MoonRush (20 page)

As they ran, Buton found himself using aerodynamic laws of flow to predict how the blockages in the stream of people could be fixed. He swam with the current, giving an arm here, nudging there,
and
helping
to
move the mob forward, ever forward
,
toward that last door. And then, at last they were through. Buton turned his attention to the panel, this time dropping his hacking time by 63 percent.

Three.

The Rogues all stood looking at one another for a long moment. After so much panicked running, no one appeared quite sure
of
what
to
do. Cleo gave a burst of what seemed to be very nervous laughter,
and
then quieted. Rob turned to the blonde at his elbow and started to say something.

Then
,
the world shifted.

The shock
wave from the explosion could be felt in the walls and floor. Buton’s chest reverberated with it, the air whooshing out of his lungs. He turned to watch through the blast door window as the explosion from the bar radiated outward. It ripped through the first door, tearing it off its hinges and propelling it toward the second, where the additional thick projectile joined the first. The first two doors hurled toward the barrier
,
beyond which stood Buton and the rest of the crew.

“Duck!” Jarod screamed, and everyone but Buton flattened against the floor. A huge crash reverberated through the hallway as the third blast door buckled from the explosion…but held.

Buton observed the spider webbing of the safety glass and spoke to himself, “Hmm… Just as I calculated.” He looked back, realizing that everyone else was plastered to the ground. “I told you three blast doors were enough.”

Jarod picked himself up and dusted himself off. “That was too close.”

Buton continued, as it was clear the group did not appreciate the seriousness of the situation. “I would suggest
that
we expedite our departure from these facilities.”

Jarod goggled at him. “Why?”

Buton spoke precisely, but without haste. “The bomb was truly a fine design. The first explosion was merely an anti-tampering device. Someone must have bumped it, setting it off prematurely.”

Rob interjected, “Okay…But the bomb’s already gone off.”

“That
one
, yes,” Buton stated
,
wondering why he needed to speak the next words. “But the others,
no
.”

* * *

Cleo groped for the meaning
of
Buton’s words. She was having difficulty processing the concept. “What others?”

While Buton didn’t sigh, exasperation was clear in his voice. “Isn’t it obvious? Someone is trying to destroy all the launching ports.”

There was a brief moment where all six
pairs of
eyes were trained on Buton. Then, as one, they all called out, “Our ship!”

Rob grabbed the shoulder of the blonde next to him, staring into her eyes. “You have to get off this station.”

The girl nodded, glancing at the markings on the wall
and
apparently gaining her bearings. “My family’s ship is just down this next corridor. I’ll be okay.” She limped
away
, holding herself up against the wall
.
T
hen
,
she
looked over her shoulder as she rounded the corner for one last look at Rob.

Cleo took a deep breath and spoke with tones of infinite patience. “Okay, Rob. You all done?” Rob bobbed his head up and down. “Okay, then.
Run!
” The next second found them hurling themselves down the hallway toward the
Eureka
.

Jarod called out. “How long?”

“I would imagine soon,” Buton replied crisply
,
despite their hurried pace.

They ran
pell-mell
down the corridor, and then the launch bays. Ship after ship…after ship. Every one a sitting duck unless they got away from the station as soon as possible.

The biologist in Cleo could not remain silent with this much loss of life imminent. The teeming life of the oceans, the huddled masses here in the station. All were one in her heart. Except for the bastard
who
had set the bomb.
Bombs
.

Cleo kept running, the rhythm of her feet pounding against the floor jarring her brain
and
disrupting her thoughts. She might care for the amassed humanity trapped here on the station, but her own sense of self-preservation kept her feet pumping up and down.

This could not go down this way. They had to do something. She began searching the walls they passed, looking for…

Cleo stabbed at a com link on the wall as they waited for the nearest blast door to swing open.

The link crackled to life. “Security?”

“Evacuate the launch bays!” Cleo barked.

“Calm down. The hull
—
”

“All the launch bays are rigged!” Cleo stabbed another finger at the link, severing the connection. She glanced at Buton. “You’d better be right…”

Buton huffed back, “When have I not been?”

She joined the crew racing back toward the
Eureka
, racing from their imminent doom. It did not escape Cleo’s notice that this was the exact opposite of what any of them
had
ever expected. Their ship now represented safety.

Who woulda thunk
it?

* * *

Jarod flung himself into the hold of the
Eureka
,
yelling, “Go, go
,
and more go!”

“What ‘go’?” Simon asked from the cockpit. “What took
you
so long?”

Rushing forward to the copilot’s chair, Jarod flung himself in. “Too much to explain, gotta get outta here
—
fast!” He started to release the ship from the dock, only to realize it had already been done. After a quick double take, he began to go through the engine start
-
up sequence. Again, done. He goggled at Simon. “What…? You…How?”

The little man smirked. “I’m the magic man. Now
,
close your mouth and buckle up.”

Jarod realized
that
his mouth was
,
in fact
,
gaping open
, so
he
took Simon’s advice. Well, at least the first part. He brought his lips together and was part way through strapping himself in when the port they were leaving exploded outward in a hail of metal shards.

The world jolted and spun, and Jarod hit the cockpit wall, dangling by his partially
fastened
straps. The ship spun on its axis
.
T
he window filled with an alternating kaleidoscope view of the exploding station
and
then the star
-
streaked blackness of space.

Jarod
risked
a glance back
—
just in time to see Rob hit the ceiling hard and bounce out of view. Globular drops of blood floated in the air. The grav generator must be offline again.

Simon snapped at Jarod. “Get your head back in the game
!
We need to correct course, and I can’t do it on my own.”

Jarod refocused on the instrument panel in front of him. The fast and furious lessons Simon had given him planetside flashed though his head in a muddled collage of information. So, Jarod did the only thing he knew how to do in these situations. He turned off his brain and started working on pure instinct. His fingers danced over the instrumentation.

And somehow it worked. In sync with Simon, Jarod slowed down their spin, although they were still hurtling through space, headed toward
E
arth. The ship finally settled
,
facing the station. Which gave them a perfect view of the bombs going off. One horrible blast after another. Docking port after docking port ripped apart
.
S
hips spiral
ed
away from the station
,
either on their own power or
because of
the blasts.

The shock waves hit the
Eureka
, buffeting her from all sides. Simon and Jarod wrestled with the controls, trying to keep the ship steady under the onslaught. His eyes darting back and forth from the instruments to the vid
-
screen, Jarod saw escape pods blossoming out from the station like some sort of chaotic mechanical flower.

S
tation
fragments
and damaged ships
hurtled
toward the
Eureka
. “Evasive maneuvers!” Jarod yelped without thinking.

“What the hell kinda ship
do
you think we’re piloting?” Simon sn
a
pped back. “Keep us away from the bigger chunks
!
The
Eureka
can handle the small stuff.” He patted the wall of the ship with affection.

Much as he tried, Jarod was finding it difficult to have the same faith. Bangs and dings from the detritus made him wince each time they occurred. The ship could not possibly stand up to this kind of abuse. “Simon…” Jarod warned, after a huge clang resounded throughout the ship.

“I’m telling you, she can take it. Besides, we’ve got bigger problems.”

“Bigger than getting ripped apart at the seams?”

“Yep.” Simon pointed at the nav screen.

No
!
Jarod thought. They couldn’t be that close. The Earth was no longer a big blue orb. It was an object just beneath them. And they were entering the upper atmosphere at way too steep an angle. The temperature gauge lunged up.