HAWK

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: POSSESSED (3/5)

Kas stared at Vima.

Worm stared at Remi.

Mack stared at Otto.

Everybody seemed to be waiting for someone else to make the first move. The Chains just stood there like sentinels as if their minds had been wiped and only their shells remained.

Kas heard Mack clear his throat and turned to see him looking at her. He leaned behind Worm and gestured for her to lean in too.

'She didn't take the ship,' he whispered.

'Yeah, I noticed,' Kas whispered back. 'She didn't ask where we were going, either. What do we do?'

'We need to talk to Astrid.'

'How? We can't go near the Infinity Fighter.'

'The WASP mask. I left it in the--'

The Pegasus suddenly lurched forwards, sending Captain Mack tumbling to the ground. Kas only just managed to stay upright by clinging onto Worm. She didn't need to go to the viewport to know the Wraiths were towing them away. They had captured the freighter like it was a wild and dangerous beast and were now leading it back to their nest to savage.

Captain Mack picked himself up off the floor and finished his sentence.

'It's in the cockpit. We can talk to her through that.'

Kas nodded.

'I'll go and check if the ship's sustained any damage during docking,' she announced.

'Good idea,' Mack said. Kas had barely taken a single step back before Vima took one towards her. Kas froze and locked eyes on Vima as she took another slow step back.

This time all three of the Chains took a step forwards.

'I think I'll come with you,' Mack said.

'Me too,' Worm added. Together, the three of them slowly retreated backwards to the cockpit while the Black Chains advanced towards them, step for step.

As soon as they were through the doorway, Kas slapped the touchpad and the door sealed shut, putting a barrier between them and the Chains. Mack quickly punched the lock button and heard it engage. Kas spun around to look at him.

'Where's the mask?' she barked.

'It's around here somewhe--'

A loud boom behind them made them jump. They looked at the locked door and saw a large dent had suddenly appeared in its centre.

'Find it.'

At once, the three of them sprang into action, all hunting the cockpit for the WASP mask.

Boom!

The dent grew larger - not that any of them saw. They were all pulling open storage lockers and yanking free their contents, turning up nothing but junk. The Pegasus suddenly lurched again, sending Captain Mack into the wall while Kas tumbled to her knees. She was about to spring back up when she spotted the WASP mask sitting on the floor under the control panel.

'Found it!' she yelled.

Boom!

Kas scrambled on her hands and knees under the desk and grabbed the mask. She seized it and pulled it open.

Boom!

She jumped up and pulled the WASP mask on over her head and clicked it into place. The visor lit up, and through it, she could make out the outline of the Black Chains on the other side of the door. The door was highlighted red and a short line of text had appeared next to it, reading:

INTEGRITY: 4.82%

That's not good...

Kas dived to the side just as one last BOOM filled the cockpit. The door burst open and fell with a thunderous crash to the floor where Kas had just been standing.

The Black Chains stepped inside, guarding the ruined doorway and trapping their hosts within. Kas looked at Vima and saw her eyes were glowing green.

'I thought I told you to make yourselves comfortable,' the bio-mech said.

Vima stepped over the fallen door while her eyes took in the room and scanned every inch of it. She looked at Kas and smiled.

'Do you really think wearing a combat mask is going to help you against these three?'

'You never know,' Kas replied.

'How long's this journey going to take?' Mack asked. Vima turned her green eyes on him.

'Are you in a hurry, Captain?'

'Just keen to find out what you're going to do with us once we arrive at Eidol.' While the two chatted, Kas suddenly had an idea. She started inching her way towards the control panel, trying not to be overly conspicuous.

'I haven't quite decided yet...' Swanne replied, 'though I wouldn't mind spending some more time in the BMR lab.'

'You plan to turn us into bio-mechs...?' Mack quavered.

'It's certainly one possibility.' Vima's eyes suddenly snapped to Kas who had arrived by the control panel with a hand behind her back. 'What are you up to?'

'Nothing,' Kas replied, but Vima's puppet master wasn't stupid. She strutted towards Kas and arrived in front of her. Her silver hands came up and pushed Kas away from the control panel and her green eyes looked down. They stopped on a small screen filled with several rows of numbers.

'What's this?' she asked. 'Could this be your ship's coordinate panel?'

Kas glanced at Mack and shook her head. 'I don't know what it is,' she lied. 'We're still getting used to the ship.'

'They look like coordinates to me.'

'They're not.'

'Then you won't mind if I take a look at where they lead to.'

Kas waited in silence while Swanne ran the coordinates through her ship's star-map. It didn't take her long.

'These coordinates suggest you're following a moving target, but there's nothing there. Where are you three going?'

Nobody answered.

'It would be easy enough to find out. By the looks of it, we're only a couple of hours away. I would barely have to change my fleet's heading.'

'If you want to waste your time, go ahead,' Mack said. 'I don't mind. At least it'll be another couple of hours away from Eidol.'

'If that's what you want, that's fine by me. Whatever you're hiding, I will make sure you regret it. We'll speak again in two hours.'

Vima's eyes lost their glow as Swanne departed. Kas looked at Mack and saw the shadow of a smile on his lips.