The Space Between

Chapter Twenty-Eight: "Distraction"

Mark adjusted the mask to his face, clipping the tank to his good hip. Wincing, he watched droplets of blood leave the wound on his side. He couldn't deal with that now. Banging a hand on the dampener, he started to crawl his way back down the vent with a hand pressed to his wound. He knew from Miles's plan that there had to be a vent that led to the docking bay. He just had to find it. The vent shuttered silently under Mark, causing him to take pause for a minute. He hoped that was from someone launching safely off the station and not something blowing up somewhere. Peeking down into a grate, he tried to get his bearings. He knew what the docking bay looked like and this looked like it was outside that. Ahead of the grate was another sealed dampener, but below in the grate the hatch door to the room was open. His heart sank seeing Wendy's body. He couldn't dwell on it though because his mind drifted to a disturbing thought. Had she managed to trap the blue lizard? Or was it still roaming around?

Mark glanced behind him out of habit, then yelped as a sudden suction yanked him down the vent. Mark slammed his hands against the sides of the smooth metal surface of the vent, digging his nails into it. The pull was so strong that his nail tore lines in the metal. Spreading his legs, he tried to use the rubber grip of his shoes to slow himself down. Still he was pulled down the vent. At the turn in the vent, his foot slipped, causing his legs to rise off the floor as the pull grew stronger. He was forced to release one side of the vent to cling to the corner with both hands. His muscles strained, until he screamed and had to remove a hand to grip his side. It felt like the air was trying to drain the blood from his side by force! Just as his fingers reached the end of the corner, the suction stopped. For a minute, Mark floated in the vent and just clutched his side. His side was burning. Putting a hand to the roof of the vent, Mark steadied himself to calm his breathing. His mother had always told him that the higher his stress was, the more his body triggered a higher pain warning. So, he tried to calm himself to bring the pain level down.

The vent began to shake again, and Mark jerked his head down to look between his floating feet. The vent was dark, but he had enough night vision to see a hulking figure approaching. His first thought was that the blue lizard was coming for him. Turning over, Mark quickly rushed back toward the grate. With little room to fight in a vent, he didn't want to get attacked in here. Reaching the grate, Mark made a fist and punched the metal grate with enough force to break the four screws that kept it in place. Pushing the floating grate out of his way, he braced his feet on the ceiling and pushing himself down toward the open hatch door. Grabbing the hatch door frame, Mark fought through the pain to pull Wendy's body away from the door. Pulling himself into the doorway, he gritted his teeth to brace for a bit more pain. He needed to break the controls on the other side to keep the blue lizard from following him. Making a fist, he raised his arm to punch the control panel and stopped as he saw movement at the end of the hallway.

His eyes grew wide as Rip-fang limped into view. Rip-fang hadn't noticed him yet. Rip-fang's feet dug into the metal floor to keep himself from floating, coughing a mouthful of blood into the air. Swatting the droplets of blood away, Rip-fang peeled more burned looking skin from his torso and arms. His large wings had holes burned into them and parts of him were still smoking. Rip-fang opened his mouth, baring his teeth like he was hissing or roaring with anger, but Mark heard no sound. Rip-fang's body was tense, but he seemed distracted. Mark stayed very still, hoping not to draw his attention. Yet, his blood froze in his veins as Rip-fang sniffed the atmosphere and then very slowly turned to look in his direction. Mark swallowed as Rip-fang's eyes locked on him. Rip-fang's body shook with uncontrolled rage, before he let out a roar and thundered wildly toward him. Once Rip-fang entered into the condensed hallway, his roar suddenly had a growing sound that rose from muffled to full volume!

Rip-fang's body slammed into the walls as he stormed after him in a blind rage. Mark didn't wait a second longer, he punched the control panel from the door on the outside to bust it. The panel sparked and flashed in response, zapping Mark's knuckles. Mark winced but worked quickly to think beyond what he had to do. Slipping into the room more, he messed with the control panel on the inside and set the door to close. The door barely sealed shut before Rip-fang slammed into it. The moment the door beeped to confirm it was sealed, the room began to pressurize. Mark glanced at the other door, floating quickly over to it. The door to the docking bay had shut automatically after the first room had lost pressure. His only way in now was to open it and shut it behind him, before Rip-fang managed to tear his way in. Typing on the computer, he heard the loud banging against the other door and started to panic a bit. That door wouldn't hold him for long. He had to work fast. Cause if he opened the door with the Ceres door open... and Rip-fang burst inside. The Ceres would be crushed by the vacuum of space! Leaving them all stranded up here.