Under A Winter Sun by Johan Dahlgren (ink ebook reader txt) 📕

simple metal cage, open to the sides. There's a mess of sharp girders and cables and shit running up and down the shaft. If you lean out at the wrong moment, it will take your head.

“It's empty,” Soledad says.

I grind my teeth. “Fucking stop that, Soledad.”

“Stop what?”

“Stating the obvious. It's fucking irritating.”

“I'm not stating the obvious. I'm just saying it's empty.” She sounds pissed.

“We can see that.”

“Cut it out,” Jagr says. “Perez, not now. Soledad, he's right. Now shut the fuck up, both of you, and focus on the job.”

Soledad shoots me a murderous glare. I return it in kind.

We pile into the cage and I scan the controls. There's a runic dial for selecting the floor and a large button for going there. I dial in something in the mid range of the floors and hit the button.

The elevator is swift. The floors flash by, and I take great care to not get too close to the walls rushing past.

Ten seconds later we slow down with stomach-churning speed. My feet rise a fraction off the floor before the thing comes to a halt. There's a retching sound from Rivera.

The door slides open on another passageway.

And there they are.

Two Goliaths stand outside the door waiting for their ride. The second they take to react is all we need.

Soledad swings her machete and decapitates the zombie giant on the left, and Jagr takes the head of the one on the right.

They must have cut the connection to the centipedes because the bodies drop to the deck, almost in perfect sync, where they stay, unmoving. The heads bounce off the floor and I kick them into the elevator.

I scan the passage. It's empty. A glance at the scanner tells me the reactor is somewhere to our right.

The priest points at the decapitated bodies. “Shouldn't we hide them?” He's beginning to think like a pro.

“There's no point,” Soledad replies. “They are all connected, aren't they?”

She kicks one of the bodies. “We just blew our cover.”

As if to confirm her words, a wild electronic shriek echoes down the passageway from somewhere far off. It reminds me of Mimr back on the Galahad.

“She's right. We need to move. This way.” I jog down the passage to the right. The light on the scanner grows brighter with every step. We're right on track. The others fall in behind me. A short sprint and we reach a T-junction. The device shines like a beacon. We're here.

There's an immense door to our left. It's open, and we inch inside, weapons at the ready.

It's the largest room I've ever seen on a starship. The chamber is unbelievably tall, but the thing that catches my eye is the light. It comes from a glaring pillar of raging blue fire that arcs up and down the chamber with the sound of constant thunder. The pillar is ten metres wide, and it disappears down into the floor and continues up to a vast contraption at the top of the chamber. That should be the drive core.

The chamber is otherwise empty, apart from Finn and Eirik, locked in mortal combat before the column of fire. They swing heavy swords and the noise of steel on steel echoes around the chamber. The clangs are audible even through the deafening bass rumble of the drive. Windsong has better reach, but Eirik's blade is heavier.

True to Goliath health and safety regulations, there's not a barricade in sight. Any second, one of them could fall over the edge and down into whatever radiation hell lies beneath.

Tyrus closes the door, locking us in.

Eirik is covered in blood and sweat, and the gore on the floor betrays they have used the whole chamber for their duel. Finn's armour is chipped and dented from Eirik's attacks. His face is cut in several places and his beard is matted with blood.

“Finn,” I call.

Too late, I realise my mistake.

Finn looks up, letting Eirik out of his sight for a fraction of a second, and that is all his brother needs. A quick kick from Eirik brings Finn to the floor. He lifts his sword and swings it to end his brother's life. Finn gets Windsong up just in time to deflect the blow, and their swords lock together. Eirik presses down and Finn does his best to hold him off. The younger brother has the upper hand, and it's only a matter of seconds before he pushes the tip of his blade through Finn's throat.

“Eirik. Let Finn go. We're here to help you.”

A moment's hesitation and Finn breaks off.

“Piss off, Perez.” Finn spits blood on the floor. Not the heartfelt thanks I was hoping for. “He's mine.”

They start to circle.

Then the giants run at each other like bull carnosaurs, howling a lifetime of jealousy at each other.

They collide with the horrible sound of sweaty bone on hypercarbon, each with a hand around his opponent's sword arm. They grunt with pain and effort. I watch, helpless, as my best friend fights his brother to the death, and I can't interfere. This is his fight.

It's a fight for all he believes in.

He fights for his father's honour. For his people. For himself.

At times like this I wish I had a god to call upon.

Jagr grabs my shoulder. “We must help him.”

“We can't. Finn will kill us if we interfere. This is something they have to settle themselves.”

“So, we just watch?”

“I'm afraid so.”

Fear for my only friend tears my heart, but this is out of my hands now. Fuck the Goliaths and their rules and sense of honour.

The battle rages across the grand chamber. First one brother gets the upper hand, then the other. They slip and stumble in the blood, and more than once they drop to their knees. Their blows grow weaker, their holds feebler. At one point, Eirik wrenches the black sword from Finn's fingers and tosses it aside. It goes skidding across the floor and clangs into the wall. Too far away for me to reach it in time to get