by Don Chase
“There should have been a loud thud when the kid hit the button. That would be the sound of the locking hub disengaging. I didn’t hear any loud thud, did you?” Grady asked.
“No, but why wouldn’t it disengage?” Olivia asked.
“I would guess that it malfunctioned,” Grady said.
“No kidding, but how does something like an emergency escape pod malfunction? It’s made to work in emergencies!” Olivia growled.
“That’s the problem with emergency pods. They’re built for one time use, so we can only really run diagnostics on them not actually fire them off. Imagine how expensive it’d be to fire off every single one, every few cycles, then have to replace them and reset them,” Grady said.
“So instead they just don’t work?” Olivia asked.
“Most do, some don’t,” Grady said with a shrug.
“THAT’S RIDICULOUS!” Olivia yelled.
“Welcome to life at the edge of known space,” Grady said. “Listen, you’re a maintenance comptroller, you know what gets fixed and checked as well as I do. Have you ever sent any of us to run a test on any of the pods?”
“No,” Olivia answered, hanging her head.
“Well if we don’t check it then no one does,” Grady said.
“So now we have to go find another pod and hope it works?” Burton asked.
“No, I can fix this one, I think. I just need a little time,” Grady said.
“Wouldn’t it be faster to just find another?” Stella asked.
Morris leaned against the control panel rubbing his chin as he listened and thought for a moment. “No. I think Grady is right. If we keep moving everyone around we take a huge chance of losing someone. Right now everyone is safe in here and with those airlocks sealed we’ll stay safe for now.”
“Well, everyone but me I suppose,” Grady said.
“Can you even get outside? How does any of that work?” Burton asked.
“Yeah, it’s pretty easy actually. There will be a suit and basic tools in the tunnel at the junction point as well as an outside airlock access panel. I’m not sure exactly where the closest one is but it should be nearby since the medical bay is an entirely self contained entity,” Grady said.
“I guess we should get to it then,” Morris said as he checked his rifle.
“We?” Grady asked.
“Well you’re going to need someone to watch your back.”
“Nah, I’ll be fine it’s a quick trip back to the door we came out of. Once I’m in the tunnel I’ll be almost as safe as you are here.”
“Are you sure?” Morris asked.
“Yeah, I’m sure. Get that door open, let’s get this going already,” Grady said as he pulled out his pistol and stepped to the door.
Marcus punched in the access code and the door slid open. “Be back in a bit, I’ll wave to you from outside,” Grady said with a grin before he stepped through the doorway.
The Galactic Federation ship, Barstow, received the distress call from Delarus station and immediately set course and began navigating jump points to the imperiled station. The Barstow was a Castel class battleship, one of the smaller classes in the GF fleet but still what most would consider a gargantuan vessel. Captain Morandez was in command of the Barstow and had been for some time. He had been in the GF since he was old enough to enlist and had worked his way up from first mate on a freighter ship to being in command of his own battleship. He loved serving the Federation but also looked forward to retiring on a quiet planet somewhere, hopefully by a lake.
Morandez sat in his large chair in the center of the Barstow’s bridge watching the latest news from across the Federation on the main monitor. He saw his navigator, a woman named Mayhew, out of the corner of his eye and gave her his full attention. “Jumps are set sir. We can go at your command.”
“Very good, let’s get to it then, initiate jump. Let’s not keep these people waiting too long.”
“Aye sir,” Mayhew answered and the captain heard the dull thrumming that accompanied every jump as the large reactor drive spun up.
Once the ship was underway there wasn’t much for Morandez to do until they finished their jumps. He handed off command of the bridge to his second and made his way to his quarters, stopping off first in the officer’s mess hall to grab some food. He poured himself a drink and sat at his desk eating his lunch while going over reports concerning the recent uprising on the planet Denbarton, one of few inhabited planets in the Barstow’s sector of operations.
Denbarton was a small planet with a temperate climate and until recently it had been ruled by a single monarch with only small pockets of the population that refused to acknowledge the kings legitimate rule. Apparently, the seemingly peaceful population of Denbarton was not as happy with their ruler as they had seemed as the kings own generals plotted against him.
In a quick and decisive revolt the generals overthrew the king, destroying half of the capital city in the process. Reports were sketchy at the moment on the health and whereabouts of the royal family. All were presumed dead. One detail was clear; the royal family was no longer in control of the tiny planet of Denbarton.
The Galactic Federation didn’t get involved in such normal pedestrian matters like the overthrowing of planetary governments normally. Not unless it somehow affected things on a much larger scale like blocking off interstellar trade routes. That was what local military and the regional militias were for. The Federation had a much larger scope, dealing with regional and system wide issues. It did still keep abreast of such situations. It just didn’t usually intervene without a good reason. It was the ultimate authority in the end but it tried not to micromanage.
Chapter 13
Grady quickly made his way back to the maintenance tunnel without being seen. He travelled through the tunnel until he was sure he was in the medical section of the station. He could tell that he had crossed over when he had to step over a small ridge in the floor where the two sections had come together. In case the medical area ever needed to be sealed off from the rest of the station a heavy steel plate would automatically slide into place closing off the two sections.
