“Thank you, I have no idea if…”
With a loud hissing noise, the metal hood retracted back into the chair.
Rubbing his head, Jeff leaned forward and got up just in time to see the light alien darting out the door.
Jeff felt dizzy and slumped back down in the chair again. What he had just learned was almost too much to process.
After a few minutes, he was finally able to get back on his feet. Did they really stand a chance of getting to the center of the ship? There were only three of them left—or two, really, assuming Joanne was under the control of the demon. And if they did, was there really a way out of this ship? Perhaps even a way of saving his father? He was annoyed with himself that he hadn’t asked the alien about this. More and more questions flooded his mind which would now remain unanswered.
Jeff felt sick just thinking of the burden of responsibility if he failed, and what would happen to the prisoners, whose avatars were still torturing each other in the cavitys.
Slowly, he made his way back to the main corridor, and back to Green and Joanne.
When Jeff entered the room, Green looked up. He was sitting next to Joanne, who was still tied to the floor, asleep. Green looked tired, but that was hardly surprising.
“Where are Mac and Shorty?” Green asked.
“Dead,” Jeff answered, picking up Castle’s weapon.
He sat down next to Green and stared down at the ground.
“Oh god… what happened?” the engineer wanted to know.
“Don’t ask,” Jeff mumbled.
“But…”
“Not now,” Jeff said. “Please.”
“All right.” There was resignation in Green’s voice. “So the mission failed.”
In response, Jeff threw down the bag with the levitation belts.
“You got them?” Green was amazed. He took one of them out of the bag, turned it around slowly in his hand, and put it back. Then he pointed at Joanne. “What do we do with her?”
“Has she said anything?”
“No,” Green answered. “I gave her a sedative. I reckon she’ll sleep for a while. Shall we leave her here or take her with us?”
Jeff didn’t need to consider long. “We’ll take her with us. I don’t want to leave her here alone.” Even if she was under the control of the demon, he couldn’t desert her. Maybe there was a way of freeing her from the devil’s influence.
“OK,” Green said. “So are we leaving?”
We ought to get going right away, Jeff thought. But he was so exhausted, he knew he wouldn’t manage it. He had to sleep—just a few hours. And Green looked pretty exhausted, too.
“We’ll rest for four hours, then we’ll go.”
“Who’ll keep watch first?”
Jeff wanted to laugh out loud, but stopped himself. What was the use of keeping guard? Joanne was tied up. And if he or Green were taken over by the demon in their sleep, they were doomed in any case. Their only chance was to get into the ship’s control room as quickly as possible and find that switch. But he didn’t tell Green this. Nor did he say anything about his encounter with the light alien. Perhaps Joanne was only pretending to be asleep in order to follow their conversation. Which meant the demon would be listening, too.
“Forget it,” Jeff said shortly. “We’ll risk it without keeping watch.”
“OK,” Green said. He yawned and curled up on the bare floor. After just a few seconds, he started to snore.
It took Jeff longer to fall asleep. He couldn’t stop going over and over his encounter with the alien. Too many questions were still unanswered. And he was terrified of failing.
32.
“How far to the sphere again?” Jeff asked.
He looked up at the dark-gray orb—the ship’s epicenter.
“Six miles,” the engineer answered. “Who’ll take Joanne?”
Jeff sighed. “I’ll do it.” He leaned over his still unconscious companion and activated the levitation belt. He adjusted the inertia negation. Joanne no longer weighed anything and Jeff lifted her up effortlessly until she was hovering level with his waist. He attached her belt to his own with a hook and placed his left arm under her hip.
“Let’s go!” Jeff said. “You fly ahead.”
Green didn’t answer but drifted upward like a helium balloon whose string had broken.
With his right hand, Jeff activated his own levitator and followed the engineer up into the alien sky.
The inner wall of the outer part of the ship was so smooth and featureless, it was very difficult to judge how high above the ground they were—and how far it was to the surface of the sphere. Only the radar on his suit provided numbers, which the computer projected onto the HUD of his helmet.
The view was truly breathtaking. Surreal. As if he had taken off from the bottom of an enormous bowl and was now steering toward the huge orb that hovered over it. It was the stuff of a feverish dream.
Jeff was almost level with Green when his legs suddenly jerked upward. Frantically, he manipulated his flight belt, trying to stabilize himself. It took a while until he stopped spinning around his own axis.
Green was having an easier time of it. But he wasn’t carrying Joanne, who did add extra bulk although she weighed nothing.
“The vector of gravity has changed again,” Green stated. As if Jeff hadn’t noticed. The ground was now no longer the inner shell of the outer ship area, but the surface of the central sphere.
He felt like he was about to vomit.
These damn gravity changes!
Finally they reached the new ground. Green pointed at a light-gray square a few miles away. “That could be the door to the lock,” he said.
Jeff shrugged. “Let’s give it a try. Lead the way.”
Green flew ahead, and a few minutes later they landed next to a square door that really did seem to be an airlock hatch. Several feet in diameter, it was more than big enough for them to get through. Jeff carefully laid Joanne down on the ground, but made sure her belt was still activated. Somehow they had to get into the airlock. He looked around. There were no control mechanisms. If the interior really was hermetically sealed, they would never be able to get in, and this whole journey would have been in vain.
“Hey,” Green nodded at the hatch. “It’s opening on its own.”
He was right. The hatch retracted slightly and then slid sideways into the wall. The chamber behind it came into view.
Green stood on the threshold, jumped up, and floated inside with the help of his belt.
Jeff hesitated. It made no sense to hermetically seal off the interior, if the hatch simply opened every time someone came along. He was pretty sure it was an invitation. Did the demon really want them to enter the epicenter of his kingdom? And if so, why? What made them so damned valuable? Or was this all just some kind of perfidious game?
“Are you coming?” Green asked. “I don’t want the hatch to close again and end up in here by myself.”
Jeff nodded. Their aim had always been to get to the center. But they had to stay on their guard more than ever. Gently, he picked up Joanne, stepped onto the threshold, and sank to the ground on the other side. He had barely reached the bottom when the hatch closed behind them. This was followed almost immediately by the whistle of incoming air.
Finally, a hatch opened on the opposite wall. Jeff checked the air pressure and opened the helmet of his suit. Cool, fresh air stroked his face.
“Ahhh,” Green closed his eyes in appreciation after also taking off his helmet.
“Wow, for the first time since we’ve been on board this ship, the air is good.” Jeff stepped through the hatch and found himself in a sterile white room about the size of a small auditorium. It was a typical airlock antechamber; it could have been on board a terrestrial ship. Cabinets, shelves, and equipment were dotted around the room. Double doors led to the other side. Green was already heading for the doors. Jeff followed with Joanne.