His Earth Maiden AE Page 7

  Her breath caught and held. The creature was not exactly humanoid, in the sense it had eight bony protrusions coming from the waist like the legs of a spider, but the torso and arms of a man.

  Raisa hurried toward the image of the ship’s corridor. Jackson ran past the screen as she tried to press the frozen button. It didn’t move. She pressed it again and again, trying to get out. Only when Jackson was out of sight did a door swing toward her on electric hinges, letting her walk through the corridor’s wall. As she stepped out, she pressed her back to the far wall and watched as the door close.

  She slid down the wall and sat on the floor.

  “Do you hear anything?” Jackson yelled.

  “Raisa,” one of the men yelled from the direction Lucien had gone.

  “Raisa,” came another voice from the opposite way.

  They were searching inside the walls for her.

  She tried to answer, but her voice caught and she had to swallow. Her hands trembled and, for a moment, as she stared at the very normal-looking wall, she wondered if she’d hallucinated the secret medical chamber.

  “Start removing every fifth panel,” Jackson ordered. “Hurry. Let’s find her. She’s been out of contact too long.” He came around the corner mumbling, “I knew it was a bad idea to let her go in there. Hardheaded woman—” The last word was cut off as he stumbled to a stop. “Raisa?”

  “I…” She lifted a finger to point at the wall.

  “I found her,” Jackson yelled as he rushed toward her.

  “I found…” She tried again. Her heart beat incredibly fast, and she felt lightheaded as if the adrenaline levels in her body suddenly dropped.

  “Raisa?” Jackson knelt beside her. His concerned eyes held her gaze. “Why didn’t you answer me when I called?”

  “Where was she?” Viktor asked. He jogged down the corridor, followed by Lochlann and Alexis. She’d only met Lochlann in passing, but he seemed a decent fellow. Definitely not one to captain a crew with strange tank creatures and woman in stasis next to a secret laboratory. Lucien, Violette, and Dev came from the other direction.

  “Where did you come from?” Lucien asked. “We were on both ends of this corridor. How did you slip past us?”

  She took a deep breath and gestured at the wall. It occurred to her that the room she’d been in was soundproofed. She hadn’t heard their calls for her after she’d sealed herself in. “I might have found your problem.”

  “Is there a loose connection behind that panel?” Alexis asked, placing her hand on the wall. Her eyes took on a faraway look, as if she wasn’t seeing her hand but something in her mind. “The schematics I downloaded don’t have anything of importance in this location, some communications wires and possibly suction delivery tubes, which was an optional installation when these ships were purchased new, though I haven’t seen evidence of any.”

  Raisa tried to stand, uncomfortable with the way they crowded around her and looked down as she sat on the floor. Jackson took her arm and helped guide her up the wall. She continued to lean against it, not because she needed the support, but because the corridor was full. As far as she knew, the only person on the ship that was missing was Rick, who was probably piloting the craft.

  Oh, and the blue lady behind the wall.

  She cleared her throat. “The electrical malfunction was most likely caused by a significant power drain on your system, which took priority over all else. Rick mentioned he had a new viewing screen installed in his quarters. If you all installed new technology, and simply spliced into existing connections, it was only a matter of time before it overloaded the grid.”

  “I knew Rick was to blame,” Viktor said.

  “One viewing screen wouldn’t have done it. I’m guessing it was a bunch of little things over the years. There is a lot of bizarre wiring choices in this ship. Wires loop for no discernable reason. Things are spliced and connected. I even saw a length of wire that had been cut and repaired in two spots rather than running a whole new line.”

  Everyone turned to look at Viktor.

  Viktor lifted his hands. “Hey, I’ve been telling you all for years I’m just patching things together, and that we needed to put more money into real repairs. No one cared as long as I could keep us limping along.”

  Raisa felt a little sorry for him, so she added, “I’m guessing a lot of these repairs were done before you came into possession of the ship. Unless you’ve been flying it for thirty or forty years?”

