by R F Hurteau
“Don’t touch that one!” Ambrose warned. “That’s for emergencies only. It activates—”
“Ambrose! Ripley!”
Tobias’ desperate cry was muffled by Pluto’s hull, but it still sent chills down Ripley’s spine. They hurried back onto the platform and saw Tobias on his knees at the base of the steps, gasping and panting.
“I got back as fast as I could!” he managed between deep, panicky breaths. Ambrose helped him to his feet and led him back into the warmth of the utility room.
Ripley felt an icy foreboding that had nothing to do with the cold. “Where are Felix and Willow? What happened?”
“When we got to their apartment, there were guards outside. We hid, but Felix refused to leave. We heard a lot of arguing. Felix said it was Willow and Nero.”
“Nero? That’s Willow’s father,” Ripley told Ambrose. “Head of the Elder Council.” He turned back to Tobias. “Are you sure?”
Tobias shook his head. “That’s what Felix said. When a guard came out of the room, dragging Willow by the arm, Felix lost it. I tried to stop him, but he charged in. He actually did a fair amount of damage before they were able to subdue him. And by subdue what I mean is they knocked him out cold.”
Tobias let out a low moan. “What are we going to do?”
“First,” instructed Ambrose with a stern frown, “we’re going to remain calm.”
Ripley’s hands were balled into fists at his sides, and he looked grim. “Nero had to have known about this plan all along; he’s not just on the Elder Council, he runs it. He must have intended to force Willow to evacuate with them.”
“What about Felix?” Ambrose asked. “Would they take him, too?”
Tobias was wringing his hands. “They hate Halfsies, maybe more than they hate Humans. Felix is only going to stay alive as long as he can prove he’s useful.” His voice shrank to a whisper. “He could lead them right to us!”
“No,” said Ripley, shaking his head, “Felix wouldn’t betray us. He wouldn’t risk the lives of everyone in Sanctuary to save himself. He wouldn’t bring them here.”
He began moving toward the door.
“What are you doing?” cried Tobias.
“I have to save him.”
“How?” Ambrose asked. “You can’t just march up there and demand they let him go.”
“I know,” said Ripley. “I’ll have to figure it out as I go.”
He shut the door behind him, grateful he was still wearing the blanket-cloak as he hurried through the darkness. He glanced upward as he went and was surprised to see Ambrose’s breach. It appeared like a deep blue blotch amidst the black of the dome.
With a jolt, he realized what he was seeing. Twilight.
It only took a moment to find the hatch from which they’d come, and he flung it wide, not bothering to close it behind him. He climbed back through the interior of the bulkhead and out into the tunnel system. He had almost reached the main line when he heard voices.
Ripley froze, chancing a peek around the corner. They were still a way off, but Ripley could make out the stocky profile of Captain Lub. He was speaking to Willow’s father, who was flanked on either side by a guard. The one on his left was holding Willow, the one on his right had a hand around a short rope that bound Felix’s hands.
How did they get here so fast? Ripley wondered. He refused to believe Felix had told them anything.
“He didn’t finish it,” Lub was complaining, waving a crumpled piece of paper in Nero’s face.
Ripley felt sick. It was their map. The one he’d insisted they draw. “If we had more people, we could find it quicker.”
“No,” Nero replied. “The evacuations are proceeding on schedule. We’ll find out what he was doing down here, and then we’re leaving.”
“Please, father! You don’t have to do this. Felix was trying to protect me, he was trying to find a place to hide. That’s all. Just let us go, please. I don’t want to leave Sanctuary with you. I want to be with Felix.”
Her father’s face was hard, his features full of disdain. “You aren’t staying in Sanctuary. This time tomorrow, there won’t be a Sanctuary.”
“What?” Willow’s voice registered fear. “What do you mean?”
“They’re planning to blow it all up,” Felix replied miserably. “They’re going to go back through Antiquity’s Gate and they’re going to destroy Sanctuary once they’re gone.”
