The Chronicles of Aallandranon - Episode One - Ant-Lion (7 page)

He
exited through the doors to the Observation Deck. Jonathan entered
the hall to see the windows looking out into the night sky broken
with air rushing out of the ship. Voices rang out over the
intercom, but Jonathan couldn
’
t hear anything as he
ran down the pathway. Several other people jogged through the
doorway behind him. Rawi was with them. She saw Jonathan and
hurried forward.

“
Thank God you
’
re alive!
”
She yelled over the noise of the
oxygen being sucked through the many open exits of the
ship.

“
We
need to get everyone to the Bridge!
”
Jonathan turned around to see more
people running through the Observation Deck. Juan Langston, Rick
Daniels, and Sam Hartigan jogged from Engineering.
“
TO THE BRIDGE!
”
Jonathan yelled. He clicked the communicator on
his Manica-Band.
“
ALL SURVIVORS MEET IN
THE BRIDGE!
”

More panelling and windows ripped free of the
scaffolding above that held the room together. The path bent back
and forth as the suction compressed the hall. Several more people
climbed the bend and fled to the Bridge.

Rawi
grabbed Jonathan
’
s arm.
“
Come on! We have to
get out of here!
”

“
You
go!
”
He said.
“
I need to stay and
make sure everyone gets through, and then I have to separate the
Core and Bridge from the Reactors before they
blow.
”

“
We
don
’
t
have time to wait! This place is coming apart!
”

“
I’
ll be
fine!
”
Jonathan patted her shoulders. She turned and ran toward
the Bridge. Chance Trillian and Ryan Thompson emerged, each helping
Ralph Vidar down the pathway. He appeared to have gotten a broken
leg. Jonathan directed them to the Bridge. He lowered his head to
his communicator once more.
“
IN THREE MINUTES, THE
SHIP WILL BE SEPARATING. IF YOU ARE NOT ON THE BRIDGE, YOU WILL
DIE!
”

A
huge explosion filled the sky above Engineering. It was one of the
secondary reactors. That meant there wasn
’
t very much time left
before the others blew as well. A group of at least a hundred
people bounded through the doors from Engineering, hurrying to get
to the Bridge. Many were helping to carry the wounded even though
most of the people Jonathan saw looked too far gone for the
effort.

Janice Temps brought up the rear as a whole section of the
Observation Deck roof ripped away into space. She was having
trouble fighting the air current. Jonathan hurried over and helped
her to the doors. Time was nearly up. A group of fifteen hurried
across the gap, sending fear into Jonathan
’
s chest. There were more
survivors on the other side of the ship, but he was going to have
to make the judgement call soon.

He waited for what felt like two more minutes
and no one else came. He ran to the doors to the Core as the
structure of the ground began giving way. The doors on the opposite
side of the Observation Deck opened. A horrible feeling of
helplessness fell over Jonathan as he watched at least fifty people
hurry through the doors. A second explosion rushed into the
darkness over them.

“
COME ON!
”
Jonathan yelled.
“RUN! THERE
’
S NO TIME!
”

Half
of the group got through. Jonathan waited, allowing the bulk to
enter. There were a lot of stragglers fighting the suction. Many
were too wounded to fight the current to the other side of the
hall. When the last chunk of the ceiling went, Jonathan hurried
through the threshold into the Core Hall. The Engineering doors
opened again and another group appeared. Jonathan balled his fist
as he stood before the button that would seal the blast doors
behind him. The group was too far behind and the stragglers
weren
’
t moving quickly enough. He had to make the decision and it
had to be now.

He
was about to input the sequence when the mass of the group
surpassed the stragglers and hurried through the gateway.
“
GET IN! GET TO THE BRIDGE!
”
Jonathan growled as the last group he
could allow forced their way through the doors. About ten people
remained in the Observation Deck, pleading for assistance. He had
no choice. Jonathan hit the button as another secondary reactor
went. A loud crash told him that the roof had continued to
disintegrate. When he glanced out, no one
remained.

Fortunately, the Core Hall looked completely untouched. It
was the most structurally sound part of the ship. He found the
nearest terminal and started putting in the sequence needed to
separate the Core and Bridge from Engineering and Primary Life
Support. They would still have Secondary Life Support, but that
wouldn
’
t last the few survivors for very long. He was about to
confirm the sequence when he felt the plastic band wrap around his
neck and pull him away from the terminal.

Jonathan struggled with his assailant, knowing it was
William even though he couldn
’
t see his face. The two
wrestled away from the terminal. Jonathan saw the blast doors to
the Observation Deck open, felt himself being pushed toward the
yawning, screaming threshold. His saliva was beginning to boil. He
felt the most winded he had ever been in his
life.

“
I
can still keep you from ruining the universe!
”
William said in
Jonathan
’
s ear.

Out
of reflex, Jonathan whipped his head back, breaking
William
’s nose.

