Dawnwind 1: Last Man Standing (45 page)

The tech fled.

Vetew jabbed at another of the trio.
 
“You!
 
Do the same with anyone you find in crew quarters!”

The second tech ran after the first.

“And you,” said Vetew, addressing the final tech.
 
“Head to the command and let whoever’s in charge know what’s happening.”

He watched the third tech vanish after the other two, then turned back to the remaining guardsmen.
 

“All right, people!
 
Who can loan me a personal comm?”

That had been almost three hours ago.
 
Now, the core chamber was still chaotic, but it was organized chaos.
 
Vetew himself had ensured that the shunt was secured, and had spent the
last three hours coordinating repair teams with Doorstep Station.
 
Eighth Engineer Amap had fled back to Doorstep Station as quickly as she could.

“First Engineer Siv?”

Vetew turned away from the panel he was working at, and found himself facing a tall man with long, light blue hair.
 
The eyepaint applied around his eyes was red and black, giving him a fearsome aspect. The insignia on his left shoulder identified him as the ship’s Third Officer, and First Defender.

“Yes, sir?”

“Upio Jovut, Third Officer, First Defender.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Third.”
 

Vetew’s panel chirped at him.
 
Frowning, he turned to it and smacked it with his fist.
 
The panel warbled sickly.

“We’re getting off to a rough start,” noted Upio.

To his surprise, the First Engineer grinned.
 
“The mission doesn’t officially begin until we leave Doorstep, Third.
 
By the time that happens, we’ll be fine.
 
I guarantee it!”

“I like your confidence, First Engineer.
 
Do you know if the First has been notified of our situation?”

Vetew shook his head.
 
“I don’t know, sir, but the Second is aware of the situation.”

“You’ve reestablished comms?”

“Not yet. I’ve been using runners to keep tabs on my repair crews and personal comms to let the Second know what’s going on.”

“Nicely done,” said Upio, beaming.
 
“I’m going to adopt your strategy for my defense personnel.
 
Would you contact the Second and advise him that I’m on my way to the command?”

“Of course, Third.”

* * * * *

The command was an ovoid chamber at the fore of the ship.
 
The rounded wallscreens were inert, dull gray.
 
Illuminators flickered annoyingly.
 
A quick glance at the workstations showed that over half of their displays were black.
 
Of the remainder, the displays were either functioning normally, or flickering erratically.
 
At least one panel’s screen had liquefied, the translucent fluid forming a puddle in the chair positioned before it.

People milled about, drifting from one panel to another, speaking in quiet, urgent tones.
 
A technician had exposed an infonode and was staring at the readings on his handscanner.
 
Seated at the First’s position was a young man with almost luminescent yellow hair.
 
 
For a moment, Upio stood in the doorway, taking in the scene.
 
He approached the yellowhair, who offered a wan smile.

“Third Officer Jovut, I presume?”

Upio nodded.
 
“Reporting for duty, Second.”
 
He glanced around the command.
 
“What’s our status?”

“Understaffed and overworked,” said Temun.
 
“We barely have enough people on board to make up even a skeleton crew and half our systems are spasming at random.”

“Is the First aboard?”

Temun nodded.
 
“I met him in quarters, but I have no idea where he is now.
 
I think he was heading for the transport bay.”

“The First Engineer’s people seem to have things under control.
 
With your approval, Second, I’ll find the First and advise him of the situation.”

A stricken look flashed across the Second Officer’s face.
 
“I should have done that already.”

“There’s been no harm done, Second,” said Upio.
 
He bowed his head, and left.

Temun sighed and wondered, vaguely, what else would go wrong today?

* * * * *

 
“I can’t believe how big this ship is,” said Kami.

Fel nodded.
 
“I know. The last ship I was posted on would have fit in this corridor.”

Kami chuckled.
 
She and Fel had been wandering for hours, exploring the
Dawnwind
.
 
They’d spent some time in the crew halls, found that the dining halls were closed and then picked a direction at random and started walking.

“Are we still looking for the First?” asked Fel.

Kami had paused to stick her head through a doorway.
 
The chamber beyond it was set up as a classroom.
 
The wallscreens were changing at random.
 

“I suppose so.
 
When do you have to report for duty?”

“Fourth shift.
 
I’ve got hours yet.
 
You?”

“Third,” said Kami.
 
“Tomorrow.”

“Lucky,” said Fel.

The corridor ahead was sealed, so they wandered down a side passage.
 
A technician hauled himself out of a tube and frowned at them.

“Are either of you engineers or tech specialists?”

Kami glanced at Fel.
 
“No.
 
