Krasnyy Vokzal
The pod docked automatically, extruding a small electromagnetic containment field to protect the occupants' atmosphere as they moved into the Russian Station. Lillian keyed open the airlock, and it hissed slowly, somehow still possessing power. They carried Bomrek across awkwardly in the lessened gravity, and rested him on a nearby table. He groaned and clutched the great gashes Null had inadvertently rent across his RIG. Blood was seeping out slowly from between his fingers. Vlad took off his own RIG helmet and set to work on Bomrek's suit, carefully taking it off the wounded man. He looked at Lillian, who was sealing the airlock. His expression was grave, "We need bandages, and sutures. Something." She nodded and looked around.
The room was pretty bare. A few folding metal chairs, a half-filled cardboard box of random items, and two more doors leading deeper into the station. She tossed the contents of the box around, but it was all useless junk. Coat hangers, picture frames, a plastic cup, and some less identifiable items of little interest. Frustrated, she pulled off her armored jacket, then tried ripping the sleeves of her jumpsuit off. The material was too tough, so she pulled off Bomrek's RIG boots, then searched his ankles. Finally, she found his boot knife, and pulled it from it's sheathe. With this, she cut her sleeves off and slit them into ragged strips, which she gave to Vlad. Vlad packed them into the wounds, but shook his head, "This material won't keep the blood in very well. We need more than this, Lil." He gestured at the doors, "Try in there, I'll stay with him."
Lillian nodded curtly and entered the foreign station, slipping her jacket back on. A long corridor stretched out before her, lined on one side with huge windows, and on the other with a massive set of red cyrillic letters on a steel wall. She muttered to herself, "I guess... We're probably in arrivals. Similar design, probably. Hopefully. How would I find Medical from Arrivals..." She reached the end of the corridor, and opened the next hatch. There was an armored checkpoint set into a T-junction. Three doors, including the one she had entered, and one on both sides of her, with the shuttered window-desk of the checkpoint in front of her. She opened the door on her left, and it led into a waiting room with nowhere else to go but into the checkpoint, which was locked. Shrugging, she pushed on, moving farther into the Russian station. She passed a cafeteria and dormitory, then came into another long corridor, again with one windowed side. These windows looked into a massive reactor chamber. She couldn't see into the shielded compartment at the center, but she was certain gravity was significantly stronger here than at Arrivals.
Lining the edges of the reactor chamber were more windows, on a few levels, and she spotted what she hoped was a Medical wing. She went back to Arrivals, where Vlad waited tensely. "Anything?" He asked.
She nodded tersely, "I think I found a medical section. It's up some stairs and quite a ways. Can he make it?"
Bomrek groaned loudly, "Fuck's sake, I have to, don't I? Get me up, I can walk." Vlad hefted the man up and slipped under his shoulder to support him. He waved Lillian on and they followed her on the arduous journey into the station, trailing spatters of blood. Inside Arrivals, a hole ripped in reality, and out stepped a dead man. He followed them at a sedate pace.
They carried Bomrek up the stairs, three flights. From there, it wasn't a far walk to Medical. Once inside, despair set in. There was almost nothing inside, all items of value had been stripped out long ago. They set Bomrek down on a roller-bed, and tore through the cabinets and cases that remained. Lillian cursed under her breathe, and checked a desk drawer near where a Cryo unit would have been. Inside was a basic medical kit. She snatched it up and handed it to Vlad, who set to work on Bomrek. As the blond man labored away, Lillian realized someone was in the doorway. A dead man.
Hector looked at her, his eyes milky-white, his flesh vacuum-puckered. She got the distinct sensation that he wasn't alone in his body, like something was in there with him. When he spoke, it reinforced that feeling, as his voice reverberated a little, "Hello, Lillian."
Vlad stopped what he was doing and looked up, shocked, and Bomrek gasped. Lillian grimaced and edged over so she was between him and them. "Hello, Hector." She said simply.
The revenant stepped forward, "I was punished for saving you. The Wraith was bound to me so there would be no further... Human mistakes. I must have your blood, Lillian. The ritual can still be completed." His hand raised, clenched in a tight fist around the hilt of a blade.
Lillian pulled her pistol and pointed it at his face, "Don't make me shoot you, Hector." He kept moving forward, and she fired. And again. And emptied the clip. His head was shattered and rent, but he still kept coming. Lillian stumbled back, into Vlad. She looked at him, and sputtered, "Get out of here, and take him with you. Find a comms system and raise the Minotaur, get Jay Wright. Get the fuck out, I'll... I'll deal with this."
