Construction shaft, the Arena, Prasinos system
Andy knew he was approaching the bottom of the shaft as Quaid had opened the inner door and illuminated the airlock. He spent a few moments with the asteri beam clearing the rubble that had fallen from the plug. Although there wasn’t much of it and it had disintegrated into small lumps on impact anyway.
Quaid waved and called from the control room.
‘They’re blowing the outer plug in three minutes,’ he said. ‘I’ll cycle you through when that’s been done and you can go see if it’s clear.’
Andy gave him a thumbs-up and scooted into the airlock, settling gently on the floor to give the hard-working antigrav a break. A couple of minutes went by and he felt a small vibration through his seat and peering over his shoulder he could see the inner door sliding closed.
He sparked up the alma drive so it was ready, listened to the atmosphere venting and watched as the outer door opened silently. The antigrav motor became redundant as soon as he left the confines of the airlock and the gravity plating’s influence. He shut it down and continued on with the alma. The tunnel did indeed head gradually downwards and he met a dust cloud billowing up the passage about a minute later.
This had been expected and he reduced his speed accordingly. Just as he was beginning to wonder if the explosives had actually removed the whole of the plug and he was about to fly into a wall of rock, he saw a couple of faint stars in the distance. Two became ten and suddenly a million as he emerged into clear space.
‘You beauty,’ he said, craning his neck around to see where he was.
‘Andy, is that you?’ Linda called.
‘’Tis I,’ he replied, excitedly.
‘Did you just blow a hole in the Arena?’
‘No, the Arenian’s did that,’ he said. ‘It’s their old construction tunnel with an airlock in the middle. We can get a load of fighters in there now and clear out the bugs. Can you inform Bache?’
‘I’m on it,’ she said.
‘Your ship’s sustained damage,’ said Pol. ‘Are you okay getting over here?’
‘I’ve lost the array and jump capability, but the weapons are all still online,’ he said. ‘I’ll be going back in to help out. Is Ed there?’
‘Is he not with you?’ asked Pol, a sudden edge of concern in her voice.
‘No, he left the Arena just as it jumped a while back. I was kinda hoping he’d got back here by now.’
‘Do you know the jump location?’ Pol asked.
‘No…I was still just inside the Arena and unable to use my array.’
‘We need to find him quickly,’ said Phil, joining the conversation. ‘That planetoid can jump a long way. How much life support do you have on one of those?’
‘Er…hang on,’ said Andy, checking his environmental screen. ‘About seventy-two hours.’
‘That’s no good if he’s found himself more than three days away is it?’
‘Shit…no…no it isn’t,’ said Andy, thinking about the scenario. ‘How long is it since we left the Gabriel?’
‘Fourteen hours,’ said Pol.
‘So, if he’s been in space all that time, he has about fifty-eight hours left. You need to find him.’
‘If he’s anything, he’s resourceful,’ said Linda. ‘If he’s less than three days away, then he’s on the way back and if it’s more, he would look for a close-by habitable planet, set up a distress beacon and wait it out.’
‘How’s Bache doing, by the way?’ Andy asked.
‘A lot better now the resupply of bugs has been cut,’ Pol said.
‘You’re welcome,’ chuckled Andy.
‘Was that you?’ asked Phil. ‘And did you jump inside the main chamber?’
‘Yes and yes,’ replied Andy.
‘You forgot the antigrav didn’t you? That’s why you’ve got damage on the bottom of your ship.’
Andy cringed.
‘You won’t tell Edward will you?’
‘No, but I might,’ said Pol. ‘Are you coming back to help us find him?’
‘I’ve made promises here,’ he said. ‘There’s plenty of you on the Gabriel to go get him.’
‘Talking of promises,’ said Linda, ‘Bache has just ordered a couple of squadrons of mini-mes to meet you at the Arena.’
‘Cool,’ said Andy.
‘What if they see them coming and jump away again?’ Pol asked.
‘Not going to happen,’ Andy replied. ‘Jump drive is disabled.’
‘Was that you as well?’
‘What can I say?’
‘You have been a busy boy,’ said Phil. ‘Looks like your little army’s arriving too.’
Andy watched as several tiny fighters similar to his zipped in close by, followed by a few more from another direction.
‘Lieutenant Dels of 219 Wing reporting.’
‘Pilot Officer Medoraine of 551 Wing reporting.’
Andy spent a few minutes filling in all twenty pilots on the details of the job.
‘Follow me,’ he said, once he and they were all happy with the job at hand. One at a time they followed Andy’s ship into the dust-filled passageway.