“We’re trying to. Where is everyone else?”
“I don’t know. They took them away.” The man swayed and then leaned back against the wall. “You have to listen. You have to get off. The whole station is going to blow up as soon as they finish taking the parts they want.” He looked around suspiciously. “Did you hear something?”
I listened. There was only silence. “I don’t hear anything. Why would they blow up the station?” I wondered if Gregor’s injury was affecting his reason.
“I don’t know. They’ve set charges on the outside. They tried to make me tell them the exact spots where they should place them but I didn’t. That was very military of me, right?” Gregor grinned, a crazy twist to his mouth that did not resemble an expression of humor.
“Did one of them do that to you?” I pointed at the bandage. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what was under it.
Gregor brought his hand up to the bandage again but didn’t touch it. “The Fosaanians have really sharp knives,” he said, “For a primitive society. When they were done, they thought I was dead. I thought I was dead. Maybe I am.” He squinted at me. “Are you real?”
I tried to sound calm. “I’m real. If you didn’t tell them where to set the explosives, how do you know the station will blow up?”
Gregor lost his confused look, and spoke in a normal voice. “Even if they just blow part of it, the rest won’t stay in orbit if it destabilizes enough. It will be pulled down into the atmosphere. Who all is on board?”
I told him.
“That’s bad,” Gregor said. “They never told me when I signed up that this sort of thing might happen. It wasn’t covered in any of the drills. And to think I get written up for poor planning. Ha! I should write up the commander for this mess.” The crazy grin crossed his face again. “I guess since no one else is here that makes me senior officer aboard.” He paused and looked around as if expecting someone to appear and disagree with him. “What do you think about that?” Holding up his hand, he stared at the dried blood on it. “I don’t like blood.” His knees sagged and I was afraid he was going to pass out.
Taking him by the arm, I said, “Why don’t you sit down for a little while?” Gregor nodded and I lowered him to the floor. I didn’t know what to do with him. He needed a doctor but he was in no shape to go anywhere.
I heard Mira’s voice. “Lainie, what does this shape on the slip mean?” she asked. I went back to the slip.
“Oh that’s really not good,” Lainie said. Her face appeared, but she was looking at something out of my view.
“What’s not good?” I asked.
“Another ship just landed in the docking bay, a raider ship. Wait, oh, that’s really not good.”
I pounded my hand on the wall next to the slip, “Tell me what’s really not good!”
“Ansun and Bald Woman just got off.”
I gulped, realizing my mouth was very dry. “I’d say that’s more than not got good, it’s really bad. Can you see corridor A, section sixteen?” I asked.
“Wait, I need to switch to a different view. We’ve only got ten corridor slips working for some reason. Yes, I see it.”
“Do you see any Fosaanians?”
“No!” Lainie yelled so loud I jumped.
I didn’t think the ‘no’ was in answer to my question. “Lainie, did you hear me?” I said.
She didn’t answer. I wanted to shake the slip to get her to talk. “What’s happening?” I yelled.
“They’ve found Decker! The bot went right to the compartment after Ansun said something to it. It must have sensed him. And they’ve found the Fosaanian in the storage compartment.”
“Find me a clear way to the control room!”
“No! A Fosaanian just hit Decker! His nose is bleeding, Decker’s, not the Fosaanian. Ansun is walking up to him.” She stopped speaking.
“Lainie, you have to keep talking to me.”
“Just listen. I’ll switch you in,” Lainie said. “He’s talking to the MI.”
Ansun’s voice came through. “Set the oxygen to turn off in thirty minutes. That will give us enough time and will get rid of any stray Earthers on board.”
Lainie’s face reappeared. “Did you hear that? What are we going to do?”
“Can the MI turn off the oxygen from there?” I asked, trying to stay calm.
“I don’t know. Ansun thinks it can.”
“What’s Ansun doing now?” I asked. “What’s he saying?”
