Perhaps that’s the key?Stoking his rage? A very dangerous game...
“He is so strong,” Kazumi states the obvious in her heavy accent. She grips the bars and strains against them with all her might, of course having no effect. Maybe she’s not as sharp as I thought, especially when Dracoth’s built like a house... if that house was covered in layers of pulsating veins and bulging muscles. What he did to those horrible aliens... the stuff of nightmares and wonderful dreams.
“Yep,” I confirm, my tone dripping with disinterest. “He’s a big guy.” A big perv, more like.
“How strong?” Kazumi mutters more to herself, “Carbon steel, resist hundred thousand psi pressure,” she muses, moving closer to the bars, giving them a quick lick.
“Eww!” I cringe, my face morphing with disgust. “You don’t know who or what has touched those? There could be diseases on them!” I could barf. It’s not the first time she’s done something like this, putting stuff in her mouth like some weird gremlin.
Kazumi smacks her lips, her face tightening into a thoughtful expression. “Taste is different, not steel,” she announces after a moment.
“You cantastesteel?” I ask, eyebrows raised in disbelief. Has Kazumi’s mind finally snapped after witnessing Dracoth’s brutal slaughtering? My eyes dart to Carmen, perplexed, curious to see her reaction, but she just looks on, her face unreadable.
“My taste very good,” Kazumi nods her head, apparently not crazy. Just very, very strange.
I frown “Um... well, that’s good to know—”
“The aliens must use a superior alloy,” Carmen interjects, marching to stand beside Kazumi, running her hands over the black metal. “Explains why, when I shot thependejo, it didn’t even slow him down,” she muses with a downcast frown.
“Who? Demon Egg-Head?” I ask, not sure what happened when Carmen opened fire on the creepy Ignition guy—I was too busy running for my life. Not that it got me very far.
Carmen shakes her head. “No, the bigpendejo, Dracoth. I shot him in Colombia.” Her gaze grows distant, her hands tightening. “My whole crew unloaded clip after clip into him... and we couldn’t stop him.”
Images of Dracoth charging through the ship’s corridor replay in my mind: his eyes leaking plumes of crimson behind his terrifying mask; the blue energy shield deflecting bullets and strange green blasts. It was crazy, like an insane light show—until he smashed into them like a giant, red bowling ball of destruction. That’s when the real horror started. Dracoth is unstoppable. Well, except when he sleeps on the job. Probably recharging his boredom generator.
“I think he killed them... thehijo de puta!” Carmen spits onto the floor, filling me with instant revulsion.
“For fuck’s sake, Carmen, will you stop doing that?” I shout, waving my hands in exasperation. “You know we’re the ones who have to sleep here, right? Like this place isn’t gross enough without rolling on your spit.”
“Perdón,” Carmen mutters absently, scrubbing the glob of phlegm with her foot.Yeah, that’ll fix it!God, get me out of this hell-hole!
I exhale deeply, struggling to rise above the indignity and simmering frustration. “Your friends are probably fine,” I offer, nodding towards Carmen. “I mean, we’re still alive, right? Which proves they can use stun or something.”Those claws though...I shudder.
“Si, si,” Carmen nods in thought. “I hope so. They were a tough bunch ofcabrones. The best.”
It’s strange hearing Carmen talk about something other than revenge, or escape plans. Curiosity gets the better of me. “Did you work for the cartels?”
Carmen scoffs, her expression sharp. “What, because I speak Spanish, you think I’m a criminal?” She gives me a withering look.Well, excuse me for bloody asking!Typical, you try to be nice and she jumps down your throat.
“Well, you did mention crew,” I mumble defensively, leaving out the part about her being a violent maniac with bullet scars, getting us all shot—those minor details.
“I work for private security,” Carmen says, her face twisting like she might spit again. “We fought the cartels, bunch ofmaricas.”
Looking at her now, it’s hard to reconcile her pretty face with the violence she’s seen. It makes me uncomfortable, highlighting the relative comfort of my own life. But I bet she had family and friends who care about her—no one cared about me.
I turn to Kazumi, desperate to escape the awkward churn of my thoughts. “What about you, Kazumi?”
“Me?” Kazumi gestures to herself, as if surprised to be included. “I work, computer programmer, specialize in cybersecurity.” She nods, almost bowing.Not surprising, she looks like the nerdy type.
Carmen whistles low. “Chica, if I get you one of those blue machines,” she rounds on Kazumi with a fierce intensity that forces the petite woman back a step, “could you hack the ship? Get us back to Earth?”
She is ridiculous! The most stubborn woman ever, I swear.
I shake my head in frustration. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve been over this with Carmen. She agrees to reason, only to return to her crazy escape plans moments later. It’s maddening! Maybe I should just let her get her dumbass killed before she drags me along the murder tour?
Yet, I feel compelled to stop her, “Carmen, don’t be—”
“Silencio, Princesa.” Carmen cuts me off with a casual wave of the hand, not even deeming to look at me.