Why?”

The tech trotted toward them.
 
“We’re rounding up all the techs and getting them to the core.”

Fel frowned.
 
“Is something the matter?”

“We’ve got a rogue agent running wild through the ship’s systems. First Engineer wants all of his people working on the problem.”

Kami frowned.
 
“Why doesn’t he just make an announcement over the comms?”

“Comms are down,” said the tech.
 
“Is there anyone else on this deck?”

“Not that we’ve seen,” said Kami.
 

“Are primary systems affected?” asked Fel.

“No,” said the tech.
 
“The last I heard, it was just comms and info systems that were spasming.”

The corridor’s lights flickered and died.

“I think you might want to add illuminators to your list, guardsman,” said Fel, blandly.

“Lonely souls,” muttered the tech.
 

A moment later, a warm golden light began to press against the darkness.
 
The tech had produced a pressure-torch from his tool belt and was gripping it tightly.

“I’d better keep moving,” he said.
 
“You two might want to get back to quarters.”
 
With a bob of his head, the tech trotted down the corridor.

Kami touched Fel’s hand.
 
“Do you think he’s right?
 
Should we head back to quarters?”

“He didn’t seem that worried about things,” said Fel.
 
He squeezed Kami’s hand.
 
“I say we keep going.”

“All right, but let’s try another deck.
 
I’ve never liked the dark.”

“Up or down?”

“Down,” said Kami.

They stepped into the tube and pulled themselves down, to the next deck.
 
This one was still illuminated.

Thank the gods, thought Kami.
 
She stepped out of the tube and looked around.
 
Fel had gone to an infoscreen and was trying to get it to respond.
 
The screen remained gray and inert.

“No joy?” asked Kami.

Fel shook his head.
 
“None.
 
That tech wasn’t joking when he said the infosystems were spasming.”

“Any idea where we are?”

“Aft section, Deck 5, Corridor 7.”

Kami turned, startled, to see a man pulling himself out of the tube.
 
She stared at him.
 
He had short black hair.

“First!”

Kami found herself snapping to attention.
 
Beside her, Fel did the same.

“At ease, guardsmen,” said John.
 
He smiled.
 
“But you have me at a disadvantage.
 
You know who I am, but I don’t know who you are.”

Kami smiled at the man, tried not to stare at his hair.
 
Instead, she focused on his face, and realized that the First had blue eyes.
 
She found herself staring at them instead.
 
Blue eyes!

“Eighth Officer Fel Ezep, First” said Fel, greeting the man properly.
 
“Second Defender.”

Kami watched the two men touch palms and saw the First had small, blunt talon-like extrusions at the end of his fingertips.

“And you, guardsmen?”

Blinking, her own fingertips flushing with embarrassment at being caught staring, Kami greeted the First.
 
“Ninth Officer Kami Guso, sir. First Allocator.”

They brushed palms lightly.
 

“A pleasure to meet you both,” said John.
 
“I was making my way to the transport bay, but the corridor was blocked.”

“The corridor above was sealed as well, First,” reported Fel.

The man’s brow furrowed.
 
“Odd.”

“We ran into a technician earlier, sir,” said Kami.
 
“He said there was a rogue agent affecting the ship’s systems.
 
That may be why they’ve sealed the corridors.”

“Or it could be the agent itself,” said John.
 
“I assume comms aren’t working?”

“No, sir,” said Fel.
 
“Neither are the infoscreens.”

“And the illuminators failed on the level above,” added Kami.
 
“Sir.”

“Well, I was hunting for my luggage, but that will have to wait.”
 
John glanced at the two junior officers.
 
“What are you two doing?”

Kami opened her mouth, but hesitated.
 
Telling the First that they had been wandering the ship, looking for him, just didn’t sound very . . . mature.
 
It was the sort of thing someone would do during their lifechange.

“Exploring, sir,” said Fel, easily.
 
“Kami and I have never served on a ship this size before.”

“What do you think of her so far?”

The Second Defender grinned.
 
“She’s huge, sir.
 
My last ship would have fit in this corridor!”

“You were doing transport runs, Mr. Fel?”

“Yes, sir.
 
Between Evato Colony and the Silver Wheel.”

The First raised his eyebrows.
 
“Are you a gambling man, guardsman?”

“Not any more, sir!”

John laughed.
 
“Too bad.
 
I enjoy a good game of primes.”
 
He turned to Kami.
 
“And what about you, Ninth?
 
What do you think of the
Dawnwind
so far?”

Kami said the first thing that popped into her head.
 
“I’d feel better about her, sir, if the lights were working.”