Chapter 10
The next morning Gorsh returned to his quarters, after breakfast, to spend a few minutes learning about the security device before starting another day of work. He walked through the open adjoining door to Teric’s quarters, which was now being used by her brother. He looked at the bed and saw that Jehrac was fast asleep. He keyed in the code to open the compartment, took out the device, punched in the code to activate it and walked back into his quarters to sit at his desk.
Ten minutes later he had learned the device’s function commands, turned it off, returned it to its compartment and left for his lab.
A long, tense five minutes after Gorsh had left, Jehrac got out of bed quietly and carefully observed that he was truly alone. He had feigned sleep and seen everything Gorsh had done. He went to the hidden compartment, opened it, took out the strange looking device, punched in the activation code and spent the next thirty minutes carefully learning all about it.
An hour later, Jehrac had found an unoccupied airlock and a contamination suit. He climbed into the suit and went through the airlock into the testing room to which it led. It was also currently unoccupied.
He walked over to the door that led to the quarters of the infected people of Natura, put his hand on the lock release and paused.
“This is it,” he thought, “No looking back now.”
He unlocked the door, opened it and stepped through the doorway to the shrieking of alarm sirens and flashing lights.
He walked down the hallway looking in each room as he passed. Most of the people were sitting or standing frozen in place terrified to move because of the alarms and the presence of an Outsider in his strange mechanical suit.
Eventually he found what he was looking for: Kittamm’s room.
As he walked in Kittamm rose from his seat.
Jehrac handed him the security device.
• • •
The alarms were designed to go off if anyone but an infected person entered the quarantined section, suited or not. When it was necessary to go into this section the appropriate staff was to be notified and the computer alarms temporarily deactivated. Jehrac knew the alarms would be triggered but didn’t know how to stop it. He figured that he would get to Kittamm before anyone could stop him. Once he did the alarms wouldn’t matter anyway. He was right.
As soon as the alarms went off Teric was running to her quarters to get the security device. On her way she yelled orders in her con unit and to stunned staff members she passed in the hallways.
When she got to her quarters and saw that the device was missing she instantly thought Gorsh had it and was grateful that she had told him about it. Seconds later Gorsh rushed in the door and saw Teric looking at the open, empty hidden compartment.
Teric saw that he didn’t have it after all and felt a dizzying, black yawning abyss opening in her stomach, “You don’t have it.”
He looked stunned and answered, “No, I was on my way to get it and when I saw you standing here I …”
He didn’t get a chance to finish because the voice of the computer interrupted him, “Security status override enabled. Section lockdown activated.”
Together they ran through the hallways and arrived at the central control room. “Complete computer control diverted to alternate security device,” the computer’s voice informed the control room at large.
One of the staff seated at a console was furiously typing commands into her computer keyboard, “I can’t get anywhere. That damn thing works perfectly.”
Teric started to ask if anyone knew exactly what was going on when the main view screen showed Kittamm from the waist up. He was holding the security device in one hand; his other hand was resting lightly on Jehrac’s shoulder. Teric’s nightmare was complete.
The control room erupted into questions about how Kittamm got the security device, what he was doing with it and why their administrator’s stowaway brother was in the infected section, when Kittamm started to speak.
“A very clever and useful device was just brought to me by this equally clever and useful young man,” he patted Jehrac’s shoulder several times in a possessive manner.
“If I understand correctly, Administrator Jonsen should be in her control room right now, watching and listening to me, helplessly frustrated because I have now have total control of her complex right here in my hand,” he raised the device for display.
“I hope that is so. If it is not, we shall know soon enough. However, if it is then, please, listen carefully. I have some requests to make of you, Miss Jonsen. But first … Young Mr. Jonsen? Would you care to join me carry out our righteous mission to serve the wishes of the Creator?”
Jehrac was already wide-eyed with wonder and turning red from embarrassment at being referred to in such glowing words from his hero. This last bit, an invitation to join and fight at Kittamm’s side, was too much for him to resist. Slowly, he began to take off the helmet of his contamination suit.
Teric started yelling uselessly at the viewscreen, “Jehrac, no! What the hell are you doing?! You’ll be infected!” She pushed aside the closest staff member seated at a workstation and began keying in commands. She yelled over her shoulder, “Get everyone in suits and tear down the damn walls if you have to. Get that device back, get Jehrac out of there, sedate Kittamm and isolate him.” Several people ran out of the room to try to carry out her orders. Unnoticed, Gorsh remained staring at the viewscreen for a few moments lost in thought. Finally after a few moments he rushed out the door.
Jehrac was now taking off the rest of the suit and Kittamm started to speak, “Miss Jonsen, you are now probably trying to override this device, even though you know it to be a futile effort. Your determination is admirable. Let us put it to a more productive task. In exchange for the continued existence of your staff, which I now control,” again he held up the security device, “I wish to visit your Home World.”
Teric and the remaining control room staff instantly stopped moving, talking and working. They all looked in amazement at the madman, revealed, on the viewscreen.