Page 102 of Shades of Earth (Across the Universe 3)

For a moment, I wish I could have Amy with me now. The auto-shuttle is so massive and, after sending the dead to the stars, so empty. But I also know that this is something I have to do by myself—Godspeed is my responsibility, not hers—and she is the only one who could pacify the rage in her father’s heart enough to quiet his desire for immediate revenge. That weapon from the FRX makes me nervous. We don’t know what it is; all Colonel Martin’s said is that it can be detonated remotely and it will wipe out the alien population. I half believe the FRX would be willing to wipe us out too, just to cut down on complaints.

The boarding chamber is just behind the bridge, just as the little map on the wall by the door indicated. The door has a seal lock, but it opens with a press of a button. On the wall to the right is a small cabinet filled with emergency oxygen tanks. To the left is a control panel. And directly across the door is my ticket off this shuttle.

I step inside. The boarding chamber is small, with a round porthole sealed with metal flaps taking up nearly the whole wall. A chart beside the large porthole illustrates how a tube made of some sort of metallic fabric will shoot out from the porthole into space and lock onto the side of the space station with magnetic-seal locks.

But I’m not trying to get to the space station. And Godspeed wasn’t designed to work with the auto-shuttle.

I touch my wi-com and reconnect with Bartie. “Are you at the hatch?” I ask.

“Yeah,” Bartie says. “Elder, are you really—”

“Yes, I’m here. If all goes well, you should be able to open the hatch in a few minutes, and I’ll be on the other side. ”

“If?” Bartie asks.

“Don’t break the com link, okay?” I run my fingers through my hair. “I’ll need you to open the door for me if I’m on the other side. ”

“If?” Bartie repeats.

“Be ready, okay?” I mute him without waiting for a reply. I need to focus.

I turn on the control pad by the tube. The screen lights up immediately. Once I figure out the controls, I turn on the mechanical arms.

There’s a grinding sound, and the tube starts to extend from the auto-shuttle. The screen shows an image of the area outside of the ship; there must be a little camera embedded into the tube door. The tube stretches out, closer and closer to Godspeed.

Matching seal lock not discovered, the display reads. Automatic connection not detected.

Of course it’s not detected; we’re not at the space station, we’re at Godspeed, which doesn’t have a matching seal lock. I pray that my guess is right and the magnets on this side are going to be enough to lock into place in Godspeed’s hatch.

Manual connection required.

I try to push buttons to operate the arms, but the same message displays across the screen: Manual connection required.

I check the display from the outside. It looks as if the mechanical arms have extended the tube, but the end of the tube is still several yards off from the hatch on Godspeed.

I go back to the control panel. Nothing works. Every button I push that would move the tube around just makes the screen flash the same message.

“How the frex do I make a manual connection with this frexing thing?” I mutter, staring at the screen.

The end of the tube isn’t that far off. If I could just give the tube a good push to the right . . .

I go over to the porthole. The metal flaps closing the door are firmly shut. If I open the door, the boarding chamber will be depressurized, and I’ll be sucked out into space. Can’t move the tube from here.

I briefly consider trying to move the ship. But the tube is off the hatch by no more than a few yards at best, and I don’t think I can control the ship to move in such a small space.

I just need to wiggle the bridge, just a little, to make the end meet up with Godspeed’s hatch. The hatch on the ship side is much smaller than the opening on the bridge tube. All I have to do is get the larger end of the bridge tube to cover the smaller hole of the Godspeed hatch and the magnetic lock will create a seal against the ship’s metal surface.

I bite back a little laugh.

All I have to do is somehow move a tube a few yards to the right. In the vacuum of space. Without a space suit.

Just to be sure, I check the rest of the transport shuttle, looking for an emergency space suit. The closest thing I can find are cans of oxygen strapped to the wall of the boarding chamber, but that does me no good. If I try to go into the vacuum of space breathing oxygen, my lungs will blow up like balloons and burst inside my body.

Staring at the tanks of oxygen gives me an idea, though.

A dangerous idea.

A stupid idea.