When Songbirds Fly | Bellamy Blake

Chapter Seventy-Eight: Sleeping Giants

The others left not long ago to transfer the hydrazine over to our ship. Bellamy and I sit right beside each other in the Bridge, our chairs practically touching. Having abandoned my search for extra information on my own computer, I watch as he flicks through the list of inmates.

Pictures show up with each click of the mouse, displaying scarred faces and beige jumpsuits. Each profile is almost the exact same. 'Murder,' he reads aloud before skipping to the next, 'murder, murder, arson resulting in murder, armed robbery resulting in murder.'

'Man, these people are so creative.'

'Three hundred inmates, twenty-five guards, and twelve crew,' he continues, sending a bored, sidelong glance my way.

A quiet sigh can be heard from the other side of the room. 'Relax. Great-Great-Grandpappy Blake was an astronaut with how many PHDs?'

He frowns, counting under his breath. 'Four?'

'And... how many do you have?'

'What exactly are you implying, Rae?' I enquire, rolling my chair back and kicking my feet up onto Bellamy's lap. He lowers one hand to rest on my ankle.

She sits up, pointing excitedly at the large display screen that resides on the front wall. 'Oh, wait. Shut up. I got it. The Captain's log.'

A long list of bright orange data comes up, unrecognisable jumbles of letters and numbers.

Adjusting his position in his seat, he pulls my feet back up before they can slip. His finger still traces tiny circles against the exposed skin just above my boot. 'The last entry was over a hundred years ago. Play that one.'

'Aye, aye, Captain.'

A man appears on the screen, his face mere inches away. A look of pure terror fills his eyes. The Bridge can be seen behind him. People rush around in panic, sparks raining from the ceiling. 'I have to make this fast. The ship has been compromised. The prisoners found out about Order Eleven. They used an explosion in the starboard engine bay as a distrac—'

At the end of the corridor, a bright flash sends smoke billowing from the door — the same door that we had passed though, its edges crumpled by extreme heat. He jumps back, gasping. Jagged lines of grey disrupt his face now. 'Most of the crew is already dead. They're about to take the Bridge. Listen to me. With the engine damage, it'll be decades — maybe longer — before they make it back home. I tried disabling Cryo but couldn't.'

'"Cryo"?'

'That's enough, Captain,' a calm voice  says from behind him, shadowed from our sight. It's the same voice that we heard on the Lasercom. That can't be possible though. She can't sound the exact same a hundred years later.

He turns back to us, breathless with fear and urgency. 'If Eligius makes its back to Earth, blow it out of the sky! Diyoza can't be allowed to weaponise the cargo! Do you hear me? I said blow it—'

A hand grasps onto his head and pulls it back, giving access to his neck. Blood spurts.

'The Bridge is yours, Lieutenant.'

'Gotta be ex-military of some kind,' I whisper, completely fascinated by the scene that plays out in front of us.

The next voice seems more reluctant, 'You said you wouldn't kill the crew.'

'I said I wouldn't. You did the right thing. I won't forget it.' More gunshots ring out and the men kneeling in front of her fall, lifeless. 'Now, do your job and get us the hell out of here, Lieutenant.'