Chapter 18: Reactor

The four companions had become aware that their movements were under surveillance through the ship's closed-circuit cameras. There was no doubt that somehow Gallo was now watching them. Not wanting to be spied on, they decided to travel quickly but undercover.

Leland removed a heavy vent from wall near the floor exposing a small duct. "These air vents run all over every floor," he explained quietly, "They're just big enough for repairs to be performed inside them so they should be big enough for us to crawl through. We can use these ducts to get to the reactor."

"Sounds good to me," Bower said.

"Well the problem is," Leland explained, "These vents are also navigated by the hunter children, you know? For some reason, the adults don't like to enter confined spaces, but the children love to. We encounter a few hunter children in this tight space and it's going to get ugly. Real ugly."

"I'm the smallest," Nadia whispered, "I'll go first."

"Hell no," Bower protested.

"I'll take lead," Leland patted her on the shoulder, "I'm pretty small myself and I know how to get to the reactor from here."

"I like that idea a lot better," Bower agreed.

"Fine," Nadia acquiesced, "then I'll go last."

Leland crawled into the space on his belly. Mahn went next, then Bower and Nadia brought up the rear. Fighting in this small tight vent was going to be next to impossible. Hopefully, they would be able to navigate the vents without incident.

There wasn't much room in the ventilation ducts. They had to half-crawl, half-drag themselves because the duct was too low to completely crawl up on their hands and knees. Turning around was only possible when they came to an intersection because it was so narrow. The metal was ice cold around them and every noise they made was amplified due to the thin walls of the duct.

They pressed on.

"We're getting close to the reactor," Leland murmured, "You can hear it breathing."

As they neared the rear of the ship, the duct started to get warmer and warmer. Leland carefully crawled out of the vent and stood before a railing that overlooked a deep room that housed the reactor. The elevator that was usually used to get to the bottom was dark and useless. It was a long climb down a ladder to the reactor platform from here. They were at least a hundred feet above it, Bower couldn't even see the floor below the platform.

"This is it," Leland said, clasping a hand on Bower's shoulder. "This is where we need to be. This is the descent straight down into hell itself."

The heat and humidity were stifling. The ladder rungs were damp, making them slippery and dangerous. Sliding down the ladder was impossible. It was so high up that too much speed could be built up with the slickness of the ladder so that stopping would be difficult.

Mahn was studying a greenish growth on the slick rusty walls. Was that algae? No matter. They were running out of time.

Due to the dangers of everything being slick, they had no choice but to climb down slowly, methodically and carefully. One slip meant sure death.

Bower went first. He was the only one in the group that knew what had to be done once they reached the platform to the reactor terminal. Luckily, there was a safety cage that wrapped around the ladder. About halfway down the hundred foot or so descent, his arms started cramping. With his feet braced against the rungs, he leaned back against the cage and rested.

Bower didn't have anyway to check how much time they had left nor could he contact Payton/Gallo to find out. He was doing the math in his head and he figured he had around fifteen minutes left before the core shutdown and that was being generous. He started climbing downward again, even though he wasn't fully rested.

He finally reached the catwalk leading to the top platform. The catwalks were set around the perimeter of this level and were bisected by four bridges that lead to the central terminal platform for the reactor from the four perpendicular directions. Unfortunately, the bridge that Bower was supposed to use was dilapidated with rust. It was a thirty foot span of a rickety bridge over a drop of about another fifty feet to the floor.

Four mounts at each corner were designed to hold the bridge securely in place. Two of the mounts had broken on the same side so that the bridge was tipped at an angle towards the weaken side. Bower was going to have to keep his weight on the bridge towards the side that wasn't broken. Hopefully, that was enough to keep the bridge from swinging freely downwards on the two mounts which would only leave him the bridge edge which was only a few inches across.

Nothing can just work out nice and easy for me, can it?

"Lets find another way across," Nadia suggested softly.

"We don't have time," Bower argued, "It will take too long to try and get all the way around to another bridge."

