• By the time we realized this, we were the only two in the entire hall. We quickly ran to the opposite end of the hall and up the stairs, trying to beat time as we ran to the chambers of the other main personnel and Kimberly’s chamber. I threw open the door to Brittany’s chamber and called, “Britt!”

    “Mmm. Five more minutes.” She begged groggily.

    I ran over to her and shook her violently awake. “There is no time! Now get dressed! Kimberly is in danger!” I yelled at her.

    She hit my arms away and bolted upright in sheer panic. “What happened?” She demanded.

    “The Suriamins must have hacked into our intercoms and alerted only the back half of the ship to report to the main room. They must want to attack us from behind.” I informed her.

    Brittany bolted out of the bed and I ran back out of the room, closing the door behind me. Donovan was already in the hall with Biel, Zach, Kayla, and Katie, waiting for instruction. “Alright gang, the Suriamins have hacked into the ship intercoms, and informed the front back of the ship to report to the main room. We are it. They want to attack us from behind, so they know that we won’t be ready. But then again, surprise, we are. I’ll wake Kim and Amber. The rest of you stay here, and tell Britt what’s going on when she gets here.” I ordered.

    I bounded down the hall to the large door at the end, and stopped. I stood silent for a second, trying to detect any odd sounds or noises. I heard nothing and opened the door and stepped inside, opening my mouth to wake them and was greeted by an energy pulse to the chest. The pulse knocked me into the door, shutting it from the outside world, and help. As I lay stunned, propped up by the door, I heard Kimberley scream and Amber call my name. I staggered to my feet and pulled out my hand blaster from its side pouch, and looked for the target. My eyes settled on a Suriamin Seeker, (A half exposed human that lives inside of a machine exoskeleton. Very, VERY, powerful.) training its guns on Kimberley, and I did the only thing I could think of. I fired off a couple of ion pulses at it and disabled its weapons. The Seeker then glanced at me with his purple eyes and he hissed in a mechanical voice, “The one we Seek shall come with us, dead or alive.”

    I have heard that when a Seeker locks eyes with a person, fear becomes so overwhelming, that they are immobilized. All I felt was a burning rage deep within my heart. “You can Seek in hell!” I yelled and shot at his exposed human form.

    I expected him to fall back. I expected him to explode. I expected him to die. What I didn’t expect, was for him to have a bio shield. That totally ruined my day right there. I threw down my weapon and ran at it full out, jumping between it and my friends. I looked at Amber, and noted that she was bleeding from cuts all over her face and arms. She was also nursing her left arm, and I feared that it was broken. “Amber, on my mark, take Kimberley out to the hall and alert the others. They’re already up and ready. Do you understand?” I asked in a hushed voice.

    Amber nodded and grabbed Kimberley with her good arm. The Seeker latched onto my eyes again and stated, “The one we Seek will come with us.”

    I picked up an iron rod and held it firmly in my hands. “Screw you.” I replied and stabbed it in its mechanical arm.

    “Now Amber, now!” I cried and tore the rod back out and jammed it in the knee of the armor, watching it stumble.

    I heard them scurry away and out the door, out to safety and protection. I ripped the rod out and rammed it into the chest plate. I think that it did some damage, because the Seeker cried out in agony, its human mouth wide open in pain, voicing it in an inhuman sound. I saw purple blood spurt from the new wound and flow out of the metal armor and onto the floor. I glanced at the face of the Seeker, trying to see if I knew the man’s face. “Oh, Jake. How could they?” I whispered.

    It was my old friend from the academy, Jacob Sweeney. He was always a jokester, and a good cook, but he had disappeared last year with The Relentless. Now I knew what had happened. The Suriamins had captured and enhanced them to do their bidding. The Seeker gasped out in pain as it fell to the floor twitching in pain, his eyes rolling into his head. I felt tears well up in the corners of my eyes and flow down my face as I crawled over to his face and laid one hand on it. “I’m so sorry.” I said softly to him.

    I guess that he had just been playing dead, because his eyes flew open and he grabbed the rod sticking out of his armor. The Seeker yanked it out and stabbed me in the heart with it. Now keep in mind that I was in reality asleep, and people are not supposed to feel pain in dreams. Well, that theory is a lie, ‘cause I felt that iron pole shred its way through me, going clear through my heart. I screamed in sheer agony, or at least, tried to. I think I made a strange gurgling sound in my throat and looked at the door, for what must be the last time, and saw black once more.