Two days had passed since I had sent the signal to the Moelians. In those two days I had become paranoid: I kept thinking that someone would find out about my betrayal. I took every slanted look or inappropriate tone personally. I didn't even trust my friends, and they noticed, asking why I was so strange lately. I had to tell my sad story so they wouldn't guess the real reason for my condition. Although what happened with Leah was the reason for everything, so I wasn't really lying. I'd been up all night waiting for the galactic news. I was hoping to get at least a hint that my signal had been picked up. I'm risking my head: if my letter goes public, I'll be killed immediately. But I still hope for the best. My wait was brightened by a love show and a small dose of artecidin, the only way I could calm my nerves. Morning came.
***
Tonight's edition of the galactic news:
- The ruler of Moelis, Laesvold the Third has once again made a sensational announcement regarding a skroge attack.
- The inhabitants of the planet Boa have discovered space pirate vessels allegedly flying around the planet. Eyewitnesses claim that they were colored yellow and blue. Details are being further clarified.
- Mass protests at slime farms in the city of Ka-Nekt on the planet Kunlas ended in riots, and the candidacy of a provocative mayor is withdrawn.
- Princess Moelis, Elin Firebringer commented on the marriage proposal live on air, stating that mannered and pompous aristocrats are not her type.
Laesvold the Third has once again blown up the headlines. He claims that despite the high probability of a skroge attack on Moelis, he has a "trump card up his sleeve." Experts have differed in their assessment of the ruler's statement, but agree that Laesvold is bluffing and trying his best to boost his plummeting ratings.
***
If I understand correctly, he gave the go-ahead for my proposal. To change rhetoric so abruptly in just three days for no apparent reason seemed unlikely to me, even for an eccentric ruler like him.
This meant that I had to keep my eyes on the situation: at any moment the "guests" might arrive. I needed to act quickly and clearly, or my chance of escape would be irrevocably lost. Berserk is a huge space cruiser and it is not easy to destroy, but it has a very low speed and maneuverability. Such a behemoth will have no chance to keep up with a small and fast starship. If the Moels do as I told them, they can pick up the escape pod without too much trouble if they hurry. I still have a problem: the weapon device is in the ammunition depot, locked in a safe. I can only open it by getting special authorization for my key card from the security officer, or by finding a higher level key card. Eil won't give me that authorization for no good reason. That leaves only one thing left to do...
I spent the entire day in my office, waiting for the Moel signal and thinking about the consequences of my actions.
What if they just killed me and took my weapon? There was no way I could have foreseen that. I could only hope they weren't like the skroge. That's funny. Now I could be in a position where I'm begging for mercy myself. Well, it's my choice, and I have to be responsible for it.
Suddenly, I felt a rumbling and shaking. The sirens went off. Could this be it?
- We need to do something out of the ordinary, confuse them, - I said aloud, and turned off the cameras in the tail section.
At least they wouldn't soon realize what happened if the security officer couldn't see on the monitors what was going on.
I quickly ran to the officer's office - at the very least, I had to check that exactly what I was thinking was going on. If he was there, I would try to distract him in order to steal the map. However, when I went up to see him, the door to his office was open, while the officer himself wasn't there: he'd probably gone to see the captain. Well, I had not much time; I must act.
I went into his office. Usually everything was in its place, for the officer was a rare pedant. But this time it felt as if his office was the cause of the rumble. Papers were on the floor, open drawers were in disarray, and the desk was cluttered with junk.
- Where the hell am I supposed to find a goddamn map? - I said.
I started going through the drawers. I literally gutted them one by one, but I couldn't find anything.
After a brief thought, I decided to use the quicker method with access authorization. Luckily, his computer was unlocked: all I had to do was open the program and give myself access. Having made the necessary manipulations, I quickly left the officer's office. There was another rumble. Shit, it sounded bad: the Moels had struck again. I quickly took the elevator downstairs, running through the lounge area to the tail section. The guards weren't there: they had probably run away from their posts without receiving my orders. I ran straight down the corridor, and turning right, I saw through the porthole that one of the engines had been badly damaged by the impact.
