Ann
The Hangar was a mess. Despite the fact that there was plenty of space for everyone, people had gathered together in a massive group near the entrances to the Hangar. Ann stared in surprise at the press of humanity. Navigating her cart slowly, she saw one theme in everyone's faces. They were defeated. They were shocked, saddened, confused, tired, angry, and even hungry, too, but more than anything, the entire ordeal had left them all feeling defeated. Her heart ached at the thought. Daylight had come. They had survived. There was no doubt that they'd all managed to continue, despite horrible odds. More than that, Ann felt a twinge of regret that she hadn't managed to do more to help them. There were priorities, of course, that only she could have kept up with. She didn't think she'd done the wrong thing, necessarily, but perhaps she hadn't done the best thing? Looking at the despair on so many people's faces, Ann wished she'd been able to do more. "Excuse me. Sorry. Can I get past? I'm sorry. Excuse me." The apologies ran on repeat as she navigated the crowd. Most people gave her a curious glance, but her uniform--sullied and stained and torn though it was--gave enough authority that no one did more than look. A couple of times, an attentive parent dragged her child out of the way so that Ann could angle the cart through the press. The group dispersed more and more as they went, but no one seemed eager to go too far past the entrances. Part of that, she was confident, was because the lights weren't on. She frowned. Why was that? Once free of the crowd, Ann set her cart on one of the hovering pads that helped move people through the massive expanse. It didn't respond to the weight. Ann tried a query from her aedee. Nothing happened. Grimacing, she brought up a location log on her palm. Almost all of her crewmembers were here, but there should be one person in control…Bertram Callaway. Well, that was a relief. He was as good as they came. He'd likely be looking at a promotion once the crisis was behind them. She hailed Bert. "Yes, Chief?" he asked almost instantly after the connection came through. "You're in the Hangar?" "Yes, sir. It's been an interesting time, to say the least. We're understaffed by a magnitude of about one hundred times or so, I'd say." "Do you have a sense of how many want out? How many want to leave?" "Basically everyone here, from what I can gather, sir. There are pockets of other groups that can't come out--Medical wing has had a severe accident, it looks like, and no one is leaving there." "Accident?" "That's probably the wrong way to describe it. One of the injured got up and started killing people." "What!" Ann felt a shock of surprise ripple through her. She hadn't thought that more murders would have to be investigated, though perhaps that was too optimistic a hope. With this much chaos, people were bound to want to take advantage of the crisis. "What details do you have?" "There's some people's aedee recordings to parse through, sir, but we haven't had the humanpower to get anything taken care of…well, anything. We're lucky this place hasn't devolved into a mob. You can see how absurd this place is, how everyone is everywhere." "Anything you can do to try to make this more organized?" "Ever since I last reported to you, Chief, I've been working on getting this place more organized. There are only about a hundred crewmembers in the colony, and there are nearly ten thousand people. That's not good ratios." Ann frowned. "You're right." She glanced down and saw the cart. "Look, Bert, I have a different priority right now." "Different than these people?" He sounded incredulous. "Different than crowd control, but still pertinent. I need to know why the hover-pads aren't doing anything. Why aren't the lights on?" "That's a great question, sir, but I think it has something to do with the Envoy." "With Charalee?" "Is that her name?" "She's my sister." Bert barked a laugh. "Really? Small galaxy. Look, Chief, the power that's been brought back online throughout the Compound is being held in abeyance until the Envoy can input her protocols. That will then allow the modified PRISM engine that powers the Portal to run." Ann could almost hear the shrug. "It seems like that's what happened when the power was restored--I can't override it from here." "You're certain of this?" "Yes, sir. I'm standing at the terminal now." She looked around, trying to find the place. There it was, off in the distance. A large tower that overlooked the entire Hangar. Calling it a tower was a misnomer, though; it was more like a pillar in the center of the Hangar that both supported the immense roof and gave the people inside it a 360 degree view of the entire place. There, the many different terminals and working cogs of the Hangar worked. Of course Bert would be there. If Ann had had any sense, she would've headed straight there. "Okay, look, I need a pathway put into place." "Why?" "My sister needs to get here." "She's the Envoy, right?" "Yes." Bert was quiet a moment. "Any idea where she is?" "Near the joint between Gateway Avenue and the Longstand Street." "Close to the lavatories?" "I'm thinking so." Another pause. "Okay, Chief. I've triggered a pathway. What do you want to do now?" Ann bit her lip, thinking. She didn't trust Charalee. Her instinct was to club her sister in the back of the head, then throw her into the Brig while she evacuated the entire colony. But that wouldn't work--she had to be conscious to put in the Envoy's protocols. Nevertheless, having the Hangar open was only one piece of the puzzle. Would the Portal work? Could they mass-evacuate? Was there enough bandwidth for that? The entire thing was experimental in the first place. Ann couldn't reasonably rely on the new tech to teleport the people from Prospero to the Vanguard, could she? There were too many variables, too many possible areas where that could go wrong. But there were only five transports that she could see. Even if they were completely empty, they