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  Together, the three men dragged the two guards inside. The room was a computer room with row upon row of computers and electronics devices. The left side of the room was a clear wall; on the other side of the wall, the reactor that powered the station could be seen. The reactor was shaped rather like an onion, with the wider circular part at the bottom and the pointed part at the top. It was grey, and lights blinked all along the bottom. Currently all the lights were green.

  Aaron looked at Adam but motioned toward the guards. “Restrain them and see if any alarms have been set off.” He turned to Russell. “Come with me.”

  Russell and Aaron moved deeper into the room, past the rows of computers. Lights flicked on as they walked. At the very back of the room there was an arch that led into a cavernous plant room. Backwards and to their left was the onion shaped reactor but they completely ignored it. The floor in front of them was full of machinery for a variety of different tasks. They were looking for the tractor beam controls and it didn’t take long to find them.

  The tractor beam apparatus was a tall hexagon-shaped structure that had to be fifteen feet high and another twenty feet long. Massive cables came up from the floor on their left and entered the structure, more cables entered from the far side on their right.

  Russell moved straight for the entrance hatch but Aaron reached out and grabbed him. “Wait. Will they notice when we deactivate it?” Aaron asked.

  “No sir. At least they won’t unless I do something wrong. These systems have a circuit that monitors to make sure everything is in good running order. I have to rewire that circuit so that it constantly gives a green light.”

  Russell’s tone was just a little off, like he was a little irritated at having to explain himself—Hicks undoubtedly knew his job. “All right.” Aaron said after a moment. “Get to it. I’m going to check on Adam.”

  Adam was almost exactly where they had left him. Aaron noted that the two guards were tied up with cables before he moved over to the desk where Adam was sitting. “Any alarms?”

  Adam glanced up and then right back to the screen. “No sir, but there is something you need to see.”

  “That doesn’t sound good,” Aaron said, moving around the desk to look over Adam’s shoulder. “What am I looking at?”

  Adam typed on the keyboard for a moment and then the display changed. A two dimensional display of the solar system showed the star and the four planets that orbited around it, but there also was another dot on the display.

  “What’s that?” Aaron asked.

  “That,” Adam said with a sigh, “is the SS Ryan.”

  “Oh shit,” Aaron said moving closer. “Are you sure?” Adam nodded. The SS Ryan was a Commonwealth Cruiser and its presence would complicate their escape. If they took off in a shuttle then the cruiser would be on them before they could get away. The shuttles that this station would be equipped with would be capable of interstellar flight, but the cruiser would intercept them before they even got the chance. Before a ship could create the wormhole that was necessary for interstellar travel, the ship must be past the Hasan point. The Hasan point was the point where the star’s gravitational field had dropped off enough so as to not interfere with the wormhole. It was a variable point that depended on the star’s gravitational field. Undoubtedly, in these slow military shuttles, it would take several hours before they could even reach the Hasan point. Plenty of time for the cruiser to track them down.

  “Think they’re here to keep us from escaping or to destroy the lab?” Adam asked. He sounded quiet, like a man who was trying to hold out hope even in the face of absolute hopelessness.

  Even though he didn’t say it, Aaron guessed both. It made sense to destroy the lab and making sure no one escaped would be a bonus; probably the only reason they hadn’t just bombed the lab from space was that they still wanted the research materials. He placed a hand on Adam’s shoulder. “Don’t give up yet. Come on, let’s see how Russell’s doing.”

  Adam hadn’t even got up from the chair when there was a soft knocking on the door. Both men froze, afraid that the guards’ absence had been noticed.

  Aaron picked up one of the shock sticks from the desk and moved towards the door. He hesitated just short of the door, unsure how best to proceed.

  “Open the damn door!” The words hadn’t been spoken, but they had both heard them sure enough. It was like someone had whispered them, but neither of them had actually heard anything—had to be Susan.

  Slumping, the tension seemed to drain out of him, Aaron reached forward and opened the door.

