Pip's Ophidian Book 1: Beatlebug & The Provider

Chapter 15: Sharp

"What did you mean," Jesse whispered. They were crawling through the ventilation system, which was apparently how she'd been hiding and getting around since Beatlebug had been forcibly ported. "You said 'I didn't think you were real.'"

Pip was quiet for a moment before responding. "My Ma said you weren't. That the egg wasn't. That I'd been like, mind controlled or brainwashed or something."

Silence. Then Jesse snorted. He could hear her think it: true enough.

He felt an instant wash of shame and guilt. Guilt and shame. It seemed they existed no matter what he did. "I'm sorry," he said instead of all that. "I didn't intend to-"

"Ophidians don't use that whole ass 'intent' concept, Pip."

"I know. You're not Ophidian, though."

"Unfortunately," she responded, tersely.

"Not even all humans recognize the word 'sorry.' Languages before standard sometimes had no translation," Lil interjected. She was last, and struggling, being the only one without either street or military training. Pip was in the middle, gently cradling the biochamber against his chest as he crawled one-handed, and Jesse led the way.

"Stop, shh," Jesse said. They all halted and listened as she peered out of a window vent just ahead, slanted lines of light illuminating her freckled face. "We're here."

She turned then, as much as the air duct would allow, and slid something over to him. His heart swooped as he realized what it was. A small, sleek pistol.

"I can't," he said.

Jesse scoffed. "Why not, soldier boy?"

"You don't get it," Lil said quietly, shakily. "We grew up with these people. And Pip may be trained as a soldier, but he was never going to make a good one."

Pip felt a tad betrayed by that sentence, and he picked up the gun. "I'm not shooting anybody." he said quietly.

"Just wave it around, then, whatever. Help me intimidate, at the very least."

Pip turned back to Lil. "You should stay behind. One of us should be able to go back." Lil's face was pinched with held back tears.

"No," she said, eyes hard and shining in the dark. Pip almost argued. He knew in his heart, though, that she was right. That she'd be on security video helping him already. That she couldn't go back. She'd known that before she started helping. That was why she'd left her mother a letter.

"Ready?" Jesse said. Before he could respond, she'd kicked against the window vent, hard, and leapt down in practically the same moment it clattered to the floor.

Silence. Pip cautiously followed, the whole thing creaking as he lowered himself, and then turned around to accept the biochamber, and then to help Lil down. They were in the front of the brig. It was empty.

They were silent for a moment, and then Jesse said, "I know you didn't want to shoot anyone, Pip, but this isn't good."

"No," Pip agreed. His heart beat hard in his throat. "I don't like it. It's never like this."

Jesse let out a shaky breath. "Let's find Sharp."

The door to the back opened with a wshh as soon as they walked up to it. Jesse had her gun drawn, and they stepped gingerly down the hall, as if that would help. Cell after empty cell. And then:

Sharp! Jesse seemed to bellow it in her head, and she ran forward. Lying down on the floor of a cell that barely contained him was indeed Sharp. He didn't respond, but one clawed foot was scratching at the wall in a rhythmic, angry way. He was alive. He was bandaged around the shoulder, sloppily, with what looked like a strip of his own tunic. Green slashes covered his face and arms. But it was Sharp.

Sharp! Sharp, we're here! Sharp!

"He can't hear us," Pip said softly, and while this was terrible, a thread of hope spun itself eagerly inside him. This meant that there was tech in the ship, something dampening their communication. Or at least in Sharp's cell, but why wouldn't all of them be contained in some way like this if the technology existed?

The others might still be alive.

(Mel might still be alive.)

He reached forward. Hesitated for barely an instant, but slapped the disengage panel on the side of the cell, and the forcefield dropped, and suddenly, their heads were full of Sharp's cutting energy. Cutting energy that sharpened to a knifepoint and seemed to dance as he rose quickly, turning to them, and Jesse barrelled in and tackled him.

Human child of our nest?!

Yes. Yes, it's me. And Pip. Mel's human. And his sister but whatever you don't know her. OhSharp,Sharp,Sharp.

Sharp hesitated and then, to Pip's surprise, embraced her. His enormous arms, ridged at the elbows and with claws practically the length of her forearm, looked odd wrapped around her. Yet didn't, at the same time.

The others? Sharp asked.

Jesse began to tell him, and that's when Pip felt it: grief like a wildfire, a sadness emptier than a black hole. Mel's energy blipped into existence as if a sun had been turned on, and Pip nearly fell to his knees in agony and relief at the pain he felt in that song.

"Mel," he breathed.

The others looked up at him. Sharp turned to Jesse, who had cocked her head to one side as if listening. She turned back, brow furrowed, and let out a small, warm, musical thought that did not seem to have a word. He knew what it was, though. Mel.

Sharp straightened quickly. Where? He asked. It seemed their animosity had been dispersed by desperation.

Pip shut his eyes. His body swayed slightly as he tuned in again to that song. His heart felt like it would break him open. Then, as he realized 'where' indeed, a chill.

"The Command headquarters," Pip whispered. He felt another presence, sharper than sharp, colder than cold. "My Ma," he said softly, voice shaking. "My Ma is there, too."