Fifty-seven minutes.
It felt like a lifetime.
A lifetime of The Kennel dodging shots, swaying hard lefts and rights, and flying through any space debris we came across in the vain hope we’d put as much distance as possible between us and Gregory’s ship.
My nails had left permanent scars in the palms as I clutched my hands every time an explosion went off too close for comfort.
“We shall be approaching our destination in three minutes,” Tuari said, sweat dripping from his brow.
“About time too,” said Willis. “My asshole feels like it’s going to be permanently closed by how hard I’ve been squeezing it.”
“Shame we can’t say the same thing for your mouth,” Tuari replied.
“Well, if your flying was any better I wouldn’t have to—”
“Focus,” José uttered, silencing the entire room. “We are nearly at our goal.”
A small blue planet appeared in the viewing screen, growing larger by the second. It looked like a speckled marble that any kid would collect. It orbited a distant bluish sun, and the only thing that kept it company was a single moon that rotated around the planet.
“The Lady has given us instructions and coordinates where to meet her on the planet. As far as we know this planet is uninhabited but it does contain wildlife,” José said.
“What’s the plan?” Willis said, turning towards him.
“We land on the planet, give the stick to The Lady and allow her to deal with Xcorp. Once the stick is in her possession they become her problem.”
“I don’t think they’ll see it like that—” I began, but Poppy cut me off.
“We may not make it to the planet; I’m detecting movement coming from behind the planet’s moon.”
No one spoke as Poppy enhanced the image on the screen, multiplying it so the little speck that broke away from the moon became larger and larger till it resembled a ship. Long, it was nothing but sharp angles and gun turrets. Painted the darkest black, it had two red strips that ran down its hull.
“Fuck me,” Willis yelled, hand slamming on the console in front of him, “I thought we killed that prick!”
“It appears not,” said José.
I looked between the pair and raised my hands in the air. “Am I missing something here?”
“The ship belongs to Arun from the Laughing Hyenas. This complicates things. This complicates things a lot,” José said, stroking his chin.
“Well, it’s going to get a lot more complicated, because Gregory is right up our ass,” Tuari said.
I looked at the screen showing our rear and tried to swallow. Gregory’s ship was closing in on our location—and closing fast.
“What are we going to do?” I said in a panicked voice.
“Willis, Poppy, Quinton, I want you to board Gregory’s ship and take the fight to the bastardo. Tuari and I will help as best we can, but don’t expect much as we’ll have our hands full with Arun.”
Willis and Poppy nodded their heads as they got up from their chairs and made their way towards the exit.
“Wait, wait, wait! What do you mean attack Gregory’s ship head-on? How do you expect to us to do that without a ship?”
“Don’t worry, Necktie,” Willis said, pulling me along, “we have something way better than a fucking ship. You wait and see!”
* * *
I looked at the little spacecraft stationed in the cargo bay while I paced back and forth. Poppy had offered me some gum to calm my nerves but it did nothing but heighten my sense of unease, as I chewed like a camel who was trying nicotine gum for the first time after giving up a three-pack-a-day habit.
“What in the actual fuck is that?” I asked, pointing to a craft no bigger than an escape pod, designed like an arrowhead with the tip of the craft reinforced with extra metal. I had a hard time seeing how we were all going to fit into the tiny vessel.
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I slowly walked around it while I took in all its glory. The thing would crumble the first time they shot at it. I pushed on its outer shell and was surprised that it was sturdier than it looked. I rapped my knuckles against it and then shook my hand out, rubbing my aching knuckles.
“It’s a lot more solid than it looks, ain’t it?” Willis said, strapping his body with every item of weaponry he could fit on it. “It’s made from a denser, rarer alloy that allows it to do its job without killing the inhabitants inside.”
I wasn’t convinced.
I kept walking around the little craft shaking my head and running my hands along the scars that covered its dull black surface. The metal it was made of didn’t reflect any light; instead, it appeared to soak it in. I got up closer to the shell of the ship and examined it.
“What alloy or metal did you say this was made of again?”
“We didn’t,” said Willis. “In all honestly none of us are too sure what it’s made of. We appropriated it from a science facility on one of our many travels. All we know is the thing isn’t detectable on any scanners or radar, and it doesn’t reflect light. Out in space it becomes almost invisible—it has the greatest cloaking device without actually having one.”
“I still don’t see how this little thing will do any damage to Gregory’s ship.”
“Why ruin the surprise—”
A siren cut Willis off and José’s voice came over the speakers of the ship.
