The Line of the Sol Empress

Chapter 33.5

[Gabriel]

"Stay on task, Gabriel. I'll hold off the drones, you hook in." Eshe pointed her right arm and fired an orange plasma bolt from the built-in pulse gun, striking a drone and tearing it apart with a flash of light.

"Right." Gabriel extracted a cable from his waist and pushed it into the connection port.

Nothing happened.

"Oh, crap!"

"What?" Eshe yelled while firing another bolt. The drone swerved, avoiding her shot. She jumped sideways as it fired, blasting a divot from the hull where she once stood.

"I'm not getting a connection. The port must be clogged. I'm going to have to clean it out."

Dropping to a knee, Eshe fired again, this time striking the drone and sending it on a swirling path to crash into a support beam. "Hurry before more come." Hardly a breath of time passed before she reported, "And here they are, six more. I will draw their fire."

Gabriel shoved the knife point into the round port and twisted it back and forth. Don't look at the drones, don't look at the drones... Seen from the corner of his eye, Eshe fired off another bolt and then danced away from the return fire.

He tried to insert the cable again. A grin came to his face as the status indicator showed a connection. But at that moment, a drone rounded the riser, coming to stare at him with its red robotic eye. Without thinking, Gabriel snapped his right arm up and fired. Pieces of the drone bounced off his helmet.

Gabriel shouted over the link. "Sol override. Code, Sigma Omicron Lambda."

The AI responded in an electronic voice, "Transmit authorization."

Using the suit built-in genetic scanner, Gabriel complied, whispering, "Come on, come on."

"Authorization received. Welcome Empress."

"Shutdown all external defense systems!" he shouted. The remaining three drones stilled.

Gabriel took a sigh of relief, but then noticed Eshe kneeling nearby with a hand clutching a hip, partially covering a jagged rip in her spacesuit. Gabriel rushed to her side and accessed her telemetry data, which flashed red warnings due to suit containment breech and rapidly dropping air pressure. Medical monitors showed a rapid pulse and decreasing blood oxygen levels.

She waved him off. "Complete the mission!"

Straightening, Gabriel ordered, "Ship AI, power down the fusion reactors. Suspend all systems except for environmental and yourself. Close and seal all pressure isolation doors. Do these also for all Commonwealth ships via overwatch authority. Oh, and lockout all other command input."

After a moment that seemed to last forever, the AI reported. "Complied."

Gabriel surveyed Eshe's suit data. The automatic repair system had failed and internal pressure continued to decrease. Also, her blood pressure plummeted. He wrapped an arm around her back. "We have to get you inside."

"No." She panted. "Our orders were to wait for a boarding team. Entering may put you at risk."

"To hell with the orders!" Gabriel hoisted her into his arms, which was easy at zero gravity. He called out, "Ship AI, open the maintenance hatch at our location."

A yellow light beside the oval frame flashed, and after a moment, the door swung inward. Gabriel crawled down the ladder into the airlock, pulling Eshe with him. He pushed a button to close the outer hatch and re-pressurize the chamber. As the air rushed in, he scanned the ship layout on the helmet display. "Show me the nearest medical bay." A red dot appeared on the layout.