Titan Fleet: The Invictus Part 8

"Umm, ma'am, we have been spotted. Two s.h.i.+ps approaching us from below. Shall I power up?" Nova looks to Megan for the ok. Megan is reluctant to leave, but she knows it is in the best interest of the crew.

"Lets blast out of here, Nova. Sam, are you ready?"

"Ready. Lets give them something gritty." As the Invictus springs off the perch they were on, the two smaller s.h.i.+ps begin to shoot at them. Talia, who is still in a gunner seat, begins the exchange fire with them and then Sam pulls the leaver releasing the mines and oxygen up into the air. Like balloons drifting at a fair, they scatter far and wide not knowing where they will end up.

Fragments. .h.i.t one of the pursuing s.h.i.+ps and the mines explode, rupturing the s.h.i.+ps hull and spewing out some of its crew. The s.h.i.+p spirals out of control downwards and a large explosion is seen as it ploughs into a large strut that holds a small gantry. The gantry splits in two and falls downwards, making a din and causing destruction along its path, until it settles just out of sight of the Invictus.

"Oh yeah baby! That will teach ya!" shouts Talia, and there is a moments relief that they have lost one from their tail. Once the last piece of s.p.a.ce junk has left the sc.r.a.p bay, Sam seals the giant doors and heads for his lab. He meets up with his new alien chums, who are carrying some sc.r.a.p parts on their way to the engine room. They too have been busy bees. They nod at Sam, but waste no time speaking with him. They must have something important to do, he thinks.

The second s.h.i.+p closes in on the Invictus, ramming it a few times, making the Invictus spin out of control. The Invictus smashes through what seems to be an alien birthing centre, sending orange slime everywhere, and out the other side to face a ma.s.sive reactor, the likes of which no one on the s.h.i.+p has seen before. The power spikes send out large hands of lightning that claw at the Invictus and buzz all around the s.h.i.+p, until a whip like charge curls around the front of the following alien s.h.i.+p and pulls the nose down, throwing it off course and into a large tower of pulsating punishment.

Nova fights for control, as parts of the Invictus splinter off, like red embers in the night sky, and soon they reach the s.h.i.+mmer gateway to s.p.a.ce.

"Ok Nova, turn back around. Have you got line of sight on that reactor?" Nova slows the s.h.i.+p and turns, sc.r.a.ping the rear a little on a floating s.h.i.+p that is unmanned.

"A few seconds and I will maam. The controls are damaged but Ill compensate. Rusty, get the PD1 ready to fire. Lets finish them."

The Gulmeds arrive in the engine room and Rusty is preparing the PD1 when they walk in.

"What is and why?" The two thin figures rush to see the strange device.

"Now this will make a big boom in here and hopefully destroy that s.h.i.+p for good, comprende? Now scoot over there, chaps, out of the way." Rusty gently pushes the two interested Gulmeds out of the way. This only pays off for about five seconds until one distracts him and the other starts to tinker with the missile.

"Tis ok, Rust Tree, we have helped before and help now." Rusty is at first reluctant, but then stands back and lets the two aliens tinker. He knows the missile is in safe hands and their ways are far superior to his, not to mention the parts that they had salvaged from their own s.h.i.+p and ease in which they work to fit the new components. The three continue working as a team for a while until the missile is ready, armed with an extra punch and also the engines have been modified, and now the Hyper Gyron 4, fondly known as Higgy, is ready for action once again.

"Ready maam." Megan crosses her fingers and hopes Pace gets out in time. She opens communications to both Paces gauntlet and the cargo s.h.i.+p and hopes he can hear her.

"Darling, Im going to fire now. You get out of there, ok, and do it now." Megan looks at Nova and orders the hit. The missile rockets out of the Invictus faster than the naked eye can see, the modifications working overtime. A winding white smoke pours out of the back of it, like a snake shedding its skin.

"Get us out of here, Nova." The Invictus and its crew waste no time and dont even see the missile hit the ma.s.sive reactor, as they are moving too fast out through the s.h.i.+mmer, but scanners pick up that the missile is deflected away from the reactor and slams into a communications tower instead. The sheer power is felt through the s.h.i.+p.

