Free Secret Histories 10: Dr. DOA by Simon R. Green

run for the rest of their lives.”
    “Nasty,” said Molly. “I like it.”
    “Let’s go find the control room,” I said.
    “Let’s,” said Molly.
    *   *   *
    I armoured down, and we fought our way through the narrow steel corridors, through crowds of desperate, panicking people looking for escape pods, parachutes, or any other way off the sinking ship. Having met the Management, I was willing to bet there weren’t any. The crowds paid no attention to me or Molly, except to curse us when we got in their way. I tried to ask directions to the control room, but no one had the time to talk to me. In the end, I just grabbed a man at random, slammed him up against the wall, thrust my face into his, and demanded directions. And he was only too happy to supply them.
    But by the time I crashed onto the bridge, with Molly right behind me, the whole place was deserted. It was a room full of computerized control systems, with dozens of workstations and even an old-fashionedwooden steering wheel facing a massive windscreen, and not one crew member at his post, trying to keep the ship in the air.
    “They ran,” I said. “Deserted their posts. Useless shit-bastard cowards.”
    “Rats deserting a sinking ship,” said Molly. “Still think these people are worth saving?”
    “Let them run,” I said. “My family will see they’re rounded up and made to pay for what they’ve done. Once I’ve saved them. I can’t just leave them to die, Molly.”
    “You think the law can touch people like these?” said Molly.
    “Who said anything about the law? I’m talking about my family.” I wandered round the various workstations, trying to make sense of the controls. “There must be something we can do . . .”
    Molly pointed speechlessly at the massive windscreen before us. The ship’s prow was sinking even lower. It had already passed through the cloud banks, and was plummeting towards the earth at increasing speed.
    “Eddie, we need to get the hell off this ship,” Molly said in a calm and extremely controlled voice. “And I mean right now.”
    “Do you have the magics for a teleport?”
    “Well, no, but . . .”
    “I suppose I could wait till the last minute and jump,” I said. “Hold you in my arms and trust the glider wings . . .”
    Molly glared at me. “Any other ideas?”
    I grinned at her. “Save the ship.”
    “Let it crash! Everyone on board deserves it!”
    “I’m thinking more about where the ship might crash,” I said. “The people it landed on might not deserve it. And besides, in the ordinary, everyday world, oversized flying aircraft carriers aren’t supposed to suddenly drop out of the sky and make a really large crater in the local surroundings. Droods are supposed to protect people from ever having to know things like that can happen.”
    “All right!” said Molly. “I get the point! Save the bloody ship!”
    I found the main control station and sat down, armoured up one hand, and sent tendrils of golden strange matter surging through the systems. Computer screens burst into life all around me, packed with information. I grasped what I could, thought for a moment, and did the only useful thing left to me. I slaved all the systems to the steering wheel. I retrieved the golden tendrils and moved over to stand at the wheel. It was solid oak, very sturdy. I armoured up, took a firm hold, and tilted the wheel back to raise the prow. The ship didn’t want to know. I set the power of my armour against the wheel, and slowly, inch by inch, the prow came up.
    “That really is very impressive, Eddie,” Molly said quietly beside me. “But we are still falling out of the sky.”
    “The main engines looked to be undamaged,” I said. “According to the computers, it’s just the guidance systems that are screwed. That’s why I put everything through the wheel. Think of me as the manual override. If I can just hold her steady, the engines should slow the ship