Borrowed Time

by Miller, Maureen A.

  He was an intimidating figure, with all muscle beneath his black sweater. He had a body ready for combat, and eyes that could make a man second guess any move. Thank God he was on her side.

  “I’m only going to say this once,” Brian’s tone was lethal. “You’re not going to do anything to her. Do you understand, George? You’re not going to hurt her.”

  A tsking sound brushed against her ear. Emily recoiled and struggled to pull away, but in addition to the gun, hands suddenly seized her arms from behind to restrict her.

  “Ummm, interesting. If I didn’t know better, I would think that the formidable Lieutenant Brian Morrison has finally fallen for someone. How convenient. You have several disadvantages now.” A nasal whistle resonated on his inhale. “Your first disadvantage is now in the hospital.”

  Emily watched Brian’s right hand curl into a fist, the muscles on his forearm swelling with restraint.

  Behind him she detected a motion and saw Colin inching his way along the deck. She shook her head, quickly, indiscernibly, but he kept moving.

  “Oh, don’t worry about him,” Barcuda whispered into her hair, making her flinch. “He’s not going anywhere. As a matter of fact, Ms. Brennan, your brother will get to know his submersible intimately.”

  “This isn’t my submersible!” Colin cried with resentment. “You think I would design something this magnificent and load it with the low-budget crap you’ve put in here?”

  Emily suffered for Colin’s outburst. The metal barrel jerked hard against her temple, and then a piece of gauze was thrust across her mouth.

  Wildly she caught Brian’s eyes. He surged towards her, but men in black uniforms emerged from behind to arrest him. His stark litany of curses was overshadowed by Barcuda’s deep chuckle.

  She realized what the gauze was and tried her hardest not to breathe, but when the butt of an AK-47 pistol crashed into the base of Brian’s skull, she screamed for all she was worth and sucked in tainted air.

  Brian opened his eyes. It wasn’t dark, nor was it cold like the first time she appeared. The gentle staccato of frosted tree limbs had heralded her arrival, but now there was only a hum like a horde of locusts in the distance. He searched for the angel, but this light was too harsh, something to shun and not move towards. It made his head throb as he called out her name, hoping to feel those fingers slip into his.

  A shadow eclipsed the hostile lights, and for a bewildering moment Brian thought she had returned. He wanted to believe they were her divine blue eyes, but his angel had eyes that reminded him of sunny days on a Caribbean beach. The pensive orbs that fixed on him were blue, but not the crystalline color of the sea.

  “Brian. Yo, Brian.”

  And, well—that was most definitely not his angel’s voice.

  Brian sat up. Quickly. The resultant pain shot through his skull and he nearly roared, “Son of a—”

  “Ben knows this trick they used to perform in congress, when you would cramp up sitting in the wooden seats for too long, although he was usually the guy standing—anyway,” Those intense eyes were coming into clarity now. “Want him to give it a try?”

  Brian blinked. “What?” He blinked again. “No.” He swept a peculiar glance behind him. “Hell no.”

  Colin shrugged, but there was no mistaking the concern in his features. “They took her.”

  It was coming back now. With each throb of pain, the fog of confusion dissipated. A relentless rush of memory extended to the image of Emily’s eyes swelling in shock.

  Brian groaned low in his throat, his fist clenching to prevent that sound from escalating into a howl of anguish.

  Emily.

  “Hey, did you hear me? Are you still with me, Brian?”

  “Yeah,” He sought balance, and finally labored to his feet, relying heavily on the wall for leverage. “Where—” That was all he could manage past his clenched teeth.

  It took several circular paces before Colin responded. He patted the pocket of his frayed flannel shirt, seeking the licorice that usually bulged there, but drew away empty. “Uh, she-she collapsed, and Barcuda’s goons grabbed her. Barcuda told them to take her to his office for now.”

  The term seeing red seemed appropriate to Brian. It felt like blood obstructed his vision, and was pounding in his ears. Actually it felt as if his entire head was filled with blood seeking to jet out of every orifice. Fear for Emily shot a current of anxiety through his body, and the only reason he did not launch into a one man militia was the tears that had begun to blur Colin Brennan’s eyes.

