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Authors: Michael Reaves
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by.”
“No worries, boss. I was planning on doing just that.”
Dash passed the door to his own quarters, moving with intent toward Dara’s rooms. Eaden was slightlyahead of him and reached Dara Farlion’s door first. He raised several tendrils, tapping their tips lightly across the smooth surface and taking on an attitude of intense listening.
After a moment he withdrew his tendrils and shook his head. “No one in there. At least, no one eager to get out.”
“If Spike was home, we’d’ve heard it all the way from the cargo hold.”
“Spike?” repeated Mel.
“Pet name.” Dash stepped closer to Javul’s door. He didn’t need head-tresses to tell him what his ears and fingertips could—someone was behind that door making a very noisy, violent effort
not
to be behind that door.
He signaled Eaden, who crossed the corridor to join him. “I make two voices,” he said.
Eaden nodded. “Agreed. It would seem they’re both in there. And very much alive—at least as long as life support holds out.”
Dash moved to inspect the exterior control panel. Dead.
“Dash.” Eaden stood with one hand and a couple of tresses in contact with the door. “They’ve stopped shouting.”
“What?” Dash turned back to the door and pounded on it with his fist. “Javul! Dara! Hey!”
No response. He pounded the door again. “Hey! Javul! Dara! If you can hear me,
bang on the door!
”
Nothing.
“
Leebo
!”
The droid pushed through the half-open emergency doors and moved down the corridor at less than top speed. “Oh,
yes
, Master. Of course, Master.”
Dash gestured at the door. “Can the chatter. I need you to work on this door control.”
“My pleasure. But let
me
take care of the faceplate this time. Your methods are so … brutish.” The droid eyedDash’s blaster while moving to the control panel and pressing an index finger to the upper left-hand corner of the defunct control plate. There was a tiny
tink
! and the plate popped out. Leebo poked an index finger into the guts of the door control. There was a
zap
! followed by a hum and, with a whisper of sound, the chamber doors slid back—to reveal an empty room. The lurid glow of emergency lights washed into the corridor; here, at least, they worked.
Not that they helped much, as Dash, Eaden, and Mel quickly learned by checking the entire suite.
There was no sign of either Dara Farlion or Javul Charn.
EIGHT
“O KAY, FACT ONE ,” D ASH SAID . “T HE SHIP’S SECURITY system thought it detected a hull breach on this deck and set off an alarm. Fact two: there was no hull breach, which means that either there was a malfunction in the security system, or someone tinkered with it. Fact three: the power was cut to the aft quarterdeck just after the emergency doors slammed shut. Which might have been caused by the aforementioned malfunction … or by something else. Fact four: Javul and Dara were locked in this suite by the emergency shutdown. Fact five: they’ve disappeared.”
“Fact six,” Leebo added. “We are in
so
much trouble …”
“The power was not shut down from either the bridge or engineering,” offered Arruna, who’d returned to the quarterdeck as soon as she’d restored the deck’s functionality. “It was interrupted at the section hub.”
Dash frowned. “Manually?”
“I’ll have to check the hub. I was able to push a power-up command through from the bridge to the terminus amidships, but only a physical inspection of the terminus itself will tell us if it was spliced manually or remotely.”
“Wait. What are you suggesting?” First Officer Bran Finnick had come down from the bridge with Arruna, while Mel had returned to his cargo bay to run through his own security protocols. “You think someone’s stowed away again?”
“Maybe not,” Arruna said. “It could’ve been done remotely, as I said.”
“How? We were in hyperspace when this happened. If it was triggered by another vessel, they’d have to
“No worries, boss. I was planning on doing just that.”
Dash passed the door to his own quarters, moving with intent toward Dara’s rooms. Eaden was slightlyahead of him and reached Dara Farlion’s door first. He raised several tendrils, tapping their tips lightly across the smooth surface and taking on an attitude of intense listening.
After a moment he withdrew his tendrils and shook his head. “No one in there. At least, no one eager to get out.”
“If Spike was home, we’d’ve heard it all the way from the cargo hold.”
“Spike?” repeated Mel.
“Pet name.” Dash stepped closer to Javul’s door. He didn’t need head-tresses to tell him what his ears and fingertips could—someone was behind that door making a very noisy, violent effort
not
to be behind that door.
He signaled Eaden, who crossed the corridor to join him. “I make two voices,” he said.
Eaden nodded. “Agreed. It would seem they’re both in there. And very much alive—at least as long as life support holds out.”
Dash moved to inspect the exterior control panel. Dead.
“Dash.” Eaden stood with one hand and a couple of tresses in contact with the door. “They’ve stopped shouting.”
“What?” Dash turned back to the door and pounded on it with his fist. “Javul! Dara! Hey!”
No response. He pounded the door again. “Hey! Javul! Dara! If you can hear me,
bang on the door!
”
Nothing.
“
Leebo
!”
The droid pushed through the half-open emergency doors and moved down the corridor at less than top speed. “Oh,
yes
, Master. Of course, Master.”
Dash gestured at the door. “Can the chatter. I need you to work on this door control.”
“My pleasure. But let
me
take care of the faceplate this time. Your methods are so … brutish.” The droid eyedDash’s blaster while moving to the control panel and pressing an index finger to the upper left-hand corner of the defunct control plate. There was a tiny
tink
! and the plate popped out. Leebo poked an index finger into the guts of the door control. There was a
zap
! followed by a hum and, with a whisper of sound, the chamber doors slid back—to reveal an empty room. The lurid glow of emergency lights washed into the corridor; here, at least, they worked.
Not that they helped much, as Dash, Eaden, and Mel quickly learned by checking the entire suite.
There was no sign of either Dara Farlion or Javul Charn.
EIGHT
“O KAY, FACT ONE ,” D ASH SAID . “T HE SHIP’S SECURITY system thought it detected a hull breach on this deck and set off an alarm. Fact two: there was no hull breach, which means that either there was a malfunction in the security system, or someone tinkered with it. Fact three: the power was cut to the aft quarterdeck just after the emergency doors slammed shut. Which might have been caused by the aforementioned malfunction … or by something else. Fact four: Javul and Dara were locked in this suite by the emergency shutdown. Fact five: they’ve disappeared.”
“Fact six,” Leebo added. “We are in
so
much trouble …”
“The power was not shut down from either the bridge or engineering,” offered Arruna, who’d returned to the quarterdeck as soon as she’d restored the deck’s functionality. “It was interrupted at the section hub.”
Dash frowned. “Manually?”
“I’ll have to check the hub. I was able to push a power-up command through from the bridge to the terminus amidships, but only a physical inspection of the terminus itself will tell us if it was spliced manually or remotely.”
“Wait. What are you suggesting?” First Officer Bran Finnick had come down from the bridge with Arruna, while Mel had returned to his cargo bay to run through his own security protocols. “You think someone’s stowed away again?”
“Maybe not,” Arruna said. “It could’ve been done remotely, as I said.”
“How? We were in hyperspace when this happened. If it was triggered by another vessel, they’d have to
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