seen people try to act like heroes.
The E club was the perfect example. The group of elite recruits who
lived off the myth of heroism.

She'd convinced herself real heroes didn’t exist. If
Josh somehow got them through this, she’d have to revise her
theory.

They kept running, and though she stumbled more and
more, he wouldn’t leave her behind.

Just as she swore she heard a gunshot echo out from
behind her, the tunnel opened out. They came down a dip, and then,
without warning, the tunnel gave way to a massive room.

Unlike the jungle above, this was well lit,
fantastically lit, in fact. For in the middle hundreds of massive
pillars of light stretched from the floor to the ceiling far, far
above.

It was an arresting, incredible sight. She’d never
seen anything like it. When she heard a surprised hiss escape
Josh’s lips, she realized it was likely new to him too.

A constant throbbing emanated from the room,
traveling through the floor and shaking up into her feet and
knees.

“What the hell is this place?” Josh asked in a badly
wavering tone.

She couldn’t answer; she didn’t know. She couldn’t
even begin to imagine. Though those hundreds of pillars of light
could somehow form the engine of this incredible ship, she doubted
it. They were unshielded, and she couldn’t see any devices
connecting to them that would shunt their power to drive the rest
of the vessel.

Then again, she was so far out of her depth here it
was useless to speculate.

They had both stopped on the edge of that cavernous
room.

Suddenly a shot rang out from behind. This time
there was no doubting what it was; a massive pulsing burst of
energy narrowly missed Josh’s shoulder and ate into the floor a
meter to his left.

He launched towards her, pushed into her with his
shoulder, and sent them both rolling down into the room below.
There was a long incline, and they tumbled a good 20 meters before
coming to a stop.

Despite the surprise of it all, Mimi kept her body
controlled, and didn’t break anything nor bruise her shoulders and
back too badly.

Josh got to his feet first.

He tugged her up just as another bullet sank into
the ground by his feet. “Move,” he screamed at her.

Desperation a white hot lump in her belly, Mimi
stumbled forward.

She …. couldn’t believe it would end here like this,
with him. A man she’d barely met and one who clearly loathed
her.

She had always imagined she’d get married, explore
the galaxy, and grow old, just like her grandmother had.

Mimi
could never have guessed it would end in a
First Age ship with a man like Josh Cook.

She had so many things she wanted to achieve, so
many places she wanted to explore.

These thoughts came upon her fast, flashing into her
consciousness as death loomed.

She may be an Academy dropout, but she could
appreciate the situation. There was an unknown number of enemies on
a rise above them with high yield particle weapons. She was unarmed
and out in the open.

It was only a matter of time ….

She focused on the feeling of Josh’s hand around her
wrist, let it distract her from the unbelievable fear.

Then Mimi Chester was shot in the back.

It was just as he turned to her that it happened.
Just as he opened his mouth to scream her name.

One of the particle rounds sliced into her back. It
was so strong, it sent blood splattering over her front in an
arc.

She was torn from his grip.

There was nothing he could do to hold onto her.

The bullet swung her around, and sent her skidding
down the incline to his left.

Time slowed down. He saw her tumble away from him in
slow motion, the blood blossoming through the hole in her middle
and over her clothes.

She struck the bottom of the incline, falling on her
back, her limbs collapsing around her as her head lolled towards
him. Her eyes were open, and with striking blue clarity they stared
lifelessly back at him.

He…. He….

“Mimi! Mimi!”

Two bullets sank close to him, but he didn’t react.
He stared at her. Stared at the blood, stared at the open eyes.

She … couldn’t be dead.

Out of his peripheral vision, he saw three figures
come into view. He saw they were likely scavengers, or pirates. It
didn’t really matter. They held heavy particle weapons, and
expressions that told him he would be next.

Maybe they had followed Mimi from town, or maybe
they'd chanced upon this vessel just after he had. It didn’t
matter. They would view Mimi and him as competition. And as a
former pirate himself, Josh knew exactly what you did with
competition.

He wanted to defend himself, but there was no
point.

He couldn’t pull his gaze from Mimi.

From his peripheral vision, he watched the three
scavengers slowly walk down the rise, lifting their particle
weapons and aiming them at him.

Josh stood there, his hands loose by his sides, his
shoulders hunched in, his eyes locked on her.

In the past, he would never have given up. That’s
why he had the job he did; few could cut it as a special commander,
and only those with the tenacity to continue on no matter the
odds.

But the odds right now were impossible.

He was exposed, he had no weapon, there was nowhere
to run.

And Mimi was dead.

He would not turn and run; he would not be shot in
the back.

Finally he raised his head and stared at them.

He watched the closest one leer at him, pulling back
its lips to reveal yellow tusks.

Josh didn’t flinch.

The scavengers raised their guns.

They didn’t fire.

In a split second, something incredible
occurred.

Mimi had fallen into a section sunk about 20
centimeters into the floor. Around her was a metal ring. In an
instant, it glowed. A brilliant, blinding white, it was like
standing next to a sun as it was born.

Then … Mimi started to lift into the air. Her body
limp, blood still trickling out of the wound in her middle, she
raised off her feet, drifting upwards as if she was stuck in a zero
gravity field.

The scavengers took that exact moment to fire at
him, but their bullets slammed into an invisible force field around
Mimi, one that sent them ricocheting back.

One scavenger managed to dart to the side, but the
other two were struck by the redirected blasts.

They were dead before they hit the floor.

