Firmament: Radialloy

by J. Grace Pennington

  He had pushed himself up into a half-sitting position, his elbows resting on the soft cot. “No. It won’t.”

  I sat down on the floor, feeling like I should cry. It was no use. My eyes were dry—drier than I could ever remember them being. I felt nothing. I’d lost everything.

  “You’re a Christian aren’t you?” he half-stated, rather timidly.

  “Yes.” There was a moment’s silence. “Are you?”

  “I don’t know. I suppose so. But after mom died and you disappeared, I just...” He didn’t finish his sentence. Instead, he started another. “I saw the Bible in your room when I was there. It was the first conventional book I’d seen on board, and when I walked over there I read the title.”

  “There’s at least one more conventional book on board,” I said, still feeling numb and heavy.

  He looked at me quizzically.

  “It’s just like mine,” I said. “It’s the Doctor’s.”

  “You’re lucky you had him,” he said. “I may not care much for what God did to us, but Dad outright hates Him.”

  “The same way he hates me,” I whispered.

  August said nothing. I dropped my gaze to the cold, white metal floor.

  “Why are you asking me all this?” I asked.

  “I just wondered if you were going to go on trusting God after all this. I mean, you seemed to like your life before. But now that it’s all gone...” He let his voice trail off.

  My lips formed a yes, but the sound refused to follow. Of course I still trusted God. Didn’t all things work together for good to those who loved Him? Couldn’t I do all things through Him who strengthened me? Didn’t those who waited on him mount up on wings as eagles? Wouldn’t we have saved the Doctor by now if I hadn’t been too stubborn to trust him before?

  My gaze fell on the CMR scanner, laying uselessly by the cot where I’d scanned the Doctor a couple of nights before. I remembered him tossing it in the air just a few days ago, complaining about the dryers, bantering about the new uniforms.

  In a few hours, I would be gone, the Doctor would be dead, and there would be someone else handling the scanner. Probably a nurse.

  I couldn’t say yes.

  But I couldn’t say no. That would deny everything I believed in.

  So I said neither. Instead, I channeled all the energy I had left and stood slowly to my feet. “We have to get out of here. We have to save the Doctor.”

  “How?” August asked.

  “I just know I’m not giving up on him now,” I said. I looked at the CMR scanner again, and pictured it laying in a puddle of water in the sanitation room—

  The sanitation room! Andi, you’re such a fool!

  “Come on!” I called, and began running towards the sanitation room.

  “Where are you going?” he cried, standing up and starting in my direction, trying to keep up with me in his weakened state.

  “To save the Doctor.”

  “How?” he panted.

  I didn’t know how. I just knew I had to.

  Commander Howitz wasn’t familiar with sickbay; he was too new to have used the sanitation room. Surely he hadn’t thought of it. I raced down the curved row of sinks and dryers and, sure enough, found the door on the other end open.

  August caught up with me as I paused at the opening and peered into the hall to make sure that no one was there.

  “But what are you going to do?” he asked again.

  “We can at least get the Doctor out,” I said.

  “Where is he?”

  “He’s on D-Deck, in Ensign Shelhammer’s quarters.”

  “Guarded?”

  “By two men.”

  He thought, still breathing heavily, for a moment. Then he looked at me.

  “Didn’t you say you got a galley assistant to help you with the generator?”

  “Eduardo Sanchez,” I nodded.

  “And is he working there now?”

  “I think so.”

  He thought for another moment, then spoke rapidly. “Most people don’t know that I’m not in on this with my dad. Most people probably don’t know the galley workers either. If we pretend to be a relief guard and send them to rest...”

  “Yes!” I cried. “I’ll find some way to get the machine, if you’ll tell me what it looks like.”

  “It’s the black, rectangular one, with a big gauge on the right and a silver switch and lots of dials.”

  “I remember it,” I nodded. “I’ll bring it to you...”

  “In the hold. We’ll be able to hide there.”