Leland was looking down at how far down the bottom level was. He let out a low whistle, "That's a long way down, man."

"If you fall you're not going to be any use to us, my friend," Mahn told him.

"It's too dangerous here. We can find another bridge in a few minutes," Nadia offered.

"We don't have a few minutes," Bower whispered. He put a tentative foot on the bridge. He turned to look back at the rest of the group. He swallowed nervously, forcing a weak smile, "Wish me luck."

Nadia stepped forward and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, "Good luck," she said softly. Her lips were surprisingly soft and warm. Her kiss gave him goosebumps.

With renewed energy, Bower began crossing the bridge at a snail's pace. The humidity was making the bridge's hand rail very slick as well. Since he was leaning almost all of his weight on the railing, he was worried that he would slip off and fall.

Bower got about halfway across the bridge when the white neon display of the terminal became visible through the thin steam: eight minutes and forty-four seconds remaining. It only took around sixty seconds to go through the entire reset procedure. He had plenty of time. For the first time since he had woke up, Bower finally felt relieved.

I'm going to make it.

His relief vanished when he saw the hunter waiting for him at the end of the bridge.

Bower froze.

With its pale skin, the hunter looked statuesque through the swirling fog.

Time seemed to stand still.

This hunter was larger than a child but smaller than Scarface and the other males. Completely hairless, it was devoid of any clothing or armor that the hunters normally wore. Slender limbs, wide hips, delicate head and narrow shoulders: it almost looked feminine. As he strained to see its white form through the wispy white steam, he could see that it was indeed female.

Wow was she ugly!

The female hunter looked exactly like its male counterparts: pale white skin, ruddy eyes, scars, hideous claws and sharp teeth. Since it was completely nude, Bower could see the curve of small firm breasts as it was crouched low.

The female hunter wasn't moving. Was it trying to hide? He wasn't sure. Bower watched as it slowly reached forward and placed a hand on the weak side of the bridge. What the hell? With tremendous strength and a distinctive high-pitched wail, it drove all of its body weight forward onto the rusted mount and snapped it.

The bridge fell out from under him.

He heard Nadia cry out in alarm.

He heard the wails of more female hunters as they attacked the rest of his group.

Bower was falling.

Even though he was already gripping the hand rail firmly, the sudden weight shift from the fall ripped the rail from his grip. He desperately grasped at the opposite railing since it was swinging below him as he fell and caught it with both hands. One of his hands faltered and he dangled dangerously by one hand. Shit! One of the super snacks fell from his pocket. He watched in horror at how long it took for it to reach the bottom.

I'm not dying like this! No way!

Bower managed to swing his body upward and with his free arm he grabbed hold of the railing. As he struggled to pull himself up, he noticed that the lithe hunter had padded its way out to the middle of the bridge directly over him.

The huntress was balanced perfectly on the edge of the bridge directly over him. The thickness on the side panel was no more than four inches across. As it squatted above him, he noticed that its sex and nipples looked human. They looked too human. Nadia and Mahn had been right. These things were at one time undoubtedly human. Through generations of breeding and overdosing on the mutagen through cannibalism, the hunters had bred out most of their humanity.

The female's eyes blazed with the thrill of the hunt as it stared at him.

Bower managed to hook his arms around the railing and began preparing to swing his legs up as well. He was now only six or seven feet from where the huntress was perched. He hesitated, knowing that once he climbed to safety, the female would pounce on him. What was the point? If he had the choice, he'd rather fall to his death than to be bitten, clawed and consumed.

Bower glanced over at the platform where the others were locked in a desperate battle. Through the steam, he could barely make out their forms. They had spread out during the fight: Mahn had already killed one and was engaging two more. Nadia had also managed to kill one and she was still fighting another. Leland had his hands full with two.

None of them could help him. He was on his own.

Bower looked at the huntress, "Hi there. I'm Corporal Bower, ship's mechanical engineer here to save all of us from being blown to shit."

The huntress cocked her head to one side looking at him curiously. It showed its teeth and hissed.

