Not All Heroes Carry Laser Rifles

No. Just no. Not this again. 

Green streaks of feces climbed up the walls and smeared across the ceiling. Delyn’s face twisted in disgust as he stood, mop in hand, and surveyed the Gloop’s bathroom. Streaked across the floor in the same green gunk was a single word in Gloopese, “Gaahhhhk.” Which translated to, “Oh no, I’ve eaten too many purple pears and I can no longer control my bowels.”

The only upside was a Gloop’s nether regions, and anything associated with those areas, smelled faintly of cotton candy. It was a shame Delyn never lived during The Rise of Technology and had no reference for the smell. 

His stomach squirmed as he closed in on the Gloop’s toilet, a rather large metal bowl set in the middle of the bathroom. The flusher hung from the ceiling as a chain, and Delyn reached up for it just as the spaceship lurched. Sludgy, green liquid splashed from the bowl, drenching his shoes and legs. Bile crawled up his throat as he stumbled backwards toward the door and shoved it open for some air… 

…to find rows upon rows of his fellow Guardians marched down the hallway, their faces contorted in concern and, in some cases, outright fear. Delyn threw his mop to the side and slipped into the ranks, cozying up next to his old bunk mate. 

“Delyn, you’re here!” Racken slapped him on the back and sniffed. “You smell good, have you been getting into the candy stash? Anyway, the commander needs your help.”

Delyn’s heart soared. Finally! This was his chance to prove he could keep up with the A unit, fight the enemy Sharks, and show the commanding officers his worth was more than a janitor. 

“I’ll do anything!” Delyn said. “What’s going on?”

Racken pulled him closer as they marched. “The Sharks have hit us on the starboard side, knocking out the comms systems. We think they plan to board. But nevermind that, I have special orders for you from Commander Grise.” He slapped a hastily written note into Delyn’s hand and hurried off. 

Heart pounding in excitement, Delyn tore the note open and read:

Guardian Delyn,

I apologize for being unable to page you directly, as the comm systems have been compromised. The toilet in the meeting room is blocked and I need you to see to it right away. Watch out for the Sharks on your way.

-Commander Grise

“Uhhgggg.” He dropped his head against the wall and closed his eyes, debating whether or not to throw a toddler sized tantrum. After clutching his fists and growling at the wall, he took a deep breath and made a decision. 

“No. I am a Guardian, and I will do my job, no matter how—” he stomped back to the bathroom for his mop and bucket, “—stinky.”

The ship jerked, forcing Delyn to brace himself—and his mop—several times before making it to the meeting room. Despite the cautious measures, he needed to refill the mop bucket twice. Thankful he had sighted no enemies, and proud of himself for the swift cleanup of the blood trailing down the corridor, Delyn finally arrived at the meeting room. With the dexterity of the soldier he was, Delyn unslung the toilet plunger from the side of his bucket and got to work in the swirling, soggy toilet paper strewn mess. 

“I—” he plunged, “—am a Guardian!” Plunge. “I'm just as important—” plunge, “—as my fighting fellows!” Plunge. 

A great sucking sound, akin to his Grandma Arle’s kisses, congratulated him on a job well done. The mess danced around the rim of the porcelain bowl and the artificial gravity dragged it down into the bowels of the ship.  

Delyn wiped the sweat from his brow, gave the bathroom a once over with the mop, and sprayed a lemony scent into the air. Stepping back, he surveyed his handiwork and nodded. Good enough for who it was for. 

“—they’re in the air ducts! Go! Go! Go!”

Delyn jumped several feet into the air as the comms crackled to life and the voice screamed from his hip. He slapped at it in surprise, and it flung off his belt and under the meeting room table. As he knelt down to grab it, something that was definitely not his comm caught his eyes. A laser rifle lay haphazardly under a chair, probably thrown there when the ship had lurched. 

Delyn chewed on his lip, trying to make a decision. Should he? What if he ran into Sharks? He’d need more than a mop to defend himself. Glancing around to make sure no one was in sight, he grabbed the gun and stood quickly, acting like he had it the whole time. 

A thrill shot through his veins. Surely, this time, he would fight. Giddy with anticipation, he skipped from the meeting room and down the hall. The entrance to the air ducts opened a floor below, but the Sharks wouldn’t stick around there. They would keep moving, but why use the air ducts? 

