system 1.2 was eradicated. And it was then, even as the countdown fell to six minutes, twenty seconds, that Logos chose to close all of the station’s airtight, blastproof doors in hopes that he could trap Rebo and Norr in the main corridor. Rebo saw the steel barriers begin to deploy and urged Norr to greater speed, but knew it was hopeless. They were still fi?fteen feet away from the nearest hatch when metal clanged on metal. Socket was going to blow, the countdown continued, and the star gate lay on the other side of the hatch. Rebo felt his spirits plummet as both he and the sensitive were forced to put on the brakes, and were still struggling to slow themselves, when they threw up their hands.
“Damn,” the runner exclaimed as his hands made contact with cold steel. “What now?”
“Time remaining for evacuation, fi?ve minutes, thirty seconds,” the voice put in emotionlessly. “All personnel who wish . . .”
Norr had no answer, and was just about to say as much, when a third person spoke. “Perhaps I can help,” Tepho said calmly. They turned to fi?nd that the technologist had approached them from behind. The front of his pants remained wet—but the technologist was otherwise composed. “As with any habitat of this size,” Tepho continued carefully, “there is more than one way off. Come . . . I’ll show you.”
So saying, the administrator turned and limped back the way he had come. Rebo looked at Norr, and the sensitive shrugged. With no other options to choose from, the twosome had very little choice but to follow Tepho a short distance to a newly opened hatch and the bright red decal located beside it. The sign was directly opposite the area where the fi?rst battle with the guardians had been fought—
which explained why the runner failed to see it earlier. Simple though they were the words caused his heart to leap: escape pod three.
Norr peered through the opening and saw that a short ladder led up to another smaller hatch. The sensitive looked at Tepho and frowned. “Why come get us? You could be clear by now,” the variant commented suspiciously.
“Because I can’t climb the ladder by myself,” the technologist answered honestly. “Please help me.”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Rebo responded angrily.
“After everything you’ve done? I don’t think so. Come on, Lonni, let’s get out of here.”
“No,” the sensitive objected stubbornly. “It wouldn’t be right. Boost him up there . . . Or would you like to be standing there arguing with me when Socket blows?”
Rebo made a face, urged Tepho through the fi?rst hatch, and muscled the other man up the ladder. And it was there, on the escape pod’s threshold, that the technologist launched his backward kick. The blow struck the runner in the face, which caused him to lose his grip, and fall backward into the corridor.
Tepho laughed triumphantly as he scooted into the fourperson pod, and was reaching for the controls, when Norr fi?red the power pistol up through the open hatch. She wasn’t an especially good shot, not by Rebo’s standards, but the range was short. The energy bolt punched a neat little hole through the technologist’s throat and left him gasping for air. Rebo had recovered by then. He scrambled up the ladder, grabbed the front of Tepho’s shirt, and jerked him out through the hatch. There was a meaty thump as he hit the deck.
Norr felt no sense of guilt as she was forced to step on Tepho in order to access the ladder and join Rebo inside the vehicle. They heard the voice begin to announce that one minute and twenty seconds remained, but the sound was cut off as the hatch cycled closed, and an even shorter countdown began. There was barely enough time to strap themselves in before the escape vehicle blew itself free of Socket, and the couple became weightless.
Meanwhile, back aboard the space station, Tepho struggled to breathe. He was still trying to come up with a plan to extend his life when Socket exploded into a million pieces. There was chaos on the surface of the planet as the tides ceased to exist, the phib tidal generators failed, and the oceans went on a rampage. Eventually, after all of the destruction, the phibs and norms might be forced to contemplate some sort of truce and fi?nd ways to cooperate with each other.
But for Rebo and Norr, there were other problems to consider. Would they travel to Esperance? And attempt to backtrack the technos to their hidden star gate? Or was that a waste of time without Socket to facilitate the transfer?
And what about the great starships? Could they take passage aboard one of them? And thereby fi?nd their way back to Seros? That seemed like the best hope.
Finally, after a rough-and-tumble journey through the planetary atmosphere, a red chute deployed. The escape pod slowed and rocked back and forth before it fi?nally smacked down on an azure ocean. Fresh air fl?ooded the tiny cabin as the off-worlders opened the top hatch, stood on their seats, and eyed their surroundings. The escape pod rose as a huge swell rolled in to lift it up, and it managed to remain stubbornly upright as the mountain of water fell away. Days, if not weeks would pass before the ocean found its new equilibrium, and the tidal storms stopped. Rebo could see fl?uffy white clouds, a circling seabird, and a point of land off in the distance.
Norr thought about Seros, the hand-to-mouth existence she had led there, and wondered if she would see the planet again. Or even wanted to see the planet again. But then, as Rebo put his arm around her shoulders, the sensitive knew it didn’t really matter. Finally, having wandered halfway across the galaxy, she was home.
