by Holly Ice
‘Great, but where do we go? They timed that too well. They’re watching us.’
My chest constricted. She was right. I had to think about this logically. Guards would be flooding the upper decks. We had to go deep into the ship, away from the cameras, and… space me, I should have thought of it earlier. I hit C-16 and stepped back with a grin.
‘What? Why there?’ Siti asked.
‘We’re heading for the lander, but we can’t let them know that.’ Not when they’d be monitoring the elevator. We’d go the rest of the way on foot. Cameras down there were few and far between. We’d make it.
‘The lander? But Quinn had that covered. Are we regrouping already?’
‘In a way. We need the lander too.’
‘We can’t leave for Ristar. We don’t have half the team.’
‘That’s not what I need it for.’
‘Then what?’
‘What’s the one system on the ship that might need full access to the ship’s nav?’
Siti smiled. ‘The lander. It’s a back door.’
Chapter 16
Deck C-22 was so dim it was dingy. Emergency lighting concentrated on the airlock, which meant some corners and a large area beneath the stairs were impenetrable. The darkness put me on edge. Siti was as tense as I was, but Ludis’s priority didn’t seem to be chasing me. If his team had been here, they would have reacted to the clang of the stairs.
The logic didn’t soothe my nerves. I hurried to the centre of the deck, Siti close behind. All I could hear was the usual creaks and groans of the ship.
‘Are you still down here?’ I asked the darkness.
A tall broad-shouldered man edged out of the shadows with a baton hanging at his side. His close-cropped hair and fiery amber eyes were a welcome sight. Siti lowered her stunner and I loosened my grip on mine. Bar his earlier injuries, Quinn was unscathed.
‘Good to have company,’ he said. ‘Something wrong?’
‘Something’s right. Any trouble?’
He shrugged. ‘No problem getting here.’
‘No one swept the lander deck?’
‘Not while I was here.’
‘Good. You been inside the hold?’
‘Couldn’t, it’s locked up tight. I hid under the stairs, waiting for company. You’re the first I’ve seen.’
It confirmed what we’d guessed: Ludis didn’t have enough supporters to cover the ship. He wouldn’t lose guards to chase us unless he knew exactly where we were. That gave us time. ‘Quinn, how good are you with computer systems?’
‘Good enough. We need basic skills to mend systems, but the only thing worth jacking is the lander and that’s beyond me.’
Siti strode to the airlock doors and peered through the thick window. ‘Empty inside.’
‘We can’t break in,’ Quinn said. ‘We’d wreck the seal.’
Siti stepped back with a smile. ‘Don’t worry about that.’
Quinn eyed me. ‘If the seal is broken when the lander leaves, we might have to section the deck. I wouldn’t call that fine.’
‘I have the override code.’
He whistled and grinned. ‘Could have done with that hours ago. Plug it in. Panel’s to the right of the door.’
The panel looked exactly like the one hiding below the emergency stop in the elevator – a tiny thing, tucked out the way. I typed in the code and pressed enter. A computerised voice said: ‘Code accepted’. I’d barely had time to be pleased when Quinn slapped his hand on the green door panel, and we were into the airlock.
Twenty or thirty grey suits hung around us in the small room. We pulled them on over our clothes and secured the helmets. My suit shrank to fit me, while Quinn’s stretched to accept his wide shoulders. Siti struggled to get her limp arm into the suit, so I helped her, ensuring her injured arm moved as little as possible.
‘All okay?’ I asked, checking their helmets and seals. Both seemed more composed than me. I was in a daze, experiencing what I would have been part of, had I not failed the vote.
‘All good,’ Quinn said, tapping my helmet. ‘Don’t worry. I’ve been in these enough times to spot a problem.’
‘First for me.’ I raised my arms and legs to get a feel for the suit’s weight. It wasn’t much heavier than my coveralls, despite the thicker ‘smart’ fabric.
