"He didn't tell me. He told me to seal the door. Weld it shut. Orders."
"Fine, but no need to worry about keeping the power on in the pods. You didn't get the message, did you? We had a short in the system about half an hour ago. I sent word to Kronos."
"What kind of short?" asked Engstrom. She bent over the monitors. The indicator graphs were nearly all in the red.
"Take a look for yourself." Roy pulled up a view of the prison cells on his main video screen.
The pods were shattered. Bodies lay on the floor. Where the pods were not shattered, the indicator lights on were lit a solid red.
Engstrom's stomach tightened. "What happened?" Those red lights, row after row. Those were people. She suddenly could not catch a full breath. What had happened down here?
"I don't know. I just monitor this shit. Abel and I were playing cards, like we do every shift change, minding our own business, when all of a sudden the control board starts flashing red. All the numbers are jumping off the charts. I'm getting emergency messages from all the pods. All at once. The power seemed to have surged and then cut off. I ran through the emergency protocol but it was too late. Nothing I could do."
Petros pressed a trembling hand over the screen. "All of them dead? You couldn't save anyone?"
"What was I supposed to do?"
"You could have run an emergency override and opened all the pods doors."
Roy twisted his lips. "Release all the crazy prisoners at once? I can't do that. Not from here. It's a manual operation. Impossible"
"People died right in front of you and you did nothing. You could have tried."
"I followed protocol." He laughed. "All the good that does. I sent Abel down there. Just like I am supposed to. Following orders. He disappeared. More than disappeared I think. We can't just seal the doors."
Engstrom turned to her team. They waited orders. "Harrison, you and the others find a welding kit. We got six doors to seal up. It's going to take some time."
Engstrom stared at the screen. She winced. Bodies lay in the dark green fluid somehow having burst out of their pods. Worse though were all the men and women still trapped in the pods, their bodies twisted in rictus, twisted in the throes of dying.
She tried to imagine what it must have been like for them. To have the power cut. To be suddenly awake, trapped, their air supply shut off, their chests contracting, pounding their fists hopelessly against the glass.
Everyone was dead now. All of the pods were light with red lights. A thousand men and women.
Tears filled her eyes. As she turned from the screen, she saw something, a flicker of movement from one of the other screens.
"Roy! Get back here! I saw something. Someone is still alive in there. How do I pull up the video feed to the main screen?"
She watched as a group of figures slunk in the shadows next to the wall of pods. One of them held an axe. Another peeled off and grabbed another one of the fire axes from the wall.
Another shape, a shadow, crossed the corridor, and then vanished. Engstrom wiped at the screen with her thumb and tried to zoom in. But all she saw was shadow Maybe it was just static washing across the screen.
Roy leaned in close to Engstrom. "Well, I'll be. It looks like we got escapees."
"We've got survivors. We need to get them out of there."
"No Abel though."
Engstrom pinged Kronos.
The admiral's voice boomed in her ear. "Status report."
"We've got a problem down here," said Engstrom. "A handful of prisoners are outside of their pods. And the rest have powered down, killing everyone. We need to get them out of there."
Silence awaited Engstrom and eventually Kronos spoke. "My order stands. We seal the doors. Weld them shut. We cut off the atmosphere. There's more going on here than you can see. Above your pay grade. Do as you are told. I'm not going to risk the safety of the Poros and the rest of the people on the convoy for a few prisoners. Seal the doors. That is a direct order."
This time it was Engstrom who returned silence.
She looked at the figures on the screen. If she cut off the atmosphere, they would die. She would be responsible for the needless death of half a dozen people. Prisoners or not, no one deserved to die like that.
"Engstrom!" Kronos barked. "Do you understand my order?" Static washed across the airway.
Engstrom powered down her earpiece.
"What did he say?" asked Roy.
"We hold off. I'm going in to find those people."
"But..."
"No one left behind."