“He’s moving to the door of the docking bay. He’s ordered the Fosaanian and one of the others to stay there and guard Decker. The rest of them are following Ansun.”
“He can’t get out of the bay, right? You’ve got it locked down and you changed the code right?”
“Yes … wait, the MIbot is doing something. It’s directing energy bolts at different spots around the door frame. I think it’s trying to disable the locks.” She went quiet again. “That’s what it was doing. It worked. The door is opening and they are going through. Quinn, I know they are coming here. What do we do? We can’t leave. The other two Fosaanians are right outside.”
“Just hold on,” I said. I turned around to get Gregor, but the man was already partway out the door.
“Where are you going?” I asked. “We need to get to the control room.”
Gregor stopped and stood up very straight. “No, I’ve decided no one is going to blow up my station. I’m going to take the explosives off it.” He turned and walked down the passageway.
I ran after him. “How are you going to do that?”
Gregor looked at me like I should know the answer. “In an Auxpod of course. I’ve got one off A12.”
“I’m not sure you are in any shape to do that,” I said. Gregor’s skin had gone even more grey.
Gregor examined his hand again, rubbing at the blood. “There’s no one else who can do it. Get your friends off the station in case I can’t manage.”
I didn’t have time to argue with him. I needed to get to Mira and Lainie. “Once you get the explosives off,” I told Gregor, “get as far away from the station as you can. We’ll pick you up from the auxpod with the shuttle.” I hoped Decker could handle a maneuver like that.
Gregor gave a salute, probably the only time he’d done such a thing since his training and headed off down the passageway.
I sprinted for the access ladder and slid down it, pausing for moment to catch my breath, rubbing my shoulder. It didn’t help. I crept out into the passageway and moved down it to the control room. As I got closer, I heard Ansun say, “Open this door.”
“This security door is operated by a nonstandard mechanism,” the MIbot said. “It won’t be disrupted by typical methods. If it is not opened from the inside or by the proper code, it will not open unless the controls are overridden in the inner core of the mechanics.”
“How long will that take?
“Approximately twenty-seven minutes, forty-two seconds,” the bot stated.
“Earth girl,” Ansun said. “I know you are listening. I’ve heard what you have done and while you have been clever up to this point, it’s over now. Open the door and I will see to it that you get back to your parents. You’re the one with the brother, correct? I wasn’t happy your brother tricked us. It will go easier for him if you open this door. You do understand my meaning, don’t you?”
I went cold. If anything could get Lainie to open the door, it would be a threat to Saunder. I waited, watching Ansun watch the door and hoping Lainie would resist the man’s threats. There was silence. The door didn’t open.
Ansun turned to the MIbot. “Get the door open, and once it is, take back command of the control room by whatever means necessary. If she opens the door after we’re gone, make sure she ceases to function, as you say.” He spoke to the raider woman. “We’ll take the Earth boy in the docking bay with us. His father has been very resistant to persuasion, and with a little added incentive, he mig
ht give us some of the military codes we need. The other researchers have been very agreeable to working with us in exchange for letting them keep their children with them.”
“We’re not leaving yet.” the raider woman voice was soft, but held a menace even I could hear. “Given the fact that a few young Earthers have been able to disrupt your control, I’m not quite as confident in your abilities as I was before. I want the backup helicos with the MI specifications. Just in case, you understand. I feel the need to protect my investment.”
“Your investment is safe.” Ansun’s voice was very angry. I wondered if anyone had ever questioned him before. “And I doubt you can break the encryption on the helicos,” the Fosaanian continued. “I have the man who developed it, along with the other researchers. You can’t make MIs on your own.”
“I can do anything with enough currency.” The raider woman’s voice hardened. “Now I want those helicos. Or the deal is off.”
“I am very displeased that you are adding in new conditions.”
“I don’t care about your level of pleasure or displeasure. You’re not the emperor, nor will you be.”