  “Hide in the provision section,” I suggested. “Someone might see you if you hide in recycling.”

  “I’ll be there.” He laid a hand on my shoulder. “Are you—sure you can do this?”

  I pushed his hand away. I could feel his arm shaking, and it made me nervous. “I have to.”

  “Be careful.”

  “You, too. Now go, hurry!”

  He took a deep breath and darted down the hall.

  I started to step out, hesitated and closed my eyes. I... trust you, God. I do. I do. Just please, please let this work. Let us save him. Even if... even if... I choked. I couldn’t go on. Opening my eyes, I started towards the elevator. “C-Deck,” I said, not liking the way my voice shook. I had no plan. None at all. I just had to get inside that room again somehow.

  I thought, harder and more desperately than I’d ever thought before, as I rode the elevator down and trotted down the hall. If I was lucky, I’d have the machine and be down in the hold before Commander Howitz even found that I’d left sickbay.

  Of course, so far I hadn’t been lucky at all. And there was one thing standing in the way—I had absolutely no way of getting into his quarters.

  The walk to his door seemed both eternally long and impossibly short at the same time. When I finally reached it, I stood trembling at the door, thinking. If I could just figure out the code to his lock.

  What could it be? It could be anything. I didn’t know him well enough to know what he would use for a code.

  “Genevieve Lavinia Sandison. You were named after her. Her!”

  Her. The thing more important to him than anything else in the world.

  Her name must be Lavinia.

  My fingers shaking so that they were almost uncontrollable, I turned on the keypad screen and typed in L-A-V-I-N-I-A.

  An ugly beep sounded, and red letters flashed “Incorrect.”

  I stepped back. It had been a good try, but not good enough.

  Lavinia. Lavinia. Sara.

  Sara and Lavinia.

  “Lavinia? What are you doing here? Where’s Sara?”

  Was that who the Doctor had mistaken me for when I visited him last night?

  “Sara... Sara was my sister. You were her best friend. She had blonde hair and blue eyes.”

  The final piece of the puzzle fell in place. My mother and Crash’s mother had been best friends.

  It suddenly made perfect sense. She would have grown up in the same town with the Doctor’s family. She would have watched him postpone college and career to take care of his little sister after his parents died. She would have known all about his devotion, his dedication, and his faith.

  Who better to trust her daughter with?

  “There you are.”

  The gravelly voice paralyzed me.

  “Your precious Mr. Crash will reach us in a few minutes. We have to leave now.” Gripping my arm, he started pulling me down the hall towards the airlock again.

  “But...” I gasped, too shocked to do anything but run with him, “...you don’t have access...”

  “I finally managed to override it.”

  “August!” I cried.

  “He’ll have to come later.”

  I planted myself on the floor as best I could. “Please! Let me save the Doctor! I’ll go with you... I’ll do anything you want. Just...”

  “We don’t have time!” he growled, and with a wrench, he pulled me along again.
>
  I wasn’t going. Not when the Doctor was still in danger. August would be waiting for me in the hold; he wouldn’t know that I wasn’t coming with the machine.

  I pulled away recklessly, knowing it would do no good. He kept pulling me along.

  Just what was I going to do if I got free? He’d only catch me and get me, and take me with him again. I couldn’t win. I wasn’t strong enough.

  No, I wasn’t. But...

  Taking only a second to plan, I stumbled forward and cried out, jerking him off balance for a moment. He let go of my arm for an instant, trying to right himself, and I ducked down, spun around, and started running.

  “Stop!” he yelled.

  I kept running, for all I was worth. I hadn’t known my legs could move so fast, but I ran, ran, ran, hearing the pounding of his boots behind me. I had only a couple of yards on him, not enough to make it into the elevator before he could stop me.

  I ran past the elevator and into the lounge, vaulting over the back of a couch and nearly collapsing when I dropped behind it, but I managed to keep going. In the back corner was the emergency pole, and I grabbed onto it, positioning my feet at the brim of the hole that led down to other levels.

