HAWK

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: OBLIVION (3/6)

'I guess that's that,' Otto said.

Kas, Mack and Worm turned away from the Wraith, only to find themselves staring into the faces of the Black Chains.

'Hello again, baby girl,' Vima purred as she stepped towards Kas. Kas didn't flinch, even as Vima stroked her face with the back of her cold metal hand. 'I wonder if you can give me a reason why I shouldn't kill you right now?'

'I'm not interested in fighting you,' Kas replied. 'I've had a long enough trip as it is. All I want to do is go home.'

'I'm sure you do, but we have unfinished business. In case you've forgotten, you captured us and stole our weapons and then sold us off like cattle. If it weren't for you, Swanne wouldn't have bought us and turned us into what we are.' She curled her fingers inwards and showed Kas her gleaming fist.

'Whatever you're thinking of doing,' Kas said, 'you should know this ship is currently surrounded by an army of X1 fighters - and they're on my side.'

Vima's smile was razor sharp. She lowered her fist and studied her own reflection in Kas's eyes.

'Ah yes, I remember now. You have an AI.'

'You remember? I thought you were--'

'We weren't gone entirely. It was like being trapped inside a nightmare we couldn't wake up from. Swanne could control us, but she couldn't suppress us completely - unless that was her intention. I suppose it doesn't really matter anymore.'

'Let's just kill her and go,' Remi said.

'Or take her with us,' Otto suggested. 'We don't have to work everything out now.'

Vima took her time in deciding. Finally, she stepped back away from Kas.

'We'll leave her,' she said.

'What?!' Otto and Remi said together, but Vima ignored them.

'What do you say, baby girl?'

'Sounds good to me,' Kas replied.

'We're not going to take her?' Otto spat.

'Not today,' Vima said. 'Today, we survive. There are two ships, we can each go our separate ways.'

'Good idea,' Kas agreed. 'The Pegasus has served us well, I'm sure you guys will be happy with it.'

'The Pegasus? Oh darling, no, we're taking the Wraith.'

'I don't think so.'

'I wasn't asking your permission.'

Kas tried to think of a way to change their mind and came up short. If this was the trade-off for their lives, she thought, then so be it.

A scream directed everyone's gaze back to the Wraith where President Mantana was stumbling out, leaving a trail of bloody footprints. He came to a stop when he saw Vima and her two bio-mech pals looking back at him.

'Hello, Mr President,' Vima purred as she started walking towards him. Mantana staggered backwards but tripped over his feet and fell on his backside. He scrambled to the side of the hold on his hands and feet while the Black Chains laughed and made their way onto the Wraith. Soon, the ramp was closing and the bio-mechs were gone.

When the Wraith disengaged and pulled away, Kas approached Mantana and helped him up off the floor.

'How you doing, Mr President?' Captain Mack asked him. Mantana stared blankly at him and instead of answering, wrapped his arms around himself. He was trembling and sweating profusely, displaying all the signs of post-traumatic shock. Kas tried to comfort him with a smile.

'You'll be alright,' she said. 'Just take a few deeps breaths, nice and slow, like this.' She started breathing in and out, long and deep breathes. Slowly but surely, Mantana copied her and began to relax a little.

'That's it,' Kas said. 'In... and out. In... and out. In... and--'

'BRACE!' shouted Astrid, and suddenly the Pegasus started shaking violently, knocking everyone to their hands and knees.

What now...?!

Kas crawled back to the cockpit and peered out of the viewport. The cluster of X1 fighters tethered to the Pegasus had braided together and was swerving around the viewport out of sight.

'What's happening?!' Mack shouted.

'The forcefield around the IRIS is shutting down,' Astrid replied. 'Without that, the wormhole will be exposed and--'

'We'll be sucked into it!' Kas finished.

As the X1's started pulling the Pegasus backwards into the Black, the freighter twisted so that the viewport was facing the wrong way, leaving the Torus centred in their sights, silhouetted against the IRIS. It looked like a big blue eye, only now the membrane was starting to contract. The millions of nanosatellites that formed the forcefield were being pulled inwards towards the wormhole.

Kas saw tiny black diamonds dancing around the Torus and realised they were Swanne's fleet of Wraiths. The ones which had survived the battle with the X1's had not accelerated away in time and had left it too late to try.

The Pegasus trembled as the X1's accelerated, desperate to get as far as possible from the IRIS before the entire thing collapsed. Kas, Mack and Worm could do nothing but watch as they were dragged backwards to safety, powerless to help. Within seconds, the Torus was spinning like a coin, balanced precariously on the lip of an infinite hole while the faint ash cloud of Wraiths glittered around it. The station then started to break apart, shattering into curved splinters.

The blue globe became smaller and smaller until it was barely a dot, and then there was nothing at all.