I sat uncomfortably in the editing room chair. I just knew my footage was going to be chopped up. Since I was young they sent me on all the puff pieces this time I was supposed to be covering a birthday party for the latest IT girl on the cortex. But what I got was so much more. There was no way Herb my stick up the piku boss was going to let this footage be seen. Sure the tape starts as my assignment was supposed to. “This is Tracey Chow and I’m standing here in a one on one interview with Margie Verona. Tell me Margie at only ten you’re one of the most sought after entertainers in the verse how does that feel?” Margie smiles in her pink satin dress and spouts the usual garbage about how her family and friends keep her grounded. But then she did something unexpected. She pulled the tall muscular blond that was standing with his back to the camera in to the frame. “If you really want to know this is the person who keeps me the most grounded. He’s my bodyguard and he’s also one of my best friends we do everything together.” She then she reached up and took hold of his jaw “Look at this face! And girls he’s single.” He pulled back shaking his head at her in exasperation, “Mei mei we’re going to be late to your party.” She pouted playfully “It’s my party and I’ll be late if I want to.” Truth be told I was seriously thinking of taking her up on her offer. He was young early to mid twenties as I said tall standing over Six feet and he had a lithe muscular build strong handsome features deep brown eyes and obviously good with kids. C’mon a girl has to think ahead. I guess she realized what I was thinking because she grabbed me by the coat and giggled “C’mon Tracey or we really will be late.” The party was on one of the new luxury liners the kind that cost three months of my salary for an economy class ticket. The architecture alone was worth it all glitter and shine it was really the kind of place you dreamed of going. We boarded one of the glass enclosed elevators bound for the ballroom deck. “Have you ever been on a ship like this Tracey?” Margie asked the girl was so precocious she made you feel like she was conducting an interview of her own. “Nope first time,” I answered. She started to say something about the history of the ship but she was drowned out when the sirens started to blare. I panned my camera around looking for the cause of the alarm. The glass walls of the elevator gave us a great view of the chaos taking place on the floors around us. Warning lights flashed people were running in every direction. What caused the panic wasn’t apparent but the threat was real enough. The Camera Goes black for a second when the lights go out and the elevator stops with a jolt. I flipped the cameras light on maybe I could see what was going on a second or two later the auxiliary came on and girls bodyguard had already removed his coat and wrapped her in it. “Josh what’s going on,” the girl asked her voice was almost a whisper small and frail. He tried to reassure her, “I don’t know sweetie probably a fire we don’t want the sprinklers to ruin your new dress do we?” His expression was grave despite his words to the little girl who just stared at him. Then he smiled “We’ll be ok you’ll see.” He stood up rolling up his shirt sleeves then he took her hand and drew his pistol from its oiled leather holster. Then he turned to me “Stay close, and if you have to turn that things light on again keep it out of my eyes dong ma?” I nodded my understanding and he opened the manual override to the elevator doors. “I go out first and decide our path Margie you hold my hand Tracey you hold hers and watch our backs. Does everyone understand the plan? “Got it“ was her answer. Mine was a more formal, “yes.” He pulled the release and the doors hissed open. He stepped out in to the hallway pistol held high and scanned the hallway for any possible dangers. In the penumbra of the hallway with the lights failing I wasn’t sure what he thought he’d see. So I turned my camera light on again. He spotted two shapes slumped against the wall. We moved closer to examine them. When the light hit the remains of two alliance soldiers Margie turned her eyes away in disgust the looked like they’d been chewed on by a wild animal of some kind. “Fae Shuwa,” Josh’s hand moved over the remains searching them for anything useful. He didn’t seem to care that his hands were covered in their blood. I wondered how he became so at ease with searching dead bodies. He stripped the soldiers flack jackets and handed me one “Put this on.” Then he turned to Margie “This is gonna be heavy mei mei but it’s going to protect you.” She didn’t say anything she just let him fit the jacket over the coat and fasten the buckles holding the vest to her small frame. He checked my vest to make sure I had secured it properly. He holstered his own pistol and retrieved the soldiers assault rifle stuffing magazines in to his pockets and the soldiers sidearm in to the back of his pants. “Drop the camera and take these.” He held the other soldiers pistol and rifle out to me I took the pistol but refused to drop the camera. “This is the story of a life time” I told him. “Suit yourself.” He told me, slinging the other rifle over my shoulder. “Do you know how to use a gun?” He asked almost as an after thought. “My father is a police man,” I said. A few yards away we heard a radio crackle “Demedici, Gorman come in. Where are you?” The radio operator sounded shrill and excited. “If you can here me we’re holding the intersection on level eight grab up any civilians you’ve found and get your butts down here the Lieutenants given the order to pull out the ships