The second door panel turned green. Ready when we were. After one last check of our suits, Quinn disengaged the lock and light spilled outward, revealing the full expanse of the ship’s hold. It was a large, dark, cavernous space, but the lander – a small transport ship – was tucked in close, no more than three metres in. I frowned and double-checked my readings. Oxygen was green.
‘Thought they sucked the air out. Guess not.’ Quinn pulled off his helmet. ‘Shall we?’
I entered the override and we swept through the lander’s smaller airlock into its cargo hold.
Boxes had been strapped to the walls and floor in miniature pyramids. One had a hole in the side, as if someone had kicked it into place. The hole was big enough to see it was stuffed full of dried algae packets. No doubt there’d be a food-shaping machine in another box. At a rough guess, there was enough food for six months, longer on rations. There were also water bottles and pieces of equipment for groundwork. All that was left to pack was the crew and their clothes.
I glanced over my shoulder. We had a clear view through the airlocks, back into the main ship. It was tempting to start the mission now, before Ludis had a chance to figure out what we’d done. That would flatten his movement and his mutiny. But we only had one member of the five-person crew. Siti and I didn’t count.
‘Errai?’
Quinn stuck his head into the hold. He’d gone ahead to the cockpit. ‘Coming?’
‘Sure.’
I passed through the passenger area, where five rows of black seats and green straps waited for colonists to take their first trip to Ristar’s surface. The seats were plain for the task, but they’d do the job. And beyond them, out the cockpit window, was space, hurtling past. The view took up the entire screen, a dizzying sight. We were still inside the Courage, so it had to be an external camera, angled so the lander could time departure to avoid debris.
Siti groaned and sank into the co-pilot chair, clutching her stomach. ‘Can you shut that off?’
‘Uh… here.’ Quinn hit a button on the far side of the control panel. The screen flipped to show blackness. At first I thought it was the shutter, but then I realised it was the depths of the hold.
Quinn nudged me. ‘What’s the plan?’
I smiled. ‘The original crew planned to construct a space elevator and keep the Courage in orbit, right?’
‘Been a while since we covered it, but I think so.’
‘So theoretically they might need to control the Courage from the lander.’
‘Yes, but… of course! There should be a link to navigation.’ He settled into the pilot’s chair and tapped into an access panel, fully focused. He wouldn’t need further instruction.
Siti, though, was bent over her knees, her breathing too shallow to be healthy. ‘Still sick?’
She grunted.
‘Soft stomach, huh?’
She couldn’t manage a reply. She’d be no help until her nausea passed, which would’ve been a nightmare on the mission, but we were safe enough for her to wallow in it. The doors were locked, and Ludis had no idea where we were. ‘Quinn, how long till we have access?’
‘To nav systems?’
‘To the entire ship.’
‘You don’t ask much, do you?’ He shook his head. ‘I doubt I can get everything.’ He pointed at lines and lines of code. It was beyond me. ‘Even with the override, this will take time. It wasn’t designed to be easy access, and I’m not the best at this.’
‘Rough guess?’
‘Hours. Likely most of the night.’
I frowned and looked out the airlock. The deck was still clear. The calm before the storm. That’s what our ancestors called it
. ‘Okay. Change the override as you go.’ We couldn’t keep the same numbers. As much as I trusted Rima, I doubted she’d endure the same torture as Siti or James without nanites to bolster her. ‘I’ll dim the lights and we’ll sleep while we can.’ I hauled Siti upright despite her groans. I couldn’t have her vomiting around the controls, and lying down would be better for her stomach anyway.
‘I might need the code again,’ Quinn said.
‘Then wake me.’
‘And the new one?’
‘Use a number generator, and don’t forget what it spews out.’
He hesitated but nodded. With anyone else I would have reinforced the point, but I knew Quinn got it. The override wasn’t a code you could forget and write over.
‘Okay. We’ll be in the passenger area where there’s more room to stretch out. You good here?’
‘Sure. I’ll call if that changes.’
* * *
I woke groggy, stiff… and bruised. My hip bone especially felt like it had drilled into the metal floor. I stretched and winced as something poked my spine. I’d wagered it was better to sleep on the floor than be cooped up on the chairs, but I was beginning to rethink, especially after waking a good five times to help Quinn. A floor does not retain heat, and blankets were a luxury we didn’t yet have on board.
