by Gary Martin
“You look like shit, mate,” says the one closest to me.
“Red deck, fire fight,” Flick replies in a flash.
“That’s still going on. It’ss contained now, so we’re heading there to mop up the stragglers. Good luck, mate,” the soldier says and continues on with the rest of the group.
“I thought we were dead,” I say after the sound of boots has disappeared.
Flick doesn’t reply and keeps pushing.
We get to an AG shaft.
“The light’s green. They must have turned them back on. Here goes nothing,” Flick says, and pulls Captain Baseheart’s eye out of her pocket. She holds it at arm’s length to the scanner, and the door instantly opens. She starts wheeling me in. The weightlessness is all wrong in a wheelchair. It feels like I’m going to float out of the seat. I hold fast to the hand rests.
“Docking area,” Flick says as she floats in behind me.
Down we go at a rapid pace. The floor numbers in my eyeline go up as we go down. Our descent starts to slow and, at level one hundred and twenty-eight, it pushes us out onto the pristine deck of the docking ring.
There doesn’t seem to be any activity down here. In the distance, an auto-clean is washing the deck. Beyond that some scaffolding underneath a hole in the ceiling.
“Do you know which port your ship is docked on?” Flick asks.
“I didn’t think to look at the number,” I say, slightly annoyed at myself.
“Fucking hell, John. I guess we’re going to have to look out of each bloody window then. Come on,”
Flick pushes me to the first large rectangular view-port. There is half a ship attached to the long umbilical, but not Sunspot Two.
“No,” I say.
I hear a muffled scream and turn my head. Someone has grabbed hold of Flick, one large hand on her mouth and one arm around her mid-section. She’s writhing and flailing trying to get free. I use all my strength to push myself out of the chair to help her, but quickly find myself face down on the deck.
“Stop struggling and be quiet,” a familiar voice says.
I’m suddenly hoisted back in the chair by Robert’s father.
“Come on, we don’t have a lot of time. We’ve cleared the area around the umbilical, but it won’t be long before they figure out there isn’t a radiation leak.”
Flick looks at the man, then back to me.
“You know him, yeah?” she asks.
“Only just,” I reply.
“Good enough for me. Let’s go!”
Robert’s father is pushing me at a terrifying speed, with Flick running beside me. All I can do is hold on and hope we don’t make any sudden turns.
Then, we’re where all of this started. Where Captain Baseheart first greeted me and Robert; where all this insanity began. For an instant, I think about Rupert. Who knows what’s going to happen to him now? He’ll probably go through the same torture I did, but it’ll be with his own device. I can’t imagine the horrors he’ll have to relive. But I think he mainly deserves it. It feels like I’m now in the same boat. I never thought I would kill. I’m now a killer. It was all to save Flick and escape from this awful place, but that doesn’t make me feel any better. It should be enough, but it won’t help me escape the guilt I’m going to feel. If I’d managed to rescue Rupert and he’d managed to somehow re-light the sun, maybe I could feel alright about it. I’m not sure why I care. I was going to die horribly on this ship anyway. Billions of people have died, what’s an extra seven or eight?
“You’re not going to need this anymore,” Robert’s father says. He lifts me off the chair and throws me over his left shoulder. He then pushes the wheelchair out of the way and walks to the entrance of the umbilical tube attached to Sunspot Two. The six red handles are sticking out of the force field, waiting for someone to grab hold of them.
“So far as I can tell they’ve only started taking the hangar apart. Plenty of scrap there. The crew area hasn’t been touched yet. Robert’s readying the escape pod,” he says.
He lifts me so I can grab one of the handles. Almost as soon as my fingers grasp it, I’m pulled at speed through the force field and into the weightlessness of the tube. Once again, through the windows speeding past on the side of the tube, between the concertinas, Sunspot Two is animatedly getting larger. Half of the bent hangar deck is missing now, with only a partial framework and jagged bits of metal sticking out where its original lines used to be. Around it are tiny ships taking pieces away and others on the hull, ripping pieces off. It almost makes me sad.
