To The Stars (The Harry Irons Trilogy) (47 page)

"Not too bad. Bit of a headache." He looked Kathleen over. "Where'd you get the costume?"

"It's a long story."

"You wear it well. Maybe it'll distract the aliens. Where are they? What's happening?"

Harry told him about making contact with the alien computer and that Blane was held somewhere aboard the ship. "It said there were five aliens remaining. I disposed of two of them..."

"With my help," Kathleen interjected.

"So that leaves three," Harry continued.

"Any idea where they are?"

A beam of light passed over the hatch and illuminated the compartment. Kathleen looked into the lab and quickly drew back. "It's one of them!"

"Close the hatch."

Kathleen looked behind, on the bulkhead, and found the hatch control. The alien came into view. It saw both Fagen and Harry and scampered to the hatch just as Kathleen pressed the button.

The opening shrunk just as the battle-suited alien reached inside the compartment and seized Harry by the wrist. The portal closed on the mechanical forearm and pinned it. In the process, Harry was jerked from his feet and slammed into the floor.

Kathleen called out to him. Momentarily, stars spun before his eyes, then he looked at the torn material at his sleeve. A moan escaped as he turned over. "I'm all right." The robot hand, still caught in the hatch, gripped and released air.

"What are we gonna do?"

Fagen watched the metallic hand. "We're going to find Blane and then we'll see about getting out of here. Any ideas where to find him?"

With Kathleen's help, Harry backed away from the reaching mechanical arm. "Not a one."

"Why don't you ask the Servant?"

"How?"

"Didn't you say it was connected to every part of the ship?"

"Yes, that's right. It knows everything that goes on."

"Then why don't you just ask?"

Harry shrugged. The struggling alien was still stuck in the door. For a short time, it seemed to grow still, then it redoubled its efforts. Harry looked at the walls and ceiling. "Where is Blane being held?"

There was no response.

"Oh, I feel really stupid."

"No, try again, maybe it's napping or something," Kathleen suggested.

Harry repeated himself.

Suddenly, the metal forearm pulled itself free and the portal closed completely. Outside, the frustrated alien pounded on the wall. Whatever the ship was made from, it was an incredible insulant. The violent pounding sounding muted and far away.

Harry faced Kathleen. "I guess we're stuck."

"Maybe not," said Fagen, pointing to a spot in a corner. A seam had appeared and was opening, exposing a new tunnel. "Looks like maybe the Servant heard you after all, Harry. Come this way."

Fagen climbed into the tunnel followed by Kathleen, then Harry. The passage slanted at a severe angle and Harry slid down, feet first into a darkened corridor where he fell over Kathleen.

"Careful, kids," said Fagen.

Harry pulled Kathleen to her feet and they looked up and down another featureless corridor. Lights illuminated the passageway showing seams at either end. There were no other visible seams. The passage from which they'd fallen had already closed and even the faint line that marked its spot had disappeared.

"Which way?" Kathleen asked.

Harry shrugged and shook his head. "Which way?" he repeated.

Fagen made the decision. "Let's try this one." He pointed to the door behind them.

"No," Kathleen said as she motioned in the opposite direction, toward the other door, "let's go this way."

"Why?"

"In affairs of intuition, trust a woman." She winked at Harry and stepped to the seam on the left. Harry pointed the weapon at the closed portal. Fagen stepped behind Kathleen.

She looked at Harry. "Ready?"

Harry nodded and she passed her hand over the seam. It puckered for an instant, then rapidly expanded. Three aliens, all dressed in battlesuits, stood before them. Harry fired at the one in the middle. As before, a blue light burst around the creature, bathing the compartment in an azure glow. Beside it, the other two stood motionless.

Abruptly, Fagen yelled at Harry. "Hold it!"

Fagen stood up and stepped into the room. The blue glow was nearly gone. He strode up to the aliens, who hadn't moved an inch, and took hold of one of the robotic hands. He held it aloft and let it drop limply back against the curved metal.

"They're empty. Just suits. No weapons"

Kathleen giggled and Harry blushed a deep red.

The armored suits were open in the back, allowing light to shine inside, eerily exposing the flat surface of the suit viewports. Unlike some of the other compartments, Harry noted that this room was clean and orderly. There was a workbench and a counter on which was a series of control panels. There must have been tools and weapons somewhere, if only they had the time to look. At the far end of the room an open passageway led out.

Fagen moved into the passage with Kathleen right behind. Harry looked around the equipment room for anything they could use. He didn't find the weapons he hoped for, but he did manage to activate a flat viewscreen that was situated above the work counter. It displayed a live picture of the Magellan.

Just as Harry thought there was nothing new to see, he caught motion near the auxiliary airlock. At first, he thought perhaps it was Bonner outside the ship. Maybe he'd decided to try to help. But that couldn't be; he had his orders and he was expected to remain aboard the Magellan, whatever happened.

Harry looked more closely at the screen. He didn't know how to manipulate the controls so there was no way to enhance the image. The figure momentarily floated into full view. The light from Miaplacidus shined off its form and suddenly Harry knew he wasn't looking at anything human. It was an alien in a battlesuit, and it was preparing to enter the Magellan's secondary airlock.

Somehow, he needed to get a message to the remaining crew. "Servant?" He asked the empty room. "Servant? Do you hear me?"

There was no reply.

Harry looked about, searching for help, for a way to contact the crew aboard the Magellan, but there was nothing he could do. He rose and ran after Fagen and Kathleen.

The passage led to a compartment filled with what looked like cocoons of various sizes. Kathleen looked for one large enough to hold a man.

