“Yean-yeah-yeah … I got it. Just shut up a sec while I try it.”
Collin waited and was about to ask what was happening.
“Fuck!”
“What?”
“Nothing … spinning in slow circles now … feel like barfing.”
“Don’t barf in your helmet. You may have to fire in the opposite—”
“Just shut up … I know! Hold on … I think I’m getting the hang of it. Shit … I’m not going to be able to stop. It’s either spinning in one fucking direction or in another. I’ll have to try to just time it.”
Collin didn’t like the sound of that. Judge it wrong by a fraction of a second and he’d miss the hub completely. Maybe he should let go of the hatch and use the Ponge to propel him back. It would be ridiculously slow … but—
“Here we go … I’m kicking away the hatch.”
Collin heard Darren’s expulsion of breath and watched as his green icon started to move. It was several seconds before Collin could determine if he was heading in the right direction. The HUD showed the faint outline of the surface of the station hub. It would be close. Oh no—he was going to miss it. He was moving in the wrong direction. Before he could say anything, seven green icons were on the move.
“What’s going on?” Collin asked into the open channel.
“We’re going to get Darren,” DiMaggio said.
It was now apparent what they were attempting to do. While Bubba securely holding onto the hub, still tethered to the others, DiMaggio, Bubba, Tink, Burk, Panichello, and Lydia began floating off into open space. All Collin could do was watch the wavering snake of icons.
He made it back down to the catwalk and could then see what was happening. Lydia was at the farthest end of the line. She’d be the one attempting to grab Darren. To get the right angle, the group had to first climb halfway up the side of the tank before jumping out, into the void. It would be close. Darren was moving fast and Lydia was still twenty feet away from him. At this distance, their tiny lifeline cable wasn’t discernible. The six Lone Stars seemed to be floating rather aimlessly in space.
“Talk to me, Lydia,” Collin said.
“I don’t know if I’ll reach him before he passes by. He’s moving fast.”
“Darren … can you use your Ponge to alter your direction?”
“I could if I still had it. I let go of it when I kicked off from the hatch.”
“You still have your Doubler strapped around your back. Maybe you can use it to …” Collin shut up. Lydia was no more than four or five feet from Darren. This was it, either way. Her arms were thrust forward, fingers fully extended. Darren wasn’t facing her and he was flailing, trying to reorient himself, unsuccessfully. First, one leg passed beyond Lydia’s fingers and then the second one. She caught hold of the tip of his heel and his momentum changed. Darren’s body pivoted and his upper torso swung back around. Lydia grasped Darren’s helmet in her outstretched hands, as if catching a highflying football.
Excited screams filled the open channel. Collin watched as Lydia pulled Darren to herself, into her embrace.
Chapter 39
Collin stood at the same open hatchway he and Darren had yanked open fifteen minutes earlier. One by one the Lone Stars filed in. Bubba and DiMaggio held back, staying at Collin’s side until everyone had passed by. As the last pair crossed over, Collin averted his eyes, having glimpsed Lydia still holding on to Darren’s hand.
“Shoulder okay?” Collin asked.
“It’ll be fine,” Darren said.
The Lone Stars kept moving until they entered a semi-circular compartment that had three hatchways; each of their overhead lights was blinking yellow. Collin was the last to enter the compartment. Humphrey, standing next to Darren and Lydia, glanced down and saw the two still holding hands. He looked over at Collin, a smug smile brightening his face.
Collin kept his expression neutral. He turned and assessed the position of each hatchway. Based on the reactor tank’s location, it was his guess they’d have to open the left-most hatch. But before he could say or do anything, the lights above the hatch went from a slow blinking yellow to a rapidly blinking red.
“Up—flat against the bulkhead,” Collin yelled into the open channel.
Everyone moved fast, which was good, because the hatch swung open five seconds later. There was no outrushing of air—no tables or chairs or bodies flew outward. Collin held up his hands in a gesture for everyone to remain still.
