Other Dave studied the warning on the computer. His expression was puzzled as his mind was trying to figure out how to solve the newly acquired dilemma.
"What is it?" Anita asked as she approached. The screen was flashing green and a siren was beeping from the top of the computer.
"A ship... another ship is trying to land here without any clearance; they must be unaware of the Vashta Nerada." Other Dave replied. "We can't let it land here..."
Suddenly, a violent tremor shook the ground of the Library and nearly threw the archaeologists off balance. "...Now what?" Mr Lux mumbled.
The computer screen read 'Library Core Self-Destruct in 20:00 minutes.'
"That..." Other Dave called out in reply to Mr Lux's question.
"We never should've come here, too much trouble..." Anita sighed. "Wait a moment..." she pressed her ear against the varnished wooden door and listened.
Outside the room, there was a loud thud followed by a groan. Anita placed her hand on the door knob; she pushed it open and peered outside. She saw River regaining her balance after the tremor.
"River! In here, quickly!" she called out. Her hand was guiding River in the right direction.
River glanced over to the gap in between the door and the wall. She ran over to the door and stumbled inside and she frantically pulled the door closed behind her.
River smiled at the sight of seeing that they were still alive. She looked at them almost disbelievingly and breathed a sigh of relief. River stepped over and hugged Anita tightly, and then Other Dave followed by an awkward hug by Mr Lux. "You're all still alive!" she exhaled.
"But, we won't be for much longer unless we can stop this." Other Dave added as he pointed to the computer. River looked over his shoulder at the descending numbers on the screen. Then Other Dave flicked screens to show the ship that was trying to gain access to land.
"Okay, here's what we do. Someone has to board that ship through the teleport pad..." River began as she gestured over to the small green circle on the floor in the middle of the room."...then warn the people on the ship about the Vashta Nerada and the Library Self-Destruct. Meanwhile, the other's come with me to the core so we can stop this explosion, eliminate the Vashta Nerada and save the other 4,022 people trapped inside the data core!" she smiled. The plane sounded like it would be a success.
Mr Lux stepped forward. "I'll do it; it's about time I proved myself to you all." He admitted.
River smiled at him. "Thank you, Mr Lux." She spoke in a gentle tone.
She guided Mr Lux to the teleport pad and he stood in the centre. His posture was strong and masculine as he felt like the hero, the lives of everyone on that ship rested in his hands. Other Dave started typing in details on the computer. "Ready?" he asked. Mr Lux nodded in response. The man took one last glance at his colleagues before he was teleported. He was nervous as well as feeling heroic, how many lives were at risk on that ship- who knows? It was all up to Mr Lux to get those people to safety before it was too late.
"Good luck." Anita said.
"Time is of the essence..." River muttered.
As Other Dave typed in the last detail, a blue-green beam of light surrounded the teleport pad and Mr Lux started to slowly fade away.
"As soon as he's on the ship, we move out and to the Library core." River reminded the others of the plan. She clasped her slender hands together out of anxiety.
Anita nodded as she watched the computer screen, anticipation and worry struck her. But, she tried to remain confident that the plan would work, after all it was River's idea and she was hardly ever wrong!
Just then, he started to cry out with pain and all expressions of hope fell to expressions of worry. River felt a pain in her chest as Mr Lux cried out again. She felt responsible for this one; it was her idea to use the teleport when she should've been aware of the evacuation beam intercepting it.
"What's wrong is it supposed to hurt him?" Anita stepped forwards, worried.
"Wait... bring him back!" River ordered. Her anger was stronger than her guilt and it was at boiling point.
"I'm trying!" Other Dave snapped. He was unsure if he could get Mr Lux back from being evacuated.
"Try harder!" River forcefully commanded.
The teleport pad was empty and quiet...
On the monitor it read 'Teleportation failed. Preparing to download...' then moments later '4,023 saved... Download error, aborting download... 4,022 saved.'
"What does that mean? Get him back here!" River demanded. She was panicking. "I can't lose anyone else on this expedition..."
"...I... I can't bring him back..." Other Dave stuttered. His hands stopped tapping at the keys and he lowered them to his sides. "...He's gone..." he finished with a sigh of defeat.
"Oh god... I just sent that man to his death..." River's anger neutralised. She couldn't believe another died; another of her own team. She was blaming herself for everything that has gone wrong. River started to shake out of fear and guilt, the pressure was building up.
"The Library's evacuation protocols must've kicked in when it identified the teleport pad being used..." Other Dave explained.
"...River? Are you okay?" Anita queried. Her concern for her best friend was strong.
River stood still, frozen in shock. She had completely blanked Anita's question. Her bright green eyes were welling up with tears of guilt but she managed to hold them back, for how long? She wasn't sure...
"Come on River, you didn't know that it wouldn't work, it wasn't your fault... We need you to focus so we can get out of here alive and stop the Vashta Nerada." Other Dave comforted her. His placed a hand on River's arm and smiled warmly at her.
River looked at Other Dave for moment. "...Yeah, okay." She agreed with a small smile.
"Shall we start to make our way to the core?" Anita questioned. "...Professor?" she addressed her previous question to River. She nodded in response as she tried to hold back the guilty tears.
Other Dave walked over to the door with River closely behind and Anita pulled it open slowly and quietly. She turned to face the direction of the main core entrance. Cautiously, Other Dave stepped outside and followed the direction that Anita started to pace in. River was the last out of the room and she was just keeping an eye on the shadows at her friends' feet, counting them, making sure they weren't going to leave her soon.
However, they were all completely unaware of the shadowy figure standing in contrast with the evening sunlight on the other end of the balcony.
"Hey, who turned out the lights?"
The voice broke the moment of intense silence. All three necks of the archaeologists craned around to the source of the sound at the end of the long balcony corridor.
The suit stepped closer to them, extending a threatening hand. Each wobbly and uneasy step it took, River's heartbeat became faster. She knew one of them was going to die soon, and she would try so hard to save them at all costs...