Fall of Icarus (19 page)

Yen was tossed from his feet, as was the rest of the team.
 
Splayed out across the floor, they gripped the worn carpet for support as secondary explosions bucked the floor beneath them.
 
The ground started growing warm seconds before the elevator doors on this level blew outward and purple and blue plasma flames rolled out, licking the ceiling above and scorching the thick metal.
 
Waves of unbearable heat rolled over the team, stealing the breath from their throats and leaving their skin tender and reddened.
 
Throughout it all, Yen laughed maniacally.
 
As the ship finally settled, the team climbed cautiously to their feet.
 
Though it was impossible to tell motion on a moving ship of this size, Yen knew that the Destroyer was no longer moving; that their assault had completely destroyed the engine.

With Yen lost in his own malicious thoughts, Adam called out to the rest of the team.
 
“Everyone up!
 
Let’s get to the
Cair
!”

Secrecy was no longer a concern, so the group ran with reckless abandon.
 
They came across the bodies of an infiltration team, not far from the entry point of the
Cair
ship.
 
At the base of the vestibule leading into the
Cair
, Yen found the pilot, still wearing her jumpsuit, her pistol hanging limply in her hand.
 
His thoughts were immediately ripped back to Keryn and the sadistic energy fled from his body.
 
Yen felt weak and sickened; a hollow pit was left in his chest, only to be filled immediately after by a sharp stab of guilt.
 
He had truly enjoyed the slaughter of so many Terrans.

Activating his throat microphone, Yen called to Keryn.
 
“Keryn, this is Yen.
 
We’ve reached the other
Cair
and are getting ready to board.
 
Get out of here and regroup with the
Revolution
.”

           
Relief washed over Keryn when she heard Yen’s voice.
 
She had sworn that the ship was shaking
itself
apart as she saw the plasma explosion tear through the back of the ship.
 

           
“I am so glad to hear your voice,” she admitted breathlessly.

Her heart had sunk when she assumed the worst and she was relieved to hear that they were still alive.
 
With them now boarding the
Cair
closer to the rear of the Destroyer, Yen was right.
 
It was time to detach from the Terran ship and return to the relative safety of the Alliance Cruiser.
 
Throwing the locks on the hatch, Keryn returned to the pilot’s chair and flipped a
switch which
blew all the bolts holding the boarding tunnel in place.
 
The flexible tunnel drifted away from the
Cair Ilmun
as Keryn turned her ship around, intent on heading back to the
Revolution
.
 
Though the Destroyer was disabled, it still had full weapons.
 
Keryn hoped she could make it free of the Terran warship before they started firing on her.

As she turned back to the Alliance Cruisers, though, she realized that the Destroyer was the least of her problems.
 
Between her and the Cruisers, hovering in space and waiting for her, was a squadron of Terran fighters.

CHAPTER TWELVE

           
The Terran fighters fell upon the
Cair Ilmun
as soon as it left berth on the Destroyer.
 
Keryn flew like a woman possessed, weaving and diving in seemingly random and hypnotic patterns, but for every fighter she evaded, another took its place in pursuit.
 
A nearby rocket explosion rocked the cockpit of the ship, nearly jarring Keryn from her seat.
 
Growling in frustration, she pulled herself back into place and pulled the controls hard to the right, turning in a tight circle in order to avoid the next missile launch.
 
She had already stopped looking at the radar for help.
 
All she had learned in the Academy had gone out the window when she found herself alone in space, being assaulted by a swarming Squadron of enemy ships.
 
The combination of their ship signatures, missile launches, and suppressing machine gun fire left the radar console screen filled with indistinguishable dots of red; the one blue dot signifying the
Cair Ilmun
looking lost amidst the swarm.

           
At first, Keryn thought she stood a chance of escape.
 
The Terran fighters had split into separate groups.
 
Only a small handful of ships had pursued Keryn while the others set about systematically destroying all the
Cair
ships still attached to the Destroyer, thereby stranding all the infiltration teams still onboard.
 
It was with relief that Keryn had noted that the
Cair
ship Yen and his team were moving toward had been, so far, spared from the Terran counterattack.
 
Their attention split between the litany of
Cair
ships, the Terrans were surprised when Keryn shot down two of the Terran fighters, using the substandard weapon systems on board the
Cair Ilmun
.
 
Realizing that she posed a larger threat than previously assumed, other fighters pulled back and joined the chase.
 
Now, Keryn was badly embroiled in a space battle she didn’t think she could win alone.

           
You’re not alone,
the Voice said.
 
Let me help you.

           
Keryn scowled.
 
She was hardly in the mood to argue with the Voice, not when her life was hanging in the balance.

           
“Not now,” she hissed.
 
“Not ever.”

           
In between her reminiscing and her debate with the Voice, a fighter slipped into place above her.
 
Keryn heard the warning of her radar only moments before the fighter opened fire with its forward machine guns.
 
Bright red tracer rounds split the dark space between the two maneuvering ships.
 
