HAWK

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: OBLIVION (5/6)

Within seconds, a loud hissing sound filled the ship.

'What's that?' Mack wondered. Kas wasn't sure, but the more she strained to hear it the quieter the noise seemed to get. Only then did she realised what it was.

'They're sucking out the air!' she said.

'What air?' Mantana asked. 'I thought we didn't have any air!'

'Not oxygen; carbon dioxide. They're depressurising the ship so they can open the doors.'

'What?' Mantana suddenly sounded like he was on the other side of the room. It occurred to Kas that with fewer air molecules for sound waves to bounce off, his voice was struggling to reach her.

'We don't have long!' Kas shouted. 'Soon we won't be able to hear each other! Everybody stay here! I'll go check it out!'

Nobody replied. Either that or she couldn't hear them. She reorientated herself to where she knew the door was and used a table to kick herself towards it. The group had had the foresight to wedge it open before the power went out. After fumbling to find the doorframe, she glided through it and into the cargo hold.

The moment she put her hand on the handrail, a vibration thrummed in her grip and up her arm and became noise - a low metallic rumble.

Something was forcing the Pegasus's doors open.

Kas pulled herself along the rail, her heart in her mouth as she headed for the lower floor. She was almost there when a burst of light washed the darkness clean. The rear doors had been wrenched open revealing a bank of bright lights on the other side. With light-starved eyes, Kas squinted and made out the silhouette of a small ship drifting silently into the hold. With her hand still on the rail, she heard it secure itself to the floor and saw the side door split open.

Three people glided out in spacesuits and soared towards her. Kas breathed a sigh of relief as they arrived in front of her and the leader put a hand on her shoulder. She looked into their visor and saw Sudds smiling back at her.

*   *   *

After going back to the lounge for the other three, the two crews united inside the courier ship and sealed themselves in. They remained floating as a red light turned green and Astrid's voice filled the cabin.

'Air restored.'

For the first time in what felt like weeks, Kas, Worm, Captain Mack and President Mantana were finally able to remove their helmets and breathe without the help of their suits.

'So who forgot to pay the electric bill?' Pari asked.

'Very funny,' Mack replied. 'I thought I told you three to go home.'

'Yeah, well, you didn't leave us much time to pack. Beak left his toothbrush behind.'

'Wait, you all know each other?' Mantana asked.

'We thought we did,' Sudds replied. 'Turns out we didn't know Captain Mack as well as we thought.'

'I was trying to save your lives,' Mack said.

'By knocking us unconscious and sending us into space?'

'It's just as well he did,' Kas said. 'If he hadn't, you three would have been stuck on board the Pegasus with us. What are you all doing here, anyway?'

'We came back for you, genius,' Pari said. 'You're welcome, by the way.'

'Well if you came to help us with the mission, you're too late. The IRIS is gone.'

'We know; Astrid filled us in while we were boarding. It's a miracle any of you are still alive.'

'How far from Lysan are we?' Mack asked.

'Less than a day,' Sudds replied. 'Though wouldn't it be better to go to... you know...'

'We told the President about Xeo.'

'You did? What about...?'

'No.'

'What about what?' Mantana asked, but Mack ignored him.

'We can't go to Xeo. The President needs to get to Lysan.'

'If we land on Lysan, it'll take us weeks to get away again. The queues are enormous. We should go to Xeo first and dispatch the President from there.'

'I have to get to Sevine as soon as possible,' Mantana said. 'The embassy needs to know what's happened. I'm sure once we've landed I can fast-track your ship for departure.'

Kas felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see Worm signing at her.

'What about what?' Kas replied. Worm rolled her eyes and signed slower, but Kas shook her head. 'I don't know what that sign means.'

'She's saying, what about the escape pod,' Astrid explained. Worm crossed her arms and nodded.

'That's possible,' Pari said.

'You want to put me in an escape pod?' Mantana asked.

'It's not a bad idea,' Mack mused. 'This way, we could just do a fly-by and send you down without us having to land. It's certainly safer than the Pegasus would have been.'

'B-but--'

'How many will the pod take?' Kas asked.

'Four, in theory,' Pari replied.

'Then I'm going with him,' Kas said. She looked at Captain Mack and saw him nod back. Worm then signed that she would go as well.

'You sure?' Kas asked her. 'You seemed happy on Xeo.' Worm confirmed she was sure and crossed her arms again.

'Great,' Pari said. 'So we've got a plan.'

'Yeah, great...' Mantana replied.