“I’m Miko,” the pilot murmured. “I’m your liberator.”
So strange was it to hear his own voice. Months it had been, years it seemed since he had last spoken to another person. How long had it been since he had been kidnapped by the Zikri? He shook off the memory. “We must go. The locusts have been alerted.”
“Where—what?” The man blinked at Miko, reaching out to grab his arm, as if he were struggling with some old, buried memory. The man stumbled after Miko, fighting to gain use of his stiffened limbs. Whatever the strange liquid did, it did not affect the occupant’s motor skills. It kept him remarkably intact.
Miko guided Fenli along, one hand clutched on his scalpel. How long would the man’s seemingly good condition last before he keeled over and died from some obscure complication?
Fenli seemed to recognize this part of the ship and gave a hoarse grunt. He pointed a shaking finger ahead in the plum dimness. “There lies the depot. I was a cargo-master once. They captured me on a routine run to Belronus. If we make it over there, we may have a chance.”
“A chance at what, escape?” inquired Miko.
“Stand-by ships—they can take us out of here—if we’re lucky. That’s how I got here. Hellfire, man, you look bad. What are those flaps on your neck? They look like gills.”
Miko scratched at the loose flesh on his throat. “I got off on the wrong foot with an alien. For the record, you don’t look too good yourself.”
“After sitting in water for a lifetime, would you?”
“It’s amazing your muscles haven’t atrophied.”
Fenli shrugged. “What’s your story? How did you get here?”
“I was waylaid—by pirates—” Before Miko could elaborate, another portal gaped to their left. Now he could see activity out in space—aggressive activity off to port.
Pods or enemy escape vehicles shaped like aphids, streamed from the perimeters of the ship and others came to intercept from the direction of the planet below.
“The web—”
“It powers the locusts’ light drive,” the man said, “the space jump transporter system.”
The information sent Miko into a tailspin. “The amalgamator—”
“Yes, whatever you want to call it.”
Of course—it made sense. What other sinister fuel could power such freakish technology? And who but the locusts could have engineered the diabolical means to use human and animal life to power a web of hyperjumps?
Miko had no time to ponder the implications. He saw three enormous ships burst in from near space. Monstrous shapes, hulking, black and grey. Their forecastles loomed top-heavy, but they were lean in the stern—battle cruisers of formidable design.
A luminous point of light flared from a weapons-port and slowly they came winking toward the ark.
Miko gazed spellbound as a deafening crash smote his ears and the space station rocked to its core. Metal plating slewed sideways, landing in heaps around them.
A buzzer bleated; a klaxon shrilled. The sound tore at the air. Fenli and Miko were sent sprawling on their faces. Gingerly, Miko rose from his crouch and glanced about, as the plates continued to crumble from the wall. The sound of escaping gases hissed like a thousand snakes. He felt a hollow tug at his ears, as of a massive depressurization.
“A breach,” croaked Fenli, gasping for air.
The frenzied chattering of locusts rose above the screech of tortured metal.
The cargo man scrambled toward the corridor’s exit, nursing his bruises from the fallout.
“You fool!” croaked Miko. “Where are you going?”
The stranger scrambled on.
A beam fell from above. A section of the ceiling collapsed, almost crushing the two of them.
The cargo-master shook his head. He clambered past the twisted wreckage down the corridor.
Miko, on impulse, raced after him. He snatched up a sharp chunk of metal and strapped his long, wicked-looking scalpel at his waist. The cargo-operator seemed to have inside knowledge of the ship. They were dead if they didn’t take action fast. How they could stand on two feet in deep space without floating off in zero gravity was a mystery to him. The insect creatures must have installed gravity stabilizers somewhere. He did notice his body felt lighter here than on Rogos.
He tagged Fenli’s heels as they ran dodging wreckage, threading their way through broken command stations and overturned feeding tanks. The temperature fell; the whoosh of escaping gases blew like gales. In swift succession they crashed headlong into a team of security guards.
Miko staggered back on his heels. He tossed Fenli his pipe. The cargo-master clutched it with gratitude and flailed at the nearest locust whose dripping mandibles snapped at him. Fenli thrust himself flat to the ground before a burst of gunfire flared past him and left a smoking hole in the wall.
Miko picked himself up. They fled down a short corridor into a large depot, chased by guards. Another explosion. The station rocked. Metal beams and plates rained down, sealing the guards off in the hall. Miko shook the dust out of his eyes. Oval windows showed a grim view out in space. Lights and explosions of a vicious space battle were in progress.
“Jakru cruisers!” Fenli hissed. He motioned with grim intensity toward the approaching ships. “We’re not the only ones who hate these damn parasites.”
The battle cruisers stormed closer, raining fire on any craft within their reach. These fearsome juggernauts were decked out with radar dishes, storm cannon and atomic disrupters.
Chaos reigned. They were in some sort of cargo bay. Many ships lay docked off to the side by the cargo ports. Amongst them, more of the locust-built pods and other alien vessels sat parked, stolen or commandeered.
Fenli and Miko ran toward the ships. Fenli waved at a larger vessel, one with a tapered end, wide middle and painted with locust markings. “There!”
“What do you mean ‘there’?” cried Miko. He hacked at a locust who
