The Space Between

by Scott J Robinson

  Out in the hangar, a door opened and General Hilliard marched through with a dozen soldiers at his back. On the other side of the ship, Kim was still trying to coax the alien forward.

  “[You continue to amaze me, Miss McLean,]” the general said loudly. Keeble found speaking Tuki's language so natural that he was surprised each time he heard a different one. Meledrin muttered a translation. The general would soon be in a position to see the open door on the ship and would probably be quite a bit more amazed then. “[I don't know what you hoped to achieve.]”

  The threat of soldiers seemed to do it again — the alien stumped towards the ship with Kim urging it on.

  "There's nowhere to hide in here," Meledrin translated when the General spoke again.

  That's what you think, Keeble silently replied. And what made him think they couldn't just walk through the wall like last time if they couldn't hide? Maybe nobody had believed the guard from the cells when he told the story.

  Keeble heard someone clambering into the ship and wondered if they knew how to close the hatch. Hurrying back, he wondered if he knew. Kim was still between the crates.

  "Out of the way, dwife" Keeble said, but when Kim looked around the panel was already sliding closed. "Oh." He checked it had been done properly.

  Tuki was sitting with his back against the rear access panels with Kim's pack by his side. He looked like he would be quite happy to stay there for a while. "What do we do now, mo'shi?"

  Meledrin nodded. "Yes. It is unlikely this vehicle is still operational after all this time."

  "That's it Mel, optimistic as usual."

  "I am merely pointing out the facts."

  "Well, I don't know. It was unlikely we'd get this far."

  Keeble shook his head. "Pointing out that we escaped the first million to one chance doesn't help us with the next one."

  "That wasn't my point."

  "You had a point, did you?"

  The sound of voices coming from outside the ship increased as the soldiers discovered their quarry had escaped again.

  Kim smiled. "The day's going well, whatever happens from here. Now, the sooner we get to work, the sooner we can get out of here."

  "Sounds easy," Keeble muttered as he led the way back to the cockpit and sat down in a chair. "Do you always just make things up as you go?"

  Kim sat by his side, looking at the controls. But they didn't get any further. A shout went up out in the hangar and a soldier pointed into the ship. All sorts of stuff started happening. More men rushed to surround the ship, weapons raised though they must've hit the ship with a lot more than those without any luck in the last fifty years. General Hilliard stormed back into the room and stood shouting in front of the ship. Kim waited while he blustered and threatened. She smiled the whole time as if she was having a great time.

  "What are you so happy about?" Keeble grumbled. "We may just have to open the door eventually and let them in."

  She shrugged as if she didn't really care. "A bit of a head start on working out how to use this thing would have been nice, but we still have all the power for the moment. And we've shown that it would be better if they tried to work with us a bit more. Or at least with you, Mel, and Tuki. I'm probably excess baggage about now."

  "I'm surprised you were brought along at all." Keeble sat back and listened to the General as well. He couldn't understand a word of it, but he got the idea. "Well why are we just sitting here now instead of working?" he said eventually. He was almost as bad as an elf, sitting around listening to someone talk when there was work to be done.

  26: Going

  Kim turned to look at Keeble. His whole manner had changed since he sang his song and got them out of the cell. It was as if he had suddenly grown up and become an arsehole all at once. He obviously wasn't a big fan of women. In this case, however, he was right.

  "Of course. No time to waste," Kim said, turning her attention to the controls. Unfortunately there was no big red button with 'Start' written on it. Or maybe there was, but she couldn't read the label.

  There were what looked like three main controls, which were centered between the two seats. A wheel, half buried in the console, a huge foot pedal that pivoted in the middle, and a little joystick with a ball on the end. Kim fiddled with the joystick and discovered that it actually went up and down and no other direction.

  "Okay," she said, nodding to herself, "that's a start."

  "What's a start?" Keeble asked. "You can't know anything yet."

  "Just because you haven't worked anything out doesn't mean I haven't. This wheel steers us, like a car, the pedal is forward and back, and the knob is up and down."

  "You do just make things up."

  "Maybe I did, but I think they're reasonable guesses. Anyway, none of it does us any good if we can't get the thing started."

  There was a harsh, guttural sound behind Kim, and she turned to see the alien standing in the door. It was talking, pointing to the controls, and waving its arms about. She couldn't understand a word of it, and Meledrin couldn't either, judging by the look on her face.

  Outside, the General had finally started to calm down. With an effort, Kim shifted gear into English and listened.

  "Miss McLean," he said, "are you going to let us in?"

  "No, thank you, General. Don't worry though, we've already started to make some progress."

  "What do you hope to achieve?"

  "Besides lift off? Well, how about getting you to use your resources more wisely? That would be a start. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some buttons to press."

  She turned her attention to the controls but didn't press anything. It had been more than five years since she'd sat in a cockpit, and that hadn't looked much like this one at all.

  "We really need power, Keeble."

  "Obviously. If it's even possible."

  "Just see what you can find."