Vlad eyed the slowly advancing revenant, some of the shock wearing off, "He's... Pretty slow. We could probably just walk around him." He tested his theory, wheeling Bomrek around and past Hector, who ignored them. Lillian followed suit, and they started looking for some sort of communications system. Behind them, Hector's corpse walked through the wall after them like it wasn't even there, at the same sedate pace. They looked back, and Vlad sighed, "That's going to get annoying. I think he's just after you though. I'll take Bomrek and find something, you distract the zombie."
Lillian sighed, "Why me?" She turned around, and flapped her arms in frustration, "Seriously! Why me? What's the whole deal with today?! Prophecies and shit. I'm so done." Hector reached arm's reach and slashed at her languidly. "AND WHY ARE YOU SO FUCKING SLOW?!"
The dead-man grunted, "I'm fighting the Wraith, slowing it down. I don't think you understand quite how much danger you are really in."
She avoided the slash easily and sighed, "Okay. I'll... Figure something out I guess." She ran down the stairs to the lowest floor of the station, then jogged a short distance, buying herself time to think. "How the fuck am I supposed to kill a goddamn ghost-monster out of my dead friend?" Lillian passed through a door, into the reactor chamber. She looked at the massive containment unit in the center. "Hold on a tick..." She murmured to herself, before walking over to the computers that controlled the reactor.
A nearby intercom crackled to life, "Hey, what are you doing down there?" Vlad said.
"I think I can trap the thing in the thing. The ghost in the black hole. I mean, the engine." She said, nonsensically.
A short pause and then Bomrek came over the comm, "I gotcha, Lillian, what do you need to do?"
"I need to open the containment shutters and, I dunno. Push him in, pretty much. Close the shutters. That's the whole plan." She looked back, and Hector was in the chamber.
It was Vlad this time, "I can read cyrilic. I'm going to leave Bomrek by the comm just in case and be down in a moment."
Lillian sighed and walked away from Hector, circling the room slowly. She called back to him, "This is just. The lamest fucking fight I've ever been in, by the way."
The corpse was silent now, and it started walking a bit faster. Lillian felt the tiniest jolt of fear, then Vlad entered the chamber. He crossed to the console and started muttering to himself.
Lillian shouted, "Vlad, hurry your shit up. I don't think we have much time." She was jogging now, and the creature was matching her pace. Vlad glanced up and paled. He jabbed a button forcefully, and one of the huge lead sheets containing the core slid up, revealing a bleak nothingness surrounded by a crackling field of energy and particle collectors. Lillian ran and positioned herself in front of the gap. "When I tell you, seal this thing back up!" She shouted, bracing herself as the revenant advanced on her swiftly.
It stabbed out, jerkily, and she dodged while grabbing it's arm and pulling. A basic judo throw was all it took, but as it passed over her, it's other hand grabbed her jacket. The gravitational force of the contained black hole caught Hector's feet, and started pulling him in. Lillian felt sheer terror as she realized there was no way she could dislodge it's hand from her. If she released it's arm, it would kill her as surely as the engine would. And if she didn't, well. She already felt the enormous force pulling at them both, and she wasn't even in the containment chamber yet. Lillian was barely hanging onto her footing, trapped in a stalemate.
The ruined corpse-monster stiffened abruptly, and spoke again through it's blasted mouth, "My hand. Take my hand." The fist with the knife unclenched, and the knife fell sideways and spaghettified as soon as it passed the containment field, turning into an insane spiral that hurt to look at. Lillian slid her grip to the creature's hand, trusting Hector for some reason. "My ring. Take my ring to her." The creature begged, and let go of her jacket. It's legs were at the very edge of the field, and were slowly elongating and twisting.
Lillian felt it let go, and grabbed desperately at it's ring as it slipped out of her grasp. She somehow managed to pull the ring off before the creature fell into the field. Of all the horrors she had witnessed, nothing was worse than what the field did to a human body. She knew she would have nightmares of this moment for the rest of her life. The plate slid shut on the horrible sight, and Lillian remained, transfixed.
Distantly she heard a voice. "Lillian? Come on. Let's go get Bomrek. Come on Lillian." Vlad tugged at her elbow. She nodded mutely and followed him mechanically.
