Dusk of Defiance (The Era of Ensemble Book 1) (4 page)

Luke exited the room and checked, to his right, and then to his left. He stepped out into the corridor. It was quiet. He didn’t realise how quiet the ship could be. He was used to being around the loud machinery controlling the air flow in the air plantation centre, where he worked. He remembered his pet project. Elizabeth had helped him manipulate
and modify certain plants to provide a more efficient oxygen supply, but it was still early in development. He had treated his plants with tender loving care and they had been thriving. He even called them his babies and said they were growing well. This had made Elizabeth laugh. He was a natural. It was as if Luke had never left the farm. His grandparents’ farm where he had played with his sister. He glanced to his left and found a map of the spaceship stuck to the wall. He needed to get to the opposite side of the ship if he wanted to find Megan.

“
Would the nearest engineer please make their way to the engines and power section 32-B and reroute power.” The female computerised voice spoke over the speaker system and Luke ignored it once again.
There must still be people like me aboard the ship. They can’t all have lost their minds
. He passed a stairwell. A sign above it read ‘Tram’. That’s what he needed. It was the fastest way to get around the ship, and probably the safest.

Luke entered the stairwell. There were noises from below, but he couldn’t pinpoint them. The darkness left him with a deepening sense of disorientation.
Are the noises moving away from me? Or are they approaching me?
He listened intently. They were no louder nor softer to his ear. He steadied his breathing.
I can do this
, or so he kept telling himself. He took tight hold of the railing besides him and slowly stepped down the stairs. He stopped abruptly half way down the first set of steps. A tune was being hummed below him. Luke knew the tune, it was 'Rock-a-bye baby'. He silently made his way down the steps, and then slowly edged around to the next flight of stairs. He saw the back of a woman sitting cross legged, swaying side to side. Luke stepped down one step. “Excuse me?” He took another step towards the woman. “Ma’am?” There was no reply, the woman just kept humming the steady rhythm of the nursery rhyme. She reminded him of the woman he had seen before, who rocked on the bed with garbled words. A strange language that he did not recognise.
At least I know this song. At least I’m familiar with this tune.
Luke shook away the strangeness of it all.
But she hums it whilst cornered in a darkened stairway.
Luke checked around the stairwell, he couldn’t see or hear anything other than the woman below him. He carried on towards her. Still she swayed from side to side to the rhythm of the nursery rhyme.

“
Excuse me?” Luke asked again. She didn’t turn to face him. He looked over her shoulder. She was cradling something in a blanket. He quietly made his way behind her, and gently placed his hand on her shoulder. Before Luke could even say a word, the woman jumped to her feet, threw what she cradled in her arms into the air, and then turned to face Luke, she growled. Her blood stained teeth forced Luke to take a step back up the stairs. A severed child’s head crashed to the floor. The woman turned around, whimpered as she watched the head roll onto its side, and then sprinted towards it. She wrapped it up in a blanket and began to cradle it once again. Luke didn’t move. He just watched, stunned at what he had witnessed.

After several minutes of standing silently, Luke decided to move. He slowly walked towards the next flight of stairs. The woman faced him. She swayed and hummed the lullaby. Her eyes bright blue, but tired. The red veins threaded through the pink toned whites. Close up they instantly flashed a neon warning, a red cloaked danger sign. She snarled as Luke slowly passed her, but sat and returned to her cradling once he had turned away. He sighed with relief, that she was distracted by her own rocking motions. Luke's head throbbed with
the tension, but there was a moment when he feared the ferocious flash in her eyes.
Could she be capable of ripping a head off...? My head?

