by Clara Woods
Meanwhile, rapid footsteps kept getting louder. Landing on top of the unit, Lenah quickly spotted a door Cassius had apparently been leading them toward, when a group of six more people dressed in the same black clothes appeared, running toward their position. One of the men was huge, and she noticed he had several implants in his face and on his body.
Another cyborg. Oh, shit.
He pointed toward them, and laser pistols locked onto Lenah’s group. Turning, Lenah saw that Cassius was helping Uz and the doctor down on the other side, where they’d be away from the laser beams on the floor. She lifted her own pistol. Her shot fired at the same time as her adversary’s and she gave a grim smile, seeing one of them topple backward. Only then did she realize the fierce sting burning in her right arm. One second later, Cassius grabbed her around the middle and unceremoniously dumped her on the ground on the other side, before firing a shot himself and jumping down after her. “Are you all right? You’re hit.”
Lenah nodded, looking down at her arm. “Yeah, nothing too bad.”
“Let’s move. Run.” Cassius shoved her ahead of him, and she broke into a sprint toward the door. From the row next to them, they heard equally quick footsteps approaching.
22 Through the Tank
Only a few meters separated them from a sign labeled ‘Cooling Room – Authorized Personnel Only’, where Uz and Doctor Lund were already fumbling with an apparently closed door. Cassius made a mad run toward them and simply yanked at the door until the thick metal came out of its hinges with a screech. He motioned them through and jammed the loose door back into the doorway just in time to avoid laser beams coming at them. Then he turned around and ripped a nearby machine out of its place to block the door with it. It was all done in less than twenty seconds.
“They’re in for the kill. No taking hostages any longer.”
“With us here, they must think we brought the stone,” Lenah remarked, hoping Persia was safely back at the Rambler. She was the one still carrying around the Mapstone.
The room they’d entered was filled with the noise of machinery and flushing water. Two huge tubes dominated most of the area before leading back out into the server hall. According to the labels on the pipes, one was for cooling the servers, the other for hot water going back out. Two hallways led away from the room, each filled with one massive tube and just enough space for a person to walk beside it. At least they hadn’t trapped themselves in here.
Lenah bolted ahead, choosing the way with the cold tube. They ran down the corridor, leaving behind loud banging coming from where Cassius had blocked the door behind them. A short sprint later, the hallway opened into a large open space dominated by a huge water tank. A crash sounded back down the corridor, indicating their pursuers had managed to open the door. Cassius overtook them all, taking a run around the tank to the opposite side of the wall. Lenah followed with the doctor and Uz. Her arm was starting to throb with every step, and while she didn’t think she’d been more than grazed by the laser, she was most likely sporting a hefty burn mark. They needed to get out of here; otherwise she wouldn’t be able to keep up much longer. Lenah noticed that she wasn’t the only one. Doctor Lund was panting loudly, leaning over the tank’s railing.
“Where’s the exit?” Lenah asked Cassius, coming to a stop next to the others.
“There is none,” Cassius growled.
“We’re trapped?” Uz’ voice broke at the question.
“No, there’s a way,” Cassius answered, looking down into the huge reservoir of cold water. It was a round tank, measuring several meters in diameter. There was no way to see how deep it went, darkness covering everything more than a couple of meters down in the pool.
“I think this leads straight outside into the tanks we saw when coming in,” Cassius said. Lenah vaguely remembered seeing the tanks where they’d taken the back entrance, though she didn’t know how Cassius knew they were connected to this pool.
“How are we supposed to get there? If this brings cold water in from the outside, we’d need to dive and swim against the current,” Lenah said.
“I can probably drag you all. All you need to do is hold your breath and hold on to me,” Cassius said.
“That’s mad,” the doctor coughed under heavy breathing. “Why can’t you just fight them, cyborg?” He pointed back toward the hallway. Fast steps were approaching. They had only seconds to decide.
“Because they have a military-grade cyborg,” Cassius answered gravely.
