In truth, Maddox might have been right keeping Ludendorff under. Dana had no doubt the professor had more ploys to play. Why had she kept the knowledge to herself?
The others are my family, but Ludendorff was my lover. Maybe…No. Don’t go there, Dana. Forget about him. What the two of you had happened a long time ago.
A parameter reading shot up on her device. That shocked Dana. She made adjustments and tried it again. The reading caused the doctor to suck in her breath.
“Is something wrong?” Meta asked from behind.
Dana hesitated answering. She would have liked to search this on her own. What surprised her most was that her hands shook. The shaking caused her to drop the blue device, which clattered onto the tubular flooring.
“Did it break?” Meta asked in a hush.
“What? Oh. No,” Dana said. “I think it’s fine.”
“What’s wrong?” Meta asked. “Something’s troubling you.”
“I, ah, found a false connection. I hadn’t expected that.”
Meta was quiet for a time.
She knows I’m lying. I don’t want to lie. But this is too amazing. I wonder if even Ludendorff knew about this.
“You can trust me, Dana,” Meta said.
As the doctor lay in the access tube, she closed her eyes. Meta loved Maddox. Likely, the former assassin would do just about anything for the captain. Why was it so wrong then for Dana to do things for her lover?
To drown out the turmoil in her heart, Dana focused on the device. The photon connection proved the idea she’d just had. She adjusted the device, following the “line” on the tiny screen. As she did, Dana witnessed a sudden red blossoming.
The breath went out of the doctor. The shaking of her hands worsened. Dana gripped the blue box so it wouldn’t fall again. Her chest constricted. What should I do about this?
“Here,” Dana said hoarsely, handing the delicate device to Meta without looking back.
“I have it,” Meta said. “You can let go.”
“Oh. Yes, of course.” Dana forced to her fingers to release.
Meta put the blue device into the carton. Then, the former assassin cleared her throat. “Dana, something is definitely wrong. I’d like you to tell me what it is.”
Dana frowned. For a moment, she almost hated Meta. Then, the doctor shook her head. That was the wrong emotion to have.
What should I do? I wish I knew exactly what the photon link means.
A cold smile stretched Dana’s lips. She’d just tried to lie to herself. She knew what the photon link meant all right. But no one else would know about this if she kept the knowledge to herself.
“I don’t want to tell you what I’ve just found,” Dana said, finding the words difficult to speak.
“Why not?” Meta asked.
“Because this is even worse than just turning on a few computing systems the professor kept shut off.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Wait. I think I understand. You found more Adok computing power.”
“Maybe,” Dana said, admitting it aloud and knowing that nothing might ever be the same for the human race because of it. She was reminded once again just how sharp the former assassin could be.
“Are you one hundred percent sure about the find?” Meta asked.
“Hand me the device again. I want to double-check this.”
Silently, Meta handed back the blue box.
Dana pulled out the antenna and began the delicate task. After fifteen minutes of testing, she summoned Galyan.
The holoimage appeared in the access tube, half his “body” showing, the rest seemingly embedded in the upper bulkhead.
“A moment,” Galyan said. Then the holoimage crouched beside them. “How can I help?” he asked.
Dana had a short conversation with the AI, showing Galyan her findings.
“How very odd,” Galyan said. “Yes, over there. Scratch the floor at that point.”
Dana crawled until she reached the point Galyan had indicated. She scratched the floor, which only hurt the tips of her fingers. Since Ludendorff’s antics in the Builder base, she had started biting her fingernails down too far again.
“Meta,” Dana said, as she crawled forward out of the way. “Can you scratch the floor here for me?”
“Yes,” Meta said, crawling to the location. “What am I looking for?”
“A small indent and—” Galyan said.
“I think I found it,” Meta said, interrupting the holoimage. “There’s a tiny lip of metal in the indent.” She pulled the lip, and almost magically, a heretofore-invisible outline of a hatch appeared. Meta shined a light on it. “Where does it lead? To another computing chamber?”
“Let’s find out,” Dana said. “If you’ll move aside, I’ll open it and go down first.”
“I can do that,” Meta said. “I’m more expendable.”
“There aren’t any traps, are there, Galyan?” Dana asked.
“I do not know,” the holoimage said, as if surprised. “This access tube hatch is not in my memories. Wouldn’t you say that is odd?”
“I’m not saying anything more,” Dana said. “Now Meta, please, slide over. I’m going down first.”
Reluctantly, the Rouen Colony woman slid out of the way.
Dana had managed to twist around so she faced the hatch, with Meta watching her from the other side. The doctor turned the lip of metal like a key. A harsh metallic sound occurred as the hatch slid open revealing another access tube. This one went down.
The doctor squeezed through the narrow opening, crawling down on closely spaced rungs. She crunched over old crusted Swarm slime. Dana remembered it from the first time they’d boarded the ancient starship. Once—six thousand years ago—Swam warriors had ranged throughout Victory. In the Oort cloud, Star Watch personnel had cleaned out all the crusted slime and Swarm skeletons. Since no one had found this secret hatch before, it was still filthy with ancient debris.
The air in the chamber smelled bad, and Dana began to sneeze from the Swarm dust.
“What’s that crunching noise?” Meta called down.
Dana told her about the crusted slime.
“I don’t like this,” Meta said. “We should call the captain.”
“Not yet,” Dana said. “This is my find. I want to see what’s here first.”
“Is this safe?” Meta asked Galyan.
“I do not know,” the holoimage said from behind. “I would go ahead of you both and check, but I find that I cannot. My probability analyzer shows some troubling data. I suggest we pull back and rethink the venture.”
“No,” Dana said, with the same stubbornness she’d used on her father when he’d told her to come home from college.
Soon, Dana reached another access hatch. There were furious scratch marks and gouges in the metal. Were those from Swarm warriors six thousand years ago? It seemed the most reasonable explanation. Had the warriors failed to gain entry into the inner sanctum of wherever this hatch led?
The scratches together with the crusted slime reminded Dana yet again of the starship’s incredible age. A feeling of awe and excitement welled within the doctor. She was beginning to feel glad she’d checked this out.
For the next two minutes, Dana tried to open the hatch. She finally admitted defeat.
“Let me try,” Meta said.
“I doubt sheer strength will do it,” the doctor said. “But go ahead if you’d like.”
Meta squeezed past the doctor. The stronger woman hunched over the hatch. Dana watched as she shined a light past Meta’s back.
“Ah,” Meta said. “I finally have a grip. Watch out.”
“I’m ready,” Dana said, climbing up just a bit.
Meta gripped something and heaved. A creak of tortured metal and a grinding sound produced several reactions. One of them was a small metal “finger” that popped out of the bulkhead and hissed horribly.
“Meta, look out!” the doctor shouted.