Chapter Forty-Four.

A shock wave sends Pace flying to the floor just as he gets close to some small life pods. Pace gains his feet and scrubs away the years of oil and grime from the access window on the life pod. He peers in quickly to see if anyone was still in there, or if it was being used to store things in like the last one was. To his shock he can just make out an outline of a person. He grabs the pod and begins to pull it towards the s.h.i.+p, thinking he was not going to leave this person to be fed to the blue dogs. The alien vessel has been damaged and is beginning to fracture and rumble like an upset stomach.

"Anc, get the s.h.i.+p running, we need blast off a.s.a.p." Pace is now sweating so much it is dripping in his eyes, stinging them. He rubs them and as he does a large beam crashes to the floor to the left of him. He quickens his efforts. He knows this place will be his tomb soon if he doesnt move faster. With just a few yards to go the lights on the cargo s.h.i.+p ping to life, such a welcome sight to sore eyes for Pace and with the last of his energy, he drags the life pod aboard the s.h.i.+p and slams his hand on the door b.u.t.ton. The door screeches shut. Pace crashes to the floor with pains in his chest. The alien hitchhiker has grown on Paces chest, constricting his flow of oxygen and making him feel dizzy. He turns onto his belly from his back and claws at the floor pulling himself towards the s.h.i.+ps bridge.

"Anc, help, I can't ... you need to get the s.h.i.+p ..." Pace pa.s.ses out on the floor of the loading bay, darkness all around him apart from a few work lights. Anc comes charging into the bay, checks Pace for vitals, which he finds are good, and disappears off back to the bridge, where he ignites the engines and blasts off, just as the floor underneath them falls away into the darkness of s.p.a.ce.

Large chunks of alien s.h.i.+p are now pounding on the little cargo s.h.i.+p. Explosions and splinters of metal are thrown in the path of the tiny s.h.i.+p. Anc avoids what looks like a loading crane from hitting them head on, a certain death certainly avoided, only to be hit in the rear of the s.h.i.+p by blaster fire. It seems the aliens have not taken kindly to their s.h.i.+p being ripped in half. The once t.i.tan s.h.i.+p is now two large pieces of s.h.i.+p. The rear, where Pace and Anc are, and the front of the s.h.i.+p, which still seems to be in fair shape. The furious alien pursuer hits the small s.h.i.+p again and again, until the rear s.h.i.+eld is no more and the tiny s.h.i.+p crash lands on the deck of jagged teeth of metal.

Anc opens a hatch above him and climbs out, being hit from all angles by objects from this inhospitable environment. He spots the alien fighter s.h.i.+p turning around and fires his grapples into the rear of it, and hooking his claw feet into the hull of his s.h.i.+p, it is all about how strong he is and how well he was built. The tension builds and the cargo s.h.i.+p begins to move, being towed by the unsuspecting alien fighter. Ancs metal begins to bend under the pressure but he stands fast. The cargo s.h.i.+p lifts up and floats in the vacuum of s.p.a.ce now. Around it there is a clear divide between the two halves of s.h.i.+p and Anc wants that black bit of s.p.a.ce in-between the two. He retracts his grapples from the fighter just at the right moment, when the alien uses his thrusters for a boost, and now travelling twice as fast without the cargo s.h.i.+p in tow, the alien goes hurtling into a spear shape spike of metal, where it is impelled and hangs motionless. The cargo s.h.i.+p is now drifting without a pilot, cras.h.i.+ng and bouncing into every piece of s.p.a.ce debris in the area. The s.h.i.+p spins on all axes and Anc manages to get back to the helm after a few minutes.

Chapter Forty-Five.

Megan watches for signs of life, but there are too many pieces of s.h.i.+p spinning out there to notice Paces cargo s.h.i.+p. Screaming Megan slumps her head into her hands.

"No, no, no. I have killed him. Nooo!" Tears pour out and flow down her face like a leaf on a waterfall. Nova puts the s.h.i.+p on auto-pilot and runs to comfort Megan.

