Chapter 3: Betrayal
(sorry no beta so bear with me ^^)
The sun felt good on his skin as Dib leaned against the railing of the ship. The world was an expanse of deep blue and stretched as far as the eye could see. It was so calming and peaceful looking compared to what it was the day before. The storm hadn't lasted long, but it was quick and violent and caused some unexpected damage.
Dib glanced over his shoulder at Zim as he and some of his soldiers repaired the navigational system. He tried to help, but Zim firmly pushed him back towards the railing and told him he still needed to rest. It was true that Dib was feeling much better but he still felt weak and seemed to tire quite easily. At least he only had to drink that hideous poison they called medicine every eight hours instead of two.
Torque stood uneasily beside him as he watched the others warily. Zim had allowed the other crew members some time on deck as long as the controls and communications stayed out of their reach and Torque had stuck by Dib's side since; much to the consternation of Zim who would look over every now and then and glower at the man. Dib thought it quite hilarious. His fingers inched to get a hold of a computer and do something. He was practically going out of his mind with boredom.
His shoulder gave a small twinge of pain and he rubbed it gently. The blasted thing had scabbed over and was irritating as hell. Dib pulled the t-shirt back to take a look at it and winced. It looked horrible. It had a turned into a dark shade of blue and purple, almost in imitation of a permanent bruise and oozed a sticky white substance. You could clearly see where Zim's teeth had marked him and dark, spider-like veins seemed to seep out from each indenture and converged with each other, forming a randomized pattern that connected each one. It reminded him of some of the strange tribal tattoo's he had seen on Vesbian III.
Dib looked at Torque whose eyes were locked on the mark. They turned to his briefly before looking away. Torque hadn't said anything, but Dib was pretty sure the man thought he should have fought harder or at least died trying. He briefly wondered how Torque would have reacted if it had been him instead of Dib. That made him frown; he did not like that line of thought one bit. No, Torque probably would have fought him until he was unable too.
So why did he give in so easily? Well, he already knew the answer to that question. Even with all the hatred foisted onto him by the Council and his father, he had always had a fascination with the Irken's. He studied their fighting methods, the weaponry, and technology, anything he could get his hands on. It wasn't much, but it was enough to wet his appetite. It was by luck he found a semi-intact Voot cruiser that had crash landed on Earth's moon. He was able to use some of the parts and assemble a translator.
He had listened and waited. It wasn't long before he came across a signal and he was chasing it. It was the first time he had come across Zim and thwarted his plans. It had been exhilarating and heart pounding. It seemed they would meet again and again only to end in a stalemate each retreating to recover.
Then there had been that one incident. That one time that Dib could have finally beaten and captured the irritating Invader, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. There had been many factors involved; for one their battle had gotten way out of control that day, causing severe damage to the area. A vehicle had lost control due their activities and careened out of control, heading for a school full of children not to far away. Dib could see it happening, but he was too far away to do anything about it. He doubted there was anything he could have done.
But Zim could. Dib watched in disbelief as the alien went and stopped the vehicle. Well, more like veered it away from them. It crashed into another building causing an explosion with dust and debris to fill the air. Dib ran to him and began to search for him. When he found Zim he was unconscious and pined underneath some of the rubble. Dib pulled him out as best he could and began to bandage him up. It was the first time he had seen Zim's blood flow so swiftly from him before, and it made his hands shake to tend his wounds.
Dib knew that they couldn't stay there and he shouldered the alien and took him somewhere safe. To a place where his father couldn't find them; and then he leaned his back against the wall, feeling exhausted and emotionally drained. Dib had pulled his knees to his chest, wrapped his arms around them and laying his head down he fell asleep. When he woke Zim was gone. That was the last time he had seen Zim, for several years in fact. Until now anyways. After that, Dib just didn't have the heart to fight against someone who had done such a heroic thing; even if he was trying to take over the planet.
It wasn't long after that the attacks on his life had started.
He tried to stifle a yawn, if Zim saw it he would send him back to their cabin so he could sleep and he didn't want to. He marched over to where Zim was working.
"Zim, Is it alright if I get some of my stuff from my ship?"