Luke reached the end of the steps and another sign for the tram was mounted above a door in front of him. It glowed in the dark stairwell. He made his way forward through the door. His foot knocked something as he stepped
by the entrance. The door attempted to close behind him, but it snagged on an object. A small beep emanated from a terminal as it failed to close. Luke heard movement from around him.
They must have heard the beep.
It pinged again. Luke bent to the floor and picked up the object blocking the metal from shutting. The door closed and Luke felt relieved. He glanced at the object in his hand. It was white with a dried up red black substance clinging to it. Luke’s eyes widened as he realised he held a bone in his hand. He suddenly dropped it. The bone crashed to the dark grey metal floor with a bang sending echoes throughout the corridor. He shuddered with the repulsed shock surging around his fingers.
Was it a human bone?

Luke
tried to refocus, he waited... and he heard nothing. He was surprised, but then a collection of noises sounded. He held his face in his hands.
Why did I have to make so much noise?
He quickly stopped feeling sorry for himself and took tight hold of the revolver that was holstered around his hip. He checked his cylinder for a round, and then placed his finger on the trigger, ready to fire. He stood alert. Ears straining to identify every sound. His trigger finger attentive. His eyes widened. His pupils dilated. His breathing raced.

There were screams, shrieks, squeals and thuds. Each thud made Luke jump. His hand shook.
If one of those humans… No, not humans, things, creatures, beasts, savage cannibals...
Luke could have extended the list. If one of those things came for him, he didn’t know if he would be able to hit it. The revolver trembled violently in his grasp. The abominations were getting closer. Luke stepped back against a wall and leaned on it for support. It eased his legs and his body. His breathing increased in volume and in speed as the noises from the feral beasts approached his vicinity. Luke gulped at the dryness in his mouth, the hairs stood tall on the back of his neck, and if he wasn’t already leaning against a wall, he probably would have collapsed by now. He shook his head.
I have to focus
.

One of the things jumped through a door at the
other end of the corridor. Luke squinted and focused on the abomination. It glanced around the corridor until it spotted him. It shrieked loudly in a deafening high pitched tone, and then ran at full sprint in the direction of him.

“
Stay back!” Luke shouted at it. The savage didn’t reply, it never strayed from its collision course. “I’m warning you!” Luke continued. “Stay back or I’ll fire!” The thing ignored Luke’s warnings and continued its sprint towards him. He closed the eye closest to the revolver in anticipation of the bang that would surely ring throughout his ears. He fired wildly, more of a warning shot than actually trying to hit the abomination. Luke felt the recoil of the revolver. He should have prepared himself better. The thing squealed loudly in an even higher pitch than before. It turned away from him and ran back from where it came. He could hear the squeal for a while before it slowly faded away. Luke closed his eyes and breathed slowly to regain some control. He couldn’t stop wondering whether he had hit the abomination or not, he didn’t know if the blood on the walls, floor, or ceiling was from the thing he fired at or from something totally different.

Afte
r he had regained his composure, he carried on following the signs to the tram. Although he took extra care to be quiet this time. He cautiously checked every door, and crept stealthily. Unfortunately the metal soles of his shoes didn’t help this endeavour. He knew he wasn’t far from the tram. Memories of using it started to flood back. He remembered the first time he had used it with his sister, Megan and his girlfriend, Elizabeth. They were checking out each others living quarters. Megan was ‘seriously impressed’ with theirs. They couldn’t say the same thing about hers though. Her apartment was small, Elizabeth later described it as 'claustrophobic'.
She was exaggerating, it was fine... Cosy if anything
. He missed his sister. They were so close growing up. Their parents were on a voyage of their own, and they left Luke and Megan on their grandparents’ farm in the country. They spent most of their time playing games together, or exploring the nearby forest. Back when things were simple. He sighed deeply, and then regained focus on making his way to the tram.

He made his
approach to a balcony that led away from the corridor. The balcony overlooked one of the many tram stations. Luke smiled briefly, as he had nearly reached his destination. He glanced to either side of the balcony and looked for a way down to the level below him. A door opened to his left, he ducked and stared over to it. There was nothing. The door closed. He made his way to the right hand side of the balcony, away from the door which had just previously opened. He checked the nearest door to him. It was an empty office. He checked the next few. All offices, all deserted.

