Thorne raised his hands. “Why me?”
“Because you’re weak,” he answered.
Thorne said nothing.
“When Locke began feeding me his nonsense about human destiny, I laughed. Not because of how ridiculous it all is, but because I saw it coming long ago. I knew Locke would outwit you and bring this station to its knees.”
Thorne slowly let down his hands and looked at the ground.
“You’re weak!” Jormunssen shouted. “And so is Hoban for trusting you, and the A.S.R. for appointing you. When I saw Locke starting to put his plan in motion, I decided to just go along for the ride.”
He tossed the pistol to the side. The sound of it hitting the floor brought Thorne back to the present and he looked up.
“Now,” Jormunssen said, drawing his knife, “let me show you how to kill someone.”
Thorne wrapped his fingers around his own blade. “I remember when we were back at the academy,” he said, “I could never beat you in knife drills.” He drew the weapon and assumed a combat stance. “But back then, the stakes were different.”
The two men squared off in the storage room as Bradigan and Valeria watched, unable to offer any help in the confined space. Jormunssen made the first stab, thrusting directly toward Thorne’s face to prove his murderous intent. Thorne deflected the blow away and swung at his opponent’s chest but Jormunssen was already moving to dodge, certain his first strike wouldn’t land. He used the momentum of his movement to throw a punch that landed on Thorne’s jaw, rattling him. He quickly regained his composure and saw the smile on Jormunssen’s face. He quickly changed his grip and threw a lazy slash toward Thorne’s chest, another deflection from Thorne.
Jormunssen laughed at him. “Kill me, Major!” he shouted.
Thorne tightened his grip on his knife and stepped forward, slashing across at his opponent’s opposite arm. As Jormunssen’s blade came up to parry, Thorne reached out with his free hand to grab his arm but Jormunssen saw the maneuver coming and spun out of his reach.
“Even with all that’s going on,” he said, “you’re still looking for a chance to disarm me. To end this peacefully. I said kill me!”
He changed grip again and lunged quickly, putting pressure on Thorne from multiple angles. Thorne avoided every thrust but was being pushed back by the rapid assault until he found an opening; he turned Jormunssen’s blade away and down while throwing out a kick which landed in his stomach. Jormunssen stepped back, still with a smile on his face.
Bradigan and Valeria breathed a sigh of relief but Thorne heard them. Without looking back he said, “He’s toying with me.”
“You’re right,” Jormunssen confirmed. “I wanted to give you a chance, but if you won’t take this seriously, I’ll just change the stakes again.”
Thorne gritted his teeth as Jormunssen began an impossible assault on him, twirling and spinning madly, the gleaming knife edge passed within an inch of his body with every stroke. Unable to keep up, Thorne’s defense failed him and he took a cut on his arm. Jormunssen jumped back, satisfied with the wound.
“How about now, Major?” he asked.
Suddenly, Thorne dropped the knife and gripped his arm tightly, putting pressure on the wound. It was foaming up. Bradigan and Valeria quickly came to support him as he faltered.
“What’s happening?” Bradigan asked.
“Poison,” Thorne answered. He looked at Jormunssen and gritted his teeth as the pain increased.
“That’s right, Major. I’ve added a time limit. You’ve got about three minutes to finish me off.”
“What can we do?” Bradigan asked.
“Nothing!” Jormunssen interrupted. He pulled out a vile and looked at it. “Karmalichen-43 This stuff is so potent even looking for the formula will put you in prison. But I’ve had this since before I joined up.”
“There must be something,” Valeria said.
“No. He’s right,” Thorne said, pushing away from them. He stood up, still holding his arm. “Even this is more than enough to kill anyone.” He looked at Jormunssen. “So it’s come to this,” he said. “This is how a career spent avoiding pain rewards me. I want to thank you for pushing me, Jormunssen. For showing me my weaknesses.” He reached down and picked up the nearest object as a weapon, a hammer that had fallen from the tool shelf. “I won’t hold back anymore.”
Jormunssen smiled again. “Then do it.”
Thorne shouted in a way that shook the room and ran straight ahead. Jormunssen simply held his knife out and Thorne impaled himself upon it. As they both fell backwards onto the floor, the hammer came down upon Jormunssen’s skull with a grotesque sound, killing him in a single stroke. Thorn rose from the corpse and, gripping the edge of a table, pulled himself to his feet. Bradigan and Valeria rushed over to him, supporting him, as blood flowed from the open wound in his stomach.
“Quickly,” Thorne said, as he turned to leave the room, “I don’t have much time.”
Step
“We need to bandage your wound,” Valeria urged him.
Step
“That won’t do me any good.”
Step
“But…” Valeria began again.
Step
“I doubt you’ll need to take anymore detours,” Thorne interrupted.
Step
Valeria stayed silent.
Step
“Locke probably orchestrated the locked gate to lead me to Jormunssen’s ambush. Do you know how to get to the Bridge from here?”
Step
“Yes,” Valeria said confidently.
Step
“Then go.”
Step
He collapsed onto the floor.
“Major!” Valeria shouted, turning him over on his back. Her eyes met his. They were hollow. Empty. He was gone.
Bradigan put his hand on her shoulder and she hugged him as they mourned. In spite of himself, he reached out and touched Thorne’s face, closing his eyes. “We need to go,” he said. Partly because of the urgency of their cause, but also, selfishly, he just didn’t want to be there any longer.
Valeria looked at him and nodded.
Writer by Grace 