What May Come

Please see chapter 1 for author's notes.

Chapter 14: Out of Hell

Radu followed Harlan down the corridor, keeping his head down and trying not to remember that he was in the center of a Spung station. They weren't the only ones in cloaks, at least…apparently the military ran this station with a pretty heavy hand and no one really wanted to be noticed. He hoped Suzee was all right…who knew what they had done to her in this place. He knew, better than Harlan or even Commander Goddard, what they were capable of doing.

"Do you see anything?" Goddard asked in a low voice as they passed by a checkpoint to level three. Two very military-looking Spung with very large weapons blocked the way, and so far no one had attempted to pass.

"Not yet," Harlan muttered back.

"Me either," Radu agreed. "And I think they've got an open comm so rushing them is probably a bad—" he broke off with a snarl as a cluster of Spung teenagers coming from the concourse passed close beside them. The entrances to the lower levels seemed to be spaced at even intervals, but this was the fourth they'd passed and all the others had be equally well guarded. A couple more snarls as the group moved off hopefully kept them from getting curious.

"You've got to teach me some of that. I could pretend to be insulting someone and really talk about the weather or something."

"Not now, Mr. Band. We need to find a way through one of those checkpoints. If we can't find a way to sneak through, we're going to have to risk taking out the most out-of-the-way one we can find and then get into a monitoring station as quickly as possible."

"Commander, they'll notice if two of their guards suddenly disappear." Radu protested.

"I realize that, but we have to get in there."

Suzee leaned against the bunk, unable to gather enough energy to even pull herself onto the hard surface. She'd been on this station…it was hard to say how long now. One day? Two? A week? Logically, it couldn't have been that long…but it sure felt like it. It was so hard to judge time in the little windowless cell. She didn't even know what they were trying to get out of her anymore—when she'd first gotten here, they'd told her they were giving her injections to lower her mental barriers, make her vulnerable to suggestion, that sort of thing. The only thing she'd been vulnerable to at that point was boredom. Really, if her body was capable of sustaining itself in almost any environment—including those with concentrations of poisons that would kill almost anyone else—did they really think injecting a few random cocktails into her bloodstream was going to do anything? Unfortunately, when that didn't get results—and it didn't take them long to discover that fact—they began to resort to more direct methods. She'd decided about the time that a kick cracked three of her ribs that perhaps she should have faked a reaction to the drugs. This was the second time that they'd taken her out of her cell since then, and she wasn't even sure what they were planning to do with her any more. The first session had been quizzing her about the Christa's systems. Claiming she knew nothing hadn't gone over well—she was pretty certain the knot on the back of her head had come with a concussion. After that she'd lied outright when she could and underestimated everything otherwise. And hoped they weren't in direct communication so they wouldn't figure it out immediately. This last time they'd wanted her to use her telepathy on another prisoner—a Spung woman, but in worse shape than she was. She'd turned on one of the guards instead. If it had just been the two in the room they'd have made it out, but someone had been observing from the hallway…she'd woken up on the floor of her cell.

"Ouch." A deep breath and she forced herself onto the bunk. At least it was a little cleaner than the ground. There was nothing in the cell she could use her engineering abilities on…the lack of windows made it impossible to meet anyone's eyes…. "This is really bad." A scratching sound as the door began to open made her force herself slightly more upright. "Really, really bad."

"Suzee?"

"Commander?" Relief made her raise her voice, and a hand waved her to silence. "Sorry. What are you doing here?"

"Rescuing you."

That was Radu, and she breathed a sign of relief. "Is Harlan with you?"

Goddard nodded. "He's fine, but there's no time to talk now. Can you walk?"

"As long as we don't need to run."

Radu passed over a cloak similar to the one he and Goddard were wearing. "Someone's coming. The next corridor over."

"All right, let's get out of here."

She followed Radu down the corridor with Commander Goddard bringing up the rear. A moment later, they ducked into another room. "What are we doing?"

"Planning our escape. Oh, man, you look awful."

"Gee, thanks, Harlan. How did you guys find me? How did you get here? Did Rosie and Bova and Miss Davenport escape?"

"Not exactly…we made a few friends back on the Triiad station. They're helping us out."

"We need to get back to the ship," Goddard interrupted before Harlan could say any more. "Radu, stay close to Suzee in case we need to run. We're not going to bother getting back to the same post…the odds of getting another distraction aren't good. We'll head for the one by the access corridor aft of the promenade—the one we passed that was almost deserted. Mr. Band, you and I will take down the guards."

"Won't that alert someone?" Radu asked.

"They're facing outward. If we hit them from behind and knock them unconscious before they have time to sound an alarm we should have time to get back to the ship and launch before anyone notices they're not responding."

"And hopefully before they notice Suzee is missing," Harlan agreed. "We're almost at the three hour mark, so Radu can request a launch slot as soon as we get back."

Suzee wanted very much to ask what they planned on launching if they hadn't rescued the Christa yet, and why Radu would be requesting anything of the Spung anyway, but she stayed quiet. Plenty of time for questions later. Hopefully. Then they were moving again, and more quickly than before. Her ribs were protesting with each step, and she concentrated on remaining on Harlan's heels. Radu was behind her and could carry her if she fell—it might be easier on her if she just let him—but pride made her want to walk out of this place on her own two feet. And then they were at the guard post. Blasts from two weapons she hadn't even seen Commander Goddard and Harlan draw dropped the two soldiers where they stood, and they continued moving.

"Keep you hands covered," Radu whispered behind her. "And don't talk."