They reached Bomrek, who cracked, "Vlad, I just realized, if you knew cyrilic, why did you send Lillian into the stati- Uh. Everything okay?" He eyed them both, and Vlad replied shortly.
"Don't ask, Bomrek. Just don't ask. Comms is up I think. We'll carry the whole roller bed up like a stretcher." The moment became silent, and solemn as Lillian opened her hand to reveal a wedding ring. Silently, she put it in a pocket and picked up one end of the bed. Together they carried Bomrek, in total silence.
---
"I don't get it. We should have received some sort of reply by now. The Minotaur was in system." Vlad said, frustrated.
Bomrek sighed, "Try changing frequency. Does it have enough power?"
Vlad snapped back, "I've tried. We've been over that. This is useless." Lillian sat in a corner of the Communications Center on one of the folding metal chairs, quiet. Vlad stood and paced, cursing.
"Here we are. The last of you." The voice was strange and startling, Vlad jumped a bit as he looked at the newcomer. A tall, dark-haired man, with a trim goatee, in black and red armor, pointing a gun at him. "I was wondering if any'd escape. Makes my job easier that you're all on here with me." Vlad put his hands up slowly, and the man nodded, "Smart kid. Nice and easy, grab your friend and roll him away from the Comms."
It appeared he didn't notice Lillian, so still and quiet was she. Vlad and Bomrek shared a glance as Vlad started to push the bed away from the console. Bomrek's hand inched down a bit, towards the Energy Pistol he had. Vlad locked the brakes on the bed and put his hands back up, "What now, guy?"
The sinister newcomer smiled easily, "Now I kill you, call my ride, and collect the prize." He raised the gun fractionally and fired. Lillian was there, though, and twisted his gun up. The burst went into the ceiling, and they struggled over the gun. Bomrek snatched out his pistol, and aimed into the melee. He switched the gun to stun and fired, repeatedly. A blast hit Lillian, and a couple hit the killer. His armor protected him, but she was poleaxed to the ground by the shock. The man twisted his gun out of her frozen grip, just as Vlad slammed into him, knocking him into the hall. They bounced off the windows, leaving a spiderweb of fractures.
The man yanked hard on Vlad's head, slamming his head into the floor. Vlad punched wildly, clipping him in the nose. Blood splattered, and they twisted and rolled. Vlad came out on top, and slapped the man in the face with something small and metal. The handtele activated, and a portal opened next to them. The man shoved Vlad off into it, and scrambled up, just as Lillian got up again. He snatched out his pistol, but she grabbed his arm and bashed it off the doorframe til he dropped the gun. He kicked off, slamming her up against the wall and taking her breathe away. She viciously headbutted his already injured nose, and he staggered back.
It was enough of an opening for her to draw her gun. He was lightning fast though, and as she fired he scurried away, around the corner. She gave chase, reloading her gun as she rounded the corner. He ducked down a side passage, and she fired again, missing again. As she rounded this corner, he ambushed her, knocking the gun out of her hand and body-slamming her against another wall. He was much larger than she, with easily a foot of height on her and a hundred pounds. She punched him in the face, and he threw her bodily. She didn't go far, rebounding off the wall with a gasp. Lillian gasped again when he kicked her in the gut, then wrapped herself around his leg and twisted, toppling him to the floor.
A vacuum-sealed case fell off his armor and popped open with the impact. Lillian snatched at the case, smashing him in the face with the metal box. He growled and grabbed her hand, prying the case from it with casual strength, then pulled a long, painful looking spiked blade out of the case. She frantically twisted her arm out of his grip and scrambled to her feet, back against an airlock door. Her fists came up, and she was struck by how screwed she was. He had superior reach, strength, size, leverage, and he was just as fast and skilled as her. He had a weapon and armor, while she had only her armored jacket.
He levelled the blade at her, "You had to fight back. Now you die bad." He lunged, and she dodged, punching viciously. He took the blow on his armor and shouldered into her, pinning her on the airlock door. He stabbed sharply, twice. She felt the blade puncture her side, though only barely, through her armor, and gasped. He reversed his grip and brought it down in an amatuerish overhanded stab at her face. Her only chance was that he wanted to hurt her before she died. She twisted, taking the stab in the upper part of her shoulder. Pure agony spiked down her arm, and she leaned forward, face to face with him quite literally.
