Undead

On a futuristic space ship, undead, decomposing humans walk the halls.

My footsteps echo off the wall of a metal hallway. My walk is perfect, measured, and precise. No one could present a better projection of authority than me. I stop in front of the door to the room I was told to go to and check my watch. She is late, as usual. This is why I dislike working with Thessa. She is messy, quiet and shy, the opposite of precise. However, this is what I was ordered to do, so I will. But a tiny part of me likes how she makes me feel superior, does that make me cruel? No.

“Hello,” a voice speaks to me from the shadows of the empty corridor. I despise how easily she can sneak up on people. “Sorry I’m late, there was something I had to take care of first.” As always, her voice is small and devoid of any manners. Anybody else would immediately greet me with respect and adoration in their voice. After all, I am High General, reporting only to the Governor.

“I will excuse you for your manners. You will step out of the shadows before I report you for insubordination,” I stand tall, back straight, projecting authority. “Do you understand?” She must, because in an instant Thessa Cirell is standing beside me, her gray eyes look anywhere but mine.

“What’s the job?” She asks. Noticing my frown she adds,with a hint of sarcasm, “Your Superiority certainly will have an answer.” I sigh. It’s going to be a long night. I knock on the door in front of us.

“Someone has been stealing oxygen rations from the lower bays. The Governor has his best detectives on the case. They will brief us and then we will make the arrests. Understood?” Thessa nods in agreement.

“Personally, I’m not sure why I wasn’t paired up with someone with more experience in military conduct,” I add. Thessa’s face hardens for a second. Just then, the door slides open and we slip inside. The room is illuminated with a yellow light. Comfortable couches surround a table where the detectives should be. Instead, I see a thick coating of red. Confused, I touch it. The texture is very rubbery and looks slightly reflective.

“It’s not blood,” I turn back to tell a scared looking Thessa. She nods and points behind me.

“Then would you mind explaining what that is?” I turn around and let out a very childlike scream. I shuffle backwards, my mind void of all the control I just had.

A decaying, dirty...Something is walking into the room. Its eyes are dead; it’s skin bloody and pale. A revolting smell fills the room; the smell of something rotten. Lifting a candle, those horrible breaches of protocol, it sets the rubbery substance on fire. It smells sweet, almost nauseating. A moment before the smoke reaches Thessa and I, I realize what it is. Never taking my eyes off the dead thing in the middle of the room, I grope behind me, on hand raising the collar of my shirt, searching for the door. A woosh of air signals the door opening. Thessa pulls me through the doorframe, quickly shutting the door behind us. I sink to the floor, my mind flashing images of the scene. That...that thing is dead. It’s human. It’s unnatural. I’m so absorbed in my thoughts, I almost miss Thessa speaking.

“...report to the Governor. I need to get back. Surely you can do it?” She says and looks at me. I get up quickly and brush myself off. I clear my throat. I am back in control.

“Of course, I can manage that simple task. I wasn’t made High General for nothing.” Has she heard nothing of my incredible conquests? “Next time we work together, you will be on time.” Thessa gives one quick nod and walks off, down the hallway. I steel myself to meet the Governor and walk down the opposite direction.

I stop at the end of the hallway and open the control panel for this section. I quickly shut off the controls for any exits out of that horrific room, locking in whatever is in the room. Feeling lighter already, I signal two soldiers walking past.

“Yes General?” The taller one asks, face devoid of emotion. He has been trained well, his back is straight as he asks, “Did we do something wrong, Ma’am?” I shake my head.

“Gather a squad. Watch all the exits of F10. Understand?” he nods, just as I hoped. The soldier next to him speaks.

“But ma’am, we were told to report elsewhere,” she says. I turn to her and glare. She has obviously not been trained as well.

“Ordered? By whom? To where? To do what? Answer me!” I watch her squirm. Finally, she speaks when she figures out I'm not just going to let her go.

“Doctor Vorn, ma’am. He told us that he was acting on the order of Captain Lare. We are to go to the lower bay H and check the oxygen rations,” She looks at her comrade who hesitantly nods.

“That’s true, ma’am,” he says. I slowly look at both of them.

