Fugitive: A Space Opera: Book Five of The Shadow Order Read online

  Its body not suited for righting itself in a hurry, the creature remained down while Seb seized his opportunity. He jumped to his feet and punched the beast on the snout. It stood out as its weak spot, but the creature remained conscious despite the force of his steel-lined blow.

  Seb punched it again, its head thrashing from side to side as it tried to avoid his attack and failed. Four, five, six punches. The brute looked stunned, slowing down a little as it tried to stay away from Seb’s blows.

  Heavily panting from the fight, sweat running down his face, and his jaw clenched so tightly the side of his head ached, Seb screamed and put all he had into another punch.

  His fist sank into the monster’s face and it fell limp.

  Gasping, Seb straightened his back and looked up and down the depressing but brightly lit corridor. It looked empty.

  The more vocal of the two minotaurs had seemed like the leader, so Seb checked its pockets first. He found the keys for the prison cell on the first time of looking.

  A large ring of about thirty keys, Seb’s eyes fell to the one with as much rust on it as the door. When he tried it, the lock snapped free with a loud clunk.

  Another quick check up and down the bright corridor. It looked clear, so Seb pulled the cell door open, the rusty hinges doing their best to give away his movements.

  The second Seb stepped into the confined space, the smell drove him back, nearly knocking him over. A sour combination of halitosis and sweat, he had to press the back of his hand to his nose before he stepped forward again.

  The prisoners moved away from Seb when he entered. Some of them looked at the dropped guards behind him. Many of the creatures he’d fought the last time he’d been in the cell were still there. The large brown version of Bruke looked at the floor. The crew of seven with the two bat-like creatures all turned away from him. However, the mandulu who ran the place still had the courage to fix him with a dark glare.

  To see the swelling on his face made Seb wince, and he dragged a sharp intake of breath as he looked down at the toilet bowl. The dent made by the mandulu’s face looked larger than he remembered it. “Sorry about last time, old chap.” He laughed. “I had to find a way to stop you from trying to fight me, and I didn’t want to kill you.”

  The mandulu continued to stare. Then, like the minotaur had done only minutes before, the fat chinned beast looked over Seb’s shoulder.

  Before Seb had time to react, he heard the crackle of three electric prods behind him. He continued to stare at the mandulu. “I’m guessing someone’s still pissed about last time, then?”

  CHAPTER 3

  Three thugs. All of them the same species. All of them unfamiliar to Seb because they hadn’t been there the last time he had. They moved in on him like they’d done this before. They worked as a team. One directly in front of him and one to either side. They were all shorter than him, but even the narrowest of the three had at least an extra thirty centimetres width than he did. The largest had the proportions of a square. Pink-skinned like hairless moles, they looked built for strength. Their small brow-less heads suggested they didn’t have much space for brains.

  They might have been unfamiliar to Seb, but he was unfamiliar to them too. Maybe that was why they were prepared to attack him.

  Looking into their vacant stares, Seb watched their brilliant blue eyes for some form of cognition. When he didn’t see it, he smiled to himself. They looked like the perfect henchmen. Just point them where you wanted them to go and they’d attack. The mandulu clearly had something to do with their aggression towards him.

  After one final look at the three faces, Seb did what he had to do. A deep breath to centre himself and his world slowed down. He balled his cold metal fists and clenched his jaw.

  But before he could step forward, two huge brown arms came around him from behind and clamped across his chest. He shook and twisted, but he couldn’t move.

  The faces of the three thugs lit up as one. A moment of panic surged through Seb, kicking his pulse up a notch.

  No time to think, Seb fell limp. He had enough bodyweight to destabilise the brown creature behind him and it came forwards with his fall. Before the beast could recover, Seb kicked off the ground, going against their collective momentum and crashing back up against the brute’s face with a wet clomp.

  What felt like the brute’s teeth sent fire through the top of Seb’s head. Although he must have done more damage to it because the creature fell away from him, releasing its grip as it toppled backwards. A second later, it hit the ground with a thump.

  No time to check if it had been knocked out or not, Seb looked at the large round stomachs of the three aggressors in front of him. Their clear weak spot. Most creatures fell from a blow to the face, but these things looked like they had skulls as thick as rock. To punch them there would only hurt him, even with no feeling in his hands.

  A slow motion perspective helped Seb see the first swing from a mile away. A measure of its stupidity, the creature used the electric prod as a bat. It must have thought the steel body of the pole would somehow be more effective than the flickering blue electricity on the end of it.

  Seb dropped down beneath the attack and punched the idiot in the stomach.

  The blow drove the air from the first brute in a deep wheeze, and it folded over as it fell to the floor.

  Seb remained low and sent two quick punches into the guts of the other two. Both of them fell like the first had. They slowly flopped forward at the waist and were rendered utterly ineffective.

  Before Seb got to his feet, his perspective sped up again. The electric prods lay on the floor, buzzing from where they remained on. They existed as the only sound in the cell, and when he looked around at the other prisoners, wide eyes regarded him as if they feared he’d go for them next.

  The brown creature Seb had shrugged off remained down, blood running from its mouth. Seb reached up to the top of his head and felt the lump from where the thing’s teeth had connected with his skull.

