Magnolia and Rodger stumbled backward as it lowered its small head and spiky shoulders to crash through the opening.
The doors groaned, and the beast screamed back at them. Rodger joined the chorus with his own shouts, but Magnolia gave only the barest squeak as the massive armored shoulders slammed into the three-foot opening. The impact sent a rumble echoing through the vast space.
Magnolia looked up at the creature’s face as it snapped at her with a maw full of yellow teeth. A crunch joined the din of the groaning doors trying to close. The beast was pinned in the middle. Another crunch sounded, and Magnolia realized it was the sound of bone breaking, not metal rending.
She took another step back, her rifle still leveled at the monster. It let out a terrible screech of pain, glared at her with piercing yellow eyes, and withdrew into the hallway. The doors shut with a loud boom, but Magnolia didn’t dare lower her weapon yet.
On the other side, the beast slammed into the steel with such force that grit sifted down from the ceiling.
“I think I just pissed myself,” Rodger said.
Magnolia flinched each time the beast hit the doors, roaring with every impact. Never in her life had she witnessed such towering rage from beast or human. It was as if the devil itself were trying to break in.
“Are you okay?” Rodger asked. He walked over and put a hand on her shoulder, making her flinch again.
Magnolia glanced at Rodger, intending to reassure him, but she gasped as she caught sight of the lab over his shoulder. They turned together to behold the immense space. She played her light over dozens of towers that stretched as far back as she could see, each of them covered with rows of capsules like kernels on giant ears of corn.
“This place has to be ten stories tall,” she said in awe. Her beam illuminated the tower directly in front of them. The glass surfaces of the first two chambers were shattered like hatched eggs. She walked over to them and saw that most of the other capsules nearby were also broken and the occupants missing.
The light from Rodger’s helmet danced over the walls. “There’s got to be thousands of humans and animals in here.”
She stepped up to the closest chamber. Reaching out, she carefully examined the glass. It wasn’t shattered from the inside out after all. Something on the outside had broken its way in.
FIFTEEN
As he walked to the holding cell, Jordan felt something give way inside of him. He’d been struggling for years trying to keep a balance between making sacrifices to save the human race and being able to look himself in the mirror. Some days those lines blurred. Today was one of them.
He pulled at his sleeves, brushed off his uniform, and ducked under the lightbulb hanging overhead as he sat. Crossing one leg over the other, he studied the woman he should have disposed of a long time ago. She sat on the floor of the small isolation cell with her back to the bulkhead. Hair covered the right half of her face, and her eyes were downcast.
“Captain Ash lobbied hard to save your life. I really wish she were here to see you now.” Jordan leaned down. “Maybe she would see how wrong she was about you.”
Janga jerked her wrists, pulling on the chains that kept her bound. She flung her white hair to the side and stared at him with clouded eyes.
Jordan smiled with what felt a lot like satisfaction. He had her attention.
“You’ll never be the captain she was,” Janga said, spitting at him.
He backhanded her across the face so hard that the noise reverberated through the room. She let out a moan and fell to the floor.
Jordan pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the spittle from his face. He didn’t particularly like interrogating people, and usually left it up to the militia, but he was going to enjoy this. Janga was poison, and he was finally going to cleanse the ship of her toxic prophecies.
“Look at me,” he said.
Janga turned slowly, her rheumy eyes radiating disdain.
Jordan cracked another grin that was actually more of a grimace as he walked to the other side of the tiny room. “You’re going to make this hard, aren’t you?”
She watched him move, clicking her tongue in reply.
“I’ll give you one chance to tell me everything you know before I bring out the…” He made quotes in the air. “Tools.”
“You think you’re clever, don’t you?” the old woman said. “You actually believe you can keep the Hive flying forever.”
He folded his arms across his chest and raised his eyebrows. Despite his eagerness to be rid of her, he was curious to hear what she had to say.
“I’ve seen the restricted ITC files. I know what they did during the war, what they created. You’ve seen those files, too, but what you don’t seem to realize is something that Captain Ash apparently never taught you.” Janga scooted closer to him. “I guess that’s the problem. You can’t teach a narcissist to have an imagination.”
Jordan clenched his jaw. “If I’m lacking imagination, why don’t you inform me what I’m missing?”
She shook her head. “I don’t teach fools what should be obvious.”
Jordan went to hit the wall but decided it wasn’t worth his energy. He forced his shoulders to relax, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a pistol cartridge. He dropped it on the floor in front of her. “You see that? I was going to put it into your skull myself, but I’ve decided not to waste it. No, I have other plans for you.”
Janga hissed at him like the feral animal that he knew she was. He walked back to the wall.
“You know, it wasn’t hard convincing most everyone that you’re a washed-up old hag with more screws loose than the ship, but you just had to keep opening your mouth, didn’t you? Had to keep fishing for information, had to keep digging.”
Janga gave a hollow chuckle. “You really have no clue, do you? You have no idea that some of your crew actually came to me for advice. Even some of your precious Hell Divers.”
“Who? Katib?” Jordan adjusted the cuff of his spotless white jacket. “She’s been dealt with.”
“Hell Divers, plural,” she said.
The words hit Jordan in his gut. That couldn’t be true. The divers all respected him. They would never go behind his back.
“You can’t lie to me. I have eyes and ears all over the ship.”
“Not enough of them, clearly. I spoke to three of your people just recently.”
Jordan stepped away from the wall and bent down closer to her. “Names,” he snarled.
Janga chuckled again. “I’d rather die than tell you.”
“I can arrange that, but before I do, I’m going to make you beg for death.” He walked over to the hatch and knocked twice.
“Tools, Sergeant,” Jordan said when Jenkins opened the hatch.
Jenkins returned with a small bag and handed it through. After shutting the hatch, Jordan set the bag on the chair and unzipped it. He had never used the tools before and didn’t particularly want to now, but he couldn’t lose control of his ship. He had to know who had betrayed him.
“You’re going to tell me exactly who came to visit you, or things are going to get very unpleasant.”
She hesitated a moment, lips quivering, but when she spoke, her voice was resolute.
“When I’m gone, there won’t be anyone left on this ship to give the people hope. That’s why I made sure my prophecy will live on. They will know the truth about the surface and where we will find our new home, and they will hear about the man who will lead them there. And before you get any grandiose ideas in your head, no, you are not that man.”