Depressurised conditions .
Renfrew looked at him. "What now? We go back to Em and chart another route?"
Renfrew nodded and reversed the plate. They rose, Latimer experiencing a slow burn of dread. Every second they wasted now, their enemy was approaching with unreasoning, mechanical remorselessness.
"What gives?" Emecheta said as Latimer stepped from the plate.
"Level thirteen's depressurised," Latimer said. "We'll have to take another route."
Emecheta pasted the softscreen to the wall and examined the cross-section. "If we can't get through level thirteen by the shaft," he said, "then the only way is by one of the emergency service tubes."
Latimer indicated the closest tube. "Level twelve," he said. "We drop to twelve in the shaft and then take the corridor to the emergency tube and climb down to level thirteen."
"What then?" Li asked.
Latimer said: "Then we pressurise our suits, open the hatch and take a look at what state level thirteen is in. With luck, we can get through it and continue..." He noticed that Emecheta was looking at him doubtfully.
"Okay, let's move it," Latimer said. He clipped his laser to his suit, then he and Renfrew boarded the plate and dropped. Minutes later they reached level twelve and stepped through he exit, rifles ready. They found themselves in a corridor identical to the one they had left.
The plate rose, and minutes later Latimer heard it whine as it descended with Emecheta and Li. They stepped from the plate and, Latimer and Renfrew leading they way, all four hurried along the corridor towards the entry to the emergency service tube.
Latimer activated the command unit on the wall beside the entry and read the diagnostics on the screen. "Okay," he said, "the shaft is pressurised for a hundred meters, then beyond the first lock it's a vacuum."
"Let's pressurise our suits now to save time," Emecheta said.
Latimer dropped his faceplate, touched the control on his chest unit, and seconds later was breathing cool, canned air. In the sudden silence of his suit, he felt cut-off, alone. There would be no radio communication from now on, and only verbal communication when they touched helmets.
He looked at Emecheta and received the thumbs up.
He opened the hatch, stepped into the tube, lodged his boots on the rungs of the ladder and began the long descent.
There was barely enough space to contain his bulky EVA suit, and from time to time he snagged on projecting lips and seams. No thought of aesthetics had been given to the design of the tube: the wall before him was featureless grey metal, marked with ugly welding scars. From time to time he glanced down, past his feet. He could see a circular lock, tiny in the diminishing perspective.
What seemed like an age later, he reached the lock.
He activated the control unit and read the screen. Beyond the lock, level thirteen had been breached. The screen advised caution.
Latimer looked up and gestured the others to hold tight while he opened the lock. He hit the code and gripped the rungs of the ladder in preparation for the blast of escaping air.
It roared silently past him as it was sucked out into the vacuum, buffeting him. A second later all was still, and he peered down through his feet at the ruins of what once had been level thirteen.
He made out a mass of twisted metal, a configuration so unfamiliar that at first his eyes had difficulty in ordering the chaos. Directly below him, he made out the what looked like an aerial view of what he assumed must be level fourteen: the deck above it had been stripped, and all that remained were the hundreds of individual units and rooms, connected by a rat's maze of corridors. Between that level and where he stood, level thirteen had been completely removed in the accident: only stray cable and leads remained, waving eerily back and forth through the vacuum. To his left was the star-specked immensity of deep space.
Above him, Emecheta was manoeuvring himself so that he was upside-down in
Renfrew looked at him. "What now? We go back to Em and chart another route?"
Renfrew nodded and reversed the plate. They rose, Latimer experiencing a slow burn of dread. Every second they wasted now, their enemy was approaching with unreasoning, mechanical remorselessness.
"What gives?" Emecheta said as Latimer stepped from the plate.
"Level thirteen's depressurised," Latimer said. "We'll have to take another route."
Emecheta pasted the softscreen to the wall and examined the cross-section. "If we can't get through level thirteen by the shaft," he said, "then the only way is by one of the emergency service tubes."
Latimer indicated the closest tube. "Level twelve," he said. "We drop to twelve in the shaft and then take the corridor to the emergency tube and climb down to level thirteen."
"What then?" Li asked.
Latimer said: "Then we pressurise our suits, open the hatch and take a look at what state level thirteen is in. With luck, we can get through it and continue..." He noticed that Emecheta was looking at him doubtfully.
"Okay, let's move it," Latimer said. He clipped his laser to his suit, then he and Renfrew boarded the plate and dropped. Minutes later they reached level twelve and stepped through he exit, rifles ready. They found themselves in a corridor identical to the one they had left.
The plate rose, and minutes later Latimer heard it whine as it descended with Emecheta and Li. They stepped from the plate and, Latimer and Renfrew leading they way, all four hurried along the corridor towards the entry to the emergency service tube.
Latimer activated the command unit on the wall beside the entry and read the diagnostics on the screen. "Okay," he said, "the shaft is pressurised for a hundred meters, then beyond the first lock it's a vacuum."
"Let's pressurise our suits now to save time," Emecheta said.
Latimer dropped his faceplate, touched the control on his chest unit, and seconds later was breathing cool, canned air. In the sudden silence of his suit, he felt cut-off, alone. There would be no radio communication from now on, and only verbal communication when they touched helmets.
He looked at Emecheta and received the thumbs up.
He opened the hatch, stepped into the tube, lodged his boots on the rungs of the ladder and began the long descent.
There was barely enough space to contain his bulky EVA suit, and from time to time he snagged on projecting lips and seams. No thought of aesthetics had been given to the design of the tube: the wall before him was featureless grey metal, marked with ugly welding scars. From time to time he glanced down, past his feet. He could see a circular lock, tiny in the diminishing perspective.
What seemed like an age later, he reached the lock.
He activated the control unit and read the screen. Beyond the lock, level thirteen had been breached. The screen advised caution.
Latimer looked up and gestured the others to hold tight while he opened the lock. He hit the code and gripped the rungs of the ladder in preparation for the blast of escaping air.
It roared silently past him as it was sucked out into the vacuum, buffeting him. A second later all was still, and he peered down through his feet at the ruins of what once had been level thirteen.
He made out a mass of twisted metal, a configuration so unfamiliar that at first his eyes had difficulty in ordering the chaos. Directly below him, he made out the what looked like an aerial view of what he assumed must be level fourteen: the deck above it had been stripped, and all that remained were the hundreds of individual units and rooms, connected by a rat's maze of corridors. Between that level and where he stood, level thirteen had been completely removed in the accident: only stray cable and leads remained, waving eerily back and forth through the vacuum. To his left was the star-specked immensity of deep space.
Above him, Emecheta was manoeuvring himself so that he was upside-down in
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