Captain Lub backhanded Felix, and even at this distance, Ripley could see his friend’s head snap backward from the blow.
“How do you know about that?”
“So it’s true?” Willow’s horror was evident in the trembling of her voice. “You’re running away and you’re going to just kill all these people? Father, why? How could you?”
Nero sighed. “You are still young, Willow. You don’t understand now, but you will in time. I’m willing to overlook your poor judgment in the past, but it’s time to face reality now. This is the way it’s going to be. The way it has to be.”
He moved in front of Felix, grabbing him by the chin.
“Look at me,” Nero said in a deep, commanding tone. “This is your fault, you know. You turned her against me, against her own people. Now, I want to know what you know, and what you’re planning. If you cooperate, I might be inclined to kill you quickly.”
Felix didn’t respond. His face was a mask, emotionless.
“Tell me!” Nero was mere inches from Felix’s unflinching face.
He let go and whirled on Lub and the others.
“Find me that breach!” he bellowed.
But Lub didn’t move. “The breach doesn’t matter anymore. What matters is getting out of here.”
“What matters is finding out what this filthy half-breed was up to. What matters is what I say matters. Do I make myself clear?”
Ripley had seen enough. He raced back to the bulkhead and slipped inside, ignoring the pain. He reached the utility room and threw open the door.
“Death to the Theran invaders!” cried Tobias, hurling his tea kettle in Ripley’s direction.
Ripley ducked instinctively, but there was no need. The kettle hit the wall some five feet away and fell to the floor, a pool of steaming water forming beneath it.
“Ripley!”
Tobias gasped, running up to him. “I’m so sorry! I thought you were an Elf!” His eyes widened. “I could have killed you!”
Ripley glanced toward the overturned kettle. “I don’t think you were ever much of a threat. But there’s no time for that. They’re practically right outside. They have Felix and Willow with them.”
Ambrose looked grave. “How many are there?”
“Four. Two guards, Nero, and the head of Security. Tobias, you said there’s a plan to stop the explosions. Can you set it in motion now? In case—in case we don’t make it out of this?”
Tobias frowned, pacing. “It’s just not possible. My countermeasures will open the vents to prevent the pressure from building up. But if the Elves aren’t gone when I activate them, they won’t have a hard time reversing what I’ve done.” He shook his head. “No. The only way to save Sanctuary is to stay alive!”
“Alright,” said Ripley, taking a deep breath. “Plan B. Can you turn off the lights in the Tube tunnels? That would buy us some time.”
Tobias nodded enthusiastically. “That I can do!”
“Good. Do it, and then meet us on the platform.”
Ripley looked to Ambrose. “I think you should finish telling me about that red button, Ambrose. I have an idea.”
***
Ripley stood motionless at the door to the utility room, staring up at the hole in the dome. He could hear the distant moan of the wind, but down here, nothing stirred.
It wasn’t a good plan, but it was the only one he had. Tobias and Ambrose were in po
sition. All they could do now was wait.
They didn’t have to wait long. Felix’s voice rang out from the darkness. “Run, Ripley! They’ve found it!”
There was a sickening thud, and Willow cried out. “Stop it! Leave him alone!”
Ripley waited just long enough to see them emerge from the bulkhead hatch, one of the guards half-dragging, half-carrying Felix.
He heard them gasping and cursing, unprepared for the freezing temperatures. He backed up, leaving the door open so that the lights would draw them in. He moved into the meeting room, through the next door, up the passage, down the steps, and out onto the platform. He was breathing hard, and each breath made his ribcage feel like fire. Sweat poured down his sides despite the cold, plastering his tired uniform to his body.
But he couldn’t rest yet. Not until Felix and Willow were safe.
He picked up a short length of metal pipe. It was cold and heavy. He glanced at Tobias, who looked sick to his stomach.
“Ready?” he mouthed. Tobias nodded.