“Ignore those orders. Do what I just told you. Do you understand?” They nod. “And tell Captain Lair that the next time he goes against the Governor’s orders, I will have his skin on my wall,” The pitiful ones scurry off like mice to follow my meticulous orders.

After passing through the E and D bays, I finally arrive at the Governor’s quarters. His rooms are the largest on the ship. I knock sharply on the door. A uniformed recruit opens the door and says,

“Come in. The Governor has been expecting you,” After a moment she adds, “High General.” I nod and briskly walk into the room. There lounges the man with all the power, eating meat off a platter. I can’t help but notice all the things off in this room. I look at the bookshelf and feel a jolt in my core. The Governor's book that holds all the plans and findings of the Governor and his scientists is gone. Perhaps it was merely borrowed. Thessa recorded all of it, since her role as court reporter allows her to have security clearance and the necessary proximity to the Governor to have access to all these classified experiments and studies.

“You wanted to see me, General?” Governor asks. I nod.

“In private, if you don’t mind,” I glance indiscreetly at the new recruits littering the room. With a twirl of his hand, they scamper away. Oh, to wave such power shamelessly and ignorantly.

“Continue,” comes the command. “Surely you have other things to do than bother me and scatter my recruits. After all, you are now High General,” I nod again.

“Sir, I attended the briefing you told me too, at 9:00 today. Upon arrival, I was greeted by a monstrous sight. The room was covered in a red, rubbery substance. Then Thessa Cirell pointed out to me what looked like... a human, sir,” I take a deep breath. “Only it appeared to be long dead and decaying. A rotten smell emanated from its persona, and it set the rubbery substance on fire. The smoke from the fire smelled sweet. I believe the substance was the exact material that you, sir, have been creating with your private team of scientists. I shut off all the exits to the room and sent fully qualified soldiers to watch over the room. I came straight here and noticed that ‘The Complete Workings of Governor Cassian Krynn’ was gone. It is my impression that Doctor Hale Vorn is attempting to sabotage your plans,” I end and tilt my chin up. I have told him all I can.

Governor appears to be deep in thought. He nods slowly, “It is very possible. As you know, the Doctor left my small court of scientists long ago, in disgrace to boot. I wouldn’t put it past him to try to sabotage me. You will interrogate and arrest him, if necessary. Please send notice if you come across my detectives, I haven’t seen them since I told them about the briefing. Do you understand you orders?”

“Yes, sir,” I reply. I turn to leave, but the Governor speaks once more.

“Make sure to send a fire crew to the room before it burns down the entire bay. Alright?” My cheeks burn with shame; I didn’t even think of doing that. I nod and quickly step out of the room.

In the fresh air of the hallway, I detect the hint of smoke. Before I can stop a young soldier to fetch the fire crew, one races past me, shouting for water to be brought. With all that set, I begin my trek towards the laboratories. You would think that scientists, held in even more awe than soldiers, would have laboratories farther away from the common folk, on the C bay at least, if not B. Of course, to do that, they would have to move the soldiers. And we don’t like to be moved. However, since the scientists are on the H bay, that is where I’m headed. Among the stench of the poor and rotting and the common folk.

I stalk down the hallway, glowering at everyone who passes me. Slowly, I become more aware of someone following me. I stop in front of a bay crossing and wait while the poor soldiers stationed there check my identification. They let me through and immediately the gross smell of hot urine hits me, along with a sudden realization.

“If Captain Lare wanted to check the oxygen rations, he would have just sent Doctor Vorn to do so,” I spin around and find Thessa standing right behind, freshly cleared through the bay crossing. “So obviously, someone thought they were looking suspicious, spending so much time in the storage rooms. Or maybe- what?”

I stare at her for a moment before practically shouting, “How long have you been following me for?”

She looks at me and shrugs, “I never left? You seemed a bit shaken, so I followed you to make sure you didn’t, like, die? Then I remembered F10 was on fire, so I sent a fire crew while you were talking to the Governor. Then I was told to come with you, and now I’m here?”

