Survival, Dark Times Read online

  Sora slowly breathed in and looked at Viktor. The scientist’s eyes widened. Sora gave him a reassuring nod. “Let’s keep moving.”

  As they started to walk again, Sora noticed several other dead bodies out of the corner of his eye and he noticed they also adorned themselves with armor. Felicia’s soldiers died here.

  Sora and Viktor proceeded onward. 15 minutes passed as they continued to twist their way through the mine. Finally, after entering another part of the cavern, Sora felt an incline. They began their descent into the core.

  Sora continued, keeping his boots firmly planted on the ground as he and his partner descended. He could see a door up ahead. He briefly sped up as the incline came to an end, but stopped once he reached the door.

  He looked back at Viktor. “You look for the main set of consoles and undo whatever he’s done. I’ll deal with the robot.”

  Viktor quickly nodded. “I will do my best.”

  Sora glanced down at Viktor’s hand, still holding the pistol, to see it shaking. Sora smiled, reaching forward his hand and putting it on Viktor’s. “You good?”

  Viktor exhaled. “Yes, Captain. I can do this.”

  Sora gave him another reassuring nod before facing the door again. He held his hand in front of it, and it slid open.

  A man, likely another of 13-BZ’s helpers, stood on the other side. His eyes widened and he stumbled to raise his own rifle to shoot the two intruders. Before he could, Sora fired, disposing of him with a quick headshot.

  Sora charged inside, hurriedly examining the room. Unlike the rest of the mine, it looked like an actual room, rather than a narrow cavern. Sora stood on top of a metal platform and he looked beneath him to see the room had a depth of at least forty feet. Drills covered every inch of the core’s depth and tubes branched off from each drill, sending spice to the bunker above. Now, though, no one occupied them. Sora noticed almost as many corpses as he did drills.

  Sora raised his head up, examining what stood on his level. He saw a group of computers on a platform to the right before he glanced at Viktor and pointed in that direction. Viktor nodded and darted toward them.

  Finally, Sora faced straight ahead. The platform extended into a bridge that encompassed most of the room and on the other side of the bridge sat an emergency exit elevator. As Sora looked at the bridge, he felt his fingers go numb. He struggled to keep a grip on his rifle.

  13-BZ stood at the center of the bridge, working on a console. The silver, slender robot stood seven feet tall and two of his four arms held heavy rifles. The third held a flamethrower, and the fourth held a taser. Sora remembered it perfectly. He had used that taser to bring his father to his knees and his rifles to shoot him once he hit the ground. Then, finally, his flamethrower to burn him until he died.

  13-BZ’s head swiveled around. His red eyes locked onto Sora. “Intruder detected and identified,” he said. The mechanical voice sent a chill down Sora’s chest. “Standard energy assault rifle, no armor. Threat level: minimal.”

  Sora scowled, stepping onto the bridge. He slowly approached the robot.

  “Organic, I advise you to leave,” 13-BZ said, turning his entire body to face Sora. “The systems of this mine are completely under my control and it will explode in 15.4 minutes, per the orders of Queen-”

  Sora screamed, beginning to charge toward his opponent. He fired and watched the blue lasers graze 13-BZ’s chest armor.

  “Threat engaged.”

  Sora ducked, watching four purple lasers fly over his head. He kept his finger on the trigger, firing as fast as the rifle could. Lasers continued to collide with 13-BZ, causing the robot to stumble backward.

  Sora halted as a blaze erupted in front of him. Flames fell onto his jacket as 13-BZ activated his flamethrower. Sora growled, feeling the heat begin to touch his skin. The smoke drifted into his nose. It smelt just like he remembered. The flames looked just the same.

  Sora clenched his teeth together, feeling the fire burn his skin. Flames flashed before him and for a brief second Sora saw his father. He saw his dad rolling around on the bridge, screaming as flames consumed him. 13-BZ towered above both of them.

  No. Not this time.

  Sora began to charge again. Staring through the flames and ignoring those that burned through his skin, he aimed for 13-BZ’s lower left arm, where he held the flamethrower. He fired twice.

  The arm snapped, falling into the abyss of the mine below.

