Astronomicon: Icarus

19 - Storm Cellar

The First Officer touched his fingertip against a silver square on the yellow door. It immediately clunked and began to wind itself open. The mechanism grated and groaned as the door moved. Inside was a small illuminated space and then another identical door. The First Officer moved into the space and pressed his finger against the silver square on the inner door. It gave a similar clunk and opened both more quickly and without the sounds of the mechanism struggling.

Without saying anything to the Captain and Enzo, the First Officer moved quickly in through the inner door. Enzo followed hastily behind him, immediately followed by the Captain.

"Rescuers are here, guys!" announced the First Officer with obvious excitement.

The room was barely three metres by four, devoid of furniture with just a single wall-mounted console on the far wall. Just two people, a short woman in her early thirties and a slightly younger man with a neat, military-style haircut, were sheltering inside, both sitting on the floor against opposite walls. The man looked up at them but said nothing. The woman continued to hug her knees, eyes fixed straight ahead. They could hear her faintly murmuring to herself, but too quietly to discern the words.

"You said there were three or four survivors," said Captain Taylor. "Where are the others?"

"I included myself in the count," replied the First Officer. "And Donald is sometimes here too. He comes and goes."

"Can you call him back here, so we can get everyone off the ship together? I don't fancy searching your ship."

"No," replied the First Officer, "I don't mean he comes and goes around the ship, I mean sometimes he's here on the Oppenheimer, and the rest of the time he's not here at all. This room is meant to be totally shielded from all kinds of radiation, but, as I said before, I don't think it makes any difference. The field permeates everything."

"Not here at all?! What does that mean?" demanded Captain Taylor.

"I really don't know. Can we just get off the ship now?"

"Yes, get anything you need and let's go."

The younger man got cautiously to his feet, staring warily at Captain Taylor and Enzo.

"This is our Helm officer, George Roberts," explained the First Officer.

"Are you real this time?" asked George, still staring intently at them both.

"As real as you are," replied Captain Taylor. "And who's this?" He pointed to the woman still sitting on the floor, arms wrapped tightly around her knees.

"This is Maria Martinez, one of our team of physicists, and the only one left now."

Enzo attempted to help her to her feet, but she pushed him away vigorously and tried to huddle further into the corner. The First Officer gestured to him to leave her alone, then he approached her himself, "Come on, Maria, we have to move to somewhere safe. You can't stay here. You really don't want to be alone now, do you?"

"No way!" she exclaimed, her voice cracking. "I never want to be alone ever again."

"Well, these gentlemen are here to rescue us all. Come on, up you get."

He gently took her hand, then she reluctantly allowed him to help her onto her feet. Captain Taylor led the way back out through the two doors and into the main corridor again. Enzo waited in the room for Maria, George and the First Officer to file out before he followed. Just as he reached the door an unexpected voice behind him made him jump in panic. For a moment he felt faint but then he got a grip on himself, trying to decide whether to turn around, or just continue out through the door.