But the lander was quiet this time, the soft tapping of the controls absent. Quinn and Siti were fast asleep between two seat rows. I’d leave them to it. Last I’d checked, Quinn had worked into the late hours of third shift. He’d need the rest. There was no room for tired mistakes.
I stumbled to the cockpit and groaned at the shiny numbers on the display. It was late, nearing second shift, and past time to check in with Aina but a quick check showed James’s messages hadn’t been touched. She was either captured or had no access to a comm. Perhaps I had asked too much of her.
A few dozen clicks later, I had access to the ship’s camera feeds. I went back in time to check health and watched the fight play out. She’d gone down quickly, and the guards had seen what she had been working on at the terminal. They’d then gone to a locked cabinet and taken out a number of syringes. I’d been right not to wait for the patrol to wake up. Either they were drugging them again, or they were drugging their prisoners, and for them to know the cabinet code, someone in health was working with them. No doubt that useless counsellor. I cursed myself for not acting on my suspicions when I’d first seen her, but it was too late now.
I tried to work out how long the dose lasted, based on a guess of when the patrol had first been dosed, and when the next dose was needed. That brought us to… I scrambled into the passenger area and shook Quinn awake.
He bolted upright. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘The patrol should be getting another injection to keep them under this evening. What if we use ship systems to stop it?’
Quinn rubbed his chin stubble. ‘Timing is decent. They should be distracted by their vote. Any ideas?’
I had a few, but they required someone outside the lander. ‘Is anyone you trust able to move around?’
Quinn frowned. ‘I don’t think Ashoka went to the food hall.’
He’d been moodier than Aina of late, but I trusted him. ‘Great. We’ll ask him to bring patrolmen into cabins and ask people he trusts to help. They’ll tell the guards it’s to keep them comfortable.’
Quinn nodded. ‘They shouldn’t get too twitchy if they know where the patrol are, but why move them?’
‘If all goes well, there’s no reason. If it doesn’t, the crew need to be ready to fight off the next dose.’
‘Asking a lot.’
‘I know, but we can’t be the only ones anxious to do something.’
‘Okay. Need me on the controls?’
‘Ideally.’
He was already up and moving to the cockpit. ‘Tell me it’s simpler than hacking into the ship’s systems.’
I smiled. ‘Did you get them all?’
‘All that matter.’
‘Great. I need to know the limitations of what we can and can’t do. Can you run me through that?’
‘Easy.’
I gestured to the cockpit. ‘Whenever you’re ready, techie.’
* * *
A few hours after our plan was set, Quinn rechecked various systems and swivelled to face me. ‘Errai, we’ve got a problem!’ He tapped the screen. It showed a schematic of the ship and was focused on the elevator shaft.
‘Where’s it going?’
‘Here.’
‘How many guards are we looking at?’
He brought up the thermal camera. ‘Four.’
‘Okay, not too many. It’s manageable.’
‘Manageable? Are we going to attack?’
‘We might have to. We can’t let them capture us and we can’t give them access to the lander.’ We couldn’t risk that, especially not with the last drug dose still in the patrol’s system.
‘I can stop the elevator between decks?’
‘No, that tells them we have access to ship systems. Let them come.’
I went to warn Siti, but she was already strapping a stunner to her belt, her limp arm back to normal.
‘You heard?’ I asked.
‘Yep. We’ve got company. I’ll cut the lights.’
The ship’s airlock and hold were dark, its lights only activated when someone was inside, but the lander was another matter. Siti dashed around, fumbling against walls to find the switches. I helped, but by the time I’d finished with the last lights in the lander’s airlock, I knew the guards would almost be on us.
I stepped back into the cargo hold but caught my toes and hissed a string of curses. Siti hushed me and helped me limp over the step.
‘Thanks.’
No one was on deck, so they shouldn’t have heard the bash. Only my pride was hurt, and my toes.