"Hey, you dont know that for sure. Hey, look at me. Pace is tough stuff and he has survived so much, he wont let a few blues worry him. Come on, lets join the Robur and finish this son of a gun." Nova, now holding Megans face, smiles and lifts her chin up gently. "You can do this, Megan, trust me." Megan wipes her tears away with the back of her hand and sits up bold in the chair, flashes of good times with Pace running through her mind like an unbroken horse. They join the Robur, which is severely damaged, and continue firing at the front of the t.i.tan s.h.i.+p, although they do not seem to be doing a lot of damage.

"Get me Miles, Nova. We could use his s.h.i.+p for a little idea I have." Nova bashes at the keys at the same time avoiding fire.

"Nothing. We have nothing from them. I have just scanned their crew, only three crew members are left alive and vitals on one are failing." Three more ball s.h.i.+ps latch onto the Robur, which now looks done for.

"Keep trying, Nova." Pah-boom! An amazing white light is seen exploding out of the rear half of the t.i.tan s.h.i.+p, now floating a few miles away from the front. What was once a large piece of s.h.i.+p is now a billion of chunks of metal.

Chapter Forty-Six.

Luckily for the little cargo s.h.i.+p, it was just far enough away from the blast to have not been damaged. However, the damage was done by the savage alien fighter, because now they only had thrusters and no main engine power.

Pace opens his eyes. He is still on his belly, and there is a smell of old oil and tar running up his nostrils, which kick starts his senses again. He finds strength to get to his feet and upon standing he pats himself down checking for damage, there is none, but he notices that more of his human flesh is now alien blue flesh. What is happening to me, he wonders, but more importantly, I am alive at least. Pace finds Anc and greets him well and the two of them sit at the controls, deciding their next move.

"We need to get in sight of the Invictus, so they can see us and grab us, but this t.i.tan is in the way and moving faster than us. We cant even signal, d.a.m.n it!" As Pace slams his hand down on his chair, his t-s.h.i.+rt rips revealing blue skin.

"Sir, you have more blue, are you feeling ok or should I quarantine you?" Ancs weapons come online.

"Power down, Anc, Im fine. When we get back to the Invictus, there is an expert that will fix me up, Im sure. Now, just fly this junk that way, will ya."

Chapter Forty-Seven.

Megan sees the lights on the Robur flicker and then the Invictus takes yet another heavy blow, but stands it well.

"I need to get to the Robur, Nova, youre in command. Im taking Talia and the Gulmeds with me. Im not planning on staying long, just a quick 'grab the survivors and set the s.h.i.+p for collision course and bingo." Megan taps Talia on the shoulder and the two women leave the bridge in haste. Sam soon after enters the bridge and straps himself in Talias empty chair and begins to fire on the alien vessel.

Megan meets up with Rusty and the Gulmeds and the away team is almost ready. They take a few moments to check out the runner and any supplies they will need and don their s.p.a.cesuits ready for action. Rusty returns to the engine room, happy to be alone for a while, and tidies up the mess the Gulmeds had made, but the engine and life support system was doing a lot better now, and if the engine was happy so was Rusty.

"Ma'am, I have taken the liberty of fitting a large sword like version of the poison dagger to the suits that you and Talia are wearing, along with plenty of killer juice for those pesky aliens, should you encounter them. The sword is voice activated by the word 'Sabre and should do you proud. Also, you have incinerators in your chest panel. Obviously Talia has her own things on her suit, that I did not want to play with, but I hope this helps, Captain." Sam is looking at Megan through his gauntlet screen. She can see concern in his eyes, but he wears a smile to cover it.

"Thank you, Sam, youre a star. What is going on with this helmet, its odd and where is mine?" Megan is inspecting this new helmet in her hands. It has the normal exoskeleton part, but she cant see how it works.

