The climb to the next upper deck took about sixty seconds, Aaen guessed. Aaen stepped off first and then helped the other Odyssey crew members up before Jensen brought up the rear. Aaen sharply panned both ends of the corridor with his sidearm, as far as his suit's helmet lights would reveal.
"Looks like power's out, here, too," Aaen said.
"Scanner readings show negligible power readings within scanning range," Jensen said. "The weapon locker is ahead about twenty meters. Let's move."
A one-minute walk later, the away team arrived at twin doors whose coloration was different than crew quarters or those to mission-critical rooms or areas.
"The doors aren't opening when you walk in front of them. Something must be wrong with the doors." said Sensors to Aaen.
"Part of the base-wide power failure, Ensign. Lieutenant Commander, these doors don't have a backup power supply in case of emergencies like this, do they?" Aaen asked, already knowing the answer.
"Negative, Lieutenant."
"Are we gonna have to cut through these doors, too?" Communications asked.
"No. That'll take too much time," Aaen said. "I have another idea."
"Lieutenant?" Jensen snapped.
"Sensors, stand back." Aaen took three steps back. The away team followed suit.
"Lieutenant, what are you doing?" the Captain asked.
"These doors are reinforced—they're designed to prevent anyone who shouldn't be getting in from getting in. They're resistant to sidearm fire. Explosive charges would probably only dent them."
"So how are we going to get in?" said Communications.
"Simple," Aaen replied, training his sidearm on the door controls. He fired. A thinner, slightly wider beam of bright yellow lightning struck the target with near-expert precision. Sparks flew for several feet—the away team raised their arms instinctively.
"They're still closed!" said Sensors.
"By disabling the door controls, we can open the doors manually by hot-wiring the door control circuits."
"Do you know how much electrical power you're talking about, Lieutenant?" Jensen said.
Aaen looked at Jensen. "Yeah. Anyone have any better ideas?" The away team was silent.
"Lieutenant Commander, is the energy reading you were detecting earlier still on your tricorder?" Aaen said.
"I haven't checked since we got on this deck. Our priority right now is getting more heavily armed. We can worry about tricorder readings later."
Aaen gasped, briefly. "Understood, sir. We just need to pull these doors apart enough to get through."
"Away team, form up," Jensen said. The doors came open in thirty seconds—at least, enough for a person to barely fit through.
"Let's never do that again." Sensors said.
"Woah!" said Aaen, turning around to pan his helmet lights around the room.
"Never been inside a weapon locker before, Lieutenant?" Jensen asked.
"Only simulated ones. No functional weapons on the recreation deck, at least not in the programs used during Highlight."
"Roger that. Away team, pick up a sidearm from the lockers, and a compression rifle from one of the wall mounts. Activate the sidearm and rifle—set your sidearm and rifle to stun."
The away team complied.
Nice! Aaen thought, tucking his rifle into his right shoulder, pulling the weapon's action just behind and below the weapon's triangular LED sight. The weapon briefly hissed as the power output meter gradually showed two rows of green. This thing'll put a full-grown targ flat on its back wondering which way's up. Aaen raised the rifle's sights, pointing the weapon at an angle at the metal floor. He admired the weapon's reasonable weight—just under ten pounds, Aaen estimated—and how the lights illuminated the fine scope sights, two wire-thin lines intersecting in the center of the four-inch scope. The lines were bright enough to aim effectively, and the lights nearly doubled visibility. Jensen walked to the front of the room.
"Away team, form up on me." He held his tricorder in front of him, panning right and left twice, then right again. "The life form reading hasn't changed position since we got into Starbase. Our priority is to get to the bridge, and main engineering. We can split up into two groups, or—"
"—Away team, stay together." said the Captain.
"Understood, sir," Jensen said.
"I recommend we make the bridge our first priority," Aaen said.
Jensen looked at Aaen before responding. "Agreed."
"I recommend we maintain the same formation, sir."
Jensen stepped out of the way. Aaen raised his rifle as he proceeded through the gap in the doorway.
Here we go. Aaen thought.
*****
Steve H. told Jordan Foutin, "You are the next Tom Clancy. You really are a gifted writer."
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