Chapter 17- battle for the bridge
John banged on the heavy doors to the bridge loudly. The sound echoed down the corridor. He doubted the door would open, but it was worth giving it a go. Mostly because there was no other way they were ever getting onto the bridge. Don had been correct, the Halladon had initiated a takeover scenario, and locked out the bridge with huge blast doors. Even if they'd had the right cutting tools, it would take them days of work to cut through these type of doors, and they did not have days.
In a few hours, the reentry process would be complete and they would be back on the planet, and at the mercy of the light beings on the ship.
Don was running his hands down the walls of the ship beside the heavy doors.
John did not burdening his son in law even further, and placing the weight of their survival upon his shoulders.. The fact was though, that Don was the one who knew ships the best. If there was a way out of this trap, he'd find the solution.
Well that was what they all hoped anyway. Nobody was willing to admit defeat.
When Don stood still, his hands clenched into fists at his side, John knew he was angry. His son in law's face was red, and his eyes almost blazed with fury. When he was like this, he could actually be dangerous. That anger could easily spiral out of control and end with Don injuring himself.
"Bloody light beings", Don stormed, as he stomped down the corridor in an overly loud manner. Each footstep brought forth a loud clanging sound, that echoed around them.
John hurried after him, anxious to move Don away from angry mode and back into thinking. Penny and Will, were looking worried and Don's behaviour was not helping them to stay calm.
Stay clam, was he actually kidding himself. How could any of them feel calm.
Yet it was important that they did not lose hope. If they lost focus and allowed themselves to let loose their own anger, then nothing would get done. None of the others were going to stop Don, so it was up to him. John started to jog, hoping he could catch up with his angry son in law.
Don had made it to the reactor room and hurried inside. What was he going to do in there, John wondered. His powerful anger had to have some outlet. Worrying about essential components getting damaged John quickly wiggled himself into a suit and followed. Don was coming out of the main room as he was entering ,with his arms filled with glowing rocks.
He rushed past John, down the corridor, and dumped the rocks into the air lock. He then blew them out into space.
A high pitch laugh sounded through the corridors. "Really Major, all that anger. Your actions will achieve nothing, there are more rocks on the bridge, as well as hidden in various places all over this ship." You might as well just give up trying to stop us".
Don banged his fists against the sides of the ship. "Well I won't give up", he declared.
That laugh sounded again, "that is expected". But it is fruitless Major. There is no way to gain control of this ship, and the Jupiter 2, is in a decompressed hangar bay. Since a slight accident happened to all the spacesuits, there is no way of gaining access." So run around believing you can stop us. It won't affect us at all".
Don hit the sides of the ship for another 5 minutes. His hands were becoming red and sore.
The others did not try to console him, or ask him to stop. They felt the same, yet did not even have the energy for anger. Don obviously did, and the display was becoming disturbing.
When Don finally hunched forward, his chest heaving and he slowly began to regain control over his emotions, John breathed a sigh of relief. Finally after about ten minutes his son in law then beckoned them forward. He had a piece of paper in his hand."There is something we can do to regain control. I have some jobs for all of you. "Penny, Will and Doctor Smith, I would like you to search the ship and find every piece of machinery, that is portable. Bring them all to me in the visitors lounger, and I will search for the parts I will need to cause an overload to the doors."
"John I need you to find a way to link the systems of this ship, to the ones on the Jupiter. They cannot lock out the functions of our own ship, so we need to use that to our advantage. It will be finding any redundant system still functioning on this ship that is the difficult part." Do what you can", Don concluded.
"I will be with Judy until you come and tell me your jobs are complete. Being with her and concentrating on the birth will keep the aliens guessing my ultimate plan". Don gave them a small smile. "All is not lost", he wrote.
All of them breathed out a sigh if relief. If Don thought there was hope, then they could not give up. The plan was likely one that stood a slim chance of succeeding. But John had to not think about what would happen if they lost. He would concentrate on the task he'd been given and hope that it gave them control of this ship.
"What if they try and stop us", Will squeaked out the question in a small worried voice.
"At the moment time is on their side", Don said frankly. "They can just wait for the inevitable". So I doubt they will do much more than verbally challenge us. Be wary though. They will not give up easily either".
No not when they believe victory was close, when they had their prey locked inside a prison they could not escape.
"Be careful",was John's parting words to Penny ,Will and Doctor Smith as they hurried away to undertake their part of the plan.
"We will be", Will replied. He reflected that being brave and bold and not listening to his father, would be something he would never do again.
