by Amy DuBoff
A hum filled the air as the engines revved, straining the ship against the docking clamps that were still engaged at the end of the gangway. They wouldn’t hold for long.
* * *
Ava hurriedly stowed the free-weights she’d been using for her workout. Did Luke get what he needed so he can figure out what the hell is going on with me?
She placed her wrists behind her back as she approached the waiting Were guards.
“Major Widmore instructed us to take you to a conference room where he and Luke will meet you,” the guard said while cuffing her.
“Lead the way.” Ava nodded to the door.
Five minutes later, Ava was deposited inside the conference room. It wasn’t equipped for prisoner securement like an interrogation room, but the guards looped her cuffs through the support beams of the table, which was welded to the floor. Ava had to lean forward at an awkward angle, but it was still better than the confounded bed.
As the guards finished up, Major Widmore entered, Luke right behind him.
Ava smiled. “Hello, sir. Welcome back, Luke.”
“Hey.” Luke looked like he wanted to run over, but he restricted himself to a friendly smile in the major’s presence.
“How’d it go on Coraxa?” Ava asked him.
“That’s an interesting story. I asked Major Widmore to join us so I could explain what happened.”
The major closed the door and adjusted some controls on the touch-panel mounted to the wall. “This room is secure. No one can listen in.”
Luke nodded. “So, we got to Coraxa and everything started out fine. Equipment was loaded and we were on our way out. Then Nick got an alert that two people had entered the NTech lobby.”
“Who were they?” Major Widmore asked.
“That’s why I was so insistent we meet. I have no idea who the man was, but I instantly recognized the woman as Chancellor Heizberg of the Nezaran Coalition.”
Ava’s breath caught in her throat. “The Nezaran Chancellor was touring a condemned NTech lab?”
“Precisely. Things got especially awkward when a group of well-armed soldiers showed up and started shooting at us.” Luke frowned.
Widmore leaned back in his chair and released a long breath. “That confirms whatever NTech was up to had ties to the government.”
“Yes, sir,” Luke acknowledged, “but I’m afraid it might extend beyond the Nezaran government.”
“What makes you say that?” Widmore questioned.
“I talked to my sister after the op. She’d reached out while we were on the planet’s surface. If you recall, she works for the Alucian president. They suspect Heizberg has been subverted, which fits with what I saw. However, President Connors had relayed this information to Kurtz, and the colonel dismissed it. That makes sense, if what Doctor Dwyer suspects about Kurtz is true.”
Ava shook her head. “It’s not just suspicion anymore. I’ve had enough weird conversations with him over the last two days to draw my own conclusions.”
Major Widmore sat in quiet contemplation. “Kurtz led the investigation into the recent security breach. It’s possible some of the people involved were innocent, and he pegged his own actions on them.”
“I was just about to suggest the same thing, sir,” Ava said.
The major nodded. “We need to detain Colonel Kurtz. He has too much authority to let him maintain free rein of this facility.”
Ava’s gaze passed between the major and Luke. “And you need to keep a close eye on me, too. Kurtz came to speak with me and suggested I embrace these Hochste abilities. Whatever NTech was up to, I think modifying me was part of their plan, and Kurtz’s job might be to make sure I turn out how they hope.”
Luke paled. “Colonel Kurtz may have helped Andrea escape.”
“Or, at a minimum, not stopped her,” Ava said. “In any case, the longer we talk here, the longer this base is in danger.”
Widmore rose from the table. “I’ll speak with Colonel Walton right away. And, Ava, as much as I want to trust you, I agree that it’s too risky for you to be unsupervised until we understand exactly what was done to you. We can forgo the restraints, but I’d like you to stay on lockdown.”
“Yes, sir, I understand.” Not being lashed to the bed would at least be an upgrade. Though, she very well might be wishing for the bed if she had another seizure or whatever it was.
“Stand by for further instruction,” Widmore ordered. “And it goes without saying that you speak of this to no one.”
“Yes, sir,” Ava and Luke both acknowledged.
The major left the room.
One of the guards entered. “Your cuffs, ma’am.”
“Thanks.” Ava rubbed her wrists as soon the guard removed the shackles. “Give us another minute, Private.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The guard closed the door behind himself.
Ava took the opportunity to take Luke’s hands. “I’m glad you made it back in one piece.”
“Those NTech guys were trying hard to make sure that didn’t happen.” He shrugged it off. “Can’t say I’m eager to be in combat again, though.”
“I’m all for you being my scientist guy back here at HQ.”
“That I can do.” He leaned in and gave her a kiss. “And I need to get going on that testing.”
“Yes, please tell me what’s going on. I haven’t had so much as an eye-glow in the last two days.”
“There’s no reason to believe there would be any kind of consistent expression of traits. It’s actually surprising you were able to exercise any degree of control when you were on the verge of changing before.”
“I hope you don’t want me to intentionally change, because if that’s what Kurtz wants, it’s probably the last thing I should do.”
“We’ll make that determination once I’ve completed a full model of your current genome and bloodwork.”