  “Flamethrower compromised. Switching defense,” 13-BZ said.

  Sora growled, aiming at his lower right arm. He fired twice again and the taser fell to the floor. Then, he took out his upper right arm and then his upper left. The flames on Sora’s arms died down as he finally reached the robot assassin.

  “Defenses compromised. Overriding-“ 13-BZ started, but Sora cut him off as he shoved the robot.

  13-BZ toppled over and Sora shoved his rifle into his chest as he finally stood at eye-level with his father’s killer. Sora scowled. “Do you know who I am?”

  “Negative,” 13-BZ said.

  Sora glanced to the other side of the room where Viktor still worked on the computers. He looked back at 13-BZ’s glowing eyes. “Rafael Trok. You killed him in front of me fifteen years ago,” he said. He rolled his right hand into a fist. “You burned him alive.”

  13-BZ paused and his red eyes flashed. “Processing.”

  Sora’s fist began to shake. The robot had no emotion and he showed no sign of regret. He saw Sora’s father as a mere statistic.

  13-BZ’s red eyes suddenly turned blue. “Victim found. Rafael Trok,” he said, as the blue light began to flash. “Assassinated for Felicia Malone.”

  Sora’s fist suddenly uncurled. He almost lost his balance as he felt his arms and legs go limp. He vaguely heard his rifle clatter as it hit the metal beneath them. Everything became blurry. The spice, the drills and the assassin in front of him blurred together.

  He heard his father’s screams. He saw the flames.

  “I told you not to speak to him, Sora. Just to kill him,” someone said. The hiss of the voice caused Sora to jump back into reality. He looked to his left to see the emergency elevator descending into the core. Felicia and her men stood onboard. “Unfortunately, you’ve had to complicate things.”

  Sora reached down, picking up his rifle. He slowly lifted it up and aimed it in Felicia’s direction as she stepped off the elevator with her arms crossed. “What is he talking about, Felicia?”

  “Your father owed me a debt and, for a young crime lord fresh off the streets, I’d been more than generous,” Felicia said, narrowing her eyes as she approached Sora. The hiss in her voice sounded clearer than ever. “That’s business.”

  13-BZ told him the truth. This woman that had employed Sora, that he had trusted, had ordered his father killed. Sora had considered himself a friend of his father’s true killer for all this time.

  She confidently walked toward Sora, glancing down at 13-BZ as she reached the two. “Assassins have no loyalty,” she said, kicking the robot’s metal body. “But I suppose that’s business, too. Now finish your business and kill him.”

  Sora looked at 13-BZ, who’s eyes had returned to their normal, red glow. Sora looked back at Felicia and finally he scowled. His hand curled into a fist again and Sora raised it up.

  He punched her.

  Felicia fell backward with a yell as her thugs raised their own rifles and began to fire. Sora screamed again, dodging the shots and firing back at them. He hit the thug on the left in the chest and he collapsed. Sora then fired at the one on the right and he fell back against the wall. Finally, Sora fired at the last thug and watched as the lasers landed between his temples.

  Felicia spit blood out of her mouth as she slowly stood. “You’ll regret that, Sora,” she said. Blood trickled down her chin. “I’ve always been good to you. I made you what you are. Just finish the job.”

  Sora pointed his rifle at her stomach and fired. She screamed again, doubling over a
nd clutching her stomach. She growled, reaching into her back pocket. “Fine, Sora. Have it your way.”

  Felicia smirked, pulling out a dagger. The silver, carved lines of the polished hilt glimmered underneath the red spice. Within a second, she punched him across the face and Sora felt blood enter his own mouth. Before he could react, she stabbed him in his right shoulder. He screamed as he felt his skin split apart.

  Next, she stabbed his stomach. Sora bent over with another yell, struggling to keep a grip on his rifle. He thrust himself forward, shoving the rifle into Felicia’s face. She stumbled backward and Sora shoved the butt of the rifle into her chest. Blood covered Felicia’s face as she collapsed.

  “Sora!” Viktor said and Sora turned to see his friend, the only one he had, darting onto the bridge. “I’ve overridden 13-BZ’s orders in the system. Let’s get out of here.”

