Banished Worlds by Grant Workman, Mary Workman Page A

combination. Nothing happened. She looked to me. “That was an override code. It should have opened the circuit.”
    “What about the mechanical release?” I asked.
    Roberts tucked the gun into the back of her pants. “I’ll try it.” She took hold of the latching bar, pulled it toward her, then up. “It’s tight, really tight.” Roberts got a better grip, further under the latch bar, and pushed up from her legs.
    I noticed just how long and prefect her legs were.
    The audible snap that released the locking pins also brought my attention back to the work at hand.
    It was hard not to notice what an attractive woman Mia Roberts was.
    She pulled the latch bar fully up, pushed the hatch in, and the seals released which let the door move into its retraction track. Roberts shouldered it off to the left and pushed until it stopped. “I think the frame is bent, that’s about as far as it’s going to go.” She retrieved her piece, reached inside the entry way, and touched the light control. “Ms. Garrett, it’s Agent Roberts, I’m coming in.” Roberts moved into the spacecraft.
    Daiman stepped into the entrance, but stayed near the door.
    Bender moved to the hatch and looked through the opening.
    “Danbeu, come in here!” Roberts yelled.
    I moved to the entryway and entered. “Watch our backs,” I said as I passed Daiman.
    “You think someone is coming?” he asked.
    “I don’t want to find out too late if they are.”
    “Danbeu!” Roberts yelled again, breaking up our conversation.
    I went inside and located her in the aisle of the common area.
    Ms. Garrett’s ship was designed like a smaller version of the President’s transport. The forward area held the working deck for the flight crews. This area, nearest the entrance, was the common area for everyone onboard. Behind this section would be the President’s personal agent’s area, then the private quarters.
    Roberts pointed at the opposite side of the ship, not that she had to, where the ship had come in contact with the building; both ship and building had been destroyed. What had been wall and ship now was a gaping hole into the other building.
    “Didn’t the report say they might be able to fix the ship? They didn’t know for sure?” I asked Roberts. “Well, I’m no pilot, but I think this would be a problem.”
    “I am a trained pilot, Harry …”
    “You are?”
    “Yes, Harry, why do you think I’m here, just to give you massages?”
    “Well, speaking of that, I got a kink in my shoulder from carrying this torch.” I grinned at her which she ignored.
    “Yes, Harry, this would be a problem, and either they lied to Nelson, or he lied to us.”
    “I don’t know. I got pulled into this pretty quick myself. The time frame doesn’t fit, not for how fast they retrieved me, then the drag time before we actually launched to the planet. It’s more like President Garrett knew this would happen, and we were on standby as a backup plan. Backup for who though.”
    “Other agents? I don’t know, Harry. This bird was dead, and the crew had to know that.”
    “You go aft, I’ll look forward, see what we can find out. Five minutes and meet back here. No more than that.” I did not wait for an acknowledgement. At this point, I knew Roberts followed my orders.
    The ship’s control module, the cockpit, would be the farthest forward. Immediately behind that, would be a small crew area, a rack or two for sleeping on long flights, and a few personal storage lockers. There would be emergency supplies for the crew and the ship’s security contingent. This was the first section I reached.
    Moving forward, I opened the lockers and pocketed a couple of protein bars I found; a little something for Roberts and me when no one else was around. I did not find any clues as to the crew’s location until I reached the cockpit itself. It had been exposed to the vacuum of space. The entire windscreen was simply not there, gone. Whatever had happened, the ship