"Operatives! Operatives!" Theopolus's voice rang out from the far end of the room. "I have excellent news and something to show you!"
The sharp tone of his voice brought me out of my stupor and I creaked to my feet. He was pretty excited about something and I shuffled over with everyone else, the four of us gathered around him to see what he had found. He looked uncomfortable, probably because we had him hemmed into a corner, but decided to press on with his show. In front of him were what were probably monitors showing sections of the ship, but they looked more like large, mucous covered eyes to me. I swore one of them blinked, but tried to push that image out of my mind. The area around them was black and still reeked of fire damage and I couldn't imagine the pain this "thing" might be in.
"I've managed to bypass the severed vessels and Navigator Prime has reasserted control over the Mariella! We are again entering a stable orbit!"
"Thank God," I said aloud and got a contemptuous look from the Ebon.
"Operative, 'God' has nothing to do with it," Theopolus corrected. The attitude was grating on my nerves again because one moment he was tolerable and the next he was back to being an elitist prick. You'd think he was a Brain Waster or something.
"You had something you wanted to show us?" K'rth asked, ignoring the Ebon's tone of voice. So far, I couldn't see anything but flashing colors across the small panes and they reminded me of the walls I saw in an Ebon-only club in upper downtown a few months ago on a BPN. They were pretty and disconcerting, but hardly functional.
"I'll readjust," he said as he caressed a portion of the wall. "There! That' s what I wanted to show you! I've found them!"
One of the panels flashed into a white blur, and then the tendons around the edges of the screen flexed, bringing the image into focus. It showed a room with three Interceptors and the vet in the Dogeybone, but something wasn't quite right. For a moment, I wondered if we were seeing a still shot instead of live video, but then I realized what the problem was. The Interceptors were lying still and prone and the only thing moving was the vet. He was crouched next to something that looked out of place in the foldship and I squinted to see what he was doing.
"What are we seeing?" Nix asked as she poked her head under my arm like a DAF. I scratched her behind the ear to aggravate her, but stopped when she growled.
"This is the primary circulation nacelle," Theopolus said, rolling his eyes when he realized that we had no idea what that meant. "It is the main control conduit for flux between the reservoirs and the propulsion system. It might be called 'engineering' if this were not an Ebon vessel."
"Where is this?" K'rth asked as he pointed at one of the other screens. In it, a group of about five Interceptors and a vet in Crackshot were trotting down a corridor. They were heavily armed and I thought I recognized a face. A charge of electricity ran up my spine and the fatigue ebbed back.
"That is the ancillary bypass canal. It is part of the ventilation system that spans the Mariella. This particular segment is-"
"CAN YOU ZOOM IN ON THIS? SHOW ME THEIR FACES!" I interrupted, excitedly. The Ebon looked offended and hesitated so long before responding that I almost shook him.
"Of course," he said in a tone that sounded like I had hurt his feelings. The screen flashed and the viewpoint changed to show the team from behind.
"How about a shot of their faces instead of their backsides?" I asked. "We don't have mugshots of their asses."
Instead of speaking, the Ebon grumbled and kept working. A few seconds later, the camera view was from the front and I recognized Price's face about half way back in the group. She was wearing a dark DN-make flak jacket now and carrying a submachine gun, but there was someone else I also knew.
"K'rth," I said, grabbing his arm. "That's Bayer! That's him!"
His yellow eyes turned into slits as he regarded the image and then they flicked back to the other monitors. My hands were shaking and my breath was short. We were so damn close to finishing this one off that I could barely contain myself, but K'rth was preoccupied with the other panel.
"Where are they heading?" Nix asked, sounding as excited as I did.
"This canal leads towards the primary-"
"WHICH DIRECTION, LONGPIG?" she repeated with a growl, grabbing his shoulder with her claws. His voice was shaky, but if it was from what he was about to say or her threat was unclear.
"T-towards the Mariella's dorsal crest. Towards Navigator Prime!"
"Gael, Angus," I said into my mike as I straightened up. "You've got company coming. About a half dozen Interceptors including Bayer along with one of the vets in Crackshot and they seem to know their way around."
A crackle and then Gael's voice came back, sounding confident.
"Okay, we're ready for them," she answered.
"Gael, one more thing," I added. "Don't let Angus do anything stupid, okay?"
"Don't worry," she answered. "I'll take care of him."
"Alex," K'rth rasped so low that I felt it. He had leaned over the monitor and was tapping it with a claw. "I do not know what this man is doing, but it cannot be good."
I shifted closer to see and further crowded the Ebon, who ducked under my arm and slipped away from us like we had leprosy. The vet in the screen was intent upon what he was doing and I got a clear view of the machine or device as he shifted aside. It didn't help because I had never seen anything like it.
"I have no idea what that thing is," I said and looked at both Nix and the Ebon, getting shrugs back. It probably didn't really matter since we'd have to go and stop him anyway.
"ALEX!" came a yell across my mike that was so sharp it made me flinch. It was Gael's voice and it sounded frightened.
"Gael, what is it?"
"McNeil and Casper," she said, sounding out of breath like she was running. "The moment I turned my back, they went to intercept the Dark Night team by themselves."
"Son of a-" I started and looked at K'rth. "THEN THEY'RE ON THEIR OWN!"
"Alex, I think we should get the Nec guy to bar the door and we ought to go help 'em," Angus's voice said. "We'll stand a better chance of stopping them if we hit 'em at all at once, 'stead of letting 'em pin us in here."
The rising anger had put a knot in my stomach and I wasn't thinking entirely clearly. Almost on cue, my shoulder began to throb again and I cursed the damn Waster and her boy for doing their best to screw things up. Angus was right and I hated it.
"Okay, but don't get pinned down," I answered. "If you have to leave them, do it. They aren't worth getting killed for."
"Don't worry about it!" Angus laughed and broke off.
A heavy weight pressed down on my shoulders and I lowered my head as the strength drained out of me again. We had done everything right so far and just when we really needed to work as a team, the loose cannons in the group go off on their own. This squad was my family, with the exception of a bastard sister and her reject boyfriend that no one liked and I knew they deserved to buy the farm. I was just praying that no one I cared about went down with them.
"I think I see something on the intruder's mechanism," the Ebon said from over my shoulder. His shrill voice caught my attention and I watched as the screen zoomed in on one of the panels on the vet's equipment. "This is something they brought with them. It's far too crude to be an Ebon device."
K'rth ignored him and looked at me, but I just shrugged back again. That was when the Chagrin leaned in and put his arms around everyone to get a closer look. Studying the image, he shook his head distastefully.
"We in trouble," Obie boomed and I looked up at him.
"Why?" I asked. "What is that?"
"It's uh in-for-thirdy-bee-delta," he answered, never one to say a lot at once. The exhaustion showed on his face and his eyes were so heavy that he looked like he was having trouble keeping them open.
The Ebon looked indignant that someone would dare mention equipment that he had no knowledge of. He twitched and his voice raised a full octave out of irritation.
"WHICH IS WHAT? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?" The Ebon demanded, but what came next made his pale face loose what color it had.
"Izuh Tactal Nuke," the Chagrin answered. "Means we Dead."
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