lost. Josh picked up the radio “This is Joshua Hazard personal security to Ms. Margot Verona. I’ve got my principal and a civilian reporter on level ten in the east west corridor. Who is this? Josh’s voice was calm and professional and almost seemed to calm the soldier on the other end. “This is PFC Mathew Sorenson how did you get this radio?” “You’re people are dead Sorenson, what’s the quickest way to you?” Joshua answered the soldier. “Head east to the stairs move quick but be careful their moving through the ship faster than we thought.” Fear crept back in to Sorenson’s last words. “Roger that,” was Josh’s reply as he ushered us down the dimly lit hallway pulling us both along with him at a cautious jog. Suddenly he pulled up and a cabin door slid open. A shape lurched from the opening. “Shit!” He snarled as he fired a short burst in the light of his muzzle flashes I was able to make out a hideous face covered with piercing and a body wearing leathery clothing with brightly colored designs dotting it. He fired another three rounds in to the monster. “Run!” He commanded as he took Margie in tow and led us down the corridor at a break neck pace. “Make sure they’re not following us!” He shouted at me when he noticed my camera was lighting his way. After a few nerve racking moments he slowed down. “What was that thing?” I asked wondering what had obviously rattled him so. “Reavers” He said quietly. I’m sure hoping that little Margie wouldn’t hear him. But she did. “REAVERS” It was a cry of complete terror the little girl instantly began to panic. “I don’t want the Reavers to get me! I don’t! Keep them away please Joshy PLEASE!” The poor little girl was crying uncontrollably, she shook and sobbed with every word. There are stories of grown men openly weeping at the sight of a single Reaver of trained soldiers soiling themselves when confronted by these savage nightmares. Nightmares that were once human men and women driven mad at the edge of space. How could anyone expect a child of ten to react any differently? The only reason I hadn’t reacted in a similar manner is because I was disassociating. Josh knelt down and gently took hold of her jaw “Margie, look at me, MARGIE!” The bond between them was strong his voice snapped her back to reality enough so that she would listen to him. He looked deeply in to her eyes. “I told you we were going to be alright and we are. That one just got a little closer than I plan to let the others that’s all. Now we’re going to meet up with those alliance soldiers and we’re going to get off this goram boat. Right?” He hugged her firmly. “You know I’m right don’t you.” She shook her head. “Say it,” he told her. “We’re going to be alright we’re going to get to those alliance soldiers and we’re going to get off this goram boat.” He looked at with no small measure of pride. “Very good now let’s go.” He stood and checked his rifle over. “Gorramit” He turned expecting to see an attack coming from behind us. To see me fiddling with my camera, “I’m almost out of power,” I told him. “Shut it off you’ll save power,” he replied. The footage stops after that. The camera comes into focus as we step into a blacked out stairwell. Josh carefully led us down the stairs as quietly as we could go. The walls and floor was slick with blood and gore. As we moved lower we heard strange sounds that chilled our bones. When we reached the landing between level nine and level eight the sight of three reavers feasting on the insides of a fresh kill was more than Margie and I could stomach we both retched and vomited coating the floor with bile and regurgitated food. Josh turned the rifle on them and pulled the trigger. The weapon jammed and in that moment disgust turned to horror even though I had a pistol in my hand and the other rifle over my shoulder Margie and I froze. The reavers glared up at us growling charged us bounding up the stairs. “Cheap piece of purple belly crap,” Josh swore as he leapt from the landing entangling himself with the reavers in a flurry of knives teeth fists and feet we stood horrified as we watched him unable to follow the speed of his blows in the light my camera provided us. It was a brutal and horrific dance. Being the one on top of the pile he was the first to his feet. The first reaver to his feet was lanky a wiry mass of mania with a wild grin on what was left of his face he had half a dozen roofing nails hooked through his lower lip and another through the center of his nose. His face was torn by what looked like finger nails. He carried a broad bladed dagger in each hand and slashed and stabbed at our protector wildly. Joshua knowing he was on unstable footing with two more of these cannibals literally underfoot swayed and ducked the blades until the monster made a mistake. He went for a vertical downward stab Josh caught the out reached wrist and using his attackers own momentum drove it into the foul things own midsection he then wrenched the blade up into his sternum savagely. The reaver fell to the floor trying to hold his own intestines in place. The second had gotten to one knee when he was struck by a brutal kick where the jaw meets with the skull there was a loud crack and the second reaver feel to the floor again and didn’t move. The third reaver sunk his blade in to Josh’s thigh and received the back of his victims fist for his trouble by this time Josh had also retrieved one of the discarded knives and drove it into the last reavers eye socket and into his brain the disgusting creature died on his knees staring helplessly at his killer. I remember wondering how many of his own victims died like that. Josh then fell on the