  Susan, Jessica, and Dr. Moore quickly stepped inside.

  “Everything okay?” Aaron asked, suddenly on edge again by their behavior.

  “Yes,” Susan answered immediately. “I sensed a group of guards passing in the hall and it seemed prudent to get out of sight.”

  “Coming this way,” Aaron demanded, hefting the shock stick and unconsciously tensing.

  “No, they were passing in the next hallway over.”

  Aaron exhaled deeply. “Good.” Jessica still looked pale, so he motioned towards the chair. “Take a seat.” He turned his attention to Susan. “Try and find us the quickest way to the hangar.” He waved towards the back of the computer room. “We’re going to check on Russell.” He pointed at the doctor while he looked at Susan. No words were necessary, it was obvious that he wanted her to keep her eyes on the doctor. The look that she gave him didn’t require any words either and grinning, he led Adam off past the rows of computers.

  They reached the tractor beam controls but the only sign of Hicks was his feet hanging out of the open hatch. Muffled banging sounds, and the occasional curse, were coming from inside the structure.

  Stepping up close, Aaron stuck his head through the narrow hatch. “Where we at?”

  Russell was lying on his back on the small walkway down the middle of the structure. He had removed the underside of a computer system and computer cables hung out in all directions. He glanced over as Aaron’s head appeared. “We’re good. I couldn’t just deactivate it so I rewired the circuits. When they go to engage the beams, it should short itself out.”

  “Should?” Aaron repeated, feeling a little anxious. “We don’t have much room for error here.”

  Sitting up, Russell stretched his back. “I’m positive it’ll work. When they try to engage the beams, the worst case situation is that it will short itself out. Best case is that these computers will short out and start a fire. Either way, it won’t work.”

  Aaron considered for a moment, undoubtedly Russell knew what he was talking about. “All right, but we have another problem.”

  Russell looked from Aaron to Adam, noting the worried expressions on their faces. He quickly climbed out of the hatch, pausing only to push the hatch closed. Sighing, he turned to face them. “What’s wrong?”

  “There’s a cruiser in the system. We won’t be able to get past it in a shuttle. Any ideas?”

  Russell leaned back and crossed his arms, looking down. He was a quiet for a moment, lost in thought. Finally he looked back up and sighed. “Well, the shuttles can’t outrun the cruiser, so we have to disable or distract it.”

  Aaron was surprised, he hadn’t thought of trying to distract the cruiser. Perhaps, with the right distraction, maybe they could buy the necessary amount of time to get away. “What did you have in mind?”

  Shaking his head, Russell straightened back up. “Perhaps we could remotely fly several shuttles out of the hangar at the same time that we take off, you know, try to confuse them. With multiple shuttles, the cruiser will have to make a choice on which one to pursue first. The problem is that they might pick our shuttle first.”

  “What if we flew several decoys out of the hangar, then waited until the cruiser picked a shuttle before we took off?”

  “Might work,” Russell agreed. “Do we have any idea how many shuttles are currently in the hanger?”

  “I’m on it.” Adam called as Aaron glanced his
way.

  Aaron watched the younger man jog back up toward the entrance, funny how much more animated he seemed now that they were working on a plan.

  Adam wasn’t gone long, but he returned looking dejected. “The station computer says there are only two shuttles currently in the hangar.”

  “Is two enough?” Aaron asked, looking at Russell. He felt sure it wasn’t.

  “No,” Russell responded. “We would need at least four or five. With only two, the cruiser can catch the decoy quickly and then hunt us down before we could reach the Hasan point.”

  There was silence for several moments and then Adam looked up excited. “How about if we rigged the decoy shuttle to explode?”

  Aaron glanced quickly at Russell. “What do you think?”

