AwayTeam (15 page)

"I wouldn't hesitate to shoot this glass engine thing to oblivion if I knew Sonny would be all right." Braden's face hardened. He un-clipped his weapon, aiming for the base of the glass structure. "But we don't, do we?"

Ely's stomach turned. The sight of the weapon pointed at the machine sent him into a spiral of concern. If Braden fired, then Emerson would be lost. Forever. "No. We don't."

"But there's got to be another way to get him out. Maybe you should do some of your magic and try and find a weakness to this engine, Ely. It's either that or surrender to the aliens right now."

Ely came to embrace Braden. "I'll give it my best shot." He glanced over to the engine. To the far right, there was an alcove, a place where the glass had created a sort of station. Was that a workstation? "Oh, and you're a good man, you know that."

Braden snorted and holstered his gun. "Yeah, I know. I just hope you can think of something, because there's no prize for guessing what'll happen once all of our military defences are caught in the energy field. I'd say we'll be fucked, plain and simple."

"You
were
right."

"About what?"

"Back when we first looked at this alien ship at a distance. You said way back then that it was hostile. None of us could have ever imagined in what way."

Braden clicked his tongue. "We do now."

Ely proceeded toward what he assumed was the workstation he had spied earlier. Much to his chagrin, he wasn't able to reach where the glass of the structure had formed a workbench, it was far too high. Whoever these aliens were, they were a lot taller than humans. He sighed. Then again, Ely didn't need to spend hours upon hours trying to work out how to deactivate the light that held Emerson within the glass tower by touching the glass instruments above him. He could crawl into the structure itself and become immersed in the alien technology. No better way to learn in his opinion.

One thing Ely loved about working on engines. No matter who built them, they all required maintenance. There was always access. He reached out and touched the glass. It sparked, sending a mild shock through his body. Ely was stunned, recoiling his hand as quick as he could, sucking on his finger. His hand ached, tingled like electricity had coursed through him, but he was all right.

"You found something?" Braden called out.

"No. But I thought I had."

Ely turned, about to say that they had better come up with another idea as any access to the engine was out of the question at the moment, when Kale returned. He was breathing hard, face red. Probably from the run he had endured to get back as quick as possible. He stopped to talk to Braden, a touch of each other's hands and gentle glances between them adding to their words. When their conversation had ended, Kale shouted, "Hey, Ely. Commander Okinawa kept on muttering something about light as well as all that disease stuff. Do you think that means anything?"

"I really don't know. But can you come over here and give me a me a hand. You, too, Braden."

"Sure thing," Kale said.

Braden grabbed Kale's hand proper. Ely smiled. There was no need for formality now that they were alone. Then again, Commander Okinawa wouldn't have minded if there was physical reassurance between his away team. He knew what was going on in the cabins just as much as anyone else. Besides, depriving anyone of contact, either for love or any other reason, wasn't beneficial to anyone, especially if lives were on the line. Over the eons, during countless military missions, men and women had always shown affection toward one another, in dirt ditches or in the cold of space, it didn't matter. That's what created bonds. Made humans do great things. Made them accomplish the unbelievable.

When Braden and Kale arrived at the workstation, Ely turned back to the glass structure that towered before him. The thing was no less impressive no matter where he looked. It was beautiful. The glass of the thing had formed conduits and panels, wires and junctions, motherboards and processors. He studied the engine for a moment. Sure, it was all alien, but there was also a familiarity to it, too. After all, getting coolant from one place to another required piping no matter how advanced the technology. What's more, parts moved and the whole thing seemed to work in harmony, as only a machine designed to power something massive could.

He pulled his flashlight off his belt, directing the beam to what he thought looked like an access panel. When the light touched the glass, it darkened. Ely smiled. Perhaps the commander's gibbering did mean something. After all, he had been right about the ship being like a disease. He switched off the light. The colour returned to the structure where the beam had struck it.

Before Ely could announce his discovery, Braden asked, "Hey, didn't that just react to the light?"

