Astronomicon: Behemoth

Chapter 44 - Airlock

"Get that door shut! They're almost on us!" Ekono shouted as he clambered over the seatbacks and dropped into the driver's seat.

"I've done the sequence," Aron replied, folding the telescopic pole. "The door closes in its own time."

Aron watched nervously as the black airlock door slid steadily closed. With an unknown number of potentially lethal robots approaching the door along the main corridor and no way to move into the hangar until that outer door had sealed, he was beginning to feel trapped in the face of a threat.

It was three-quarters shut when he saw lights through the reducing gap. A split-second later, single mechanical claw slammed against the leading edge and gripped it with insane speed. The door continued to slide closed even as the arm's mechanism screamed, pushing uselessly against it.

Adrenaline surged and Aron raced back to the buggy. He had no idea what they could do but the urge to get out of that airlock was immense. The robot at the door suddenly gave up its futile attempt to stop the door and rolled quickly into the airlock, barely making it through the gap before the gap became too small.

Ekono rammed the buggy into reverse and slammed the accelerator to the floor. All four wheels screeched against the floor as the tyres struggled to grip against the torque. The vehicle seemed to hover for a moment before it was catapulted backwards towards the approaching robot. At almost three metres tall, the robot dwarfed the buggy charging towards it.

The rear bumper thumped into the middle of the robot's rectangular body, kicking it backwards into the almost closed door. It had just enough time to catch the back of the buggy with its two metal pincer-like claws, but there was little it could do to resist the force of the impact.

Just before the airlock door finally closed, the claw of another robot reached through the shrinking gap. It was quickly trapped with the door clamping against the mechanical wrist. Aron expected the door to jam on the arm but like an unstoppable blade it simply crushed the wrist and snipped it off easily before closing just like nothing had blocked it.

For a moment, Aron stood frozen, staring at the robot. Its angular surfaces looked reminiscent of a military, armoured vehicle and its brownish green colour only added to that impression. A single, narrowing support beneath the rectangular body reached down towards the ground, ending between two dark grey wheels, closely placed side-by-side.

Growing panic causing his brain to irrationally focus on engineering details to avoid contemplating the danger of the situation, he continued to study the entity. Its powerful, mechanical arms, coloured the same as its body, were mounted near the top of each side of its body, above what appeared to be vents or air-intakes.

A raised, streamlined area on top of the main body, but flush with it, formed a low hood over a clear panel. There was a sense of depth, but Aron could not see anything in the darkness inside. That was when he noticed a third, much shorter arm, ending in what he could only assume was a folding gun.

The pressure the screaming buggy was applying to the robot had pinned its gun arm against the door, leaving it unable to rotate it into the upright position. The sudden realisation that if the robot succeeded in moving forward just a few centimetres, it would be able to position its gun ready for firing, snapped Aron out of his trance.

He looked around at the inner airlock door to find it had almost completed opening. That gave them a way to escape but Aron knew that they had to make sure that the robot did not come with them.

His radio burst into life with Ekono's voice, sounding unexpectedly calm given the situation. "Aron, Isa, you two need to get through the gelfall and seal the inner door behind you. I can't hold this thing much longer."