Chapter 25: Did you Say Bomb?

Crap!

I immediately called Ship on my communicator.

“Ship, DO NOT bring main power online. There is a possibility of an explosive device set to go off when you restore main power,” I said.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“Hail the vessel. Explain the situation. Perhaps it can use internal sensors to check for explosives. Failing that, use maintenance bots to search deck by deck,” I ordered.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

I closed the call and turned to Laine.

“Laine, please find out if he knows where the bomb is. We can’t restore main power until we’re sure it’s safe. Call me if you get anything,” I said.

“I’m on it,” she said.

I turned to Saria. She was standing near the entrance to sick bay.

“Saria, we need to locate and defuse a bomb. Do you have training in that area?” I asked.

“No, Sir!” she replied.

“Neither do I. We’ll learn as we go. Come with me,” I said.

We left sick bay and returned to the bridge.

At the bridge, I summoned my best Baglogi.

“We need help to search for a bomb,” I said in Baglogi.

I wasn’t sure what to expect.

On the display, it said “no bomb detected” in Baglogi. Not much help.

“What does that say?” asked Saria.

“It doesn’t detect any bomb,” I replied. “We’re on our own.”

I tried to think of what we could do next.

“They probably tied the bomb into a power conduit,” said Saria. “That way it would trigger when they restore main power.”

“Yes!” I said. “Display all power conduits,” I said in Baglogi.

The display showed a map of the vessel, with power conduits highlighted. They were everywhere. It reminded me of arteries, except providing power rather than blood.

“Unfortunately, that doesn’t narrow it down much,” I said.

I wondered if we’d have to search every level. It would take a long time.

The communicator interrupted my thoughts.

“Captain, we’ve detected another vessel arriving,” said Jem.

“I’m a little busy trying to find a bomb over here. Does it appear hostile?” I asked.

“I don’t know yet,” she replied.

“Please have ship position defensive probes with nano-bots, and hail them to find out their intentions,” I said.

“Will do. Out,” said Jem. The call ended.

“Perhaps they also came to answer the distress call,” offered Saria.

“If so, they might have bomb scanning equipment,” I said, half in jest. I didn’t expect them to be friendly.

“If I were to place a bomb, it would be near the engineering section,” she said.

“That’s a good place to begin our search,” I said.

In Baglogi, I said, “Please direct us to the engineering section.”

The display showed a map with a highlighted section towards the rear of the vessel.

“Let’s go, Lieutenant,” I said.

We left the bridge.

I followed Saria back down several levels. Then we followed indicator lights on the walls that guided us to our destination.

“I hope they placed the bomb in the most likely spot,” I said.

Saria looked back at me. “I hope so too. It is also possible that the device is no longer functional after all this time.”

I called Laine on my communicator.

“Laine, has he said anything more?” I asked.

“No, Captain. He’s still confused after his long sleep,” she replied.

“Tell him if we don’t find a bomb soon, we’ll turn on main power,” I said. My paranoia suggested he wasn’t that confused.

“Will do,” she replied.

I ended the call.

“Captain, how did he know about the bomb?” asked Saria.

“A good question. Let’s deal with that later. For now, we have to find it,” I replied.

We continued along the corridor, following the indicator lights.

Suddenly the whole vessel shook.

“Was that the bomb?” asked Saria.

“We’re still alive, so I don’t think so,” I replied.

I called Ship on my communicator.

“Ship, what happened?” I asked.

“The vessel is hostile. It just fired on the freighter. I am deploying nano-bots,” replied Ship.

“Good! Inform me when it’s out of action. Try to get survivors if you can,” I said.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

I ended the call.

We arrived at the engineering section. I recognized one of Ship’s maintenance bots nearby.

“You take that side, and I’ll search over here,” I said.

She nodded. We got to it. The engineering section was huge, and I mightn’t recognize a bomb if I saw it. This was a daunting task.

A few minutes later, I got a call on my communicator.