My momentum starts to slow as I get to the airlock, and the red handle twists me around and then pushes me through the last force field. I’m finally back onboard Sunspot Two. Once again, just floating in the airlock, not being able to do anything and feeling kind of silly. Flick is then thrust in, followed quickly by Robert’s father. The lights in the tube suddenly turn red and start flashing.
“I thought we’d have more time than that,” Robert’s father says. He turns and hits the control for the outer hatch. The door closes, and gravity starts to restore itself. I feel myself falling to the deck in slow motion, but Robert’s father catches me in his arms. He then awkwardly hits the control that opens the hatch into the ship. He walks me out into the habitation deck.
“Can you stand?” he asks me.
“I don’t know. I’ll try,” I say.
He lowers me carefully onto my legs and motions for Flick to help me stand. My legs are jelly but, with Flick holding me tight, I am standing. Walking may be a different story.
“Wait here,” he says and goes back into the airlock. He presses some buttons on the outer door control panel, then with a hiss and a loud clunk, I see the umbilical tube detach through the small round viewport. He comes back out of the airlock, closes the door behind him and bends over, giving us both a nice view of his arse crack. He opens the hatch and pulls the ladder down.
“Flick, climb down one deck and close the hatch down to the engine room.”
“Okay,” she says, passes me to Robert’s father, and shoots down the ladder. I hear a clank.
“Done,” her voice shouts up.
“Right, I’m now going to lower John down. You grab his legs and steady him,” Robert’s father shouts. He lifts me up by my arms and lowers me down the hatch hole. I’ve never felt so helpless. I’m embarrassed at being so useless. I feel Flick’s arms grab my feet, then knees then waist.
“I’m going to let go now,”
“Don’t worry, I’ve got him,”
Robert’s father lets go and I drop about a foot. But Flick steadies me as I hit the deck. She looks into my eyes and gives me a kiss.
“Where now?” she asks me.
“Through the rec deck, past the pool table, and through the door at the end. The escape pods are in there,” I say.
We start making our way toward the cargo bay door. One unsteady step at a time. I hear the clanking of Robert’s father climbing down the ladder and the hatch to the engine room being opened again.
I turn my head. “What are you doing?” I shout.
“Taking care of a little business in the engine room,” he shouts back.
“We don’t have time for that, they know we’re here,” Flick shouts.
“I’ll be done before you even get to the pod, now get a move on,” he shouts back and disappears down the hatch. I look at Flick, she shrugs her shoulders and we continue toward the cargo bay.
We pass the blood-stained pool table. Flick glances at it but doesn’t say anything. I’m glad. I never thought I’d be in this room again. I don’t want to explain what happened, to relive it. Flick keeps hold of me tightly until we get to the cargo bay doors, then she loosens her grip so I can press the open button on the control pad. The doors squeak open revealing the escape pods. I feel Flick tense up.
“I never thought we’d get this far,” she whispers.
“We’re not there yet. Don’t jinx it,” I say and wink. “Robert, which pod are you in?” I shout.
Robert’s head pops out of the side hatch of pod one.
“You look really bad, John. I mean, awful. Way worse than last time I saw you. Come on, give me your arms, I’ll pull you up.”
Robert leans out of the pod, grabs my hands and pulls me up and over the threshold. I fall in a crumpled heap on the deck, but I’m on board. I shakily pull myself onto the bench seat and look out of the back window, waiting for Robert’s father to emerge from the double doors of the rec deck. I suddenly get nervous. The thought of getting this far and then getting caught or killed starts to scare me. I now know how Flick was feeling.
I turn to see Flick climbing into the pod. She quickly moves over to me, sits down and holds me tight.
“Where’s my dad?” Robert asks.
“He said he had something to do in the engine room,” I reply
A high-pitched wailing starts coming from the cockpit.
“What’s that?” Flick asks.
“John’s son,” Robert says without hesitation.
