The 28th Gate: Volume 6

Episode 7-3

At first sight, it was hard to believe anyone could still be alive aboard either vessel. I might have lost hope had Katherine not then offered something for us to hold on to.

“I think there might still be pressurized sections aboard the Defiance.”

I shot her a look. “In the middle of all that?”

She nodded, her attention still in the link. “The Defiance is still venting atmosphere. But it’s been adrift so long that could only mean some sections of its hull remained pressurized after the fight, otherwise all the air would be gone by now.” She turned in her chair to look at me. “Kyrshaw might still be alive.”

I shot Gloria a glance, and she nodded. We hadn’t come this far to give up just because his ship had taken a beating.

“Alright,” I said. “We’ll bring the Essta in close. I assume the Defiance lost its dorsal docking fin?”

Gloria nodded, looking over her readings. She shot me a glance. “Hull breaches?”

This time I nodded. We’d manage it just like one of the salvage operations she and I had run so many times in the past.

“Alex, Katherine, I want you both to remain about the Essta,” I said. “Gloria and I will make a quick scouting expedition. We’ll go back over with more equipment if we need to. But I want you two to keep the Essta safe and be ready to get out of here. Even if the Defiance is dead, it doesn’t mean that cruiser really is.”

Gloria and I geared up and hit the air lock. In addition to our normal equipment, we were bringing a portable atmosphere canopy, a relatively small device capable of maintaining an area of atmosphere, which can be useful when you want to cut your way into pressurized areas without venting all the atmo inside before you’re done.

Once we were ready, I cycled the air lock and dove into space. Gloria followed only a moment behind me. It was just like the various salvage operations we’d run before, except this time, we had both Katherine and Alex on the comms.

“Alright, we’re in,” I said as I sailed through the jagged hole in the Defiance’s rear hull we’d chosen as out means of ingress. I used my synth arm and leg to slow myself against one of the interior walls, then turned and caught Gloria.

“Thanks,” she muttered, but I could tell she was distracted by the c*****e of the scene around us.

We’d seen plenty of battered ships during our salvage runs, some of them even recent ones—to say nothing of all the battles we’d been through during the last rev and a half. But there was something eerie about seeing a ship you had a connection with in such a desperate state. Gloria might have just been responding to the fact she’d known people aboard, but I’d actually walked the corridors we were moving through.

Once inside the hull, we discovered the ship wasn’t entirely dead. At least some residual power remained in the artificial gravity generators, allowing us to walk along the decking, albeit in somewhat less than normal gravity. Even so, it made the task a lot easier as we worked our way through mangled decking and walls toward the center of the ship and its bridge.

As we went, I swept the area ahead of us with my SMR, alert for any readings it might offer, while Gloria handled a large beam light to illuminate the scene before us.

On our way to the bridge, we had to cut through more than a few bulkheads. Each time we did so, we set up the atmosphere canopy, hoping to find air on the other side where Kyrshaw might have survived, but each time we were greeted with nothing more than continued void. Apparently, much of the ship had leaked its atmo. But Katherine said there was still air aboard, so we continued on.

When we finally found the section with the bridge at the center of the ship, Gloria set to work cutting through another bulkhead door while I activated the canopy and then turned to keep watch around us. Suddenly, Gloria staggered back into me. “There’s air on the other side!”

That got my attention, and I dropped my vigil to help her finish cutting a hole through the blast door.

Sure enough, once we were through the bulkhead, there was partial atmosphere.

“We should leave the canopy in place,” Gloria suggested, and I nodded.

Atmosphere canopies are usually intended for stationary short-term survival. But we’d found they also worked as patches or makeshift emergency air locks. So, we left the one we’d brought in place while we crossed the final distance to the closest entry to the main bridge.

It was closed, but a quick inspection revealed it wasn’t sealed, suggesting there was atmosphere on the other side as well.

I braced my arm and leg against it, and a moment later the door cracked open. I froze, waiting to see if the move resulted in a rushing of air past us, indicating the bridge itself was depressurized, but instead there was just a small puff of air against my leg.

The bridge had full pressure.

I pulled the door open as fast as I could, and then Gloria and I pushed our way onto the bridge. One of the support braces from the deck above had fallen right in front of the door, creating a visual obstacle we had to maneuver around, but then Gloria’s light played over the open bridge, strewn with debris and burned consoles. I felt my hope fall when I realized no one was at the forward stations, including helm and operations. A few more steps brought us into view of the captain’s chair, and we each held our breaths.

Until Gloria’s light fell upon Kyrshaw’s limp form.

He looked as though he were just sleeping, still sitting tall in his chair, his chin resting on his chest. I suppose he really had gone down with his ship.

But that didn’t mean he had to stay there.

I reached him first, while Gloria held her light steady. My SMR barely registered him as alive, but once I drew closer, my bioware eye showed me all I needed to know.

“Kyrshaw’s here,” I told Katherine and Alex. “And he’s still breathing! We’ll get him back as fast as we can.”

I dropped to one knee and pulled my bag from my shoulder, then withdrew the environmental suit I’d brought. Getting Kyrshaw’s unconscious form into the suit was a challenge, but we were rewarded with a few moans for our efforts. It made me wish I had a low-pressure emergency evac pod or some other means of transporting bodies through space, but the Essta hadn’t come equipped with one when I took it, and I’d never gotten around to buying one—the salvage runs we made didn’t tend to have survivors.