  Sora glanced at Felicia, who tried to lift herself off the ground. He looked back at Viktor and nodded. “Let’s hurry.”

  However, Sora paused when he heard 13-BZ begin to beep. He raised an eyebrow, looking down at the assassin. “Emergency protocols activated,” 13-BZ said, his red eyes again focusing on Sora. “You will not be victorious, son of Rafael Trok. The Queen’s mission will be completed.”

  Three rockets erupted from 13-BZ’s back, flying in different directions throughout the core. Sora’s eyes went wide as drills began to explode and rocks began to fall. Seconds after the rockets collided with their targets, the core began to shake. Sora noticed more drills explode and more rocks fall. He had started a chain reaction. Sora watched as every drill came apart, destroying everything that sat beneath them.

  Viktor ran forward, grabbing Sora’s arm. “We’ve got to go. This place is going to be gone within seconds.”

  Sora slowly nodded, giving one more look at 13-BZ as he began to move away from the assassin. He glanced down at Felicia as they ran past her, who slowly pulled herself back onto her feet.

  “Sora!” she called as they jumped onto the emergency elevator. “You can’t beat me. You know that!”

  Sora punched the button that would take them back to the bunker and looked back at Felicia as the elevator ascended. She still held her stomach as blood ran down her face, coating her chest in red and rocks fell around her. All the consoles and platforms had faded behind her during the explosions.

  Sora gritted his teeth. “Watch me.”

  Minutes later, Sora charged throughout the bunker with Viktor at his side. They darted past all of Felicia’s men they encountered. Her thugs had no idea that Felicia hadn’t returned from the core, so Sora saw no need to inform them now. However, as they ran, Sora could feel the bunker coming apart. Explosions from below became louder and the bunker itself started to shake as the chain reaction reached ground level.

  Five minutes passed and Sora and Viktor finally entered the hangar. The Jewel’s Eye and Sora’s own shuttle sat before them. Before Sora could run toward the shuttle, Viktor reached his arm out to stop him.

  “Wait,” Viktor said. Sora gave him an impatient, frustrated glare. They didn’t have time to pause. “The engines. We don’t know that they could get us off-world and we don’t have time to try to fix them now.”

  Sora sighed, looking at the shuttle. He glanced at the Jewel’s Eye and saw that the ramp sat open. He also noticed that the ship sat unoccupied.

  They didn’t have time to consider it.

  He pointed at the ship and both Viktor and Sora darted to it. Viktor ran up the ramp, but as Sora began to board the ship, a laser zoomed past him, barely grazing his left shoulder.

  Sora whirled around to see Felicia stumbling into the hangar, rifle in hand. One arm still hovered over her stomach. Several uninjured thugs entered behind her.

  Murderer or not, Felicia never stayed defeated for too long.

  Sora looked at the controls to the ramp as he entered the ship. He quickly punched several buttons and the ramp began to close.

  He heard Felicia shriek. He looked back at her as she fired wildly at the closing ramp. “That’s my ship, Sora! I won’t forget this!”

  The ramp sealed as she and her thugs approached the ship. Sora ran through the halls of the ship, passing the main hold and heading for the cockpit. “Viktor, get us out of here!”

  “Already done!”

  The engines of the ship roared as they activated and Sora felt the ship lift off. He entered the cockpit to see orange dust colliding with the ship’s viewport as it zoomed away from Felicia’s bunker.

  Seconds later, Sora heard the inevitable explosion.

  Sora leaned back in the pilot’s chair of the cockpit. He drummed his fingers together as he gazed at the room. It had much more width than the cockpit in the shuttle. Many consoles along both walls in the room flashed red and yellow and these consoles worked. He turned around in his chair, looking at the main console in front of him.

  This console had much more width and length as well. It even had room for a co-pilot.

  He stared out the viewport as the blue blur of hyperspace rushed past the ship. He sighed. Some things didn’t change. Some things stayed the same as if today’s events had never happened.

  He thought of Felicia wrapping her arms around him and saying how happy it made her to see him. He saw Felicia’s bloody, screaming face as she watched him steal her ship. He saw his father burning on the ground, surrounded by flames. The flames flashed in front of Sora’s eyes.

