Project Eleutheria: The Singularity Wars by Paige Daniels

Author:Paige Daniels [Daniels, Paige]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-09-22T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTY

Gauge and I rush through the halls, trying to walk that fine line between acting casual and being on alert for Tabor. The halls are crammed with people crying and shouting, trying to figure out what just happened. More debris than normal is in the walkways, slowing our escape. To them, we’re just victims of this random system failure, like everyone else. I feel a pang of guilt, knowing all this mayhem was our doing.

In front of me, Gauge comes to a sudden stop then drops to his knees. A retch escapes him, echoing through the halls and stopping some of the passersby. I go to my knees and put a hand on his back. Another retch, and the contents of his stomach follow. He gasps for air.

A small tanned man, bruised and battered, stops. “He okay?”

I caress Gauge’s back as he heaves. “Uh, he’s fine. The microgravity makes him sick. It always has.”

The man nods and shuffles away.

Gauge’s face is pale, with a sheen of sweat. He heaves again and breathlessly says, “I think this is it.”

I stand and offer him my hand.

He takes it and slowly winds himself up from the floor, giving me a lopsided smile. “Let’s get out of here.”

After nearly a half hour of navigating the twists and turns of the old space station, we finally arrive at the docking bay. Like all the other sections of the station, it’s a shambles, with hardware, tools, and broken crates strewn all over. The few ships in the bay appear to have taken a few hits too, but most of the damage is just a few dents, dings, and scratches, nothing major.

Some of the color has returned to Gauge’s face, but he’s staring into space.

“Gauge, are you with me?”

He hits his head with his palm. “They’re in my head, Lyvie! I can’t get them out.”

Air hisses through my teeth. My body aches, and my head throbs. I can’t take another pitfall like Gauge’s fugue state now.

I whisper harshly, “Look at me. You have to hold it together. If we’re lucky enough to find a ship that’s flyable, and I can maneuver it out of here without encountering Tabor, then feel free to lose your shit at will when we’re happily in some no-name pit of a quadrant, but for now, get your act together because I’m going to lose my shit if you don’t.”

Gauge stares right through me and gives me a curt nod.

“Good. I’m glad we have an understanding.”

I take a few minutes to scan the bay again, assessing which of the few ships there are least damaged. Also, something not huge and not blocked in with a lot of crap would be nice. I finally find a good candidate, an old Proa swift-ship. It’s more for making quick jumps to planets or nearby holes, not a comfy freighter like mine, but it’ll do. I turn to Gauge and nod in the general direction of the old rig. He just grumbles and follows.

The bay is a maze of cargo boxes and random ship debris that I have to slink around.

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