I hung, weightless, in the middle of the uppermost dodge ball arena. For the first time in as long as I could remember, peace enveloped me, everything right with my world. I should have smacked myself for feeling that way when I know the universe hates me, but at the time I thought everything was fine.
I drifted slowly, propelled by the momentum of the final flurry of activity in my last match. I might hit the inner bay hatch in another ten minutes or so, but I figured the rest of my team would get me out by then. Even if I did hit the hatch, it wasn't a problem. I'd just use it as a shoving off point to get near the grav plates in the walls. I might even be able to walk along the hatch if it had grav plates.
A burst of embarrassment threatened to sour my good mood. As Middie Cadet Captain, I ought to know each and every specification of my ship, but I had no idea about whether or not there were grav plates in the main bay inner hatch. My face warming with a blush which would make it nearly match my hair, I broke down and asked.
"Tiamat, are there grav plates in your inner main bay hatch?"
My first hint of trouble brewing, the ship didn't answer. A chill ran up my spine, banishing my blush, but I took myself in hand quickly. I must be out of range of her pickups, or at least beyond the range she could understand a mumbled whisper. I tried not to think about how she'd read my lips on more than one occasion.
Curious, and more than a little worried, I glanced down at the floor of the bay. A few instructors herded the gaggle of Juniors out of the bay through the huge doors. Harkness and the five Middies from the pastel squad we'd just beaten argued next to his forgotten fire. My own team sprinted down the sides of the bay, all except Quick. I couldn't see him anywhere.
"Tiamat? What's going on?" I called a little louder, hoping I'd been right about her pickup range.
"Hold on." Just two words, but just the sound of her voice told me I hadn't been forgotten.
A moment later her words registered. "To what?"
That very instant the world went black. Every one of my nightmares came crashing into my head, pain and death repeated again and again. Desperately I clung to the elation of winning my dodge ball match, the adrenaline rush of my leap, the calm of floating weightless in the center of the bay. Weightless, in this case, meant helpless, and my nightmares tore at the opening that left.
The lights came back on. My pulse thundered in my ears, but no louder than the screech of tortured metal above me. I twisted to look at the hatch, only to get a face full of hot metal shavings tossed away from the glowing red patch only a dozen meters away. I brushed them away as quickly as I could, coppery fear filling my mouth when I recognized what was happening.
"Tiamat! Hullborer on the main bay hatch!" I still drifted slowly up. Worse, my path angled toward the glowing patch. If I hit before the 'Borer made it through I would only be two to three meters away from its emergence point.
Emergence! Tiamat had done a pocket jump. She wouldn't wake up for a minute or two at best. At the moment the only people awake were the ship's navigators and any telepaths. I gathered my fear, pushed my thoughts outward, the image of the glowing hull and a single near panicked thought.
Hullborer!
A distant thought whispered into my head. Doctor Andrews sounded like death warmed over.
Stolen story; please report.
Run!
Like I'd do that. I might be terrified of closing my eyes, but I certainly wasn't going to run from a stupid 'Sect Hullborer. Once attached to the hull of a ship, the things were practically immobile. Anyone with half a brain and working propulsion could outmaneuver one.
Of course, until I touched down, I had no working propulsion. The glow spread faster than I'd thought. My feet would touch down on molten metal. Even if they didn't sink into the stuff, my legs would be burned to a crisp. If I didn't kick off at just the right angle, the rest of me would as well. Some things an essie couldn't fix. Complete incineration qualified.
I twisted, angling my feet for the jump, preparing to push myself straight down toward the bottom of the bay. If the force planes remained up, I'd catch on one of them, but I would still be further away when the borer arrived. I estimated thirty seconds until my feet started to burn, another five before I could leap. I turned away from the heat to shield my eyes and see where my jump would put me.
A shoulder slammed into my gut in a flash of scarlet and gold. We spun away from the Hullborer's molten patch, and my stomach tried to empty itself as gravity twisted around us. My skull pounded from the pressure of blood rushing to my head. This time I remembered to clench my thighs and abs, forcing some of the blood back to my brain.
Quit squirming!
Guy's smooth whiskey baritone washed through me, replacing the last of my fear with the elation of our flight. We spun once more before we touched the walls. He wasn't twisting about to turn. My gut warred with my inner ear; the augmented piece of clutter even had internal drives.
This time, take the doctor's advice and run!
At that very moment, the Hullborer broke through the hatch. Molten metal splattered away from the breach trailing streams of acid from the beast's saliva. I might not know the specifications of my own ship, but by the Empress' legendary temper I knew my enemies' abilities, mechanical or biologic. The thing shoved its beak through the breach, its huge, hollow, prehensile tongue extending the moment the Hullborer had enough leverage to force its mouth open. In seconds antipersonnel Hornets would start flowing out in a torrent.
"What about you?" I blurted the words without thinking. The 'Borer's tongue twisted around until I could stare straight down the opening in the end. The first Hornet, a runt barely bigger than my thumb, crawled out and leapt toward us, its wings buzzing as they propelled it toward us. If it landed on one of us, we were dead. If it couldn't sting both of us, it would explode in a burst of the same corrosive, explosive acid the 'Borer used to cut through Tiamat's hull.
A bulge flowed along the Borer's tongue from the beak toward the tip. When it reached the opening at the end, a swarm of Hornets would spew out to end any unarmored resistance in the bay. I grabbed Guy's hand and leapt for the floor of the bay. If we were very lucky, one of the lower maintenance alcoves would respond to my commands and close over us. It wouldn't stop the 'Borer, but it might hold the Hornets off long enough for help to arrive.
What are you doing?
"When that thing cuts loose," I glanced up to see it tracking the sound of my voice. I gathered my thoughts into a single burst and hurled it at Guy like a rock made of pure indignation at his stubbornness.
When the Hornets get free we are royally decompressed without a suit!
I felt the tension in his hand; he wanted to slip free of my grasp, but if he didn't get loose cleanly I could wind up smashing my head into the bay floor. I glanced back at him, nearly meeting his cinnamon and scarlet gaze. He smiled at me, and I caught the edges of an image, something about my hand wrapped around his. We were about to die horribly, and he thought I was flirting with him!
We are running until we are reinforced, and that is an order. Do you understand, Cadet?
He grinned at me as if he knew something I didn't. I ignored him, focusing instead on the single runt Hornet receding behind us. It could barely make headway with its deformed wings, but it wouldn't stop until it lost track of us or died in a blaze of glory. Behind it, backlit by the glowing entry hole it forced its way through even now, the 'Borer continued to aim its tongue at us. A glance down showed me all the alcove doors sealed as tightly as the force-field-reinforced main doors. The Hornet bulge had nearly reached the tip of the Hullborer’s proboscis. When it let loose, we would both die. Desperate, I called to the one person I trusted.
"Tiamat! Hornet swarm about to release! Help!"
I trusted Tiamat to help me if she could, but at this point nothing short of a miracle would save us.