by J. J. Green
“What’s a rumpabug?” asked Lee.
“You never heard of rumpabug? They were only the third worst alien infestation ever. We were overrun. You seriously never heard of them?”
“I was kind of sheltered as a child. All my parents cared about was—”
“How many officers went down to the planet with Loba?” Jas asked Lingiari.
“Err...nineteen or twenty.”
“Is that counting Margret?”
“No,” said the copilot.
That made at least twenty-two compromised crew members, including Loba and the geo-phys scientist, and about a hundred and eighty who couldn’t be expected to do more than follow Loba’s orders. While Jas, Lee, and Lingiari had two weapons, and the defense units with their inbuilt armory, the other side had the entire ship’s arsenal. It was going to be a tough fight. Very tough. What was worse, they would be fighting their shipmates, their friends.
They had to act soon. It would be hard for Loba to find them now that they’d taken his best tools, but they couldn’t last down there forever without water or food. They would be forced to steal supplies, and to do that they’d have to go out into the ship. The crew still didn’t know exactly what was going on, and Loba would have them search the ship from top to bottom. Eventually, someone would figure out where they were hiding, and then Loba only had to post guards at each entrance hatch to the engine. Thirst and hunger would eventually force them out. Jas’ eyes closed as she thought of a worse possibility.
“Geez, I’m bushed,” said Lingiari. “I’m going to take a nap.” He slid down the wall he was propped against and stretched out his lanky limbs.
“No, you can’t,” said Jas. “No time.”
“Aw come on, Harrington. We’ve got to rest,” said the copilot.
“Yes,” said Lee. “If those units hadn’t carried us down the ladders, I don’t think I could have made it. We need to recuperate. I’m exhausted.”
Jas tutted internally. This was why she preferred working with defense units. They never complained, and they never questioned orders. “Look,” she said, an edge to her voice, “Loba probably has the entire crew looking for us right now. How long do you think it’s going to take for them to realize where we must be? And what do you think he’ll do when he knows we’re here?”
A silence. Lee blanched. “Start the engines and starjump?”
“He might,” replied Jas. “I’m not sure that he would, but it’s a possibility. I think he’s going to want to get the rest of the crew infected, which means sticking around this planet. But he could starjump and come right back. He has the math for at least the next two jumps in the computer, right?”
Lee nodded glumly.
“As long as the infected crew are a minority, he knows he’s at risk of us convincing the rest about what’s happened,” continued Jas. “He knows we could gather the crew for a mutiny. The safest thing for him to do is to get everyone possessed as quickly as he can.”
“But he can’t now that we’ve destroyed the shuttle,” said Lee.
“He can. The shuttle wasn’t the only way of getting down to the planet.”
“Of course,” Lee said. “He could fly the ship down.”
“Woah,” said Lingiari. “Fly the Galathea through a planetary atmosphere? Deal with planetary gravity? Starships aren’t made for it. RaptorX engines are only intended for orbit adjustment and interplanetary travel. Grantwise’ll never do it.”
“He’ll try, that’s my best guess,” continued Jas. “But if he does that, we won’t be in immediate danger. He’ll just be burning rocket fuel, not starting the starjump engine. And the RaptorX engines are way astern of us. Loba’ll have to force us out another way. He might turn off the lights.”
“Can the defense units navigate in the dark?” asked Lee.
“Yes, it won’t matter to them, but we’re handicapped without light, and we need supplies. We can’t stay here indefinitely. We have to do something, and it has to be soon, before Loba knows where we are.”
“Okay,” said Lingiari, sitting up. “What do we do?”
Jas bit her lip and looked from the navigator to the copilot. “We can’t risk trying to talk to the crew to convince them about what’s going on. Loba will have spun them a story to explain what’s happened and pin the blame on us, and they’re more likely to believe the master than someone who’s been locked up in the brig, or either of you. Loba and the others don’t look any different, after all. As soon as we go near any of the crew they’re going to jump on us and ask questions later, or not at all. There’s no other option. We have to take control of the ship.”