"I have been busy. Your new helmet will enable you to wear your hair on the outside while still being able to breathe inside. Put it on will you and try it out." Megan raises the helmet above her head and lowers in down over her crown. The s.h.i.+eld kicks in as normal and covers her face with a yellow glow and it seals behind her head, but this time her hair is able to flow without any disruption to her s.h.i.+eld or breathing.

"I thought you may need to breathe at the same time as you lose your temper ma'am, if you forgive me in saying, your hair could save your life."

Megan smiles, going slightly red in the checks like a ripe tomato. "As I said, Sam, you are a star." The team of four board the runner and prepare for blast off. Talia is at the helm and Megan is sat next to her. The two Gulmeds are sat just behind, not saying a word or knowing what is going on.

"Ok, Talia, lets kick it." The engine fires up and they shoot out of the Invictus like a bullet from a gun, the thrust kicking them back in their seats and making their tummies flip. They head towards the Robur, hoping it is not too late to help the survivors.

Nova steers the Invictus away slightly to draw attention, so the little runner is not targeted and they stand a better chance of getting to their destination. The Invictus is. .h.i.t several times with huge blasts of energy that buckle the s.h.i.+ps outer hull plating, but not breaching it. The lights flicker on and off like Morse code.

"Not good, sorry." Nova is doing her best to avoid streams of fire now put down by the t.i.tan, which look like a million fireflies wanting on her s.h.i.+p. The s.p.a.ce here is now such a hostile environment. Large husks of s.h.i.+p float around, just waiting to collide with their next victim, and blaster fire just waiting to connect with a hull, but Nova suddenly feels a moment of peace in it all. Maybe its the adrenaline pumping through her veins like an unstoppable train, but she can see things clearly and is able to react in plenty of time to avoid certain death.

Chapter Forty-Eight.

The little runner picks its way through the minefield of twisted metal and blue bodies that litter s.p.a.ce around them, until they latch on to the Robur, happy to have survived their journey. The air lock is ready to open in moments, thanks to Talias piloting skills.

"Ok everyone, we all stick together, ok, and we will get through this. Helmets on." With weapons at the ready and work lights from their suits s.h.i.+ning on the airlock door, they are ready. The door opens revealing the interior of the s.h.i.+p and it is mostly in darkness. Their hearts in their mouths, they step onto the Robur. The airlock door closes behind them. The door surround is lit up like a Christmas tree, so they will have no trouble finding it coming back. They are in the Roburs loading bay at the bottom of the s.h.i.+p. Crates and food supplies are broken open and have been thrown about the place and visible damage to the inside of the s.h.i.+p is immense. Blaster fire and large gouges pattern the wall around them, making everyone feel uneasy and jumpy. A beam of light from Talias suit hits the remains of what was once a crew member. It seems he has fought off two blues and fell after glorious battle.

Walking closer to the torn man, Talia notices his suit was military like hers, and as she turns the mans head to face her, she is thrown back in shock. Talia knows this man. He was a hard piece in the force, who made everyones life h.e.l.l at boot camp. Thinking back to when he made her life h.e.l.l, she can remember it all too well and s.h.i.+vers run down her spine, like little ants scurrying for food. On her first day at boot camp she can remember 'The Sergeant coming face to face with her and yelling at her, "What is a girl doing in my force? What do you expect to achieve here, cuz I can tell ya, you wont pa.s.s?" This made Talia determined to pa.s.s out, but as time went on at the camp, the sergeant made her life very difficult. She got all the hard duties, cleaning toilets, guard duty, weapons cleaning, s.h.i.+p prep, the list went on and while the other recruits got some rest time she never did. One night she was cleaning the floors in the toilets when he walked in smiling, she knew he was going to be mean as he was smiling. "Attention recruit. Now let me see, youre still here, eh, well you better be gone by tomorrows parade." He then pulled off his parade stick and began to beat Talia with it and in retaliation Talia fought back. She punched and kicked him almost to a pulp, because Talia was a talented fighter even back then. She left him lying in his own blood on the floor and the next day at the parade, he was not to be seen, he was in medbay, and she pa.s.sed out with a smile on her face. She knew that things would be different now for women who wanted to join the force, but found out about the hundreds he had beat over the years. "Sc.u.mbag, no one will miss ya." She spits at him.