Zim paused briefly and looked up at him, his hands were buried in the guts of wires they had pulled out, trying to repair the damaged system. His eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
"It will only take a minute and I swear I will come right back."
"Very well Dib, but make it quick." Zim turned to one of his soldiers and spoke his foreign tongue at him. The small Irken stood ramrod straight and replied and then turned towards Dib.
Dib turned and started to head towards the temporary bridge that still connected their two ships. Torque was still behind him and the soldier followed closely after. As he crossed he glanced at the Irken's who had been stationed on his ship. They keep an eye on his crew that were allowed up on deck, and guarded the bridge and control center. He looked at his crew and then quickly averted his gaze. He could see the anger and betrayed looks in their eyes as they followed him. Guilt flared through him and he couldn't blame them. He continued until he reached his cabin and stepped inside.
The door shut behind him and he turned to see that Torque had followed him and their guard. The Irken stood with his back to the door, his purple eyes fixed on them. Dib turned back towards his chest and opened it. Some of his clothing was strewn about inside and he began to pull those out, along with several books that he set aside. He would take some of those back with him.
At the bottom lay what he had been looking for; his laptop. It wasn't a standard device, he had built it himself. It contained some of the alien technology he had come across over the years, including some Irken. The most valuable aspect was its translating ability he had developed himself. Dib pulled out a smaller box that had been setting next to it. He glanced back towards Torque who was going through some of the drawers that were built into the cabin walls. Their guard said something to him and moved towards him and Torque back up a little, hands in front of him so the Irken could look to see what he was doing. Dib knew there wasn't anything of value there. Some clothes, books, electronic equipment, some old navigational and star charts; odd and end things for ship repair and occasional items for entertainment purposes.
Turning his attention back towards the box he opened it and pulled out the wrist band. He smiled as he attached it to his wrist. It wasn't very wide, just about the size of an old Earthian wrist watch. It had a flexible monitor face that did tell time, date and all those unavoidable necessary things; but it was also a portable translation device, a prototype that he had developed himself. He pulled out the soft flexible material that was also nestled inside the box and squishing it between his fingers he inserted it into his ear. It molded perfectly, and was undetectable. Something he had discovered when the Meekrob's had sent an ambassador to the Unified Council before they had been Invaded by the Irken's. It was all still experimental and Dib had been able to program it to interact with the translation device. He had hoped that he could get it operational soon; it was still in its testing phase. Guess he would have time to work on it now.
It was the sound of a laser blast that had Dib jumping to his feet and turning around. It wasn't a loud sound, but the noise was unmistakable. Their Irken guard lay twitching on the floor of the cabin, a hole burning through his chest. Torque went over and flipped the alien over and shot at the pack which sparked and sizzled. Dib could only stare wide eyed at the scene his heart beating as the smell of charred flesh, and burnt circuits reached his nose.
Torque stood there with the small laser gun similar to the one Dib had smuggled with him. It could have been the same one he wasn't sure. If he looked hard enough under the now dead Irken he would have been able to see the hole that went through the cabin floor. It was one of the reasons that type of gun was illegal. The laser blast was so extreme that it wouldn't dissipate immediately on impact but would continue on its course, eating through anything in its path. It laser's destructive beam didn't last long, but several seconds was enough to cause significant damage; which was why it was illegal to use on space ships. A well placed blast could bring down an entire ship, let alone an accidental one.
Dib glanced at Torque whose eyes were fixed on him. He brought the weapon up towards Dib.
"Torque?" Dib asked as he took a step back.
"Sorry Dib. But I have my orders."
"Orders? What orders? Whose orders?" Dib asked as he took a step back even though he had no where to go. His mouth had gone dry.
"Your fathers."
Dib's wide eyes were fixed on the weapon as he heard that admission. No it couldn't be true could it? He knew his father didn't always approve what he did, but he wouldn't order Torque to kill him for…for what?
"Why?" He asked, trying desperately to think away out of this situation.
"I'm really sorry Dib, I enjoyed our time together." And then Torque fired the weapon.