  Now, though, the flames didn’t burn quite as bright.

  Sora heard footsteps from behind and he turned around in the chair as Viktor entered the cockpit. “The ship is at peak operation,” he said, folding his hands behind his back. “It will serve us much better than the shuttle.”

  Sora smiled. “We’re going to need a bigger crew.”

  Viktor’s lips widened into a grin and he chuckled. “That is true. I don’t think the two of us can run this on our own forever,” he said. He glanced around the cockpit, much like Sora had just done. “I assume I can call you ‘Captain’ now?”

  Sora didn’t immediately respond. He continued to drum his fingers together, locking eyes with Viktor as he returned his focus to Sora. “Yes, if you like, Viktor. You can call me ‘Captain’.”

  Viktor nodded, starting to turn to leave. Sora held up his hand. “Viktor, one more thing.”

  “Yes, Captain?”

  “I think we should change the name of the ship. Jewel’s Eye is the name of Felicia’s ship, not ours.”

  Viktor raised an eyebrow, shrugging for a second. Then, he began to nod. “I suppose that makes sense. Do you have any ideas?”

  Sora paused. He glanced around the cockpit again, reflecting on the day’s events. He saw them arriving on Bolton. He saw himself fighting 13-BZ. He could still hear the robot saying that Felicia hired him to kill Rafael Trok.

  The day had angered and saddened him, but Sora wanted to remember this day.

  “Let’s call it the Killer.”

  1

  The blue blur of hyperspace shifted to a clear black as The Killer ended its latest journey. A brilliant display of gold lights weaved its way through the overwhelming black orb that now hovered before the freighter’s viewport. Sora nudged the cold, metal sticks forward and felt the ship lurch ahead as it followed the sticks’ direction.

  “We’re starting our descent,” Sora said, calling into the background. He fixed his eyes in front as he flipped several switches, preparing the ship for its impending encounter with the planet’s atmosphere.

  “Con, huh? That’s a new one for us,” Talek Dano said, looming behind Sora’s pilot chair. “Six months of transporting with you and this place hasn’t even been on our radar.”

  Sora glanced back at the armored man. He looked up past the black, growing scruff that had found a home on Talek’s face. Granted, it stood out as the only visible hair he had, considering the blue helmet that protected his scalp. “I dropped a supply off here several years ago. It isn’t as bad as you’d think.”<
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  “Hm. That was before the takeover. Circumstances have undoubtedly changed here as of late,” Talek said, leaning forward slightly. Sora looked back to see clouds growing around the Killer as it descended.

  “Con is a squeaky-clean cesspool,” Trika Trok said, walking into the cockpit. Her blue hair dangled past her cut-off green shirt and down to her torso. “Seriously, you accepted a job that took us to this government haven? You’re not getting that whole ‘captain’ thing down very well.”

  Sometimes, Sora regretted inviting his sister onto the crew. He didn’t think he needed two weapon specialists to analyze their cargo. Talek could do the job well enough on his own, but Viktor insisted on having an extra set of eyes…

  “This is a quick job. Drop off the weapons and go. In and out, sis,” Sora said, turning his attention back to the descent. He wrapped his hands around the piloting sticks and gripped them tightly as the silver, glistening capital city of Volt came into view.

  “Talek, there weren’t any weird readings on your boxes, right? Don’t want to get arrested for aiding a wild bomber out to stick it to the Queen,” Trika said, plopping down in the co-pilot’s chair next to Sora.

  “Mm, not that I know of.”

  “Chok won’t like you taking his seat,” Sora said, gesturing to Trika as he punched a few buttons to initiate landing procedures. The barely audible hum reached Sora’s ears as the instant cool down of the engines in the back of the ship began. Six months of running this ship and Sora knew how it flew. How it fought. How it rested. He knew every “breath” that the ship took. He’d never felt such a connection with a spacecraft before, but the Killer was different.

  “The little teddy bear can barely see over this massive control panel,” Trika said, leaning back and closing her eyes.

  Sora noticed a red flashing near the center of the console. He hit a button and leaned forward. “Captain Sora Trok of the Killer, a cargo freighter, requesting permission to land at Port AA2118.”