Eight of Hearts: The Rift Blade - Book 1

Chapter 37

In the chaos of fighting, only one man heard the gunshot that came from behind them. Stink-bug turned to face whatever new threat was coming, certain that there were more guards flanking them. But he could see nothing except the bodies of those killed in combat that littered the hallway. The big man scanned for any threats, but there was nothing. He remembered that Shifty had volunteered as rear-guard, but where was he now?

Then he spotted him. The man was kneeling next to the wall, with his arms around one of the guards. His face was turned away, but Stink-bug knew instinctively that something was horribly wrong.

"Shifty!" he called. His deep voice sounded thick as it was absorbed by the many bodies that crowded the hallway.

He sprinted to his friend's side, drawing up short when he saw the blood flowing from Shifty's side. "Shifty..." he groaned, "no, please..."

Shifty didn't respond. He lay with his arms wrapped around the female guard, his face still wet with tears. The woman he held was the one who had killed him, though her life had ended only moments afterward. There was only one reason Stink-bug could think of that would make Shifty lower his guard, and that was for his wife. This woman was Dianne. She was one of the prison guards.

Stink-bug knew very little about her, apart from the stories he and Shifty had shared. But he knew that she wasn't the type of woman to betray her husband. Something truly terrible had been done to her. He had heard the rumors of the mad scientist's experiments on the human brain, but this was beyond the scope of anything he had imagined.

With that realization came another one: the reason there weren't any prisoners wasn't because they were being held in another part of the prison. They were all like brainwashed, like Shifty's wife. Horrified, Stink-bug looked around at the many bodies scattered around him. Dozens of corpses that he now knew belonged to the people they had come here to save.

The large man leaned back on his heels, turned his face to the ceiling, and wept.

Curse that impostor! Dr. Higgins slammed his fist against the wall, leaving a dent. Every single warp drive had been removed from the supply cabinet. He was effectively stranded here unless he requisitioned one from one of his troops that were engaging the rebels. His plans hadn't been thwarted yet, but they were certainly being strained. The rebels had been lured here by the psychic boy, as he had expected, but their force was overwhelming his own. If the security system hadn't been compromised, everything would have gone perfectly! There was still a chance, if he could find out what they had used to walk the paths between dimensions--to slip even into this pocket dimension--his years of painstaking preparation would be rewarded.

But first, he needed to ensure he could escape, should things continue to go poorly. He held up his hand, and a holographic interface appeared, showing a soundwave that rippled violently, punctuating the sound of gunfire being projected.

"Captain! Can you send one of your men to my location?" he asked.

There was a pause, then the captain answered, his voice cracking with fear. "Negative, sir! We're pinned down here! It's that psychic girl you-"

The line went dead.

Dr. Higgins stared at the flat line hovering over his wrist, then his face twisted into a grin. "Very well, impostor, you wish to force my hand. I'll show you exactly what I'm capable of."

The last of the fighting seemed to have finally died down. But there was no celebrating among the surviving members of the Lost. Stink-bug had brought the terrible news of Shifty's death, and the true nature of the prison guards they had just fought. Their spirits were crushed, but none more so than Kaya. She sat slumped against the wall in shock, not meeting the eyes of the people she had led here for nothing. For worse than nothing. She alone had saved her hook--her brother; the rest of the Lost had lost theirs today, by her own command. Did she have a choice? If they had chosen to keep using non-lethal methods, their loved ones might still be alive. But there would have been far more casualties among the Lost.