CHAPTER 30
VIKKI MAKES ENEMIES
Vikki ran through the gloom of the darkened merchant's section. Its familiarity was comforting, and she began to inventory the possible hiding places. "The food court has all those kitchens with back rooms, they must go somewhere." She dashed down the long cavern like mall dodging around kiosks and leaping over fallen furniture.
"Girly, we know you are there." A rough voice called behind her.
Ceiling lights blazed on stabbing the darkness around her with brightness. Blinded, Vikki crashed into a table. She could see the food court ahead and the kitchens with back exit doors were near.
Behind her, pirates in ragged black space suits and mismatched armor were loping easily her way. They separated, some going right, others left, and the rest came up the middle at an easy jog.
"Common Girly, don't you want to have a little fun?"
"Didn't you guys hear the announcement?" Her voice sounded thin. "The ship surrendered, we are all supposed to go to the common room. You are supposed to treat civilians with respect."
"Oh yes, we want to treat you with respect."
"Good. Then you will take me to the common room?"
The men laughed.
She watched the men moving to the sides. They were too close for comfort. The lights went out again. Vikki sprang like a leopard toward the kitchens. The sounds of heavy running seemed to be on all sides.
Out of the darkness, a voice on her right called, "Where do you think you are going, Girly?"
Now a voice on her left, "Come this way, sweetie." They were dark shadows against the faint green glow of emergency lights. She could feel them closing on her. The Chinese kitchen was only fifty feet away. Tables banged her thighs and hips as she ran.
"We almost got her, Randy."
Vikki dove under the tables and began to scurry toward the kitchen.
"Where did she go?"
"I don't see her. Wasn't she near you? Did you get her? Do you have her?"
"Stupid, I don't have her. She is hiding."
The lights flashed on again. Vikki tensed; afraid to move she waited, hiding under a table.
"She's gone. She must be a ninja."
With cat-like stealth, Vikki carefully crawled under tables. The floor was covered with the filth of spilled food and table servings. A steak knife lay near, and she picked it up as she crawled. The thin curved handle in her palm and the thin blade did not promise much hope of becoming a threat to the pirates but she clutched it as if it was a life rope on an eternal sea.
"Under the table fools, she is under the tables."
Vikki started at the sound of a table being flipped over, then another. She tightened her grip on the feeble steak knife.
The lights went out thrusting the food court into darkness. Vikki crawled madly. A beam of light swept the floor under the tables.
"I see her. She is two tables over from you, Digger."
On all fours, Vikki scurried from under one table to another in the dark, "I hope I am going the right way." She crawled under a table and discovered it had too many legs. A dim light illuminated the area beyond the table. In the grey gloom, she saw six wooden legs and four pirate legs.
Someone tapped the table above her head. "OK. Girly, we know you are there. Why don't you just come out and let us show you a good time?"
"No thank you." She crawled to one set of legs. The armor only covered the front of the shin, the back looked unprotected. She inverted the steak knife in her hand and reached behind the man's calf. Taking a breath she pulled quick and sharp.
"Houllll. Owlllll." The man tumbled on the floor thrashing, knocking chairs aside as he tried to clutch her. The knife was wet and slippery as she slashed at his grasping hands. "Damn you!" He hissed.
Chairs crashed behind her. She turned and swung the knife in the dark. It hit something soft. "Owllll."
Sliding sideways she rolled away from under the table and ran the last few feet to the Chinese kitchen. She hopped the counter and dove through the door. A Pirate was behind her. The swinging door did not lock. It slammed against the wall as he kicked his way in.
"OK, Girly. We have had enough of you." he rumbled. The darkness of the room was coal black except for a ring of red under a pot that was still boiling on the stove. She could feel the steamy heat.
"I know you are in here Girly," She slowly backed away from him stepping silently. The magnetic clamps released the pot from the stove as she touched the handle. It was heavy and full of soup or something. She could sense his nearness in the dark. She could smell the stink of him.
Grasping the pot with both hands Vikki closed her eyes and swung it up in the dark. It stuck something. "Crap, I hit a shelf."
"Ahhhh." The man roared as he stumbled backwards, "I'm going to kill you! You boiled my face and broke my nose." He lunged in the dark, but only knocked her aside. She swung the heavy pot again and struck him somewhere. "Guys she is in here!" She struck again. "Opf."
Vikki kept backing up in the dark until she found a wall behind her. "This better be a door." She worked sideways feeling for an opening. Without warning the wall gave way as a door opened behind her. Slipping through she stepped on a floor was covered with a loose uneven material; the crunch was like glass and rocks. Reaching for something to hold on to she found the edge of the sink. "Great, more water." Grasping the sink made walking possible on the slippery floor. "Where is the back door?"
The front door opened. "Guys she went this way through here." The voice rumbled.
"Forget her, Crow. Digger needs to get to a medic or he will bleed out."
"No. I'm going to kill her." The Pirate hissed.
"She is not worth it, Crow. Digger is bleeding bad, and the other guy has a slash across his face that needs stitches. We are going to find sick bay."
"Go on, I'm going to finish this. You can all go. I don't care."
"Let them go, Crow, the rest of us are with you."
Silently as possible on the littered floor Vikky backed to the far wall. "I have to get out of here. Where is the delivery door?" A swoosh and cold air of an opened door answered her. She slipped through to another darkened place. With hands outstretched she groped through the darkness and felt a wall only a few feet in. It ended on the left but the right seemed to go on. "This must be the delivery passage." Boxes and large shapeless sacks tangled her feet and seemed to cover the floor. Using hands and feet she crawled over the piles of supplies that fed the food court.
The light flashed on again so bright that Vikki had to close and cover her eyes. Between the red of her fingers, she saw a long corridor. Fallen shelves had dumped boxes, tubs, and sacks which piled halfway to the ceiling in places.
Ten feet behind her the door exploded. A black boot kicked the remains free sending them to bounce off the wall. The pirate was a horror to look at. The boiling soup made his face look like a half dozen red potatoes held together by steaming grease. An eye was swollen shut and blood poured from his scalp and twisted nose. More pirates tried to squeeze into the narrow hall behind him.
"Girly, you can't get away now. I'm coming for you for sure."
He lunged for her as the gravity generators failed.
(c) Adron
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