Kalon

  Chapter Eighty-Five: Atraduk

  Galactic Quadrant: Darna Quadrant

  Ruling Government: Talum Merchant Federation

  Solar System: D-447

  Planet: Ora

  Location: Above the planet's surface

  My eyes slowly flit open, there is a mask over my face now, a strange black suit that hugs my body tightly, bulging where my clothes are clumped underneath it, as though I was dipped into a liquid vat of it and left out to dry. The material is strange, I have never seen it before. The ship’s alarms are blaring. Luna is frantically trying to do something. I feel an explosion behind us, rocking the craft. The containment shields are flickering red. Sekat, what did I miss? My eyes adjust and I see we are flying straight into… why are we flying straight into other ships? She has gone mad.

  Luna’s hands move like lightning, I have never seen anyone move this fast before. There is almost a blur to the movements as my eyes struggle to keep up. She is inputting some kind of command sequence with one hand and entering something else with the other.

  Suddenly a noise begins to ring inside my head, and after a moment I realize it is a voice. The voice stops as Luna enters the last command on the console, her hands going still. She turns now to look at me, a mask over her face like mine. There is worry around her eyes as she looks back and forth at the damage the ship has sustained. What the Vek happened while I was asleep?

  Massive amounts of electricity strike the ship, wrapping around the sides in coils and a sickening vibration begins to shake the hull. The ship's holos flicker, then something almost unexplainable happens. I feel a pull towards something, as though every atom in my body is responding in unison to some unknown force, it’s an eerie feeling, electronics begin to lose functionality.

  A figure appears on the display of the holos everywhere and it begins to speak in a language I cannot understand. Its words pierce my ears, like a knife causing pain as I try to clutch my ears instinctively, the helmet blocking me from doing so. Luna’s face is contorted from it as well.

  I can’t distinguish any of the words and yet I get flashes of images of mountains of ice, places I don’t recognize. The noise from the figure stops and we are pulled deep into the abyss, light folding around us, perception changing back and forth as we rip forward at speeds I cannot even fathom. My entire body is vibrating violently, in a way that tells me I am breaking some fundamental law of physics by moving this fast. Perhaps it is because we no longer have a vessel intended to do this that we suffer so, I push the thoughts out of my head and focus on breathing, but I can’t breathe, I can’t even move.

  As quickly as it began, it comes to a stop and the vibrations cease. My whole body is shaking still. Luna moves her hand through the command console, there is something wrong, I can tell by the look on her face. The holos are flickering, and the power on the ship seems to be unstable. From the holes that pierce the hull, I see a massive white mountain below us. Just like the one the voice showed with images inside my mind.

  Luna moves towards me now, ripping off my belt quickly, half dragging, half pulling me towards the last escape pod.

  “What’s going on?” I ask her, trying to keep the pace.

  “I failed.” She admits, “The ship has lost power to the navigation controls, we can’t steer it. We need to use the escape pod.” She explains, slamming her fist against the pod’s door control. It opens and the air rushes out of the compartment, she grasps my arm firmly before I am pushed out of an adjacent hole in the hull.

  Her eyes are wide as she closes the door forcefully, the gears sparking as she breaks it. The last escape pod was half melted, and the containment field was unable to patch the hole. The gravity actuators slowly come off as we start sliding toward what’s left of the ship’s command deck.

  “Frag–Frag–Frag.” Luna curses, looking around with wide eyes.

  I feel gravity starting to return as the nose of the shuttle dips downwards, a groaning of metal being pulled in different directions follows as part of our craft sheers off, sending us into a spin.

  “Gods–think.” She says to herself.

  Her eyes focus on the helm again and she drags me behind her. Slamming me into a seat and strapping me in. She moves towards the helm, trying desperately to work the remaining controls. As we spin faster, the ship begins to shake like it’s been thrown into a storm. Liquid that expands into a solid foamlike consistency rapidly begins to spray from recesses in the walls. The containment shield ruptures as chunks of metal fly into the compartment, one striking Luna in the head, shattering her helmet. Her body goes limp. The shield from her waist envelops her as the heat from the edges of the fire that erupts from the panel being split in half rolls over her. Her arm tangled in the helms seatbelt as she hangs in the air, flopping back and forth.

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  Sekat. We are going to crash. We are going to die. I try to get up to grab Luna and take her close to me, but the force of the spin will not let me rise. My mind goes back to the words Fennec spoke about death. My eyes stare in horror as I see the white landscape coming faster towards us. The foam covers my vision now, enveloping everything in the craft, expanding even outside of it. I feel a slam and then it is only darkness that follows.

