• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

Megan paused at the foot of the stairs, the bag of frozen peas still pressed against the side of her face. She was sure she’d heard the scuffle of footsteps.

‘Who’s there?’ she called up. There was no answer. That damned girl – or the Doctor!

She turned back to the kitchen, crossed to a drawer and found the biggest, sharpest knife that she could. Her jaw clenched, she opened the door at the foot of the stairs and began to ascend into the darkness.

‘Stop right there!’

Ace whirled, her heart pumping as the voice barked out, ringing metallically through the chamber.

Standing in the doorway was a dwarfish-looking man in a light grey suit. His head was completely bald, his features thin and spiteful, skin wrinkly and paper thin. His most disturbing feature, though, was the gun in his hand.

‘You won’t shoot in here,’ Ace bluffed, feeling her voice quaver.

‘And why would that be?’

‘You wouldn’t want to do any more damage to this beautiful ship of yours. I reckon a misplaced shot or two could bring the whole thing crashing down around us.’

‘Perhaps,’ the man considered, his thin, bloodless lips curling into a cruel smile, ‘But it would only take one well-placed shot to bring you down. Now move away from the bench!’

Ace shook her head and reached out for the cylindrical pillar of electronic equipment that stood, winking silently, near the head of the man she’d been about to revive. The pale man’s reaction told her all she needed to know – and now, at least, she knew for certain that it was a spaceship.

‘If you don’t step away from the processor I’ll take a risk with the ship and shoot you.’

She shook her head, emboldened by the fact that he hadn’t shot her... yet. ‘Uh uh. If you were going to do it, you’d have done it by now. You don’t want to risk damaging this.’ She put her hand on the electronic pillar’s chromed dome and wobbled it. The man pulled his lips back from his tiny, white teeth and hissed, catlike. ‘I’m warning you...’

‘Warn all you like, pig-eyes. If you come a step closer, I’ll pull this over. And by the time you manage to shoot me, I’ll have pulled this one over too.’ She stretched out her arm and placed her palm against the column at the head of the next person along

– a woman with wispy grey hair.

‘So we’re at something of an impasse. What do you suggest?’

the man said, moving slowly into the room. His pale eyes darted around, assessing the situation.

‘What I suggest is that you put that gun down.’

He shook his head. ‘Not a wise move. Besides, if you damage that equipment, you’ll be condemning those people to die. Horribly.’

‘Yeah, like you care. I take it you’re Sooal? Is this ship yours?’

‘Yes, my name is Sooal; and, yes, this ship is mine.’

‘One careless owner,’ Ace smirked, trying to act with more bravado than she actually felt. She glanced round the chamber, realising that she was running out of options. Her arms were starting to ache from stretching out. Sooal could just bide his time and then shoot her when she tired. She watched his pink eyes, trying to outstare her.

‘Tell you what,’ she said, dropping her right arm. ‘I’ll do you a swap.’

Sooal cocked his head on one side again.

‘Your gun,’ Ace said, lowering one hand, ‘for this.’

And in an instant, she brought out the torch from her pocket and shone it full in his eyes. with a squeal, he threw his hands up over his face and turned away. Yes! Ace thought exultantly and took her chance. With water splashing around her boots, and the sounds of Sooal grunting and hissing, she sprinted through the chamber’s other exit and disappeared into the darkness.

Megan climbed the stairs slowly, the knife held out in front of her like a charm to ward off evil.

The side of her face still throbbed. Her memory of the incident was still a bit fuzzy: she’d smelled bacon cooking, heard noises in the kitchen, and come down to investigate. As she’d reached the foot of the stairs and peered round, someone had hit her with the pan, and the next thing she knew, she was