“Okay then. We need to interrogate Doctor Vorn. Can you manage that?” I continue walking without waiting for her reply. “What was it that you needed to do? Did you ever get to that?”

“Yeah. The bathrooms in the C bay are very nice.”

I sigh. Why did I even ask? I think. We walk through dim hallways, that stink of unwashed flesh and old urine. I jump over an old man crawling across the hallway, but it takes me a minute to realize that Thessa has actually stopped and is helping the man across the hallway. I groan.

“Is this entirely necessary? We have things to do,” I say. “Besides, he was managing fine on his own.” Fury sparks in Thessa’s eyes, foreign to her face.

“Could you shut up? You’re constantly whining about everything. You’re a soldier for ship’s sake. You are someone held in the highest esteem by everyone else. Even though you have all these resources, all this money and power, you refuse to even think about helping a single person. You’re so entitled, you expected someone else to put out the fire, as usual. Well, I won’t always fix your messes. That room would have burned down if I hadn’t stepped in, because of your incompetence!” And with that final statement, she runs off into the dimly lit hallways, to who knows where.

I almost call after her, I even open my mouth and all, but then I remember my job. She can wait. I am the High General, and I will not beg. With that in mind, I walk down the corridor, nimbly hopping over suspicious puddles and skirting around ragged humans. At last, when I think the stench is becoming unbearable, I make it to the laboratories. When the door to the hallway slides shut behind me, I breath in. The slight smell of gauze and antiseptic is most definitely preferred to the unrelenting stink of human. Quickly, I read the names of the doctors who work in each one.

“Elara Veyron...Orion Kessan...Nyra Solenne...Thessa Cirell...” I pause, a frown on my face. That can’t be right; Thessa is a reporter for the Governor. He relies on her to record information, she spent years working up to the place she's in. She's one of the Governor's most respected and trusted reporters. Though she and I may not be the best of friends, I have a grudging admiration for her ambition. Why would she throw away her years of work and expertise to enter a field she has no training nor any aptitude for?

I hear footsteps coming down the hall, a sudden urge to hide seizes me, and I hurry forwards, my steps light. Making it to Dr. Vorn’s office, I slip inside. Delighted to find the door unlocked and the room empty, I scurry over to a closet and open it. Lab gear is stuffed into the small space. I squeeze between a foul-smelling coat and a box of goggles; I close the door until only a crack of light is visible. Through this I spot none other than Thessa Cirell enter the room; the Doctor close on her heels.

“Where is it Vorn? I told you to bring it to my office, but you disappoint me once more. Need I tell the Governor about that little experiment you have been carrying out? I will do it.” The snarl on the face of the timid, shy girl that I knew scares me. Dr. Vorn’s face is one of pure terror as Thessa opens cabinet after cabinet, shaking out drawers. Glass shatters on the floor as scalpels and scissors fall from a tray.

“STOP!” He shouts. “You cannot control me through threats, little girl. You don’t know what you are dealing with!”

“Don’t I?”

“No, you don’t,” through the crack in the door, I spot Vorn grab a scalpel off a tray and wave it menacingly in the direction of Thessa. My patience snaps, I fling open the door of the closet.

“YOU don’t know what you are dealing with!” I shout. I jump out of the closet and grab another scalpel from the tray before pouncing on Vorn. “Doctor Hale Vorn, you are under arrest for threatening violence upon a fellow citizen. You are to be stripped of your title, and your office and laboratories will be seized as evidence of dangerous experiments you have been carrying out against the people of this ship. Do you understand?” I press the sharp edge of the scalpel into Vorn's throat. He puts his hands up and leans towards the wall I have him cornered against.

“Yes, High General,” Says Vorn, with a crestfallen look on his face. “But, ma’am, please understand, I never did any experiments that would harm the ship. I have been manipulated most grievously. You must understand!”

I refuse to answer, instead telling Thessa to fetch armed guards to carry Vorn to prison, where he will await trial. She nods once and hurries to the nearest soldier post. I snatch the scalpel from Vorn’s hand and set it on the tray. I see an opportunity to hear Vorn's side of the story without Thessa's imminent interruptions with her point of view.

