Wanderer

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Nova fought desperately against the darkness flowing into her soul. It felt like trying to hold back sticky black tar with just her fingers. Not only did it seep through her defences, it also stuck to them, weighing them down and making the fight harder with every passing moment.

Giving in, giving up, wasn’t in her nature, but resisting was becoming harder and harder. The worst part was that she was starting to wonder why she was fighting it. Her thoughts were coming more slowly. Part of her insisted she was being silly, that she should just give in.

It was tempting, but something stubborn within Nova refused. The reasons for fighting were gone, all that remained was the certainty she had to keep resisting.

Even that was fading. Everything was disappearing into the darkness. The fact she was losing caused faint alarm, but no more. Finally she let go, slipping below the dark tide.

For a few moments all was peaceful. The darkness continued flowing into her. Then it exploded, shattering into a million fragments. A thunderous roar accompanied it.

Nova blinked, her mind slowly pulling free of the darkness. Was that it? Was that the Taint finally claiming her? If it was then how was she having these thoughts? She turned her head slowly from side to side, confirming that she still had control of her body, or seemed to at least. How could she be sure?

Finally her eyes started to focus again. Instead of swirling colours and shapes she was able to see what was in front of her. She saw the man again but his eyes had lost their captivating influence. Now they were glassy and dull. Not surprising considering half the back of his head was missing. He was sprawled on the floor where he had fallen. Most of the other attackers were scattered across the floor too, or their corpses were at least.

Looking up Nova saw Jane still standing with her gaze locked to a female attacker. She had no doubt Jane was going through exactly what she had so recently escaped from. Nova was moving forwards before making a conscious decision, determined to intervene, but she was still too slow. Blade stepped up to Jane then placed a g*n against the attacker’s head. The roar came again, and the woman collapsed to the floor.

Nova kept rushing forward, grabbing Jane and staring into her face. She saw nothing there. No awareness. No fear. Nothing. Jane was still alive, still breathing, but she seemed to be… absent.

Nova shook her, gently at first, then harder and harder. When that didn’t work she tried slapping Jane around the face. Still there was no reaction.

Before she could do anything more Blade was by her side, grabbing her arms and forcing her down into a shuttle seat.

“If you want to live, buckle in,” he said.

Another Limited had shoved Jane into a seat, doing her buckles up. The two from the cockpit rushed back to it while another closed the rear doors. The rest of the Limited were quickly buckling themselves into their seats.

Nova glanced over her shoulder. The rear door was closing but she could make it through if she ran now. She could escape being a slave.

What would she be escaping to? She shivered at the memory of the Tainted who had tried to convert her. The decision was easy. She buckled herself in. However bad being a slave was she now knew for sure becoming one of the Tainted was far, far worse.

The rear doors slammed shut and the last of the Limited ran towards his seat. The shuttle was already rising and turning which threw him off balance. Desperately he clung to another seat’s back as the shuttle roared forwards. Then it started a series of vicious turns, changing direction and speed almost every second.

The man kept his grip far longer than Nova had expected, but in the end the violent manoeuvres were too much and he flew free. He crashed into the wall first, then the ceiling, then the wall again. Blood welled up from a deep gash on the side of his head.

By all rights he should have been knocked clean out, yet he kept trying to make it to his seat… though he was crawling now. The shuttle flew straight for a handful of seconds. In that time the nearby Limited reached down and grabbed the injured man, passing him forwards from one to the next until he was by his seat. They helped him to climb in and he snapped his buckles in place, despite what looked like a badly dislocated shoulder.

Then the shuttle was bucking around again. Something screeched and the shuttle lurched to one side. No one said anything. None of the Limited even batted an eyelid and Jane was still as absent as before. Only Nova seemed worried. Was someone shooting at them? It seemed likely after what had happened. If the station had fallen to the Tainted then they certainly wouldn’t want any witnesses.

The screens had been shut off after they landed so Nova had no way of telling where they were, how close they were to the ship or even if the ship was still intact.

The return flight seemed to be taking far longer than the outward journey. What if the ship had been destroyed? Could the shuttle escape? How far could it go? Had they escaped the Taint just to die on the shuttle when the air, water or food ran out?

The shuttle levelled out for a few moments, then shuddered as a clang rang out. Almost immediately the Limited were out of their seats. One opened the rear door, while Blade unbuckled Nova and lifted her to her feet. He took hold of her upper arm, his fingers digging in slightly and making it clear there was no escape.

He dragged her off the shuttle and into a landing bay which she was pretty certain was on their ship.

“Are we back?” she asked. “Are we safe?”

He didn’t answer. He dragged her out of the area, through corridors that she was sure seemed familiar, then opened a door and shoved her through. Nova almost collapsed to the floor with relief. She was back in the room she had started in.

Most of the other prisoners looked up, curiosity mixed with caution on their faces. Then Jane was shoved into the room and the door slammed shut. Jane simply stood where she was, saying and doing nothing.

Nova stared at Jane, her stomach churning. They’d been attacked by the Taint, there was no doubt about that, and Nova had nearly lost herself to it. Jane had clearly not fought so hard. She seemed to have been emptied out, to have had the spark removed.

Nova hoped that was the case. The alternative was far more chilling. Had Jane’s conversion completed successfully? If so was she just waiting for the moment to attack Nova and the others?

Most importantly of all, what should Nova tell everyone? She didn’t want to incite a lynching, but didn’t the others have a right to know what danger they were in?

It wasn’t a decision she could put off. She had no idea how quickly one of the Tainted could convert the group. If she was going to tell them she had to do it now. And if not she had to figure out another way to keep them all safe. Somehow.