Once Upon a Pet Show (A Redpoint One Romance) (25 page)

A blank wall, with nothing of importance about
it. Yet, Damien's bot kept staring at it.

There he saw it. The stub of a corridor slowly
disappearing as pipes moved to adjust around the dead area. But
through them, just barely, he could see and feel it. A dead space.
One that would soon be swallowed up in the station.

"Aren't we right next to one of the station
private areas?" Tish asked, peering through at the same space.
"Maybe the station is making it bigger?"

"Private areas?" Shay echoed.

"An area that belongs to the station alone. No
humans or anyone else invited," Arthur automatically said even
while he reached through a space between two pipes to try to touch
the wall behind them.

No good. Too far back. He pulled
back.

Zane shook his head, pulling out a flashlight
to shine a beam of light into the dark space. "No, not expanding.
The station doesn't kill an area to absorb it into its own private
spaces."

Arthur turned to the group. "Pair up. See if
you can find a door or a hatch we can use to get into the
area."

Izabela looked terrified now. Simon Mang took
her arm and pulled her along with him, quietly describing the
openings they were looking for. Tish scowled at the opening, not
bothering to follow the others as the group split up. He noticed
Zane didn't, either. Probably sensing the same thing he
was.

"We aren't going to find a door," Tish finally
said. Worried eyes turned to him, an expression he wished he could
banish. Only, in this situation, he didn't have that power. "You
know it."

He reached out to take one of her cold hands
into his. "Yes, I know it, but that doesn't mean I'm giving up.
Zane, I don't care if the station won't like it. We break out the
torches and start cutting."

Zane's expression was as grim as Arthur knew
his was. "You'll get no disagreement from me."

CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN

TRAPPED IN A small section of a station corridor was bad
enough. The lights going out made it all the worse.

Vallory's voice trembling in the darkness, "I
don't suppose you fix lightbulbs?"

How Damien wished right now that he could. To
take away the terror rising in her. He would do anything to
reassure her. Except lie.

He reached out for her, pulling her into his
arms, finding her trembling, but not crying. So brave. "Sorry, no.
Don't worry, the others are looking for us."

"You're sure they can hear it?"

"We tested many types of transmitters before
we settled on this one. Trust me, this signal can go through half
the station and still be heard. And yes, we tested it against the
few dead areas we know about."

She sniffle-laughed. "Good. Then tell them to
hurry."

He didn't tell her of the cost of such a
strong transmission signal. The power cost. While the transmitter
took up one entire pouch on his belt, the battery pack would last
for only so long. He reached down and set it to a slower regular
broadcast level, knowing the buttons by heart after playing with it
so much during testing. Regularly-spaced bursts should work now.
Just enough to help Arthur and Zane zero in on their
location.

After that?

Something else he best not say out loud at
this point.

"Damien?"

He leaned back against a pipe, his feet firmly
planted, holding her against his chest. A nice position to have her
in. She was nearly as tall as him, with her head nestled against
his shoulder. A subtle movement of his head, and he could kiss the
top of her forehead.

A thought he best not dwell on at the moment,
although it did help take his mind off the situation a little.
"Hmm?"

"I hate to add to our worries, but the air is
getting a little stuffy." Voice still strong, but worry infusing
it.

She had reason to worry. He'd noticed it, as
well. As the head of the daytime life-support, he knew how the
station reacted to dead areas: as if they weren't there. Which
meant no utilities to the area, including life-support.

"What do we do?" she asked.

"Settle down and breathe shallow. Wait for the
others." He reached out to the side, his fingertips brushing
against the cool solid wall of the station blocked off area. He
pulled Vallory with him as he re-situated their
position.

Vallory knelt down with him, one hand always
on him. Something he found he liked a great deal. "Are you sure you
don't know of another way out?"

"I tried, love. I couldn't find
one."

She froze. Because he'd said it out loud?
She'd been with him while he'd searched the small area in minute
detail, trying to find something, somewhere, that would allow them
to get out. He'd been honest about all of it. She'd been brave all
through it. No screaming or panicking, like some would have
responded to the situation.

"I did try," Damien repeated.

With them both in a sitting position against
the wall, she curled up against his chest again. "I
know."

Another tremble went through her body. A hand
went up to rest on his chest just above his heart. He could even
feel how she breathed.

"So, we just wait? And hope?" she
asked.

He tightened his arms around her. "Right now,
yes. Don't worry. The others won't rest until they reach
us."

"Not that I want you trapped in here with me,
but I'm glad I'm not alone this time." She snuggled further into
his arms. "And you might not want to hear this yet, but since we
don't know if we're going to get out of here alive…"

"Hey, we're not dead yet!" And he wasn't about
to give up help. Arthur would take a welder torch to the station to
get through to them, if needed.

Into his chest, Vallory whispered, "I love
you."

His heart skipped a beat.

