Dreaming of Atmosphere (42 page)

He is using nano-proliferation on you, Seth. Counter his effect with Repair!

I sent my nanites flooding through my system, and I began to clear my head. A strange look came over his face, what could only be described as glee.

"Ah! A G-Type! How wonderful! Allow me to take those pretty little things from you…" he reached out with his hands, and I suddenly felt the most horrid sensation. It felt like sand was being pulled through my body, grinding my molecules. I tried to hit the man with an Ionise blast, but I couldn't control my nanites. "That's right…these belong to me now. Don't fight. It will be over soon. I'll have all your miraculous little helpers and they'll tear you apart, molecule by molecule."

I was suddenly very afraid. This man had an exceptional grasp of nano-proliferation; he was literally controlling my own implant. I was helpless to stop him! I yelled in pain, as my own nanites started to tear me apart. I started to cough and splutter, and I could taste blood in my mouth. My eyes started to mist over with a red tinge, and I began to spasm and shake.

Somehow, through my agony, I recalled something that Fel'negr had told me, during my early training with NP. If you come to rely on them, your other skills will degrade, and then when you most need them they'll be gone.

I'd certainly not relied upon them exclusively. I drew my sidearm and shot the man in the chest. The pain stopped instantly. I slumped to the soft ground, as the man collapsed, a look of surprise on his face. I got up and walked over to him, spitting blood from my mouth as I did. He was barely conscious and looked up at me with a look that implied he couldn't believe this had happened. Then the look turned to utter hatred. He tried to speak, but all that came out was a wracking cough filled with blood. He spat blood on my boots as I watched him. Then I put two rounds into his head.

I turned to face the meaty organ in the centre. I didn't have much time. I pulled out my last charge and shoved it into the mass of organs and meat. As I left the chamber, I activated the bomb, and it flew apart in an explosion of meat and gore. Dark purple fluid spewed out of the severed veins, pumping the warm liquid everywhere. It began to pool in the central depression.

A great weight lifted from my shoulders as if I could suddenly breathe again. My mission was successful. The Dreaming would be safe. That was all that mattered. My own survival was secondary, merely a bonus objective at this point.

"Deck 24."

Hurry, security teams will be catching up with you shortly.

"Right. The elevator will be swarming by now. Any other routes?"

Calculating. Follow the indicator on your overlay.

A faint yellow line appeared on my overlay, augmenting my vision. I followed the trail and ran as fast as I could. I checked the time. By now, the other charges would be going off as well. I saw a few more crew on the way; they either turned and ran or cowered in terror. I realised then that I was coated in the purple liquid and blood. I was a fearsome sight, indeed. I used it to my advantage, pulling the
lurzak
free with one hand and wielding the PX-2 in the other. Anyone I saw I shot at, either their feet or the deck head. I yelled and waved the blade menacingly at them. I seemed ridiculous, but most sane people would run from such a sight.

Soon the yellow trail led to a vent grating. I pulled it free of the bulkhead and crawled in.

"Where are you taking me?"

The main access corridor.

"Through this vent?"

Correct
.

After about a hundred metres, the vent ended in another grate. I looked through it and gasped. Tac wasn't kidding around. Sure enough, the main access corridor was on the other side of the vent.

"Tac, how am I supposed to climb down there?"

Your mag boots should provide ample footing.

"Oh, yeah. Still, I'm kind of exposed out there."

It was the best I could come up with, given the available data.

"No, it's all right. It will have to do. Can you see the hangar entrance from up here?"

Not yet, Seth. You will need to get closer
.

I sighed and pushed the vent grating out. It fell with a clatter, sliding down before bouncing off an outcropping and tumbling into the corridor proper. I lost sight of it as it fell the remaining kilometre or so to the end of the shaft. A wave of vertigo hit me as my mind tried to grasp the sheer scale of the drop before me. I tried to swallow, my mouth suddenly very dry.

"Oh, boy."

Should I find another route?

"Nope. I got this. I think."

I started to climb out, gingerly lowering myself over the lip and into the giant shaft. It was very gusty in there, and I was having second thoughts. I sucked it up and put my feet against the inner hull, activating my magnetic clamps on my boots. I carefully put my weight on them, and they held. I wished then that I'd brought my space suit gloves with me, as they also had magnetic pads on the palms. I climbed down fully, looking about for something else to grip and found that the hull plates had decent gaps between them that I could slip my fingers in. I climbed sideways until I found a vertical groove, and then used it to shimmy down. The wind kept fluttering my coat, and I chided myself for not doing up the buttons on the front. A few minutes into it, and my arm was throbbing where I'd been hit. My chest was also giving me grief. I once again flooded my blood with nanites and relished the instant improvement this power gave me.

"How far down?"

You still have 953 metres to go before you are aligned with Deck 24.

"Nine hundred and fifty-three metres?"

I climbed down; straining my muscles with each metre I went. I paused to catch my breath after about ten minutes and had to give myself another jolt with Repair. This was hard work, and I was far from the galaxy's most skilled climber.

Might I suggest picking up the pace, Seth?

"You can suggest it, but I probably won't do it."

The longer you take getting back to the Dreaming, the further it will be from us.

"You know, it suddenly occurs to me that I could do with dropping a few kilograms of equipment. Like your satchel."

I sense that you are becoming anxious. Should I make an attempt at humour like Zoe suggests?

"Um…no. I'll definitely drop you then."

The climb took me nearly three hours. By the end, I'd used a dozen Repair paradigms and still I was exhausted when I finally reached another vent access to climb into. I rested on my belly for a time, catching my breath and just resting. I was almost out of charge, and I couldn't risk blacking out by using any more nanites. From here on out, it was just my tools and me.

