“Fuck …” she whispered, trying to wipe them away again.
Doc reached out and put his hand on her shoulder, squeezing it gently. She didn’t look at him. She knew it would only make things worse. She hated feeling this weak. He moved his other hand up to her chin and brought her face and eyes back to his.
“Welles, we’re not going to let anything happen to you, or Packham, or Colt,” he said. “If we stick together we can make it through this. But we have to stick together.”
More tears came rushing down, as she gasped for breath again. Doc seemed to wince at her tears and clenched his jaw. He brought his other hand up, cupped her face firmly, and ran his thumbs across her cheeks wiping the tears away. She tried to calm her breathing, grabbing hold of his wrists.
“We can do this, but we need you,” he told her firmly. “We have to stick together, alright? We’re on the same side here.”
Carrie nodded at him. She had to pull herself together. They need you. She pictured her father again, his firm face, his challenging eyes. It started working. She took a few seconds, then took another deep breath, exhaled her release, and looked at Doc again. This time no tears fell.
He stared at her for a brief moment, his eyes searching hers to make sure she was alright, then he slowly dropped his hands from her face. She let go of his wrists, but he caught her hand and squeezed it, shooting her another look.
“You ready to go back in?” he asked her.
She nodded, sniffing. They dropped hands and headed back toward Harris’s office. As she approached the door she wiped her eyes one last time and took another deep breath, exhaling loudly.
23
Control
Harris watched Doc walk back in with Welles following behind. Her eyes were red. It was clear she’d been crying, but her face now held a stony resolve.
“Coffee?” he asked, staring at them both.
Doc turned and headed for the machine and Welles followed, avoiding eye contact with McKinley and Brown. They poured themselves coffee, then Doc walked back to stand near Harris’s desk.
“Okay,” Harris announced, “this is where we’re at. Let me first reiterate that we did not know about any of this until now. Nor do we have any plans to hand anyone over to the survivors. We are a team. That’s the way we came here, and that’s the way we’re going to leave this place. Do you understand me, Sergeant Packham, Corporal Welles?”
They both nodded to him, Welles doing so awkwardly.
“Good,” he said firmly. “Now, make no mistake, we are caught up in a game, here. We saw the monitors on the secret floor; they’ve been watching us the whole time, attacking us one minute, then hiding the next. They had the whole crew hidden up there. They’ve been playing with us.
“The way I see it, we have three choices. Our escape pods are useless to us, because like the Aurora, they don’t have enough power. So option one, we lock down the Aurora and sit tight until the other team gets here. But as I said, that will mean just under two days in the dark with no air temperature control and hoping to hell that Hunter and Colt cope without their pods. Option two, we wait on the Darwin until the other team gets here. If we all stick together in one of the smaller areas, with a lot of guns, hopefully they won’t come at us, although again we have the issue of Hunter and Colt and their pods. Or, option three, we go to the control room, regain our access, and sit tight until the Aurora has enough power to get us out of here. Either way, with three or possibly four of them still out there that we know of, it’s too risky for us to try and find them and take them down. In my eyes, the strategy is no longer one of offense, but one of defense. That is now our game-play. So, what is it going to be? I want everyone’s vote on this.” He sat back in his chair and looked around at them.
Packham spoke up first. “Maybe we should just sit tight, here. We’ll have food and water, and we can look out for Hunter and Colt, and they can’t get to us.”
Brown shook his head in disagreement. “I say we go to the control room, get our power back and fuck the hell off this place.”
Harris looked at McKinley, raising his eyebrows in question. His second lieutenant stared back with determined eyes.
“I say we go to the control room and get our power, and you put me on guard so I can kill those fucks, like I did Grolsh!”
Harris turned to Welles. She was eyeing McKinley, who was now staring back at her in return.
“And you?” Harris prompted her.
She looked at Harris for a moment, then down at her coffee. “Who’s to say that the other team aren’t coming here to feed us to them?”
Packham shot her a look of surprise.
“They sent us here to be slaughtered, or … whatever,” Welles continued. “Why would they rescue us, now? The mission hasn’t been completed and we know too much.”
“So what’s your vote?” Harris asked her.
She thought for a moment. “I’m with Brown and McKinley. We get our power and fly out of here.”
“And go where?” Harris asked. “You don’t think they’ll be looking for us?”
She seemed to think for a moment, then shrugged. “We go straight back to Earth, to the UNF. I’m sure there will be people interested in what we have to say.”
“She’s got a point,” Doc piped up. “This was a classified mission, we were under the radar, here. There are a lot of people who wouldn’t have known about this, nor approved of it.”
Harris nodded. “This was a classified mission, that’s true. But a classified mission signed off by Colonel Isaack.”
Welles shuffled uncomfortably. “My … my father might know some friendly faces we could talk to,” she offered.
“Your father?” Harris arched his eyebrow at her. “The retired colonel?” He noticed McKinley, Brown and Packham look at Welles curiously.
