by C. J. Barry
Grey locked the automatic firing mechanism and released the exit hatch in the back. He had his suit activated and his laser pistol in hand by the time he was standing next to Cidra.
"The guns should breach the door any second now.” Grey concentrated on the gunfire battering the doors. He had a clear view from his position in the back of the K12.
He turned suddenly to Cidra and grabbed her around the waist. There was sharp sizzle and pop as the survival suits’ force field helmets meshed for his kiss. Cidra gripped him in quiet desperation. For a fleeting moment, she could almost forget the world of danger surrounding them.
The absence of explosions broke off the embrace. Grey looked down at her, his eyes silver and glittering. “Do you trust me?"
Cidra nodded without hesitation.
"Good. Then do what I tell you. No questions asked.” He glanced out the front viewport. The K12's barrage had ruptured the door, the pre-programmed firing sequence shooting harmlessly out into deep space. Now fully decompressed, the landing bay lay in eerie silence.
He pushed Cidra behind him and opened the exit hatch. The K12 decompressed with a hiss. With his laser pistol raised high, he listened for any activity over the steady pumping of the K12's guns.
"Wait here.” He stepped out of the K12 slowly. The effects of walking in weightlessness were neutralized by the survival suit's max gravity setting. Still, the going was slow as he circled the K12. Red warning lights flashed along the walls. The absolute silence was eerie and alien. After he was sure it was clear, he motioned to Cidra and resealed the K12's hatch behind her.
She quickly scanned the strange, morbid spectacle. Everything in the bay was in slow motion—even the frozen bodies floating about. She shuddered, hoping that at least some of the guards had escaped before succumbing to the frigid vacuum of space.
After making a thorough visual sweep of the dead bodies, Grey reached up and snagged one out of the air.
Cidra gasped. “What are you doing?"
Grey spun the dead man horizontal toward them.
"Getting his security pass. We'll need it to move around the ship.” Grey relieved the dead man of his authorization card and laser rifle. He grabbed Cidra's arm just as she headed to the exit doors that led to the cruiser's interior.
"We're not leaving that way.” He pulled her toward the battered landing bay door, circumventing the K12's incessant gunfire.
Cidra stared at his determined expression. “We can't stay here. There's no way two of us are going to hold off the entire crew of this ship."
Grey grinned at her. “I don't plan to be here when they come barging in that exit door."
"The K12? You know the tracker beam will just pull us back in,” Cidra prodded as Grey stopped them in front of a wall display screen.
He scanned the display quickly, getting his bearings. Then he began working the controls to bring up different views of Expunger's layout.
"We aren't going to use the K12 either.” He slipped the dead man's security card into an authorization slot. As he entered commands, a grid of boxes lit up on the wall display. Suddenly the damaged heavy landing bay door groaned and opened, giving a glorious view of deep space. More lights flashed on the wall display, blinking red and green.
"Perfect.” Grey withdrew the card from the slot and turned to Cidra. “Set your boots on magnetize. We're going for a walk outside."
She took one long look at the gaping bay entrance and the expanse of endless space. Fear crept into her voice. “You can't be serious."
Grey stepped to the edge of the bay. “I don't have time to argue. This is the only way out of here. This bay is going to be crawling with d'Hont in a few minutes. We only have to go down one level. I figure about thirty meters.” He casually peered far over the edge of the great abyss.
Cidra held her breath as he reached out and drew her along with him.
"I can't do it,” she choked out, closing her eyes at the absolute void before her.
Grey wrapped an arm around her waist and led her out onto the exterior skin of the cruiser. “You have to. Now look down at the cruiser's surface. If we lose contact with the ship, we'll become a permanent part of the universe."
His casual warning forced her eyes wide open. The stars were a brilliant backdrop and crystal clear like she had never seen before. It didn't seem real. She looked down at her boots firmly planted on the vessel's exterior. They were already outside.
"Shouldn't we use a tether?” she suggested desperately even as Grey was dragging her with him.
He smirked. “We should definitely use a tether. But I don't want to leave any clues how we escaped. Besides, they'll figure we'd have to be insane to try this without one."
Cidra clenched her teeth and took another reluctant step forward. “Little do they realize we are insane."
Grey's only response was a wide grin.
The effort of walking in fully magnetized boots was more than she could have imagined. The boots clung stubbornly to the metal skin, making it difficult to advance.
A dreadful thought overwhelmed her. “How are we going to get back in?"
Grey kept her moving with one boot at a time clamping tightly to the cruiser's skin. “I opened all the landing bay doors on the ship. Hopefully no one will notice it until we are inside again."
Cidra glanced at him, her face white. “Hopefully? What happens if they close the doors?"
Grey kept his eyes down. “We pray they don't jump to hyperspace."
* * * *
Commander Plass stepped out of the lift at Level E and into the throes of a high alert status. Long, narrow light bars along the corridors flashed red, the distress siren wailed and bands of security guards raced past him. He could hear the echoes of guards shouting and automatic warning messages ringing through Expunger's passageways.
Something was very wrong.
He returned to the lift and addressed the onboard computer. “Locate Major Holtz."
