Chapter 20. OCTAVIET

Sweat trickled down my face. My teen instincts told me to run to the nearest lifeboat and figure it out from there. I tried to suppress my fear with a smile–if you would call it one. He asked, "Don't you think you're in the wrong place? The competition is about to start." What competition? He said, "Judging by your face, you don't what competition I am talking about. It will be held in the lounge about 5 minutes from now." I said, "Thanks. I am new to this cruise vacation stuff." He said, "Don't worry. We have all been there. Not to be biased, I hope you and your friend win." Olivia squeaked, "Me too"

We headed for the lounge. Olivia coughed, "Don't you owe me an explanation?" I replied, "Something led me there." Olivia said, "So I was right, it was some telepath stuff." I said, "You might call it that. It told me to get a book from there." Olivia said, "All this for a book. Are you a bibliophile?" I said, "That book is special. It is chaos." I tried to form a plan. Could you please lend your book to me? That won't work. It will only arise suspicion on me plus he knows I can see through the veil so my ulterior motive won't be much of a secret. I need to fly under the radar but thanks to my mystic scent described as a scent so unique and strong that mostri could sense it a block away.

I got it. I said, "Can you cover for me?" Olivia asked, "For how long?" I replied, "The whole competition," She said, "I will see what I can do. When you live in a home with an elder sibling who likes to sneak out, you get some skills." I said, "If this works, I will be back for some shrimp so save me some." She said, "I will try." I branched off into the corridors. They usually place a map around here. There it is. I checked for the way to the captain's quarters. I started heading for it. I heard speakers being switched on.

A person tapped on a mic and spoke, "Welcome our elite guests. Today we have our competition, a game of table tennis. Winner proceeds to the next round while loser gets disqualified. Let's begin. Wait room 104, where is your partner?" Olivia replied, "He is ill so he won't be able to make it, captain." The oldest trick in the book. He asked, "Are you sure you can continue without him?" Olivia replied, "Just sit and find out."

I was getting closer. Nothing bad has happened yet so I think I will be fine. I was quickly proven wrong. A room attendant headed towards me. He was a tantalus too. Was the whole staff tantali? I kept my head low and hoped he will ignore me. He moved past me. I sighed. He stopped and looked at me. I increased my pace. He looked around at the empty corridor and pushed his cart at me. What? Too afraid of being caught assaulting your guest. Don't you want to go viral?

I caught the cart. I grabbed the cloche and ducked. Flames erupted towards the wall next to me. The cart cloth was burnt to ashes. If I wasted a second, I was ashes. I got to my feet and shoved the cart at him. Metal smashed into bones connecting him with the wall. I dashed and used the cloche to cover his face. Within seconds, the cloche turned fiery red. I lunged for a fire extinguisher.

I turned to face my bony enemy with my new weapon. The cloche melted to the floor releasing a hissing sound. He breathed out more flames. I pulled the pin and directed the powder toward him. The powder didn't extinguish them. All it did was to divert the flames. He smirked, "Did no one ever tell you how greedy flames can't be put by human means? Greed is infinite since humans can never be satisfied." Change of plan. I scuttled at him. He tried to burn me but I slid on the marble floor.

I hit his leg. He groaned as he knelt. I muttered, "A fire extinguisher has multiple uses. Don't you think?" I held it like a bat and struck his head. He lost consciousness. I couldn't have him telling the rest where I am. I activated my cube and impaled his heart with the sword. He disintergrateddisintegrated. I scuttled through the corridors until I reached the captain's quarters.

There was a facial recognition lock. Luckily for me, I was a pudeky. Trickery was kind of my thing. I shifted my face. I turned it into a black skull with a bony chiseled jawline, burning flint as aquamarine fiery eyes, and fiery hair in a crew cut. Okay, I must say that having the captain's face by Tantali standards is not that bad. The sensor scanned my face. The door opened.

Yes. I entered and closed the door. The spacious room was lit with sponge lamps. A king-sized masterpiece bed was at the center with crisp gold linens and a super soft mattress. His mahogany desk was positioned near the balcony giving a breathtaking view as one works. The walls were lined with antique maps that gave a sense of adventure. The bookshelves were shocked with leather-bound tomes. Now this was a suite for a captain.

Where could the fragment be? A wave of attraction hit me. It pulled me in like a magnet. It led me to a bookshelf. I ran my hands along the books until one of them captured my palm literally. I pulled out. it was a thin book titled, "LITERATURE TORTURE" Well that definitely hooked me. I flipped the 1st page.

My mind was transported to what seemed to be a discussion room. It was dark outside. Three figures were seated around a round oak table. One spoke up. She looked exactly like Stella. She said, "We need to do something. We as humanity are getting enslaved even more. If someone tries to rebel, they are butchered on the spot. Do you have anything we can use, Specter?" The man next to her said, "I think I do." He was in his late 50s with a grey beard, brown eyes, and porcelain wrinkled skin. Another man, whom I estimate was 20, said, "Are you talking about Project Corinthian?" Specter never answered. The 20-year-old man shook his head, "No, it is still a prototype. You haven't even tested it out on any human." Stella asked, "What is Project Corinthian?" Specter replied, "It is a self-conscious parasite that they come with from their home planet. It can mutate its host into a much more powerful creature. Lamar and I are trying to program it to kill the outsiders. The problem is the parasite normally takes over the host completely." Lamar said, "So it has a chance of taking over a person killing their mental self." Stella commented, "That is horrific." Lamar nodded, "Exactly, Specter." Specter defended, "If we delay, how many more children will become orphans? How many more people will be forced into labor? How many more will be separated from their beloved ones? Raise your hand if you are with me." The room was buried in silence before Stella raised her hand. Lamar said, "Stella, no." Specter smirked, "Two against one. The decision has been made."

I returned to the captain's quarters. The door clicked and started to open. Oh, no.