When he reached the small alcove he rummaged through the equipment locker concealed in the wall. He pulled out one of the two external maintenance suits along with some of the larger tools that he thought he might need. He stepped in and pulled up the suit that was baggy on him until he pressed the button on the belt that sealed him in. He grunted a bit as it constricted around him. He put the helmet on and felt it magnetically seal itself to the collar of the suit. The whole outfit was lightweight and gave him full range of vision and movement. The fabric had self contained oxygen pockets built in for a continuous and long lasting supply of air and magnetic material in the gloves and boots of the suit to allow movement without an umbilical cord to keep him safe. The belt of the suit also contained small thrusters for maneuverability.
The access panel was across the alcove from the utility closet on the outer wall. Like the doors to get into the tunnels themselves the door was secreted and invisible if you didn’t know what you were looking for. After grabbing the tools and a couple of small explosives, he pushed on the front of the panel and felt it click as it opened. He stepped inside and pulled the door shut behind him. He pressed a button on the small panel inside the tiny room and heard the door lock behind him and heard a small wooshing noise as the oxygen was sucked out of the room. There was a beep from the panel as the last of the air was sucked out and a green light lit on the panel in front of him to let him know it was okay to open the next door. He grumbled something to himself and pressed the pad on the door which then slid open. He stepped out into space and the door quickly slid shut behind him.
He stared in wonder around him as he floated through space. It wasn’t his first time outside the station but he didn’t go out often enough to not be a bit in awe of it. After a few moments he shook his head and decided that he needed to get back to work. Focused now, he tapped the control pad
on his left forearm, activating the thrusters on his belt. He flew alongside the station until he saw the long transparent plexisteel hallway that led to the airlock and life pods. He floated in front of it for a bit, first looking at the bodies of the two brutish hounds that he and Morris had killed earlier. Then he took note to see that the way was still clear with no more of the huge creature nearby, for the moment.
He maneuvered over to the outside of the life pod and tapped the side of his helmet to open up communications. He wasn’t sure but he thought that all the communications of the station, the pods and the suits should be compatible. “Can you guys hear me in there?” he asked tentatively.
“Oh hey, Grady is that you?” he heard Morris ask.
“Were you expecting someone else?”
“Good point. Where are you?”
“I’m right outside the pod,” he said before lightly tapping on the hull. He fired his thrusters again and moved around to the window at the front of the life pod. It was heavily tinted but he could vaguely make out that there were people inside. He waved.
He heard laughter in his ear. “Yeah that is you out there isn’t it?” he heard Morris again.
“It takes a bit of getting used to out here but once you get the hang of it it’s pretty fun. I’m going to take a cursory look at the locking devices and see if I can figure out what’s wrong before I just go breaking stuff.”
“I think I speak for all of us when I say that we appreciate that. Any idea how long this will take? We are in a bit of time crunch.”
“Not yet, I’m hoping no more than an hour or so but I suppose it could take as much as a few hours. I’ll let you know after I take a look.”
Grady moved away from the front of the pod and worked at moving into place to get a better view of the locks that held it in place. He had never worked on the locking mechanism for a life pod before but he had worked on similar locks on hauling containers and mining rigs. He checked the whole mechanism assembly and found nothing out of place. Moving to the back of the lock, he reached behind the large steel plate and pulled himself into the tight crevice behind the pod. Standing on the back of the locking assembly he saw the manual release lever. He grabbed hold of it and wiggled it back and forth tentatively at first. It didn’t budge. He swore softly to himself and pulled harder at the lever. If it had been working properly it should have opened the front lock that held the pod lightly in place but even with all his might the lever seemed frozen.
He stood and put his hands on his hips. Thinking for a minute, he kicked the lever. Finding that completely unsatisfying; he slid back down through the crevice and worked his way to the front of the pod. “Hey it’s frozen,” he said.
“I thought we had already established that,” Morris answered.
“Yeah, well it has been officially confirmed now.”
“Thanks for that, I know I’ll be able to sleep better knowing that. Any ideas on how to fix it?”
“Not really, I want to take another look first. I might be able to wedge it open or just take it apart by hand. I may have to make a few trips back inside to get tools and such but it does seem possible.”
“Alright, well you’d better get back at it then. Let me know if you figure anything out,” Morris said.
“Aye aye boss,” Grady said with a salute before he floated off.
Morris dropped back and sat in the chair. He sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. “I hope he figures something out before the core decides to rupture.”
“Or more brutes show up. Hopefully they aren’t organized enough to notice that the two you killed are missing,” Olivia said.
“I’m gonna bet that they’re pretty organized,” Morris said.
“Well if they are then should we be worried about them showing up before he finishes that?”
“We probably should’ve been worried about that all along. Just because we’re locked in here for now in no way means we’re safe.”
“Is there anything we can actually do? I mean it’s not like we have an armory in here or anything,” Stella said.
