Chapter Six: The Doom

Shadow hurt everywhere. Every movement sent a wave of sick through him. He was sure that if he got up too fast, he was going to vomit, only he couldn't recall the last time he'd eaten. The day before, maybe.

That wasn't the only thing he felt.

Shadow could hear a soft voice humming… He knew it well. A bare hand was rubbing his chest and stomach lightly, running it through the fur on his chest. Maria.

He tried to remember how he got there, why he felt so terrible… then it came to him. The experiments had rebelled. They had called out to him, willing him to join them in their madness, but he hadn't agreed. He'd stopped them from killing more soldiers, and had paid for it with injury. The Professor had to perform surgery on his head to fix the damage, and yet somehow he felt worse than he had before.

As much as he wanted to stay there, letting Maria care for him, he knew there were things to do, and he knew the colony was probably in danger. Gerald had expressed concern about it before he'd put him under.

He opened one eye just a little, fighting to keep it open. He couldn't understand why he felt so tired. It took a monumental effort just to fight the burn of having it open. He saw pale peach there, and gold. Maria. He felt relieved.

She stopped humming. "Shadow… I was so worried."

"Maria? What's wrong?"

She bit her lip. "Grandfather detected an unannounced GUN rocket launching from Metal Harbor. He says the shuttle or shuttles attached to it will be here in just over an hour. He wants me to take you and Harold to an escape pod and aim it at Apotos."

"Then… then let's go." Shadow started to sit up, but the movement sent a wave of nausea through him, and he retched.

"Take it easy," Maria soothed, gently pushing him down. She smiled at him, blue eyes sparkling in the dim light. "Grandfather said there might be some swelling on your brain. That'll make you sick to your stomach. He gave you a medicine that should take it down, but it takes time to take effect. So just.. slowly try and work your way sitting, then standing. Then we'll go, ok?"

He nodded and fought to stay awake, trying to find the will to sit.

It took longer than she expected for him to finally get to his feet, if the look on her face said anything, but he did it. Before his feet actually touched the ground, though, they heard gunshots and screaming. Without thinking, throwing up in his mouth a little, he dashed out the living quarters.

They were standing there over a pair of scientists… over Harold's parents, over the little boy's parents. He couldn't see the blood yet, but he could smell it. They were all in armor, head to toe, visors over their eyes, weapons in their hands.

He didn't stop to think. It was simple. Run up before they even had time to turn their heads to look at him. Grab the first gun and yank it hard toward him, so the discharge would hit the wall. Plow into one at the shoulder to take the other one off balance; by that time, the second one's gun was already aimed his way. Then just yank the gun out of the one's hand, and aim it at the other one's head.

"Drop it."

The soldier listened, and Shadow kicked his gun away. Then he took the other gun in his hands, studied it for a moment, and opened fire.

"Shadow, no!" Maria screamed, but it was too late.

The radios once strapped to their sides lay in pieces beside them both; one was holding the side of his hip carefully, as if to make sure the cloth of his pants were still there, as if feeling for bullets. Maria gave Shadow a little glare, blue eyes sparkling with tears.

"Maria, can you tie them?" Shadow asked softly.

"I"ll try," He'd never heard her voice so somber. She disappeared into their quarters and came back with the emergency ropes. With a little prompting from Shadow, she tied them together. Shadow tried not to think about their frightened faces, or their pleas not to hurt them, which continued even now as Maria tied them. He hadn't hurt them. He could have shot them, but he didn't. Why did they think he would change his mind now?

Maria tied the final knot, and only then did Shadow finally collapse to the floor, heaving. When he was finished, he got back up. "Now we have to find Harold and get out of here."

"He's in his room… but Shadow, what about his parents?"

Shadow looked down at them. One of them, Harold's mother, was clutching a part of her shoulder where Shadow felt a bandage on his own. Surely, if he could be saved…

"We don't have time. What if we don't make it?"

"We're two kids. These people can all save other people's lives. Let's get Harold to a pod and try to at least heal everyone who's been shot. If we let them know we'll go peacefully…"

The voice from behind him made him shudder, but Shadow couldn't bring himself to look. He knew Black Doom's growl in the back of his head. "You know how well that works, Shadow…"

"Maria…" Shadow shook his head. "The only way I can save you is if we go now. We're picking up Harold and we're going to that pod. Then I'm going to stay behind to try and rescue your grandfather."

She frowned. "Shadow… I don't want to lose you. You're like a brother to me…"

"I won't lose you. Now let's get moving!"

"It was a trap. Of course it was a trap. They knew all along…"

Shadow patted her back quietly as she cried into his shoulder The gunshots rang out around them, ricocheting off the blades of the giant fan they hid behind. Maria's hands were shaking on his spines, and her tears were wet on his arm and his face.

"How could they?" he soothed.

"They have crew lists! They know everyone who's on here! Of course the first place they would secure is the quarters of the two children on the colony!" She nearly spat the words. "Either they'd try and rescue us, or they'd use us to make our parents listen!"

Shadow tried to peek out around the hallway, but a shot whizzed past his nose. He stuck the barrel of the gun he'd taken out and fired it randomly, hoping it wouldn't hit anyone. "Maria… we didn't know…"

"Shadow, you were right. We're not going to make it."

She stood up and walked over toward the intersection in the hallway, tears streaming down her pale face. Her hand was on her chest.

"Maria, you can't be serious…"

"But we're going to try. Shadow, do exactly as I say."

He braced himself for it, nodding.

"WE SURRENDER!" she shouted. She kept screaming it, screaming over and over again, voice shrill, until the gunshots stopped.

"Have the hedgehog slide his weapon out where we can see it!" came a snarling voice from beyond the corner. She nodded at him. Sighing, knowing how this was going to end, Shadow slid the weapon out into the floor.

"All right. Now come out with your hands up."

Maria reached into her blouse, into the inside pocket of her jacket, pulling out something round, with an almost quilt-like pattern carved into the side. She pulled a metal pin out of the top. "Shadow, if I die… thank my uncle for this."

She tossed the object out into the hallway. Immediately a chorus of screams began. The leader's voice could be heard shouting "Fall back, fall back!" and Shadow heard cries of the word "grenade."

Maria grabbed Shadow's hand. "Run."

He obeyed as best he could, willing himself to wake up, to leave this terrible memory before the next event. "Maria," he asked, following the sequence of the memory, "What did you throw at them?"

"A toy… grenade!" She panted behind him. "Have.. .three seconds… fake…"

They ran into a windowed hallway near the observation deck… near the escape pods. This was the place. She stopped and he stopped with her, but he refused to turn around. "God damn it, Black Doom, let me out!"

There was a shot behind him and he screamed, but then he was on his back on cold metal, green eyes staring into his, sunlight filtering through blue onto his face where moments ago he had seen stars.

"Mornin' sunshine," I cooed. "Ready for your big trip?"