The shift to red and white did not reappear.
Two rangers rushed through the door from the command and control room. The older man, graying temples hidden by an officer’s helm with gold perlait-leaf clusters on either side, his stride hampered by a belly full enough to stress the brass buttons on his Union-blue uniform, barked orders at the terrified junior officer.
They passed the navigation unit. Their man had vanished. The captain looked around, dropped to his knees and touched the tiny pool of blood.
“We’re not under attack, we’ve been infiltrated.”
The lights flashed again and again. He looked to the young assistant, “There is a foreign AI on board. Deploy the sentinel AI to reboot the ship’s OS.”
The blood-red lighting stretched the length of the corridors outside the holding cells and hid the prisoner’s faces within its shadow. Rangers rushed past the turnaround at the end of the hallway. At the other end was a set of poorly secured stairs. A ranger rushed down, boots clomping. The bolts holding the handrails nearly came loose. Ibrahimzade pushed the students behind him, into the shadows of the prison room.
“I don’t know where they could be,” he said, “But they can’t be on board if the rangers are preparing for a fight.”
“The Ghost Pepper can’t engage a cruiser. It hasn’t any weapons,” said Maria.
“It’s a diversion.”
“We can’t get off if they’ve engaged the Horntail. That would mean severing the bridge between the ships. Where would they be? Maybe they’ve called in support? Maybe they’ve alerted passing rangers,” she spoke as if reasoning aloud.
“Or pirates,” said Volt.
She sat on the cold metallic bench, the red warning lights flooding her face, “They’ve traded the cargo for our lives.”
“Depends on the type of pirates they’ve attracted,” said Ibrahimzade bringing her to her feet.
“Respice post te…” she whispered to herself again, “Hominum te memento, Ubi sunt, Respice post te.”
She took Volt’s hand. He had been biting his fingernails. “We will be okay. Do you believe me?”
“If we leave the cell, where will we go?” he said.
“If we stay they’ll discover us,” said Ibrahimzade.
Their mentor took a breath, closed his eyes and pushed his head just far enough through the door to see the length of the hallway. The doors had been shut. He looked behind him and those doors too had been shut. He retreated into the cell, “It doesn’t matter we’ve no way out.”
“Is anyone in the hallway?”
“Not that I saw.”
She peeked for herself, then feeling the safety of a blanket in winter, she stepped lightly and quiet into full view of either exit. No sooner than she was in full sight a door mid-way between the holding cells and the far exit slid open. A white light appeared above it. She looked at the others.
They followed her into the corridor. The light blinked three times. They did not move. The light blinked again.
“Is it an automated evacuation tool?” Maria said.
The ship rocked again. Voices echoed through the ship: “…I don’t see the fighters…” “…No visuals yet…” “Is there an asteroid cluster near us?” “…is…false alarm…” “…contact…control…”
Brine looked to where the voices seemed to appear. The light blinked impatiently. He laughed quietly “No, Polymath is talking to us,” and said in a whisper.
“Follow her.”
Quark rushed past dozens of doors in the labyrinthine ship with faith in Poly. A blue sign with crossed fork and knife opened as they approached. Though clanging metal came from somewhere in the dark, the cafeteria felt empty. Quark held his arm up like a bar preventing Andromeda and Nugget from passing.
Cautious, quiet footsteps echoed back through the blackness. As they advanced their eyes slowly adjusted to the dark and the silhouettes of tables and chairs became barely visible. From somewhere unseen a pan clanged against the ceramic tiles.
Voices.
Quark stopped.
The lights rose. Two rangers rose with them.
The rangers hid behind the cafeteria’s preparation island catching the students in the cross hairs.
“Infiltrators you’re under arrest in the name of the Terran Union-”
The rangers couldn’t finish the sentence before Quark and Nugget had flipped a heavy titanium table on its side. Andromeda dove between them. All three readied their pistols. Energy rounds pounded the table denting but not piercing - not yet - their sanctuary.
The exit on the far side of the cafeteria was almost in line with the table. “If I push this leg and you pull that one,” Quark said to Nugget, “We can make it to the exit.”
“What exit?” said Andromeda. Quark pointed to the door.
“It’s closed.”
