Chapter 25 Convergence

Bower followed Nadia through the twisting tunnels and hallways. She was going too fast, traveling too recklessly just as he had when they first got separated. He reached out and gently caught her arm to slow her down.

Nadia surprised him by turning towards him abruptly, stepping close and looking directly into his eyes. Her mouth was inches away from his, "What is it? she whispered, "What's wrong?"

Bower stuttered like an idiot, "I-I was j-just going to tell you-"

She was so close, he could see into the depths of her eyes, the curve of her mouth and the softness of her skin.

Nadia seemed confused by his behavior, "Hey, what's wrong?" She touched his face.

"I-I think we should slow down and be more careful. That's all. We can't afford to be ambushed."

Nadia stared at him for a bit longer and he saw a ghost of a smile that was so slight he almost missed it.

"You're right," She told him, "That bastard is still watching us. I'll slow down a bit."

As they neared the main corridor, they heard strange sounds. Bower made eye contact with her and silently communicated to hide until they were sure what they were dealing with. There were two large trash receptacles in this hall so they both ducked behind them. They risked taking a peek into the main hallway.

What they saw turned their stomachs.

The hunters were mulling around in the hall, apparently waiting for something. There was about six males and seven females plus four hunter children. It was as though the entire remaining hunter population had convened directly into their path.

Nadia spoke directly into his ear, "What are they doing?"

Her breath gave him goosebumps.

Their faces were so close his mouth brushed her face as he moved to whisper into her ear, "To be honest, it looks like they are forming an attack party."

Her lips brushed his throat, "That's terrible."

"Yeah it is," He couldn't hold back any longer. Bower kissed her.

Nadia's mouth was hot. Burning hot. She gripped him tightly against her as though she were drowning and he was her lifeline. He felt a rush of arousal through his entire body that he had never felt before, ever. They were gripped in a sort of trance, mouths pressed hard against one another, tongues searching, using every fiber of their being to explore each other. He felt nearly drunk, his head floating, his legs numb and his entire body was tingling. It took a great amount of effort not to make any noise during their embrace. Slowly, after a few seconds that seemed like hours, they came back to their senses and gained control of their desire.

"Wow," She whispered.

"Yeah," He was still holding her close.

Bower was happy to know that even when certain death was within feet of them, nothing could stop their feelings for one another. He felt more alive than ever before. He could conquer the world with Nadia at his side.

He pulled her back away from the main hall.

They were as silent as cats, slinking down the narrow side hall, out of earshot.

"Lets crawl right by them using these vents," He told her softly.

"How can you be sure we can get to the bridge from here?"

He thought about it a moment. Getting lost within fifty yards of the bridge in these tight shafts was one of the worst things that could happen to them. Of course, getting killed and eaten by the hunters wasn't a good alternative either, "I noticed some of these vents in the main corridor where the hunters were. I figure if we get far enough away we can climb out without them seeing us."

"You sure you saw those vents?" She seemed unconvinced.

"Positive."

"Oh okay. I was a little too distracted to notice much of anything," Nadia smiled. She was flirting!

"Me too," Bower returned the smile wanting to pull her close but they needed to get moving.

"Okay," she was serious again, "You lead the way."

Since they were going to be within feet of the hunters, they refreshed the coat of scent-masking grease on their exposed skin. Their slick hands and feet made it a little difficult to pull themselves along in the shaft but they managed to do so making without making a sound.

They passed within a few feet of the loitering hunters without incident.

Bower looked out every time they passed one of the vents. The hall was beginning to look familiar to him. Only when he was positive that they were far enough down the corridor away from the hunters, did he remove the vent and crawl out.

"I think those hunters are waiting for Scarface," He told her quietly as he helped her out of the vent.

"Who?"

"Scarface. The big one. The leader."

"Ah."

"I wonder where he is?"

Nadia was looking around nervously, "I wonder where we are."

Bower headed fore and saw the previously locked door to the Flight Team Five common area. The door slid open with a soft hiss and he saw the security terminal to the port side and straight ahead was the locker room where he had first saw his reflection. Starboard of the locker room and out of his line of sight at the moment was his and Payton's cryopods. Heading port, he moved into the small security area where the scratched and scarred door to the Bridge had been locked tight.