Bower groaned, "At least let me get to the platform! At least let me fight you on even ground."

he huntress leaned forward slightly on its perch. Was it going to spring at him?

"You stupid bitch, if you jump on me, we'll both fall."

Was it listening? Did it understand?

Bower watched as drool dripped from its mouth.

Nope. Not a chance. It wasn't listening to him. He was prey for the huntress, nothing more.

Nadia's spear pierced the female's rib cage as he was looking at it. The weapon traveled all the way through the huntress' body. Its blood splattered, drenching him. He spat out the vile fluid. The huntress, wailed once, turned towards Nadia then it visibly weakened and finally it succumbed to the wound, dropping dead on the bridge above him, its limbs hung up on edge and the railing.

Nadia had thrown the spear at the huntress and killed it. "Get up and reset the reactor!" she hollered at him, "Go, we'll hold them here!"

He wanted to kiss her. Not just a peck on the cheek either.

Bower swung his legs up and stood on the bottom railing while holding the top one. He shimmied to the platform and at last, found good solid footing. The neon display said five minutes and fifty-eight seconds before meltdown. He still had plenty of time. He stepped over to the towering terminal and began punching in the codes to begin the reset sequence.

Something struck him from above, hard. Since he was caught off guard, Bower was slammed downward, his face and chest slammed against the display, his legs splayed out flat behind him. His spine was painfully arched. There was something sitting on the middle of his back.

Needle like claws dug into his ribs as he tried to raise himself up to regain his footing but his attacker bounced on him, his footing faltered, and he was arched, helpless against the display. He turned his head to look. It was another huntress. The monster's face was inches from his, looming over him. He couldn't make out its face, all he could see was the ugly sharp teeth and smell its rank breath.

Bower was at the monster's mercy. He had no leverage to move. His knees and arms were bracing against his back been arched backward any further. If he moved, his spine could snap. As it was, electric sparks of pain were traveling from his spine down to his legs. His limbs were beginning to go numb.

Bower knew that the rest of the group were still fighting on the other side of the bridge. They could not help him.

Am I going to die here?

The huntress grabbed his face under the chin, twisting his neck further towards it. Bower was terrified it was going to twist his head right off his shoulders. He could see its face now, the vicious eyes, bleached skin, gaping mouth. The huntress was enjoying his suffering. It was relishing his pain.

The beast leaned forward slightly and licked his face. Its long bluish black tongue uncurled beneath his chin, ran wetly over his lips, over his nose and between his eyes.

It was tasting him, savoring the flavor of his skin. Even with the thin coat of grease on his face, the huntress trembled with anticipation. Apparently, he was delicious. The creature was going to lean forward even further and tear his throat out with its teeth.

Bower risked raising his left hand and jabbed his fingers into the huntress' eyes.

The huntress let out a shrill cry of pain. As its weight shifted, Bower used his legs and arms, successfully bucking the huntress off his back. Its claws that were digging into his ribs raked his skin as it fell away. Bower knew he had been moderately cut but it was better than having his throat torn out.

Enraged, Bower faced his attacker, wielding his axes.

The huntress hissed angrily, its eyes watery and swollen. It circled him, letting out small coughs of fury and growling like an animal. Its eyes was fixed on the ax.

Bower decided to attack first. He was going to take advantage of the creature's focus on his weapons. He acted as though he was going to hack at her but kicked her in the face instead, then chopped downwards as hard as he could.

The huntress reared from the feigned chop and never saw his foot. His kick connected under its chin, cracking its teeth together loudly, stunning it then his wild swing brought the sharp ax right down into the top of its skull with a loud thunk. The huntress was killed immediately. Bower was happily realized that like Mahn and Nadia, he was gradually getting stronger and faster.

Bower looked across the bridge and saw that his companions had won. He raised his bloody ax and whooped a cheer to them and they returned his celebration with hoots and cheers of their own.

"Okay," Nadia called to him wearing a lovely smile, "Now reset the goddamn reactor would you?"