  I’d never tried this before. For half a second I hesitated, but then I heard him bump into a small table and grunt.

  I jumped into the hole, gripping the pole with both hands.

  Down I slid, trying to wrap my legs around the pole as well, but not managing it. A rough place caught my right hand, and I yelled at the pain as the skin was scraped off. Still I flew down, seeing levels pass in blurs of white. It was a good thing I wanted to go all the way to the bottom, because I had no idea how to stop at a level.

  Before I’d even had time to take it in, I landed, my feet meeting the floor with an impact that shook my skeleton from tarsal bones to skull. Trying to think straight, I let go of the pole and threw myself backwards, so that I landed on my back on the floor.

  A spasm of pain shot up my neck, but I stood up anyway, my knees feeling like jelly, and wobbled away from the pole.

  I was in the brig, just where I’d wanted to be.

  XXV

  The long row of cells faced me, their purple-tinted energy shields sparkling and humming softly.

  “What are you doing here?”

  I snapped my head towards the noise, and saw Sigmet’s face behind one of the shields.

  Yes, he and Peat were both in the same cell. I rushed for it, hoping that Commander Howitz hadn’t overridden the brig systems.

  Reaching for the lock to their cell, I tried to speak calmly, but found my voice shaking. “You’re right, he only wants me dead. He’s chasing me now.” Even as I entered the Doctor’s emergency code into the lock, I heard the sound of someone sliding down the pole.

  The lock flashed green, and the shield disappeared, leaving Peat and Sigmet free just as the Commander dropped skillfully to the ground, knees bent perfectly. He started forward, but Peat jumped to meet him, and the two huge men faced each other intently for half a second.

  Then Peat reached for the Commander, who sidestepped and shot his fist towards Peat’s chin.

  I drew back. My idea was working! While they fought, I could slip away and hide, and maybe Crash would catch up with us. We still had time to save the Doctor’s life.

  I backed into something and grunted. Fingers gripped my arm, and I was yanked back. Before I could protest, a hand was clapped over my mouth.

  Sigmet. But what—?

  He pulled me backwards, and for an instant, I was too startled to struggle. By the time I began trying to pull away, he’d brought me out of the brig and into the hold. I reached up to pry his hand from my mouth, but he took it down himself, sealing the adjoining door with one hand, while still holding on to my arm.

  The hold. We were in the hold.

  “August!” I screamed, yanking away. “August, help! Eduardo, August, help me!”

  Sigmet kept his grip on my arm and pulled me towards the wall on the opposite side of the room. “August!” I screamed again. He had to be down here.

  “Andi?” a well-known accent replied.

  I looked towards the provision shelves far to my left. A pale face with a crop of dark brown hair peeked around one of them.

  “Andi! Stop!” he yelled, starting towards us.

  But Sigmet stopped at the wall, and I looked forward to see what he was doing. The engineer’s lift—he was taking me back up. To the airlock.

  And the speeder was ready for takeoff.

  “What about your boss?” I gasped as he flung open the little square door.

  “Boss?” he asked, his odd, high eyes showing confusion.

  “Leeke... isn’t he your boss? Aren’t you his assistant?”

  Understanding flashed through his expression, and he smiled as he pushed me in. “I see. You think he’s Leeke and I’m Mars. Well, you have it backwards. He’s not in charge—I am.”

  I could only stare. I had assumed—Peat was so big—

  He climbed in after me, and I caught a glimpse of August running in our direction as Sigmet slammed the door closed and calmly ordered, “C-Deck.”

  The tiny lift started upwards, and I forced myself to calm. I wasn’t going to give up now. I had to think clearly, find out how to get away from him.

  He was the leader of the twosome—he was the one in charge. He wasn’t going to wait for his partner. He would save him later—or maybe not. Either way, he was taking me away with him now.

