emergency cooling system attempted to engage, but it failed. Dials along the vessel began to rise, bright light growing in intensity as it beamed out of the vessel’s single porthole window. A Burmin voice came from a communicator somewhere near the terminal. “Problem” was the only word Silhouette understood. She jumped up and loosened the valve the rest of the way, opening the hatch. She fully unscrewed the valve handle and, using the rest of the epoxy, she covered it in the glue so that it could not be twisted shut again. Failing to receive a response from the core room, the Burmin voice became frantic.
Silhouette rammed her blade into the valve access and tore into it, slicing at the seal and scraping at the metal within. She then slammed the blade into a secondary valve inside of the pipe, damaging its hinges. Core gauges continued to rise, and some were already at their upper limits. The interior of the pipes was extremely radioactive. Her suit was capable of deflecting the radiation, but exposure could be deadly. She continued to damage the isolation valve’s integrity until she felt it was beyond any immediate repair.
Two Burmin hustled into the room down the stairway, each with a gun in hand, and they found the room empty except for the dead bodies on the floor. Silhouette watched as they hollered into their communicators. A voice responded and they hurried over to the core controls, pulling levers and fiddling with the terminal. More emergency signals went off as the beam of light from the core brightened in a flash, its intensity becoming blinding and strong enough to heat the room to an uncomfortable level.
The two Burmin screamed at each other and into their communicators, unable to subdue the core’s impending meltdown. One tried to close the glued valve handle and could not get it to turn.
Silhouette left the room, leaving a trail of wet, red drips behind. She had not noticed until now that her suit had partly torn away from her hands, her hands which were now lacquered with her own blood. The metal had scraped the skin from her bones as she tore into the valves within the pipes and exposed her to the radiation within.
* * *
Silhouette raced down the hallways, stepping aside into darkened corners as more Burmin ran past her toward the energy core. The entire ship had not been alerted of the emergency yet. They must still be trying to contain the core before it goes into meltdown and they have to drop it into space . She may have only minutes left.
On stage Davi was locked into battle with a large, ornately decorated Burmin and defeated humans were scattered on the floor of the stage around him. Davi dodged several swinging fists, but a solid strike by the resplendent beast knocked him back. The Burmin’s purple robes and bejeweled ears flapped in a sudden dramatic breeze and the crowd erupted into thunderous excitement as their hero prepared for its final triumphant strike. A loud gasp then filled the room as a shadow appeared against the curtain backdrop and the small, black figure moved behind the unaware Burmin.
Perplexed by the audience’s reaction, the Burmin lowered its rising fist and looked out into the crowd. The spectators yelled out in warning, but before it could react the confused Burmin howled out in pain as it was knocked to the floor. The shadow leapt on top of fallen Burmin hero and plunged a blade into its protruding backbone, paralyzing the beast.
“Davi!” the shadow shouted as it jumped off of the Burmin. The human soldier ran toward the shadow and together they left the stage.
Then all went dark.
* * *
“What happened?” asked Davi as they ran.
“The energy core,” replied his sister. “It either overheated and melted through the ship or they just dropped it into space. Backup power should….”
Lights returned, but far fewer than were on previously. A warning signal blasted through the halls, then a Burmin voice grumbled over the ship’s intercom
Silhouette rammed her blade into the valve access and tore into it, slicing at the seal and scraping at the metal within. She then slammed the blade into a secondary valve inside of the pipe, damaging its hinges. Core gauges continued to rise, and some were already at their upper limits. The interior of the pipes was extremely radioactive. Her suit was capable of deflecting the radiation, but exposure could be deadly. She continued to damage the isolation valve’s integrity until she felt it was beyond any immediate repair.
Two Burmin hustled into the room down the stairway, each with a gun in hand, and they found the room empty except for the dead bodies on the floor. Silhouette watched as they hollered into their communicators. A voice responded and they hurried over to the core controls, pulling levers and fiddling with the terminal. More emergency signals went off as the beam of light from the core brightened in a flash, its intensity becoming blinding and strong enough to heat the room to an uncomfortable level.
The two Burmin screamed at each other and into their communicators, unable to subdue the core’s impending meltdown. One tried to close the glued valve handle and could not get it to turn.
Silhouette left the room, leaving a trail of wet, red drips behind. She had not noticed until now that her suit had partly torn away from her hands, her hands which were now lacquered with her own blood. The metal had scraped the skin from her bones as she tore into the valves within the pipes and exposed her to the radiation within.
* * *
Silhouette raced down the hallways, stepping aside into darkened corners as more Burmin ran past her toward the energy core. The entire ship had not been alerted of the emergency yet. They must still be trying to contain the core before it goes into meltdown and they have to drop it into space . She may have only minutes left.
On stage Davi was locked into battle with a large, ornately decorated Burmin and defeated humans were scattered on the floor of the stage around him. Davi dodged several swinging fists, but a solid strike by the resplendent beast knocked him back. The Burmin’s purple robes and bejeweled ears flapped in a sudden dramatic breeze and the crowd erupted into thunderous excitement as their hero prepared for its final triumphant strike. A loud gasp then filled the room as a shadow appeared against the curtain backdrop and the small, black figure moved behind the unaware Burmin.
Perplexed by the audience’s reaction, the Burmin lowered its rising fist and looked out into the crowd. The spectators yelled out in warning, but before it could react the confused Burmin howled out in pain as it was knocked to the floor. The shadow leapt on top of fallen Burmin hero and plunged a blade into its protruding backbone, paralyzing the beast.
“Davi!” the shadow shouted as it jumped off of the Burmin. The human soldier ran toward the shadow and together they left the stage.
Then all went dark.
* * *
“What happened?” asked Davi as they ran.
“The energy core,” replied his sister. “It either overheated and melted through the ship or they just dropped it into space. Backup power should….”
Lights returned, but far fewer than were on previously. A warning signal blasted through the halls, then a Burmin voice grumbled over the ship’s intercom
Similar Books