Delyn dwelled on the reason as he dashed from one corridor to the next, slipping through disordered crew members and organized Guardian squads. The airflow moved from the bottom of the ship to the top, which meant they must be using them as a path to—the answer came to him like a laser bolt to the foot, and he made a hundred-eighty degree turn and sprinted the other way. 

“They’re on the bridge! All forces report to the bridge now!” Every comm crackled at once, filling the hallway with the commander’s static voice. As one, every Guardian twisted toward Delyn and sprinted with him. 

Not once in his entire life had Delyn felt as important as he did in that moment. Every holo film he had ever watched flashed through his mind, with the hero leading the team to victory. A grin spread across his face, cheeks burning from the pain of his joy. 

The bridge doors were closed, but Delyn could hear fighting on the other side. Raising the rifle to his shoulder, he and the Guardian running next to him, split and stood at either side. 

“On three,” the Guardian said, as the rest of them gathered with their guns at the ready. 

“One,” Delyn said, barely able to keep the tremble of excitement from his voice. 

“Two.”

“Three!” Delyn and the Guardian kicked open the doors, just as a Shark flung a body and they caught her with their chests. All three humans went down, and the rest of the Guardians streamed around them, guns blazing. 

Delyn gasped, unable to fill his lungs. The woman rolled off them and to her feet. 

“Thanks for the catch, boys.” Commander Grise held out a hand and helped them to their feet. As she did so, she grabbed the gun from Delyn. 

“Thank you, Guardian Delyn. This is just what I needed. There are several Shark corpses that need hauled out of the way, cataloged, and shipped to the incinerator. Good luck, and don’t get shot.” She slapped him on the shoulder and rushed back into the fight. 

Delyn could only watch as Grise ripped the promise of heroism from his hands. The dreams of his childhood, stolen and replaced by a mere mop and broom. The sense of crushing failure brought back the last memory he had of his father. 

“Dad, don’t leave!” A young Delyn grabbed his father’s uniform coat as stopped in front of the door to their apartment. Tears rolled down his face, hurt, confusion, and fear twisting his insides. 

Delyn’s father knelt in front of his son and hugged him. “I must. They are counting on me to lead my team of Guardians against the Gloops. If we can’t convince them to join us, you and Mom won’t be safe, and I must keep you safe. Don’t worry, kid. You’ll understand one day. Keep practicing those katas. I expect them to be perfect when I get back.” He wiped Delyn’s cheeks with his uniform and ruffled his hair before heading out the door without looking back. 

Closing his eyes and shaking his head, Delyn wrenched himself from the memory. Although they had won that war, his father had never returned, and Delyn strove to make him proud every day of his life. The day his name had been called to be given his rank and number, he could feel his father watching, but then they had called the rank of janitor and Delyn’s life crashed around him. In his mind, his father shook his head and walked out of that graduation room. 

From that moment, he promised himself to work harder than anyone to move up the rank, and that meant removing the Shark corpses to keep the battlefield clear for his comrades. The bridge was littered with them. Huge cartilaginous beasts with shaggy red hair on a head vaguely human with gigantic teeth. They laid over the landing’s railing, and on the steps down to control. A huge one was draped over the captain’s chair, and he shoved at the alien, unsuccessfully trying to free himself. 

A laser blast streaked past Delyn’s head. He dropped to his hands and knees, scrambling across the deck and sliding down the stairs under the crossfire. Sharks and Guardians dodged in and out of cover, barely aiming when they fired. 

He reached the captain unscathed. After pulling on a pair of latex gloves, he grabbed the Shark pinning the man to the chair and heaved. Inch by inch, the alien slid off, leaving thick gobs of blue blood in its wake. Weird bumps covered its skin, and Delyn applauded himself for remembering the gloves. 

“Thank you, Guardian,” the captain gasped. 

“Thank us by getting this ship under control,” Delyn grunted as he yanked and tugged at the Shark until he had slid it to a closed door. He kicked it open to find a closet full of cleaning supplies, and dragged the body in. That would keep it out of the way for now. 

By the time he had piled in the third body, a new wave of Sharks had appeared. Wiping the sweat from his brow, Delyn glanced around to take stock of the situation just as someone screamed, “Look out!”