  “Ha! See, not my fault.” Viktor smiled as if vindicated. “Still Rick’s doing.”

  Raisa watched them all carefully as she spoke. Not one of them gave any indication they were worried by what was behind the wall. It was possible they didn’t know.

  “How did you get this ship?” she asked.

  “Our former captain, Samantha, won it in a high-stakes card game,” said Lucien.

  “Gambling?” Raisa repeated in surprise. “So you didn’t have it inspected before you flew?”

  “We looked at it,” Viktor said.

  “It’s flown just fine,” Lucien added.

  “We didn’t have a sale inspection,” Dev clarified. The man was unnerving as he towered over them. It wasn’t his red skin or dark eyes, but the stern way he stared at her, like she was a child in trouble. Or maybe it was the reminder that his Bevlon side and her Angelion side were supposed to hate each other. Raisa had no reason to hate him.

  “Why do you ask?” Jackson studied her. “What does this have to do with the power drain on the ship?”

  Raisa wasn’t sure how to start, so she stepped toward the wall that had opened into the secret room and ran a hand over the metal. Aside from the normal seams, it looked like any other section of hall. “I don’t know how to open it.”

  “Do you want me to get the tools?” Viktor offered, already rushing away to do just that.

  “What are you looking for?” Jackson asked, placing his hand on the smooth surface.

  “There’s this room,” she tried to explain. “On the other side of this wall.”

  “You sense the mechanics behind the wall?” asked Violette.

  “No. Yes, but no,” Raisa said, aware that all eyes were on her. “The wall opens. I walked out of it. There is this corridor that leads to a white room, and…”

  As she spoke she watched their expressions move from listening to doubtful to concerned.

  Jackson placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s all right, Raisa. We should never have let you go inside the walls to check. It’s not safe in there. Maybe the pain medicine I gave you is having a strange side effect, and you’re seeing things. We should get you back to bed so you can heal.”

  “Let me try this from the other direction. I was in the wall looking at your wiring system—which is messier than lykan fur, for the record—and I found a hot wire that was drawing more power than is normal for a ship, especially considering the current power fluctuations. I followed the wire—”

  “Were you electrocuted?” Lucien guessed.

  “No. I followed it to an access panel. I pulled it out and crawled into a secret room on this ship. It was white, with an alien language I couldn’t understand, and there were these vials, and a surgical medical chair shaped for humanoids, with straps. And I pushed a vial button that ended up injecting—”

  “You injected yourself with an alien drug?” Violette questioned.

  “No, I injected…” She frowned. They were having a hard time believing her. She couldn’t blame them. This was their ship and she was new to them. They didn’t know if she had a history of insanity. Claiming there was a dead alien and a woman in some kind of a hypersleep chamber wouldn’t help her case.

  “Yes?” Jackson prompted. His gaze was worried, but he didn’t look at her like the others. He was trying to believe her.

  “There was an orb and it zapped my finger.” Her fingertip had a spot of drying blood on it and she held it up as proof.

  “It’s all right, Raisa.” Jackson moved t
o place his arm around her shoulders. “We’ll keep an eye on the wall so you don’t need to worry. You concentrate on rest. You’ve been through a lot.”

  “No!” Raisa slipped out from his hold and slapped her hand against the wall. This time she made contact with her bleeding finger. “It was right here.”

  As the tiny drop of her blood touched the metal, the wall absorbed the red smear.

  “What just happened?” Dev asked, trying to protectively force his wife behind his back. Violette grimaced in annoyance and pushed her way back around to watch.

  The wall made a noise. Jackson placed a hand on her shoulder and tried to urge her away.

  “What’s it doing?” Alexis asked.

  The hidden door opened, swinging inward to reveal the corridor.

  “I told you!” Raisa exclaimed. “There’s a secret room.”

  “Holy black hole.” Viktor dropped the tools he carried. “What did you guys do?”

  Raisa tried to step inside. Both Dev and Jackson grabbed her arms to hold her back.