Then he saw the muzzle of an energy weapon. Whoever was holding the weapon was moving slowly, not taking any undo risks. What was confusing to Collin was that the color of the icon showing in his HUD wasn’t enemy red—it was green. Humphrey had the Cinco de Mayo up and pointed at the hatch. Collin held up both palms in his direction and spoke softly into the open channel: “Don’t shoot … at least not yet.”
An arm was visible now, and it became evident its owner was wearing a black Brotherhood battle suit. Collin stepped away from the bulkhead and into the combatant’s sightline. Ten feet away from each other, Collin recognized the recruit through her visor. Pretty with short red hair, she’d been one of the Pangallo players, sitting atop another of the Brave Hearts’ shoulders. Her eyes widened in mutual recognition and then showed relief. There was a streak of blood on one cheek and tears were filling her eyes.
She rushed forward, practically flying into Collin’s arms. She stayed there for several moments. Collin didn’t move, but spent a second trying to figure out how to add her into their communication group.
He thought he had it figured out. “What’s your name?”
She pulled away and looked up into his visor. “Gaetana.”
“You’re with the Brave Hearts?”
She nodded. “I escaped before they’d rounded everyone up. I heard them talking about you, the Lone Stars. I’ve been trying to find you ever since.”
She quickly acknowledged the other Lone Stars as they approached.
Collin asked, “Are they, the Brave Hearts, still being held at the barracks? Do you know if any others have been … beheaded?”
“Beheaded!” she screamed. “They beheaded someone … from my Chain?”
Collin glanced over to Tink, who shook her head and rolled her eyes.
“I’m sorry … I thought you knew. Commandant Nari—he’s executing a recruit every quarter hour.”
“You said he beheaded someone. Who?”
“Fico Lucan.”
Suddenly Gaetana dropped her weapon, going weak at the knees. Collin was barely able to grab her before she dropped to the deck. She was sobbing, gasping for air. “No … no … no, not Fico. You’re not sure. Maybe it was someone else, one of the other recruits.” She looked up into Collin’s eyes—her eyes pleading with him to say it was someone else—somebody different.
“I’m sorry. I did meet Fico several times. It was him. Nari broadcasted the … execution. We all saw it.”
Despair quickly turned to anger. “I’m going to kill that bastard. I’m going to rip his heart from his chest and make his slimy Kardon Guards eat it.”
“We need to move fast. I’m sorry. Do you know your way around the station?”
She looked at him in confusion. “Of course I do. I’m stationed here.”
“We need to get into the reactor control room. Can you help—”
“No! We’re going back to the barracks. We’re rescuing the Brave Hearts before we do anything else. Do you understand me? Before anything else!”
“I have my orders, Gaetana.”
“Orders from whom?”
“Captain Primo.”
“Well, I don’t report to him. I report to Captain Drago.”
Collin simply shook his head.
“I’m ordering you. I have seniority.”
“Collin’s a commander,” Tink interjected. “Help us and we’ll help you.” Standing firm, Gaetana looked like she wanted to strangle Tink. She turned her attention back to Collin. “You realize they may already
have executed other Brave Hearts, right?”
“The Kardon Guard has killed hundreds, if not thousands, of Brotherhood forces here today. I’m sorry, but Captain Primo has a plan and we’re going to abide by it.”
Gaetana’s stare continued to bore into Collin until she finally said, “Fine. I’ll get you into the control room. But let’s hurry. Follow me.” Tink handed back her Doubler and Gaetana took it without saying a word. She held back at the open hatchway, letting the Lone Stars file past. Collin stayed back with her and watched as she closed the hatch. She then proceeded to enter a code to reseal it.
“We need to re-pressurize this compartment before we can get into the control room,” she said. She entered another series of digits and waited for the short response to show on the screen. “Okay, the pressurization sequence has initialized.” She turned and headed down the corridor. The others were waiting at a juncture that split off into three separate directions. She took the left-most corridor and picked up her pace. Collin stayed right on her heels. They passed through two more hatchways and ended up in another circular compartment. This one had mostly deck-to-ceiling glass panels. Through them, Collin could see sited beyond them one of the big reactor tanks. Stepping closer to the glass and looking to the right, he saw the other two tanks, farther off to the right.