"Maybe that's what Commander Okinawa meant. This place is photo sensitive." Kale knelt down, directing his flashlight toward the structure, too. It did the same thing, darkening when touched by the man made light. "Maybe that's why the surface of this disease machine is so reflective. It's to keep out the light. I mean, everything inside it is made of this glass-like stuff except the hangar. That's exposed to space."

"That makes sense," Ely said. He flashed the light toward the glass again, reaching out to touch the engine this time. There was no reaction this time. The structure had been deadened by the light. This puzzled Ely more than anything. "But I really don't see how that will help us. I mean, we've only got three puny flashlights. What effect could they have against such a massive engine, photo sensitive or not?"

Braden unclipped his flashlight. Directing it up toward where Emerson was trapped. Nothing registered on the glass. The beam was indeed too weak. "Seems you're right, Ely. Damn it. I thought we had something there."

"Perhaps if we combine them, maybe that will have a better effect," Kale said.

"No harm in trying." Ely went closer to Braden.

Kale came between them. "Ready? Aim for the same place Braden just did. All right?"

Braden and Ely switched on their flashlights, as did Kale, directing it to the spot Kale had suggested. Yes, the beam was more intense, and yes, the reaction was more profound. But in the end, the light they created proved to be about as adequate as if they hadn't joined their forces at all. The glass darkened for a moment, coming back to life as soon as the beam was removed. But more importantly, none of the glass darkened in a way that could be useful, like freeing Emerson.

"Seems to me that artificial light drains the natural flow of power through the engine." Ely switched off his flashlight. "But we'd need a light a lot more powerful than these flashlights if we're going to make any sort of impression on the functioning of it."

"More like we'd need a starship's search light," Braden added with a sigh.

"That's the one thing we have plenty of but can't get to," Kale said, but there was no sarcasm in his voice. What he said was true. Outside, in the black, there were three starships. All of them useless at this point in time.

Ely turned to look around the room. Then something caught his eye. Something they had first encountered when they entered the engine room of this disease machine. The light source Commander Okinawa had been trapped in. "Hang on guys. What about that over there? Do you think that would be powerful enough?"

Braden and Kale turned their attention to where Ely was pointing.

After a moment of silence, Kale asked, "How the hell are we supposed to get that directed toward the engine?"

"With a reflector, of course," Ely chimed. Pleased with himself that he had come up with such a good idea. "I mean, if we can get it directed over here, then that should be enough to darken most of this engine and hopefully turn it off for long enough to get Emerson out of there and free those trapped starships. What you reckon?"

Braden cocked an eyebrow. "You know, I think you may have something there, Ely. Kale, you want to come with me to the shuttle? We'll try and scavenge as much as we can, strip the whole place of metal if we have to."

Kale saluted. "Sounds like a plan, sir." This time he smiled, cheekiness only Kale could have added into that expression in good measure.

Ely smiled, too. Braden and Kale were perfect for each other. "I don't want to leave Sonny. I'll stay here."

At that moment Ely looked up at the tower that held his Emerson. His stomach turned. His man seemed to be in worse condition than when they had first arrived in the engine room. He was still screaming, but tears flowed, too. He was banging on the light so that it sparked yet remained intact around him, keeping him held within the glass. Ely knew he couldn't go up and comfort him, tell him that they were working on a way to get him out. He couldn't touch the engine for a start, not without some sort of reflector in place, anyway.

"I'm coming for you, Sonny," he whispered as Braden and Kale left the engine room, hand in hand. "Just hang in there."

Chapter Eighteen

In the hour or so that Kale and Braden were gone, Ely sat in front of the massive engine. One that not only had the ability to bring the disease ship from wherever it came, perhaps thousands of light years, but fold space to trap others as well. He couldn't help but admire it, no matter how sinister its purpose.

