( Read the previous episodes of Journey to Centauri.) |
Journey to Centauri : Episode 24 Santiago sat lightly, one leg hooked over a green storage box, but she watched Deirdre with eyes as sharp as blades. One hand rested on her thigh, and in that hand the shredder pistol shifted back and forth in a rhythm only Santiago could hear. Deirdre stood quietly, positioning herself at the front of her small group of staff, trying to hold Santiago's gaze. Abruptly a metallic shunting sound split the silence of the chamber. Red lights began to pulse around the perimeter of the Greenhouse. Heedless of the threat from the insurgents, one of Deirdre's botanists, a mature brunette named Tara, crossed to a nearby terminal. Santiago had not moved, but her posture was wired with tension, and there was a curl to her lips. "What's happening?" she snapped at Tara. The woman directed her answer towards Deirdre instead. "The oxygen supply has been cut off to this room, and the seal, of course, is airtight. It appears they are actually draining oxygen from the room. We have...ten minutes at most, before we become impaired. Unconsciousness and death will follow..." Santiago slid off the box and onto her feet. She punched a code into her quicklink. "Junack, this is Santiago. Move your people away from the door and watch for any activity. Set guards..." She abruptly trailed off, her eyes snapping to Deirdre, whose eyes had flickered, just for a moment, to the screen on her wearable computer. Santiago closed the distance between them in an instant, grabbing for Deirdre's arm. Deirdre slid back with surprising speed, avoiding the grab. "What was that?" Santiago demanded. "Nothing," said Deirdre. "The homeostasis is off because of the oxygen...the Greenhouse computers are sending me their alarms." "Show me." Her tone remained imperious. Deirdre extended her arm and tapped a scroll code into the tiny flat screen. "Meaningless," said Santiago, thoughtfully. The screen contained flashing codes representing chemical atmospheric balances. "Do you have any oxygen in here? Where is your emergency supply?" "Beneath that support beam..." Deirdre motioned to an arc on the far side of the Greenhouse. "Unless they've somehow been sealed from us as well." "You," Santiago pointed to Tara. "Check the panels. Verify there is no oxygen." Back to Deirdre again. "Think quickly, Officer. There are chemicals here...can you manufacture oxygen somehow?" "I...don't think so," Deirdre considered. This woman is extremely intelligent, she realized. Carefully... "Let me check the supplies. We might be able to..." "Check quickly. Kurn, watch her," Santiago motioned to her companion, the shorter bald man, who followed Deirdre as she headed for a stack of storage canisters behind a small stand of olive trees. As they moved off Santiago activated a link to the command center, emergency band. "Captain Garland, this is Santiago. I find your actions indefensible. Don't you fear for your crew, under guard here?" She looked at the quicklink angrily. "They are not listening." And then she looked up. Like trees bending under a forest wind, all of Deirdre's people had bent to their quicklinks at the same moment, reading a message. At once they all began to fall, throwing themselves onto the ground. Santiago sprung back, instinctively seeking shelter by the wall. Continue on to part 2... |