would have to be recharged--something that would take time--and restocked with food for the trip back to the Vanguard. That sort of organization would take additional time, all the while there was still the danger of the Dentolura, who were all throughout the Compound. A sinking feeling dripped through Ann's stomach and into her body and soul. They weren't any closer to being done than any other time. They were…they were screwed, basically. There wasn't anything she could do. It had been a false hope that Captain Rall had given them. Yes, they were almost within lightline for contacting the Vanguard, but there was no cavalry on the way, no rescue to wait for. They were on their own, and they had precious little that they could do. Ann swore. "Sir?" "I said, 'Shitbones,'" replied Ann. "No, I heard that. I was wondering if you had something you wanted me to do…and I was hoping it wasn't that." "Wasn't what?" "To…you know…shit out bones." Ann almost smiled, but the gravity of the situation pulled her face into a perpetual frown. "Bert, this is going to be trickier than I thought." "Why, sir?" "I don't trust my sister to do the right thing." "Um…" She shook her head. "Look, I need to get to my sister and bring her to you. She has to have access to the system so that she can power up the Hangar and the Portal. But I don't want her to be touching anything else. Can you arrange that?" "Anything else…you mean--" "Systems, protocols, anything. As much as I hate to say it, she's the only key we have to getting out of here, but she's a dangerous key." "Isn't she your sister?" "It's not something I'm particularly proud of, if you must know." "Okay, Chief. Whatever you say." "Do that. I'm going to go find my sister." "Roger that." They disconnected and Ann took a step away from the hover-pad, then paused. Did she want to be hauling around the lura that was inside? It kept rattling the cage, but its energy seemed to be fluctuating now that they had normal air circulating through the place. Maybe it couldn't handle their atmosphere for much longer? Ann heaved a sigh. No, she didn't need that thing rattling around--but she didn't trust to leave it unguarded, either. Holding up her hand, she wiggled her pinky and then twisted her wrist, loading the previously generated list of locations and her people. It took another minute or two to find a crewmember nearby, but once she did, she called her up. Another minute passed before the woman showed up. "Yes, Chief?" asked Pauline Su, approaching at a jog. She had her Security force helmet tucked underneath one arm, her short-cropped black hair tight against her face. Slanted eyes clicked from Ann's face to the crate sitting on the pad. "I need you to guard this." "Yes, sir." "It has a lura in it." Su tipped her head. "What's a lura, sir?" "What we call the things that attacked us," said Ann, frowning a bit at the question. "Oh. We've been calling them pisspots for most of the night," said Su. "Have you had a lot of contact with them?" An incredulous smile creased over Su's face. "That's putting it mildly. These suckers have been tearing through people all over the Compound. I myself have dispatched at least a half dozen of them." Ann raised her eyebrows. "I can't wait to read the report." "I sure can wait to file it, sir," said Su with a crooked smile. "I'm not too keen on reliving the experience." "Did you record it through your aedee?" asked Ann. It was supposed to be standard operating procedure to activate one's aedee recording during a crisis like this, but, at the same time, one could be forgiven for having other things to attend to. "Yes, sir," said Pauline Su, her face giving away nothing about how she felt having the question asked of her. "Of course I did." "The visualization dump should be enough, then." "Yes, sir," said Su, smiling. "That would be a relief." "But you have to watch this crate for me." Su saluted. "Yes, sir." Ann nodded and moved to leave, then paused. "And Su?" "Yes?" "If I…If there's a need--if I give you word--you should let the cage open." Su blinked in surprise. "Uh, if you say so, Chief." Ann nodded, pursing her lips. "I do. I…Let's hope that doesn't happen." Su shrugged. "Whatever you say, sir. Should I blast it when I open it?" Ann shook her head. "No! No, please. Just…let it go." "Okay. You're the boss, Chief." Su nodded deferentially to Ann, who returned the nod and headed back toward the entrance. She'd like to have the big, primary doors open, but she figured they were part of the system that needed the Envoy. As she walked, she fingered the Calm packet in her pocket. It was going to turn out okay. She no longer needed the help. She snorted, remembering the bad hit from Lyle's terminal--that was the brightest memory she had of the entire night. That hit had made the rest of her thoughts fuzzy when she put too much pressure on them. And, after the fight with Korryn, she felt physically worse than she had in a long time. If it weren't for Helena, Ann didn't know what would have happened to her. She pulled out the Calm pod, considering it carefully as she headed toward where the pathway would light up for Charalee. Maybe it wasn't worth it, after all. Sure, the Calm helped her think. Right now, it would be nice to take the edge off the stress. There were still so many variables, so many possibilities. Did she really want to deal with that alone? Without any help? Ann held the packet in her hand, not willing to put it away yet. After all, didn't she deserve a little rest? She'd gone through a lot, and though they weren't finished yet, she could really use a boost. A bit of help, yes. That's all it would be… Ann arrived at the entrance as Charalee arrived, along with a handful of other people who hadn't been able to find their way to the Hangar, either. Ann forced a grin she didn't feel onto her face and embraced Charalee fiercely. "Uh…hello?" said her sister, hardly reciprocating. "I'm so glad you're here," said Ann, lying through her teeth. She patted Charalee on the back