Chapter 22

Aaris continued to lead Buck deeper into the engineering section of the ship. Eventually he stopped just as the corridor broke into two directions. He pointed down the left corridor.

"That's where the main terminals are."

Buck eased into position to peek down the hall. He saw two soldiers guarding a door at the end of the hall. "That should be easy enough," he mentioned.

Aaris shook his head. "That's not how we get in."

"It isn't?"
"No. There is an access duct on the other side of the room. That's our entry point"

"Why?"

"It will be safer that way."

"Bah. We don't need an air duct when we have a door. I'm going this way."

"But there are guards!" Aaris argued.

"Yeah, and we're wearing the same uniforms that they are!"

Aaris thought for a moment. "Ahh, you're right."

Buck grinned. "So we use the door to get in and to get out. We only use the air ducts as a final resort. Trust me; I've done this a few times before. Just follow me."

Casually he turned the corner and started walking down the short hall with Aaris quickly following. The two guards rested their hands on their weapons, but did not draw them yet.

"This is a restricted area. I need to see your authorization," one of them said.

Buck lifted his hands into the air slightly. "Hey, we were just sent down here by the captain to relieve you."

"But we just started our shift an hour ago."

The first guard went for his weapon, but was too slow. Buck slammed the palm of his hand into the guard's chin, forcing his head to fly backwards into the nearby wall. He slumped to the floor in a heap. In the same motion, he took one step to his left and elbowed the other guard in the side of the face. Buck quickly grabbed the back of his head and leaned on the guard. He wrapped a foot around the soldier's leg and the two of them fell to the floor. Buck slammed the guard's face into the floor and then quickly stood up. He nodded once, looked at Aaris.

"The path is clear. They should have taken the day off like I offered."

Aaris smiled in awe. "You are a great warrior!"

Buck pointed to the door. "That was nothing. Can we go in now?"

Aaris took a keycard from one of the downed guards and slid it through the id sensor. The door quickly opened. But before they went in, Aaris turned to Buck.

"Shouldn't we hide the bodies?"

"In about five minutes, nobody's going to be worried about finding two unconscious guards."
"Ahh, good point."

They entered the large room. Almost immediately a technician inside the room began to head their way.

"I'm going to see your credentials."

"Certainly," Buck smiled as he drew his pistol. With three shots, all three technicians in the room were lying on the floor.

"Fantastic," Aaris breathed.

Buck looked around the room at all the computer equipment. "So which one do we blow up?"

"The one right there in the middle of the room."

Buck holstered his gun and pulled out the small spherical object Aaris had given him. He tossed it into the air and then caught it. "So how does this thing work?"
"We have to get these people out of here."

Buck jerked his head. "Huh?"
"We have to get these people out of this room. If they are left here with the bomb, they'll die in the explosion."

"But they're trying to kill six billion of my people! Why should I be worried about three?"
"They're not trying to kill your world. That's Minister Turon. The rest of us only follow orders out of fear."

Buck breathed loudly, and then nodded. "You're right. Okay, let's drag them into the hall."

After setting the bomb onto the bank of computers, Buck grabbed the first technician and quickly dragged him into the doorway with the two guards. Aaris took the second one into the hall while Buck went to get the third. Just as he reached the corridor, two soldiers on patrol happened to be walking down the adjoining corridor. They glanced down the hall and saw Buck dragging the last technician into the hall and the pile of bodies already in the doorway. Buck stood up straight, grinned sheepishly.

"Oh, hi! I suppose you're probably wondering what's going on here. Well, uh, there was a gas leak and we had to evacuate the-"

They both pulled their weapons and began to fire. Buck fell to the floor instinctively, grabbed his gun and fired back. He yelled into the room, "Aaris, hurry up with that bomb! We got company, and I don't think they're buying my story."

Buck managed to knock out the other two soldiers, but not before a loud and annoying siren began to sound. Buck sighed and breathed heavily. "I don't suppose that's for the ice cream truck."

Just then another eight soldiers showed up and began firing. Buck quickly retreated through the door just as Aaris reached him. Buck grabbed him by the shirt and turned him around.

"Not that way."

Buck turned and fired at the door access panel. "That should hold them for a while."

"What do we do now?"

He patted Aaris on the shoulder. "Now we use the air duct."

"Okay, but we better hurry. The bomb is already set. If we are in the air duct when the bomb goes off…"

"How long is the timer?"
"About a minute."

Buck's eyes widened. "Then what are we standing around here for? Lead the way to the air duct!"

They rushed across the room and opened the access tunnel. Aaris climbed in first. Buck glanced at his watch. "How long is this tunnel?"

"About a hundred yards."

Buck slapped Aaris on the butt with the back of his hand. "Then you'd better move it faster than that!"

They hurried down the tunnel as fast as they could. At the end, Aaris kicked out the screen and they both exited just as the bomb went off. Smoke and a slight flame blew out the air duct just as Buck was standing up. He waved some of the smoke away from the corridor.

"Oops, sorry. Beans are working."

Suddenly a laser beam embedded into the wall just to Buck's left. He turned to see the soldiers coming right for them. He pushed Aaris into a run. "Closing time!"

They broke into a run down the hall. When the corridor forked, Aaris turned to the right, then suddenly slowed and put his head down. Buck flew right by him threw himself into the air. He viciously kicked one soldier in the face as he grabbed the soldier beside him by the neck and slammed the back of his head into the floor. He then grabbed another pistol, got up, and continued running down the hall.

"Turn left!" Aaris yelled in pursuit.

When he turned left, he saw two more soldiers headed their direction. In the time it took for the soldiers to draw their weapons, Buck covered the distance between them and slid directly into their feet. Aaris quickly approached the soldiers still lying on the ground. He picked up both of their heads and slammed them into the floor. Buck grinned and nodded.

"Yeah, you're getting the hang of this!"

Aaris stood up and looked around for only a brief moment. His eyes brightened. "Quickly, this way!"

He turned into another corridor and quickly went to the end.

"Nice," Buck said sarcastically. "It's a dead end."

Aaris reached into a slight indentation on the wall. He turned the well-concealed handle and pulled. Inside was a long vertical tunnel with stairs.

"Quickly! Start climbing!"

Buck jumped into the tunnel and began to climb the long ladder. Aaris quickly followed and latched the door behind them. "How far does this go?" Buck asked.

"All the way to the top of the ship."

"Great," he mumbled.

"But we don't need to go that far."

"Good. How far do we need to go?"
"About thirty-seven floors."

Buck stopped and looked down between his legs. "Are you serious? Why is it never easy?"

When they reached the right floor, Aaris found the door and they exited into a quiet corridor. Buck smiled as he rubbed his biceps.

"Well, it's a little quieter here." He breathed heavily. "Man, talk about a workout. That's too much like exercise. So where do we go from here?"

Aaris pointed down the hall. "Go all the way down and then turn left. That will lead you to the hangar."

"Hey, where are you going?"

"There is something I have to do. We will part here. Thank you, Buck."

"For what?"

"For showing me a brief glimpse of the warrior inside of you."

Buck extended his hand. Hesitantly Aaris put out his hand as well. Buck grasped Aaris and shook his hand strongly. "Let's just hope you never have to become a warrior yourself."

He nodded. "Good luck, Buck."

"Thanks for your help."

Aaris turned and quickly headed down the hall. Buck watched for only a moment before turning and heading for the hangar.