“While we await the guards, I would love to hear about this interesting thing Cirell wanted you to bring to her office, as well as the experiment she was talking about,” I say with a menacing tone. Vorn sits down in a chair near the corner of the room.

“Fine, but only if you promise to listen the entire time and not interrupt,” he tells me, like I’m a child. Which I am not.

“I’m fourteen and High General to boot. You will speak to me as you would to your superior, who is me!” I wave the scalpel in my hand around for dramatic effect.

“Cirell is a good kid, but she seems to think that because she used to be a reporter, she can just jump right into lab work without learning ethics or correct procedures. She decided she wanted to work with mice, though her exact experiments were unclear to me. She ordered a fresh batch of those rodents every day. The more days passed, the worse her temper became, until at last, she cornered me in the hallway. Now, you see, when she first arrived at the laboratories, I thought she was a shy, quiet girl, but she proved me wrong that day. With the most wicked expression on her face, she told me she needed an ingredient only I possessed-”

“And this ingredient is...”

“Cloneable brain matter,” Vorn says. “Only, I had used almost all of it, in my own...testing,”

“And what tests were those, Vorn? Could they be connected to dead bodies getting reanimated and setting fire to a substance only the Governor and his closest subjects knew about?”

Hale Vorn’s face pales, and right before the weak coward faints, he mutters a single sentence.

“I never wanted to let it go so far,” Then he passes out and Thessa clatters in with four armed soldiers. She gives the orders to restrain him with the authority of a General herself. Unnoticed in the chaos, I walk out of the room, squeeze through the crowd growing outside the door, and briskly walk back to the soldiers' quarters. On the way, I reach into my pocket and tap a button on the old-fashioned sound recorder I use for interviews and turn it off.

My own room is located near the beginning of the hallway, a small blessing to not have to walk through throngs of recruits and their constant gossiping. I open the door, sending my assistant to get coffee and anything sweet she could find. Without a protest, she hurries out. I should give the lady a raise, I think, before settling down at my desk. Using slightly newer technology, I send all the data on the recorder to my computer. I print out the transcript and move the online files to a different folder, one with encryption and an alarm system. With these precautions, anybody will be hard pressed to gain access. I look over the transcript and annotate it with a ferocity that even the English teachers on the ship would be proud of. Once I am finished, I frown. I’m missing something, some key detail. I know I am. My assistant chooses that moment to reappear with coffee and cookies, along with cream puffs. Finally, the first good thing that has happened all day.

“Ma’am, the Governor wishes to know how much progress you have made,” my assistant says. “He has invited you to meet him in the conference room, tomorrow, at 12:00, he will provide lunch,”

I sigh; the man just likes to flaunt power. If he actually wanted to know what I was up to, he would have asked me to meet today; it’s not even dinner! I want to say, but I swallow those words and say instead

“Very well, let the Governor know I will meet there,” I say. My assistant nods. “Thank you very much, Clar,”

After she leaves, I get back to work. Thinking over my visit to the Governor and the laboratories, I realize that the person who took the Governor’s book would have had to have access to his personal chambers. That is something that is not easily obtained. Could that same person be the one stealing oxygen rations? Is this a group I’m dealing with? Why does this person need the book? I groan and put my head down on the table. I know only one person who might, might, have the answers to some of my questions. That person is currently in prison.

Using the communicator conveniently located on my deck, I call the general in charge of prison work.

“Hello, General. Please bring prisoner Hale Vorn to my quarters. There is no need for any armed soldiers inside my office. Make sure the prisoner has handcuffs on,” I say.

“Uh, of course, ma’am,” he says hesitantly. “Only...Thessa Cirell gave orders to not let him out on any occasion, under the orders of the Governor. The Governor also called to make sure we were following orders. We were told there would be consequences,”

“I don’t care. Bring the prisoner now,” I turn off the communicator. If the Governor has problems with my authority, he can suck it up.

I feast on cookies and cream puffs. I take a sip of coffee before I remember how bitter it tastes and set it aside. Working through lunch is annoying. Halfway through the carton of cookies, the door slams open. Clar, my assistant, falls through the doorframe and closes the door behind her.