  ***

  There are sounds all around me, the sizzling of electricity burning wire, the creak of metal, and the blaring of an alarm that comes and goes. I feel disoriented, my head throbs, my body aches. I struggle to open my eyes, the only usable light from the flashing red strobe lights; my memories are foggy as I try to parse how I got here, I am on a different shuttle than before. Some type of solid foam that clings to the walls is liquifying onto the floor. The hull of the ship is full of large holes, only darkness on the other side, sparks fly from every direction, leaving spots in my vision. I try to sit up, but something stops me. I can’t even move my head to look down, tilting my eyes, I see I am held in place by the foam-like substance. I can move my hands, but they are pinned to the seat. I will have to wait for the foam to release me.

  A piece of liquifying foam slops onto my clear face mask. When did I put this mask on? How did I get here? Where is here? I move my eyes to look around. I see a figure slumped on the ground. My eyes widen as I realize it is Luna, blood streaks from her forehead.

  Suddenly I feel a change in our direction, like we are sliding off something. I hear a groaning of the metal as it begins moving faster. My grip tightens on the seat as I realize we are free-falling. On the edges of my mind, I feel Krotha’s claws starting to scratch. Her laughter building from a distant cackle to a roaring one, making me wince.

  The sudden descent stops abruptly as the ship hits something, jostling back and forth, almost like we landed in a liquid. My eyes blink twice as I see water sloshing in through the holes of the ship, illuminated by the red lights. The water begins filling up the craft rapidly, lurching us into the depths. Vek.

  Call into the abyss for my power, call my name, return to my hand, my blade.

  Krotha’s vile voice says in my head. I struggle against the foam but I am not strong enough to break free. The water begins to rise, the panic with it, scattered memories form, flooding my mind. Reminding me of how we got here. Sekat.

  The memories fade once more as the ship tilts sideways. Bringing me back to the present. Water spills in faster now, sloshing against what’s left of the side walls. Sparks stop flying as something shorts. The only light now is from the red flashing alarm lights. I look at Luna as she begins to slide towards the churning combination of liquified foam and water. The clawing at the edge of my mind by Krotha has become fervent.

  Call for me… Call for my power.

  “Luna get up!” I yell to no avail as she slides further towards the abyss.

  You need my power.

  “No–I don’t,” I say as I push with all my might against the foam that binds me.

  Luna’s legs are now swallowed by the water. Veins bulge as I dig deep, flexing every muscle, pushing. I feel the tearing of my body, but I don’t stop as the foam begins to loosen. My teeth grit as I plow deeper still.

  Suddenly there is relief from the pressure as part of it pulls from the wall, just enough to move my arm. I am bound still by some kind of suit that clings to my skin like a glove, it adheres to the foam firmly. She is nearly submerged now, the water licks at her shoulders. My hand reaches blindly searching for anything to cut me free.

  You are weak… You need me… Why will you not call me?

  “Atraduk.” I proclaim with gritted teeth.

  Pride? What a worthless thing.

  Krotha pulls firmly at the edges of my mind now, trying to draw me into her words, trying to suck away all the resolve I have left in my bones. I will not listen to her. My eyes widen, and a chord in my heart strums as I feel something sharp, like the edge of sheared metal, I wiggle it back and forth until it comes loose. I feel warm blood running down my hand, a testament to its usefulness, I carve the foam from my body as fast as I can, slicing my skin in many places. There is no time to worry, focus fills me as I fall from the seat, I move towards Luna with haste, stumbling to the ground as the tilt becomes steeper.

  Frantically grabbing her arm, I heft her up to me. She is heavier than I expected, soaked with water no doubt, but not so heavy that I can’t drag her from the churn. It appears that she is wearing the same kind of suit as me, except her clear mask has shattered. Only fragments remain of it. Her head seeps blood telling me her heart still beats.

  The water is rising faster, soon there will be nowhere to go. Sekat. I pull her close to me, taking in the details. The pieces of foam I cut away seem to float on the surface still, will they hold our combined weight though? They seem to disintegrate faster in the water.

  “Sekat!” my lips yell as I slam my arm against the hull.

  Swallow your worthless pride… Call for me...

  My jaw flexes as my insides rage. Pride thrashes not wanting to give in to the demon. Not ready to give up yet. My eyes focus as the water rises to my leg, bitterly cold water flows through the cuts in the suit. I try to shake Luna awake, grasping her face. As I look at her, memories begin to coalesce again. All the time we spent together, all the things she has shown me, all the things left unsaid between us. Pain mixes with the memories. Is this really where it all ends? No, I am not done yet.

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