Overdrive (18 page)

“Oi! Cut it out.
I’m here to rescue you."

“How do we know
that you aren’t with the big nasty outside?," came the unidentified
response.

“Oh, I don’t know,
but as far as I’m aware, Shiva don’t employ humans in battle armor to assist in
their sucking process.”

There was a pause
and some shuffling noises behind a large console towards the rear of the
bridge. Logan cautiously raised his head and watched as four Martians and one
bulky looking human dressed in vacuum suits moved sheepishly into view.

His AI reported
another incoming message and Tarquin’s face appeared under his eyelid.

“Log. Get the fuck
out of there. I’ve got a Watcher Trireme heading directly towards us. They’ll
be in range in 3 minutes.”

“No worries. Power
up. I’ll be with you shortly. Oh. You better let Bruce know as well."

“Right."
Standing, Logan cut the link and opened another one to the suited figures
before him.

“No time for
introductions. If you lot don’t want to suffocate or become unwilling subjects
of the Watcher empire, then I suggest you follow me.”

Not waiting to see
whether they were following or not, Logan turned around and began making his
way back to the airlock.

One minute and
twenty seconds later, he reached the outer lock. The Martians, much more suited
to the confines of the corridor, were right behind him. The bulky human was
still ten meters further down the corridor.

Logan moved aside.
“Right, you lot. Keep going. I’ll be right behind you.”

The Martians moved
forward and quickly made their way across to the
Debacherous weekend
.
Logan opened a link to Bruce. “Where the fuck are you?”

Bruce’s grinning
primate face appeared before him. “Be with you in a minute. Just leaving a
little surprise. I’ve sent three of the little green fellas ahead of me. They
should be with you in a minute.”

“We haven’t got a
minute. Get back here now.”

Bruce disconnected
his link. Logan sighed in frustration. The bulky human figure had reached the
outer airlock and was making his way over the vacuum bridge. Three more
Martians moved into the corridor, moving with remarkable speed.

Tarquin appeared
under his eyelid. “What the fuck are you doing? Get back here now. The Watchers
will be in range in less than a minute.”

“Look. Cool your
jets. I’m waiting for Bruce.”

“Bollocks to that.
Get back here now.”

Logan cut the link
and followed the last three Martians over the vacuum bridge.

Entering the
Debacherous
Weekend’s
airlock, he opened another link to Tarquin. “I’m in your lock.
Give us another 30 seconds."

“I’ll give you 10.
If Bruce doesn’t appear, I’m removing the bridge and closing the airlock.”

Eight seconds
later, Logan watched the Gorilla clumsily move into view in the Martians
corridor.

“Tarq. Give us
another 20 seconds. I can see him."

“Can’t. The
Watchers are 10 seconds away from weapon lock. I’m retracting the bridge."

Logan watched
hopelessly as the bridge began to pull back towards him. Bruce sped up and made
a mighty leap for the retreating bridge. Logan didn’t see whether he made it or
not as the airlock door began to close.

The inner lock
opened and walking through, Logan ordered his battle armor to disengage.
Stepping out of it, he made his way to the bridge. The Martians and the chubby
human figure were no where to be seen. Presumably they were in the bar
recovering from shock.

Entering the
bridge, Logan discovered a rather tense and crowded scene. Felix and an
obviously recovered Crystal were holding guns on Derek, the Polar Bear. Tarquin
was seated in the command seat. A shudder ran through the ship.

“What’s going on?”

Tarquin was the
only one who bothered replying. “We’ve just been hit by a heavy duty plasma
cannon. Our fields are down but I think we’re out of range now.”

“What about this?,"
Logan said, indicating the Polar Bear.”

“He wants us to go
back for Bruce. We told him we can’t. Bruce disagreed," said Felix.

“You can’t leave
him," growled the bear.

“We haven’t got a
choice," said Tarquin. “If we go back we’ll be helpless. It’ll be another
couple of minutes before the fields come back on-line.”

Logan watched the
Polar Bears claws flex in and out. He took another step back to ensure he was
out of reach.

Tarquin enhanced
the view on the screen to show the Watcher Trireme. Its trajectory as it tried
to bring the
Debacherous Weekend
into range brought it close to the
Martian ship. As it passed, the Martian ship suddenly exploded, whiting out the
screen and rocking the
Debacherous Weekend
so vigorously that even the
AG was unable to cope. Everyone, except Tarquin who was seated, was sent
sprawling over the floor of the bridge. Logan found himself on top of the Polar
Bear who appeared to be sobbing.

“You bastards,"
he moaned. “First my mother, now my friend. He was my best friend."

Logan hesitantly
patted his shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. “I’m sorry,"
he said, pushing himself off the furry white carpet and getting to his feet.
“He was very brave. A truly remarkable, erm, gorilla.”

Derek
lumbered to his feet, sorrow immediately
replaced by anger. “Are you taking the piss or what?”

Logan took a step
backwards. “No. No of course not.” Behind the bear, Crystal had picked up her
weapon that had fallen to the floor. She pointed it at Derek’s back.

“Stop right there,"
she said. “Killing any of us isn’t going to bring him back."

“No," said Derek, flexing his claws again and taking a menacing step towards Logan, “but it’ll make me feel
a whole lot better.”

Derek brought his
arm up to strike. Crystal readied herself to fire. Logan prepared to run. He
turned and buried his face in a large furry chest.

“Somebody looking
for me?," asked Bruce.

A look of delight
crossed Derek’s face. He ran and gathered the gorilla up in a hug. “I thought
you were dead.”

“Who me? Nah. I
was attached to the vacuum bridge. I just let myself in the airlock. Just as
well I knew that explosion was coming and tied myself on.”

Derek
released his friend and looked at the
faces of those gathered on the bridge. As far as the others could tell, he
looked embarrassed.