Morris thought for a minute and shook his head slowly. “I can’t think of anything off the top of my head that would stop them or even slow them down really.”
The pod was silent for a minute before Marcus finally spoke. “I may have an idea actually. It won’t stop them or anything but it might slow them down and give them something else to worry about beside us.”
“Okay so what is it?” Morris asked.
“The problem is that it can’t be done from in here,” Marcus started to explain.
“NO!” came from both Stella and Olivia simultaneously.
“But if you just let me explain,” Marcus said.
“Absolutely not, we may not be perfectly safe here but I forbid you to go out there where it’s a hundred times more dangerous,” Stella said.
“I wouldn’t be going alone, I’d have Morris with me,” Marcus argued.
“Wait, I’m going somewhere now? Why don’t you tell us what the plan is before we argue about who is going where or not going, for that matter?”
“Well I was just thinking that if we turn off the grav plates then it’d make it a lot more difficult for them to get around.”
“Not the ones that already fly,” Morris countered.
“Hmm I haven’t seen any of them yet, but it’d work for the rest of them.”
“This is true and it would throw a bunch of chaos into the mix which might keep them away from here. Is it possible to do?”
“Yeah, it really shouldn’t be too hard to do as long as we can get to one of the maintenance terminals. I should be able to log into the main computers from there.”
“You wouldn’t be able to log in unless you have the right clearance code,” Olivia said.
“Right but as a maintenance comptroller you should have those codes,” Marcus said with a smile.
“Hmm he’s right I do.”
“So where is the nearest terminal that you can log in from?”
“There would be one at any of the alcoves in the tunnels we were in,” Marcus said.
Olivia thought for a moment. “I’m not sure it has the right interface to be able to shut everything down from there. That’s why I always shut everything down for you before you start.”
“Then we have to go all the way back down to maintenance?” Morris asked.
“No, you should be able to do it from any of the main computers. You just need to be able to log into the main server directory and then log into my maintenance system,” Olivia said.
“Well in that case we should be able to do that from somewhere in the medical area, one would think,” Morris said.
“Yeah there should be terminal somewhere nearby for doctors to write orders and stuff.”
Morris turned to the control panel at the front of the pod and tapped his headset. “Grady you got a second?”
“Yeah what’s up?”
“Can you do me a favor and take a peek in the hallway that leads to the airlock here?”
“Sure. Hold on a minute.”
Morris turned and scratched his chin as he stared off deep in thought. “It could work,” he mused.
“I really don’t like the idea of anyone going out there, but at least you wouldn’t have to go far,” Stella said.
“It seems like everything is clear boss. Nothing in that hall except the two we took out,” Grady said.
“Okay good, thank you. Now get back to fixing that lock,” Morris said.
“Or breaking it,” Grady said.
“Whatever, you know what I mean.”
He had seen the man fall over in the hallway outside the doors of the medical area while the alarms were sounding a little while ago. He had been about to make his way to the hangar bay. But as the only doctor left in the area he felt that he had to stay and at least get the poor man checked out before they both caught a shuttle off the station. The limp unconscious man was heavier than he’d expected. “Some ord
erly’s right about now would be nice,” he thought to himself.
The alarms had stopped clanging by the time he had gotten the man onto the examination table. The man had no grievous wounds or head trauma that would explain him being unconscious. Before he could finish his examination, the patient stopped breathing. The doctor reacted on instinct and started to administer chest compressions until he found a weak pulse in the side of his neck. He hadn’t noticed the small puncture wound just below where his fingers rested.
He turned to his workstation and input all the information he had before grabbing the handheld body scanner that they used in almost every medical facility in the galaxy to diagnose patients. He turned it on and waved it over the feet of the unconscious patient slowly working his way up his legs. Before he reached the unconscious mans waist gunshots rang out from somewhere nearby. The doctor dropped his scanner and let out a yelp as he jumped. More gunshots followed. The doctor, concerned for his and his patients well being, kicked off the brake on the examination table and pushed his patient into the corner of the room, hoping that neither of them would be seen.
Chapter 14
“I’m going with you,” Burton said.
“Why?” Morris asked.
“It’d be easier for me to get into the system. I was a comptroller in the agricultural center.”
“Yeah that makes sense. Stay close, quiet and don’t wander off,” Morris said. He pulled his pistol out of its holster and handed it to Marcus. “You know how to use this?”
“Vaguely,” Marcus answered.
“Okay, a quick lesson then,” Morris said. He took a couple minutes to show Marcus the bare basics of how to use and handle the pistol. Once he was convinced the kid knew what he was doing he grabbed his rifle. “Let’s get this over with before more of those things show up.”
The three of them went through the door, Morris in the lead. They made their way down the long hallway, past the bodies of the two hounds and back into the main lobby of the medical area. Morris stopped and looked at the holographic map before pointing across the lobby. “That way to the treatment rooms,” he said softly. Marcus and Burton nodded to him and fell in line behind as he moved.