A Shark barreled toward him. It had no gun, but that did nothing to diminish its lethality. One hit from the alien’s fist, and Delyn would be red paint on the wall. Panic welled in his chest, but training took over. Assess. What did he have? No rifle. Not even the standard knife he normally carried in his boot. He had given that away nearly an hour ago to a fellow Guardian who had lost hers. 

But he did have chemicals. 

Delyn reached into the closet, fist curling around the closest bottle on the shelf. He whipped it out, spraying the contents at the same time. Concentrated bleach spewed from the nozzle, creating a fine mist around the Shark’s palm sized eyes. The giant slid to a stop, a gurgling cry coming from its mouth as it covered its eyes with webbed hands. Delyn did not hesitate. He blindly felt around the closest, his palm closing around a handle, and he yanked the mop from its bucket, dripping tendrils pointed at the alien as he slid into first stance. 

“Go back to the sea of stars where you belong!” Delyn roared, and attacked. Just as the Shark lowered its hands, he smacked it in the face with the mop head. It’s head jerked back, and Delyn twirled, slamming the handle into the backs of its knees. The Shark stumbled, but recovered quickly and swiped at Delyn’s torso. He lept backwards, bringing the mop up and swinging at its head.

The Shark blocked it with one arm, which Delyn had expected, and flipped the mop, aiming low. What he didn’t expect was the Shark to kick out at him. The booted foot caught him in the chest and sent him flying into the wall. White spots danced in his eyes as his head struck the metal, and he gasped for a breath. Somehow, he kept the mop locked in his fist, so when the Shark charged him, he brought it up between himself and the alien, and closed his eyes, waiting for the end. 

But the end never came. The force of the Shark drove the handle’s end into his chest. It grunted. Hot liquid splashed on Delyn’s face. He cracked an eye as an arm waved feebly in his direction and fell limp. The mop had snapped, and the Shark had rammed itself into the jagged end in its attempt to get at him. Blue blood ran down the length of the wood, soaking Delyn’s uniform. It smelled faintly of salt.

The body shuddered and slipped farther down the mop handle. Delyn yelped and scrambled out from beneath the giant form as it toppled against the wall and slid to the ground. 

“Delyn, my man!” Racken grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him to his feet. Despite the onrush of Sharks, the Guardians had cleared the bridge. Commander Grise strode toward them, handing her rifle off to the closest private. 

“Good work, Guardians. We’ve driven them back for now.” She eyed Delyn. “Go clean up. I’ll call in the crew to help you with this mess.” 

“Yes, sir,” Delyn saluted. 

Grise turned on her heel, hesitated, then glanced over her shoulder. “Your father would be proud. It’s not easy to take down a full grown Shark without a gun.”

A warmth flooded Delyn’s chest, but Racken ruined it by elbowing him in the ribs. 

“Look at that, buddy, a compliment! Not many people get those from her.”

“What about the rest of the ship? Shouldn’t we go help make sure there’s no Sharks left?”

“Nah. They’re a hivemind. When one group goes, they all go. Anyway, I’m off to the showers. See you later.” Racken hurried to catch up with a group of Guardians leaving the bridge. 

Delyn rubbed his ribs, already sore from the fight, and limped back to the closet, reaching around the bodies to grab more cleaning supplies. There was no point in showering yet, he’d only get messy again before the day cycle ended. 

Twenty minutes later, as he was dabbing blood off the wall, the door slid open again. At first he ignored it, thinking the captain had returned, but the voice was not one he recognized. 

“Delyn, sir?”

He glanced over his shoulder to find a group of his fellow janitors filing into the room. The woman who spoke was young, and held a broom timidly, almost like she hid behind it. The rest he knew, Teren, Rel, and August. 

When they noticed him watching, they all saluted. 

“We heard what you did,” the new woman said. “And we’d like to know…” She swallowed, trailing off nervously. 

“We’d like to know if you can teach us how to fight like that,” Teren said, stepping forward. Delyn had known him the longest. They trained together at space camp. Everyone nodded. 

“The three weeks of hand to hand combat training in space camp wasn’t enough. We need to know what you know if we want to defend ourselves.” August stared at him, eyes pleading as she twisted her braid. 

Delyn eyed them, attempting to discern if they were setting him up, but no one held their emotions behind the stony face of the typical Guardian. Least of all Rel, who was an older man who reminded Delyn of his father. These were all people who wanted to be more than their job, just like he did. 

