28.
Sully and Fuller drifted down the corridor with their backs pressed together. Fuller providing thrust with the occasional push off a wall or bulkhead with his legs while Sully directed them, gun pointed ahead, eyes darting about for signs of the spyder.
Sully and Fuller drifted down the corridor with their backs pressed together. Fuller providing thrust with the occasional push off a wall or bulkhead with his legs while Sully directed them, gun pointed ahead, eyes darting about for signs of the spyder.
"You
think it went after the others?" Fuller asked as they approached the small
armoury.
"Probably,
it has been quiet since we separated, but I'm not ruling out that sneaky fuck
waiting for us somewhere" replied Sully.
"What
you reckon's going on?"
"No
idea, but best to save the questions for when we've blasted the shit out of the
spyder" Sully was curt in his reply, stress showing.
"You
sound like Gumelar" Fuller grumbled
"She's
about a million years old; you don't get that far in life without learning a
survival tip or two. And I like the idea of surviving. Now quit it with the
questions and get the door open while I cover the corridor" Sully used his
legs to arrest their progress against the door to the armoury, before swinging
around to cover the corridor while Fuller moved to the door.
"Er,
it's unlocked" said Fuller after a moment.
"What?"
Sully glanced behind him in surprise.
"Now
who's asking the questions? I said it's unlocked"
"Ok, we
breach and enter on my mark" Sully instructed, turning to aim at the
door.
"Sure"
Fuller bent low to let Sully aim over him, then pulled the door open.
Pushing off
the wall facing the door, Sully flew into the small armoury, quickly turning
about in the zero g to check all corners.
"Clear"
he said after a couple of seconds, prompting Fully to enter and pull the door
closed behind him.
There was
barely enough room for both of them in the room, the marines once again pushing
together back to back. The three walls on the none-door sides had an assortment
of light weaponry stored on floor to ceiling racks. Sully and Fuller slowly
turned in a circle as they surveyed the options.
"What
you gonna go for?" asked Sully after a little while.
"You
planning on sticking with the rifle?"
"Uh-huh,
but I'll grab some of the armour piercing rounds if I can find them" Sully
bent down by a waist height stack of draws, digging through the ammunition
contained within.
"Good
plan. Might do the same myself....oh, you beauty"
What?!"
Sully turned quickly.
"Never
knew we rocked these bad boys" Fuller looked at Sully with a wide grin.
"What is
it? Your stupid big body is in the way"
Fuller turned
back to the rack he was in front of, then back to Sully, this time with a
weapon proudly held in his hands.
"A
Fulcrum Buster 3.7" Fuller reverently stroked the weapon in his arms, the
dark grey of it catching the overhead light.
"Er..."
Sully never really was one of your macho weapon expert marines.
"A
proper old fashioned room clearer. This'll rip the spyder about twenty new
assholes in a single shot"
"Some
kind of shotgun?" Sully still wasn't sure what Fuller was talking
about.
"Sort
of, 'cept it uses a fucking titanic magnetic field to fling the shot at ultra
high velocity. These things are illegal in three of the eight nations"
"That
safe in the confines of the ship?" Sully was worried.
"Only
one way to find out" Fuller flicked a switch on the weapon's side, top
display blinking on, bio-link permissions established. "Let's go spyder
hunting" he opened the door and headed out.
Sully shook
his head, shrugged, then pocketed the rest of the armour piercing rounds before
heading after Fuller. Once again back to back, but this time with Fuller in
front, the two marines set off back towards the machine shop.
"You
hear that?" Fuller asked after they'd travelled a little while.
"Hear
what? My ears are still ringing after that Titan exploded right next to
me"
"Sounded
like gunshots"
Sully pushed
off the next wall harder, speeding up their progress. Down in the machine shop
the gun fire stopped.
The screaming
began.
****
The spyder had entered through the polymer-synthesis facility, plastic sludge dripping from it as it pushed the lid from the machine and into the room. Brook had been sat right next to the vat of polymer resin, her mouth dropping open as the spyder emerged. She didn't have time to even raise her crowbar as the drone languidly slapped her out of the way with one of its snake like limbs. Hitting the wall face first Brook yelped, waiting for the bite of the spyder's deadly front jaws. But the bite didn't come.
****
The spyder had entered through the polymer-synthesis facility, plastic sludge dripping from it as it pushed the lid from the machine and into the room. Brook had been sat right next to the vat of polymer resin, her mouth dropping open as the spyder emerged. She didn't have time to even raise her crowbar as the drone languidly slapped her out of the way with one of its snake like limbs. Hitting the wall face first Brook yelped, waiting for the bite of the spyder's deadly front jaws. But the bite didn't come.
Brook turned
herself around, vision once again accompanied by those red blobs of blood
orbiting her head; it felt like she'd broken her nose. The rest of the room was
in chaos. Mason had drifted forward, rifle making a shrill hissing noise as the
pneumatic low recoil firing mechanism pumped bullets into the spyder's body.
