Apollo 23 by Justin Richards

Author:Justin Richards
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781409072959
Publisher: Ebury Publishing

Chapter

13

Amy didn’t give the soldier a chance to tighten his grip. She rolled out of the way, breaking his grip. As she rolled, she kicked out at the nearest pedestal, sending equipment flying. As soon as she was on her feet, she ran – not for the door, but from bed to bed, ripping electrodes off the sleepers’ temples and pushing over the monitoring equipment.

The soldier set about picking up the monitors and reattaching the connections. He was meticulous and efficient. This was obviously a higher priority than chasing intruders.

‘So it’s your job to keep them safe,’ Amy said. ‘But safe for what?’

She watched the soldier reconnect another sleeper. The monitor blipped back into life. Temperature readings and blood pressure numbers rose to what Amy assumed was normal. She backed slowly away, not taking her eyes off the soldier as he worked. Would he decide she was a priority if he saw her escaping?

The door had slid shut behind her when she came in. She had to turn to see the numbers on the pad. It took her only a few seconds to key in the code, but she expected the soldier to be standing right there with her when she looked back.

He was still resetting the equipment on the other side of the room. She’d done it. She was safe.

Behind Amy, the door slid silently open.

She turned to leave. Just as a hand came down on her shoulder, gripping her tight.

‘What are you doing here?’

They shared the back of a jeep back to Base Hibiscus – the Doctor, Candace, General Walinski and Agent Jennings. The Doctor was nursing his spacesuit helmet. Neither Walinski nor Candace Hecker had elaborated on their suggestion he could still get back to the moon. Was there an emergency back-up system? Something so dangerous they didn’t dare use it?

‘We still have no proof,’ Walinski said above the sound of the engine, ‘that your theory about alien invaders has any validity. It’s a bit wild, to say the least.’

‘The best theories are,’ the Doctor told him. ‘But whether I’m right or not, we need to re-establish a link with your base.’

‘It’s a question of urgency,’ Hecker said. ‘The technicians on Diana will be working on it. Jackson’s brilliant. If anyone can fix this, he can.’

‘So, what if anyone can’t fix this?’ Jennings shrugged. ‘Just playing devil’s advocate. But maybe no one can sort it, not even Jackson. And maybe – just maybe – the Doctor here is right. It doesn’t have to be aliens, but if someone is sabotaging the systems at the moonbase end, it won’t matter how brilliant Jackson is.’

‘Who do you think might be behind the damage?’ the Doctor asked. He sensed Jennings wasn’t convinced it was extraterrestrials.

‘Hell, we’ve locked up a lot of dangerous and unpleasant people there, Doc. Any one of them could have friends willing to die to get them free, or even just to make a point.’

‘He’s a dwarf,’ the Doctor said. ‘Do I look like a dwarf?’

Jennings frowned.

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