  Russell considered the idea for a moment. “It might work, but there are a lot of things that can go wrong. The cruiser would have to use its tractor beams to pull the shuttle into its hangar bay before the explosion, otherwise the explosion wouldn’t stop the cruiser. We won’t be able to trigger the explosion remotely, so either we set a timer or–”

  “One of us goes on the decoy shuttle,” Aaron finished for him, noticing that Adam looked troubled. “I’ll do it if it comes to that, but I would prefer not to.” Boy was that an understatement. “Any other ideas?”

  “What we really need is a way of attacking the ship.” Russell said, looking down as he strained to find an answer. His hands balled into fists, as he fought with the feeling of helplessness.

  Aaron knew how the man felt. They were military men and were used to attacking, not trying to run and hide. Only if they had a legitimate weapon. His thoughts trailed off as a new idea came to him. It was risky and might not work, but there was a chance. “I have an idea,” he said quietly and then he began to explain the complicated plan that had just occurred to him.

  Chapter 3

  Twenty minutes or so later, Aaron, Adam, and Russell returned to the computer room. Jessica was seated at the desk and Aaron was pleased to see that she was looking better. The doctor and two orderlies had been stripped down to their underwear and all three were tied up with electrical cords. Susan was standing, watching the three men approach. Both Susan and Jessica were wearing a white uniform; Jessica wore Doctor Moore’s lab coat.

  Aaron smiled at the sight of the three prisoners, pleased that Susan was thinking ahead. He had taken the clothes off of the orderly from his cell and now they had three more white outfits. Only one of them would be wearing the blue patient uniforms. “Good thinking,” he said, nodding at the three prisoners.

  Susan tossed the last set of white scrubs to Adam. “Sorry, Russell. I think they would be a little too tight on you.” Both men were about the same height, but Russell was broader through the shoulders.

  Jessica stood up moving to join the small group, she was wearing the medical sleeve that Doctor Moore had worn. “What’s the plan?”

  “We head for the hangar bay.” Aaron replied, watching her intently. “Are you up for creating some distractions?”

  “Absolutely,” Jessica answered. “What did you have in mind?”

  “Well, for starters if we pass anyone in the halls, I need you to camouflage Russell’s blue clothes. No reason to draw any attention to ourselves.” Jessica nodded and Aaron continued, “When we get to the hangar, we may need you to project the image of an empty hangar.”

  “The doctor said the only cameras being watched were those in the patients’ rooms.” Adam said, pulling the white orderly pants up.

  “Yes, but I don’t trust it,” Aaron said. “If you’re keeping an eye on the patient’s quarters, then why wouldn’t you watch the only means off this rock?”

  “When we get to the hangar, are we boarding the first shuttle we come to?” Jessica asked.

  “That’s the plan,” Aaron answered, “unless there’s a reason to pick one over the other, but just follow my lead.” He glanced over to see if Adam was ready and was pleased to see him buttoning up his shirt. “Okay, here’s the order we’ll move in. I want Jessica and Susan in the front with me. Russell, you will stay just behind us and Adam will bring up the rear. Everybody, except Jessica and Russell, grab a shock stick and let’s go.”

  “Why don’t I get one?” Jessica asked puzzled.

  “Because you’re wearing the doctor’s uniform,” Aaron replied, starting to get irritated. “Is that all right?”

  “Sorry, sir.” Jessica said quickly, sounding as if she even meant it.

  They entered the hallway and moved at a steady pace. The passages were deserted and appeared to confirm Dr. Moore’s statement that the station was operating with a skeleton crew.

  They all were on edge, looking first one way then another, but they didn’t spot anyone and soon were approaching the hangar bay. Susan flung out an arm and stopped them. “Wait! There’s a couple of guards around the corner.”

  They immediately stopped moving. “Wait here,” Aaron said, and then slowly approached the corner. He leaned forward slowly until he could peek at the guards. Sure enough, two guards stood on either side of the entrance to the hangar bay, but these two guards were different. Unlike the two orderlies they had subdued at the power plant, these two had the look of soldiers and they were wearing battle armor. Their head, chest, and torso were all covered with the armor, which would protect them from all glancing plasma shots. Aaron resisted the urge to sigh, that armor would also make it more difficult to take the guards out. These two also had holstered guns on their hips. He eased back away from the corner and returned to the other four.

