Vila’s visor looked to have a fresh fracture joining the other two.
‘You have to go. Close the door!’
Vila watched her stand up, unsteadily, and turn her back on him. She had made her decision. She wasn’t hiding from the oncoming threats of the shield wave and the bizarre alien ship. Jenna was facing them down, right to the end.
Vila looked away, appalled. Around him, alien limpets scuttled closer on their gangling legs, and surrounded the airlock door.
He dropped down below the hull, and whacked the door control on the inner wall. The hatchway above him sealed with a clunk he could feel through his boots.
The wall gauge showed air was rapidly pumping into the airlock. It wasn’t long before the room repressurised, and Vila could open the inner door.
He didn’t go straight through it. Instead, he slumped down onto the airlock floor and tugged off his cracked helmet, ripped away his gloves and flung them to one side of the room. There was a skittering, scratching sound, but he didn’t care what he’d damaged.
He put his face in his hands, his breath coming in great heaving gulps.
‘Oh Jenna. What have I done?’
Chapter 16
Blunt Instrument
Blake slammed a frustrated fist down on the table. The vibration made his whole arm tingle. Beneath his thermal suit he felt a sharp point of pain at the site of his injury.
He and Cally had been hunting for communications equipment for too long. He caught her disapproving look from where she watched him, on an adjacent island of equipment beyond the suspended walkway. He sucked in a deep, calming breath. It would do no good for him to exacerbate the wound. They would likely have no more luck finding medical instruments in this enormous cavern than they’d already had locating a comms unit. It wouldn’t help if he died down here of his gunshot wound, a victim at last of Travis’s final attack.
Yet he and his crew had already made compromises. Back on Liberator , they’d swallowed their pride and contacted the Federation for reinforcements to hold back the alien invasion. A Federation that, until then, had lost all memory of the defence grid around Star One. It would be the worst of ironies for them to arrive only to be destroyed, along with everything else in the immediate vicinity, by an even older, deeper Federation secret. It was almost as though Blake could hear Megiddo all around him ticking, ticking, ticking towards destruction.
He tried his comms bracelet yet again. No signal at all. No way to contact Liberator . ‘We must be far too deep underground,’ he told Cally.
‘Or they are not there,’ she replied, walking across the bridge to rejoin him. ‘Avon said he would not remain on station.’
Blake scuffed his feet on the dusty floor. ‘Can you reach him telepathically?’
Cally shook her head. ‘I have tried,’ she admitted. ‘But even if he could hear my messages, I cannot confirm that he has done so. And his continued absence suggests otherwise.’
‘Or he can’t get to us through the storm and ice outside.’
Cally seemed so frustrated with herself. ‘I was able to perceive what the human fleet was thinking. My telepathic ability has been enhanced since we arrived in this sector, Blake. I think…’
‘What?’
Cally looked across at the cabinets arrayed in semicircles. ‘I think it is the powerful effect of these humans, connected into the Megiddo systems.’
Blake laughed mirthlessly. ‘Perhaps you should ask them to contact the Federation for us.’
‘If only,’ she admitted. ‘They seem to have been reaching out to me since we got here.’
‘Well that’s it!’ Blake was laughing again, but now it was in delight at a fresh idea. ‘If anyone knows where the comms equipment is here, it’s the operators. So why don’t you ask them?’
Cally seemed to think this was a good idea. Blake watched, in a mixture of admiration and concern, as she composed herself and froze into immobility. Despite the machine hum all around
‘You have to go. Close the door!’
Vila watched her stand up, unsteadily, and turn her back on him. She had made her decision. She wasn’t hiding from the oncoming threats of the shield wave and the bizarre alien ship. Jenna was facing them down, right to the end.
Vila looked away, appalled. Around him, alien limpets scuttled closer on their gangling legs, and surrounded the airlock door.
He dropped down below the hull, and whacked the door control on the inner wall. The hatchway above him sealed with a clunk he could feel through his boots.
The wall gauge showed air was rapidly pumping into the airlock. It wasn’t long before the room repressurised, and Vila could open the inner door.
He didn’t go straight through it. Instead, he slumped down onto the airlock floor and tugged off his cracked helmet, ripped away his gloves and flung them to one side of the room. There was a skittering, scratching sound, but he didn’t care what he’d damaged.
He put his face in his hands, his breath coming in great heaving gulps.
‘Oh Jenna. What have I done?’
Chapter 16
Blunt Instrument
Blake slammed a frustrated fist down on the table. The vibration made his whole arm tingle. Beneath his thermal suit he felt a sharp point of pain at the site of his injury.
He and Cally had been hunting for communications equipment for too long. He caught her disapproving look from where she watched him, on an adjacent island of equipment beyond the suspended walkway. He sucked in a deep, calming breath. It would do no good for him to exacerbate the wound. They would likely have no more luck finding medical instruments in this enormous cavern than they’d already had locating a comms unit. It wouldn’t help if he died down here of his gunshot wound, a victim at last of Travis’s final attack.
Yet he and his crew had already made compromises. Back on Liberator , they’d swallowed their pride and contacted the Federation for reinforcements to hold back the alien invasion. A Federation that, until then, had lost all memory of the defence grid around Star One. It would be the worst of ironies for them to arrive only to be destroyed, along with everything else in the immediate vicinity, by an even older, deeper Federation secret. It was almost as though Blake could hear Megiddo all around him ticking, ticking, ticking towards destruction.
He tried his comms bracelet yet again. No signal at all. No way to contact Liberator . ‘We must be far too deep underground,’ he told Cally.
‘Or they are not there,’ she replied, walking across the bridge to rejoin him. ‘Avon said he would not remain on station.’
Blake scuffed his feet on the dusty floor. ‘Can you reach him telepathically?’
Cally shook her head. ‘I have tried,’ she admitted. ‘But even if he could hear my messages, I cannot confirm that he has done so. And his continued absence suggests otherwise.’
‘Or he can’t get to us through the storm and ice outside.’
Cally seemed so frustrated with herself. ‘I was able to perceive what the human fleet was thinking. My telepathic ability has been enhanced since we arrived in this sector, Blake. I think…’
‘What?’
Cally looked across at the cabinets arrayed in semicircles. ‘I think it is the powerful effect of these humans, connected into the Megiddo systems.’
Blake laughed mirthlessly. ‘Perhaps you should ask them to contact the Federation for us.’
‘If only,’ she admitted. ‘They seem to have been reaching out to me since we got here.’
‘Well that’s it!’ Blake was laughing again, but now it was in delight at a fresh idea. ‘If anyone knows where the comms equipment is here, it’s the operators. So why don’t you ask them?’
Cally seemed to think this was a good idea. Blake watched, in a mixture of admiration and concern, as she composed herself and froze into immobility. Despite the machine hum all around
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