by Leslie Lee
Soldier who was aiming, yelling, "Get those people in here! They're with us,
They leapt over the barricades running to the stumbling survivors. They set up a perimeter to lay down cover for the nodes.
The battle bots were starting to damage the pod. In the confined quarters, the pod couldn't use it's main weapons and this close, the bots weapons were very effective. The pod reached out with one of its grapplers and grabbed a bot. It swung it into the air and then smashed it on top of another bot. The deck buckled under the impact, virtually burying the two bots. The pod swung around and swept aside other bots. He realized the pod had exhausted its supply of small ordinance. Any other kind of weapon would likely fry the entire area, damaging the Bridge, killing her defenders. The pod buzzed around in the restrictive area, smashing at bots and zombies with grapplers. The enemy fire was whittling away at the pod.
Suddenly, something tore at the hole the pod and the nodes had come through. A claw abruptly reached in and grasped the edges of the gash, then another claw. The firing seemed to cease as they all stared at this strange occurrence. Then with a heave, Little Daisy pulled herself through. Abdullah and two women clung to the robot. The huge robot straightened up. Then the spell broke and the zombies and battle bots resumed firing. Little Daisy turned its back shielding its precious cargo. Abdullah was cursing in some language, directing Little Daisy to the entrance of the Bridge. Abdullah and the women jumped down. The women stumbled towards the entrance. Abdullah looked like he was ready to run into the fray. Little Daisy gently pushed him towards the Bridge door. He hung on for just a moment, crying, then crewmen dragged him into the Bridge. Little Daisy turned and reached out for the battle bots. The bots did terrible damage to her but she picked them up in her massive claws and crushed them into pieces of junk. Unlike the pod buzzing around her head though, she avoided the living creatures around her even though they blasted her at point blank range.
Suddenly, an unlucky shot hit one of the pods thrusters. It pinballed crazily struggling for control. Mak reached one of the survivors who was carrying another wounded man. They both saw the pod crash into the ceiling showering them with debris. It seemed to grind itself against the obstacle, as if it was trying to burrow its way out. Then the engines died and it plummeted towards them. Mak and the Soldier dragged the unconscious man away seconds before the pod crashed onto the deck where they'd just been. More zombies were coming, firing wildly. Mak left the wounded man to others and ran to the pod. He clambered up the side. The hatch refused to budge.
"Little Daisy!" he yelled.
The robot turned it's ruined massive head and looked at him. It immediately discerned the problem. It reached down with its one good claw and ripped the hatch off, flinging it against a battle bot. Little Daisy gave a debonair salute and went back to crushing the battle bots.
Th'han'dra looked up at him. She was bruised, dazed, cradling her helmet in her hands.
"Th'han'dra!" he yelled at her. She ignored him. "Th'han'dra!"
Still nothing.
"What are you doing, you stupid fat bitch, resting?" he bellowed at her.
She snapped awake.
"HEY, FUCK YOU!" she shrieked at the top of her lungs, throwing her helmet at him. It barely missed him. He thought he could feel his hair being blown back as a torrent of D'ha'ren curses followed the helmet. Spittle flew at him as she struggled to tear herself loose and get at him.
"You finished?" He pulled out his knife and cut her connections to the pod, even while she pummeled him. "'Cause we gotta go."
She punched him one last time. "Okay," she said a little out of breath. "All better now."
She grabbed his arm and together they yanked free. They fell to the deck where the pod provided cover. There was nobody else scrambling through the hole the pod had opened. They were the last. They staggered towards the door ducking below the covering fire, hearing the plasma charges firing at them from behind. Reaching arms grabbed them and yanked them in. He took one last look as Little Daisy collapsed.
"Shut it!" Mak shouted as they fell to the deck.
The door slammed close.
"By the way, I forgot to buy a ticket," she breathed out with pain.
"Oh yeah? Guess we'll just have to let you off at the next station then."
"The nodes got cut off so I thought I'd provide a path."
"You are one helluva pilot."
She rested her head on his shoulder. She was hurt, but he couldn't see any external injuries. Maybe she was just tired. When was the last time any of them had any sleep?
He was glad the door had closed. The mechs had worked long and hard coaxing and berating the mechanism back into working order. It had taken a lot of abuse and there were doubts about whether it would work at all.
