by S. W. Gunn
“Okay.” He replied before turning to head out the door.
Chapter 13
Johnathan made sure to lock the door to the secondary mainframe room. He needed to ensure Mark’s safety. Getting to the bridge was going to be quite the journey as he would need to climb up over a dozen levels with the ladder and then work his way through the engineering tunnels. He remembered that there was a panel that opened directly up into the bridge near the main view screen. He stopped at a nearby restroom to utilize the facilities, wash some of the blood off himself, and drink some water. It was quite a relief to drink some water because he was quite thirsty from all of the physical exertion. He made his way to the nearest elevator that would take him to the engineering tunnel levels. After opening the elevator he gave a big sigh and started climbing up. He was really getting sweaty and his arms were hurting quite a bit when he finally made it to the level that he needed to get to. Unlocking the door he quickly exited the elevator shaft. As soon as he got into the hallway he realized that he was in trouble. Off to his right, and blocking the direction he needed to go, was a group of four aliens. They had not seen him yet so he slipped away from them towards the nearest hallway away from them. Thankfully he was able to make it unnoticed. He decided to circle around to see if he could find the access point. Unlike the elevators, the engineering tunnels only had about ten entry points. The next nearest one, outside of the bridge, was the auditorium. Johnathan’s arms were just too tired to make another long climb in the elevator shaft so he had no choice but to find a way to sneak around the aliens. As he worked his way through the corridors he heard movement coming from in front of him. Glancing left and right Johnathan spotted a door. He was unsure where it went and when he stepped towards it to enter it did not open. He fiddled with the controls and unlocked it before slipping in through. Once they closed behind him he locked the door.
“Who is that?” A female voice spoke softly behind him.
Johnathan spun around and immediately recognized the woman speaking as one of the women who was at the court when Rose ran the court for the ‘Skybound’, specifically the first case. He forgot her name. When he first spotted her she had a look of extreme panic but she must have recognized him because her face relaxed.
She gestured him to approach before whispering, “I know you. You’re the Commander’s lover.”
He flushed lightly in response before saying, “I guess so. How come you aren’t with the rest of the people in the auditorium?”
“Ya right... that’s the first place these monsters are gonna go. I’m better off on my own.”
Johnathan was not so sure so he told her, “I don’t know that sounds pretty dangerous to be by yourself.”
“Well I’m not alone now.”
“I have to leave for the bridge.”
“Oh. Well it doesn’t matter because I’m not leaving.”
“Alright. Is there another way out? The creatures are in the hallway here.”
She nodded at him before turning to walk towards the back area of her quarters.
“I convinced an engineer to build me a door that leads out into the storage closet behind my room.”
“Why?”
“I was dating this guy who was a total stalker. He had me worried that he was going to attack me so I thought I needed another way out.”
“Why didn’t you talk to the security team?”
She laughed before saying, “I did and they told me I was crazy.”
Johnathan was starting to think that she might indeed be crazy. From the court case to this maybe she was attracting trouble.
He decided that it was time to leave so he asked, “Show me the way?”
“First promise you won’t reveal my secret door to anyone.”
Although he was not in the mood for her crazy games he knew that needed to slip through her hidden door so he told her firmly, “I promise.”
She paused for a moment plainly looking unsure if she should trust him before she finally gestured for him to follow her and then turned to walk through the door that he guessed was her bedroom. He was proven right when he entered to see she had set up a large bed along the back wall. She then began to push against a bookshelf, which slid sideways in response. Behind it was another door. With a slight nudge she opened the door for Johnathan.
“Thank you and be safe.” He told her.
“I will.”
He walked through the door, which closed behind him. He heard a slight grinding noise behind him, no doubt her moving the bookshelf back in place. Johnathan glanced around. He was in a small storage closet that was filled with a variety of cleaning supplies. In front of him was a door. Cautiously Johnathan approached the door, which slide open in response. Peeking out he recognized the hallway, it was an offshoot of the main hallway heading towards the engineering tunnels entryway. Johnathan headed down the hallway and once he hit the point where the two hallways met he glanced around the corners both ways. The direction towards the engineering tunnels was clear and the other way he spotted one of the aliens walking away from him. Johnathan waited until the alien were no longer in sight before he made his move. Turning down the hallway he began jogging. He needed to make his way as quickly as possible to the bridge. After a brief jog he made it to the panel that led to the tunnels. Unlike most entryways the engineering tunnels were kept slightly disguised. The last thing that anyone needed was people wandering the tunnels without knowledge of engineering protocols and security measures. Anyone without that information could easily be injured down in the tunnels. They were nothing more than a narrow passageway with access points to every possible major area of the eco-ship for repairing. Glancing back and forth to make sure no one was watching, they did not need was these aliens finding the tunnels, Johnathan popped open the panel on the floor and slid down into the tunnels. He reached up and replaced the panel.
With a sigh of relief Johnathan stated, “Made it.”