There were two dead hunters here, recently shot. By the door, Mahn had propped himself up. He looked dead.

They both rushed to his side, careful to avoid moving into the motion sensor of the door to the Bridge. They didn't want the doors opening prematurely, giving Gallo fair warning that they were there. Thankfully, Mahn was just unconscious. He stirred when they touched him.

"You look like shit," Bower whispered to Mahn.

"Thank you, my friend."

"How are you feeling? You look weak," Nadia was concerned for him.

"I am okay."

"Listen, we can handle Gallo," Bower reasoned with him, "Why don't you sit this one out?"

"I wouldn't rush in just yet. It seems he has a firearm."

"Yeah he does," Bower agreed, studying the dead hunters. There were no expended casings. The ammunition was caseless 10mm rounds. "He has a handgun. At least twenty rounds per clip."

Maybe a large group of hunters had rushed Gallo and killed him. He managed to kill a few of the marauders but was overrun. Bower could only hope. "I'll go first," he told Nadia. "We'll go in quiet, fast and low. I'll shoot him with the anti riot weapon to stun him, then we'll disarm him. Okay?"

"If he starts shooting, both of you better get the hell out of there," Mahn warned.

"Ready?" Nadia asked.

Bower went to the door just outside the motion sensor. After Nadia nodded that she was ready, he went in low and fast, charging up the short flight of steps then passed the computer systems and passed the Flight Officers' workstations. The entrance was narrow because it was packed with monitoring equipment, navigation systems, computer displays and other astronautical technology.

The main room opened up and held three distinct chair stations stemmed with keyboards, switch panels and monitors. The operators could lean back in these flight chairs and fly the entire ship.

Most of the lights were broken here so the Bridge looked like it had been painted black, all the corners of the room and furniture cloaked in what looked like black canvas.

"Where's is he?" Nadia said softly.

"I don't know," Bower said. He headed straight for the computer area, "The flight log should tell us far long we've been out and how far we've gone."

Nadia continued to the bow, "The shields are open. I can see out."

"Almost got it." Bower assured her. He was typing like a maniac, trying to bypass all of the required security and all of the error messages. No one had operated this computer in a long time. The keys on the keyboard were flimsy, the depression underneath the keys slowed by dust and grime.

"Oh my God."

Bower turned. "What is it? What's wrong?" He saw her looking up and out through the Bridge windows.

"Where are the stars?" She asked. She looked at him.

Bower heard the gunshot and saw Nadia buckle over.

No!

Everything happened in slow motion. Nadia gripped her midsection with both hands crying out as she fell. Gallo stood from the Captain's chair. It was still dark so all Bower could make out was his silhouette.

Bower yelled, "No!" and brought up the anti riot weapon.

Gallo spun towards him taking aim.

Nadia fell to her knees. She was falling forward into the dark side of the room. She was going to collapse out of his line of sight.

No!

Bower fired. The charge struck the chair next to Gallo, sparks and fabric were torn up and thrown.

Gallo pulled the trigger but was rewarded with a click. His expression had been smug but now it was replaced by confusion.

There was a brief pause of uncertainty for both men.

Nadia crumpled, Bower could see blood spilling over her hands as she tried to slow her bleeding.

Bower charged at Gallo screaming like a maniac.

Gallo pulled the trigger again. Click. He squeezed off another shot. Click.

Bower tackled him. He launched himself from about five feet away, diving headfirst, slamming into Gallo with a hard crunch. The insane man was picked up off his feet and driven hard into the floor. Bower saw a bright flash in his eyes upon impact. He didn't care. Gallo was responsible for killing most of the crew and now he had just shot Nadia. Bower was going to kill him even if he had to do it with his bare hands.

"Why are you fighting against me, hero?" Gallo's voice was surprisingly calm. Even with Bower on top, somehow Gallo thought he was in control.

"I'm gonna fucking kill you!"

"I was younger than you when I first came on board," the murderer continued pleasantly as they struggled, "It's funny because I can't remember what life was like before this flight began. This ship and its memories are all I have."

Bower was ineffectively trying to punch Gallo. His attacks were being warded off as they wrestled for control. He growled at Gallo, "You're the one that received the final transmission. You stayed awake, you broke the rotation and killed the crew!" Bower struggled to get his hands around Gallo's neck. The murderer looked at Bower curiously.

