Star Runner

by Mark McDonough

  Chapter Six – Work Pod Nine

  “Pete, what’s going on?” Alexander asked in a low voice.

  “Oh, nothing much. O’Lochlan here’s just trying to sell Mum’s research to someplace called the Gemini Institute,” Pete answered coolly.

  “The Gemini Institute? They’re the one’s who upgraded the station’s systems last year,” Alexander frowned.

  “You Daniels boys always were too smart for your own good. With what I’ve given them, I’ll be running the station by the end of the month. Then it’ll be ‘bye bye Daniels family’,” he sneered.

  “Oh, yeah? We’ll see about that. There’s no way you’ll ever be running this station,” said Nick taking half a step forward.

  Alexander grabbed his brother’s arm. “Nick’s right. The Apollo Foundation appoints the personnel on this station, not the Gemini Institute. There’s no way they’d let you take over.”

  “You children have no idea what you’re taking about. Politics and money can make or break any organization in a day. And the politics back on Earth are due for a change any day now,” O’Lochlan gloated.

  “You can’t keep us locked in here,” Pete told him.

  “Our Dad’s already on his way,” Nick bluffed.

  “No. No, I don’t think he is,” O’Lochlan said smugly. “If he was, then you wouldn’t be here. He would have sent his security goons instead.”

  The three boys fumed at him. Nick seethed openly with rage. Pete’s face belied a calmness he definitely did not feel. Alexander’s face showed only determination.

  “All I have to do is keep you three out of the way.” O’Lochlan’s face suddenly split into a wide grin. “Just imagine what your parents will do for me just to get you back in one piece.”

  “Just imagine what our parents will do to you if you don’t let us go right now,” Nick retorted.

  “You know that there’s nowhere on this station that you can hide us,” Alexander told him.

  O’Lochlan’s face suddenly took on a thoughtful look. “You know, I think you’re right. I assume you two used the internal sensors to find your brother here?”

  Neither Alexander nor Nick answered him.

  “No, there’s no where on this station that I can hide you,” he grinned. “I know exactly what to do with the three of you.”

  Alexander glanced nervously from side to side at his brothers. He definitely did not like the sound of that.

  O’Lochlan backed up, putting a couple of crates at his back and leaving some room in front of him.

  “Move over there!” he gestured with his gun.

  Alexander moved first, Nick and Pete crowding in close. They turned as they passed O’Lochlan, none willing to turn their backs on the large man.

  “That’s enough. Stop there!” O’Lochlan called.

  They froze near the door.

  “You’re going to go into the corridor when I tell you to. Any of you run and I will shoot the other two,” he ordered. “Now, move! Slowly.”

  Pete, being the closest, punched the button. The door slid open and they went through. Alexander whipped his head from side to side. The corridor was empty.

  “Go to your right,” O’Lochlan called, staying a few paces behind.

  They walked ahead, following the curve of the corridor. Door after door slid past.

  “That’s far enough. Stop right there!” O’Lochlan ordered.

  Pete stared at the door in front of them. He’d already been here twice today. O’Lochlan was right. The station’s internal sensors wouldn’t be able to reach in there. A grin started to spread across his face, and he had to quickly school his face back into a semblance of calmness. There was no way he wanted to let O’Lochlan know that this was exactly where they wanted to be.

  “Get in there,” said O’Lochlan, waving his gun. “And don’t try anything stupid.”

  Pete opened the door to Work Pod Nine and led the way inside. Nick instinctively took a step towards the cockpit.

  “Oh, no you don’t Ace,” O’Lochlan sneered from the doorway, “stay right where you are.”

  Nick froze, bristling at the use of the name that his father had given him. Alexander faced their captor, placing himself firmly between the gun and his brothers.

  “Now, get in the back.”

  Pete turned, opening the door to the rear storage bay. Even still fully loaded from his mission that morning, there was more than enough room for the three of them. They filed in and turned to face O’Lochlan.

  “Make yourselves right at home,” he purred.