Lenah thought she understood what that meant. Military-grade cyborgs were supposed to be more machine than human, enhanced everywhere possible. She supposed even Cassius, who’d lifted a metal door out of its hinges like it weighed nothing, might not stand a chance.
“Let’s do it.” Lenah boldly climbed over the rim of the tank, gaining an approving nod from Cassius.
He didn’t hesitate, but jumped straight in, taking the decision away from the others. If they didn’t want to face that cyborg alone, they’d have to follow him. Everyone seemed to come to the same conclusion, and stepped up to the rim as well. Lenah took one large breath, then let go. She plummeted toward darkness for several moments, until icy cold engulfed her. Suddenly her arm wasn’t the most agonizing pain anymore. Her whole body screamed in protest of being thrown into this cold water. In a moment of panic, she didn’t know where up or down was, but then she found the light above and broke surface a few arms away from Cassius. Another splash sounded close to her, followed by a loud yell from above.
“There they are!”
As she saw the figure of Doctor Lund flying towards them, Cassius grabbed her by the arm, showing her to hold on to the waistband of his pants.
In the dim light, Lenah passed the same instructions to Uz and Doctor Lund. Uz took hold of Lenah’s waist, and the doctor followed behind. Cassius held up one hand, motioning for them to take a deep breath. Lenah forced her body to relax and her lungs to take in as much air as possible. Then Cassius’ form vanished before her, and she was dragged into the darkness behind him.
He dove straight down, in a vertical course that shouldn’t have been possible. Silence engulfed her while she was trying to keep her bearings. Time seemed to slow as it became darker around them, until it was almost pitch black. The weight from having to hold on to Cassius and dragging not just herself, but also Uz and Doctor Lund behind, started to burn in her arms. Lenah felt her injured shoulder scream in pain, both from the contact with whatever bacteria were floating around, and the load. Suddenly the weight became even heavier as the stream of fresh cold water flowing into the tank hit them. In the blackness, she couldn’t make out more than Cassius fumbling with something in the wall. She supposed it must be the blocked entry into the reservoir, where fresh water was pumped in. A creak sounded and something metallic floated by, then Cassius pulled them all forward. Lenah’s lungs were starting to need air, and she almost lost it when she was dragged into a narrow tunnel against the force of the water. Even hidden behind Cassius’ big body, she felt how powerful the current was against them. Still, he pulled them forward. She stuck her arm out with the plan to help him by supporting them against the tunnel wall, but could barely keep it stretched out against the current. They were going up now, which she hoped was an indicator that they were nearing their destination, wherever that was.
Then the tunnel changed course, going up even more steeply. The incoming water was hitting her from above, leaving her disoriented, and Lenah wondered if Cassius had made a grave mistake by bringing them here. What if they got stuck? But a few seconds later, their surroundings began to brighten. It gave her the strength to hold on to her breath just a little longer, and finally they broke into a white enclosed area. Cassius swam up, grabbing a lid over his head, and they were free. He hoisted himself out before her, then pulled her up and dumped her to the side. Lenah couldn’t stop her fall, and landed a couple meters below on the metal floor of the same back alley they’d originally come in. The gulps of fresh air felt glor
ious.
Uz landed gracefully beside her, and a moment later the doctor crashed next to her on the floor, wheezing. At least Lenah wasn’t the only one who’d struggled with this. Maybe Cassidians had better lungs compared to humans.
“Let’s move, people. We don’t have time,” Cassius urged, and she found herself following his command numbly. Uz helped her up and gave her support on her good side. Lenah’s arm was burning, she was cold and shivering, and every step was agony.
“Captain, comm Persia. Let her know we’re coming.” A few seconds passed before Lenah realized that Cassius was talking to her. Then she sluggishly opened the screen on her wristpiece. At least even the most basic models were waterproof. When had her hands started to shake? With effort, stumbling along Uz’s side, she typed two short sentences.
Ready ship. Coming with company.