He was not talking to anyone particular but he was happy to have gotten safely in the tunnels. He began briskly walking. The bridge access point was about five thousand meters away. Johnathan worked his way through the tunnels without incident. As he got close to the bridge access point he could hear the sounds of battle coming through the ceiling of the tunnel. Taking a few more steps he was now standing below the panel that opened into the bridge and reached up to open it. The panel wiggled a little but it did not open. He tried to move it again but it would not budge. Either it was stuck shut since most engineers would not use this panel to access the bridge or someone was standing on it. Johnathan reached up and banged at the panel which echoed loudly. Nothing happened. He tried opening the panel again and it would not budge. Once again he banged against the panel. Midway through banging on the panel it popped open. The lighting on the bridge was so bright compared to the engineering tunnel that it temporarily blinded Johnathan.
“It’s Technician Fischer” A familiar voice said.
Johnathan recognized it immediately the voice of the Environmental Officer, Mr. Choe. As his sight because to recover from the light he saw Mr. Choe and two other security officers lowering their rifles.
“Help him out of there.” A voice that Johnathan recognized as the First Officer.
Several hands grabbed Johnathan’s arms and pulled him up. One of the security officers replaced the panel. Johnathan spotted Rose as she began to walk towards him. She looked very upset.
Her voice was very stern as she said, “John I told you to go to the engineering bay and help out.”
“I know but something came up and I didn’t make it.”
She still looked very mad as she said, “What?”
Johnathan described everything that had happened to him from the moment he finished installing the last laser to arriving on the bridge. Rose’s facial expression shifted from anger to awe to thoughtful.
She remained silent for a few moments before saying, “There has to be something with the lemonade.”
Turni
ng to the Lead Engineer she continued speaking, “What do you think Mr. Mugabe?”
The Lead Engineer looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, “It does sound like they are susceptible to acidic water. The issue is how would we use this?”
The Lead Engineer then waved over at several other men who Johnathan recognized as other engineers. They clustered together talking to each other just slightly out of Johnathan’s hearing.
After a few moments they broke away from each other and the Lead Engineer turned to Rose and said, “We could do some sort of gun or hose?”
The First Officer frowned before stating, “That’d be no better than just shooting them.”
Rose looked disappointed by their suggestion.
“There has to be a way we can take advantage of this weakness in these aliens? Our weapons work on them but it takes too many shots to bring them down. We’ve been fighting them as they come but they seem to have more always coming. We aren’t even sure how many of their vessels crashed into the ‘Skybound’.”
Johnathan interrupted, “Five.”
“How do you know?” Rose asked with a very stunned look on her face.
“The computer notified me before the fail safes shut it down from an attack. They had eleven vessels and our lasers took out two of them. The smallest of their vessels did not survive the impact with our shields. Six vessels survived the impact and I was able to take out one that was embedded into the lower hangar bay doors by opening the doors on it.”
Suddenly the Environmental Officer spoke up, “What about the emergency fire suppression system?”
Rose turned to look at him before asking, “What?”
“We could use the emergency fire suppression system which normally releases a fire retardant foam to release acidified water. As long as we don’t make it too acidic it should do the job without hurting our own systems.”
Johnathan was impressed. It was definitely inspired thinking that could work.
He nodded at the Environmental Officer before saying, “That could work. We’d need to balance the acid level but lemonade has a mid-level acidity so if we shouldn’t hurt the electronics of the eco-ship, especially with all the rewiring we’ve done.”
Rose then interrupted, “John do you think you can do it?”
Looking at her he nodded as he said, “Yes but I would need to be at the foam pump for the emergency fire suppression system. It’s located near the primary engines for the eco-ship. Once there I can change the programming to disperse acidic water instead of fire repellent foam.”
“Alright we need to go there now. We’ve already taken serious losses and we need to stop these aliens now.”
The First Officer interjected, “Commander we can’t leave the bridge unguarded. If they take it they can control the eco-ship.”
“I know First Officer. You and I will take Technician Fischer to the foam pump while the rest of the bridge crew holds the bridge.”
The First Officer frowned as he said, “Shouldn’t you stay on the bridge safe?”
She laughed as she answered, “I appreciate your concern First Officer but I’d say nowhere is particularly safe right now.”
“Understand Commander.”
“Mr. Noviko you are in command on the Bridge. Do not let them take it.”
“Yes Commander.” Mr. Noviko responded.
Rose pointed to the panel that lead to the engineering tunnels as she said, “Lead on Mr. Fischer.”
Chapter 14
Johnathan moved at a brisk pace through the engineering tunnels. He was quite happy to have made it to the bridge and even more so he was impressed with the quick thinking of Mr. Choe, the Environmental Officer. Johnathan was pretty sure that it would not take much to turn the fire suppression system’s foam into slightly acidic water. Really it was a task any engineer could do. He imagined Rose chose him to do it so that she could keep an eye on him.
“I have never seen these tunnels before.” The First Officer commented.