"Let's go back to that laboratory", Penny suggested. Doctor Smith sighed , his stomach was still telling him it needed to be fed, and there was no sign of food in that lab. Suck it up Smith he told himself.
Penny ,skipped past Smith to walk beside her brother. "What do you think Don's plan might be", she asked frankly. Will swallowed, he was dreading that question. Sometimes he wished his mind could just stop thinking, stop trying to figure things out. Because his mind was telling him, that Don's logic was flawed, there was no way to open the bridge doors. Surely that could not be right. There had to be some way.
His silence was frightening Penny. She slipped her hand into his and squeezed hard. "Please tell me there is a way Will. " She could feel her body shaking, as fear came storming back. Now all she wanted to do was cry.
"There is a way. Don just can't tell us, or else the light beings will pick up his thoughts", Let's just get on with this plan", Will faked the confidence in his voice. He gave his sister a hug. "We need to work together for this to succeed", he added.
That was another thing that had changed. He no longer wanted to be alone.
"We are going to need something to carry all the machines", Smith told them. "Otherwise we will be making many trips, and will use all our energy quickly'.
"What about the bedding, from one of the crew quarters. We can pile all the machines on top and then drag it along, Penny suggested.
"Yeah that should work", Will replied.
They had reached the laboratory. Nervously they entered. Each of them went to one of the machines and began to disconnect it from the wall. "You know he's lying. There is no way of opening those doors". That was a chorus of voices intertwined. It echoed around them.'
Will stopped. That was what his mind had told him. Don had given them a hopeless mission.
"You are the ones who are lying. Stop trying to distract us", Penny yelled out the words. She could feel herself beginning to lose control. Because inwardly, she also thought the light beings were telling the truth. She may not be as smart as Will, but she knew enough to figure out that once a ship was in lockdown mode, nothing functioned. Simply using parts from machines, was not going to activate a door locked from the inside.
But she would not let herself admit defeat. That would mean that she would become one of these horrible beings. She would have no mercy. Then she would no longer be a friend to lost animals, no longer want to help those who were in trouble. She would lose the best parts of herself. That could not happen. When she spoke it was with a commanding voice that actually shocked her. "Ignore them Will. They are just trying to aggravate us".
"And succeeding", the voices mocked. "Deep down you all know we are not lying. Just give up this hopeless quest. Go back to the visitors lounge and wait. We promise the takeover will be as painless as possible."
"Shut up, Shut up", Doctor Smith picked up one of the machines and threw it into the corner of the room, aiming for the speaker hidden in the darkness.
He turned to the children. "if they are trying that hard to get us to stop. Then it tells us the Major is right".
Will and Penny stared at him with their mouths hanging open. He should be running around complaining about doom, not being a motivational speaker.
Smith was thinking to himself. These beings are probably right, but I am not dying on an empty stomach. I need a last meal, and it better be one that is worthy of my last moments. "We need to concentrate on our plan". Let's search every room on this ship." Surely there would be a chocolate cake ,somewhere on this ship.
"You don't have time to do that", came a scornful reply from the Halladon light beings. "So don't waste what time you have left. Donald West, knows there is no way to stop us. It's there in his mind . Why don't you go and ask him."
Will could feel the cold sweat gathering on his forehead. His feet were turning, as his body took the automatic steps that would lead him back to the medical section. There he would yell, and tell Don that he was old enough to be told the truth.
What would that achieve he wondered, would feel he feel satisfied that he knew their situation was hopeless. No of course not. All he would feel was despair. He'd want to give up.
He stopped himself moving toward the delivery suite. "Let's search the crew quarters ", he told Penny and Doctor Smith. At least it would give them something to do.
Doctor Smith's reached out his hand and grabbed Penny and Will's firmly. He had that feeling again. The one he always got, when doom was approaching. But perhaps he should be like Will, just boldly look doom in the face and keep on moving.
"Come on Penny and Will, we have work to do", Smith declared brightly. He was thinking of chocolate cake covered in cream and that made his voice sound hopeful. It was amazing what thinking of food could do.
Pulling the machines from the walls. Smith ,Penny and Will each dragged one out of the laboratory and down the corridor.
They needed more machines before the returned to Don.
xxxx
John was staring at the Jupiter 2. It could be their salvation. Of course the light beings knew that. So they had made sure that salvation was unobtainable. If he opened the doors to the hangar bay, he would be sucked out into space. The ship had been firmly secured, so that it too would not move about and cause damage to this ship.
