Lauren had arrived and with great timing.

The metal undercarriage gleamed with glints of silvery metal as the canopy expanded. The white fabric became unusually silvery as it had received a fresh anti-cling coating. The hum of the tank transferring lighter than air gasses into the pouches buzzed through the open hanger. Across the broad fabric, the logo took form: Clinker-21.

Lavinia stayed in the console room with her guards as Horst and Larox ran out to greet Lauren. The sound of panting rivaled the hum of the tank transfer pumps. Lauren put Alfred down to let him get to his unsteady feet. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and blew his nose. A hug from Horst wrapped Lauren even though she was sweat soaked and winded.

“I thought you might dead. So glad your back! We can all get out of here together, as a team.”

“Except for Tray,” Lauren looked down as Horst squeezed.

“Yeah, except for… no, he’ll be with us in spirit.”

Larox turned to see Lavinia slinking back to the floor behind her guards and stayed behind, “Look, she’s one of us. And we’ve established she’s no threat. So, I’d like to see you guys trust her a little.”

They looked to Jack for direction.

“She’s a friend for now,” Jack said, “So treat her like one. I need you to start gathering supplies, anything edible or useful that isn’t too heavy.”

They nodded and left Lavinia free. She stood up, “Can I see Lauren too?”

“Of course, let’s go.”

Larox took her hand to lead her to the stairwell door. She ignored Alfred and ran past to hug Lauren as soon as Horst let go.

“I was worried too. I know you barely know me. But I really like all of you. I’m sorry about what happened to Tray. I think it may have been my fault.”

A hand went on Lavinia’s forehead as she looked up with glistening eyes. Lauren smiled at her.

“It’s not your fault. You can’t help the way things worked here anymore than I could.”

Larox stretched, “Family reunion is wonderful and all, but we need to get our butts out of here. We’re also gonna need to decide on a captain unless you just want to let a security sergeant who knows nothing of flying, navigation, repair, or asset recovery to take over. I vote for Horst.”

Horst shook his head, “Screw that. I already do enough around here. Captain is perfect position for your lazy butt. You’ve been slacking ever since we got back.”

“I think even Tray would agree,” Lauren said, “I vote Larox for Captain.”

Larox looked to Lavinia.

“I get a vote?” The three of them looked at her expectantly. She wiped her eyes as her face glowed a little, “Almost feels like I’m part of the team. Okay, I think I’ll vote for Larox too!”

Alfred shuffled toward the vehicle. His legs steadied as he put his hands behind his back and went toward the blimp to assess the situation. The outer casing of the canopy continued to tighten and the logo became clearly visible, yet the countdown still had eight minutes until it would be flight worthy. The exact pressure ratios and gas balances still needed to be achieved for maximum buoyancy and flight maneuverability.

The soldiers worked around him without so much as a word. The science team badge with the barcode detailing his privileges as company researcher remained clipped to his dirty white lab coat. He rubbed his back, with all the EMP blasts firing over the base he really felt his age today. The hanger buzzed with activity as he made sure to avoid Lavinia. One of the folding chairs near the tool boxes served as a good spot for him to sit, rest, and occasionally rub the cusp of his empty eye socket. Lauren and Larox went to help with loading as Horst and Lavinia took charge of the control room.

With the cameras running, Horst was able to observe Helen charging up the stairs. He didn’t activate any of the remaining auto-turrets. A good portion of the tower had fallen under his control and he had a few toys with which to buy time, even though he was sweating as the clock clicked.

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“Who’s this, is she a threat?”

“Let her come,” Lavinia said, “She doesn’t want to hurt anybody.”

With the cabin settled into place they could load supplies while canopy finished optimizing.

“Wish I had a bottle of water.”

“Wish I had a can of beer,” Lauren yelled as she passed with boxes of bottled water.

“Wish I had some fine wine,” Larox yelled from storage.

Lavinia put her hands to her mouth and spoke quietly, “I could really go for some diesel.”

Horst tried not to react to that.

Helen burst into the hanger doorway as expected, where she clutched the doorsill while leaning forward as if she was going to be sick. Lavinia and Larox went to greet her. She looked up at them and Lavinia’s face instantly became pale.

“Io’s MER?”