Keryn cut the controls hard into a climb and managed to avoid the majority of deadly gunfire.
 
A few stray rounds, however, punched through the rear hull of the ship.
 
Keryn could hear the screeching of metal as the heavy bullets shredded large holes in ship, tearing through the wiring and pipes hidden between the armored plating and crew compartments.
 
Their momentum waning, the bullets slammed into the floor of the crew compartments, leaving wide holes throughout the back end of the
Cair Ilmun
.

           
The
Cair Ilmun
shook violently as the crew compartment began to decompress.
 
Warning claxons roared throughout the ship, their sound drowned out only by the whooshing of air being sucked out of the punctures.
 
The lights dimmed and were replaced by brilliant red auxiliary lights.
 
The sudden vacuum ripped bags and unhooked seat webbing from their place.
 
The smaller items were instantly torn through the hole, left to drift free in space.
 
Larger items, like the heavy weapons bag that Adam had left behind, jerked against the metal hooks holding them in place like a rabid animal.

           
In the cockpit, Keryn was nearly pulled from her seat as the rounds struck.
 
The sudden vacuum pulled her taunt against the padded seat, her silver hair hanging rigidly behind her.
 
She could feel the strong tug at her
scalp
as she feared the vacuum would pull her hair straight from her head.
 
Hanging at her sides, Keryn’s arms felt like lead weights, pulled invariably toward the rear of the ship.

           
Fear lodged in Keryn’s chest.
 
With her arms held at her sides and the suction drawing her body further from the ship’s controls, the
Cair Ilmun
was incapable of maneuvering out of the way of the Terran’s next attack.
 
Unless she was able to move - and soon - she would be destroyed with no hope of rescue.

           
Merge with me
, the Voice said insistently.
 
Though the
Cair Ilmun
was close to destruction, the Voice still spoke with a calm clarity that cut through the din of warning sirens.
 
We can get out of this together.

           
Keryn couldn’t manage a retort, even had she wanted to.
 
The pull of the vacuum felt as though an Oterian were kneeling on her sternum, collapsing the ribcage and making it impossible to draw more than a painfully shallow breath.
 
She could feel her heart pounding in her temples as it tried to keep blood flowing to her extremities.
 
Despite the driving beat of her heart, Keryn’s limbs began to grow cold as the veins were constricted, cutting off a clear flow of blood.
 
Her tanned skin was taunt and paled and her pupils widely dilated.
 
Along the edges of her vision, darkness began to creep.
 
As she gasped for air against the weight, the console in front of her began to waver unsteadily.
 
She was losing consciousness and no matter how much she cursed at herself, Keryn was unable to raise a hand to close off the cockpit from the rest of the ship.

           
Decide, Keryn
, the Voice said sternly.
 
Either you let yourself die here or you let me help you!

           
Over the roaring of escaping oxygen, Keryn heard the soft rattling as the larger items in the crew compartment strained against their restraints, pulling inexorably toward the gaping holes above them.
 
Consciousness was ebbing quickly for Keryn.
 
Even the Voice sounded distant as it continued to berate her; it grew murky and unclear as more flashes of light danced in Keryn’s vision.
 
From what sounded like a million miles away, Keryn heard a sharp snap.
 
Adam’s weapons bag broke from
its
mooring and was launched toward the roof.
 
Slamming into two separate bullet holes, the contents of the bag were pulled into both.
 
Inflexible, they jammed the punctures, temporarily blocking the vacuum and the escaping oxygen.

           
Feeling as though a thousand pound had been lifted from her body, Keryn took a sharp breath.
 
The dancing lights receded and the darkness slid uncomfortably back toward her periphery.
 
As blood poured back into her body, her extremities tingles as a painful headache spread behind her eyes.
 
Though not completely clear of the pulling vacuum, Keryn was able to reach up weakly and push the command button on the console.
 
Behind her, the heavy door slid shut, cutting off the crew compartment from the cockpit.
 
With the door in place, the rest of the weight left Keryn’s body.
 
She nearly pitched forward from the exertion and relief.
 
Leaning forward, however, she could see the pursuing Terran fighters, sweeping back around for another pass of gunfire and missile launches.

           
Keryn’s thoughts came slowly, as though being passed through a thick mud before reaching her limbs for action.
 
The Terrans would be on her in a second and the
Cair Ilmun
, with its entire rear compartment now trapped in weightlessness and many of its systems damaged by flying debris from the machine gun fire, was limping slowly through space with an incapacitated pilot.
 
There was little Keryn could do but watch the fighters advance on her position while she tried to regain her wits.

           
Swallow your pride
, the Voice chided.
 
Merge with me so we can both live!
 
Quit being so damned stubborn!

           
Keryn noted the hint of hysteria creeping into the edges of the Voice’s tone.
 
She knew the Voice was tied to the same fate as Keryn.
 
Should Keryn die, the Voice died with her.
 
Even in her stupor, Keryn shook her head, refusing to give in to the Voice’s demands.