Alpha Centauri: The Story Episode 22 part 2

Journey to Centauri : Episode 22, part 2

In the Greenhouse, Deirdre heard the two-beat warning siren and the hiss of the metal hatchway as it began to close.

"They are sealing the hatch!" she shouted, dropping a set of pneumatic clipping shears to the ground and rising to her feet. "Move inside everyone, quickly!" A flurry of movement, and then the great metal door slammed shut with a sound like thunder.

Deirdre rushed out to find a group of people standing in a stunned semicircle around the entrance hatch. Sylvia caught her eyes first, her slender body a study in frozen shock.

"Sylvia, are you OK? They must have sealed it from command…"

"Indeed," said an unfamiliar voice, cold and elegant with a Spanish accent beneath. "And I hope you have the code to unseal it, Officer."

There, in front of the great door, stood a woman in the red jumpsuit of a security officer, but with one shoulder deliberately torn off to reveal the flesh underneath. She was compact but held herself with a regal bearing; her hair was jet black, pulled behind her in a tight braid, adding to the severe lines of a face both flawless and empty of compassion. Black eyes flared at Deirdre; a shredder pistol was leveled in her direction. Next to the woman stood a short man with a shaved head, the same jumpsuit with the ripped shoulder, the same kind of pistol, the same look of anger blended with impassiveness.

There were two of them, no more. As they approached, Deirdre could see that their ripped uniforms revealed a tattoo, newly administered from the look of it; an arrow in a hexagon, pointing downwards, burned in by a laser drill, perhaps.

"I am Colonel Santiago," said the woman, and then she smiled. "I hope you know how to open that door."

Deirdre held her ground, watched wide-eyed as the woman moved forward like a mongoose moving on a snake. Deirdre tried the read the woman's face; she moved cautiously but without fear, with no action unconsidered. Deirdre lifted her hand smoothly to punch in a link to her Captain.

"Captain, it is Officer Skye. I have two of the insurgents," she saw Santiago tense at the word, "inside the Greenhouse. One is Santiago. Please advise."

Santiago watched her, and then smiled.

Personal Log
R Junack, Ship Security

We have become separated from Santiago, but we do not fear for her safety, as I am sure she does not fear for ours.

Our chain of command is firm. Were any of us to die, another is set to take their place, all the way down to the last member. That is what she taught us.

Next episode will be posted Monday, October 26.