Read The Chronicles of Aallandranon - Episode One - Ant-Lion for Free Online Page B

way through the doors. About ten people
remained in the Observation Deck, pleading for assistance. He had
no choice. Jonathan hit the button as another secondary reactor
went. A loud crash told him that the roof had continued to
disintegrate. When he glanced out, no one
remained.
    Fortunately, the Core Hall looked completely untouched. It
was the most structurally sound part of the ship. He found the
nearest terminal and started putting in the sequence needed to
separate the Core and Bridge from Engineering and Primary Life
Support. They would still have Secondary Life Support, but that
wouldn ’ t last the few survivors for very long. He was about to
confirm the sequence when he felt the plastic band wrap around his
neck and pull him away from the terminal.
    Jonathan struggled with his assailant, knowing it was
William even though he couldn ’ t see his face. The two
wrestled away from the terminal. Jonathan saw the blast doors to
the Observation Deck open, felt himself being pushed toward the
yawning, screaming threshold. His saliva was beginning to boil. He
felt the most winded he had ever been in his
life.
    “ I
can still keep you from ruining the universe! ” William said in
Jonathan ’ s ear.
    Out
of reflex, Jonathan whipped his head back, breaking
William ’s nose.
    The
moment the band slipped from around his neck, Jonathan gave the
order. “ Computer, close and seal the blast door between
the Observation Deck and the Core Hall! ” The tone came out a
raspy whisper behind the scream of the open door, but the
ship ’ s
voice activation program was still functional. The door began to
slide closed.
    Jonathan elbowed William in the ribs, turned around, and
pushed him as hard as he could with both hands.
William ’ s heel connected with a thick coil of cable at the edge of
the catwalk and he fell onto his back. Chance and Sam Hartigan
hurried into the Core Hall behind him.
    “ Is
that Mason? ” Chance gasped. Sam and Chance hurried over and each took
one of William ’ s arms.
    “ Son
of a bitch tried to kill me. ” Jonathan said, his voice scratchy and
dry.
    “ You
need me, Jonathan! You won ’ t survive a day without
me. ” William stammered, wiping his face with his sleeve which
left a red smear on the white fabric of his uniform. Jonathan
stared at William as William stared right back. Jonathan knew that
he didn ’ t regret his choice to try to kill him, which meant he
couldn ’ t be trusted.
    “ We
should tie him up, take him with us to the
Bridge. ” Sam suggested.
    “ I
think we should open the blast door and let him get sucked out like
half the rest of the crew. ” Jonathan said.
William ’ s expression didn ’ t falter: he continued
gazing right back at Jonathan. “ No one will know but
us, and good riddance. It ’ s probably because of
you that all of this happened. ”
    “ You
go right ahead and jump to that conclusion. ” William replied
sardonically.
    “ Enough. ” Chance intervened. “We ’ re not barbarians. As you can probably guess, there
aren ’ t
a lot of us left. Letting him die might not be the best
idea. ”
    “ Congratulations, ” said Sam Hartigan to Jonathan and
William, “ you ’ ve officially made Chance Trillian the voice of
reason. ”
    “ Get
him out of here, I have to separate the ship before this whole
place blows. ” Jonathan ordered. Sam and Chance hauled William into
motion. He watched them disappear through the doors to the Bridge.
Jonathan confirmed the separation on the terminal and peered
through the window next to the blast doors. The back end of the
ship slowly separated. It looked as if it had been chewed up and
spit out like a giant metal wad of gum. A few seconds later, the
thrusters and reactors in Engineering, the Life Support Hall, all
of the remaining crew that hadn ’ t gotten across the
Observation Deck – four years of his life; six trillion
dollars – exploded, sending debris rocketing in all directions. He
watched pieces of the