Meanwhile, Djanet stood outside of an outer airlock and ignited her magnetic energy cocoon. She knew Old-timer was right. This was most likely suicide—but there were times when it was better to die than to live the rest of your life knowing that you could have done something but you didn’t. She popped the handle of the lock and was swept outside by the change in pressure. Seconds later, she was blasting androids on her way to rendezvous with Rich. She had to save him.
After all, he was the man she loved.
28
In mere seconds, the androids on the hull exponentially increased. Every moment, hundreds more landed on the hull, until finally, they covered every inch of it.
Meanwhile, Rich was surrounded, and his muscles ached from exhaustion. He was spinning wildly and blasting at his attackers, but even with the nans helping him to recoup his energy, the fatigue was about to overwhelm him.
Djanet’s attack made the difference—she cleared a path for Rich toward the ship. She knocked out several of Rich’s attackers and left a hole just big enough for Rich to squeak through. When Rich reached her, he nearly passed out, and Djanet enveloped him into to her magnetic field. He grabbed her, and gasped for air as he held on.
“I got you!” she shouted to him. His clothes were soaked with sweat, and she could feel the thunderous beat of his heart against her back.
“You just saved my life…again!” he replied as Djanet flew back toward the Purist ship as it streaked upward, toward the sun. The darkness of space was beginning to become visible as the stratosphere came into sight.
“They’re alive, James,” Old-timer delivered the news.
Thel sighed a heavy sigh of relief. “Tell them to get inside!”
“No!” James interjected. “If they open a door now, we’ll be overwhelmed by those things!”
“James!” Thel shouted, shocked at his line of thinking. “We can’t leave them out there! If the androids get in, we’ll fight them!”
“We’d be putting the Purists at risk, Thel! Too many of them have already died!”
“Are you willing to sacrifice Rich and Djanet?” Thel asked, appalled.
“
James sighed and bowed his head. “Thel, I’ve analyzed the situation and, believe me, if we open that door, we all die.”
“What’s wrong with you?” Thel reacted after she heard James’s words. “You sound like a computer.”
James clenched his teeth—it was becoming increasingly difficult to delineate a line between his consciousness and that of the A.I.
“I think we have to trust James,” Old-timer said, attempting, as was his custom, to be the voice of reason. As much as he wanted to save Rich and Djanet, as his eyes moved toward Alejandra, he knew he couldn’t risk their lives. “At least Djanet and Rich can defend themselves.”
“We’re willing to fight, Craig,” Alejandra retorted.
“Agreed,” Lieutenant Patrick chimed in. “You shouldn’t sacrifice your people”
“You need more than willingness,” Old-timer replied.
“Enough,” James asserted. “Old-timer, tell them they’re our only chance of getting out of here alive. Keep an eye on that hull and a close watch on the doors and the engine.”
“They’ll die because of that decision,” Thel insisted.
“Not if you follow my lead, Thel. Find a way to electrify the hull.”
Outside, Djanet continued blasting as Rich felt he was ready to separate. “I’m okay now. Thanks!” He let go of Djanet and reengaged his own magnetic field as he started firing at any androids in his path.
“Old-timer!” Djanet shouted as she opened communication, “We need you to open the starboard airlock!”
“That’s a negative,” Old-timer replied.
“What?” Djanet asked, stunned.
“James analyzed the situation and, if we open the doors, the chances of the ship being overwhelmed are too great.”
“Old-timer!” Rich shouted as he continued blasting, “Open the damn door!”
“We need you to clear the androids off the doors and away from the engines first!” Old-timer shouted back.
James entered the communication at that moment to plead for Rich’s and Djanet’s understanding. “Guys, we’re not going to make it unless you help us from out there. I’m sorry, but we have no choice. You’re our only hope!”
Rich continued desperately shooting as he and Djanet reached the starboard side of the vessel, still coated with androids that were clawing at the titanium frame of the ship like wolves attacking a bloody piece of meat. “There are too many of them, Commander!”
“You don’t have to destroy them all! Just give us the time we need to set up an electromagnetic charge to get rid of the rest of them!”
“How long do you need?” Djanet asked through gasps as, like Rich before her, she neared exhaustion.
“Three minutes,” James shouted back——the number was random. In actuality, he had no idea.
“Better speed it up! We’ll be dead in thirty seconds!” Rich shouted back.
29
“We’ve got our first hull breach!” Old-timer shouted as he scrolled through the ship map to see where the breach was located. “The engines!”
“Of course,” James growled. “Djanet, Rich! One of those things has breached the hull next to the engines! We need you to knock it off there, or this is going to be a short ride!”
“Copy that!” Djanet answered as she and Rich worked their way to the back of the ship. They were immediately caught in the wake of the massive magnetic engines, tossed around like cotton balls on a windy Chicago day.
“Well…isn’t this just a walk in the park!” Rich grunted as he struggled to stay on course.
“The good news is that it’s tough for the androids too!” Djanet replied. “They can’t get to us while we’re in here! It might just buy James the time he needs to ready the electromagnetic pulse.”
“Not if we can’t get those alien freaks off the engines!” Rich shouted back. “Do you see them?”
Djanet peered through the brilliant azure distortions created by the engines until she could make out a large group of androids who’d peeled back a small portion of the titanium casing surrounding the engines. The small portion was threatening to become a large portion, as nearly a dozen of the androids had grabbed a hold of it and were tugging at it violently, thrashing it. “Yes, I see them!”
“Can you get a shot?”
“It’s hard to hold steady, but I think so!” she responded. It was like holding on to the rope after falling while waterskiing, waves throwing you around violently until you didn’t know if you were facing up or down. She tried to stay steady and, when she thought she was in as good a position as she was going to get, she fired. Unfortunately, the blast got caught in the distortion of the engines and boomeranged back in an arc, glancing off of Rich’s
