“I didn’t realise there was that much. Will and I didn’t get much chance to take a good look. On top of that, we’re communications engineers, not military bods, so wouldn’t know that there was that much stuff in there, although what we did see scared the hell out of us. When we were trying to get out of there, Will bumped into me and that’s when it all fell apart.”
“I suggest we split up. I’ll meet you on the bridge in ten minutes.”
“OK, no problem. I’m happy to let you have a look. It might help inform you as to where we go from here.”
About two minutes after Sarah left him, Billy opened a door and discovered a food storage area, with food boxes piled high near one corner that he felt they could hide behind. Having satisfied himself that this looked a suitable hiding place, he reorganised the boxes to create more hiding space, then returned to the bridge. He called her and told her where to find him, so that he could show her his findings.
“I think that looks suitable. What do reckon?” he asked.
“I agree” responded Sarah. She called the others on her radio. Once they had all congregated outside the storeroom, she said “Sergeant McDowell, I want you and Harling to guard this door and make sure that we’re the only ones who get back here and, if there’s a problem, can provide backup. We’re only going to have a quick look, so don’t expect to be gone more than a few minutes. Norgrove, I’d like you to go back to the bridge and see if you can see how we might fly this thing. From what I can gather, the language is Esperanto. Your suit translator should be able make sense of most of it. You’ll need to make up some labels so the rest of us can cope with it. The translator may not be able to handle everything, though, so you may need to fill in a few blanks. Parsons, see if you can find a galley. I could murder a coffee.”
“You heard the Lieutenant” ordered McDowell, looking at Harling, Norgrove and Parsons. Norgrove, Parsons vanish.”
Addressing the Sergeant and Harling, Sarah asked “Any questions?”
“What exactly might we be expecting, Lieutenant?” asked Harling.
“If I knew, I’d tell you. All I know is that if we’re spotted, we might not be alone and may need your help. If we don’t return within ten minutes, I want you to call HQ and get some real backup. I want this place destroyed. It won’t help us but might stop any attack before it happens. If we don’t get back in time, whilst you’re waiting for the navy, remove these ships and get as much ordnance as you can onto the planet’s surface. If need be, use the ordnance to blow the place. If we’re trapped on the other side, so will they, at least for now. If there are no more questions, we’d better get moving”
“Ma’am. Good luck” replied McDowell.
Billy and Sarah re-entered the storeroom and crouched behind the pile of food storage boxes. Billy pressed the button and the world swirled briefly. They could hear distant voices but they were too indistinct to make out what was being said.
The storeroom was dark, with the door now closed.
“Let’s take a peek” whispered Sarah.
“Better get out your firearm before we leave here. From past experience, these guys don’t seem overly friendly” whispered Billy by way of response.
As Sarah opened the door slightly and peered out, she saw the back of a man walking away from her, arguing about something into a communicator. As he was speaking Esperanto, she had no idea what the argument was about, nor did she want to. As he disappeared into a doorway further down the corridor, she heard a voice shout “Oi, vi en la provizejo” from not too far away.
She turned to see a dark haired man walking towards her then, as she didn’t react, he started to run towards her, trying to pull a weapon from its holster on his waist. He shouted again as Sarah ducked back inside the storeroom. From behind her, Billy saw him turn, too late, still running, towards the door and falling against it. As Sarah was still close to the doorway, she was sent crashing to the floor by the impact, with the man landing on top of her.
“Shit! Get us out of here, Billy” she shouted.
Billy pressed the button and the room changed, and Billy saw a confused pair of cops looking at them.
“Get him” called Billy, without hesitating.
Without thinking, Sergeant McDowell shot the assailant in the shoulder.
As the man groaned on the floor, the Sergeant went over to him, removed the weapon and bound his wrists and ankles.
“It won’t kill you. It will hurt for a while, though” he said to the man.
The man looked back, uncomprehendingly.
Looking at the Lieutenant, he said “Not being sure what to expect, I set it to light stun. If anyone DID follow you through, I assumed we would want to be able to interrogate them. So what did you find, Lieutenant?”
“We didn’t get to see a lot but we saw or heard two individuals, including this one. Bearing in mind this is likely to be a fairly quiet part of the ship, I hate to think how many of them there are on board. Let’s get matey here to the bridge so we can ask a few questions of him.”
The Sergeant and Harling bent down and lifted the man to his feet. He groaned as the arm near the wound was grabbed.
As they entered the bridge, Sarah pointed to an empty chair and said “Sergeant, fasten him to that and we’ll see what we can find out. Norgrove, how’s it going with this ship?”
“Standard-looking controls, Lieutenant. Whilst the layout is different to what we’re used to, there shouldn’t be a problem flying it. I’ve made some labels in English to show what’s what, so we don’t have to keep translating the originals.”
“Good work. Now I need your translating skills over here, so that we can ask this character a few questions. Can you set it to speak Esperanto, not just translate labels?”
“No problem, Lieutenant.”
“Parsons, did you find a galley? That coffee I mentioned earlier is looking even more tempting.”
“Yes ma’am. It’s just off the main access corridor, a few doors down. Should I get something for our guest? Anyone else want anything?”
“I think something cold for our friend here. I don’t fancy anything hot being thrown in my face.”
After the other three officers told him what they wanted, Parsons disappeared off to the galley.
Looking at the prisoner, she said “OK, simple things first. What's your name? I am Lieutenant Hirst.
The translator repeated the question. “OK, simplaj aferoj unue. Kio estas via nomo? Mi Leŭtenanto Hirst.
The prisoner glared back at her but gave his name as James Meredith.
This is going be a long session, as everything has to be translated from what both she and James Meredith said, thought Sarah.
Shortly afterwards, Parsons returned with a tray of drinks and handed them round, with the Sergeant releasing one of the prisoner’s hands, so that he could have his drink.
Harling, can you see if you can find a brig on this ship so we can keep the prisoner safe once I’ve interviewed him?” asked Sarah.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Around an hour later, Harling returned and informed Sarah that, whilst he couldn’t find an official brig, he had found a room which could be used for the purpose where the prisoner could be observed through a window into the adjacent corridor. The only thing lacking was toilet facilities but these were available a couple of doors away from the room. He did, however, remind Sarah that they could always use the brig on their ship, although they would need to find a spacesuit for their prisoner.
“I think we’ll use the room on this ship for now, although I’ll review that when we’re ready to move these ships outside. It would be helpful if you could see if there are any suits anywhere on board. I would expect there to be some to allow any damaged suits to be replaced. Now we’ve had this interruption, a short break for our prisoner and I would be helpful. Parsons, can you take Billy and rustle up some more drinks and cold food for us all, including Mr. Meredith? Biscuits or similar will be fine. Another cold drink for Mr. Meredith.”