“What the heck, Clar?!” I shout. “Is there something needing a dramatic entrance, or are you just trying to be funny?!”

“No, ma’am. It’s just that Doctor Vorn is currently being dragged up here in handcuffs,”

“Who do you think ordered that? I did! Please move yourself to your office, I have a prisoner to interrogate,”

“I don’t think that you should interrogate the prisoner by yourself,” she says. “You’re only fourteen,”

“But I am High General, and what I do is none of your business,” I shoot back. Clar rolls her eyes at me and walks into her office. After she leaves, I find paper and a pen, each in their own compartments, because even though I use the recorder, I would prefer to keep that secret hidden.

A measured knock sounds on the door, I tell the person outside to come in, and Vorn is shoved inside by a muscled brute whose uniform suggests that he handles the prisoner transfers. I put on an air of cold, calculating elegance. At my nod, the guard leaves, closing the door behind him.

Ever hospitable, and because I need Vorn to do what I want, I stand and offer him a chair. After my guest sits down, I follow suit, secretly pressing a button to begin recording on my device.

“Vorn. I have questions and you will answer them, do you understand? Failure to comply will result in immediate ejection out of the airlock,” I say. After he nods, I continue, “Explain to me what tests you were running with cloneable brain matter,”

“I wasn’t trying to harm the inhabitants of this ship. I truly thought that if I was able to reanimate a monkey, one of the Governor's favorite animals that went extinct, I would be put back into his good graces. Afterwards, I would start human trials, but not until I was sure it would have no negative effects,” he replies.

“So, the brain matter was monkey?” I ask.

“Yes. It appears that someone else beat me to the cloning of the human brain matter, without going through the proper procedures. I do not know who that could be. Only...”

“Yes?” I pretend to jot down this information, while actually making notes of other things to investigate.

“Thessa, as you know, was very interested in my brain matter and reanimation experiments,” Vorn says. I pretend to not have heard him insinuate that Thessa, of all people, would want to reanimate a dead person.

“Do you know who could be stealing oxygen rations from the lower bays? It would have to be someone with access to both the Governor’s chambers and the laboratories,”

“I didn’t steal any oxygen, but I did see the Governor returning from the room where we store it, one evening,”

“I see. Now when was the last time the Governor contacted you or you entered his office in the H bay?”

“Three weeks ago, when Thessa asked me to help her transfer from reporting to scientific work. And I didn’t steal the book if that’s what you’re trying to get me to admit,”

“I didn't tell you a book had been stolen,” I say. Vorn’s face pales. I smile placidly, waiting for him to speak.

“Well, well...you see...” he mumbles.

“What I see is that you lied to the High General,” I cut him off.

“What? NO! I saw the book being brought down by the Governor, is all. He delivered it personally to Thessa,”

"Then why did you think I was accusing you of stealing it?" I challenge.

"Well...well, you see...it went missing soon afterwards. Thessa was in a rampage!" Vorn answers.

I ask a few more questions and get answers I wish I hadn’t heard. I need to speak to Thessa. Right now.

“Clar, bring Thessa up here please! Actually, arrest her. I need to seize her research and her laboratories,” The shocked faces of my assistant and Vorn do not deter me. I follow Clar outside, to the guard waiting outside.

“We are done here, but I would like you to bring the prisoner along with us to our next destination. Clar, gather a squad,” I say. “Do it quickly, please,” My comrades look shocked, I guess I don’t say please very often.

In five minutes, a squad of armed soldiers, Vorn and the guard, Clar, and I, the High General, meet Thessa in her office. She’s looking through a microscope, and she glances at us. Her face is an unreadable, blank mask.

“So, Vorn talked?” She asks. I nod and soldiers encircle her.

“Unfortunately, we must place you under arrest,” I answer.

“We’re friends and I could just let you enter my lab, you know?”

“Oh. Yeah, okay. You'll come with us, of course?”