“That’s the control room, but I don’t know how to get in there. Have no idea what the code is to get inside. They don’t want just anyone off wandering around in there.”
“I’ll get us in there,” Humphrey said, raising the Cinco do Mayo.
Both Collin and Gaetana simultaneously yelled, “No!”
“You’ll blow us into molecules,” Gaetana added.
Collin continued to look for a way past the glass panels.
Gaetana pointed to the middle panel. “This one here opens.” She touched the glass and a portion of the glass came alive with a display panel. “But I don’t know the code.”
Collin pushed on the twelve-foot-high door panel. It didn’t budge.
“It’s as hard as metal … you’re not getting in there,” she said.
Collin eyed Bubba: “Want to give it a try?”
Bubba moved forward from the back of the group and took up a wide stance in front of the panel. He placed his two large hands at chest level and slowly began to push in.
“This is a waste of time! People’s lives are at stake,” Gaetana said in exasperation.
The panel gave way, crashing to the deck, into the control room. Bubba was the first to step inside. “What’s next?”
Collin checked his HUD timer. More that thirty minutes had passed since the Fico Lucan beheading. Potentially, two more recruits had been executed. “We need to move quickly.”
“You think?” Gaetana spat back in frustration.
Collin moved to the first tank and looked up. “This shouldn’t take long. From what the captain said, to start the chain reaction we just need to disrupt the cooling process. The fusion reaction is cooled by the induction of super-chilled titanium oxide.” He pointed to the top of the big bulbous mushroom tank. “There are five ten-inch diameter hoses feeding into the top of the tank. We need to—”
“Well, good luck with that. Do you see any ladders around here? Let’s just cut our losses and get to the barracks.”
Collin was really starting to get annoyed with this chick. Without saying another word, he leapt. He’d judged the distance fairly well, sailing up just past the widest protruding flange to the incline of the tank’s dome-like section. He held there for several seconds to ensure he wasn’t going to slide back down the slope. He glanced down at an astonished Gaetana and smiled. Bringing his attention to the job at hand, he saw that another eight or nine feet away, over the crest of the tank’s dome, were five hoses—each feeding into the tank.
First Bubba, and then DiMaggio, suddenly joined Collin at his side. DiMaggio said, “Thought you might need some help up here.”
Collin gestured toward the hoses. “We need to figure out which hose carries the titanium oxide.”
Crawling on hands and knees, the three carefully ascended to the top of the tank’s dome. Collin carefully inspected each of the five thick hoses.
“They look identical to me,” Bubba said. “Does it matter which one we disconnect? Maybe we just disconnect all of them?”
“No. For us to have sufficient time to rescue the others, and get the hell away from the station, we need to determine which one of these hoses is feeding the titanium oxide and disconnect it … that’s what the captain told me to do. Doing anything else will get us all dead in a matter of seconds.”
“Okay … so which one is it?”
Collin continued to stare at the hoses. “He said we’d have to figure it out.”
Looking at the identical hoses, he knew there was simply no way: There was a one-in-five chance he’d choose wrong. “Help me out of my battle suit.”
Both Bubba and DiMaggio looked alarmed.
“Who knows what shit’s in the atmosphere here? It’s maybe like … radioactive or something,” DiMaggio said.
“Have to chance it. Help me get out of it.” Collin rose to his feet and removed his helmet. They did as he asked and within a minute he stepped free from the back of the suit. Bubba held on to the suit while Collin crouched down, next to the hoses.
“What are you doing?”
