Fracture - A Window Overlooking the Universe Page 7

  Chapter Seven - Narrow House

  Brozmam disengaged the power line then he was back at work with the vacuum welder. Quickly he replaced a chip. He was immobilising another security system before pressurising the airlock. Fenton glanced round nervously. There was no sign of an exit.

  He was trapped in a sealed metal box. He tried to relax, breathing deeply. It wouldn't be long before he could get out of the airlock and this perspiration soaked suit.

  But that was assuming there was life support in there.

  Brozmam had finished with the tool and was reinserting the power needle. His steel finger reached out for a switch.

  On the control panel a sequence of vertical lights flashed swiftly from top to bottom then top to bottom again. The airlock was a lift. They were hurtling down to Pandemonium's core.

  He should have expected it. The nerve centre would be there. Pandemonium was disproportionately large. It had to be that massive to fit Graeme's equations. He remembered the model. The main living units and laboratories were at the hub, the radiation shields focussed around them. Presumably they would only be extended to the circumference if the outer observation bays were needed. If Pandemonium was running on reduced power the shields would be hugging the centre. They would be safer there, if there was power. But if there was why was Brozmam feeding the lift? Unless any drain on Pandemonium's limited reserves would be detectable, alerting someone to their presence.

  A strange feeling was seeping through him. Radiation sickness?

  'ARTIFICIAL GRAVITY FIELD DETECTED – INCREASING'

  It was just gravity returning as they neared Pandemonium's nucleus. It was a relief. If the artificial gravity was still functioning then the radiation shields must be as well as life support.

  He flinched at a hissing noise.

  'EXTERNAL PRESSURISATION'

  It was outside the suit, relayed by the external microphones. There was air out there transmitting sound.

  Javer's suit wheezed as he set Fenton down on his feet.

  Why wouldn't they give him back control?

  They wanted him trapped and at their mercy.

  Or were they really scared of him?

  Javer turned to the door, pointing the Thoron gun. It was a lift: there was only one entrance, one exit.

  'PRESSURISATION COMPLETE - ANALYSIS OF EXTERNAL ATMOSPHERE'

  A flurry of data, gases by percentage - oxygen, carbon dioxide, meaningless to him. Then a summary:

  'ATMOSPHERE BREATHABLE - HIGHER THAN EXPECTED CARBON DIOXIDE CONTENT - POSSIBLE CAUSE: ATMOSPHERIC REPROCESSORS RUNNING AT REDUCED CAPACITY'

  That agreed with what he knew. Power loss. Reduced capacity. But there was carbon dioxide. Did that mean people were still breathing in there? Graeme? Paize? But it could just be stale, old CO2. Or was there something else? Something that breathed out carbon dioxide but wasn't human?

  The blip slowed, crawling down the last centimetres of the panel. He could feel the deceleration. The lift was coming to a halt. There was a jolt and a shudder as it reached the bottom. His suit jerked at the impact. For a moment he thought it would topple over, smashing him to the deck but he stayed upright. A crash reverberated around the narrow airlock.

  They were at the centre of Pandemonium.

  Javer covered the door. Brozmam reached for the open switch.

  Javer tensed; his suit spluttered.

  Brozmam triggered it.

  Nothing happened.

  Brozmam switched it again.

  The door stayed sealed.

  With a scream of servos Brozmam snatched his arm away, yanking out the power line. There was a crackle, a shower of sparks. In seconds his pistol was in his hand, pointing accusingly at the door. With a hiss of motors he nodded his head at Javer.

  Javer fired.