It's been a while, but here's the penultimate chapter. As ever, I can't thank Teresa enough for her attempts to make this fic halfway decent, and what follows is still my own fault.
Many, many thanks also go to the lovely people who kindly reviewed and left comments; they're all greatly appreciated :)
Big Finale: No-one can hear you scream deep underwater…
Lucas charged into Docking Bay 9 and slammed his hand over the airlock close button, the door hissing shut infuriatingly slowly. He span around and ran to the sub, but as he arrived, he choked back a sob; the bloody copper pipe was placed carefully on the pilot's seat.
Eyes wide in fear, Lucas swivelled around mindful that it may have been put there by someone or something still nearby, but as he swung the light-beam around the near empty bay, he decided that he must be alone.
His fingers fumbled with the frozen catches as he hauled up the Perspex door, but he paused, staring at the pipe. He couldn't bear to touch it, nausea at the sight of the dried blood and hair matted at the end made his legs weak. Instead he climbed in awkwardly, stood on the seat and kicked it away. As it clanged on the metal deck, Lucas quickly threw his laptop and flashlight into the hold, fastened shut the Stinger door and flipped on the comms channel.
"Tim? Patterson? Anyone there?"
Silence. Lucas's heart clenched painfully with the swirl of adrenaline that pulsed through his body.
With increasing desperation he repeated his call.
"SeaQuest respond! This is Lucas at the Nambela-Swales Station…hello?"
Despite the biting cold, perspiration trickled into his eyes, and as he wiped his face he streaked his cheeks with the man's blood.
Come on, don't lose it now.
He punched the communications console desperately, trying different channels.
"SeaQuest open channels… Where the hell are you?" he shouted, panicking.
He couldn't leave the station without the launch sequence being initiated by someone either in the docking bay control centre, or remotely beyond the station. He was trapped.
Hiss, crackle and contact was established.
"It's gone 8:30 - did you oversleep?" Tim started to joke.
"Get me the hell out of here NOW!"
Tim paused. "Are you…?"
"Just initiate launching sequence for bay 9 right now. Do it!" Lucas's voice cracked at the end.
"Lucas – are you alright?" Bridger's concerned voice filtered through.
"Not really, no. Things haven't exactly gone to plan." Lucas said quickly, and glanced back at the window of the airlock. There was no one. "Some psycho's down here and he wants me divested of my limbs, so if we could please just get this going, I'd really appreciate it."
He heard the captain take a sharp intake of breath.
"We're still over two hours away…I can scramble some fighter subs to help you?"
"There's no time, Captain! Just start launch sequence." Lucas's knuckles were translucent as he gripped the pilot controls in frustration. They seemed to be missing the urgency of the moment and he had to bite back his temper that was blooming.
He jumped when the bay sprang into action; a klaxon blared, yellow lights flashed and the voice of the bay computer issued a message:
"Warning all personnel in Docking Bay 9. Bay preparing for flooding".
The message, lights and klaxon repeated the cycle for over a minute, leaving Lucas grinding his teeth.
Come on, come on, come on…
Finally the klaxon and computer warning ended. As the sluice valves opened and water started to stream into the bay, Lucas closed his eyes and rested his head against the controls. His heart pounded and his head ached, his body so, so tired.
Nearly there, nearly going home.
Only moments later, his head snapped up at the sound of a heavy implement battering the door. There, in the flashing yellow light, he saw the broken face of the man behind the glass of the airlock window. Lucas stared in wide-eyed terror at the man's furious glare.
"He's here! He's at the door..." Lucas gasped.
The external bay doors would only open allowing the Stinger to leave if the water pressure within the bay equalised to the external crushing pressure of the ocean. Lucas sized up the airlock door and guessed the amount water that would be lost through the airlock that the man was now pounding, would be equivalent to the volume of water pouring in through the sluice valves.
If that airlock went soon, he wasn't leaving.
He could only hope that the airlock door held fast until the water pressure inside the bay reached a level that made breaking it down impossible.
The repetition of the axe blows punctuated the silence as the man continued to smash away.
"He's coming, Captain - he's going to come in!" Lucas whispered in terror.
"Hold in there Lucas, water level up to 20%"
Lucas could hear the captain's voice was heavy with dread and anger at his helplessness. If the man did gain access, Lucas was going to terminate the comms channel - he didn't want Bridger or anyone else to bear witness to his slaughter.
Lucas tore his eyes away from the impending disaster unfolding at the airlock to watch something floating in the water. The copper pipe swirled around and smacked against the Stinger. Lucas wondered darkly if the pipe was to be the instrument of his death.