“Alright,” Delyn sighed and motioned for them to join him. “Help me clean this up, and I’ll teach you.”

Two standard hours later, he paced back and forth in front of his new recruits in the gym, reciting the same words his father told him nearly fifteen Earth years ago. 

“First, you must understand fear. Where does fear come from?” Delyn asked. 

The new girl, who had introduced herself as Kara, raised her hand. Delyn nodded at her. 

“The enemy?”

“Good try, but no. Rel?” He had said nothing, but Delyn could see a spark of certainty in his eyes. 

“Fear comes from within oneself.”

Delyn pointed at him and smiled. “Exactly. To conquer the enemy, we must first conquer ourselves. How often have you stood at the brink of something and discovered starting was harder than the actual task?”

Understanding bloomed on Kara’s face, and August grinned. 

“That is the first lesson. Overcome your fear, and just do. Pair up. We will begin with trust falls.” He had them fall forward, backward, and side to side until each of them fell on command without thinking. 

“Good! Now, last one. Kara and August, first position.” Kara closed her eyes, and August stood behind her, ready to catch. 

“Kara, fall forward.” 

A frown crossed the young woman’s face, and she stepped forward to catch herself before completing the fall, snapping her eyes open. Delyn stood in second position, ready to catch her. 

“Oh,” she said, understanding, and her shoulders slumped. “I failed.”

He squeezed her shoulder. “We’re practicing, it's okay to fail. It takes a rare person to trust so completely the first time. Listen,” Delyn met everyone’s eyes, “this exercise isn’t about learning to trust your friends. It’s about learning to trust your instincts, to move without thinking. Kara heard me standing in front of her, knew she wouldn’t fall, but thought kicked in at the last second and reminded her the person supposed to be doing the catching was behind her. 

“The Space Force doesn’t care about these things. They don’t care if we can defend ourselves, because all we are is bodies to throw at the enemy. My father understood this, and his father before him. Now I am telling you. By the time the Sharks attack again, you will know not only how to fight, but how to survive.”

Teren, Kara, and August cheered. Rel smiled in his quiet way. The warmth flooded back into Delyn’s chest, but this time, it didn’t fade. Grise was wrong. Delyn’s father would have been happy for him beating a Shark, but this? In his heart, he knew teaching these people was what his father would be most proud of. 

They met every day for an hour, practicing with mops and brooms, the same katas Delyn practiced in his own time. Some days, they were alone. Other days, their fellow Guardians watched, and often left shaking their heads. Those days, Delyn saw improvement in that hour alone. 

“Let’s wrap it up!” Delyn wiped the sweat from his brow as he pushed himself off the floor. They had finished their third mock battle, and young Kara had knocked him to the ground. 

“That was fun,” she said, helping put away the cleaning supplies. “When can we—”

An alarm blared. Teren jumped, his knuckles turning white on the mop he still held. Their comms crackled on at the same time, relaying the same message:

“All Guardians to battle stations. The Sharks didn’t take the hint the first time. Let’s show them who’s boss once and for all.”

“What do we do?” August bounced on the balls of her feet, eyes jumping to the door and back to Delyn. 

Rel rested a hand on her shoulder.  “We do our job. Commander Grise will call us when we are needed. The only difference is now we know how to keep ourselves alive without firearms. Right?” He glanced at Delyn. 

“Right. Teren, lock the door. We don’t need Sharks swarming us before we are called to action.”

They hunkered down in the corner of the gym, the ship shuddering as the enemy ship docked. Silence fell as someone cut the alarm. Delyn pressed his back against the cool wall, focusing on the quick breaths of his fellow janitors rather than the bleak thoughts running rampant through his head. The lights flickered and went out. August yelped as their comms crackled to life. 

“Do not press the attack. I repeat, do not press the attack!”

Red emergency lights glowed from the corners of the room, casting eerie shadows onto everyone’s faces. Kara glanced wide-eyed at Delyn as distant shouting and gunfire penetrated the walls. 

“…Sharks have taken…trap…”

“We have to do something!” Teren cried, his face white as he pushed himself off the floor. Rel caught his hand and pulled him back down. 

“Weren’t you listening, boy? They’re trapped! We run out there with no plan, and we’ll be no better off.”