“By ourselves?” Lee asked. “How the hell are we going to do that?”
That was the hard part. “To be honest, I don’t know,” replied Jas. “Look, I can’t figure this out by myself. I need you two to help me. Lee, you knew about this place. Do you know the rest of the ship’s layout as well?”
“I think so. Most of it.”
“Is there an interface with the ship’s system down here? Can you deactivate the flight deck door from here, for instance?”
“There have to be system access points around here for the engineers, but they won’t be any help. Loba ordered a security update, remember? We’re all locked out of the system now.”
“Krat, you’re right. Well, we’ve just got to get onto the flight deck and stop Loba from taking the ship down to the planet. The sooner the better. If he manages to get more of the crew infected, it’s over. And we have to take out the rest of the officers.”
“Wait a minute,” said Lee. “What do you mean by 'take out’? You don’t mean we’re going to kill them?” She and Lingiari exchanged a look.
“I’m sorry, but if it comes to that, yes, we’ll have to kill them.” Not this again. She raised her voice over Lee and Lingiari’s protests. “I made a mistake back there when we were retrieving the units. Stunning only lasts five minutes, and there are more than twenty of them. If we don’t take them out permanently we’ll never defeat them.”
“Gee, Harrington,” said Lingiari, shaking his head, “I don’t know about that. I don’t think I could—”
“They’re possessed by aliens, and if we don’t do something they’re going to get the rest of the crew infected, and then they could return the ship to Earth so the aliens can overrun the whole planet, or spread across the entire galaxy.”
Lee was frowning, and Lingiari still looked doubtful. “Couldn’t we round them up? Put them in the brig?” suggested Lee. “Maybe Dr. Sparks has some idea how to—”
“Sparks is a useless gasbag,” said Jas. “Do you think Loba’s going to just stun us?” She closed her eyes and pressed her lips together. She tried taking a deep breath, but it was no good. She couldn’t believe Lee and Lingiari were being so obtuse. Couldn’t they see the danger everyone on the Galathea was in?
“We don’t have time for this,” she exclaimed before continuing, between her teeth, “We just don’t have time. We need to mount a coordinated attack on Loba and the infected officers, now. Both of you have to lead a team of units. We have to move fast. Lee, where are all the exits from the service tunnels?”
The navigator stuttered a reply, adding, “There’s no call for losing your temper, Harrington.”
Maybe she was a little testy, but she couldn’t help that. She couldn’t afford to take people’s feelings into account when it came to saving the crew. Why couldn’t Lee or Lingiari see that?
Chapter Twenty-Three
Sayen’s heart felt like it was going to jump right out of her chest. She gripped the ladder rungs tightly as she fought to control her rising fear. At least she didn’t have to carry a gun. At least she wouldn’t be forced to kill one of her shipmates—maybe someone she’d eaten dinner with, or sat next to on the flight deck, or laughed at holos with on entertainment nights. But the six defense units clinging to the ladder above her, the ones she was supposed to command...Harrington had told her to instruct them to use letha
l force if necessary. She wouldn’t be killing anyone, but the units she was commanding might. She wasn’t sure if that was different.
When she’d helped to break the security officer out of the brig, and when they’d taken the units, they had been acting fast, thinking only a step ahead. Standing on the ladder, waiting for the moment she was supposed to follow the units out into the ship, she had time to think about what might happen, and none of the possible scenarios gave her comfort.
Someone might end up dead. Maybe her. Or Loba might force her to be infected by an alien. She shuddered so hard she nearly lost her grip. Her sweaty palms made holding on difficult. She dared not look down to the gloomy depths of the tunnel below her.
What wouldn’t she give to be in her neat, clean cabin right then. She was filthy, and her skin crawled at the thought of all the germs that must be on her skin.