Ava scowled at him. “Scientist you is so impersonal.”
He smiled. “Rest assured, you’ll be my favorite test subject.”
“Yeah, well—”
An alarm interrupted Ava.
Luke jumped. “What’s that for?”
“Nothing good.”
* * *
Major Widmore stopped midstride when the alarm sounded. The fuck?
He ran to the nearest control panel and entered his credentials to view the details for the alert. Someone was trying to force an override to release a transport ship from its grapple. If the alarm was sounding, that meant the station was at risk for a decompression.
What kind of idiot would be trying to launch a ship without disengaging the docking clamps? Widmore grumbled internally.
No trained warrior, that’s for sure. So either someone had forgotten all their training, or the pilot was under duress.
Regardless of the reasons, that docking wing needed as many Force personnel as possible to get the situation under control.
Widmore ran down the corridor.
CHAPTER TEN
Ava dashed to the conference room door. “We need to find out what that alarm is for.”
“Should you be, you know, out and about?” Luke asked behind her.
She was torn. Feeling like herself at the moment didn’t mean she wasn’t actually under some form of influence. But if there was an emergency situation, stars be damned if she was going to be locked in a holding cell while the facility was in crisis.
Ava looked over her shoulder at Luke. “Right now, the most pressing danger is whatever is causing that alarm.” She opened the door and found the four guards waiting outside, looking concerned. “Private, what’s the alarm about?”
“There’s a notice about pressurization failure, but that’s all I know, ma’am,” one warrior replied.
The station might depressurize? Ava’s heart leaped. They’d trained for that kind of emergency, but she never dreamed she’d have to put those skills to use. “We need to get to a control center.”
“Ma’am, we’re supposed to bring you
back to Medical.”
“Those orders came through before there was a fucking alarm telling us we all might die!” Ava shot back.
“Uh…” Luke paled.
“Might be an exaggeration. Hopefully.” Ava stared down the private barring her path. “I’ll have the good doctor here to escort me,” she said, gesturing toward Luke.
“Right, yes,” Luke said to her relief.
“I’m… I’m not sure—”
“Private, the circumstances have changed. I’m not an enemy being detained, this was a voluntary isolation. Either let me out now, or I’m going to force my way out.”
The warrior reluctantly stepped aside, and his comrades parted.
“Thank you.” Ava passed through the opening and headed to the left toward the nearest control room.
“You know I can’t do squat to stop you if you lose control,” Luke whispered when they were beyond earshot from the guards.
“It won’t come to that.”
Ava jogged down the hall with Luke close behind. The control room was around a corner a hundred meters from the conference room. She tried the door, but it was locked.
“Damn,” she muttered while fiddling with the controls on the touch-panel.
“Can you override it?”
“Yes, but it won’t be easy. The depressurization warning has sealed all the doors.”
“Yeah, again, that sounds like something I should be worried about!”
Ava ignored Luke’s concerns for the time being, focusing on the task at hand. She couldn’t make an informed assessment of their circumstances until she knew exactly what they were up against.
After two minutes of trying various overrides for the door lock, she finally found an authorization that worked. The bolt unlocked with a satisfying clang, and then the door hissed open.
As soon as the door opened a crack, a large wolf stuck its nose through the opening toward Ava. Paws connected with Ava’s shoulders, and she fell backward onto the deck.
The wolf shoved its snout in her face and barked, sending a spray of drool across Ava’s face.
“The fuck?” Ava shoved the wolf off of her, noting the name badge on its adaptable pressure suit. “Larry, how could you let yourself lose focus like that?”
Larry the wolf dropped his head and looked up at her with regretful eyes.
Granted, an unexpected alarm was a stressful situation, but Ava would have expected a Force warrior to fight harder to keep the animal side of his self from taking over.
She wiped the wolf spittle from her face and dashed to the control panel on the back wall.
The entire touchscreen was covered in slobber and paw prints. “Damn it, Larry!” Ava glared at the wolf.
He whined and dropped his head further.
“Holy shit.”
Ava grimaced as she ran her fingers through the sticky puddle of drool to access the menu. “Fool tried to get the door open with his nose.”
Larry barked.
“Don't try to explain now,” she told him without taking her eyes from the controls.
He plopped onto the deck and crossed his front paws.
Luke glanced between Larry and Ava, shaking his head.
She chuckled to herself as she searched for details about the lockdown, remembering what it had been like when she first joined the FDG and had to get used to being around Weres. It wasn’t often that one of the warriors would shift when they didn’t intend to, but sometimes it was poor timing to the point of being comical.
Her amusement faded the moment she located the source of the alarm. “Oh, shit…”
Luke ran up next to her, searching the screen. “What is it?”
“A ship is trying to break away from the station while the docking clamps are still engaged. It’ll rip a hole in this section if it gets free.”
“Why would someone—”
“No one in their right mind would.” Ava took a steadying breath. “Kurtz.”
“Kurtz-Kurtz or alien-Kurtz?”