  It took a few seconds for Seb’s breathing to settle from the effort of the fight. For that time, he felt the attention of the room on him. He then focused on the mandulu in the corner.

  The mandulu stared back.

  “You may have had something to do with what just happened.”

  When the mandulu opened its mouth to reply, he cut it off. “I don’t care if you did. In fact, I don’t want to know. You’re free to go,” Seb said.

  If not the entire room, then a large majority of them gasped at his comment.

  “What?” the mandulu said.

  “I’m setting you free. All of you. It’s not that hard to get your head around, is it?”

  A glance at the three knocked-out brutes, Seb laughed. “They gave me a workout, that’s all. They weren’t a serious threat in any way. Oh, and when you leave, I don’t want any harm to come to the guards outside. They’re as much a victim of Moses’ insanity as you all are. I know screws and prisoners don’t get on, but they’re just doing their job. I don’t want them punished for that.”

  “Are you aware of how they treated us?” the mandulu said.

  Seb pulled his head back. “I’m sorry, did I give off the impression that this was a discussion?”

  Silence.

  “Right. Now get out of here before I change my mind.”

  Although Seb waited, none of the prisoners moved.

  When Seb looked around the room at them, they all dropped their attention to their feet. “I’m going to leave the door open. I’m not going to hold your hands. You decide if you want to leave or not.” He fought to hide the panic in his voice. The plan wouldn’t work if they didn’t leave. He needed the chaos of a prison break.

  Seb then saw the grey creature. Although he’d seen it the last time he’d been in the prison, he got to truly take it in now. It stood about five feet six inches tall and looked like a rock troll with its granite eyes and skin. It had long coarse black hair that looked almost synthetic. The sto
cky thing had a frame somewhere between a human and a gorilla. Broad shoulders, a slight hunch to its stance, long and powerful arms. After finally pointing at it, he said, “You! You’re coming with me.”

  The rock troll clearly didn’t need a second invitation. It as good as ran towards Seb at his request. It must have made him unpopular when he’d called Seb the chosen one because he appeared desperate to get out of there.

  Anxiety twisted through Seb to see the others still hadn’t moved. What would it take to get chaos streaming out of the cell?

  Once outside—the three guards still out cold—Seb grabbed the rock troll’s arm and dragged it around the corner. Despite the bright lights, he found a shadowy spot and pressed against the cold steel wall.

  Although it followed Seb’s lead, the grey creature looked confused. “What are we doing?” it asked in a whisper.

  Seb peered around the corner and said, “Waiting.”

  “For what?”

  Suddenly, the prisoners ran from the cell, and some of the tension left Seb’s frame. A stampede, they moved as one, all of them heading away in the opposite direction.

  Seb watched them for a moment before he said, “That.”

  When enough of the prisoners had left the cell, Seb reached over for the red alarm button on the wall and smashed his fist against it. A loud screeching siren soared through the long corridors and no doubt the rest of the complex too. So shrill, it threw Seb’s balance off. He shouted at the grey creature, “We need Moses focusing on anything but us at this point.”

  The creature nodded.

  “It helps that they attacked me.”

  “Why?”

  “It takes some of the guilt away. They’re all about to run into a room full of Shadow Order cadets. They may only be young, but all of them are trained and keen. The prisoners don’t stand a chance against them. It’ll buy us the time we need to get out of here.”

  The shrill alarm bored into Seb and wound his shoulders tight. “Come on”—he pointed up as if to indicate the sound around them—“let’s get out of here before my brain melts.”

  Seb set off in the opposite direction to all of the prisoners. The rock troll followed.

  “Where are we going?” the grey creature asked.

  After he’d crossed the corridor and opened a door, Seb revealed a metal staircase. “Where would you go if you wanted to get out of here?” He stepped through into the cold concrete maintenance area. It smelled of damp, salty damp, because of their position beneath the sea. Seb crinkled his nose at the stench.

  “Most beings would go to the platform up top.”

  “Exactly.” After the grey creature had stepped through, Seb closed the door and headed down the stairs. “That’s why we’re heading in the opposite direction.”

  The red emergency lighting made it trickier to navigate their descent. For the first time, Seb missed the magnesium glare of the lights in the corridor. The crimson glow pulsed in time with the dizzying sound of the alarm. His stomach lurched with every step, his vision so poor he feared he might fall.

  But Seb soon found his rhythm, gripping the cold and damp handrail as he ran down the stairs two at a time towards the basement. The thud of the troll’s steps followed behind him—it didn’t have a problem keeping up.

  They only had to descend a couple of floors, but when the door to the basement came into sight, Seb halted and let out a heavy sigh. “Damn!”

  “What?” the grey creature asked as it caught up to him, breathless from their run.

  “I left the guard’s keys in the prison cell. We can’t get through that door.”

  Before Seb could think on it, the grey creature grabbed him and pulled him into the shadows. The door in front of them clicked and flew open. Three guards burst through it.

  “Moses wants everyone to go to the landing platform,” one of them said as they ran past Seb and the troll.