Flick looks at me, raises an eyebrow and loosens her grip around my waist. I feel bad. Not that I didn’t tell Flick, there really hasn’t been the time, not just that but, in the short time I’ve known my son was alive, I had forgotten he existed.
“There’s a lot I need to explain. And I will, I promise,” I say.
“We all have a past, John. Most of ours were wiped out. You’re lucky. You seem to have been able to keep bits of yours,” she says and smiles.
“To be fair, most of that past has tried to kill me. Lucky isn’t really the word I’d use.”
“Here he comes,” Robert says.
I look out of the rear viewport and see Robert’s father’s hulking frame come through the doors from the rec deck into the cargo bay, almost hitting his head. He then closes the doors behind him and walks briskly to the pod. He climbs in and shuts the hatch.
“Three things, Robert,” he says. “One: you were a good trainee engineer when you were serving on the QE7. Two: your engine room on this ship is a bloody disgrace. And three: we’ve got five minutes, so let’s get a bloody move on!”
Robert doesn’t reply, but I can see from his face he now has a bit of a strop on. He grabs Warren from the cockpit, who is wrapped in towels, and gives him to Flick.
“What am I supposed to do with this?” she asks.
“Just fucking hold him,” he replies sharply, while getting into his seat in the cockpit. His father looks at Flick, shrugs his shoulders apologetically and follows his son.
Through the open cockpit door, I see the two of them pressing buttons and flicking switches. Out of the forward viewport I see the inner airlock doors open up, and there is a loud hissing outside of the pod as the cargo bay decompresses. Then, the outer doors open up.
“Punch it, Dad,” Robert says.
Robert’s father pushes the drive lever as far forward as it goes. There is a loud whoosh and we’re out of Sunspot Two, into the vacuum of space, staring at the angry blue sun.
“You’ve been watching too many old movies son. Punch it, indeed,” Robert’s father says and pats Robert on the shoulder.
“Sounded good though, didn’t it? What do we do now?”
“Go to the back of the pod and watch the fireworks,” Robert’s father says.
“Uh oh. What have you done, Dad?” Robert asks him as they move from the cockpit and into the seating area.
“They’re going to be tracking us. Once they get a solid lock, they’re going to blow us to pieces,” Robert’s father says. I tense up and open my eyes wide.
“Don’t look so worried, John. I’ve set your ship’s power plant to overload. When she blows, it should take out the sensor grid on the Zeus. If it doesn’t take out the sensors, there’ll be enough damage and confusion for us to get out of range before they start tracking us again. Then we’ll change course.” He turns his head and looks out of the rear viewport and points, “Look there, it’s started.”
We’ve made a lot of distance. Sunspot Two now looks like a small toy hanging by a short string to the underside of the Zeus. Then, in a slow flash of orange and yellow light, she’s gone. My emotions are suddenly numb. I thought I’d feel something as a big part of my old life ends unceremoniously in a ball of flames. The only thing that pops into my mind is Horaldo, the little spider who lived on the ceiling of my quarters. He survived for so long, just doing what spiders do. Poor bugger.
“There won’t be anyone following us now,” Robert’s father says with a smile. I half-heartedly smile back at him and continue watching as the Zeus gets further away. It’s so huge that, even at this distance, it’s still filling the rear viewport. I notice the tiny lights of the windows on the lowest level suddenly get brighter. Then, the level above that does the same, and the level above that. It looks like some sort of strange light show. The bottom half of the ship starts to pulsate and glowing cracks appear in the superstructure. I suddenly realise what’s happening. The whole central sphere then explodes in a blinding light.
“Oh shit,” Robert’s father says, clearly shocked. He runs to the cockpit, followed swiftly by Robert.
“Brace yourself for a shockwave, it’s gonna get rough,” Robert’s father shouts over his shoulder.
The pod starts to vibrate. I hold on to Flick and Warren tightly. I look out of the rear viewport and see huge chunks of debris catching up to us.
“You may want to go a bit faster,” I shout at the cockpit.
“This is all the speed we’ve got. We’re just going to have to hold on to our arses and hope nothing big hits us,” Robert shouts back.
