The Abyss of Time

Chapter Six

     "Give us the guns," said Jack Miller, pressing forward insistently. "We won't ask again."

     Behind him were dozens of crewmen, filling the corridor. Angry and scared and ready to take it out on any target that presented itself. The four security men guarding the entrance to the armoury backed away until they felt the cold steel of the door at their backs. They raised their tasers, but they also had Carmichael automatic weapons strapped across their shoulders, should they feel the need for them. Jack prayed they wouldn't.

     "Only the Captain and the Exec can authorise the release of weapons," one of the guards said. "Return to your quarters..."

     "The Executive Officer is my father," said Jack, taking another step forward. Behind him, the crowd followed. "There are cyborgs aboard this ship. You heard the voice on the speaker."

     "The situation us under control," the guard told him. "The four cyborgs who tried to take the armoury are dead. Their corpses are in there. You can see for yourself." He indicated a doorway further down the corridor with his taser. "The others will be dealt with. There is no need for alarm."

     "If they come for my family," said Jack, "they'll have to get past me first, and if you think I'm not going to have a gun in my hand when that happens, you're crazy."

     "Right!" another crewman behind Jack said. "Let's just take 'em. They can't stop us."

     "There are only a handful of weapons left," the security man said. "The rest have already been handed out to men who are trained in the use of them. In the hands of amateurs they'd be more dangerous to you than the cyborgs."

     "Look," said Jack, trying to maintain a reasonable tone of voice. "It's Grey, isn't it? Howard Grey?" The security man nodded. "You've got family aboard as well, right? We all have. When it comes down to it, don't you want as many armed men fighting beside you as possible?"

     "Trained men, yes," Grey replied. "I was in the army. I've seen the mess untrained amateurs can make when they get their hands on weapons. I don't want that on my ship."

     "I've been trained with weapons," Jack told him. "I served in the Commonwealth army. I know how to use a gun. I'm betting some of the men behind me do as well." He turned his head to talk over his shoulder. "Right?"

     "We all deserve the right to defend our families!" someone shouted.

     Jack ignored him and addressed the guard. "Suppose I guarantee that guns will only be given to people trained in the use of them. Would that be okay?"

     The guard looked nervously at the dozens of people arrayed against him. He glanced at the other guards, but they just stared blankly back. "Well..." he ventured hesitantly.

     "I mean, you said there were only a few weapons left," added Jack, pressing his advantage. "We can't all have one, so it makes sense to give them to the people who can use them best, right?"

     "It makes sense, Den," said one of the other guards. "If a bunch of cyborgs show up, I'd rather be in a group of twenty facing 'em than a group of four." The other two guards nodded.

     "Shit," said Grey with feeling. "The Captain's going to crucify me. Okay, those with a firearms license, make your way to the front."

     Several crewmen reached for their phones while shouldering their way through their fellows, who glowered angrily. "What about us?" one of them demanded. "What are we supposed to defend ourselves with?"

      "When we've finished handing out the guns you can help yourself to whatever's left." Grey promised. He looked at Jack's phone, where his gun license was glowing on the screen. A message popped up on Grey's phone, sent by the ship's computer, telling him that the license was genuine.