The Legend of Us: A Legend Trilogy Story

Part 6

The airship is eerily quiet, the usual hum of the huge electromagnetic engines gone. I shift in my bed, preparing myself for the worst. There is no sound besides my feet as they quietly hit the plush floor.

John is my first priority. If this trip did go to hell, getting him out will be the most difficult of everyone. My military set mind tells me to find Anden first, as a good soldier would do, but I can only hope he'll be with or on the way to find John.

As I'm holding my gun, my door handle starts to wiggle and shift around. I press myself into the wall next to the door, using the shadows to conceal my body, ready to fight. The door pushes open quietly, hiding my body for a split second. Suddenly I throw myself at the attacker from behind, catching off guard. It takes me a minute to realize it's only Day. I start to apologize, but he holds a finger up to his lips.

He pushes the door closed softly and carefully. I can only wonder what is going on, trying to think positively.

"We don't have long, and we must stay quiet." he whispers feverishly, lips so close to my face that if I tilted my head slightly they'd brush against mine.

"The ship is under attack. Anden and John are being held in the boiler rooms below us." At once fear rocks my body. John will not be able to survive the hot air of the boilers for long. I quickly start arming myself with the guns stashed away in my room, tossing one to him. He catches it gracefully, without a sound.

"The assailants, what do they look like?" I ask him, hoping he knows the answer.

"China. They wear the symbols of Beijing." he says solemnly. "They were quick, but not quicker than me. I was surprised that they didn't notice me slip away."

My heart thuds against my rib cage, like it's locked away in a bone prison. I have no experience with chinese soldiers, and I know Day doesn't either. Something must've happened for them to attack us like this. There will be no meetings of peace this week anymore.

Day follows me out of the room without further discussion. I keep my back pressed against the right wall of the hallway, attention on the noises of a foreign tongue being spoken in the walls around me.

"They say the won't kill them." Day whispers into my ear, barely audible.

"You, you speak chinese?" I ask him, startled.

"My verbal is a little rusty, but I can understand it well enough. They trained me for everything in Antarctica." he says, and then we're moving again. I can't believe that the teen-rebel I knew so long ago has become as good as a professional. But I have no time to mull these thoughts over.

One chinese soldier walks almost straight into me, and I know it's all over. There's too many of them on board for us to tak by ourselves and-

The soldier drops dead to the floor. I didn't even see Day move in front of me to kill him. He's become a much better fighter in the years we've been apart. I feel the burn of the dead man's face in my memory as we have to leave him lying in the walkway.

"They are planning to move them out, I think." Day tells me. We will be overpowered if we try to fight them ourselves, and getting help would take too long and be too loud.

I look to Day, and it's obvious what we must both do. In order to get to them and make as little of a scene as possible, we must split up and attack as silently as we possibly can.

"I'll take the left hallways, you head right. Meet at the entrance to the boilers in approximately 15 minutes." I tell him, giving orders as familiar to me as my name.