CHAPTER
10
“I see them,” Geordi said. “That chunk of wall landed on them.”
“Are you certain that they are under there?” T’Varien asked.
Geordi tapped his VISOR. “I see the heat from their bodies.”
“Are they hurt?” Amray asked.
“I can’t tell. We’ll have to get them out first.” Geordi looked to see who could help. Todd and Leilani were in no shape to do anything, and Lissa was still binding Todd’s wound. That left Yoshi, T’Varien, and Amray to help him.
He looked at Amray. “If we lift the wall, can you pull them out?”
“Yes.” Her tone said she would do anything to rescue Amril.
They waded to the collapsed wall. “Mass of wall does not look too large,” Yoshi said.
“However, its surface area will create a considerable amount of water resistance.” T’Varien tilted her head to one side, as if calculating the exact numbers.
Geordi nodded. “Something that big will be awfully awkward to handle in the water. Also, there’s all that heavy junk on top of it.”
They started to work. Geordi and T’Varien moved the heaviest beams, while Yoshi and Amray cleared away the other debris. It took almost five minutes. Geordi tried not to think how long the batteries in their rebreathers would last. Leilani, and now Ven and Amril, were alive because they were wearing their masks. As tired and as cold as everyone was, any fall could be fatal without them.
Geordi stared at the panel, trying to decide where exactly Amril and Ven were. The eddies in the cold water and the thick insulation on the panel made it difficult for him to tell. Even when he used the VISOR at its maximum sensitivity, all he saw were vague smears of warmth.
“Can you specify where they are trapped?” T’Varien asked.
Geordi stepped to the side, trying to see things from a different angle. They had been standing near the wall when the earthquake hit. Most of the cadets had made flat, shallow dives that carried them across the corridor. From what he could see, Amril and Ven had not moved.
“They’re here,” he said, sketching the location with his hands. “Let’s try to get them out from this side.”
T’Varien and Yoshi nodded. They moved beside him and squatted, working their fingers under the panel’s edge. Amray crouched at his side, waiting.
“One, two, three,” Geordi counted. They heaved upward. It was like dragging a large plate through molasses.
Geordi gritted his teeth and pulled harder. The muscles in his thighs protested. Slowly, the panel lifted. Ten centimeters, twenty, thirty. It was much harder work than he had thought it would be.
Finally, Amray squeezed into the opening. She wiggled forward on her stomach. Ven was closest. Amray grabbed his arm and crawled backward, dragging him after her.
Ven was unconscious. When Amray released him, he floated to the surface, limp as a rag. Even without going to him, Geordi saw the amber warning lights on his rebreather. His batteries were almost exhausted, too.
“We’d better hurry,” he told the others. He seemed short of breath. Was it his imagination, or was he running out of air?
Yoshi squatted down, putting his shoulder under the edge of the panel. Seeing how much more leverage that gave him, Geordi copied him. T’Varien shifted position, too.
“Now!” Yoshi said. All three straightened their legs. Geordi felt his boots slipping, but he kept pushing. The panel moved another fifteen centimeters upward.
Amray crawled between them. The extra distance was enough to free Amril, and Amray pulled her clone sister free. Amril was shaken, but with Amray’s help, she climbed to her feet.
Once the clones were clear, Geordi braced his hands against the panel’s bottom edge and stepped back. T’Varien and Yoshi copied him, holding the panel at arm’s length. They looked at each other, and Geordi nodded.
“On the count of three,” he said. “One, two, three.”
They released the panel. It settled into the water, sending out a wave that almost pushed Geordi off his feet. Not that it would take much, he thought. He was just about done in.
“Let’s go,” he said. He and Yoshi each took one of Ven’s arms, dragging the unconscious Andorian through the water. After a worried glance at her sister, Amray went to help T’Varien with Leilani. Amril followed Amray closely, her movements slow and uncertain. Geordi wondered if she’d been hurt by the collapsing wall, but he didn’t see any obvious injury.