Both of them pulled the tinted goggles Ambrose had given them down over their eyes. Tobias held a pipe just like Ripley’s in one hand, and he had his other hand poised over a small switch.
Ripley measured time in heartbeats as he heard the Elves coming down the hall.
Thump, thump. Their footfalls echoed as they drew closer.
Thump, thump. Now they were on the stairs.
Thump, thump. They appeared on the platform. Ripley allowed himself a single heartbeat more to take in their positions.
“Lights!” he cried, and Tobias flipped his switch, putting out the platform lights.
“Enough with these games!” Nero shouted, furious. But before he could say another word, Ripley was yelling again.
“Now, Ambrose!”
Pluto roared to life, and the floodlights on her nose came on, blinding the unsuspecting Elves. The guard next to Felix let go of the rope, his hands flying up to shield his eyes. Ripley and Tobias moved in from either side. Ripley brought his pipe down hard on the guard’s head, and he crumpled to the ground.
Tobias gave a little yelp as he barrelled at the one holding Willow, but she was faster. Taking advantage of the guard’s disorientation, she yanked hard on her restraints, pulling him off balance. He stumbled forward and she brought her knee up hard, catching him squarely in the face. At the same time she raised her bound arms above her and slammed her clasped hands against the back of his head. The combination was just as effective as Ripley’s pipe had been and her captor hit the floor, where he lay still.
Tobias grabbed her arm and drew her out of the floodlight’s glare then helped Ripley pull Felix away, who was dazed and staggering as well.
It was at that moment that Pluto stalled. Her lights flickered and went out. Once more, they were all plunged into darkness.
Lub was shouting commands for the guards, who he had not yet realized were unconscious, and Nero was eerily silent. Ripley tore off his goggles.
“Felix!” he whispered, using his multitool to cut the rope away from Felix’s wrists, “Felix, are you okay? I can’t carry you. You have to move!”
“Ugh,” groaned Felix. “No fair, I carried you.”
“Get him to the ship,” Ripley said to Willow. “Hurry.”
“The what?”
“I’ll show you. Follow me,” instructed Tobias.
Just then Ripley heard Ambrose shout, and Pluto’s lights and engine came back on. Lub cursed as he was blinded again, and he blundered out of the path of the light.
Ripley looked around, but Nero was nowhere to be found. Tobias and the others had just disappeared inside Ambrose’s ship. Ripley started that way, and Willow turned back toward him. “Ripley, behind you!”
Ripley turned—Captain Lub had stumbled out of the light and was bearing down on him, face full of fury. Ripley would never make it to the ship before Lub reached him. There was an unfamiliar sound behind him, a steady stream of Tat! Tat! Tat! Tat! and Ripley looked up in time to watch the huge glass skylights in the station’s roof shattering above Lub and the engineers.
The bullets from Pluto’s guns sheered right through a metal column, and the unsupported ceiling twisted and buckled. In moments Lub and the guards had disappeared, buried beneath a pile of heavy debris.
Willow ran to Ripley and squeezed him hard.
“Ow!” he whimpered, “Too tight!”
“Oops, sorry!”
She released him and glanced toward the twisted hunks of metal near the stairwell with an unreadable expression. “Is my father—?”
Ripley shook his head. “He got away.”
She nodded, her eyes narrowing. “Of course he did.”
Now that it was over, and his friends were safe, Ripley’s adrenaline began to wane, and his awareness of his injuries grew stronger. He walked with careful, measured steps beside Willow and sat down gratefully when they reached the ship.
They all huddled there, Ambrose in the pilot’s chair fiddling with the radio.
“I can pick up their transmissions here,” he explained. Felix leaned against the hull with his eyes closed, and Willow knelt beside him, squeezing his hand and listening to Tobias explain everything he’d told Ripley and Felix before.
When he finished, she just sat for a time, shaking her head in disbelief.
“I’m so sorry,” she said at last, tears in her eyes. “I’m so sorry. I swear I had no idea.”