“Sure,” I can tell she wants to say more, but she keeps her mouth shut. “Let’s go then,”

We go through a door to her lab; a nauseating smell fills the room, but I can’t place the source. There is nothing that could cause such an odor. The entire room is clean and sparkling, with a small potted plant on the windowsill. The only thing off is a huge, and I’m talking, huge walk-in freezer in the corner of the room. At this point, everyone has spread out, each doing their own thing. Clar is taking calls on her communicator, soldiers are examining the room, Vorn appears to be taking a nap while the guard holds him up by his handcuffs, and Thessa is leaning against a counter next to the door. I clear my throat to get their attention. Nobody looks up.

“Hey! I need somebody to open this,” I point to the freezer, watching Thessa’s eyes flick up, panicked. Her entire body tenses as if to pounce or flee. Two soldiers appear at my side and pull open the door.

A blast of cold, rotten-smelling air hits my face. I cough and wrinkle my nose. I step inside and squint to see in the dim lighting. The inside of this freezer has shelves from floor to ceiling. The shelves hold boxes, about the sizes of coffins, all labeled. I read the one closest to me.

“Sarele, Detective. Worker of the Governor,” Then the next. “Baralt, Detective. Worker of the Governor,” And so on. All the names of detectives that were supposed to meet us this morning are here. There are names of people who clean for the Governor. His best spies who disappeared, his most loyal soldiers, even scientists. I remember how the unregulated news sources on the ship called these people deserters and said how they all left to a different ship in our fleet because they didn't want to serve under the 'cruel' Governor. I always assumed that it was all just rebellious propaganda. I'm not sure I want to know the truth. I watch a soldier look inside a box, something I have avoided since I came in here.

“Ma’am...have you seen this?” The soldier’s steady voice barely disguises trembling notes of fear.

“No, I haven’t as you well know. What is it?” I demand, though, a knot of dread has grown in my stomach.

“It’s...” The poor soldier tries. “General, there are dead bodies in these boxes,”

I clench my jaw. That explains the smell. Then, a soldier who has ventured farther than the rest of us says,

“There’s also a bunch of oxygen rations!” She cries. “And some sort of material in a vial!”

My heart plummets. Everything, everyone that had gone missing is here. In Thessa's laboratories. Why would she do this? Throw away her life. This is treason, killing citizens of the ship and stealing rationed resources. The penalty for treason is death, lifetime imprisonment at least. I know I should be glad we found this, that I did my duty as High General, but I hate that Thessa betrayed me, I hate that she acted a certain way to my face, but she is the one who is destroying our way of life on this ship. I feel anger towards her for killing so many innocent people, ten at least. I worry for their families, the pain she has caused towards so many. I resent her and yet sadness creeps into my heart, sadness that she had so much potential and now she will be reduced to nothing more than a common murderer, a serial killer. Just then, I hear a yell that tears me from my thoughts. Metal clatters to the ground, and I hear the thud of a body. Everyone rushes out of the freezer, just in time to see Thessa and Vorn fleeing the scene; the prison guard lying on the floor, with a metal rod next to him. Clar lies unconscious; communicator broken.

“We need to find them. You,” I say, pointing to a soldier. “Give me your electricity rod and handcuffs. Go find help for these two,” I gesture at the bodies on the floor. “The rest of you, come with me,”

I run out of the room, and through the office. Out in the hallway, I split up our group. One goes left and the other goes right. Each is told to gather reinforcements whenever possible. I will go by myself, since as High General, I am expected to be the best of the best, capable of bringing down any fugitive. Adrenaline gushes through my veins. It’s been a while since the last good chase. I grin.

“Let’s go,” And take off again. After twisting through hallways, I find a trail of blood. Following it a ways, I find Thessa.

She’s standing in a pool of blood, not hers, but Vorn’s. She stands over his body, wearing a cruel smile. The knife she holds is covered in blood. Noticing my stare, she looks up. Her eyes are almost unrecognizable, they don't have any of the sweetness they usually do, no hint of the deep kindness they used to hold. Her gray eyes are hard, her gaze vicious. She looks like a predator who isn't satisfied with the death she has already dealt, she wants more.