Lissa put her arm around Todd’s waist and led him forward. He seemed out of touch with his surroundings. Geordi figured he was in shock from his wound, but they couldn’t do anything until they reached the shuttle.
The ten meters to the connecting corridor were the longest of Geordi’s life. No one had much to say. They were all too tired and cold to spend their energy on anything but dragging themselves to safety.
He was dizzy with relief when they reached the pressure door. With all the practice he’d been getting, it took him only a minute to disable the door’s controls. The door slid open, revealing the dry stretch of corridor that led to their shuttle.
The water poured through the opening. This time, rather than waiting for the current to slow, the cadets let the water push them through. Geordi grabbed onto the door, swung himself through the current, and ducked behind the door. The others tumbled through after him.
Fumbling for the latch with his cold-stiffened fingers, Geordi popped the cover off the door’s manual controls. They had to close it before the water flooded the corridor. He threw his weight against the lever.
The water was a living force, clawing and smashing its way through the opening. Slowly, the door started to choke off the flood of water. Yoshi stumbled over to Geordi and added his weight to the effort. Together, they forced the door shut.
Geordi slumped against the wall, leaning on the lever and panting for breath. Yoshi flashed him a tired, happy grin. They had gotten the door closed in time. There were only a few centimeters of water on the corridor floor.
After he got his breath, Geordi started to get up. When he took his weight off the lever, it moved upward. The door slid back, letting in a stream of water.
Yoshi looked from the door to the lever, frowning. The corridor walls were bare, with no tool lockers or equipment racks. With a shrug, Yoshi stumbled over to Ven. Removing one of the Andorian’s boots, he brought it back and jammed it behind the lever.
Slowly, Geordi released his grip. The lever squeaked against the boot, compressing the material. For a moment, he was afraid it wouldn’t work. The lever squeezed the boot until it caught against the hard material of the sole. Geordi heaved a sigh of relief. The door would stay closed. They could walk through the nice, dry corridor to their shuttle.
The fourteen meters from the door to the shuttle felt more like four. Geordi was so relieved to see their ship that the distance evaporated, even though he was helping Yoshi carry Ven. They reached the shuttle, opened its door, and stumbled in.
Geordi eased Ven to the floor and headed forward, pulling off his rebreather. Through the front viewport, the water was black. When the power was up and running, he’d turn on the searchlights and take a look at the station. Sliding into the pilot’s seat, he closed the shuttle’s door and set the heater to maximum. He didn’t know how hot it would get, but at the moment, high noon at midsummer on Vulcan’s Forge sounded just about right. As the heat began to flow into the shuttle, he leaned back in the chair and surrendered to his exhaustion. When his brain thawed out, he’d decide what to do next.
He was starting to feel pleasantly warm, despite his wet clothes, when someone put a hand on his shoulder.
“We found some towels in back.” Lissa handed him one. “Unfortunately, there aren’t any spare clothes, but T’Varien thinks she can make some hot soup from the stuff in the ration packs.”
“Thanks.” Geordi straightened, suddenly feeling a whole lot better. Drying off and getting something to eat were exactly what he needed. He went to work with the
towel, squeezing the water from his uniform. It was amazing how much better he felt. With the heat set on high, it wouldn’t take long for his uniform to finish drying.
The clones searched through the storage lockers and located the other supplies. Geordi took two of the candy bars they offered and nibbled on them while he checked out the shuttle’s systems.
Behind him, the others were toweling off, too. Lissa had appointed herself head nurse and was putting a field dressing on Todd’s shoulder. Leilani and Ven, both barely conscious, were wrapped in blankets from one of the storage lockers. This whole crew needs a stay in Sickbay, Geordi thought.
He powered up the shuttle’s systems, preparing for departure. If he hadn’t been afraid that the earthquakes had damaged the ship, he would have skipped all the routine checks. The computer was probably still keeping score on their piloting, but he didn’t care. Right now, a fast escape was a higher priority than a good grade, so he raced through the systems check.
“Strap down,” he called over his shoulder, satisfied that they were ready to leave.