That white glow continued to bleed from the metal
ring at Mimi’s feet. With a humming zing so loud it set his teeth
chattering in his head, a pillar of light shot up and encased her
completely. In the blink of an eye the light connected to the
ceiling high above.

For a heart pounding moment he stared at it. Stared
at her body as it became completely encased in light.

Then he heard the scrabble of the scavenger's boots
as it tried to skirt around the light towards him.

Something clicked in Josh.

He’d been ready to give up before, now he saw an
opportunity.

He shoved hard to his right, pushing himself into a
sprint.

He came around the side of the light, and spied the
two downed scavengers.

Their guns were gone.

Just as he realized this, he heard the other
scavenger behind him.

Josh threw himself to his knees and rolled to the
side just as two bullets slammed into the spot where he’d been
standing.

He jumped to his feet, dodging to the left and the
right as the scavenger squeezed off three more shots.

The guy was big, probably a Minator, judging by his
massive yellow tusks and tiny pin prick eyes.

They were a formidable foe, and Josh had fought more
than a few in his time.

Usually, he had his armor to rely on. Now, all he
had was anger and desperation.

Without thinking, he threw himself at the Minator.
The guy was easily twice Josh’s size, but right now, that didn’t
matter.

Josh rammed his arm around the guy’s throat, pulling
him back, despite the alien’s height.

With a growl that pierced the air like thunder, the
Minator brought his arm back and elbowed Josh hard in the ribs.

Josh heard a crack, and felt the snapping of bone in
his chest, but he didn’t stop. He rammed his arm tighter against
the alien’s throat, screaming as he did.

The Minator tried to elbow him again, but Josh
blocked out the pain.

With one final heave, the alien managed to throw
Josh off. Grabbing hold of his collar, flipping him over his
shoulder, and slamming him to the ground. The air was pushed from
Josh’s lungs, but that didn’t stop him from whipping around with
his legs, and catching the Minator on the back of the knees before
the brute could sink one of its sharp tusks into Josh’s
stomach.

The alien stumbled to the side, and Josh took the
opportunity to kick him again viciously in the back of the knees.
This time the guy buckled, and Josh pounced to his feet, wrapping
his hands around the alien's back.

Like most Minators he was wearing heavy armor, but
it didn’t extend to his throat. All Minators had a sensitive sense
organ just underneath their jawbones. For this reason, they hated
covering it up with thick layers of armor. It was right under their
jaw, and well protected by the rest of their face. You could only
get to it by digging your fingers in.

Josh screamed again as he redoubled his effort,
trying to shove his fingers as far under the guy’s neck as he
could.

His chest was filled with a blinding pain from where
his ribs had broken, but he didn’t stop.

He didn’t stop.

The alien tried to throw him off one last time, but
Josh held on.

He found the right spot, and shoved his fingers in
as far as they would go. The Minator jerked on the spot, convulsing
wildly as it tried, in last ditch desperation, to rip Josh from its
back.

It didn’t work.

The alien fell to one knee, then the other. Then it
fell face first onto the floor. Its massive body clanged against
the metal plating, then moved no more.

Josh staggered to the side, blinking wildly as he
realized he’d won.

Without hesitating, he grabbed all three particle
weapons off the scavenger. Snatching the medical scanner from his
belt, he confirmed that all three targets were down.

Then Josh turned back to her.

Mimi.

Again the fact she was dead washed over him. It was
so powerful, he staggered to one knee.

He stared at that blinding pillar of light.

The medical scanner was still in his hand. It
started to beep. At first he wasn’t aware of it; all of his
attention was focused on the light. On the fact she was dead. On
the fact she’d been shot in the back and pulled from his hand. In
his mind, he could still see the blood blossoming over her top, see
those wide blue lifeless eyes.

He’d dealt with death before. His family, his
friends, his enemies.

Nothing had ever been this raw. This real. The
emotions raging through him felt like storms trapped in his heart
and mind.

The medical scanner kept beeping. Finally its
incessant tone pierced through his fugue.

He looked down at it.

It was registering a bio sign. In the pillar of
light. Mimi.

He dropped the scanner.

That’s when he saw her. In the light. Something was
moving. Her body was moving. Pitching around, her hands and arms
coming into view as if she was trying to slam against the force
field, trying to break through it and break free.

He didn’t hesitate. Didn’t pause.

Special Commander Joshua Cook jumped to his feet,
took a single step back, leveled his particle weapon, and shot at
the ring in the floor. The very ring producing the pillar of
light.

As the particle pulse slammed into the metal, it
blistered, buckling inwards and screeching with a pitching cry.

Then it failed. The light. In a hail of sparks, it
disappeared.

Mimi fell. She landed on the floor with a thud.

Then she screamed.

She screamed, because Miss Mimi Chester was
alive.

Josh threw himself forward, skidded to his knees,
and grabbed her.

He couldn’t believe his senses, couldn’t believe his
eyes, couldn’t believe the incessantly beeping device that told him
she wasn’t dead.

He’d seen that bullet rip through her.

She kept screaming, then her terror turned to tears
as sobbing racked her body.

He collapsed his arms around her, folding her
against his chest. She cried into his collar, her tears wet against
his cheek and neck.

He didn’t understand, but that didn’t stop him from
holding onto her as tightly as he could.

He couldn’t hold onto her forever – there were still
scavengers out there – but for now, he couldn’t let go.

Josh Cook couldn’t let go ….

Broken Episode Two is currently
available.

This series is complete, and all
four books are currently available. You can buy them separately or
purchase the box set for a reduced price.