  Kim started working her way across her half of the control panel. She hit each button quickly, then pressed and held before releasing. Each time she waited for a response without joy. She flicked switches and turned dials backwards and forwards. Keeble watched for a moment before setting to work on his side.

  "How long will this process take?"

  Kim almost jumped out of her seat. She turned to look at Meledrin, who was looking over the alien's shoulder.

  "I inquire because we have only a small amount of food and water."

  "I know that. Can you speak to the alien yet?"

  "It isn't that simple."

  "For Christ's sake, Mel, use your brain." Kim sighed and rubbed at her eyes. She thought she could feel a headache coming on. "Sorry. Look, this isn't Sherindel. You can't just sit back and let things happen, otherwise a few hundred years will go by and you'll still be complaining about Chinese table manners."

  "I do not understand."

  "Don't worry about it. But we learned to speak Tuki's language, right. Do the same thing with the alien."

  Meledrin sniffed but tapped the creature on the shoulder and beckoned it back into the hold where Tuki waited silently. The moai was probably going to be in charge of the charades seeing the elf wouldn't want to demean herself like that.

  "Back to work, Keeble." But he was still pressing buttons. They worked their way to the center reaching what looked like half a skyglass at about the same time. "Well, I guess that's it then." Kim sat back in the seat and sighed.

  Keeble was still examining the console as if they might have missed a button or switch in their methodical fiddling. "Maybe we need to do things in combination. Like turning the key and pushing the accelerator."

  "Well, there are a lot of possible combinations. We could go at that all day." The only thing they hadn't touched was the skyglass thing. She poked at it angrily with as much reaction as she expected.

  "That won't do any good."

  "Well, thanks for pointing that out."

  Outside the Americans had brought in some heavy drilling equipment. Kim doubted it was a new ap
proach.

  "I mean," Keeble said, "it looks like a skyglass."

  "Yes."

  "Well, Tuki is the only one who can use the other skyglass. What makes you think this one would be any different."

  "Right."

  Keeble drummed his fingers on the edge of the console. He looked at her and shook his head. "So let’s see if he can do anything."

  "Right. Good idea." She called Tuki, but it was Meledrin who answered.

  "Tuki is assisting me."

  "Well you can do that on your own for a minute."

  The moai ducked in through the door. "You want me to do something, mo'shi."

  "Can you get that skyglass working?"

  "I do not know."

  Kim tried to keep her impatience in check. "Why don't you give it a go?"

  "Very well." He sidled between the two seats and touched his finger to the crystal. "It is not turned on," he said. He muttered the word that turned it on before Kim had a chance to say anything.

  "It is working." The ball started to glow softly, but nothing else happened. Kim waited. She waited some more.

  "Now what?" Keeble asked.

  Kim sighed and started pressing buttons again, working her way across the panel. Keeble grunted and set to work as well.

  "Should I go back to helping Meledrin?" Tuki asked.

  "Yes, Tuki. If you want."

  He hesitated — Kim couldn't blame him for that — then made his way back.

  She kept pressing buttons, and when there were only a couple left...

  All her frustration and fear was washed away, for a moment at least, amid the whir and beep of machines starting up. There was a deep, gentle rumbling that could only be an engine.

  Kim sat stunned for a moment, before doing a jig in her seat. Suddenly there was a lot of movement out in the hangar. Men were racing everywhere, though it didn't look as if anything particularly dangerous were happening. Not that she was in the best position to tell. But, looking around at the flashing lights and strange symbols which were becoming visible, she decided that, in general, she was in the best position.

  General Hilliard had made his cautious way to a position in front of the ship. "What now, Miss McLean?" he shouted. "You don't imagine we'll open the doors, do you?"

  "What did he say?" Keeble asked.

  Kim told him.

  "You really haven't thought this out, have you?" the dwarf said.

  "Shut up." Kim had liked him more when he was crazy. "You didn't mention the door earlier."

  "Well, you're the one who's supposed to know everything."

  "Who said that? An hour ago I was in a cell with no realistic chance of getting out. I think I've done pretty damn well to get us this far."

  "Yes. Wonderful. Now we're in a hangar with no reasonable chance of getting out."

  Kim took a deep breath and tried to get her thoughts in order. "Arguing about it won't help. We'll just have to think of something."

  Keeble grunted.

  For a long time after that, Kim and Keeble sat in silence staring at the controls and switches in front of them.

  "Let's just try it," Keeble said eventually.

  "What?"

  "You think you know how the main controls work, right? But it's no use worrying about the door unless you're right."

  "Right." Kim nodded.

  "So I'll see if I can at least get us to fly."

  For a moment, Kim didn't know what to say. "Okay, some parts of your plan have merit, but there's no way in hell you're going to drive this thing." At that moment she thought she'd rather just open the door and let Hilliard in.

  "Then who? You? Women aren't allowed to use machines."

  "Let's get this straight right now, buddy — this is Earth, not some cave on Sherindel. People who can do things, do them. Gender doesn't come in to it." She took a deep breath. "A few days ago you thought a steam engine was the height of technology. I can drive cars and fly planes and helicopters, Keeble. You can't even program a VCR."

