Elizabeth's eyes eased open. Ana was standing over her, armour glinting in the dim
glow.
"Déjà vu all over again," Elizabeth said.
Elizabeth ran her hand through her red hair. She felt for wet blood but her hand was
dry.
There was an ashy shadow in the far corner. Dark powder coated the wall, charred
bodies splattered. A stray arm grasped at air, fingers blackened and crisp. Bone
stabbed out from ripped flesh. Chunks of organs trickled down into a red puddle.
"So, what'd I miss?" Elizabeth asked, surveying the carnage.
"Sticky grenade," Rusalka said.
"Olivia! We took out your posse! I think that makes the original deal about even!"
Elizabeth shouted into the darkness.
Ana lay her hand on Elizabeth's shoulder. She pointed over in the corner. Elizabeth's
eyes followed her arm. Olivia was lying perfectly flat, legs straight and arms across
her chest. She looked like she was waiting for a casket.
"She... she didn't make it," Ana said.
Elizabeth walked over to Olivia and knelt down beside her.
"We've already got the fragment. It's in this bag," Rusalka told her.
Elizabeth took out some coins and tossed them on her body.
"Fair deal," she told Olivia.
"What are you doing?" Rusalka said.
"Honour amongst thieves and all that," Elizabeth said.
Rusalka handed the bag over. Black velvet. Elizabeth gently pulled it open and looked
inside. Long and dark, scored with green engravings. Like a chunk of firewood
crawling with moss.
Elizabeth turned her attention to Olivia again.
"We should bury her."
"She's underground now," Rusalka said dryly.
Elizabeth stared at her, arms folded.
"Fine," Rusalka relented, "There's a patch of wasteland behind here. Is that
suitable?"
"Better than she'd get back on Earth I'll bet."
YOU ARE READING
Black Hole Heartbeat
Science FictionBlack Hole Heartbeat is Star Wars if the stormtroopers didn't miss all the time. Like Cowboy Bebop meets Butch and Sundance, or Guardians of the Galaxy in the style of Pulp Fiction. Self confessed thief of ill repute, Elizabeth Ranger, runs head fi...
