Revolution: The Ship Series // Book Two (14 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

I
know exactly what I'm doing.

The
group left the cavern and their trip upwards was similar to the first time they
had made the journey. The biggest difference was having two injured members in
their party rather than one. The Boss’s wound began bleeding again fairly
quickly due to all of the exertion.

Eventually, they reached the portal where they needed to
exit the first group of maintenance tunnels and make their way to a different
network. The main passageways remained empty. Zax was about to lead them past
the ladder where Nolly had earlier warned them about the group of civilians
when the Boss called a halt.

“I’ve decided on a change of plans. Moving around with
this many people is too unwieldy, so I want to split up into two groups. Group
one is going to be Westerick and Salmea plus the Engineering cadet. I want you
three to take this ladder and make your way to Waste Systems Control via the
main passageways. Wait there until you receive further orders. The rest of us
will carry on to our original destination.”

Zax was confused. “But, sir…”

“Leave this to me, cadet. I know exactly what I’m
doing.”

The Boss’s tone made it abundantly clear he did not want
any discussion of the matter, but Zax was left dumbfounded as he tried to make
sense of the man’s order. The officer was sending three members of the Crew to
a certain death. Either they would get killed by the group of civilians which
Nolly had earlier warned were waiting between the top of the ladder and Waste
Systems Control, or they would perish along with so many others when the Captain
vented the Ship.

Zax was conflicted. If he had been presented with any
reason to push back against the Boss earlier in the day, he would have done so
without thinking twice out of general principle. Now, with the opportunity to
get his career on the proper trajectory again, his calculus was different. It
wasn’t as if the man was trying to shed Kalare or Sergeant Bailee.

Zax looked over at Westerick and Salmea. The major
appeared nervous at the idea of leaving the relative safety of the larger
group, but there was no way the man was going to question the Boss about the
matter. Salmea, as always, seemed indifferent. Zax tried to dredge up
compassion for the officers and the fate he expected for them if they left the
main group. After working with them for a year, however, he had a hard time
putting himself at any risk only to help them continue their incompetent
service. Zax was still debating whether or not to further question the Boss’s
change in plans when Kalare spoke up.

“Respectfully, sir, I suggest the cadet stay with us
rather than go with the officers. I understand your intentions, sir, but I
believe keeping him close will prove useful later on today. Once all of this is
over, we will need to get Engineering cleaned up and back to normal as fast as
possible.”

Zax had been conflicted about Westerick and Salmea but
hadn’t given a second thought to Aleron walking off to his doom. He was
dismayed to hear Kalare jump to the bully’s defense. What could she be
thinking? She was well aware the boy had tormented Zax his entire life. In
fact, she had been attacked or threatened by the idiot herself on multiple
occasions. What would possess Kalare to want to keep Aleron around? Then Zax
thought back to some of the interactions he had witnessed between the two of
them over the past few hours. If Aleron was getting chummy with Kalare, it must
surely be yet another in the long list of ways the boy schemed to hurt Zax. He
clearly deserved whatever fate awaited at the other end of that ladder.

A final glance at Aleron triggered different feelings.
Zax took a moment to really look at his classmate, and even though it was
nearly impossible to see past a lifetime’s worth of bullying, the boy was just
that—a boy. An idiot boy, but still someone who was trying to figure out his
place in life and the Crew just like Zax was. He didn’t deserve to get tossed
aside and left for dead. Zax knew he would probably regret the choice some day,
but decided he couldn’t watch the cadet get sent off to his demise.

“I wholeheartedly agree with Kalare, sir.”

The Boss’s eyes flared with anger at Kalare’s suggestion
and Zax’s agreement, but the man’s expression softened once he took a long look
at Zax and Kalare. He finally nodded his approval before addressing the Waste
Systems officers.

“Major—you appear apprehensive about walking off on your
own. I understand I’m asking a lot by splitting you from the rest of our group.
Sergeant Bailee—hand the major your blaster.”

The Marine looked unfazed about giving away their only
weapon and handed it to Westerick without hesitation. The major’s demeanor
changed instantly once the blaster was in his hand. He stood up straighter and
there was a glint in his eye. Zax could not understand why the Boss would put
himself and everyone else in the main travel party at risk only to provide the
major a little comfort. The Boss continued.

“We never saw any civilians in this part of Waste
Systems, so I have to imagine things will be empty where you’re going, but I
want you to feel safe. If you run into any civilians, though, your orders are
to fire immediately. Is that clear?”