  “Two guards about fifteen yards down the corridor.”

  “No problem; they’re just orderlies, right?” Adam said.

  Aaron shook his head. “These two are different; soldiers in body armor.”

  “That armor will have sensors in it,” Susan said. “As soon as we take one of them out, the alarm will be raised.”

  “Should we go back and disable the alarms?” Russell asked, looking anxious.

  Aaron shook his head again. “No, we don’t have the time. Jessica, I need you to create a diversion; I want them to think that a bomb went off in the hanger. Susan, Adam, and I will charge them.”

  “What about me?” Russell asked quickly.

  “You make sure they don’t use those guns on us.” Aaron waited a moment, “Any questions.” No one spoke up, so he said, “Let’s go.”

  They moved as a group down the hall, stopping just short of the corner. Aaron nodded at Jessica and there was an explosion of sound erupting from the hangar. As they rushed around the corner, Aaron noted how impressed he was by the decoy; it had actually sounded just like a bomb.

  The two guards were standing in the entrance looking out across the hangar. The far guard shrugged and turned back, looking at his companion. His eyes went wide as he caught sight of the five soldiers charging at them.

  The nearest guard sensed something and turned, but he was too late. Before the guard could react, Susan lunged forward and touched him with the end of the shock stick. He collapsed to the ground, spasming.

  The other guard yanked his gun free of its holster, but no sooner had the gun come free, then it went flying down the hallway to come to an easy landing in Russell’s hand.

  Adam jumped forward trying to touch the guard with the end of his shock stick. The guard whipped a knife out with his left hand and swung it in an arc. There didn’t seem to be any way for Adam to avoid the cut, but somehow he twisted and turned, landing hard on his side, but avoiding the knife blow. He hit the ground hard, dropping the shock stick.

  Aaron moved forward quickly, it was up to him to distract the guard long enough for Adam to get out of trouble.

  The guard turned his attention to Aaron, just as a high pitched whine rang out.

  The sound was one that Aaron knew well, it was the sound of a plasma gun being fired. The bolt whipped past him and struck the guard in the right shoulder. The blow spun the guard and he landed in a heap, ne
xt to the still prone Adam. Aaron scooped up the knife which the guard had dropped and then helped Adam to his feet. He grinned back down the hallway, Russell and Jessica were jogging this way. “Thanks,” he shouted at Russell.

  “They have to know what’s going on,” Susan said, interrupting. “We need to go.”

  Aaron waved in the direction of the shuttles. “Go on. Pick one.” He paused long enough to pull the first guard’s gun from its holster, as Adam went to move past him, he grabbed the young pilot by the arm. He pointed at the guard that Russell had shot. “Pick him up and carry him.”

  “You sure,” Adam asked. “We don’t have much time.”

  “Yes,” Aaron replied quickly. “Carry him and put him on the decoy shuttle.” Without waiting for an acknowledgement, Aaron bent down and picked up the first guard, slinging the man over his shoulder. He carried the heavy man quickly into the hangar.

  The hangar was a wide open room with service equipment scattered around the open floor. Two shuttles sat off to the left, although the hangar was big enough for at least ten or so. The far side of the room was open, giving a view of space beyond. A special type of shield was used so that the hangar doors could remain open without the atmosphere rushing out. Ships could pass through the shielding without any issue.

  The two shuttles were standard for the military. A long rectangular body with a pointed nose; two windows over the nose allowed the pilots to see out. The shuttles weren’t the most aerodynamic, but with the use of their shields they could enter a planet’s atmosphere.

  The other three ran to the nearest shuttle and climbed aboard, so Aaron and Adam carried the two guards up the ramp of the second shuttle. They dropped both of them to the ground and Aaron was pleased to see that they were both breathing.

  “Go on,” Adam said. “I’ll get the autopilot set up.”