The drone, meanwhile had one long limb draped around Si's body, and another
round one of Lloyd's ankles. Kel and Chen were ineffectively trying to free
their compatriot, while Lloyd yelled and swore. Si, meanwhile, was frozen in
terror as the front jaws came towards him, Billington's congealed blood still
adorned the serrated edges.
Why is it targeting Si and that pirate?
Brook wondered. The answer quickly came to her. Because they're the two with the technical ability to stop the spyder,
to stop Gumelar's takeover. She snarled. Time for action.
A few things
happened next so close together that it was impossible to tell in what order
they occurred: Mason's gun beeped empty, the marine swearing in frustration; the
spyder let go of the two hackers and flew back into the molten polymer with a
sticky wet splosh; and
Brook smacked Gumelar in the head with her
crowbar.
Si
screamed.
The other
occupants of the room drifted where they had ended up following the spyder's
latest attack in silence, no one really understanding what just happened.
"You
guys ok in there?" Fuller's voice was muffled by the barricade at the
door, and partially drowned out by Si's prolonged scream.
"Er,
sort of" replied Kel who was closest to the door.
"Any
injuries?" a brown eye appeared at a small gap in the piled workbench's;
Sully.
"Your
girlfriend just brained the Sarge" shouted Mason, while glaring at Brook
"The fuck you do that for?" she said to the engineer.
"She was
controlling the spyder" Brook explained, words tumbling out of her mouth
as she tried to make those around understand. To make stop looking at her like
she was nuts.
"What?"
snapped Mason. With the gun out of ammunition, the marine had turned it round
to hold it by the barrel, ready to use it as a club. She drifted towards Brook
exuding menace.
"Listen"
Brook pleaded, hands out at her side, the crowbar dropped in the assault on
Gumelar. "The spyder, it went when I knocked the Sergeant out, she was controlling it. That's why it
was attacking Si, because he might be able to stop her. Don't you see?"
Brook glanced around, looking for an ally. Two of the three pirates looked
away, but the brooding one with the beard held her gaze for a little time,
frowning.
"The
spyder went because I shot it to pieces" Mason edged closer.
"You ran
out of ammo"
"After it left"
"Enough"
said Chen as he let himself drift between the two women "We're not through
this yet. Let's get the barricade down"
"Who the
fuck asked for your opinion?" Mason had pushed off the floor to put a bit
of space between her and Chen, but only so as to be able to get a better swing.
"He
makes sense" called Sully through the barricade, eye at the hole still
peering in "We need to get Gumelar some medical attention" he gaze
came to rest on the drifting, unconscious form of the Sergeant in the centre of
the room "Then figure out whether the spyder is coming back or not"
It took a
while to break down the barricade. Mason refused to take her eyes of Brook, so
wouldn't help the others. Kel made some tentative efforts to dress the gaping
wound on the back of the Sergeants head, which was leaking blood globules into
the room. This left Chen, Lloyd and Brook on one side, and Sully on the other,
while Fuller guarded the corridor.
With a couple
of the workbenches out of the way, Sully was able to clamber through. One
glance at Mason and he decided not to pass her any of his ammunition, she
looked about ready to snap, gun still held by the barrel. Instead he turned to
Kel who was floating over Gumelar.
"Is she
er...?" he nodded at the Sergeant.
"She's
breathing and I think I can feel a pulse, but this isn't really my thing, needs
a proper medic drone" Kel replied.
"Ok, we
make that the priority" Sully glanced over to Brook, a questioning look in
his eyes, but then a shake of the head. "FULLER!" he turned away from
her to shout at the the hatchway.
"Yup?"
"We're
gonna float the Sarge out, get her to the med-bay"
"Sure
thing" the big marine replied.
"Ok, you
and you" a nod at Lloyd and Kel "get either end of the Sergeant,
drift her out of the room. Be careful" Sully watched as they moved to
obey.
"Sully,
please" Brook put a hand on his arm, but the marine pulled it away.
"Not
now" he said coldly, not even looking at her.
"It's
important, I can explain. I can prove it. Gumelar was in control of the
spyder" she pleaded.
"Prove
it? How?" Sully had turned back to her, she had his attention. Brook was
also away of the others staring at her, even Kel and Lloyd had paused at the
hatchway, Gumelar's legs poking through the hole in the barricade.
"She..."
Brook gulped, looking towards Gumelar, "she broke through to the central
core AI, through a wall in an old store cupboard, I can show it to you. She
used the spyder to do it, then covered her traces. Must have perverted the AI
somehow, put her in control" Brook glanced around nervously, the others were
still staring at her, Sully frowning hard.
"That wasn't Gumelar" said Mason after a few
seconds. "It was me".
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