Bright Lights & Dark Secrets: A Sci-Fi Anthology

The Deus Islands [Part 2/3]

Neither Beckett nor Rita had ever witnessed such an infestation before. Every eye was on them. Not a trace of amity to be found. Everyone on the ship was their enemy.

Rita's arm clutched Tobin's as the three of them trailed behind Janus across the vessel's immense deck. Four walls towered high above them, bathing the deck in shadow. Fifty or sixty prisoners in all directions. Some parked at the tables, some observed from the balconies lining the walls. Beckett felt that now was the wrong time to be the center of the known universe.

Especially once three familiar faces came into view. Or rather, one of their shoes met his head.

"Ow! Fuckin' hell!" he said, wiping his forehead, and his hand came back red.

"Beck Donnelly!" shouted one prisoner, a black man with a Sakari accent. "You've ruined everything in my life, Lochtishman!"

"Sarki?" said Beckett, suddenly astonished. "Of course you're here. No Mundiman would let a coal like you run a business for so long."

"Coal!" Sarki repeated. "Say that again, Beck Donnelly, you are dead man!"

"No, his head is mine!" said another man, one with another tale of travel like Beckett and Sarki. "You hear me, Donnelly? When I'm done with you, not even your loved ones will recognize what's left."

"You, too, Shinoda?" said Beckett. "Well, I hate to spoil your fun, but I've got no loved ones back home. Now that I know you and Sarki are here, I've got everything I need right here on this ship."

"How do you know all of these people?" Tobin said. "For God's sake, Beck, please tell me that's all."

"That is not all, Father Guthrie," said a man with sandy-blond hair and a posh Mundi accent. "It's too bad you've gone down the path where you'll learn everything he's done."

Tobin gasped. "Malcolm? What are you doing here?"

"Try as I may, Father, I just can't take no for an answer. Poor Wendy learned the hard way."

"Dear God, what have you done with your wife?"

"She's not where she wants to be, but where she deserves to be. I suppose the same can be said for myself."

"What, did she say your full name aloud?" said Beckett, and he grinned at his daughter. "Rita, darling, it is the silliest thing you'll ever hear."

Malcolm's devilish grin vanished instantly. His eyes filled with urgency. "Donnelly, don't you fucking saying it!"

"Oh, heavens, I wouldn't think of it. Forgive me...Malcolm Balcom."

A sneer like the Devil's crossed Beckett's face. Malcolm, on the other hand, burned red as he clenched his fists until his knuckles cracked.

"Now, coal-boy, now!" he said, and a Sakari man leapt from his seat, axe in hand.

"Mahdi, no!" said Sarki, but before the prisoner could lob the axe, two deafening booms bounced off the walls. Everyone flinched but Beckett, who watched the man named Mahdi vanish in two sequential blasts of red mist. What remained of his torso and legs toppled to the floor, spilling out everything remaining inside.

Beckett followed the scent of smoke back to a musket that had replaced Janus' left arm. He watched it reconstruct into its standard form, and he took a step back as her lone eye flashed red.

"Passengers of Vessel 13!" her voice boomed. "These three are high priority passengers, tasked with a mission that will conclude upon their arrival at Morrigan Island. Any one of them is found dead, maimed, or reported missing, I will cull this ship until all that remains is silence. Am I understood?"