Chapter Three – Silverlight Rising
23rd April 7:01 AM
“-This is most unorthodox-” the voice protested, “-You are not a captain and therefore cannot accept new recruits Atlas. This cannot be allowed.-”
“I do realise that” I replied, irritated “But I spend very little time with my team, therefore I propose to take Belisarius out with me when I leave and tutor him as I see fit. This of course may be overseen by Valhalla, if the boy accepts my offer of course.”
“-This must be approved by the council of course-” the voice droned, “-Naturally a decision must be reached before allowing an Archaean outside of Valhalla for such an extended period.-”
“And what do you say?” I asked Belisarius, who remained on his knees in the arena.
“I…”
“-Valhalla is under attack.-” The A.I interrupted in a monotone, adopting a more urgent edge to its voice than before “-All military personnel report to the hangar, Valhalla is under attack from unknown forces. All military personnel report to the hangar, Valhalla is under attack.-”
A blaring siren roared as the captains around me scrambled, Cassius and I looked at each other and gave mutual small nods. “You find the other Argonauts and I’ll take care of the attack” I said quickly, jumping off the edge of the viewing platform.
“Wait, what do I do?” Belisarius ran after me as I sprinted to the elevator, “Just wait around? I want to help!”
“Then keep up!” I called back, “Stay behind me and try not to die.”
“Thanks, how do you think the Niphal found us?”
I shook my head, “It’s not the Niphal. The A.I said ‘unknown forces’, though it hardly matters now.”
The droning alarm cut off suddenly, all of the lights in the arena went out. I swore as I switched to sonar to find my way around.
“That’s not good” Belisarius commented as we reached the elevator.
“Yeah no shit Sherlock” I muttered, igniting a Gladius so that he could see in the darkness. “The Gladius still works so it’s not an E.M.P; they’ve probably hijacked the power systems and shut them down. Either way the elevators won’t be working.”
“We can take the maintenance shaft” he suggested, “It runs parallel to the elevators.”
I shook my head, “Not fast enough.” I reached a hand forward, using my power to rip the doors away. “We have to get there now, do you mind heights?”
“Not really.”
“Good, brace yourself.”
I pulled him by the collar of his training armour, dragging him with me as I plummeted into the dark shaft. Wind tore at my ears as I counted, timing the drop to anticipate when to slow us down.
“You’re fucking insane!” Belisarius groaned, his voice muffled by the speed we were travelling at.
I grinned, “I know.” Our descent slowed to a stop suddenly, my feet touching down on the bottom of the shaft. Belisarius landed awkwardly beside me, bracing himself against the side of the wall for a moment. My sonar detected two long gashes in the floor, made three years previously by the two weapons I held in my hands. Curious, that they hadn’t been repaired by now. Shaking off the nostalgia I prised the doors in front of me open a little, grinding metal and barking orders could be heard through the crack.
YOU ARE READING
Argonaut - The Apprentice (Part II)
Science FictionDavid has returned. Three years have passed since the events of Megiddo, and the Kinetic now lives apart from his team back in Valhalla. Of course, his story isn't over yet. That would be too simple. The secret of the Archaeans has been revealed to...
