Tahn’s chair arms to stare wild-eyed into Cole’s tortured face. His gut tightened as he noted the vastly different sizes of the captain’s pupils. “Is Baruch aboard?”
Tahn squinted, trying to focus on him. “What the hell are you doing here? Get off my bridge!”
“I want to know if he—”
The alert sirens went deadly quiet and the blood drained from Dannon’s head, making him feel faint.
With sudden dread, Tahn gazed around the bridge. “No … he can’t have—”
Yes, he can. The truth made Neil sick unto death. He released the chair arms and straightened. Jeremiel had this ship. Dannon tingled from shock. So the crew in Engineering was dead. Jeremiel’s next move would be to tap into the Master Engineer’s damage control override circuitry, rerouting all major functions of the ship to his own console. The override programming stood as the fundamentally weak link of all C-J class cruisers. Through that system, one man could kill the rest of the ship.
But, no, no. Don’t think it! Tahn would find a way of incapacitating Engineering. It would be four against over three thousand trained Magisterial soldiers. Jeremiel may have captured the vessel, but he couldn’t hold it. All they had to do was bide their time until they could smoke him out. A giddy feeling of relief wound through him. Yes, they’d pry him out in the end. Baruch couldn’t hold a ship this large with a strike force so small.
“Captain!” Macey yelled shrilly. “I’ve—I’ve got decompression readings from all over the ship. We—”
“Gas Engineering!”
Halloway’s fingers fluttered over her console. Her voice came out strained, quiet. “Can’t. He’s rerouted control.”
“Bypass!”
“… Can’t.”
“Oh, God!” Neil screamed hysterically. Decompression wasn’t a part of Operation Abba! Jeremiel was evening the numbers! With all the locks open, he could completely decompress the ship in less than five minutes. He lunged for Tahn, shouting, “He’s taken your ship. You fool! You let him take your ship! You should have known he’d—”
Tahn pushed up to sway erratically on his feet. He slammed a powerful right cross into Neil’s mouth. Stunned and in pain, Dannon staggered backward, sobbing as he hit the floor. Jeremiel would kill him! From the corner of his eye, he saw Halloway’s hands flying over her console. She’d pulled up the cryptography library and frantically sought to delete file after file. The idiot! Couldn’t she see the pattern? She was already too late! He saw her screen flare, Access Denied. She tried something else. Unauthorized entry. Her fingers tapped another possible sequence. Can’t retrieve clandestine files from this access route. She made a deep guttural sound of frustration and slammed a fist repeatedly into her console. Then, in a violent move, she reached beneath her console and ripped a panel down, then fumbled with another card. The long-range communications link? Clever, it might take Jeremiel a few hours to figure it out—maybe longer if he got overwhelmed with problems. But would anybody out there be trying to reach them?
Someone screamed and Neil’s gaze riveted on the forward screen. Bodies tumbled from the Hoyer, scattering in the blackness of space like bloody ghouls just escaped from Aktariel’s legendary pit of darkness. They tumbled end over end, contorted faces seeming to stare directly in at those on board, pleading even in death for help.
Desperately, Dannon crawled for the nearest suit locker and jerked one out. He swiftly slipped into it.
“Halloway …” Tahn whispered, face ashen. “Carey … estimate casualties?”
“Approximately two thousand, seven hundred and fifty.”
“Which level did he seal. Seven?”
“Aye, sir.”
Of course, he’d sealed seven! Dannon slammed a fist into the floor at their stupidity. Cruisers possessed between thirty-three and thirty-four hundred crew members. Jeremiel might need those science
Tahn squinted, trying to focus on him. “What the hell are you doing here? Get off my bridge!”
“I want to know if he—”
The alert sirens went deadly quiet and the blood drained from Dannon’s head, making him feel faint.
With sudden dread, Tahn gazed around the bridge. “No … he can’t have—”
Yes, he can. The truth made Neil sick unto death. He released the chair arms and straightened. Jeremiel had this ship. Dannon tingled from shock. So the crew in Engineering was dead. Jeremiel’s next move would be to tap into the Master Engineer’s damage control override circuitry, rerouting all major functions of the ship to his own console. The override programming stood as the fundamentally weak link of all C-J class cruisers. Through that system, one man could kill the rest of the ship.
But, no, no. Don’t think it! Tahn would find a way of incapacitating Engineering. It would be four against over three thousand trained Magisterial soldiers. Jeremiel may have captured the vessel, but he couldn’t hold it. All they had to do was bide their time until they could smoke him out. A giddy feeling of relief wound through him. Yes, they’d pry him out in the end. Baruch couldn’t hold a ship this large with a strike force so small.
“Captain!” Macey yelled shrilly. “I’ve—I’ve got decompression readings from all over the ship. We—”
“Gas Engineering!”
Halloway’s fingers fluttered over her console. Her voice came out strained, quiet. “Can’t. He’s rerouted control.”
“Bypass!”
“… Can’t.”
“Oh, God!” Neil screamed hysterically. Decompression wasn’t a part of Operation Abba! Jeremiel was evening the numbers! With all the locks open, he could completely decompress the ship in less than five minutes. He lunged for Tahn, shouting, “He’s taken your ship. You fool! You let him take your ship! You should have known he’d—”
Tahn pushed up to sway erratically on his feet. He slammed a powerful right cross into Neil’s mouth. Stunned and in pain, Dannon staggered backward, sobbing as he hit the floor. Jeremiel would kill him! From the corner of his eye, he saw Halloway’s hands flying over her console. She’d pulled up the cryptography library and frantically sought to delete file after file. The idiot! Couldn’t she see the pattern? She was already too late! He saw her screen flare, Access Denied. She tried something else. Unauthorized entry. Her fingers tapped another possible sequence. Can’t retrieve clandestine files from this access route. She made a deep guttural sound of frustration and slammed a fist repeatedly into her console. Then, in a violent move, she reached beneath her console and ripped a panel down, then fumbled with another card. The long-range communications link? Clever, it might take Jeremiel a few hours to figure it out—maybe longer if he got overwhelmed with problems. But would anybody out there be trying to reach them?
Someone screamed and Neil’s gaze riveted on the forward screen. Bodies tumbled from the Hoyer, scattering in the blackness of space like bloody ghouls just escaped from Aktariel’s legendary pit of darkness. They tumbled end over end, contorted faces seeming to stare directly in at those on board, pleading even in death for help.
Desperately, Dannon crawled for the nearest suit locker and jerked one out. He swiftly slipped into it.
“Halloway …” Tahn whispered, face ashen. “Carey … estimate casualties?”
“Approximately two thousand, seven hundred and fifty.”
“Which level did he seal. Seven?”
“Aye, sir.”
Of course, he’d sealed seven! Dannon slammed a fist into the floor at their stupidity. Cruisers possessed between thirty-three and thirty-four hundred crew members. Jeremiel might need those science
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