Their argument was abruptly cut short by the door sliding open just as another blast hit the ship. The two Raxxians fell through the doorway, knocked off their feet from the violent impact. Victor did not hesitate.
He jumped on top of the nearest guard, latching himself onto his back where the Raxxian’s long claws and sharp teeth couldn’t reach him. His hands fumbled for what he believed was a weapon on the alien’s waist, but he was unable to pull it free. Victor looked to Heydar with panicked eyes. The Raxxians were getting back to their feet, and he had failed in his attack miserably.
Maureen wondered what she could do. This was about to go very, very badly for all of them, thanks to Victor’s impulsive actions. A price would be paid, and they wouldallbe paying it, knowing their captors.
Victor continued to struggle but the aliens were far, far tougher than he’d bargained for and his frantic blows failed to so much as faze them. The other guard regained his feet and grabbed Victor, pulling him from his comrade’s back and flinging him to the center of the room. Both were fixated on the human who dared attack them. It was clear who would be their next meal.
Heydar’s shoulders sagged for just a split second as he weighed the options. Weighed them and came to a decision.
His meaty fist reached the first guard’s neck even as his boot-clad foot was swinging into the abdomen of the other guard, sending the first to his knees, gasping for air as the second doubled over from the brutal impact.
Unlike Victor, it seemed that Heydar had more than enough strength for this engagement.
In a flash it was over.
“Come on! This is our chance!” Victor yelled.
“Do not be a fool. Your ill-conceived attack has already placed this group at great risk.”
“So we make the most of it,” Victor replied. “I’m not wasting this one chance. You said it, we’re livestock. Dead meat any way you slice it. At least this way we might get lucky.”
The other prisoners muttered amongst themselves. Some rushed out to join him, while others remained frozen in place. Heydar looked at the group and made another difficult decision.
“I will help,” he said. “But I do not think this will end well.”
Victor merely nodded and took off out the open door, followed by more than half of the prisoners. Heydar saw the fear in the eyes of the remaining livestock.
“Close the door behind us,” he said. “If the ship decompresses you will be safe.”
With that, he stepped outside. Maureen moved to the door to close it but Darla hurried past her.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to see about getting out of here,” Darla said. “Look, I’ve got to do something. Thank you for all your help. Be safe.”
Maureen paused a second, nodded to her, then hit the control panel. The door slammed shut in her face.
The ship bucked again and another wave of the nauseating energy weapon flowed over the remaining occupants. One of the walls buckled, beginning to crack from the strain. That was not good. This compartment was compromised.
“We need to get out of here!” Maureen yelled, assessing their situation in a flash, slapping the controls and opening the door. Fortunately, with Raxxians in the chamber the controls recognized their presence and activated. “Everyone out! Find somewhere secure. Go! Go! Go!”
Even dazed as they were, everyone took off running. It wasn’t an organized form of chaos by any means. This was everyone for themselves. She watched as they scattered. Nyota stopped at a fallen Raxxian guard and rolled him over, taking his long dagger, then took off running. Others simply fled.
Maureen didn’t have a plan, she just moved as fast as she could, sticking to the walls in the flickering light as explosions shook the ship one after another. Most of the other compartment doors were still sealed shut. They had to be unlocked from the outside before they could cycle properly.
“Hope the others figure that out,” she grunted as she slammed the open control on the door closest to her and tumbled inside.
A thick hand slapped the control and shut the door behind her just as another explosion rocked the ship. Maureen was thrown into the ceiling, landing hard on the deck as the ship moved violently from the attack.
“Oh, my head,” she gasped, trying to crawl to the nearest bunk to at least have something to hold on to.
A pair of strong hands hoisted her up and threw her into the bunk, piling in on top of her just as a massive explosion tore the ship apart. The compartment shook violently a long moment, then suddenly it ripped free, the shaking stopping, if only for a moment.
Maureen turned as best she could, but all she could see was the faint silhouette of a massive man holding her in place as the compartment spun into a dive. His hand was the only thing she could see clearly. Cobalt blue, with broken tattoo lines running up to his arms.
“Bodok?” she said, but it was too loud for her to even hear her own voice.
Emergency lighting flickered as the sound of shearing metal rang out through the compartment. It was getting hot in there. Very hot. And the vibrations were steady now, but increasing in strength.