second reaver he’d fought and drew the makeshift blade across his the motionless things neck opening it. “Just in case,” he said attempting to catch his breath. Margie and I carefully stepped over the bodies of the three cannibals and that of their victim. I issued a silent prayer for the man. May heaven be swift in allowing him entrance to make up for the horrible way his life was stolen from him. Josh used his sleeves to improvise a bandage for the wound on his leg it would need more later but right now he just wanted to stop the bleeding. After that he picked up jammed assault rifle changing the clip and clearing the jammed round. He then took the radio we had from my camera bag. “Sorenson this is Hazard I’m on eight with my baggage but we just ran in to three unfriendlys. Are you still able to hold?” He asked so tentatively. There was no response “Sorenson are you…” Static echoed in the stairwell so loud I prayed there were no reavers on the stairs above or below because that would surely bring them down on us. “This is Sorenson we’re still at the intersection but you better go on to the launch bay alone we’re pinned down and cut off they surrounded us ammos low we’re probably going to be dead in the next few minutes.” He looked at our surrounding weighing the options trying to come up with a plan. “We need those soldiers if we’re going to make it to the launch bay,” he said to both of us. He knelt down to look his small charge in the eyes wincing as he added pressure to his wounded leg. He tried to look reassuring as he talked to her, “Margie I’ve got to go get those people.” To her credit and his for the faith the little girl most have had in him Margie just nodded. He handed her the sidearm he’d taken from one of the dead soldiers and asked her, “Remember when I taught you to use one of these?” She nodded again. “I need you and Tracey to hold this position while I go get them then we’re out of here. Think you can do that for me?” She just hugged him and told him to “Hurry back,” like he was going on vacation. He stood to his full height again and cued the radio. “Sorenson, here’s the plan I’m going to hit them from behind collect you and yours and we’re all getting out of here. Concentrate your fire on your left flank but pick your targets and stay low.” “You pull this off I owe you a beer,” came Sorenson’s reply. Joshua took a rifle in each hand switching them both to full automatic he nodded to me to open the hatch. I did and he slipped past me with a wink and joined the cacophony that echoed beyond the sound proofing of our refuge. The silence that resumed as soon as I sealed the door was a testament to the architect of this ship never could he have imagined the madness his precautions would shield two passengers from. We sat quietly in the dimly lit stairwell illuminated only by the light of my camera you can see the fear on the young girls face as she’d lost the urge to speak as soon as her protector had gone. She finally broke her silence to ask, “It seems like Josh has been gone a long time?” She was right and I was beginning to suspect we were on our own when I checked my watch. “It’s only been about a minute sweetie,” I told her hoping to quiet her fears as much as my own. Then our radio Squawked “Coming fast and hard get away from that door!” It was Josh’s voice I unlocked the hatch and backed tentatively away from it to clear the path. A split second later a crumpled figure slammed against the door forcing it opened Josh and a reaver came tumbling through landing on the floor with the reavers back taking the brunt of the impact before he was finished with a short burst of automatic fire. The rest of the survivors piled into the small stairwell evoking memories of an ancient vid I once saw as a child from earth that was. A grenade was thrown in to the hall they’d all just run through and the door was sealed again. I felt the tremor and heard a muffled explosion half expecting the hall to decompress and suck us all into space to our deaths. The new arrivals all helped each other up and checked each others wounds making sure that anything seriously dangerous was taken care of as best as possible. There were ten people in all four alliance soldiers all obviously showing battle fatigue and all sporting wounds of one form or another and six civilians dressed in ragged evening wear. A man with short cropped black hair dressed in alliance military armor helped Josh to his feet. “I can’t believe you pulled it off.” He told him. Josh just grunted by way of a response. “Everyone check ammo and let’s get going.” He said as a general statement. As everyone in the party went though the checks of there weapons Josh introduced the man who helped him up as Sorenson who made the other introductions. The first was Everett the two men could have been brothers. The second was a lanky redhead called Cale the oddest of the soldiers was the skinny blue eyed blond name Shiro. The civilians were Ryan, Cavanah, Rodriguez, Welling, Anders, and Jen. The only one of the six I was sure was a first name as she was an athletic looking brunette in bare feet and what was left of what at one time must have been a beautiful evening dress. Introductions made Josh assigned Cale and Shiro rear guard and told Sorenson and Everett to cover our flanks then we made for level six and the launch bay hoping we could get through and that there would still be a transport there. Sorenson had sounded like he was in command the whole time Josh and he had spoken on the radio but hadn’t questioned when Josh seemly took command of the group. He must have been glad there was someone else making the decisions. We ran