Chapter Eleven
SNAKE RAISED A fist and the column of prisoners stopped behind him. Despite its simplicity, the layout of the Acheron was confusing, maze like. Worse though, he was not sure where the exit from the prison cells was. He scanned the corridor ahead. They had reached the end of their prison cell. They were at a pinch point. They would need to pass through a narrow holding room to move to the next cellblock. He hoped that he led the other prisoners in the right direction and not more deeply into the prison. He counted three breaths and then moved forward.
As he moved forward, he kept his eyes down towards his feet and the floor. It was too hard to look up at all the bodies floating in their death pods. He tried to imagine how many people had died but could not even fathom how many souls were carried on the prison barge. Probably close to a thousand if his memory of these vessels served him correctly. Everything was still a little foggy from the stasis sleep.
In addition to Snake and his crew, four other had survived: the hulking Big T, the quiet brooding Hatt, and the two twins Thor and Loki.
"Where are the guards?" asked Fifi. "All that noise we made, and the klaxons blaring and the lights flashing. It's not like they don't know something's going on. They should be here in riot gear with their prods and flash bombs."
"No doubt someone watched all this," he said to Fifi. Behind her, Crunch clutched the fire axe in his arms. "You can see all the cameras. They saw what was happening and they didn't override the locking codes. It's murder."
"We just need to get out of here."
"Does any of this look familiar? It's a maze. I didn't wake up until we were deep in here. Place needs an exit sign or two."
"I know the way out. I was still awake when they dragged us down here." The twin who called himself Loki separated from his brother. He was lean, his fingers brushing his silky blonde hair from his cheeks.
"Point the way."
"We continue they way we are going, through the holding room, and another cell block, and then we'll come to a central room with a bunch of branching corridors. Then we take the right one to get us out."
"Which corridor?" barked Big T. He grimaced behind his mop of dreadlocks.
"I'll let you know when we get there. Gotta make sure me and Thor stay valuable." He nodded to his twin.
"You gotta be kidding me," mumbled Big T. "Thor and Loki, right out of a comic book. You'll tell us when we get there. One way or the other." Big T squeezed his fist and his knuckles cracked.
Snake stopped outside the holding room. The door was made of heavy, scuffed steel and embedded eye-height was a small round window of thick, hazy glass. He peered through it. The glass was dirty. He rubbed the heel of his hand in widening circles. His rubbing did not help much.
The holding room was small, and the combination of the thick glass and the flashing lights made it difficult to see inside.
He cranked at the door wheel. It wouldn't budge. He nodded to Crunch who put down the axe, grabbed the steel handle with both hands and pulled. Still the wheel did not turn.
Big T grunted, bumped Crunch out of the way, spit on both palms, and positioned himself in front of the door, wedging his feet against the jam. His hands squeaked as they slid over the steel. The cords on his neck and forearms bulged. Spittle flew from his lips.
"We're not getting through there."
"Are we trapped then?" asked Fifi.
"Devil food is wh
at we are." Hatt, the other remaining prisoner, huddled at the rear of the column, arms wrapped around his bony shoulders, hunched in the shadows. Religious tattoos painted his exposed skin. His eyes darted left and right beneath a brooding brow. "It hunts us."
"Seriously, bro, you need to stop that," said Big T. "You're freaking me out. Acting like we are in some bad horror movie."
"The devil gets his due. We all pay for our sins."
"Enough!" barked Snake. "I can deal with some level of crazy but not that level. You keep that up and I will stuff your mouth with rocks. You got that?"
Hatt slithered in the shadows. "The devil gets his due."
Snake turned back to Loki. "All right, wonder twin. You got another exit route mapped out?"
"I got nothing. But we are at the lowest level of the cells. The exit doors are three levels up. So we at least need to figure out a way up. Maybe the holding cells on the next levels are unlocked."
"We could smash the door open with the axes," suggested Thor.
"I'd rather not risk smashing the axes to smithereens. We might need them," said Snake.