“Sorry you guys."

“Hey, don’t worry
about it," said Felix grinning. “Getting mauled by a Polar Bear is low on
my list of worries at the moment.”

Logan turned to
Tarquin. “What’s the story?”

“The sensors are
still recovering from the blast," he said getting up from his chair. “I
don’t know whether the Watchers got pasted or not, but even if they weren’t,
they can’t catch us now." He moved towards the door. “Anyone feel like a
beer?”

◊

In the upstairs
bar, the Martians, now out of their vacuum suits, were relaxing on one of the
sofas. Unsurprisingly, they’d found the beer and were talking quietly amongst
themselves. The human figure they had picked up on the Martian ship was sitting
on another sofa. He looked up as the four humans and two transplanters entered
the bar. With a shock, they all recognized Walter, the
Dirty Little Minx’s
social
organizer. He was looking a bit weary and disheveled but otherwise appeared to
be in one piece.

“Good people,"
Walter said warmly by way of greeting. He got to his feet and shook hands with
the new arrivals to the bar. “Glad to see you all made it safely away. Pity
about our dear Minx though. She will be sadly missed.” Walter’s welcoming grin
faded somewhat.

“How did you
manage to hitch a ride with our little green friends here?," enquired
Logan.

Walter took a deep
breath. “Well, in my position as social organizer, I took it upon myself to see
some of our guests to the life pods. My last act in my role aboard the ship.
Unfortunately, so intent was I in carrying out my duties, I managed to miss the
last boat off. Lucky for me, I chanced upon our Martian friends and they
offered me a ride. Sadly, their navigator was a bit worse for wear, inebriated
you might say, and took us on the wrong route. Hence our encounter with that
horrid beast. But it all turned out for the best thanks to your timely
arrival.” Walter beamed again.

“Fancy a drink
Walter?” asked Felix walking behind the bar.

Walter nodded
vigorously. “A gin and tonic would be marvelous thank you. Actually, better
make it a double.” He looked over at the Martians. “But I’m forgetting myself.
I haven’t yet introduced you.” He beckoned to one of the small green men seated
on the sofa, who came over to stand at Walter’s side.

“This is Captain
Zoltan, lately of the good ship
Frying Saucer
.”

The rest of the
crew were introduced, including the navigator who looked familiar to Felix. He
suspected it was the same one who was losing at the string pulling drinking
game aboard the Minx. He was unsure though. They all looked the same to him.

Felix sat down
next to Crystal and Tarquin. The others arrayed themselves on the various
sofas.

“So," he
said, addressing himself to both the figures sitting next to him. “What’s the
plan?”

“On this route,"
replied Tarquin, taking a large gulp of his beer, “we’re only 3 days from
Fever. We shouldn’t have any more trouble between here and there. There’s
usually only one Shiva per lane and there’s no way anyone else should be able
to catch us now. As for when we arrive at Fever…” He trailed off looking
expectantly at Crystal.

Crystal nodded
thoughtfully. “Our people should be in place by the time we arrive and it
should be safe for you," she said, looking at Felix, “to hand over the
Overdrive data.”

“Why didn’t you
tell me about your Angelic powers before?," asked Felix in a accusatory
tone.

Crystal sighed.
“Yes, yes. I know I haven’t been very straight with any of you and I’m sorry."
She laid a hand over Felix’s. “Especially to you. But as I said before. I’m
under orders not to reveal my powers unless I have absolutely no other option."
She looked Felix in the eye. “I hope you understand.”

Felix paused and
then finally nodded. “Well," he said, taking a deep breath. “What are we
supposed to do for the next 3 days.”

Logan looked up
from his beer. “I don’t know about the rest of you lot, but I’m gonna get
shitfaced."

“I’ll drink to
that," said Tarquin, raising his beer. Walter, the Martians and the two
Transplanter mercenaries seemed similarly inclined.

Crystal grabbed
Felix by the hand and led him out of the bar.

“Where are we
going?," he enquired excitedly, knowing perfectly well but trying to play
it cool and failing utterly.

Crystal smiled
seductively sending a shiver running down his back. “Your room. I’ve got some
good ideas on how we’re going to spend the next 3 days."

“Chess?”

“No”

“Cards?”

“No”

“Something
involving nudity?”

“Close. Now shut
up. Get inside and get your kit off.”

“Sounds good to
me.”

◊

Logan and Tarquin
watched the two figures depart.

“What do you think
they’re going to do for the next 3 days?," a smirking Tarquin asked.

“Something that we
won’t be I’ll wager unless one of those Martians turns out to be female,"
replied Logan with a laugh.

Tarquin grimaced.
“Fat chance."

Logan looked at
his old friend. “Fancy another beer?”

“Sounds good to me."

◊

With a sigh of
contentment, Knights Captain Tynan eased himself into the command seat formerly
occupied by the late Simbiel. The Areopagite ship,
Divine Retribution
,
was traveling through Nospace. Without an Angel on board, Tynan quickly
realized he had no chance of catching the
Debacherous Weekend
containing
Felix and the Overdrive data.

After departing
the
Dirty Little Minx
, still in its slowly decaying orbit around the gas
giant, the
Divine Retribution
had run into a Areopagite Battle Cruiser,
Holy
Crusade
, answering the stricken pleasure cruiser’s distress beacon. Using
Metatron’s name he’d requisitioned the ship and its attendant Angel to escort
them through the Shiva controlled route taken by the
Debacherous Weekend
. 
The Angel, none too happy at being ordered about by a mere Knights Captain, had
contacted Metatron directly, only to be told by the Areopagite leader that he
was to assist Knights Captain Tynan in any way possible. Anything less would be
regarded with disfavor. Grumbling about uppity Templars, the Angel complied.