The X Pathogen

Chapter Fifteen

Ash spun around, eyes wide. The man before them was massive, nearly eight feet tall, with the bulk to match. His scarred, ridged face twisted into a grin as he raised his gun to their head.
    Ash couldn't move, they looked to Nadil frantically, but he had suddenly disappeared.
    Governor Turi crossed his arms, "excuse you, I am not old enough to be their grandfather!"
    Ash winced, that idiot was going to get them all killed. To their surprise, the man laughed loudly. His laughter didn't last long though, the loud, unpleasant sound jerked Ash out of their terrified trance. Their hand shot forward, grabbing the knife that hung from his belt.
    The second the blade was in their hand, every second of training came back to them in an instant. Ash slashed through the backs of his knees and ankles, slicing the tendons that kept him standing. He howled with rage and pain as he collapsed. Nadil appeared from the ceiling and grabbed the man's gun from his hand.
    "That was... not totally terrible," Nadil mumbled.
    Ash grinned, "what was that?"
    "Don't ruin it, princess."
    The man's howling apparently alerted the other guards to their presence because within seconds the door flew open again and three more grunts appeared.
    Before any of them could react to the scene unfolding in front of them, Nadil had raised his gun and fired three times. All three fell immediately.
    "That's how you take out an opponent," Nadil smirked.
    Ash rolled their eyes, "hilarious."
    "Wasn't a joke."
    Governor Turi nervously darted about, "when is that ship going to be here?"
    Nadil shrugged, "soon?"
    The door slid open, and Nadil raised his gun. Ash clenched the knife a little tighter, surprised to find their hand trembling slightly. More troubling was that their breath came in short ragged bursts.
    Kyo walked through the door first, hands raised, "put the gun down, Ronette," he grumbled, "it's just us."
Ash let the knife slide out of their hands when they saw Saji. Relief flooded their body and they breathed a little easier, though their breathing was still a little shaky.
    "Everyone okay?" Kyo asked. They all nodded, except the governor who whimpered pitifully. "Good. Ronette, tell the ship we can meet up above the planet. There's a ship we can use to dock with them in the facility's hangar," he turned to one of the other monitors, "go ahead and get ready to leave, I'm going to see if I can figure out what is going on here."
Ash started to follow Saji and Nadil through the door. Suddenly their vision blurred, and the floor beneath their feet felt as unstable as the deck of a ship in a storm. They scrambled to grab onto something, anything, in an attempt to stay upright. Saji appeared next to them and grabbed their arm. Ash gripped her hand tightly, their legs shaking.
"Ash?" Saji's royal blue eyes grew wide with fear.
Surprisingly gently, Kyo slid an arm around Ash, and helped them sit down. "Easy now, cadet, you're fine. That crash was pretty rough, I'm guessing you got beat up a little more than we thought. Nothing a couple hours with a good med team can't fix."
Nadil rolled his eyes, "what, can't handle a few bruises?"
Everyone in the room turned to glare at him.
"Fine, sheesh," he muttered, "just trying to lighten the mood."
Ash groaned and slowly stood up, "the second my whole body stops hurting, I'm gonna hit you so hard feathers will fly."
Nadil smirked, "hey, everybody! The royal pain is back!"
Ash made a face but was too tired to come up with a response.
The governor had been anxiously waiting in the hall until the three cadets finally joined him. Ash had to lean on Saji the entire way to the hangar. She kept assuring them it was fine, but Ash couldn't help apologizing every few seconds.
Once they were aboard, Saji gently helped Ash sit down, carefully strapping them in. "Does this look right?" she asked once she was finished clipping the restraints together."
Nadil snorted, "As if that idiot would know. Remember last time?"
Ash erupted into a violent coughing fit before grumbling, "I remember saving your skin."
Nadil sullenly sat down across from them, but didn't say anything else. Just as Saji finished strapping herself in, Kyo slammed the hatch open.
"Ash, did you get hit with any of those yellow vials?!" Kyo demanded.
They wearily lifted their head, "yeah... why?"
Kyo gripped the doorway, his eyes widened. "One of you needs to contact our ride. Tell them there's a change of plans, we're heading to the nearest hospital."
"What?!" The governor lamented, "I have a ceremony to attend!"
"Forget the stupid ceremony! Ronette, you're flying."
Nadil's head jerked back in surprise but he unclipped his safety straps and darted into the cockpit. The ship was airborn a few minutes later.
Saji leaned forward, "what's wrong with them?!"
Kyo was quickly digging through the overhead compartments. He grabbed a respirator and some other med supplies then squatted next to Ash.
"That lab was-" Kyo shuddered, "they were manufacturing the X-pathogen on a massive scale

Agent Kyo strapped a respirator mask to Ash's face, but the flow of oxygen provided little relief. Ash winced as a needle pierced their skin and its contents were injected into their arm. Kyo slumped, rubbing his forehead.
    "What's the X-pathogen?" Saji asked nervously.
    Governor Turi snorted, "honestly, do children pay any attention in school these days?"
    Kyo shot him a glare then looked back at Saji. "A few hundred years ago, there were hundreds of millions, probably even billions of humans in the galaxy. The X-pathogen showed up about two hundred years ago. It was- or is- a highly contagious respiratory illness, and fatal in no more than two weeks. The strangest thing about it was that it only affected humans. Almost all of them were dead within four or five years of the disease appearing."
Governor Turi added, "the survivors are valuable pets to the wealthy." At Saji's horrified expression he quickly added, "of course I never participated in such a barbaric practice."
Ash burst into another fit of coughing. When they pulled their hand away from their face, it was covered in blood. "Well," they wheezed, "at least this ends in two weeks."
Kyo's eyes narrowed, "No, it won't."
Ash grimaced as another round of coughs shook their body, "great... I'll just... deal with this forever..." their words trailed off.
Kyo gripped their shoulders, "Stay with us, Dantier-" that was all Ash heard before they slipped into unconsciousness.