With Gloria’s help, we managed to get Kyrshaw suited and then we abandoned our cautious pace. I carried Kyrshaw through the low grav while Gloria managed the beam light with her drawn sidearm as we made a rush for the nearest hole in the Defiance’s hull.

We didn’t even bother collecting the atmosphere canopy.

Kyrshaw must have been suffering from the early stages of oxygen deprivation, though we didn’t check the air quality on the bridge before we left. But once we had him in the suit with an enhanced oxygen supply, he was semiconscious by the time we made it back to the Essta.

Once he was in the Essta’s medical bay, Gloria and Katherine started him on enhanced fluids and checked his vitals, which showed he was still in rough shape. But he was less interested in his own condition.

“What happened to the others?” he asked, his voice low and harsh through the oxygen mask he now wore.

“They’re fine,” I assured him. “Asani got them back to the fleet.”

“And what of the Defiance?”

I turned and pulled a screen over, showing a shot from the Essta’s wing. “The ship may be salvageable, but we don’t have the time.”

Kyrshaw shook his head. “We cannot leave her here like this,” he muttered. “She deserves better.”

I nodded in sympathy. “We can rig some charges before we leave.” I glanced at Katherine. “Think you can figure out where to place them for maximal effect?”

She gave me a grim smile. I’m sure the idea of having to blow up the Defiance didn’t suit her. But being asked to orchestrate a massive explosion did.

“What about the cruiser?” Alex asked. “Are we just going to leave it?”

I shrugged. “It’ll go down with the Defiance.”

Alex nodded. “That’s what I mean. We aren’t going to search it first?”

Gloria frowned. “What’s the point? There might still be crew aboard. Frankly, I’m a little surprised we haven’t heard from them yet. I’d rather we just get out of here as fast as we can. We are still in Maunhouser held territory.”

“Besides,” I added, “we don’t need salvaged guns that badly.”

But Alex’s notion had caught Katherine’s attention. “What if there was something else aboard we did want?”

I gave her a suspicious glance, but Kyrshaw nodded.

“Their computer core,” he whispered.

Katherine grinned. “Exactly. You crippled them, but their computers should still be there. They might have set them to destruct, the way we are with the Defiance, but it could be worth the risk.”

Gloria groaned. “You’re starting to think like Hunter now,” she muttered. Then she sighed. “Is there really a chance you could decrypt something useful if we got you a copy of their core?”

Katherine nodded. “And if I can’t, I bet A-8002 would help. This could be our chance to turn this war.” She glanced at me. “And you know Quatra could use a win right now to rally corporate support.”

I nodded. “Alright.”

Kyrshaw stiffened, as though preparing to stand, and he put a hand to his chest where we’d removed his gun and holster. “I fear I shall require a firearm. I seem to have misplaced mine.”

Gloria scoffed and pushed him back into the bed. “I don’t think so. You’re staying here. We’ll take care of this for you.”

“But you will need me aboard the enemy cruiser.”

“Not in the shape you’re in now,” Katherine countered. “You need time to recover.”

Kyrshaw nodded, as though he already understood the argument. “But which of you have been aboard a cruiser of that class?”

There was a pause. None of us had.

“That,” he continued, “is precisely my point. You will require my assistance finding the computer core.”

I shot Katherine a glance. “What about the comms?” I asked. “Could you walk us through the ship?”

Kyrshaw made a pained expression, but Katherine jumped in before he could reply.

“With access to the Defiance’s systems, we should be able to guide you. And if Nathaniel is willing, I’ll be able to tap into those systems from here.”

Kyrshaw sighed. “At the least I should be the one to place the charges aboard the Defiance. She is my ship. My responsibility.”

I put a hand on his shoulder. “I think this is one of those times when you should delegate. Just stay here and help us get to the computer core. We’ll make sure there’s nothing left on either ship for Maunhouser to salvage.”

That agreement left Katherine with Kyrshaw aboard the Essta, and Gloria and I assumed it would also mean Alex stayed behind while we made the incursion aboard the Maunhouser cruiser. But Alex had other plans.

“What are you doing?” Gloria asked when Alex followed us to the armory and began selecting equipment with us.

“I’m going with you,” Alex replied, as if that much were obvious.

Gloria shot me a glance, but I stayed quiet. I’d learned not to get between the two of them when she was being protective.

“No, you’re not,” Gloria countered.

“Katherine and Captain Kyrshaw are staying aboard the Essta,” Alex said. “That leaves just three of us to make an assault on a Maunhouser cruiser to steal top secret computer files and get back alive. And you really want me to stay behind?” Alex picked up a modified Tegix assault rifle and checked the magazine, then pulled a couple of spare magazines for it from a nearby ammo crate. “I’m coming with you. You’ll need all the help you can get.”

Gloria shot me another glance as though waiting for me to side with her. Unfortunately for her, I didn’t.

“I think Alex is right. We might need the extra guns.”

“Hunter!” Gloria paused for a moment, then sighed. “Fine. Just stay behind us.”

Alex scoffed. “You keep forgetting I was a solo freelancer for revolutions before I found you. I can handle myself.”

Gloria scowled and stepped out without say thing anything else.

But Alex gave me a quick nod. “Thanks.”

I nodded in return and gave Alex a clap on the shoulder. “I’ve seen you handle yourself.”