obvious that the wound was fatal.
“I win,” father gurgled, with a faint smile.
“No, now you finally die. You conceited old fool. What you should have done thirty years ago and saved us all the time and effort,” Javier spat.
“Time well spent, a precious gift bequeathed to me by Lady Jessica. Sadly, I was only able to partly repay her,” as he cast his gaze around the room, now littered with the bodies of the dead. “But why?” he coughed, blood bubbling from between his lips. “She was innocent, not deserving—who would go to so much trouble?”
“Something that you can ponder together, when you see her next. Pass on my regards.” Javier once again raised his pistol to finally finish the task that he was meant to accomplish thirty years before.
For a second time, in the span of a few minutes, the sound of a single gunshot echoed throughout the room and then everything went still.
My father was dead.
*****
I couldn’t believe it. For so long he’d been a fixture in my life, a giant of a man, larger than life, always striding along besides me, now gone, forever. A cry of pain, anguish and despair rang out. As if the heavenly angels were crying out at his loss. A man, who with my final words I cursed, disparaged and vilified—for a crime he didn’t even commit.
It was only when three pairs of eyes swung in my direction, surprise evident in their faces that I realised that the scream had come from my own throat. In blind panic I stumbled away from the concealed door, half running, half falling down the steps in the direction of the ship and safety. I hadn’t waited a moment too soon, as behind me the door exploded inwards in a cloud of wooden shards, burning pages, smoke and flames. I glanced back wildly to see the three of them, hurrying through the gaping hole. Paying more attention to them than the steps, I missed one, tripped, and went flying head over heels down the stairs.
That fall saved my life.
The hail of gunfire went straight over my head, where I had been standing only moments before with stone fragments and bullets flying all around me. Coming to a halt in a pile of battered and bruised limbs at the bottom of the stairs, I didn’t even hesitate, sprinting in the direction of the ship as if my very life depended upon it, which of course, it did.
I finally made it to the ship and frantically hammered on the panel to close the door, which thankfully it did with seconds to spare. The bullets pinged against the door, like hail during a thunderstorm. Gasping for breath, I made my way to the flight deck, slumping into one of the pilot’s seats.
Looking through the cockpit windows, I soon realised that I had made a fatal mistake. I thought that I was safe because their guns couldn’t penetrate the ship and they didn’t have the access codes to enter, but they didn’t need either, because from pouches in their dark armour, they withdrew a number of small, squat, oblong devices. I had no idea what they might be, until one-by-one they drew pins from them, before tossing the devices towards the ship. I could hear them bounce against the hull, coming to a rest above, and below, the ship.
While I had never seen a grenade before, I instinctively knew that is what they must be. I had no idea what sort of damage they could inflict on the ship, and had no plans to hang around to find out. One glance at the flight instruments was enough to show that all pre-flight checks had already been carried out and the engines were simply in standby. The ship was ready to depart at a moment’s notice. Suddenly my father’s earlier words rang out through my head, how he had been expecting these men, for over thirty years. No wonder he never left his study, he had his escape route long planned out, ready and waiting.
One that I had no hesitation in using.
Activating the pre-programmed launch sequence, the ship immediately came to life. The thrusters glowed
“I win,” father gurgled, with a faint smile.
“No, now you finally die. You conceited old fool. What you should have done thirty years ago and saved us all the time and effort,” Javier spat.
“Time well spent, a precious gift bequeathed to me by Lady Jessica. Sadly, I was only able to partly repay her,” as he cast his gaze around the room, now littered with the bodies of the dead. “But why?” he coughed, blood bubbling from between his lips. “She was innocent, not deserving—who would go to so much trouble?”
“Something that you can ponder together, when you see her next. Pass on my regards.” Javier once again raised his pistol to finally finish the task that he was meant to accomplish thirty years before.
For a second time, in the span of a few minutes, the sound of a single gunshot echoed throughout the room and then everything went still.
My father was dead.
*****
I couldn’t believe it. For so long he’d been a fixture in my life, a giant of a man, larger than life, always striding along besides me, now gone, forever. A cry of pain, anguish and despair rang out. As if the heavenly angels were crying out at his loss. A man, who with my final words I cursed, disparaged and vilified—for a crime he didn’t even commit.
It was only when three pairs of eyes swung in my direction, surprise evident in their faces that I realised that the scream had come from my own throat. In blind panic I stumbled away from the concealed door, half running, half falling down the steps in the direction of the ship and safety. I hadn’t waited a moment too soon, as behind me the door exploded inwards in a cloud of wooden shards, burning pages, smoke and flames. I glanced back wildly to see the three of them, hurrying through the gaping hole. Paying more attention to them than the steps, I missed one, tripped, and went flying head over heels down the stairs.
That fall saved my life.
The hail of gunfire went straight over my head, where I had been standing only moments before with stone fragments and bullets flying all around me. Coming to a halt in a pile of battered and bruised limbs at the bottom of the stairs, I didn’t even hesitate, sprinting in the direction of the ship as if my very life depended upon it, which of course, it did.
I finally made it to the ship and frantically hammered on the panel to close the door, which thankfully it did with seconds to spare. The bullets pinged against the door, like hail during a thunderstorm. Gasping for breath, I made my way to the flight deck, slumping into one of the pilot’s seats.
Looking through the cockpit windows, I soon realised that I had made a fatal mistake. I thought that I was safe because their guns couldn’t penetrate the ship and they didn’t have the access codes to enter, but they didn’t need either, because from pouches in their dark armour, they withdrew a number of small, squat, oblong devices. I had no idea what they might be, until one-by-one they drew pins from them, before tossing the devices towards the ship. I could hear them bounce against the hull, coming to a rest above, and below, the ship.
While I had never seen a grenade before, I instinctively knew that is what they must be. I had no idea what sort of damage they could inflict on the ship, and had no plans to hang around to find out. One glance at the flight instruments was enough to show that all pre-flight checks had already been carried out and the engines were simply in standby. The ship was ready to depart at a moment’s notice. Suddenly my father’s earlier words rang out through my head, how he had been expecting these men, for over thirty years. No wonder he never left his study, he had his escape route long planned out, ready and waiting.
One that I had no hesitation in using.
Activating the pre-programmed launch sequence, the ship immediately came to life. The thrusters glowed
Similar Books