It was secured now and that meant they should be on their way. But where was the lurch, and why were the Bridge engines humming so loudly? He staggered erect so people could clear the area. Th'han'dra also got up but promptly sat on some boxes. They squeezed hands briefly, and he left her. Things were going to be okay now that she was here.
The activity at Thurber's station caught his eye. There was too much. The Chief Engineer had shown him the simple procedure for getting them moving again.
Brenn was passed out on the table. A couple of meds tended to him. Of all the crew, he could feel the anger of the meds the most.
Mak pushed through the crowd as quickly as he could.
"We're screwed, Mak, we're screwed," Thurber shouted hysterically.
"What's wrong?"
"The clamps! The clamps are engaged. They're not supposed to be. This thing crashed. They shouldn't be engaged. We can't move!" Her voice was rising in panic as she poked at the panel in front of her. Her team looked frozen. "We didn't check Mak, we failed. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"Forget it," he said. "How do we release them?"
"We can't do it. Not from inside here. They're in maintenance lock down mode. They're specifically designed to not be released from inside the Bridge. The crash must have engaged them accidentally. They can only be blown from the outside and we can't even get to the outside."
They suddenly noticed the quiet and then heard a soft rumble. The pods were coming, blasting their way through the interior of the ship.
"We'll just open the door," he said.
"You don't understand. We can't get the door open now. The mechanism was so screwed up and we didn't want to chance not being able to close it. Or worse, having it open in space. It was rigged for one more operation."
"Okay, people, think. How do we get somebody to the outside?"
A tech spoke up. "There are access panels on the outer hull."
"It'll take us forever to cut through to them," Thurber snapped.
"What if something's already cut through?" Mak asked.
"If there was, then we could unlatch them, but it'll take forever to get to them."
"The accident in the Squad Ops Briefing Room. The plasma melted almost all the way through."
"Show me."
"Make a hole, people!" he yelled.
They struggled through the mass of bodies to the Briefing Room shoving people aside to get to the floor. They ripped the carpet off and then the panel.
"Nobody can fit through there," Thurber protested. "You'd need a snake."
There was a small gap through the mess leading to a sharp turn towards the outer hull of the Bridge. Mak pushed his head in and started to try to shove his shoulders through. But it was useless. He pulled himself out.
He started to call for Th'han'dra but she was already standing next to him.
"Here, Boss," she said.
"Thurber, tell her what she's gotta do to get to the outside and what to do when she gets there."
Thurber spoke quickly, without meeting the young woman's eyes, until she got to the last part. "When you've entered the access code, you punch the button, and the clamps will blow."
"Then get your ass back here," Mak added when Thurber just see
med to stop.
"That's not going to do any good, Mak," Thurber said miserably. "As soon as the clamps blow we'll start moving. The Bridge won't be here by time she gets back."
"Goddammit!" He shoved his head into the opening, trying first to put his arms through, then one arm. He was about to strip off his uniform when Th'han'dra just shoved him aside. She'd already stripped down to a t-shirt and underwear.
"No, goddammit, no! I'm sick of this," he screamed.
"Me too. Will I turn into a zombie when you guys leave?" The crew around her didn't know what to say.
Hasui stepped forward, offering a gun and something else. "Grenade. Pull this, let go here. It'll be quick."
Mak tried to knock them away but Th'han'dra accepted them.
"Don't go, Th'han'dra. We'll think of something else."
She smiled but her lip trembled. She was scared. It was the first time he'd ever seen it. From the same Soldier, she took a knife and cut her long hair, tied the braid into a knot, and handed it to Mak.
"No, don't go, Th'han'dra, I'm ordering you, dammit."
"Bye. I'll try to make it back in case there's a chance." She looked at the tiny hole she was supposed to crawl through. "Love you."
He gaped. "Huh? What?"
She smiled bleakly. "Mak, for a pretty smart guy, you are really quite dumb."
The kiss was so quick it hardly registered on his lips. Still, the thrill lingered there, startling him, and by time his eyes were open again, she was squirming through the opening. Some of the techs pushed on her legs, turning her and shouting instructions. He recognized they were holding onto him. He