I angled my view to see the elevator. Its overhead lights were flashing, the doors about to open. I bit my lip. We’d prepared for this, but nerves still made my head spin. Quinn had erased our brief presence outside the locked cargo hold door from video footage and looped scenes of an empty deck. We had a new password and the lights were out. All precautions had been taken, and they had no reason to suspect we were here. We should be fine, but this couldn’t go wrong.
Siti pulled me from the window and pushed a stunner into my hand. ‘You’re in full view. Keep down and get your head in the fight.’
She was right. I was freezing in full sight like an idiot. I ducked down and nodded a thank-you before focusing outward. The airlocks blocked most sound, so I couldn’t hear footsteps, but I soon heard the sharp beep, beep of nine buttons. They’d tried the access code.
I heard the muted panel say: ‘Code declined’. Siti nodded to me and I nodded back. The guard wasn’t as pleased. They tried the number again and the panel repeated: ‘Code declined’. He cursed and tried one last time, slower now. ‘Code declined. You have two more attempts.’
‘The code isn’t working,’ he whined.
‘Try it again,’ a rough female voice said.
‘I did. Three times.’
‘You’re sure you got it right?’
‘Positive.’
The woman grumbled something and huffed out a sharp breath. ‘Then we’ll tell Ludis Rima has been lying.’
‘You can tell him,’ her partner replied.
I didn’t move as the quiet stretched. They could still be on deck, and the slightest noise could give us away. A soft glow from the passenger room turned me around. That would give us up quicker than a scream. ‘What are you doing? Switch it off!’
‘They left,’ Quinn said. ‘I watched on the screens.’
I was an asshole, but nerves had always made me snappy. ‘Sorry. Anything to report?’
‘Not much. They checked the deck, tried to get in here, then left.’
‘Think they were looking for us?’
‘Maybe, but this is the only deck they swept.’
Which
made it the lander they were after, especially if they thought they had the override code. It looked like either Ludis or his allies weren’t going to rely on the vote. I knew they wouldn’t. They had no way to deescalate from a mutiny without being imprisoned. ‘Did they use Rima’s code?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Shit.’ That meant they’d hurt her, and badly. She wasn’t a weakling. She’d have taken a lot of punishment. ‘Well, we bought time.’ Changing the code had kept the lander on board, for now. I only hoped Rima would survive whatever beating her ‘lies’ would bring.
* * *
The lights went off on the main deck in the early afternoon, then a familiar blue-toned light came on, then off, blue, and off. With how dark the lander was, the blue tint was obvious.
I raced into the cockpit. ‘Get it on screen.’
Quinn tapped the control panel. ‘Looks like Ludis’s speech. I’ll patch it through… shit!’
‘What?’
‘Someone’s trying to cut the back door access. They must have seen me grab the feed.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘The lander’s comm could have been flagged…’ His eyes flicked side to side as he appraised the code and his fingers moved at furious speeds. ‘I don’t have time to explain.’ From his tense jaw and repeated stabs at the backspace key, it wasn’t going well.
‘Block access to health and keep it blocked.’
‘If I do that, I can’t focus on the guy trying to restrict our access. They’re good.’
‘Just do it.’
He nodded to the screen. ‘You still want me to fake the fire sensor and keep the fire doors shut after oxygen is pumped back in?’
‘Yes, if it’s safe. James is still in health. Maybe Aina, too.’
‘They’ll be fine. Without a real fire, they’ll have no oxygen for seconds at most.’ Quinn squinted at the code as he wrote, ‘I’ll do the same with the deck’s entrance doors, but it’ll only keep the guards out of health for three hours. Much less if they use plasma cutters.’
‘Do it anyway. It’s the best we’ve got.’ We needed six hours for patrol to clear the drug, but with any luck, they’d focus on us first.
Quinn bowed deeper over the screen, fingers flying over the keys, until he growled and slammed his hand on the control desk. He threw himself back in the chair, rocking on the frame. The code stopped scrolling with type. ‘I’m out. They locked us out.’