“He’s right,” Delyn said, mind whirring. “Guardians have one mode, and that’s attack. But we aren’t just Guardians. The Sharks won’t be expecting us.”

The fear in his friend’s eyes faded, and a fierce determination took its place. Each of them faced him, relaxing their shoulders and taking deep breaths, much like before a sparring match. 

“First things first, we need a plan.”

“But what about the trap? How do we know what to do if we don’t know what’s going on?” Kara asked. 

“We don’t. Yet.” Teren turned his attention to Delyn. “Before I was a janitor, I worked in security. In a ship this big, there’s the main room where an officer has access to every camera on the ship. But each level also has its own room as well, just in case we needed fast access to the cameras on that level. If we can get to that room on this level, I can get into the ship’s computer and find out what’s going on. From there, we can make a plan.”

“Where’s the security room? And will the cameras work with the backup power?” Delyn asked, trying to ignore the scream of pain on the other side of the wall. 

“Should work. They’re considered essential in an emergency. And it’s not far, we just have to make it without getting caught.” Teren glanced toward the scream, biting his lip. 

“Let’s do it.” Kara stood and grabbed the broom she was using for practice. August followed suit.

“You think they can handle it?” Rel asked quietly, watching the two women, both barely out of their teenage years.

“If we don’t believe in them, who else will?” Delyn said. 

“Right you are, lad.” Rel slapped him on the shoulder and stood, heading over to his mop and bag. 

As Delyn grabbed his own mop and bag, he gazed at his fellow janitors. His fellow Guardians. All of them wanted to make someone proud. Parents, siblings, friends, kids, themselves. It took courage and dedication to give up an hour of their free time to train with him, and he would not let them down. 

“Everyone ready?” he asked, hiking his bag over his shoulder. 

“Yes, sir,” they said in unison. 

“Take the lead, Teren.”

The young man took a breath, tapped the pad to open the door, and peeked his head out. 

“All clear,” he whispered, and slid out into the hall. Delyn followed, with Kara, August, and Rel close behind. 

They made it halfway down the corridor when a door ahead of them slid open, and a Shark, screaming in its gurgling language, stepped out. The group froze. It’s head was turned back toward the room. Delyn and Rel grabbed the other three and dragged them into the side corridor as the Shark turned around. 

Squelching footsteps retreated farther into the ship. August let her shoulders drop in relief. No one moved for several seconds until Kara poked her head around the corner. Rel dragged her back just as the door slid open a second time. 

“Stupid Sharks. I told them…” a voice muttered to himself. 

Delyn sucked in a breath, his heart dropping. Rel glanced at him, a question in his eyes, but he shook his head and peered around the corner to confirm his fear. Racken. 

The man walked after the Shark, hands stuffed in his pockets and shoulders slouched. He could be full of himself sometimes, but never did Delyn think he was working with the enemy.  Thinking fast, Delyn sifted through his bag, digging out a can of lemon scent spray and laying it on top. 

“Wait here,” he whispered. “When the time comes, run to the security room.”

Rel and Teren nodded. 

“How do we know when?” August asked, twisting her braid. 

“You’ll know.” Delyn ducked around the corner and jogged after the other Guardian. 

“Racken. Hey, Racken!” 

He jumped and twisted, hand going for his rifle. 

“Just me,” Delyn said. “Have you heard from the Commander? I think they’ve messed up the comms again, and no one has given me orders.”

Racken dropped his hands and forced a smile on his face. “Delyn! Mine are out too. I bet if we—”

Delyn swiped the can from his bag and sprayed it in Racken’s face. He screeched, clutching at his eyes as Delyn tackled him. Pulling the belt from his waist, he tied Racken’s hands behind his back and hauled the crying man to his feet. 

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Racken roared as the other janitors rushed past and turned down a corridor to the left. Delyn pulled a rag from his bag and shoved it into Racken’s mouth, dragging him after his friends and into the security room.

It was barely bigger than a glorified closet. He shoved Racken into the only chair and the rest of them stood shoulder to shoulder. The far wall had a control panel that Teren was bent over, tapping away at the screen. A holo projected onto the wall, five cameras covering different spots along the current level of the ship. 

Delyn twisted the chair so Racken faced him, tears falling from red, irritated eyes, face contorted into a snarl. 

