The Valiant - Michael Jan Friedman [18]
As the engineer was enveloped in the seething, blue-white flame, he screamed a high, thin scream. Then he lurched out of the plasmas embrace and fell to the deck, thin plumes of black smoke rising from him.
Tarascos heart went out to the man. After all, Agnarsson hadnt asked for what had happened to him. He hadnt done anything to deserve it. In a sense, he was a victim as much as those security officers he had killed.
But as Pelletier had pointed out, this wasnt about right and wrong. This was about evolution. This was about survival.
And the captain would be damned if he was going to let his engineer shape the future of the human race.
As Agnarsson whimpered and clutched at himself with blackened, clawlike hands, Tarasco tried to rouse Siregar and Offenburger. Both of them were still alive, it turned out, though badly battered.
Get out of here, he told them. Thats an order. Grab the nearest escape pod and get off the ship.
Offenburger glanced at the engineer, too dazed to fully grasp what was happening. What about you, sir? he asked the captain, his words slurred and difficult to understand.
Ill follow when Im certain Agnarsson cant come after us, Tarasco assured him. It was a lie, of course. He had no intention of following the security officers.
Siregars eyes narrowed. Unlike Offenburger, she seemed to divine his intentions. Let me stay and help, she suggested.
No, the captain told her. Now get going.
Siregar hesitated for a moment longer, loathe to leave him there alone with Agnarsson. Then she put her arm around Offenburger and helped him stagger out of the weapons room.
Tarasco turned back to the engineer. To his amazement, the man was almost healed again, his skin raw but no longer charred. Agnarsson glowered at him with eyes that had known unbelievable pain.
You cant keep this up forever , the engineer told him. Sooner or later, Ill destroy you .
The captains only response was to walk over to the launch console and punch in some commands. The first one armed the ships atomic missiles, overriding the protocol that would have kept them from exploding inside the Valiant . The second command accessed the missiles timers.
What are you doing ? Agnarsson demanded.
Thats simple, Tarasco told him with an inner calm that surprised him. Im blowing up the ship.
You wont do that.
Wont I? asked the captain.
He estimated that it had been two minutes since he had given the order to abandon ship. By then, all surviving members of his crew should have cast off, with the possible exception of Offenburger and Siregar. And even they should have reached a pod.
With that hi mind, he tapped in a detonation time. Then he took a moment to reassess Agnarssons condition.
With an effort, the engineer had propped himself up on his elbow. Slowly, laboriously, he was reaching out in Tarascos direction, no doubt intent on blasting him with another energy surge.
The captain didnt wait to see if Agnarsson had recovered enough to generate a charge. He simply fired at the deck below the man. As before, it took a few seconds to penetrate the plating and open the conduit.
A third time, the engineer was bathed in electrocharged fire. And a third time, he escaped its clutches to collapse on the deck, a crisped and bloody thing that barely resembled a man.
Tarasco almost allowed himself to believe that Agnarsson was deadthat he could deactivate the missiles and save his ship. Then the husk that had been the Valiants engineer began to stir againbegan to roll over so it could see its tormentor.
Its eyes had the same startling silver cast to them. And they pulsated with hatred for the captain.
Damn you , Agnarsson rasped in Tarascos brain, you dont know what youre doing. Im your future, your destiny
If the captain had needed a sign, he had gotten one. He didnt dare think about turning back.
So instead, he stood there and waited, counting down the seconds. He watched the engineer recuperate as he had before, but it didnt seem that Agnarsson was going to mend quickly enough to be a problem.
Tarascos last thought was for his crew.