“I need all of you on the Pit Bull in less than two minutes!”
“Quinton, don’t worry about it. It’ll all work out,” Poppy said, stroking my arm.
I looked at her and smiled despite myself. This was the first time we had spoken since we had slept together; there was so much I wanted to say yet didn’t know how to put it in words. I opened and closed my mouth as a million things I should say popped into my mind and I dismissed them all as quickly. She smiled as she saw the struggle taking place between my ears, and she just squeezed my shoulder and walked towards the mini-ship.
“Why is this called the Pit Bull?” I asked.
“Because,” Willis said, a manic grin showing through his ginger beard, “once it bites and locks on, it never lets go. Now shut and get on board. We have a mission to take care of.”
* * *
To say the space aboard the Pit Bull was cramped was an understatement, but it was surprisingly clean, sleek and comfy inside.
Strapped to my seat in a shock harness, I was inside a spacesuit that came with the ship and slotted nicely on the chair I was sitting in.
We sat in a row: Poppy up front manning the ship controls, Willis in the middle and me in the rear. We were still in the cargo bay waiting for José to let us loose.
I swallowed the bile that tried to spill from my mouth as butterflies danced in the pit of my stomach. Although I wore a combat suit, I could still feel sweat collecting in the palms of my hands.
“We shall launch in ten seconds, you know the drill. Wait till I launch the cluster bombs the enemy’s way and they got close enough to us, and in the melee and chaos, it’s you guys’ time to shine. Good luck,” José said, voice coming out of the speakers.
“What’s going to be happening in ten seconds?” I asked, trying to not allow my voice to quiver.
“Are you stupid? Or weren’t you listening? We’re going to be launching in ten seconds, so stop asking stupid questions. Now hold on to those little raisins you call nuts and get ready for action.”
“Quinton, I’ve dialled into your radio frequency so you’re the only one who can hear me,” came Poppy’s voice in my ear. “Don’t worry, everything will be OK. Willis hides his emotion well but he’s just as scared as you.”
I highly doubted that.
“When the chaos starts, just remember to breathe deeply and shoot everything that comes your way.”
“Poppy, I’m not built for this... this… this bad guy stuff. I’m just a simple office worker from New-London.”
There was silence on the other end for a moment or two. “There are no good guys in this story, Quinton. There only people who are trying to survive the best way they know how. That’s all life really is when you think about it.”
“Launch in five!” came José’s voice.
“If you need to talk to me privately, switch to channel two.”
“Launch in two!”
Fuck, fuck, fuck. I wasn’t ready for this shit.
“Go! Go! Go!”
I felt my stomach drop and my head was pushed back as we shot out of the cargo bay and into the deep void of space.
* * *
I expected something.
Silence. Peace. Clarity. Life revelations.
What I didn’t expect was me trying desperately not to shit myself while bombs exploded around me.
Poppy flew the ship with reckless abandon; she twisted and turned the levers aiming for the enemy ship, which grew larger and larger.
Cluster bombs exploded around us while Gregory’s ship fired upon The Kennel.
“Hold on, the ride’s about to get a little bumpy!” Poppy said.
“Isn’t it already?” I shouted back while I was thrown against my seat.
Willis chuckled as he slapped his thigh. “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”
I was still being pushed against my seat, but this time I felt a shift in gears as the speed increased and our target grew larger still.
“Wait... this thing has got no weapons, none that I could see... if it doesn’t have any weapons then how—”
I left the question hanging, as no one spoke up.
The speed of the ship wasn’t slowing down; in fact it was increasing.
“You’re right there, Necktie, this thing has no weapons and is only good for one thing.”
“Wait, wait! Hold on! How are we going to attack Gregory’s ship if this thing doesn’t have any weapons? Don’t tell me we’re going to do something stupid like ram it?”
Silence swept through the cabin while we continued on our direct course to the ship. “Because that would be stupid… I mean, ramming a ship ten times the size of us is suicide.”
Again, no one said anything. The only thing I could see on the viewing screen was Gregory’s ship. It now filled the whole screen. I couldn’t see anything else.
“Guys, that would be stupid, right? Guys?”
We were now on a collision course with the ship. Even if we tried we couldn’t avoid it—there was no going back—we were going to crash headfirst into it. I doubled my grip on my chair and wanted to close my eyes but like witnessing a horrific accident you couldn’t help but look.
“Full speed ahead, Poppy!” Willis laughed as the ship picked up speed and barrelled towards our target.
We were going to die.