Oh the irony. Why else would it be here, in my seat? he wondered vaguely.
He sat shaking and waiting, trying to estimate how high the water would have to reach against the door verses the inherent strength of the airlock fabric that was being tested beyond normal endurance. Not long until…
His thoughts were interrupted by the window of the airlock finally cracking and disintegrating as the man's fist punched through. The shattered glass floated in the water, winking in the flashing yellow light.
Holy crap. This was the end. He should have kept the copper pipe with him – at least he could have gone down fighting. But no, he was to sit here trapped in his little machine for the man to come and crush his life.
Yet, as Lucas watched, the man tried to fumble and reach the door control button through the window, but couldn't quite make it - his fingertips brushing too lightly against the pad. Maybe luck was on his side for once.
The man gave a roar of anger and the hair on Lucas's neck stood to attention.
"Lucas – what's happening? Are you still safe?"
"I don't know Captain. He's broken the window but can't get the airlock open. The airlock window is too small to stop the bay eventually reaching pressurised equilibrium – more water's coming in through the sluices than can get through that hole. I might be OK."
As Lucas watched, the man's bloody, swollen face stared at him and then abruptly left the window.
"Captain - he went away, he's given up." Hope blossomed in Lucas' heart.
Water continued to flood the bay.
"85% capacity Lucas – circa five minutes to go to launch."
Lucas strapped in, powered up the Stinger and started his pre-launch check.
"Lucas, I'm… what…". Tim halted, perplexed.
Lucas barely heard Tim conferring with the captain.
"Tim - what?" Lucas enquired, fear twisting in his gut.
"Lucas, the launching sequence has stopped. The commands are coming from elsewhere – from within the station." Tim replied quietly, trying not to alarm the overwrought boy.
Lucas blinked. Of course he wouldn't give up. The man was in the docking port control centre, and he wasn't going to let him leave after all.
Drowning in a claustrophobic fear, Lucas shouted.
"Tim you have to override it. Block it! Get me out!"
There was no response.
"TIM!" Lucas screamed into the Stinger's icy air.
"I'm working on it, Lucas, sit tight" Tim was obviously stressed.
"You have to stay calm, Lucas." Bridger tried to mollify him. "Is there anywhere you can swim out to and hide until the fighter subs get there?"
Lucas laughed bitterly 'What - hide?' He was incredulous. "I'm trapped! I can't get out – he's outside and has an axe that he evidently wants to get his money's worth. It's too late for hiding".
Bridger clenched his jaw. He couldn't imagine what had been going on for the last six hours. He shouldn't have let Lucas go alone, so far away. And now he may lose his precious, brilliant young protégé, his life catastrophically ended. Nathan curled his hands into a tight fist. There were no reassuring words he could offer – Lucas knew only too well that he was staring into the jaws of death. He yearned to snatch the boy up, to cover and protect his fragile frame with his, to keep him warm and safe, but he couldn't and it hurt like mad. He tried to brush away unbidden thoughts of Lucas' shattered body hidden, desecrated, cold. He would save him - anything else was unbearable.
"Lucas, listen. I am getting priority commands to open the bay doors, but I can't re-start the launching sequence to complete full bay flooding. I think that your only choice is to sit tight whilst we open the docking bay doors now" Tim suggested.
It would mean that the doors would be dragged open on a partially flooded bay, and the effects could be catastrophic, but Lucas was more than ready to take that chance. "Okay Tim, I'm ready for launch."
Lucas heard Tim typing for a few moments, until he paused and talked again to someone on the bridge. Tim returned to Lucas after a moment, his tone betraying barely controlled frustration. "Before we go ahead Lucas, you should know that the launching sequence has now been initiated in Bay 12."
Lucas stared unseeingly out of the Stinger into the dark bay. The man was going to force him to fight, and given the total abandonment of any rational behaviour he'd witnessed so far, the man wouldn't stop until Lucas was captured and quite likely dead. Lucas took a breath and struggled to remain calm and clear-minded in the face of such danger.
Suddenly the klaxon, muffled by the water, sounded again in the bay and the two bay doors started to open on Tim's command. Water surged violently into the bay, buffeting the Stinger hard. Lucas gripped the steering controls. There was a snap of metal as one of the three docking pin-locks, which held the Stinger in position until flooding should be completed, tore under the sudden stress of the ocean in the bay. The Stinger swung forwards but the two remaining docking-pin harnesses stopped her from spinning out of control. Lucas, winded by the sudden motion, had to release the sub from the pin-locks, afraid that the underside would sheer away. The Stinger flew crazily around in the swirling whirlpool of the bay as the ocean water crashed in.