“For all I know it’s a fight between the two of them.”
Luke crossed his arms. “What do we do?”
“You are going to stay here in this room with Larry here. The room will remain pressurized even if the rest of this arm of the station loses atmosphere.”
“Ava, no, you’re not going up against—”
“I’ll find Widmore or someone on my team.”
Luke spread his arms. “You can’t just leave me here!”
“I can’t bring you along, either. I need to get to the colonel. No one else knows what’s going on with him, so they’d be liable to either shoot him on sight or let him go,” Ava insisted. “I need to help bring him in unharmed.”
“And then what?”’
“You figure out how to get that thing out of him.”
“Me?!”
“Hey, you signed up to be the FDG’s greatest new scientific mind.”
A flush crept into Luke’s face. “Yeah, for genetics research! And let’s not forget I’m already trying to solve what’s going on with you.”
“That can wait. The colonel needs our help, and fixing whatever happened to him means we might be able to help the Nezaran Chancellor, too.”
“Ava—”
“I’ll be fine. And you’ll be safe here. Remember the safety briefing about the pressure suit, should you need it.” She gave him a quick kiss. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Before Luke could object further, she ran out the door into the corridor. She resealed the door behind her.
The endangered docking wing was up two decks, so Ava ran to the nearest access ladder, knowing the elevator would be locked.
She scaled the rungs and ran down the hall toward the docking location as soon as she reached the top.
Two bewildered guards stood behind the security desk at the wing’s entrance.
“What’s going on?” Ava demanded.
“Don’t know, ma’am,” one replied. “Colonel Kurtz came by a few minutes ago, and then Widmore—”
The deck shuddered, accompanied by a groan of grating metal.
“Get yourselves to a safe place,” Ava instructed. She opened the wing door. “Make sure this is sealed behind me.” She ran through.
The sound of grinding metal echoed down the corridor. The sound was coming from the left, so Ava ran in that direction. After passing by five airlocks along the curving hall, Ava spotted Major Widmore up ahead making furious entries on a touchpanel. “Major!”
He glanced in her direction. “Ava? What are you—”
“Is it Kurtz?” she asked.
“Yes, he signed out a ship. The orders are complete nonsense.”
Another shudder wracked the station as the ship strained at the end of its gangway.
“Why didn’t the clamps release?”
“It’s strange.” The major shook his head. “Only half of the undocking procedures were followed. He knows better.”
“Kurtz knows better. But if he’s not in control…”
“Either way, we need to stop him.”
“That’s why I’m here, sir. But I’m surprised I beat the security team.”
“How did you get here so fast?” Widmore asked.
“Ladder.”
“Well, others will make their way up here, but it’s going to take some explanation about what’s going on. Those are questions I don’t know how to answer.”
“Too much of that going around.” Ava assessed what the major had been doing with the airlock door, seeing he was midway through a poorly executed hack of the overrides. “May I, sir?”
“Please.” He stepped aside. “I was never much good at this.”
“That’s why you have a team, sir.”
She got to work redoing Widmore’s attempt to override the seal. “Almost got it…”
The lock released and the doors began to part—just as another shudder reverberated through the station.
“Suit, now!” Widmore shouted.
On reflex, Ava activated the emergency deployment for the gloves and helmet on her pressure suit. The collar unfurled and a clear dome enveloped her head while gloves formed around her hands.
Ava was sucked through the opening between the airlock’s door panels.
She careened straight down the ruined gangway. The smooth walls sped by her, offering nothing to grab. Before she could react, she passed through the splintered end where the ship had ripped away.
For an instant, everything was quiet and still.
Only a dozen meters ahead, the transport vessel was pulling away, its side airlock still open. Ava had no control of her trajectory, but the gangway had sent her on a course straight for the ship’s open airlock. She’d have one chance to stick the landing.
One excruciating second passed in the vacuum of space. Time stood still for Ava as she tumbled through the black toward the ship’s airlock, her heart pounding in her ears. She held her breath, bracing for the impact.
She clipped the edge of the airlock on her way through the door. Pain radiated from her right shoulder as she cartwheeled to the side. She struck the other side of the chamber and desperately reached for a handhold. Her first grasp came up empty, but she managed to loop her fingers through on the second attempt.
Ava held on for dear life.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a black form hurdling toward her.
“Widmore!” she shouted, though she knew he couldn’t hear her.
He flew past her and struck the back wall. Ava held out her hand, and he grabbed it on the ricochet, providing just enough leverage to swing toward the wall and grab a handhold.
Widmore pounded on the emergency hatch seal, and the airlock door slammed shut.
The artificial gravity engaged, and Ava was slowly pulled toward the floor.
A gauge on the back wall turned green, indicating atmosphere had been restored to the chamber.
She pressed the controls on her neck, and the helmet and gloves folded back into her suit. Widmore did the same.
“Holy shit, that was close,” she told him.
“That wasn’t exactly what I had planned.” The major took a deep breath. “I guess we’re on our own.”
