A Leg Up

Posted on Fri 5th Jul, 2019 @ 7:25pm by Lieutenant Commander Dallas Briggs
Edited on on Sun 11th Aug, 2019 @ 12:31am

906 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: A Diplomatic Affair
Location: Observation Walkway, Deck 160
Timeline: MD 6, 1000

Before his first beta shift started, Dallas and Vicky decided to do a little exploring, not on the Promenade, but somewhere more secluded, where they could talk openly. They found their way to the observation walkways that ran along the huge viewports looking out on the docking decks and watched ships arrive and depart.

Dallas would have held Vicky’s hand if he could, but he was content just to walk with her. “Did I tell you that I love you, today?”

"Just today?" she teased in the way she always had. "I don't believe you did. Is it still true?" She stopped to look out one of the enormous viewports, almost mesmerized by the coming and going of small work vessels around the behemoths docked outside. "They look like little insects, don't they?" she asked. "I suppose everyone observes that, but it's still amazing to see for one's self."

Dallas turned and looked around, a shiver went up his spine, “I keep getting the feeling that I’m being watched, but never see anyone.”

The ghost looked carefully at everyone. Since no one could observe her, no one would know she was watching. "I don't see anyone paying you special attention, but it might be someone who is really good at his job. Why would someone watch you, though? There's been no trouble for you since I died. I've come to accept that it was me they wanted."

“Let’s find is a spot where no one is there, just us. That way I can be sure that this is all in my mind,” Dallas said.

"Lead on, my darling. I'll follow you anywhere," Vic said, trying to lighten his mood. It wasn't impossible that they were under observation. They could be watched remotely, as well as followed. There were even species which were impossible to decipher, so she wouldn't even know one of them was watching. Now she was starting to feel paranoid, not that Dallas was paranoid.

They found another observation area with no others around, and they could talk as loud as they wanted without being seen or heard. “This is so much better, feels nicer too.” Dallas smiled. He looked out the large windows.

"Ummm, and the view is just as nice, maybe better. We can see that blue star - sort of pinhead sized ... must be close, and see the disc around it? You think that's the nearby Jovian planet?" Victoria asked.

Dallas nodded, "It could be - " His sentence was cut short when he saw a reflection in the glass. A hooded figure came up behind him quickly and grabbed him, wrapping an arm around his neck. The figure pressed a hypospray to his skin with an audible hiss, and let it fall to the ground as the two men began to struggle.

For a moment, Victoria was frozen in shock. Even though there was nothing the attacker could do to her, there was also nothing she could do to help her husband.

Dallas felt the unknown hypospray enter his neck, and it burned terribly. Immediately, he felt weak and the pain receptors all over his body were on fire. It was like they were hypersensitive to pain. The man still behind him kicked his right knee, causing it to buckle. Dallas went down on his knees.

Swift as thought, Vic swelled her dim figure into a giant and let out a roar, hoping something would come through. It didn't. She swiped a hand through the man's head, but like with Dal's arm, her hand went right through. Panic edged into her as she saw what the attacker was doing to him.

Still having one arm around Dallas' neck from behind, the hooded man pulled a blade with his right hand and thrust it into the right side of his target's chest. Dallas yelled out from the pure searing pain of the blade entering his body. The hooded figure began to drag him toward an airlock, and he wasn't putting up much of a fight. The hypospray had given him temporary paralysis, long enough for him to die.

The assassin tapped a few buttons on the wall console, and the inner door opened. He dragged Dallas almost all the way to the outer door. Then the man spoke in a soft eerie voice, "My employer says you're hard to kill. I find that hard to believe." He let go of Dallas roughly and walked away.

Dallas grabbed the man's leg and held on. With the other leg, the hooded man kicked him in the face, causing Dallas to let go. At this point, Dallas could barely move, let alone get up. He spat a little blood from his mouth.

The attacker went back to the airlock console and keyed the door to close. The inner door began to shut slowly, and a computer voice spoke. =^=Warning, airlock will decompress in ten seconds.=^=

Although Dallas could barely move, he could see the inner door closing and knew that, once it did, the outer door would open and suck him into the vacuum. He reached down for his prosthetic leg and gave it a quarter turn. When it came loose, he tossed it as hard as he could toward the opening that continued to get smaller.

The leg landed in a position to stop the door from closing, and the computer sent an automatic alert. =^=Warning, decompression cycle incomplete.=^=

 

RSS Feed

Comments (3)