Luke eventually found the stairwell that would take him down to the level below. He slowly walked through the doorway, checked his corners, and then lowered his weapon once he was satisfied the
flight of stairs was clear of the savage brutes.
I can’t wait to find my sister
. It was the only thing that spurred him on.

As he walked down the first few steps, a smell made him gag. He stepped down another few steps, the smell only got worse.
Is it another half eaten, rotting body?
He pinched his nose with his fingers to mask the stench, but he began to get an unpleasant pungent taste as he breathed through his mouth. He turned the corner of the staircase as it spiralled around a motionless elevator, and saw a pile of unrecognisable bones; they could have been from anyone or anything. He averted his head away from them as he passed. He pressed the device to open the door. Nothing happened. He pressed it again and again. He couldn’t hold his breath for much longer. The door eventually opened, and he fell through gasping for air.

Luke rose from his knees, and dusted himself off. He looked up towards the tram station. There was no tram, and he hadn’t heard one. He began to grow nervous.
What if something has happened to the tram
? It would take too long to get around the ship on foot. He didn’t know if he’d be able to get around just by walking. It’d be too dangerous. He made his way to the side of the tram track. There was an information stand. It was dimly lit, but still visible. Luke stepped in front of it. There was no information apart from a message which scrolled across the bottom.

“
Would the nearest engineer please make their way to the engines and power section 32-B and reroute power.”
It was the same as the automated computerised message that was spoken over the speaker system.

Luke sat down on a nearby wooden bench. Words were carved into the wood. They just looked like random words, none of them made any sense. He checked his holstered revolver, and made sure his ammunition was still present. Once he had finished resting, he stood up straight, and walked towards the power section of the ship.
Looks like I'm going to have to restore the power myself.

The passageway looked empty. It was difficult to see across the small room with only the shallow glow of the backup lights. Luke walked slowly, he was on edge,
and he had a strange feeling about the cramped passageway. He had tiptoed to his targeted destination with a steady caution. The noises had at times surrounded him, but he never felt immediately threatened. His vision, although inhibited, was adjusting to the darkened shadows.
The creatures seem to be preoccupied. None of them have hunted directly for me.

There was a rattling noise to his left side. He turned quickly. It stopped, and then rattled again. Luke anticipated an altercation. He tried to prepare and envisioned a battle plan.
Stay quiet. Keep alert.
He told himself as the fine hairs pricked at his skin like rows of spiked needles standing to attention.
Perhaps I spoke too soon when I thought they were not hunting me.
Luke snatched the revolver out of its holster and aimed it at the wall. The noises were coming from the other side. He stuck his back against the opposite wall, and edged one foot at a time through the passage.

Luke abruptly stopped as his foot was blocked by something on the floor. He kicked at it. It felt softer than he had anticipated. He put his foot on it and pushed it. A body rolled over slowly. He kneeled down next to the body, and checked for a pulse. The neck was cold, the man had been dead for a while. Luke sighed as the noises along the wall appeared to have stopped. He waited. No scratches, no discernable movements to either
side. He placed his gun in its holster. It hung in readiness as he freed up the use of both his hands.

Luke checked the man’s body for anything that would be useful. He found a few things. A fresh bottle of water
that was unopened. He placed it into his backpack and continued to frisk. More suitable boots, luckily enough in his size. “Forgive me.” Luke mumbled, as his fingers momentarily struggled with the elaborate lacings.
They fit a treat.
He felt a shudder of guilt envelope him for a second. He wore a dead man's shoes. The boots would help him run and had a gripped sole. The dead man must have been a part of the security force, a man with a military background. There weren't many of them aboard. Mostly there wasn't much need for them because of the mood elevating drugs. It had been presented in the brochures as an unnecessary role amongst the recruited establishment. A police style security role was added as a political move so there was a visual representation of law, so all citizens would keep the peace.
They are glorified baby sitters.
Luke's fingertips searched further and he also found a UCSC wrist device, more advanced than the standard device assigned after deep sleep. He rotated the device around and looked for the restore to factory settings switch. He pressed it, and then placed the device onto his wrist. It flashed on. A blue light beamed out of the device and it forced Luke to turn away. His eyes had adjusted to the darkness of the ship and weren’t ready for the brightness of the device. It scanned for a moment, and then processed information, before an image and details about Luke Mason appeared on the small screen. He checked the radio on the device. It wasn’t working.
Just my luck
. Thankfully, some intranet services were still available. He could still send and receive calls.