“All set,” came the answer from half a dozen overlapping voices.
Geordi crossed his fingers and disengaged the grapples. He waited for the reassuring chunk of the clamps falling away from the airlock, but there was only silence. Geordi repeated the command, but still nothing happened.
He stared at his status board, wondering what to do. The sensors said the clamps had been released. The other possibility wasn’t something he wanted to consider.
Cautiously, he engaged the starboard thrusters. The shuttle didn’t move. He applied more power, but they remained where they were. The shuttle was still attached to the station. Geordi powered down the thrusters. They would have to manually release the grapples from outside the ship.
Before he could unfasten his safety harness, the shuttle began shaking. Not another earthquake, he thought. The shuttle jerked back and forth, like a short, stubby tail attached to the body of the station. The readings of the shuttle’s depth gauge were changing, too, showing deeper and deeper water around them. Neptune’s Locker was headed for the ocean depths, still anchored to the rocks where it had been built.
CHAPTER
11
“What’s going on?” Lissa asked. A low growl, like the roar of a cargo shuttle’s engine, built up behind them.
“Landslide.” Geordi had to shout. “We’re going along for the ride.” The aquashuttle bounced, tossing Geordi against his safety harness. The shuttle’s headlights traced drunken arcs through the water, showing him first a blurred jumble of rocks and dirt, then an empty expanse of cold water.
“What does Honorable Geordi propose to do?” Yoshi asked. “Has surface station dispatched rescue squads?”
“I don’t know.” Geordi reached for the call button. It took three tries to hit it. An empty hiss answered him, punctuated by the crackle of interference from the station’s automatic data relays. They were on their own.
A loud crash sounded from outside and below them. The shuttle dropped sharply, then rebounded and traced a half circle through the water. A large chunk of bulkhead pinwheeled past them, tumbling end over end into the darkness. They landed hard, jerked sideways, and bounced again. The shuttle’s frame groaned, protesting the abuse. Rocks and debris clanged against the shuttle’s hull, almost deafening Geordi with their noise.
He gripped the sides of his seat, holding on while the shuttle slammed into the sea floor and recoiled four more times. How much abuse could the little ship take? It was well designed and ruggedly built, but he didn’t know any design criteria which covered this situation.
“When we stop moving, I’m going outside.” One at a time, he wiped his palms on his legs. You don’t have time for the jitters now! he told himself. “The grapples wouldn’t let go.”
“That is dangerous undertaking,” Yoshi replied. The shuttle jerked sideways, throwing them against their restraints. Yoshi gasped for breath. “I, too, will go. Perhaps with more muscle, job will be done quicker.”
“Thanks, Yoshi.” Geordi was surprised at how much better Yoshi’s offer made him feel. Too many things could go wrong once he left the safety of the ship.
“I, too, will go,” T’Varien said. “There are three skinsuits in the locker. Logic dictates that we employ all available resources to free ourselves.”
Geordi looked out the window. More chunks of debris sailed past them, but the shuttle appeared to be moving slower. He glanced at their speed gauge, which confirmed his guess. “We’re slowing down. Let’s suit up so we’ll be ready when we stop.”
T’Varien handed the suits forward. Geordi unrolled his, admiring the lightweight, waterproof fabric that was also pressure-resistant. The suit even had self-sealing boots and gloves. The bright orange, reflective material was easy to see, even in low light. Geordi smiled, thinking he would almost enjoy going outside wearing this suit. If only the situation weren’t so dangerous—
It took some effort to get into the suit. He didn’t want to unfasten his safety harness, so he had to twist and squirm in his seat to get his arms into the sleeves. The continued movement of the shuttle didn’t make things any easier. Although they were still slowing, each bounce came at the wrong time. Geordi was sure he would be bruised all over from slamming into the safety harness and the side of the shuttle’s control panel.
He looked out the window and froze, his hands clenched. Two rock towers, twenty-five or thirty meters high and as many meters apart, loomed out of the darkness. The shuttle—and the station—was headed straight for them. “Brace yourselves!” he yelled. “We’re going to crash!”