Many, many questions revolved around his head. Who made this ship? Why did they want to attack humans? Had they been watching us for eons, now considering us a threat? Why was there a breathable atmosphere inside? So far no other life had been seen. The place was deserted. Ely only saw the glass-like structures beyond the reflective metal-like substance of the hangar bay. Then again, perhaps there was an atmosphere so that humans would be lured inside a lot easier. Then, as Ely and the rest of them had already witnessed, one could be used as part of the engine for whatever purpose or design the aliens had in mind. Again, he thought of sinister intentions. Why trap someone inside an engine unless they were being used for something? But what? Information?

Emerson had calmed. Did he sense that they were up to something? Or was Ely's presence soothing his anguish? It was hard to tell. Ely, on the other hand, was feeling as anxious as ever. His heart raced. His palms were sweaty. He just wanted Kale and Braden to come back as soon as possible so they could get out of this place.

As Ely was about to stand, walk over to the engine and test to see if it still sparked with his touch, more for something to do, he heard a voice. Through the flower-like doors, Braden and Kale came. They were carrying what looked like the briefing table and a myriad of other metallic things.

"Hey, come and give us a hand, Ely," Braden called out.

Ely ran to them. Finally, some action. "Yes, sir."

They had indeed taken the briefing table from the cockpit. Stripping it down so that the metal base was exposed. They also had panels from the engine bay that were used for shielding and the forward assembly sensors that got singed while the shuttle was in the wake of the
Mandrake's
engine plume. All in all, there was a lot of stuff.

"We brought a portable welder, too." Braden came down to place his end of the briefing table onto the floor. "I'd say we need to make a dish or something like that. Whatever we do, make sure it has plenty of surface area. We want to get as much of this light over to the engine. Shut the thing down for good, hopefully."

"I agree." Kale had set his end down, too. He was pulling out metallic part from the table recess. "We'll use the table as a base, extend out from there."

Ely gave Kale a hand. Nothing more needed to be said. All three knew what they had to do. And Ely had to admit, his nerves had eased somewhat now that he was busy.

Ely didn't know how long they shaped, welded and constructed their makeshift reflector, but the time seemed to go fast. Sure, he ached all over, the physical labour of lugging around metal wasn't easy. The end result was something they could be proud of. Yes, it looked exactly like it was, a hodgepodge of parts stuck together, some metal more reflective than others, but nevertheless it would be sufficient for their intention. They weren't out to get any design awards, just Emerson.

The thought of Emerson brought reality crashing back. Ely turned toward the engine. His boyfriend still looked as though he was going through hell. Which proved one thing. Being a part of this disease ship's construction wasn't something a human would wish for. Ely would bet his left nut that Emerson was being probed for information, his mind scanned. Why else would this ship install him into the machine? That sealed it. They had been required all along.

"We're just about ready," Kale said, knocking Ely from his reverie.

Ely came so he was standing next to Braden, helping carry the reflector toward the light source Commander Okinawa had been found within. A few short seconds later, and Ely couldn't face his gaze toward the reflector, the light too intense.

Braden said, "On the count of three, we tilt the table so that it's pointed toward the engine. Clear?"

"Yes, sir," Kale and Ely said together.

"One…two…three."

All three of them tilted the table. Seeing the beam strike the engine was a thing of beauty. All of a sudden, the only light in the room was that being reflected off their haphazard construction. The glass of the engine had been dulled, just like it did when they directed their flashlight beams toward it. The light that struck the glass had been absorbed.

Ely noted one big difference between the strength of what the flashlights did and this beam they had used to their advantage. The whole engine was incapacitated. Ely smiled. They had done it.

"I'm going to free Sonny," Ely said, letting go of the table.

"Just be damn quick," Braden barked. "This thing weights a tonne and it's getting mighty hot, too."

Ely came around so that he could run toward the engine that was housed on the far side of the dark room. As soon as he was close enough to notice, his heart skipped a beat and he let out a yell. Words even he himself couldn't comprehend. His mind span and he felt as though he was going to throw up the little he had within him.