Jupiter's Halo Book Two: The Fall

Chapter 18

Bramley was still unconscious. The man showed no signs of waking as he was carried awkwardly down the stair by Doctor Ardley.

The suited doctor had tried to argue that he wasn’t strong enough to bear the other man’s weight, but Dalton had been firm about his need to move freely.

“Can you fight? Are you highly trained in combat, tactics and covert operations?” He’d asked sharply.

"Er, not really," Ardley replied.

“Oh, well, maybe you have experience dealing with homicidal robots and the mass panic they cause in, say, a group of people trapped on a space station and desperate to escape?”

Ardley shook his head, eyes cast downward.

“Really? Well, I suppose in that case, I can’t rely on you to make the right decisions in a moment of pressure, or to disable or even kill someone who, despite being innocent, is preventing us from getting you to the evac bay and therefore putting your life in danger.”

He spoke tersely. The appearance of Tiny had put him on edge and the doctor’s cryptic allusion to a worse problem had not helped. He’d refused to say exactly why things were so bad, claiming a level of classification above Dalton’s head. That had really pissed him off.

“I don’t think I could kill someone,” Ardley said morosely.

“Then how about you carry Doctor Bramley and I take care of the rest. Agreed?”

Ardley had given a mute nod before making a show of his difficulty in hauling Bramley onto a shoulder. He was still whining occasionally now, but Dalton had decided the option of ignoring him was a better one than knocking the man out and being forced to carry them both.

>“Talk to me Jin,”“What’s this ‘Jin’ business?”“You only call me that when things are really bad, or you’re really drunk. Tell me you’ve found a stash of booze on your way down here.”“No such luck.”“So it’s the other one then. Shit.”“Why the direct link? And just how deep are we?”“You remember Lastlight?”“Six months playing lackeys to a fat, ego-driven pirate bastard? Yeah, I remember him.”“You remember how that ended? The whole bloody ship hunting us and nothing to fight with but the mem-sword and that prosthetic leg you pinched?“Yeah that was bad. I didn’t pinch it though, it was borrowed. I gave it back.”“To a dead man,”“This is worse.”“Tiny?”“Yes, but we can deal with Tiny. There’s something else.”“Hence the direct link.”“Yeah. Finsa's not responding and I've got another doc here in full bio-suit telling me Tiny isn't the thing that will kill us but refusing to say what will."“He giving you that ‘classified’ bullshit?”“Hornwood’s acting strange too. He’s sent Elba and Diagno to the loading bay with orders to shut down comms until he reaches out. Trishan and Bililngs aren’t responding and he’s acting like that isn’t weird. He was waiting in the bay when we got here and there’s something up with the others. Every one but the Earth-side on Secondary-three is ‘malfunctioning’, closed up tight.”“He wasn’t surprised that Tiny was activated,”“Keep an eye on him. How many of the science team are with you?”“Four. The three from the lab and a researcher. Some young guy with an attitude and stupid hair.”“I’ve got two more. We had to leave the other researcher behind.”“We lose people. It happens,”“If it helps, remember we don’t get to choose. Don’t think on it anymore.”“Beat yourself up later,”“Right now we’ve got enough to worry about.”“Our missing scientist is on Secondary-one. Doctor Jutteridge.”"I'll go pick her up before my head explodes!"“No,”“Don’t ask me why but I feel like leaving the others alone with Hornwood is a bad idea. I’ll get the doctor on our way down.”“Tell me that’s a certainty,”“It’s a certainty.”“Thanks.”“Stay there and don’t let Hornwood out of your sight. I’ll try to intercept the others if I can.”“Consider it done,”“And seriously, don’t die. If Hornwood’s finally gone full-on psycho, I don’t fancy having to face him on my lonesome.”“I’ll make it to you,”“Let’s just hope when I get there he’s just the normal level of crazy.”“Like that’s any better,”< she returned before the link closed.

Dalton stopped as he reached the end of the stair and heard Ardley stifle a yell as he tried to avoid colliding with the man he’d followed so closely. A muffled thump signalled the indelicate dumping of Doctor Bramley to the floor.

“Is it safe?” Ardley asked, unable to see through the small window that Dalton was blocking as he looked out.

The corridor was clear enough; a pair of crewman were walking side by side, chatting idly as they made their way to whatever task their jobs required.

Dalton turned his head as the sounds of crashing and screams filtered down the stairway from the level above. Tiny had reached Primary-two. People were already dying and it wouldn’t be long before the chaos caught up with them.

“Define ‘safe’” He replied, pushing open the door.