Ninth Millennium Navigator

Prologue A: The Hero

The decapitated torso sat a few steps apart from the disembodied head. 

The bloody torso rested on its forearm and against the fractured corridor wall. The smoke still carried the strong stench of burnt hair from the separated head. Despite the fury in which the face had come to rest, its position seemed intentional. The eyes expressed an unnatural peace; ironic, given the severity of its recent demise. The calmness expressed in the eyes was also in contrast to the absurdly widened orifices. They stared in concert at some nonexistent object in the far corner of the opposite wall. The distracted head was frozen in the some incomprehensible thought process; while the abandoned torso was already beginning to rot in the dusty darkness.

Sheila crouched beside the unconcerned head. Her dark eyes shifted in their wide sockets. The expression on her face mirrored that of the head; but, her focus was in a different direction. She concentrated on the entrance to the main hall. In a moment, she would have to breach that room. Right now, she was considering her surroundings. She listened for any people entering from behind.

When she moved, her brunette hair bounced rhythmically on her back. Sheila had carefully tied her long hair in a tail behind her head. This same silky hair had been admired at many a royal banquet. Recent activities leading her to her present location had mustered and tangled the hair. When she returned home, her daughters would fight over the opportunity to straighten it. Tina typically won the honor. Allyson would happily bandage her wounds as a consolation. Sheila anticipated no more wounds on this trip if she would concentrate. The gash in her leg from the recent battle outside the shaft had been beyond her typical wounds for this type of mission.

Sheila knew she could not linger in the musty hallway. Her long legs and similarly long torso permitted her to crouch only so low. The pressure on the wound encouraged the existing sense of urgency. She was a prominent target if she did not take immediate action. Time was short.

She needed to take chances at this most critical juncture. Chances taken so far in her life helped make her the success she was. Ironically, though, she was becoming more adverse to chances. She would seek some sense of normalcy at the completion of this. Her husband had been looking forward to their vacation. She thought the family would go to the Grand Canyon this year. Perhaps they would follow with some skiing in New Mexico. Last year's trip had been exhilarating—at least until Allyson had broken her collar bone on the last day.

A pattern of sounds indicated someone's imminent arrival. She pulled a small disk from her dark suit and methodically tossed it behind her. It landed just beside the severed guard and emitted a soft glow. The yellow light created an eerie aura upon the lost head. She knew the disk was set when the head faded back into darkness. 

Another disk landed with a few subtle 'ticks' before settling just inside the hall entrance. The disks would help provide enough time for her to complete the mission. She anticipated that there were still many androids in the main hall. Without a doubt, they would be accompanied by many of her dead comrades. She waited for the light to appear before she verified its landing place. The disk had landed as she hoped and the light was already beginning to fade.

She took care to stay behind the row of tossed disks as she ran. A torrent of blaster fire began at her first appearance into the main hall. Pockets of light appeared in front of her where blaster fire hit the invisible wall—the invisible wall created by the row of disks she had set. This allowed her the time she needed. She used the precious moments to see the locations of all the inhuman creatures that were designed to destroy her comrades and her. Their unmerciful faces showed no sign that they had long awaited her arrival.

She identified where the disk shield first began to give way under their heavy power. The color of the pockets of light dimmed in those weak spots. She began to return fire with the androids; however, her aim was selective. Using the weakest holes in the invisible wall first, she began firing until her own shots breached a small hole and found their target on the other side.