Fifi chuckled. "Old Hatt getting to you?"
"Always play it safe. We just need to figure out a way to get to the Phaethon and I don't know what's going to be standing in our way."
They retraced their steps until they found a ladder encased in a cage leading up to the next level. A well-placed strike by Crunch knocked the lock off.
Snake was the first up the ladder, and when he got to the next level, he used the axe to break off the lock at the top of the ladder cage.
This cellblock level was as bad as the one they had just come up from. A long corridor of broken pods stretched away from them towards another steel door.
Snake picked his way carefully among the broken glass, the pool of green liquid, and the bodies of his fellow prisoners.
"Creeps me out walking through here," said Fifi. "Feels like we're disturbing a graveyard."
"Could have been our own graves," said Snake. "We got lucky."
"I thought that was the end. Thank you, Snake. Thank you for what you did. We all would have been dead in there."
"What else would you have expected me to do?"
"You just don't know. When push comes to shove, everyone acts differently. And honestly you surprised me."
"Surprised you?" Snake turned to look her in the eyes. "You thought I'd leave you there to die?"
"You mostly got money on your mind, Snake. Saving me wasn't going to earn you any credits."
"You misread me. I'm not as awful as you make me out to be."
Big T called the others to stop. He leaned one hand against the wall of pods and squatted down on his toes. "Look at this." He touched the ground and brought up a palm covered in blood. "I don't like this."
"Plasteen cuts," said Snake.
"Yeah, but where's the bloody body?"
Snake stared at the corpses on the ground. Men and women who had drowned, their faces constricted, hands frozen in desperate fists, but Big T was right. None of them were cut open. None of them lay in a pool of blood.
"Where'd this blood come from?" asked Big T. He wheeled around to Hatt. "And you don't be saying any of your bull right now? That clear. You ain't going to scare me. That's not going to work, little man. Understood?"
Hatt made the sign of the cross and shook his heads, whispering a stream of unintelligible words from his mouth, most likely prayers
"Let's not stick around and find out," said Snake. "Let's get out of here."
Snake jogged down the corridor until he reached the holding room. This time the wheel spun easily. He shot a smug smile at Crunch. "Not so hard, big man."
Snake pulled the door open, a figure lunged. Snake leapt back, fists clenched. Crunch charged forward axe in hand. The person fell to the floor.
It was one of the prisoners. Or what remained of him.
The man's chest had been ripped open. His organs torn out of his body. Just like the pilots in the Galileo. Snake cursed.
"This is not good," said Fifi. "Not good at all."
Loki was bent over in the back of the column, one hand on his brother, coughing and spitting up saliva. He covered his mouth with his hand.
"That is some work," muttered Big T. He backed away from the corpse. "Butchery pure and simple. No art in that at all."
"The devil lives inside our hearts, fighting to get out," whispered Hatt.
Big T lashed out, and his mitt of a hand clipped Hatt on the side of the head and sent the little man sprawling. "I told you to shut your mouth! I told you to keep them words in! I find myself some needle and thread and I'm going to sew those sick lips together. You get me?"
Hatt wiped the back of his hand across his lips, scowling at the smear of blood. A low chuckle escaped his lips.
Big T lunged towards him but Snake jumped between them. "Enough! We gotta get out of here. To the Phaethon. Get off this convoy. And fast." He turned back to survey the corpse of the prisoner.
"Need to find myself a gun," Fifi said. "Feel naked without one."
"I'll protect you," said Crunch. "You don't worry."
"More likely I'll be the one protecting you," said Fifi.
Loki had crossed to the other side of the holding chamber. He swore. "End of the road here, boys."
"Crunch, get through there and crank that door open," snapped Snake.
The big man squeezed past the body and into the chamber. Again he pulled at the handle and again it would not move.
"What is wrong with this place?" cried Big T. "All the doors are jammed shut. Who the hell designed this place?"
"Up another level," said Snake. "You know the routine."
