My eyes stung. “There has to be some way...”
The Captain squeezed my hand and let go. “We've sent some mates for air tanks. We'll try breaking through the door if we can't think of anything else.”
I breathed deeply and looked at the people on the other side of the room. They still floated, but were no longer looking at me. Olive and McMillan held hands. Almira had her arms around Katharina. Guilders worked steadily on a pad. Yanendale, Ralston, and Whales talked together in low tones. Crash sat apart from the rest, watching them.
“Where's everyone else?” I asked.
“I told everyone to either go to their quarters or come here,” the Captain replied. “He can't touch the cabin life support from the computer room, and Gerry's code can override all others for sickbay, so we're safe there.”
“Until we starve,” August remarked, more bitter than I'd ever heard him.
“Well!” Stacey's voice broke from the intercom. “I found two little fish in the sea, looking for air. They were so small, though, I left them there. Ready to comply yet, Captain?”
The Doctor and Captain looked at each other.
“What does that mean?” I cried, above a whisper now, though my voice still sounded weak, and my chest felt like it was scorched with every word.
“Two mates went for air tanks. He must have trapped them down there.”
“But... what about the compliance part?”
I'd looked at the Captain, but the Doctor answered. “He wants our promise of silence about the things he's done before we get out. At least, I think that's what he wants. Everything he says is as garbled as Dooley's communications.”
“But doesn't he know he could kill us?”
The Captain rubbed his forehead. “I really don't know, Andi.”
Heated panic shot out from my heart, and I tried to move. My left arm moved a few inches. The one thing I knew about Stacey was how much he wanted to become a captain himself one day, to advance through the ranks. The Doctor had said motivations remained the same. If ISA heard the things he'd done, it would definitely endanger if not outright kill his career.
But then, why do those things in the first place?
“Would he have any way to escape the brig without someone letting him out?” I asked.
“Not that I know of.”
“Then maybe whoever let him out can help us.”
The two men looked at each other. “What makes you think that?” the Captain asked weakly.
“If he's worried about the results of his actions, maybe they weren't his idea in the first place. But everything he's done has been with the intent of keeping us from leaving the cloud. Why would he do that if someone wasn't using him?”
The men considered this for a moment, then the Doctor said, “My office.” The Captain nodded, and they slowly started swimming to the opposite end of the room.
I watched them for a few moments before the Captain turned back and said, “Can you come, Andi?”
Taking a deep breath, I strained my whole body until it burned and shook, but I couldn't move a limb more than a few inches.
They started to turn back, but August said, “I'll do it,” and swam up next to me. He took my hand and started pulling me towards the Doctor's office. It didn't take him long to catch up to the other men.
I looked at each person as we passed, and each of them looked at me for a moment, then most looked away. Almira reached out and touched my shoulder as I moved by her, and the light pressure of her fingers cooled my skin through my jacket.
We reached the Doctor's small office and August let go of my hand and gave my shoulders a little push to propel me into the room after the others. Then he hesitated.
“Just us right now, Lieutenant,” the Captain said. August nodded, and the Doctor closed and locked the door. Then he turned towards the Captain and I.
“Who could it be?”
“It could be anyone,” the Captain protested, closing his eyes again.
The Doctor crossed his arms as he floated. “No good, Trent. We've got to think this through. Think about personalities...”
“Gerry, there are a hundred and thirty people on this ship...”
I cleared my throat. “Maybe... maybe a better question is... who would want us not to get out?”
The Captain frowned. “Motive...”
The Doctor reached out and touched my arm. “Andi... we have to consider that it might be...”
I didn't allow my mind to drift to any of our close friends during his pause. I just waited.
“Everyone's so different. It could be August.”
I barely gave his words a thought before shaking my head defensively. “Why would August do that?”
The Captain spoke slowly. “He's much more confident and assured than he used to be. He may like that.”
Either the floating or the idea began to give me a queasy sensation, and I gripped the top of the Doctor's desk with both hands to anchor myself. “But he wouldn't threaten all our lives just so he could keep those things!”
“I'm not saying he told Stacey to shut off the life support. Stacey seems to have gotten out of control...”
“No. August wouldn't do that.”
The two men looked at each other.
“He wouldn't! I know him better than either of you. Besides, why would Stacey listen to him in the first place? What does he have to offer?”
“Then who?” the Captain challenged. “It would have to be someone very intelligent and capable with a motive. I'm not saying it's August, Andi. I'm just saying he is a possibility.”
With a motive. The Doctor had talked about that. Motives stayed the same. Core values.
I swallowed. “What about Crash?”
The Doctor frowned.
“It could be him,” I continued, my heart sinking as my mind began to put the pieces together. Every time he'd voiced caution, and the lack of fear in his eyes. My lifetime of experience with his manipulation and dedication to his own agenda. And how much easier he was to be around the past few days. “He is a lot more steady and capable.”
“I'm not so sure that Crash wants to be steady and capable,” the Captain mused.
The Doctor shook his head. “He does. More than I think anyone knows.” He looked at me. I just looked back, heart sinking further still. Neither of us wanted to say that Crash was probably immature and selfish enough, especially with the extra pressure and impaired judgment.