Dib shifted to the side and flung his laptop at Torque. He felt a burning slice through his arm as he launched himself at his former bodyguard. Torque dodged the computer but he wasn't able to get another shot off as Dib tackled him to the ground. The brief adrenalin had given him some strength, but he could feel that fading fast. Fuck, he was still so weak. He wasn't going to last long and he had to think of something before Torque killed him.
His hands closed around Torques that held the gun; the man was a lot bigger and stronger than he was. Dib's hands squeezed around the trigger and began to fire the weapon. The blasts weren't meant to be aiming at anything; he just hoped it brought enough attention that someone would come in to investigate.
One of the beams hit into something vital and he heard a blast that shook the ship. Torques knee had come up and caught him in the stomach effectively knocking him to the side. Torque knelt above him, his hands wrapped around his throat squeezing the breath out of him. Dib kicked and hit out, trying to pry the fingers off of him, but the man was like a mass of steel; immovable. He was beginning to see black spots in his vision and knew it wasn't going to be much longer.
His shoulder flared with pain and he would have cried out if it was possible, then his whole body became extremely hot. Torque cried out as he pulled back and Dib gulped in the much needed air.
"What the fuck?" Torque said. His eyes were wide with fear and he looked down at the small weapon and scrambled for it. Dib couldn't do anything to stop him, his energy was gone, and he could barely sit up as it was. His whole body felt like it was on fire and his vision blurred and then sharpened, yet the darkness still clung to the edge.
The door to the cabin burst open and a blast took Torque in the chest sending him sprawling to the floor. He lay their unmoving and Dib couldn't only sag back to the floor and close his eyes, his own breathing ragged.
"Dib!"
Dib cracked his eyes open to see Zim's worried face above his. He gave Zim a small smile but didn't want to try and talk. His throat hurt from the damage Torque had done and needed some medical attention. It was funny that his brain seemed so clear to think like that, when all he wanted to do was sink into the blackness that called to him. Dib reached a hand up to Zim's face a moment before it fell back to the floor with no energy to hold it up. He could feel the unpleasant throb of pain in his arm.
Zim picked him up and headed out to the main deck. The smell of smoke filled the air. The ship shuddered as another explosion racked through it; the small gun had done its damage. Zim stumbled slightly but was able to catch himself using his spider limbs. Zim barked out orders to his men. They were escorting the remaining crew back to Zim's ship.
Another violent blast ripped through the deck, sending Zim and Dib to the floor as fire raced between them. There was a sickening cracking sound and then the ship seemed to tilt sideways and Dib could do nothing to stop himself from sliding with the movement.
The ship was sinking; fast.
Dib desperately reached out to grab onto something but he could find no purchase to hold onto. He continued to slide with the ship and glanced over his shoulder as the clear blue water quickly approached him. He knew he was doomed if he feel in; not that he wasn't a good swimmer, because he was, but in the state he was in he knew he wouldn't be able to.
Something solid grabbed onto him and he looked back to see Zim holding onto the opposite railing, one of his snake arms had reached out and grabbed a hold of him. Dib felt weightless a moment as he dangled from the pack arm as Zim pulled him back towards him. Zim had to get out of there; he needed to get back onto his own ship. Dib knew that Zim had to use some kind of substance so he could tolerate the water, but he wasn't sure how he would fare if he was submerged for a length of time. Dib watched as Zim's purchase on the railing became precarious. The ship was falling apart and the ocean was claiming her.
It was the escape pod that caught Dib's eye; somehow he had ended up near the damn thing. It was already halfway submerged in water, but Dib was positive he could still make it. He trashed against Zim's hold, who seemed to be yelling something at him. Dib was able to slip free and he fell, the cold water shocking some sense into him. He gave a thrust upwards with his feet and broke the surface and grabbed frantically for the pod. The door slid open and Dib let himself fall inside, along with several gallons of water. The door slid silently shut encasing Dib in near darkness.
Exhausted, hurt and emotionally numb, Dib curled up were he lay and let the darkness take him as his haven sank to the bottom of the ocean with the rest of his ship. His shoulder twitched in pain and his last thought was that he hoped Zim had at least made it safely back to his own ship.
