Chapter 18 (Shaal Mayan)
Shaal stood by the window and watched the destruction of the magnificent city. She saw the energy beams plough through the streets, ripping huge chunks from the human city; there was no way the humans could hide from such destruction. Such a waste, why do we have to do this?
But suddenly, Shaal spotted something strange. The view of the city outside slid past her window, giving way to a rugged scene of rocks and asteroids. Her mind began to fill with questions and then she saw it.
Like a living creature in space, the object flew towards them. Shaal stepped back from the view-port and her reflection shone on the glass surface with the colossal object in the background moving slowly. Was it a ship? Was it deliberately sent to us? she asked herself, clutching her shawl.
But as the ominous object drew closer, Shaal was finally able to see the razor sharp teeth spinning frantically, like the mouth of a hungry predator.
In slow painful stages, the object or machine advanced toward them. Shaal saw lancing beams of yellow light strike at the heart of the machine, but the human device continued, clearly on a collision course.
When the huge blades filled her view-port, Shaal backed away, horror filling every inch of her body. Is this my end? I'm too young to die! But a hand grabbed her shoulder and yanked her out of the room. She looked around and saw Delenn. She hugged Delenn in relief, but the danger was not over. They ran as fast as they could to the centre of the cruiser before the device impacted.
Violent vibrations shocked the entire vessel causing a storm of destruction everywhere. People fell over, bulkheads were ripped apart and an invisible hurricane swept throughout the corridors, dragging everyone to their doom. In an instant, the entire deck was vented to space.
With seconds to spare, Delenn managed to drag Shaal through a closing bulkhead. Razor-sharp pincers tore apart the deck they had just escaped from, as if a wrecking ball had smashed through the whole area. But the destruction still continued. They needed to move now.
Minbari flew past the transparent bulkhead doors as the decompression dragged them into the jaws of death. Shaal could not understand why the humans had created such a horrible, relentless machine. Perhaps it was a new invention to stop her people, but why did she have to put her life on the line for something that didn't involve her?
Blood began to stain the steel jaws as they continued to press forward. Delenn picked herself up from the floor and ran, as the machine slowly reached the bulkhead door.
Glass shattered and the storm blew everyone, who wasn't holding onto something, back towards the monster. Shaal managed to grab a metal bulkhead while Delenn held open another door. She reached out, but Shaal found it almost impossible to pull herself closer to Delenn.
Shaal's arms were overworked and she felt her grip begin to falter. She knew it wouldn't be long before she was dragged to her doom.
"Don't you give up on me, Shaal! Take my hand! I will pull you in!" Delenn held the door tight, her clothing flowing around her in the gale.
"I don't know if I can. I can't pull myself…" But before she lost her grip, the machine stopped dead. The sudden deactivation had jammed one of its house-sized spikes into the deck, momentarily sealing the breached hull. Shaal fell to the floor and ran to the bulkhead door. Delenn closed it before the machine could move away and allow the decompression storm of air to ravage the rest of the ship.
Before anyone could grasp the reality of their situation, the main illumination in the hallway failed. The remaining twelve people stared at each other, terrified of what would happen next.
Shaal raised her head and looked down the shadowy corridor that once led to her chambers. Now, only space existed.