“He may be retired but he’s an Original, sir. He’s been around Space Duty since day one, he knows the UNF inside and out.” Welles stared back at him and gave a sad laugh. “He warned me, you know, not to trust anyone. But I think if there’s someone left to trust in the UNF, he’ll know about them. He’ll help us, if he can.”
Harris gave her a nod. “First we have to make it out of here.” He turned to look at Doc. “Your vote?”
Doc seemed to think things through for a moment. “I’m not comfortable waiting for the other team to get here. If Professor Martin sent them, then I don’t trust them.”
“So you want to try the control room?”
Doc nodded. “It’s the only option we’ve got that doesn’t involve the other team.”
Harris looked around at everyone. “You all know that we risk further casualties?”
They nodded.
“What’s your vote, captain?” McKinley asked.
“I don’t trust the other team, either,” he said. “The control room is our only option as far as I’m concerned, but I needed to know that you guys would back me on that.”
He saw Packham look down guiltily to her lap. He moved his eyes to Welles, whose face was a ball of concentration. She seemed to be mulling something over.
“Captain, I’ll go,” she spoke up suddenly.
Doc looked at her, as did the others.
She stared firmly back at Harris. “Think about it, it’s our only option. They won’t kill me. I’m the only one who can survive it. Packham has to fly the ship. Colt’s injured. I’m the only one left.”
Harris eyed her for a moment, noting her steely resolve, admiring her courage.
“And if they catch you?” he asked.
Doc spoke up. “Welles, if they catch you … it could be a lot worse than death.”
“So, I don’t let them catch me.”
Doc shook his head. “You can’t go on your own. You need someone to watch your back while you log into the systems. I’ll go with you.”
“No,” Harris said firmly, glancing at Doc. “You need to stay here and take care of Hunter and
Colt. I’ll go. It’s my ship, my responsibility.”
“But Captain …” Welles went to protest.
“No, Welles,” he said firmly. “Doc’s right. You can’t break into the system and watch the corridor at the same time. You need back up. I’ll go with you.”
“I’m with you, captain,” McKinley said.
Harris gave him a nod.
“Hell, sign me up!” Brown offered.
“No, sergeant,” Harris said. “You need to help Packham get the Aurora back to Earth and we might not make it back to the ship. Even if we don’t succeed in getting power back to the Aurora, there is always a chance the other team may be genuine. If they are, I would like to see five members of my team make it out alive.”
Packham looked nervously over at Welles. Harris sat forward in his chair and studied her too. Welles’s neck was still purple, her eye partially bloodshot.
“You sure you’re up for this?” he asked her.
*
Carrie felt the adrenaline spiking through her body. She felt determined and strong, as though her anger had melded her flesh into steel. She nodded firmly at Harris. “The UNF may not think so, captain, but I assure you I am.”
*
Harris nodded. “And you have enough IT skills for Packham and Brown to coach you over the comms?”
“Yes, sir. If they tell me what to do, I’ll be fine.”
Harris nodded back in acceptance. “Brown, Packham? You know what you’re doing to get into their system?”
Packham nodded. “Smith showed me how to do it. All we need to do is connect the Darwin’s systems to the Aurora like we did before, then we should be able to work it out from the flight deck.”
Brown nodded in agreement.
Harris eyed them both. “Alright, then it’s done. Let’s get our shit together, people! Welles, I want a word with you. The rest of you, dismissed.”
Welles nodded at him, as McKinley, Brown and Packham left the room. Doc walked slowly to the door, eyeing the corporal. He stopped by her as though he was going to say something, but changed his mind and kept walking. After he left and closed the door, Harris looked down at his desk, thinking about what he wanted to say to her. She obviously thought it was about her earlier outburst because she started apologizing.
“I’m sorry about before, captain. I just … it was a shock. For all I knew you were in on it. But I believe you when you say that you didn’t know.”
He studied her. The steely resolve was still intact, her eye contact good.
“I’m glad about that Welles, because I don’t want to go out there with someone who doesn’t trust me and who I can’t trust in return. I need to know that you’ll do everything within your power … I need to know that I can rely on you to do what you need to do, when the time is right. See, I know McKinley will. We’ve been on the same team for a while now. We work well together, and I know I can trust him with my life. Can I trust you with my life?”
Welles looked offended, and was quick to reassure. “Of course you can, captain. You just haven’t given me the chance to prove it yet.”
Harris slumped back in his chair, sighing. “Yeah, well, I had my orders too …”
She gave him a strange look.
He stood and walked around the desk toward her. Placing his hands on his hips, he looked down at her, towering over her small frame.
“Do not lose your gun, Welles,” he told her.
“I won’t, captain,” she said.
“If you lose your gun, you’re as good as dead. You hear me?”
“I hear you, sir, but you don’t need to worry.”
“Welles, you are a great fuckin’ shot, but without a weapon you’re an easy target. You’re weak. You cannot lose your gun or turn your back for a second. It’s reality. You don’t stand a chance otherwise.”
He saw the corporal’s eyes flash stubbornly with anger.