- Everything seemed to be working out just fine. Not only had they sent a ship after me, but they'd made a mess of the ship.
I went into one of the warehouses and couldn't find the damn safe. After turning the whole warehouse upside down, I finally found faint lines in the wall that formed a large square. The safe was hidden here, but I couldn't open it with my bare hands - I needed a crowbar.
- Shit, it's not one thing, it's another... - I said, and started looking for a crowbar among the mess I'd made.
Five minutes later I found it, and used it to open the entrance to the vault. With trembling hands I got the access card, and opened it without a problem. But what I saw threw me off balance.
- What the hell?!
The safe contained an ordinary blaster, no different from the standard ones.
- I'm dead... - I thought to myself.
- Hey, Kserd! - I heard from behind me.
When I turned around, I saw Grote. What's he doing here?!
- Ha-ha, well, - he slowly headed towards me, - All the respected, experienced chief of security during the attack on the ship is not near his officer, waiting for orders, and snooping in his office. And rummaging through the safe that holds the most important weapon of our race!
- Let me ask you, what are you doing here, during the attack on the ship?! - I shouted back.
- It's up to you to explain, traitor!
I grabbed a blaster from the safe, however, Grote managed to shoot me in the arm and I dropped it. I was in a great deal of pain - sleep had weakened my ability to regenerate. He didn't stop there: the former head of security came at me, clawing at me one after another. I kicked him in pain, and he flew a couple of meters away from me. I picked up the blaster I'd just dropped and pulled the trigger, pointing it at him. Nothing unusual happened, however. The only thing I heard when the shot was fired was a very strange, high-pitched sound. Could it really be a pacifier gun? And are they hiding the real weapon somewhere else? I tossed it aside, starting to block the blows of Grote, who had managed to get up and pounce on me again.
- What a crooked hand-to-hand you have! - I grinned as I managed to punch him under the breath with my hand.
But he didn't last long, and managed to kick me in the knee with his foot, knocking me to the ground and ending up on top of me, clutching my throat.
- An officer will be here soon. I wonder what you'll explain to him?
With my free hand I pulled a knife from my gun belt, and slashed it across his throat. What happened in the next instant shocked me. His wound wouldn't heal: blood gushed from his throat, and soon he dropped dead. I looked again at the weapon I had reclined: now I understood how it worked. It shut off regeneration, not the skroge's consciousness at all. Quickly picking it up, I ran out of the warehouse, heading towards the connecting airlock leading to the pod.
Finding the passage I needed, I found the door locked.
- Come on! Map, don't let me down! - The door screen turned red. Come on, come on! - but access was denied again. Shit! I'm running out of time!
My thoughts were a jumble of thoughts in my head. Of all the things that came to mind, I had only one option left: blow the door.
I turned and ran in the opposite direction, looking around.
Quickly returning to the warehouse, I picked up the explosives that lay in one of the crates.
It was light and viscous, like thick electrolyte. One would have thought it was a human toy for children. However, the sensation was deceptive. As soon as a spark strikes this mass, there will be no trace of the door. Placing the explosives along the line of connection of the sashes, I ran to the end of the corridor and ran around the corner. Then I pressed the detonator button.
It didn't take long for the explosion to go off. It was so loud that the squeak in my ears remained for several minutes.
The dust settled and I saw the door torn to pieces. I stepped into the room and found the capsule. It was intact, though it was covered in fresh burn marks.
A flask with a life-sustaining device and the rig to start it up was waiting for me to finally get in. I found the "emergency start system" button on the dashboard and then pressed it.
The flask doors opened quickly enough, which pleased me immensely.
I climbed into the capsule and its doors closed. I hit the only visible button with all my might, and the capsule launcher began to lift the flask with me to the escape door.
Before it went into space, I saw the guards, who had already found me, but they didn't have time to do anything - the capsule flew out of the ship.
- Now it's up to them, - I thought, falling asleep as I walked, - Either I die here in outer space, or the Moels pick me up. Either way, it'll all be over soon...