  O’Lochlan punched the button with his gun hand. The door slid shut and the lock clicked into place. Alexander lunged forward, slamming his hand on the door release panel. Nothing. The door remained stubbornly shut.

  Nick jumped at the door controls.

  “Wait a couple of minutes,” said Alexander, holding his arm. “He could still be out there.”

  Nick nodded and slumped onto a packing crate. Pete settled himself onto the floor, his back resting against one of the generators. Nick and Pete’s school bags were dropped to the floor in the corner.

  “Don’t worry. We’ll be out of here soon,” Pete told his brothers.

  “You know something we don’t?” Alexander asked.

  The engineer nodded. “We’re in Work Pod Nine. A.B. wanted these parts moved out of here this afternoon. He’ll be here soon to make sure the job gets done.”

  They sat in silence, each of them trying to find a comfortable place to rest amongst the awkward machinery. A quiet throb started up around them.

  Nick shot to his feet. “He’s started the engines!”

  “He can’t do that!” said Pete incredulously.

  “I think it’s time we got out of here,” said Alexander. “Nick.”

  “Right. Just a sec,” he responded and set to work on the door.

  “I don’t believe it!” Nick said in disbelief a few minutes later. “He’s jammed the door!” He turned to stare at his brothers. “I can’t get it open.”

  “Can you do anything, Pete?” asked Alexander.

  Pete shook his head. “Not without my tools, I can’t.”

  Nick reached down and pulled out Pete’s tool pouch from his pocket.

  “Thanks, Ace. You could have told me you had them a bit earlier, you know,” said Pete.

  Taking his pouch, he quickly snapped it back into place on his belt, opened it and started in on the door.

  “Nick’s right,” he said a few minutes later. “O’Lochlan’s jammed it. I’d need a couple of hours to get it open.”

  “Come on, Pete, you can get it open quicker than that,” Nick cajoled.

  “Probably. But you know what happens when I rush it and don’t take care,” Pete responded, tapping the scar on his forehead.

  “Is there any other way out of here?” Alexander asked.

  “You mean apart from being a payload into space? Maybe,” Pete answered.

  He moved off slowly along the wall, moving crates and parts out of his way as he went. About two-thirds of the way along, he found what he was looking for. MAINT. ACC. H-5. Pete whipped out his spanner and went to work. The bolts removed, he carefully manoeuvred the hatch to one side. The crawl space was tiny, not really designed to be entered at all.

  Taking out his flashlight, he lay down on his stomach. He wiggled in, flashing his torch around, making sure that he wasn’t likely to touch anything he shouldn’t. The space kinked sharply to the left. Pete used his toes to push himself further in. He grinned as his torch lit up what he was looking for. MAINT. ACC. H-3. He brought up his spanner and set to work.

  The bolts out, Pete moved as close to the hatch as he could, careful not to push it over. He gathered himself and shoved. The hatch slammed to the deck. Pete scrambled out, up and left, hard up against the internal airlock. Taking a deep breath, Pete readied himself and stuck his head out. His scar itched as he
looked around the pod. It was completely empty.

  “He’s not here,” Pete called.

  Nick crawled out next, pushing his hair out of his eyes as he stood up. Alexander came through last, a little less easily in the cramped space. Nick and Pete didn’t wait for him, heading straight for the cockpit. Nick jumped into the pilot’s seat as Pete slid in beside him. Their fingers flew over the consoles in front of them.

  “What’s going on?” asked Alexander, leaning over them.

  “I’m locked out,” Ace told him in frustration, slamming his fists on the console.

  Pete worked longer, before he too gave up. “The pod’s being remotely controlled from somewhere else.”

  Alexander turned to one of the engineering boards, attempting to access the computer. He frowned as he too found that there was nothing he could do. Suddenly, the blast windows started to lift up.

  “I’ve got something working, at least,” said Pete.

  The three of them craned their heads to see past the heavy metal as it slowly rolled up. Outside, black space and the pinpricks of stars looked back at them. Alexander turned to look out the side window. There, the blackness of space was broken by the soft grey of Space Station Cygnus quickly receding from sight.