The vibration gets a lot worse as the shockwave hits us. The pod starts to feel like it’s tearing itself apart. The view of the debris heading our way from the viewport suddenly shifts to the left as the pod starts to spin out of control.
“I can’t hold it,” Robert shouts.
“There’s nothing we can do. We’ll just have to ride it out,” his father shouts back.
There is a loud bang, as something hits the pod, followed by more violent shaking. I start to think the worst and kiss Flick on the forehead. The lights start to flicker, then go out. This is it.
35
The red emergency lights turn on after about thirty seconds of darkness, which makes Flick’s worried red eyes almost look unaltered. The shaking of the pod stops and we seem to be moving without anything trying to rip us apart. Robert’s father looks back at us, cowering in the back.
“I think we’re through the worst of it now. The debris field has expanded enough to give us space to navigate through it. Where do you want to go?”
“There are rumours of a space station orbiting Jupiter. Is there any chance we can get there?” I ask.
“Not for about a year. This pod is fast, but not fast enough to get there before the supplies or air run out. It’d be a pointless trip anyway; Skylark blew it to pieces years ago,” says Robert’s father.
My heart starts to sink.
“So, what you’re saying is we’re fucked,” I reply.
“It does sound like that, but maybe not. I’ve always been a fan of old and obsolete tech. Especially radio. Now this is probably grasping at straws, but through the static I was listening to on the QE7, trying as I always did to see if there were any other radio enthusiasts on the other end, I caught a broken conversation about the dark side of the Moon. Now, for all I know, it could have been about some two-hundred-year-old band. Maybe not. But it’s not far from here, about a day, and we lose nothing from trying. I say we check it out.”
I look at Flick.
“What do you reckon?” I ask her.
“There’s nothing to think about. Take us to the dark side of the Moon, mister ...?”
“Bell, Jack Bell,” Jack says.
I look at Jack and smile. “You heard the lady,” I say. I suddenly start feeling light headed.
“Good. I’ve already plotted the course.” He stands up and comes into the passenger section. “Robert,
set the pod on auto-pilot and get back here. Time for some grub. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m starving.”
Robert presses a few buttons and comes through. He looks at the deck below me.
“Shit John, I think you’re leaking,” he says.
I look down at the pool of blood between my feet, and attempt standing up. That was a mistake, considering I can barely walk anyway. I immediately fall to the deck and unconsciousness creeps over me.
36
I open my eyes, but only a little. The light coming from the tube on the ceiling is too bright and already giving me a headache. I look at my surroundings. I’m in a small, but very familiar room. To my left, there’s a small metal wardrobe and at the end of the bed is a small sink and a toilet. It’s my quarters on Sunspot Two. What the fuck?
I have vague flashes of Jack and Flick kneeling over me, busily trying to stop my bleeding. Then, nothing. I look down at my body, I’m covered in bandages, and there are wires attached to a plastic bracelet on my wrist leading to a small, bleeping box on the wall. What am I doing here? On a ship I saw explode. Something isn’t right. This is impossible. Unless, somehow, I’m still reliving my worst memories. I’m still attached to a torture rack and Mr Kowolski is still slowly trying to kill me. That doesn’t make sense either. I had no recollection of this life when I was reliving those memories. But maybe I’m suffering the permanent brain damage he said would happen. I don’t think that can be it. At least, I really hope not. I appear to be thinking quite clearly, my brain just feels a bit foggy.
I slowly move myself to the edge of the bed and sit up. My eyes have adjusted to the light now, and I’m feeling surprisingly okay. Everything is aching, but it’s a dull throb now, rather than sharp. I rip the bracelet off my wrist and try to stand. My legs are shaky, but I manage it without too much effort. I suddenly need to piss really badly. I lift the lid of the toilet and go for what seems like forever. Finally, I’m done. I flush the toilet and turn and grab the Sunspots waste disposal dressing gown from the hook on the side of the wardrobe. I put it on, tie the string, then limp to the door.