down the stairs with Josh leading the pack of us with Margie and I in tow. The next two floors were mercifully clear of reavers. We all stopped at the door that opened to the landing bay on level six did a quick head count to make sure that no one had been left. Once we were all accounted for Josh quickly recounted his plan for us getting off the ship. “I’m going to open this door a hair and pray there aren’t any reavers near it. once I spot a ship I think can carry all of us we all run like hell you all know your positions in the group don’t look back don’t lose your footing just run flat out. The first one to reach the ship covers the rest of the group until he’s relieved by two more armed members then assuming he still has ammo he checks the ship out and preps it for take off once everyone’s aboard we blast our way out of here, dongma?” Once everyone had nodded their understanding of his plan Josh turned and opened the door barely a hair and peered through the crack. A reaver was staring in his direction dimly attempting to discern what he was looking at. The flash of recognition barely had time to crosss the grotesque mockery of a mans face before our leader flung the door open reached out and tore the foul things throat out with his bare hands. Although he had tried to kill the reaver quietly it was too late. With its death rattles it had attracted the attention of some of it’s near by brethren who all turned their attention to us in unison and called on those who had not noticed us the cat was out of the bag. It was a running battle to the transport, Josh rained death at our attackers while looking for a ship that fit our needs when he finally saw one he lead us from the stairwell. Gun fire echoed through the landing bay deafening us all, shell casings fell to the floor screams of terror and pain mixed with cries of battle as we fought for every inch of the hangar. We fired and reloaded fired and reloaded as fast as we could until we had no more ammunition then we’d use the useless firearms as blunt weapons clubbing our attackers on the run. A group of civilians that had been herded to the hangar for who knows what purpose seeing a slim chance for life attacked the reavers nearest them with nothing but their bare hands. Sadly most of them would lose to the more brutal and armed reavers. At least they were quick deaths in battle rather than slow and agonizingly terrifying ones. Five of our nine protectors were experienced professionals they mostly fired short controlled burst except when there was a large group of reavers bunched together when they used long bursts to put as many of the evil creatures out of our misery as possible. The other four though less proficient took their toll on our attackers as well unfortunately we’d lose two in the run to the ship Rodriguez when he ran out of ammunition and was gored by a reavers blade and dragged down Cavanah was run through by a wicked looking spear as he sought to protect Jenny. Welling slipped Anders instinctively turned to help him up and was set upon by reavers before any of us could help either of them. “I’m out!” Cale called from his position on our right without breaking stride our leader turned sweeping his rifle on full auto at all the reavers in his path and tossed Cale a magazine he was carrying in his back pocket. “Last one.” Josh called as Cale made the catch and slotted it in to his rifle. The statement took on even more darkness because no sooner had he said that when his own magazine dry fired. “SHIT!” He swore as he threw the rifle at a reaver charging in our direction. The evil nightmare stopped short to dodge the rifle buying Josh enough time to draw his pistol. At pointblank range he fired striking the reaver in the face and blowing away everything from the jaw up. I was struck with blood and brains from his target as I fired striking center mass on one of my own. We reached the base of the loading ramp with Cale and Sorenson right behind us of the twelve of us that made the stairwell eight made it. With six more civilians headed our way the original plan was shot none of the five members of our group who still carried a gun was willing to weaken the civilians chances by taking away vital cover fire so someone could check the ship. The last three were a few strides from the loading ramp when Josh ordered Shiro up in to the ship “If we wind up having one of these things on board with us we’re humped and you know it Shiro NOW MOVE !” As Josh and Sorenson helped the last of the civilians aboard Shiro Called out we were prepping for take off. As the doors to the ship closed Josh, Sorenson, and Cale emptied the last of their rounds in to the remaining reavers there were several tense moments where we all held each other and prayed because reavers were famous for booby trapping ships and we all wondered if the next few seconds of our lives would be our last but thankfully we managed to get back to the alliance cruiser that had dispatched Sorensons unit in the first place. This is where things get sticky we were welcomed on board as heroes until the commanding officer who was still holding a grudge from the war found out Josh’s full name. It turns out he’s Corporal Joshua Hazard a hero on the side of the independents. There is no way my editor will ever let an ex-independent soldier be portrayed as a hero. As for Josh the commanding officer was Convinced it was a good idea to give him a shuttle and let him go. Margie wept and clung to him but he assured her they’d see each other again as he boarded his new ship dressed in barrowed civilian clothes from Shiro. Wherever he is my prayers and thanks are with him.