“Captain, I have disabled the hostile vessel. Unfortunately, the momentum of the vessel puts it on a collision course with the freighter,” said Ship.

“Can you use a probe to divert or slow it’s course?” I asked.

“I already have. It won’t be enough to stop the collision. Impact in three minutes,” replied Ship.

“Thanks for the warning,” I said.

I ended the call. I called Laine.

“Laine, brace for impact in about three minutes,” I said.

“Understood,” she replied.

I abandoned my search for a bomb and looked for Saria.

“Saria!” I yelled.

She quickly came to me.

“What is it, Sir?” she asked.

“That hostile vessel is going to ram into us. We need a safe place to ride out the impact,” I said.

“Understood,” she replied.

We ran out of the engineering section and back along the corridor.

“I hope the impact doesn’t detonate the bomb,” she said as we ran.

I groaned.

“Let’s try one of these side doors,” I said.

I pressed a button on a panel next to the nearest door. It opened into a modest sized room. We both entered, and I closed the door behind us.

“Best sit with our backs against that wall. There’s nothing to fall on our heads,” I said.

We sat down where I’d pointed. I hoped that this room wasn’t near the outer hull.

A moment later the vessel shook violently. It was more than last time. We waited for a moment, but it seemed we were still alive.

I called Ship.

“Ship, how bad is the damage?” I asked.

“The hostile vessel suffered an explosive decompression, which changed its course at the last moment. The result was a glancing blow to the freighter. I detect evidence of damage to the outer hull and decompression in a few areas,” replied Ship.

I ended the call, then I called Laine.

“Laine, how are you and your patients?” I asked.

“We’re good. The lights went out for a moment. They’re back on now,” replied Laine.

“How is the air pressure? Ship reports there was decompression in parts of this vessel,” I asked.

“No change in the air pressure here. I have good news for you. It seems the collision has jogged his memory,” replied Laine.

“And what is the location, Laine?” I asked.

“Cargo bay four,” she replied.

“Thank you. Watch him. I don’t know which side he’s on. Stun him if he tries to get up,” I said.

“Understood,” replied Laine.

I ended the call. I turned to Saria.

“At least everyone is alive and well. We still have to locate the bomb,” I said.

I opened the door, and we stepped back into the corridor.

“Direct us to cargo bay four,” I said in Baglogi.

A moment later, the indicator lights changed direction, and we followed them.

We took a shaft down several levels and out into a corridor. I saw more burn marks on the walls, but right now I didn’t care about them.

We followed the indicator lights forwards until we reached a large double door.

“This looks like it,” said Saria.

I pressed the open button on the panel beside the door. It didn’t open.

“Now what?” I said aloud.

Saria pointed at something on the panel.

“That looks like a warning,” she said.

I called Ship on my communicator.

“Ship, hail the vessel. Ask it why the door to cargo bay four isn’t opening,” I said.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

About a minute later, I got a response.

“Captain, cargo bay four has suffered decompression from the collision,” said Ship.

“Can we close the bulkhead doors in the corridor to make an airlock? Will our suits be enough?” I asked.

“Please stand by,” replied Ship.

“You’re planning to go in there?” asked Saria.

“We’re both going in there. We need to restore main power,” I replied.

“Captain, please put on your gloves and hoods now. Your suits should protect you for about fifteen minutes. It will be cold,” said Ship.

“Acknowledged,” I replied.

“Saria, put on your hood and gloves,” I said.

We got ready as nearby emergency bulkhead doors slowly closed the corridor on both sides of us. The display on my suit showed that the air pressure was dropping.

About three minutes later, the double door to the cargo bay slid open. Once they were open, we stepped inside the cargo bay.

“It’s a mess in here!” exclaimed Saria via her communicator in her suit.

“That’s because of the rapid decompression. Look over there!” I said.

On the far side of the cargo bay was a huge diagonal tear in the wall. Through it, we could see the blackness of space. About half of the contents of the cargo bay floated outside the vessel.