  The lift stopped, and he slammed the door open, pushing me roughly out into the fuel cell chambers in the front of the Surveyor. It was dark there, and I stumbled through with his hand still clamping my shoulder. If only he were holding me a little more loosely, it might be possible to slip away in the shadows—

  A twinge of pain pinched my knee, and I reflexively gripped it, but it died away just as his hand reached out in front of me and opened a door.

  He still held tightly to my shoulder, and pushed me out. I didn’t recognize the place where we were; it was dim and brown and dirty. A long metal walkway extended out from where we stood through the huge, cylindrical room we were in. Metal steps led up to a sold metal platform that stretched out before us, fenced in by railings.

  Then it hit me. We were inside one of the thruster chambers. They housed the mechanism for the thrusters that gave the ship its propulsion when not on warp speeds. A giant pipe came down from the ceiling and stretched all the way to the back of the ship—the thruster itself must be on the other side of the pipe.

  Sigmet wasn’t interested in going to the thruster. He continued to push me along, towards the stairs that went up and out of the thruster chamber.

  I tried desperately to think. He was trying to lose Commander Howitz by taking a route he wouldn’t expect. And he wouldn’t expect it—he’d assume that Sigmet would take me the shortest way.

  His hand loosened slightly for a second as he prepared to ascend the stairs, and I took the opportunity to duck away from his grasp, desperately. I dropped, landing in a sitting position on the solid metal platform below me, but I didn’t take time to worry about the pain that crackled over my legs. I just started half-crawling, half-running back towards the lift. It probably wasn’t the smartest place to go—but I had to go somewhere. I didn’t have time to think.

  My jacket was grabbed and yanked upward, and I found myself again in a fully standing position. Fingers wrapped around my arm until I let out a yelp of pain.

  “Don’t try that again,” he said coolly, and began pulling me towards the stairs once more.

  “Let go of her!” cried a gravelly voice from behind us.

  I wouldn’t have thought I would have been so glad to hear his voice again.

  Of course, Sigmet didn’t obey. He began pulling me up the stairs, but I reached down and held onto the metal railing. He kept dragging me, and my hands scraped across the rusty pipe. Flakes of metal dug into my skin and reopened the cut from my slide earlier.
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  I looked back in the direction the voice had come from. The Commander was jumping the last few steps up to the platform we’d just left. How had he figured out where I was?

  Of course. The same way he’d figured out that I was on the Surveyor in the first place. The radialloy tracking device.

  He took masterful leaps towards us. Sigmet pulled on me with a ferocity I hadn’t seen from him before, and I screamed as my hands slid off the rail.

  Unhindered, my captor rushed up the stairs at his top pace—but his odd, limping gait was ineffectual against the Commander’s powerful strides. As much as I didn’t want to go with him, I instinctively reached a bloody hand out to my father as he bounded up the steps. He took it and yanked me, so hard that I thought he must have pulled my shoulder from its socket.

  Instead of freeing me, the yank sent Sigmet tumbling down the stairs with a yell, still hanging onto my other arm. I screamed again as the weight of the smaller man’s body dragged me down and pulled my feet out from under me, but before I could land, the Commander put an arm around my waist and pulled me to my feet.

  Sigmet lost his grip on me altogether, and slid down the stairs, letting out grunts and groans with every bump. I had no love for him, but still I winced when he landed at the bottom.

  Before I had time to take in the fact that he was gone, the Commander began running up the stairs, this time with me in tow.

  This apparently had not been such a good idea. This was just a game, they would keep on trading me violently back and forth forever—unless one of them defeated the other, in which case I’d be stuck in the speeder with whoever won, on my way to certain death, knowing that I’d left the Doctor insane with no one to care for him.

  I had to keep them fighting—if they kept at it long enough, it might be enough time for Crash to come aboard; and then someone might be able to find me and save me.

  I braced my tired body to begin struggling again, when I heard a great thumping on the metal slats behind me. Before either I or the Commander could turn around, iron fingers gripped my shoulders and pulled me back. Peat.