Escape
1672 Words
Cassielle
Cassielle walked back to her quarters, where she changed into less ceremonial, more casual robes. She wore a long sleeveless tunic with the same embroidery as her robes. She began to read Jacobee’s notes and observations on the full interview he had with Nodes. She sipped her tea as she read.
The whole ship shook, and alarms went off. A quick look at the damage report indicated an explosion went off in the guest area. Fear ripped through her as she ran from her quarters. The hall became clogged with people as she approached the guest area. The glass doors would not open. Through the doors she could see fire and smoke. The guards and some of the soldiers that arrived were using the butts of their rifles to try and break the glass.
“Move,” Cassielle commanded.
Everyone moved back. She summoned an energy reserve and sent a power blast through the doors. They shattered. Jacobee approached from the other side of the hall followed by a group of soldiers.
“See to High Council,” she commanded him.
He nodded and continued, the additional soldiers following.
Cassielle ran into the room and started to pull injured civilians out. She had no clue who she assisted due to the smoke, but one by one, people were rescued. Nate came out of nowhere carrying an unconscious woman she recognized as Helen. Kevin led a child out.
“Where’s Kelly?” Celia panicked. She looked from one face to the next.
Cassielle ran into the smoke-filled room, using her energy unit to scan for the girl. She finally found a body signature in the sleeping area. Upon entering the area, she found it blocked off by fire. Why weren’t the fire suppressants working? Cassielle jumped through the fire and found her niece unconscious near the back of one of the bunks. Gently, she picked up Kelly and wrapped her in a blanket she pulled from a nearby bed. She backed up and then jumped back through the fire.
Emergency crews had arrived and met Cassielle in the main room, but she refused to hand the girl over until she reached the hall. More crews went into the sleeping area and started to manually put out the fires. Stasis beds were waiting for the injured and a few had already been transported to the medical bay.
“She needs to go to the medical bay,” Cassielle said lowering Kelly to a stasis bed.
Celia ran over and handed another child to Cassielle without asking. This surprised her, but she accepted the child. A medical attendant kept Celia from touching Kelly as a cover appeared. They pushed the bed away. Celia took one look at her sister before chasing the bed.
Cassielle looked at the child Celia handed her. He had run into her the day before.
“You’re Xander, right?” she asked him.
Hi nodded. He immediately put his head on her shoulder and started to suck his thumb. She smiled and held him close. A medical attendant came over and scanned them. The medical attendant determined Xander had smoke inhalation and would need treatment.
A different medical attendant directed everyone to go to the medical bay. Cassielle carried Xander, leading the remaining small group of about six people as they were escorted by armed guards. The alarms were silenced but lights still flashed. Nate walked next to her carrying an older child. Cassielle could see where tears had streaked through the girl’s soot covered face.
The ship rocked again and Cassielle handed Xander to a soldier. She went to a wall panel to see her quarters took the hit this time. She scanned the ship and found explosives planted everywhere.
“Jacobee,” she called in her com.
“Yes, High Command.”
“Get High Council off the ship. Now.” She turned to the soldier. “Get them to escape pods now. Two civilians to a solder.”
A soldier took the child from Nate, who looked to his mother.
“I need you to protect your father,” she said to him, handing him a photon gun. “I trust you know how to use a gun.”
“But,” he protested.
“No. Go.” She pushed him towards the waiting soldier.
They left, running the other direction. The second explosion disabled the security systems, freeing the prisoners. She pressed a command to abandon ship on the wall panel before continuing to the medical bay. Jacobee contacted her stating High Council had been secured on one of the security ships and would be meeting them at the rendezvous point.
Cassielle came to the entrance of the medical bay. Soldiers were in a gunfight with several escaped prisoners. The prisoners must have come to the medical bay to attack more of the family. Cassielle shed her robes and quickly drew her blade. After disarming the first escaped prisoner, she sank her blade in his chest. She used the momentum to flip over him, hitting the next escaped prisoner. A third one turned and fired on her. Ducking, she threw a blade into his chest.