  “Look,” Somehow he managed to sound calm, and that drew up the distracted gaze of the engineer. “Did they leave anyone behind, outside to guard us?” Even as he asked this, Brian moved towards the window only to confirm that the hangar was empty.

  Colin shook his head and looked imploringly over Brian’s shoulder. “Go ahead, tell him.”

  Brian snapped around. Ben. At this point he didn’t care where the source of information came from. Brian demanded of the vacant space, “What do you know?”

  “We can’t get out,” Colin’s monotone voice emanated from behind, but Brian did not turn and risk upsetting the young man. “They sealed the entrance. We even tried the access panel in back, and down below—nothing.”

  “There has to be a way out of here—you—I mean Colin designed this.”

  “When it was designed,” Colin said hollowly, “he wasn’t looking for a means of escape. Next time maybe he’ll rethink his blueprint. But it gets worse—”

  All right—patience when it came to finding Emily was not his strong suit. Brian spun back towards Colin and took a deliberate step. “Worse?” He prompted.

  Instinctively Colin retreated, but his narrow chin hefted and his eyes sparked. At that moment he looked so much like his sister. “They turned off the generators. We’ll run out of oxygen soon.”

  Great. Anything else? Brian knew that he felt inordinately sluggish, but couldn’t fall prey to the setback. Searching the sweeping panel of switches on the control deck, he was baffled to find it lit up like a Christmas tree.

  “I don’t get it. We obviously have power.”

  “The oxygen is in canisters. They haven’t gotten around to setting up the electrolysis system yet. You know, where they convert water to oxygen—like the water that escapes with your breath, it gets restored—”

  “Yeah,” Brian nodded, but his mind had already shifted ahead. “Think Colin. You’re our only hope here. Tell me more. Can we restore power to those canisters? A UPS maybe?”

  The engineer shook his head helplessly. Actually his skull seemed to loll atop his neck. Brian recognized the fatigue as a sign of oxygen deprivation.

  “Come on, Colin. What else? There’s got to be a way out of here.”

  Colin giggled.

  “Hey look, friend.” Brian moved in now, his hands gently cupping Colin’s shoulders. “Stay with me.”

  Azure eyes that were hauntingly familiar focused on him. “Brian, I think my sister loves you.”

  Brian’s head snapped back. Pain flooded him anew but he had to brush it aside. “The only way I’m going to find that out is if we can get to her, and right now you’re telling me there’s no way out of here for us—that Barcuda has left us in here to die.”

  The young man sniggered again, his gaze aimed beyond Brian. “What a lame idea.”

  “What?” Brian’s fingers clenched into Colin’s shoulders. “What’s the lame idea?”

  “Drill.”

  “Drill? You’ve got a drill on here—you think we can get through this hull?” Wrapping his knuckles on the metallic wall, he highly doubted that.

  “No, no. Through that wall.” Colin flung his arm towards the window and the two-story barricade outside.

  CHAPTER XV

  Maybe it was too late.

  Brian was afraid he had lost Colin to the effects of oxygen deprivation, which meant it was up to him to come up with a way out of here. Think.

  “Hey, you
didn’t answer me.” Colin sounded petulant.

  “You didn’t ask a question.”

  “Oh,” That silenced Colin for a moment. “Do you want to know why Emily stole those plans from the safe?”

  Brian wavered with a slight bout of lightheadedness. Emily. He could see her now on those video images, crouched down, peering nervously over her shoulder before diving into Barcuda’s desk. Frightened. Beautiful. Determined. His angel.

  “You said it was because people would die if this was built.”

  Colin’s lips curved in sad acceptance. “Yes. True. The heating panels require the proper fluid emissions to ensure the ice doesn’t freeze up again and lock us in a coffin.”

  The mental image made Brian shudder.

  “If Barcuda built this and put it out in the field—” Colin shook his head again, “you know he wanted to test it in Antarctica?”

  Brian nodded.

