Lunar One

Chapter 18: Cargo Bay Firefight

     There were large crates of supplies all around the hangar, which is what many people immediately hid behind to seek cover from the bullets that had begun to fly all over the place. The toughest part about being in a firefight on a space station was most of the walls were metal which meant a lot of shows were cracking off the wall and flying back into the room from a different angle, making the entire hanger a death trap for ricocheting bullets. Morgan fired off some bullets in small bursts, like Demetri has instructed him to. Not only to cut down on the issue of rebounding bullets, but also to preserve his ammunition; which contrary to television was not infinite. Demetri on the other hand, was intentionally firing at the walls, playing pool and doing his best geometry to cut down Gordon's men in the back. It looked like he was quite effective as the men on the other side were falling back to a more secure position in the hanger.

     "We cannot stay here!" Demetri told Morgan, not speaking to him in his mother tongue. "It's only a matter of time before they start using the walls too. We need to get out of here and use the thin hallways to nullify their numbers."

     "Agreed," Morgan said, as he looked back into the center of the hanger. To his surprise, he spotted Hoffman lying there in the middle of the floor. The pool of blood around him suggested that he was taken out in the crossfire, and bleed out as they started shooting at each other. He was only trying to prevent anyone from getting hurt, and he turned out to be the next fatality. All because Gordon was power hungry and unwilling to give up control of the station. Morgan turned to the people behind him who were ducking and not firing back as much as he and Demetri.

     "Let's fall back into the hallway," Morgan called out.

     "You sure about that?" Rogers asked.

     "He is," Morgan said, gesturing to Demetri, "And he's right. You guys are just sitting ducks out there. Get going!"

     Demetri and Morgan fired shots while the others used the cover to leak back out into the hallway one at a time. Morgan then made his exit and Demetri was able to cover himself as he backed into the hallway and ran after the others. Once in the hallway, things seemed calm until someone started shooting at them which caused them to spit to each side and return fire. As the shots zipped by them and around them sometimes, Rogers couldn't help but look back at Morgan and sigh.

     "I guess a full blown firefight wasn't part of the plan, right?" He asked.

     "Not exactly," Morgan answered, "We are outnumbered and outgunned, I have no idea how we can achieve a positive outcome."

     "Now you tell us," Rogers called back, "Thanks Morgan."

     "How was I supposed to know Gordon would rather risk our extinction than give up a little power?" Morgan replied, "I had no idea he was that loony!"

     "Excuse me," Demetri cut in, "Less talking, more shooting. These men are trying to kill us."

     "Right," Rogers called back sarcastically, "Sorry about that."

     After spraying bullets back and forth for the better part of twenty minutes, with no one hitting anyone, the shots stopped ringing out entirely from the other side. While surprised, they were wary about what was going on.

     "Hold fire," Demetri said, "Save ammunition."

     "What's going on here?" Morgan said, sneaking a peek down the hallway. He could see Gordon's men, just as armed as they were, with guns pointing but not firing at them. Morgan was tempted to fire at them, but Demetri was right; this was not the time to waste ammo.

     "Is this the part where cooler heads attempt to prevail?" Rogers asked.

     "The cooler head is in the hanger," Morgan replied, "Hoffman was killed in the crossfire."