Chapter Twelve

The way Gwen was staring up at Xan was breaking his heart. He was a pilot, not an engineer. He had only the vaguest idea of how the gravity generators worked.

But then, he was also standing in the workshop of a Vegan engineer. If anyone would know how to fix whatever was wrong, it would be Peri.

“We have perhaps isolated my workshop a bit too thoroughly,” Peri said. “There is no way for me to access the Reckoning’s controls from here.”

“Where do you need to be to fix this?” Xan asked.

“Main engineering,” Peri said. “Preferably in the gravity matrix chamber itself.”

It wasn’t far, but when Xan glanced back into the hallway, he saw that the casing Bandit had swatted outside was now flat. They were designed to be flexible, so it made sense that the gravity was crushing it. But what was the increase doing to everyone else on the ship?

He couldn’t even approach the door without feeling an irresistible pull to the ship’s floor. How could they make it all the way to engineering?

“Do you have a portable gravity generator?” Gwen said, rising to her feet once more, with Bandit still clutched to her chest. “Something you could program to counteract the effects?”

“I do.” Peri ran to another section of his workshop and pulled a thin silver tarp off a pile of devices. He lifted his arms, and the items closest to the top of the pile floated up and then off to the side under his direction.

“Well, it looks like you can control gravity yourself,” Gwen said.

“My exosuit enables me to create localized areas of differentiated gravity,” Peri said. “But it requires concentration to cover an area broader than myself. I will not be able to repair the gravity matrix if I am also concentrating on keeping us all from being crushed. That is why we need— Ah, here it is!”

He maneuvered the device into the center of the room, then slowly lowered it to the floor. Xan stared at Peri, incredulous.

“It’s huge,” Xan said.

Peri crossed his arms. “I did not say it was small.”

“How are we going to get that to engineering?” Xan asked.

“May I be of assistance?” Margaret rolled closer to the device. “You have already fitted me with an alternative source of power. If you remove my solar arrays, there should be ample room on my back for me to carry this device.”

“That’s a great idea.” Gwen reached out and rested her hand on the robot. “Thank you so much for offering to help us.”

A green light flickered near Margaret’s camera. “I am happy to help my new friends.”

Peri immediately started removing solar arrays. Xan stepped forward so he could carefully move them out of the way as Peri handed them to him.

Once the robot was cleared, there was plenty of space for the portable gravity generator. Peri once again used his exosuit to lift the device and place it on Margaret. As he adjusted the settings, Xan’s stomach flipped and lurched, like he was going through turbulence while entering a choppy atmosphere.

“Whoa, I don’t think I’m going on any more roller coasters,” Gwen said.

Xan reached out for her, holding her in his arms as Peri finished up. Warmth spread through him as he looked down at her and Bandit. The kitten reached out and gently pawed Xan’s face.

“It’s gonna be okay, right?” Bandit asked.

Xan forced a smile and scratched the kitten’s head. “You bet.”

Bandit closed his eyes and started to purr. One way or another, Xan would make sure he kept that promise.

“I believe it is ready,” Peri said.

He headed toward the hall, Margaret rolling behind him, and Gwen, Xan, and Bandit sticking close. As they neared the door, the casing Bandit had swatted outside popped back into its cylindrical shape.

“Well, that’s reassuring,” Gwen said.

“Stay close to Margaret and you should be fine,” Peri said.

Xan looked down at Gwen. Her lips were pulled in a frown, but she seemed determined. Again, he marveled at how strong she remained in the face of extraordinary circumstances.

“You ready?” Xan asked.

She nodded. “Let’s go.”

Xan took her hand in his and walked behind the robot as Peri led the way down the hall. Bending down, Xan quickly picked up the casing—still in its regular cylindrical shape—and then placed it on Margaret’s back.

The hall linked up with several others, the corridors becoming larger as they neared main engineering. Xan was glad Peri’s workshop and the hangars were all on the same level as engineering.

“I have found someone,” Peri called from ahead.

