Hanging Moon by Paul Stephenson

Author:Paul Stephenson
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Hollow Stone Press
Published: 2021-05-14T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

They made it through the cargo hold in less than five minutes, Wyn finally mastering the art of moving at speed in zero gravity—more or less. The Captain overtook her, his own technique flawless compared to hers. He opened the hatch to the cargo hold. The Andy, stocked and ready to go, stood in the centre of the empty bay, suspended by a lock holding it in place half a metre above enormous doors which would swing open, leaving nothing beneath but space and the moon below.

At their appearance, a heavy door opened, revealing the distinct shape of Stef on the other side, her suit shining in the cargo bay’s stark lighting. Wyn and the Captain floated across the bay, grabbed the sides of the door, and eased themselves inside.

‘We all set?’ Stef’s voice crackled in Wyn’s ear.

‘All set,’ the Captain replied. ‘Zoe, I have a hunch you’re going to like it down there.’

Wyn ignored them, heading through the body of the ship until she got to the cramped cockpit. If the flight deck on the Minos was small, this was like trying to pilot from inside an airing cupboard. She strapped herself into her seat and started the ignition procedure.

‘If anyone’s not strapped in by the time I’ve opened these bay doors, they’re going to find out what it’s like to be a pea in a can,’ she said.

Nobody protested, so she tightened her straps and flicked up a rather dangerous looking red switch. Outside the cockpit, red lights flashed.

‘How’s it looking, Miles?’ she asked.

‘Systems are operational, Commander.’

‘Have you transferred yourself over to the Andy’s CPU?’ she asked.

‘Yes, Commander. We are good to initiate countdown.’

She flicked the red switch once more. Warning bells pealed through the cargo bay. A tiny clock on the dash counted backward from five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

The doors opened, sucking the atmosphere within the cargo bay into the void. The Andy swung violently back and forth in its cradle. Wyn peered down. The white and red of the moon’s surface sped by through the open doors.

‘What the fuck is that?’ Barnes cried through her earpiece.

‘Computer, isolate comms channels to myself and the Captain.’

Barnes’s protestations cut off.

‘Captain?’

‘Ready, Commander.’

Wyn reached forward and released the Andy from its mooring.

The Andy dropped like a stone, the open cargo bay doors rushing by in a blur. She forced her eyes to remain open so she could watch the rate of descent.

She waited.

Waited.

Waited….

She fired the boosters.

They didn’t fire.

She tried them again, but nothing happened. At this rate, they’d crash into the ice with such force they’d explode on impact.

Shit.

‘Computer, give me Stef and Li Wei.’

‘Yes, Commander.’

‘Guys, we’ve got no power to the boosters,’ she said.

‘What?’ came the unified and somewhat unhelpful response.

She stared at her instrument panel, trying to work out the cause. She’d done the start-up sequences correctly, but the board sat static and unyielding.

The Andy began to tailspin, with no other forces to counteract it. Wyn’s stomach leapt into her throat, and she grabbed the joystick out of sheer reflex, but it flopped around lifelessly without a navigation system to direct.

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