The Line of the Sol Empress

Chapter 27.1

A fool cowers before a storm, while the wise gather resilience.

- Writings of the Sol Empress, Words of Faith

[Hope]

Hope, between Gabriel and Eshe, stuffed herself into the utility service aisle, bending over at the waist because of the low ceiling. They jumped at the muffled explosion behind them. With his hand-held viewer light, Gabriel illuminated a dingy corridor lined with pipes and power cables. Clouds of fine dust, kicked up by their shuffling steps, hung in the stale humid air and left a musty taste in Hope's mouth.

Turning her head back, Hope gasped at an absence. "Where is Celeste?"

Behind Hope, Eshe replied in a steady voice. "She could not follow us."

"We can't leave her behind!" Hope stopped, causing Eshe to run into her. "Go back!"

"No, Empress." Eshe pushed Hope forward. "We cannot help her now."

I can't lose my mother now, not like I lost Faith. "But--"

"Eshe is right, Hope," Gabriel said, turning his head back. "We need to get away first, then we will try to help her."

Nodding, she accepted that there was nothing they could do, but the helpless anxiety still tightened in her chest.

After an indeterminate lapse of time, they emerged into a maintenance room with a rounded ceiling high enough that they could stand upright. Three tunnels branched from the small room. Hope flinched as two gray rodents scurried away with a faint squeak. No matter where humanity goes, the rats come too, and so does the wickedness of men.

A dim overhead light shined upon a small utility monitoring panel attached to the wall. Gabriel used a finger to scroll through the schematics, then pointed down the tunnel to the left. "That one will take us back near our shuttle."

Waving her hand forward, Eshe nodded. "We have to move. It won't take them long to determine where we are."

Hope asked. "Would they use the station sensors to track us?"

"Likely so." Eshe responded.

Oh, no they won't!

Grasping a silver biometric sensor tube attached to the panel, Hope commanded, "Sol override, code sigma-omicron-lambda."

An electronic voice responded from the panel, "Identity confirmed. Override achieved, Empress."

"Station AI, block all access to station controls and monitoring data except to me and those with me, identified as Gabriel and Eshe. Also, grant them full overwatch status."

"Complied." The AI responded.

"Damn!" Gabriel's eyes went wide. "You can do that?"

Hope grinned. "One advantage of being the daughter of an Empress."

"Enough chat." Eshe ordered with a frown. "Get moving!"

They ran down the pipe-lined tunnel, sometimes turning sideways where it narrowed and splashing through shallow pools of foul-smelling water. Automatic lighting came on as they advanced, leading the way. Eventually, they reached a narrow door along the tunnel.

Gabriel accessed the schematics on the monitoring panel next to the door. "We are just outside of alpha docking bay. The shuttle should be here." He reached for the door lever.

Eshe stopped him, grabbing his wrist. "Let's use the station data to our advantage." She spoke to the panel. "Access Alpha Bay visual."

She scrolled through the images, mumbling, "Not good."