Page 138 of The Sky Pirate's Stowaway
My prosthetic leg locked up as I froze in the doorway, my body temporarily unable to process what my eyes were seeing. Then the mechanism clicked back into function, mirroring the snap in my mind from shock to murderous intent.
The engine room had been transformed into a chamber of horrors. Kaspar hung suspended from a metal framework that had been crudely welded to the main engine housing, his wrists bound with copper wire that cut into his flesh. His head hung forward, that vibrant ginger hair obscuring his face like a funeral shroud, his body occasionally twitching with involuntary spasms. A faint blue glow emanated from beneath his skin, tracing the pathways of his veins like a macabre map.
Two thick cables, each as wide as my wrist, extended from the pulsing heart of the engine to the base of Kaspar’s spine. They’d torn his shirt away and attached the cables directly to his flesh using what looked like modified surgical clamps, the connection points already angry and inflamed. With each pulse of energy that flowed from his body to the engine, the massive engine-grade fluxstone at the center glowed with an intensity I’d never witnessed—a blue so bright it hurt to look at directly, vibrating at a frequency that made the metal deck plates hum beneath our feet.
Butcher stood nearby, arms crossed over his massive chest, a triumphant smile splitting his face. Murray, held at knifepoint by Jimmy, stood to the side, his face pale with horror or guilt—perhaps both.
The engine-grade fluxstone at the heart of the apparatus pulsed with energy—not the steady blue glow I was accustomed to, but a violent, almost blinding azure that cast everything in an eerie light. It hummed at a frequency that made my teeth ache.
My vision narrowed to a tunnel, the edges going black. Something primal tore through my chest—a rage so pure it burned away thought, burned away strategy, burned away everything but the need to get to him. I would rip the ship apart with my bare hands, tear through flesh and metal alike, whatever it took to free him. Nothing else mattered. Not even my own life.
“Butcher!” Ariella spat, finding her voice whereas mine was still locked with rage. “You monster!”
“Look at this, would ya?” Butcher sneered, gesturing at Kaspar’s suspended form with sick pride. “Little flux-freak’s gonna power us all the way to Asteris and beyond!”
The veins in Kaspar’s neck bulged blue-white with each pulse of energy the machine siphoned from him. His lips had taken on a bluish tinge that made my stomach clench.
“Get away from him,” I growled, my hand tightening around my sword hilt.
Butcher’s eyes widened slightly at my appearance—blood-spattered and murderous—but his arrogance quickly reasserted itself. “Where’s the captain?”
“Standing right in front of you,” I stated flatly. “Viper’s dead. Like you’ll be if you don’t step away from Ghost right now.”
Jimmy pressed his knife harder against Murray’s throat, drawing a gasp from the man. “You’re lying! Viper ain’t dead!”
“Just drop your weapons and surrender!” Ariella spat, her slim frame vibrating with rage as she stepped forward.
Butcher’s face twisted into a sneer. “You don’t tell me what to do, little bitch.”
“Don’t you dare call her a bitch!” Willy all but screamed, launching himself at Butcher with a speed that made me cry out.
The boy collided with Butcher’s massive frame, his momentum enough to stagger the larger man back a step. Butcher recovered quickly, swinging a meaty fist that Willy barely ducked. The boy countered with a swift jab to Butcher’s kidney that made the man grunt in pain.
From somewhere above, a streak of copper-gray fur shot down like a bolt of lightning. Sprocket landed squarely on Jimmy’s arm, sharp teeth sinking into the hand that held the knife to Murray’s throat. Jimmy howled, the blade clattering to the deck as the vexling’s nimble fingers clawed at his face.
Ariella rushed to help Willy while I charged toward Murray, who had already lifted his wrench in violence. The engineer swung hard, connecting with Jimmy’s temple as the man tried to dislodge Sprocket from his arm.
It was over swiftly. Another bash of Murray’s heavy wrench to Jimmy’s head, followed by my prosthetic leg crushing his windpipe, and he was gone. By the time I turned, Butcher was also lying face down, motionless. Crimson blood streamed fromWilly’s nose, face pale, as he leaned into Ariella, who had her arm around his shoulders.
Willy tried to talk, his words thick through his broken nose. “How do we get Ghost off that?”
I turned to Murray, my voice dropping to a desperate whisper. “Get him down. Please.”
Murray’s face was grim as he approached the horrific apparatus. “I gotta warn you, Reaper, I’m not entirely sure if he’ll ever wake up again, even if we unplug him. I don’t know the ins and outs of these things.”
“Well, surely sooner is better than later. Get a move on!” Ariella shouted, her voice cracking with emotion.
Tense silence filled the engine room as Murray worked, his thick fingers moving with surprising delicacy among the wires and clamps. Throughout it, I held Ghost’s hand, pressing soft kisses to each of his knuckles in turn. His skin felt cool beneath my lips, too cool, like marble rather than living flesh.
“Uh… what the actual—” Willy started, before Ariella elbowed him into silence. He continued to mutter grumblings under his breath, likely having put the pieces together about Ariella’s fabricated rumors.
“Almost got it,” Murray muttered, sweat beading on his forehead as he carefully disconnected the first of the thick cables from the base of Kaspar’s spine. The blue light flickered, dimming slightly. “Need to shut down the power conduits before I remove the second one, or the feedback might kill him instantly.”
Murray moved to the control panel, throwing switches and turning dials. The humming that had filled the room gradually subsided, the painful vibration easing from my bones. The engine-grade fluxstone’s blinding azure glow faded to a softer blue, then to a gentle pulse, like a heartbeat slowing.
“Now,” Murray said, returning to Kaspar. With the utmost care, he severed the remaining wires, one by one.
Yet Kaspar’s eyes didn’t open.
