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Short chapter alert!
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Chapter Eight
--- Right after the gun fires
Lois felt as if she’d been struck by lightning. She tried to open her eyes but they refused to cooperate. She tried to reach for where she thought the gun might be but couldn’t. She tried to move any part of herself but none of her body parts cooperated. She tried to beg Carrie not to shoot her again, but she couldn’t form the words, couldn’t even move her tongue.
All she could do was hear. Maybe she was already dead and she was having an out-of-body experience. She could hear people’s voices calling out to each other. She heard someone say something about the Major, and someone else say something about her. She hoped they could find her body and give her a decent burial, and not just shove it out the airlock into space.
Finally she pried her eyes open. The first thing she saw was Carrie, floating limply about four feet away from her. The gun was slowly drifting away from her towards the wall. But why? Surely Carrie hadn’t shot Lois just to shoot herself?
Lois turned her eyes slowly away from the girl and saw Matt Walker gliding in her direction. His expression betrayed his deep concern, and he caught Lois around the waist and pulled her with him towards the far wall. He twisted in mid-air and landed on his feet, flexing his knees to absorb the impact of the landing. He grabbed a tie-down strap and held them still.
Slowly, Lois recovered control of her body. Her clumsy grasp finally closed on Walker’s arm and she found she was able to move her head.
Karen’s voice carried across the room. “Sergeant! How’s Inspector Lane?”
“I think she’s okay, Major.”
“What happened?”
“Um, I think I almost missed with the taser.”
Lois’s eyes finally found Karen floating beside the silent and still Carrie. “Make a clear report, Sergeant.”
“Yes, ma’am. I believe that when I fired my taser, one lead hit the suspect and the other hit Inspector Lane. They both got the shock and it arced across their hands to close the circuit.”
“The manufacturer says that can’t happen.”
“Yes, ma’am, but both the suspect and the Inspector had their hands on the same metal firearm. I think that was a sufficient conductor to close the electrical gap.”
Lois slowly lifted her head to Matt. “You – shot me?”
“With a taser, ma’am. Sends a jolt of electricity into the target and immobilizes him. Or her.”
“Or them,” she responded. The feeling was coming back in her face and arms. Matt turned her to face him upright. “Thanks. Being shot with a taser is lots better than being shot with a gun.”
He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Hoped you’d feel that way. You should be okay in a few minutes.”
“That was good shooting, by the way.”
“Had to be.” His expression turned serious. “That taser is only good for one shot. If I had missed – “
“You didn’t miss, Matt. You saved my life.” Lois nodded towards the middle of the room. “What about Carrie?”
“The Major will take care of her.”
Lois nodded, then raised her voice. “Major? Be gentle with her. Please?”
Karen snorted. “Why, because she’s so cute and snuggly?”
“No. Because she’s pregnant. She’s carrying Claude Guilliot’s child.”
Lois felt Matt stiffen beside her. Karen froze in place for a moment, then nodded. “I’ll be gentle. No need to punish the child.”
Carrie groaned. “Hurts! Ahh! Hurts inside!”
Lois shifted away from Matt. “The shock of the taser may have hurt the baby. We need to get her to Doctor Watson.”
Carrie moaned again, louder, and Karen moved closer to check on her. As she drifted in front of Carrie, however, the girl exploded with a kick to the major’s lower abdomen that pushed Carrie towards the lab’s open hatch as Karen tumbled out of control towards the lab’s floor.
“Carrie!” Lois called. “You can’t get away! Stop!”
Carrie paused at the doorway and looked back. Matt had pushed away from the wall and was flying across the room towards her, and Lois was not far behind him. The girl looked at Lois. “You tried to help me. Even after I tried to kill you, you tried to help me. I’ll remember that.” She floated in the doorway, her face almost angelic. “I told you I wouldn’t let my baby be born in prison.”
Just before Walker soft-landed on the wall beside the hatch, Carrie pushed herself out and slightly downward into the spoke. The sergeant tried to grab her as she drifted down, but she twisted away from him and avoided his grasp.
“No!” he shouted. Lois awkwardly halted her momentum against the wall and leaned out the hatch to watch the unfolding tableau.
Carrie had drifted down two levels by then and was slowly accelerating. Walker jumped across the opening and grabbed the ladder, then pushed himself down. Lois understood that he was trying to catch up to her and halt her progress.
He almost reached her at level four, but she was picking up speed too quickly. She pulled away from him, slowly spinning end over end.
Walker pressed his feet against the outside of the ladder’s vertical supports to arrest his descent. Lois thought Carrie waved to her as she fell. He and Lois both watched the girl fall until she hit the floor.
The bottom of the tube was as messy as Carrie had predicted it would be. Lois closed her eyes and hoped that the poor girl had been right about not feeling the impact.