“I’m going to take out the gag. If you shout, or make any noise other than answering my questions, you won’t be leaving this room alive.”

The first flicker of fear flashed in Racken’s eyes. He nodded. The piece of cloth was damp as Delyn pulled it out and tossed it to the floor. 

“Are you working with the Sharks?”

He said nothing. 

“Come on, Racken, are you? We need to know what the trap is.”

“What kind of interrogation is this? You aren’t even torturing me.” Racken spit.

“Is that what you want? Because all I’m asking for is your help.” Delyn grabbed the arms of the chair, not blinking as he stared down his old comrade. “Help us save the rest of the Guardians, and I won’t tell a soul what you did.”

From behind him, Teren said, “I found them. One floor above, trapped in the mess hall. I can’t see what exactly is going on, but it doesn’t look good.”

“Racken, please!”

“Okay, fine! The Sharks promised to let me live and go home to my wife and kid if I opened the left wing for them. They led everyone on a chase toward the mess hall. I disconnected the north door so there was only one way in or out. Once they gather the ship’s staff, they’re going to lock everyone in and decrease the oxygen.” Racken didn’t look at any of them. 

Delyn raked his hands through his hair. “But what about the Sharks? Don’t they need just as much as we do?”

“The mess hall is on its own system,” Rel said, leaning against the wall and rubbing his face. “The most accidental fires happen when cooking, so the engineers put it on its own system to shut down the oxygen and put out any fires without suffocating everyone on board.”

Blood drained from August and Kara’s faces. 

“We have to do something,” Kara whispered. 

August turned back to the hollow, twisting her braid and biting her lip. Then her eyes widened. “I have an idea. The component in our rifles that create the laser is electric. We need to make an EMP. They’ll be weaponless.”

“But so will our side,” Kara said.

“But we won’t be.” Delyn tapped his mop. 

“You can’t just make an EMP. We’re in space, you’ll strand us!” Racken cried, jumping to his feet. Delyn pushed him back down. 

“He has a point.” Rel tapped his fingers against his arm, staring at the cornered Guardians. “Not to mention we would still have to take out all the Sharks.”

“Not true.” Delyn said, keeping a hand firmly on his old friend’s shoulder.. “They’re a hivemind. We only need to take out the Queen. The rest will scatter.”

“Can’t we do that without an EMP?” Racken pleaded, sweat matting his hair, eyes wide. 

Delyn glared at him. “You aren’t doing anything. And no, they’ll shoot us as soon as they see us.”

“You’re still missing the main point. We’re on a ship, in the middle of space. Life support will go out, everything will stop working!”

“It won’t!” August twirled, a grin stretching her cheeks. “The walls of the ship are lined with copper to stop exactly that. Outside and inside hull walls. After the War of Elium, they started lining all the new ships with it.”

“So, how do we make one?” Kara asked, her eyes jumping to each of us. 

We all glanced at each other. The hope in Delyn’s chest withered as no one spoke. It was a good idea, but he wasn’t an engineer. Despair wriggled into the tiny room, and the hot air made it hard to breathe. 

“Wait. The ship’s engines used to run on nuclear fusion, right?” Rel glanced at August. 

She nodded. “They converted them, but all the original parts are still there.”

“That’s how we get our EMP. Technically, the ship only needs two out of four engines to keep running. All we need is one. Turning on the nuclear reactors will cause gamma rays to release. Those will ionize the air. Then all we need to do is blow it up. The reaction will trigger an EMP. The pulse will travel through the unprotected floor and inner walls, effectively destroying all the rifles. Our comms will go down, and most of the security cameras will fry, but the important stuff will stay up.”

“Then we target the Queen,” Teren breathed, awe written on his face. 

Racken shook his head. “You all are crazy.”

“No thanks to you.” Kara stuck her tongue out at him. “We better hurry. That’s the captain and first mate they just locked in the mess hall.”

Delyn agreed, the hope rekindled. “Rel and August. You two seem to know the most about how the engines work. I leave it up to you to create the EMP. Teren, Kara, and I will find the Queen. How long do you expect to take?”

Rel closed his eyes, lips moving to a thought. “I expect about half hour at the most. If it takes longer than that, expect we failed and change the plan.”

“Understood. Good luck.” Delyn saluted Rel and August as they slipped out the door. 

