Showdown At Centerpoint

by Roger MacBride Allen

  burn products." "Can we all make it into the lock at once?" Luke asked.

  "Well, the lock is big enough," said Sonsen. "I don't think we should try

  all of us at once. The lock is normally sei with this side closed. There's a

  control panel on this side of the lock and it has to be operated by hand.

  I'll have to open the lurbovalor door, run for the lock, and get it open. I

  don't think it would be so smart to have everyone waiting on me getting the

  door open. We should do it in two passes." "This is going to be

  interesting," Lando said. Sonsen smiled humorlessly. "So it will. But we

  might get lucky. Maybe the turbovator airlock will work." "Maybe it will.

  But if it doesn't, and you have to run for the other airlock, I'll go with

  you. I used to run a place called Cloud City. I had to go in and out of

  toxic atmosphere a lot. If you run into trouble, it might be smart to have

  some help along." "Lando, if anyone should go with her, it should be me,"

  Luke said. "No," Lando said. "Your Jedi powers give you the best endurance.

  We might all need your help. You'll have to watch everybody. All I want to

  have to worry about is Sonsen and that airlock." Luke seemed about to

  protest, but then nodded reluctantly. "Maybe you're right," he said. "And

  the bad air won't bother the droids. That'll be some help." "It's not as if

  Kalenda and I are helpless or anything," Gaeriel said. "No, ma'am, and I

  didn't mean to imply that you were," Lando said. "But we don't have time to

  do this politely. The fact of the matter is Sonsen has to go because she

  knows the lock. Someone should go with her. I'm no hero, but someone who's

  had toxic air training is the best choice to go with her. That makes it me.

  And for what it is worth, next to Luke, we're all helpless. And I might add

  that Lieutenant Kalcnda doesn't seem to be protesting the arrangement."

  Gaeriel Captison looked from Lando to Kalenda's expressionless face. "All

  right," she said. "I was in politics long enough to know when it's time to

  back off." "We're getting lower," Luke said. "And the heating is starting to

  move some serious air." Lando looked out the window. Luke was right. The

  lower, thicker layers of air were heating at a different rate than the

  upper, thinner layers. Hot and cold air at different air pressures was a

  recipe for weather in any circumstance, but especially in a spinning,

  inside-out world with a gravity gradient. Dust devils were spinning up

  everywhere, miniature tornadoes, funnel clouds spewing Just and debris up

  into the air. The wind began to howl as the car moved lower and lower, into

  the nightmare dust storms popping up everywhere. A wall of gritty dust

  enveloped the car, cutting off the view as the wind peppered the car with

  thousands of small impacts that clicked and clattered on its exterior. It

  seemed as if the winds abruptly reversed direction, and the outside world

  reappeared as suddenly as it had vanished. They seemed to have crossed under

  some sort of cloud deck. The car was moving along the inner wall of the

  spinning sphere, from the spin axis toward the equatorial regions in a long,

  swooping curve. By now the car was moving forward as much as it was down,

  and the increase in apparent weight was more and more noticeable with every

  moment. Lando realized his eyes had made a subconscious adjustment, deciding

  thai the car was no longer proceeding down the side of a cliff, but down a

  long hill that was getting less and less sleep wilh every moment. Some son

  of till-tahle mechanism kept the lioor even as the car moved down [he track.