The team continues to search the loading bay for survivors, but none are to be found. Approaching closer to the lift, they notice sparks and jumping cables, spinning like sparklers in a hand of a child.

"d.a.m.n it, the lift is out, we will have to find another way up." Talia whispers quietly. Megan touches Talias shoulder and beckons the team to follow her.

"This way. We need to get this hatch off and there should be a ladder up. Ill go first. Stay quiet." The hatch is quickly but quietly taken off and Megan disappears in to the darkness, shortly followed thereafter by Talia. The two following Gulmeds are very cautious. Their suits are so much different and emit light all over so they can see very well. On their home world they lived underground, so needed a good light source. In fact, they stand out like a sore thumb and that is why they are at the back, so they can give the team back light. They speak to each other in their native tongue.

"Where are we going? I dont like this. The Oakthians are here and these humans are a strange bunch. They seem fixed on destruction and will bring us nothing but pain." Draxeounous turns to Steganthian and comforts her.

"Do not worry, my queen. We are what seems the last of our kind and many have died to get us this far. Once we get to the Tarkons, they will be able to protect you, but until then, I will keep you safe, you know this." Helping Steganthian through the hatch, they both turn and look up. The others are climbing up and their lights are disappearing fast. "For now we must follow and live." The hatch at the top, leading onto the bridge floor, is easy to open and Megan slides her way out without a sound, closely followed by Talia and then the Gulmeds. This floor is just as damaged as the last floor. Suddenly, blaster fire is heard in the canteen, so Megan is on her heels straight away towards the room, with Talia on her tail. The Gulmeds, however, are clever warriors and not wanting to be seen so that they can gain the advantage, their cloaking devices activate and their suit lights dim, and they just disappear from sight.

Megan enters the room to see havoc. There is a blue standing on a table getting ready to pounce on its victim, who is fighting another blue in the corner. A woman, who has been torn to shreds but is still alive, is crawling across the room being stalked by a third blue, and a fourth blue is just about to enter the room from the opposite side. A third human is cowering in the corner crying mercy. Megan launches an attack, using a chair as a launch pad, to get to the poised blue on the table and on shouting, "Sabre!" a large glowing yellow sword extends from her suit, dripping with ooze. With a violent swing, the sword slices the arm and shoulder away from the unsuspecting blue, and the momentum and force behind her attack sends it screeching to the floor in agony, while she gains her footing victoriously on top of the table for all to see.

Talia, impressed with what she has just seen, also calls "Sabre!", and a yellow glow once again appears, like a light of hope for the battered crew. Wanting to show her fighting skills to Megan, Talia slides across the floor behind the stalking blue and cuts both its legs off in one swooping blow. The creature falls back, blood pumping out into the air like jets of water from a sprinkler. She activates her magnetised boots, springing her back up to her feet and she jumps up into the air to deliver a falling blow, with her new found weapon into the monsters chest, ripping it open with ease and then continuing to beat upon it to make sure it is dead, spraying the room with blue blood. The invisible Gulmeds witness this and are shocked that human females can be such deadly warriors.

"Remind me never to upset them, they are strong."

"My queen, I would like to see one of them face a Tarkon warlord, that would be interesting." The two Gulmeds continue to watch the fray with curiosity. The cowering crew member now decides to make a run for it, but his legs give out on him after a shattering blow struck from the alien that Megan had just floored wanting revenge. The mans severed legs shoot out across the floor, leaving a b.l.o.o.d.y trail for all to see. He screams as the alien claws at him and flings his now limp body towards Megan on the table. Megan drops off the table and sprints towards the blue in retaliation. The blue, not finished, shoots out of his body several parasites that spin through the air towards Megan, like a shower of unearthly plague. She dodges and ducks and they all miss, to her luck.