Margaret paused as Gwen and Xan scrambled to join the Vegan. He was kneeling next to Len, the ship’s chief science officer. Being this close to the hangar bay, Len had probably been returning from a visit to his bondmate, an Earthling who lived in Harbor. The Sadirian was laid out flat on the floor.

“He is unconscious, but his life signs are stable for the moment,” Peri said. “If we try to take him with us, it will slow our progress.”

“We can’t just leave him here,” Gwen said.

“We have to.” Xan squeezed her hand. “We’re all soldiers. We know the risks. And if we stop to try to help him, we risk losing the chance to help everyone.”

Gwen’s frown deepened, but she nodded. She kept glancing back at Len as they headed on to engineering.

The main engineering bay was littered with prone soldiers when they arrived. All of them were near their stations, as if they might have had a hint that there was trouble before succumbing to the increased gravity.

Peri headed straight for the side chamber that housed the gravity matrix. He reached up and waved his palm over the controls, then stepped toward the door, balking when it didn’t open.

“What in the stars?” Peri said, backing up and waving his hand over the controls again. As the door didn’t respond, he waved more frantically. “This cannot be.”

“Let me try,” Bandit said, squirming in Gwen’s grasp. “Queenie has been doing this annoying little dance move for weeks. I bet it’s the code to open the door.”

Gwen looked over at Xan, and he nodded to her. She held up the kitten, and Bandit reached out and batted the controls. The door opened.

“How the heck could Queenie—a kitten—lock a Vegan out of the ship’s systems if they’re the ones with all the super-advanced technology?” Gwen asked.

Peri and Xan exchanged a look. Xan figured the Vegan was wondering the same thing.

They hurried into the room, keeping close to Margaret.

Cyan was inside. She stood with her back to them near an open access panel. Wires spewed out of it. She was holding up two handfuls of wiring and shaking them at Queenie, who Patches held pinned to the ground. The excess gravity didn’t seem to be bothering them.

“You must agree to undo what you have done,” Cyan yelled. “I cannot protect you from the increased gravity and repair this on my own. I am a xenobiologist. I do not even know how to repair this!”

Queenie let out a loud meow.

“What do you mean, ‘That is my problem’?” Cyan said. “It is all of our problem. You have sabotaged the ship with potentially catastrophic consequences!”

Queenie let out a hissing laugh.

“That is not funny!” Cyan yelled.

“Cyan?” Xan stepped forward. “What’s going on here?”

Cyan’s eyes widened as she noticed them for the first time. Her scales paled to a light lime green.

“I… You…” She stopped swaying on her feet when she saw Peri. “Periwinkle. Thank the stars you have arrived.”

Peri hurried forward and started examining the wires in Cyan’s hands. He picked at several small metal bands, then shook his head.

He turned to Queenie, and said, “These are the parts you have been stealing from my workshop. How did you know you could use them in this manner to bypass the safety controls?”

Queenie yowled at him, then smacked Patches, hard. The other kitten staggered to the side, giving Queenie the chance to squirm out from under her. Queenie ran across the room, but suddenly stopped, dropping to the floor in a tiny heap.

“The gravity!” Gwen lowered Bandit to the floor quickly, then ran forward and reached out to Queenie. She managed to grab the kitten, but fell forward with her arms stuck to the floor. “Ow ow ow!”

“Gwen!” Xan dragged her back into the field their portable generator was creating.

His heart was beating so fast, he thought it might burst. He helped her to her feet and pulled her close as she regained her equilibrium.

“I do not want to feel that again.” She lifted Queenie and looked her over. “Are you okay, though?”

Queenie let out a plaintive mew.

“Bandit, can we borrow your collar?” Gwen asked.

Bandit ran up to her. “Sure.”

Cyan’s eyes widened. She turned to Peri, and said, “You have created a translation collar?”

“It was the Earthling’s idea,” Peri said. “We will all have much to discuss once we have resolved the current crisis.”

Xan didn’t doubt it. He thought back to what Peri had said about his experiments having unexpected results and wondered just how these “space cats” had obtained their exceptional abilities.

That was a mystery for later. Right now, he just wanted to get the gravity fixed on the ship so he could keep Gwen and Bandit and everyone else safe.