“What about me?” Racken whined. 

“You’re coming with us,” Delyn said. Kara raised an eyebrow, but he said nothing. Keeping a traitor in a room full of security would be a recipe for disaster. 

Delyn hauled him to his feet and peered into the corridor. Empty.

“Let’s go. Racken, if you know anything about the Queen, the time to tell is now.”

He shuffled alongside them, tripping each time Delyn pulled on his arm. “All I know is she can’t be far from the rest to keep them in line.”

“Is that it?” Delyn stopped in front of a door and grabbed his arms, glaring at him. 

“Yes, I swear!”

“Fine. In we go.” He tapped the pad next to the door and it slid open, revealing a bathroom, and shoved Racken inside. 

“Hey, what—?” 

“They lied Racken, you would have died with the rest of us.” As soon as the door shut, Delyn slammed the end of his mop into the pad, cracking it. The light went out. 

“Liar! Let me out!” Racken pounded on the door, but it didn’t budge. 

“Good one,” Kara giggled. 

Delyn switched off his crackling comm. “Our turn to play. Let’s go find the Queen.”

Delyn kept an eye on the time as they raced through the halls, ducking into doors and alcoves to dodge Shark troops. Fourteen minutes had elapsed since Rel and August had left. 

“We’ve gotta be close,” Teren said as they hid behind shelving units, spying on a room full of Sharks milling around the entrance to the mess hall. 

“Look, that one keeps walking in and out of that bathroom. You think she’s in there?” Kara asked, nodding her head toward a Shark with a huge sniper rifle slung across its chest. Delyn wasn’t familiar with the facial expressions of Sharks, but this one didn’t look happy. 

“We can’t move until we are sure. If we’re wrong, everyone’s dead.”

“How long has it been?” Teren asked. 

Delyn checked his watch. “Twenty-three minutes. If they made it, the EMP will go off at any minute. We have to find out now.”  

Teren shimmied around the corner of the shelves, crouching behind a barrel filled with dried fruit and poking his head over the top to survey the Sharks. 

“Do you still have the can of scented spray?” he whispered. Delyn rooted around his bag and tossed it to Teren, who pulled his knife from his boot and stabbed a hole into the side of the can. Covering it with his thumb, he waited until a Shark jogging up to the group caught their attention, then tossed the can. It landed behind them and started spinning across the floor as the air escaped the hole. The clanking caught the attention of every Shark, and one shot at the can. While distracted, Teren pulled a sponge from his pocket and threw it at the bathroom door pad. It turned red and beeped. 

The Shark who had previously exited the bathroom jumped and spun toward it, racing over and tapping the pad. The door slid open. Teren poked his head over the barrel, squinting at the bathroom. He gasped and ducked down. 

“Did you see her?” Delyn asked, unable to see through the door from his angle. 

Teren nodded. “Can’t be anyone else.”

An explosion rocked the ship, and the lights flickered back on.  

The Shark shooting at the can roared and shook it's rifle as it stopped working. Others attempted to shoot with no luck. 

“Go!” Delyn hissed. They wiggled out from behind the shelves, and he tossed Teren and Kara bleach filled spray bottles. A Shark gurgled a warning, pointing at them. Delyn pointed and sprayed, dropping the Shark in one hit. His friends followed his lead, spraying Sharks in the face as they approached. The one protecting the Queen dashed out of the bathroom, gun held over its head. Delyn ducked as it swung the rifle at him, jabbing his mop at the Shark’s knees. It stumbled, and Kara slammed her broom over its head. The broom cracked, the Shark grunted, slumping against the wall, momentarily dazed. 

“Hurry, bathroom!” Delyn cried as more Sharks ran toward them. “Teren, cover the door. Kara and I will take the Queen.”

As he ran into the bathroom, he paused, shock paralyzing him. He had expected the Queen to look like the other Sharks, but she looked nothing like them. Tentacles rose from an amorphous body, sharp spikes protruding from the ends. She oozed over the toilets, the stalls broken under her body. 

“Get her, Delyn! I can’t hold them for long!”

Teren’s plea shook him from his stupor. Delyn tightened his grip on his mop and attacked. He slapped the rubbery body and the skin rippled, doing no damage. A tentacle smashed into his side, sending him flying into the wall and knocking the air from his lungs. Kara screamed. 