It couldn’t be much longer until the time they’d agreed they would exit the tunnels. Were they doing the right thing? She wished she’d had time to think it through, to talk it out with both of the others, but the security officer had been insistent that this was the only way. Harrington was scary when she was angry, and Sayen didn’t have the guts to stand up to her. Neither did Lingiari.
That was the worst of it. What if there was a better way? What if there was a way they could avoid killing the infected officers, but she just hadn’t had time to think of it? If only she could talk to Lingiari. They could team up and persuade Harrington to call the attack off, to reconsider. But she had removed her comm hours—seemingly days—ago, and the copilot had done the same.
Her muscles were so sore, and she was thirsty and hungry. She wondered—
The lights went out. Sayen froze. The crew must have searched the ship. Loba must have guessed where they were. A clang came from above, and a square of light appeared in the darkness. This was it. The defense units had been told that if the lights went out, they were to begin the attack immediately. A defense unit above passed through the hatch it had opened, momentarily plunging them back into darkness.
Sayen had no choice but to follow.
She emerged from the hatch. The units were moving fast, and she struggled to keep up as they pounded away from her. The sound of firing came from in front. Loba must have sent guards to intercept them.
How were Harrington and Lingiari faring? Had they even made it out?
The shooting stopped. Sayen raced to catch up to the units. She had to be near them so they could hear her orders. The heels of the last unit were disappearing around a corner. As Sayen turned the same corners she halted abruptly. Two shipmates lay on their backs in the corridor. One was missing the top of her head. The other had a gaping hole in his chest. She recognized them both. They were infected officers, not crew, but still she felt like she was going to vomit.
The pounding of the defense units’ feet broke her distraction. They were getting away. She began to sprint. The sounds of more firing came from ahead.
Harrington had given her the easiest of the three attack routes, in view of the fact that she had no weapon to defend herself with. The security officer had speculated that Loba and his officers would either congregate on the flight deck, the mission room, or the auditorium, where he could address the crew. They were to attack all three.
She’d been allocated the task of assaulting the mission room, where Loba could access all the files on planets on their schedule and auxiliary files about Earth. Not only was the mission room the attack site closest to the engine access hatch, it was also the smallest of the three rooms and likely to contain the fewest hostile crew members.
Aside from the two infected officers the defense units had killed, the corridors were empty. Either Loba had gathered the crew in the auditorium, or they’d been ordered to stay in their cabins. Sayen was grateful for it.
She was running as fast as she could, but hadn’t had enough time to rest and recover. She was much too slow, and the defense units had drawn far away from her. Out of sight. She should have asked one of them to carry her, but she couldn’t help that now. She rounded another corner. There it was: the mission room. But there was no sight nor sound of the units. The door was open, but from the angle of her approach, she couldn’t see inside. Was it possible the units had gone the wrong way? No, that was ridiculous. Had Loba left the room unguarded? Had she lucked out and there was no one inside?
She drew to a stop just outside, where she had a slim view of the interior. The view told her nothing. Only the walls were visible to her. It was no good. She was going to have to put her head around the door.
She was gasping loudly in the silence. If anyone was in there, they were sure to hear her, to know someone was there. They must have heard her running up, too.
Holding her breath, Sayen shot her head forward. At an equal speed, she drew it back, just in time. A laser bolt came through the door exactly where her head had been and burned the wall on the opposite side of the corridor. The sound of more firing burst from the room, accompanied by screams and cries. Sayen stood with her back to the wall, splayed against it. More cries, shots, thumps of bodies hitting the floor. She thought she recognized some of the voices. One was the third mate, she was sure of it.
Silence. An awful stink came from the room, which Sayen suspected was the smell of burned human flesh. She was sickened. Footsteps. Someone was walking to the door. She should run. She had to run, or they would kill her. But her legs wouldn’t move. She mentally screamed at her limbs, but it was as if they belonged to another body. There was nothing she could do. She was going to die.