  “Anyway, he would be killing that crew.”

  “He wouldn’t test it unmanned first?”

  “Couldn’t. Hey,” Colin brushed his fingertips against his shoulder. “I’m good, but not that good.”

  “Ummm,” The influence of the oxygen loss was making him lethargic. Brian shook his head. “The bottom line is that it was your concept, your work, and not the property of NMD. You and Emily were right in what you did. I didn’t have enough time to gather all the facts the night I chased your sister down.”

  He had to get to her. Dying in the Hyperion submersible was simply not an option. Nor did he intend to let her down on his vow to protect her gifted young brother, the man that now watched him with a curious tilt of his head.

  Colin shook his head. “The reason she stole those plans was not to protect the world. It was to protect me. She worries too much. Maybe you can put in a good word for me and let her know I can handle things.”

  It was hard not to smile at the blend of naïve conviction, but he could not sustain the smile. “I’ll do that. For now, tell me what drilling is going to do for us.”

  “Probably kill us.”

  Brian struggled not to shake him. “Then why suggest it?”

  “We’re going to die anyway. Why not destroy the Hyperion, demolish the hangar, and take out the heart of NMD—” his hand swept the air, “—their research and development core. Their nucleus.”

  In the ensuing silence, Brian chuckled and the sound was absurd to him, an indication that oxygen withdrawal was kicking in. Yeah, why the hell not?

  “Alright, tell me what we have to do.”

  For a moment they thought it was going to work. Colin’s adept hands had the Hyperion humming in anticipation as if she was about to launch into space. Perspiration clung to his forehead, glowing in the reflection of the instrument panel. Brian was a quick study and managed the heating system, pushing the levers to their limits and charging to the opposite side of the deck to mimic the procedure.

  “Move it, Brennan.”

  Wild eyes shot up from the console. “The Hyperion is supposed to be put down in the water, or on top of ice before you turn the panels on—” he slammed his palm against a switch and the submersible shook, “not suspended from scaffolding.”

  The temperature grew steadily till Brian worried that they would pass out before ever having a chance. “These are nearing full capacity according to the settings—we’re ready, Colin.”

  “I know.”

  Fatigue was a siren looking to possess Brian. He reached for the metallic wall as support, and then snapped back as if bitten. The surface nearly blistered his palm on contact.

  “Damn,” he said aloud, but more to himself. “We are going to die in here.”

  Colin muttered, slammed another lever and nearly tumbled over when the craft bucked under his feet. “Brian! Benjamin. Can you make sure he’s secure? This is going to be a ride.”

  “Yeah, no problem.” For a bewildered moment he almost lunged towards the vacant space behind Colin expecting to find the portly, wig-capped politician sitting with a smug look on his face.

  “Hold on,” Colin screamed.

  For a suspended moment they floated. It was as if Colin had launched the Hyperion into space—as if Brian should glance out the windows now and witness a vast galaxy dotted with celestial strobe lights.

  The weightless sense of rapture ended with the shock of impact as he was propelled across the floor. He would have completely lost consciousness were it not for the fact that his body slid into the scalding wall, the blistering heat against his right side keeping him alert.

  The Hyperion bucked and shuddered in an effort to move forward, the blazing nose boring against the immense hangar wall like a cattle prod. Brian sought leverage and latched his good arm around a chair soldered into the floor.

  “Yee-haww!”

  The cabin was aglow with the high temperature from the panels and smoke had started to fill the deck from a source he could not identify. In the midst of that red fog, Colin Brennan sat in the control seat, smacking the arm of the chair like he was riding a bronco in a rodeo. The captain of the ship.

  “Colin,” He didn’t think his shout made it past the god-awful shriek of metal scraping metal. It was a hideous noise with the power to peel the flesh from inside your ears.

  “Hold on, cowboy.” Colin cried out, “We’re making some headway here.”

  That remark was stimulant enough to coax Brian forward, deeper into the boiling head of the submersible. To his amazement, through the smoldering glass he could see the torched nose of the vessel boring through the wall.