"I got a viewscreen to work. It showed the Magellan and I saw one of the aliens at the auxiliary airlock," said Harry.

Fagen looked blankly at Harry, uncomprehending, unprepared for what he heard. "What?"

Harry repeated what he'd said.

"Can we get a message to them?"

"I don't know how, the Servant still isn't responding."

"Great, what's next?"

Kathleen called out from the other side of the room. "I've found him! Here he is!"

Both Harry and Fagen pushed through the bundles.

"Is he alive?"

"Yes."

Fagen looked to Harry. "Go back to the console and keep working on it. Maybe the computer will come through. I'll see about Blane."

Harry agreed without having any idea about what to do. As he turned away, Fagen called after him. "Watch our backs, Harry. We don't want any of them taking us by surprise."

He went back up the corridor toward the equipment room. If one of the aliens had left the ship that meant there were only two left. As he considered the improved odds, he saw a seam that had passed unnoticed. Harry moved his hand over it. It responded by parting and revealing what appeared to be another, smaller, storage room.

Harry stepped inside. Unlike the other compartments, there was no illumination but some light was supplied by that shining in from the adjoining corridor. It was enough to make out open bins along the walls. Harry looked inside the first. Tools of unknown purpose lay within.

He picked up a white, metallic ball, somewhat smaller than a cue ball, and tested its weight in his hand. Something passed in front of the open portal and momentarily the small room was utterly dark. Harry turned to glimpse a metallic leg.

Harry stepped back to the entrance. Still holding the ball, Harry climbed through the seam back into the passageway. When he rounded the corner, he caught sight of the creature just as it stepped into the same room as Kathleen and Fagen.

Harry crept up from behind until he crouched in the corridor just outside the room. The creature stood in front of a defiant Fagen and Kathleen. Behind them, Harry could see Blane, still unconscious, lying in the partially opened cocoon.

The alien reached for its utility belt and moved toward Kathleen. Fagen stepped in front of the woman. The creature whipped its front leg and knocked the mission commander off his feet.

Blane stirred. "What's happening?"

The creature took another step forward.

Fagen was injured. Blood stained his tunic where the pointed leg had scraped across his chest.

Harry was pretty sure he knew what the thing intended. It was there to dispose of the pests infesting its ship. Kathleen kneeled beside Blane. Fagen attempted to get to his feet but the creature turned on him, stabbing him with its stiletto front leg through the abdomen. He grunted as the silvery leg impaled him and lifted him from the floor. The alien tossed Fagen to the side like a used toy. Fagen hit the wall and fell unmoving to the floor.

It turned back to face Kathleen. There was no time for contemplation. With only the metallic orb in his hand, Harry launched himself at the back of the alien and began hammering at its rounded top.

It responded by reaching behind with one robotic hand and clasping itself around Harry's ankle. Harry continued to pound at the rounded metal back even as the monster tried to jerk him away. It succeeded in pulling him to the front and Harry found himself looking into the alien's viewplate. Behind the plate, mere inches away, the living alien stared with dark, bulging eyes. The free metallic hand slapped again and this time caught Harry with a glancing blow to the side of his head and Harry was knocked to the floor.

The alien stood over him, straddling the linguist. On his back, Harry watched as the thing reached for its belt and withdrew a syringe with a ridiculously long needle. Its point was aimed at Harry's head.

In a last act of defiance, Harry hurled the ball directly at the alien's viewplate. His aim was immaculate, if not lucky. The ball found its mark in the center of the plate. Both the ball and the plate shattered. Harry heard the sound of escaping gas as the pieces fell to the floor. The creature raised its metal hands to its face and staggered backwards.

Harry jumped to his feet as the alien fled. It ran headlong into the bulkhead first, rebounded, and then scampered out.

Harry looked at Fagen.

He wasn't dead, but he was close to it. He was bleeding profusely and had lost consciousness. Harry knelt beside the mission commander as Kathleen helped strip Blane out of the cocoon.

He pressed his hand against Fagen's wound and felt the extent of the damage. If they could get him back to the Magellan, Parker might be able to save him. But, as he reflected on what he'd seen on the viewscreen, those aboard the Magellan had problems of their own.

*

Parker's foot bothered him. As he feared, an infection had set in. That's why he had his foot in the bag of hot, circulating water. Making a fuss about his wound had afforded him the opportunity to remain in his compartment or the lab almost exclusively.

Earlier, Nadine lost her temper and chewed him out for not trying harder to get around.

"Frankly, I'm tired of bringing you food," she said. "We're up here in zero gravity, and you can't even float down to the mess deck. What's the matter with you?"

"There's nothing wrong with me other than my foot. I'm a doctor. Remember? And I'm presently irrigating my wound."

Nadine left the container spinning in front of Parker's face.

"Well, Doctor Parker, Bill and I could use some help. When your doctorship is done, put a band-aid on it and come up to the bridge."

"Is this a racial thing?"

"What!? What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, well, it's just that I can't think of anything else I've done that would put you in such a foul mood."

The navigator pointed menacingly at him. "You're the problem here."

Parker could tell when he was getting to her and he enjoyed it. Nadine was mad. Her eyes blazed and she looked like she wanted to hit him.

"It is a black/white thing, isn't it?"

Nadine glowered. She set her jaw, spun about, and headed to the control room. Behind, Parker chuckled just loud enough so she could hear. He'd seen enough; he felt he'd barely escaped with his life. If the others wanted to keep flying in the face of danger, well then let them. But he'd had his fill and he planned on keeping a low profile until they returned to Earth. He'd be a doctor, but he wouldn't run errands.

He relaxed and let the hot water massage his foot.