Then started beating hard and fast. Trapped in
a pitch-black space with the air running out, and his heart was
soaring. Such simple words, yet what power they
possessed.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Sorry? As if she regretted it?

No, that wouldn't be it. She meant to say it.
It was no accident. Which mean she was sorry for him, and that was
something he couldn't let go uncorrected in the current situation.
Not when he knew how dire it was.

"No saying sorry for speaking the truth." He
reached up to capture one of her hands into his, loving how smooth
and warm if felt under his work-calloused fingertips. "You have
more bravery than I do."

Still did. He felt it. Wanted to say
it.

Yet, the old worries still lingered. Her life.
His life, heading off in a different directions. How could that be
compatible for the long-term?

They were both here in the station in the same
place and time now, a part of him reminded himself. Even if it was
life-threatening. The emotions were the same. Vallory was actively
trying to figure out how to make it work, even going so far as
willing to leave her daubpups, once she settled them, to make it
happen.

How could he not meet her half-way, when this
was just as important to him?

Only, he hadn't said that out loud. She still
sat tense in his arms, as if waiting for him. He swallowed, forcing
out, "I love you, as well."

Relief filled him. So few words, so hard to
get out, but now that they were spoken they could move beyond. He
had a feeling saying it the next time would come much
easier.

"We still have issues to talk about. How to
make it work," Damien said, the practical side winning out
again.

Vallory relaxed, nearly draping herself on his
chest. "I know. A lot of things. Like I said, I need to get the
daubpups situated, but then I can make plans of my own."

"What if I talk to a few people I know to see
if we can make that happen sooner rather than later?" He didn't
know many people in the field, but he bet Ami could find out. The
woman was a genius at finding out information. Ignacio would help,
as well.

"I would like that."

"On my vacations I can come out to visit you
onsite as you set up the daubpups." The more he thought about it,
the more ways he found they could find time with each other. It
would be worth the effort if he could have her in his life
permanently. "When the time comes, there are places here for
you."

"For a xenobiologist?" Vallory
asked.

"Oh yes. The rings are full of interesting
parks and reserves. Trust me. We can find you an interesting
position. Ignacio will help."

She yawned, adjusting how her head lay against
his shoulder and the crook of his neck. "Ignacio already helped me
find several good contacts."

Which she'd already said. He didn't remind her
of the fact. His mind was getting muddy as the air grew heavier and
harder to breath.

Time was running out. He hoped his bot had the
intelligence to go for help. Hard to tell with them sometimes.
Sometimes so intelligent, sometimes so simple, and one could never
count on which would be which in a given situation. Another reason
to have a human around them to help keep them on track.

His bot. Would it pair off with someone else
after he died? He couldn't recall one doing so, but that didn't
mean anything. Considering the estimated age of the station, humans
had been with it a very short time. Would the station miss
him?

Damien jerked awake with a start. He struggled
to calm his gasping as he tried to pull more air into his starved
lungs. It would only use more of the limited oxygen remaining in
the room.

His eyes started to droop again right away.
Yep, it wouldn't be long now.

Vallory yawned, her exhale brushing against
his upper arm. "I'll miss my daubpups. I hope someone else will
take good care of them. Maybe Ignacio?"

She went limp in his arms. He tried to work up
the energy to shake her awake, but he could hardly keep his own
eyes open. Already, one arm hung limp to the side, his left hand
laying in her lap.

Come on, Arthur. And Zane. The station loved
Zane. If it would allow anyone into the area, it should be him.
Break down a wall already.

His hand slipped off Vallory's lap to land
hard on the floor. When she slipped off his shoulder to lay
partially on the floor, he could do nothing about it. Not with him
feeling himself sliding along the wall to lay sideways against
it.

Could do nothing to stop it. All his remaining
strength went to keeping his eyes open, hoping to see the first
hint of light as someone came through a wall.

He blinked. Shouldn't the light be white or
yellow? A strong point from the eyes of one of the bots? The big
glowing blue blob didn't fit.

Yep, he was fading out. Seeing things, and
even feeling things. Like that tug on the back collar of his
shirt...

***

The bots stood back. If they broadcast any
emotion, Arthur would say it was nervousness.

He didn't doubt they were. The humans among
them wielded tools and torches. Removing pipes even as the station
moved them into place. Going at the hard wall behind in an effort
to get to the small cavity beyond from which Damien's transmitter
continued to broadcast from.

So far no bad reaction from the station, other
than pipes and conduits moving into place with more and more speed,
as if it were getting impatient with the interruption.

Shay stepped back from the small area he'd
taken as his own to try the welding on, giving the undamaged spot a
look of disgust. "This isn't working at all. All I've done is put a
black mark on the surface. What is this stuff made of?"

Arthur clicked off his own torch. For all of
Tish's efforts to keep the moving station infrastructure out of his
way, he'd been able to hold their most powerful portable laser
torch in one spot for more than a several minutes. A smudgy black
ghost on the wall gave away the only sign of the hard work. "This
isn't working."