The rattling from before sounded again. Luke jumped to his feet, alert. It almost sounded like a dog chained to a post,
only more aggressive.
The passageway split into a few different directions ahead of him. He glanced at his wrist device and opened up a high resolution map of the UCSC Defiance. It pinpointed his location on the map, and showed it as a pulsing blue orb. He zoomed out, there was one other blue pulsing orb on the map, several green pulsing orbs and hundreds of red pulsing orbs. There were also thousands of greyed out orbs throughout the map of the ship which didn’t pulse. He knew what that meant. They were signifying the people who no longer had a pulse. Luke had to take hold of his thoughts. Elizabeth was one of those greyed out orbs. She didn't have a pulse. She was no longer alive. Luke didn't have any answers. The madness aboard the spaceship still continued to plague him.
I've woken up from my deep sleep to my worst nightmare. Elizabeth is dead. Why? What could have made her take her own life? What would have pushed her to do it? Did the man whose boots I wear kill himself? His flesh wasn't mangled or eaten by those creatures... Those things, what are they? Why can't I escape this nightmare?
Luke stared at the coloured orbs on the device.
What do those other colours mean?

Luke placed the wrist device in front of him
self to light up the passage. The path ahead forked out in two different directions. The fastest way to the power section of the ship was past the room with the rattling noises. Luke gulped, he couldn't believe what he was thinking of doing.
Play it safe
, a part of him thought. But another part wanted to reach his sister as fast as he possibly could, yet curiosity got the better of him. He built up his courage, breathed deeply, and then headed down the forked path to his right.
I need answers. I need to find another living person. Are the blue pulsing orbs like me? Lost and alive?

The passageway changed into a larger corridor. Luke slowly moved forward, keeping his footsteps as quiet as he possibly could. The rattling chain noises
sounded again as he stepped further down the corridor. He noticed a door, broken and bent out of shape. It wouldn’t close, it couldn’t close.

The rattling grew in intensity, as Luke approached the door.
Maybe it can hear me…? Or smell me?
He put his back against the wall near the broken door and slowly poked his head through the gap. There were bedding sheets spread over one side of the room and more sheets were also placed like curtains to separate the room into two halves. The other half of the room was stripped clean, just the metal plating of the floor of the ship. The chain was long, and twisted. Luke followed it. It was attached to a pole at the back of the room and led to a chain wrapped woman who growled in a corner of the room. She was hunched over and violently shook from side to side, attempting to loosen the metal chains around her neck.

Luke heard a humming
sound coming from the sheet covered side of the room. He noticed another person who murmured random words. Luke checked around for anything else. There was nothing, other than the two people in the room. He slowly entered, and stepped upon the sheets. The man quickly looked up, his eyes wide, his face pale. He scurried back, further away from Luke. He looked frightened of him. Luke didn’t know what to do. He took another step towards the frightened man.

The woman growled loudly.
She hissed and shrieked before she sprinted towards Luke. Her arms flailed wildly in the air and her mouth foamed. Luke stepped back and aimed his revolver. But before he could fire the woman was flung backwards into the air. Her throat was choked by the metal chains around her neck. She smashed onto the floor. The chains loosened around her windpipe and she gasped for air. Luke saw the bloody red marks around her bruised neck, this wasn’t the first time she had choked herself. A hand fell onto Luke’s shoulder.