Before any of us could say anything, a gentle tap of knuckles on glass came from behind us. I let go of the desk and turned around in midair, expecting to see August there. Instead, Crash's handsome, sober face floated just outside the door.
The three of us looked at each other, then without a word the Doctor floated over to the door and unlocked it.
Crash gripped the edges of the doorway and pulled himself into the room. Before he was all the way through, he paused and looked at each of our faces.
“You already know, don't you.” His voice held an odd blend of calmness and bitterness.
The Captain called Crash a very unflattering name, and the Doctor just shook his head wearily.
“How could you?” I cried.
“I didn't know he was going to do this!” Crash protested. “I just wanted him to sabotage the plan temporarily. I was trying to protect you, Andi. I didn't know he was going to do the rest.”
“And you were protecting me when you had him sabotage our generator and disrespect the Captain?” I cried.
“Well, I just thought...”
Before the Doctor could stop him, the Captain swung a fist towards Crash. It hit him in the nose, and if there had been gravity the nose probably would have been broken. As it was, the main effect of the punch was to propel the Captain backwards a meter, though a drop of blood dripped onto Crash's upper lip. He didn't complain.
“What do we do now?” the Doctor asked, in a voice that said he was too tired even to berate his nephew.
Crash wiped the blood away
with his sleeve. “I think I can draw Stacey out and reconnect the systems. If I do that, we should be able to try your plan again...”
“How are we supposed to trust that you'll actually do it?” the Captain shouted, his voice cracking.
“You can't, but it's our only chance. August can help Andi back to her post, and you and Guilders can go up, open the bridge, and get us out of here.”
The Doctor covered his face with his hands. “Crash...” he almost groaned.
“Look, Uncle, I'm sorry... I really am. I was a... right now we just have to get out of here. You can lecture me as much as you want late...”
The Doctor's hands floated away from his face, revealing closed eyes.
Chapter XIX
“Dad!” I screamed, and swam desperately towards him, ignoring the searing pain in my joints as I moved.
The Captain, who was nearer, reached him first and gripped his wrist. For a second he was silent, then he turned to me. “He's just unconscious.”
I stared at him. “He ate less than everyone else...”
The Captain spun violently towards Crash. “All right, Crash. You're right. We have no choice. But there's one problem. Has it occurred to you that Stacey may not want to do what you say?”
“Yes sir, it has.”
“And in that case...”
“I'll fight him. No, listen, I've thought it out. August and I have eaten at a table with Andi several times, so we aren't as weak as everyone else. That's why he'll be helping her back to engineering, while I fight Stacey if it comes to that. You and Guilders wait five minutes, and I'll have Stacey out of there one way or another. Then you two go up and open up the bridge and turn the life support and gravity back on. August and Andi will make their way to engineering and when they're in place, they'll let you know through the intercom, and you can warp out of here.”
“Are you out of your mind? The last try immobilized Andi. Another try might kill her.”
Crash looked at me with eyes that pulled my already aching heart.
“I'll do it,” I agreed, glancing at the floating figure of the Doctor. “No sir,” I interrupted before the Captain could protest. “I have to. We need to do this while there are still enough people conscious.”
The Captain gave a tired nod. “Get August and go ahead and start. Mr. Crash, you had better come through, or by the galaxy I'll...”
“I know.” Crash ducked out of the room without waiting for another word.
The Captain closed his eyes, then reached out and gave my arm a squeeze. “Go ahead,” he whispered.
“Yes sir.”
He pulled me as far as the door, then pushed his way out towards Guilders.
August had anchored himself by holding onto the head of one of the cots, and he looked at me expectantly as I pulled myself through the doorway. My arms ached, and every muscle was stiff and weary, but I could move. I called to him and he pushed off towards me.
“We have to try again,” I said. “Don't argue, and don't ask questions... we don't have time. The Captain wants you to help me back to engineering right away.”
His brown eyes widened, but he didn't protest. Gripping my hand in his cold, pale one, he pulled me towards the sickbay door.
With every motion my chest tightened, making my lungs hot again. I couldn't think about Crash right now. I didn't have time or energy to process. Would this kill me? I redirected my thoughts away from the burning pain I had felt last time and the scalding betrayal of my cousin and towards the Doctor. Towards Almira, Olive, August, the Captain, Guilders—everyone. I breathed deeply, trying to ignore the pain in my chest.
“Are you all right?” August whispered.
I nodded. “Keep going.”
We reached the elevator, and August gripped the doorway with one hand and pushed me through with the other. “It'll be faster if we get gravity back,” he said, then ordered, “E-Deck.”
I wasn't so sure. My muscles still felt like gelatin, and if we had gravity, I might not make it up the ladder.
Again, the elevator moved without moving us at first, then the ceiling pressed against us and began pushing us down. Neither of us spoke, and I tried to breathe deeply, forcing my heartbeat to slow down.
