Stellar Objects

Chapter 4: Reactive

Grunge rubbed his wrists.  The cuffs had been too tight and left red marks. It made him think of the shiny gasket he'd once found for Andra, that she always wore despite it being scratchy on her wrist.

That day, when they'd been "recruited" against their will for service, felt like a long time ago.  Grunge didn't miss the Heap, but he knew Andra did.  And he also knew if his parents came looking for them, they'd never find them on this patrol ship.

Grunge had first been assigned to cleaning the toilets and the bilge hold, but once he'd fixed the pump, the Captain assigned him to the engine room. But of course, the grumpy lizard never wanted any help so Grunge just watched. 

And learned.

The Engineer's breath was bad, but the stink from his other end was even worse.  Grunge had been chained up in the engine room with this foul lizard for months, but at least he learned everything he needed to know to make the ship sail.  He'd clocked countless improvements to efficiency and performance that the lizard was too lazy or too stupid to implement.

Andra has been sent to the galley straight away, where she'd been since they arrived. They put her in the kitchen because she was a girl, which was the stupidest thing Grunge could think of since Andra was tougher than the cops on board and more skilled than whatever pilot they had at the helm. But instead of giving her a real job to do, they had her making soup. And Andra was a terrible cook.

"Don't you think about runnin'," spat the Engineer.

Now that his chains were off, Grunge was thinking about nothing but.  He and Andra were going to escape, but first he needed to boost the reactor.  The Ghandi was chasing a fast shuttle.  And if he and Andra were going to slip away, to slip out of service, they needed that shuttle.

Grunge leapt at the reactor. He pulled the two auxiliary cooling tubes out of the main casing.  One of the tubes spouted nitro-steam, and Grunge was careful not to let the gas touch his body.  The klaxon alarm sounded, reverberating off the metal walls.  But Grunge took no notice, he knew exactly what he was doing.

"What are you--?" hissed the lizard over the alarm. "You'll kill us both!"

Grunge quickly shut the valve off the cooling tube and stopped the nitro from hissing out.  He yanked out a third tube, and quickly slotted the nitro feed into its spot.

The lizard laughed. "You have no idea, do you squirt?"

Grunge replaced the second tube, back in place, and finally opened the valve on the nitro.

"I'm tricking the reactor into thinking it's overheating," he explained. "It'll pull more cooling into the engine and get us at least a third more power."

"Until it overheats for real and fries us all," spat the lizard.

"The Captain said he just needed enough juice to catch that shuttle," said Grunge.

The alarm ceased and the reactor glowed brighter than before.  Grunge felt the ship shake; it was gaining speed.

The intercom crackled again and Grunge looked up at the bulbous black camera screwed to the ceiling.  "There you go Captain, sir."

"We've almost got him," Grunge heard the pilot boast.

"Acchā kāma, kid," said the Captain.  Grunge's Hindi wasn't as good as it should be, but he was pretty sure it was a compliment.  "Captain, out."

The Engineer clapped his claws.  "Well, congratulations squirt," he said. "You showed off for the Captain and made me look like a useless mūrkha."

"I didn't have to try very hard," said Grunge.  He reached for the nitro-tube and pulled.   

"What are you—" was all the Engineer could say as Grunge turned the tube on him, spraying him with cooling gas.  The lizard, his tongue sticking out in mid-speech, froze on the spot.  The coolant wouldn't kill him, not at this dose, but it would render him immobile for at least an hour.

Grunge popped the coolant tube back into the reactor casing, set the power monitor to stabilize itself, and made for the door.

The main corridor on the lower deck ran the length of the ship. It was dark, with light bulbs in short supply, and the floor was covered in a metal grating that covered up the passages under the ship that Grunge knew inside and out.

He ran about a hundred yards and pulled up one of the grates. He opened a hatch to an electrical tunnel below and slid down inside. He reached up and pulled the grate back in place, sealing the hatch behind him.  In less than five minutes, he'd gone from indentured servant to escape artist.

But he wasn't looking to escape on his own. No, Grunge wasn't going anywhere without his sister.

Not now.

Not ever.

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So, what do you think? Are they going to escape?

...and please, don't forget to vote.