“Don’t be so sure of that,” Ansun said. “Death has changed the succession before.”
The woman sneered. “That’s your issue for the future. I deal in the here and now. I don’t care if you are displeased or not. The helicos, or nothing.”
Ansun opened a section of his belt and took out the helicos. He handed them to her without a word.
She took them. “That was an intelligent decision. Now, before we leave, I want to see the commander’s office. Who knows what we might find there?” She strode off but Ansun didn’t follow her immediately. I was surprised to see the anger on Ansun’s face change to a look of satisfaction that even included a faint smile. Ansun waved at the Fosaanians to follow him and headed in the same direction as the raider.
I didn’t understand Ansun’s reaction but didn’t have time to worry about it. Once they were out of sight, I focused back on the MI. It already had the panel off the door unit and was sending tiny streams of light in it.
I had to disable that bot before it got through the door but I couldn’t think of a way to do it. My tribow would have no effect on it. I wiped some sweat off my face, as more dripped onto my hand. Staring at the drops, an idea formed in my head and I ran into the next room to the info slip there. Punching the voice control, I yelled, “Lainie, turn up the heat!”
“What?”
“Just do it, turn up the heat as hot as it will get in this corridor. Cook the place.” I hoped the heat control went very high.
“Okay, I’m doing it. Why am I doing this?”
“The MI. The sulfur iridium isn’t stable at a high temperature. Right, Mira? You told me the puppeteers heated the sulfur iridium to make the fireworks, and my mom told me she was worried about the heat on Fosaan affecting the MIs. But we’ve seen the MIs work on Fosaan, so that means we’ll have to make it hotter than the planet. It might make them malfunction.”
“I’ve got it set as high as it can go,” Lainie said, “but I don’t know if that’s high enough.”
I could feel the heat rise, and I began to sweat more, so I pulled off the extra shirt, letting it drop to the ground. When I put my head out into the corridor to check on the MI, a section of the bot lit up when it sensed me, but it continued to work. I realized it wouldn’t do anything to me as long as I didn’t try to stop it. It hadn’t been given any orders about me.
The bot sent another flash of light and the control room door slid open a fraction. I moved closer, trying to think of what to do if the bot got the door open before the temperature went high enough. “Can you hear me, Lainie?” I called.
“Yes,” Lainie said. The door opened another few centimeters.
“Is there an indicator showing the temperature is still rising?” I was drenched in sweat now.
“Yes, but it’s creeping up very slowly.” The door slid open almost enough for the bot to get through.
I moved over to the bot. “Halt,” I ordered. “I have another task for you.”
“Do not interfere,” the voice from it said calmly. The temperature in the corridor was now so hot it was hard for me to breathe. The door opened all the way and the bot moved forward. A chair came flying out of the control room and then another, slamming into the bot. “Pick up that one,” Lainie yelled and a third flew out. The bot continued forward, unaffected and I ran at it intending to grab it, though I knew that wouldn’t do more than give us a few more seconds.
As I reached it, it lit up all over. I was sure it was about ready to jolt Mira and Lainie with all the energy it could produce, but instead it fell to the floor. The red coating started to spark, until the whole sensor was throwing out tiny fireworks. They sparked until they fizzled out and the bot went motionless.
“Is it dead?” Mira asked as she and Lainie edged out of the control room.
“Yes,” I said. “Good riddance.” I kicked it and it rolled down the hall. “Come on. We have to get to the hanger bay before they take Decker.” There wasn’t any time to waste. I took off running.
Chapter 17
“How are we going to stop him?” Lainie asked as she and Mira followed me.
“I don’t know,” I said, hoping we’d think of something.
When we reached the bay, we stopped a few meters short of the door. I didn’t want to run right into Ansun. He wouldn’t stay in the commander’s office for long unless he countermanded the order to turn off the oxygen. We crept up to the door and looked in. One Fosaanian stood by Decker, who was looking down at the floor. The other was roaming around examining some of the equipment. I didn’t see Mags at all.