Lenah hardly realized when they reached the open plaza in the knowledge terminal’s front entrance. They seemed to be quite the sensation, because people stopped in their tracks to look at them, then jumped out of their way as if they had some kind of infection. Behind them, she heard yells, and felt Uz pull her forward harder. The port wasn’t far from the knowledge terminal, but they reached it several stories too high. Cassius took them down at a brusque pace, but due to the crowd on the stairs, their progress was soon slowed. She saw him throw back several worried glances, but didn’t trust her own balance to take a look herself. Finally, the dull outer hull of the Star Rambler came into view. Lenah had never been happier to see it. The hatch started pulling up before them, and Persia’s legs appeared just as the view was interrupted by a huge figure landing right in front of them. The other cyborg had managed to catch up by jumping instead of taking the stairs.
“Go, go, go,” Cassius yelled before throwing himself forward. With a maddening clang of metal against metal, the two cyborgs collided. Cassius’ opponent took a few steps back, but didn’t otherwise seem shaken by the impact. His arms – two metal arms – came around Cassius and hauled him up as if he weighed no more than a child. Given how Lenah had to tilt her head up to look Cassius in the face, she found that distressing. Cassius was thrown back several meters, and only managed to get partially up before the other cyborg slammed into him, the impact reverberating across the platform. As strong as Cassius had seemed to her, he appeared miserably outmatched against this fighting machine.
23 Cyborg vs Cyborg
A shot fired behind them, impacting against the hull of the Star Rambler. Lenah didn’t see where it had come from, but it jerked her into action, and she ran up the ramp and into the cargo hold, where the others were already waiting. There was nothing she could do from out there. The noise of the fighting subsided when the hatch closed behind them.
“Are we leaving our cyborg behind?” Persia asked, peeking out of the cargo hold’s only tiny window.
“No!” Lenah answered. He was risking his life for them, and she wouldn’t leave him. She only had to figure out how to help him, especially in her state. Her first priority, however, should be making sure they could leave at a moment’s notice. She limped up the stairs and through the corridor toward the cockpit. The few meters felt like she was running a marathon, but she fought on.
With shaking hands, Lenah started the engine and turned on the manual control, hoping she’d still be able to do a better job at this than the wonky autopilot, though her bet was on the autopilot. Persia joined her, slipping into the copilot’s seat and turning on the outer camera. She redirected the lens to show the fight happening right outside their hatch.
At least Cassius was still standing. He was dancing around his adversary, applying the same strategy Lenah did in her own fighting. If you’re smaller and weaker, be quicker than the other party. It felt weird to think of Cassius as small and weak.
He jumped forward, spinning in the air at the last moment, and aimed with his metal arm. He seemed eager to keep his human parts far away from the other cyborg. It made sense; an encounter with bone against a cyborg part probably didn’t end well, even if you were a cyborg yourself.
Unfortunately, the other cyborg evaded easily. Cassius’ next move was to shift around. He pulled something out of his pocket and threw it at the other man. The camera blurred their images, but whatever he’d thrown looked like a knife or dagger and sank into the cyborg’s chest. The man stumbled once, but quickly found his footing again. Not fast enough to evade Cassius, though, who was quickly coming at him. This time, when the two collided, Cassius did have an impact on his opponent. He stumbled backward and Cassius, who seemed to have anticipated this, grabbed him and threw him over the railing of the staircase.
Then several things happened at once. The shooting that had ceased while the two cyborgs were fighting erupted again. The people that hadn’t taken off scattered away as fast as possible. The other cyborg caught himself with one hand against the railing. The metal creaked and bent, but it held. Finally, Cassius turned around and made a mad dive for the ship; Lenah hit the open hatch button, keeping her fingers hovering over near the control. Cassius lunged into the cargo hold before the hatch had fully opened. Lenah pressed the close button and activated the shields.
“Everyone buckle in,” she tried to yell through the public comm speakers, though it came out more like a desperate clattering of teeth. When had she gotten so violently cold?
