“Can she do that?” asked Ryann in alarm, taking careful aim before loosing off another burst of gunfire into the chest of the nearest figure. It fell heavily to the floor only metres from where he stood, but still more figures took its place. All along the walkways above them, the hangar was now a scene of constant movement. There must have been hundreds of drones, all marching towards them.
“There! I’ve got it!” shouted Eve, and Ryann glanced around to see the blast doors shudder as the power came back online.
He turned back and cried out to see the nearest figure almost upon him, its unformed hands reaching out. With a swift movement, Ryann drove the butt of his rifle into the creature’s face, sending it staggering backwards.
“Come on!” yelled Eve in fear as she ran into the elevator; already the doors had begun to close behind her.
Ryann went to make a run for it, but as he turned he felt the drone catch hold of his arm. Its hand was icy cold, and a jolt like electricity surged through him. He tried to pull himself free, but the creature’s grip was unnaturally strong. It gave a great howl that echoed all throughout the ship, and to Ryann’s horror, arcs of energy played over its skin and it seemed to grow in stature before him. The unformed face was changing, the features becoming clearer. As this creature grew, it was as though the life suddenly left all of the other drones around them; as one they collapsed to the floor, their bodies turning to ash. The creature that held Ryann pulled him closer, and he was unable to resist. He caught a glimpse in his periphery of the blast doors slowly closing — in a moment it would be too late.
And then, to his horror, Ryann realised what the creature’s face was forming into — it was the empty mask of the Hive Queen.
“Ryann!”
He heard Eve behind him calling frantically, but he couldn’t shake that vice-like grip as the Queen solidified before his eyes.
In desperation, he swung his rifle up, pressing it into the creature’s body, firing shot after shot at point-blank range. It let out another scream that almost knocked Ryann to his knees, but for an instant its grip loosened and he managed to wrench his arm free. He stumbled backwards, turning and diving through the narrowing gap of the blast doors a moment before they slammed shut with a hollow boom.
He lay for a moment upon the cold floor, gasping for breath. His whole body shook as the adrenaline flooded his system. He realised that all had gone deathly quiet; there wasn’t a single sound from beyond the door.
“What the hell just happened?” he managed to gasp at last. He looked up to Eve from where he lay; she was standing beside him, the fear etched upon her features.
“Not here,” she managed at last as Ryann struggled to his feet. “She will find a way around — we don’t have much time.”
“But, what were those things? And how did it turn into the Queen? I watched it turn, right in front of my eyes.”
“The ship is dying,” murmured Eve as she looked over the elevator controls. After a moment she gave a curse and hit the lifeless panel in frustration. “The link back to the source is all but severed. But the Queen and Locke are trying to keep it alive. They are pouring their energy into it, but it is leaking away and they can’t fully create large numbers of drones. But, once the Hive Queen found you, she channelled all her will into that single drone. That was why the others died. She hasn’t the power left to sustain any more.”
“I feel like my mind can’t take much more of this,” gasped Ryann, leaning heavily against the wall. His arm felt numb where the Queen had held him, and his body was chilled to the core.
They jumped as a deep boom echoed out. The blast doors shuddered, as though a great pressure were being exerted upon them.
“It won’t hold for much longer,” breathed Eve. “We need to get moving.”
“But where to?”
“Anywhere but here.” She reached up into the darkness, pulling at a hatch in the ceiling. To Ryann’s surprise, a ladder clattered down to the floor. He gazed up into the shadows, aiming his rifle through the gap. He could just make out more ladders disappearing up into the dizzying heights of the elevator shaft.
“Come on,” murmured Eve, setting her foot upon the first rung. She glanced back to the blast doors again as they gave an ominous creak.
“Er, do you think it’s safe?” muttered Ryann, giving the ladder a mistrustful kick before staring up into the gloom. The elevator shaft had buckled in the crash and seemed on the verge of collapse. Eve just grinned back at him and began to climb.
“You’re not scared are you?” she called back down.
“Yes, yes I am,” muttered Ryann under his breath. He cursed quietly to himself as he took hold of the ladder and began to climb.
CHAPTER TWENTY
CONTACT
The climb up the elevator shaft seemed to go on forever.
Ryann’s whole body shook with fatigue, and he could barely feel his feet upon the metal rungs of the ladder. The shaft had opened out now, and they found themselves climbing the exposed walls, the vast hangar stretching out beneath them. Endless rows of dormant drone ships clung to the walls, and far below he could make out the ashen remains of the fallen drones. But to his relief, there was no sign of the Hive Queen.
They climbed on in a strained silence.
The brooding control tower up above them seemed to get no nearer, still indistinct in the shadows.
The higher up they went, the more they began to see greater signs of damage. The walls were torn open to reveal twisted pipes and girders, and at one point, Ryann spied what he thought to be a cascade