"How the hell would you know all that?" He pulled Bower's clawing hand from off his face and pulled his closer so that Bower couldn't get any leverage for a hard punch or kick, "If that infidel hadn't told you everything that happened, would you still be as angry at me now?"

"Shut your fucking mouth!"

Gallo continued, "There's no one left to judge me."

Bower said, "I'm here to judge you. Pass sentence and execute you for your crimes."

Gallo laughed, "You are delusional, Corporal. I can see it in your face."

Bower twisted and pulled, grabbed and fought trying to punch Gallo below him, trying to shut him up. He wanted to cause injury, he wanted to take out all of his aggression out on Gallo not only for revenge but also because he needed the murderer either dead or incapacitated so that he could help Nadia. She was going to die if he couldn't get to her and Gallo was his only roadblock. He was realizing slowly that the murderer was stronger than he was and that he might not be able to overpower him despite his desperation and anger.

Gallo continued speaking as though he was instructing a classroom full of students, "Just imagine for a minute, imagine yourself without the chains of your morality. You might surprise yourself. It's like the ultimate freedom."

"No, you fucking psychotic!" Bower yelled in his face, "This isn't freedom! This is a holocaust!"

"I know it's frightening at first, terrifying in fact. Isn't that what you're feeling right now?" He shrugged off a half thrown punch that Bower managed to get in. He pulled him closer, his grip nearly suffocating. "Aren't you suffering from a terrible fear right now?"

"Don't try to compare yourself to me you piece of shit!"

"No? We're not the same, hero? You think you're different than I am?"

"I'm nothing like you!"

Gallo laughed, "You are still resisting. You have to let go of your petty concept of reality." They both strained as Gallo pulled Bower's hand from his throat so he could continue with his rationale. "This ship is a seed from which we can create a new world. You or me hero. It doesn't matter which but one of us is going to be responsible for what happens to this ship and the rest of the crew."

"What the fuck are you talking about? Shut up!" Bower was tiring. He was panting and sweating from the exertion.

"A new world, hero," Gallo said excitedly, "Are you ready to take the reigns from me or to join me? Are you ready to put the future of this ship and your friends into your hands instead of mine? Or are you ready to serve at my side?"

"Fuck you!"

Gallo continued calmly, "We've only just begun to play. There's at least eighty percent of the ship left that I haven't exposed to the hunters yet. Think of all the new prey for our executioners. Think of all the games we can play."

Bower was shocked, "What?"

"Yes! That's it, Corporal," Gallo was pleased, "You're beginning to understand now. When you woke up, survived, fought, found companions and reset the reactor, that was all just one chapter of this story. Only one chapter of many."

Bower realized that the hunters were restricted to only one portion of the ship. He had assumed that they were using the entire craft as their hunting ground but only the personnel chambers had been exposed. There could be hundreds of survivors left, possibly thousands of innocent people in different parts of the ship surviving.

Gallo continued his monologue, "We can have it all, you and I, Corporal. Think of it! Think of the power! We methodically and systematically open up section by section of the ship to allow the hunters to widen their hunting grounds. Just think of the death, of all the destruction we can wreak. Together!"

Bower stopped his attacks, breathing heavily. Most of his assault had been futile. He couldn't believe the amount of bullshit that Gallo was shoveling. He shook his head in disgust, "I thought that you were a lunatic but I see now that you're not."

Gallo sounded relieved, "I never was. Are you finally beginning to understand what I'm trying to tell you?"

Bower wasn't finished, "You're not insane. You're just a miserable fucking coward. You are so selfish and self-centered that when you lost your family, you wanted everyone to feel your pain. If you couldn't be happy then no one else was going to be happy either. Isn't that it?"

Gallo stared at him. His mouth moved but no words came out.

"You call yourself a God? You're a fucking scared child!"

Tears streamed from Gallo's eyes. "My family."

"We could have been your family, you stupid fuck. We all lost our families too. All you did instead was throw a fucking tantrum and doomed thousands of innocent people. You're nothing but a miserable selfish coward!"

"I see my words are falling upon deaf ears," Gallo said regrettably.