  ''Close now." Sonsen said. "We should start slowing in a minute." As it on

  cue. trie car began 10 decelerate smoothly. Lando reached out a hand io

  steady himself againsl the wall of the car, bul he thought better of it at

  the last moment. Tic held his hand a centimeter or two back from the wall,

  and tell plenty of heat that way. The car slowed even further, unlil it was

  barely moving, maybe twenty-five centimeters a second. The swirling clouds

  cleared again for a moment and revealed a large two-story building dircclly

  ahead. "That's llie main entrance complex for Ihis secior." said Sonsen. The

  turbovator's track led to a large sel of pressure doors, the sort lhat split

  down the middle, wilh the two halves sliding apart to either side. "So let's

  see what happens,'' she said. Til let the automatics try it first." The car

  eased to a complete halt a meter or two in front of the doors, and then

  nothing happened (or a moment. "Is it broken?" Gaeriel asked. "It just lakes

  a liltle lime for the pumps 10 match pressure. Here we go." The pressure

  doors started to move apart smoothly enough-but then jammed up when they

  were only about a meter apart. "Blast it." Sonsen said. "Exactly what they

  did before. Lei me try cycling them on manual and see if I get lucky." She

  went to the panel by the car's door and twisted a dial that was poinied to

  ALiro over to manual ovER-ride. She pressed another button marked oPEn

  hoLlowtown SIDE AIRLOCK doors. The doors strained a bit, but didn't move any

  farther apart. She pushed the cLOSE doors button-and the doors moved all of

  three centimeters back toward each other before grinding to a halt. Sonscn

  ran through the whole procedure again, but the doors refused to move more

  than that three centimeters back and forth. "Thai's that," she said. "They

  won't open far enough to get the car in. and they won't shut at all. The

  inner doors won't open at all unless the outers are shut." "No emergency

  override on that?" Lando asked. "No way to force inner doors open if the

  outer ones are jammed?" "Nope," Sonsen said. "Why bother, when there was

  supposed to he breathable air on both sides of the lock, and there's another

  airlock ten meters away? I keep telling you people. This is a fancy

  elevator, not a spacecraft system." "All right, then," said Lando. "Looks

  like we get out and walk. Time to do a little getting ready." He pulled his

  blouse off. pulled out his vibro-shiv, and started slicing the blouse into

  ribbons. He saved one larger wad of cloth and stuffed it in his pocket along

  with the knife. "Wrap one of [hese around your mouth and nose," he said. "If

  you pass out, or your breathing reflex gets the better of you, a little

  cloth might lilter out the worst of it. And if you have to breathe, if you

  can't stop yourself, do it through your nose. It does a much better job of

  cooling and filtering than your mouth." "Let's hope the personnel airlock

  opens so fast that you've lost your shirt Tor nothing," Sonsen said. Lando

  grinned. "It breaks my heart to mess up rny wardrobe when I don't need to."

  he said, "but I think ! could deal with it just this once." Lando wrapped a

  strip of cloth around his own mouth. "Where's the other airlock?" Lando

  asked, his voice a bit muffled by the cloth. "You can't quite see it from

  here," Sonsen said. "The window is too small. But it's about ten meters to

  the left of the main airlock. It should be matched to pressure on the other

  side, but it shouldn't take long at all to match-" Sonsen stopped talking,

  and looked up at the ceiling of the car, where the air tanks were hanging.

  "Match pressure,
" she said. "Wail a second. I jusi got an idea. We've got

  air tanks up there. If we dumped the air into the car here, we could get air

  pressure higher than the outside. Then when we opened the door, our air

  would push out, inslead of the bad air pushing in- "And we'd have a pressure

  curtain," said Lando. "Good idea! Then the second group could close the

  doors after we go, and maybe still have some air to breathe." "Boost me up

  there," Sonscn said. Luke knell down and made a slirrup out of his hands.

  Sonscn put her hands on his shoulders to balance herself and stepped into

  his hands. "Okay," she said, "up." Luke stood up as easily as if there was

  no weight on him at all. "Whoa." Sonsen said. "Captain Cairissian, your

  friend in strong. Sleady now. A little to the right-no, my right, your left.

  Back a bit. Okay, good," Sonsen reached for the pressure regulator and

  touched it gingerly. "Definitely getting hot," she said, "but not quite hot

  enough to burn. Not yet." "I would suggest hurrying." Threepio said. "The

  Glowpoinl has now increased its brightness by thirly-five percent." "How

  about we leave that droid behind when we go?" Sonsen said as she cranked the

  regulator up as high as it would go. A loud hissing started almost al once.

  Lando worked his jaw and felt his ears pop, "You've got my vote." he said.

  "I've lieen trying to leave him behind for years." "Forget it, both of you,"

  Luke said. "I've been through a lot with Threepio." "All right," said

  Sonsen. "That should do it. Lei me down." Luke lowered her to the ground.

  "Okay." said Lando. "Administrator Sonsen-Jen-ica-what's the plan, exactly?"

  'I'm going to open the door here," she said. "When I do, we should let a

  good-sized blast of our air out, and that'll at least slow down the bad air

  coming in. Lando and I will get out as fast as we can and run to Ihe other

  lock. You"-she pointed at Gaeriel-"as soon as we are out the door, close it

  again, by pressing this button here. Okay?" "Okay." "Once the door is shut,

  the regulator will come back on and pump in clean canned air, but there is

  still going to bo a lot of that junk out there in the mix. But no matter how

  bad the air gets in here, breathe it. It's only going to be worse outside.

  So breathe as best you can once that door is shut. Give us three minutes-no

  more, no less-and then pop the door again ard come running. That will give

  us time to get through the lock ourselves, get to the other side, and then

  cycle the lock so the outer door is open. Get into the ockfast. If the

  droids can get there with you without slowing you up, great. If not, leave

  them on this side, and we'll cycle the lock again for them once you're

  through. They don't have to worry about breathing. Got il?" "Got it.'' Luke

  said. "We'll be left behind for sure!" Threcpio said in his most theatrical

  tones, and even Artoo let out a sort of low moan. Lando paid them no mind.

  Not when this whole Hollowtown place was about to get burned to another

  crisp. If only that were the worst of it. If the Glowpoint's flaring again

  meant what he thought it did, a little thing like five people and two droids

  being roasted alive wasn't going to matter much at all. "Okay,'' Lando said,

  "tie your eloths over your mouth and nose, and then let's do one more thing

  that might help us get through this in one piece. We need to get as much

  oxygen into the bloodstream and lungs as possible before we go out there.

  The high pressure will help, but we need to do more. Everybody, start

  breathing in rapid, shallow breaths. I'll help you hold your breath a little

  bn longer when the lime comes." Lando followed his own advice, and started

  to breathe in fast, shallow, panting breaths. Not the healthiest thing to do

  for long, bul it would help get him through the next few minutes. He looked

  out ihc viewport at the swirling clouds of murky ash and soot ami shook his

  head. "Don't brealhe this stuff al all." he said, around his panting

  breaths. "I'vcn if il had all ihe oxygen you needed, that crud would

  probably burn a hole in your lungs." Lando started to follow and kept up his

  rapid, shallow breathing until he started to feel just this side of

  light-headed. He only hoped he was remembering all ihe procedures properly.

