Page 93 of Empire of Stars
His shoulders lowered. He had been so tense that they had been drawn up to his ears. He drew in a breath and resheathed the rahir.
“I almost cut off your head,” Jace whispered.
A quirked smile appeared on Khoth’s beautiful face. “Then we are even.” Another pause, then he said more than asked, “You knew her?”
“Mrs. Lo. She’s a grandmother to three kids. She used to bring me dumplings. Homemade. She knew how much I loved them…” Jace’s throat became so tight that he couldn’t speak. “How do I tell her family… family what happened to her?”
But the moment he said this, he realized he likely wouldn’t be the one telling them. Maybe no one would truly tell them. Not the truth. Not yet. His mother was going to start the process of revealing the existence of aliens, but who knew how long that would take or what form. But it was highly unlikely Mrs. Lo family wouldn’t know that their beloved grandmother had been infected and turned into food for aliens. But Jace knew. And he would avenge her.
His gaze swept around the hangar bay. The heat signatures for the Cetixes were bright as stars. He knew where they all were. A line map of the Hive appeared before him, showing him where they must go to get to the core. He sent what he was seeing to Khoth.
Based upon the Cetixes’ movements, I believe there is a chance for you to escape the ship unseen in a minute, Gehenna stated with some urgency in her voice.
He knew that she wasn’t just anxious about them. The two Omull in the ship were moving towards her location.
Understood, he had recovered from seeing Mrs. Lo. Actually, seeing her had made him more intent on destroying this place. Keep safe, Gehenna.
You, too, Jace! It’s time. Go!
“We should go, Khoth. Now,” Jace said and he was moving, knowing that Khoth would follow.
He didn’t have to see everything surrounding him. When a Cetix looked right or left or would hear his boots or not, he knew it on a subconscious level. There were warnings, like the hair on the back of his neck rising when he took a wrong step and he would dodge or duck or run faster. The Cetixes were mostly concentrating on their tasks, eager to bring the humans inside of the Hive.
The hoses jerked as human after human was passed along inside. He thought of every life in those tubes. Still alive but dead. Dead because there was no chance for them to be saved. Yet continuing to suffer and be afraid and, maybe even, hope. To think that somehow this could be stopped and they could be saved.
We have to end their suffering! Jace thought. It’s all I can offer them.
They made it across the hanger towards the door that would lead them deeper into the Hive. Khoth had followed his footsteps perfectly. Trusting him utterly to lead them safely here. He felt a connection to the Commander, even though they were not speaking out loud. He met Khoth’s gaze through their helmets. The Commander gave him a short nod. It was the equivalent of a thumb’s up.
He’s impressed with you! Gehenna chuckled.
Let’s not celebrate prematurely, Jace told her and yet his cheeks flared with color.
Khoth tilted his head to the side and Jace just shook his head. He could not explain any of this, even if it wouldn’t embarrass him terribly about Gehenna singing the equivalent of Jace and Khoth! Sitting in a tree! K - I - S - S - I - N - G!
You’ll need to go through this door, up the hallway about 100 meters, and then I’ll show you where to go next, Gehenna assured him.
Right, let’s do this, Jace said.
With a tilt of his head, Jace indicated to Khoth where they were going. The door was made up of three ribbed sections of chitin that twisted together to close and disappeared into the wall when open. It appeared to be operated simply by proximity because it opened for them.
You’ve got a clear shot down the hallway, Jace, Gehenna told him, even as he and Khoth crouched by the open doorway.
Jace made a movement with his hand to indicate that they should move. Khoth nodded. They kept low and glided down the hallway. The chitin was ridged so that it wasn’t slick under their boots. But as careful as they both were, their boots squeaked against the material every once in a while. And when that happened, Jace’s heart was in his throat. But while he saw heat signatures in other parts of the ship, no one seemed to hear them or, if they did, come to check out what had made that noise.
The core was, unsurprisingly, at the very heart of the Hive and the Hive was huge. When they were near the hangar bay, there had been few Khul, but as they moved deeper within the ship, more and more heat signatures were appearing. More than once, Jace had held up a hand to stop them from proceeding in front of another hallway that emptied into the one they were currently in because an Omull or Cetix was clacking its way nearby.
Gehenna, we can’t stay out in the open in this hallway! Jace told her. We’ve lucked out so far that none of them are using this hallway, but that’s going to change.
It isn’t luck! It’s me, she told him with a touch of smugness. But yes, I see your point. There is a duct system that you could likely use. It will slow you down though.
A legion of Khul will slow us down, too, he reminded her.
Fair point! She agreed. Here’s a new route.
On his HUD, there was a glowing dot that showed him they should go forward, then turn right, then enter a room to their left. There would be an entrance in the floor into the duct system, which was far roomier than he’d hoped. Again, he indicated to Khoth they should go and the Commander gave him a brief nod. Warmth filled Jace.
I can’t let him down. Got to keep us safe and on target, Jace thought.
The light in the Hive was amber. It reminded Jace of being in a piece of hardened sap. It should have been a calming light, but it just seemed to make things murky and undefined. Luckily, his helmet and his own super-attuned senses stopped him from blundering into the walls or down the wrong hallway. Soon, they were outside of the door that would lead to the room that could get them into the ducts. But there was a problem.
His heat vision showed him that there were two Cetixes inside the space. And there were two other, fainter, signatures that looked to be human. They could withdraw down the hallway and hope the Cetixes would leave. But they had no idea how long that would take and… the two human signatures. What were they doing to them?
“What do you wish to do, Jace?” Khoth asked.
Jace looked again with his heat vision. The Cetixes were bustling around the human heat signatures. He thought of Mrs. Lo. He thought of that young nameless woman. They were still alive. They were in agony. He had to stop this.
Jace met Khoth’s eyes. “We need to kill them.”