A sterile female voice replied, “Major Holtz is in the Security Center."
"Take me there."
The short journey gave him a chance to get his displeasure under control. He had no doubt that the prisoners had escaped and that Major Holtz's forces had failed a simple task. It was a failure Plass planned to exploit fully.
The lift halted and the doors opened onto Level B. Commander Plass marched down the corridor and into the Security Center, the heart of Expunger's defense system. The mood was urgent. The dark circular room hummed with activity as human and computer-generated voices buzzed. Harsh lights illuminated anxious faces of the officers at their stations around the perimeter.
The professional female voice recited present systems status. Plass listened to the rundown to orient himself with Expunger's current condition.
In the center of the room, a full blown, detailed schematic of Expunger floated in a massive holo deck. The transparent replica displayed the current status of all systems aboard. Plass noted the red areas lit throughout the ship. Trouble spots.
Major Holtz appeared and gave his Commander a stiff salute. “Sir, we have a problem."
Plass’ eyes narrowed at the man. “So it would seem. First, explain the situation. Then you can tell me why I was not notified immediately."
Major Holtz was a tall man, lanky and lean. Brutally short white hair held a direct contrast to his ruddy complexion and wide-set blue eyes. A careful and thorough officer, his dissatisfaction with their predicament showed on his face.
The Major reported to his superior officer crisply. “There has been an incident in Landing Bay Number E-11. The landing bay doors have been destroyed and containment breached. Every member of the security unit assigned to the area is dead. And the captives have vanished."
Plass glared mercilessly at him. “Define vanished."
Major Holtz cleared his throat. “My men have scoured the entire bay. There is no sign of them. They could not have entered the corridor outside the bay. Our secondary security units were alrea
dy on their way. They would have been spotted. We think they may have been expelled from the bay during the rapid decompression."
Commander Plass didn't believe that for a minute. “How many prisoners?"
"We visually identified at least two—a man and a woman."
Plass suppressed a smile. His hunch had paid off. She was here. “What about their transport?"
Holtz reported grimly. “Still in the bay. That's how they destroyed the bay door."
Plass cursed himself. Apparently he had underestimated his foe. How else could two virtually defenseless prisoners have caused so much trouble?
"Were there any other spacecraft in the bay?"
The Major shook his head. “No, sir. The bay was empty."
"Lock out all the aircraft on board. I don't want them escaping in one of our own ships,” Plass ordered. “You have a search plan in place?"
Major Holtz replied, “Yes. The landing bays are first on the list.” He paused. “There is one other unusual item. According to the ship's computer, the Lead Security officer in charge of the prisoner's escort issued some peculiar orders during the incident. Doors and exits throughout the ship were opened randomly including the majority of landing bay doors. The on-board lighting and communications systems have been reset. Several secondary systems were shut down. Since the Lead Security officer was among the dead, we are treating it as a systems malfunction."
Plass stilled as the swirl of confusion and facts began to settle. “Did this Security officer still possess his authorization card when you identified him?"
The Major looked momentarily stunned. “I don't know."
Plass continued, eyeing Expunger's schematic. “Are the landing bay doors still open?"
"Well, yes.” Major Holtz sounded surprised. “We were about to override the command and close them."
"Don't override,” Plass cut in. “Not yet. Lock out all the internal exits of every landing bay surrounding Number E-11. Send security teams,” he pinned the Major with a warning. “Competent security teams, to wait outside the exits for further orders."
Major Holtz looked confused. “Yes, sir. But why only those bays?"
Plass ignored his question. Let the man figure it out for himself. “After the security teams are in position, close the bay doors and flood the bays with audio stun bursts. That should bring our guests to their knees. Then open the exit doors and send the teams in. Remind your men to capture the prisoners alive and unharmed. Maximum restraint, Major."
Holtz's face reddened. “My units already have those orders, sir."
Plass took a step closer to his Chief Security officer. “Then tell them to get it right this time."
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Grey added a shower to his wish list as he helped Cidra back inside the lower landing bay of the d'Hont ship. Sweat slicked the inside of his survival suit, evidence of the tremendous energy it had taken to scale the cruiser's exterior. His legs were shaking from exertion and he was still trying to get his breathing back to normal. It had been the most grueling thirty-meter walk of his life.
Not that he was complaining. They were lucky enough to end up in a deserted landing bay before anyone realized the bay doors had been opened. The next best thing would have been a nice, fast ship to escape in. No lucky break there. They stood in the middle of an empty bay.
Grey tugged at the back of Cidra's survival suit, releasing the seal so she could remove it. “All we'd need is one of those Saurelian fighters. We could be clear of this bucket and into hyperspace before they knew what happened."
"They're only single man fighters,” Cidra reminded him.
From behind her, he slipped Cidra's suit off her shoulders. “Then it should be real cozy. They were designed by..."
"Don't say it,” Cidra groaned. She stepped out of the suit.
Grey chuckled. He stopped when she turned around. Perspiration soaked her blue flightsuit in all the right places. It took him a second to recover.
"Your turn,” she said softly, her blue eyes hooded. He unleashed a slow, sexy smile and spun around to let her help him.
