Crew cabin, Katadromiko 52, un-named system
‘It’s okay,’ said Ed, raising his hands and ensuring they didn’t stray anywhere near his rifle.
Andy did the same.
‘It gives the bugs something to chase rather than coming in here,’ Andy said.
She lowered the weapon, but her expression of distrust remained.
‘What if they catch her?’ she said.
‘She’s a hologram,’ said Ed. ‘She can just disappear.’
‘Hopefully in the vicinity of an airlock that the real captain can open at an opportune moment, then it’s goodnight Vienna,’ said Andy.
Ed turned and grimaced at Andy.
‘She’s hardly going to understand what that means, is she?’
Andy shrugged.
‘They get sucked out into space,’ he said, giving the girl an apologetic glance.
She returned a patronising smile.
‘The captain hasn’t been captured then?’ she asked, turning her attention back to Ed.
‘No, she’s in hiding and doing her best to thwart them commandeering the ship.’
‘Oh, good,’ she said. ‘I was…’
They all turned as a door behind her cracked open an inch, revealing an eye blinking back at them. Then a nose and a second eye slightly lower down.
‘I told you two to stay hidden and quiet,’ she barked.
The door snapped shut again.
‘Sorry,’ she said.
‘You have children?’ Andy asked, giving Ed a forlorn look.
‘Two girls.’
Ed nodded back at Andy.
‘We need to get going,’ he said. ‘The longer we dick about here, the more crew get brainwashed.’
The mother watched them nervously as they both stood up from where they’d fallen. She made no attempt to stand however and remained where she was, staring at their rifles.
‘Don’t open the door to any noises again,’ said Ed.
‘Or drink the water,’ said Andy. ‘At least until we know it’s safe.’
She dipped her head in a resigned nod.
‘Can you save my husband?’ she said, pleadingly.
‘Where would they have taken him?’ Andy asked.
‘Where’s the main water supply control centre?’ Ed added.
‘Deck 311,’ she said. ‘Room 9020.’
‘We need to go there as soon as possible,’ Ed said, giving Andy a determined stare as he put his ear to the door. Hearing nothing he opened it an inch and peeked through.
The corridor was empty in the direction they had to go. Cracking it a little more he leaned out and checked the other way.
‘Clear?’ Andy asked.
‘Yep.’
‘We will return—look after those two,’ Ed said, indicating the door behind her.
She nodded slowly again as they exited.
‘Stay safe,’ they heard her call just before the door clicked shut.
‘We never asked her name,’ said Andy, as they trotted away from room 2397.
‘Or her husband’s,’ added Ed.
Cleo materialised thirty metres ahead and signalled them to follow.
‘How far is it?’ Andy asked her as they approached.
‘The bug tunnel begins just after the next junction and then it’s about a hundred metres to the first rock room.’
‘As a matter of interest, where did you take all those bugs?’ Ed asked.
‘Midships supply hangar,’ said Cleo. ‘Unfortunately Grogun lost all the racks of dried foodstuffs in there too, as they went out the door along with the bugs.’
‘Small price to pay,’ said Andy, shrugging. ‘Good bloody riddance.’
Turning right at the junction, they immediately had to stoop to enter the strange circular membrane tunnel.
Andy snorted and wrinkled his nose.
‘I can smell them already,’ he whinged.
Ed noticed the tunnel material flexing and squirming under his feet. He thought it felt like walking on a silk sheet laid on ice.
‘This is weird,’ said Andy. ‘Feels like I’m about to fall over any second and then the material tightens and you regain your balance.’
‘Shush,’ hissed Cleo, holding her finger to her lips and then pointing. ‘We’re getting close now.’
They both stopped and checked their rifles.
‘Full power?’ Andy quizzed.
‘Yeah,’ Ed whispered. ‘We don’t want any of the bugs calling for help. Head shots if you can and don’t hit any of the ship’s crew on the couches.’
‘What if they get up and attack us?’
‘Good point,’ admitted Ed, thinking quickly. ‘Let’s have our hand guns set on stun and use those.’
Cleo morphed into a bug again and disappeared around the corner, returning a few moments later.
‘There’s five of them in there, two on the left, three on the right and four crew on the couches,’ she said. ‘I’ll watch your backs.’
They exchanged a quick glance, Ed counted to three and with rifles raised into the shoulder they stepped purposely around the corner and into the rock room.
The first two bugs went down within seconds, one on the left next to the couches and one on the right in front of the control panel. Both head shots so they were out of the game. The other three moved quickly, one scuttled behind the couches and the other two at the control panel ducked down and launched at them.
Andy had moved forward on the left searching out the one behind the couches, leaving Ed facing the two charging at him. He fired at the one on the right, scything off two of its left limbs. It crashed down on its side, right legs thrashing to keep it upright but only succeeding in sending itself into a spin.
The other bug crashed into Ed’s personal shield, its front pincers snapping only inches from his face. The hit pushed him back, he tripped and sat down hard on his backside. His shield flicked off and his weapon discharged as his finger was still on the trigger. The laser bolt glanced the bug’s abdomen, enraging it even more and as it came at him a second time, he managed to scramble back a few inches as its pincers snapped close, this time not restricted by the shield. He felt blood drip from his forehead as he tried to bring the rifle to bear, but the insect was extremely close now. He tried pushing it off him with the butt of the weapon, but it was too strong and as it reared up to make a final fatal attack, its head vaporised.
Ed gagged as grey goo splashed over him and the bug’s body landed heavily in his lap.
‘Shit, that stinks,’ he complained, as he threw the body off him.
‘No hugs for you, smelly boy,’ said Andy, as he despatched the last bug still thrashing around in a circle.
Ed stood up again, rebooted his personal shield and they both tiptoed across the bodies and puddles of goo and began firing laser bolts into the control panels, only stopping when the equipment was quite obviously unrepairable.
Turning, they gazed over the four unconscious crew lying on the couches. None were moving.
‘What do we do about them?’ Andy asked, as Cleo poked her head into the room.
Ed walked along the line of couches and felt for a pulse at each one.
‘Well at least they’re still alive,’ he said. ‘We’ll just have to leave them here.’
‘They might die though.’
‘Do we have a staffed medical facility nearby?’ Ed asked.
Andy shook his head, glancing sorrowfully at the crew lying helpless on the couches.
‘Come on then, we need to shut down the second of these rooms,’ Ed continued, making for the door and where Cleo was waiting.
‘Do we have any idea how many bugs are left on the 52 now?’ Andy asked Cleo. ‘Their numbers must be becoming drastically reduced by now.’
‘Grogun reckons the rear section of the ship is relatively clear now,’ said Cleo. ‘It’s difficult to tell the further towards the bow you go as the cameras have been taken out. Quite whether this is by them or factions of the crew fighting back she’s not sure.’
‘There’s a lot of crew on one of these and they’re not going to give up easily,’ said Andy.
He’d barely finished speaking when a rustling noise caught their attention and the circular tube began vibrating.
‘Shit,’ both Ed and Andy mouthed in unison, as they quickly jumped back into the rock room and took up defensive positions behind the couches.
Cleo morphed back into the captain and stood just outside the doorway, hoping to lead them away as they rounded the last bend. What she saw when the throng did appear, surprised her.