Chapter Nine

“We won’t forget him, you hear me Nel?”

“He knew my father, did you know that?” You ask curiously. You had no idea that they even knew each other, and the way the Captain spoke of your father, it almost seems they may have been friends. Is that true? How come you never knew they had a relationship?

Helena looks almost just as astonished and surprised as you are. “ No. I had no idea. They were never in the same outfits together. Maybe they were though? Though now seeing the Captain and how he fought, i’d say they were built from the same cloth. Your father was a true warrior, Nel.”

“Sorry, now’s not the time. Sorn, how much farther?” The three of you round another corner almost running into two Sandarians. They stood blocking the hallway, their large frames made it difficult to fit in the hallways shoulder to shoulder, as you watch one nudge his way in front of the other. One Sandarian grunts and pushes the other back.

“They’re here too!?” You and Helena rush the Sandarians catching them by surprise. You push your feet into the ground and launch yourself at the closest one like a feral cat. In mid air you take aim at the farthest one and hit him square in the chest with a round from your rifle. The clicking hiss whined and clucked as the gun died of energy. Helena was rushing down below you, her pistol taking out the knees of the last Sandarian in your way. His heavy body hit the ground with a jarring thud as your land on top of him. Raising your now useless rifle you bring it down like a club smashing the Sandarian unconscious.

“Over here! The pods!” Sorns calls out.

Thank goodness. Your body is feeling exertion and it’s taking everything you have to keep pushing. You make sure the cube is safely secured in your pocket. Sorn begins preparing the pod for take off. It’s a simple pod that allows for simple flight control and has enough fuel to fly a good distance, though it’s not recommended for Atmospheric entry.

“It’s all set Helena.”

“Let’s go! This ship won’t last much longer. I doubt the Sandarians will just give up. We need to warn Titanus.” Helena stood by the pod holding her hand out for you to come aboard. Sorn already situated himself inside, preparing for manual flight control. You reach out and grab Helena’s hand but the ship shook violently and you stumbled backwards, your fingers grazing Helenas as she tried to grab you. “Nel!”

Another violent explosion from somewhere shook the ship again. It was rough like you were a marble in a small can being shaken by some over enthusiastic ten year old on their birthday. A fire erupted from the pipes to your left. Struggling you slowly push yourself off the ground. On unsteady legs you wobble towards the pod. Helena was pulled back into the pod by Sorn. Your vision was getting darker, or maybe that was blood, but you were determined so you kept taking one painful step after another. Another explosion shook our surroundings this time it threatened to dislodge the pod as sparks flew across the pod controls. If that happened, then they would all die.

Helena was punching and hitting Sorn to let her go as she frantically cried to claw her way out of the pod. “Nelly!---Get off of me, Sorn! I can still get her! We have time! We always have time for our members and each other!” Tears in her blue eyes shimmered through the breaks in the increasing fire that continued to rage out of control. Reaching into your pocket you felt the familiar shape of the cube, pulling it out you quickly toss it to Helena who snatches it in her hands. First confusion hit her face then it shattered into realization. For the first time I’ve never seen Helena look like she might break. In this moment she looked so vulnerable and though you ached to make it right, it’s something that simply can’t be done. You knew your job as a soldier and you are prepared to accept your fate, as long as Helena gets out, then it was all worth it.

“Goddamn it! Don’t you dare!! I need you Nel!”

“You can’t wait much longer! You have to go...please!”

“No, I refuse!” You look at her with pleading eyes. A fissure fractured your heart open. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. Hel and Nel, together like always…

“Finish the mission!” Helena never got the chance to respond as another explosion rocked the ship as pipes and debris crumbled over you. Pain erupted all over your body as you cried out in pain. Your vision blurred and you couldn’t see the pod anymore. Good, you thought dimly. Means they left. As your vision faded to black you thought of Helena and her beautiful smile that you wish you spent more time telling her that.

“Least I had you…” You smile as you fall into unconsciousness.

“Mmmng..” Slowly the darkness you found yourself bathed in receded. A pounding echoed along your skull. You’ve never experienced anything like it before. Felt like a thousand nails being photonned into your skull. With a groan and a few expletives, you slowly struggle to crack open your eyes under the fading darkness.

Gray met your eyes, and that gave way to shapes and crevices. “What...?” You raise your arms but they feel heavy. So, you decided to try your legs next, still nothing. Closing your eyes you focused on clearing your vision and the foggy mess clouding your brain, trying to grasp anything between the pain that you now felt rocking your entire body.

“Maybe sleep is better, at least I didn’t have the pain to contend with.” Still, despite the riveting pain you knew deep down you can’t fall back to sleep. You can’t give up now, or ever. It’s not in you no matter how tempting it seems. Helena’s screams echoed in your head, a punch to your motivation to get into gear because there’s someone waiting for you.