Talia, now having made a mess on the floor, heads for the man struggling in the corner. She notices his captain stripes on his chest. Ah, the glorious Captain Miles, she thinks, stopping for a second, deciding if she should do every one a favour and let him die. No not today and not this way, he was still human and in trouble, his face looking at her with fear and covered in blue parasites eating his skin. Talia plunges her sword into the back of the blue and it wails out. Wow, Talia thinks, this stuff Sam made was effective stuff indeed. She forces the sword upwards and eventually it becomes free out of the top of the creatures head, and along with a battle cry from Talia, she cleaves it in two. She is now facing Captain Miles. She is covered in alien blood and simply smiles at him, wiping the ooze from her eyes. Laughing at Talia, Miles lifts his arm up and blasts Talia in the stomach with his glowing gauntlet. She screams and the echo of it sends s.h.i.+vers down Megans spine. Falling backwards, Talia cannot believe what has just happened. She never thought she would go out like this. How could a fellow human do this to her, and as she lay writhing on the floor with Miles peering down at her, she manages to whisper, "Why?" Miles crouches confidently next to Talia. He knows Megan is busy and no one else is around to help.

"I have a job to do and I get paid a lot for doing it, my dear, and I do my job well and that is why Eve employed me to do anything necessary to get the job done. Now all that I do is wait to see who wins that fight over there and kill the other, and then I get to your s.h.i.+p and give them my sob story on how you all rescued me and died in the process and I continue my mission." Talia is angry and tries to get up to fight him, but just cant muster the strength. Miles puts his hand over her nose and mouth.

"Shush, not a word, and hurry to your maker." Talia struggles for her final breath.

Megan glances over to see Miles and is disgusted that he is willing to murder his own kind, but she can do nothing to help her friend because now the blue she is fighting has the upper hand. Two of its arms have pinned Megan to the wall and a third is pounding her left to right, and she too is on the verge of pa.s.sing out. Laughing and looking down, Miles feels victorious, but then he starts to convulse and he lets go of Talia, who gasps for air still hanging on to her dear life. A spear type weapon is uncloaking, and as it thrusts its way through Miles chest, exposing his ribs, it carries his flesh on the end of it. He is lifted up and thrown across the room, where he lies motionless, not making a sound. A second spear hits the last blue in the face. The spear glows with light before the blue disintegrates into a puff of ash, falling like blossom on Megans relieved face. Megans first reaction is to get to Talia, and as she gets to her feet she can see that Talia has been lifted in the air and is being worked on by the Gulmeds. She is in an aura of light, slowly and gently spinning around. Megan tries to touch Talia for support, but is repelled by a force field and is thrown to the floor.

"We are sorry, Megan, this is our way. No one can interfere." Megan just sits and watches in awe of the healers doing their work. It looks so peaceful. Until the barrage of blast begins once more, this time from the t.i.tan s.h.i.+p, which now must know that their boarding party are all dead. Megans moment of peace is over and she scrambles to the bridge as fast as she can through the other door to the canteen. She opens the door to the bridge to see one console still working, the rest seem to be damaged and are sparking and buzzing. She starts to hear the hazard warning buzzer for low life support and frantically taps the console. She needs power and fast, but everything is dark. If only a mechanic could help but the Gulmeds were busy. Frustrated, Megan hammers the console sparking in front of her.

"Oh, just fantastic! First I kill my boyfriend, now this." Megan feels her eyes begin to well up, but a small flicker of light appears on the computer to the left of her. She investigates and finds that it is a robot that has finished its routine checks, obviously oblivious of the attack, or it has been repairing the s.h.i.+p as it was damaged, who knows but it could be the help she needs, she thinks, calling the robot to the bridge to help.

"Captain, how do you fare? Do you read me?" Nova crackles before Megan on screen, which seems to be working for now anyway, which is a blessing. "Captain, Im only picking up one life source on the s.h.i.+p. Are you there?"

Megan replies, "Nova, we are ok, all alive. The Gulmeds are in a status field with Talia so you cant read them, but she is in good hands. The rest of this crew are gone. We had a bit of a fight and Miles turned on us. We are just drifting. We will get on the runner a.s.a.p., and be back soon. How are things there?"