The vent lead a few dozen metres before depositing me in a large hangar that encircled the central shaft. There were about a dozen people about, all in various states of chaos and disarray. Apparently, the ship's crew had realised what had happened and there was a kind of rushed panic to get the propulsion fixed. I realised then that the ship was shaking every now and then, with slight heaving vibrations. Oops, my bad.

I was hiding behind a group of crates and surveyed the area. I saw four of the Eclipse Fighters and a medium sized shuttle. It looked like a military assault transport, the kind ground pounders rode into planetary assaults. There was also a pair of civilian style shuttles, used to ferry passengers between ships and stations. They were also capable of atmospheric landing. There were varying degrees of cover, getting to one of the ships was going to be risky. What I needed was a distraction. I sat down and pulled out the plasma cutter. I lit it up and set it to burn next to the crates. I then moved away, putting distance between myself and the other crates. Eventually, the cutter would ignite the crates, and hopefully that would distract the hangar occupants enough for me to make a break for it.

Sure enough, after a few minutes, someone noticed the cloud of smoke beginning to rise out of the crates and they sounded the alarm. Several crewmembers ran for firefighting equipment. I made my dash, heading for the nearest fighter and sliding underneath the carriage.

"Tac, can you hack one of these open?"

The override device should allow me to unlock the vehicle. Just get me access to the control panel.

"Right."

I climbed out of my hiding spot and clambered up onto a ladder that lead to the ship's cockpit. I found a small control panel near the canopy release and swiped the override over it.

Interfacing. Standby.

"Do I have to stay up here, I'm kind of exposed."

I need to remain within 1.72 metres of the panel.

"So yes, then. Great." I hunkered down as best I could, trying to keep a low profile. My only advantage was the hangar was poorly lit, but soon the crate fire I'd started was out and the crew started to return to their previous activities. A couple were walking in this direction, and I was beginning to get worried.

"Tac, how long until you're done?"

I estimate I will need 2 to 3.4 minutes to defeat this lock.

"Shit. Trouble."

I am working as fast as I am able.

"Yeah okay, I wasn't complaining."

I pulled my PX-2 out and tried to hug the fighter's fuselage as best I could. The two crewmen were in conversation, so I hoped they wouldn't notice me. They started to get real close, and I was sure I was going to get spotted, but they walked right on by. I breathed a sigh of relief.

The canopy control is unlocked.

"Good work. Let's get off this ship."

I concur.

I popped the canopy open, and no sooner had I done this than the hangar started to flash red lights and an alert sounded.

"All hands! Unauthorised access to hangar vehicles detected!" The throaty voice croaked, louder than ever.

"Shit, Tac! Thought you could open this without being detected?"

My intrusion was not detected. I believe there were sensors placed on the canopy itself. My act of unlocking did not trip the alarm, but opening the canopy physically did.

"We weren't going to hang around anyway."

I jumped into the seat and checked around for the controls. They were standard, as far as spacecraft goes. Control yoke, a pair of displays, weapons controls, thrusters, canopy controls. I hit the control to close the lid and it sealed shut with a hissing sound. I turned on the console and waited for it to light up. I could see people starting to run towards the fighter, as they worked out which one I was in. I looked around while the system booted up. Where were the hangar doors? After a few moments, I located a large double door near the outer hull. That had to be it. Suddenly, several bright flashes of small arms fire hit the canopy and ricocheted away startling me.

"Come on, come on, come on!" I chanted.

Eventually, the displays flared to life and started running through diagnostics. In a few moments, I had the results of the power on self-tests and initiated the flight protocols. I heard a sloshing sound, then, and looked down at my feet. The cockpit was filling up with liquid!

"What the fuck!?" I called.

The Eclipse Fighters fill their cockpits with fluid to help resist the excessive gee-forces their acceleration encounters.

"How do I shut it down?"

You can't. You'll have to attach the life support rigging to your face.

Crap!  I started to look around desperately for a facemask, or breather unit or something that might allow me to breathe oxygen. The fluid was filling fast, and it was starting to rise past my seat.

"Where is it? I can't find it!"

I twisted in my seat, trying to look behind me, above me, below the back of the seat. Did the pilots take the masks with them and connect them somewhere? If that was the case, I was going to drown. There! By the right armrest on the seat, a compartment popped open when I hit a button near it. There was a mask, but the fluid was soaking it. I was rising up my chest now. I struggle with the mask, trying to get it to fit. It was adjusted for Frikk heads, slightly larger than my own. I pulled it on and tightened the straps, but no air was flowing! I lifted the mask off my nose and mouth and sucked in a deep breath as the fluid rose to my neck. I put the mask back and fiddled with the mask, tracing the tubing back to the recess it came from and found a valve control. I dialled it open and sweet air filled the mask. I breathed deeply.

More hard light bullets hit my canopy, and I suddenly saw a spider web crack appear. When the cockpit was full, the display showed flight data start to compile. I felt the ship lift off its carriage and I grabbed the yoke. I could see the display fairly well through the fluid, and had no trouble accessing the controls. I activated the weapon system and gave the ship an experimental turn. Controls were tight. I turned the ship to face the hangar doors and linked the weapon control to my flight yoke. The weapons charged up and in seconds, I had a green light. I didn't hesitate. Green plasma bolts lashed out from my fighter to the doors. I kept shooting until I saw them glow bright red and then with a sudden lurch they buckled and exploded outward. The sudden pull of the escaping atmosphere caused my ship to slide towards it. I pulled back and let all the loose equipment, crates and personnel fly out into space. When the atmosphere had vented, then I ignited my thrusters and left the hangar.