“So you’re saying that you can’t open the gate,” Irons continued.
“Your assumption is correct.”
“Are there any manual devices for opening the gate?”
“No.”
“So how could the crew open the gate in an emergency?”
“By asking me to open it.”
“I see, but you’re not always available,” Irons said. He could barely suppress the sarcasm in his voice.
“It has not always been that way,” the computer replied, almost crossly. “With the passing of time, the number of failed systems has increased, and this has affected my own capacities.”
Irons raised his hand. “All right. I didn’t mean it as a criticism.”
“Now I need to get back to dealing with other tasks. I will contact you when we have made the next hyperjump.” The familiar crackling indicated that the computer had switched off without waiting for an answer.
“What now?” Castle asked.
Irons turned to look at the weapons specialist. His forehead was deeply furrowed and he appeared to look straight through Castle.
“I asked, what—”
“I heard you, Lieutenant,” Irons said gruffly. “Our plans are unchanged. We will explore the remaining corridors and take another look at the gate. Green?”
“Sir?”
“I assume it used to be possible to open the gate manually. No human designer would have built a bulkhead like that without manual controls for an emergency. Maybe you can find a way of opening it for us.”
“But the computer said—”
“I know what the computer said. But maybe it wasn’t given any information about the manual controls for good reason.”
Green nodded. “OK. I’ll take a look at it.”
11.
Jeff was about to ask Irons a question when Owl’s voice blared from the handheld. “Headquarters?”
Jeff adjusted the volume. “HQ here,” he replied.
“The passage was also a dead end.”
Irons grunted.
Jeff wasn’t surprised, since the other intersection near the gate had also led to a dead end after several hundred feet. That left only one more corridor to explore. “Go back to the last crossing and explore the corridor that turns off from it.”
“Understood.”
Jeff looked at Irons, who was sitting beside him. “To be honest, I doubt that corridor will lead anywhere, either.”
Irons leaned forward to look at the map on the screen of his handheld. He nodded slowly but said nothing.
Behind them, Joanne and Castle were sitting at the table having a snack. The weapons expert reached for his bottle of beer, causing Irons to frown. But why shouldn’t he? He wasn’t on duty, after all. Joanne chewed on her sandwich and listened in to the conversations between HQ and the two squads. Shorty and Mac were in their rooms, sleeping.
“HQ?”
“Yes. What is it, Fields? Anything to report?”
“Not really. Green says he can’t find any manual controls near the gate. But we’re going to check out the little room nearby again. We’re not too hopeful, though.”
Jeff shook his head. They were getting nowhere. “Understood,” he said flatly. They would never get that gate open! And what was the point, anyway? The ship was probably just as empty on the other side as it was here. They could have spared themselves all these explorations. Jeff rubbed his temples. He hadn’t slept well and had been plagued by nightmares in which he was being chased by invisible monsters through the ship’s corridors.
Irons looked at him and narrowed his eyes. “Everything OK? You look unwell.”
Jeff waved a hand. “I’m fine. Just didn’t get a great night’s sleep.”
“That can happen,” Irons said laconically.
“What if the last corridor leads Owl and Finni to another dead end?” Joanne asked.
“Then we can stop all these recon trips,” Castle said. He spoke with his mouth full, and a piece of cheese fell out of the corner of his mouth onto the plate. “And just hang out here.”
“You can get that idea right out of your head, Lieutenant!” Irons turned to look at him. “If we stop reconnaissance missions, they will be replaced by patrols.”
“But—”
“You will not spend six months on your butt drinking beer. I can guarantee you that.”
“Oh man!”
“Headquarters?”
Jeff pressed the talk button. “Found something, Fields?”
“Yes, we found something.” His voice was agitated.
Jeff jolted into an upright position. Irons pulled his chair closer. Joanne and Castle got up and hurried over.
“Shoot!”
“We were about to stop searching and go back outside. But then I felt a draught in the corner of the room. I tapped along the wall and suddenly I had a panel in my hand. It looked like a section of the wall, but it wasn’t completely airtight. Behind it is a narrow tunnel, which could be a ventilation shaft. As far as I can see, it leads to the other side of the gate.”
A ventilation shaft? Wouldn’t that have been blocked off, too? Still, it was a chance. Maybe it really would lead to the other side—and another part of the ship.
“Shall we crawl through and find out what’s on the other side?” Fields asked.
Jeff glanced over at Irons. He expected him to tell Fields that he should wait for reinforcements.
“Yes, find out where it leads.”
He’d been wrong on that count.
Irons was probably as curious as Jeff. And why should it be any more dangerous than exploring the corridors around here.
“Green here,” Jeff heard the voice of the engineer. “I can’t get into the tunnel. It’s too narrow, I’ll get stuck. I’m claustrophobic. I’ll get a panic attack.”
Irons rolled his eyes.
Then the heard Fields’ voice. “I’ll go alone. Doesn’t bother me. But Green’s right. It really is narrow.”
Irons sighed and nodded at Jeff. “All right. But Fields shouldn’t go too far and he needs to take the handheld with him. We’ll send Corporal Owens and Herrmannsson to you as soon as we hear from them.”
“Roger. I’m going to start crawling down the tunnel now.”
“A good thing you gave them two flashlights,” Joanne said.
Jeff nodded. “Yeah, we should have done that sooner. You never know when a squad might be separated.”
“The flashlights won’t last forever, though,” Castle pointed out. “At some point the batteries will run out.”
“That’s why the second one should only be turned on in an emergency,” Jeff said.
“In an emergency we can also activate the lights on our combat suits,” Castle said.
“They’re our absolute last resort,” Irons said.
“HQ?” It was Fields. His voice was a distorted by the static, but still understandable.
“What’s your status,” Irons said, taking the handheld from Jeff.
“I’m on the other side. The tunnel was about sixty feet long. In the middle of the tunnel there was a bulkhead, but it was only partly lowered. Perhaps a defect prevented it from closing completely. Still, it was quite a squeeze to get under it. Green would have completely freaked out!”
“Where are you now? What can you see?”
“There was another panel at the end of the tunnel, but that was easy to move. I can’t see anything yet, I’ve attached the flashlight to my belt. Hang on, it’s got caught. Ah, yes, I…” Fields fell silent. “Oh my god!” he whispered.
Jeff started.