“I suspect many had no idea until the last minute.” Tobias’ voice was empathetic. “Especially someone like you, a known Human sympathizer. The Council would have viewed you as a liability. “
“I’ve got something!” Ambrose exclaimed. “Everyone quiet!”
The voices on the radio were fuzzy, but they could make out enough.
Nero had rejoined the evacuees.
“Commence shut down,” they heard him say.
“I guess we’re up!” said Tobias, sounding almost cheerful. “Time to save Sanctuary!”
Everyone rose and, picking their way between the debris, went back to the utility room.
Tobias walked over to the wall where a square metal box opened to reveal a small terminal nesting in the midst of a sea of wires.
“We’re really quite lucky that everything runs through this station.” He spoke with his back to them as he worked. “I was able to access everything I need from here.”
He stopped talking then. His body language betrayed his panic before they heard him say, barely above a whisper, “Oh, no.”
He shook his head as if to clear it and tried again. “No. No. No!” He plunged his hand into the wiring and tore one free.
“What’s wrong?” Ripley glanced around the room and saw his concern mirrored in the eyes of his companions. “What are you doing?”
“It won’t work!” Tobias shouted, waving the wire in the air. He began laughing, a high-pitched, hysterical laugh. “When we fired Pluto’s guns, we must have severed it. Months of planning shot to pieces. Literally!”
“What does it do?” Willow asked, trying to calm him down. “We can fix it. We can get power from somewhere else.”
But Tobias was shaking his head. “This is a hard line to the geothermal venting system. It can’t be accessed remotely. I didn’t realize, but it must have run through the station’s ceilings.”
Ripley understood now. “If we can’t access the vents, we can’t stop the pressure from building up.”
“And if we can’t stop the pressure, we can’t stop the explosions,” Ambrose finished. He slammed both hands on the table. “Damn it! This is my fault!”
Ripley was quiet, the gears in his mind cranking. “If we can get up to the ceiling, we can find it and fix it.”
Tobias shook his head furiously. “No good. That could take hours.” He glanced at the monitor. “By my calc
ulations, we’ve got minutes.”
“How many minutes?” asked Felix.
“Maybe forty, forty-five at best. You have to remember that the system that powers Sanctuary is massive, and it runs continuously. It won’t take long for it to build up the pressure necessary and then—”
“Yeah, I know, I know. Kaboom.”
Ripley began pacing back and forth. “The whole thing is connected, though. It loops through every dome, and all of the condensers have to let out into the same pipes, right? So theoretically, if we can relieve the pressure here, in this dome—”
“The entire system could vent out through D6!” exclaimed Tobias. “Yes! I think that could work! The condensers aren’t far, they extend right through the Tube Station...I bet the control panel is on the roof, where they emerge.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” asked Felix. “Let’s do this thing!”
“No,” Ripley said as Felix stood up too fast and wavered on his feet. “You stay. Tobias and I will go.”
Felix grimaced but nodded. Ripley turned to Tobias. “You’ve been here for months, what’s the fastest way to the base of condensers?”
“Follow me.” Tobias was gesturing as he turned and took off at a jog. “There’s no way to access the base from in here,” he told Ripley over his shoulder. “But there is a ladder to the roof.”
He stopped short in front of a sliding door that didn’t seem to recognize his presence.
“It was never connected,” Tobias explained, “but we’ve opened it before. Here, help me.”
They worked together, both grunting from the effort as the door slowly gave way.
Panting, they exited the station and Tobias pointed.
“There!”
Ripley followed close on his heels as Tobias scaled the ladder and turned, helping him up at the top. They jogged along the roof, doubling back over the platform and skirting around the hole that Ambrose’s guns had made. Glancing down as they passed, Ripley could see the piles of twisted metal and snow that marked the final resting place of Captain Lub and his men.
The condensers rose before them just ahead, and Ripley and Tobias split up, walking briskly around the circumference in search of the control terminal. It was dark, and Ripley almost fell into the hole before he saw it.