Collin rubbed his palms together rapidly and then, one at a time, placed them onto each of the five hoses. “I’m checking their temperature. I’m sure there’s a was to do this keeping the suit on … like with HUD readings … but how to do it was eluding me. Anyway, since the titanium oxide is chilled to unbelievably low temperatures, I’m hoping I’ll be able to distinguish—” He stopped talking and smiled. “It’s this one.” He placed his palms on the five hoses again, then returned to the one in the furthest-back position. “This is the only one that’s cold. This is it!”
With the help of Bubba, Collin quickly got back into his battle suit. “Do you think you can break that hose, Bubba?” he asked.
Bubba looked at it—tried moving it with both hands. “The thing’s substantial.” He stood and placed a foot on the hose at its elbow, where its direction became horizontal. He put his weight down onto it.
“Just kick the damn thing!” DiMaggio said.
Bubba did just that. First, he gave it a single solid blow, then continuous, full-weight, thunderous kicks.
It became evident fairly quickly that his kicks were working. A misty-white geyser erupted from the side of the hose, where it met the top of the tank. A shrieking alarm klaxon reverberated from all directions.
“Just keep going!” DiMaggio yelled.
“But don’t get near that spray. You’ll freeze your foot,” Collin added.
Four more colossal kicks and the hose broke completely free of the tank. The hose was expelling frigid mist at an astonishing rate—to the point it was getting difficult to see through the fog.
“We need to get out of here now,” Collin said, already feeling the chill through his battle suit.
Chapter 40
“How many men were guarding the Brave Hearts when you escaped?” Collin asked Gaetana.
“Somewhere between twenty and thirty. I don’t know for sure … I was trying to escape, not play a counting game.”
“Look, we’re all going to be blown to bits within two hours, give or take. Knowing what we’re up against matters.”
“There are thousands of Kardon Guard forces on the station … what difference—”
Collin cut her off: “It matters because we’ll be long gone from here before they’re able to get reinforcements.”
Gaetana gestured for Collin to turn right at the next corridor intersection. The two strode in front of the rest of the Lone Stars. Gaetana told him there was a narrow, seldom used, stairway running alongside the elevator shaft. She’d only found out about it when Fico took her there to make out in private. Collin figured the two were quite close, given
her emotional response when she heard about his death.
Gaetana slowed and indicated with a raised hand for everyone to come to a stop. They were approaching the open colonnade, where the Level 4 elevator was located. “I don’t see a thing; nothing that looks like a stairway,” Collin said, scanning the surrounding bulkheads. Hearing footsteps, he and Gaetana quickly ducked back into the corridor. He caught sight of a formation of Kardon Guard soldiers double-timing it off to their left, fifty yards away. Once they were clear, Gaetana looked both ways and darted forward, toward the thick vertical column that held the elevator.
What the hell is she doing? Collin wondered, running after her. We don’t want to take the elevator … we’ve already established that! But Gaetana veered right and scooted into a narrow alcove that Collin hadn’t noticed before; there was one on each side of the elevator. A simple open space, no wider than shoulder-width, that at first seemed merely a design element of the vertical support column. As they continued forward, headed toward a dead-end bulkhead, she turned left and disappeared from view. If Collin hadn’t seen her disappear with his own eyes, he would never have guessed there was actual space hidden behind the elevator support column.
Collin felt Bubba’s presence coming up behind him and looked back to see the rest of the Lone Stars closely following. He made an abrupt left turn and found Gaetana waiting for him.
“In here,” she said, ducking into an opening that led directly to a two-way stairwell. She headed up, taking two stairs at a time.
“What makes you so sure Commandant Nari’s forces don’t know about this?” Collin asked her.
“How do you think I’ve been evading them all this time? Take it from me, he has no clue these stairs even exist. Oh … and tell your group of idiots to tread lightly. This won’t stay a secret very long with all the racket they’re making.”
Collin spread the word, over the open channel, for everyone to tread quietly. They passed the opening leading into Level 5 and continued up the stairs. If only he’d known about this stairway earlier, the whole spacewalk fiasco could have been avoided. He caught up to Gaetana: “Talk to me about the barracks … exactly where everyone’s being held … where the guards are positioned, that sort of thing.”
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