Chapter 16

Abandoned Ship

‘CAPTAIN!’ YELLED THE Chairman angrily. ‘CAPTAIN!’ The Corporation boss was purple-faced and wild-eyed. ‘Get this ship out of here at once, do you hear me? AT ONCE!!’

The Chairman was sitting bolt upright in his personal lounger chair in the deserted flight cabin of his executive spacecraft. He had a rather petulant, spoiled-child look, as though he couldn’t quite grasp the idea that nobody was paying attention to his demands.

He knew where everyone was. The shuttle’s entire crew – White Knights and human technicians and officers alike – were outside in the hangar, fighting a losing battle against Kasteesh’s fearsome natives.

The Chairman had been anxiously watching the battle unfold through the cabin’s viewport. A dozen of the alien creatures had now gained entry to the compound. They were advancing fearlessly across the hangar floor, lurching forward on their wing-knuckles, scattering Corporation troops and scientists before them.

The creatures’ advance was made all the more unnerving by the fact that they fought in silence. There were no alien war-cries, howls or screeches. Not that the battle wasn’t noisy. As well as the yells of the Corporation fighters and the blasts of their laser fire, there were the resounding thumps and crashes against the hangar roof. The creatures’ airborne comrades were battering the building’s exterior with rock missiles dropped from their claws.

The Chairman couldn’t believe this was happening. Not again. Not here.

I build a secret outpost, clack knows how many light years from anywhere, he thought furiously, and those blasted fancy-armour-wearing do-gooders still manage to turn up and ruin things!

He knew all too well that the Armouron were to blame for his present predicament. He had seen them himself as he fled to his ship when the creatures’ attack first began – a group of armoured figures fighting off White Knights as though their little band was a force of forty, not four. He had little doubt that they were somehow responsible for rallying the Mshanga into battle.

They don’t even look like adults! raved the Chairman silently to himself. Just four juvenile, jumped-up, interfering—

His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of one of his human officers. She looked battle-scarred and breathless. She hastily threw down the damaged blaster she was carrying and hurried to the cabin’s weapon rack to grab a replacement.

The Chairman sprang from his lounger to intercept her.

‘Officer! Can you fly this ship?’

The woman pulled up short, looking rather taken aback.

‘Er . . . yes, sir . . . I completed my star-pilot training last year . . .’

‘Thank Jupiter’s moons!’ shrieked the Chairman. ‘Then get us out of this nightmare immediately!’

The woman’s puzzled look deepened. She seemed uncertain she had heard correctly.

‘What are you waiting for, woman! That’s an order!’ raged the Chairman. ‘Take off this instant!’

‘But . . . sir . . .’ she stuttered. ‘What about the others?’ She gestured towards the viewport and the battle raging outside. ‘The compound is under attack. Its staff are fighting for their lives . . .’

‘I don’t care about them, you fool!’ shrieked the Chairman, eyes bulging. ‘This is about me! It’s always about me!’

Suddenly, there was an almighty crash. One of the curving metal beams supporting the hangar roof had collapsed under the Mshanga’s fierce barrage. A section of roof came tumbling down onto the bow end of the shuttle. The Chairman dived for cover as several large fragments burst through the cabin’s shell and smashed down onto the flight consoles, sending up a shower of debris and sparks.

By the time he picked himself off the floor, the Chairman found the female officer gone. One look at the ruptured cabin roof and mangled control consoles told him that this ship was going nowhere soon.

There was the thud and scrape of something heavy settling on top of what remained of the cabin. A huge, elongated head thrust its way through the tear in the roof. Its yellow eyes scanned the cabin’s interior and settled on the terrified Corporation boss.

The Chairman backed away in wide-eyed terror. He reached the narrow passageway that led towards the shuttle’s aft, turned and fled. As he ran, in blind panic, he muttered frantically to himself, ‘Must escape! Must escape! Must escape!’

Escape! That was it! The escape capsules!

The shuttle was fitted with several single-seater emergency escape capsules. In the event of the shuttle being struck by a meteor, or some other such catastrophe, human crew-members were able to eject and await rescue.

Fortunately for the Chairman, the capsules were situated in the ship’s rear. He hurried to the first capsule’s tiny hatch, squirmed his way through and sealed it behind him.

The capsule was intended for use in deep space, the Chairman knew. Exactly what would happen if he launched it while the shuttle was docked, he was not sure. But any misgivings he had were driven from his mind by the appearance of a second terrifying alien face, pressed up against the capsule’s external viewport.

Shaking with fear, the Chairman struggled into the cramped capsule’s single seat, strapped himself in and hit the launch button.