"Wh—" Suddenly they were in a hall full of Spung, with shops and restaurants, and other public facilities advertised around them. No wonder no one had heard the shots—she could barely hear herself think over the din. They weren't the only figures in cloaks, but all the others had green hands protruding from the sleeves. The path they were following was sloping slightly upwards…they were heading for an outer level of the station. So some form of ship was waiting for them. Hopefully it wasn't far. She concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other.

Suzee faltered again, and Radu wondered if he shouldn't just pick her up. It wouldn't be a struggle, but…she would say something if she needed help, right? And it might be difficult to explain why he was carrying her if someone stopped to question them. They'd finally gotten out of the main concourse and onto the decks holding living quarters, but there were still plenty of Spung around. Goddard had them moving at a pace that wasn't quite running, but it wasn't far off either. Just barely slow enough to keep from attracting attention. Even so, it seemed to take an abnormally long time to get back into the bay.

"Ah, man, that is not what we need," Harlan muttered. A group of Spung workers, apparently on break, were lounging on the machinery in the empty bay next to the little scout ship. "Now how are we supposed to sneak onboard?"

"That's our ship?" Suzee demanded. "How did we get a Spung ship?"

"Long story."

Goddard sighed. "No hope for it now, let's just walk on calmly and hope they don't say anything. Radu, the second we're onboard, I want you requesting a launch. The first available time, and keep at them until they agree to something in the next fifteen minutes, understood?"

"Yes, Commander." The two minute walk across the floor of the bay and into the ship, deliberately slow and unworried, was almost as stressful as their dash across the station had been. Then they'd just been four in a crowd…here they were four people out in full view, climbing onto a ship whose entire crew was supposed to be working on repairs. When the hatch slammed shut behind them, he sighed in relief.

"We're not there yet, people. Suzee, take a seat. Radu…"

"I'm on it, Commander." The snarled message didn't take but a moment to send…getting them to given him a time within the next twenty minutes was harder. The commander had said fifteen, but he didn't want to force the issue and make them suspicious. Harlan was already at the helm, waiting for orders, and the commander was in the galley getting something…oh, a medkit for Suzee. They'd left her sitting at the comm station…he'd worked over her shoulder to get the launch time.

"Mr. Radu, when are we launching?" Goddard asked as he came back with the kit and took the weapons station.

"Um…less than fourteen minutes left."

"All right. Mr. Band, bring up the engines. Suzee, can you get ready to open a channel? The coordinates are already programmed in."

She frowned at the console for a moment, and a hint of the arrogance they were accustomed to returned. "Of course, Commander, it's not that difficult."

Harlan glanced back at Radu. "Told you so."

Radu got the message—she might be a little bruised, but Suzee was going to be fine. "I heard that."

"Heard what?" Suzee asked.

"Nothing," Harlan assured her, and Radu nodded. Harlan's words had been too low for the Yensidian girl to hear, and would require too much of an explanation anyway. He wasn't sure what had possessed him to tell Harlan about Jesh—normally he didn't say anything about the Arks or other Andromedans around the human teenager. It never led to anything good. But for once he hadn't gotten yelled at or harassed…Harlan actually seemed upset at what had been done.

Time until launch seemed to drag, and all four of them kept glancing at the comm panel expecting it to light up with demands from the control center. Finally the chronometer chimed, and force fields sprang up, shielding the rest of the bay as the hatch behind the ship opened to space. "Take us out, Mr. Band."

They'd just cleared the bay when the panel in front of Suzee did light up, and snarls came through. "Radu?" Harlan asked.

"They noticed Suzee was missing…all ships are ordered to hold position for a search."

"Harlan, try and get us close to the ship guarding the Rockhopper. I'll target its weapons' systems. As soon as I do, Suzee, open the channel and tell Aslinn and Jacie to run for it. We'll be right behind them. Radu, plot us the fastest way out of station weapon range."

There wasn't a lot of open space directly around the station, Radu noted absently…there were more ships waiting for a berth than there had been earlier. But most of them were powered down…he punched in several sets of coordinates. "Ready, Commander."

"Now!" Goddard barked, and the ship lurched. Aslinn and Jacie's images appeared on the main screen, and no one had to say anything since their ship was already in motion. Enough of the ships surrounding the station were caught by surprise that the station's weapons couldn't be brought immediately to bear—not without incinerating several of their own craft, anyway.

"Fighter jets, incoming!" Jacie called. "See you in the asteroid belt, assuming we all live that long."

The Rockhopper suddenly twisted, dropping between two light cruisers, and Harlan didn't wait for Radu's signal to send the little scout shooting through the space it had vacated. "Are they coming after us?"

Radu was trying to sort out the ships that were safe to pass closely—the ones that were still powered down despite the confusion, apparently with all their crew on station—and the ones that were readying weapons and powering engines to come in pursuit. "Who? The Spung? Of course they're after us!"

"No, the jets!"

"No…three—four—light cruisers and a couple transports and…Harlan, get us out of here!"

"I'm try—hell!" Harlan swung the ship hard, instinctively trying to put as much distance between their little ship and the monstrous capitol ship that had come out of nowhere. It wasn't—quite—a killcruiser, but it had more than enough firepower to turn them into spacedust with one salvo. "Radu!"

"Working on it! There!"

"That's the wrong direction," Harlan protested. "We're trying to get away from the station!"

"I know that, but right now we're about to fly down its throat! We're not going all the way back, just far enough that it can't open fire without endangering the Spung ships. Then we flip and push the ship as fast as it can go…try and get around it before they realize how fast our acceleration is." The pilot was silent for a second. "Do you have a better idea? We're almost within their range!"

Harlan jerked the ship around. "Here goes nothing."