  “Christ, Brennan, you’re doing it.”

  In the smoke that was now enveloping the cabin, Brian located Colin’s wild grin. With painstaking effort he hauled closer to the controls and rose to his feet.

  “Well, one of two things is about to happen,” The young engineer shouted over his shoulder. “Either we make it all the way, or the metal cools too fast and we get lodged halfway through the wall. Depends on how much they adhered to the design.”

  It was nearly impossible to stand as the Hyperion shuddered on a caliber far greater than anything registered by Richter. “If we make it through,” Brian’s voice trilled, “what then? We’re still trapped in here.”

  Colin tried to leverage his lanky body in the seat, and use the strength in his arms to shove the levers to their furthest extent, like a fisherman trying to bring in an 800 pound marlin. In response, the submersible surged forward, the sound of ripping metal a screech as shrill as the call of Atlantis sirens’.

  “If we can crack through the wall, most likely this deck is not going to hold up to the stress.” He craned his neck around. “That’s not ice we’re cutting through. Ice melts. This building is tearing her up.”

  Brian began to see signs of what Colin described. The hull was buckling in, and in some rare instances he could discern portions of the hangar wall slicing through the framework like a can opener.

  “Damn,” He pitched forward and caught himself with his arms crooked against the hull. “If it weren’t for the fire, oxygen would be leaking in here right now, wouldn’t it?”

  Colin nodded, and tried to rise from his chair. “There’s not much more I can do.”

  He nearly toppled forward but Brian caught his arm. Together they crouched behind the console, a grim foreboding taming the dissonance. With a sense of inevitability, they awaited the grand finale.

  It played out just like Colin had anticipated. The smoldering nose of the submersible broke through the hangar wall and loomed, suspended over another cavernous storage chamber.

  And that was exactly where she stayed.

  Without the aid of heat, the stern of the sub was unable to break free of the fractured wall’s twisted metal fingers as they cooled into an eternal grasp around the craft.

  “Damn.” Brian coughed against the mounting smoke.

  “Sorry captain, I gave her all she got.”

  Brian heard Colin’s attempt at brogue and cupped his shoulder with a quic
k squeeze before taking stock of the demolished deck. The walls smoldered, the heat blurring his vision, but he soon located what he was looking for.

  “Come on,” he shouted, “this way.”

  It was a fine fissure, but wide enough for a man to fit through. He saw Colin eye the serrated edge of metal with skepticism.

  “I’ll follow you, but we’re going to get sliced up like grated cheese when we squeeze through there.”

  “Perhaps. But we don’t have a choice.”

  “No, it’s just,” He glanced edgily over his shoulder, “Ben gave up that whole vegetarian stage, and well—”

  “He’s going to have to suck it in.” Brian took Colin by the arm and coaxed him closer to the jagged fracture. “He’ll make it. I’ll see to it.”

  Colin drew his arm away and stood rooted. The resistant act reminded Brian so much of Emily it made his stomach clench. “What?”

  Somber eyes lined with red, studied him. “You’ll be good for my sister.”

  As absurd and futile their dilemma was, for some reason those words pleased Brian. He managed a brief smile of reassurance before thrusting half his body through the twisted metal teeth and feeling their bite.

  “Why are you going this way?” Colin stood at the bottom of the staircase, looking up. “Barcuda’s office is up there.”

  “They are distracted by the commotion in the hangar. They’re probably sifting through the debris right now, thinking we’re still trapped inside. Regardless, I don’t want to walk straight in. We need an angle to gain an advantage.”

  Brian tried repeatedly to plug his code into the access panel, but it was consistently rejected. Barcuda must have executed a global alteration, a trick Brian himself had taught him. That, or his fingertips had been seared to illegibility.

  Screw it. He kicked the door in. So much for the angle.

  “Wow, my hero.” Colin whispered.

  Looking over his shoulder at the young, smoke-smudged face, Brian felt a wave of empathy for the engineer.

  “Look,” he said quietly, “everything is on camera throughout this facility. I’m taking us the only way I know that we’ll have a chance at surprise.”