Up Against It - M. J. Locke [156]
Visibility was still poor outside, from all the stuff kicked up in the fight, but surveillance cameras outside the mine showed Mills and the others appeared to be heading back into the ship. Geoff fiddled with some controls.
“They’ve changed comm channels,” he said. “What are they up to?”
“We should send out a distress signal,” Xuan said. “Right away.”
“Good thought!”
Geoff typed in the code. In a second or two they heard the tones of an automated distress call. He leaned back against the console with folded arms. “And now we wait.”
Amaya pointed. “Um, what’s he doing?” One of the hired hands was bounding down the ramp carrying a tubular object. It looked a lot like a spud launcher, only the object in it was metal and had a pointed tip. He pointed it at the mine entrance. Geoff swore.
“It’s a missile launcher! Get back!”
A concussion shook the cavern, knocking Xuan down. A parts rack toppled over and pinned him. The inner lock door puckered.
A breach alarm sounded, and they could hear the hiss of air being released from the cave through a crack in the airlock seal. Rocks fell—slowly but inexorably—all around him, and crunched into the big tanks and equipment. He twisted around, tried to push the rack off his torso. Pain shot through his chest and arm.
The others were still dodging debris. A big machine fell over onto the security console, which spat sparks. Carboys were knocked over, and solvents sloshed out, forming big, floating, toxic blobs. Air contaminant alarms started whooping. Xuan could barely hear the others over the noise. The stench was overpowering and Xuan coughed.
The others leapt over the rubble toward him. Kamal found a pipe and pried the rack off of him, and Geoff and Amaya pulled him out. “Are you all right?” Geoff shouted, over the din.
Something sticky was dripping in Xuan’s eyes. He put his hand to his head, and it came away red. He had a gash on his forehead. He swiped at it. Much higher gee, Xuan realized, and I’d have been crushed. Kamal handed him a cloth. He pressed it to his wound.
“A little banged up,” he said. “Hurts to breathe or move my right arm. I’ve broken a rib or two, I think. What happened?”
“They’ve taken out our radio. And our surveillance cameras.”
“We have to get out of here! Can you get the airpacks?” Kamal asked Geoff and Amaya, gesturing. “We may need them.”
They set the air recharging rack upright and extracted the airpacks from the rechargers. Meanwhile, Kamal helped Xuan over the pile of rubble.
“We’d better hurry!” Amaya shouted over the alarms. “If they fire another missile, the inner lock will go.”
“There are some supplies we need!” Geoff replied. “I’ll get the bots to grab what they can. Amaya, take the airpacks and lead the way to one of our bolt holes!”
“West Spider Way is best!” Amaya yelled.
“Meet you there,” Geoff shouted back. “Go!”
Xuan did not like the idea of Geoff staying behind, even for a moment, but he trusted the young man’s judgment that they needed certain materials here, and arguing would only waste time. Besides, it hurt too much to talk.
Kamal helped him into the side passage, while Amaya carried the airpacks. The main lights were out, but emergency lighting gave plenty of light, to Xuan’s eyes. Amaya led the way down. They passed other passages and chambers, and through several locks. The air smelled dank, like rotting vegetation and dust. They came to a large room. Amaya dropped the airpacks into a recharging station by the door.
“I’ll be right back,” she said, and dashed out. Kamal helped Xuan to a chair, and went for a medkit.
Xuan looked around. This room had been outfitted as a waystation: it had firefighting equipment, air, and medical supplies. It also had bunks, a kitchen, and a console. Kamal brought the medical kit over and cleaned and bound Xuan’s head wound.
“I think I have a broken collarbone,” he said, “and a cracked rib.”
“We have nanomeds. Nothing fancy but enough to accelerate the healing.”
“Good.