“Sir, yes, sir,” the major responded as his chest puffed
out with bravado.

The last order made the Boss’s rationale in giving away
the blaster clear to Zax. The Omega wanted to be certain that if Westerick and
Salmea ran into civilians, they wouldn’t be tempted to take their chances and
surrender. Once the major was armed, the Boss knew he would fight. The most
likely outcome given the major’s incompetence would be the death of the two
officers at the hands of the civilians with no risk of them being questioned
and giving up the Omega’s presence in the area. Zax rationalized away his
apprehension about the officers’ fate as this outcome was probably a more
humane way for them to die versus being vented into space along with everyone
else.

“Now I’m stuck getting dragged around on the Boss’s
little adventure instead of waiting this thing out in safety with those two.
Thanks for nothing, you useless oxygen thief.”

Aleron had approached and whispered in Zax’s ear while
the Waste Systems officers received their final orders from the Boss. The bully
then brushed past roughly, jamming an elbow into Zax’s belly and stomping a
boot on his foot in the process. Zax found it amazing how he regretted the decision
to save the boy’s life even faster than he could have imagined, but the choice
was made and there was no going back. They all watched the officers disappear
up the ladder and then the Boss spoke.

“Let’s move.”

Zax led the group through a series of turns until they
reached the access port for the next set of maintenance tunnels. He was about
to seal the hatch behind them when he heard a series of blaster shots off in
the distance back from where they had come. Zax strained to hear if the noise
repeated, but there was only silence. He shut the hatch.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

I'll
carry the boy.

The
smaller group moved through the next set of tunnels faster than they had been
able to previously. As they went upwards towards Primary Grav Control, the air
became tinged with the smell of something burning. The odor became more intense
as they ascended and Zax eventually halted the group once its source became
clear.

They had turned a corner and stared into the gaping maw
of a blast hole. It appeared to have swallowed not only the control room but
also the passageways and maintenance tunnels which surrounded it. The explosion
had been so strong there weren’t any recognizable human remains in sight, but
the fact many people had died here was abundantly clear from the overwhelming
smell of cooked flesh.

The heat of the blast had been so intense that some of
the surfaces closest to the center of the detonation still glowed red. The
tunnel was sheared so it now opened up into a main passageway, but the path
forward was on the other side of a five-meter wide fissure which was at least
thirty meters deep. The Boss looked at Zax after surveying the situation.

“Cadet—what are our options?”

Zax visualized the layout of the nearby passageways and
tunnels. “There aren’t any great ones, sir. There’s an access port a few
hundred meters back which can put us into the main passageways, but looking at
all of this damage, it appears we’ll just get blocked again when we try to
reach our target.The only clear path I see requires going down a dozen levels
and will add 23 mins to the journey.”

The Omega pondered Zax’s words for a few moments as he
looked around. Eventually, he shook his head. “No—we can’t risk backtracking
when we’re so close. Who knows what we might encounter along the way. We need
to figure out something e6lse. I need ideas, people.”

There was silence as everyone looked around and
considered what appeared to be an insurmountable obstacle. Finally, Aleron
spoke.

“I got it, sir! Look at all of the fiber optic cable
that got exposed by the blast. There’s some right over there, and another huge
tangle of it above us. If we can figure out something to use as a hook, we can
pull down the cable above us and if it’s still solidly anchored, we can use it
to swing across this gap!”

Zax looked up and saw how the plan might work. Someone
once told Zax there was enough fiber optic cable strung throughout the Ship to
span the distance between Earth and its moon a dozen times. Its ubiquity in the
wreckage had initially made the many tangles of cable fade into the background.

The Boss smiled at Aleron. “That may be the craziest idea
I’ve ever heard, cadet, but it just might work. Keeping you around is already
paying off. Grab that cable from over there—I see some metal over here which
might work as a hook.”

The Boss walked over to what appeared to be the remnants
of a workstation blown out of the control room. One of the drawers had been
blasted into a hunk of twisted metal but was shaped such that Zax could
immediately recognize how the Omega wanted to use it. A few minutes later the
metal had been bent into a rough hook and attached to a piece of cable. Aleron
swung it in an arc next to his body and after three attempts he snagged some of
the cable from the tangled mass above their heads. He gave a few tugs and
eventually worked loose a long loop that he pulled down within reach. He gave a
few hard tugs and then looked around.

“Someone needs to go first. Since it was my idea, it
might as well be me.”