She bit him on the face. He jolted in shock, and she clamped down again, biting a crude, ragged wound on his nose. His blood filled her mouth, and she shook her head like a rabid dog as he panicked and pushed back. Lillian didn't let go, though, and twisted as he turned, reversing their pose, putting his back to the airlock. Her free hand slapped the wall blindly, connecting with the button on the second try as she ravaged his face. He gut-punched her as the airlock opened and he fell back finally free of her bite.
Lillian yanked the blade out of her shoulder with a feral growl and leapt at him. He kicked out, and knocked her to one side, buying himself time to stand. She lunged again, and he tried to trap her arm and take the blade back. She pushed into his grab, then reversed, throwing him off balance and pulling her arm out of his grasp. She slashed brutally across his face, opening his cheek, and he bellowed in pain. She stabbed on the backhand, plunging the blade into the side of his neck, and he weakly shoved her back. She stumbled out of the airlock, then he realized he'd been played.
Lillian Helsbrecht smiled sweetly, her bloodstained teeth and mouth a terrifying sight, and playfully tapped the cycle button. The door clanged shut between them and he jumped forward, pounding at the door mutely. The outer airlock open, pulling him into space. He drifted away, a shocked look on his face, and Lillian waved, then flipped him off. She turned, and slumped. She spit out the blood, and wiped at her face with her sleeve before quietly limping her way back toward Comms. Inside, Bomrek waited, gun ready. He almost shot her, and she almost let him.
He gaped at the spectacle of her, covered in blood. She looked down at herself and jerked a thumb over her shoulder, "You should see the other guy." From behind her, she heard a chuckle, then a deep belly laugh. Vlad had returned from wherever he'd been sent, and was laughing heartily. Bomrek nervously laughed too, then joined in with real laughter after a brief moment. Finally Lillian laughed too, and they all shared the emotional release after the sudden, violent interlude. Lillian wiped tears from her eyes as the laughter wound down, and breathed deeply, "Oh fuck. Good god. Did we ever raise anyone?"
As if to reply, the console crackled to life just then, "
NTMV Minotaur hailing survivors of Urist, repeat, NTMV Minotaur hailing any survivors."
They were saved.
---
They met the transport craft at the airlock Lillian had thrown the assassin out of. The doors hissed open and Jay Wright and two Death Commandos came in. Commander Wright paused at seeming them, "Wow. Lillian, you look like shit."
"Thanks, boss. Appreciate that." She sarcastically replied, "Really what I needed to cap the day off." Something bothered her, about the way they were standing. Something niggled at the back of her mind, a half forgotten phrase. "So you're gonna take us to Central now, right?" She asked, suddenly feeling guarded.
Jay looked her dead in the eyes, and she knew what was about to go down. It happened fast. She dove, as two Pulse Rifles came up, as Wright stepped behind his armored killers. Bright blue coruscating beams of energy stabbed out, one taking Bomrek in the chest and obliterating his entire thoracic cavity, the other hit Vlad a glancing blow as he tried to dodge also. Except Pulse Rifles don't do 'glancing' hits. The energetic blast vaporized a furrow of flesh across his gut, and he tumbled to the floor limply. Lillian came up next to the Commando who'd killed Bomrek, under his rifle barrel as it swung in slow motion to track her. She surged up and over, and the blast meant for her struck the other Commando in the side, blasting him from his feet. They struggled with the gun for a moment, then the big armored man body-checked her against the wall.
Lillian snarled, "I am sick and fucking tired of people trying to kill me today." She let go of the man's rifle and he jerked away. She snatched her pistol up off the floor where it had fallen in her previous fight, pressed it to the Commando's knee, and fired. He yelled in pain, and she aimed up, emptying the few remaining rounds into his abdomen. He clattered to the floor, and she slapped a new magazine into the gun smoothly as Jay Wright tried to slip into the transport. She aimed at him, "No. No, we're going to sort this shit out. On the ground, now." He obediently dropped to the floor and put his hands on his head. She put a round into both of the Commando corpses, just to be sure, then walked over to Jay and fished in her pockets.
She pulled out a pair of handcuffs, and cuffed Wright. "You're under arrest for attempted murder, murder, conspiracy, and probably a shitload of other stuff."
---
I'm not sure how to end this. I'm going to sit on the Epilogue.
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Topic: The Lillian Helsbrecht Story (Read 28612 times)