CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
THE BRIDGE
“I don’t like the look of it sir.”
“What is there to like in the whole of this damn freak show of a ship?” cursed Grayell morosely. The two men ducked back around the corner to where the rest of the team waited.
They had been travelling for about half an hour now, traversing the burned-out corridors back down from the highest levels. Increasingly, they had heard sounds echoing up through the wreckage — distant booms as though things unseen moved within the heart of the derelict.
As Eve had said, it felt as though the ship were slowly reawakening.
The team had now come to a halt upon finding themselves in an open shaft that disappeared down into unseen depths. To Ryann’s concern, he recognised it as the same shaft where he had first encountered the Hive Queen.
A slender walkway stretched across the gulf. It looked in a dangerous condition, having been struck by falling wreckage during the crash. The handrail had been mostly sheared away, and in places there were holes in the walkway itself.
“You came across that?” asked Ryann, peering down into the darkness.
“We did, but it was in a better state then,” murmured Grayell, deep in thought. “Looks like some more wreckage has come down since we crossed.”
“Could we try and find another way around?”
Grayell shook his head wearily.
“No, it’s the quickest route back to the extraction point. It could take us hours to find another way. No, we go across.”
“I’ll go first,” said Ryann, stepping up to the bridge ahead of his father. Grayell shook his head, pulling him back.
“No, you’re unarmoured; we don’t know if there’s anything on the other side.”
“But that’s exactly why I should go,” replied Ryann. “Look at the state of the bridge — that exo-armour you’re wearing must weigh a ton.”
Grayell seemed lost in indecision for a moment.
“I’ll go.”
Eve’s voice was nervous as she stepped forwards.
“It makes sense, I weigh the least of any of you.”
“No, Eve, it’s okay. I’ll do it,” said Ryann hurriedly.
“No, let me,” said Eve, looking across to Grayell. He stared intently at her for a brief moment before giving her a curt nod.
“I’ll be watching you,” he muttered, patting the sights on his rifle.
Eve stepped forwards, placing a foot tentatively upon the buckled metal of the bridge. A low groan and a shudder ran through the structure, and Ryann looked up into the darkened heights of the shaft as a fine rain of dust fell down from the twisted wreckage above.
“It’s not safe,” breathed Ryann in concern, as he watched Eve step out further on to the bridge.
“Let her go,” growled his father, his eyes never leaving her.
Ryann’s heart was in his mouth as he willed her onward. He could see the bridge sway as she reached the centre. She held on to the remnants of the buckled handrail, catching her breath as she neared one of the rents in the floor.
“Careful,” whispered Ryann to himself, watching impotently as she skirted the hole.
He jumped as she caught a loose piece of metal with her foot, sending it sliding over the edge. Ryann followed the metal with his eyes as it tumbled down to be lost in the darkness below. They waited in strained silence, until eventually a distant crash echoed up from below.
Ryann stared out across the gulf. Eve had skirted the rent in the floor and was stepping lightly across the final few metres. With a great sigh of relief, Ryann saw her make the safety of the other side. She turned, waving back across to them.
“Seems safe enough.”
Ryann smiled to hear her breathless gasp in his earpiece.
“Guess that means it’s my turn,” he muttered and stepped out on to the bridge. He staggered a little as the structure swayed beneath his feet, and for a moment almost lost his balance. He took hold of what remained of the handrail, but to his horror felt give way in his hand. He let go of it and the rail slowly fell away with a sickening crash.
He looked up as another groan of metal echoed around the shaft above him. Directly overhead, he spied a familiar flicker of blue light. In an instant, it traced its way up the walls to a fallen girder resting precariously amongst the wreckage. There was a brief, heart-stopping moment of silence and then the girder dropped with a deafening crash.
Ryann fell to a crouch, raising his hands above his head, but to his relief the girder only fell a few feet, before it became lodged in more wreckage. Small pieces of debris clattered around him, echoing away to silence.
“This doesn’t feel safe. Not one bit,” cursed Ryann under his breath as he resumed his careful progress across the bridge.
“It feels like a trap,” he heard Eve whisper in his earpiece.
“Yeah, thanks for that.”
Ryann practically ran the last few steps across the bridge. He crashed down to the floor on the other side, panting heavily.
“Ryann, you okay?” he heard his father’s concerned voice over the comms. He gave a weary thumbs up, and was surprised to see his hand shaking.
“I’m okay,” he muttered. “Just get yourselves across quick.”
Watching the rest of the team come across was excruciating. The bridge creaked and groaned under the weight of each man’s armour and equipment. But eventually all but Grayell were across without any more incident.
Ryann saw his father step out on to the slender walkway. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the same flicker of blue energy coruscate briefly up the walls.
“Dad, get a move on,” he muttered anxiously as another groan ran around the shaft.
“Going as quick as I can,” he heard his father’s strained voice reply.
A shudder rippled across the bridge, and Grayell paused, his arms held out for balance. A faint glow was definitely forming within the heights, and the girder that hung above them gave an ominous creak.
“Dad, I mean it, get going!”
Grayell came on step
