He reached behind him to take the flashlight out of Joanne’s hand. Joanne noticed what he wanted and pressed the small cylinder into his trembling hand. He pointed the flashlight around the corner and laid his thumb on the button. He knew he wouldn’t like what he was about to see. Adrenalin flooded his body—ready to respond to whatever horror awaited him. He took a deep breath. And pressed the button.
It all happened very fast. He was staring into a demonic grin—right in front of his face. Before he could react, the figure sprang toward him with outstretched arms. The creature screamed, an inhuman roar. Jeff let go of the flashlight, which clattered to the ground. He was blind again. He stumbled backward and yanked Joanne with him. She screamed in surprise. Their legs got tangled and they both fell to the ground. But even as they fell, Jeff pulled his pistol from his holster. He should have done it minutes ago! It might be the mistake that cost them their lives. Frantically, he tugged at his weapon, and released the trigger even as he was pulling it out.
To his boundless surprise, the roar of the monster turned into a laugh. A human laugh, which he knew only too well. The beast stepped back into the cone of light from the fallen flashlight and Jeff groaned with a mixture of irritation and relief. “Mac, you fucking idiot!”
Now Shorty stepped into the light and joined in Mac’s raucous laughter. He slapped himself on the thigh.
Jeff closed his eyes and tried to get rid of the pent-up adrenaline. He took a deep breath, counted to twenty in his head, then exhaled again. He opened his eyes and saw Shorty with his back against the wall, crying with laughter. Mac had fallen to his knees and was clutching his stomach.
Jeff picked up the flashlight and stood up. Then he turned around and helped Joanne to her feet. She looked him in the eyes and he knew exactly what she wanted to say. He nodded. He couldn’t let them get away with this. “There will be consequences,” he said softly.
His panic had turned into anger. He was still pumped up with adrenaline. He turned to the still laughing men, pursed his lips, and squared his shoulders.
“Attention!” he said loudly.
The men looked up, but didn’t make much of effort to adopt the military position.
“The next time I say ‘Attention’ and you haven’t taken up position within two seconds, I will make sure that you do not leave your sleeping quarters for the rest of your flight. Is that clear?” Jeff was surprised how icy his voice sounded.
The men’s laughter petered out. It didn’t seem to have occurred to them that they might have overstepped the mark this time.
“Attention!” Jeff repeated.
This time the men adopted the correct stance.
Jeff pulled his pistol from his holster and held it in front of his chest without pointing it in a particular direction. “Did you two idiots even stop to think that you might have been shot?”
Mac shook his head. “We just discovered that one of the intersections led in exactly your direction. We saw the light of your flashlight and thought we’d play a little joke.”
“A little joke…” Jeff repeated icily.
“Yeah, to lighten up the mood around here.”
To lighten up the mood?
He was starting to boil with rage. “Since leaving your rooms, you haven’t stopped laughing and making jokes at our expense. As far as I can tell, your mood is light enough as it is.”
“Yeah, but—” Shorty began.
“Enough,” Jeff hissed. He put his gun back in his holster. “Next time there will be a price to pay. Is that clear?”
Shorty nodded, but Mac continued grinning.
“Come on, let’s go,” Jeff said, pulling Joanne with him into the other corridor. Shorty and Mac walked back in the direction they had come, chuckling, and soon Jeff could no longer see the light of their flashlights.
“Next time there’ll be a price to pay?” Joanne asked incredulously.
Jeff lifted a hand. “They were just kidding around.” What should he have done? Sent them back to their quarters and put them under arrest? Given them two weeks’ kitchen duty? That would have been ridiculous. At least he had told them he didn’t condone their tasteless jokes.
Joanne tightened her lips and shook her head.
“I’ll report the junction to headquarters,” Jeff said, changing the subject.
He took his handheld out of his belt pocket. Irons answered the call directly. Jeff reported their position and the direction they were going.
“Private Short and Private McGuinness are exploring the corridor that ought to lead in your direction. Don’t be alarmed if you bump into them.”
Joanne groaned.
Jeff sighed. “We just met them at our position.” Should he inform on them? He didn’t see the point. “They went back the other way and are continuing their recon.”
Joanne groaned again.
“Understood,” Irons said and signed off.
Jeff handed the flashlight back to Joanne and continued down the corridor. About forty feet ahead of them was another intersection. They continued in silence until they reached it. Jeff stopped in front of the turning and leaned his head forward to look round the corner. “Oh,” he said. “A dead end.” The corridor ended in a wall several feet away.
“Not quite. There’s a door. Let’s see what’s behind it,” Joanne said, moving closer. Jeff hurried after her.
“Shall I open it?” Joanne asked, pointing at the silver square on the wall.
Jeff nodded and the heavy steel door hissed open.
Together they stepped over the threshold.
“Pretty big,” Joanne remarked, playing the light of her flashlight across the walls.
Jeff nodded. The room was about the size of a small football stadium. The ceiling was far above them. In fact, he guessed where it was more than he could actually see it. The walls were lined with shelves.
“Maybe a storage room,” Joanne said. Together they walked toward the opposite wall.
Jeff stopped in the middle of the room and looked around. Following a sudden impulse, he clapped his hands. Again, there was no echo. He sighed. “It’s possible, I guess.”
“Well there’s nothing being stored here now, that’s for sure,” Joanne said dryly.
Jeff reached the wall of shelves opposite the entrance. He climbed a ladder that was leaning against the shelves until he had a good view of the room and the upper shelves. Yup—all empty. “Maybe it used to be a storeroom, when the ship had a crew. And they emptied it when they left the ship.”
“If it weren’t for that computer, you’d think we were on a ghost ship,” Joanne said. She stood at the bottom of the ladder and looked up at Jeff.
Carefully he made his way back down, rung by rung. There was nothing of real interest in here. “As far as I’m concerned it is a ghost ship.” When he reached the bottom, he fumbled for his handheld. “I’ll report back to base. Let’s go back outside.”
Joanne followed him into the corridor where Jeff activated his handheld. Irons replied immediately.
“We reached a dead end. There’s a big room at the end, but it’s completely empty. We’re not going to get any further in this area.”
“Join Private Short’s squad immediately. The two men have found something.”
Jeff was all ears. It would be the first time since the beginning of the reconnaissance mission that they had found anything.
“What?” Jeff asked. He could hardly keep the excitement out of his voice. Joanne moved up closer to him.
“A gate,” Irons said.
“A gate?” Jeff asked.
“Or a bulkhead. Go and see for yourselves. I’ll give you the coordinates.”