Nova looks over to Sam. "I can see her, but I cant hear her, Sam. I fear the others are dead but at least Megan is alive. I will monitor her and try to keep her on screen." Sam, who is still busy blasting away at anything that moves, answers Nova.

"Mime, Nova. Get her to mime."

Megan waits for the answer. "Nova, do you read me?"

Nova responds. "Captain, we cant hear you, thumbs up if you can hear us." Nova watches the screen and sure enough gets two thumbs up from Megan. Nova is relieved, but Megan does not believe her luck today.

The door to the bridge opens and Megan spins around, to see standing before her a three foot tall, blue tech robot. On its chest plate a clear code is seen T1TCH. Megan smiles. The little robot speaks.

"T1TCH reporting. Please identify." Nova also sees the robot enter the room and is happy that Megan is no longer alone, not knowing the great feat of healing going on in the other room.

"I am Acting Captain Frost of the Invictus. I am trying to help here. Your s.h.i.+p has been boarded and is losing power fast. We need to restore life support and fast." The small blue robot stands still, little lights sparkling on it as it processes information.

"Scan complete and data checked. Welcome aboard, Acting Captain Frost. Mission, please." Megans brain is swimming with a million things but oxygen would be great, she thinks as her head is feeling heavy.

"You will be known as t.i.tch from now on and I need you to get life support back on line, and then power to the s.h.i.+p, but to keep us alive will always be priority one. Ok, little fella." The robot moves and sticks its thumb up "Okey-dokey, Captain." t.i.tch leaves the room faster than he arrived and heads for the engine room. The door slides open very slow and smoke bellows out of the room. There is a small fire blazing, but t.i.tch makes quick work of putting it out. The room is dark and there is a lot to fix. An endless task to some but he begins to start work. He lifts up some cables and some of the damaged ones spark randomly, knocking out circuits all over the s.h.i.+p. The s.h.i.+p was in a mess. The screen goes blank on Megans console and contact is lost between her and the Invictus.

Megan goes back to the Gulmeds and tells them that she is running out of air and she is going back to the runner for an air boost pack. The Gulmeds just nod, still working on Talia, who is now asleep. Walking away from the Gulmeds and the amazing light they produce, Megan feels fear creep in. Climbing down the ladder, not seeing much below or above is not good for the mind. She stops and takes a moment. She begins to remember that horrid day when she lost her hair, but then quickly snaps back out of her trance to continue down.

When she finally reaches the loading bay, a sigh of relief and a better feeling washes over her. Megan loads a new air boost canister into her suit and her head begins to clear again, much to her delight. She tries to contact the Invictus using the s.h.i.+ps console, but something is jamming it, so she gives up. Once again, she heads for the dark ladder, but suddenly power lights appear on the lift and some of the s.h.i.+ps power is restored, so taking this chance she calls the lift down.

When the doors open, she is met by three dead crew members, who must have managed to kill the blue that is led on top of them. What a day for mankind, Megan thought, these blues showed no mercy, no remorse and no sign of stopping. They had to stop them from getting to Foloss and wiping out humanity, but how? The door opens at the bridge floor, but this time there was light. Walking through the canteen, seeing all the blood and carnage, Megan looks over at the poor woman that was still alive not so long ago, but had now died from blood loss. Megan thought about this womans family and friends, and then Megan began to think about Pace and how he had died and where he was now and how life would be without him. Tears poured down her face so quickly she was unable to dry them. She thought to herself, love is the strongest force in the universe and it will always be reunited, it will always find a way. Well, that is what her Grandmother used to say anyway.

Bam! The s.h.i.+p was. .h.i.t again. The lights go out and the gravity stabilisers fail, lifting Megan off the floor and slamming her from wall to wall. Spinning and twisting, the Robur is out of control. It is powerless and dark. Megan uses her thrusters on her suit to level herself and manages to magnetize to the ceiling so she can walk once again, but objects are floating all around, almost as bad as the outside s.p.a.ce, she thinks. The Gulmeds and Talia are unaffected in the stasis field.

Chapter Forty-Nine.