“Didn’t you feel it earlier, are you even properly connected anymore? Nyx took Io! She took Io and she took the bait but it didn’t do anything, nothing can stop her now,” Alice fell to her knees, the end of a long braid curled on the floor, “Nothing can stop her. And it’s all your fault. You ruined all my plans by coming here. Everything. You ruined everything Lavinia!”

“Hey!” Larox shouted.

Helen stood up, her voice firm and overpowering as her nose wrinkled, “Hey is for horses! I told her the plan. I told her to stay put. But she keeps wandering around getting into trouble! She’s the older sister! She’s supposed to be the responsible one! But she keeps going around and doing whatever she wants! I can’t take it anymore. It’s your fault Lavinia! It’s your fault that Lucretia and Io died! And you’re going to end up causing me to die too! Is that what you want!? You want me to die!? Well, you already ruined all my plans again so what else am I supposed to do!?”

Lavinia withstood the verbal assault, each word hit her like a lashing. She took a few steps back and Larox moved in to protect her but she directed him aside and heard her little sister until the last word. Helen began crying.

“Thirty years in this place for nothing! My entire project ruined. What am I supposed to do now? Everyone I love is going to die! What am I going to do now? Lavinia? TELL ME!”

“Your plan would have ended everything we both love. I think we both know this.”

Helen went back on her knees, violently sobbing. Lavinia went forward, knelt down, and hugged her, “I know you never wanted to go through with it. I know you could have infused more. And I know why you were being careful. Because it always ended badly.”

“This time though! I want father to come back! I miss him! I can’t take it anymore. Everything is lonely! I want father to come back.”

“He’s never coming back Helen. He wasn’t like us anyway. He’d have left us sooner or later, no matter what we would have done.”

“I know, even Alfred is starting to decay, despite everything even he is going to leave me soon.”

Lavinia hugged her tight, “I need you to be strong for me. Time is running out here. We’re going to leave this place together. Can you come with me. Let’s make some memories together that we’ll never forget so we can deactivate with no regrets when our time comes.”

“You’re always such a downer, we’re going to live forever. I’m just, unlike Nyx, I don’t want that forever to be lonely. I don’t want to be absorbed into that. I’m scared.”

This time they stood up together. The countdown had almost finished as Helen was invited into the hangar. Hands caressed her long mousy brown hair that hung down in a braid. She pushed up frames without glasses and wiped the tears from her eyes that had used her full moisture allotment. The men busily loaded supplies as the pipes began pinging and knocking from the walls, floor, and ceiling.

[Canopy Optimized. Flight Sequence Can Now Be Initiated From Vehicle Console]

Nothing looked out of order on the cameras. The stairs were clear. The halls were clear. The outside perimeter of the towers was even clear. With such a little bit of time remaining before they could take flight, Horst set the defenses to go after anything that moved. Knowing that Lavinia and Helen weren’t really human, he set the hangar defense to avoid using EMP inside.

“Get those supplies on board, anyone who isn’t loading get on board. We’re going above the base in an observing pattern to see if we can help.”

“Anything from the radio?”

“Nothing, radio silence everywhere, nobody is responding. For all I know everybody else could be dead. Last report indicated we’ve fully lost control of the power sources but they’re still active. Internal EMP has become useless. No communications from scrubbing either.”

“Ouch. Sounds like it’s over.”

Horst waved from the entrance of the airship, “Automated defenses set to buy us some time. EMP should work for this tower. I’m starting the unlatching process, everybody get your butts inside the airship. We’re getting out of here!”

He jogged into the cabin and jumped back in the pilot seat. It felt like a while, though it was more like a beating since he last sat here. Some time to recover in the air would be nice. He pressed the little red button for the unlatching mechanism. The bars began to retract through the hoops along the top of the canopy. Helen and Lavinia helped with loading by doing the traveling with heavy crates. Lauren went back to where Alfred had fallen asleep and unceremoniously picked him up.

“Hey! I can still walk. I’m rather spry for my age!”

“It’s faster this way old man.”

Sargeant Gonzales directed his technician to the console to check on Horst’s defensive set-up. Larox raced to load as much of their food and water stores as possible as if time might run out. It felt like his back might break as he packed crate after crate of canned preserved vegetables into the storage hold, priority to the potatoes. A spare bottle of Lucifer’s Arm Pit Juice sat among the supplies. He twirled the unopened bottle and put it in his pocket.

The pipes strained a bit from internal pressure, then groaned in protest. A drop of hot black liquid splashed against the floor in the middle of the hangar.