“You can use the tribow, can’t you?” Mira asked. “Shoot at the one furthest away while Lainie and I are walking to the shuttle,” she said. “Our movements will make Decker’s guard look at us and not the other guard.”
I didn’t think I could actually hit someone from so far away with just one good eye. “Wait,” I started to say, but Lainie and Mira were already moving in the direction of the guard. I took aim as best I could and let loose the quarrel. It passed right by the Fosaanian, who spotted me and raised his own weapon, shouting something.
I heard Ansun’s voice in the distance. I forced myself to stay still, concentrating on my aim as the Fosaanian ran toward me. I let loose another quarrel. This time the man had brought himself close enough that the quarrel grazed the Fosaanian’s arm as he took a shot at me. The shot went wide and I ducked behind a stack of supply cartons. I waited, hoped the ligitin on the tip of the quarrel would be strong enough to affect the man before he could get off another shot. He continued to advance and I thought he hadn’t gotten a big enough dose.
Mira pulled her knife on Decker’s guard. She lunged at the man, but he dodged out of her way and took aim with his walthaser. Decker came at the man from the side, kicking him hard in the knee. The man went down. Mira knelt and hit him with the back of her bracelet. He lost his grip on the weapon and she kicked it across the floor.
“Come on!” Decker yelled as the three of them ran for the shuttle ramp. I dashed out aiming my tribow and yelling at the Fosaanian aiming at me. My action startled the man enough so that he hesitated. Just before he could get off a shot, the ligitin took effect and the Fosaanian’s knees buckled. He went down. I ran past him, making it up and inside the shuttle as Ansun and the raider woman came into view.
Decker took the controls, making the shuttle swerve back and forth as he headed it toward the airlock. When the shuttle moved clear, Decker punched the power to full, and the shuttle flashed away.
I sank back into my seat, relieved to see Mags had flown back inside at some point. Looking up at the bird, I realized my left eye had gone completely blind.
No one else noticed anything was wrong. Mira was huddled in a seat opposite me, her eyes closed. Decker and Lainie began to discuss what to do next. “Let’s land
this shuttle in some clear spot until we can get in contact with Quinn’s father,” Lainie suggested. “Ansun can’t search the whole planet for us.”
“Wait,” I said. I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten about Gregor and his claim about the explosives. I tried to explain.
“He couldn’t be there. There weren’t any Earthers on the station,” Lainie said.
“He was there,” I insisted. “I don’t know if it’s true about the explosives, but he was convinced the place was rigged to blow up.”
“I don’t believe it,” Decker said. “And even if there were explosives, Gregor is fairly hopeless at some really basic tasks. Do we really think he’s going to manage to remove them without blowing the station and himself up? Plus, if we go back, a raider ship will spot us. They’re probably already after us.”
“We can’t leave Gregor behind,” I argued. “You of all people should believe that. Military code, you know, no man left behind. Besides, he’s my friend.”
Decker looked out the viewport for what seemed a long time and then sighed. “You’re right. Let’s hope the shuttle is too small for the raiders to pick up on whatever defense system they have, or if they do pick us up, they’ve decided we aren’t worth bothering about.” He reversed the shuttle’s direction.
It didn’t take long for the station to come back into view, but it wasn’t the only thing filling the viewport.
“That is the strangest ship I’ve ever seen,” Lainie said.
We crowded around to look. The giant vessel that was closing in on the station appeared to be half a dozen junked ships seamed together into one lumbering monstrosity.
“It’s a salvage ship,” I said. “I’ve seen a few at space docks. They all look cobbled together. This one is the biggest one I’ve ever seen though.”
We watched as the ship eased in very close to the space station. When it was only meters away, two giant arms unfolded and fastened on to a section on the middle ring of the station. Through the clear tubes in the arms I could see people approach the station.
Station Fosaan Page 19