  The others followed him up the stairs, and within seconds they were out of sight.

  Before Seb could think, the grey creature darted forwards and caught the door, preventing it from clicking shut.

  Seb laughed. “It’s not often I feel like I’m a step behind.”

  A stoic nod, the rock troll pulled the door wide, the green glow of the basement spilling out into the red stairwell.

  Seb stepped into the space and gasped. It looked like an aquarium. A large window ran the entire length of one wall. It revealed the weird and wonderful aquatic life of Aloo. Not that he had time to admire the view; the alarm still pulsed through the room, reminding him they needed to get out of there now.

  “I’m glad we came down here,” the grey creature said.

  Seb looked to where he looked. In one corner sat a bay filled with all different kinds of vessels. It suddenly dawned on him what the troll had said when they’d entered the stairwell. “You said most beings would go to the platform up top, but you didn’t say you would.”

  The troll’s granite eyes glowed as if it had just seen an old friend. “That’s my submarine over there.”

  “I was thinking I’d have to drive one of those things. Are you saying you can get us out of here?”

  The rock troll broke into a jog towards his sub. “You betcha I can.”

  CHAPTER 4

  The whir of the submarine’s engines vibrated through the small vessel. For the first part of their journey, Seb twisted in his seat and looked over his shoulder behind him through the glass roof. He waited until darkness swallowed the Shadow Order’s base before he looked anywhere else.

  Designed for beings smaller than him, Seb had to stoop because of the low ceiling. Although uncomfortable, he had enough movement to take in his surroundings. Above him, the water turned slightly lighter from the sun trying to penetrate the gloomy depths. To the sides and below, it plunged into inky blackness within a few short metres. The submarine’s beam did little to help.

  A clear panel by his feet, Seb looked down again. Unable to ascertain just how far the depths plunged, his stomach flipped. He’d never liked the water, but now he had metal fists, he liked it even less.

  If the deep frown on its face was anything to go by, the troll clearly needed to concentrate, but Seb still spoke, his anxiety driving his words. “I know I spend a lot of time in space, but there’s something about the sea. If the engines fail now, it looks like we’d drop forever.”

  At that moment the rock troll threw the submarine to the left and Seb grabbed onto his seat, his heart jumping into his throat.

  The rock troll didn’t look back when Seb stared at him, so he looked over his shoulder and saw what they’d avoided. The tentacle appeared to be like many he’d seen: covered in suckers, thick, and as black as the night. However, he’d never seen one so large. They’d only avoided the tip of it. A tip that would have wrecked them if it had made contact. Another look down into the darkness and he squirmed in his seat. “How long till we’re on shore?”

  The troll said nothing as the sub wobbled from side to side, the water disturbed by the great tentacle’s movement. Seb watched it vanish back into the depths behind them. “What was that thing?”

  No sign of nerves, the grey creature fought to keep the sub level and continued to stare out of the windscreen into the darkness in front of them. “I don’t know.”

  “You’ve never seen one before?”

  “I’ve seen plenty of those tentacles before.”

  Another look down showed the darkness as black and impenetrable as it was moments before. Seb shook his head. “Better that than see what was on the end of it, I suppose.”

  “Exactly.”

  It took another few seconds for Seb to settle himself. His body remained tense and his pulse rapid. “I suppose the water stresses me out now because of how I swim with my new fists.”

  No response. And what could his new friend say to that? He knew nothing of Seb’s fists and it would take too long to explain. “I’ve just realised,” Seb said, “I never asked your name.”

 
; The creature smiled, its granite eyes focused in front of it still. “No, you didn’t.”

  “Well? What is it?”

  “Owsk.”

  “Owsk?”

  “Owsk.”

  Seb shifted to try to find more comfort in his cramped seat. “Well, I’m pleased to meet you. I’m Seb.”

  “I know that.”

  “Of course you do. So, tell me, what do you know about the prophecy?”

  Owsk continued to stare ahead of them, the sub’s single thick beam of light giving them just a few more metres visibility than no light at all would. “Not a lot really. Something came over me when I saw you and I knew I needed to say it. You have the blood in your veins of the chosen one. I can feel it. I can sense you have a greatness waiting to be unlocked. That you’ll take down the void threatening to consume the galaxy.”

  “The void?”

  Owsk shrugged.

  “Well, that’s answered all of my questions. Thanks.”

  After a few seconds of silence, Owsk finally said, “I didn’t say I could answer your questions.”

  Owsk then dropped the sub by a few metres, leaving Seb’s stomach where it had been moments before. He looked up to watch them pass beneath a large brown fish easily three times the size of their vessel. It moved with lazy strokes of its huge fins. It seemed to be scanning its surroundings despite its milky white eyes on its ugly face.

  To look at its size set Seb’s panic off again and he muttered to himself, “In the land of the blind, the photosensitive are king.”

  “Huh?” Owsk said.

  “Nothing.”

  Owsk shrugged. “So what are you doing breaking out of the Shadow Order’s base?”

  The cramped conditions forced Seb to straighten his right leg so he could access his pocket. He slipped two fingers into it and retrieved the hard little parasite Sparks had thrown up in the tank.