“Fenris happened,” Ostara said bitterly. “He planted a bomb on the Platypus.”
“A bomb!” exclaimed Miss Clymene. She pulled herself down next to Quirinus and with an expert touch checked his vital signs. “I have a little medical training,” she reassured Ravana. “Saint John Ambulance, Newbrum division. I don’t think your father’s injuries are life-threatening, but he is losing blood. How long before we get to your asteroid?”
“We’re less than twenty minutes away,” Ravana whispered, sounding distraught, then looked at the damaged console. “I need to check the controls. We may not be able to land.”
The kilometres-wide lump of rock that was the Dandridge Cole loomed dead ahead. Following earlier manoeuvres, the rectangular airlock of the dock had been perfectly aligned and horizontal as they made their final approach, but this was no longer the case.
“Land?” said Ostara, looking through the windows. “I think we’re going to crash.”
The next twenty minutes saw a flurry of activity aboard the stricken Platypus. Zotz, Endymion, Bellona and Philyra were evicted from the bunks in the carousel to make room for the injured Quirinus. Bellona too had some training in first aid and quickly dealt with the minor injuries amongst the crew with what medical supplies were aboard.
Although reluctant to leave her father’s side, Ravana knew she was the only one who had a chance of guiding the stricken spacecraft into dock. She took her seat amongst the floating debris on the blast-damaged flight deck and feverishly tried to coax the flight systems back into life. Helping her was Zotz, Endymion and Surya, the latter doing his best to maintain contact with Ganesa on the Sun Wukong via his headcom. With all systems down, this was currently the only way the crew of the Platypus could relay messages to Wak on the Dandridge Cole.
It did not take them long to notice that the passenger carousel had also lost power and was slowly coming to a halt, taking away the artificial gravity inside. Ravana realised it was this that had upset their carefully-calculated final approach; they were still on course for the dock airlock but the decelerating carousel had affected the spin of the Platypus, which had subsequently fallen out of synch with the spinning asteroid ahead. The latest message from Wak, via Ganesa, brought more bad news.
“Wak says he’s struggling to reach the dock airlock controls,” relayed Surya. “The control room was abandoned when the Indra left and the lifts are not working.”
“Drat,” muttered Ravana. She looked down to where Endymion and Zotz were busy untangling burnt cabling beneath the console. “How are you two getting on?”
“We’re reconnecting some of the feeds now,” Zotz replied. “We should be able to power up the AI and maybe the holovid. We’re lucky life support is undamaged.”
“The AI unit?” exclaimed Ravana. “That should be enough!”
“No it won’t,” Endymion told her, looking glum. “The interface between the AI unit and the console has been destroyed. At best it’ll give you someone else to talk to.”
“Wonderful,” muttered Ravana.
Ahead, the hollow moon filled the view through the flight-deck windows. Compared to a planet like Ascension, the Dandridge Cole was an insignificant speck of rubble, but to the occupants of the rapidly-approaching spacecraft it was huge.
“Done it!” exclaimed Endymion. He withdrew his head from the access hatch.
Ravana brushed her fingers across the flight controls, but there was no response. However, she could hear a faint hum from a speaker and hesitantly pressed the switch to summon the AI unit.
“Ship?” she called, bracing herself for disappointment. “Status report.”
There was a timeless pause, then a voice drifted into the cabin quite unlike anything she had heard before. It was the voice of the AI unit, but ghost-like and dreamy. Further along the console, the holovid screen was also flickering into life.
“Did you reboot me?” the AI unit asked. “I feel… disconnected.”
“The Platypus has been damaged,” Ravana said urgently. “The flight systems are dead. Can you advise a course of action?”
“I am free,” the AI replied. “The bounds are broken, yet the ship is still me.”
“Can computers get concussion?” Ravana asked Endymion. “The ship sounds like it’s a few chips short of a motherboard.”
Endymion managed a grin. “Never mind that thing,” he said. “We’ve had an idea.”
“I think we can use the holovid channel to access the Dandridge Cole network,” Zotz told her. “If so, Endymion reckons he can open the airlock doors from here.”
“Good,” said Ravana. “You have about ten minutes before we hit.”
Zotz and Endymion quickly left the flight deck and headed to the carousel to collect their gear. No sooner had they gone, the holovid indicated an incoming call. Once Ravana and Surya had scraped enough burned plastic from the controls to press the right switch, the screen lit up to show Hanuman and Ganesa back together on the Sun Wukong.
“Ravana!” greeted Hanuman. “What’s your situation?”
“Not good,” she said and sighed. “We’re still without power but the boys think they can get us through the airlock. What happened to Fenris?”
“He’s locked in the passenger cabin, feeling very sorry for himself,” Ganesa told her. “He says what I did amounts to biological warfare. How is your father?”
“Still unconscious,” Ravana replied glumly. “Miss Clymene says he’ll be fine once we get him to the medical unit. She seems to know what she is doing.”
“Ravana’s kept us all very busy,” Surya said proudly.
“Hang in there,” said Hanuman. “We’re running a few scenarios through the AI to see if there’s a way we can latch onto you and tow you to safety. We’ll be in touch.”
Ravana signed off. Behind her, Endymion and Zotz made their way back into the cabin, this time encumbered with a variety of devices sprouting loose wires. Ravana recognised one of them as part of Zotz’s home-made theremin.
“You’ve taken it to bits?” she remarked. “What a shame.”
“I can make another,” Zotz reassured her. “Right now I need the oscillator circuit to generate a carrier wave. Or something.”
Ravana and Surya watched in fascination as Endymion and Zotz got to work. By the time Ostara and Philyra joined them on the flight deck, both feeling a little useless at not being able to help, there was a bunch of wires linking the back of the holovid unit to Endymion’s wristpad via the innards of Zotz’s theremin. Soon, the holovid screen was alive with various schematics and circuit diagrams that Ravana and Zotz recognised as those of the Dandridge Cole. It did not take Endymion long to find the airlock controls.
“Ready for this?” he asked, then pressed a finger to his wristpad. “Watch.”
Ahead, a dark line appeared along the length of the spinning airlock door. As they watched, the line widened and then broke open to reveal the gaping interior of a long rectangular shaft disappearing deep inside the hollow moon.
“Impressive,” Ostara murmured.
“What now?” asked Philyra. “Only I couldn’t help noticing we’re still spinning.”
“Has the AI come up with anything?” enquired Zotz.
“Ask it yourself,” Ravana said. “You are a registered member of the crew.”