Living Proof

Andrew Holden had just finished programming the launch sequence. In one hour the ship's computer would automatically begin performing the necessary tasks of returning to earth. That left him just enough time to deal with Shokley and place himself in suspended animation for the flight back. He stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the first floor deck. Joseph Aldus, kneeling next to Elizabeth Shockley's body, looked up as the elevator door opened. Seeing Holden draw his laser, Joseph rolled to the left just as a horrible, searing pain shot through his right arm and shoulder. He knew he was badly wounded, but he'd be dead if he didn't get out of there fast.

"You son of a bitch!" Holden yelled, firing a second time. Joseph dove for the doorway leading into Elizabeth Shokley's quarters, narrowly escaping the blast. He shoved the door closed with his good shoulder, desperately struggling to latch it.

"Get out here, Aldus!" Holden shouted from the other room. Joseph reached for his weapon. It was gone. Then he remembered taking it from his waistband when the elevator opened. He looked down to his injured arm anda wave of nausea washed over him. All that remained was the sickly-sweet smell of his own burned flesh and a charred melted stump. His laser was probably still in his right hand-somewhere in the other room.

"You've got ten seconds Aldus," Holden warned, "then I'm coming in after you!"

Joseph looked around frantically for something to defend himself. The next sound was the hiss of melting metal.

With the laser set on maximum power, it took Andrew Holden only a few seconds to cut each of the three door hinges. A single kick sent the door toppling forward into the room.

"Alright Aldus," Holden yelled, "I warned you," leaping over the fallen door into the room. Holden turned to the right, saw Aldus and fired. Joseph, was holding Elizabeth Shokley's wall mirror as a shield. As Holden fired, Aldus ducked, tilting the mirror up slightly. The laser blast bounced off the mirror, returning in the general direction from which it had come. The deadly beam caught Holden just above his nose, shooting straight up through his skull and into the wall behind him. Holden staggered back and fell to the floor, his mouth open, a macabre look of utter disbelief in his dying eyes.

Aldus shoved the mirror aside, sending it crashing into a million pieces on the floor. He stood motionless for a moment, staring at the body of the man who had almost killed him. Stepping over the door, he emerged from Shokley's room. There, on the deck, halfway across the room was his right arm, his hand still clutching the laser. Joseph wretched several times and the room started spinning. Then, everything turned black. . .

"Launch time twenty-six minutes and counting. . . Launch time twenty-six minutes and counting. . .

" The metallic voice of the ship's computer jolted Joseph awake. He tried to sit up but lost his balance and fell over onto his injured side. Screaming from the pain, he slowly rolled over onto his stomach.

"Launch time twenty-five minutes and counting. . . Launch time twenty-five minutes and counting. . .

" I've got to get to the bridge, he thought, the dizziness and nausea almost unbearable. Crawling over to his severed arm, Joseph kneeled and pried the laser out of the clutched fingers.   go to page 5