glove into the hatch. That’s the muzzle of a twelve-barrel flechette gun you’re hammering with. Look closely at the apertures."
She made a fist and then posed like she was about to punch herself in the face. Parker looked right down the barrels at first like she didn’t believe him, but Tig saw the moment when maybe she’d decided he was right. She pointed the weapon away from herself.
He said, "Trace the line of the barrels back to the little rise near the middle of the main backplate. There’s a polygon seam there. Hard to see without your helmet for a macro-zoom. It’s about the same dimensions as the slide mag on a six-barrel flechette. There’s a hidden battery and capacitor system right behind it. I think. It’s all drawing power off PWRSYS. It shows in the suitcomp's logs, but I can’t get access to the control systems."
Parker looked hard at the back of both her gloved hands. "Why the hell didn’t you tell me?"
" When? In front of the Boomslang’s crew? Since they locked us up in here is the first time we’ve been alone."
"If it's a gun, then w hy the hell didn’t you use it? Why’d you let them lock us up in here?"
Tig said, "I d on’t know how to turn it on for one thing. Still don’t." He backhanded the projected control menus floating in front of him and dismissed them.
Parker’s face suddenly flushed with renewed anger. She turned around and began beating on the hatch with her elbow plate and her frustration. "Let us out !"
" Might as well save your energy," he told her. "Unless you want to make a bomb out of our power packs, then we’re stuck in he-"
" Shut up. I heard someone outside the hatch." She spread her fingers unconsciously while she listened as if the tremble in the atmo was palpable.
"I’m pretty sure they skin-welded the wheel on that hatch. I don’t think they could open it if they wanted to...not without a knuckledragger mech to turn the wheel."
" Shut up..." She jumped back when she heard the body hit the deck outside. There was no mistaking that sound. He thought he saw the wheel of the hatch shaking before the metal-on-metal shrieking began.
As the wheel slowly turned, the sound reverberated through the bulkheads and made the scrubber plates around them all vibrate and sing in sympathy. That sound tried to tie his nerves in a knot. They clamped their gloved hands over their ears, and a few seconds later, the impacts began.
" Get back!" he shouted. On the third, resounding clang, the hatch burst open on its hinges, and Chief Evelyn Horcheese stood framed in the open hatch. In one hand, she held the panel cover she’d used to beat her way in after twisting the skin-fused hatch wheel open. "I thought I’d find you cherries loafing in here."
" What the hell is going on, Chief?" Then, Parker saw the Chief’s arm. "What happened? Can you feel that? Does it still work?"
" Most of the strength is in the tendons and skeleton," the Chief said, "The artificial muscles I lost are mostly for fine control. It still works without 'em, see?" She used her titanium claw to flip the bird at the prostate body behind her on the deck of the compartment. "Come out of there."
Crewman Marquez lay face down near their confiscated helmets. "He’s alive," the Chief said. "He’s unconscious." She retrieved her own helmet from the passageway, glancing up and down it nervously before she shut the hatch.
"Why the hell did he lock us in here? What’s going on, Chief?"
" The Boomslang’s crew locked you up because they thought you might take control of the bombs and the ordnance bay."
" We’re redsuits. We fix things," Parker said. "Why would we take control of the bombs?"
" Because Mr. Devlin has ordered us to take control of the bombs."
Parker was as speechless as he was.
Chief Horcheese said, "We’re going to give the Squidies one chance to surrender before we kill them all. We’re taking control of the ordnance bay before the
She made a fist and then posed like she was about to punch herself in the face. Parker looked right down the barrels at first like she didn’t believe him, but Tig saw the moment when maybe she’d decided he was right. She pointed the weapon away from herself.
He said, "Trace the line of the barrels back to the little rise near the middle of the main backplate. There’s a polygon seam there. Hard to see without your helmet for a macro-zoom. It’s about the same dimensions as the slide mag on a six-barrel flechette. There’s a hidden battery and capacitor system right behind it. I think. It’s all drawing power off PWRSYS. It shows in the suitcomp's logs, but I can’t get access to the control systems."
Parker looked hard at the back of both her gloved hands. "Why the hell didn’t you tell me?"
" When? In front of the Boomslang’s crew? Since they locked us up in here is the first time we’ve been alone."
"If it's a gun, then w hy the hell didn’t you use it? Why’d you let them lock us up in here?"
Tig said, "I d on’t know how to turn it on for one thing. Still don’t." He backhanded the projected control menus floating in front of him and dismissed them.
Parker’s face suddenly flushed with renewed anger. She turned around and began beating on the hatch with her elbow plate and her frustration. "Let us out !"
" Might as well save your energy," he told her. "Unless you want to make a bomb out of our power packs, then we’re stuck in he-"
" Shut up. I heard someone outside the hatch." She spread her fingers unconsciously while she listened as if the tremble in the atmo was palpable.
"I’m pretty sure they skin-welded the wheel on that hatch. I don’t think they could open it if they wanted to...not without a knuckledragger mech to turn the wheel."
" Shut up..." She jumped back when she heard the body hit the deck outside. There was no mistaking that sound. He thought he saw the wheel of the hatch shaking before the metal-on-metal shrieking began.
As the wheel slowly turned, the sound reverberated through the bulkheads and made the scrubber plates around them all vibrate and sing in sympathy. That sound tried to tie his nerves in a knot. They clamped their gloved hands over their ears, and a few seconds later, the impacts began.
" Get back!" he shouted. On the third, resounding clang, the hatch burst open on its hinges, and Chief Evelyn Horcheese stood framed in the open hatch. In one hand, she held the panel cover she’d used to beat her way in after twisting the skin-fused hatch wheel open. "I thought I’d find you cherries loafing in here."
" What the hell is going on, Chief?" Then, Parker saw the Chief’s arm. "What happened? Can you feel that? Does it still work?"
" Most of the strength is in the tendons and skeleton," the Chief said, "The artificial muscles I lost are mostly for fine control. It still works without 'em, see?" She used her titanium claw to flip the bird at the prostate body behind her on the deck of the compartment. "Come out of there."
Crewman Marquez lay face down near their confiscated helmets. "He’s alive," the Chief said. "He’s unconscious." She retrieved her own helmet from the passageway, glancing up and down it nervously before she shut the hatch.
"Why the hell did he lock us in here? What’s going on, Chief?"
" The Boomslang’s crew locked you up because they thought you might take control of the bombs and the ordnance bay."
" We’re redsuits. We fix things," Parker said. "Why would we take control of the bombs?"
" Because Mr. Devlin has ordered us to take control of the bombs."
Parker was as speechless as he was.
Chief Horcheese said, "We’re going to give the Squidies one chance to surrender before we kill them all. We’re taking control of the ordnance bay before the
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