“
P…please, leave us b…be.” The man stuttered as he spoke, as if speaking hurt him. Luke jumped. He wasn’t sure what surprised him more, the hand on his shoulder, or that someone had spoken to him.

“
Why? What’s happened here?” Luke questioned, eager to listen to the man’s tale.

“
It…it took ever…everything from me.” The man returned to the corner of the room where he had been sitting and began to rock back and forth.

“
What took everything from you?” Luke asked. He crouched to meet the man’s eyes.

The man stared at Luke, confused and somewhat angry.
“IT!” The man shouted.

“
What did
it
take?”

“
It t…took everything… everything… M… My children, and m… my…” The man looked over at the woman chained up to the pole. Tears filled his eyes. “…My wife.”

“
Can I help you?” Luke inquired.

The man slowly looked up at Luke.
His lips struggled as he smiled. “H…help me?” He began to laugh uncontrollably. “No. My so…soul is clean, and o…only God can h…help them and you.” The smile vanished from the man’s face. “Now lea…leave us be!”

Luke exited the room, unsure of what to make of it. The only person sane enough to speak to him was still madly insane.
Or maybe I'm the one who is insane? Maybe this is all a nightmare?
Luke thought to himself.
If only.

He
continued along the corridor, en route to power section 32-B. He couldn’t stop thinking about what that man had said.
He had to be wrong
, Luke thought. I
can still help these people. There must be more people like me. Someone who can think and speak clearly, someone who hasn't lost their mind. I can't be the only one. I can help, and I'll start by restoring the non-essential power
.

The map showed that he was close to his destination. Luke checked for any activity, before he continued into power section 32-B. The backup lights were smashed. Luke had to rely on his wrist device
for illumination. The room had shards of glass scattered all across the floor. They reflected the light in a cone of star like sparkles as his wrist device was directed towards them. Luke observed the room. There was a dim red glow where a power cell should have been. He scanned around the room for the power cell, but he couldn’t see it.

He rested against the wall and scratched his head. He didn’t know what he was going to do. He scanned the room again. There was a small opening at the other corner of the room. He hoped it was a cabinet for a back up power cell. Luke eagerly made his way to the cabinet. He tried to open the door, but it was locked by a primitive padlock. He tussled with the lock. It didn’t budge. He angrily raised his revolver and fired at the padlock. The bullet crashed into the
ancient iron lock and ripped a hole in the cabinet’s door. The padlock lay in pieces scattered along the floor.

Luke eagerly opened the door to the cabinet, hoping that the bullet hadn't hit a power cell. The door opened, and a body fell out. Luke caught it, but quickly dropped the body as he saw that nothing was attached to the neck. The decapitated body clattered to the floor. He couldn’t see the head anywhere.
Who would put a decapitated body in a small confined place?
He couldn’t worry about that now, he was starting to get used to nasty surprises.

Relief washed over Luke as he saw an unused power cell in the cabinet. He holstered his revolver and grabbed the power cell with both hands. It was heavier than he had anticipated. It nearly slipped out of his hands. He slowly moved it over to the outline of the dimly lit hole. Luke placed it in, making sure it was the right way around. For a second there was nothing. But suddenly the whole room came to life. Lights shone brightly, so bright Luke had to shield his eyes.

“Thank you... unidentified engineer… for restoring non-essential power to 32-B. Have a pleasant day.”
The computerised automated voice spoke over the speaker system. Luke felt somewhat proud of himself, but that feeling quickly vanished as he heard a noise from outside the room.

He took out his revolver, and loaded another round into its cylinder. He edged to the door, and aimed his weapon. Nothing to his right. He looked to his left, and then lowered his
revolver. Luke holstered it, watching the figure in front of him, and then he raised his hands above his head and into the air. Luke stood, gesturing his full surrender.