A backup security shield barred the way.
“Can you disable it?” Attie asked.
Clenching his teeth, Doug raised his hand again, preparing to burn his way through that mechanism, too. It might kill him, but at least Attie and the others would stand a chance.
Before he could start, Rust raised his laser and fired a single shot at a spot on the doorjamb.
The security shield winked out of existence.
“How…” Doug blinked at Rust barreling toward the lift.
Rust called over his shoulder, “Those things have always been useless.”
These cyborgs never ceased to surprise him. Shaking his head, Doug pushed Attie through the door ahead of him. They moved toward the lift with the other cyborgs close behind them.
Doug would track Dollard to the ends of the galaxy to put an end to his horrific experiments.
But first, he had to get everyone off this ship.
Chapter 20
Heart pounding, Attie stepped into the lift, keeping Doug between her and Rust. The red-headed cyborg’s attempted rape was still on her mind, but he barely acknowledged her presence. More cyborgs crammed inside, forcing Attie back against the wall.
The cyborg with the silvering hair called, “Twobit, Esben, you coming?”
“I’ll catch up,” Twobit answered. “I’m hacking the emergency alarm system.”
“Close the doors, Benjy,” Rust demanded. “We need to hit them before they know we’re coming.”
Benjy pushed the button for the shuttle bay.
Attie laced her fingers with Doug’s, suctioned to his side as the car lurched downward. He squeezed her hand back and gave her a reassuring glance. “We’ll get you out of here.”
The tall blonde cyborg looked longingly at the surgical laser in Rust’s hand. “Wish we had more weapons.”
“You’re an accountant, Brix. You’d probably shoot your eye out,” Rust replied.
Brix straightened his shoulders. “I worked mining lasers for six years before I moved to the office, asshole. I think I could manage.”
The overhead lights suddenly flashed red, followed by the rolling wail of the evacuation siren. A calm, automated voice intoned, “Please proceed to the nearest evacuation pod. The ship will self-destruct in thirty-six minutes.”
Attie’s fingers tightened around Doug’s as sickening relief flooded her. Her friends and crew-mates at least had a chance to escape now. But that still didn’t mean she and Doug would get out of this alive.
“Damn,” said the dark-skinned enayshuan cyborg. “I was hoping we’d reach the shuttles before the alarm started. We’ll have to fight the crew for a ship, now.”
“We were going to have to fight no matter what, Emilryde,” said Benjy.
The car doors slid open, revealing the broad expanse of the shuttle bay. At the far end, the bulkhead doors were sliding open, the ship’s atmosphere held in only by a hazy energy field. The din of frantic shouting and roaring engines was nearly deafening.
“What about Twobit and Esben?” asked Brix.
“They’ll catch up.” Doug stepped off the lift, watching a crew member run past with a heavy piece of equipment clutched against his chest.
The flushed crewman did a double-take at the sight of the massive cyborg, but continued running.
Attie looked nervously around. The cavernous room teemed with people carrying belongings and careening toward various-sized ships. How were they going to find the doctor and get Twerp back in this chaos?
Doug pointed to a large shuttle where a man with blue officer’s epaulets was ushering passengers on board. “That’s the vessel I arranged for Attie. It will provide ample space for a sustained journey. We just need to secure it for ourselves.”
Small streaks of light shot across the star-studded blackness beyond the bulkhead doorway as evacuation pods from the other levels began departing.
Attie looked around the crowded floor. “If we take that shuttle for ourselves, there may not be enough left to evacuate everyone else.”
“It’s us or them,” Rust said, wading into the crowd with Brix close behind.
As if to prove his point, a flash of pulse fire lit the air near a ship that looked like a blowfish prickling with sensors, followed by a blood curdling scream.
“Rust’s right.” Doug put a hand on the small of her back, nudging her to follow the cyborgs. When she resisted, he frowned and pushed her more firmly. “I need you off this ship. Go with the guys and let me look for Twerp.”
No way was Attie getting on a ship alone with those cyborgs, let alone abandoning Twerp and Doug. She said, “When we find the doctor, we can take his shuttle.”
“Self-destruct in twenty-nine minutes.” The automated voice could barely be heard over the cacophony filling the bay. “Please proceed to the evacuation pods and move to minimum safe distance.”
Brix and Rust had their heads together, plotting something. Attie didn’t have time to wonder what. She searched the milling crowd for anyone in a white lab coat. People seemed to be avoiding an area on the far side of one shuttle. She thought she caught a glimpse of shiny black hair and a pristine white coat before he disappeared behind the parked vessel.
“I think he’s over there!” Without waiting for Doug, she darted forward, weaving between the crowd.
Behind her, Doug shouted, “Dammit, woman!”
Attie dodged an abandoned tool cart and shoved past a crewman carrying an armful of food rations. Mylar pouches scattered everywhere. She nearly slipped on the slick packages underfoot and had to slow. Doug zipped past her, obviously on target for the shuttle. Crewmen who saw him coming stepped out of the way, opening a path for Attie to follow in his wake.
She pounded after him, breathing hard and wishing she’d kept up on her PT exercises. Benjy and Emilryde caught up and kept pace with her. A two-man fighter passed overhead toward the open bay doors, followed closely by the ship that resembled a blowfish. Displaced air whipped her hair into her face and sent debris swirling through the air
