Release(29)

The gellococcus were round, cylindrical orange things, maybe half a foot long. They had spiny legs that they used to move themselves and to burrow into flesh. Ariana could see that three or four of them were worrying at Keirth’s spacesuit. One was wrapped around his arm, stopping him from being able to get to his blaster.

She used the wall to pull herself over to him. Hooking her arms under his shoulders, she tried to yank him back down the corridor, around the corner, and away from the gellococcus.

There wasn’t any gravity. She only managed to make them roll over in the air. She and Keirth somersaulted, the gellococcus clinging to him.

“Get your blaster,” Keirth’s voice boomed inside her helmet.

Right. Her blaster. The one she’d pulled out of the air and strapped to her space suit.

She fumbled with her gloves to unfasten the blaster.

It came loose from the suit and floated away from her. She reached for it, brushed the edge of the barrel, and it too began to spin in the air, each spin taking it farther and farther from her reach.

“I lost it,” she said, panic rising in her chest. She shot a look at the gellococcus. There were more attached to Keirth now, and hundreds of them seemed to be crawling out of the bridge, using their spindly legs to hurry closer and closer. “I have to let go of you.”

She disentangled herself from Keirth and pushed off from the wall, after the blaster. She noticed that one of the gellococcus was on her leg now. Through the spacesuit, she could feel the pressure of its tiny legs. She fought the urge to scream. They were not going to die on this ship. She just had to get the blaster.

She spied it, slowly spinning in the air ahead of her. It was close. All she had to do was reach out and—

She had it. “I’ve got the blaster.” Her voice was shaking.

“Well, shoot them!”

Right. Except she’d never shot a blaster before. She held it out in front of her and pressed the trigger button. Nothing happened.

“You have to turn it on,” Keirth said through clenched teeth. “Bottom of the handle. There’s a button.”

She felt for it. Pressed it. The blaster lit up.

“Turn the knob on the side down,” said Keirth. “You can hit the ones on me without searing through to my skin.”

Okay. Okay, she could do that. She turned the knob. Then she aimed at one of the gellococcus on Keirth. She cringed and pulled the trigger at the same time.

A bolt of green light filled the corridor.

But her shot had hit the gellococcus, which curled up and disengaged from Keirth.

“Good,” said Keirth, a little breathless. “Good job.” He held up the arm that was wrapped in gellococcus. “Get this one.”

She pulled the trigger again. More green light.

And then Keirth had his blaster out. He was quicker than she’d been. He shot with one arm and grabbed Ariana with the other. With his feet he propelled them back down the corridor to the opening and shoved her down into it.

“Go!” said Keirth.

She pushed off with her feet, flying through the corridor. Keirth was at her heels. She could see flashes of light from his blaster out of the corner of her eyes.

And finally, they were back in the docking bay of her own ship, the door to the abandoned vessel sealed tightly behind them.

Keirth ripped off his helmet. “You okay?”

She took her helmet off too. “Yeah.” And she was. She was a little shaky. “That was kind of close.”

Keirth unfastened his space suit and started to shrug out of it. “I’m sorry. I had no idea that there were gellococcus on the ship.”

Ariana also started to remove the space suit. It was hot and heavy inside her own ship. “They didn’t show up on the scan?”

“They can survive in the vacuum of space,” Keirth said. “They don’t register as life forms.” He tossed the suit in a heap, wiping his sweaty forehead with the edge of his t-shirt. “I’m sorry. It’s seems obvious now. Why else would the ship be abandoned? I’m an idiot.”

“At least we’re okay,” she said, stepping out of the last of her suit.

Keirth nodded. “Yeah, we’re fine.” He grinned at her. “You did all right back there. I wouldn’t have made it out of there without you.”

Ariana smiled shyly and looked away. “I was terrified. I never shot a blaster before.”

He laughed. “Yeah, I got that.” He picked up his space suit, heading for the storage closet. “But you’re a natural. You hit everything you aimed at. Couple lessons and you’d be excellent.”

“Really?” She’d never thought she’d be good at shooting things. She felt good.