Chaos Rising

5

"Captain, the door," one of the Security officers said. Sei'rik looked from her ensigns to the dented bulkhead.

"On my command, open the door," Sei'rik said. "We won't give them the satisfaction of knocking it down. Take cover."

The ensigns behind her choked on sobs. Sei'rik looked over to see the bravest ensign wiping their two dead colleague's blood all over the five of them.

"Ensign, what is your name?" Sei'rik asked.

"Captain?" the ensign asked, giving Sei'rik a confused look.

"You are strong and brave. If I am about to die, I would like to know the name of one such as you."

"Yes, Captain," the ensign nodded. "It's Talara."

"Talara," Sei'rik repeated. "Know that Captain Sei'rik honours your name among the heroes of old."

"I... Thank you, Captain," Talara nodded.

"Please, lie down," Sei'rik urged. "And be still." Sei'rik waited for the ensigns to become still before continuing: "Chief, open the door."

The bulkhead groaned and pulled itself open. Sei'rik peered around her cover to see the Jargol eclipsing the bright lights from the room beyond.

"Fire!" Sei'rik ordered. She wished she had a gun. Rifle, pistol or blaster, it didn't matter. It would have been good to know that you were going to go down fighting. Her Security guards unleashed a torrent of assault rifle fire towards the motionless Jargol. Sei'rik had never seen a dead one; she hoped she was about to.

Sei'rik's hopes were dashed when she watched the hail of bullets bounce off a crackling blue field, and ricochet into the room beyond.

"It has shields!" an officer yelled. "Combine fire on the head-"

With a bouncing metal sound, Sei'rik watched a small round object skitter across the floor. Sonic grenade! She barely had time to think before her reflexes pushed her backwards into the desks of the ensigns. The grenade went off as she was looking away, sending a squealing pulse of painful noise into her ears. Sei'rik landed on one of the dead ensigns and was thankful for the soft landing. She hadn't even known the girl's name and now her lifeless body was between her Captain and a horde of slavers.

With a booming chuckle, the Jargol leapt towards the officer who had spoken. In one leap, it covered the several metre gap and practically landed on the officer. Sei'rik saw that all the Security chiefs had been much closer to the grenade than she had been; all of them were clutching their ears and screaming. They seemed disoriented.

The Jargol's held a head-sized sonic stunner in one hand, which he was firing almost randomly in the direction of the three remaining officers. Sei'rik kept low, but watched the behemoth knock one of her guards against the wall, then hit another one with his stunner. The third managed to fire a few pointless shots before she too was landed on by the Jargol's bulk.

Sei'rik took a breath in and out.

"Captain," the Jargol growled. "I can smell your fear."

"I do not fear you, monster," Sei'rik replied, hoping her words lifted the ensigns spirits. "I fear for my passengers and crew."

"I would show you why you should fear me," the Jargol replied. "Death is a luxury."

"But you can't?" Sei'rik thought outloud. "You don't give the orders around here."

"No," a tough-sounding, female voice replied. "Argrook couldn't run a bath."

Sei'rik willed her eyes to clear the glare so that she could see the speaker. Thankfully, the woman walked forwards. An Ireen. The indigo-skinned humanoids looked a lot like the Humans, when it came down to it. Sei'rik knew that bipedalism is an evolutionarily-adaptive trait, but she wasn't sure why so many species shared such similar features; the Humans, the Ireen, the Catarons, and Jargol, while the Hexes, Cythliones and Techara looked so unique. This Ireen's skin was a deep blue, and she wore a tight, red-and-black combat suit. Her Human-like face was very beautiful, even to Sei'rik. It was framed by a series of mauve tattoos that curled all the way down her neck. A stripe on the Ireen's lips was also tattooed in the same colour. A well-kept plait of white hair was curled into tight spiral at the back of her head.

"Argrook, bring her here," the Ireen said. "I wish to see her more closely." The Jargol headed over to Sei'rik, but she smacked his massive hand away and walked herself over to the blue-skinned woman.

"I can move myself," Sei'rik told the Ireen. On closer inspection, this woman was the most well-kept woman Sei'rik had seen for a while. She must have been in charge of the slaver vessel. Sei'rik noticed how the woman seemed almost proud of Sei'rik's small act of defiance. Nevertheless, the Jargol stood menacingly close to Sei'rik's back.

"I suppose I should thank you, Captain," the woman said. "You brought all these gifts right to my door. You even wrote about it on the hull." She was referring to the ship's name. "Argrook, isn't that sweet?"

The Jargol made an amused smirk.

"Sorry to interrupt your gloating," Sei'rik said. "But I have many important things to do. Such as dying."

"You think I'm going to kill you?" the Ireen asked, sounding surprised, with a menacing smile. "Captain, you're not going to die. I need you to pass on a message. We've already activated your ship's distress beacon for you. Recovery ships should be here in, what, a week or so? You'll survive... but only after you've had to eat your crew to stay alive."

Sei'rik's hearts sank. "And the message?" she asked, not wanting to know an answer.

"You already know it," the Ireen said menacingly. "Just remember that it was Captain Sola Alee who treated you with such mercy."

"You psychotic, murderous-" Sei'rik began, trying to grab the Ireen with her hands. All it would take was a quick zap, and... But the blue woman moved aside.

"Uh-uh," Alee tutted, wagging her finger in front of Sei'rik's face. "Remember your manners." She locked eyes with Sei'rik and bared a smile of cloaked malice. "Argrook, time to go." The Jargol grunted and pushed Sei'rik to the floor, as he and his captain went back through the bulkhead. Just before they left, the Jargol smashed his fist into the bulkhead controls and pulled the circuit board off the wall. He laughed from the other side as the bulkhead alarm wailed and the door sealed.

Sei'rik felt sick. She was trapped in her own ship. Without the bulkhead controls, there was no way out; the drill that had smashed into the starboard wall had swallowed the only other way off the bridge.

Sei'rik jumped with a loud sound echoed across the bridge. Her hearts had endured so much today that she felt they were ready to give up. But what she heard was enough to change her mind.