Without the hindrance of the survival suits, they moved quietly through the landing bay. The silence was unsettling. The only sounds were their footsteps on the hard floor.
When they reached the closed exit door to the corridor, Grey pushed Cidra behind him and lifted the laser rifle. He stepped into the door's activation field, but it didn't open as expected. He frowned and slipped the dead guard's pass into the authorization slot. Nothing.
Cidra asked, “What's wrong?"
"We're locked in."
Suddenly the open landing bay doors began to close, cutting off the glorious view of deep space.
Grey ran a hand through his hair. “And there goes the other option."
"I think we've got bigger problems than that.” Cidra's eyes took on the far away look that Grey had seen before.
Then all hell broke loose.
* * * *
"Dropping out of hyperspace now. Outside Expunger's scanner range,” Coon announced and spun around in his chair to face Decker. “If you don't stop that pacing, I'm going to have you medicated."
Decker stopped and glowered at him. “Stick it, Coon. I'm in no mood. I want a complete status report on all of our systems. I want all scanners at maximum range and the automatic warning system on. I want every available body working on repairs. And I want them now."
"And I thought Captain was tough,” Coon muttered as he spun back around to carry out the orders. “Anything else?” he sing-songed sweetly.
"As a matter of fact, there is one more thing. Your single, most important duty.” Decker bent over Coon's shoulder and punched in a command.
A star chart arose from the bridge's holo deck in front of Coon's station. From the center of the display, a healthy beacon signal was transmitting to Calíbre.
"What is that?” Coon asked.
Decker smiled smugly. “That, is Captain Stone. More specifically, his personal comm signal."
Coon's mouth dropped. “We're too far away. His personal comm unit isn't that strong."
"It is if it passes through a signal booster. I planted a high-power relay aboard the K12. As long as he's within range of the K12, we can pick him up across the galaxy,” Decker said proudly.
Coon shook his head. “Forget it. The d'Hont will find it in a minute."
Decker laughed. “Not this one. It's one of a kind. My own creation. Get to work on those repairs. I want to be ready when they move."
"What happens if the signal suddenly dies.” Coon glanced up at him. Without answering, Decker turned and walked off the bridge.
* * * *
Grey's first thought was that someone was poking him full of holes. His second thought was that his brain had become too big for his skull. Consciousness floated back bit by bit. Needle-like pain radiated in all directions inside his head with every heartbeat. He began to dread each steady beat. He was lying down on what felt like a bed. Where? The last thing he remembered was standing in the landing bay with Cidra.
Cidra. He reached around with his hands for her. She wasn't there.
Another hard poke jabbed into his shoulder.
Grey forced himself to open his eyes and was greeted by the business end of a high-caliber laser rifle.
A voice spoke from somewhere behind the guard pointing the rifle in his face. “Welcome aboard Expunger, Captain Stone. I am Commander Plass."
Plass. The big gun himself. Well at least the man had manners. He glanced over the barrel of the laser rifle to the guard holding it. This one looked a long way from polite.
"You won't get many visitors if you greet them like this.” Grey winced as the sound of his own voice ricocheted through his head. “What did you do to us?"
The guard with the gun moved away and was replaced by the figure of the man impeccably dressed with perfect posture. His black hair was shot with gray and expertly cut. Dark black eyes were bright with intense perception and in
telligence. He carried himself with the bearing and character of a man very much in control. Grey knew immediately that this was the man who tracked them down through all the diversions. This was the mind behind their ultimate capture. Although Grey was impressed, it didn't make him feel any better that Commander Plass was a worthy adversary.
With a heavy groan, Grey rolled to a sitting position on the edge of the large bed and shook off the stabbing pain that shot between his ears. He cradled his head between his hands, resting his elbows on his knees. With a laser rifle trained on him, he felt completely vulnerable. There was no way he could even defend himself in this condition. And where was Cidra?
"You were incapacitated with auditory stun bursts. It will take some time until the residual pain diminishes, but there will be no permanent damage,” Plass explained with little sympathy.
Grey grunted. It sure felt permanent. He raised his eyes to Plass. Although he should have been, Grey didn't feel threatened by him. It took his foggy mind a few tries to figure out why. Commander Plass didn't have the eyes of a killer. They were too clear. Grey should have been comforted by that revelation, but it only meant the man probably would order someone else to do his killing for him.
Plass widened his stance and locked his hands behind his back. “You left quite a mess in the landing bay."
Grey forced a wide smile. “I guess they just don't make landing bay doors like they used to."
"And caused the deaths of thirteen good men,” Plass continued, ignoring the sarcasm.
Grey narrowed his eyes. “Thirteen stupid men. I gave them time to get out.” He shrugged. “It's not my fault they didn't use that time wisely."
Plass stared at him for a few long moments. “Cidra Faulkner is your companion."
"She works for me,” Grey sidestepped. “Where is she?"
Commander Plass knew better than to believe the Captain's cool, detached concern. She was more than another crew member. When the guards found them unconscious on the floor in the bay, the Captain's body was wrapped around hers like a shield. Plass knew exactly how to get his answers.