  “I want to go,” Alexis said, sounding excited.

  “I want to see, too,” Violette added.

  “I’m good. You have fun,” said Lucien.

  “As security officers, only Jackson and I will go in,” Dev decided.

  “I’ve already been in. Besides, you need me to open doors.” Raisa lifted her finger. She had no idea if that were true or not. “It has my blood profile on file now.”

  Dev sighed.

  Jackson reluctantly nodded. “Stay between us.”

  Jackson stepped in first. Raisa followed him, only to stop in the doorway and reach back. “Viktor, hand me my light?”

  He fumbled to pick it up from the floor but finally handed it over.

  The corridor walls were now empty. “There were two…”

  “Two what?” Dev started to follow her—but the door closed behind her to lock him out.

  10

  Raisa reached forward to stop the door from closing, but Jackson pulled her against his chest and wrapped a protective arm around her waist. He lifted his free hand and looked around, ready for anything that might come at them. The holographic image showed Dev pounding his fist against the outside wall, but sound didn’t pass through the barrier.

  “What is this place?” Jackson’s chest rose and fell against her back. His breathing had quickened, but he didn’t appear scared, and she found she wasn’t as frightened with him next to her.

  “I don’t know. Some kind of laboratory.” She shone the light on the wall. The barrier had opened up once more to reveal the woman in hypersleep. “There. She looks alive, but it’s hard to tell.”

  Jackson placed his hand against the transparent wall before knocking a few times. She wasn’t sure if he tried get the woman’s attention or tested the strength of the barrier.

  When nothing happened, she shone the light to the other side. “And there. This one is dead.” She slid the light against the wall until the bones of the floating skeleton could be seen.

  “What were you saying about a white room?” Jackson asked.

  “Should we try to let Dev in first?” She motioned to where the others were studying the wall as Dev tried to swipe his blood across the door. It didn’t open but did flash a warning symbol over the whole hologram.

  “What language is that?” Jackson touched the holographic image of his friends.

  “I have no idea,” Raisa said, “and I’ve traveled extensively for work. I’ve seen a lot of writing.”

  “I can’t believe these two have been in here the entire time we’ve been on this ship.” Jackson looked at the blue woman, as if he could find a clue as to who she was.

  “What about Dev?” Raisa lifted her hand but the button that would open the door to let them out had stopped blinking. “Blast it, I forgot. I don’t think it will open unless no one is in the hall outside. It’s a safety thing. I tried to escape but it wouldn’t let me while you were running past.”

  “Great. If I know Dev, he won’t leave the corridor unattended until we come back out.” Jackson felt around in the dark. “How do we get to the white room?”

  “This way.” Raisa went to the wall opposite the image of Dev. It opened when she touched the door. She stepped into the darkness, letting her steps sound loudly. The lights activated. The chair in the middle of the room was gone and all the panels were turned off.

  Jackson tried to cross the center of the room toward the vials. As the floor vibrated lightly beneath her feet, she grabbed his arm. When he glanced at her, she nodded to where the floor opened, and the surgical chair rose into place. She then pointed upward where the holographic screen would appear from the ceiling. Seconds later, it did.

  “It’s the same language as the door.” She gestured to the screen. “I didn’t touch it.”

  “Probably a good call until we can figure out what this place is.”

  “I did touch a drawer. It won’t open but it pulls up an inventory list.” She pressed her finger against one to show him. “But don’t select anything. I think it injects the woman with it.”

  Jackson nodded. His expression gave none of his thoughts away as he looked around.

  “I know one thing for sure. This system takes a lot of power to keep running. Do you notice the lights don’t flicker in here? I think this is wired as a priority power system, with probably a reserve hold. The fact that no one knew it was here means it’s on its own grid and not in the ship’s mainframe. But it’s drawing power from the main supply. That’s why the electrical system malfunctioned. This room probably ran a command function, which caused the other overloaded grid to blow. The gas pocket igniting was an unfortunate consequence. With these doors and chair lifts, if we tore apart the walls, we might find something to rig the propulsion system until you found the right part, and the easiest way to repair the ship’s electrical systems will be to shut down this room, but all the data in these systems might be lost.”

