Not good. Not. Good!
The auto destruct has been initiated, and I have no idea how to turn it off. I’ve tried all of the things I think should work, going so far as to plug my datapad in to hack it, but the sec-system is impenetrable while on the navigation bridge.
I’ve resorted to a lot of yelling at the computer without any success and then trying the same things I yelled but typing them in instead.
Each time I get the same error message:
<<ERROR: SHIP AUTO DESTRUCT SEQUENCE INITATED>>
I know that. I want to uninitiate it! But they didn’t teach me about this in guard training.
I pace back and forth. My hands fist my hair like I might be able to pull the answer from my brain.
<<SHIP AUTO DESTRUCT IN 20 MINUTES>>
This is not great. Really, really not great.
I’ve been in tough spots before, but this may be the toughest. I look back at the computer. It shows a record of everything I’ve been searching, and something catches my eye. Something I didn’t understand the first time I saw it.
Captain Hike Waxon: Location unknown.
Aside from Talie, who has been completely erased from the manifest, everyone else was accounted for in some way, but not the captain. If he’d left the ship, it would say departed. If he were dead…well, it seems like the computer would know.
He’s the only one who can stop the auto destruct. If it’s possible he’s still on the ship, I have to find him.
One glance at the flashing red alerts on every screen tells me I have less than twenty minutes. Pausing to grab a datapad with the ship’s full schematic on it, I race back to the trav-tube.
While I’ve memorized the layout of the ship, I didn’t have time to investigate under-used or less important areas. Knowing where the galley is can be helpful but not crucial like a route to escape pods. Not that they’d do me any good. A cursory search shows the Phenyx is too far from any planet or ship for a pod to be my best choice. I would be forced into cryo, and a mayday alert would emanate from the pod, but that’s my absolute last resort. I don’t fancy the idea of entering cryo without a way to wake myself up, especially knowing Brownus has Talie out there somewhere.
Pausing before I direct the tube, I take a chance and hack the computer’s audio port to turn on voice commands.
“Computer?”
<<SALUTATIONS, GUEST REX LARS. HOW MAY I ASSIST YOU?>>
I let out a breath. That’ll help things. “Locate Captain Hike.”
<<APOLOGIES. CAPTAIN HIKE’S WHEREABOUTS ARE UNKNOWN>>
At least it’s polite while turning me down. Can’t say the same for a few of the ladies I’ve tried to date.
I direct the tube to the captain’s quarters. I sense the movement, but the door stays closed.
“Computer, open door.”
<<APOLOGIES, GUEST REX LARS. I AM AFRAID YOU NEED AN ACCESS CODE TO ENTER CAPTAIN HIKE’S PERSONAL QUARTERS>>
I clench my teeth. There’s got to be a way to bypass this.
<<SHIP AUTO DESTRUCT IN 15 MINUTES>>
“Override,” I say.
<<OVERRIDE CODE NEEDED>>
I wrack my brain. What would Hike use as an override code? Do I even have a chance of—
I blink as realization dawns. It couldn’t be that easy, could it?
If there was one thing Hike talked about every time I saw him, it was his iduos pup. Apparently, it’s currently on a space station in another sector having babies, but you’d think it was his wife the way he went on about it.
What was its name? My foot taps. I can feel the minutes ticking by.
“Override code…” I hesitate. This better work. “Fang.”
<<OVERRIDE ACCEPTED>>
The door slides open to reveal more opulence than I would have expected. It looks like fine threads of aurtanium have been woven with plyweave to create all of the furnishings. They sparkle against black flooring and black walls. No doubt it’s done to show off the massive, sio-glass dome and viewports that make it like a cave of stars.
It’s…incredible. I’m momentarily awed and forget what I’m doing, wasting precious seconds in stunned silence. I’ve seen opulence—I work for a princess—and this is on par with anything at the palace.
Part of me wonders if he’s gotten his wealth from selling out his passengers. That’s what they do in the Outlier Rim—traffic in skin without so much as a thought to rights.
A pang of worry distracts me. Where is Talie? Is she all right?
<<SHIP AUTO DESTRUCT IN 10 MINUTES>>
The computer’s warning is the kick to the gut I need. I’m desperate to find Talie, but in order to do that, I have to be alive.
Stepping into the room, I spin in a slow circle. Three of the four sides are made of viewports, but one wall looks wrong. If I had my armor on, I could analyze what I’m seeing, but I don’t have that luxury.
Rushing forward, I bang on the duraplast panels like an idiot. My fist connects with one panel, and it sounds hollow. I pause. This is familiar to me. Working for the Tai family, I am no stranger to hidden safe rooms. With wealth like this, it would make complete sense that Hike would have one as well. It would also make sense of the computer’s odd knowledge of its captain. Protocol would forbid indication of his whereabouts.
It’s all useful information, but it doesn’t matter if I can’t get into the room.
I pound a few more times and then start looking for levers or buttons. I have a sinking feeling this is the kind of room that, once accessed, will only open from the inside. But I have to try.
I move back and place a well-aimed kick at the wall. Then another.