“Welles, I could knock you through that fuckin’ door right now!” he said pointing to the door several feet behind her. “Hell, Smith would’ve knocked you through that door and he was half my size. These guys, these Jumbos, are twice as strong as I am. So, if you lose your gun, you better run, you hear me? I’m certainly not planning on losing mine. I want to make sure we’re real clear about that. I’m not picking on you, Welles, I’m trying to help you!”
She took a deep breath and nodded, the anger dissipating. “I understand, captain, but they have to take my gun first, and in order to do that they have to come within range.”
Harris couldn’t help but break a smile. He shook his head. “You got fire, Welles. I’ll give you that. You just make sure you channel that shit into your gun, and aim it at their heads.”
“I will, sir.”
He eyed her one last time, then gave a nod. “Go get ready.”
He watched as she left the room, all the while noticing that Sibbie and Etta had suddenly floated into his mind again, like feathers wafting in on a gentle breeze.
*
Carrie headed for the weapons store, her heart racing, her throat tight. She felt that surge of adrenaline flushing around in her veins, as the nerves danced in her belly. This was it. This was major. This was life or fucking death and the whole team was relying on her. She had to succeed. There was no other option.
When she reached the weapons store she saw Doc and McKinley standing close, talking, but they stopped abruptly as soon as she entered. She eyed them both quizzically. McKinley stared back at her while Doc took a headset from him and handed it to her. She took it as he gave her a soft smile and left the room.
McKinley walked up and handed her a laser-fire rifle.
“I’m keeping my handgun, too,” she told him.
“Good idea.” He walked over to a crate and pulled out a smaller pistol. He checked that it was loaded, grabbed its holster, then walked back to her.
“Take this, too. For the ankle,” he told her.
She took it from him and put it on. “What about one more for good luck?”
“No,” McKinley said standing in front of her. “Three’s enough. You wanna weigh yourself down, then do it with ammo. Besides … you don’t lose your gun, remember?”
She stared firmly into those piercing blue eyes of his. “Not yet, McKinley.”
“Good. So, just make sure you shoot straight.”
“And you make sure you shoot straighter and keep up,” she retorted.
He looked down at her for a moment, then smirked.
“So, you’re dad’s a colonel, huh? A fucking Original. Figures.” His smirk slowly turned into a smile. It was a friendly smile, a teasing smile, not like the smug ones she’d grown used to.
“So, your dad was a cop? That figures, too.” She smiled back.
He stared at her for a moment, trying to keep his smile to a minimum. “Grab some more ammo and you’re all set,” he said, breaking their stare.
“Yes, sir!” She smiled to herself, noting McKinley’s face as he registered the “sir”.
Harris, Doc, Brown and Packham entered the weapons store then. Harris moved over to collect some more ammo, while Doc handed out small pouches of a red liquid.
“It’s a concentrated sugar solution,” he told her. “It’s packed with vitamins and minerals, so if you start getting tired, suck one of these down. It’ll keep you going.”
There were six of them in all, and she slid them into her shirt pocket. Doc moved back and stood in the doorway, glancing over at her occasionally. He looked concerned and maybe a little disappointed that he wasn’t going with them. She wanted to talk to him. She wanted to put him at ease. Most importantly, she wondered whether he could be of help to her in some way.
“Doc, can I have a word?” she asked.
He nodded, and she walked out of the weapons store and started down the corridor.
“Where are we going?” he asked, following.
“Your office.”
When she arr
ived, she found it open and paused at the doorway to the hospital. She saw five of their team lying there. Three of them covered in sheets. She felt a sudden stab of realization of what she was about to do.
Doc saw what she was looking at, then moved to stand in the doorway, blocking her vision. “What’s up?”
She looked down at the headset in her hands. “I was just wondering whether you had anything I could maybe use … if I should lose my gun? Which I shouldn’t, because I have three of them … but, you never know.”
“What do you mean, that you could use?”
“I don’t know, some drug, some chemical that I could maybe inject …”
“No. I’m not giving you something like that.” He walked past her and headed back for the main office door.
She grabbed his arm, “I don’t mean for me! I mean to stab them with, you know, if … if they get me. Although, if it came to it … I could use it on myself …” Her voice began to trail off.
He stared at her, his mind ticking over.
“Do you?” she asked.
“I have something,” he said looking into her eyes, “but I would need you to promise that you wouldn’t use it on yourself.”
Carrie glanced down at the floor, then back up at Doc. “I’m not sure I can promise that. You said it yourself, if they catch me … Doc, I hope to god that I don’t need to use it on myself, it would be a last resort. I’d try and use it on them first, but I can’t promise.”
He stared at her, mind ticking over. “Can you promise me that when you’re ready to use it, you’ll wait? Just wait another ten minutes. In case we’re coming to get you.”
She studied him for a moment. His eyes were intense.
“I could promise that, but I wouldn’t want you taking the risk to come and get me. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Funny that, ’cause I don’t want to see you get hurt either,” he said firmly, locking eyes.
They stared at each other, as a slight air of awkwardness swirled about.
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