Quark pointed to an observation camera watching from above, then pointed to the door behind them. Rangers pounded and pounded the door trying to follow Quark’s team.
“No, it’s secure until we get there.”
“I’ll give us covering fire.” Andromeda said taking Quark’s pistol.
On three Andromeda rose and fired both pistols.
The rangers took cover. “Go!” she yelled.
The men drove the table a few feet. She continued until her clips were empty. She ducked, the rangers rose and the volley continued as the two men pushed with every fiber in their failing bodies.
The ranger’s slowed their fire as the table came within feet of the door. Andromeda popped her head out just slightly. The rangers were gone.
Fire from the side.
Andromeda fired back.
The table was at the door, the door was not open. Quark kicked and kicked and yelled, “Poly open it if you can hear me!”
The door jostled a bit and pounding came from the other side.
“Quark!”
It was Brine’s voice. The pounding resumed.
“What are you doing?” Brine said again.
“We’re here to rescue you!” Andromeda fired at the rangers outflanking the team. “Now help us.” Quark said with a laugh.
The door opened enough for Brine to reach out to Quark.
Quark grabbed a chair. His hand moved just fast enough to avoid a shot.
“Prop it open.”
With enough force, the chair acted as a door block. Nugget reloaded Andromeda’s weapons as the fire continued.
“Nugget go!” Brine and Ibrahimzade yanked their friend through. The chair wobbled and started to give way.
“You go next,” Andromeda said. Quark dove to safety. Andromeda alone remained. When the rangers stopped to reload, she slid under the chair as the pneumatic door crushed the chair severing it in two.
“She’s guiding us off.” Quark said.
“The ore is in the cargo bay,” said Volt.
Maria corrected him, “Our lives are more important. Captain Dross will understand.”
“If we fail it’s all for naught,” said Ibrahimzade.
Overhead, the red lights shifted to white. Quark said, “She will guide us to the hangar. The choice from there is ours.”
Through one door, another and another. Poly led the team through the Command and Control room, the navigation room, past the crew quarters and back to navigation.
“It’s a three-toed Martian hopper race,” said Nugget.
Quark corrected him, “No. She is fighting the Union’s AI.”
They spun looking at the eight doors like eight arms stretching from a cephelopod’s body. “Only one leads home,” said Brine.
In a voice imitating hope Volt said, “Which way?”
Maria said, “A wise woman once said consensus is the absence of leadership.”
“You’re the last person I thought would think like that,” Volt responded.
“Andromeda do you remember the way we came?” said Nugget.
The doors were indistinguishable. A white light blinked above each. One
blinked subtly enough to catch Quark’s attention. “She can hear us. This way.”
Two doors slid open with a hiss as the team rushed behind Quark.
Shots fired. Each missed in turn.
“Poly close it!”
The team did not turn back, and so did not see the door stayed open. More shots fired as they approached the hangar door.
They looked over the balcony at the hangar deck below. The elevator was not up.
The rangers approached. “She can’t bring the elevator up. Just go.”
One by one they slid down the elevator’s grease covered guide rails, landing with no control over the impact.
Four rangers followed.
Ibrahimzade, Volt, Maria, Andromeda and Nugget were half-through the hangar and approaching the cargo. They made for the airlock.
“Just go. Ignore the cargo and go!” shouted Quark.
Quark ducked behind the hangar’s mainframe and connected his tablet. “Poly come on!”
“Stop!” shouted a ranger. Quark looked over the console. A ranger approached holding a gun to Brine’s head.
“You’re AI is impressive,” said the captain approaching the console. Two rangers kept their rifles on the console.
Ibrahimzade stopped at the Horntail’s airlock. “Quark leave her and come on!”
Quark looked back to his team, then at his friend, and shook his head.
“There are weapons on our ship. We can free him if you come with us!”
“Move and she’ll incinerate the ship!” Quark yelled from safety.
“Let my students go!” Ibrahimzade yelled, “And you can keep the AI. She’s worth more than your entire armada.”
The riflemen fired at Ibrahimzade forcing him through the airlock.
Some men live their entire lives never forced to choose between two lives. Quark rose and left his tablet resting on the console. Poly’s face appeared
The Storm Fishers and Other Stories Page 19