Pay Me, Bug!

Chapter 22

WHEREIN Our Hero Struggles with Probing Questions

Grif, Amys and Bennet crowded around the terminal display, studying a schematic of the hospital.

"Looks like we're here," Amys said, pointing to an area on the map, then at a door at the end of the room. "And it also looks like that door will take us out into the hangar. Grif, if I got you into one of the hospital's grav sleds could you fly it with one arm?"

"Yes." Grif didn't hesitate.

Bennet looked at Grif doubtfully. "We'd still need to get past the Station Authority guards. If I were giving the orders I'd have every exit under heavy guard."

"Yeah," Grif agreed. "It'd be nice to be able to convince them to go somewhere else..."

They thought in silence.

"I have an idea," Bennet said. "Assuming they're monitoring all hospital communications." He entered a few commands into the terminal, and the map disappeared from the screen.

"Care to elaborate?" Amys asked.

"Well..." Bennet entered a few more commands into the terminal, and a list of data scrolled down the terminal screen. "If we can convince them we're in another part of the hospital, we can probably convince most of the guards to go there instead of hanging around here. I just need to find a convincing place... there."

"There what?" Grif looked at the screen and shook his head. "Looks like gibberish to me."

Bennet pointed to a line of characters on the screen. "I think this is the address to an isolation chamber in another wing. It has its own self-regulated atmosphere, which makes it a plausible location to hide from the gas. We just need to figure out how to convince Station Authority that we're there instead of here."

"Just turn it on," Amys said. Bennet and Grif looked at her curiously.

"You can't unseal an isolation chamber from the inside," Amys said. "Cutter has a funny story about that. When an isolation chamber on a ship is active, it sends a message to the bridge so life support knows not to unseal it or mix environments unless its given the all-clear. I assume it's the same with a hospital. If they're monitoring hospital systems, they'll notice when an isolation chamber turns itself on."

"OK," Bennet said. "There. Done."

Almost immediately they heard faint shouting.

"Promising," Bennet said.

"Yeah..." Grif crept over to the door. "Right then. Here's the plan..."

"Steal something fast and run for it?" Amys asked.

"I see you're familiar with my plans," Grif said. "Are we ready?"

Bennet and Amys nodded.

"OK." Grif took a deep breath, then flipped the electronic release on the door. The bolts released on the door and Grif winced as it slid open in a loud, grinding fashion.

"Not my favorite door..." he muttered. He poked his head out the door as Amys and Bennet moved past him, weapons ready.

The hangar was empty.

"Huh," Amys said.

It was a large, cavernous space. The entrance to the second city was a massive iris on the hangar ceiling. Usually it would be open, allowing traffic to easily drop in or exit as needed, but at the moment it was sealed shut. There were no people, only rows of vehicles sitting silently and unused.

Grif walked deeper into the hangar, past a few support columns, and looked around nervously. The place was empty. Deserted.

"Odd," Bennet said. "I thought there would be at least a few guards left."