She turned to the main room of the medical bay and a fourth prisoner stood up holding a gun to Celia’s neck. Cassielle sheathed her blade and used a power reserve to add speed to her run. This surprised the prisoner, and she knocked Celia free. Cassielle dispatched the assailant with a quick neck twist.
Cassielle helped Celia up and led her into the treatment area where the other injured family members waited. Another blast shook the ship and Cassielle checked the wall panel. This time the deck directly below the bridge received the blast, severing the power to all upper decks.
“Escape pods, now,” she shouted her command. Soldiers and civilians acted as one. She walked over to where Rose sat on a bed next to Hank. “You’re coming with me.”
Hank stood up and helped Rose from her bed. They were still three hours from the rendezvous, and with any luck the other security ship will pick up the escape pods. LuHan approached carrying an unconscious Kelly. Celia stood next to him.
“Do you have a weapon?” Cassielle asked him.
“Yes,” he said.
Cassielle made sure LuHan and Celia were secured in an escape pod before getting into her own pod with Rose and Hank. The pod accelerated out right before another blast rocked the ship, causing a chain reaction and the ship disintegrated.
The second security ship gathered up escape pods as they ejected from the Lillian. Cassielle sat with her head in her hands. How could this have happened? How could they have gotten so many explosives onto her ship?
“Cass,” a soft voice called to her.
She looked up to see Rose looking across to her. The look on her mother’s face reflected her own fears. All denial was gone. Rose knew this was her daughter sitting across from her.
Cassielle let out a shaky sigh.
“Are you alright, honey?” Rose asked.
“I’m fine, but you could have been killed,” she said. Her head sank back into her hands.
The second security ship pulled their pod in and as soon as they docked, Cassielle exited. All the soldiers in the bay came to attention. They saluted her as the captain of the Hilk approached her.
“Welcome aboard, High Command,” he said, saluting her.
“How many men have we lost?” she asked.
“Unknown at this time. We have picked up a total of 57 escape pods so far.”
“There are two injured high-profile civilians on my pod. Get them to the medical bay,” she commanded.
Two soldiers immediately went to the pod. She watched as they help extract Rose and Hank from the pod.
“How many civilians have been rescued?” she asked turning back to the captain.
“All but four,” the captain responded. “We have them on our scanners, and they are approaching now. Ma’am, we only count four life signs between the two pods,” he said softly as Hank and Rose walked by.
They watched as another escape pod entered the bay and landed. LuHan exited carrying Kelly with Celia close behind. Medical attendants immediately went to them, placing Kelly on another stasis bed. Cassielle watched as they exited the bay grabbing LuHan as he walked by.
“I need you to stay behind,” she said quietly to him.
A severely damaged pod arrived in the bay. Cassielle ran to it as soon as it crashed to the ground. The latch for the door had become jammed in the frame. Grabbing the handle, she released energy and threw it across the bay. Inside, Gideon lay on the ground with severe burns. Harold pointed a photon gun at her.
“Hold up, Harold,” she said putting her hands up. “It’s ok. You’re safe now.”
“They shot the soldier we were with, and he hit the eject button right before he fell,” Harold said, his hands shaking as he put the gun down.
Cassielle removed the gun and handed it to the captain. She pulled Harold free and then picked up her brother. She could not find a pulse and a fear rippled through her. Medical attendants quickly took over. They placed him on the stasis bed and the cover appeared. Before they could move, she grabbed the bed and loaded the screen. It detected no vital signs. She looked over to LuHan who came to see the screen. After reading the screen and entering a few commands, he turned the screen off and shook his head.
LuHan stepped aside so the medical attendants could push the bed from the room. She followed with the captain next to her. Harold followed behind, visibly crying.
“Why did the Lillian self-destruct?” the captain asked.
- Writer