Dizzyingly disorientated, Lucas fought to control the sub.
"Captain…it's gone - I cant…" he said incoherently, and yelled as the Stinger ricocheted off what - the wall? The floor? He couldn't tell.
"Lucas!" With his heart in his mouth Bridger called again "Lucas… respond!"
Eventually pressure in the bay equalised and the madness subsided.
Lucas steadied the sub, took a deep breath a struggled to calm his frantic heart and little boat. "Yeah…I think I'm okay. The bay's pressure has equalised but I don't know how much damage I sustained being bashed around". He paused and took a deep breath. "I'm going – the doors are fully opened."
"Good. Be careful Lucas – Bay 12 doors are opening too, although we can't monitor from here if any vessels are leaving."
Lucas powered forward, breathing shallow, eyes and ears straining to catch anything. Nothing. He continued forward slowly. Where was the man? He slowly gathered speed, piloting the crippled sub steadily away from the station.
Barely away from the port, Lucas felt the Stinger shudder as it connected sharply with something underneath. So, that's where his tormentor was.
The extent of the current damage caused by the ripped docking-pin was unknown, but the hidden vessel jammed hard again and Lucas fought to keep control. As he gripped the pilot column in an attempt to increase speed, the other vessel dealt a serious blow to the Stinger's propulsion systems. A warning message was issued and the control panel lit up.
Oh jeez…
"Captain – he's out here. He's rammed me from below and now I only have 30, maybe 40% velocity capacity - max." Lucas barely managed to keep his voice steady.
The Captain paused before replying.
'You're a skilful pilot Lucas; you have good responses, excellent intuition. Those are not reliant on speed and they're your best chance before the fighter subs get there. Look for his weak points, his vessel's shortcomings, catch him out.'
As Bridger spoke Lucas continued to struggle with the hidden vessel beneath him. He bit his lip, knowing the words to be true, but certain that if the man's craft was fast and armed, no level of pilot aptitude could save his life.
"Okay Captain, wish me luck…"
As he rose away from the docking ports, Lucas realised that the marble-clad Grand Atrium that he had run through just moments before, was roofed in a massive intricate glass dome, which now shone with the interior lights in the black ocean.
He pulled sharply left away from the man and twisted the little sub downwards to assess his assailant. The man was in an aged shuttle and Lucas watched him struggle to follow with inferior manoeuvrability. Yet, as soon as he was in position, the man's shuttle was considerably faster than the impaired Stinger. As the Captain said, Lucas was going to have to employ dextrous manipulation over blunt speed to stand any chance of surviving.
Lucas pulled the pilot controls up and swung in an arc round and above the shuttle, skimming close to the enormous Station walls, teasing the man as a cunning bird does a predatory cat. The man, in his rabid determination, clumsily followed the boy genius and together they passed again by the docking port bays and around the exterior of the Grand Atrium. The man gained speed and the space between them started to shorten.
Lucas scanned behind him, calculating his moves, the speed, the gamble he was making with his life.
The shuttle inched closer as Lucas, followed by the man, shot over the Atrium wall and glided over the brightly lit glass dome.
Lucas gracefully twisted up and slightly away and the man jerked awkwardly to match the new trajectory, and Lucas allowed the man to edge closer.
"How badly do you want me? Come on then…" Lucas murmured as he peered over his shoulder again.
He slowed almost imperceptibly and the man gained on his prey.
Lucas curled around and descended with the shuttle only a few metres behind, both crafts illuminated by the glowing Atrium light beneath.
Flying downwards, Lucas gripped the controls and held his breath – would the man continue to follow? Barely ten metres from the glass dome Lucas executed a sharp veer to the right, and in the words of one of his all-time favourite film characters murmured 'Dodge this'.
The shuttle - too late, too slow, too heavy to avoid the cataclysmic disaster, collided and smashed through the glass dome of the Grand Atrium.
Lucas switched the Stinger fast around to see the shuttle go into free-fall inside the icy stale air and explode as it connected with the Atrium's marble floor.
Only seconds later, the huge dome imploded, glass cracking and shattering soundlessly as the irrepressible influx of the ocean cascading in and quelled the flames.
Lucas, circling over the empty steel frame of the Atrium, yelled out and smacked the palm of his hand on the side of the Perspex hood in an eruption of relief and elation. As the stinger glided over the Station, he watched with a mixture of awe and sadness as it flooded and finally plunged into darkness once more.
He'd won; he was going to live.
Next time – the epilogue: Phew that was a close one… Or was it?