Ronan

Two Hunters on patrol passed below me.

My lip twisted in a snarl but Erich shrugged as if to ask ‘what did I expect?’

He was right. Hunters weren't the brightest things out there, but either they or their handler had some basic survival instincts.

I’d been picking off every lone straggler I found on the ship for… well, not sure how long. But someone finally wised up, had them running patrols in pairs.

Fine.

Two at once would just make the job faster.

I dropped from the shadowed beam over the passage to the lower cargo bay, my feet hitting the deck plates with only a whisper of a sound.

Erich was right by me, silent as always.

I tightened my grip on the long, narrow wicked blade in my hand and plunged it between the shoulder blades of the Hunter to the left.

The first one fell with an earsplitting screech as I severed the cords and cables that passed for a spine.

Unfortunately, that gave its companion plenty of warning.

Without a glance down for its companion it swung at me. I rolled back, swearing. Darkness, I wished I’d found a blaster, a needle gun, something on the damn ship.

But in all the time I’d spent killing the bastards, I hadn’t found any real weapons. That was alright. I kinda liked ripping them apart, the way they’d done to us.

When I stood up from the wreckage I checked over the bodies again, tearing open their plated armor, exposing the tangle of flesh and wiring below.

Still nothing I could use.

I straightened, wincing a little.

Not smart, but excellent combat drones. I’d give them that. I took a deep breath, and stopped myself at the stab of pain at my side.

Bastard had cracked a couple of ribs. And from the dull ache radiating through my arm probably did a number on my shoulder, too.

Erich fell into step with me as I headed back towards my hideout. “You can't keep doing this, Ronan, not without medical care, not on those crappy rations.”

I grunted, but couldn’t argue, just rubbed the long, raw scar across my throat.

I healed fast, we all did. But even Wolves needed some down time between missions. Here it was just one long fight.

“At least stop by their lab, see if there's anything you recognize, can scavenge.”

Erich was right. Erich was always right. It was one of his annoying traits these days.

I changed directions, loping through the empty halls. Hunters had their routines, and I had them mostly mapped out by now. I’d caught the last two on their way to a part of the ship I hadn’t been able to gain access to. Yet.

Which meant the lab was unguarded.

I stopped at the door, bracing to go in.

Not much bothered me, certainly not anymore, but this room of people strapped to beds, sliced and poked and prodded, shook something at my core.

I looked at each still form as I walked through, teeth bared at the stink of sweat and pain and adrenaline.

“You should help them.” Erich stood at the foot of a bed holding a middle aged man, right arm removed at the shoulder. Drip lines of Void knew what ran into his chest.

“Not a doctor,” I muttered. “I’d probably kill them just getting them out.” And there was nowhere to take them. My fist clenched around the knife handle. The only thing I could give them was a quick end. Maybe that would be enough, but I didn’t know. Couldn’t judge.

Only six in the beds now. The remaining two lay empty, ready for new patients.

I rummaged through the cabinets, looking for anything that would ease either my pain or theirs, but it was all labeled with strings of numbers. No telling toxin from treatment.

A tube of wound sealant was the only useful find. Grabbing it, I turned, more than ready to get out of the creep show.

And my gaze was riveted by a wide pair of green eyes, staring at me from a cage pushed to the back of the room.

A woman, long pale hair tangled and matted, crouched inside.

“Help me.”

* * *

Aurin

Once upon a time a tall, bearded wild man with a tangle of dark hair and jagged tattoos spiraling over half his chest would have scared me.

Once upon a time, back in my safe little world at the capitol, I would have crossed to another glide, stayed out of his way, never met his eyes.

Once upon a time was a long time ago.

“Please,” I whispered, and he frowned, as if confused that anything in it this hellish place was still alive. “They'll come for us soon. I've seen how they work.”

He glanced for me to one of the empty beds and his jaw tightened.

He knew.

The next time those faceless things in black came, they’d drag me out, strap me to the newly emptied bed.

I glanced down at the thin woman behind me, burning up with fever. They’d do the same to her, she just wouldn’t last as long.

I waited. The giant knew what happened here. If that wasn't enough to get him to save us, nothing I said would matter.

He glanced at the corners of the lab, shiny black half-domes mounted in each vertex. The panels around them lit and blinked during the experiments. I'd wondered if they were cameras, but at the time it didn't matter.

The man reached for the door of the cage and frowned, his eyes looking behind me to Loree's still body.

“You have to help us both. She needs me.” She was my patient. Which might sound ludicrous here, but it was all I had to hold on to anymore.

With a twist of his hand the lock on the cage door crumpled.

I reached for Loree to pull her out with me, and winced. Her clammy skin was dull, and she no longer responded to my touch.

“Move.” The word was a low rumble, and I flinched, eyes wide.

Our rescuer stood there, waiting for me to get out of his way.

Come on, Aurin, you don't have any other choices. I stepped back and watched as he reached through the door and eased Loree out and into his arms with surprising gentleness.

He stood, bearing her weight on his left arm, her head and arms over his shoulder like a sleepy child, and headed toward the door.

“Wait, what about the others?”

I glanced back at six remaining patients. Patient wasn't the right word. Victims. Sacrifices to some angry god of pain.

He disappeared with Loree, and I knew he was right. There was nothing I could do for them now.

“I'll be back,” I whispered, tears stinging my eyes. And then I followed the stranger into the dark corridor door.

At first I couldn't find him in the dark hall, my eyes too used to the bright lights of the lab. I strained my ears, but heard nothing.

Fine. Left or right. Right?

Turning sharply, I kept my hand trailing against the right side wall of the corridor.

Instead of the cold metal plating I’d imagined, soft fabric ran under my fingers, interrupted in places. Any other time, I’d have stopped, curious to explore the mystery. Now I just wanted to put as much distance between me and the horror as possible.

My heartbeat pounded in my ears. Shouldn’t I be able to see the man and Loree ahead of me by now?

Two, three more tentative steps, then a warm hand engulfed my upper arm.

“No. This way.” He tugged me along and as we moved through the empty halls. Tiny lights flickered by our feet as we went and I began to make out some details of our surroundings.

Rich red fabric upholstered the walls, but it was ripped and stained, the pattern faded. I squinted at it as we passed, a distant memory tickled.

“Where are we?”

“Base.”

Right then. Not long on conversation. As long as he could get us to safety, I didn’t care.

Before long, a hatch blocked the corridor, lights flashing red and yellow around the seal.

“What are you doing?” I pulled back, but there was nowhere else to go. “There’s no atmosphere beyond there!”

Every child raised on a station knew that pattern, every passenger on every ship throughout the Empire was taught it.

Hull breach. Unsurvivable.

He muttered something, then sat Loree on the deck, leaning against the wall. I rushed to her, but she was the same: burning hot, unresponsive.

“Why would you save us from the cage to take us here?”

He grunted, massive arms bulging as he wrenched the wheel of the manual release.

Even as I flung myself over Loree, I knew it was pointless. There wasn’t anything to hang onto, and after the cage, I wasn’t strong enough anyway.

But the rush of vacuum didn’t rip through the hall. Not a flutter.

Rolling off of Loree I sat, blinking. The man stood above us, and through the sliver of open hatch I could see a perfectly safe looking hallway, just like the one we’d been in.

“Coming?”

* * *