"But what about the body?" said Loki.
"We leave it here."
"I mean who did this? What the hell is out there?"
Suddenly a high-pitched shriek cut through the air.
Snake stared down the dim corridor. A shadow crossed the corridor. Something big. Something quick.
The others saw it too. Big T clutched his axe in his hands. Crunch stepped in front of Fifi. Loki and Thor bunched together.
Only Hatt did not move. He laughed. "The devil is coming for us. Coming to take his due. We can ride. But we can't hide. Can't hide from the devil. Pay back time, sinners. Pay back time."
The shadow crossed again, stopping to stare in the direction of the prisoners.
"Don't move," hissed Snake.
His heart pounded in his chest. He choked back the urge to run. There was nowhere to go. Big T breathed so loudly, a rasping gasp escaping from his lips. Snake wanted to tell him to quiet down but he did not want to make any noise. He just prayed that the shadow could not hear well enough across the distance and the steady hum of the prison barge.
It stared too long at them. Snake clenched his fists. He had seen what it had done to the pilot and the prisoner. The axe in his hands would likely be useless. But what choice did he have? If it came for him, he would fight for his life.
Then the creature turned and loped away, back in the direction of the ladder.
Snake waited. He counted to ten and then he whispered. "Hide. We gotta hide. We gotta get out of here before it comes back. Find a place to hide until they send someone in for us."
Big T chuckled. "They're not sending anyone in for us. We're on death row. We're on our own out here."
Chapter Twelve
ENGSTROM HELD UP a fist and the men behind her stopped, suddenly so quiet that she had to glance to make sure they were still behind her. She quieted her breath so that the only sound she heard was the pounding of her heart in her chest, the steady pulsing of blood.
They were in the prison cells of Acheron now. Roy had led them to the heavily protected doors and let them through. She had felt a warm breath of air, sour with fungus. Water dripped from exposed pipes. Everywhere she looked, she saw shadows, places for men to hide.
Engstrom adjusted her night vision goggles and stared down the corridor. No
t what she wanted to see. Pods of dead prisoners stretched as far her eye could see. On this level, the first level, none of the prisoners had been able to escape from their pods. No glass on the floor. No pools of stasis fluid on the floor. And no bodies. At least she had that going for her.
The images of the prisoners that she had seen on the video feed up in the control room had been broadcast from the third level. There the prisoners had broken out of their stasis pods. Her objective was simple. Get to the elevator, descend to the third level, contain the prisoners that still survived, and then bring them back up to safety.
After that, she would do as she had been ordered. She would weld the doors shut. Admiral Kronos would understand once she explained. The Admiral would see why Engstrom disobeyed her order. She would explain herself.
Engstrom stopped again.
"Did you see something move?" Engstrom asked Scully.
The soldier, face hidden behind a black shield, rifle in her arms, shook her head.
"Move carefully through here. These are prisoners we are dealing with. Killers. Sentenced to death. Don't forget that. Our objective is to round them up, slap on the shackles, and bring them out of the Acheron. If they resist, we shoot them. But I want to give them the chance."
"Kronos is not going to be happy with this," said Scully. "We could still get out."
"Focus on the mission objective. Get the prisoners and get out."
Engstrom signaled and the group of a dozen soldiers split so that two lines crept along either side of the corridor, two bunched groups of soldiers, rifles poking out in all directions.
Engstrom was comforted by the jostling pressure of her comrades around her. This was type of mission they had drilled countless times. This was the formation that had led them in and out of battles with insurgents at the edges of the Federated territories. This was their bread and butter.
Engstrom reached the elevator. The button lights were black. She cycled her comms unit back to Roy. "Talk to me, Roy. The elevator is dead."
Static surged in her earpiece. Then Roy drawled. "Yup, I can't figure out a work around on this. I got some basic systems back up. But the pods are fried and elevators aren't responding. Give me a little more time and then I might get them working."
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