Without pausing, he walked back a couple of paces and
then bolted towards the chasm. Zax held his breath as Aleron swung across the
gap and then dropped to a perfect landing on the opposite side. The cable swung
back and Sergeant Bailee grabbed hold and then looked at the group.

“Kalare’s going next, then I will go, then the
civilians, and then the Boss and Zax.”

Kalare gulped as she approached the Marine and grabbed
the cable. She backed up as far as the cable would allow and then took off at
full speed. Her hands visibly slipped as she crossed the midpoint of the arc,
but she held on long enough to fall into Aleron’s waiting arms on the other
side. She smiled up at him and remained in his embrace a few beats too long for
Zax’s comfort.

Bailee made it look easy as he used his sole good arm to
hang on. Zax had taken his place at the edge and caught the cable as it swung
back. He handed it off to Imair and she made it look even easier than the
Marine had. Zax caught the cable once again on its return and motioned for
Nolly to approach the edge.

“OK, Nolly, you saw how everyone else did this. Looks
like a lot of fun, right?”

The young civilian trembled like a trip across the
fissure was his worst nightmare. He stood at the edge and his eyes went wide
and brimmed with tears as he stared into the wreckage below. Imair called out
from the other side.

“You can do it, Nolly. I’ll be right here to catch you,
OK? I know how strong you are. This will be super easy for you.”

The boy shook his head. Just once at first, but then
repeatedly as he backed away from the edge. He kept backing up without looking
until he crashed against the Boss’s legs. Zax had been focused on Nolly the
entire time, and he looked up at the Boss expecting the man to be livid.
Instead, the Omega had a warm smile on his face. He dropped to a knee and spoke
softly to the boy.

“You know, I’m terrified of heights so I’ve been getting
super nervous watching everyone else swinging across that big hole. It looks
pretty scary to me. I think I would feel a lot better if I could have someone
ride with me. Do you think you could climb on my back and hold on tight to keep
me company and help me not be afraid?”

Zax stared with his jaw slack. It was one of the most
sweet and tender displays he had ever seen from anyone in the Crew, and it was
coming from the Boss. Nolly’s terror had rendered him mute, but he managed to
nod his agreement. The Boss looked up at Zax.

“I’ll carry the boy. You go next.”

“Yes, sir.”

Zax backed up and ran as fast as he could. He was
two-thirds of the way to the point where he intended to let go of the cable
when it came slightly loose from whatever anchored it above and slipped a half
a meter. Zax had been on track to stick a perfect landing, but the cable
slippage threw him off balance. He landed instead in a twisted heap at Kalare’s
feet and let loose a stream of curses. She laughed so riotously that even
Sergeant Bailee couldn’t avoid a smile.

Zax stood up and saw the Boss had caught the cable on
its return and held it firmly in both hands. Nolly was perched on the officer’s
back with his arms locked so firmly around the man’s throat they threatened to
squeeze the life out of him. The Omega backed up and then sprinted towards the
edge where he leapt for the far side.

The full combined mass of the Boss and Nolly on the
cable forced something to finally give way up in the bundle of tangles it
emanated from. The Boss had already established enough angular momentum that he
didn’t instantly plummet downwards, but rather than arcing over the edge of the
chasm to land with everyone else, he crashed into the wreckage just inside the
fissure.

In a flash, everyone peered over the edge and saw the
Boss’s predicament. He clung to the side with the barest of handholds as the
cable unspooled uselessly into the crater below. The group looked at each other
as they each thought about out how to save the officer and child without access
to all of the additional cable on the other side of the divide. Imair rushed
forward and pointed at Zax and Kalare.

“You two—grab my legs and lower me down. We can pull
them up!”

The two cadets held tight as Imair dangled into the
chasm. A moment later she yelled for them to lift and she emerged with Nolly in
tow. Once the boy was safely on the deck, she went over again for the Boss. Zax
held with all his might but felt the civilian’s leg slipping from his grasp
once she was also supporting the officer’s mass. Sergeant Bailee saw the
impending disaster and reached down with his one functional arm to grab a
handful of waist from the back of Imair’s pants. Aleron jumped in as well and
all four of them hauled the civilian and Omega back up over the edge of the
wreckage.

The Boss stood and smiled at the civilian woman as he
brushed himself off. “Thank you, Imair.”

The civilian grinned at the Boss addressing her by name
for the first time during their hours together. “My pleasure, sir. I understand
how important it is we keep you alive.”