When it stopped, the inertia propelled us a meter down, and August gripped the upper side of the open doorway and grabbed my hand. Just as he was swinging me through the door, something changed. My body felt as though someone had dropped a cloak of lead over me. I screamed as my shoulder slammed against the hard floor, and a second later my knee struck metal, making me clench my teeth against the shock of hot pain that radiated through my body.
Praying for strength, I tried to move my arms, but they were too heavy. Tightening every muscle, I slid my palms across the floor and pressed, trying to push myself up. I only made it a few centimeters before dropping again. So heavy. Every part of me was so heavy.
An arm wrapped around my torso and August's hand gripped mine. “Almost there, Andi,” he whispered, then pulled me up slowly, grunting with each motion. His arm pressed tightly around my back, holding me so that my head was on a level with his shoulder. I fought the urge to just lay my cheek against his uniform and close my eyes.
I tried to move my legs as he started to drag me. They moved with effort, but if I tried to put weight on them, heat shot up towards my head making me feel faint, and my knees buckled. So I just moved them, one at a time, letting August completely support me.
It was so silent. There was barely any engine noise, and there was no movement except the blinking of lights on a few displays. The cables still sparked in a couple places, but most of the room seemed asleep.
My feet dragged. I closed my eyes. I felt so very heavy. Poor August, he wasn't strong. Eating with me a few times couldn't have given him enough nourishment to be strong enough to almost carry me—adrenaline must play a part—of course it would—
My mind wandered, and I shook it back. I focused on the ladder. It was just a meter away.
“How are we going to get up?” I whispered.
“Let me worry about that,” he whispered back, though there was no reason for him not to speak aloud.
We reached the foot of the ladder, and August gently lowered me so that I sat with my back against the silent reactor. “Stay here,” he said, then climbed up.
I leaned my head against the warm, rough metal and waited, not wasting energy trying to figure out what he was doing. The sound of his boots against the rungs echoed through the room, growing quieter with each step. Then the sound stopped. A moment of silence, then something black dropped into my field of vision. I gasped in surprise before realizing it was the extra safety harness Lieutenant Payne had told me about.
August slid down the ladder without using the rungs. “Once we get you in I'll pull you...”
The elevator alert rang out in the silence of the room, and the doors slid open. Both of us turned our heads simultaneously in that direction.
Stacey leapt through the doorway and sprinted towards us.
Chapter XX
Without speaking, August gripped my arms and pulled me up in one steady motion. Keeping both arms tightly around me, he dragged me up to the harness.
“Leave that alone!” Stacey yelled.
“Put your arms through,” August said, a quiver in his voice. I reached up and stuck my hands through the harness, but couldn't go any further than my wrists.
Keeping one arm around me, he gripped me around the waist and lifted. “Hurry, Andi!”
I thrust my arms through past the elbows. He lifted me higher, and his tight grip on my stomach made me feel sick, but I kept pushing my arms through.
“I said...” Stacey began, reaching for August, but something yanked him back before he could touch us.
August gave me a little toss and I slid my arms through all the way so that I hung from the harness by my shoulders.
“Leave them alone,” Crash's voice ordered.
I turned my head towards them a
s I hung helplessly, the synthetic straps digging into my armpits. Crash straddled Stacey's face-down body and Stacey struggled, reaching up to push his attacker off. Crash held both his arms down.
“Hold on, Andi,” August commanded, and I heard his boots tap on the rungs again.
Stacey stopped struggling and lay still.
“I...” Crash began, hesitated, and began again. “I'm sorry, Stacey. I used you.”
“I know,” Stacey said, and he pushed his body off the floor with a force that flung Crash backwards.
“August!” I screamed as Stacey leapt towards me. Frantically, I reached for bits of the harness that hung below me and caught them in my fists.
The pressure on my armpits increased, and my body swung slightly, then began to move upwards, slowly, only a couple centimeters.
Stacey reached forward and gripped my ankle so tightly that I could feel his fingers through my boot. I kicked wildly, disregarding the hot pain that shot up my leg as I tried to force it out of his grasp.
Crash rushed up behind the night captain and jumped up on his back, wrapping his arms around the other man's neck. “Oh no you don't.”
For a moment Stacey kept his hold on my ankle and tension strained my whole body. Then he loosened his grip, the harness yanked me upwards, and he fell backwards on top of Crash.
“Hold on!” August said again, and I moved up, faster, but still sporadically. I gripped the harness tighter, focusing on the impression of its synthetic weave into my palms. Crash and Stacey struggled below me as I hung there.
Something tapped against my hair, and August yelled, “Hold on!”
I swung aimlessly for a moment, watching as the night captain slammed Crash's shoulders to the floor.
“I'm going to reach for your arms,” August told me. “But don't let go. Keep holding on.”
I didn't reply, and I couldn't grip the harness any tighter. Moments later, shaking hands gripped my upper arms and slowly lifted me into the seat again. The pressure of the harness relaxed, and I savored the solid surface below me.
I squeezed my eyes shut as I was slid into place, then opened them to see August's face just below mine. He stood on the ladder, his face paler than I'd seen it for a long time.
Firmament: Reversal Zone Page 13