  “The woman in hypersleep,” Jackson said. “It could kill her. We can’t do that. There’s a chance she is alive.”

  “It could wake her up,” Raisa countered. Though she agreed he had a point. She didn’t want to kill anyone.

  “She could be dangerous, or diseased, or the nicest person to fly though the deep black,” Jackson said. “We need more information.”

  A hissing sound started behind the wall and Jackson moved to place himself in front of Raisa. A drawer closer to the ceiling lit up. It sounded as if medicine was being taken from one of the vials.

  “I will bring Alexis back and see if she can find the meaning of these words,” Jackson decided. “Show me how you gave the room your blood sample so I can do the same.”

  “I tried to vocally activate the computer and it sent out a ball to investigate.”

  “Computer, take my sample so I may enter this room,” Jackson commanded.

  A series of beeps sounded, and then the low tone she’d heard before. The orb did not come.

  “Computer?” Raisa tried.

  The low tone repeated. The orb came from the wall. It did a quick scan of Raisa, only to dismiss her. Jackson lifted his chin, unafraid as it came toward him and began shining its light on him. He tilted his head one way and then the other, before walking around it. The orb turned with him, as if watching him.

  “It seemed to recognize our use of the Old Star Language when you called it. The military had these. They’re scanning orbs used in security facilities.” He watched it carefully. “What is it waiting for?”

  “Lift your hand.” Raisa flinched when he lifted his hand, only to be zapped by the orb. Jackson didn’t so much as blink at the prick. The orb retracted. “That’s it.”

  “I’ve seen enough. Let’s get out of here.”

  “Dev has to leave the door,” she said.

  “Where is the access panel?”

  “Under that table. But it’s too small for you to fit through.” She knelt on the floor to look at the hatch. “I ca
n try to make my way back out and tell the others to leave the corridor. Touch the inner door to open it. There is a blinking button on the outer door. Push it when everyone is gone.”

  He nodded. “Be careful.”

  Raisa placed her hand on the panel and pushed. It didn’t move. She focused her gift to make it open. It resisted. She frowned and pushed harder. “It came out before.”

  Jackson leaned over to watch as she slapped her hand against it. “Let me try.”

  She crawled out. He stood on a knee, lifted his other leg, and kicked. It didn’t budge. He tried several more times.

  “I think it’s jammed in there,” she said. “I guess this means we wait together by the door. How long can those guys stay out there watching the wall? They’ll have to leave at some point.”

  11

  Hours. The answer to her rhetorical question was hours.

  Jackson stretched his legs as he sat with his back to the skeleton tank, watching Dev pace outside the door, trying to get in. The man had tried prying it open, smearing blood on it, kicking it, hitting it, burning it with a torch, and nothing had worked. Now he’d taken to glaring at it, as if he could will it open.

  Every member of the crew came by at one point. Each cutting themselves and trying to use their blood as Raisa had. Alexis had gone into one of her download trances, as if trying to find a command that would vocally open the door. Again, nothing they tried worked. It was like watching a soundless transmission.

  “I vote we start pushing buttons and see what happens,” she said, not for the first time.

  Jackson’s training had taught him patience. If he had to, he could sit in a dark room for days not making a noise. As far as waiting went, this wasn’t too bad. He had company, who also happened to be pretty to look at.

  The handheld light was on the floor, shining up at the ceiling. It cast shadows over her face, throwing her features into stark contrast. The soft glow of the floating image in front of the door helped a little, and he saw better once his eyes had adjusted to the dark. Her dark hair was cut at an angle, falling longer by the front of her shoulders than at the nape of her neck. He was content to stare at her, liking the way she moved and laughed. She spoke with an animated quality that lit up her brown-green eyes.