“You know the code … how to open this thing?”
“Nope,” Collin said. “Maybe it’s time we see just how strong we really are in this environment.”
Darren looked skeptical but nodded anyway. Both found firm handholds on a ridge that ran along the inside rim of the hatch.
“We pushing in or pulling out?” Darren asked.
“Um … probably best if we pull out … once the seal is broken, this hatch is going to fly open, anyway. We’ll have to be careful of that … and anything else that flies out.
“On three?” Collin asked.
Darren counted it off, “One … two … three …”
They pulled and pulled and pulled again. Nothing happened.
They let go and caught their breath. “Again,” Collin said, getting back into position. “One … two … three.”
Something shifted—starting to give way. Still holding the hatch, Darren repositioned his feet flat against the bulkhead. Collin followed suit as he walked up the side of the bulkhead, his fingers gripping into the ridge, and felt the effect of their combined pulling on the hatch. The seal suddenly broke, the vacuum of space sucking the air out from around the dislodged hatch. With another combined yank, the hatch blew out.
The hatch missed Collin’s head by an inch. As the inside atmosphere, with the force of a hurricane, depressurized—objects began to fly out: first a chair and desk, and then several red-uniformed bodies. Collin gasped, fearing his actions had just caused the death of two Brotherhood crewmembers. One body got caught on the catwalk railing behind and Collin realized the man had died sometime earlier. A round, black scorch mark in the middle of his forehead made that all too clear. Almost as quickly as it started, the depressurization stopped. It was only then Collin realized Darren was no longer next to him. He opened a direct channel.
“Darren?” No answer. Collin quickly changed his HUD settings to show both friendly and enemy icons. He first saw himself and then the twenty others, waiting below, where he’d left them. Then he saw a single icon in what he assumed was open space.
Crap!
Collin tried again: “Darren?”
“Yeah … I’m alive.”
“You hurt?”
“Yeah … banged my shoulder on something.”
“What happened?”
“I guess I forgot to let go of the hatch. In fact … I’m still holding on to it.”
“Don’t let go of it … at least not yet,” Collin yelled, probably louder than advisable.
“Why … It’s not like it’s going to do me much—”
“Just hold on to it; be quiet and listen to me. How far out are you?”
“Maybe one hundred feet … something like that.”
“Okay … Newton’s third law: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.”
“What are you talking about, Frost?” Darren asked, sounding irritated.
“You are going to either push or kick that hatch away from you with all your strength, but only when your back is facing exactly in the right direction … toward the hub.”
“My back’s not quite facing the hub and I can’t maneuver around. There’s nothing to push off against. I’m in space, remember?”
Collin thought about that for a second. “Without letting go of the hatch, with your right hand pull your Ponge 412 from its holster. Do it really slow.”
“Okay, done.”
“Now, use your thumb and ensure it’s set on six.”
“Done.”
“Here’s the tricky part. You’re going to have to try things … test to see what works.”
“And if it doesn’t I could go flying off into deep space!”
“No … no, that won’t happen. Any recoil from an energy weapon is practically non-existent, remember? What you want to do is fire in small, one-shot bursts. Just enough to spin your body around in the right direction.”
“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—h
e
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.”