Sweat drips from my temples, and my heart pounds with the effort. I’m so amped, I feel like I should be able to tear into this wall with my bare hands—thank you stims—but I can also tell it’s reinforced duraplast and not likely to break except from something like a force-wave. If only I had one of the rifles that took me out.
My hand rests on my bruised ribs, feeling the ache, but not the actual pain. I need to get in this room—if there is a room. I haven’t completely given up the idea that I’m making this all up in hopes of distracting myself from my imminent doom.
I’m about to kick the wall again when I’m interrupted by the next alert.
<<SHIP AUTO DESTRUCT IN 5 MINUTES>>
This is useless.
I slump down to the floor, my back sliding against the smooth surface like an iciline blade through flesh. This ship is to be my tomb unless I get to an escape pod now—if I wait any longer, I won’t make it. But I don’t move.
The expected internal contemplation about my past or my life never comes. All I can think about is my failed mission. I’m sorry, Lè Fayrin. Then my thoughts turn to the future that won’t come to be. Talie.
She’s not free to be mine, but there’s still a part of me that hoped…
I hunch forward, my head dropping to my hands, and that’s when I see it.
The change is so slight, I can’t believe I caught it, but the highly polished black tiles that cover the room all look uniform except for the one directly beneath my legs. I push off the wall and onto my knees. Reaching for one of the stims, I shove the tip into the seam between tiles. It comes up easily, and below is a hollowed-out space with a control panel.
<<SHIP AUTO DESTRUCT IN 4 MINUTES>>
I’m cutting it close.
I shove my head into the space and get a handle on the controls. I press a button, and the wall I’d just been leaning against slides away.
Hike is cowering in the corner among a mound of plush pillows. He’s sweating despite the chill in the safe room, and he looks like he’s seeing the ghosts of his ancestors when I step into the room.
“Hike.” I rush forward.
He blinks several times and whimpers but doesn’t look up at me.
“Your ship is in auto destruct mode. We need to change that. Now!”
He doesn’t move. Doesn’t speak.
I wait precious seconds before I make a decision. Looks like we’re doing this the hard way. I stomp forward, bend down, and slap him hard across the face. He lets out a startled cry, toppling over into the pillows.
<<SHIP AUTO DESTRUCT IN 3 MINUTES>>
“Get. Up. We’re going to die if you don’t do something.”
“I—I—I don’t—” he stammers.
I haul him to his feet. We move out into his room, and then I yank him into the trav-tube.
“I—I can’t.” His eyes are moon-round.
“Can’t stop the auto destruct?”
“I—I can’t.”
This is getting old. “Computer. Navigation bridge.”
I shove Hike into the tube, and we shoot upward. We’re on the bridge within seconds, and I push the blubbering man to the controls.
“Stop it. Stop the auto destruct now, or we die.” My finger jabs at the screen.
“I—I don’t know how.” He finally meets my gaze.
“This is your ship. Command it to stop.”
He blinks. He hasn’t thought of this, and to be honest, it just came to me. You’d think I’d be faster on my feet, but the stims are finally fading. Sweat pours off me in waves as the pain makes my legs shake and my stomach roil.
<<SHIP AUTO DESTRUCT IN 2—
“Stop!” Hike shouts, frantic. He tries again. “Computer: abort ship auto destruct.”
<<COMPUTING REQUEST, HOLD PLEASE>>
Of all the times to be processing. I growl at the air in the general direction of the computer speaker, and we wait. What feels like five whole minutes—but is probably less than thirty seconds—goes by before the computer responds.
<<AUTO DESTRUCT CANNOT BE ABORTED>>
<<SHIP AUTO DESTRUCT IN 1 MINUTE>>
“What do you mean it can’t be aborted?” I shout.
<<THE NECESSARY ABORT CODE HAS NOT BEEN ENTERED. THIS MUST BE DONE MANUALLY FOR ABORT TO BE FINALIZED>>
“Enter the codes!” My pulse pounds in my veins. “Enter them now!”
“I—”
“Don’t you dare say you can’t. Think. You set up the codes, right?”
“I…oh, I did.”
It’s taking every Verse-loving fiber in my body not to strangle the man in front of me, but thank the stars he rushes to the computer to enter the codes. His hands are shaking so much, I’m not sure he’s going to get them in.
<<SHIP AUTO DESTRUCT IN 30 SECONDS>>
I fight the urge to yell at Hike, knowing it won’t make him go faster.
Talie fills my vision. Her rounded, pink lips. Silvery hair. Beguiling smile. The way she flies through the air both with her ability and natural talent. She is grace in motion.
And I may never see her again. Never get the chance to change her mind about me.
<<SHIP AUTO DESTRUCT IN 10 SECONDS>>
I squeeze my eyes shut. Do I even have the right to challenge galaxy law and centuries of tradition?
Still, I’m firm in my resolve. Any law that forbids a person from choosing their own path must be challenged. I assume she’d choose me—but all I want is for her to have the choice.
<<SHIP AUTO DESTRUCT IN 5 SECONDS>>