Hydra Heart

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter 25: Committing Hommie

The waves crested and crashed around the vessel, and the sunrise cast orange hues over the ocean. At the bow, Priscilla performed some dance moves that Shay did not recognize, loosely on beat with some music she also did not recognize. He spent a lot of time balancing on one foot. The only instrument she could make out was what she thought was a human voice. It was not that.

Suddenly, he hunched over, winded. He lay face-down on the deck like a trap card. Shay decided to bail and go help Vesta look through the hull for food. Underneath, the ladies opened an abundance of crates, finding mostly ropes. Shay performed battle rope exercises as per Vesta's request, while the older of them got to sorting out the edible from the moldy.

Just as Shay was beginning to tire, Priscilla came down with news. "Hey, team. So I saw something up there, kind of hard to..." He made some odd hand gestures, as if he were literally searching for the words. "Hard to describe, it's like a-"

He was interrupted by a hole in the hull. The screech of metal was followed by the deafening explosion of air, like a thunderclap in the bowels of the ship. The crew of three rushed to the deck, where they saw the fleet.

Five Hirudenian destroyers approached, flags hoisted high. The railguns aboard were the pinnacle of wartime technology, developed during the Lindium rush of the world war. The use of SOLE, computerized targeting, and unholy power created a weapon that enabled Hirudinean military supremacy. It was not until the last year of the war that all other sides had access to the devastating technology, it was not until almost every country that had existed before the war had fallen to one power or another.

Vesta stared down the threat, calmer than the young ones behind her. "Shay, what can you do?"

Shay blanked for a second, before saying, "If there's a way for me to get X-Ray vision, or something like it, I can get one of the ships to blow up another, I'll go look in the captain's office."

"I'll go see about lifeboats," Priscilla added.

"And I'll..." Vesta scratched her head. She did not know what she could do. She was put on a timer. A laser was creeping down the wall of the main tower of the ship, where the captain's quarters were. When it disappeared from view, Vesta knew it had designated another point on the hull. They were still searching for the engine, and if they found it...

Shay bolted up the stairs, panic spurring her forward. The doors parted in front of her. She reached the captain's console and began looking for what she needed.

Outside, Vesta leaned over the port side of the hull and watched the laser guidance study the ship. On the other side, she saw Priscilla fumbling with the lifeboat. She wished him luck, for everyone's sake. Still watching the laser, she saw it begin to move up, towards her. Is it aiming for the upper hull? I guess they are not trained in doing battle with empty cargo ships. Then, she took a few paces towards the bow. The laser moved towards the bow. She moved back. It moved back. Ah, she thought. She began running, afraid, to the starboard side of the ship. She turned her head during the sprint, only to see that the laser had gone somewhere else.

Upstairs, Shay had found it. Maritime technology meant to peer through storms had given her sight into the workings of the boat. On the screen, she could see it all: the crew, the captain... and the gunner. Suddenly, nerves flooded her, consequent of a dissociation, an inability for her to fully grasp and process what she was about to do. Through weak breaths and with shaky hands, she slipped into the gunner's mind.

Vesta tapped her temple, then peered out into the distance. Her eye strained to notice such a minor detail as the direction of the cannon. Then, something happened that she could not have missed with both eyes closed.