Sayen closed her eyes as the footsteps reached the door. She didn’t want to see which of her former colleagues was going to kill her.
But the fatal shot didn’t come.
“Navigator Lee, the room is secure.”
Sayen opened her eyes. A defense unit was standing before her, its large form blocking out the overhead lights. She peeled herself from the wall and peeked into the room.
Four officers lay dead. One defense unit was down, its silicon/organic brain exposed in its helmet. Four units had their weapons trained on the third mate, who was on his knees with his hands in the air.
“Shoot her, kill her,” exclaimed the man. When the units didn’t respond, he said, “Defense units, kill Navigator Lee.”
“We are unable to comply,” said a unit. “Navigator and third mate rank equally. We must follow Regulation 723g of Defense Unit Lethal Behavior Protocols: When an officer threatens the life of an officer of equal rank, the officer whose life is threatened assumes supersedence. When you observed Navigator Lee at the door and tried to shoot her, her command immediately superseded your own. Navigator Lee’s order was to secure this room with the use of lethal force if necessary.”
The four units that were pointing their weapons at the third mate raised them to fire.
“Units, no. Don’t shoot,” said Sayen. “Don’t shoot him.”
The third mate’s gaze rested on the navigator. Something was wrong about the way he looked at her. There was nothing behind his eyes. Nothing at all. The hairs along her spine rose.
The sound of running footsteps came from the corridor. Sayen tensed. Harrington? But why would she come here? They were supposed to rendezvous at Margret’s cabin. Could it be Lingiari?
It was neither. Master Akabe Loba appeared in the doorway, panting. He pointed a trembling finger at Sayen. “Units, kill that officer.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Carl wondered how he’d gotten into his current position, staring into the massive soles of a defense unit on the ladder above him. Harrington’s order to kill the infested humans if necessary didn’t seem right. And who was she to boss them around? His opinion of the security officer had changed. He’d always found her quick temper kind of exciting, but it wasn’t so attractive when it was directed at him.
He would have been better off with Margret. Poor Margret. What if she attacked him? He didn’t think he could kill her. Or any of t
he others for that matter. Even Loba, though—
Flux wriggled against his chest, adjusting his position in Carl’s shirt. The animal had insisted that he came along too. His fur tickled, but apart from that the copilot was glad to have him. He’d adopted the little fella—or rather he’d chosen to come live with Carl, as he put it—when Carl was a kid. Flux had flown into his open cockpit while he was out dusting crops one day, giving him quite a fright. The animal had never said where he was from, only that he was taking a long holiday on Earth while 'things cooled down’ on his home planet. When he arrived in Carl’s cockpit his accent had been British, so he must have spent some time with the Poms, but over the years Flux had acquired Carl’s Strine.
“You sure about this, mate?” Carl asked the lump in his shirt.
“Yeah, you’re not leaving me behind this time, you dumb ****.” Flux could swear like a space marine and wasn’t slow to share his opinion. Luckily, he was also prone to long sulks, when he refused to speak. Something that came in handy if Carl had a new girlfriend around.
The lights went out, which meant Loba knew where they were. From above came the sound of a hatch clanging open. The defense units began to make their way out.
Carl swiftly climbed the ladder on the tail of the units, hoping Harrington had reached her exit before Loba cut the lights. The engine maintenance hatch she was taking was right on the other side of the ship, near the flight deck. He didn’t know what her plan was to get onto the deck, considering they’d failed at that before. His target was the auditorium, where Loba or another officer might have gathered the crew.
In a few moments, Carl was through the hatch, out into the corridor, and hard on the heels of the units. The units had shot two crew members. Krat. They weren’t even infected officers. Loba had already drafted some of the crew into his schemes. Carl’s fingers tightened on his weapon as he sprinted after the units. He saw no one as he ran. He hoped the rest of the crew would act smart and stay the hell out of the way.