and then led her through the crowd, explaining the situation as they walked. "I've ordered my people to get the system ready. Once you've inputted the protocols, we can start getting people off the planet." "Yes," said Charalee, nodding her head in a way that seemed as forced as Ann's own jocularity. "That sounds excellent." Ann kept careful watch over her sister, though she didn't know why. If the woman wanted to sabotage them, there was little Ann could do at this point. They had to have the Envoy codes. Without them, there was plenty of energy and no way to use it. More than that, she didn't trust Charalee. Her willingness to help out tickled a memory in Ann's mind. Something about the Medical wing…had Charalee been there? It had been so soon after the bad hit that she couldn't really say. The drugs that Helena had given Ann weren't as effective now as before, and Ann's thinking was getting foggy. She had to remain…Calm… They arrived at the pillar, entering into the elevator with Ann's aedee providing the access. As they coasted upwards, Ann asked, "Did you…do you think the Portal will work?" "Work?" "We've had to make some changes, after all." "Poor timing. I saw some of the patches you did because of that storm. Assuming the Dentolura didn't damage too much, it should work fine." "And you're confident the Portal can work the way it's supposed to?" "Yes," said Charalee, nodding. She shot her sister a wary look. "Why so interested?" "We're going to get these people off the planet who want to go. But I'm worried about using new tech to do it." "Oh, the Portal could handle twice as many people," said Charalee with a wave of her hand. "The issue is only about having enough power. The PRISM engines that we have attached to the Portal are the latest that DP has created. That should make you feel safe right there." To Ann, it sounded more like a sales pitch than something that would make her feel better. Nevertheless, she nodded as if she agreed. "That sound perfect." "Yes," said Charalee in a way that made Ann cold. They entered the command station. Bertram stood next to the primary terminal. There were a handful of additional engineers and even a couple of Security crewmembers, but, for the most part, the space was empty of people. "Skeleton crew?" she asked as the Timpson sisters crossed the room. "Most of the engineers are done with their part. They're with their families," said Bert, nodding at Charalee and saluting his Chief. Ann returned the recognition. "This is my sister, Charalee Timpson. Please show her to where the Envoy's codes belong." "Yes, sir," said Bert. He looked at Charalee. "Will you?" "With pleasure." Ann ghosted behind them, not wanting to let Charalee out of her sight. The idea of what her sister might do haunted her, but she couldn't decide if it was petty suspicion or a genuine insight into her sister's personality that made her so distrustful. As it stood, Ann didn't want a misstep. Power up the Hangar. Deal with the next step only after that. Charalee leaned forward. Ann noticed in the blue light of the darkened room that Charalee looked worn down. Her hair was a mess, and the wound on her head didn't appear too well healed. That surprised Ann. Hadn't Helena worked on her sister, too? She seemed to remember that. But it was murky, like trying to remember a dream. "Damn Calm," said Ann under her breath. "What was that?" asked Charalee, looking up from the terminal on which she was working. "Huh? Oh, nothing," said Ann. She stood at military rest, her hands behind her back, feet a sharp shoulder-width apart. "I didn't say anything." Charalee went back to her work, tapping her aedee and occasionally the terminal in front of her. She moved with an efficiency that reminded Ann of Helena. That was strange. Why was she thinking of the medic again? Then, almost like a breeze with a hint of perfume that reminded her of a long-left lover, a memory popped into her mind. The Medical wing. An attack. Some deaths. Charalee shouldn't be standing, now that Ann thought about it. She'd been hit by a lura, was poisoned. She wasn't even able to stand on her own; Charalee had been looking like she was a scarce meter from death. Now she was up and moving. She was… Ann grimaced. She shot a look at Bertram. He was watching Charalee just as carefully, but neither one knew why. They didn't know what she needed to do. "That's it," said Charalee, pulling Ann out of her paranoid conclusions. "I have to go down to the Portal itself and input my code there." She pointed down to the Portal. It was positioned at the far end of the Hangar, a large platform built into long, sleek ovals. The Portal itself was supposed to generate a large amount of energy that would be funneled through the ovals and then create a tear in time/space that would allow a person to walk through, from one location to another, in this case, the other Portal on the far edge of the Vanguard. "Let's get you down there," said Ann, reaching for Charalee's arm. "One more thing," said Charalee, her fingers twitching. That was the moment. That was the problem That was the clue. "Bert!" shouted Ann, but it was cut short as Charalee knocked her hard in the chest, sending the Chief of Security sprawling. Bert leaped in, but received a vicious elbow to the nose. A bone cracked and blood sprayed as Bert dropped. Charalee slapped the terminal panel before anyone could move. The entire Hangar shuddered as the massive external doors began to yawn open. On the other side, massed together in a herd too expansive to count, were the awaiting Dentolura. The door finished opening. The animals took a step into the Hangar. Even from this height, Ann could hear the people down below scream. Comments are closed.
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What is this?This is a NaNoWriMo project that publishes, day by day, the chapters I'm writing for 2017. If you're confused, go to Chapter 1 Ann and start there. ArchivesCategories
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