Lenah guided the ship straight out and away from the station, not even bothering to ask for permission to take off. Somehow that seemed to be the norm in her new piloting life. Checking the sensors and making sure no other ships were in her immediate course, she took the steepest angle she trusted the ship could do. Within seconds, the station shrank below them in the rear camera view.
“They might send a ship after us.” Cassius spoke from behind her. Lenah had been so focused on flying that she hadn’t even noticed him enter. “You need to get out of those wet clothes.”
Lenah nodded under shivers. At least if Cassius could remark on her wet clothes, that meant he hadn’t been fried under the laser fire.
“I’ll wait until we’re in a warp bubble, lest you want me to give you a bedroom-worthy show right here,” she said, instantly regretting the words. Where had that comment even come from? It wasn’t that she looked at Cassius as a potential partner in the bedroom. Sure, he was attractive, but she preferred men made fully of flesh and without a criminal background. She shook her head at the direction of her thoughts. Must be the hypothermia paired with the pain in her arm, making her brain all mushy.
Given no one reacted to her stupid joke, they likely hadn’t understood her through the clattering of her teeth anyway.
Uz and Doctor Lund appeared behind Cassius in the narrow corridor, and the foul odor of unwashed pirate that had clung to the whole ship before they’d cleaned it wafted in with them. A quick look around showed them wrapped in blankets, no doubt the culprits of the smell.
Uz squeezed by Cassius and wrapped another stinky blanket around Lenah’s shoulders. As much as she hated the smell, it felt good, and she snuggled in, trying to control her shaking.
“Um, the stone will be ready soon, but where are we going? If we go back to Astur, will they be waiting for us again?” Persia asked.
“Probably,” Cassius said, his voice trailing off at the beeping of the proximity alarm. Even though they were climbing up in a rather unconventional way, another ship had appeared on the screen. Lenah adjusted their course a little, watching what the other ship would do. They adjusted as well.
“Are they going to reach us before we create the bubble?” Uz asked.
“Yeah. At their current speed, they’ll be on us in less than two minutes,” Lenah answered, checking her screens.
“Can’t we go faster? We’re awfully slow,” Doctor Lund asked.
“No, that’s all the Rambler has.” Lenah’s words ended in a violent cough. “We might have to fight them,” she continued after her cough ceased. “Persia, give Cassius the copilot seat. He might have to fire thos
e guns. Get the stone ready as fast as possible.” After some shuffling in the cramped space, Cassius was buckled in next to her, his hands at the weapon’s controls.
“Before we start shooting at other ships, can we decide where we’ll be going?” Persia asked.
“Not Astur,” Cassius said. “They’d have people stationed there to look for you. For us.”
“Maybe we could go, have everyone fight over us, and disappear in the chaos?” Lenah suggested, only half joking.
Cassius shook his head. “Not a good idea if we come in this pile of rust. We need something unexpected, somewhere to buy us some time and gather our thoughts.”
“We could try the coordinates the doctor and I found in the knowledge terminal,” Uz suggested.
The other ship chose that moment to come into firing range, and didn’t hesitate to shoot their first laser. It hit their shield, but otherwise barely caused the ship to shake.
“What coordinates?” Lenah asked, trying to anticipate how to evade the next laser beam.
“0, 0, 0.”
“Seriously? Did you just make that up?”
“Of course not,” Doctor Lund said, his voice sounding from down the corridor. “The Mapstone, as the name suggests, is a map. We found an ancient comm log. An archaeologist who came with the Generation Ship, writing letters to his friend.”
That made the source thousands of years old. The human Generation Ship had arrived in this system a little under three thousand years ago.
“If it’s a map, where does it lead?” Lenah dove down, accepting several more laser beams against their hull. The shields were already halfway down, but it was the fastest way to turn them over and give Cassius range to fire back. Having only front lasers was definitely inconvenient if you kept trying to outrun other ships. Cassius didn’t hesitate, but fired both of their two front cannons. The other ship fell back a bit, but didn’t turn around as Lenah had hoped it would.