Read Online Space Station Rat by Michael J. Daley - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Michael J. Daley
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him.
The elevator door closed, leaving Jeff with the silence. No air fans whirled here. No machinery chirped. Even the sound of the emergency sirens didnât reach this place. Jeff shivered. He didnât like it, but it might be just right for a rat, a rat that needed a place to hide.
He shuffled up to the door. It was three times his height. Steel beams as thick as his waist framed it. Incredibly there was some rust. Because of the air and the robots not knowing â¦
So Nanny was right, people had been sloppy. He reached for the doorâs OPEN button and hesitated.
Something was wrong.
The silence! No sirens, no announcements. Nanny could not have heard the call. Nanny was still here.
Jeff stabbed the button. The door slid aside, revealing machines, row upon row of them. They spread in all directions, far beyond where the light from the corridor reached. Some were as big as elephants. They cast enormous shadows against the back wall of the workshop.
How would he ever find a rat in there? But there was no time to waste on doubts. He had to find it. Jeff hurried over the threshold.
RrriiipppâSNAP!
The snap sounded like a book being slammed shut.
A scream. Jeff froze in midstride. The scream crescendoed to an agonized shriek that cut off abruptly. He had never heard such a sound in real life, only in horror movies. He felt sick, waiting for more. But the echo faded. The silence came back briefly. Then Jeff heard small sounds he did not understand.
Thump-clatter-scratch-scratch-thump-clatter.
The sounds repeated in a desperate rhythm. Somehow they were more unnerving than the scream had been.
A shrill, mechanical drone overwhelmed themâNannyâs motor. Far, impossibly far away, he saw a green glow sweeping along the back wall. The sounds must be the rat, struggling with a snifferâ and Nanny was closing in for the kill.
Jeff ran. In the half-gravity each surging step became a giantâs stride. He moved like a gazelle, bounding. He did not have to find a path between the machinesâhe jumped over the smaller ones. He sprang from top to top of the biggest. The half-gravity worked for him now. He was too slow for Nanny in the Outer Ring, but here he had a chance. Wheels could only turn so fast, no matter how weak the gravity.
Jeff landed on the last machine. An open space as wide as a street stretched to the back wall. The light from the door faded here, leaving a murky twilight. To his left the greenish glow moved with the eye burning brightly at the center of it. No other part of Nanny was visible. He could not see the rat. But he heard the struggle off to his right. A minute, maybe two, and the gap would be closed.
Jeff raised the gun and peered in the scope. The target beam flared. He aimed.
âNanny, stop!â His voice quivered, feeble. It was swallowed by the room. Sweat slicked his palms. Jeff yelled, âStop! Iâll shoot!â
Stop! Stop! Shoot! Shoot!
The words were loud enough this time, but Nanny paid no attention. Jeff pressed the trigger.
Nothing happened.
He did it again and again.
But each time the scope simply flashed: WRONG TARGET .
Of course! The gun would only shoot rats. Thatâs what the captain was doing when he programmed it. Thatâs why he told his parents hunting would be perfectly safe.
Nannyâs target beam blazed. Jeff saw the rat at the center of the spotlight. The rat lay on its back, the sniffer gripping a rear leg. Blood, black and glistening in the harsh light, stained the snifferâs jaws. It matted the white cuff and flecked the dust in little beads. Ragged trails crisscrossed the dust. Jeff didnât know why, until the rat strained to sit up. Her front paws flailed, trying to grab the sniffer. The rat lashed at the quivering eyestalks with its teeth. The sniffer jerked backward. The rat collapsed and was dragged. The leg twisted. Then the rat tried again, slower, weaker.
A sound surged out of Jeff. He sprang,
The elevator door closed, leaving Jeff with the silence. No air fans whirled here. No machinery chirped. Even the sound of the emergency sirens didnât reach this place. Jeff shivered. He didnât like it, but it might be just right for a rat, a rat that needed a place to hide.
He shuffled up to the door. It was three times his height. Steel beams as thick as his waist framed it. Incredibly there was some rust. Because of the air and the robots not knowing â¦
So Nanny was right, people had been sloppy. He reached for the doorâs OPEN button and hesitated.
Something was wrong.
The silence! No sirens, no announcements. Nanny could not have heard the call. Nanny was still here.
Jeff stabbed the button. The door slid aside, revealing machines, row upon row of them. They spread in all directions, far beyond where the light from the corridor reached. Some were as big as elephants. They cast enormous shadows against the back wall of the workshop.
How would he ever find a rat in there? But there was no time to waste on doubts. He had to find it. Jeff hurried over the threshold.
RrriiipppâSNAP!
The snap sounded like a book being slammed shut.
A scream. Jeff froze in midstride. The scream crescendoed to an agonized shriek that cut off abruptly. He had never heard such a sound in real life, only in horror movies. He felt sick, waiting for more. But the echo faded. The silence came back briefly. Then Jeff heard small sounds he did not understand.
Thump-clatter-scratch-scratch-thump-clatter.
The sounds repeated in a desperate rhythm. Somehow they were more unnerving than the scream had been.
A shrill, mechanical drone overwhelmed themâNannyâs motor. Far, impossibly far away, he saw a green glow sweeping along the back wall. The sounds must be the rat, struggling with a snifferâ and Nanny was closing in for the kill.
Jeff ran. In the half-gravity each surging step became a giantâs stride. He moved like a gazelle, bounding. He did not have to find a path between the machinesâhe jumped over the smaller ones. He sprang from top to top of the biggest. The half-gravity worked for him now. He was too slow for Nanny in the Outer Ring, but here he had a chance. Wheels could only turn so fast, no matter how weak the gravity.
Jeff landed on the last machine. An open space as wide as a street stretched to the back wall. The light from the door faded here, leaving a murky twilight. To his left the greenish glow moved with the eye burning brightly at the center of it. No other part of Nanny was visible. He could not see the rat. But he heard the struggle off to his right. A minute, maybe two, and the gap would be closed.
Jeff raised the gun and peered in the scope. The target beam flared. He aimed.
âNanny, stop!â His voice quivered, feeble. It was swallowed by the room. Sweat slicked his palms. Jeff yelled, âStop! Iâll shoot!â
Stop! Stop! Shoot! Shoot!
The words were loud enough this time, but Nanny paid no attention. Jeff pressed the trigger.
Nothing happened.
He did it again and again.
But each time the scope simply flashed: WRONG TARGET .
Of course! The gun would only shoot rats. Thatâs what the captain was doing when he programmed it. Thatâs why he told his parents hunting would be perfectly safe.
Nannyâs target beam blazed. Jeff saw the rat at the center of the spotlight. The rat lay on its back, the sniffer gripping a rear leg. Blood, black and glistening in the harsh light, stained the snifferâs jaws. It matted the white cuff and flecked the dust in little beads. Ragged trails crisscrossed the dust. Jeff didnât know why, until the rat strained to sit up. Her front paws flailed, trying to grab the sniffer. The rat lashed at the quivering eyestalks with its teeth. The sniffer jerked backward. The rat collapsed and was dragged. The leg twisted. Then the rat tried again, slower, weaker.
A sound surged out of Jeff. He sprang,
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