Chapter 9

Waitstate ran to his console and frantically tried to turn the shuttle around. Xaraxus only laughed.

“My dear Waitstate, I’m in control of the shuttle now. Actually, I have been since before we left the mother ship.”

“The crew will know something is wrong if I don’t come back” Waitstate told him.

Xaraxus continued to aim his gun at Waitstate. “I’ve already accounted for that.”

“It’ll only be a matter of time before you’re found out, there are too many flaws in your plans” Waitstate shouted.

“I knew that was the case since I started this mission.” Xaraxus thought for a moment. “The real question is where will we be when the slag hits the fan?”

“You don’t even have a little bit of Artifice left in you do you?” Waitstate sneered

Xaraxus shook his head and laughed. “We’re one in the same now Waitstate, you would do well to remember that. You’d be surprised about what he really thought of you.”

Impatient, Waitstate drew his beamsabre again and charged at Xaraxus. He lifted his weapon high in the air, but Xaraxus cowered.

“Waitstate, please don’t, I’m still in here!” came a whimpering voice from Xaraxus.

Waitstate stood horrified. How could he kill his best friend? Killing Xaraxus would surely end Spectral Death’s reign of terror, but could he take a chance in killing Artifice? Was it still possible to save him?

Xaraxus kicked Waitstate in the gut while he was still pondering his dilemma. “Oh, how gullible!”

Xaraxus drew Artifice’s long blade and held it up in the air. His hand began spinning turning the sword into a spinning fan. Waitstate dodged the weapon as it came crashing down on his console.

“Why don’t you just finish me off? You have the power don’t you?” Waitstate shouted as he backed away.

“I don’t need magic to defeat you. You forget, I’ve been around a lot longer than you” Xaraxus replied.

Xaraxus spun the long blade. It missed Waitstate, but left a rather large hole in the wall.

“You may be older, but your years of practicing magic have made you weak! Come on, just finish me off already and we can stop playing this game!”

Xaraxus seemed to be ignoring Waitstate.

“You don’t have any special powers left, do you?” Waitstate shouted to him.

“You’re more perceptive than you would first appear” Xaraxus replied. “I suppose there’s no harm in it now. Seems I used up most of my power when I stole Artifice’s spark. However, I’ve got plenty left to destroy you!”

Waitstate smirked. “Don’t you know you’re never supposed to give away your secrets?”

Xaraxus laughed. “As far as you’re concerned, that no longer matters.”

Before Waitstate could speak, a Spectral Death shuttle fired a few shots at their shuttle. Waitstate and Xaraxus were knocked to the floor. A few more shots were fired, leaving both of them severely injured.

Waitstate winced in pain. “Seems like your crew has turned on you.”

Xaraxus slowly stood up. “It’s all part of my plan.”

Xaraxus sat back down at his console and directed the ship to the nearby planet. “LONAC will figure out that something is wrong, but by that time I’ll have accomplished what I came to do.”

“With Cyron gone, you’ve got no way to get out of here” Waitstate told Xaraxus.

“You should know by now that I’ve always got another way out.” Xaraxus went to the rear of the shuttle then looked back at Waitstate. “So long as you suffer before you die I will feel vindicated.”

The back of the shuttle opened. Xaraxus was sucked into the vastness of space. Waitstate would have followed had it not been for the doors closing too soon.

Waitstate struggled to a console; he was badly damaged and could barely move. He looked at the status of the shuttle. Not only was it damaged beyond repair, but it was also starting to enter the planet’s atmosphere. If he didn’t get up soon he’d fall to the planet’s surface along with it.

With his last efforts he activated the shuttle’s tracking device.