Free Bastion Saturn by C. Chase Harwood Page B

defeated lower security door locks. He dug around in several lockers while Jennifer moved the hibernating survivors to the airlock. He was just about to give up when he found the prize still in the manufacturer’s box. He discarded the box and turned the small handheld thing on. The battery indicator blinked one bar. He quickly shut it off. “Does everything have to be on the edge of depletion?”

Chapter Seven: The Station
    Caleb dragged Monty and the now-widowed Bob across the lunar surface with one hand, hauling Stephanie’s draped body over his shoulder. Jennifer dragged Saanvi and the whiny teenager, Trey, while leaving a curious track in the dust behind them.
    “So does the station seem operational?” asked Jennifer.
    “I don’t know. Like I said, the motion detectors were off.”
    “No light on the inside? Past the airlock I mean?”
    “What did I just say? There were dead people. And like someone turned the lights off on the way out. Scared the piss out of me: literally. I’m man enough to own it.”
    “Did you knock?”
    “You’re wasting air.”
    They continued to walk in silence until coming to a stop ten meters from the entrance. Jennifer looked at the cracked open door and asked “Who leaves an airlock door open?”
    “Again, more air, wasted.”
    “So don’t waste your breath being a turd.”
    “Touché.” Caleb hesitated twice, then, “No time like the present.”
    “And you’re sure your door opener thingy won’t work on one of those ships?”
    He sighed with frustration. “I told you, didn’t give me one of those. Only sergeants and above. Chances are this one won’t open an airlock, either. It’s for busting into an apartment or a locker or whatever. Either way, I don’t dare waste what little charge there is on a ship I know I can’t enter.”
    Caleb stepped in first with Stephanie and then struggled pulling in the rest while Jennifer pushed.
    “Oh, gosh,” gasped Jennifer when her helmet light lit up one side. There were far more bodies than Caleb had made out in his panicked state. Most seemed to be simply asleep, nothing like the surprised terror on the two dead cops, no panic in the final resting gesture of their limbs. The secondary door that led into the station recorded a more graphic tale. Bloody fingerprints from torn nails betrayed a profound change of heart. Several bodies huddled against one another up against the door, their faces anguished with last breath.
    “I count twenty-eight,” said Jennifer, her voice wavering. “That has got to be most of the researchers.”
    Caleb’s light paused over the two cops again. “And look. They still have their nerve disrupters. They came out here by choice. No way their weapons would be holstered otherwise.”
    The oxygen warning lights flashed in each other’s helmets. Caleb said, “Whatever drove these people out is likely still inside.” He pulled a weapon out of one of the cop’s holsters and handed it to Jennifer. “If we get in, we gas up asap. Leave your helmet on.”
    “Why?”
    Caleb looked at all of the unprotected bodies. Not one bothered to suit up, except the cops who had taken their helmets off. “Just a gut feeling.” He pointed at their hibernating friends. “We leave these guys out here.” He turned and punched the red close button on the far wall. The giant wheel rolled shut. A good start.
    They wasted precious oxygen pulling the stricken bodies away from the inner door, and when they finally had it cleared, Caleb took the packing plastic off the door breaker and turned it on. He held his breath and pointed the device at the badge scanner that acted as a backup to the standard keypad lock. There was a long pause, then the battery died on the breaker. Caleb was at the edge of an epic stream of curses when the red light on the badge scanner turned green. A fog billowed into the airlock from the nozzles that surrounded the door. The warmer air instantly condensed as it filled the space. Sound