of the craft and to the entry door of the Command Bridge. With a nod to Jane, who had put her back against the hangar wall and gone to sentry alert, her tubes covering the space behind him, he moved right, turned and began walking slowly down the ramp.
“Nothing below,” he called over the suit comlink as his feet felt the vibration of Jane’s boots behind him, as she followed him down the ramp.
They stood facing another oval door that must act as a pressure hatch. He pointed his red cube at the hatch. The eight foot high door slid left into the pressure wall. Repeating their sheltered scan of the space beyond, Bill jumped into the new space with both tube weapons aimed forward. Jane followed him, moving to his left.
“Looks empty to me,” she said. “What next?”
They stood in a large hallway that looked the same as the Engine hallway. Twenty feet wide it was along with being twenty feet talk. Gray metal gleamed everywhere. A metal ramp lay twenty feet ahead, leading upward to the deck they had been on.
Jane moved up beside him, her manner thoughtful as she stared ahead. “Looks like Diligent has given up on making the ship mind try to hurt us.”
“Looks like,” he agreed. Bill ran for the ramp. Jane followed. They ran up the ramp, coming out into a continuation of the long access hallway. With weapons aimed forward, they walked toward the next pressure wall hatch. His mind buzzed as he thought over the options available to them. While taking the direct route as fast as they could still seemed like the best option for getting to the Bridge and a final confrontation with Diligent, still, the smarmy-sounding cockroach was an Alien. Greedy it was, as shown by its love of capturing defenseless people on primitive planets for sale to rich Buyers. Arrogant it was, based on what it had said so far. Cowardly it was, since it had stayed inside the Command Bridge Chamber and had not come out to confront them. Which told him the giant bug must be able to go without food for several days. They controlled the other hallway route leading to the Command Bridge. Just ahead, according to his memory of the holo, lay small chambers that opened onto the hallway. They had been labeled as Habitat Chambers in the holo. Which he took to mean crew staterooms. Might be interesting to check one out later. Not now, though. The longer they waited for the final confrontation the more time it gave Diligent to think up another surprise. He slowed his running, jumped over the hatchway sill and continued his fast run along the hallway. A thump behind him said Jane followed.
“You didn’t stop and make a staged entry,” she called his way. “Why not?”
Why not indeed? Small unit tactics called for doing a staged entry for every access point that might be controlled by an enemy unit. But the hatches were open on the pressure walls that divided the hallway. And though he saw small oval doorways now dotting the hallway, still, he could see ahead as he approached each new section. The hallway was empty of people, according to the ship AI. And according to what his own eyes, ears and nose told him. “Speed,” he said, foregoing the secrecy of ASL. “Speed is essential to getting to the entry point for the Command Bridge Chamber. Diligent is surely watching us from spyeye vidcams. It knows we are coming. And it knows just where in the ship we are at any time. So running fast through the hatchways cuts down on the time he has to plan a surprise. Beyond the mobile robots already waiting for us.”
Jane followed him through the next hatchway, at a run with her tube weapons pointed forward. “Understood. Uh, my memory says this hallway will begin to curve to the right after the next pressure wall. That hallway stretches for more than a hundred feet on our side. My memory of the other access hallway says it curves inward too. To meet our stretch of curving hallway. At some point we’ll come into the view of those robots.”
Bill nodded,
“Nothing below,” he called over the suit comlink as his feet felt the vibration of Jane’s boots behind him, as she followed him down the ramp.
They stood facing another oval door that must act as a pressure hatch. He pointed his red cube at the hatch. The eight foot high door slid left into the pressure wall. Repeating their sheltered scan of the space beyond, Bill jumped into the new space with both tube weapons aimed forward. Jane followed him, moving to his left.
“Looks empty to me,” she said. “What next?”
They stood in a large hallway that looked the same as the Engine hallway. Twenty feet wide it was along with being twenty feet talk. Gray metal gleamed everywhere. A metal ramp lay twenty feet ahead, leading upward to the deck they had been on.
Jane moved up beside him, her manner thoughtful as she stared ahead. “Looks like Diligent has given up on making the ship mind try to hurt us.”
“Looks like,” he agreed. Bill ran for the ramp. Jane followed. They ran up the ramp, coming out into a continuation of the long access hallway. With weapons aimed forward, they walked toward the next pressure wall hatch. His mind buzzed as he thought over the options available to them. While taking the direct route as fast as they could still seemed like the best option for getting to the Bridge and a final confrontation with Diligent, still, the smarmy-sounding cockroach was an Alien. Greedy it was, as shown by its love of capturing defenseless people on primitive planets for sale to rich Buyers. Arrogant it was, based on what it had said so far. Cowardly it was, since it had stayed inside the Command Bridge Chamber and had not come out to confront them. Which told him the giant bug must be able to go without food for several days. They controlled the other hallway route leading to the Command Bridge. Just ahead, according to his memory of the holo, lay small chambers that opened onto the hallway. They had been labeled as Habitat Chambers in the holo. Which he took to mean crew staterooms. Might be interesting to check one out later. Not now, though. The longer they waited for the final confrontation the more time it gave Diligent to think up another surprise. He slowed his running, jumped over the hatchway sill and continued his fast run along the hallway. A thump behind him said Jane followed.
“You didn’t stop and make a staged entry,” she called his way. “Why not?”
Why not indeed? Small unit tactics called for doing a staged entry for every access point that might be controlled by an enemy unit. But the hatches were open on the pressure walls that divided the hallway. And though he saw small oval doorways now dotting the hallway, still, he could see ahead as he approached each new section. The hallway was empty of people, according to the ship AI. And according to what his own eyes, ears and nose told him. “Speed,” he said, foregoing the secrecy of ASL. “Speed is essential to getting to the entry point for the Command Bridge Chamber. Diligent is surely watching us from spyeye vidcams. It knows we are coming. And it knows just where in the ship we are at any time. So running fast through the hatchways cuts down on the time he has to plan a surprise. Beyond the mobile robots already waiting for us.”
Jane followed him through the next hatchway, at a run with her tube weapons pointed forward. “Understood. Uh, my memory says this hallway will begin to curve to the right after the next pressure wall. That hallway stretches for more than a hundred feet on our side. My memory of the other access hallway says it curves inward too. To meet our stretch of curving hallway. At some point we’ll come into the view of those robots.”
Bill nodded,
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