Read Online Vitalis Omnibus by Jason Halstead - Free Book Online Page B

being depressurized, and then she felt as much as heard the machinery in the ship’s hull open the outer door to let the pirate escape.  Nearly three minutes later, the light cycled back to green and the door opened. Kira stood ready, rifle held at her shoulder and her own body crouched into a shooter’s stance.
    Inside the airlock a mess awaited her. All four of the dead pirates had suffered varying degrees of explosive decompression. Blood, brain, and other tissue coated the walls, floor, and even ceiling. Kira’s eyes swept over it without feeling, and then she swore and stood up slowly.
    “Emily?”
    Kira turned to the source of the voice. Captain Sharp stood in the hatchway, plasma rifle in hand, though he still looked unsteady. Tarn was watching from where he’d gathered himself against the wall. His rifle lay across his lap and a small pile of vomit lay beside him. The name Emily had come from further down the passage, where Eric was walking slowly towards her. The engineer still cradled his arm where he’d been shot. Her eyes fell on the first man she’d assaulted, realizing she hadn’t finished him. Somebody else had taken care of that for her, someone with a plasma rifle, from the extent of the injuries to the body.
    “What? Who’s Emily?” She pulled herself away from the vision of the burned corpse. Something about the name seemed familiar to her. It was a pretty name, the same name she’d once called an imaginary friend she’d invented after her parents had died. Emily had helped her get through her grief and the horrible times that followed. Then one day she stopped thinking about her ; it was as though she didn’t need her anymore.
    “Kira?” he asked, his tone sounding light and hopeful.
    “What, Eric? They’re all dead except the one that got away. He’ll either be back with reinforcements or they’ll just start blowing holes in the ship.” Kira turned to look back into the airlock. The macabre scene broke through her state of shocked calm, making her gasp. She stumbled back, her hand going to her mouth, and then she stumbled on something and fell on her butt.
    Kira looked over and saw she’d tripped on the foot of one of the pirates she had killed. She let out a yelp and scrambled away, putting her hand solidly into the puddle of blood from the dead pirate near Tarn. She gasped again and lurched away, climbing to her feet and looking for a place to run. “I killed them!” she stammered through trembling lips.
    “You kicked their ass between their shoulders and hit ’em so hard their grandparents felt it,” Tarn chuckled.
    Kira looked at him as he wiped spittle from his lips. He grinned and gave her a thumbs-up. Kira felt her stomach twist and this time she knew it would not be denied. She turned and felt it explode out of her, sending her to her knees as powerful convulsions threatened to tear her insides apart.
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 10
     
    Kira opened her eyes and found that she was lying in the bunkroom. On her own bunk, no less. She looked around and found it deserted. She frowned, trying to figure out what was going on. She didn’t remember lying down to sleep.
    Her arm ached, prompting her to look at it. It had been bandaged. Her chest and a few other body parts hurt as well. She picked up the sheet and looked beneath it, gasping when she saw another bandage on her chest. She threw the blanket down the bed and sat up. She was nude, aside from a collection of bandages. Another blackout? She groaned and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. At least she was still on the Rented Mule .
    Laying on the bedside stand was a torn up and otherwise abused piece of cloth. It was stretched out fully, showing her the extent of the damage to it. The chest was blackened and the right upper arm had a hole with the edges of the fabric melted and charred. Rips and scorch marks marred the fabric, but where it was whole it had a sheen to it that sparked her memory.
    Kira gasped as it came