“Jeez Ryann!” cut in Angelique in shock. “I thought that what we were doing in the past was bad enough — I never realised you were getting mixed up in gun-running too!”
“I got mixed up in the wrong crowd for a while, back when I was a kid fighting to survive,” he mumbled apologetically. “But things are different now — like I say, I’ve got you to keep me straight.”
“All grown up,” muttered Angelique sarcastically. “And look where it’s gotten us.” She shook her head wearily. “So, this Spiner droid. How do we kill it?”
“Well, there’s the problem,” sighed Ryann at last. “They’re as tough as a grav-tank. They’re made to withstand pretty much anything the molten innards of a planet can throw at them.
“Our rifles will be pretty ineffectual — we might be able to find some demolition charges or something, seeing as it’s a mining ship. Maybe set up some booby-traps or —”
He paused mid-sentence as a far-off crash echoed up from the lower levels.
“We’d better keep moving,” he whispered, looking back through the grill and into the corridor beyond.
“Do you think we’re safe in here?” asked Angelique in concern as she crawled further into the maintenance shaft on all-fours. The quiet sounds of their movement seemed amplified by the confines of the tunnel, echoing off into the blackness.
“Not sure,” he replied, following on behind. The air in the shaft was hot and stale, and the distant throb of the ventilators sounded like a slow heartbeat, as though they were travelling the innards of some great metal beast. “It looked like it was curled up pretty small when we first saw it lowering itself down on its winch-line. They’re made to get into tight spaces I guess.”
“Thanks for that,” whispered Angelique. “You want to go first?”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
SILENT RUNNING
They carried on along the narrow maintenance shaft in silence. When they came to a junction they would nervously turn on their flashlights, half-expecting to see the nightmarish shape of the Spiner suddenly revealed to them, ready to strike. Angelique couldn’t get the image of those grotesque metal legs uncurling, reaching forwards, its cluster of optics glowing like red eyes. They would quickly extinguish their lights once they had decided upon which tunnel to take, though they were travelling blind now, hopelessly lost in the maze of conduits.
Time had ceased to hold any meaning in the darkness, but at some point they came to a halt at another intersection, hot and tired, their adrenaline long since spent. Ryann strained to hear anything beyond the steady drip of moisture and the low moan of the ventilation system. He thought he could make out a distant sound of movement, but couldn’t tell in which direction it came from. All he knew was that the monster must still be active, stalking the ghostly corridors in search of them.
“I need to stop for a while,” he panted, slumping down to the damp floor. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to get his breath back. He still felt shaky and desperately weak after the trials of the last hours, and wondered just how long it had been since he and Angelique had come aboard the Ibis. It felt like days that they had been traversing the dark ship.
“It looks like we might be coming up to another ventilation hub,” croaked Angelique through parched lips, briefly shining her flashlight down the shafts. “Sounds like the fans are getting louder.”
“I’ve been thinking,” muttered Ryann, his eyes still closed. “If we can’t damage the Spiner, then maybe we could get it off the ship — lure it into the Raven somehow, then cut it loose.”
“Lose the Raven?” asked Angelique in a shocked voice. “I can still patch her up — I just need to get her back to the Defiance — there are all the tools and spares we need there! There has to be a better way!”
“I’m all ears,” said Ryann dejectedly. They sat in a brooding silence, lost in their own dark thoughts.
“Come on then,” sighed Angelique at last, pulling herself to her knees, stooping in the low shaft. “Let’s try and get our bearings at the hub and see if we can get back to the Raven. I’ll be glad to get out of this damn maze anyway.” She crawled off and Ryann followed on close behind.
He froze as Angelique came to an abrupt halt, and he strained for any glimmer in the blackness. After a moment, he realised that he could make out a dim light up ahead beyond Angelique’s dark silhouette.
They crept forwards gingerly until they saw that the glow was coming up through a grilled floor section in the shaft ahead. They crawled up to the edge; Ryann had barely enough room in the shaft to squeeze alongside Angelique.
“I thought I heard something,” whispered Angelique, her mouth up close to Ryann’s ear, and together they peered down through the metal grill.
They found themselves looking down into the depths of the drive rooms, the squat shapes of the combustion chambers far below them. The work lights cast stark shadows upon the rusting walls. All was deathly silent.
“Perhaps there’s another way,” whispered Angelique as she stared down at the machinery, lost in thought. “If we could get the Spiner into one of those combustion chambers it would never be able to cut its way out of there — the walls are two metres thick.”
“Then, get the drives online, and boom — bye-bye Spiner,” replied Ryann with a grin. “Great idea, let’s get down there and see if we can work out how to lure it in.”
He stopped mid-sentence as he made out a quiet clicking sound, a rhythmical pulse ending with a faint echo that gave the impression of some ominous breath.
Angelique
