Emergence: Chapter 26

Tors had never been off of Narcsia before, let alone in the nauseating embrace of L-Drive travel. He sat in a corner and held his head in his hands as an invisible blade twisted in his brain, only vaguely hearing Pandora telling him that people get used to L-Drive after the first couple of flights. Usually, he would find some sort of witty response, but he could hardly think with this throbbing pain.

“Damn man, you look terrible.”

Tors looked up to see a human standing over him. He didn't wear any uniform, so Tors assumed that he must have been just one of Narcsia's large migrant population. “Thanks for that, buddy.” Tors murmured. “I hadn't realised.”

The man reached into his pocket and took out a sheet of tablets, with one empty holder. “Here. This'll help you out.” He smiled and proffered a tablet to Tors, who looked at it suspiciously. “They're fine, I get all queasy in L-Drive too.”

Head thudding, Tors was desperate for it to stop and abandoned his suspicions for a cure. Swallowing the tablet, he felt it dissolve inside of him, releasing a foul taste which made him cough. He coughed again and again, before he thumped himself in the chest and caught his breath. Looking up at the man, he extended a hand; the pain had gone. “Thanks man. Tors.”

The man took the hand. “No problem. Cane.”

“Mind if I ask where you're from?” Tors's curiosity crawled back to the surface.

“Raan.” Cane nodded. “Got a wife and kid there, those damned storms made it impossible for me to get back there.”

Remembering the storms, Tors shuddered; those things were still out there. Putting that aside for the moment, Tors now realised why Cane seemed so enthusiastic. “Must be nice knowing where you're going next.”

“Yeah man, but I'd like an adventure again. It's not the same when you got a kid.” Cane winked. “Take my advice; go on one while you can.”

“You made a friend, Tors?” Emola entered their small cabin along with Pandora. “Unusual.”

Pandora chuckled, before punching his arm. “Don't be mean.” Her hair extended towards Cane. “Nice to meet you.”

Cane put his head forward, and Pandora's tangled with his, before separating. “Haven't done the Trasmen greeting for a while; don't see many around.” He raised a hand to Emola. “You and Tors must be friends.”

“Emola.” Tors gestured to him. “And Pandora. This is Cane.”

“So, where are they dumping you guys?” Cane asked.

“I don't know.” Emola said, his scales growing darker as his annoyance showed. “They never told us anything. Probably dump a load of us off at various spaceports. Don't know after that.”

“Well, I'm going back to Tras, you're welcome to join me.” Pandora seemed sincere.

“Can't believe we hadn't talked about this before...” Emola trailed off.

“You could go on a tour of the Empire.” Cane suggested. “I did the same about five years ago, it was grand.”

Tors looked at Pandora. “Yeah, maybe we should.”

Pandora shook her head slightly. “I don't know Tors, I just want to go home.”

A squeal of feedback halted the conversation. Tors looked at the small black speaker in the top right corner of the cabin. The squeal stopped, and a screen flicked on showing naught but static.

“Some sort of power surge?” Emola asked.

“They've found us!” Tors yelled. “The winds!”

Pandora slapped Tors. “Of course not, you idiot! Now get a hold of yourself!”

Tors calmed down, but his heart still pounded. “You're right; no gas in space. It's a vacuum.”

“Not a power surge though.” Cane said, looking at Tors with his brow furrowed. Tors looked out of the cabin window and saw three other ships in the nine-ship fleet. Nothing unusual.

Then an image came on the screen. Blurry at first, before it became clear.

“That's a Xaosian.” Emola observed.

“Not any Xaosian.” Pandora pointed at the screen. “Look; the golden patterning on his seat; that is Lord Xaos.”

The image opened its mouth and began to speak. “I do not need to fire upon your ships.” The voice echoed from every screen and every speaker in the fleet. “I do not need to board your ships; I am one with them now. Comply, and you shall be saved. Failure to do so will result in just one of a number of excruciatingly painful deaths. Shall I turn off the oxygen? Open the airlocks? Or simply let your ship fall apart?”

Shouting could be heard, yelling and screaming. Footsteps, slow and fast. Tors looked out of the window again and saw a Titan-Class Xaosian battleship approaching. One of the fleet's ships fired upon it, barely missing only when the Titan swerved away and shot the missile down itself.

The evacuation ship exploded.

Occupants drifted out as airlocks opened. Tors could not see them, but he could imagine them clinging to their throats as tightly as they clung to their very last breath. Another of the fleet then opened fire on the dying ship, tearing it apart to finish off any survivors.

“I warned you.” The voice echoed again, louder than before. “I do not want to kill you all; that would be a waste. Now surrender. Power down your engines willingly, or I shall do so for you.”

Tors felt the ship stop abruptly, nearly knocking him off his feet. He gave an involuntary smile as Emola stumbled and fell to the ground, before he stood, swearing under his breath. The other ships also stopped in quick succession.

More Titan's emerged from the darkness of space and docked with all eight remaining ships. The cabin doors hissed closed and locked automatically as the Xaosians stormed the ships, forcefully relieving the captains of their duties.

Tors looked around at the others, who all looked as frightened as he felt. He sat back down, and reclaimed his corner. The other three did the same, and, when the Xaosians started the ships again, carried out the rest of the journey in silence.