Cold Fusion - Lance Parkin [77]
As she began to pass out, Tegan fancied that she saw Noah’s Ark standing there in a snowdriftt a great wooden boat with a big door on the side. Her eyes were closed now.
It was too cold to open them again. Everything went white.
Nyssa could hear the warning sirens again and the approach of loaders. Together, she and Chris eased themselves round the wall of the docking port until they were concealed behind a pile of fuel drums. The robots moved into place supervised by Adjudicators in light body armour. A cargo ramp unfolded noisily from the belly of the freighter. The robots drifted up the ramp and disappeared inside, while the Adjudicators remained on guard outside.
Nyssa was just about to move forward when she saw someone coming their way. She pulled Chris back. An Adjudicator strode past, an aide at his side.
‘That’s the Provost-General, Medford’ Chris whispered,
‘the commander of all the Bureau forces here. Why has he turned up to see a space freighter being unloaded?’
They peered over the tops of the fuel drums for the answer. The first robot loader had emerged from the ship carrying a metal container the size of a coffin.
A human military officer followed the robot down the ramp. He wore a glittering silver spacesuit, a. sashtop computer draped over his shoulder. He stopped In front of the Provost-General and the soldiers saluted one another.
Medford ordered the droid to stop, then opened the box and looked inside. Satisfied, he sealed the container up again and motioned for the droid to continue.
‘How many in total?’ Medford was talking to the human pilot. ‘Twenty-four.’
‘Excellent. Thank Captain Dattani for me on your return.’
‘Aye, sir.’ The officer saluted him. ‘We’re taking something back – a cryotube?’
‘There’s been a change of plan. We’ll send that to Earth directly, in one of our cruisers. While the cargo is being unloaded, your crew might as well take advantage of the facilities at the Skybase.’
‘Thank you very much, sir.’ The officer saluted again and then moved to an intercom post at the base of the ramp. After a short conversation, half a dozen astronauts emerged from the ship, smiling and laughing amongst themselves. They clambered up the ladder that she and Chris had used, heading to the rest room.
‘We have to follow that loader,’ Chris told her, ‘see where they are taking the cargo.’ The first of the yellow robots was heading through an archway into the main part of the station. A couple of Adjudicators with rifles and full armour were guarding it. The military officer was climbing the ramp back up to his ship. Under the watchful eyes of half a dozen Adjudicators, another droid buzzed past them towards the ship.
‘First of all, let’s find out what the cargo is. There is still some onboard,’ Nyssa said, standing and straightening her dress. Before Chris could argue she had ducked behind the droid, putting it between herself and the Adjudicators.
Chris followed. They climbed the ramp, careful to keep level with the loader. After a couple of seconds, they were on a flat surface again. The loader executed a neat ninety-degree turn, then set off at the same brisk pace as before.
Chris and Nyssa followed it.
‘It’s heading for the hold,’ Chris told her. He was rubbing his leg, clearly still in pain.
‘I’ll follow it, you take your time.’
Chris shook his head. ‘Don’t worry about me.’
Nyssa hurried after the loader. It passed through a couple of hatches before arriving at a set of double doors marked ‘Cargo Bay Three’. They slid open automatically.
Nyssa followed the robot inside. The room was full of warehouse racking. The row nearest the wall was stacked high with metal containers, like the one the Provost-General had checked outside.