  "You've never flown anything like this before."

  "I've been closer than you. So don't touch a damn thing." Kim sat forward and examined the controls. Most still meant nothing to her so she decided to ignore them and concentrate on the main three. Outside, the Americans were creeping closer again, so Kim shouted a warning and waited for them to scuttle back to the walls. Then she sat, staring at the controls.

  "So," Keeble said, "you control the ship with the power of your mind, do you?"

  Kim glared at him for a moment then gently pulled the knob she thought controlled the elevation. And it worked. Kim smiled as the ship rose steadily into the air. She could see General Hilliard, and he wasn't pleased with the way things were going.

  Keeble didn't look all that thrilled either. "Now what? We just break through the doors do we? I'm sure if you concentrate hard enough, you can actually open them."

  She wasn't going to let the dwarf ruin her mood. When the ship was about ten meters above the ground she released the knob, and they stopped almost instantly. The ship hovered with barely a tremor. Backwards and forwards probably wasn't a good idea so she turned the steering wheel instead. When the ship spun, she did a little happy-dance.

  "Huh," she said to Keeble. "Just like riding a bike." If the bike was a space-age penny-farthing.

  "Right. Does the door open if we spin really quickly?"

  "Shut up, Keeble. One step at a time."

  "Well, tell me when we're ready for the next step." He sat back as if preparing to wait for a while.

  The ship continued to rotate slowly. On the fifth revolution, Kim spotted what was probably their only chance. "I've got a plan," she said. It wasn't so much a plan as an idea.

  For the next five minutes Kim moved randomly around the room. Forward and backwards were as easy to control as everything else, but she made sure she ran into walls occasionally and even bumped into the ceiling and touched down on the floor.

  Keeble's anger grew by the moment. "Yes," he said eventually. "Great idea. Let's let you drive."

  "See that there," Kim said. High up in the wall, opposite the gallery room they'd been in earlier, was another window. It was only a few meters long and leaned out over the hangar.

  "What about it?"

  "I think that's the control room, or something similar."

  "What's it do?"

  "That's where the person who opens and closes the door sits."

  Keeble leaned forward to look. "How do you know that?"

  "I don't, but if I'm wrong then we've got no hope, so let's just pretend." Kim could see by the look on Keeble's face that he didn't like the idea of going into a situation without having detailed schematics and a sound plan already formulated. Well, if he was going to stick around, he'd just have to get used to it.

  "So fly up there and see what we can see."

  "I intend to." In all her 'random' flying, she had ended up with a wingtip almost touching the wall. If she went directly up, it would be lined up with the window. "If I'd done it straight away, they would've worked out something was going on in about two seconds. This way, hopefully, they think it's just more random madness, and we'll get a bit of a head start."

  "So someone has to walk out on the wing and go through the window?"

  "Yep."

  "Who?"

  "That's a good question." Kim looked back into the hold.

  Tuki was sitting on the floor, knees pulled up to his chest as he listened to the alien talk. He already looked like he was in way over his head and getting him to climb on wings and jump through windows wouldn't be a good idea. Meledrin? Kim almost laughed. Even if she were desperate enough to ask, the elf would never agree. That left two choices.

  "Here's what we'll do." She took a deep breath and wondered how she kept getting into these situations. "You go in the back, find something hard and heavy to throw at the window, then wait by the door." Kim said. "When you're ready, I'll fly us up there then you open the door. We'll try to break the window
, then I go across to the room. Hopefully I can open the door and get back in quickly. Then we get the hell out of Dodge."

  Keeble opened his mouth and Kim knew he was going to say something about 'Dodge'.

  "You know what I mean."

  He gave a grunt.

  "Off you go, then. Let me know."

  It wasn't long before the dwarf called that he was ready.

  "All right, then. Here goes."

  Kim went forward slightly. Then back. And, with no idea if all her posing was doing any good, she pulled the knob that would move the ship up the wall. When they were in position she jumped out of the seat and dashed into the cargo area. The door was already open, and Keeble had his head out.

  "All clear," the dwarf said.

  Kim didn't really listen. Heart pounding, mouth dry, she stooped down to grab what looked like two book-sized metal cogs from a pile on the floor and jumped the short distance out onto the wing. Easy. "What the hell am I doing?"

  She threw one of the cogs. It bounced off the window. And fell down to clatter on the floor.

  "Shit."

  But the glass was cracked.

  She threw the second one, and the same thing happened. Keeble threw a third and a fourth from the ship, and finally the glass shattered.

  Kim kept low as long as possible and then, careful of glass shards, vaulted over the wall into the room. She found herself on top of a console with about a hundred controls. Before she'd even climbed down to the floor, she was scanning the strange symbols that went with them.

  A minute later Keeble called to her. "Something's happening," he said, and at almost the same moment she heard the sound of booted feet approaching. She looked at the door for the first time. There was a square, green button set into the stone wall. Crossing the small room, she tried the button and the door hissed shut. But she couldn't see any way of locking it.