The Soul Eaters (The Thin Hex Line Book 1) by Gwyndolyn Russell (e reader txt) 📕

round screaming down the rails cut him off just as quick as the round crashed through his skull.

That was a sight that differed greatly under gravity. Normally the blood would splatter out like a geyser. Fall to the ground followed by the limp, lifeless body. Out here? Out here without gravity, liquids reacted differently.

Liquids like sticking together. They combined into spheres that wriggled like jello. Contact with other balls of liquid combined them into a larger one.

The blood did not splatter out. It pooled into writhing balls at the openings. The difference in viscosity of the blood to skin, hair, and clothes made the crimson liquid wriggle like worms circling around the wounds. Sometimes they floated off to hang around the room until they attached to a new surface.

It was a tamed sight compared to being under the foot of gravity Reaper was more accustomed to fighting in.

"Thank you." Reaper smiled at the wolf. "Not sure we could've done it so well without you."

"Valkyrie not harm humans." It growled.

"Not all humans are worth saving." He put the short rifle over his back for the magnet there to hold it.

"Wow, that was epic!" A soldier cheered. "I've never seen anyone do that before! Did you get hurt?" He was staring at Fenris.

"No." It answered.

"No way!"

Other soldiers gathered.

"I saw you take a few bullets! Really aren't hurt?"

"Yes."

"That is so badass!"

Reaper grinned. He was afraid they would only fear him more if they saw him in action. This was the best outcome he could hope for. The youngest of the soldiers were excited, thrilled to have seen that wolf defending them and fighting with them.

"All right. Let him rest. Meanwhile let's clean up the ship. We can salvage all the parts we need from this shithole."

Fenris looked down to its hands. Then to the floating corpse of the pirate captain.

Reaper got the feeling it was uncomfortable. He put a hand to its furry shoulder.

"You did good, Fen. Everyone is happy and safe thanks to you." He smiled at it.

TWENTY-ONE

The pirates had been eradicated, their bodies piled up in the deepest part of the ship's belly. Their ship was gutted; stripped of all useful parts, including the weapons. Their storerooms were raided. Not so much as a crumb or a bolt was left behind. It took the Syndicate crew a few days to take everything they needed and wanted. At that same time, the engineers were hard at work on little sleep getting the ship fully functional. The door that had been cut through was the last bit to be repaired. The ship was detached and the Syndicate was on its way.

Reaper had the course set for Solstice at top speed. He did not want to risk another warp jump, not so soon after the last ended in complete disaster. That day he woke up in the pod still haunted him. The scream of those suffocating and drowning inside their glass coffins. Too many died that day, and they had yet to honor their sacrifice.

Perhaps a party was in order! He would love to have one scheduled. It would boost the morale of the ship. Give everyone a chance to mourn. If only their synthesizer was working. At least those pirates had plenty of food.

Elsewhere on the ship, Mjolnir had been approached by Dr. Brannum.

“Mjolnir! It’s good to see you!” Brannum entered the office.

“Doctor? Is there something wrong?” Mjolnir slipped some papers into a folder tucked into a drawer.

“Yes, I believe there is. One of my patients has been opening up about a past trauma.”

“I suppose you can’t tell me about it?”

“Under normal circumstances, patient confidential information should never be shared. This, however, is not normal.”

“Go on.”

“Timo Nikula has told me down in one of the engineering tunnels, he saw some sort of a horrible monster in the dark. Red glowing eyes, nasty teeth, and long claws. It attacked him. He defended himself with his utility knife. He thought he may have killed the beast, but he was not sure.”

Mjolnir purred in thought, claws running through the fur on his chin. “You think this creature may still be on the ship?”

“Quite the opposite!” Brannum raised a finger. “All of my patients have been experiencing bizarre hallucinations centered about a similarly described beast. I believe he may have hallucinated it while working in the tunnel.”

“You think Timo could have killed Lautaro?”

“It pains me to say so…. But he was not in a good mental state at the time!”

“Did you place him on medications?”

“Yes, but none of them have been able to stop the hallucinations. Not for anyone.”

“Do you know where he is?”

“I’ve had him isolated in my ward the last few days, for his safety.”

“Keep him there. If I hear he leaves your ward, then I will have to put him in a cell until further notice. If this is truly due to a lapse in mental health, then he needs to be taken care of.”

“Thank you! I will keep a close eye on him.”

Mjolnir saw Brannum out, then headed to the bridge to talk with Reaper about the news.

“Just like that,” Reynolds said. “Oh. Oh, no!” She snatched up a hand towel to catch the spilled cream.

Fenris grumbled, trying to close the valve on the cream quickly. Instead of it closing, it snapped off. It growled now, ready to throw its head against a wall.

“It’s all right! Hold on!” She shook the towel off into a quick seal bag, then used it again to finish cleaning the mess. With those set aside, she grabbed out a new jar of cream and left the towel over the broken one.

“Be more gentle this time. I had a lot of trouble too when I first tried.”

“Grow here?” It asked, now doing its best to connect the two valves without breaking them.

“Did I grow up here? On the Syndicate?” She laughed. “No! Venus is where I was born.”

The click sounded out from the valves. They had connected! With a gentle squeeze of the jar, the cream flowed