Tube train, Katadromiko 52, un-named system
Ed sat cradling his rifle and stared out of the carriage’s front window as they zipped along deeper into the ship. He half expected a sea of bugs to come surging down the tube towards them. He glanced over at Andy who was sitting sideways on and staring at the floor humming an unidentifiable tune, his head bobbing from side to side in time with the beat.
‘You’re remarkably chipper considering the situation,’ Ed commented.
Andy shrugged.
‘How far is it from the tube stop to that bug rock room thing?’ he asked.
‘About three hundred and forty metres,’ said Cleo, materialising on one of the other seats.
‘Bloody hell,’ said Ed, jumping back in surprise. ‘Don’t do that when I’ve got my finger on the trigger.’
‘Your weapon’s not activated,’ she said.
‘It might’ve been though,’ he said, looking around the ceiling. ‘How can you be in here, there aren’t any emitters?’
‘Integrated,’ she said. ‘All the GDA ship trains have them built in for the holographic maintenance and cleaning bots. Anyway, I’m here because you’re getting close to your destination and I wanted to recce the corridors first.’
‘Good plan,’ said Andy. ‘The fewer we meet face to face the better, I forgot to bring a nose peg.’
The carriage had been flashing through stops every few seconds, but now it began to slow, the stops, previously just a passing blur, became an open window for a second. Ed stared at each one as they passed and was pleased to see empty corridor after empty corridor.
The low hum of the carriage suddenly changed pitch as it braked hard and Ed had to grab a hand hold to avoid falling.
‘Bloody hell,’ he whinged, hanging on for dear life. ‘They don’t normally do this.’
‘Grogun’s bringing the train in quick,’ said Cleo. ‘She’s changed the operating protocols so it comes into the station fast just in case there are bugs about and you want to take them by surprise.’
As she spoke, the carriage flashed into the station they wanted, stopping so quickly, Andy slid along three seats, cursing as he went.
The concave door hissed up into the ceiling. Cleo, being the nearest, stuck her head out and peered left and right.
‘Clear both ways,’ she said, as Ed and Andy stepped up behind her. ‘I’ll go on ahead,’ she added, before promptly disappearing.
Ed staggered forward, almost falling out the door and into the corridor.
‘Shit,’ he mumbled, steadying himself against the door frame.
‘Have you been raiding my tequila supply?’ Andy asked, watching from behind with an accusing smirk.
‘No,’ he griped. ‘She buggered off just as I was about to lean out and check too.’
‘Excuses, excuses,’ chuckled Andy, as he pushed past and turned left.
Ed hurried to catch up and checked his personal shield and weapon were activated and on the right setting. Once satisfied everything was in the green, he turned his attention to the route they were taking. The passageway, he noticed, wasn’t as brightly lit here as it was near engineering. It was more of a yellowish glow, than the usual bright white light the GDA would normally maintain in the public areas.
‘Why’s it so gloomy?’ Andy asked, peering over his shoulder.
‘They don’t like bright lights,’ said Ed.
‘Hmm,’ grunted Andy. ‘That’s right, in that case I might have an idea.’
‘Like what?’
‘Strobe lights,’ he said. ‘Really bright and slow repeating. Cleo told me that when Grogun turned the lights back up, the bugs seemed temporarily disorientated and kept bumping into things. A slow strobe might bugger them up for longer periods.’
‘Did you hear that, Grogun?’ Ed asked, as they trotted side by side and weapons up down the wide corridor.
‘I did,’ she replied. ‘That facility isn’t available in the itinerary, but I might be able to write some code though. I’ll work on it.’
Ed was about to add something when a door to their right cracked open, a face briefly peered out at them before the eyes widened in surprise and the door quickly clicked shut again. Ed and Andy stopped, looked at each other and then back at the door.
‘Hello,’ called Andy, moving over and tapping on the door as he was the nearest. ‘We’re here to help. Are you alright in there?’
After a few seconds the door clicked open a couple of inches again.
‘Are you really human?’ a female voice enquired.
‘Absolutely,’ said Andy. ‘We’re trying to rid the ship of these smelly bugs. Are you on your own?’
The gap between the frame and door widened, and a girl’s face appeared. She was gaunt and pale. Her hair was unkempt and her eyes darted both ways up and down the passageway, before settling back on Andy. She jumped back slightly when Ed came into view from behind him.
‘It’s okay,’ he pleaded, holding his hands up in a placatory manner. ‘There’s two of us.’
She glanced down, her eyes widening as she noticed the rifles slung around their necks.
‘Are you marines or something?’ she asked, her brow furrowing as she looked them up and down. ‘Because they’re not the usual uniforms I’ve seen them wearing.’
‘No, we’re from another ship,’ said Andy.
‘A civilian one,’ added Ed. ‘We’re helping your captain retake the ship.’
The girl stared at them for a moment before speaking again.
‘At least you’re talking normally,’ she said. ‘The last person we saw was speaking very strangely.’
‘What, like monotone, as if they were reading it from a script?’ Andy asked.
‘Yes,’ she replied. ‘A crew member came and took my husband away, told us to remain in the cabin until we were called for. I asked them where my husband was going and they just ignored me and marched him off. They walked as if they were a bit drunk too.’
‘They? there was more than one of them?’ Ed asked.
‘Five,’ she said. ‘All armed, all with strange glaring eyes and a bit unsteady on their feet.’
‘What did your husband do?’ Andy asked.
‘He went with them.’
‘No, I meant for a job.’
‘Oh, right. He’s a water supply engineer. They seemed excited when they found that out.’
Ed and Andy glanced at each other.
‘Are you thinking what I’m thinking?’ said Andy.
‘Hmm,’ grunted Ed. ‘We need to ask Cleo if the nano tech could be introduced via the water supply?’
‘It could,’ Cleo said, appearing behind them.
They both jumped, the girl screamed and slammed the door in their faces.
‘CLEO,’ Ed snapped, turning to give her a glare.
‘Sorry, too abrupt perhaps?’ she said, looking contrite.
Ed exhaled and shook his head.
‘Maybe walking back up the corridor might’ve been better.’
‘Understood.’
The door cracked open again.
‘I thought you said there was only two of you,’ the girl said, suspicion obvious in her tone.
‘There are,’ said Ed. ‘She’s a hologram.’
‘What, like a maintenance bot?’ she asked, staring at Cleo suspiciously.
‘Little bit more sophisticated than that,’ said Andy, smirking.
Ed turned to Cleo.
‘Can you let Grogun know that they might be trying to put their nano tech into the water supply,’ he said.
‘I already have and she’s shutting the water supply down. Her reply was, she’d rather they went thirsty for a while, than have their brains scrambled.’
‘You think that’s what they wanted my husband for—to poison everyone?’ the girl asked, her fear evident in her tone.
‘Possibly,’ said Ed. ‘We’re just being careful.’
‘To stand any chance of retaking the ship we have to stop them from brainwashing the crew first,’ said Andy.
A clattering sound from around the next junction caught their attention.
‘Bugs,’ said Cleo. ‘Quick, get inside.’
She pushed Andy who clattered into Ed and they both hit the door, sending the girl flying backwards as they fell into the cabin. Ed saw Cleo morph into Grogun just as she pulled the door shut.
The girl saw it too.
‘She turned into the captain,’ she exclaimed, picking herself up off the floor and pointing an up-to-now concealed weapon at them.