How was he going to fulfil Don's task. A memory sparked in his mind. He turned and ran down the crridor toward the air lock. That system was still functioning.
It only took him a few seconds to get there. Quickly he activated the system. He could override the system, and force it to communicate with the bridge of the Jupiter 2. It was a quick work around that would only take about ten minutes. Only one minute into the operation the system went dead."You really should just give up John Robinson", one of the light beings taunted through the comm lines. "We left this system functioning on purpose, just to let you think you had hope. It is fun to taunt your species, they are so dramatic. Why don't you satisfy us, and go into a rage like Donald West".
"There is no way I am going to give you that satisfaction, John replied. Thought he admitted he really wanted to have a massive temper tantrum. At least that way all the anger he was holding inside would be released. It would not achieve anything though.
It is you that should give up", John threw back calmly. He would have to be smarter next time and not think too much. Though it was going to be difficult to outthink beings who were reading his mind.
"We hold the winning hand John Robinson. That is what you say, in the game of poker, is it not. What your son in law is doing is called a bluff in that game. He trying to make us believe he can win. To sow doubt and let our guard down. It won't work. Applying human traits to us is a flawed strategy." "But I guess you have to try. To not admit defeat is also very human."
"You know, all those unnecessary qualities will fade away once we have control. It will be a better life. You should just go back to the visitors lounge ,close your eyes and surrender to the inevitable. All you are doing is tiring your body and mind, which will ultimately make the takeover more painful for you. Is that what you want John Robinson, for you and your family feel yourselves being sucked away, in an agonising way, that seems to last forever. The process can be relatively painless, if you surrender. If not for yourself ,do it for your children". The words were said softly, in almost compassion.
John felt the hot tears beginning to gather in his eyes. The aliens had touched a nerve. He did not want his children to suffer.
"Shut up, shut up", John screamed out the words. Stuff holding in his anger. He began to thump the walls, just like Don had a short time ago. As he thumped he let the tears flow.
"How's it going John, have you found a way to link this craft to the Jupiter yet?", Don asked. He sounded almost hopeful.
John stopped thumping and took a shaky breath, "not yet Don, I am still working on the problem".
"Shut up light beings, he repeated softer. "I am not quitting yet".
Another thought occurred to him, and he buried it deeply. The communication lines were very active. He should make use of them.
Invigorated he almost skipped down the corridor.
"There is no hope John Robinson", the taunting voices followed him.
xxxx
Judy was relieved when Don returned to her side. She clung onto his sweaty palm, and studied his face intently. This ship was still going through the reentry process. Don had not done anything to prevent what was going to happen. Maybe that was why her labour had abruptly stopped. Deep inside her womb, the babies knew they were in danger. They were hiding in the safest place .
Her mother looked worried. Because her body was feeling the strain of this latest development. Labour should not just stop.
Grabbing hold of her husband' head she pulled it down beside her. "Tell me the truth Don, is all hope lost", she demanded.
Don reached down to stroke her stomach. His mouth would not work. That did not stop his mind, repeating like a mantra, "there is nothing we can do, there is nothing we can do".
"Hope is never lost", is what he eventually said to his wife. Deep down he knew she did not believe him.
Judy just reached for his hand, and held it tightly. At least we will have this time together, she told herself.
She looked over at her mother and saw the tears. it was evident she had not believe Don's message of hope.
When the ship's shaking increased, and an alarm started to blare, Judy thought the end must be close.
xxxx
Penny, Will and Smith found themselves being thrown to the ground. They had only managed to retrieve six machines so far. "Is this the end", Smith declared. "Are we close to the planet".
"We must be", Will stated.
Another alarm started to blare with an intensity that had him placing his fingers in his ears.
"What's happening, has something gone wrong", Penny asked.
xxxx
John was thinking the same. He had just reached another terminal, and was about to hack into the communication systems, when the jolting threw him forward into the terminal. It promptly sparked a few times ,then went dead. "Dammit", he swore.
Growling, to himself John began to rapidly hit all the buttons on the terminal. He knew it was no longer functional, but he did not care. He had to believe something would happen.
It did. One by one the corridor lit up with red lights, and alarms began to sound.
Then there was another violent jolt.
Perhaps, they were going to enter the planets atmosphere in a hard ride, that might actually tear the ship apart.
At least that would be the end the light beings did not count on happening.
