of hot air rush through the hall. The warmth was a sharp contrast to the frigid zephyrs that usually haunted these forsaken corridors.
Something must be wrong with the heat sinks, he thought. They normally did an efficient job of removing excess heat from the air. Too efficient, considering how many nights he’d gone to bed shivering.
Jonathas passed a small door marked
sensory equipment
. This was where the delicate gyroscopes and optical sensors used by the mining drones were stored. He tried the door but it was electronically locked.
No way Linsya could have gotten in there.
He forged ahead, praying that access to the supply depot wasn’t similarly barred.
When Jonathas arrived at the supply depot, he found the door wide open. On the wall, where the door’s control panel should have been, was a jagged crack through the rock. Perhaps the disruption was good for something after all.
Wires and bits of metal lay destroyed in a heap on the floor among rocks and other debris. The door must have sprung open when the panel was shattered.
A lucky break.
Without tools, he might not have been able to bypass the security locks.
Jonathas stepped into the gloomy chamber. It was hard to believe it had only been a few hours since he had received the nano-DNA injections here in this very space. Ironic that he should end up right back in the room that he was sure he would never see again. He shuddered when he saw the table where he’d lost consciousness during the injection, not wanting to relive that nauseating experience.
He scanned the room for any indication that Linsya had been here. He called her name but there was no response. The chamber was small, only a dozen meters square, so he was able to take it all in in a few seconds. It was empty except for the steel table, a stack of large storage bins, and a dusty old mining drone which had been lying discarded in a corner ever since he started working down here.
Other than that, there was nothing. There was no sign of Linsya, and what little hope he’d felt vanished into the shadows. He had been certain Linsya would be in here. There was nowhere else for her to go. Horrible thoughts crashed through his mind, images of Linsya lying trapped beneath a pile of rubble, calling for help with no one to hear her screams.
Just like poor old Fletcher.
Feeling a panic coming on, Jonathas took a deep breath, calming himself. Linsya
had
to be ok. It would take more than a little planetary turbulence to derail such a determined woman.
Resigned, Jonathas looked around for something he could use to help him out of this mess. Just beyond the table in a forgotten corner of the room lay a bin which he knew contained a collection of tools. He grabbed a crow bar and pried off the lid, revealing a small handle resting on a flat surface. He twisted the handle and a compartment sprung up out of the box, revealing previously hidden shelves and containers. The sections were labeled, and he quickly found what he was looking for. He jammed a screwdriver set and laser tool into the cavernous pouches in his tunic, sparked up a flashlight, and continued searching the room.
The silence was eerie and the heat was increasing. Sweat gathered on his forehead as he pawed through a pile of bins, looking for more supplies. He could use an energy bar right about now: it had been many hours since he’d last eaten.
Then he saw something that gave him pause. One of the bins had been pulled aside and when he shone his flashlight into the shadows behind the crate, his heart leapt. The cone of light revealed a hole in the wall. A vent cover lay discarded on the floor beside it.
He whooped in delight and wiped sweat from his eyes—or were they tears? Smiling at his good fortune, Jonathas got down on hands and knees and peered into the dark ventilation shaft. Linsya must have gone through here. He pulled some elastics from his pocket and strapped the torch-light to his head—now he was hands free.
The
Something must be wrong with the heat sinks, he thought. They normally did an efficient job of removing excess heat from the air. Too efficient, considering how many nights he’d gone to bed shivering.
Jonathas passed a small door marked
sensory equipment
. This was where the delicate gyroscopes and optical sensors used by the mining drones were stored. He tried the door but it was electronically locked.
No way Linsya could have gotten in there.
He forged ahead, praying that access to the supply depot wasn’t similarly barred.
When Jonathas arrived at the supply depot, he found the door wide open. On the wall, where the door’s control panel should have been, was a jagged crack through the rock. Perhaps the disruption was good for something after all.
Wires and bits of metal lay destroyed in a heap on the floor among rocks and other debris. The door must have sprung open when the panel was shattered.
A lucky break.
Without tools, he might not have been able to bypass the security locks.
Jonathas stepped into the gloomy chamber. It was hard to believe it had only been a few hours since he had received the nano-DNA injections here in this very space. Ironic that he should end up right back in the room that he was sure he would never see again. He shuddered when he saw the table where he’d lost consciousness during the injection, not wanting to relive that nauseating experience.
He scanned the room for any indication that Linsya had been here. He called her name but there was no response. The chamber was small, only a dozen meters square, so he was able to take it all in in a few seconds. It was empty except for the steel table, a stack of large storage bins, and a dusty old mining drone which had been lying discarded in a corner ever since he started working down here.
Other than that, there was nothing. There was no sign of Linsya, and what little hope he’d felt vanished into the shadows. He had been certain Linsya would be in here. There was nowhere else for her to go. Horrible thoughts crashed through his mind, images of Linsya lying trapped beneath a pile of rubble, calling for help with no one to hear her screams.
Just like poor old Fletcher.
Feeling a panic coming on, Jonathas took a deep breath, calming himself. Linsya
had
to be ok. It would take more than a little planetary turbulence to derail such a determined woman.
Resigned, Jonathas looked around for something he could use to help him out of this mess. Just beyond the table in a forgotten corner of the room lay a bin which he knew contained a collection of tools. He grabbed a crow bar and pried off the lid, revealing a small handle resting on a flat surface. He twisted the handle and a compartment sprung up out of the box, revealing previously hidden shelves and containers. The sections were labeled, and he quickly found what he was looking for. He jammed a screwdriver set and laser tool into the cavernous pouches in his tunic, sparked up a flashlight, and continued searching the room.
The silence was eerie and the heat was increasing. Sweat gathered on his forehead as he pawed through a pile of bins, looking for more supplies. He could use an energy bar right about now: it had been many hours since he’d last eaten.
Then he saw something that gave him pause. One of the bins had been pulled aside and when he shone his flashlight into the shadows behind the crate, his heart leapt. The cone of light revealed a hole in the wall. A vent cover lay discarded on the floor beside it.
He whooped in delight and wiped sweat from his eyes—or were they tears? Smiling at his good fortune, Jonathas got down on hands and knees and peered into the dark ventilation shaft. Linsya must have gone through here. He pulled some elastics from his pocket and strapped the torch-light to his head—now he was hands free.
The
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