Geordi leaned over and tucked, his arms wrapped over his neck. The shuttle slewed to one side, throwing him against his harness. Then, with a terrifying shriek of protesting metal and a deafening crunch, he was tossed around in his seat.
The shuttle vibrated from the impact. When he realized they were no longer moving, Geordi lifted his head. Behind him, he heard the sounds of the other cadets as they sorted themselves out. “Is everyone okay?” he called.
The answers were a little ragged and shaky, but everyone was unhurt. “What happened, Honorable Geordi?” Yoshi asked.
“I think we hit something.” Geordi looked out the front, but saw only empty water. “I can’t see anything from here, but we were headed for a couple of nasty-looking rock fingers.”
“It would be logical for us to proceed with maximum speed to accomplish our mission,” T’Varien said. She was pulling on her boots as she spoke.
“Good idea.” Geordi released his harness and slid his feet into his boots. He moved to the back, surprised at how shaky his legs felt. After all the bumping and bouncing they had been through, his body hadn’t adjusted to their stationary position.
T’Varien and Yoshi were waiting for him, already dressed. Yoshi handed Geordi a metal crowbar, a utility belt with a rebreather unit, and a helmet.
“There are three sets of grapples,” T’Varien said. “The most efficient plan is for each of us to take one.”
“Agreed” Geordi strapped on the utility belt, settled the helmet over his head, and connected it to the rebreather unit. When he lifted the crowbar, he felt ready for anything.
T’Varien removed the emergency hatch. The small, round opening was protected by a force field that kept the water out of the shuttle while allowing divers to pass through. Geordi stepped through the hole. T’Varien and Yoshi followed him.
Geordi clipped his safety line to an anchoring pad. Without waiting, he started up and over the shuttle. He’d decided to take the far set of grapples.
Swimming in the skinsuit was much nicer than wading through the station in his uniform. The skinsuit held in his body heat. He could swim for several hours before becoming dangerously chilled, even at this depth. If not for their danger, swimming in the deep ocean would have been fun. After the noise and confusion of the last few hours, it was quiet and peaceful outside the ship.
From the top o
f the shuttle, he got his first good look at their position. The station was caught between the two rock spires which reminded Geordi of the black smokers he had explored with his robot. By sheer luck, the shuttle was between the spires, hanging over a steep slope that vanished into darkness. The last sideways jerk had kept them from being crushed against the rocky towers.
Geordi drew in a nervous breath. The station’s position didn’t look stable. He thought about how hard they had hit and wondered how long it would be before the station’s weight would break the spires. When it slid over the edge, the station would land on the shuttle and crush it.
He looked toward the station and shivered. Large gaps in the dome’s structure marked where hull panels had been wrenched loose. Beams, metal plates, and miscellaneous equipment were strewn across the ocean floor. He saw two emergency airlocks, both without their escape pods. Geordi hoped that meant that some of the scientists had escaped from the station.
“Enough sight-seeing,” he muttered to himself. He pushed off against the hull. When he reached the airlock, he caught the grapple to stop himself. The two large metal claws were still firmly closed around the shuttle’s docking rings. The claws looked normal, except they should have been open.
Taking the waterproof torch from his utility belt, Geordi played the bright light over the grapple. At first, everything seemed normal. Geordi started over, looking more carefully, and at last found the problem. The grapple’s claws were twisted just enough to keep them from opening.
He slid the crowbar between the claws and braced his feet against the shuttle. To his surprise, his first pull moved the claws over a centimeter. Encouraged, he tried again.
It took him five minutes of prying with all his strength, then stopping to catch his breath. The grapples were designed to hold ships twice the size of the aquashuttle, and the claws on each grapple were almost as big as Geordi himself. Even so, most of their holding power came from the magnetic fields, which he had deactivated. It had taken a lot of force to jam the grapples.
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Starfleet Academy #5: Atlantis Station Page 8
