Author: Milady Dragon
Disclaimer: I sure treat them like they're mine, don't I?
Author's note: Another chapter. I'm so proud of myself!
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Danziger entered the ship once again, but this time he had a definite purpose.
He followed D'Lorrak, as the engineer led him deeper into the ship. The air was staler the further underground they went, and soon Danziger was gasping for breath. Only his natural stubbornness kept him going; his stubbornness and the thought of his daughter under the control of the Changed.
It had to stop. And he was the one doing the stopping.
The interior of the ship would have been impenetrably dark, had it not been for his cat-like vision. They passed by doors, some leading into what looked like private quarters; others into rooms that were obviously common areas.
Then they were in a long, blank corridor. D'Lorrak led him unerringly toward their destination, and Danziger could sense the other cat-people following behind. The ship was quiet and still, and he shivered as the notion that he was trespassing inside an enormous tomb crossed his mind.
Danziger thrust that thought aside. He couldn't be distracted right now. He had a mission, and he had to complete it if he was to save his daughter and Morgan.
He had to destroy this ship.
Despite the necessity of the act, he was sad. This was N'Merra's home, the only home her people had left. Their bodies were interred here, this was their final resting place. They'd hoped to escape the death and destruction on their homeworld, but had ended up bringing it with them. N'Merra's own father had carried their curse, and it had led him to kill his only child. This ship was a place of ghosts, of spirits haunted by their own pasts and their own terror. These people deserved to rest in peace, and yet they couldn't. Each of them were condemned by what had been done to them, to relive the last emotion they'd ever felt: sadness; pain; anger…it was all there, all around him, and Danziger was the eye of the emotional storm. He'd never forget this place, or the poor dead people living within her, damned for something they hadn't had any control over. Danziger would mourn these cat-ghosts for the rest of his life.
The dry air sucked the sweat from his exposed skin, dried out his eyes and nose. Danziger wanted desperately to sneeze, but the silent atmosphere around him made him stifle the reflex. Even though he'd been here before, there was something about traveling these dark halls this time that made him feel…as if he'd always meant to be there, to be doing what he was about to do. Danziger didn't believe in predestination, but in this rarified environment he felt that anything was possible.
Danziger and his escort arrived at the engine room. It was shut off from the rest of the ship by a set of huge double doors; blast-shielded, if the mechanic hadn't lost his ability to judge. D'Lorrak indicated the locking mechanism, giving Danziger the combination of buttons that would open the doors. They ground open just enough to let him slide through, and into the engine room beyond.
It was a cathedral-like space, with catwalks – pardon the pun – all along the upper levels, resembling a metallic spiders' web. Banks of computers and controls lined both walls; they were all dark, the power that should have been running through them down to imperceptible levels. The engine itself took up the entire far end of the room, and Danziger's breath was taken away by the huge scope of the thing. He'd never seen anything like it, and was amazed by the level of the cats' technology. All this, and they hadn't been able to save themselves…
The main control bank is down on the right, D'Lorrak prompted, pointing toward a machine somewhat larger than the rest of the computers.
Danziger padded toward it, eyes scanning it closely. He actually recognized some of the controls, despite the alien symbols that decorated them. He needed to ask questions, but he didn't want to disturb the silence around him. He had to clear his throat twice before the words came out. "How can we divert the rest of the ship's power through this?"
The bypass is there, by your left hand.
He looked where the cat-person indicated. There was a series of gauges and switches; one of the needles was actually quivering with residual energy. "Do you have a toolbox handy?"
D'Lorrak laughed. Indeed, my friend. It is there, in the maintenance closet just next to the main panel.
It took Danziger two tries to pull the metal hatch open. Then he laughed as well. "We might be alien to each other, but there are still some constants…" He reached in, pulling out the still vibrantly-red toolbox.
The tools inside were familiar as well, with a few exceptions. Danziger went to work loosening some of the bolts holding the front of the control panel on. Once that was done, he wrestled it off; he couldn't take it very far, with the wires still attached to both sections. He dearly wished for a second pair of hands – he had to thrust the thought of True helping him violently out of his mind – as he rested the panel on his hip and got to work.
Time passed without Danziger noticing, as he lost himself in what he was doing. D'Lorrak gave him some ideas, and the mechanic found himself grateful to have someone to talk to, who understood what it was like to be elbow-deep in wires and components. There was a simple beauty in a well-constructed circuit, in the color of wiring as it as twisted and entangled together in a pattern only someone like him could read.
Danziger had always been good with machines, and he'd passed that ability – and love – onto his daughter. Although he'd had some instruction, John's knowledge was almost instinctual, as was True's. They were both born mechanics, thrilling in the mystery of machines and what they could achieve. It was wonderful, but it could be lonely as well. Trying to explain the intricacies of a drive unit to someone with no idea what you were talking about…
Once he was done with the changes that needed to be made to the circuits, Danziger replaced the panel, only bothering to put back just enough bolts to hold it in place. It wouldn't matter, once the engine room disintegrated.
Very nicely done, John Danziger, D'Lorrak congratulated. It is a pleasure to watch another master engineer at work.
John was glad it was dark, because it hid his blush at the compliment. On the other hand…with his night vision, D'Lorrak could very well have seen it. "You can call me John." He went to work on the switches and dials, drawing all the power from the rest of the ship into this one place.
Thank you, John. I am honored. My friends call me Lorr.
He stopped what he was doing, to look at the cat engineer. "Thank you, Lorr. It's been a pleasure knowing you and your people."
I can truthfully say the same. If this works, and it also banishes those of us here, I would like you to know how much I have enjoyed working with you.
"Well," Danziger answered gruffly, trying to hide how touched he was by D'Lorrak's words, "if this doesn't work, we might very well be fighting together."
Pardon me for saying so, but I do hope it does not come to that.
"I agree." John when back to work, watching as the residual energy crept up in the batteries. "Let's hope this works, okay?"
The engineer didn't say anything. He didn't have to.
Danziger began to slowly feed power through the circuits he'd rewired. According to what Lorr had said, he's done an excellent job of putting the bollocks to the engines, and John didn't want to risk bringing them online with himself still inside the ship.
He heard a whisper; he turned, seeing another cat-person talking to D'Lorrak. Danziger couldn't understand him; it seemed his mind could only make out what N'Merra and the engineer was saying anymore.
"What's going on?" he asked, once the conversation was done and the other cat-person had gone.
The lookout reports that Morgan Martin and your daughter have entered the ship. They are on the way here.
"Shit." Danziger went back to work, deciding it would be a good time to cold-start the engines after all. Lorr had said that it was possible, and had shown Danziger what controls he'd need to fix, but the human mechanic wasn't sure the cat-mechanic was taking into consideration the centuries this ship had lain there, almost completely dormant. How would the systems react to the sudden surge of power – although what constituted a power surge in this case would be a mere trickle in any other vessel? They didn't dare put any more stress on the engines before it was time…
They are near, John. Are you ready?
"As ready as I'll ever be. How about your people?"
We shall act on schedule. Good luck to us all.
"Amen to that…"