Johnathan said in response, “Really only the engineers use them. They are great access points for every major component of the eco-ship while making it so we won’t be in the way of anyone else while performing our work.”
“Makes sense.”
They continued walking and after a little over thirty minutes they finally made it to the panel that lead out into the hallway of the eco-ship. Johnathan reached for the panel before remembering that there was creatures who were wandering there when he snuck past them before.
“There may be some aliens in the hallway.” He commented as he turned to face them.
Rose shifted to look at the First Officer. He responded by nodding at her when their eyes met.
“Step aside Technician Fischer.” The First Officer instructed.
Johnathan moved slightly off to the right. The First Officer raised his weapon and Rose copied him moving behind him as he walked up to the panel. Once the First Officer was standing next to the panel he turned to Rose and looked at her. She nodded and aimed her rifle up towards the panel. The First Officer slipped his rifle over his shoulder and then pulled the panel off quickly. Rose aimed through the opening but there was nothing there. The First Officer knelt down and Rose stepped onto his knee as she popped her head up to peek out through the panel.
She called down through the panel, “Clear.”
Pulling herself up through the panel Johnathan heard her voice called down, “Positioned. Let’s go.”
The First Officer announced, “I’ll go first. Give me ten seconds then follow.”
Johnathan nodded grimly at him. The First Officer pulled himself quickly through the opening. Johnathan waited ten seconds and climbed out. As soon as his head cleared the opening he saw both Rose and the First Officer kneeling with their rifles pointed down the hallway. There was nothing there. Once Johnathan was clear of the panel he reached down and re-secured it in place. As he turned around both Rose and the First Officer were up and moving. They had a slight crouch as they walked with their rifles pointing forward. Johnathan walked slowly behind them. At the first intersection of hallways they stopped and gestured silently to each other. He had no idea what their gestures meant. The First Officer peeked around one corner as Rose looked around the other. They both shifted back instantly after looking.
Rose whispered, “Hostiles about five meters down the hallway and moving away from us.”
“Should we engage?” The First Officer asked.
“No. Our mission is to get the Technician to the fire suppression pump safely. We’ll sneak past any hostiles when possible.”
“Understood.”
Rose gestured again at the First Officer, which he responded to by shuffled in front of her and then quickly crossing the hallway intersection.
She leaned close to him and whispered, “Quickly jog across the hallway and stand behind the First Officer.”
Johnathan started to nod at her but before he could move she gave him a slight push so he ran across the hallway and moved behind the First Officer. As he got in place Rose lifted her rifle and pointed it down the hallway as she shuffled across the intersection. She positioned just pass the intersection facing the direction they came from which the First Officer responded to by turning around and heading the direction that they were headed. He lightly tugged on Johnathan’s sleeve as he passed by, a hint for Johnathan to follow him. Johnathan followed closely behind him and as he walked he glanced backwards to see that Rose was following them while watching behind them. They continued along for some time before another group of aliens were spotted. He guessed they were about fifteen meters away. Johnathan was concerned since they were coming directly at them. He was starting to believe that the aliens did not have very good eyesight because they had not been spotted.
“Contact at twelve o’clock.” The First Officer whispered.
Johnathan counted them to be ten aliens. They were still moving closer and he suspected that they would be spotted soon.
Rose
whispered, “John take a kneeling position behind the First Officer.”
Right as Johnathan moved to follow the First Officer and he knelt down the First Officer began firing his rifle at the creatures. Johnathan turned to look at Rose. She had moved opposite of the First Officer and knelt down before positioning to fire at the aliens. She began firing. Johnathan looked at the aliens and saw that they finally recognized a threat in front of them. The aliens started running rapidly towards the First Officer. Johnathan was becoming concerned as only two of the creatures had been taken out from the rifles. As they got about five meters away three more had been downed but he was really getting concerned that Rose and the First Officer would not be able to take out the last five. Another one was taken down but they were now only a little over a meter away. Johnathan clenched his jaw and stood up.
“John get down!” Rose yelled as she continued to fire her rifle.
He lifted his arms and took one of the two skates from his left hand into his right hand while aiming them at the aliens. As the creatures moved close enough and jumped at them he side stepped the First Officer and dropped on his back aiming the skates at the last four aliens. Triggering the skates he grunted from them pushing roughly into his arms. The aliens were shoved violently upwards into the ceiling of the hallway, which caused a loud harsh sounding impact with the ceiling that made an echoing thump before they fell down and away from Johnathan. He exhaled his minor nervousness and looked at the aliens. They were not moving at all. Rose stood and with her rifle pointing at the aliens moved over to inspect them. The First Officer stood and followed her.
“They’re all dead.” She announced as she poked at them with her weapon.
She turned to Johnathan and stated, “Impressive use of the air skates. How did you think of it?”
Giving her a shrug he replied, “It was all I had when I was cornered in a closet.”
Nudging his arm with her elbow she said, “Let’s go. We’ve still got a long ways to go and people are dying as we dally about.”