He clung to the sides of the corridor, while the ship shook around him. it was like being in a storm. Odd pieces of metal rattled down the corridor bumping up and down as they went. Lighter pieces of paper flew about, hitting from side to side like a weird game of tennis.
John found nausea beginning to rise, as his stomach protested about the wild ride.
It was lucky he had not had much to eat.
He was just about to vomit what was in his stomach all over the deck, when the shaking stopped.
xxxxx
"Got to go Jude, be back soon", Don pulled his hand away from his wife's and went sprinting out of the room.
Maureen watched him go, with her mouth open in shock.
"What's he doing", she asked Judy. Judy shrugged in response.
Her answer came approximately 3 minutes and 25 seconds later.
"This is Donald West, speaking from the bridge, I have gained control of this vessel, and are returning to space. "We are safe."
When Judy felt an intensive contraction rippled through her womb, she knew that he was not lying.
Penny, Will ,Doctor Smith", what did you do", her mother demanded through the comm line.
"Umm nothing",Will replied. "Same here Maureen, I did not really have time to do what Don suggested, John added.
"So what happened, how did Don get on the bridge and where are the light creatures", Judy wanted to know.
"We will see if we can find out what happened", John replied.
John ,Doctor Smith, Penny and Will, all raced to the bridge from their locations.
They found Don bent over a control panel, all alone.
Through the large viewscreen they could see the planet rapidly getting smaller as the ships labouring engines fired them upward.
"They could never completely damage the ships engines. There always had to be enough power to maintain the ships position, and then to go through the rigours of reentry, when they were ready". All the stones were doing was draining energy. So that's why I threw them out of the air lock. Giving them an angry display, was just playing to what our audience expected of us", Don told them,
He opened the communication lines so Judy and Maureen could hear what he said.
"Where are the light creatures", Will was still feeling jumpy, not quite believing they were safe.
"That violent jolt was them, and all over foreign material being jettisoned into space", Don replied.
He turned to face them. "I always knew we had the upper hand". Because they are only thinking with their fractured minds. This ship has operating via programmed parameters. Lucky for us, they did not really understand those parameters"
"I beleived there was nothing you could do', Judys tearful voice told him honestly.
"I had to think that, so they would not guess, that the answer was that we don't need to do anything", Don told her. Right from the brginning they admitted their own flaws. The told us, we would be taken over once we reached the planet'.
Will smiled then, 'that's right. So that meant they could not actually take us over now, otherwise why wait".
"So perhaps the stones, were just sustaining them, and that's all. They had limited functionality as they were not on the planet", John added
"That's, what I figured", Don agreed. "So I knew we did not have to worry about being forced out of our own bodies".
"So now we come to their next mistake. "They had initiated a takeover scenario, thinking that was the way to ensure we would never gain control over this ship". What they did not realise is that a take over scenario relies heavily upon the ships sensors.' The ship monitors the location of the hostile forces, which allows the crew too easily overcome them.'
Don grinned widely, "when the ships sensors searched for the signs of a hostile force, they would have only detected one lot of life signs". So then the ships programming decided that what was actually happening was an infection. The hypothesis was that the bridge was locked out because all the crew there had been infected by a contagious illness and were trying to prevent its spread. The lack of life signs meant the crew on the deck were all dead". So the ship then had to preserve what life was left. It did not matter if we were an invading force. All ships have buried code, deep in the programming system, that preserves life at all costs, no matter who or what that life is." It is a program that cannot be rewritten or erased".
"Thankfully the light creatures would not have known about that programming". So they fell victim to the ships own systems, that decided the bridge needed to be cleansed".
Don leaned over a console, tapping it rapidly. The system confirms that a rapid decompression occurred that sucked the light creatures, and their rocks, out into space".
"Maybe they were all not on the bridge. We encountered one in the crew quarters", Will told Don.
"If there are any left, then they will soon die. The further away from the planet we get, the less 'power', or whatever those remaining rocks will have. Now all we have to do, is dump the rest of them out of the airlock", Don told them.
"We now have control of this vessel, and can make use of it to repair the Jupiter." Don shivered. "I don't think any of us want to live here permanently. It is kind of like a ghost ship. But it does have good medical services".
"Yes , it does, and right now those medical systems are telling me that the birth of the twins is close. So you better get here now", the last bit was yelled by Judy.
Don turned to John, "the ship is yours for now John. You don't have to do much, as the systems have control". I would suggest you recharge the robot then use him to dispose of any remaining light rocks".
"Don come now", Judy begged.
Don did not wait any longer ,heading for the door at a run.