part seven
Lucas was trying not to panic. How could the terrorists have stopped communications? Unless they somehow gained control of the system using the Dead Man's Codes... but they couldn't have those codes, could they? The only copy of the codes were in Secretary General MeGath's office, so there was no way possible... unless they had somehow hacked directly into the onboard system...
Damn it. They had stopped for a while in the docking bay, and sensors had shown an intruder in the systems... if they had over-ridden the communications from onboard the ship, then they could over-ride helm control and the bridge would be useless!
He had to stop them before they gained control. With a frantic pace, he started typing.
Lieutenant Murphree typed at the consul at a furious rate. So far, all was going to plan. He had cut off all ties the seaQuest had with the outside world, and now he was gaining on helm control. He paused a moment to pop his neck and push his glasses up onto his nose before getting back to work. Suddenly, he stopped and grunted in surprise and frustration.
"Commander!" Commander Pierce ran over at the Lieutenant's cry.
"What is it?"
"I've been locked out of the system!"
"What?!? Can they do that? How much had you accomplished?"
"I had yet to gain control of the helm, sir. Someone else was in the system and locked me out. The only way we can gain control of this ship now is by taking over the bridge." He looked back at his screen. "Man, whoever did this must have been elite."
"Lucas." A female voice spoke softly on the other side of Murphree.
"The boy?" Pierce exclaimed. "There's no way--"
"Don't underestimate Ensign Walenczak, Commander. You'll have to take the bridge."
Picallo navigated the long length of swim tubes with ease. Over the tours on seaQuest, he had learned every inch of Darwin's walkways, and they had proved a useful way of hiding from unwanted duties. In a matter of minutes, he had broken the surface of the pool in the bridge and he banged on the roof of the cover that enclosed the pool.
Lucas' startled expression appeared above him then as he pressed the button that released the cover. "Tony, what the hell are you doing?"
"I just thought I'd take a swim. Hello; what do ya' think? I saw these commando-lookin' thugs in the hallway outside the moonpool, so I swam here Ôcause my PAL aint workin'." He took out the object for effect and banged it against the palm of his hand, sending droplets of water spraying everywhere. "I don't think it's ever goin' to work again, either. Here." He handed Lucas the rebreathers. "I grabbed these in case they were headed for the bridge.
"Good thinking, Tony."
"Thanks, Luke."
Lucas leaned over a consul and typed a few commands. In seconds, a cross-section of the seaQuest appeared on the screen, and little blue dots could be seen moving around the ship's interior.
"What is that?" Picallo asked, confused.
"A life scan. It picks up the heat signals that emanate from our bodies and puts them on the screen as blue dots." He peered at it a little closer. "Damn."
"What?"
"They've split." He pointed to a small group of dots working their way up the central corridor. "They're on their way here." Another group of dots had stayed on the docking bay, and the rest had started to spread out, apparently combing the boat for the seaQuest crew.
"We have to do something!"
"Like what, Picallo?!?" Frustration was gleaming from his eyes. "I don't have a clue what to do! I'm not a navy soldier; I'm just a stupid kid pretending to be a scientist."
"Lucas..."
"It's true, Tony! I've got no training for this! Hell, you're better suited to do this than I am!"
"But I'm not the one in charge!" Picallo grabbed Lucas by the shoulders as he said this, shaking him gently. "You're the one with the ensign stripes, Lucas. Captain Hudson trusted you enough to make you an officer. It's time you trusted yourself as well."
"But--"
"No, Lucas. You're an officer in the UEO navy and it's time you started acting like one."
Lucas stared at him for a moment, then dropped his eyes to the floor. Taking a deep breath, he collected himself and settled his nerves. "Okay. Let's shut down the maglev and seal the watertight doors. That should hold them back for a while."
Picallo smiled and let his arms drop. "Yes, sir."
"And Tony? Thanks."
Seaman Wesley Evans crawled through the air vents, sweat pouring down his face. He had climbed up into the crawl spaces right after the men in black had bursted into med-bay. They had gone after a few minutes, leaving him breathless under a bed. After grabbing a few medical supplies, he had pulled himself up into the air-ducks and had been there ever since.
He stopped moving when the crawl-way split into two directions. Shit, he thought. Working in med-bay had never required a working knowledge of the crawl-ways, but he was starting to think that maybe he and Dr. Perry should start requiring it. That is, if he got out of this alive. At the moment, though, he had no clue which way to go. He peered down one fork, then the other, and decided there was absolutely no difference between the two. Closing his eyes, he silently counted, "Eanie, meanie, mienie, moe..." and started down the chosen corridor.
"Luke, ya' gonna be done soon?" Tony paced nervously behind the row of sensor consul as Lucas feverously typed on one of the keyboards.
"I'd be done faster if you would stop interrupting me, Tony," he snapped back. Picallo stopped pacing and tapped his foot, his boots making an annoying sound on the metal floor. They had long ago sent the two crewmembers serving on the bridge away by means of the swim tubes. If everything went to plan, they would all meet soon in the shuttle repair docks. That was, if Lucas could just finish in time...
"Do ya' think we slowed them down?"
"I don't know, Tony," Lucas sighed. "Go check the life-scan."
A few seconds later, Tony returned, his face white and dripping with sweat. "Uh, Lucas?"
"What, Tony?!?"
"They're right outside."
The room fell silent as Lucas and Tony looked at each other, dread written across both their faces. They were startled the next second as a giant banging came from the clam doors.
"Oh, shit!" Tony cried. "They're trying to break through the doors!"
Lucas threw himself back into his work, typing faster then he ever had before.
"Come on, Lucas!" Tony encouraged, but Lucas was concentrating too hard to notice.
Boom! Boom! The pounding on the other side of the doors grew louder with every passing second, and after a moments high pitched squeal started to accompany it.
"Lucas, the doors are giving way!" Tony's voice rose about three octaves.
"Yes!" Lucas finished typing with a flourish and pushed his chair away from the consul. The words "ENCRYPTION COMPLETE" flashed across every available screen. Grabbing the last rebreather, Lucas ran behind Tony towards the moonpool as a final screech came from the doors and they struggled open.
"Go, Tony!" Lucas yelled and with the flourish of a practiced diver, Tony dove into the pool a few feet away.
"Come on, Luke!" he yelled, seeing the terrorists catching up behind Lucas. Glancing behind him, Lucas doubled his efforts and made desperate leap for the pool.
Just as his feet left the ground, one of the terrorists dove for him and grabbed his ankle, making him fall to the floor. His head hit the side of the tank, dazing him.
"Tony... go!" he croaked out as he felt hands grip his arms and haul him to his knees.
Damn it! Tony screamed inside his head as he swam away, darting laser fire.