“He did try to get away; I’ll give him credit for that. It’s just that I can’t give him credit for all my work. I was the one who stole the book and oxygen; I put together the plan and carried out the experiment. All I asked of him was the brain matter, and I ended up stealing that too. We were going to present the result to the Governor, but Vorn didn’t like how I killed people to have fresher bodies to work with. I’m sure you noticed the smell; it’s quite annoying. Anyways, Vorn threatened to tell the Governor. Always talking about ethics and morals. He was worse than the smell. I had to get rid of him somehow, so I planted doubts in the Governor’s mind, and he demoted Vorn to a regular scientist. I saw how corrupt the Governor was, however, so I made up my mind to get rid of both him and Vorn. Only you got in my way. I suppose I must get rid of you as well.” Thessa sighs. I stand still, my mind still trying to comprehend everything that Thessa said. Eventually, I reign my thoughts back in.

“Let me get this straight. You have been going behind my back, killing people, reanimating them, setting fire to rooms, and pretending to be a harmless child,” I say, like we aren't the same age.

“Yeah, but it wasn’t that hard, was it? You’re so conceited, you think that everyone will follow your orders, just because you’re ‘High General’. But I have news for you; you’re just brainwashed. Not everyone will always like you and bow with sheer devotion, love in their pitiful eyes. Which brings me to my next point,” Then Thessa lunges at me, her knife pointing towards my throat.

A second before the cold metal sinks into my skin, I knock it away with the electric rod. A blast of electricity shoots up Thessa arm, through the metal of the knife. She shudders and pulls away, circling me like a bird of prey from the old world. To my shock, she isn't even deterred, she just keeps speaking.

“Do you want to know how I did it? How I reanimated them and what I used them for? I can tell you do,” She smiles brighter, more sadistically. “It wasn’t easy, I tracked the workers of the Governor, I decided to cut down on his staff, slowly making my way towards him. I killed his loyal detectives before they told on me, I killed his cleaning people that might have seen me steal the book. I killed his best soldiers so they wouldn't have a chance to defend him when I came to cut his reign short. I cut open their skulls when they died, scooped out their brains and replaced it with my concoction. Then I put oxygen in their lungs, and they came back to life. Only, they weren’t themselves, they didn't see that what they were doing was against what they had been told their entire life. They remembered no one from their old life. They saw only one mistress, me. I gave them orders, and they obeyed them to the letter. The only thing is, they start smelling after a bit, so I made a self-destruct sequence in them. Once they fulfill their orders, they set fire to the room they are in to get rid of any evidence,”

“They get rid of witnesses by using the Chloroform-releasing substance the Governor created. To knock them out and silence any screaming from being burned alive. You stole the book,” My stomach drops at the sheer horror of Thessa's work.

“Finally, you’re catching on!”

“Then why did you send a fire crew to put out the fire in F10?”

“I knew you were going to figure it out quickly, I wanted to slow you down. You’re smarter than I give you credit for,” Thessa winks, as if I should be glad of the compliment. After a second of my stunned silence, her faces changes.

“But-” I start, before her knife interrupts my sentence. The blade slides between my ribs; she pulls it out, slick with blood. A dried coat, Vorn’s, and a fresher coat. Mine. I stumble backward, into the pool of Vorn’s blood. I trip over his body and fall. I’m going to die, like him.

“I am sorry it had to be this way. However, sometimes we must get rid of the weakest link in our chain to be at our strongest. Be at peace, your death will benefit the future of this ship,” she says while wiping the knife on her shirt. Footsteps echo down the hallway. Thessa looks around and steps closer to me. “I truly am sorry, General,” She steps over me and starts to jog away, past me.

I grit my teeth. If I'm going to die, the least I can do for the Governor is not let Thessa get away. With the last of my energy, I twist around, ignoring the pain screaming up my side and the dark spots clouding my vision, and immobilize Thessa Cirell with a blast of energy from the baton. She falls down, whimpering and grabs her leg. When she lifts the fabric of her pants away from her leg, I can see dark bruising on her skin. I smile grimly up at her.

“Never turn your back on an enemy,” I whisper. I swear I hear someone yelling from down the corridor as Thessa tries to crawl away, but I have already slid into darkness.