Xena's Arc

Chapter 9 of 13

The hatch would not seal. Xena stood in the gap with the sword low and the lightning quiet along the edge. The second craft had pulled back but did not leave. It circled wide, out past the port, then came around the belly and out again. Seven of Nine read the sensor at the pilot's shoulder and said the craft was waiting for the hull to fail. Xena could hold the hatch against boarders. She could not hold vacuum. She stepped back one pace and looked at the crew. Four faces, all watching her. She said she needed to go outside. The pilot said she would die in three breaths. Seven of Nine said the suit lockers were behind the jump seats. Xena set the blade across her knee, unclipped the wrap, and belted a work suit over her armor. The helmet was thin and the seals were old. She fit it anyway. She told Seven of Nine to blow the hatch on her signal and shut it behind her, sealed or not, and to trust the man with the ring if he came back. The hatch blew. The air took her out clean. She caught the frame with one hand and swung her legs against the hull. The sword lit in her fist and the colors ran along the blade and threw light across the plating. The circling craft saw the light and turned. It came in low along the spine, meaning to strafe her off. Xena crouched on the hull and waited. She had one cut in her before the suit gave. She did not get to take it. The hum came up under her boots first. The man in the dark suit rose past the shuttle's nose, the gold ring on his hand throwing a bright cone ahead of him. He did not look at her. He flew straight into the oncoming craft and struck it below the pilot's port. The craft folded around his shoulder and went dark. He shoved the wreck away with one hand and it drifted off, tumbling. Then he turned in open space and came back to the shuttle. He caught Xena by the arm before her suit finished its second warning and set her at the open hatch. He looked into her helmet. He said, hull patch, ten minutes, then Stargazer. He said it in three breaths and no more. Then he laid his other hand on the torn hatch frame and the metal bent under his palm until the gap closed to a seam. Inside, the pilot got the inner seal to hold. Seven of Nine pulled Xena's helmet off and did not let go of the collar. She asked who the man was. Xena said she still did not know, but he had chosen a side. Outside the port, the man in the dark suit held station off their wing and waited for the shuttle to move.