Outside In
Page 85

“Yes, but that would only save four or five people and not for long. As you said, easy pickings,” Hank said.
He was right. Except I hadn’t been thinking along those lines. “Can you install a sheet of metal over Gateway?”
“It’ll still leak air,” Hank said.
“But it’ll give us some more time.” I glanced at the people who had volunteered to fight. Not many had the arm strength to climb up the Expanse. “And I have an idea. I’ll need those suits, a few volunteers, safety harnesses and some magnets. Can you help us, Hank?”
His considered for a moment, keeping his gaze locked on mine. “Ponife underestimated you. Hell, we all underestimated you. Yes, I’ll help.”
Riley, Sloan and Bubba Boom all volunteered right away. By the time Hank had collected the other supplies we needed, Logan had joined us.
“Logan, do you remember seeing the symbols about the port?” I asked.
“Sure. I read a bunch of them when I was up there. Until the Outsiders came for me.”
I explained my plan to him. “Will it work?”
“It should, but I’d better come along to make sure,” Logan said.
“It’s suicide,” Riley said.
“Do you have any better ideas?” I asked.
“No.”
“Then let’s move.”
Hank shouted orders and we dressed in the Outsiders’ suits. Captain Trava rushed up from the air plant with the gas cylinders now full of our air. We hurried to Gateway before the Outsiders could open it. The code to open it hadn’t changed from when Cog and I had used it—our first lucky break.
The outer door swung open. Squeezing into the inner room, which wasn’t designed for five people in space suits, I gave the signal. Hank and his crew closed the door and would seal it with a sheet of metal. Once he finished with that, he had another job to do.
As the room emptied of air, I explained to the others what to expect and not to panic, trying not to let my own fear taint my voice. Of all my adventures, this was the scariest so far. To keep from floating away, we were all harnessed to magnets which clung to the side wall.
I felt light as the door to Outer Space swung open. My stomach rolled as if I fell from a great height. Various exclamations and curses reached me through my receiver.
Funny thing about Outer Space, I couldn’t hear the door as it opened but I could hear Logan’s voice inside my helmet. He thought he was going to get sick.
“If you puke, try not to cover the glass on your helmet,” was Sloan’s advice to him.
The magnets keeping us attached could be turned off by squeezing the handle. I released one magnet and moved it, then the other, working my way to Outside.
The nothingness didn’t seem so empty this time. Pricks of light dotted the blackness. I ignored the beauty behind me and climbed slowly up the side of Inside. The others followed.
“Don’t let go,” I said again. “One magnet on the metal at all times.”
“Yes, mother,” Logan said.
The climb was easy because we were weightless, but difficult due to our cumbersome suits and magnets. I marveled over the audacity of this attempt, at what—or rather, where—we were. On the outside of Inside. In Outer Space. It was humbling, thrilling and terrifying at the same time.
When we finally reached the top of Inside, we all took a moment to drink in the amazing sight of Outer Space and to catch our breaths.
“Okay, Logan. Do your thing,” I said.
While Logan hunted for the antenna and the override controls, I signaled Lamont. “If you can, it’s time to start acting like my mother.”
The plan was to disable the antenna and then access the override controls for the port’s big bay doors. Once it was activated, the air would empty in the main hangar. From the Video Cameras, we knew the transport full of Insiders remained in the side bay with a dozen Outsiders guarding it.
We hoped the transport of Outsiders was in the hangar. By opening the hangar doors, the bay doors would seal shut, protecting our ship and trapping the rest of the Outsiders in their ship.
Lots of hopes and speculations, but anything was better than waiting around to die.
“It’s a go,” Logan said.
The doors widened. Our second lucky break—the transport was in the hangar. Figures moved behind that strange black metal, which Hank had called metalastic, a combination of metal and something named Plastic, making the vehicle lighter than if it had been made entirely of metal, but just as strong. It also let in the radiation Lamont had talked about, which was why it was only supposed to be used as a temporary transport.
We climbed down into the hangar before the doors closed. Since we had a limited amount of air in our tanks, we couldn’t keep the hangar doors open. Bubba Boom unhooked his welding gun from his tool belt. Air began filling the hangar. It would take some time before we could remove our helmets.
As Bubba Boom headed toward the transport ship’s access hatch, the Outsiders figured out what we planned to do—melt the metalastic so they couldn’t open the hatch and escape their ship.
A long thin tube on the underside of the ship swiveled and pointed at Bubba Boom. I yelled for him to duck as the tube spat out bright disks. Our luck had run out.
“Get in close,” Riley yelled.
Everyone scrambled to get underneath the ship, hoping the gun had a limited turning radius. Bubba Boom remained flat on the ground. Two more guns spun as if searching for targets. Sloan pulled a wrench from his belt and attacked the one gun. Riley grabbed the other, hanging from it with both hands. And I shoved the handle of a screwdriver into the opening of the last one.