The Juggernaut (Juggernaut #1)

Twelve

Ellie tensed, jumped and grabbed hold of the lip of the access hatch. Malachi reached down from the shadows above and gave Ellie his hand. Ellie took it, Malachi pulled her up and Ellie wriggled through the opening. Once through the hatch she sat on the dirty floor and dangled her legs through the hole.

Tila flashed a light around the cramped space while Malachi scattered glowcubes around the cabin.

"Is this the right place?" Ellie asked before climbing to her feet. "I didn't see a name outside."

"This is it," said Malachi. "Well, the right location anyway. Looks like the name got scratched away when they shoved it in here. There'll be a nameplate somewhere in here, anyway."

Tila scanned the room by flashlight while the cubes slowly came to life.

Malachi pulled two more flashlights from his pocket. He gave one to Ellie and clicked on the other.

"Do you carry spares of everything?" said Tila.

"You can't be too prepared," he replied as he ducked underneath a console to inspect it.

"It's a bit small for a cargo ship," said Ellie, calculating the ship's volume from what she could see.

"It was a hauler, not a transport," said Malachi. His voice came back muffled beneath the console. "This is just the rear cabin. A hauler is basically a tug which pulls a shipping spine full of cargo pods. They stick thrusters on the other end to make it go. That hatch we came through would connect to a habitation module for longer journeys."

Ellie smiled to herself in the dark. It amused her that Malachi was always ready to teach. "I love that you know everything," she said.

"Some things," said Malachi.

Tila leaned over a console and wiped the sticky dirt from the display with her fingertips. The cabin wall above the desk crumpled inward, as if the hauler had been forced into a hole that was too small.

"He doesn't know everything," she said. "Ask him how to cook."

"Hey!" Malachi protested. "I can cook."

"You can't," said Tila, without looking up.

"She's right though," said Ellie. "You cooked for me once."

"Just once?" said Malachi. He tried to remember when that happened.

"Mmm hmm. I never let you do it again."

Tila smiled into her shoulder and pressed switches at random. Maybe there was still some life in the batteries. They were real switches, not smooth glass touch panels. Nothing worked. She straightened up. "So, all we have is a cockpit?" she asked.

"This is just the rear cabin. The main cockpit is through there," Malachi replied, and pointed at a door Tila had assumed was a closet.

Ellie touched a finger to the door control mounted in the frame. "There's no power."

"Can we force it open?" said Tila.

"Try the manual release," suggested Malachi, pointing to a spot over her head.

Tila reached up and unclipped a panel covered with faded instructions. Inside was a red handle. She yanked it sharply and something clunked inside the recessed mechanism. The cabin door opened an inch.

She tugged at the lip of the door with her fingertips but could barely move it any further.

"Can you help me?" she asked Malachi.

Malachi edged his way past Ellie, squeezed one hand into the gap, took hold of a grab handle with his other hand and pulled hard. The door shot open with a loud crack. More dust billowed up from door frame which made them cough.