  "All right," he said "Artoo, you time it. Come after us in three minutes.

  Let's do it." Sonsen tied her own cloth over her mouth and nose, looked

  around to make sure everyone else had done the same, and then hit the door

  oPEn button. The air blew out of the turbovator car with terrifying speed,

  and then a blast-furnace wall of air rushed in, pulling a stream of noxious

  dusi and smoke and soot with it. Sonsen dove Ihrough the dooi. and Lando

  followed afiei her, already half blinded by the slinging. burning fumes thai

  wore everywhere. There had been nothing they could do about eye protection.

  Where the devil was Sonsen? Had he lost her already1 The air-if you could

  call it air-screamed past in ihe howling wind and cleared the view for just

  a moment. He spotted her, through watering eyes, heading toward the

  building. The heal was nearly as bad as the poisoned air and the dust.

  Already the sweat was streaming out of his body, dripping down his brow,

  getting into his eyes, making it that much harder to see. He resisted the

  urge to wipe his brow-and the urge to breathe. Amaz- ing how fast you wanted

  to start again once you stopped. Never mind. Sonscn-Jenica-was at the

  airlock, trying to work the very old-fashioned-looking controls-but the

  metal buttons and knobs were already too hot to touch. Lando pulled the

  torn-up piece of cloth out of his pocket-being careful to keep his

  vibro-shiv from falling out-and handed it to her. She nodded gratefully, nol

  wasting breath on words, and wrapped the cloth around her hand. She threw

  back the spill lever, equalizing pressure between the interior of the lock

  and the outside. It would seem the pressure was higher on the outside,

  judging by the column of smoke and soot that got sucked into the lock.

  Jenica threw back a big lever and the door swung out and open. She waved her

  arm vigorously, urging Lando in-and he needed no urging. It was a big lock

  compartment, capable of handling twenty or thirty people at once. That

  wasn't good. The bigger the lock, the more air there would be to move, and

  the longer it would take. The dust and smoke swirled around in the wretched

  air as Lando stumbled into the oven-hot interior of the lock-and suddenly

  realized that Jenica was not with him. He turned around to find her slumped

  over by the lock entrance, face-down on the ground, coughing and retching.

  His own lungs feeling as if they were about to burst, Lando forced himself

  to go back outside after her. He grabbed her under the arms and dragged her

  in, wishing mightily for enough breath to curse the too-high gravity here in

  the equatorial regions of Centerpoint Station. Half blinded by the caustic

  chemicals burning his eyes, Lando hauled Jenica Sonsen into the lock. He was

  about to let her slump down onto the deck when he realized just how hot that

  metal deck had to be by now. He threw her left arm over his shoulder and

  held her up as he searched frantically for the inside lo
ck controls. She

  managed to take a bit of her weight on her own feet. Coughing horribly, she

  pointed an unsteady finger over to one corner of the lock. Lando looked in

  the direction she was pointing. There! He dragged himself over, Jenica still

  draped over him. and pulled the close-lock lever, burning his hand in the

  process. The metal was hot and getting hotter. It seemed to take forever for

  the door to swing back shut. He had his finger jammed down on the air pump

  button almost before the'door latches had closed, but the automatics cut in

  at once anyway-nol pumping in good air. but dumping the bad stuff out into

  the other side of the lock. Shell One, Jeniea had called it. The air pumps

  whirred busily, stirring the ashes and soot up into a new blinding cloud of

  dust. Lando's lungs were screaming for air, demanding that he breathe

  immediately. He felt as if he were about to pass om. but he knew he did not

  dare, if he tainted, his reflexes would start him breathing again- and that

  would probably kill him. The pressure equali/.cd. and the far lock door

  opened. The air outside was far colder than the stuff in the lock, and the

  temperature difference was enough to make up a sharp little gust of wind as

  the hot bad air expanded out into Shell One-and good cool air swept into the

  lock chamber. Lando let go ol Jenica and dropped to his knees. He barely

  noticed ihe burning heat ol the deck as he gasped for ;iir. coughing,

  gagging, Ins lungs heaving. He pulled the cloth away from his mouth and

  coughed harder, spitting out ihe horrid slime that seemed to have gotten

  into his mouth, even if he hadn't been breathing thai mess. "Out." he said,

  his voice little more than a weak creaking noise. "We need-get out-set lock

  lor others." Jenica had collapsed next to him. She nodded, unable to speak

  even that much. They helped each other to their feet and staggered out of

  the lock chamber. The air here was a swirling mass of dreadful, suifurous

  smoke-but there was air there too, good air. They could not breathe easily

  just yet, not until the dust and smoke dispersed. But at least they could

  breathe. Jenica went to the Shell One side control panel and pulled the

  old-fashioned lever to swing the interior door shut. "Hold it!" Lando

  shouted. He had spotted something. There was a rack of emergency equipment