The
moment the band slipped from around his neck, Jonathan gave the
order.
“
Computer, close and seal the blast door between
the Observation Deck and the Core Hall!
”
The tone came out a
raspy whisper behind the scream of the open door, but the
ship
’
s
voice activation program was still functional. The door began to
slide closed.

Jonathan elbowed William in the ribs, turned around, and
pushed him as hard as he could with both hands.
William
’
s heel connected with a thick coil of cable at the edge of
the catwalk and he fell onto his back. Chance and Sam Hartigan
hurried into the Core Hall behind him.

“
Is
that Mason?
”
Chance gasped. Sam and Chance hurried over and each took
one of William
’
s arms.

“
Son
of a bitch tried to kill me.
”
Jonathan said, his voice scratchy and
dry.

“
You
need me, Jonathan! You won
’
t survive a day without
me.
”
William stammered, wiping his face with his sleeve which
left a red smear on the white fabric of his uniform. Jonathan
stared at William as William stared right back. Jonathan knew that
he didn
’
t regret his choice to try to kill him, which meant he
couldn
’
t be trusted.

“
We
should tie him up, take him with us to the
Bridge.
”
Sam suggested.

“
I
think we should open the blast door and let him get sucked out like
half the rest of the crew.
”
Jonathan said.
William
’
s expression didn
’
t falter: he continued
gazing right back at Jonathan.
“
No one will know but
us, and good riddance. It
’
s probably because of
you that all of this happened.
”

“
You
go right ahead and jump to that conclusion.
”
William replied
sardonically.

“
Enough.
”
Chance intervened.
“We
’
re not barbarians. As you can probably guess, there
aren
’
t
a lot of us left. Letting him die might not be the best
idea.
”

“
Congratulations,
”
said Sam Hartigan to Jonathan and
William,
“
you
’
ve officially made Chance Trillian the voice of
reason.
”

“
Get
him out of here, I have to separate the ship before this whole
place blows.
”
Jonathan ordered. Sam and Chance hauled William into
motion. He watched them disappear through the doors to the Bridge.
Jonathan confirmed the separation on the terminal and peered
through the window next to the blast doors. The back end of the
ship slowly separated. It looked as if it had been chewed up and
spit out like a giant metal wad of gum. A few seconds later, the
thrusters and reactors in Engineering, the Life Support Hall, all
of the remaining crew that hadn
’
t gotten across the
Observation Deck
–
four years of his life; six trillion
dollars
–
exploded, sending debris rocketing in all directions. He
watched pieces of the reactors he had built get pulled into the
acceleration of the ship, meaning they would have debris following
them.

Jonathan closed his eyes for a moment, and
then made his way to the Bridge.

He
entered to see Stephen Adams engaged in an argument with Chance
Trillian that was on the verge of a fist-fight. George Freeman was
at the defense terminal yelling that shields were at thirty-five
percent and dropping. Stephanie Rawi was at the terminal next to
him declaring that radiation levels were rising on all remaining
parts of the ship. Surviving maintenance and engineering staff were
being shuffled to the Flight Dock and Secondary Life Support hall
to keep the Bridge clear. Gene Sherri announced over the intercom
that all surviving personnel must immediately go to the Flight Dock
to await further orders. Ryan Thompson and Clara Wallace were the
only level-headed ones in the room, trying desperately to figure
out where they were in space. Above them, the windshield had been
cracked, but still remained in place. They were slowly drifting. A
blue planet lit by a sun they couldn
’
t see lay in the
distance beyond the window.

Jonathan descended to the first floor. He stared at Ryan
and Clara. They paused their discussion and looked at him.
“
Answers?
”
Jonathan asked.

“
Power at fifteen percent and dropping!
”
Rawi
called.

“
Broken regulators across the board!
”
George
said.

“
The
system
’
s on emergency life support so we don
’
t even have power to
half the terminals, but no one will listen to me when I try to get
someone to do something about it.
”
Ryan said.

“
Hold on,
”
said Jonathan. He went back up to the second level and
commandeered the terminal from Professor Rawi. Entering the
system
’
s mainframe via his personal access code, Jonathan rerouted
the power coming in through the primary reactor
–
the only reactor
left
–
through Secondary Life-Support to Primary Functions and to
the System Mainframe. He got up and hurried to the first
floor.

“
You
’
re the most clueless man on this ship,
Adams!
”
Chance Trillian yelled from behind them and disappeared
into the Flight Dock.

“
Fantastic, the ship
’
s navigation sensor is
shot. It
’
s just reading zero across the board.
”
Ryan Thompson cursed
and slammed his palm against the dashboard of the flight
terminal.

“
I’
m picking up readings
of planets nearby.
”
Clara said, watching the computer
scans.

“
Well obviously.
”
Ryan indicated the window where very
clearly they could see a planet in the distance.