“I’ll go too!”
Ryann looked around in surprise to see Eve at his side, watching on in fear.
“I can help,” she said nervously. “I know their systems.”
“I bet you do!” cursed Grayell, taking aim upon one of the corridors as the rising wail of the drones grew louder. “You stay here with me where I can see you!”
“But I can get the hangar doors open — I can help!” she retorted. With a final glance back to Ryann, she turned, running off towards the control station.
To Ryann’s horror, he saw Grayell swing his gun around, training it upon Eve’s back.
“Dad!” he called out, jumping forward and pushing Grayell’s rifle away.
His father turned upon Ryann in a rage, his eyes wide and fevered.
“Dad, she can help!” stuttered Ryann. He watched as Eve made it up the steps to the station and began working feverishly at the controls.
For a moment, Grayell went to go after her, but then turned as a shout went up from one of his team.
“Contact front!”
The hangar lit up as the team opened fire on the drones as they poured from the tunnels with a deafening scream.
Ryann raised his rifle, overwhelmed by the volume of noise.
And then, one by one, the doors all around the hangar slammed shut.
There was a brief, frantic moment of chaos as the remaining drones staggered on through a rain of fire. But soon, the last of them fell, burned away to a brief scattering of ash.
Ryann looked around the hangar as the sounds of gunfire echoed away. He could still hear the muffled wail of the drones fighting to get in, but for the moment they were safe.
Dane, the medic, set to work stabilising Beck’s injuries where he lay in the shelter of some storage crates.
“How’s he looking?” asked Grayell in concern.
“He’s badly burned, but he’ll be okay,” replied Dane as he worked.
Ryann turned back to the control station to see Eve smiling wearily down at him. She gave him a shaky thumbs up.
“You did it!” Ryann called across to her and turned to his father. “I told you she could help,” he said breathlessly.
Grayell ignored him, glancing around the hangar in concern, and then up to the sealed gates of the launch tunnel. He turned and walked off towards the control station, Ryann following behind.
“Garcia, can you get those launch gates open?” he demanded, ignoring Eve.
The soldier looked up at him with a sigh.
“I’m not sure sir. I don’t know the systems — they’re like nothing I’ve ever seen before.” He nodded across to Eve. “She was the one that sealed the hangar off to the drones.”
Grayell merely glared at her angrily.
“Well, can you open them?” he hissed at last.
Eve looked across to Ryann before she spoke.
“I can do it,” she said with a hint of uncertainty. “But it’s locked down at the highest level. It will need a full system override.”
“So do that,” hissed Grayell angrily.
“Well, that’s the problem,” replied Eve, glancing across to Ryann. “I’d need to reboot the security protocols system-wide. There’s a good chance all the other doors will open up too.”
“Well, that’s convenient for you,” murmured Grayell. “Do it. And Garcia, watch everything she does — and if you get the slightest hint that she’s trying to play us, then stop her in any way you need to.” He turned, striding back down the steps as Ryann looked on in horror.
“It could take a while,” called Eve after him.
“How long?” replied Grayell without looking around.
“I don’t know, it could be hours.”
Grayell stopped and turned, glaring up at her.
“We don’t have hours,” he replied at last. “We’re running on emergency air tanks as it is. Aren’t you? You seem to be lasting okay.”
Eve looked down at the controls.
“I think I should be able to restore the atmosphere in the hangar,” she said, working away at the control panel. After a little while she looked up, a smile forming on her face. “There! Give it a moment, then you can take your helmets off — save some air.”
She glanced over to Ryann and he smiled back at her.
“Good job Eve,” he said. There was a quiet hiss as he unlocked the collar on his flight suit, pulling his helmet off over his head. He stood a moment with his eyes closed, savouring the feel of the air upon his face. “Ah, that feels good,” he sighed.
“Stay sharp,” grunted his father as he opened up his own visor. “I want defensive positions up by the flight pad. We need to be ready to go the moment the Marianne touches down. Garcia, any word yet? Well keep trying. They’ll have seen that the launch gates are closed, so they’ll be just waiting on us to get them open.” He strode off, issuing orders to the rest of the team.
Ryann caught up with his father as he took up a position between the control station and one of the wrecked shuttles where the team was preparing their defences. He knelt in the shelter of some storage crates, taking aim upon the nearest doorway. To Ryann’s alarm he saw it shudder under the weight of drones as they continued their fight to get in.
“What the hell’s going on Dad?” demanded Ryann, glancing up to where Eve still worked frantically at the control station. “What does Eve have to do to make you trust her?”
“Get back with the rest of the team,” hissed Grayell. “We need to be ready to get going the moment she opens up the launch gates.” He pushed Ryann away from him but he resisted.
“Not until you tell me what’s going on.”
Grayell sighed, glancing anxiously back towards the dais. The roar of the drones was steadily increasing, a rising storm ready to burst.
“Eve’s been nothing but helpful and you treat her like she’s the enemy.”
“Whatever you think about her,” muttered Grayell at last in a low voice. “You’re wrong.”
Ryann merely looked on in confusion.
“I don’t get it Dad. Why are you always so damn suspicious about