Delyn dragged himself to his feet, bag dangling from his shoulder. The Queen had no eyes he could see, so the bleach spray would be no help. He ripped the bag from his shoulder, dumping out the contents. Latex gloves, a sponge, a window squeegee, rags, and a scrub brush. He growled in frustration. None of those objects would help him right now. 

Kara screamed again. A tentacle wrapped around her waist, and it lifted her from the ground. She slapped it with her broom, but it only broke in half, the top piece falling to the ground. 

“Hold on, Kara!” Delyn screamed, and jumped toward the tentacle, wrapping his arms and legs around it. 

“Watch out!” Kara cried, pointing toward another tentacle as it stabbed its spike at Delyn. He panicked and let go. The spike drove into the tentacle and the Queen screeched. She dropped Kara, who scrambled to grab the other half of her broom. Blue blood rained in giant globules as the Queen waved her tentacles through the air. 

“She won’t fall for that again, we need to find her heart!” Delyn said, grabbing Kara and pulling her back from another tentacle swinging toward her head. “It will be in the area she’s protecting most. Remember the feints I taught you?” 

She nodded. 

“Use them, bat back the tentacles, but watch for that spot she doesn’t want you to reach.”

“Got it.” Kara gripped the two halves of her broom and rushed the Queen, Delyn right behind her. 

He jumped over a sweeping tentacle and parried another with his mop. The Queen’s body was a dark green, but faded to a white near the bottom. Light blue spots covered most of it, stretching on to the tentacles. Near the top, where the tentacles converged, was one large blue spot. 

“Kara! The spot on top, aim for it!”

She twisted away from a tentacle and slapped her broom head at the spot. The Queen recoiled, slapping it away. 

“That’s it, it has to be!” Kara yelled in triumph. 

“Fall back!” Delyn said. “Teren, how are you doing?”

“I don’t have much left, hurry.” He was breathing hard, and the Sharks had stopped their mindless, fearful attack, sending one at a time to fight him. 

Delyn scanned the bathroom, his heart pounding. Time was running short. It was now or never. Then something he didn’t expect happened. One of the sweeping tentacles snapped back toward the Queen with a hiss of pain. It had passed over the cleaning supplies emptied from the bag, and weird bumps erupted all over her skin. A rash. 

“Latex! Kara, they’re allergic to latex!” Delyn scooped up the gloves and shoved his hands inside. “I’ll distract her, you stab her heart.” He sprinted at the Queen, sliding under the tentacles, and grabbing handfuls of her blubbery body. 

She screamed. 

Boils immediately covered her skin. It turned red and blotchy. Every tentacle slammed into Delyn at the same time. His thigh burned as a spike stabbed him, but he didn’t let go. 

Somewhere behind him, Teren grunted. Sharks screamed as they shoved past the young man and into the bathroom. But they were too late. 

Kara leaped between the tentacles, driving both halves of her broom into the blue spot. A shriek pierced the air, joined by dozens of voices. Delyn’s ears rang as blue blood sloshed over his hands. They slipped from the Queen and he fell backward as the tentacles crashed around him. 

With trembling fingers, he withdrew the spike from his leg, biting his lip to keep the pain inside. Scarlet blood mixed with blue as it spread from the wound. Delyn blinked back the darkness threatening his vision, taking deep breaths, and pulled his shirt over his head, tying it around his leg. 

“Delyn!”

Two figures swam in front of his face. Kara and Teren. 

“Here, drink this.” Teren tipped a water bottle against his lips and he drank greedily, the dizziness ebbing with each gulp. 

The Sharks were gone. Guardians slipped and slid over the cascade of blood flowing from the dead Queen. Commander Grise stepped over a tentacle and stopped in front of Delyn as Teren helped him stand. 

“Commander.” He saluted. 

“Guardian Delyn.” She saluted back. “Good work here. Without you, we would all be dead. I see a promotion in your future.”

A thrill filled Delyn’s chest. Teren smiled and slapped him on the back. Kara gave him a thumbs up. Two Guardians limped through the bathroom, staring at the mess. Rel and August. The older man leaned against August, his arm tucked close to his chest. His hand was red and black, but he smiled and nodded to Delyn when their eyes locked. 

“Actually, sir, I think I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”