A chapter of the science fiction novel in blog form. In this chapter the boy hero has adventures in the air circulation vent.
_________________________________________________Chapter 35
Command Code
“Well, Ollie,” Tom whispered, “Let’s find out where this goes."
Ollie knew Tom needed him. He licked his face. They started to crawl deeper into the dark air pipe. Side openings let in faint light, and air flowed gently around them, it was nice and cooling. Tom wondered what to do next, or where to go.
“Maybe I’ll just crawl around until I find a good hiding place.” Then he got an idea. “Ollie, find the rangers, boy. Find our friends.”
Ollie was glad to have a task. He would show Tom that he was a good dog. Ollie began to lead. He could easily walk; his back just barely touched the top of the pipe. He followed the scent, it was far away and mixed with other confusing smells of warfare, but he knew he could find the rangers.
The small pipe seemed to go on for miles like a desert highway to the edge of the world. They came to a place where the air pipe joined others. A dim light came from a shaft above. Ollie turned right as if he had been that way many times before, following the scent. It was a larger tunnel and easier for Tom to crawl on his hands and knees. Air rushed through it.
After hundreds of yards, Ollie stopped at a side tunnel, the darkest one yet. Tom caught up; still on all fours even in this larger air pipe. His back and knees hurt horribly. He looked in the dark pipe and panic began to grip at the edge of his thoughts. What if we get lost forever? What if we go somewhere and get blocked in and can’t get out?
“Are you sure the rangers are in there, boy?” He whispered. Ollie walked into the black tunnel.
“Okay boy, I’m coming.”
Ollie was proud. With half-wolf hearing, he could hear familiar voices from the distant end of the tunnel. He led on, feeling satisfied; it was good to be the leader. They went and on, with Ollie in the lead and Tom, like his pack, on all fours following behind. Tom could hear the voices, far away.
Tom saw a faint grayish light ahead. “Maybe things will work out after all.” He thought. A few minutes of crawling brought him to a vent.
The light on the other side was bright. He cautiously peered through a vent into the common room. “Good boy, Ollie!” he whispered. Instead of being down by the floor, he was at head level. What he saw in the room on the other side of the vent shocked him; the furniture was thrown all around and pictures were torn off the wall. Black circles covered the walls where laser fire hit. Square parts of the ceiling hung loose. Parts of the wall were crumpled in or twisted outward. The viewing poly-glass window was covered with metal. Tom saw rangers, crew and passengers; many had bloody bandages on arms, legs, or heads. Some people were lying on the floor or on tables with serious wounds. Tom recognized the captain and others of the crew. It was all he could do to not cry out in his excitement.
“Pissssst, Pissssst.’ He began to whisper. Through the grill shutter, he saw the back of a man’s head. “Pisssst, Pisssssit. Hey, over here," He whispered.
The man looked around, first at the ceiling then the corners of the room, hearing the voice but not knowing where it came from. “I'm in the vent. It's me, Tommy Snow.” The man turned and looked straight at the vent, all he saw was a shutter grill like any other. A shadow moved in the darkness inside. He slowly leaned against the wall as if resting and not trying to draw attention to himself.
“Quiet,” He whispered. The pirates are here questioning all the crew. I’ll get the Captain over here. Stay where you are. “
“What’s been happening?”
"Shisss. Not so loud. Guards are at the door. Pirates are sitting at a table only a few feet away. Stay quiet now.”
Tom watched through the shutter as the man slowly limped away. He had not realized the man was wounded. He got beside another man in a white space uniform and then stumbled, the other man caught him. They whispered together for a moment. This other man had a bandage wraped around his hand like an oversize glove. They turned and faced the vent and slowly walked until they were just below the vent and stood there with their backs against the wall, looking like two men waiting with nothing in particular to do.
The newcomer spoke softly. It was Captain Price. “Son, we thought you were lost in that escape pod.” He whispered.
“No. I was in another pod. I watched it blow up on the monitor. I think there was a robot on it.”
“Good. Good. They won't be looking for you. Here is what I want you to do. Crawl up one level and loop back to the Command Center. Do you think you can do that?”
“Yes, but why? Won't it be full of pirates?”
“Not many, Most left on one of their ships to attack our other Ranger ship. Only a few are here on board now. Some more are leaving on the other pirate ship. Never mind all that. What I want you to do will be easy, and you can do from inside the air vent. Just say this command to the computer, say ‘Computer Prime, transfer all command authority to Tom Snow per Captain Price, authorization twenty-four thirty- six delta.’ The computer will give you total command of the ship. When it does, order all lights to be shut off and all doors to lock. That will create a diversion. We can overpower these gangsters here and take the ship back before they know what is happening. Can you do that son?"
“Sure, I think so. But, what if I can't find the command center can I just give the command to a communications station? Won't that get to the ship's computer?"
"No, only as a last resort, It would only give you access but not command and control. You have to be in the command center then you can give orders and it will obey."
"O.K. But how will you get around if the doors are locked?”
“Don’t worry about that. I have the override codes for each system. Just do what I told you. You have to say it just the way I told you. Stay in the air vent so you should be safe.”
“Okay. What do I do after that?”
“Just wait. After we overpower these guys here we will come and recapture the command center. But be quick we don’t have much time.”
“Sure, you can count on me.” Tom tried to sound brave. He was glad to be doing something besides hiding. He crawled back the way he came. Tom kept reviewing the instructions in his mind, it was too important to forget. He had a task and he determined to do it well. He found the shaft that sloped to the upper level. "What if I get lost? What if I can’t find the command center? No, I can't think like that." He put these thoughts out of his mind and kept on going.
Tom led and Ollie followed. If this was a game Ollie didn't care for it, but he was with Tom and that was where he wanted to be, even if it meant crawling through a dark cold tunnel. As they crawled along Tom peered through side vents into rooms looking for the Command Center. He kept going. At last, he looked through a vent and saw it. Two pirates sat bent over a computer terminal; one was pushing buttons at a communication center. Another was sprawled on a chair looking at a small monitor displaying a log book. A very fat one was typing on a keyboard and watching a row of monitor screens with numbers on a wall. Two men had tools and were working on some wires which hung out of a panel in the wall. Pieces of machinery were lying around. The room had only seven men and they were all concentrating on work
“This is it.” Tom thought. “I have to say it just right and not mess up, or they will get me before I can say it a second time.
Suddenly the vent shut! Tom was no longer looking through it. He felt in the darkness for the vent but it had become a solid wall.
(c) Adron
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Adron
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